I Got Promoted!

Honestly I'm not really excited with my promotion because my present job is only temporary and I don't plan on working there forever. I'm only working at Tim Hortons until I get admission to University of Alberta.

I don't want the additional responsibility that the promotion entails but I cannot deny the fact that the additional pay with the promotion is indeed tempting. It was all quite sudden and my manager didn't even tell me about the promotion. It was like I was just assigned to be an in-charge for one day every week just like that. They say that this is the first step to becoming a supervisor but I am more interested in having a raise than being promoted.

But I have to admit that being recognized to lead a group of people and be trusted with all the money in the till gives me a sense of satisfaction and pride. So I have to live out the expectations of my c0-workers... how troublesome.

Ski Trip at the Canadian Rocky Mountains

That is me trying to conquer the mountain and ski. Well I did get to ski (slightly) and I was able to conquer the mountain (just the bunny hill for kids and beginners) after a few falls (more like several falls) but as one very intelligent and well respected philosophers of all times (me) said:

"It is better to fall a thousand times than to just sit and never learn anything..."

The ski trip was well worth it and we really enjoyed it. Here are my trip buddies:

Tanner, Camille, Grace, Mark, and Me... and oh yes my brother who I brought along as my personal photographer:

(Me and my brother)

The trip to Marmot Basin, located in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is around 6 hours from Edmonton. The trip there was very fun and really comfortable. We left Edmonton at around 2:30 AM to Camille's house and then we followed them to the Edmonton Military Garrison where our bus was waiting for us:


Oh yeah! It's Canadian baby! And our driver was a Canadian Soldier:

Ok, back to my story. So riding the bus was very relaxing really. I was able to sleep and just listening to my iPod was really fun and when dawn finally break the view was amazing:


And yes skiing (or trying to ski) is also fun! Good thing the snow was soft or else I would have bruises all over. We just went skiing on top of the bunny hill which was intended for kids (and beginners) but turns out the kids were better than us at skiing and snow boarding. We were served!

But trying to ski and the matching ski outfit were excellent for picture taking which was the main reason why we came all the way to Marmot Basin for: picture taking! *Toink*

Goodbye Ice Cream!

My gosh! My worst nightmare has finally came true! A friend had asked me go swimming at the water park at West Edmonton Mall!!! I'm not afraid of drowning or anything because I can swim (and float whenever I need to hehehe).

I don't want to come because I don't want to be half naked in a swimming trunks because I don't have that body to show off or a body to even show to begin with (wait... I don't have a body?!). I'm thinking of coming but I'm not sure. Maybe when I slim down a bit and get rid of that lump in front of my tummy hehehe. But I guess 2 weeks won't do me much good...

I just am too lazy to exercise and there are so many things I want to do rather than exercise. I am so hopeless. But still I will try to watch what I eat... goodbye iced cappuccino and ice cream... I will miss you so much!

Family Time Is A Must

Moving to Canada has somehow placed a strain on my family's relationship with each other. All of us are always busy and have no time to just sit and relax. I come home to our house and leave the house without even seeing or talking to my parents sometimes.

There are times when all of us are at home but then we still don't get to interact with each other because we are in front of our computers surfing the internet or whatsoever. We sometimes don't get to eat together anymore.

This is not how a family should act that is why I am happy that my family is doing something about it. We make sure that we are at home at least on Sunday because this is the day that we get to eat together and do stuff together may it be shopping, watching movies at home, eating out, or whatever as long as we do it together.

No matter how busy we are we should always have time for each other because we came to Canada to live a new and great life and not just to earn money. Many families have grown far apart by each other and I don't want my family to be the same.

So even if my family have certain traits that I may be ashamed of or dislike, my love for them is greater. They are not perfect but they are family and families stick together.

Computer Dust Could KILL!!!

There have been papers about how computer dust (or dust bunnies) could possibly harm or even kill. They don't harm people but they surely deal a great damage to computers. And in this way some people may have nervous breakdowns so dust bunnies could indirectly cause mental health issues.

Dust bunnies are very discrete and they attack your computer in secret. The surrounding area of the computer may be clean and tidy but the computer is one big vacuum cleaner sucking dust in with it's fans and also with the help of static energy that it creates. So everything may be good from the outside but the inside is infiltrated and is a great breeding ground for the multitudes of dust bunnies.

Normal signs and symptoms of this dust bunny disease is over heating, screen freezes, slow processing power of the computer, and finally the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!

