Daily Happy Thoughts » Blogging

Travel Comforts

borski — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:02:59 +0000

While I am currently residing in Dumaguete, thanks to my husband, I travelled to many domestic cities as a visitor. Those experiences allow me to see other sights, cultures, and people in terms of gaining a sense of local diversity and to spend quality time with Ian. With these travels is the opportunity to sample the different comforts and amenities offered in each place where I stayed for the duration of my visit. For instance, a great night’s sleep provided by just the right mattress bed.

On beds, in my experience so far, Astoria Plaza has the bed that best suits my sleeping needs — correct support (it yields to the natural contours of our bodies but doesn’t sag in the middle with our weight) and comfort (neither soft nor hard). This also comes with plush pillows that seemed to give me the feeling that my head’s being cradled. It was the most rested 3-hour sleep I’ve had. I also dig their headboards and the large mirror in front of the dining table! Did I mention that the air conditioner units do not make rattling noises like the ones at Kabayan Hotel? Cool.

Now I’m (very) envious with Ian’s new lodging benefit provided by their Company. Oh, I can just imagine waking up every day on that bed well rested, free of pain and discomfort.

Giddyup giddyup

andoyitok — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:06:50 +0000

Growing up, I was always fascinated by the Olympics. I would not let each Olympics pass without me being religiously glued to the TV not just to watch my favorite sporting events, but also to check on the nations standings as well. One sport that I particularly like watching is equestrian. There is something particularly elegant and graceful about them as they do their routine and I also think that equestrian clothing stands out from the rest. I bet the coming Olympics will be another interesting event to look out for.

Lounging around

andoyitok — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:37:51 +0000

When I was growing up, I remember not having the luxury of having a lawn on our residence. When you got out of the door from the house, it would immediately be the gate, and then the road. This is precisely the reason why when we were growing up, whenever us kids would be out of the sight of whomever was tasked to look after us, they would immediately come running towards the gate, afraid that any of the kids might have bolted out the gate and into dangerous vehicle traffic.

This changed when sometime in 1996, we transferred to our present residence, which is already in the interiors, a short distance away from the main roads. Also, this had a larger land area, around 1800 sq. m. (compared to 200 sq. m. at our previous residence), which left a lot of space. I remember all of us planting carabao grass on the lawn just after we transferred there, and up to now, the lawn is covered with such, as well as the 2 already fully grown mango trees in the lawn. Everytime there would be day-long blackouts, usually with the electric company doing some major repairs of their equipment, we’d have this haven to retreat to, and we’d just roll out the mats and the hammocks, and just enjoy the cool breeze, sometimes playing cards, with water-drinking penalty.

Today, whenever Borski and I would be in our dreaming state, we’d envision our dream home, with a lawn of course, and hopefully, one of these outdoor chaise lounges to grace our lawn. Currently, we are still amortizing twin lots at a housing village in the outskirts of the city. Hopefully, this 5-year plan would come into fruition. =)

The air up there

andoyitok — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:55:21 +0000

Yesterday, I got the opportunity to go with my Dad, together with some business colleagues of his, and we traveled using the pickup, to Bayawan City, which is around 105 kilometers south of Dumaguete City. Before I was employed by my present company, Borski and I used to do frequent traveling to those areas, and on most occasions, I would be driving. Yesterday, however, I just drove half of the way, on the trip going there, while Dad drove on the way back.

The thing I liked about going on trips like those is the travel on the coastal roads, and the opportunity to really soak up on the beach even if only using your sense of sight, and if you were really lucky, chance upon a very beautiful sunrise or sunset. Another thing I liked was that usually, on the way home, we get to pass by some rural fishing towns, which offer freshly caught fish just on makeshift stalls along the road. Yesterday, we chanced upon long eel-like fish, locally known as “liwit”, as well as some large approximately 4-kilo tunas. Right then and there, we had decided to have fish soup for dinner, with Borski and I joining them for dinner at my parents’ home.

