I Love/Hate America

SHOPWIKI: JUST LIKE A SEARCH ENGINE FOR WISE SHOPPING

It's the 8th day of the  new year and most of us are now trying to stick to our list of New Year's Resolutions.  Some are resolving  to shed off some pounds, some are searching for a new job, and some are taking drastic actions to spend less and adhere to a budget  strategy. Hence, shopping wisely is the key to this plan.

In these difficult economic times, most families prefer to dine in their homes and cutting back on eating out. So, efficient and multi-purpose, top-grade kitchen tools and dining essentials are the best options to make the best home-cooked meals. Such as the Cuisineart Food Processor which  definitely cuts back food prepping time. So I went online to scour for  deals on these items  and I found them on  ShopWiki. What's cool about this shopping site is that it is like a search engine for shopping. Unlike other traditional shopping comparison sites which only feature retailers and stores that paid for placement, ShopWiki  is like a search engine for shopping. Unlike others, Shopwiki revolutionizes online shopping because it searches every store and retailer in the internet because  it crawls like Google does.

WHEN AMERICAN KIDS ATTACK THEIR CAREGIVERS

The USA is known for its "child rights" and the infamous 911 call for a suspected child abuse, educating kids as early as 1 to inform cops about any physical punishment they encounter. School authorities such as principals, teachers and even school nurses are implored to phone in 911 if they are suspicious of any physical harm done to a child.

This is what I hate about in America. Children, as a result, because of this policy blossom into undisciplined brats---becoming the world's scariest kids. Working with children has made me witness all the harsh realities of how most American mothers are terribly frustrated holding on to the reins of their children's lives. Instead of becoming their guides, their mentors and their "parents", American kids treat their parents like their friends; friends who are just like  "one of them" whom they can yell at, sass back and bitch around.  During my stint as a nanny, a 3-year old boy slaps his mother's face because he did not like the food his mother served him on the table. The mother wanted to slam back but in desperation, she broke down into tears. And instead of a reprimand, she apologized to her son. Oh, I could not believe what I'd seen. The boy hit her again and before he could summoned multiple "injuries" to his mom, I quickly took him away. She said, "You cannot discipline my child. I am the only one disciplines my child."  I was horrified. "Look at you, you were hit by your son and you think you can discipline your child." The next thing I knew, I was fired.

What's interesting in this frightening news story is that the authorities do not know what to do with the child. However, they can do something to parents who discipline their children. Read the story of this  babysitter shot by a 4-year old  and you will take notice that most comments are directed towards the  parents' fault about their possession of guns. Only a few voiced out over the lack of discipline as the catalyst for such crimes committed by children. I have posted a similar post about this a few months ago about American kids turning into as the world's scariest kids.

HAVING MORTGAGE INSURANCE: A MATTER OF PEACE OF MIND

Tragedies come unexpectedly and when it happens they do not only cause grief but also anxiety and stress. When my family lost our father to cardiac arrest, we spiraled downward into bankruptcy and worst, lost my parents' investment, our 7-bedroom, 8-bathroom house. My mother although earned a lot from our business, could not muster up  all her financial abilities to pay our mortgage. We lost our house and the bank foreclosed it forcing us to move to a tiny 3 bedroom apartment within 30 days of the bank's notice.  There was no one to turn to for help and there was no establishment or support to help us pay off our mortgage in the Philippines. Banks do not offer mortgage life-insurance nor insurance companies feature this type of service.

In America, it is really important for families to avail mortgage insurance in the incidence of deaths and disabilities. If you have a family, it is your primary responsibility to ensure the welfare of your family at the time of any disability or death in your part. For most people, especially if they are homeowners, the home mortgage is the single largest source of personal debt.  Mortgage protection insurance is a specialized life insurance guaranteeing to pay off that debt in the event of your death. It is a way of ensuring that your house that shelters your family is paid for no matter what the circumstances even sickness or disability. Your family would never have to face the agony of an impending foreclosure.

A TO Z TAG

An online friend, Marie, who authors  her fab blog, "Vanidosa Marie" tagged me last November with this A to Z tag that I  promised to post but simply forgot. I'm sorry Marie, but here it is now;

A -Attached or Single?  -Attached--married
B -Best Friend?  -I have lots of best friends but they're all in Davao
C-Cake or pie?  -Cake
D -Day of choice?  -Saturday
E -Essential item? -Toothbrush
F -Favorite Color?  -Pink
G -Gummy Bears or Worms? -Gummy Bears...who likes worms?
H -Hometown? -Davao City
I -Indulgence? -Long baths
J -June or July?  -July
K -Kids ?   -Zero
L -Life is not complete w/o -God

FLIP SKATEBOARDS

I have nephews and nieces whom I love so dear that they get presents from me, their loving and doting Tita (aunt) who would never mind buying. for them The oldest of my nephew is a 16 year old lanky yet smart young lad who loves music, gadgets and sports. Last Christmas I gave him a cellphone which took him by surprise. Usually, I chose my gifts carefully but this time, another year is starting, I think I am running out of creative gift ideas for a teenage boy.


