prime gods

Last Friday, one of my closest friends, Twyla, surprised me with a “moving to a new house” present – a thermal blanket. I was so touched. It was my first time to receive a sort of “going away” present. I was even more amazed when I unfolded the blanket and found out that it was not just a blanket, it was a personalized one. Printed on it was one of our favorite pictures that we took while having an out of town dinner in Palaisdaan when we were in college. To cap it off, she even had it made in shades of violet – my favorite color.

I know it’s rude to ask where someone bought her present, but I just had to. She laughingly informed me that she had ordered it from VisionBedding.com. Twyla said the company uses the latest production technology, wherein your favorite picture is specially dyed into a photo blanket, photo bedding, photo pillows or photo dog beds. Really amazing. I probably will be ordering several picture blankets soon to give away as Christmas presents.

At three months, my sister Anne could already hum while the choir sing praises to the Lord. At age three, she could already draw and her painting skills already evident. In her early years in school, she has been an actress, a painter, a singer, a guitarist and adjudged the best drummer in high school. In few months time, Anne will be graduating in Fine Arts at the State University.

Her graduation gift is a trip to Australia to attend the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF). This is an annual activity held in Western Australia every summer that showcases some of the world’s finest artists and performers. PIAF is the oldest international arts festival in Australia and the state’s premium cultural event.

Anne’s trip to Australia will be also a good opportunity for her to visit her relatives in Sydney and Adelaide. Thus, the pocket money to be given her has to be budgeted to maximize her attendance at PIAF. In her schedule, she listed some hotels in Perth and hotels in Adelaide that offer discounted rate and have similar comfort offered by Melbourne accommodation. Anne is so excited to finish college to receive her most awaited Graduation Gift.

The Bali Island in Indonesia has been one of the top ten destinations on my list of must see places in Asia since college. Tagged as ‘island of the gods’, Shangri-La, the ‘last paradise’, the ‘dawning of the world’ and the ‘centre of the universe’, who wouldn’t want to visit the place? Also add the fact that this tropical island with a number of beaches and island resorts presents ample diving and surfing opportunities, Bali is definitely THE primary destination in Indonesia.

Being a diving fan, I’m looking forward to visiting Tulamben Bay in Bali which, according to Wikipedia, boasts the wreck of a 120 meter (400 feet) US Army commissioned transport vessel, the USAT Liberty Glo. Of course, with Surfing sites that are recognized as world class sites, trying out this popular sport is also on my list of things to do in Bali. There are about 33 surf spots from West Bali to East Bali. My final stop will be at Ubud, Bali to have a glimpse of some Indonesian history and culture. The place is known to be a Haven for the arts, paintings, lush rice fields, museums, galleries, and dances.

In case you’re also interested in visiting the place, to avoid disappointment and a wasted vacation from weird and uncomfortable accommodation, I suggest you ditch the thought of going for discount asian hotels for once and enjoy the island at its best by booking in one of the comfortable seaside haven hotels in Bali.

My sister Anne is currently taking up Fine Arts in our state university. Like most artists, she dreams of enhancing and practicing her talent in New York - “The City that Never Sleeps”.

Although we have an aunt who currently resides in New York, Anne does not want to live off my aunt’s generosity. So instead of staying at our aunt’s house for her internship interview this October, she decided to join her classmate Inna in booking a room in one of the hotels in New York. They’re actually planning on booking in Renaissance New York Times Square. I nearly fainted. I told them that with hundreds of New York Hotels to choose from (e.g. city’s famous luxury hotels, moderate, budget-priced or long term stay hotels, youth hostels, etc.) why select the most expensive one?!

They laughed at my reaction and said that since it’s their first time to go to New York and they’re not even sure if they’ll pass the internship interview, they might as well enjoy the city at its best during their trip. Meaning they intend to pamper themselves in the best hotel and visit the Statue of Liberty, Top of the Rock, the Times Square and other NYC attractions. With a response like that, what more can one say?

My partners and I will be having an important meeting sometime early October with a popular clothing line brand who’s considering us for creating their website. We’re planning to rent one of BusinesSuites conference rooms in Columbia. My friend recommended the place and said that BusinesSuites, one of the leaders in the office business center industry, truly lives up to their “Blue Door service” or service that exceeds the expected.

Considering that our October meeting will be a crucial one, availing of one of BusinesSuites conference rooms or perhaps their Columbia Office Space, which also includes a generous variety of professional administrative support services, is definitely a plus in our securing the deal.

