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Mustafa Centre

2011-04-23T02:30:00.001+08:00

Mustafa might not offer the best shopping experience. But I say it’s worth the trip down if you’re looking for the best prices of chocolates, perfumes and competitive currency exchange rates. I’ve never really been there except for these things but my recent trip proved that Mustafa can be your own Walmart here in Singapore, well, almost. Allow me to share with you why this shopping centre deserved a spot on my itinerary every year despite being snubbed by many.

Getting there
Mustafa is located a few steps away from Farrer Park MRT station just across City Square Mall. The outlet facing the main road is the new one, while that of the back is their first building. Both carries the same range of products, but the new annex is bigger, has a better lighting and has a much more organized merchandise display. They are open 24 hours, yes, 24 hours! For detailed instructions in getting there, check out www.gothere.sg.

The preparation
Mustafa is a famous hangout for foreign workers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc. just as Lucky Plaza in Orchard is for Filipino domestic workers. So it does get rowdy at night, especially on weekends, inside and outside the shopping complex. Before having gone to the place, I've heard several warnings about perverts lurking in the area. I confirm this to be true. The first time I went there with a friend, we noticed a guy discreetly following us. He settled at the farthest end of the cd shelf that we were at, seemingly browsing. Heeding the warnings, we made it sure that our "sugar cones" were adequately protected with our bags all the while we were there. When I passed by him, he wittingly extended his elbow while turning around as if to go ahead of me. The gesture was meant to get a feel of my cones but he didn’t get any sugar from me that day, thanks to my bag. We experienced similar antics from perverts a couple times we were there. So mind your dress code when going there and be wary at all times. Here’s a glimpse of my own perv-proof preparation:

Thank you Denver for helping me with my demonstration. This always worked, so far.

The cheap finds
I go here mainly for two things: chocolates and perfumes. These are expensive in my country (due to high Philippine taxes and duties) and therefore in demand for pasalubongs.

Mustafa carries a wide range of chocolates mostly I noted are imported from Australia. Cadbury, Hersheys, Nestle, Toblerone, Ferrero Rocher, name it, they have it! Prices range from S$1 (Php34) for the tidbits to S$20 (Php680) for super-sized treats. A Snickers 6pcs pack is sold here at S$5 (Php170) while Duty Free Phils sells it at S$9.40 (Php319). For over 2+ years of research, I must say that their prices for chocolates here are to beat.

Fragrances for her and for him abound in Mustafa too. Some of the brands they have are Clinique, D&G, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, heck, there’s just too many. To give you an idea:

Half of this floor is occupied by perfumes. Prices range from S$20 (Php680) to S$90 (Php3,060). They offer huge discounts and bundle promotions. Case in point, 2 bottles of 100 ml CK one or CK be sold at S$81 (Php2,754) each in Duty Free Phils., are sold at S$60+ (Php2,040) in Mustafa, that’s two bottles against one in case you didn’t notice.

What’s more?
Jewelleries, gaming consoles (Wii at S$318 vs S$499 in other stores), cool souvenir shirts, watches, groceries, sporting goods, the best currency exchange rates and everything is GST (VAT) refundable if you’re a tourist. Although most shops here participate in the Tourist Refund Scheme, but if you shop at Mustafa, this translates to double savings. Recently, I just discovered that they have the widest selection of sleeping bags in Singapore. Okay that’s not really interesting, but I’ve been looking around for the best sleeping bags for quite a while. All stores sell the same sloppy S$20 type while I got one of those they sell in US, thick, with hood opening, only at S$28! Don’t worry, everything here is authentic.

What not to expect
1. Western food – or any other food, everything is indian in the vicinity
2. Friendly staff – you can ask but don’t expect the usual pleasantries
3. Luxury brands – nope, this is not the place
4. Nice display – go find your stuff in a maze-like adventure
5. Lowest prices in town – other than those things, go somewhere else

Conclusion
For over 2+ years of patronage, this rustic, no frills, shopping centre has grown on me. Sure, it has a long way to go before I can call it our own Walmart. But for every discerning consumer (read: cheapstake) in Singapore, Mustafa is value for money defined. Just don’t forget the perv-proof technique, or else, you’ll get more than what you bargained for.

