Gear up with Lazada's ultimate GADGET CRAZE!

Gamers out there are in for a treat with Lazada Philippines!

An early summer treat awaits all tech enthusiasts and gamers as Lazada Philippines—the largest online shopping mall in the country—has launched an ultimate gadget craze campaign.

One of the campaigns is the “Great Samsung Sale” which is tagged as Samsung’s biggest sale of the year. Buyers can get a discount of up to Php3,500 and get to have cool freebies along with it. In addition, gamers can enjoy playing the latest Sony PlayStation 4 console for only P23,500! The bundle package is priced at P26,200! Playing with your favorite games will not be complete without a new LED TV. Lazada is offering My View LED TV that can go as low as P4,999.

Do not miss Samsung's biggest sale!

Change your mobile into something nicer and smarter. Buy the new HTC One for only P25,185!  This Smartphone is equipped with quad-core processor, ultra-pixel camera, and long battery endurance that guarantee meeting your daily needs—whether for work or play.

When I talk about running and Sunday: 10th PSE Bull Run

Something updated before I throw in throwback posts.

For the first time in forever, I joined a fun run last Sunday with my parents and dad's office mates. I joined some marathon before but then again those were years ago and both were required. One was for CAT in High School and another was for NSTP in College. 

It was only last week when I learned that I'd be joining the10th PSE Bull Run. My father asked me to substitute for his office mate for this 3K run. I told my parents that that's a short run. I'm thinking even as a starter I could start with 5K because I've been walking and sprinting at times in Makati to avoid being late (sometimes in wedge), but of course this difficulty level is much different than that. And my parents laughed back at me because they are underestimating my capabilities. 

Before the run, I didn't really prepare I just downloaded the old app I deleted, Nike + running, to sync it with my running shoes. I also did a little workout the day before as a warm-up for it's been a while of body strain. My body might get shocked.

Come Sunday, the scheduled PSE Bull run, we woke up so early as in 2 A.M. for this event. BGC was quite far and we need to avoid traffic but then again there's no traffic during those hours so I was a little grumpy upon learning that the 3K-5K run wouldn't start until 5 A.M. My head's screaming a very loud "WHAT?!!!" I thought the run's 4:00 A.M., we were two hours early and I only had around 1 and a half hour of sleep. That left me sitting on some gutter with a not-so-good-morning face, so to anyone who've seen me on that state, apologies for I am never a morning person, or in that case "dawn" unless it's the time of sleep and not the time for waking up.

Since we were too early, what's left to do is prepare for the run. Warm-up exercises and take photos.

Photo credits: Bodivance

NVSB: No Valentine Since Birth

Yes. Always have but I hope NOT always will.

That tweet of Ramon Bautista gave me the idea to write something about not having a Valentine every 14th of February. There were already several advice written on how to celebrate this so called “Single Awareness Day” so I am not going to write about that. I’m not so sure how this post will go. I will just write away until I finish this. Maybe I will just write about the feeling or the experience (female perspective) and possibly put you readers inside our shoes. Welcome to the “lonely hearts club”!

How does it feel to have lived without a Valentine?

Taking back to the title quoted from Sir RB, “NVSB: No Valentine Since Birth”, I am and I’m not being bitter or sad about it nor being proud for it’s a fact. It’s a reality I’ve been facing not only on Heart’s day but also during Holiday seasons, birthdays and other celebratory occasions. So how does it feel like? Sad? Lonely? Happy? Stressful? Peaceful? There’s no exact feeling. I guess it’s a case to case basis and it’s always  mixture of feelings. I am sure I am not the only one who’s in this phase, so raise your hand if you are NVSB and affirm or negate the following:

1.               While your friends or parents go on a date, you are left to date yourself. It’s lonely because you’re alone as in you have no companion but it’s not “lonely” lonely as in “sad”.  No problem, by now you’re probably used to it anyway. Enjoy independence, woman!

2.               While others stress out on preparing surprises for their loved ones, you are there spending a normal day in school or at work without nothing to worry about. That makes it peaceful.  Your pocket and wallet is worry-free, you've got all the time in the world and your mind is free from stress. Be happy.

3.               While others receive flowers and chocolates from their boyfriend or hubby, you get yours own from friends, colleagues, family members or worst, from your own pocket. Or maybe you just watch the couples with green-eyes as they get their surprises. This is the part where it gets sad but it is all in the mind. It is not required to eat chocolates, have flowers on V-day, chill.  It is not right to be jealous, instead be happy for they are experiencing those.  Don’t sulk. We take it as a regular day.

You see, I inserted positive things in the above-mentioned scenarios because thinking about Valentine’s day as a problem and source of stress and sadness is just wrong. It’s a celebration of love. Not only for lovers but also for life so I wanted everyone to realize that whether you’re single or not, you may celebrate it.  

