Archive for November, 2009

I was roaming around Shangrila yesterday when I noticed that Kidz Station has several items on sale. I was broke but I know that I have to find a yoyo for Yona. They have no yoyos on sale so I scouted for more toys. I found imported art sets from Curiosity Kits. It was priced Php249.75 before but they slashed it down to Php50. I asked the sales girl if the contents are still intact, she assured me that it were. “Yung kahon lang mam, kasi medyo sira na.” Oh, no problem with me. After all, it was just a pasalubong for my little girl.

Anyhoo, I got three sets:

1. Tooth Fairy Pillow
2. Princess Wands
3. Make Believe Fantasy Fairy

I’ll discuss more of the second and third sets in my succeeding posts. Let me tell you something on the first art set that we opened, the Tooth Fairy Pillow.

Each set consists:
2-die cut white felt “tooth” pillow pieces
1-die cut pink felt pillow piece
1-2″x3″ self sticking black felt
1-5″ red yarn
1-plastic needle
1/4 oz. fiberfill
pattern sheet
tooth fact sheet
illustrated instructionsI let Yona sew the felt pieces using the plastic needle and the red yarn. She also got the chance to stick the black felt for the eyes and lips.

The finish product. A smiling tooth! =)

And a pillow pocket to hold the tooth!

Art materials: P50

Time spent with daughter: Priceless

I got a surprise chance to watch the premiere showing of New Moon today and the huge fan in me flipped with happiness! I am a huge Twilight fan and I must say that I love the books and the Twilight movie so I can not let go of the given opportunity to watch the premiere of its sequel.

First and foremost I will not compare the book against the movie. For me it’s too lame to expect that each scene in the book can ALL be seen in the movie. That’s crazy.

Second, I will not compare the Twilight movie against the New Moon movie.  Waste of time. Which one is better? Both are awesome in my honest opinion.  I’ll make a comparison after the Breaking Dawn (4th movie) is done.

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Rated: PG-13
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Nov 20, 2009  (World wide)
Synopsis: In the second installment of Stephenie Meyer’s TWILIGHT series, the romance between mortal and vampire soars to a new level as BELLA SWAN (Kristen Stewart) delves deeper into the mysteries of the supernatural world she yearns to become part of—only to find herself in greater peril than ever before. Following Bella’s ill-fated 18th birthday party, EDWARD CULLEN (Robert Pattinson) and his family abandon the town of Forks, Washington, in an effort to protect her from the dangers inherent in their world. As the heartbroken Bella sleepwalks through her senior year of high school, numb and alone, she discovers Edward’s image comes to her whenever she puts herself in jeopardy. Her desire to be with him at any cost leads her to take greater and greater risks. With the help of her childhood friend JACOB BLACK (Taylor Lautner), Bella refurbishes an old motorbike to carry her on her adventures. Bella’s frozen heart is gradually thawed by her budding relationship with Jacob, a member of the mysterious Quileute tribe, who has a supernatural secret of his own. When a chance encounter brings Bella face to face with a former nemesis, only the intervention of a pack of supernaturally large wolves saves her from a grisly fate, and the encounter makes it frighteningly clear that Bella is still in grave danger. In a race against the clock, Bella learns the secret of the Quileutes and Edward’s true motivation for leaving her. She also faces the prospect of a potentially deadly reunion with her beloved that is a far cry from the one she’d hoped for.
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning
Director: Chris Weitz

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So finally the most awaited sequel of the Twilight Saga is here! This book is more focused on the Jacob-Bella (friendly) love affair so I already expected that I won’t see much of Edward (and the rest of the Cullens) in the New Moon movie. But nevertheless, it was one hell of a movie and it is definitely worth watching!

You’ll be amazed at how the wolves shift from human to huge wolves and boy what a gorgeous wolf Jacob is! I’ve heard a lot of squeals when he removed his shirt for the first time. I must admit, I was one of them haha! I am no Jacob fan, no, never. But I must say that he really worked hard for his damn body.  His six-pack was so, hmmm, real. I was impressed, really.

And my Edward? Oh my Edward! I just hope that people will understand your reason for leaving Bella. They won’t until they read the book. And his looks? Hands down hotness! They have lessened the paleness of the vampires though. I don’t know, was it just the screen? I’m not sure. I swear I saw human pores on Edward’s face haha It should not be there right?