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-07-05T14:37:00.003+08:00

Back when I was still in Pinas, I hear all about the gripe of OFWs about the “dog-eat-dog” culture in the workplace and the seemingly endless laws of Singapore. But when I got here, I dismissed them as hearsays. While the stringent laws are true (which I give credit for the country’s success), I feel that most of us have a misconception of Singaporean colleagues, superiors and the greater public.

While you may be aware that Singapore has a diverse culture, the values shared by its people remain the same. Last Thursday, I was lucky to witness three random acts of kindness from different races in the country’s busiest place, the MRT station, all in one day.

1. 8:20 a.m. – A blind woman gets out of the MRT, unfolds her walking stick and starts groping for the escalator amidst a rush of passengers. A middle-aged chinese woman, hurries to her side, takes one of her arms and chats with her as she leads the blind all the way up to the exit. Before I crossed the street, I glanced back and was surprised to see the two still together as they made their way to the streets. I felt bad for looking past the opportunity to help the blind lady who was seated beside me.

2. 6:50 p.m. - As I was topping up my MRT pass, a Malay girl in her twenties asked the Indian guy, “Hi sir, do you need any help?” The girl patiently taught the Indian guy how to use the ticketing machine. As if the morning’s incident was not enough to make me feel crappy, I realized that the guy was just beside me while he struggles to figure out how the machine works.

3. 7:05 p.m. – I walked in the train and took a place in front of two young guys, one is an Indian, the other one is a Eurasian (a European settling in Singapore). The minute I stood there, both guys stood up at the same time and offered their seats to me. I politely declined as I hated to interrupt their conversation.

Three random acts of kindness in a day is enough to remind me that God does not hardwire in us the genes of kindness but he does give opportunities to show them. As for me, the least I could do that day is to return the favor. When the guys left, I offered the vacant seat to an exhausted mom next to me. I’ll try to do more the next day.

Imagine the world of possibilities if we show kindness to random people, one day at a time. There will be a chain of goodness around us and people will begin trusting each other again.

And oh by the way, Michael Jackson, you will be missed.

The Weeks That Were: Weeks 2 and 3 of June 2009

2009-06-21T01:24:00.013+08:00

Except for my weekend biking adventure, the past two weeks were pretty much ordinary. By ordinary, I mean:

On weekdays:

Wake up at 6:30am.
Brew some coffee, have some breakfast.
Dress up, hit the MRT station at 7:30. Arrive at the office at 8:30am.
Do some tweeting, check mails.
Hardcore work starts at 8:50am.
Lunch at 1230pm. Back in the office at 1:10. Random musings in the internet.
Killer work at 1:20 all the way to 6:00pm. Pack up at 6:30.
Back at home by 8:00pm. Make some sandwich, turn the computer on.
Watch ‘Tayong Dalawa’s’ latest episode.
Turn on TV, watch some news. Do some situps and dumbbells while at it. Wash up.
Get some work done if a deadline is coming.
Turn the lights off at 11pm.

Ordinary? Nah, I’d say boring. I get through those boring stuffs by looking forward to the weekend. So much for routines, here’s the fun stuffs:

I’ll tell you a milestone. I didn’t forget my IC! So off we go on our rented pedals. I managed to get some pretty nice shots. My favorite was a guy with his dog, staring blankly into the ocean, each lost in his own thoughts. The dog is that tiny figure after the tree. It's a chihuahua.

I didn’t know that my measly freebie LG Viewty can do this. It’s not that bad after all. Anyways, after reaching the farthest tip of the shore, we looked for the perfect picnic spot. But just as we are about to lay down the mat:

Yeah, it rained, pretty damn hard. We went home drenched, in muddy shirts but all smiles. Good times. On another note, I watched a movie the other weekend.