Hating
Don’t get us wrong, having no Valentine doesn't mean we never fell in love. Some of us may be (as of the moment) broken-hearted,  in love with someone taken, or harboring unrequited feelings, but in one way or another I’m pretty sure we've all experienced love. It’s just that we never had Valentine’s on the 14^th. From personal experience, it sometimes get to the annoying point when people always ask about our love life. On reunions, we dread conversations involving this topic. It’s an irate feeling when relatives/acquaintances ask “Do you have a boyfriend?” and when answered “No” they’d be like “Why?” Like it’s a disease not to have one. On Valentine’s, people ask who’s the date and where’s the date when they already know you’re dateless and single. Imagine if you were in our place and you were bombarded with those questions you never wanted to talk about or you have answers but your answers weren't accepted wouldn't you be annoyed too? I mean it’s alright to ask but sometimes it’s just too much. Again, I’m not being bitter but be reminded that we do not owe you an explanation. That’s why I  understand those who avoid Valentine’s day and the celebratory effects of it. They are probably fed up. It is overrated.

I used to be a Valentine Grinch when I’m much younger or until 2012. I remember my HS/College friends and I have this secret group (I won’t disclose the name) in Facebook where we write our love-hate posts as we were all single and “medyo bitter” then. We even planned to have an I-hate-Valentine’s-day party inspired by the Valentine’s day movie until suddenly things changed to me. From 2013 onwards, I dropped the hate. I realized there’s no point. It won’t change the fact that I am still single and dateless.

I also thought that ignoring the day and ranting about it would not give me any gain. As part of growing up, I realized that we should just acknowledge and accept it as it is.

Photo credits: Business Insider

Here's Jennifer Garner on her famous pinata scene on Valentine's day movie.

Celdran against all odds

Photo by Joanna Conde

Walking towards the altar wearing a Jose Rizal costume while there is an on-going mass is one story but holding a placard with “Damaso” written in bold letters and raising it is another.

It takes courage for one to voice out negative sentiments in front of high officials but Carlos Celdran have the guts to do it.

Everyone present at the Manila Cathedral last September 30 was surprised to see him shout “Stop getting involved in to politics” as he referred to the church officials and compared them to Noli Me Tangere’s villain Padre Damaso. Some officials present were Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Rosales, Papal Nuncio Edward Adams and the City of Manila’s Mayor Alfredo Lim.

For this 37-year old famed tour guide, exasperation brought him to face these officials and say his piece.

“I had enough, I just had enough. They (Church) held this country of hostage since the time of Noy-Noy’s mother,” says Celdran on an exclusive interview with Metro Bullet.

Celdran and RH BILL versus the Church

Five years ago, Celdran started giving out condoms and birth controls in Intramuros showing that his advocacy for birth control has begun even before the controversial Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) came out.

“I really think that our population growth is the very basis why we’re not going anywhere. Right now, the world is running out of resources, the Philippines is running out of resources.” says Celdran when asked why he is in favor of the RH Bill.

Celdran also shared that he is not really against population growth because he believes that every population has to grow, what he opposes is the fast growing rate. People’s health is also one of his concerns as he said that most of the pregnancies nowadays are unwanted, the child therefore is also unwanted and will just be an addition to society.

The RH Bill was drafted by House Representative Edcel Lagman in 2008 under former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration and it has long been controversial because some conservative citizens were strongly against it.  Religion is an added factor for other citizens to oppose the bill, since it connotes a negative impression especially because it contains Sex Education for Elementary students and it allots funds for birth control.  There were even revisions made to compensate to the Catholic community but still it was not enough.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is strongly against the bill. Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III already showed his support in passing the RH Bill that is why the issue became controversial again, pushing Celdran to protest during an ecumenical service.

“The thing that’s great about the RH bill is that it ties everything in there, from day care, to maternal care to prevention of HIV and AIDS because of sex education. There are so many good things going on in that bill and the ‘friars’ keep on pointing out things that are not in there. There’s no abortion in there or whatsoever,” says Celdran.

He added that a lot of people are upset about the ‘If you don’t give Reproductive Health Services, you’ll go to jail’. Celdran said that it is just a misconception since the‘jailing issue’ part is not a scope of the RH Bill instead, it is part of the PhilHealth Bill.

According to him, Reproductive Health is a service, surgery and emergency are also part of that service and if one denies helping any person who needs the service then he/she can be jailed.

The 30th of September

It’s a good thing Celdran was lucky for his bishop costume got stuck in traffic somewhere in Cubao because if not he would have offended the Church all the more for he’ll come as Damaso himself.