Come dinner time, the delicious hot soup indeed had us sweating profusely, especially so that the ceiling fan above our dining table had already reached its lifespan and was now just feebly rotating. It did give quite a long service life of more than 10 years, which is not bad at all. I wonder if they would consider replacing the ceiling fans with Casablanca fans, in anticipation of more get togethers over hot fresh fish soup. =)

Practically speaking

andoyitok — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:05:20 +0000

Just yesterday, my Dad called me up asking for help with something on his laptop. Turns out, he wanted me to help him set up a picture of his, which he took with his own point and shoot digital camera, and print it to come out in 2×2 photos, which I think he was planning to use for his identification cards or something like that. Come to think of it, I haven’t actually done it like that before, since whenever I need photos like that for some sort of application or compliance form, I have always found it more practical and more economical to just head out to the local photo developing station and just avail of their wholesale printing services. So, guess what I did? Right. I told him to save his picture on a USB storage device, and then had it printed at at some photo studio, and viola! Instant photos.

I wonder when he’ll think of having his business cards printed next time. =)

Sweet Indulgence

andoyitok — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:04:13 +0000

Among the things prohibited in our new office are smelly fruits (like Davao City’s native fruit Durian, which has become one of my favorites), and smoking, which is self explanatory. However, I do have a specific memory of smoking in general, which I can tie in to the experience of mine while I was still assigned as a control room engineer at Bacolod City. I remember how my supervisor then would always ask me to bring a ream of menthol cigarettes when I come back from my week-long days off. I guess there weren’t any cheap sources available in Bacolod at that time. As far as I know, those stuff came all the way from Mindanao, and it was not easy to get a hold of those. I wonder what it was about those menthol cigarettes that made my supervisor not miss reminding me to bring back a ream or two. I wonder if Swisher Sweets, a secret blend of tobacco and flavorings, producing a sweet tasting effect, would also have that same effect on him. I haven’t been back to Bacolod on work for over a year now. I guess I will never know.

The Inevitable

andoyitok — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:39:19 +0000

I wanted that to sound like in the motion picture, “The Untouchables.’ LoL. Enough goofing around.

As we go through the stages of this journey we call life, there are some realities that, although we put off at the back of our minds, we do have to acknowledge. Such is life. As we grow older, the years manifest itself on our appearances. If you ask me, that is an achievement in itself, for not everyone knows how to embrace aging gracefully. In a way, the wrinkles on our faces are a testament to how we fought life’s battles, how we went about embracing one challenge after another. On the other side of the coin, some other factors may also exaggerate these signs of aging, including smoking, sun damage, and poor hydration, among others. Whatever the cause may be, it certainly would help to be able to have some wrinkle filler handy to address this reality.

Less is More

andoyitok — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:13:18 +0000

As I was watching a replayed episode of The Biggest Loser earlier today, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the often complete transformation that the participants of the reality show undergo. In a way, this specific reality TV show has this positive thing going for it in that it helps make a positive impact on the lives of the contestants.

As one testimonial of a contestant was shown, he specifically mentioned that through the show, he was able to learn how to reduce belly fat effectively, and got better at reigning in his appetite, and got much better at imposing discipline on himself so that he would stick to his scheduled gym workouts, even after the show was already long over. Today, he is living a much healthier lifestyle, and a higher self-esteem. Now, even if you didn’t win the monetary reward the show promised, walking away with that positive impact is really more than worth it.

Skepticism on weight loss solution

andoyitok — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:45:59 +0000

As I was browsing through online profiles of my friends on Facebook earlier today, I came across a picture of a friend of mine advertising a weight-loss protein milkshake. Add to that, there was a question addressed to that friend of mine asking her if the advertised milkshake did not have any adverse or side effects when taken. To me, that is very dangerous what they were doing back there, as those information are only through word of mouth, and actually have no factual basis. Wouldn’t it be beneficial for prospective buyers if they could read on unbiased feedback of advertised products online so that they could make a much better informed choice? If you agree with me, then you would be pleased to know that some of the weight loss solutions do have reviews for people to read about and be better informed. One such example, curvatrim review, which affords the reader a chance to review numerous customer feedback regarding this particular product. After all, knowledge is power, right?

Face Value

andoyitok — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:31:13 +0000

Lately, Borski has been complaining on the outbreak of pimples on her face. If there is one person who takes good care of her face, it would be her. Unlike me, she doesn’t scratch her face using unclean hands at the very first sign of an itch. Me doing that has often caught her attention on more than a couple of occasions. LoL. Unlike her, I just remember to wash my face before going to bed whenever there would already be pimples on my face. Unlike her, I also stay up late at night, and indulge in all sorts of fatty foods. I guess we should go out and get Borski an acne cream for her face. Despite that, acne or no acne, she is still my beautiful Borski, beautiful inside and out. =)