Bella is still Bella. The reason of my envy, the reason why Edward almost have himself killed by the Volturi. Aro was surprised why he could not see Bella’s thoughts but it was already in the 4th book when they knew what her power was called.  I love the Volterra, Italy scenes especially when Jane (Dakota Fanning – yes, she IS Jane, gorgeous and dangerous Jane) tried to use her powers (illusion of pain) on Bella. But surprise! surprise! She could not hurt Bella.

Would you believe this is Dakota Fanning now?

Another scene I love was when Bella asked the Cullens to vote on her transformation. Emmet  hugged Bella and I find it too sweet! Remember the scene in the book when Alice ‘kidnapped’ Bella and Rosalie poured her heart’s desires while Bella was in Edward’s room? She said her piece during this scene.

If there was one scene that did not please me at all, it was the scene where Edward and Bella were running in the woods. It was on Alice’s vision when she convinced Aro that Bella will soon become a vampire. It was too corny. I don’t know.

The visual effects of this movie were creatively and perfectly done and I must say, a lot were really pleased.

Afterall, it is Twilight’s sequel, it is New Moon so it’s definitely worth watching.

Now I can’t wait for the next movie, Eclipse!

Do you let your kids watch TV? I do.  I watch TV with her.

I am not one of those parents who are so praning when it comes to watching television. My daughter’s mornings are spent watching cartoons on TV5 and her afternoons are spent either playing on the computer or watching cartoons again. Of course this will change when she goes to school but now that she’s only busy during Tuesday and Friday for her Kumon classes, then I guess it is just okay for her to watch TV on non-Kumon days.

You might be wondering why I am not allowing her to play with kids in the neighborhood. Its just the two of us at home when her dad is at work so no one will look after her outside and I find it too unsafe to let her go out alone. So the TV is our bestfriend =)

One good thing about her is she loses interest on some shows that she just shuts it off immediately.  During those times she would grab her books or art materials to do her stuff. She’s one responsible TV buff.

But of course this is just me. I respect what other parents say about watching television. BUT the most important thing here is, I AM WITH HER when she watches TV and I explain the scenes to her if I find it too sensitive.

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According to Media Awareness in Canada, there are three areas of concern: Violence, Effects on Healthy Child Development and Sexual Content. This is worth reading:

Violence

Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct “cause and effect” link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.

Researchers have identified three potential responses to media violence in children:

Increased fear—also known as the “mean and scary world” syndrome
Children, particularly girls, are much more likely than adults to be portrayed as victims of violence on TV, and this can make them more afraid of the world around them.

Desensitization to real-life violence
Some of the most violent TV shows are children’s cartoons, in which violence is portrayed as humorous—and realistic consequences of violence are seldom shown.

Increased aggressive behaviour
This can be especially true of young children, who are more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviour after viewing violent TV shows or movies.
Parents should also pay close attention to what their children see in the news since studies have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and are better able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

Effects on healthy child development

Television can affect learning and school performance if it cuts into the time kids need for activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Most of children’s free time, especially during the early formative years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports.

TV viewing is a sedentary activity, and has been proven to be a significant factor in childhood obesity. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada almost one in four Canadian children, between seven and 12, is obese. Time spent in front of the TV is often at the expense of more active pastimes.

A Scientific American article entitled “Television Addiction” examined why children and adults may find it hard to turn their TVs off. According to researchers, viewers feel an instant sense of relaxation when they start to watch TV—but that feeling disappears just as quickly when the box is turned off. While people generally feel more energized after playing sports or engaging in hobbies, after watching TV they usually feel depleted of energy. According to the article “this is the irony of TV: people watch a great deal longer than they plan to, even though prolonged viewing is less rewarding.”

As well as encouraging a sedentary lifestyle, television can also contribute to childhood obesity by aggressively marketing junk food to young audiences. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, most food advertising on children’s TV shows is for fast foods, candy and pre-sweetened cereals. Commercials for healthy food make up only 4 per cent of those shown.

A lot of money goes into making ads that are successful in influencing consumer behaviour. McDonald’s, the largest food advertiser on TV, reportedly spent $500 million on their “We love to see you smile” ad campaign.

Sexual content

Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images in all media—television, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the Internet. Parents are often concerned about whether these messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for educating young people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned or dealt with in a meaningful way in programs containing sexual content.

According to a 2001 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, entitled Sex on TV, three out of four prime time shows contain sexual references. Situation comedies top the list: 84 per cent contain sexual content. Of the shows with sexual content, only one in ten included references to safe sex, or the possible risks or responsibilities of sex. In shows that portrayed teens in sexual situations, only 17 per cent contained messages about safe and responsible sex.

