Straight from the horse's mouth

Pampainit ng ulo, mwehehehehe...


Remember Gen. Carlos Garcia? The one who was just acquitted from the graft charges about a week ago. His 'issues' started when his sons were apprehended for bringing in USD100,000 to the US via SF without declaring in 2003. Oh well, his wife just amused me today. Thanks to hubby for leading me to the links. I don't read the papers because things like these make me cringe. But yeah, I am posting the links to Jarius Bondoc's column dated April 18 and April 21, 20008...so you can have a say :D

Lest we forget, this was what she said
"GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Friday, April 18, 2008

On Dec. 19, 2003 US Customs detained two brothers who had just landed at San Francisco Airport from Manila. Ian Carl Garcia, 26, and Juan Paolo Garcia, 23, did not declare their $100,000 cash, a federal offense. On questioning, they swore to be US citizens but didn’t know the gravity of the misdeed. Ian owned up to the mistake, saying he had fallen asleep and let his brother fill up the Customs form. Juan said he only wanted to avoid questioning, having been accosted in a similar trip two months earlier for flying first class though only a college kid. Unmoved, the US agents confiscated the cash.

Their mother came to the rescue. Pleading for return of the money, she submitted a sworn statement on Apr. 6, 2004, to wit:

“I, Clarita D. Garcia, date of birth Dec. 3, 1950, swear the following are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. "Click here to continue.

More of what General and Mrs. Garcia said
"GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Monday, April 21, 2008

Voluble Clarita D. Garcia wanted back the $100,000 cash that U.S. Customs confiscated from her sons in Dec. 2003. But she felt that she and her husband, AFP Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia, hadn’t explained enough. So on Apr. 6, 2004, she handwrote Customs agent van Dyke (presented as is):

“This statement is in addition to justify how we were able to accumulate the $100,000. As on the papers submitted by my husband, he just showed his income tax return from his earnings, which showed insufficient funds to accumulate the amount brought by our two sons. Aside from my husband’s declared income, he did not mention his other income from his travel and schooling allowances, honorariums and gratuities given to him due to his added duties and functions designated for his position as Major General in the Philippine Armed Forces." Click here to continue.


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Kawawa naman sila. Aping-api. Sana ibalik na ng US ang nakumpiskang pera. Of course I am sarcastic. :D

Late Bloomer...

That's me :) Yeah, my husband would tease me sometimes that I only had a chance to have a real night-out when we started going out (when I was already 21!!). While any normal teenager would enjoy hanging out with friends, I was home reading or sleeping. What is not so normal though is that I never experienced having pimples in high school or college. I'm lucky!? Not really, because it seemed like my hormones acted up a bit later than it should be. Yeah, my face broke out just when I was about to graduate from the university!! It was so bad that even over the counter acne solutions didn't help. I had to consult with a dermatologist to save my skin. It wasn't cheap but my parents shelved out money to clear my face. We aren't rich, so that took a huge chunk out of our monthly (or weekly budget!).

So what made me post this? Earlier today, I was looking at old photos and realized how bad my acne breakout was! LOL! I almost had the guts to post an old picture but I guess I chickened out! Let's leave 'em in the albums :)

Win $200 and more this August!

I should have posted this a long time ago but never got around to doing so. I'm not sure though if I can still make up for the lost time that I was not able to comment or visit her (aside from feeds!). I'm posting this out of love (hah, as if I am generating losta traffic hehehe). Hi Yen!! I hope you are enjoying your vacay :) Below is a copy of the entire mechanics of her contest. This ain't a hoax, huh! The original post is found here :)

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Yup, that’s right! No kidding! You can WIN as much $200 in CASH this August! I wanted to have a digital camera or even an Ipod as prizes but changed my mind at the last minute. At least you can use the money to buy anything you like! What’s the celebration, you asked? This month, April, the husband celebrates his birthday! May, we will be celebrating our 7th year wedded bliss! June, my little boy will turn 6 years old! July, it’s Summer and everyone wants to go away! August, it will be the last month before another school year starts! So, before September starts I want to give something! I am giving away prizes just because I can! And blogging has been a part of my life for 3 years! That long:) I have made great friends through blogging..And that I want to thank everyone who religiously check me out. You know who you are! And it’s time to give away once more! I just love sharing!

