Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I don't like Videoke

WARNING: This is a rant so if you dont like to hear it skip this.

My sudden dislike of Videoke came up when I realized it induces alcohol intake to men. Have you notice yet? Singing of songs at the videoke is correlated to the number of beer they consume. They think they sing better when they're drunk. Which is for me the most lame excuse to drink.

Videoke - the one you rent for 500 pesos or more during peak season got super loud decibel, you can sing and let the whole village hear your altonado voice - creeps. Sometimes people think that because there's an occasion you can just sing your heart out not minding if your neighbors are dying from heart attack because they couldnt stomach the way you sing. And even if you sing nice, your neighbor might just want to spend their weekend silently - peacefully. It would have been okay if you have a soundproof room that way you wouldnt have to bother other peeps from their slumber. But behold, here in the province - people can rent a Videoke and let their neigbors suffer.

I need to clarify that I think Videoke can be cool, it could if used privately. I dont think a person has the right to ruin ones soundwaves just as no one has the right to pollute ones air. Its okay to have a great time just dont torture others with your My My My Delilah song. Ayayay

And because Christmastime is soooo very near I bet Videoke will abound more. Got to keep my cool because I do live in the province where people arent sensitive enough to other people's privacy.

Before I end my post, not very related but here it goes, please answer why do people drink on Christmas? Dont tell me they are celebrating the savior's birth because I will have to slap their face. Come on, wake up man, if it's your birthday drink for all I care but Christmas is not your day. Cant they do something meaningful rather than poisoning oneself? Is celebrating for you the same as drinking? Crap.

I need to be loving and patient and kind but I also need to let this out. So bear with me.

Breathe in, breathe out. Ciao.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Countries that dont need a Visa from Pinoys

I happen to line up at the check in counter beside a group of yuppies going to Singapore. Suddenly the counter girl asked the guy este gay assisting me if SG requires a Visa for Pinoys, I almost laugh for how can she not know? Then this guy naman added some more info that made me want to raise my eyebrows , he said you would only need visa for Japan, Korea, China ok na until he said Macau. He's still reviewing my docs so I just smiled and said "uhuh".
So here's the list of countries/territories that dont require visa:
thank you yahoo answers
- Africa Countries and Territories
Burkina Faso - 3-month visa issued upon arrival for XOF10,000
Burundi - visa issued upon arrival
Cape Verde - visa issued upon arrival
Comoros - visa issued upon arrival
Djibouti - 10-day visa issued upon arrival for DJF3,000; 1-month visa issued upon arrival for DJF5,000
Egypt (South Sinai only) - 14-day visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Kenya - 3-month visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Madagascar - 90-day visa issued upon arrival for MGA28,000
Morocco - 3 months
Mozambique - 30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$25
Niger - 1-month visa issued upon arrival for XOF25,000
Saint Helena - visa issued upon arrival
Seychelles - 1 month
Tanzania - visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Togo - 7-day visa issued upon arrival
Uganda - 6-month visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Zambia - visa issued upon arrival for US$25 (single), US$40 (double), and US$80 (multiple)

Asia Countries and Territories
ASEAN
Brunei Darussalam - 14 days
Cambodia - 21 days
Indonesia - 30 days
Laos - 30 days
Malaysia - 1 month
Singapore - 30 days
Thailand - 30 days
Vietnam - 21 days
Non-ASEAN
Bangladesh - 90-day visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Hong Kong - 14 days
Iran - 17-day visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Israel - 3 months
South Korea (Jeju Island only) - 30 days
Macau - 30 days
Maldives - 30-day visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Mongolia - 21 days
Nepal - 60-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30
Sri Lanka - 30 days
Timor-Leste - 30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30

Europe
Countries and Territories
Armenia - 21-day visa issued upon arrival for US$30
Azerbaijan - 30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$100
Georgia - 3 month visa issued on arrival for US$10 ~ US$200