My computer was attacked by this infested creature. Two times in fact. I have an HP Pavilion Elite m9350f Computer boasting an AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core Processor with speeds of 2.4 GHz, 6 GB DDR2 memory, and a NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Graphics Card with 512MB Memory. But this was no match for the dust bunnies as they made it to slow down and at times crash.

The first time I did system check-ups and tweaks. I even did a system restore but didn't work. I brought it back to Best Buy to have it checked, paid them $100 for doing the same things I did. The second time I was playing my Oblivion game which usually runs smoothly and fast but now lags and takes forever to load.

I checked my tower and there they were! The creepy dust bunnies were showing their heads out of the ventilation holes! I realized that the first time it broke, the Best Buy people did something I didn't: clean and dust the computer!

So I made an offensive action and wiped them out. I opened the Tower Casing (Turning it OFF and Disconnecting all wires of course) and there they were all over my poor computer's insides. I used Q-Tips and Cotton Balls soaked slightly with 70% isopropyl alcohol to wipe them clean. I touched something metal first before doing the cleaning to discharge my self from static energy which could damage the computers delicate electronics.

I concentrated my cleaning on the fans and especially the heat sinks! There were so many dust bunnies that by just dippping the Q-tips into the heat sink it already took out so many that it looked like I was taking out lint from a dryer.

I could have done a better cleaning if I had a can of compressed air but I guess i did the job right because my computer is fast again.

So if your computer slows down, it might not be a virus or spyware that is causing the rucuss. It might be the evil and deadly DUST BUNNIES!!!

My Computer Almost Gave Me a Heart Attack!

God! I was this close to smashing my computer to smithereens! I came home from work and I was exhausted. Playing Oblivion IV was my way of de-stressing my self so I turn on the computer. It was very strange when it said "Preparing My Desktop" but I didn't think anything was wrong until I realized that my computer somehow lost it's memory. My files where gone and my settings where different. It was ok at first because my Oblivion game was still there but when I started to play I was horrified to discover that my saved game files where also deleted or where missing!

I was about to lose my mind when I realized that maybe if I restarted it it might fix itself or something. And thank goodness it did just that. So my computer is safe for now from being turned into scrap metal.

So be good computer! You don't want to be hurt!

Are you a Doctor "Doctor" or a Doctor "Nurse"?

The article New Degree Creates Doctor Nurses — And Confusion is quite intriguing! Imagine, a nurse who has a high level of expertise in nursing and has already earned a PhD could finally be called a "doctor". Well people with PhD's are really called doctor for their title but when you are in the hospital setting, when you think of the word doctor it is usually the person who diagnose and treat the disease and had graduated from the School of Medicine and not the School of Nursing.

But if you ask me, the title of doctor should be given solely to the doctors of medicine rather than the doctors of nursing. Why? Well sure some nurses with advanced degrees can diagnose and prescribe medicine but it is true that this would cause some confusion. But if you think of it people shouldn't really make a big fuss out of it. It is true that the real reason behind this dilemma is that egos of MD's are being deflated. The title of doctor had normally came with superiority but this is already in the past because doctors are not better than nurses and nurses are not the assistants of doctors. Nurses are part of the health care team as equal members who collaborate to provide efficient and holistic care.

But if doctors are preventing nurses from obtaining the title of doctor then nurses should also fight for the title of nurse. When you give the title nurse, this should only be given to those with Bachelors of Science in Nursing (and maybe to those with LPN/LVN) but not to the caregivers or nurse assistants. But this is only for the sake of ego and a sense of accomplishment... but in the end these doesn't matter at all.

The patient wouldn't care if you had a PhD or whatever as long as you help them feel better.

Shopping Online for Games

I just LOVE shopping online for games and even gaming consoles! The main reason I got myself a credit card was so that I could buy stuff online. Shopping online saves you time and effort! You don't need to drive all around the city to find the game title you are looking for and you can search for user feedback and reviews about a certain game before you buy it. Knowing the comments of other people before buying a certain game is very important because you don't want to waste money buying something and then finding out when you come home that the game really sucked and that playing it only drains all the fun and life out of you. There are a lot of video games out there but sadly not every one of them will suite your preferred gaming style and genre and even if they do the over-all impact of the game (Plot, Audio, Video, Length of Game, Re-playability) may not be that impressive so reviews and feedback are a must!