I bet you guys have seen it, but I’d like to share what I think about the movie. I’m not a pro at reviews, but I’ll try:

Denzel put on a lot of weight. Whatever happened to his used-to-be buff body.
John Travolta also packed on some pounds. As for his new role, I don’t know, I still like him best when he’s the good guy.
Poor wallstreet guys. We blamed them for the crisis, and now for terrorism. So kids, choose your career wisely.
The cheese dip they sell at the moviehouse tastes weird.
New York subways look pretty scary. It’s all pitch black. It’s not like that here. They even have LCDs lined up showing ads as the train passes by.
Those guys bringing the money are stupid. How come they didn’t think of taking the helicopter. That's what the mayor thought too.
The guy beside me had a serious case of halitosis, worst than the traffic at Manhattan bridge in the movie.

Sorry, that’s all I can come up with. For real reviews, you can check out clickthecity. Overall, it was a decent movie.

Got to doze off now, it’s way past my bedtime. To all dads out there, Happy Father's Day! And to my dad, thanks for everything, except for the nose you gave me. Haha! Love you Pa! :)

Clever commercials

2009-06-18T13:17:00.007+08:00

I fancy witty and funny commercials. I also find them effective. Here’s a few of them airing lately in local television and cinemas.

1. Heineken Beer

I don’t know with you but if I was there, I would probably be screaming with the guys. I love Heineken.

2. Cinema reminder on mobile phone etiquette

Wish we had one like this in Pinas. I don’t have the clip of the latest one that was aired last week. The guy using a handphone was in a wake. Man, that one’s even funnier. I will post it soon.

Keep smiling ya all! :)

The Week That Was: Week 1 June 2009

2009-06-07T14:08:00.003+08:00

I had a feeling that the week was going to be crazy and I was right. Here’s a recap:

WORK

Got a couple of deadlines next week. That pretty much sums how swamped I was. So..

1. Hopped on the wrong train

I waited unusually long for my train so when it came, I had to snap a picture of it. On the next station, I realized my dumb mistake, got off and pretended I knew where I was going. :p

2. Ditched veggies for something sweet

In my twitter, I mentioned something like having veggies for dinner for three weeks now. This week, my veggies missed me a lot. This is why I hate deadlines. It makes me crave for sugar and all the bad stuff. So I wolfed this whole thing up in just a day:

3. Reinforced coffee with the bull

Despite the recent news that redbull was pulled out in some Asian countries like Thailand and Taiwan due to its reported cocaine contents, I couldn’t care less. Whatever it is in redbull that keeps me awake, I needed that this week. Besides, as long as the ever safety-conscious Singapura government does not follow suit, I’m sticking with my poison. :p

OTHER THAN WORK

I hadn’t had time to play with Blue this week. I still tried to have some weekend fun though.

1. Got a new pair of shoes

Back when I was working in Pinas, my office shoes can last about a year. Now, the lifespan of my shoes was significantly reduced. Two months ago, I bought a new pair when my colleague pleaded, ‘Cherry, you can change your shoes already.’ Now before she sees it again, I decided to get a new one. Here’s how walking and my weight punished the pair that I bought barely two months ago:

2. Funny ‘BrewMie’

Wendyl and my Ate Cate, sent me some birthday cheers. They got me a huge stuffed toy dog through the ever glamorous Romy, my brother’s friend who is also based here. The dog has a latte theme, so I named it ‘BrewMie’, after coffee and Romy. You can actually see it behind me in my ‘Fearless’ session. It sleeps beside me and it eases my longing to be with Miel, my cute black lab. One night while I got up from a short nap, I didn’t realize how hard has it been for BrewMie to share bed with me. Poor BrewMie, he must be literally hanging on for his life every night! Hahaha!

