Random Thoughts

As early as now I'm thinking of what I will give Hubby for Christmas. It's really hard since he doesn't even know what he wants. I would usually plan a trip for the both of us for his birthday. I remember last year we went to Boracay for his birthday.

Then this year, we went to Tagaytay and stayed at The Boutique. We ate at different restaurants during this weekend. Both of us were able relax and unwind.


But for Christmas, I want to give him something that he can keep for years. Something like the watch I gave him for Father's Day. He loved it to bits and he's been wearing it ever since. I'm thinking of giving him Triton rings.


I'm thinking of getting him Triton tungsten rings or Triton titanium rings since both have really nice designs. But I admit, it's way over my budget. Good thing I've decided for this early on so I could at least save up. He's not into accessories though but with the designs such as the above rings, I'm definitely sure he will love it.

And guess what made me decide? Mensringstore.com is offering an additional $50.00 off all "Clearance Rings" for a limited time only. Such a good deal considering they have rings of great quality and designs that would last a lifetime. If we will have a little boy, I'm sure he can even pass this on from generations to generations. With a great deal and finest collection? I'm definitely sure I would go for Mensringstore.com. Catering clients for years now, they are pretty reliable and guess what again, I can also pay through PAYPAL!

On our first day in Bohol, we immediately fell in love with the place. Discovering and seeing the tourist spots in person. It was a day of relaxation yet not boring at all. Hubby and I get to talk about anything without the distractions of the little girls. From IT stuff and our plans for the future to gadgets like barcode scanner, printers, digital cameras, flash, and more! The scanner that we recently bought was a good buy that we wanted to purchase a barcode scanner this time for immediate needs. It was so good we had so much time to talk about it. With Ate A's projects and homeworks, barcode scanner is a need these days. I hope I can get a good discount online.

AND on our second day in Bohol, we loved it more that we wanted to go back the soonest. We woke up as early as 5AM, had a quick breakfast, and off we went on an hour boat ride.

Started the ride with this beautiful view.

Then, I had the luxury to thank the Lord for this wonderful opportunity to be able to get away and appreciate the beauty of His creation. I was so happy and felt so grateful for all of the blessings He had showered us.

And I felt even more blessed when I saw them.

The dolphins were so beautiful! I was close to tears when I saw them emerged from the water. I've witnessed a whole lot of dolphins even the boatmen were impressed.

Our next stop - Virgin Island. I didn't expect that this island would be so beautiful. When we got there, we wanted to stay there forever! (Will post more about it in my travel blog.)

Haaaay, Bohol now tops our list as one of the places that we want to bring the kids. Hopefully we can do that by next year. (*wink*)

After a wonderful vacation, now I'm thinking what to do next. Because to tell you the truth, Hubby and I badly want to go back to Bohol. It was the most beautiful place we've ever been in the Philippines. We loved it there that we want to bring the kids to experience the white sand and crystal clear water, less the crowd and the late night parties. It was relaxing that we wanted to save up again for another trip hopefully next year. Now, I wonder what I should do to save up for that trip. We want it to be as comfortable as possible because of course the kids are with us. I have a a few options to choose from on how I can save. One is to buy a couple of gold coins then wait for the value to increase. I've read that US Gold Bureau offers gold and other precious metals. I can purchase a couple and I'm sure that in the next few months, the value will increase. I can withraw it by the time for our pocket money. My second option is to look for a part time job. But I don't think I can do that in a span of 3 to 5 months so I guess I will have to go with my first option. As for the trip, I'm pretty sure the kids will have a blast!

I can't believed I booked our Tagbilaran flight 7 months before the trip. Months flew by quickly that I was surprised we were already packing for the trip. We arrived at the airport around 6AM (thanks to Kuya Mike for bringing us).

We planned on leaving the kids to Manila so we can have a time off and have a major rest after not having a second Yaya for almost 6 months now. After all, we already brought them to HK Disneyland to celebrate our anniversary, right!? It is also a trip to celebrate my birthday. I looove traveling and this is sort of a gift for myself. (*grin*)

We arrived as scheduled in Tagbilaran airport (9:15AM) and met up with Mang Eloy (thanks to Abie for the reco) as our designated driver for the day. We went straight to the most popular tourist spot in Bohol - the Chocolate Hills.

After having to take 200++ steps, we were finally able to reach the top of one of the hills and had our picture taken.

Next stop, the man-made forest. It was so cool here and the trees look really amazing.

Kudos to the persons who made this possible. I was thinking, if every province would make an effort to create something like this, our country would be more beautiful than ever!

Next stop, the hanging bridge.

I remember my brother, sister and I would tie a rope in two trees and try to step on it and imagine it as a hanging bridge. This is when we were kids. But when I saw the bridge in this trip, I admit, I didn't want to proceed. I was so scared! LOL! If not for the pictures, I wouldn't go on. Worst is, Hubby was not with me because he wanted to take a picture of me from the other bridge. Look, how high it was!

On my way was pretty scary but on my way back was a little better. I can even pose and smile.

It was quite an adventure! It made me hungry! Good thing, our next stop is the Loboc River Cruise with lunch buffet.

The food was just so so but the view was nice. And we were entertained by the locals through singing and dancing.

Next stop, the tarsiers!

There were so cute that I wanted to bring them home. Take note that we are not allowed to touch them anymore unlike a few years back.

Next stop is the Baclayon Church. This is an old church but it is still beautiful!

