Update on NBI Clearance Application

Since there are peeps who happens to be reading my blog entry about the new process/system of getting an NBI clearance renewal let me share the first hand experience of a friend of mine. He recently applied for one and just hearing his story, I have no idea on what am I supposed to do (tactics) to get a clearance for myself.

You see, my friend personally experienced the long waiting hours in line just to have an NBI clearance. If only this piece of paper is not essential for finding/ starting a job then I won't fret about this.

According to him, he went to Robinson Galleria as early as 3am only to find out that there's a waiting line already. It took him 7 hours (omg!) to finish the process. A visible proof is the status on his FB where he is ranting about the loooong wait. You really need to be patient and have a cool and clear head going to Robinson's malls. Hmmm...I was wondering where and when will I have my NBI clearance renewed.

To sum it all up, you need to alot the whole day since according to the NBI (or those people operating the kiosk in Robinson malls) that they are limiting the applicants to 500 each day (whether renewal or new). I'm not sure if this is applicable to all the NBI renewal centers that I posted on my previous blog entry (check it here). If that's the case then apart from patience, you will need a lot of effort to get through the new NBI system.

Looking forward

...for my post birthday date tomorrow with hubby in Market Cafe in Hyatt. I'm after my free cake since I'm a member of their hotel.
...for the weekend as I want to have good and long hours of sleep.
...for another post birthday celebration with my highschool friends on Monday. I'm up for another lunch buffet. Good thing that I'm well disciplined to exercise unlike before.
...for our Coron trip with my former colleagues! 3D and 2N in Palawan far from all the stress and things that I don't want to worry about.

Just thinking about these perks me up!

Seriously?

There was an email query in one of the yahoogroups where I belong that caught my attention. It has something to do with school tuition fees for private and exclusive schools. I was stunned to learn how pricey the schools are now compared before.

For exclusive girls school, the range is 75k to 95k (nursery, prep, kinder and elementary). I assumed that the figure applies for exclusive boys school as well. Gosh! What more if I have my own child and I'm going to send her/ him to school. Most likely the tuition fees by then would be in hundred thousands!

I guess I will settle for private schools. Currently my youngest sister is studying in a Catholic private school in Las Pinas and her tuition fee is Php 36k all-in. My brother on the other hand has a cheaper tuition fee since he studies in Dasmarinas, Cavite but I'm bracing myself for his college next year. This school year college tuition fees ranfes from 35k-200k depending on the school's name. I didn't include the state universities and colleges since they are relatively cheaper. I'm hoping that my brother will kept his promise of giving me good grades for his senior year. Yeah, I'm strict when it comes to grades. As much as possible I don't like seeing 80-84 in his report card.

E-Cigarette

I first came to know such a thing exist when I watched the movie, The Tourist starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Immediately I remembered my father, he is a chain smoker. He was hospitalized before due to his excessive smoking causing his heart to palpitate and he easily gets tired. Since this "discovery" is all new to me, I made a research and checked the e-cigarettes available in the market. Good thing that I stumbled on a site that has the detailed cigarette comparisons that I needed.

Turns out that there are three types of electronic cigarettes. The disposable, e-cigarettes with cartomizer (2 piece) and the Three-piece-kit. For first-timers it is advisable to use the disposable as to get the "feel" of using one. For those who want to try different flavors, the one with cartomizer is the best option as you will need to change the nicotine cartridge depending on the flavor you like. The 3-piece kit is for those who want to quit smoking completely. This is ideal for my father but before he can used this type of cigarette, I guess it's better if I will introduce him to the disposable so he will be familiar with it and eventually get use to it. Based on the reviews, V2Cigs stands out with a 9.7 rating simply because they offer a wide range of electronic cigarette starter kits for male and female alike.

Good thing that such invention like this are helpful to everyone concern. Hopefully by 2020 majority of the population in the world are using e-cigarettes versus the regular cigarette we came to know.

Travel Destination for 2012???

I was looking forward going here to visit my sister....

But there's an offer by a friend of mine that we should go here instead...

And now I'm torn! I don't have the luxury to go to both places and can only afford one trip/ travel per year (I'm thinking about the future and investments). I will need to choose one and what will that be? I have no idea....

Post Bday Celebration

Last Saturday my former colleagues in WNS decided to visit me in our home here in Cavite. We are having my post birthday celebration.

They arrived at 8pm and we started to get the party (eating and drinking) started at about 10pm since one of them is late (he was caught up in the traffic + he got lost on his way to our place). Oh, we also did some grocery shopping in SM Hypermarket for the drinks and the junk foods.

Cheers! They are my extended family for keeps :)

Grilled Mussels with Butter. 

Cooked by Art. They say it's delicious. I have no idea what it tastes like since I'm not used to eating Mussels and Oysters. Yeah, I'm very picky when it comes to seafood.