But there are some cons to shopping online too. There are so many online stores that it would be very difficult to search for an online store that has credibility and offers great prices! This is where shopwiki.co.uk comes in to save the day! Not only does this site offer great reviews of a certain product like for example their Nintendo Wii Buying Guide, it helps you find online stores in the internet and you can even filter them by the price of the item they are selling!

So if you want to find online bargains and best priced products on the internet, shopwiki.co.uk is the first place to start.

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I'm so happy that I'm able to play a tune on my violin even if it is just "Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars". It is just so hard to play the violin. I'm going to practice, practice, and practice until I make my "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" sound like a song from the opera! If the opera was dedicated to kids hehehe.

13 Year Old Father

Look at this baby-faced boy... look at the baby... aren't these two brothers look so cute together? Well they are cute but they sure aren't brothers! The 13 year old boy is the baby's father!!! Seems like a big joke right? But this isn't any laughing matter.

I first heard of this story on the news but confirmed it at Juliana's new blog WAHM Talks! What is happening to the world? Why are these things happening? I can't believe that a 13 year old boy can become a father! I can't even believe that he lost his virginity at that young age!

This is why kids these days shouldn't be allowed to have intimate relationships like girlfriends or boyfriends because they have no idea what an intimate relationship is really about and where it should be headed...

It such a shame that an innocent 13 year old was already tainted at such a young age. He doesn't even know how grave the situation is.

My Valentines Day

My Valentine's Day turned out great after all. It sucked that I had to go to work today but I was really happy when I came home. I was surprised by my mom's gift: an I ♥ U Chocolate! And I loved it!

It was a very sweet gesture by my mom and I really appreciate it. I may not have that Significant Other but I do have my mom who loves me and I guess that is all that matters to me.

So I'm now not eligible to be part of the statistics of people who didn't receive anything on Heart's Day hahaha! ^_^

Yes! It's for Free!!!

Free Samples

Yes! You heard me right! You can actually get free stuff without any credit card, shipping fees, or whatsoever!

It's really hard to believe huh? But it really is true! You can get Free Samples of food, clothing, office supplies, and anything else under the sun. This really is legitimate and there really is no strings attached.

Free Samples does not only benefit those who receive it but benefits the company giving away the samples more. It's just like a business tactic to inform potential customers that their products can really satisfy your needs and wants.

So if you want to learn more about what I'm talking about, just head on to thunderfap.com to get your own samples.

Guess there are really free stuff in the world.

Decision Pending

These are the two words that makes me tremble and makes my tiny world be flung into utter chaos: DECISION PENDING...

Ah! It's totally nerve wracking never knowing what will happen next and I have to envision different scenarios so that I could cope with what ever will happen next. Oh gosh, the supreme euphoria of being accepted and the extreme depression if ever I don't get admission into University of Alberta is tearing me apart!

How lovely it would be if I could only be a carefree person and just shrug my shoulders and say, "Whatever..." to whatever might happen.

Whatever... LOL!

NEVER Use Dishwashing Liquid In a Dish Washer

Yup that's our dishwasher alright and yes those are soap bubbles that I had to scoop out because I foolishly used ordinary dish washing liquid instead of the standard dishwasher detergent. I know that most of the people out there know that this indeed is a very stupid thing to do but hey how should I know that?! I couldn't find our dishwasher detergent so I thought of using the dish washing liquid since I was thinking that it wouldn't matter because it is used to clean dishes right? Not a good idea...

Anyway out of this very distressing situation, and I mean DISTRESSING because our kitchen was already flooding, I did learn a few things on how to get rid of the pesky soap bubbles. Well I did a few researching, and these are the stuff that will help get rid of soap suds:

• Fabric Softener
• Salt
• Vinegar
• NEVER USE DISH WASHING LIQUID IN THE FIRST PLACE

Oh well, I'll just charge this to experience...

Curing My Social Phobia

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of people, especially crowds. I hate taking public transit, I hate walking alone in crowded places like the mall, and I especially hate parties and gatherings with people I don't know.

I really don't have a clinical diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder (a.k.a. Social Phobia) but how I feel towards other people and how I react maybe qualifies me for being antisocial.

I can open up and talk to people who I am comfortable with (non-flashy, approachable, and the fellow shy-type kind of people) but I really put up an invisible defensive barrier around me when I'm out of my comfort zone (meaning being out in public).