But then I remember he likes skateboarding hence I will buy him a skateboard on his next birthday when he turns 17. Good thing  I have found an online discount skateboard store which is a one-stop shop for all skateboarding needs. It also has a wide variety of selection of top pro skateboard brands and has the largest collection of  branded skateboards online at unbeatable low prices.


One great thing is that they offer a pre-assembled Flip skateboards  that enables the user to acquire skateboards easily and at cheap costs with professional-grade skate gear. I may have to purchase in advance because currently the skateboard complete array are all on sale. This Flip Skateboards are cool because it is named like my URL, "flip". I guess this is a good thing. Also on Warehouse Skateboards I can also buy separate accessories necessary for skateboards such as decks, trucks, wheels, bearings, griptape, helmets, hardware, and even apparel. If there's anyone in your family who are into skateboarding, try going into this site. It is a complete skateboard store that you might find interesting.

SHREDDING ACTION MANIA

My husband, adept at a lot of musical instruments but shows great expertise  and dexterity on the guitar, is a professional musician. He swears that he could not imagine a life not being a guitarist, musician and teacher when asked.

Here, I am sharing with you his first homemade video, with his own  composition "Shredding Action Mania."  Although, this piece is  rock, he is trained as a jazz guitarist.

Check out his websites to listen more of his music at his MySpace/SteveCoyne Music. Or for his original lyrical compositions, check it out at his professional site.

Also, if you're interested in his album, listen to the audio streaming here at No Ride Denied album.

For his guitar lessons of songs from  his album, check out FreeRider University.

WHO ARE MY TOP NOVEMBER ENTRECARD DROPPERS?

December was quite a busy month for all of us. However, there are these dedicated bloggers who persistently drop their Entrecards on my site each day. I am so thankful for the top 10;

Here are they;

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

DATING ONLINE DIRECTORY---AN EASY WAY TO FIND YOUR DATE

A lot of the people I met would tell me my husband and I are inseparable. After almost 5 years of being married, it is still like we're dating. Though sometimes we get on each others' nerves, I know that our love always prevails. So, it's not a surprise that people ask me where and how did I meet him. I would answer I snagged him from a clothesline. Oh I am just kidding. Seriously, I met him through an online dating site. Within 2 weeks of registering in that site, I met him and then after 2 weeks, we started seeing each other.

So I'm often badgered with queries about which dating sites are the best to meet people for dating. They said they wanted reliable ones aside from the site that I recommended so they would choose the best options. It seems that they are really dying to date exciting people for romantic relationships.


At first all I could say was about 2 more sites until I discovered this  Dating Directory site that answers their bugging questions. It is a useful site that makes their searches easy. It helps them find the perfect site that suits their wants and needs. Because it categorizes your search by age, region/location, religion, shared interest, et al, this directory makes your search no sweat.

MY PAGE RANK IS NOW 3

I am jumping from floor to ceiling right now. Like a little girl so stoked opening up her presents. My page rank has increased. From 2 to 3 within just 5 months of blogging. What a great New Year's gift!

I owe it to you guys---my blogger-friends, readers and viewers. I am so grateful you are enjoying my posts.  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVE!

All I can do in return right now is to pray for you that you will be blessed in whatever endeavor you're undertaking and you will be prosperous in this new year. Muah!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ONCE AGAIN!

WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF FILIPINO CHICKENS (AND LIZARDS TOO)

A few days ago, as I was out doing errands and on my way, I met a neighbor who stopped me for some small talk. We were talking about New Year's celebration and had confessed to her that my husband and I will be just home watching the dropping of the humongous ball at Times Square to greet 2009 on TV. I added that I missed the noisemaking celebration we do in the Philippines. You see, New Years Day, is by far different from the American way of greeting it. Silence is highly favored here in America even during holidays such as Christmas and New Year's. Otherwise, cops will be knocking at your door ready to nab you.