3. Went malling

A friend and I went around this new mall just opposite our block. It’s the third addition in Tampines. It’s got pretty much everything. For me, this mall must have the largest array of gift shop items and cheap but hip school supplies. But, I must say, nothing still beats our malls in PH in terms of space and architecture. Here’s how that new mall looks like from our living room:

4. Weekend Highlight

We were planning to go biking at Pasir Ris beach coast. I was looking forward to it the whole week because I couldn’t get enough the last time we did it. Everything was packed, an extra shirt, a towel, a picnic mat, I have my favorite shirt on, a can of Hello Panda (see above), all set to go. We arrived there around 10:30am on Saturday. I was literally running towards the bike shop while taking out my wallet to prepare my IC (Singapura’s Identity Card). Then it dawned on me that I didn’t bring any. I turned around and I see shocked faces, not one brought their ICs. What a downer. :( I was hoping to post some pictures here. I ended up with only one, taken on our way home:

It’s all good. Hope you had a nice one guys! :)

Google It!

2009-06-05T21:59:00.003+08:00

Google is my favorite search engine. And it should be yours too. From excel formulas, job postings, latest IFRS updates to twitter accounts of my favorite artists, Google finds it best for you. When I’m bored, I google my name, google your name, google my friends’ names. With its recent auto complete feature (suggests the keywords as you type and displays hit results) asking about anything is a breeze.

You might ask, ‘Anything?’. Yes! Anything! And by anything, I mean anything, including this:

I can’t believe 219,000,000 people are clueless on life and can actually ask Google about it. No, not me, I was supposed to type, ‘what to do with humid weather’, in desperate search for solutions to Singapura’s terrible humidity. And I don’t think those results were bloated by repeated searches. These must be raw first time hits! Amazing!

Got questions? Google it! And oh to the 219,000,000 people, whatever you do, make your momma proud ok? :)

My First Love

2009-05-31T02:01:00.006+08:00

Music. I grew up in a home where music got everything going. I wake up to the hottest tunes of the 80’s played so loud that they find their way to my dreams; Manoy played a lot of guitar, dad digs the karaoke and mom likes to rap, well, more like nag. One day when I was 12, I came up to my music teacher and said, “Hey, how about teaching me guitar for a 100 bucks per session?” She just laughed, agreed to a two-hour-session thrice a week. She had one condition though, that she gets to do it for free. And so my dad bought me a classical guitar, my very first guitar. I don’t have a picture of it but this is exactly how it looked like:

Not bad, eh? The first song that I learned to play with was ‘On This Day, O Beautiful Mother’. My teacher was a choir leader, so mass songs were the likely pick. The song had very simple chords, nothing fancy but it sure did make me feel a pro. I would lock up in my room and play it over and over again. By highschool, I was going for the mainstream hits and put up a little band with a bunch of girlfriends. It was not serious though, but somehow we still made it to the school’s stage. The first song that I played in public was, ‘When You’re Gone’ by the Cranberries. We also forced our way to company parties and fiesta presentations. The key word here my friends is “force”. Haha!

After more than a decade and two broken guitars, I’m still a mediocre player. Perhaps because when I started college, I chose books over strings, to my dad’s relief. Now, I can barely see a trace of my used-to-be-callused fingers. But this week, I gave in, I bought a guitar. I actually have been thinking of getting one for more than two months already. Guitars here cost a lot higher than Cebu or Manila. For a 3/4 size guitar (34 inches), it’s around $250 (Php8,000). I know, it’s unbelievable. So I had to make sure whether the urge to buy one is just a bad case of midlife crisis or something that has a long-term value for me. This is my rule of thumb when buying something:- sleep over it for at least two months, if you still can’t get it off your mind, go get it. Chances are, you need it. This is why I still don’t own an ipod or a decent laptop or a toothbrush (kidding here). :p

So I got a dark blue acoustic guitar with a free gigbag, pipe tuner, picks and spare strings for $145. Good deal. Thanks to Manning Music Centre and to its kind owners, Lo and his sweet mom. Now, I am reunited with my first love. I got some video lessons over the net and when work is no longer crazy, I plan to lock myself up, like I used to.