I hate walking in crowded places because I feel like every one is staring at me and mocking me (not to be too conceited or anything, I know that they don't really notice me).

I'd also prefer staying at home than going with my parents to parties and gatherings to other people's house. I feel uncomfortable not being in my own territory. When I'm in parties I usually go with my mom or anyone I know or if the people I go with tend to socailize with others too much I just go out and hide in a solitary space.

One might be surprised how I survive working at Tim Hortons were I'm supposed to take orders from strangers and such. Well it really depends upon my mood, the number of co-workers with me, and there are days where I am the baker and I don't have to be in contact with other people so it's all good.

But I'm slowly coping with this problem of mine. Now, even if I find it troublesome, I go out with friends and enjoy. In fact this coming March 7, my friends and I are going on a skiing trip! The normal antisocial me would rather stay at home and just watch movies on my laptop but I guess socializing once in a while isn't too bad.

Some People Deserve to Die!

In a world where the good and righteous is oppressed, tortured, taken advantaged, and even killed in cold blood....

In a world where the criminals, sociopaths, bullies, and plainly evil people roam the earth freely immuned from what we call the justice system...

In a world where the powerful can step on the rights of those who are weak just because they can and because no one is willing to stand up against them...

I can't live in this world that we live in...

Constantly I fear for the lives of the ones I love as I hear grim stories of innocent people slaughtered on the streets by gangs and criminals.

I hate feeling powerless and I hate how society just sits and even protects these criminals saying that they too have rights... our world is really naive and stupid.

How I wish that I had the power to pass judgment to all those evil people out there making the world such a filthy place to live in... I would trade my soul and my whole humanity just to be able to get rid of all scum on the face of the earth. I don't care if I get my soul tainted in the process and even if I have to spend my whole eternity in hell...

It is so wrong to kill but there are just some people out there who deserve to die. For example, just this afternoon I was walking to work minding my own business when these Indian teenage boys asked for $10. Naturally I just ignored them and just walked passed them and they started cussing at me and harassing me. I just ignored them and it was fortunate that someone else passed by. Who knew what would have happened if I was all alone with those Indians. I don't want to be racist but this event left a foul taste in my mouth that I can't just spit out and forget.

Anyway on with my rant... I actually had a dream early before all of this happened. There was this white woman who went inside our car to tell us to move because we were blocking her way or something (I can't remember it that well). Anyway I got pissed off because how could we move when there were two cars ahead of us, it's not like we could just ram them over right? But I kind of felt guilty for losing my temper because I could have just reasoned with her. Anyway, she left our car (why did she enter in the first place?) and when I looked at her at the back she was mugged by this person with a gun. I was so terrified and he was about to enter our car through my mom's open door so I told her to close the door but she didn't listen because she was preoccupied with searching for something in her purse. She closed the door but it was too late, I was pulling the door close and the villain was pulling it open... I was about to lose my grip when I woke up. Seriously, I was about to call my mom to tell her to lock the door immediately when she hears me scream in a frantic fashion.

Anyway, I shared this dream just to give an example of how upset and affected I am by all the evil in the world. I want to do something about it and I want to have the power to do so. But really... In an act to get rid of all the evil people in the world, I become evil myself in the process... how ironic...

***
Photo Credits to *ANARKYMAN

Glasses to See the World Clearly

My dad has so many eyeglasses. But the problem is he can never keep track of where his glasses are and he usually loses them, destroys them, or I throw them away because they are ancient and it would be a crime against fashion if I let him wear it around in public.

It costs us a great fortune going back and forth to the eyeglass store to get him a new pair at least twice or thrice a month! In fact when we walk in the store, this sales lady would immediately hand us a list of the bifocal reading glasses that my dad likes (which he usually misplaces).

In this time of economic crisis and slowdown, I guess that I just had to find a way to lessen our expenses. That's why I'm so glad that I found an online store that sells cheap prescription eyeglasses! What I liked about this store is that they had trendy, fashionable, and of great quality prescription eyeglasses for a very reasonable price too of $15!

What I like about this store is that they have this thing they call Virtual try-on system that as the name suggests, allows you to try on the product allowing you to know how it would look on your face.

And if you ever dreamed of having different looks every week, optical4less.com grants that dream because as I said they sell their eyeglasses cheap, plus they get delivered right to your doorstep just in 1 week plus they offer free shipping worldwide if you get more than 1 pair of glasses.

Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be

This quote by William Shakespeare has really enlightened me and I'm willing to place it in my top 5 most favorite quotes (that is if i had a Top 5 Quotes List). I should have listened to my mother or consulted with my mother before I lent a friend out of my naivety Php 20,000 or CAN$ 500!

Now that friend cannot be reached. Her cellphone is always turned off and she doesn't reply to my e-mails or instant messages. It's funny how easy it was to reach her when she needed money immediately like as in now at this very moment and now that it's time for her to pay it back, it's like she never existed!

I will charge this $500 to experience and I will never lend money to anyone from the Philippines or even anyone that lives near me here in Canada unless they sign a contract with me clearly stating the amount they borrowed, the date they will have to pay me, and the consequences of defaulting upon our agreement.

Asianovelas

I just love watching Asianovelas (a Filipino term for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese Dramas/Movies)! I love them because the stories are very unique and that they have this certain taste that I love.

There's something very memorable in every movie and there are always a message in every movie unlike some of the other Western movies where the plot is shallow.

And on the plus side, Asians are so cute (hahaha!). So if you want to watch Asianovelas, I recommend visiting mysoju.com.

Financial Headaches...

I hate having to worry about money. Ever since I've started earning my own money I started having troubles with my financial profile. I mean now I have to worry about paying bills, saving for future expenses, and keeping my credit score and credit history clean so that I can get future loans for my university (and maybe a car).

I wish we could live without having to worry about money.... but I have learned some things during these past few days and they are:

> Never lend anyone money unless you're willing to accept that you'll never get it back.
> Be thrifty... Spending a few dollars here and there could lead to several hundreds of dollars at the end of the month.
> Use your credit card wisely... you have to pay for it at the end of the month.

But I guess that I have been pretty good at keeping my financial profile clean because my bank just gave me a $250 increase on my credit limit so this gives me more spending money during rainy days (emergencies).

Well I still have 7 months before I get to go back to University, so until then I'm going to work hard so that I can earn more money.

TOEFL Exam: I PASSED!!!

No words can fully express how happy, joyful, thankful, lucky I am to be able to pass my TOEFL exam. Well there is really no passing or failing mark in the TOEFL exam but I did have to meet the University of Alberta's requirement of having a minimum of 26 points (out oi 30) in the speaking category of the TOEFL exam. I really don't need the reading, listening, and writing part because these were waived since I studied for 3 years at Xavier University, which of course is an institution where English proficiency is a norm.

I'm not sure if I passed because I speak English well or if I passed only out of pure luck. But all I can say is my results are quite good. I just have to wait for University of Alberta to receive my results and finally accept me into the fall term... hopefully.

Here are my test results:

Test	Test Date	Reading	Listening	Speaking	Writing	Total
TELXML	January 10, 2009	29	30	26	28	113

Reading Skills	Level	Your Performance
Reading	High(22-30)	Test takers who receive a score at the HIGH level, as you did, typically understand academic texts in English that require a wide range of reading abilities regardless of the difficulty of the texts. Test takers who score at the HIGH level, typically have a very good command of academic vocabulary and grammatical structure; can understand and connect information, make appropriate inferences, and synthesize ideas, even when the text is conceptually dense and the language is complex; can recognize the expository organization of a text and the role that specific information serves within the larger text, even when the text is conceptually dense; and can abstract major ideas from a text, even when the text is conceptually dense and contains complex language.
Listening Skills	Level	Your Performance
Listening	High(22-30)	Test takers who receive a score at the HIGH level, as you did, typically understand conversations and lectures in English that present a wide range of listening demands. These demands can include difficult vocabulary (uncommon terms, or colloquial or figurative language), complex grammatical structures, abstract or complex ideas, and/or making sense of unexpected or seemingly contradictory information. When listening to lectures and conversations like these, test takers at the HIGH level typically can understand main ideas and important details, whether they are stated or implied; distinguish more important ideas from less important ones; understand how information is being used (for example, to provide evidence for a claim or describe a step in a complex process); recognize how pieces of information are connected (for example, in a cause-and-effect relationship); understand many different ways that speakers use language for purposes other than to give information (for example, to emphasize a point, express agreement or disagreement, or convey intentions indirectly); and synthesize information, even when it is not presented in sequence, and make correct inferences on the basis of that information.
Speaking Skills	Level	Your Performance
Speaking about familiar topics	Good(3.5 - 4.0)	Your responses indicate an ability to communicate your personal experiences and opinions effectively in English. Overall, your speech is clear and fluent. Your use of vocabulary and grammar is effective with only minor errors. Your ideas are generally well developed and expressed coherently.
Speaking about campus situations	Fair(2.5 - 3.0)	Your responses demonstrate an ability to speak in English about reading material and experiences typically encountered by university students. You are able to convey relevant information about conversations, newspaper articles, and campus bulletins; however, some details are missing or inaccurate. Limitations of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation at times cause difficulty for the listener. However, they do not seriously interfere with overall communication.
Speaking about academic course content	Good(3.5 - 4.0)	Your responses demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively in English about academic topics typical of first-year university studies. Your speech is mostly clear and fluent. You are able to use appropriate vocabulary and grammar to explain concepts and ideas from reading or lecture material. You are able to talk about key information and relevant details with only minor inaccuracies.
Writing Skills	Level	Your Performance
Writing based on reading and listening	Good(4.0 - 5.0)	You responded well to the task, relating the lecture to the reading. Weaknesses, if you have any, might have to do with slight imprecision in your summary of some of the main points and/or use of English that is occasionally ungrammatical or unclear.
Writing based on knowledge and experience	Good(4.0 - 5.0)	You responded with a well-organized and developed essay. Weaknesses, if you have any, might have to do with use of English that is occasionally ungrammatical, unclear, or unidiomatic and/or elaboration of ideas or connection of ideas that could have been stronger.

