Dec 9, 2009
My friend who owns Tabemasho is actually proud to tell me that she uses the finest ingredients to make takoyaki balls, you can actually see the main ingredient tako while her sauce and toppings are really japanese tasting. I really can attest to that claim. Actually I had to try the other takoyaki balls seller at the World Bazaar which is MUSASHI to make a good comparison and I can really tell the big difference, aside from their price which is more expensive by 15 pesos, well maybe because the size of their balls are bigger, it has more batter but less filling. My unbias verdict, TABEMASHO tasted and priced better!
Anyway, if your a takoyaki balls lover, try them both at the World Bazaar and make your choice.
Dec 5, 2009
PRIZES AS FOLLOWS :
♥First Prize♥
-Pink Camisole by AVON (worn by Reese Witherspoon in the picture)
-AVON Lovely in Pink Eau de Toilette Spray
-AVON Lovely in Pink Purse Concentrate
-3 months 125 X 125 ad space
♥Second Prize♥
-Photo Frame Alarm Clock
-Pantene 3-Minute Miracle (6 pcs)
-2 months 125 X 125 ad space
♥Third Prize♥
-Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings
-Pond's Whitening Cream
-Pond's Facial Wash
-1 month 125 X 125 ad space
♥To join, simply do these♥
-Follow utotmopink.com
-Add utotmopink.com to your blogroll and or link list
-Grab utotmopink.com button/badge to you sidebar
-Blog about this contest by posting the giveaway image & answering the following questions:
a. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? If yes, write about it.
BAGS
d. What is your favorite sleepwear?
PAJAMAS
e. I joined this contest because_______________.
Aside from the giveaways, I wanted to support a friend from the blogesphere who's celebrating her 2nd year. CONGRATS sis!!!
♥This giveaway is open internationally♥
♥The owner of my MOST FAVORITE BLOG wins the 1st prize♥
♥The blogger with the MOST CREATIVE POST will get the 2nd prize♥
♥The COOLEST COMMENTER will receive the 3rd prize♥
♥Winners will be notified through email♥
♥Contest ends before the clock hits 12 on December 31, 2009♥
---------------
I'm tagging everyone interested to join the FUN!!!!
I'm trying now this screen capture software to do the job for me. It's features looks promising. No need to crop or edit the image you wanted to appear. You can take snapshots of exactly what you need with just a click. Check it out!
Screen Capture Software
Try it for FREE
Dec 1, 2009
Here's a screen shot of my new blog, just click on it to visit. I'm still halfway through the process though and needs more time to do a lot of tweaks and hacks to improve my layout and make its presence felt to search engines. This process is very challenging for a noob like me in the realm of web designing and search engine optimization. In the meantime, I hope you can drop by my new space while I'm still working on my new entries, and if you happen to like it, following Shie Went To Town would be great and you'll see me returning the favor! ..... SEE YOU THERE!!!
Nov 30, 2009
Go here to perform the steps and register your entry - I Want Whooga Ugg Boots
Nov 23, 2009
I'll be back on Thursday, hopefully bringing with me interesting stories and a wonderful experience. Till next, praying for a safe trip and a good weather while looking forward to this sight ....
Nov 16, 2009
I haven't tried traveling alone for pleasure but I've done so on a business trip. I guess there's a big difference! When your on a pleasure trip alone, picture taking, getting lost in directions and in translation and eating by yourself would be the biggest challenge but the chances of meeting new friends are higher and the sense of accomplishment is bigger, so I guess it isn't bad at all. Actually, I admire those solo backpackers who can go on trips abroad, came back as a better person and truly have a blast, that's really a feat worthy to be proud of, a challenge I would like to do anytime soon but would require a lot of preparation and I think I'm not yet equipped to go this soon. Well, there's still a chance that I won't be traveling by myself yet, my cousin is on her way to process her visa tomorrow after a week of gathering the required documents and hopefully she'll get the approval within this week so we can schedule the trip before my visa expires! Yey, there's still hope, crossing my fingers :D
Nov 10, 2009
Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king,lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants,and less of food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's-- Energy, Enthusiasm & Empathy!
5. Make time for prayer.
6. Play more games!
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for at least 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day----and while you walk,smile!
Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo ; keep to your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does!
15. Don't waste your precious energy on idle gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear & fade away like Algebra class,but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more!
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Community:
25. Call your family more often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day!
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
32. Do the right things.
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything...
35. However good or bad a situation is,it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up!
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your innermost self is always happy.So,be happy!