Filipinos, just like at Christmas Eve, wait for its oncoming with another festive midnight meal and a family celebration called Media Noche. At the strike of 12:00 a.m., people blow horns, bang cooking pot lids, toot horns and jingle coins on their pockets. To top it all, firecrackers and fireworks are lit to add more excitement to it. In short, New Year's Day is another Christmas Day. Though fireworks are banned now, Filipinos are still unperturbed and continue to blow up pyrotechnics.

In America, certain big cities do it with fireworks (But not firecrackers) with the un-exciting dropping of the ginormous disco ball (duh) amidst spectators waiting for it to fall. After it falls and the synchronized howling of "Happy New Year!", couples kiss each other. If you do not have a partner, you have the chance to grab a total stranger and snitch a kiss.

Anyway, as I babbled about our New Year's noisemaking festivities, she said the Philippines is perpetually noisy. She told me she had been there and could not stand the chickens in the neighborhood where she stayed. Apparently, she was jangled by the chickens' and roosters' clucking and crowing at the crack of dawn. To be roused from her sleep by these creatures made it sound like they were extremely infernal animals from hell.

"Do chickens in the Philippines know what time is it?" she asked me. I responded, "Oh actually they do. They know that it's time for people to wake up."  Honestly, I think that roosters crow at dawn to protect their turf. It is after the night that  they begin  searching for places and spots to find food or insects. Insects don't come out at in the cold, early morning temperatures. While waiting, hens and roosters chuckle and crow to warn other fowl that they are in place at their spots and that no one should come near their turf to snatch some  insects away from them. Singing (or crowing or chuckling) is actually for territorial purposes and happens several times a day--morning, noon and night. It is in the stillness of the dawn that usually their chuckling and crowing are prominently heard.

MY FOUR FAVORITES---THE FOURS EDITION

Ria of "It's My Party"and  tagged me with something that asks you to list your "4 answers." Normally, my answers would be more than 4. So , it's quite hard to minimize them to 4, but here they are, anyway.

PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY

1)  PARIS, FRANCE---    Why do I need to tell why? The city of romance, fine food and chic fashion. Nuff said.

 2)  TOKYO, JAPAN ---I'd been here a couple of times, but it's the only place aside from Davao, that I want to go back again and again and again.

3)  ATHENS, GREECE ---The ancient civilization where the fabled and mythical gods and goddesses originated. Ruins of a once-glorious kingdom are eternally beckoning.

4)  LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM  ---Though I am not really sure what is England's most attractive tourist fare, I just would like to be in a place where I am surrounded with British-accented English speaking people.

FAVORITE THINGS TO MUNCH ON

1) FUNYUNS  --Onion flavored chips

2) VEGGIE CRISPS---Love it

3)  REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS---I can't get enough of it

4)  PLANTAINS

FAVORITE SITES FOR ONLINE SHOPPING

1) AMAZON.COM

2) ALLOY.COM

3) OVERSTOCK.COM

4) SHOPGETORGANIZED.COM 

4 THINGS YOU HAVE TO GET DONE THIS WEEKEND

1) CLEAN THE STUDIO WITH MY HUSBAND

2) DONATE TO SALVATION ARMY

3) GET CLOTHES FROM THE DRY CLEANER

4) WATCH A MOVIE IN A THEATER WITH HUBBY

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MALIGAYANG PASKO, FELIZ NAVIDAD

Hey, I made this card for all you. Sorry, that it's kind of lopsided when I scanned it. I tried to fix it but this is the best thing that I could do. Anyway, I want to wish you all---readers, viewers, peekers, droppers, and friends---

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MALIGAYANG PASKO

FELIZ NAVIDAD

 

And here's a traditional Christmas carol I want to share...enjoy the holidays!

TALK ABOUT THE MOVIES, MUSIC & GAMES YOU LOVE

I am a movie freak. I grew up in a family who 's a sucker for movies . From the heydays of Betamax, VHS, CD's, PayPerView to Netflix.  My husband and I can spend hours and hours of watching movies over bottles of soda and home-made popcorn. After watching it, we would discuss how we love it or how we love to diss it.

Honestly, I want to do some movie Reviews   online. It would be very nice to write my criticisms about the movies I watch and share them with others. Just recently, I found out about Everhype, a social media engine where I could buzz about what I love and hate about popular culture. On this site, I could also participate in discussions about the things I love such as the action Movie Reviews I did and rave about them to prove that my reviews deserve a very good rating. Also, I could rate other users' buzzes, rants and raves  to check if I agree with their ratings. Most of all, I meet people there who enjoy the same stuff I go crazy about and stuff that I abhor or find annoying.

