Life in MegaPixels

Come July, this will be the first year I will ever pay for a very expensive piece of paper – my car insurance. I’ve been trying to understand the whole deal about vehicle insurance, policy coverage and the likes. It was quite difficult to find information on Philippine car insurance policies. However, my research taught me a thing or two about car insurance in the US.

I found a really great resource on the net that shares valuable information about American Car Insurance companies, excellent deals and ways to save up on your car insurance premiums. The good thing about American Car Quotes is that by filling out a single form, the company will be sending your information to its selected insurers to assess and send you quotes directly to your inbox, without having to call the insurance companies one by one. Not to worry about getting SPAM, they do have a system to only filter the companies that match your needs.

The site also shares good amount of information for Liability Insurance. The purpose of a liability insurance is simply to ensure that all drivers are adequately covered in the event that an accident shall occur. Other types of insurance add-ons are also featured in the site like collision coverage, labor and towing coverage.

I wish I could find the same amount of depth in Philippine Car Insurance companies when showcasing their packages.

I feel a hollow spot
in my chest
void of emotion

tear ducts dried up
none left to shed

a distant cry
no trace of affection
none left
to carry on.

remember the day
you walked the other way
that was the same day
my heart stopped
beating.

please just go
don’t look my way.
There’s nothing left here
the scavenge hunt is over
you already took it all away.

I just got this in the mail today and I’d like to share it with the rest of the world reading my blog!!!

Fly as many times as you want, because we are offering P1 seats for Cebu-Bacolod, Cebu-Butuan, Cebu-Cagayan, Cebu-Iloilo and Manila-Legaspi! The promotional seat sale will run from April 26, 2008 to June 30, 2008; and is good for travel for the same period.

Plus more, we are also offering P888 seats for Cebu-Macau, Cebu-Taipei, Davao-Hong Kong, Davao-Singapore, Davao-Macau (via Cebu), and Davao-Taipei (via Cebu) services. The promo for Cebu and Davao international services will start on April 26 to 30, 2008 and may be availed for travel from May 1, 2008 until June 30, 2008. Don’t miss out on these amazing fares and take off for your exciting holiday now!

Fare is non-refundable and exclusive of surcharges and government taxes. Hurry, book now at www.cebupacificair.com!

I’m particularly interested on the Manila-Legazpi flights… hmmm sounds like a good idea for a quick summer getaway

I’m watching him on Ellen right now… and I can’t believe how gorgeous he still looks at his age… and that body –aaaah, totally to-die for!!! I just had to blog about it.  

I first came to know of David Beckham when his career was just about to take off with Manchester United in 2003. During that time, he was already starting to gain popularity in the football scene after scoring a free kick during a match with Leeds United, finishing the game 3-0, when he substituted Roy Keane as captain.  

I was in the UK at the height of his popularity and I have to say I became a fan eversince!  Everywhere I looked, I saw his face either endorsing an athletic brand, a pair of jeans or just about any brand that could afford him. He and his wife Veronica, practically became a household name in Europe.

Anyway, Ellen showed a photo of him only in his underwear – a new ad campaign he shot for Armani’s new underwear collection… my jaw dropped! I’d spare you the words…enjoy… David Beckham bare and beautiful…

Need I say more?

Eversince I saw this photo by Yoo Chung on Wikipedia, it has never escaped my dreams to visit Santorini, Greece someday.

Look at how beautiful and picturesque this town is.  Just by looking at this photograph, I can already feel the excitement of living on the crater of an active volcano!

A few days back, I watched a documentary about Santorini, Greece, that somehow links it with the events, as written in the Exodus.  What really got me interested to watch it was the fact that two of my best buds, Te and Daddy Ken, were discussing it over coffee on Friday night and it piqued my interest to know that this particular craterville may actually be the seat of civilization during ancient times!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no freak trying to rationalize what is written in the bible.  I don’t really want to believe that science could explain what have been written in the Bible, for the very same reason my friend Terence has — I don’t want to deal with the fact that my great great great great grandpa is a monkey! I mean, how can you live with that?!?

However, I am truly in love with this place.  To be able to visit Santorini someday is really a dream come true for me.  Just by looking at the photo, I can already picture what a relaxing afternoon it would be, sipping tea in one of the coffeeshops, overlooking the placid lake/lagoon/caldera, while the sun is about to set! What a beautiful sight to see the sunset, it’s beautiful colors forming a sea of reflection against the waters below.

Anyway, back to the topic. The documentary actually touches on some truths in the Bible and some explanation to the parting of the Red Sea, which is essentially linked a volcanic eruption in Santorini. It says that a tsunami may have actually caused the water to rise up, allowing people to cross. Some 3500 years ago, there was a recorded eruption in this island that was believed to have been the biggest one on Earth in the last few thousand years.  The rediscovery of this violent eruption spawned some plausible connection to Santorini’s role in the Exodus.