I'd love to talk about the contents of the exam but I sort of written a promissory note that I will never talk about the contents of the exam unless I want to face legal prosecution.

Preparing For Valentine's Day

I'm not actually the one preparing for Valentine's Day. It's actually my friend who is having a hard time deciding what to give his "special someone" for Valentine's Day. He kept nagging me on and on today at work about what I thought would be a great idea for a gift. I got so tired of him asking that I finally caved in and told him just to give her flowers. Every girl loves flowers right? I told him just to get a Valentines Day Flower Delivery and I'm sure that his "special someone" would be happy.

Flowers are a must for Valentine's Day! Flowers can be given along side any gift like chocolates, jewelry, or whatever special but flowers by itself is a great gift as well! Flowers are amazing and beautiful and they have this great impact to any girl who receives them no matter how many times she has received flowers in her entire lifetime.

But if you ask me, if I was to be given a Valentine gift I'd want something edible like chocolates, cakes, or cookies because I love food hahaha! Some cute things like the traditional I Love You bears would be cute too. But I guess any gift that is sent by someone you love would be great, it's the thought that counts and the emotion that accompanies it: L-O-V-E!

Sorry... Just Bored...

What can I say... I was bored so I made this video of me hahaha! Actually I didn't really make the video I just used the Made Up Memories website to make this video. I have nothing better to do with my spare time so this is what I thought of doing.

My violin hasn't arrived yet, my TOEFL results are coming this Friday, and my friend who I lent $500 (PHP 20,000) hasn't paid me back yet... so those are the things going on in my mind as I live my oh boring life....

So... on with the show!

Being One With Nature

I really love nature and all it's beauty. That's why I'm glad to live in a neighborhood with so many plants and trees. The color of green just relaxes me and clears my mind of all the stress and worries in my mind.

That's why I really want to get some indoor planters so that I can feel more relaxed when I'm at home. I really envy our family friend for they have such a great home and what made their home even more beautiful are their plants that added beauty and elegance to their home. And I really mean elegance because they had these gorgeous decorative planters that not only emphasized the plant's beauty but the planter by itself is enough to accentuate the home's beauty.

Speaking of planters, I never knew that there were different kinds and types. If you don't know what a planter is, it's a box or pot that holds plants and it's also called a jardiniere. There are planters comes in different, shapes, sizes, color, material, and even features like self-watering and frost-resistant.

I'm not into gardening but I really want to have plants or flowers in the house so maybe I'll get my self a window box planter to make our home a little bit more inviting.

Just Bought A Violin!