Please know that this contest is a RAFFLE DRAW!

PRIZES:

1st prize: $100 in cash through Paypal
2nd prize: $40 in cash through Paypal
3rd prize: $30 in cash through Paypal
4th prize: $20 in cash through Paypal
5th prize: $10 in cash through Paypal

Please read carefully for the Mechanics:

1. You blog about this contest OR simply copy and paste the mechanics to your blog post then you get 20 entries. Please make sure that you include all 5 links of my blogs.

Creative In Me
Little Peanut
Me and Mine
Pea in a Pod
Sugar Magnolias

2. You leave comments to all my blogs and you get 1 entry per comment. But please make sure that it is related to what I have written in the post. No spamming, please. Sorry, I have to do this because everyone wants to win! Valid posts are from April 9, 2008 to August 31, 2008. Tokyo Time. +9 GMT.
3. You add me in your Technorati fave and you get 1 entry. I have 5 blogs so it means that if you add 5 of my blogs you will get 5 entries.
4. You subscribe to my Feed, here and you get 5 entries. Only for this blog. I want 1 year guarantee that you will not unsubscribe after the contest! I know some of you don’t like reading my posts..lol But hey, this is my blog!
5. You nominate a blog that you like most around the blog-o-sphere and you will include that when you blog about this contest and you get another 2 entries. Be honest who you really like most. Not because you are blogging buddy! Just say, you like that blog with a link. Because everyone likes linky love, so that’s why I do that!
6. And to add more spice in my contest, you guess when was the exact date of our wedding day! Right guess will get 2 entries.
7. Guess the exact birthdate of my little boy who will turn 6 and you get 2 entries!
8. Guess the exact birthdate of my dear husband and you get 2 entries! He’s the one giving away the prizes..lol So, I need to include it here:) haha
9. You must leave comment to this post and let me know if you are joining. That gives you another 2 entries.
10. Last but not the least, if you can do step 1 to 9, you can get additional 20 entries! See, it’s a lot of fun!

And 1 consolation prize. What it will be? Well, you find out this coming August! Who knows except, me;) Now, go spread the word and let’s have fun!!!

ETA: April 13, 2008

Note: You can leave your guesses for the birthdays in this post. I won’t disclose the exact dates until August 31 anyway! Contest ends August 31, 2008. Winners will be announced a day or two after! And if ever you will win more than once, that’s the time I will only choose one prize which is the highest amount for you to win! I want to share the love to others too!

The more entries, the more chance of winning!!!

Featured site: Bad Credit offers

My husband hates credit. It is very hard to convince him to apply for a loan no matter how I explain things to him properly. For him, it is important that he keep himself very much liquid (of course it also matters that he lives within our means). I am not complaining :)

But for other people, they need to apply for loans just to get by. It's like saving backwards, hehe. Personally, loans and credit are okay for me as long as the monthly budget permits. For others though, they forget and incur for themselves bad credit. There is there online site where they give monitoring expertise to those who need it. Badcreditoffers.com is a dedicated site for people to get bad credit loans. Yes, there are companies who still offer to approve loans even to those whose credit rating is just bad. It is just a matter of finding the right program at the right time from the right company.

Be fair!

Brother and I had late lunch at some dimsum place in Greenhills today, was craving some Taho, hehe. We entered the restaurant at the same time as a young family of three plus a yaya. I am saying how many they were because I am going to make a point later. They sat on a table adjacent to ours, ordered almost at the same time as us and enjoyed the food. When they were about to finish eating (or they were probably done eating by then), an old lady joined them at the table and chatted a bit. The lady didn't eat, as I also observed she was telling the others (while holding her tummy) that she was already full.

