Shredder Happy Mood

I am 96% Happy

2008-01-23T01:53:00.001-08:00

You Are 96% Happy

It's unlikely that you know anyone happier than you.
You know how to be happy, no matter what life throws at you.

nth time in Viet Nam

2008-01-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

I'm lying in bed, room 201 Liberty 1 Hotel in HCMC as I write..

I've been to a couple of countries in Asia - India, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Viet Nam. In all these countries, I love Viet Nam the most.

Below are reasons why:

1. Vietnamese cuisine is by far the best I've tasted.
I read sometime ago that Vietnamese cuisine is the original fusion. =D
I like it much better than Thai food which are generally more spicy. Curry foods from India and Indonesia are not my style.

2. Free wifi
This place is amazing. There is free wifi everywhere. As in literally everywhere. All the hotels have free wifi. Airports have free wifi - Ho Chi Minh, Danang and Hanoi. Coffee shops are likewise with free wifi. It may sound exaggerated but when one searches for wifi from any spot in Viet Nam, one can almost see at least three that's free.

3. Catholic churches
and pink at that!
Danang has a pink church and so does Ho Chi Minh. I'm even tempted to get married in the pink church here in Ho Chi Minh... hmmm? why not?

4. Kind taxi drivers
well not all of them are honest, but still they are generally more honest than those from back home. The taxis are also in much better shape than those from home.

5. currency
around here, I am a millionaire. The currency in this country is Vietnamese Dong, 16,000 VND = 1 USD. This means that when I have my $100 USD exchanged, I get a whopping $1.6 Million Dong. hahahaha. No joke.

6. quality silk and embroidered products at cheap prices

7. Vietnamese. They are the kindest and nicest. I like hanging out and working with them more than others.

oniomania

2008-01-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

oniomania (O-nee-uh-MAY-nee-uh, MAYN-yuh) noun
Compulsive shopping; excessive, uncontrollable desire to buy things.
[From Latin, from Greek xnios (for sale), from onos (price) + -mania.]

Thankfully though I am still able to control myself. I must admit though that I had at some point, splurged on clothes and shoes. There were days in the past that I would have either new clothes or pair of shoes almost on a weekly basis. Ironically though, now that I have better pay, I have a better grasp of my spending habits. Well, I am still unreasonable at times like impulsively buying a Sony PSP as if it was a candy from the street side. Thankfully, I have never fallen into really bad credit. I rarely loan money from friends or from the bank. 90% of the time I pay my credit card bills (full amount) before due date.

The Shopaholic series of books made me realize the absurdity of spending on useless things. The books by Sophie Kinsella are easy to read and very entertaining. Shopaholics everywhere in the world can surely relate to Becky.

birthstone jewelry

2008-01-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

My hunny and I celebrated our 10th year as a couple last year. I got him a Nokia N70 and he got me diamond earrings.

I seldom buy myself jewelry, so his gift was something I appreciated so much. At some point I fancied colorful accessories but decided to ditch them (well actually more like store them) when he got me these nice diamond earrings. He bought me the perfect size which I can wear everyday.

Anyway, my friend Joy's blog was about jewelry. Why wait for your man to buy you one when you can gift yourself what you fancy. hmmm. Oh girls and diamonds. They gravitate towards each other. Or rather girls generally just do..

I surfed the site Just Jewelry and my oh my instantly fell in love with the birthstone jewels. I liked them so much I want to have those which aren't even my own birthstone.. Hahahaha..

shoes for a cause

2008-01-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Pink Ballerina Shoes.

Proceeds to help raise awareness on breast cancer.

You may get this from Schu.

billboard-ize your laptop

2008-01-20T21:16:00.000-08:00

Billboards are everywhere. I see them in Thailand, Japan, Viet Nam, UK, Indonesia, Singapore etc.