So if you were to judge, would you or would you not believe it?

Due to the global economic turmoil that we are facing, thousands of opportunities have opened up to help repair bad credit. We see this in the mail, countless emails circulating and on the newspapers on our front door. 

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that this interest in credit and credit repairs was triggered by one of my friends who I’m helping with fix his credit line.  One of the best sites I have seen so far is that of badcreditoffers.com.  Unlike other sites where they only launch their own products and services, badcreditoffers.com allows you more flexibility by allowing you to browse bad credit offers by category and compare features and details side by side.  As a consumer, you are given options and allowed the flexibility to make educated decisions, which I think is a really good thing.

I went directly into home loans, as this is what my friend really needed at this point. I was amazed that the site had so many ways to actually help out anyone in need of a home loan. There’s several kinds of loans available: loans to buy a new house, refinance an existing loan to get cash out, a lower interest rate, or lower payments. And that’s just only what I’ve seen so far. I will definitely tell my friend to check this out.

I don’t know what it is about saying good bye that I hate the most. Is it the part of letting a piece of me fly out the window? Or is it the part of me that curses every single day that I’m stuck in such a hopeless rut? Or is it the fear of losing the connection to someone who I’ve come to know on a personal level? Or is it merely the fact that it will be more work for me at the end of the day?

I’ve been thinking really hard what is it about good byes that I can’t seem to get used to. I’ve said it over a hundred times in the last 6 months, but I somehow still feel that nagging hollow feeling deep within. Is it because I am personally losing hope in the dream? Or is it because life has got to be one piece of joke laughing right back at me?

What the hell is wrong with this mother earth?!? I mean come on, it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that something is sooooo terribly wrong. Common sense, my goodness!!! What are you doing with it?

Sigh! I’m just so frustrated right now. It’s like at this point, things have shot through the roof, and no one seems to care. I don’t know what’s happening behind the curtain but whatever is going on backstage doesn’t seem to stop the bleeding!  I’m not putting the blame on anyone.  People come and go as they please. Work is just work. Life is just that – life! and we ought to learn to live it! It just so happens that somehow there’s a better playing field on the other side of the fence and it’s up for the grabs!

Should I take it? Should I not? Maybe… maybe not. Let’s just see! Life is all about choices. I just hate goodbyes the most!

I am very particular to details so I always make sure to write everything down when I am in a phone conversation. More often than not, I miss a thing or two, especially if I don’t have a pen and paper at the time of call. There is always a danger of missing some important items during a phone call like home address, phone numbers, or a long list of things to do for a project. Sometimes, when the information is too much to contain, it has become a habit for me to ask the caller to drop me an email documenting our conversation — which is rather redundant. I am pretty sure my caller get irked sometimes having to do all the writing when that was the reason why he picked up the phone in the first place — so he won’t have to put it in writing!

Take the case of my sister in law. She would call me from time to time to buy stuff for her and send it via courier to Australia.  Although I have a mental clue on what she needs, I always advise her to send everything in email so then I can come back to it anytime at my convenience.

There are times when my brain just won’t take in information, especially when I am in the middle of troubleshooting an issue. My focus is so much that I just nod to anyone talking although I barely heard them at all. I know it’s bad habit, but sometimes, when you get used to multitasking, it becomes very instinctive.

Not until I found purplegoods.com phone-007. It was just amazing! Aside from the fact that it works just like an ordinary phone, it takes a recording of your conversation available to you online so you can play it back anytime, to review if you missed anyting! Like the geek gadget that it is, phone-007 starts recording and sends an SMS to you, you just have to set it to send to your mobile phone!

Purplegoods.com has really taken documentation and espionage to another level with phone-007. Having a personal secretary has gone passe with the advent of this amazing technology. Indeed, the purplegoods.com Phone-007 has surpassed the demands of this day and age.

I guess that I am not the only person who could make practical use of this phone.  Cheating spouses, beware! Always keep your hands in the right places… your wife could know now… especially with her new bestfriend – the phone-007!

Eversince my brother and his family moved to Australia in January, I have been contemplating on taking a full month’s leave from December to January to visit them and other friends in the land down under. Seems like a viable plan so I’m starting to save up for the trip and also search for places to visit in the area. Also I’m corresponding with friends to make sure they are aware that I’m going to pop in their front door during that month.

First off, I’m trying to finalize my itinerary. Budget is quite limited so I will try my best to make sure that I get to maximize this trip. My top choices are Sydney and Melbourne for the 2 weeks to meet up with friends. Gold Coast for some sun and sand action. Definitely, my last stop would be Perth, since that is where my bro and his family lives.