After about five minutes, the group asked for their bill and then the young lady hands over her credit card AND the old lady's senior citizen card. Huwat?!?!? They actually had the nerve to claim for the 20% discount when it was so obvious the old lady didn't consume anything!! I don't think that is fair at all to the establishment. See, our government does not reimburse the discount given to senior citizens. I know, because in our cafe, we shoulder that cost. The law is kinda one sided that way. It's probably ignorance of the law on the side of the consumers but hey, why would you claim for something you don't deserve, eh?

Happy and sad

A text message that made my morning:


"Eat flush to my nose tree time is for the bay dead by too...




...equals fourteen." :)

What a cornball, that person who sent this to me, but yeah I found myself laughing almost the entire morning :)


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Questions in my head: How can you talk to someone whose voice and just the mere sound of it, irritates you? How can you talk to someone who is above himself and thinks that everything is just about him? How can you talk to someone who focuses (seems like) on what he can receive rather than give?

Repairs

We love our landlord because he is uber nice to us. He is just a text or phone call away and it's never hard to tell him our requests. He'd pass us on to his staff and there starts the problem. Once, his maintenance office sent someone to fix a leak. The team actually put down an entire (okay, about a fourth of the) ceiling, checked what was wrong, sealed the ceiling back again before realizing that the leaks are still there. Ugh. And they actually had to tell us to stop using one of the upstairs bathroom to 'solve' the problem. Huh? So now, when we encounter problems, we just shoulder the expense and have our own plumber and carpenter to fix things. Over the weekend, a plumber came to check everything that needed checking. And guess what he found out? One of the bathroom faucets has become forever useless because the landlord's man had cut the pipe and cemented the line altogether. And if we try to fix it, we'd have to put down an entire wall. How's that for a solution?!?!?

Sigh.

You can never tell when your time is up.

During my trip to the gym about last week, my PT shared with me a very very sad news about a former PT in our branch. I'm not sure if we actually met him but just the same, I was saddened by the fate they met. I didn't share it here since the details weren't that clear yet. But the news (ABS) caught up with their story and there is actually a foundation solely to help this family.

Peewee and his family (wife and daughter and son) flew to the US on April 3 to spend a month-long vacation. They were out to have dinner the same day they arrived in California (notice that they haven't spent an entire day yet). They were standing by the sidewalk when the unfortunate happened, a road accident. A car bumped on another car and that second car hit Peewee, his son Gjay and his wife.

The wife had minor injuries. Peewee was badly hurt. Gjay lost his leg on the spot and hit his head. The boy, aged 7, went into a coma and never woke up. Four days after the accident, the boy joined His Creator.

Who would have thought a well-planned trip would end so abruptly and tragically? Makes me realize even more that we should make everyday count and make every moment be worth it.

For the full news coverage, read here. There is also a blog dedicated to Gjay by his uncle. Let's pray for this family -- they need it.

Hunt for treasure...

I love jewelry, specifically those encrusted with diamonds. I lost most of my stuff -- well, I was actually left with what I was wearing that day thieves entered our apartment. My favorite piece is my pair of diamond earrings (studs) that I used to wear everyday. But one day, when I thought I lost one of the pair, hubby insisted that I should retire them for a while and that he would just get me another pair, more suitable for everyday wear. I think I mentioned that here already but I am sharing this again in case Hubby has forgotten his promise, LOL!

Anyway, there is a treasure hunt promotion, a contest hosted by Payu2blog sponsored by jewelelegance.com. And the hunt starts soon :) I really hope I win! I wouldn't mind jumpstarting my new jewelry collection :)

Lethargic

What a way to start the week, eh? I did a lot of things today but I still feel lethargic.

510am - woke up

530am - left house and got stuck in morning traffic (nobody told us the new 7am is at 6am!!! Last week, we left five minutes earlier. Look at what 5 minute difference can do!)