“Damaso is the image on Jose Rizal’s novel of the abusive friar who used his powers to get he wants. And I feel like the bishops in the Philippines are exactly like Damaso because they are abusive friars who uses their powers to get what they want,” he said when asked why he chose the image of Damaso in his placard.

Despite his good intentions, the Church officials still sued him and he was put to jail for he violated the Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits “offending religious feelings.”

He became an instant celebrity and gained a lot of compliments over the internet. Some even consider him a hero for his message was truly an eye-opener for the society; however, some also criticize his act for these people think that he was immoral to do such act inside a sacred place. Celdran emphasized that he never wanted to hold the title “hero” for he thinks what he have done isn’t heroic at all.

“Everything was fortuitous. It’s like jumping into a swimming pool you just have to get yourself the strength and just do it. And when you’re standing in front of there, it’s amazing how calm you are, even when you’ve done the did you’re already there, you just ride it,” he said as he explained his experience in Manila Cathedral.

For Celdran, his jailing experience was an eye-opener, because it helped him see what the police in the Philppines are dealing with. He said people can’t really complain about the way the police perform since their office is like a dump.

2014-ready

New Year and Chinese New Year already passed but I hope I am not too late to talk about being 2014-ready.

Every December, coffee drinkers and even non-coffee drinkers consume more than the usual cup of coffee they have been drinking in order to obtain stickers and score the planners from various coffee brands they are eying. The most popular here in Philippines is Starbucks.

Some have different purposes over the years. Some use it as personal planners, others gift it to their loved ones, friends or family, while others are just joining the bandwagon. There is a small percent who look into the design and quality of it. I guess I am part of that small percent. Besides, I'm not a coffee drinker anyway. However, if I wanted the planner, I make my Dad collect stickers for me. He never completed all and I end up getting nothing but I'm good because I have tons of notebook and non-coffee planner every year, most of which are gifts. The only Starbucks planner I've had was the 2012 one. It comes with a pouch and bookmark and it was given to me by Ate Mary for my birthday. I still write into it once in a while even if it is already 2014. I was just making the most of the empty pages left.

(Wooden 2012 Starbucks planner)

Before, I prefer diaries or journals over planners since I have this habit of not being able to write on these pages simply because I find them cute. I do not want to ruin the pages' designs with my handwriting and I don't really write plans. I write the things that happened everyday, to be reminded and so that I have something to look back months and years later. So now I have a growing number of empty planners/notebooks. If you would recall, I already created a post about my notebooks
here. I keep them for future use and well, added collection to my future home, hopefully.

 

(My notebook collection)

Most of these are still empty pages and I bet these are not all the notebooks/ journals I own. There's probably a handful more hidden somewhere in my room. I remember I used to buy the Candy Magazine School Planner back in Elementary, I stopped because I have a lot of notebooks to write on.

Of Planners and planning

When we started our online shop, Lovette Shop (shameless plugging, please like and thank you), I recycled my 2011 Asian Development Bank Planner I received from JournSoc before. It's really helpful.  I use the big spaces to track our expenses, earnings and to-do list although it is truly heavy. I already used it before for my Senior year but then there are several pages left to use, why not recycle?

This year, I decided to have separate planners for work and for personal use.

For work, I use this  Suki Daybook 2014, given by my aunt. It's hardbound yet handy, undated, comes with magnetic lock. There's also bonus discount coupons for medicines and etc as well as health facts and tips written inside. The dated page comes after the calendar, although these are just 14 pages back to back while the rest is undated journal/composition notebook style. I love how it is spacious, really helpful for scribbling, and doodling, but I haven't doodled yet. You can get this at Mercury Drug Stores nationwide, 30 points will be deducted from your Suki Card.

(Suki DayBook 2014. Red.)

For my personal planner, it was pretty hard choosing. Since I would be the one to finance my own planner this time, I have to make sure that the planner I would be purchasing is worth every Peso. I waited for the Starbucks Planner to come out to see if I like their design but then again I stumbled upon Tita Witty on Instagram again and in the spur of the moment, I got sold by her Relaks, Pag-ibig Lang Yan, Parang Kagat Lang ng Langgam Planner 2014.

In 2013, I almost bought her planner as well but then it was too late for me for I only learned about it by March or April so I ended up using a really thin 2013 diary book from Japan.

I checked the preview of the planner, its pages, its dimension, design, quality and of course the price, just perfect. I got impressed that it wasn't huge but the writing spaces are alright plus it's witty and really creative so I immediately ordered. Upon payment, my planner was shipped the next day. I applaud the fast transaction. I was so happy when I opened the package, it didn't disappoint it wasn't really that heavy as I expected and this is good because weight is something I have to consider since I am commuting and my bag needs to be lightweight. By November 2013, I already have my planner! Early 2014 ready!