After hearing the anime Shingetsutan Tsukihime's music, I was more hyped into learning the violin. I find the music made by the violin as something soothing, mysterious, and just plain beautiful. I'd always wanted to learn to play the violin and how can I learn to play the violin if I didn't have my own violin right? Well so I got myself a violin today and I can't wait for it to arrive. I was going to buy this violin that cost only around $75 CAN but it had no carrying case or anything but then I decided to buy the violin that cost only $195 US from another store. I bought it because it seemed worth it for a begginner violin as it had all the accessories plus it was originaly priced at $800 US. I wanted to look for a cheaper starter violin since I might not be that good or I might not even learn violin so I didn't want to waste my money. But I failed to consider that the US $ is stronger than the Canadian $ so instead of paying $195, I actually paid for $250 Canadian. This factor even made me want to learn violin more as I don't intend to waste my money. I really hope that I do get to learn violin. I know that it would take patience, time, and practice, practice, and more practice.

Shopping the Smart Way

I used to judge other people for always wanting to go to the mall and shop because I thought it was a waste of money and what would you do with all those clothes anyway? But I finally changed my opinion towards shopping when I already earned my own money and when I go out with my friends we usually go shopping.

I realized that there is nothing wrong with shopping especially for clothes because when I go to university this September (fingers crossed) I would need lots of clothes because they don't require uniforms. Now I miss my school uniform... Also we have 4 seasons here in Canada so our clothing must be appropriate for each season.

The key to smart shopping is to always look for special deals like 50% to 70% discounts and stuff. What I like here in Canada is that when they have sales they do it to attract more customers or they are changing seasons unlike back home in the Philippines when they have sales because the items are either old or have defects on them or if they are perishable goods, they are close to their expiry date.

So my friends and I had no plans to shop, but since this very nice Filipino gentleman we met at the Filipino store offered us a ride to the Cineplex at Edmonton South Common as he was headed that way too. He was going to buy shoes at the Nike store at the strip mall near the Cineplex so we decided to look around. That is when we wear surprised that Guess, Buffalo by David Bitton, and Espirit where all having sales. I usually just walk away from temptations but my friends wanted to shop so we went in and I made an awesome discovery. I have a severe weakness for coats and jackets and I saw this awesome looking black jacket by Buffalo which was normally sold for $200 something and now was $160. And then Guess had an even more big surprise as I found this brown fall jacket which was now only $45 from $160. Ofcourse I checked if there was somwthing wrong with the jacket to make them want to give this jacket such a huge drop in price but it was in perfectly good shape and the style was unique. So I bought them and I was surprised that I saved so much. I can say that I have saved because after the sale, the discounted items will return to their original price so my $45 dollar jacket will be $160 again.

So my friends and I walked away with these bags from these designer stores with smiles on our faces. I can't wait for the next sale event.

Midnight Food Trip at McDonalds

Today was the last day of my 4 straight days of work until my day-off tomorrow so my Filipino co-workers/friends decided to spend it by stopping over at McDonalds to visit our old colleague. Who would have guessed that the majority of the McDonalds staff would be Filipinos including the on-duty managers and supervisors.

It was great how they practiced the Filipino characteristic of being hospitable. I was really amazed how accommodating they were to me and my companions. They personally came to our table and introduced themselves and told us to ask whatever we wanted. They gave us a 50% discount and they even gave us a huge slice of their ice cream birthday cake which I loved of course.

I just am happy to meet fellow Filipinos who are very friendly. I like contract workers better than some immigrant Filipinos because Filipinos who become citizens of Canada or are immigrants think of themselves as superior than those who are contract workers which I personally think is so wrong.

Anyway I am really glad that I went to McDonalds this midnight. I got to eat and I got to meet new people. Great day! I'm hoping tomorrow's movie day with the guys would turn out great as well.

Still Snowing...

My gosh... it's still snowing in Edmonton! Well Winter will officially end in March 21 so it's no surprise why the outside is still a walk-in freezer. I hate winter and the cold! The snow was fun at first because it was my first time to see and touch snow but after several flurries and having walked in knee-deep snow the glamor of snow faded away.

But even if it's freezing I still love to eat ice cream and I've learned to love hot instant noodles. The instant noodles I love are the ones imported from the Philippines: Lucky Me Instant Cup Noodles. Like they're sold here at the Filipino store for $2. That's like Php 80! But I have learned to stop converting dollars to pesos because I won't be able to buy anything if I do. I just love Filipino products and I prefer them over the locally made Canadian and US imported goods here.