Oceania Countries and Territories
Cook Islands - 31 days
Fiji - 6-month Visitor's Permit issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Marshall Islands - 30-day visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Federated States of Micronesia - 30 days
Niue - 30 days
Palau - 30-day visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Samoa - 60-day Visitor's Permit issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Tuvalu - 1-month visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Vanuatu - 30 days

North America Countries and Territories
Bermuda - 6 months
Costa Rica - 30 days
Dominica - 21 days
Haiti - 3 months
Saint Kitts and Nevis - 14 days
Saint Lucia - 6-week visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 1 month
Turks and Caicos Islands - 30 days

South America Countries and Territories
Bolivia - 59 days
Brazil - 90 days
Colombia - 90 days
Ecuador - 90 days
Peru - 90 days
Suriname - 120 days

Ang dami di ba, actually I'm quite surprised to see a lot of countries that dont require a visa - we're still blessed.
They might require Visa for France - elusive Paris, for US - New York New York, for Japan - Arigato :) but hey we can still go to Machu Picchu or Rio de Janeiro or to Azerbaijan hahaha I happen to read this country only today or if I've read it before I cant remember super walang recall ang name nya haha!
So dont fret people of the Philippines there's still quite a number of countries we could go without having to line up, or worse pay, for a visa.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Holiday Decorations

For Filipino homes Christmas decorations usually start after All Saints Day!

Hubby setup the tree last Saturday I put up the flowers but it looks boring without Christmas balls so come Tuesday I bought some more decors, swag of "plastic" leaves P75 each and some christmas balls. Since its market day i bought a box of 30 balls with shiny strings for the tree and a star for only 250 pesos - a bargain because it has a Rustan's tag price worth P750 :)

I put the swag at the stairs added some ribbons and balls. VOILA

The tree is a cheap at P1500, bought at Red Camia Apalit! Need not put Christmas lights because the leaves light up on its own when u plug it. The same tree at SM costs around 5k - 7k.
I wanted to buy a wreath but it is P110 so I just bought the swag and made a wreath out of it,bigger pa for only 75! The "Merry Christmas" sign is P50!

Total cost for the decorations is P2,300. With that I am absolutely happy.

Merry Christmas everyone and happy decorating :D

Cheers,
Nyem

Saturday, November 19, 2011

House Construction - Permits

Yay! I did find the "Permits" post I wrote before hubby reformatted my laptop. Virus virus go away. I find it hard to find my files every time "rouge" (laptop's name) gets reformatted. I dont know where did the bug came from maybe when someone shared her usb, nahiya ako magdecline - lesson learned the hard way.

So here it is :)

House Construction Part4 – Permits

You will need a building permit before you can start the construction. Assuming all the revisions have been polished, you can now get the necessary permits to build your dreamhouse! But one cannot just go to the municipal or city hall to get one, you need to prepare the requirements - mind you our dear Philippines has loads of requirements :)

1. Barangay Permit to Construct – (note for Abby – for La Res you need to know where your lot is located ours is in baranggay Balite, others are from baranggay Pio Cruzcoza and baranggay San Marcos)

2. 7 copies of your Blueprint – 2 for zoning permit, 1 for fire department and 4 for the Engineer’s office, Again you’ll need 10 copies usually they will give you 7 only but you’ll need more if you are going to get a loan, 1 will be used by your foreman and you’ll need to save copy too. I suggest you buy the long paper container engineer’s use, I don’t know the name, it is cylindrical made of plastic and usually comes in black color – you’ll put your copy here so that it won’t fade easily.

3. 3 copies each of vicinity and location map

4. 5 green long expandable folders – at least that’s for Calumpit municipal hall year 2011, next year it will change again.

5. 7 copies of Bill of Materials and Bill of Specifications

6. FALAR – I forgot what it stands for but its Fire eclavu

7. Photocopies of PRC ID’s of your Civil, Electrical, Sanitary and Structural Engineers

8. Title of the lot - on your name

Before you ask someone to draw the plan, ask him if he will process the permits if not ask for his help - he should be willing to take you to the office because he’s more familiar with those things. Also ask if the corresponding fees are included in the contract.