Here’s a sneak peek of ‘Blue’, hell yeah it has a name now. Please forgive my singing, it’s a necessary evil when you play. This one’s a poor rendition of Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’, ‘Stripped and Real’ album.

Can you hear the rain? It actually poured big time on the last few minutes of the song. Very funny, clouds.*smirks*. But tell me, is ‘Blue’ a beauty? :)

I am so BACK!

2009-05-24T00:38:00.001+08:00

For nearly a year, I have finally regained my appetite for blogging. Props to Windows Live Writer for reviving my space in the blogosphere. I was so excited with this blogging client that I had to post something. Hehehe. Funny, because my last post was actually about enjoying work and now here I am, a new job, a new home, same game.

Just so I piece out how I got here, let me do a little flashback in time. At first, it started out as a burnout, a terrible case. My brain literally gave up on me. When I realized that I needed some break, it was too late. So came the quitting part. I remember myself saying, “if they can’t give me a week’s leave, i’m gonna give myself a permanent leave.” Hahaha! Nutcase you bet. So after a lot of sappy talks with my mom, dad, bosses and colleagues, I decided to leave. *sad music plays*

During my downtime, I considered local jobs in my hometown and previous offers that I rejected. Then just like that, I realized that my career unsettledness must be rooting on something deeper. Then I figured out that what I have been ruling out for the past 6 years is actually what I need at that time. New environment, unspeakable challenges, new culture, different air and of course, a higher paycheck. You get the drift? After a few calls, I got back my offer.

So here I am. Wandering in the tiny red dot of the globe. It’s been pretty smooth so far. Got everything going my way. Nice colleagues, nice job, good paycheck but the bestest thing for me is, home is just 3 and half hours away! I went home last Christmas and it was the best Christmas ever! It feels good to give back to your family for all their love and support all throughout the years. Being away from home made me appreciate them more and of course, my dog, miel.

Enough of this crap. Before I start turning this into a diary that I used to have in gradeschool, I must get myself some sleep. Need to go to mass and catch up with the CROCS expo tomorrow.

And oh, if you ask me, in hindsight, I think I made the right decision. And yes, it’s some kind of a long-term now (this is actually the first time I used this word), it may not be for life, but I think Singapore will see a lot of this fat ass everywhere. Ciao! Rock on!

Week 2 of July 2008

2008-07-10T21:53:00.003+08:00

Sorry my ever faithful one reader, it's been a while. I've got all the things I wanted to write about on a list but work's been crazy lately. Good thing I'm so pissed off right now that for the next 30 minutes all I want to do is anything but work. Today is all about a new category in my blog that I've been thinking of coming up with for quite some time. For some reason, I always thought that it's cheezy to blog about myself and what have I been up to, I mean who would be interested? But I'm seriously reconsidering the idea since my friends back home have declared me "missing" to the authorities. Ehehehe. It's so me, I just fade into the night like Batman (Miriam Santiago's line). So I thought of adding some sort of a weekly update here. And this one's gonna be the first post.

In hindsight, here's what's been keeping me busy for the past month:

WORK
1. Got 4 new clients on my list and still over 30 items on my to do list. I just rememberd, got to buy extra joss for some
taurine boost.

2. For over straight two weeks (and two more to go) of speaking with Indians, I can make a good interpreter of Indian
English someday. I also learned that they're very hardworking. And their audit documentation is very good.

3. I've been early this past two weeks. I check in before 8am and go home at around 8pm. Yeah, 12 hours on a slack season. That's quite an accomplishment, but I'm still working on to get that adrenaline rush during busy season going again.

4. Nothing new at the office. Still the same faces. Wonder why there's fewer resignations this year. Hmm.. Waiting for the the retro eh? Hahaha!

5. My schedule's starting to get toxic. I get butterflies in my stomach everytime I think of it, not the good one, those crazy butterflies you feel when a deadline's in the corner. The saddest part is, I can't go home yet. Not even soon. :( That sucks. I miss home so much.