…is such a bad idea. Malls are crowded on weekends especially now that’s it is almost Christmas.

I don’t normally bring her to malls on weekends because of so many reasons but we were about to meet my in-laws so I brought her to MOA after lunch. As expected there were a lot of people, shoppers and non-shoppers alike were crowding the activity area of SM Mall of Asia. Kris Aquino was launching her album with Baby Jackson (Baby James’ new name! haha) that same day so there were so many fans all waiting for Krissy.

To steer clear of the crowd I brought Yona to Bread Talk so we can buy her favorite bread and so she can at least run around. At least there were fewer people there

Under the huge Christmas Tree

“I want to be a model, mom!”
Eating her favorite bread @ Bread Talk

My favorite is Cheese Floss – yummy!

How about you, what did you do this weekend?

I am a huge World Chicken fan but this is my first time to review them.

World Chicken serves chicken in a unique way at very competitive prices.  You get to create your own platter in three simple steps:

Step 1:  You choose the number of sidings for your order.

One siding at P132 and two sidings at P159.

Step 2: Choose the World Chicken sauce for your freshly grilled boneless chicken.

Sauce choices: Farm fresh Mushroom, Brown  Gravy, Mornay Cheese, Sweet Chili Sauce, Tarragon, Ranch BBQ, Corn and Mushroom, Teriyaki

Step 3: Choose your sidings.

Sidings  choices: Bacon Fried Rice, Spaghetti Pomodoro, Fettuccini Al Tono, Pesto Pasta, Asian Noodle, Mashed Potato, Espanol Rice, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Cheese Muffin, Fried Banana, Garlic Rice, Plain Rice

My World Chicken meal: Chicken with Ranch BBQ sauce, Pesto Pasta and Mash Potato

Drinks costs P28 – P45 and extra rice P45.

World Chicken
Glorietta 4 Food Court
Gateway Food Court
SM Mall of Asia

I am happy that finally unsigned Filipino talents are now given a fair chance to showcase their work through MTV Emerge. Thumbs up to MTV, Jeepney Music, and Department of Tourism collaboration!

MTV Emerge is not just a platform where music talents of various genres can show their talents but it is also an online music community where you can find authentic Filipino talents and their songs.

Of the many entries on MTV Emerge, I particularly like Broken by NewModern. I love the composition and how they sang it. They deserve to get all the votes they have so far.

I am encouraging everyone to support local talents by VOTING for your favorites @ MTV Emerge. You can vote every track every entry every 5 minutes. Let us all support them and help them!

VOTE NOW!!!!

7  lucky winners will be given the following:
1. One-year contract with Jeepney Music
2. Mentorship from Apl de Ap

The contract includes artist management and promotion, digital distribution of 3 – 6 songs and a strategic marketing plan for the signed artists to break into both the Philippines and international markets.

Get to see the  lucky winners perform live on November 27 at SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.

Jeepney Music is a record label created by Apl de Ap himself as his way to give back to the Philippines and the globe. Department of Tourism on the other hand, is a Philippine government agency responsible for encouraging, promoting and developing tourism as a major socio-economic activity, spreading its benefits to sectors of society.

VOTE NOW!!!

My daughter is 4 and she’s a picky eater. Choosing the right food for her is always a challenge for me because I am not a kitchen guru. But unlike most who prefers to eat processed foods as an alternative to fresh ones, I really try to cook  for us.

I cook the usual Filipino recipes everyday, sinigang, nilaga, adobo to name a few and my Bisayan Adobo is always a winner. I’ve thought of ways to improve my recipe and since my daughter is a adobo lover and is a fan of cheese recipes, I thought “Why not Cheesy Bisayan Adobo?”

Cheesy Bisayan Adobo*

Ingredients:
pork spareribs
garlic
onion
olive oil
soy sauce
vinegar
mayonnaise
Kraft Eden Melt Sarap cheese

Procedure:
Sautee the onion and garlic until golden brown. Put the pork spareribs, soy sauce and vinegar. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until the pork is tender. Put mayonnaise. Mix until the mayonnaise has seeped in.

Put slices of Kraft Eden Melt Sarap cheese and let it melt before serving. Sarap!

(this is the minimalist version of adobo, it is cheap but sure winner!)

