The World of Second Chances

Let It Go

November 29, 2018

Life & Love

Tomorrow is the last day of the month, can you believe that? 2019 is a month away and I am happy to say that I managed to do what I thought I could not do before.

I am talking about letting go as in letting go minus all the drama. For me, friendship and relationship must be forever so I used to try my best to stay connected with people that I love even though I had a feeling that we were not on the same page about it. I used to exert effort to be connected; only to get hurt when things did not turn out the way I expected them to be.

Here is one thing that I realized, too—I was afraid of letting go because I used to hold on to beautiful memories. Later, I learned that beautiful memories could still be remembered. I learned that people mature and people change so we don’t really have the capacity to hold them into our own little pool of memoriesThe most i
EGivecash Is Not Available

November 29, 2018

Career, Finance & Product

November will end by tomorrow and the e-give cash feature of Security Bank online is still not working. It has been down for three weeks now and it’s causing me a lot of hassle. For me, this feature is heaven-sent because I get to send money online anytime and anywhere.

The send money feature is down but the receiving of e-give cash is still working though. Of course, these transactions were done prior to the disabling of the e-give cash send feature.
What I learned from Triaba

September 19, 2018

Career, Finance & Product

I registered to Triaba Philippines one August night for the purpose of checking whether survey websites are worth our time and attention. Here’s the tempting offer from Triaba, if your profile matches with the population that they require for in their survey questionnaire, then you will even be paid for every survey that you will answer. Pay ranges from PhP 20.00 to PhP90.00.

But first, you need to register on their website and check all applicable descriptions about you so that Triaba can better filter out who is in for their survey. By the way, I read that Triaba is a survey provider for some big companies out there so they are being paid by these companies to do the surveying for them.

I did a screenshot of how the survey looks like. The second to the last picture in which I selected ALL the industries that I am familiar with resulted to me not being qualified for the survey? Like, I would have understood if I only selected two industries because the ones that I did not ticked might be where the survey must proceed so what made me disqualified for the survey then?

The third attempt to answer a Triaba survey would be my last. I decided that Triaba is a waste of my time and data usage so I unregistered from their site. I learned that online surveys do not really work as expected. While I believe that there are some people who successfully completed the survey and got their payment, this does not work for everybody especially the ones who are looking forward to the payment.

Triaba will send you a survey invitation on the email that you linked with your Triaba account. You have the option to decline the survey invitation.

This is how the email looks like. If you successfully completed the survey, your account will earn PhP21.00.

For some weird reasons, the PhP21.00 increased to PhP70.00 should you successfully completed the survey! As I said, I put my profile on the registration so the matching of what they need and how I am qualified is electronically matched.

I selected all the activities for a better chance of “passing.” Take note that at this point, we still don’t know which of the activities are being surveyed on.

I chose my preferred language for the survey. How I wish I tried Filipino-Tagalog before I unregistered!

At this point, we don’t know yet their preferred location. I chose Manila because it is the nearest city from where I live.

I selected all of the industries that I am familiar with.

Only to get this message that I am not qualified????
Adultery Movie of Vilma Santos

August 31, 2018

That’s Entertainment

Somebody posted on Facebook that a cheating woman is worse than a cheating man because the former has emotional investment whereas the latter can have sex without the attachment.

Warning: Spoiler alert.

The case of Aida Macaraeg played by Vilma Santos is a more complex one because she doesn’t care if she doesn’t love her lover for as long as she benefits from him materially. The movie starts with a struggling Aida who tries hard to provide for her family. Her father is bedridden, her mother is not working, her younger brother is irresponsible, her youngest sister has a lot of school expenses and Aida is tired of all of these. She is the only one in her family who understands her younger sister’s situation; Miriam is a mistress to a well-off old man.

Vilma’s acting as Aida is very natural. She complements Philip Salvador’s natural acting as her loving but poor love interest. Aida’s flaw can be seen from the start of the movie; she wants somebody to save her from her miserable life. Since Carding is the only one available, she decides to live with him even without the blessing of matrimony. This angers her religious mother and Carding’s conservative aunt. Aida doesn’t care about this for as long as she’s away from her obligations.

When Carding’s luck runs out, their union is put into test. What is ironic is Aida’s angelic face masking her unimpressive attitude and Carding’s tough exterior covering his soft character. With Carding’s incarceration, Aida becomes hopeless and entirely falls out of love and finds an old man to live with. But here’s the catch, Mr. Pangilinan is a married man with three kids. He does not hide that for her from the start.

While Aida lives a luxurious life as the 2nd Mrs. Pangilinan, Carding languishes when he is transferred from Manila to Davao jail. There never is a day he does not think about his wife and maybe her miscarriage. Carding is just too trusting to a fault. How can he not see that Aida does not love him enough and that wedding at the jail is his wedding alone and not theirs?