Last but not the least :
40. Do forward this to everyone you care about... .
Oct 26, 2009
Let us show our support by voting for our HERO. We can cast our votes multiple times, so lets start now!!!
Oct 25, 2009
He can fool the slum settlers of Tondo with all his charms and promises but not us. Let us all join hands once again and show him that Filipinos are not stupid to elect to the highest office again a convicted plunderer and a morally inept person.
Let us STOP ERAP FROM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT!!! Join this group and make a statement! Just click the image to lead you to the Facebook group.
Oct 23, 2009
Ella wrote on her (now blocked) blog: (her blog was ellaganda.com and it is now blocked)
Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo? (A special report from a volunteer)
Oct 21st, 2009 by ella
Dear friends,
I’m asking your help to spread the word. Tulungan po ninyo akong ikalat ito. Beyond this, we should also demand action. I disabled a plugin so you can copy the photos of relief goods rotting in DSWD warehouses. You can link this post to your blogs, facebook, websites etc. You can also email the photos.
Philippine News (US based Philippine newspaper) will use this as its front page story this week. Every Filipino has the right to know where the tons of donations from the UN and other counties go. Kahit po nakakahiya sa mga nag-donate. Kung sa ganitong paraan, matutulungan natin ang mga nasalanta, then by all means, let’s do it.
For those who have the time, please try to volunteer sa DSWD warehouses. Getting in was not easy. A friend had to put in a word for us. Let’s see kung madali nang makapasok sa DSWD warehouse ang mga volunteers.
Please read on and good luck to us.
Ella
(This post was last edited Oct 22, 12:30 pm)
Kahapon, tinanong ng Philippine News si DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral:
Editor of Philippine News: Why are the relief goods in DSWD warehouses not moving?
DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral: Wala kasing volunteers.
This short interview was done over the phone. Philippine News wanted to hear her side pero ayaw niyang makipag-usap sa press. After four tries, pinasabi na lang niya ang maikling sagot na ito sa secretary niya - “Walang volunteers”.
I don’t want to accuse her of corruption but at the very least she is showing signs of being totally incompetent. We are in a state of calamity where every second counts. May namamatay araw-araw dahil sa sakit.
In my opinion, these deaths could have been prevented if Secretary Cabral had tried a little harder to do her job.
Deaths from Philippine storms nears 1,000
“Tropical Storm Ketsana left 420 dead and 37 missing when it flooded 80 percent of Manila on September 26, a disaster the government said affected 4.35 million people.
Some areas are still flooded three weeks later and 189,000 people remain in evacuation centres,
Typhoon Parma hit the northern Philippines on October 3 and lingered as a tropical storm for a week, triggering landslides that killed 438 people and leaving 51 missing mostly in mountain communities.
The government agency said Parma affected 4.16 million people, including more than 32,000 who remain at evacuation centres.”
During the first week after the storm, lumabas ang “bayanihan spirit” ng mga Pinoy. “Makatulong lang kahi’t konti,” katwiran nila.
kung walang volunteers, ano ‘to, komiks?
From Stella Arnaldo’s blog:
At the Tulong Bayan center at the Expo Centro in Cubao, Most of the volunteers were adolescents as young as 10 years old, along with their kuya or ate in high school and college.
Photos by Leah Navarro
GMA asked world for donations
Our government begged the world for more donations. Sumagot ang buong mundo sa ating panawagan. In less than three weeks, dumaong ang mga barko, ibinaba mula sa mga cargo planes, i-diniliver ng mga trak at container vans ang sandamakmak na relief goods. Cash donations were in the millions of dollars.
But these donations must be coursed through DSWD
Nagpalabas ng directive ang pangulo. Individuals, private companies and other nations were ENCOURAGED to send their donations to DSWD. I blogged about it here and the video of her announcement here.
This PGMA directive sounded suspicious to me then. Now I know why. Here’s the story.
A group of eight people, your ate Ella included, went to one of DSWD warehouses to help in repacking relief goods. We know they need volunteers pero hindi namin akalaing WALANG TAO TALAGA SA LOOB NG WAREHOUSE!
As in sa isang humongous warehouse (1000++ sq.m) NA PUNONG-PUNO NG RELIEF GOODS HANGGANG BUBONG, ISANG DSWD employee lang at ISANG SECURITY GUARD ang tao!!
Kailangang magpa-register at i-schedule ang volunteering
1) UNICEF Registration (as a volunteer)
The warehouse can only take as much as 50 volunteers at a time or per shift. Here you will find that there is a 4-hour shift, and an option for a 6-hour shift for the volunteers to indicate their availability.
What “volunteers”? Nasaan?