Took me 2 weeks before the permits were released I made sure to bring all the requirements before I went there.

So that's it, I hope this will help you prepare for your dreamhouse goverment permits.

For those in the subdivisions:
After you get the govt permits you need to go to your subdivision admin to deposit a bond for the construction permit. Ours is 25k, refundable thats if you did not wreck anything during the construction.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My Althea Keys

She took my phone again and asked mommy to go to music then she chose "NO ONE" by Alicia Keys, her new flavor of the month after her monthlong romance with "PRICETAG" - yes she did love that song. Thea will play them over and over until we all memorize the line, thank God for the repeat mode otherwise we'll have to hold the phone and put it back to the favorite song.

Back to "No One" song: Last October 30, she sang "No one, No One, No Onehahahah" but never did she repeat it even with much prodding. Last night though was different, she was reading a book when suddenly she started singing

"No One, No Two, No Twi, No Fo, No Fay, No Sic, No Semen (hehe), No Ayt, No Nine, No Ten"


Dear Althea Keys,

No one not even Ten can take us away from what we feel for you.

Love Mommy and Daddy

She got bitten by an ant but that wouldnt stop her and mommy from a photoshoot! Thanks Tita Mai for the pretty terno she soooo love!





additional pic: "BEFORE"
as requested, yan lang ang nakascan dont know kung nasan yung iba

Friday, November 04, 2011

What Blessed Means

Blessed means celebrating Thea's 3rd birthday with family and friends! I meant for all of us to just dine together and just decorate the house to turn it to a happy mood but it felt like I threw a party! I put up a Backyardigans tarpaulin not the usual Happy Birthday banner just because I knew Thea would prefer to have Pablo, Uniqua, Tyron, Tasha and Austin's picture over hers. I also setup the tunnel and tent set I bought for her months ago so other kids can play there too, it was a hit!


Blessed means seeing the smile on the little girl's face when she rides the swing - our gift for her this year. It brought smiles even laughter to other kids too, the only contingency is the bermuda that went bald after the whole day activity, hehe. Grass lang yun we can buy sacks of it but we cannot buy the laughter that gift brought to many of the birthday girl's guest aka cousins.


Blessed means having to sleep at your own home. Super thanky Papa God for this blessing. This is a major thing for Alvin and I! He worked hard for this and I prayed hard for it hehe, nice combination huh! Seriously, it really feels great to have a place of your own and though the moving in phase is not yet over we already feel that this house is our HOME!

Blessed means spending the holidays with the bestest people! Hubby has been busy with all the work and has been spending a lot of time in the office. He's been coming home late because he needs to finish some urgent project. Thank you Lord for the holidays. How long was it? 4 straight days right? Awesome awesome looong weekend. Next week ulit!!!

Blessed means having your family around you! It was my eldest sister's birthday the day after Thea's, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATE MAI! We had a great time bonding, so fun that when they have to leave our house the little girl cried 'WIYAW" meaning 'ayaw' aaaaw she didnt want them to leave our house, sweeet :D

Blessed means reading good news about the stocks exchange when you've been reading low dow jones for some time err months :D

Blessed means receiving a big news from the abode of peace! We have been praying about it for quite a while and finally a development comes and we are happy and thankful and awed by the God's provision.

Blessed means talking to the Speech Therapist and hearing great news!

Blessed means seeing circles and squares and triangles in Thea's coloring book. Hearing her sing Alicia Keys "No One, No One, No Onehahahan" and High Five's version of Happy Happy Birthday!

Blessed means celebrating your fourth year with the person you most love! Having breakfast date at the lobby of his office building hehe! Plus receiving a bunch of roses, "Best of Me" and "The Last Olympian" (with american cover this time coz my first copy has England cover and it doesnt match with others - nagexplain?) books :)


Have another blessed loong weekend everyone!

Blessed and Loved,
Nyem

verse of the day