615am - dropped Ane off at work.
625am - drove thru McDo for a hashbrown and hot chocolate.

635am - arrived at the apartment and instantly fell asleep as soon as I finished the choco. Set alarm for 8am.

8am - Missed the alarm!!!
9am - Woke up for the gym.
935am - Worked-out (still felt soooo sleepy).
1145am - Back at the apartment and had lunch.
1230pm - Fell asleep on the sofa while watching TV.
100pm - Decided to go the bedroom, to check emails with Ivy...
110pm - But I fell asleep again!!!!!

220pm - Had to get ready to fetch Ane from work. Dropped by the laundromat to have a dress dry-cleaned.

300pm - Ane took the wheel and we were off to Malabon but only after we've taken out Caramel Sundae, McFlurry and fries from Mcdo.

410pm - Home!! Turned Ivy on to finally check emails and feeds.
430pm - Can you believe I fell asleep again?!?
600pm - Up to prepare dinner. Ane loved my Sinigang!!!

Now - Just chilling and I'm too afraid to lie down on the bed coz I might fall asleep again!!!

See, I had more time to sleep than move around (it seems). Tsk Tsk. Bad habits need to be changed.

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Someone is confined in the hospital today. He complained of chest pains, stomach pains, and high BP since Saturday (even had some nosebleeding on Saturday) but waited until today before he asked someone to bring him to the doctor (that is after the other person ordered him to go). Maybe he's too afraid to know what's wrong with him. Tsk.

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While driving to fetch Ane, I realized that I've always been the kind of person who can't say no -- at least to my friends and loved ones. It's not hard for me to volunteer myself, whatever it is I can do. But it seems things change when it comes to this one person. I dunno. Hate is such a strong word and I won't admit it's hatred. But do we consider minimal respect (or lack thereof) a sign of hatred?

Now I feel guilty.

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I.need.coffee.

My program works :)

A lot of people have noticed how much weight I've lost. It just means that my diet is working with the help of gym work out. Yihee! I've cut out on rice. Since carbs is still part of my diet, I get to eat around 1.5 cups of rice in a day. Or if there's no rice, I eat bread or any carbo alternative. It probably also helped that I eat within one hour from the time I finished working out or playing badminton. That Fit and Right bottles after the gym must have helped too.

I haven't been religiously going to the gym and when I do, I complain how heavy the weights are (bratinella in action!!!!). My trainer is pretty much lenient on me knowing that I am able to maintain my weight already (although I need to lose a bit more). I'm happy to realize that I don't need weight loss pills after all. Willpower is all I need, nux! :)

Yen's QOTW 15

Since I missed last week's set, here's mine for this week (I know I am kinda late huh)...



1. Were you named after anyone? Nope.
2. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yup but there are days I am too lazy to do so.
3. What is your shoe size? 7-7.5 US
4. If you were a flower, What flower would you be? Carnation because it's my fave :)
5. What is your fave smell? Freshly ground coffee.
6. Which do your prefer scary movies Or happy endings? I like happy endings much much more!
7. Last movie you watched? Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who on my brother's bday (forgot to mention that here!)
8. Do you prefer hugs Or kisses? Giver and receiver of both :)
9. Favorite Dessert? Ice cream!!!!
10. Look to your right, do you see a yellow color? What is it? A Baseball cap.

The rest are found here.

Bloated

That's what I feel at the moment. I had too much to eat during dinner (come to think of it, I had too much to eat the entire day and for the last few days!!!). After I finished cleaning up the kitchen (I've been cooking for two days straight!!), I asked Hubby to accompany me to Starbucks so I could get some tea. It didn't help that I skipped my PT session today and last Monday. I've been having a hard time adjusting to my hubby's new work schedule, argh. I feel so heavy, really. I am too lazy to lift my butt, much more lift weights, hah! Believe me, during times like these, fitness equipment become useless. It's good though that I am keeping my weight, at least. Must work-out soon...or at least jog/walk.