6. I Found a private nook in the office where I can lay down all my trash and think nothing but work. I intend to keep it for the next two weeks.

OTHER THAN WORK
1. Got one tree hill season 5 and finished it over the "Frankie" weekend. I give it 5 stars! Can't wait for season 6 on September! Got seasons 1-5 soundtrack too on my computer. Sweet!

2. My dad was here but I didn't have the chance to catch up with him. He just left someting for me at the hotel. :( Darn work, mine and his. He'll be back next week. Yippee! One box of cruisers, one bottle of white merlot and a kilo of ripe mangoes! *hugs papa*

3. Got a new electric fan for the bedroom. I'm quite concerned with my meralco bill these days. It costs me about 2k for a month. I thought the traditional way of cooling off might save me a few bucks... for more DVDs!! It's all about setting priorities. Haha!

4. I haven't been away from home over the weekend except for a few nights for movies with friends. Incredible Hulk is overrated. Narnia was fun. Hancock was mediocre. PromNight is a cheap thrill. And I thought Dark Knight was the best! Critics' rating over at clickthecity.com never failed me.

5. I've been cutting low on calories. I figured I needed to shed off some pounds. I'm currently at a whopping 140 lbs! A colleague and I signed up for a binding agreement with a couple of naysayers. The agreement is up until September 30. It's us losing about 16% of our current weight, otherwise, the naysayers will be in for a fine dine treat. Wish us luck!!

6. I'm done with Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now audiobook. It's a very nice piece and in fact one of the bestsellers in the market today. But somehow I got lost towards the end. The book on the overall is unconventional and contains useful and effective techniques in just letting things go.

7. Also done with Stephen Covey's couple of audiobooks - "First Things First" and "The 8th Habit". Stephen Covey is still the best self-help author for me. With these two new books, I made a personal creedo of spending the weekend over things more important than work. ;)

8. Got a full screen writing app called Dark Room. I'm using it right now and I find it cool and distraction free.

9. Whatever happened to googlebot. I used to get indexed by google, now I'm totally wiped off from the map. Got no time to fix it but I will.

10. Went to EchoPark for our outreach activity. It was so fun!

That's about it. Let's call it a wrap. I'll be back with a fresh post. :)

Fishball Conversations

2008-06-15T20:49:00.001+08:00

One lazy afternoon, a colleague and I decided to grab some fishballs at a food stall in front of our office. While waiting for our food, we sat on the ledge of an adjacent building facing the busy street of Salcedo. Not long after, 4 of our colleagues joined us. Amazing how fishballs can turn a quiet afternoon into a ruckus. We bitched and joked about anything from our clients to the passing cars. The topic then steered to our building. Below are the tidbits of the conversation:

“Ang panget talaga ng building natin noh?”
“It would have been nice if we can have “Ayala Avenue” on our business cards. Basic marketing strategy din kc ang location.”
“Ano ba kayo guys. Sabi nga ni Ms. M, we’re placing premium on talent development and technology.” “Beh, if you were to choose, T60 or Ayala Av.?”
“Ayala Av!!”
“Pwede both?!”
“Did you see the featured office locations during the last launching? Grabe ang offices sa ibang states! When it came to Philippines, only the interior was shown.”
“I remember when I was just applying, I made this last on the list because I didn’t know the location. When I came here, gusto ko sanang mag backout!”
“Ako naman, dinala ako ng taxi driver dun sa Glass Tower!”
“Nung meeting naman namin sa client, they were late. While waiting for them sa conference. tumawag ang client, kala ko cancelled na, yun pala nawawala, d mahanap ang building!”
“Uy, I looked it up at google earth. Me placemark dun sa building natin, ang sabi: “Dito binugbog ang mga auditors sa trabaho at liit ng sweldo.”
“Hahahhahaha!”
“Sana me tissue sa CR.”
“Or hand drier.”
“In fairness, we’ve just been in the market for what, 5 years? Yet we managed to grab the No. 1 practice in the global arena as our affiliate. The other big players have been around for over 60 years!”
“Yeah..you’re right. This is just a humble beginning. We all have one. Sosyal na nga tong humble beginning na to, limang floors.”
“Hi Sir Mam. Coupons po from Laffline..”
- silence –
“It’s totally free po. Just bring that coupon and you’ll get free entrance.”
“Uyy pahingi pa!!”
“Nandun na ba c ethel booba?!”
“Eh c poohquiao?!”