SATELLITE KILLED THE RADIO STAR

(This is not a paid post that is why there is no single link here except  links to my husband's website and my previous post)

In my previous post, I was pining to be home for Christmas.  Of course, I have to take my husband with me. But if I were to go back to my home country, I  would miss one  American thing terribly; my satellite radio. That's one thing about I love the U.S. ----its accessibility to satellite radio. (I don't think there's any nation in the  world  which can acquire satellite radio signals except America).

I grew up hearing music. Even in the  thatched-grass hut where we used to live, we had a radio where my father would turn on to his favorite stations playing Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Paul Anka, Connie Francis, The Cascades, Everly Brothers, Beatles, etc. During the weekends, he would play the radio all day and all night. When we moved to a bigger bungalow, our family was able to buy a turntable and a cassette deck player. Since then, Papa could not be stopped coveting vinyl records of his favorite musical artists. We, his children, inherited the same passion for music. As a growing teenager, half  of my allowance was spent on cassette tapes until I graduated from college. By the time I moved back home from the dormitory, my cassette tapes numbered to more than a thousand. My collection included,  of course, the 80's pop stars--Madonna, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, The Eurythmics, Spandau Ballet, The Smiths, and so many others.

Now you can understand how I've got to have my music. I cannot live without it. It's like air for me to breathe. When I met my husband, we suddenly clicked. He is a musician. And we both love the same songs. So, at home, we both hang around with the music on all the time. Sometimes, the music lilts from his Itunes on the Mac or laptop. Or most oftentimes, he plays the guitar or the keyboards. Occasionally, we play his father's vinyl records on our turntable. You can imagine how "musically-filled" is our little abode. Even while watching TV, he'd riff some tunes on the guitar saying he still does understand the dialogues.

So when we're both together in his car or in my car, the same thing goes. But we don't get it from an ordinary radio or CD player or Ipod. Ordinary radio loses its signal while traveling miles away. It's replete with payola and commercials. So, it really sucks. A CD player plays all the songs that you don't like to hear. Although you can change it or skip to another track, a CD has its limitations. Ipod plays only the songs you bought from a MP3 downloading site such as Itunes. Though it can play 1,000 tunes, it comes with a price of $1,000. And still you've got the same 1,000 tunes for you to listen over and over again. Unless you have another  hundred or a thousand bucks to spare for some more songs.

WHY AM I CRYING WHEN CHRISTMAS IS COMING?

I feel ambivalent today. It's going to be an icky day until tomorrow. Snow is coming this late afternoon and is expected to precipitate at least 4" to 6". I'm glad that my husband is home and he felt like a rambunctious child this morning when he learned he has a "snow day " today. This counts as his first day of Christmas vacation. He's going to have 16 more days of a holiday respite.

 

Taken at 11:30 a.m. today outside the condo building where we live

The slippery and icy stairs

Imagine, my bestfriend is here with me all day for 16 more days. My joy runs over. But the Christmas season brings also a recollection that moves me to tears. I miss home. I miss Christmas in the Philippines. It's so different to spend it here. Christmas in America pales in comparison with our traditional Spanish-influenced celebration of the birth of Jesus. Here, the days are laden with dreariness and gloom because of bad weather. The spirit of the yuletide season does not fill  the air except in department store catalogues and TV commercials. No carols, no midnight masses, no Noche Buena, no puto bumbong, no parols, no merrymaking or festivities, and worse no family. Christmas sometimes saddens me. I am yearning for home.

Christmas in the streets of  my hometown, Davao City

If you're not a Filipino reader of mine, I will tell you that Christmas in the Philippines is the "longest Christmas season" in the whole universe. It starts on the 16th day of December early morning with the traditional Misa de Gallo  (Night Worship) or Midnight Mass, and ends until Christmas Eve.  Outside the churches, vendors sprawled with their array of hot delicacies to take home for breakfast. Usually these tasty delights are relished more with a cup of hot chocolate milk. But Christmas does not really stop there. Christmas still goes a long way until the day of the Feast of the Three Kings on the 1st Sunday of January.  Count how many days of Christmas is that. That is why Christmas is the most important and most revered  holiday for Filipinos.

Filipinos attending Misa de Gallo (Midnight Mass)

Here in America, I don't hear carollers---either neighborhood children or a professional band. Almost every hour at night in my tiny country, children sing carols in exchange for little money.  Sometimes it's a professional or school band. Every now and then, we hear Christmas carols either rendered by a professional or some out-of-tune kid. The Christmas songs you hear in America are either blaring from the mall's sound system or  from a TV commercial jingle---all trying to chase your dollars under the guise of a marketing scheme, "in the spirit of gift-giving."