Every page is entertaining, from cover to the very last page. I recommend it for the hopeless romantics, the broken-hearted and the bitteranos. You will surely forgot your love problem after getting this. There are monthly humorous horoscopes, snake and ladder game, calendars, a new kind of coupon plus a whole lot more I don't want to spoil. You should get your own, promise, peksman, oo naman. It also appeared in Star Cinema's rom-com movie, Bride for Rent recently. This also makes a good gift idea for the coming Valentine's day.

At PhP 450.00 via order online and PhP 490.00 in Fullybooked and Bratpack stores, etc, you're in for a treat. It is not your ordinary coffee planner.

Tita Witty had me at  Relaks, Pag-ibig lang yan, Parang Kagat lang ng Langgam. She really can save the world!

For orders contact her at: (0906) 465 2191 or visit their Facebook page: Witty Will Save the World  for more details

Will I ever muster confidence and hand this to my crush? HAHAHA Joke lang.

That's the preview of one of her witty coupons. Sobrang witty talaga!

After getting this, I also saw other planners appealing to my eyes. My candidates are The Daykeeper 2014 and the Munix x Moonleaf Planner. Maybe I should check them out next year.

 

Photo credits: Daykeeper 2014

I also saw this on Instagram and on Patty Laurel's blog priced PhP 950.00, it's cute and I'm guessing more of a journal than a planner. I'm sorry to say that you can no longer order this, let's just all wait for December 2014. You may however check their Facebook Page: Daykeeper 2014 and enjoy their photographs.

Photo credits: Moonleaf Tea Shop

Burger United

We call this event "4JRN3 sama-samang kumain ng Wendy's Baconator"

At the height of Facebook events in 2011, there were several invitations to events which were not really true but just a pigment of someone's humor. For instance, there was this event called "Sabay-sabay na pagtawid sa Espana" initiated by CFAD students. I'm not so sure if this is when the idea of eating together at Wendy's was born but I'm thankful it happened.

As part of our block's camaraderie and making-the-most-of-our-senior-year, we officers decided to make time for a monthly gathering for the class to be organized by different barkadas or cliques. It does not really matter what, just as long as all will have fun and all will participate. To kick-off that plan, this was organized.

It was totally fun! Not only we were full from eating baconator, we also enjoyed because this was the first time our class actually bonded without any occasion. We usually just celebrate togetherness during Christmas parties or mandatory student events. It was bad that the idea was late but better late than never, right?

We scheduled the event after our Taxation class around 3 in the afternoon. Everybody was asked to go to Wendy's Dapitan. Imagine a flock of students heading to a small fast food chain, sounds like a riot! A good kind of riot, I justify.

While waiting for others, some ordered already. The plan was to try the then newly-offered product, BACONATOR. Some made fun of the crew by changing their names when ordering. There used Mercedes Cabral, Haggardo Versoza, Jirita Avila and other old-sounding Filipino names/ celebrity names. You know what silly pranks High School kids do. We were like that except it was not really annoying. All for fun!

The place could not accommodate all of us, we stayed at the second floor. Others could not attend because of previous academic commitment while some just dropped by bringing their unbranded burger. Well-appreciated. If you can't beat em, join 'em.

The eating came first, along side own chikahan, then picture taking, then we capped the day off with a game. I forgot what it's called but I remember it was from a member of Tomasino!Web. There's a phrase to answer and we used our phones to type our answers and pass it on clockwise. Or something. I actually forgot the exact mechanics but I remembered it was so funny and partly naughty/witty. It was truly fitting for a gathering. I could not recall how many times we were reprimanded because the class was so noisy. We don't mind, we were just having fun. We ended up at 5 something because we still have next class to attend to. Photo summary of the day appears after my WENDY'S BACONATOR REVIEW.

I rate Wendy's Baconator 3.5, because bacon. Everything with bacon is good. Not just good, EXCELLENT when crispy. For its price it was kind of expensive but I understand considering there's double beef patty, and bacon, and cheese. It's made for sharing, I believe. In our case, some shared. Others took the challenge of finishing it alone. Calories everywhere but we're in this together. At present, there is now a burger called "Son of Baconator", I guess Baconator is too big they made a mini-version of it.

(Because we're sweet)

These photos spell sweet. While our former president Denesse is away, we recognize her presence by writing down her name using french fries. Aren't we sweet? Meanwhile, our boys Karlo and Dan bought their less-expensive burgers outside Wendy's and still dropped by to join us on our mini-gathering. The Jirita photo was just a random comedic attempt.

(Calories brought to you by Wendy's)

LARGE fries and double patty burger!

(Barkada photos)

(Wendy's Baconator)

The real celebrator of the day, King Baconator.

(Riot called "4JRN3")

We totally enjoyed this game. It was new for most of us. Fun.

(All smiles)

Obligatory class photo. We're incomplete though.