To me, you are Ehra :)

I've always been honest with anything that I share here. But what I share is not the whole of me. Please know that I moderate my own posts :) I talk about my friends, my family and anyday stuff. But that doesn't mean I am divulging everything, hehe. That said, I am sure this blog is not a place to get information about other people.

La lang. I just suddenly felt the need to put that little disclaimer. Hehe. To continue...

I had a long day yesterday. It's actually one of those days. I'm not gonna bore you with details but it was a day well spent. Ane and I made a short trip to the hospital (nothing serious but the experience made Ane act like a baby nyehehehe), had late lunch at Teriyaki Boy and then I was off to the garden. I had to settle some "drama" too (this is becoming too frequent, I tell yah!). I attended to some Rotary stuff and went to the meeting afterwards. At 930pm, I was rushing to go to Timog where Ane and some friends were having dinner for Polgassen's day. Starbucks later into the night. I had to force them to have coffee with me so I won't consider driving that far a waste of my time hehe.

So yeah, I 'met a new friend' and she'll probably be mentioned in this blog often from now on... only because we share a lot of similarities and interests, we'll probably spend lotsa time together :) when we're not too busy, that is. And to me, she is Ehra ;D

I can feel it!

The heat, that is. And of course, if you're on this side of the world, you'll also feel that skin burning heat (37 to 38 degrees or so, hah!)! Hubby and I were asleep at 9am yesterday when suddenly the electricity went out. Not one minute has passed since the fan died when I felt the intense heat I could hardly breathe! My friends know I have really high tolerance for heat (I think I mentioned that info here already) and that experience yesterday was really something.

Anyway, our environment clearly needs help. Global warming is becoming a really big issue. And everything that we do, from conserving energy to sorting our junk can help a bit in alleviating the problem. I consider myself an environmentalist (since high school) and I try my best to help even by doing the littlest of things. Maybe you can help too. Let's all be Green :)

I just read a Reader's Digest (always a nice read I want to subscribe again) article and in it lists some tips to become Green. Have you changed your incandescent bulbs (I think they are already banning the use of these) to CFL ones? And maybe you will consider changing (or not buying) venetian blinds to say, wood shutters, yeah? Grab a copy of this magazine's April issue, if you like :) and see the rest of the suggestions.

Do your share :) Earth is our only planet.

Changes...

Hubby's office schedule becomes 6am to 3pm starting tomorrow with Tuesdays and Wednesdays being his days-off. I dunno for how long, but they usually change the schedules every two months.

We will have to accept that a major change in our lifestyle and sleeping habits is imminent, argh. And I probably need to cook dinner on most nights since he'll be home. The cooking, I have no problem with that as long as we have enough supply of groceries and wet-market stuff. The thing I dread most is having to adjust the sleeping habit. See, these days, we sleep not earlier than 1am and I get to wake up by noon, and still have lots of time to attend to my so-called duties. Sigh. I hate drastic changes but this is something I have to deal with (or I'll end up making hubby's life miserable hehehe).

Wish.me.luck.

It's no joke

Staying healthy that is. Sometimes it's not just the lifestyle but also the hereditary issues (sadly we are affected later on in life with diseases that we just got from our genes). Take for example Hubby's friend (won't mention her name anymore) who just got her test results a couple of days ago and she suspects she has diabetes and I think her cholesterol levels are high too. And she's just 30. We're still praying her condition isn't that bad and that everything can still be controlled by medications, proper diet and exercise. I wonder if she has health insurance to cover some of her expenses (not that she needs help at this point). Makes me think that these policies are indeed needed by anyone these days. I'd rather use a health insurance rather than a life insurance, eh? LOL!

I know, I know this entry is badly written. But, gah, I'm sleepy. Sheesh.

Officially an adult.

My Little Big Brother is celebrating his 18th birthday today.