My 2nd Birthday Cake courtesy of Jazzy

Thank you guys for making a huge effort to come all the way from Manila to my place. It was a sweet gesture and I'm happy to be a part of our family (WNS). So should we do it again next year?

At 31

Sorry if I don't have recent updates for the few past days. Apart from celebrating my birthday, I was busy with the interviews that were lined up from different companies that I applied to.

Anyways, let me share what happened on my birthday (August 5). I spent it outside our home with my friends.

I woke up early in the morning since I will be meeting my ex-colleagues and have breakfast with them. Apart from me, I also have a friend whom I shared the same birth date so it was a double celebration.

Sun is peeking marking the start of a new day

heavy breakfast with my friends in Something Fishy (Libis)

cake for Rona and me from Aimee...so sweet! Thanks girl!

I don't have the other photos yet. One of my buddies brought her SLR camera to capture the "moments" on my birthday. But right after spending my time in Libis (it was actually past 12 or 1pm then), me and my friend Jazz went to Makati to meet 3 more friends. We just drop by their offices. 

There are a couple of more celebrations for me with my other group of friends. I still have the whole month of August to do it. And oh! I haven't got to celebrate my birthday with hubby alone. Well I already have something in mind. 

It was a good day indeed and the weather cooperated. It's exhausting but I'm happy. Apart from Christmas, my birthday is something that I'm looking forward to regardless that I'm getting older. 

Thankful

Thank you, God, for giving me another year of life.
Thank you for all the people who remembered me today
by sending their greetings and good wishes.

Thank you for all the experience of this past year;
for times of success which will always be happy memories,
for times of failure which reminded me of my own weakness and of my need for you,
for times of joy when the sun was shining,
for times of sadness which drove me to you.

Forgive me
for the hours I wasted,
for the chances I failed to take,
for the opportunities I missed this past year.
Help me in the days ahead to make this the best year yet,
and through it to bring good credit to myself,
happiness and pride to my loved ones,
and joy to you. 
Amen.



Adapt: http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Other/Birthday-Prayer.aspx

HBD Shoutout

He's all grown up (literally) and I bet he will add a couple more inches next year...

Meet my younger brother. He is now a senior student in a private school in Cavite. He is just 15 years old and I think in his own right, he made a lot of accomplishments that we as his family are proud of. Sure there are some misses along the way but what matters most is how you deal with them and get back on track.

He is still undecided on what college course he wants to take but hopefully next year he is decided.

Too bad I don't have a scan pics when he was a baby and I always carried him around (eldest duty calls). Time really flies indeed. I'm getting sentimental now...

Happy Birthday to you bro. We always want and wish what's best for you so stay healthy and focus in life :)  I'll see you this weekend.

I Got Myself an Elf Bright Eye Palette

I was checking Kendz Beauty blog (she's a fellow W@Wie and N@Wie) specifically on her blog entry where she's giving away 4 ELF eye shadow palettes (2 natural Eye Edition and 2 Bright Eye Edition). It's her very first blog giveaway since her blog reached 5k hits. Congrats!

I can't contain my excitement when she posted the winners and guess what?!  I won !!!

I will be one of the proud owners (soon) of the Elf Bright Eye Edition Palette!

Yey! I am lucky or what? See? I love my birth month even it rains most of the time. Thank you Candy!  i am looking forward to your next blog giveaway!


Photo Credits: snagged from Kikay Kendz Blog

Au-ghost

It's August! Next month is the start of BER months and that means a lot of malls will be putting up their Christmas decors real soon. Time flies indeed! I'd say we are libing in a fast-paced world but yesterday I felt that I'm in a slow-mo. I stayed all day at home since it's raining and I took  a lot of naps and sleep.

Moving back to the title of this blog entry, according to Chinese calendar August is considered the 7th month and based on tradition it is a "Ghost month". The exact day would falls on 14th day of the 7th month, which means it would be around mid of August 2011.

I'm not superstitious when it comes August being the auspicious month since we have 3 celebrations happening this month in our household. First, my brother's birthday; second, my birthday and lastly our pet dog's birthday though we are not sure when is the exact day.

Apart from that, it will be the start of Ramadan in Muslim countries for this month then there's this financial crisis/ issue in the US. The Treasury Department reiterated that Aug. 2 remains the projected day the nation's debt ceiling would be breached, attempting to set in stone a drop-dead deadline as the Obama administration and congressional Republicans continue to haggle over raising the limit. According to the stock seminar I attended, this will make or break the value of US dollar. Let's see what will happen this week and the coming weeks.

Local event for this month that I'm aware of is the UPCAT for senior high school students aspiring to take college degrees in University of the Philippines (top university in the country). I will accompany my brother to take his UPCAT in Imus Cavite.

So you see there's a lot of things going on for this month. Personally I like my birth month and I wouldn't change a thing regardless if it's said to be unlucky or not.