Aside from the 8 of us? Nope, there was nobody there. Bakit kailangan ang scheduling? Feeling hindi ba magkamayaw at nagu-unahan ang mga volunteers?
I know somebody who wanted to volunteer many times. She was always bumped off, laging nirere-schedule kasi “there were too many volunteers” daw. At tuwing Sunday lang daw puwede. What the hell is going on here?
Nakatambak ang donations ng UNICEF sa warehouse, local and international
Mga banig na dapat ay nahihigaan ng mga nasalanta. Mga imported camp beds na hindi na yata masisilayan ng mga biktima. Mga kumot na hindi naman nakabalot sa katawan nila. At mga pagkaing hindi sumasayad sa sikmura nila.
The relief goods are not going anywhere
We arrived at about 8 am and left by midafternoon and yes, you guessed it right. Kami pa rin ang tao bukod sa isang DSWD employee sa loob ng warehouse maghapon. Walang ibang dumating.
The relief goods are not moving. By the way things look, they are not going anywhere. Hindi maglalakad mag-isa ang mga donations na ito papunta sa mga evacuation centers.
LET THE PICTURES DO THE TALKING
Note: Pinagbawalan kaming kumuha ng pictures sa loob ng warehouse. I wonder why.
“Not a creature was moving, not even a mouse.”
Parang haunted warehouse ang dating. May multo na yata.
Kahit na daig pa ang tindahan sa Divisoria sa dami ng naka-stack na kaldero
At walang katapusang kaldero pa ulit
Kahit halos natakpan na ang mga bintana sa dami ng mga kahon
Kahit umabot na hanggang kisame ang stack ng mga kahon
(Close up ng Coleman camp beds sa previous photo) Hindi ito kasama sa ni-repack naming goods. Para sa mga “special victims” kaya ito? Ire-repack kaya ang mga “imported” camp pads na ito ever?
Sabagay, may BANIG naman para sa “ordinary victims”. Ito ang kasama sa inimpake namin. Sayang ‘yung imported.
Mahiwagang mga kahon from Japan Aid.
Marami ito, mga laruang kasinlaki ng tao. Hindi nakunan ng pic kasi nasa tabi ng sikyo.
Naaah! “Imported” pork and beans from Spain po ito. Sorry, hindi pa rin included
Now let’s take a look at what a victim will get from DSWD
Look Ma, sampung lata ng sardinas! How generous! Kaldero ang unang ilalagay sa sako. Sabong panglaba (bar soap) at sampung sardinas sa ilalim. Siyam na sabon sa gilid ng kaldero. Local goods lahat syempre.
Tapos papatungan ng isang tuwalya at isang pack ng sanitary napkin.
Sisiksikan ng tatlong rolyo ng kumot(?) ang blue water jug tapos ipapatong sa kaldero sa loob ng sako.
Last but not the least, lalagyan ng dalawang banig.
YOU THINK?? WTF is the matter with these people? Mag-iisang buwan na mula nang masalanta ang mga kababayan natin. ISANG BUWAN!! Do you mean “do not delay ang dati nang delayed”?? Shet.
Anong ginagawa ng mga donations na ito sa warehouse?? APAT na warehouse ang nasa loob ng compound na ‘yon! APAT na warehouse na punong-puno ng inaalikabok na relief goods! Relief goods na ayaw yata ibigay sa mga nasalanta. Halatang-halata.
Marami pang pabubulukin
“The first of two of the largest high-energy food shipments from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) arrived in the country two days ago for victims of storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng.”
The biscuits were fortified with essential vitamins and minerals for supplementary feeding to children, pregnant women and the elderly in evacuation camps. Another 100 tons of biscuits will arrive on Oct. 24, in a continuing effort to provide food assistance to flood victims.
Sige, ideretso ‘nyo ulit ‘yan sa DSWD warehouse. Para AMAG naman ang abutin ng biskwit… at sapot ng gagamba.
Conclusion
Sa maghapon namin sa warehouse,nakagawa kami ng 150 sacks of relief goods. 150 bags of relief goods lang ang lumabas sa warehouse na ‘yon that day. At nandoon pa rin sa loob ang mga imported relief goods, safe, sound and packed as the day they arrived.
Nakisakay kami palabas sa isang DSWD delivery van. Gusto sana kaming ihatid ng driver hanggang Makati pero wala raw siyang sobrang gasolina. Ibinaba na lang niya kami sa gitna ng EDSA. Millions of dollars in donations, walang extrang pang-gasolina.