That sums it all. Each has his own reason for staying. Whatever that is, I’m sure the fishballs are one of them. They have one of the best in Makati downstairs. :)

Bathroom Blues

2008-06-13T02:08:00.001+08:00

“Nganomanjudningbanyongabasamankaayo.Kapoybayapanglimpyoaniha. Pamunitsadmoaningmgabuhok!!” If you think that’s a victory chat from an anime cartoon show, close but not quite. That’s my mom, ranting over a wet and scummy bathroom the moment the last life form to use it steps out. The irony there is she actually loves cleaning the bathroom. It’s her daily yoga and the bathroom is like her mecca. She would spend around 2 hours in it, singing praise songs while scrubbing off the what nots in the floor. Her undefiled formula for a clean bathroom is: 30 friggin’ minutes of nagging + 60 minutes of acapella praise songs + 30 minutes shower and the best of it all, one bottle of Muriatic Acid, household grade. Muriatic acid has been with us longer than our eldest. I don’t blame mom. With a packaging like this : It must be deadly effective. When I started renting out my own flat, my battle with bathroom scum, mildew and toilet bowl stains began. I realized how ugly a bathroom can get in a week’s time without sanitation. Shower curtains grow molds, shower knob gets slimy, balls of hair caught in the filter, bathroom floor and walls stains with soap scum and toilet bowl turns brown. No wonder why mom had to sing praise songs. With a mess like that, everybody needs to summon heaven for courage. So I did what every obedient daughter is set out to do, grab a 250ml Muriatic Acid, play mom’s daily ranting in my head and went wild and dirty. Mom was right, there’s this kind of high you get after you finish the whole crappy job. But barely a week after, the pesky mold and mildew were all over my bathroom again! I was like, whatdapak are you doing here so soon! I began to suspect that they were living forms from hell, did some research and confirmed that they were actually species of fungus that thrive on moisture. Turns out Mr. Muriatic with its fierce and deadly skull antics is not effective after all.

The very same day I went to MOA straight to its household products section and went over its brands of cleaning formulas. There’s Domex – nah smells like zonrox; Zonrox – naahh smells like Domex; Muriatic –P40 for 250ml for a single use, nahhhhh; Mr. Muscle – packaging is nice, TV plugs sounded convincing, but forget it I’m not falling for packaging anymore plus I found 90 bucks for a 500ml expensive; then there’s Tilex – P109 for 960ml and comes with an easy spray noozle. The packaging is simple, no freaky show, just the name in bold, all caps, letters: TILEX, couldn’t be any simpler. I read the back label to the last dot and found the product promising so I bought and quickly tried it. It did have vapors but not as much as Muriatic. Getting it on walls and toilet bowl is a breeze with its noozle spray. I used a sponge to spread it out and a brush to scrub it off just as instructed. I left the flat for around 10 minutes to get some fresh air . Well the backlabel didn’t really say anything about going out but it did sternly warn against prolonged exposure to the vapors. It surprisingly did the trick. Tilex kept my bathroom spotlessly clean for more than a month. The mildew and molds never returned, just the soap scum on the floor. It also did a good job in restoring my shower curtain and cleaning up my kitchen sink.