*Bisayan adobo by the way is the dry version of the tagalog adobo. Notice also that I did not put any measurements on the ingredients, it’s because I don’t use one. =)

This DECEMBER 14, mommies and kitchen lovers alike will work hand in hand to attempt BREAK A WORLD RECORD to cheesify Filipino dishes.  Got your own cheesey recipe to share? Submit them now and BE PART OF HISTORY!

Submit your own recipes at www.sarapngbuhay.com. Yumm goodies will be given to those who participate. Cool!

Posted this last week but my database got corrupted so here I go again.

This post is about me being fooled by Paying Post. I’ve been lured into thinking that Paying Post has changed and will eventually pay me.

I’ve been writing for them for several months now and as a newbie in paid blogging I eagerly took opportunities from them hoping that I would reach their previous payout threshold of $50. Stupid me.

1. They increased their payout threshold to $100 WITHOUT informing their bloggers.

Yes, no emails, no notifications. I just shrugged about it and continued writing for them.

2. They changed their name from Payingpost.com to Blogadvertisingstore.com AGAIN, WITHOUT informing their bloggers.

Silly but I just shrugged it off again DESPITE all the blogs my co-bloggers have written against them. I was wrong into thinking that theirs was a rare case scenario, that I’d be paid once I reach the threshold.

Last month my payment reached MORE than their minimum payout so I expected payment on the first week of November 2009.

The first week is over, I sent several mails and left messages on their website BUT never did I receive ANY response.

I worked HARD for these posts and SUBMITTED it ON TIME so it’s just fair that I receive what’s due to me ON TIME, right?

Come on PAYING POST, PAY ME NOW!!!

>>>PLEASE CHECK THIS UPDATE<<<

Couples only get married once so more often than not, they will really put all their savings and effort to come up with a wedding that they, including their visitors will never forget – a very unique wedding.

Uniqueness starts from the invites, type of wedding, reception, cake, food, to the bridal gown – but it does not end there. Couples take time to screen photographers and choose the BEST one to capture their precious moments. But the trickiest part is to find the BEST wedding videographer in the Philippines. Couples will need the best services at prices they can afford. Videos are very important in every special event so how it is taken and choreographed will make a great impact on those special memories.

My best friend is getting married next year so in our search for the videographer capable of making the most unique wedding video in the Philippines, we came across Buddy Gancenia’s website – he is the only videographer to offer wedding videography services in reality wedding video style. Quite unique, huh? Just imagine your whole wedding preparations and the event itself being made into a documentary. Simply amazing.

Gone are the days when traditional music video-style production are used. Couples nowadays prefer something more personal, a video just made for them. Here’s a sample video:

Famous Filipino Wedding: Art Lomibao and Jacky Tiu

It’s like in the league of the best video for wedding, Buddy Gancenia tops the list.

Buddy Gancenia is a corporate, events, and wedding videographer.

Check out his site. I’ll post more of him after we finalize the wedding plans.

For someone who lives in an area with a very wonky internet connection, to have a backup broadband is the only option unless I want to stress myself by visiting the nearest mall for free wi-fi.

I gave my other broadband stick to my husband because I am planning to get Globe Tattoo Broadband. To free myself from all the hassles I encountered using my other broadband stick, like it eats up a lot of my load and very, very slow connection, I searched for some answers online and found the following tips from DigitalFilipino on how to maximize my Globe Tattoo load.

1. It is given that the quality of internet connection depends on one’s location BUT you can do something about it. Let your Globe Tattoo search for 3G preferred network so you can get the best possible connection. To do this you can go to your Globe Tattoo Connections Menu by clicking Tools Tab > Options > Network > 3G.

2. With Globe Tattoo you have the option to set your browsing preference to Time-Based or kb-Based. Both have pros and cons so your browsing preference should depend on what you will do.

Time-based Charging - use this when you surf the net and use applications (like Facebook!) that connect to the net, or when you are uploading and downloading photos.

kb-based Charging – use this option if your activities only include email sending, browsing, instant messaging and other applications such as RSS feeds.

On my case I am more into sending mails so I’d do well with kb-based charging.

Moving on, Globe Tattoo brings out the youth in me. To be honest, I love how they designed Globe Tattoo Broadband New Skins. There are a lot of new designs so you will really find something that suits your style. It’s like putting personality on my Globe Tattoo.

Here’s the best part.

If you think you have the talent and the ability to design your own Globe Tattoo skin, then by all means make one! Just upload it to Globe Tattoo Broadband Gallery. Who knows you might win Php5,000 and have your design included in Globe Tattoo Broadband skin collection.

Try these tips today and save much on Globe Tattoo load!