Susulpot din siguro ang laman ng mga mahiwagang kahon at mapapasakamay din ng mga tao…sa ARAW NG ELEKSYON. O mabibili na nila ang mga imported goods na ‘yon sa mga puwesto sa Quiapo at Divisoria.
Suggestions lang po sa DSWD:
You are the government. You have the power, the resources and the money. You just have to really care.
Oct 18, 2009
Oct 8, 2009
You Are a Romantic |
You have the mind of an artist, even if you haven't developed the talent yet. Expressive and aware, you enjoy finding new ways to share your feelings. You often feel like you don't fit in - especially in traditional environments. You have big dreams. The problem is putting those dreams into action. Your strength: Your vivid imagination Your weakness: Fear of failure Your power color: Coral Your power symbol: Oval Your power month: November |
I'm tagging everyone on my bloglist located on my right side bar. Just grab it peeps :D
Oct 4, 2009
It was one lazy rainy Saturday morning, the bed weather is very inviting so I woke up later than the usual. Everything started normal, went down and drank a glass of water, went online, posted a 1 day late blog entry for my fix it friday meme, check my email, and updated my Facebook account with the status "Ondoy Ondoy Go Away!!!" and then went down again to make some coffee. Outside our house, the flood water was rising, and after a while, we felt that the water was slowly seeping inside the corners of our house. My sister then started removing things from the floor, then we lifted up some appliances and placed it on higher ground except for the huge refrigerator that obviously we can't lift. My father just had a cataract operation last Friday, so the work was left to my sister, me and my mom.
It was probably 10 years ago when flood water would normally enter our house during heavy rains, not since we had our flooring elevated and our street as well. The heavy rains brought by Ondoy was really unusual and alarming. After we had our lunch, the electricity then went out, after a while my cellphone was beeping a low batt sound but I was able to access my Facebook account via my mobile before it went dead totally, updating my status to "Terrible ONDOY and the rains keep pouring! First time after many years that flood entered our home!!!"
Without electricity, there's no water as well. Lucky for us we were able to stock up a drum of water the other day and have something to use to wash our dishes and to take a bath.The hard part was bringing the water upstairs, it was really energy consuming! By late afternoon, water inside reached almost knee deep and the rain hasn't stopped, each one of us were upstairs already including the dogs. We were praying and hoping that the rain would stop soon. We instructed our youngest sister to just stay put at her work and just go home the next day when water has already subsided. I was feeling restless, had no idea what's going on at the other parts of Metro Manila. We don't have batteries to power up our radio to get the latest news. So I was thankful to find out that my sister's mobile has an FM radio, soon enough I was trying to locate a station that would veer away from the regular FM programming and thank GOD there is JAM 88.3. The hosts Gang and Lambert proved to be very helpful to those who had no electricity and no access to AM radio. They were doing public service by taking calls of those who need assistance while updating its listeners of important information, numbers to call for assistance and providing comfort to those who feel helpless. I was tuned in until 3am, you can sense they were already tired but trying their best to be of service. I can't sleep as well, checking up downstairs because our front door was only partially closed since the wood expanded and wont fit the frame. Thank God for candles, amidst the darkness, we can sense some security by giving us some light, offering some prayers and reading the word of GOD for comfort and assurance.
Thank God again, it was no longer raining the next morning and water subsided fully inside the house although outside it was still a foot high. We settled eating canned goods for 2 days, but that's ok, others had nothing to eat. Cleaning the house was the biggest challenge, but that's nothing compared to those who lost their house and their loved ones.
We are still blessed and thankful that GOD is there to listen to our prayers. I've proven many times that prayers can really make a big difference. When people unite in prayers, miracles can happen. Super Typhoon Pepeng, predicted to directly hit Metro Manila after the wrath of Ondoy shifted its direction affecting only a smaller part of the archipelago. I believe that's the power of prayers!!!
Let's keep on Praying!
Sep 30, 2009
Let's keep the Pinoy spirit that despite the adversities, we can still manage to put a smile just like the photo above.
What have I learn from ONDOY?
- To be more aware of our environment and take care of our trash
- In the event of heavy rains, cancel all your appointments and remain at home
- Have a disaster plan ready
- Keep a stock of ready to eat foods and bottles of mineral water
- Have a ready flashlight, fresh batteries and transistor radio
- Keep my cellphone fully charged
- Invest on life jackets for every member of the family
- Keep a list of important numbers to call in case of emergency
- In choosing a place to build your home, stay away from low areas and river banks
- Material things can perished in a blink of an eye, let us instead invest on things that money cant buy like meaningful relationship with our fellowmen and with GOD
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