I just received my paycheck this week and boy was I disappointed. Having to miss four days of work took a big toll on my paycheck that's why I'm going to work 1 hour and 30 minutes extra tomorrow so that I can get more money in my next paycheck, Lol! I'm now really more concerned in saving money because I've realized how much money I've wasted already but I think I can forgive myself because we really didn't have anything yet when we first arrived here in Canada so investing in our home and stuff is not really a waste of money right?

Today was a great day! It wasn't that busy at work and the customers where 80% good. I loved it when one regular customer gave me a chocolate again. He knew how I loved chocolates! I'd just make sure that I get on his good side because the next time he gives me chocolate it might be poisoned! Lol! The customers kept praising us how fast and efficient we were today. They just didn't take into account that there were no one else when they ordered their food.

I wonder how tomorrow would turn out. Well I'm the baker tomorow and the co-worker that's ultra slow and is of no use at all is off tomorrow so everything seems good.

Lost For Words

It's been a while since I last created a post in my blog. It seems that I have nothing to say at the moment. Nothing really interesting has happened to me lately. Well there are things that I would love to rant and rave about but I'm so fed up with ranting and complaining. There's nothing that I would get from it. Instead of releasing my frustration and anger I just relive the whole experience once again and it's not a great feeling to have.

Well something interesting did happen to me today and that is my Test of English as a Foreign Language Exam (TOEFL). I took the exam downtown and boy am I disappointed at myself. You see the most crucial port of the exam that I really needed was the speaking test but I have to commit a huge blunder at that part of the exam. In the middle of the part of the exam where I have to listen to a conversation and talk about the conversation, I was daydreaming and I was thinking of how I did in the past sections of the exam. By the time I realized that I was suppose to listen to the conversation, the conversation had already ended. So by the time that I snapped out of my day dream I was already babbling not knowing what to say... I'm doomed.

I wish for a miracle... and that miracle would be me getting a score pf 26 out of 30... ok I'm doomed.

I'm Back to Baking!

I'm so glad that they've finally placed me on baking. Well they do rotate us to baking, which is great! I just enjoy making donuts and I'm so proud if they get sold out because it makes me feel that my donuts is making someone happy and "fulfilled" somewhere.

Well one other reason why I love being baker because I get to stay at the back and I don't have to take anyone's orders hehehe. Well I'm so fed up taking orders that even when I sleep I have to remind myself that I'm not working at Tim Hortons so I can't make anyone a large double double (that's Tim Horton Language for a Large Coffee with 2 shots of sugar and 2 shots of cream).

Anyway, I'm off to bed! I have to wake up early tomorrow so that I can prepare for my upcoming TOEFL exam this Saturday. If I pass this test, my future as a Nursing Student at University of Alberta will be guaranteed!

Sharing Memories

Year 2008 has passed but we shouldn't forget all those happy memories that we had and those exciting events that occurred during 2008. We should always cherish those days because we only live our lives once.

And what a better way to treasure memories and preserve them is by taking pictures of those unforgettable events and make a scrapbook! Yup scrapbooking is an undying art that brings a smile upon our faces once we open one and reminisce about the good old times.

Some may find making scrapbooks time consuming and difficult, but with SmileBox.com you have absolutely no excuse not to start making your own scrapbook. It`s easy, fun, and absolutely free to use SmileBox.com to make your very own bundle of memories. Just choose from several scrapbooking layouts and designs and share these memories with friends and loved ones by sending them Free Ecards.

I'm going to start making my own scrapbook right now and send it back to my friends in the Philippines so hope you guys start making yours too!

As Time Passed By

"Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...," These are the sounds that I hear as I laid down alone in our living room. Everything is so quiet except for the deafening ticking of our clocks. Yes we have a clock in every part of our home and they all tick in consortium as if to warn me of the coming future.

My heart beats faster as if it wanted to outpace the clock's ticking. I'm afraid of what the future holds and as I lay there listening to the ticking of our clocks I somehow feel an impending doom falling upon me. Just laying still simply drives me insane because I realize how fast time is passing by and how much time I waste as I just lay there doing nothing.

The Year 2008 left and the Year 2009 came with great fears and excitement because I know that this year has several new events that I will have to encounter. This year will be the time when I will know if I'm qualified to go to University of Alberta, the year when I will take my driving exam for my driver's license, and they year when I will break free from the monotony and harships of working a blue collared job.

I know that more headaches and obstacles are ahead... that's why I ask God's divine intervention to strengthen me and aide me along the way. Things won't be easy, but it is these problems that makes life more exciting.