In a funny twist of fate, Carding is released after 7 years and looks for Aida as soon as he comes back to Manila. His excitement turns to confusion when the now sophisticated Aida seems to find reasons to avoid him. We can see Carding’s transformation, too from being ruggedly handsome to clean cut.

When Aida’s scheme is exposed to both Carding and Mr. Pangilinan, she faces more problem– an adultery case filed by Carding and the risk of losing custody to her son because Mr. Pangilinan hates scandal.

Aida asks for Carding’s forgiveness and Carding drops the case. The ex-couple meets one last time to say good-bye.

Aida: What happened to us?

Carding: Don’t bother to ask. The answer could hurt us.

****

It seems like a happy ending for both Aida and Carding but if we will analyse it, Aida is not really happy with the way her life turned out to be. First, she notices Carding’s physical improvement. Second, she asks Carding what happened to them. Third, she seems surprised about Carding’s perseverance in life after his release in jail. We cannot bake our cake and eat it, too. Aida’s lust for money blinded her for the more important things in life like true love. On the other hand, had Carding becomes hardworking early on their relationship, maybe they are still together and happy.

*****

While watching Adultery, I cannot help but admire Vilma Santos’ acting. She surely is the Star For All Seasons! She has this magnetic charm that draws viewers to the screen and want more from her. I know Philip Salvador as Kris Aquino’s ex-partner but I didn’t expect him to have this massive sex appeal during his heyday. My bad, I underestimated him and forgot that he is a Salvador; I should watch more of his old movies. Same goes through with his niece, Deborah Sun. I only knew Deborah as what she is today; she has a slight resemblance to Maja Salvador on some angles. It must be the eyes.

****

Lesson learned: cheating is never okay for both genders. When you cheat, you put yourself in the losing end because karma will catch up on you.
Must Try: Shampoo in a Bar

August 27, 2018

Career, Finance & Product
To all of us who are used to liquid shampoo, shifting to a shampoo bar will take time to get used to it. The reason why I decided to try Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar is because I wanted to lessen the number of shampoo bottles that I needed to either recycle or throw away.

Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar comes in two variants. I bought the pink shampoo bar. I love the fruity smell! The shape is almost cylindrical but can easily be grasped. The texture reminds me of our good old “panghilod” (stone scrubber).

It normally takes me around less than a minute to shampoo my shoulder-length hair using a liquid shampoo. Now, I need to wet the shampoo bar and stroke the juice on my scalp, using my palm. Running the shampoo bar through your hair is not advisable, else, you’ll end up with messy shampoo bar with hair sticking on it.

There’s nothing really special about Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar when it comes to its functionality; that is, to clean your hair and scalp. It doesn’t have the silky finish right after rinsing even it’s being marketed as a shampoo AND conditioner. Yes, it feels clean after rinsing but you still need to use a separate conditioner for that silky after wash feeling. (Rejoice Shampoo is the only shampoo that I don’t pair up with a conditioner).

Some items for improvement though are the following:
1. Consider making a conditioner bar.
2. Why not make a shampoo cube that we can dilute instead?
They say that a 150 grams shampoo bar can last up to 80 washes! That’s around two and a half months of use if a person takes a bath once a day or around one and a half months of use if a person takes a bath twice a day. You’ll be saving at least one bottle of a 150 ml-shampoo per month or 12 bottles per person per year!

If you’re an environmentalist, you must try Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo and conditioner.
Lesson From My Lemon Seedlings

August 14, 2018

Career, Finance & Product

Pardon me for not posting a picture of my two lemon seedlings because I want them to grow away from the spectators’ prying eyes. My tree planting journey started in July last year. The first seedling that I took care of was a mango tree that I got from a vacant lot beside our home. Three months later, I experimented with lemon seeds if they could survive my not-so-green thumb from seed to seedling.

What I did was to plant lemon seeds on five different containers, covered them with plastic bag, poked holes for breathing and then kept them from the strong sun. I was near to giving up until I got the surprise of my life when one of the containers showed my lemon seed germinating! To add more happiness to my already happy day, it was my birthday when I found out about it!

The original location of my lemon seedlings was at the shaded part of our tiny terrace. They stayed there from October 2017 up to March 2018. From April 2018 and up to the present, the lemon seedlings are exposed to the sun. Had I known earlier that lemons love lots of sunshine, I would have moved them last year. Unfortunately, only 2 out of 5 lemons survived.

The remaining lemons are given the same amount of water, sunshine and care but Lemon A is growing faster than Lemon B. Both came from the same fruit, by the way. I realize that no matter how healthy the fruit is, we cannot be sure that the quality of its seeds are also as good as it.