I’m trying to work my way from Southeast to West so I’ll probably start my trip with a golden tan in Brisbane for a few days. I’m thinking of staying at this Brisbane Accommodation. I’m not sure yet if there’s one I can find pretty close to the beach but you get the drift. I have approximately 7 months to work the fats off my belly! So surfer dudes, here I come!

From Gold Cost, I’ll either take a train or ferry to Sydney and hope to meet up with my good friends there. I’m particularly interested in taking night shots of the Sydney Opera House. I’ll probably check with my friend Elmer if he could show me around. I’ve seen some nice cheap Sydney Accommodation online that are quite big with self-catering facilities. I need to poke more on that.

Next stop westbound is Melbourne. This is definitely a stop not to miss, being the country’s seat of culture and artistry. It also home to one of the best culinary scenes in Australia. I am a food lover and am very interested to try out authentic australian cooking, not out of a can. Melbourne accommodation is quite expensive but I was lucky to find some cheap deals online that I may have to finalize very soon, or else I’ll lose my chances of getting booked for a night or two.

Finally, I plan to take a budget flight from Melbourne to Perth, where I will be based for the next 2 weeks. Good thing I don’t have to worry about Perth Accommodation since I can stay with my family and bond with kids. Sigh! Writing all these down makes me want to fast track time so that I’m already there, but with an empty wallet. Sigh!!! I really need to get these plans together.

I was hanging out with my girlfriends the past couple of days, talking girl stuff (translation: boys). Most of our qualms were all too familiar, I can barely differentiate one from the other. I’ll try to keep this list very generic to protect the identity of our preys, but boys, if you’re reading this… just think about it. Maybe it’s time to take a hint and grow up!

1.    BOYS are immature. Women love MATURE men.
“You know how it’s like in traffic”, my friend Jenny shared, “he starts kicking and getting uneasy. I can almost see a child wailing in the driver’s seat!” She complained that her boyfriend tend to have tantrums when he’s getting late for an appointment.  This is indicative of how boys tend to behave sometimes, like come children do when they don’t get what they want. This rarely happens to mature men who plan ahead. If it’s out of control, they call to inform them they will be late.  Boys, no amount of tantrums will solve the traffic problem of the metro, so if you can’t stand it, you might as well stay at home.

2.    BOYS are coward, MEN are brave.
More often than not, boys can’t stand up on their own two feet. They hide behind mommy’s skirt like a little kid afraid to get lost in the supermarket.  Yeah, it’s sweet that they have close ties with their moms they talk to them about their decisions, but sometimes, things like this could go way out of hand. At some point in our lives, especially reaching the twenties, we have to take ownership of the things we do with our lives. This is something real men are not afraid of.  Men take responsibility of their lives and actions, and they march into life knowing what they want and how to get there. Let mommy take the backseat and drive their lives like the modern-day hero that they are.

3.    BOYS are irresponsible, MEN take ownership.
My friend Trixie shared how difficult it is trying to get her boyfriend to be responsible. They made plans to take the NMAT together and qualify to get into a hospital in the US for their residency. However, his boyfriend did not complete his requirements on time for the exam, so he had to wait for the next cycle to be eligible. She later shared that the reason he did not get to complete his requirements was because of swimming practice that got in the way. Clearly, boys like this think the world evolves around them.  Again, a real man do not go through this kind of trouble, unless it was beyond control. Men plan their actions well and strategize to come up with a plan to comply what’s needed within the time. Taking cue from Stephen Covey’s URGENT – IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT – NOT IMPORTANT, men oftentimes prioritize according to this philosophy.

4.    BOYS want to be babied, MEN take care of the women.
Admittedly, it’s cute to some extent when they’re acting quite like a baby. But sometimes, the act could get way out of hand. For instance, when eating out, they would let you make the calls but when the food arrives, that’s when they start complaining. Such is the problem Chelsea had with her boyfriend. He’d let her pick the food to order, but when it arrives, he complains how it’s not healthy to eat this and that. Men do not allow these things to happen. They would usually have the date planned ahead or if not, they would always take the initiative to figure things out.

5.    BOYS are easily distracted, MEN stay focused.
Maybe it’s influenced by factors outside of our control, but sometimes, boys could easily get distracted from achieving a certain goal. This happens to the best of us, but not to men. Most men know what they want and how to get it, without getting sidetracked. Because boys have yet to reach this level of maturity, their arguments and priorities are judged with a sense of mediocrity. They’re actions are oftentimes dictated by a “will this make mom happy?” attitude rather than “will this make me happy in the long run?”

Funny how similar yet different these situations could get. True enough, It takes more than rocket science to understand the male mind and how they tend to react to certain circumstances. I was watching Tyra the other night and the episode was all about decoding the male mind. It was truly evident, based on the demographics and their responses to certain questions, that there is a huge gap in judgment and maturity between boys and men. Love it or live with it… it’s every woman’s choice!