Now, I'm not gonna be mushy and cheesy in this entry but you know, I can't help but feel a bit emotional now that he's actually a grown (young) man. I just hope that when he comes across a life-changing issue, he will decide like he's a mature person and remember all the virtues that we have instilled in him.

Happy Birthday, Bro! Have a fun day ahead! We love you!

Yen's QOTW 13 (4) and then some...

I'm late! I wasn't able to go online the whole day because I was out the entire time. I'm not sure if I should share everything that happened but I had a great time :) Uh okay, after my Doctor's appointment (which turned out really really good except for some pain), MEG and I went to ADB to have coffee at Figaro heheh Mami C actually invited us over and then we dropped by Don's cubicle. M and I went malling after (for me to buy stuff for sis) and then had a very heavy dinner at Sbarro. We planned to have ice cream afterwards but we were so full up to our necks! :)

On with Yen's set his week:



1. What was the last song you listened to? ooppsss don't remember but it's over RX.
2. What’s the name of your bestfriend? Describe her. Her name is Caline, and she's a pretty, intelligent and generous friend :) In HS, until now, I learn so much from her. I haven't told her how much she taught me and how much she changed the way I look at life, but that's what she is to me :) Maybe I should tell her?
3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana forever :)
4. What is your worst bad habit? Oversleeping.
5. Do fish have feelings? Yeah, I think so. They mate don't they? Hehe.
6. What do you think about copycats? If they can't create anything original then maybe they're not supposed to create anything at all.
7. How do you release anger? I cry. I am such a cry-baby, and it's my way of showing emotions (even when just in pain, when happy, nervous etc.)
8. Do you have a nickname? Yeah, lots of those :) ie, Kaje (sounds like cage) is actually a nick I earned in college.
9. I say orange. What comes to mind first? Ponkan, my Ane loves those.
10. Do you play a musical instrument? I'm too impatient to learn to play anything.

Join the rest here.

April Banner

Presenting my new banner, up there! :) I decided to play a bit with brushes and that is what I came up with. It's not what I initially had in mind yet I am still happy how it turned out. Loved playing with brushes!! :)

Move it, move it...

A few weeks back, Hubs and I were talking about the current set-up of our studio-type home. We feel so cluttered (as compared to our set-up during the housewarming). We had to move the furniture around to give way to our PC table. So now everything looks weird and not balanced. But now we only get to complain about it, because we simply cannot re-construct our home without my in-laws getting offended. See, our pad was finished about 6 years before we got married. Hubby and I actually plan to make use of the big space the terrace is eating up. If we have the budget, we'd probably build a roof over the terrace, put some patio furniture, move the bar outside and enjoy the additional space inside. Neat. Practicality-wise though, I feel this is not advisable, since we plan to move out in the future. For now, we'll just have to wait, wait and wait for the proper time (and extra money) to do all our plans. Sigh. Winning the lotto is the only solution mwehhehe.

No updates? Not really.

Because some of the updates are in my playground :) Visit me and leave me some love. :)

While here, maybe I can also share that my dear Ane surprised me (just when I stopped bugging him) with a RAM upgrade for Ivy. Yay! She's now running with a 1gb ram :) She's not as fast as our desktop but that's okay, there is a change in her especially when I tried to design the invites I mentioned here. Me = Happy Wifey :)

One last thing before I go, let me share with you J's conversation with his mom (I'm one proud Ninang!!!) :

J: Mom, what does a brain do?
His Mom: (kinda surprised with the question) Oh well, the brain controls the body....(etc, etc, my sister explained it to him)
J: How about the heart, does it have blood?
His Mom: Yes, the heart has blood and it actually pumps blood to be distributed to the rest of the body...
J: You know mom, when nobody loves us, the heart cracks...

Oh! such an intelligent boy!!! I can't imagine a four year old actually saying these things. This is also the reason I always look forward to chatting with him...I'm always waiting for cute anecdotes and his corny made-up knock-knock jokes. Hehe.

I better get ready for bed now. My eyes are drooping. Til next time! :)