The BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE in my world

I have tasted a lot of chocolate cakes and I must say that nothing compares to the chocolatey taste of Mernel's chocolate cakes. They don't cost as much as Craving's or Conti's but they taste so much better. Those who don't live in Laguna or haven't been there may not have heard of this cake house. But, it's really famous in Los Baños, Laguna where I spent my college years.

The cake house is located near UPLB. So, if you happen to pass by that area, you will miss half of your life if you don't buy one of Mernel's chocolate cakes. Seriously, just try one.

I always try to buy one during special occasions.

(A Valentine's Day gift for NLR)

Coffeeholic?

Isn't it amazing how animals adapt to our lifestyle?

A coffeeholic insect for example.

(This was taken from Fitness First - West Gate lounge. While having coffee and reading a newspaper, a mosquito was helping itself with a droplet from my extra sweet coffee.)

Rin on the Rox will finally appear on Ellen DeGeneres' show

I'm not really a YouTube fan because it's on the "not allowed" sites list at both my full time and part time jobs. However, since I was able to "end process" the internet surveillance program on my PC, I was able to discreetly view a couple of Rin on the Rox vids.

I know that Rin on the Rox will eventually appear on Ellen DeGeneres' show since she has invited them there herself. The question is - when? I really want to see them on Ellen. Honestly, I want to know how they sound like when they're not singing...inside the bathroom (although Ellen has invited them to sing in the studio's bathroom). I guess they'll do two songs, one in a bathroom and another on the set. Hopefully, they'll sing on the set!

Today, I saw a YouTube update of them appearing on Ellen on February 3 at 4 PM. Hmmm....4 PM what? Is that Manila Time? I want to know if I can watch it live. So, I googled it and stumbled upon their MySpace site (http://www.myspace.com/rinontherox). One of the posts say:

Rin on the Rox will appear on ELLEN Tuesday Feb 3
02-03-2009 16:00 at Rin on the Rox will appear on ELLEN, , 00000Cost: Free

See your local listing for Ellen on NBC For the local Bay Area, it starts at 4:00 pm on NBC

Just the info I need. But, I still need to know exactly what time they're gonna be on - in local time. So, I went to an online time zone converter and found out exactly when they're gonna be on - Manila time (thanks to http://www.timezoneconverter.com).

Yes. I can watch it at the office, thank you Slingbox. (Sorry, no streaming allowed.)

Now, all I need to know is which local NBC I can watch it on. Yikes! Dunno if we can get NBC Bay Area. Bummer. But, it should be on any local NBC, right? Hmmm...I hope.

Rin on the Rox - My new obsession

Ok, I may be out of the loop most of the time. If not for listening to a Magic show one morning, I wouldn't have known of this super-talented duo known as Rin on the Rox.
Anyway, the jock's been ravin about the duo who apparently have been uploading their covers of popular songs (performed in their bathroom) on YouTube (where else?). To further convince the audience of Rin on the Rox's great talent, he played their version of Beyonce's If I Were a Boy.
Couldn't blame the jock. Upon hearing them sing, I immediately asked a friend to send a load to my SmartBro sim. I have to be online. I have to go to YouTube. Geez, the last YouTube vids obsession I had was for Twilight.
So, the rest of my day was spent binge watching Rin on the Rox on YouTube. Good thing I can save YouTube vids on my PC. My personal favorite is their version of Take a Bow by Rihanna and of Halo by Beyonce.

They were already invited by Ellen DeGeneres to be on her show. Wow!

Oh, I almost forgot. Rin or Erin is pure Filipino while Rox or Roxanne is half-Filipino and half-American. Hmmm. BTW, I dunno what the fuss is about them being Filipino. Can't we just admire these two because they're talented people? Geez, what's wrong with the world?

Whatever?! I love ROTR!

Revo Uninstaller

I have been having trouble installing a different antivirus program on my computer. Reckon it's because of the left overs that the uninstall tool that came with my previous antivirus program didn't bother to remove. As such, my computer has become cluttered. I tried cleaning up with Registry Mechanic to no avail.

So, I went to Google for help and I stumbled upon Revo Uninstaller on one of the forums. There were lotsa positive reviews about it which is great. But the best thing about it is - it's FREE. So, I downloaded it, installed it and put it to the gargantuan task of cleaning up my PC. ^_^

I first tried to uninstall the free AVG I had trouble uninstalling because my PC keeps shutting off during the uninstall process. Revo Uninstaller uninstalls the program first using the uninstaller the program came with. With fingers crossed, I waited for Revo Uninstaller to uninstall the pesky antivirus. Wow, my PC did not restart! After that, I was given the option to check the left over registries Revo Uninstaller will remove. Geez, I didn't know AVG uninstaller leaves so many. Finally, I got the confirmation that AVG has been uninstalled. YES! Success!

Trivial

I'm not sure if the following are true. I'm going to research on them when I have time. Meanwhile, I'll leave them here for anyone to see.

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb."

~~~

Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled"Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

~~~

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

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Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.

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Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

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Coca-Cola was originally green.

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It is impossible to lick your elbow.