But the sweetest deal of all, I only use up around 20 ml in one cleaning session. Top that! As for me, I’m ditching muriatic out. I can’t wait to tell mom.:)

EZTV - the largest TV torrent community

2008-05-30T23:19:00.001+08:00

I've been searching for a torrent site that hosts the latest episodes of my favorite TV shows for as long as I can remember. I often end up frustrated. Then one time while I was looking for fresh episodes of MTV's The Hills Season 3, a topic at yahoo answers led me to EZTV. And man, I'm telling you, their collection is huge and updated. They have Smallville, Ellen, Saturday Night Live, American Idol, Beauty and the Geek, Gossip Girl, The Hills, et al. Just give the episode about 48 hours from airing and it's up there for grabs. One 45-min. episode takes about 2 to 3 hours to DL for a 512kpbs broadband connection. But if you get lucky with lots of seeders online, it'll only take about 2 hours to complete. The file is in AVI format but if you want it in your iPod as well, just convert the file to mp4 and stack it up. And oh, the video is of very good quality and safe from those annoying passwords. See you there!

Caught in a Love Triangle

2008-01-20T10:33:00.001+08:00

Oh yes I am, with three email clients! I have currently 3 running for just 2 email accounts! I definitely need a geek to help me out here. I'm gonna let you all in on my little dilemma.
Here's Mr. Outlook. I have been using this for over 5 years now. Mainly because it's in our corporate OS package and we are using an MS exchange server. Need I say more? Bill Gates is simply all over our network. Anyways, it's user-friendly, showcases a corporate look and packed with security features. However, the 3 major downers I see: (1) I need to beg IT to give me a VPN connection or http proxy settings to use my corporate email account outside the office, otherwise, I'm stuck with the slow and convential webmail access. (2) In order to add my personal yahoo account, I need to at least get 2 things done (2.1) Install YPOPs since Yahoo is charging for its smtp services (2.2) Create a rule so that all Yahoo emails are directed to a separate mailbox folder which leads me to another hassle - the rule won't work unless I am connected to the exchange server (2.3) If 2.2 is such a pain, Bill Gates suggests a multiple email profile. The big BUT here is you have to restart outlook to switch to another account. Quoting Keanu in the movie, Constantine: "There's always a catch!" And oh BTW, did I mention that I am yet to meet someone who was able to set up an MS exchange server account using another email client? Simply put, my corporate account is stuck with Outlook and our webmail service. HELP!

So I tried shopping for a second opinion. I met Mr. Pop Peeper. A light, convenient and free email software. You can set up multiple accounts in less than 5 minutes. It has all the basic email features you want, it's default connection settings is compatible with any network firewalls, does not require any admin privileges to install and is certified safe. However, in its 3.01 release, the programmer talked about having fixed the bug which disables the "insert attachment" functionality. Turns out, the problem is still there. I can receive, read, reply to emails but cannot insert attachments. Yeah, definitely a downer. I wonder when are they going to fix this. I'm still using Pop Peeper though, but with file attachments, I log in at the webmail service to reply. And yes, my corporate email account is still inseparable with Outlook. Darn.

Just when I was about to put up the white flag, I met Mr. Thunderbird. From the makers of Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird is a free alternative email client. It's got a cool interface, allows multiple account setup, packed with junk mail and other security features, has Outlook's important features on read receipt notices, email signatures, etc. , plus you can enhance it with its growing database of add ons and plugins, skins, whooaa! Definitely a love at first sight. To get your yahoo account running, you still need to install YPops and follow the setup guide. Setting up GMail on the other hand, is easy as picking your nose (eww!). Thunderbird simply works like a charm! Only that...I can't get it to work while I'm in our office's firewall. But recently, I realized I missed out a proxy settings option. I'm gonna try it out again at the office tomorrow. If it works, I will finally make the big switch, like I did with my dandruff shampoo. Hehe. Awkward. And yes, I'm still using Outlook for my corporate email. Grr!! Reason why I'm giving out one venti toffe nut frappe for anyone who can help me use Thunderbird for all my email accounts. Anyone? Please? Crispin?? Basilio??