Notice the face formed in the wall? Amazing, isn't it?

After buying a few souvenirs for the kids, we went to our last stop which is the Blood Compact Site.

Then, off we went to Panglao Island to look for a place we can stay for the night. Will post more on that soon. (*wink*)

Since we just got back from Bohol, I will post all of the things to be thankful for during our trip. :)

Happiness is...

1. Explored Bohol over the weekend, it was the best!
2. Dolphins - they were so beautiful they made me cry
3. Food, food, food!
4. Was able to relax and unwind and SLEEP!
5. Beautiful Amorita Resort
6. White sand and crystal clear water
7. Fresh seafoods for dinner
8. Virgin Island, it's amazing!
9. Breakfast buffet for two days
10. Garden Villa is LOVE! (*sigh*)

Thank you Lord for making the trip possible, for the wonderful Philippines, for blessing us with a wonderful country with so much natural resources, for allowing us to have a time off, for making our trip safe and uneventful, and for keeping the kids and my sister safe while we were away.

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Hubby and I are back from a short vacation that is. It was a much deserved vacation for the both of us. We were able to bond, rest, and enjoy each other's company. Yes, we didn't bring the kids along. It was fun. Being able to appreciate the simple life without the city life and not having to see steel buildings for 4 days and 3 nights. I don't have anything against city life and those huge buildings, I love it actually, but it's also nice to just lay low with the view of the beach, eat beach food, and swim for the whole day. It was perfect! Will definitely post more about it SOON!

A symptom of the modern economic miracle has been the proliferation of people reliant on cash advances for living their everyday lives. In this modern materialistic era, it would seem that social status is linked to material possessions, if all other things such as wealth and education are equal. This ideology has caused rampant consumer materialism, with the focus on getting everything here and now. Unfortunately the average consumer cannot support this lifestyle on his income, but with the material ideology reinforced every minute by the relentless marketing and advertising, his desire to ‘buy’ is never allowed to dampen.

Seeing a potential market worth billions, Banks jumped at the opportunity, issuing credit cards in their millions which allow cash advances from ATM’s dotted around most cities. The Banks have realized that the common consumer is willing to pay a portion of his future wealth, as an extra cost for having what he wants now. Hence cash advances became for Banks, a very profitable business, with some companies existing purely on cash advance, interest and fee basis, such as Capital One.

The proliferation of these very credit cards in a way started the economic boom that would last from early 2002 to late 2007. Consumers became used to the idea of buying now and paying it off later. The resultant spending spree meant that companies were making record profits as demand for everything soared, resulting in unprecedented increases in the production of material goods.

However living on multiple cash advances as a lifestyle means that sooner or later, the repayment catches up to you. Eventually its is the same income that has to support paying back all those credit and charge cards; where a slight change in interest rates could cause a substantial increase in the costs. As the modern consumer has lately realized to his detriment, it is not a sustainable lifestyle.

My kids are sucker for dogs. They looove dogs so much.

I remember one time they begged for me to buy one but I can't just say yes. There's a big responsibility in getting a dog. You need to provide the best for them by giving them a bath everyday, potty train them, and some would even provide Ruff Wear. It's not easy, I know. It's like having another child again. You have to take care of it.

What more for those Service Dogs or what they call Rescue Dogs? The PetJoyOnline.com that I've discovered a couple of days ago is a site that provide some stuff for service dogs. They offer Service Dog Vest for your dogs and other accessories like the Padded Dog Harness - Waterproof that is worth $43.50. It's not cheap but the price is better compared to other stores. But I guess it's worth it. Considering the service that your dog will provide, they would need full protection and the best accessories that you can give.

This is actually a good idea for my in-laws. I think they would need service dogs who will watch over their house. I'm sure they would be happy to know that there is already a website that specializes in this area. Will let them know about this as soon as I can.

As for my kids' pet dog? Oh well, maybe next time.

While I was lounging around the other day, I realized that I've been in the IT Industry for 10 years now. Not counting my 4 years of studying computer science in College. I've been loving my field and has appreciated it over the years. It's nice to be able to keep yourself updated with the latest technology and use it to build systems and websites. The latest gadgets are also to die for! Not to mention the latest computers and laptops.

When I discovered Portland computer repair, it caught my attention. They are in the market for years now. What I like about this company is that they are expert in removing viruses in the computer. That's one thing that I didn't like in my field. Battling with those unneccesary viruses that literally ruins your day. It eats up all your valuable files and you don't have a choice but to format your entire computer system.

Portland pc repair does these things for you. Making things easy. Doing the "dirty" stuff for you. That's what I love about them! You see, I've been an IT person for years now but I still can't handle the hardware part and the networking part. I'm the software kind of guy. I love programming and I've been doing it for years now. But I haven't really explored the hardware part of computers. Good thing Portland is there to help me. There are people who can't live without their computers. Just like me, I make a living with my computer and the internet. So it's pretty important that my computer is always, always in good condition. Thanks to Portland, I think that would be possible.

This is the reason why we need a bigger bed.

Or probably those adjustable beds will do. LOL! When the two little girls feel like jumping on our bed, they would do it like there's no tomorrow. It's scary, I tell you because Andie joins her Ate and copies whatever she is doing! These are the days that I want a bigger bed so at least when they jump, I can still have my corner of the bed and do whatever I like. I can read while they play or even rest too. The kids' energies these days are just unbelievable! But well, at least they are together and now appreciates each other. (*grin*)