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The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:

Alaska

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The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)

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The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

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The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400

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The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000

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Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

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The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

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The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar

~~~

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

~~~

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in theair, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the airthe person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

~~~

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, JohnHancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

Tech savvy?

I got this from a forwarded email (yeah, where else?) and I'm just so amazed at how technology has changed our lives.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Life

A friend who's working abroad called me while I was having my lunch break. With the tone of her voice, I sensed the seriousness of whatever she's going to tell me. She told me what's wrong but I didn't understand it because she started crying. So, she had to tell me again that...her brother died on 01/17. (Her brother was also working abroad.)

I uttered an exclamation of shock. Then, silence. I didn't know what to say.

She started crying hard again. I felt her grief so I cried with her. I didn't know what to say.

But, I had to say something. "I'm sorry," was all that I managed to say.

In that moment, I felt altered. Suddenly, I got into a perspective that viewed life to be "precious." I never thought my life was precious. Hearing her wail made me think otherwise. Life is precious and we should do anything in our power to protect it. To preserve it.




But, we can only do so much.

China phone

I got my first dual sim phone today. I have been planning for a long time to buy one (so I can use my SIMs at the same time) and now that I got it, I'm not happy with it. Although it's feature laden, the screen resolution is off-putting. Certainly more than what my eyes can bear when they've gotten used to the crisp picture quality from a Cybershot phone. But then again, what can you expect from a China phone.

Haggard

I thought I'm done with "haggard days" in college. Geez, I feel nostalgic with my new schedule. It feels like "hell week" every week. *sigh* I wonder if my body is still up for the challenge. Nevertheless, I'm megadosing on Vit. C. No need to look like a zombie.

Bleak

I wish someone would slap me out of this morose state. I don't know why I can easily go into a fit of depression but not get out of it. Am I addicted to feeling depressed? I hope not.

Sleep

They say adults don't need that much sleep. But, I do. I guess I'm the most sleep-deprived person on the face of the planet. Ok. That's quite an exaggeration. Let me try that again.

I'm the most sleep-deprived person in Alabang.

I'm sure some people in the hospital can't sleep also. So, maybe...

I'm the most sleep-deprived person in our office.

Still not quite right.

Okay, I'm the most sleep-deprived person in our team.

Now, this is true.

Smartguard

With the work schedule I have and the number of bad guys prowling Las Piñas city streets while I'm on my way to work, it's nice to have some means of self defense. Readiness can be reassuring. So, I asked Noel to buy me a mini tear gas spray. And today, I got it. Hmmm...I already feel safe and ready!

Banking Evolution

It's amazing how banking has evolved these days. Gone are the days you need to open a "bank account" to "store" your money in the bank. Now, you can just "buy" a cash card and enjoy the safety banks offer in "storing" your hard earned money without the unnecessary (just an opinion) "maintaining balance" requirement. Until now, I don't quite get the idea of banks charging a fee if your account falls below the "maintaining balance." Hey, that's my money!

ZTE, SMART Bro and Globe Visibility

I bought a SMART Bro Prepaid Kit on eBay. I bought it because it's a limited edition The Dark Knight Flashdisk Modem and it's a bit cheaper since it's already used. I'm always the cheapskate.

I got the modem last night. To my surprise, it looks like the Globe Visibility Prepaid Kit my friend bought only packaged differently. Upon further inspection, I found that both are ZTE models. Cool!

A stress on my equilibrium

I am busy. How so? I have two jobs both of which have awkward schedules.

My fulltime job.

I have been working as a call center agent for the past three years at a prestigious call center company here in the Philippines. We have American clients so our schedule should match theirs. Usually, we work on graveyard shifts. However, I work as an e-mail support so the schedule is not as strict as with inbound call agents. I work in the day shift 6 am to 3 pm.

My part time job.

I have been working as a part time online English tutor for Koreans. My shift caters to South Koreans who want to learn English at home after their day jobs. My schedule there is from 7 pm to 11 pm.

I get around 6 hours of sleep with this type of schedule. But, I'm fine with it. I think my body agrees with me.

Why do I do this? I have to be busy. Besides, I have gotten used to this routine.

Now, I learned of a bad news that's going to shake my equilibrium. Starting Sunday, my day job's schedule will be from 4 am to 1 pm. OMG!

No Man's Land

This was one of those DVDs that get tossed whenever I skim through my humble DVD collection to find a movie to watch. My boyfriend gave or lent it to me to test my very first DVD player - an expensive NextBase with VGA out (perfect for someone who'd rather have a computer than a TV - like me). I never got to watch this movie. I don't really like war movies. But, I'm glad I watched this movie. It was good. Really good. No wonder it got an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002. Yeah, it's that good!

The story? It's about two enemy soldiers trapped in "no man's land" during the time when Bosnia and Herzegovina were fighting heavily. Only the UN forces can rescue them but the problem is they'd rather not. However, reporters who picked up their radio conversations showed up so they were forced to do something.

My favorite quote from the movie was:

Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder.

Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing.

It is not being neutral.

Ouch!

It's the time of the month when I have to suffer.
Cramps, cramps, cramps!
Strange to be feeling weak, sleepy and exhausted when all I did most of the day is sleep.
Argh!