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Disclosure: This post features a paid link.

I moved in to our Apartment/Office last September 10. The house was a mess and there weren’t any fixed schedule on household chores like who cooks and washes the dishes, and who takes out the trash. Frankly, I don’t care whatever task they assign to me so long as the tasks are divided reasonably. I’m a bit hesitant with my cooking though, which makes me wish I enrolled in a culinary school like http://www.chefs.edu/ during one of my summers in college. Still, everything can be learned if you are willing and persistent. So cooking, though challenging, is okay.

The move in is a great experience for me to be independent though. So in spite of our differences in how to manage our apartment, I decided to bear with the situation. My colleagues and I were able to come up with a reasonable schedule, and even ended up hiring someone to come in for lunch and breakfast to cook and wash the dishes. That way, we’ll avoid dilemmas like “unfair labor practice” and have more time to be productive in office work instead of doing household chores.

Since our house was constructed last year, we haven’t had enough cash for the finishing touches and for home improvements like modern but very inviting living room furniture. Even my room on the roof top was not yet built. According to my mom, we’ll be constructing my room as soon as their retirement pay resumes. Until then, I might as well just plan out my room-to-be.

I love looking at sceneries so I am very particular with my room windows location. I am currently considering a double glazing or this uPVC casement window which offers combinations of fixed panes for uninterrupted views. I think I’ll go for the latter. The casement window even has top opening fanlights and side-opening casements for fire escape. Being a self-confessed OC (obsessive-compulsive) the “casements for fire escape” definitely warrants my seal of approval.

Well, there goes the window. Next on the list are the bedroom and bathroom tiles. I need to look for the right shade of tiles that will go with my wisteria-themed room…

It’s the rainy season. When I was in elementary, I used to love the rainy season. I even go out and play in the rain with my friends. Our favorite game was paper boat racing.

Tables turned when we moved to our new house. I became a bit apprehensive whenever it rains hard because a lot of water from the rain enters our basement and we have to literally scoop the water out to keep our things from getting soaked. My parents have not been able to avail of waterproofing services yet because we’re still fixing some other stuff at home.

My siblings and I are planning to just sponsor the whole waterproofing process to end this anxiety attack whenever it rains. We’ve been canvassing and so far, Brooklyn New York basement waterproofing offers one of the best solutions for our basement problem using the latest wall and floor sealing methods, mildew cleaning tools, and mold cleaners to keep our foundation stable and dry.
We’re currently saving up for the waterproofing. Hopefully, our basement will be leak-free before the storms start hitting our area.

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Disclosure: This post features a paid link.

For the past year, I’ve been doing a lot of research about the website I’m planning to create. The concept was well thought of and, as of the moment, there is very little competition in the niche I selected. Unfortunately, according to my future partner, Nap, aside from part time programmers, we will also need a venture capitalist for the said project.

I was devastated. I do not have any rich friends or colleagues that qualify as venture capitalist. I asked another friend who’s into finance for advice. He recommended availing of Secured Loans. I was hesitant. I hate loans. It takes a long and tedious process plus interest. However I want to spend my money, I want to receive it quickly and with the minimum of fuss. But then, if it entails having to avail of a secured loan to be able to create and run my website, then so be it.

Being a first timer, I decided to do intensive research and compare loans online. After all, where money is involved, one can never be too careful. I was surprised to find out that there’s some sort of search engine for loans which allows you to search and compare 100’s of secured loan plans from 12 of the leading secured loan lenders in the United Kingdom. That is, you can use it to search for both secured and Unsecured loans. Pretty amazing stuff, eh? It saves you plenty of time with one easy search.

Thanks to the time-saver loan search engine, my choices have been immediately narrowed down to only three. I’ll be calling them up for more details. Afterwards, I’ll be meeting with Nap sometime this week for further discussion about this type of funding instead of searching for a venture capitalist. Hopefully, we’ll get to run our business soon.

Now that my last day at work is approaching (it’s on September 14, 2007 by the way), I think I ought to start my freedom from boring five-days a week work with a perfect holiday in Europe.

Though tour packages like Austrian holidays are tempting, I prefer to build my own holiday trip. There’s nothing more relaxing than pampering yourself on a well-planned, personalized trip. It’s a good thing that you can avail of “Build Your Holiday & Pack Your Bags!” on some websites which allows you to create the holiday that you desire. That is, you can book cheap flights to a huge choice of destinations and find accommodation to match your type of vacation.

With cheap customized vacations online, why bother with the usual tour?