I've seen ads on a bus, on a train, inside the train, on train stops, on bus stops, on road signs, on doors.. in websites, in blog sites. They're just about everywhere.

but dig this? on your laptop? Macbookbillboard.com
now, this is one funky idea. i think this one is much better than having your gadgets specifically your laptop wrapped via GMask because you in fact earn and not pay.

hmmm. would this work for my laptop? I travel outside the country an average of 3-4 times a year. In fact, for this year, I'm travelling every month until April. 3 times to Viet Nam and once to the US.

so what do you think? who wants to buy adspace on my laptop??? LOL.

on line canvassing of gadget prices

2008-01-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

If I want to buy new gadgets - cellphones, PDAs, laptops or MP3 players, etc... visit cgena.com

The list of suppliers may not be complete but it's much better than going physically to all these shops and asking the price yourself.

the kid in me

2008-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Come on, let's face it, you have the kid in you too.
I must admit I still love to collect stuffed animals and stuffed toys. Now that I am in my 30s, I still love the feeling of sleeping with your toys. Unfortunately though, I share a small bed with a mammal... hahahah.. my hubby.. much better than the stuffed bears, btw.

My favorite toy nowadays? My piano black Sony PSP Slim and Lite. Each time I play with my PSP, I get nostalgic with my Game and Watch days. I especially loved the one where Mickey tries to catch chicken eggs from all sides left, right, up and down.

It is such a pity though that Heroes of Might and Magic is not available yet on the PSP. This is a game that my 8-year old sons and I play on my laptop.

The PSP is currently available in eight colors. They are in piano black, ceramic white, pink, metallic blue, silver, champagne gold, "The Simpsons" yellow and deep red. I was hoping to get the pink or metallic blue one but opted for the piano black instead.

Lost and Found

2008-01-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

This morning I picked up a photo on the street. It was a photo ID of hmmm. a handsome young man. It looks to me that he could well be someone who dropped this photo from a pile of documents either for job application, school clearance, travel, etc.

Whatever the reason is.. I am interested in getting to know him. I have a feeling that our fate has allowed our paths to cross. Of course, I'm not looking for a man to love. I already have one and one who loves me back as much.

I have a lot of wonderful girlfriends looking for a boyfriend. Could it be you?

Who says tagalog is not an interesting language?

2008-01-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

People prefer to learn French because they feel it is the most romantic language. Others feel that one has to learn Mandarin because it is the most popular language. Of course, one has to learn English which is the business language of most countries.

How about tagalog (or Filipino)?

Tagalog is not my mother tongue because I grew up in Davao where the language is Cebuano-based. But I have to give credit to Tagalog. It may have no long a, long u or long i sounds but I still find it interesting.

reasons why I say so?

1. using only one syllable spoken repeatedly, two persons can already engage in a complete conversation.

situation: elevator or stairs (mostly)
Person 1: bababa ba?
Person 2: bababa.

translation:
Person 1: going down?
Person 2: yes. going down.

that's simply economical. don't you think?

2. the same word can mean different things if pronounced differently.

word paalam can mean
goodbye;
inform; or
permission.

word mahal can mean
love; or
expensive;

on the other hand, the word mura can mean
unripe;
young; or
curse.

Anyway, off I go now to listen to my Berlitz Vietnamese Travel Pack. Because of work, I get to travel to different places in the world. As a sign of respect for people I meet in those countries, I try hard to learn a phrase or two. =D

A new blog. A new life

2008-01-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

It's a friday.
I'm in a low mood. My friend Joy who recently moved to Australia introduced me to blogging via blogger.
What the heck. Let me just give it a try.
Writing and blogging is therapeutic.
It gives you that same feeling when you unclutter your room or office and shred your old files.
You are left with a clean, well-organized desk, a well-organized room.. more space to put more clutter. And you look forward again to another shredder happy session.
Hmmm. Maybe a few cups of coffee would also go well with this session.

I think this blog deserves its name. Shredder Happy Mood.

This shall be my repository of thoughts, insights, observations, angsts, rants and ramblings.. maybe even pictures and images of my journeys.

Paalam..