That is why as leaders, we need to look beyond our first impression because the weakest fruit on the table might be the one with the strongest seed of knowledge and we just have to uncover it. Likewise, the most beautiful fruit on the table might be the one that needs more salt for flavor. It’s perfect if we are able to find that one fruit with healthy seeds that can replicate the quality of its originator.
Ang Ulan Sa Pilipinas

August 13, 2018

Life & Love

Note: Ang mga figures sa chart ay mula sa website ng Climate Change Knowledge Portal.

Habang tumatagal, lalong lumalala ang sitwasyon ng pagbaha sa ilang lugar sa Pilipinas. Nariyan ang Bataan, Pampangan, Bulacan, Pangasinan at Metro Manila. Lumaki ako sa baha at ulan at sa isa sa mga chat naming magkapatid, pareho naming naaalala na hindi naman bago ang labis na pag-ulan sa bansa.

Base sa datos ng Climate Change Knowledge Portal na kinabibilangan ng mga taong 1991 hanggang 2015, ang taong 1991-1995 ang may pinakamababang patak ng ulan sa bansa. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, panahon yun ng El Nino at talaga namang pahirapan ang tubig sa madaming lugar.

Pagdating ng 2001-2005, tumaas ng 12% mula 1991 ang dami ng patak ng ulan na may pinakamaraming dalang tubig sa buwan ng Hulyo at Agosto.

Sa sumunod na limang taon (2006-2010), tumaas naman ng 6% ang patak ng ulan na pinaigting ng mga buwan ng Hulyo at Setyembre. Matatandaang ang Ondoy ang puminsala sa atin noong Setyembre 2009.

Bagamat mayroon lamang 2% na pagtaas ang patak ng ulan mula 2011-2015, nakakabahala ang dami ng ulang binuhos sa mga buwan ng Hunyo, Hulyo, Agosto at Setyembre. Hindi ito maganda sa kadahilanang kapag ang lupa ay over-saturated na, hindi na ito makakasipsip ng tubig na syang nagiging dahilan ng pagbaha.

1.Sa kabuaan, tumaas ng 24% ang volume ng tubig ulan kung ikukumpara ang datos ng 2015 sa 1991. (Hindi pa available sa website nila ang datos ng 2016 hanggang kasalukuyan.

2.Sa nakalipas na pitong taon, consistent ang mga buwan ng Hunyo hanggang Setyembre sa dami ng hatid na ulan.

3.Bagamat hindi naman abrupt o biglaan ang pagtaas ng rainfall level kada taon, mukhang sasanayin na tayo sa pamemerwisyo ng baha dala ng tubig ulan.

Ano nga ba ang mga dahilan ng pagbaha?

Ang dahilan ng pagbaha ay magkakaiba bawat lugar kaya ang matatalakay ko lang ay yung common information.

1.Baradong drainage- bilang mamamayan, dapat nating pangalagaan ang ating kapaligiran. Yung simpleng waste segregation at recycling ay dapat nagsisimula sa bawat kabahayan. Sa pamahalaan, tungkulin ninyo pong siguruduhin na ang bawat barangay ay hindi namamaho sa basura. Pwede nyo ring ipatupad na hindi kayo kukuha ng basurang hindi properly segregated.

2.Kalbong kabundukan- gawin nating misyon na makapagtanim ng 1 hanggang 5 puno kada taon. Sumama tayo sa tree planting program. Taniman natin ng halaman ang mga vacant space natin sa paligid. Naniniwala ako na kapag maganda ang kapaligiran, nakakabawas ng stress sa tao at mas nagiging masigasig na maging mapagmahal sa kalikasan. Sa pamahalaan, wag nyo namang putulin ang mga punong tinanim namin lalo at hindi naman kailangan. Maging mahigpit tayo sa pagpapatupad ng batas sa pagpuputol ng puno.

3.Komersyalismo-wag nating patagin ang bundok para gawing pabahay o pang-komersyo. May dahilan ang Diyos kung bakit sya ginawang bundok. Sa mga negosyante, huwag puro profit ang nasa utak. Uso na ang mga simulation software ngayon kaya hindi na mahirap i-project kung ano ang mangyayari sa isang proposal sampung taon mula ngayon. Huwag din nating lasunin ang mga ilog sa walang habas na pagmimina. Mahirap gamutin ang kalikasan at talagang babalikan tayo nito kung hindi natin aayusin ang mga ginagawa at nagawa natin.

Seryosohin natin ang mga nangyayari sa ating kalikasan. Darating ang panahon ng mas malalakas na bagyo at wala tayong proteksyon sa baha kung patuloy nating ipagwawalang-bahala ang kasalukuyan. Noong unang panahon, nabibili lang ang isang hektaryang lupa sa presyo ng isang kalabaw. Ngayon, naibebenta ang lupa sa halagang PhP1500-PhP 3000 per sqm dito sa probinsya. Kung noong araw kaya ay nagpahalaga ang ating mga ninuno sa lupa, baka halos pantay pantay ang sakop na lupa kada pamilya.