Fall of Tokyo Tokyo's Unli-Rice

Been a fan of Tokyo Tokyo for years already. Since I started earning, this resto is where I usually dine in with my then-boyfriend (now my husband). Apart from our favorite japanese food such as Teriyaki, misono and tonkatsu, we love Tokyo Tokyo because of it's unlimited Rice (Eat-all-you-kanin) promo.

Tokyo Tokyo endured the rice crisis when it hit the philippines two years ago. But recently when we visited the megamall store again last August 8, they have a new menu board (which was nice by the way). I noticed there's no crew member roaming around to refill rice. And so we've been told that the eat-all-you-kanin promo has been already removed. But the rice serving now is relatively larger, and the rice they are now serving is somehow similar to japanese rice (indeed filling), unlike before where in they serve rice similar to that of NFA. But you can still order for an extra rice.
Oh well, they have endured the crisis long enough. I somehow expected the change earlier. But I think they are still doing good. However, eat-all-you-kanin fans are now considering other restaurants where they can get more value for their money.

Ipanema Anatomica

Just when you think every girl is into Havaianas… I am not.

I don’t own one. I am not into high-end footwear. For me, Havaianas is overrated...

Plus the imitations coming here and there, it is not so worth it. I even tried a couple of Havs pairs before. I don’t find it comfortable enough for its price.
My impression of expensive tsinelas changed last Monday when my husband and I dropped by the shoe salon in Trinoma. There I found myself fitting on a couple of Ipanema flipflops. They have prettier designs compared to Havaianas. And they were way more comfortable.
Unlike other flip flops, Ipanema are made of PVC and not rubber. That explains the unique comfort and hug on your pretty feet.
With my spouse’s convincing powers, I got myself a pair of Ipanema Anatomica in cream. Luckily, I triumphed over my ­we-don’t-have-that-size-anymore­ jinx I have since I was a kid. It was like all stars in the heaven conspired so I can own one expensive tsinelas. And I love it!!!
In terms of durability, that I have to see.

Fake Torrents

Aaarrgghh.... I can't think of anything else that could make your morning really awful than waking up and checking the torrent file you've downloaded for hours only to find out it's a hoax. Yep, I wasted my bandwidth and my time and electricity downloading a 700-mb fake torrent file. How did i know? Here's what I got:

Upon checking on www.torrentm8.com, they are instructing you to sign up for their porn sites and you'll have the codec to decrypt the video. Knowing that porn sites are so infected of malwares, spywares and adware, I never took a risk.
When I further googled this torrent file encryption thing, i found out that there is no such thing as codec decryption tool. Most axxo movies are not working. According to some, the torrent file you have downloaded makes you download another malicious file, probably a trojan or virus, in the form of a player (3W) or a codec.
When I checked the file properties, the video only lasts for 3 minutes, with audio bitrate of 0kbps, despite its big file size. So I resigned to make this crap work.
Here are a few tips to share on how to spot fake torrents (which I just learned because of this experience):

• Check the comments on the torrent file first (if there is). Previous downloaders in the torrent community will somehow pointout that the file is fake so as to warn other torrent users.
• RAR or zipped files are dubious. files should be in a clean AVI format (for movies). Zipped or RAR files are mostly for softwares and games and usually exceeds 1 GB.
• Suspicious instructions - instructions in HTML file are also doubtful since most rippers will have the instructions in NFO or txt file.
• If a torrent is password protected, there is definitely something wrong with it. There is no point in putting it on torrent if it is password protected. There must be another instruction for you to get the password (probably by downloading a malware unknowingly

And if you happen to download a fake torrent, do not seed it. :)

Friendster losing the social networking wars

Little by little, used-to-be loyal friendster fans are now leaving the latter, and now shifting to Facebook.

Friendster pioneered the social networking platform in 2002. It immediately gained popularity, especially with the younger generation as it enabled them to reconnect with old friends, as well as meeting new people online. For a couple of years, Friendster enjoyed continuously increasing network traffic, mostly coming from Asia, despite the launch of other networking sites such as my space and multiply.
Yet recently, Friendster hype is slowly deteriorating. Friendster loyalists are now being lured away to join Facebook. Facebook, being one of the newest social networking site, is quickly gaining popularity because of it's fresh yet simple look. There were a lot of new things to do with Facebook that are not being catered by friendster. The applications available make your stay online worthwhile and fun. Unlike Friendster, which is now saturated with teenagers whose perception of social networking is bragging about their profile and pictures, battle of the most number of superficial friends, facebook market stretches to a more mature audience, even young professionals are being hooked with FB.
I might say, Friendster slowed down on coming up with ideas to improve the site. For a user like me, it came to a point when I feel logging online is not so worth my time. There might be applications you could add on your profile, but compared to Facebook, they are way too slow. There were also a lot of security loopholes, spamming and scams. Facebook, being new in the industry, was able to anticipate such issues. More than focusing on connectivity, Facebook is continuously able to deliver in terms of interactivity.

Friendster should start doing their homework seriously. They need a lot of catching up to do, or they'll just be part of Online community history.

Need Blood?

Before, I've been hearing stories of how blood (or blood donor) is urgently needed, especially in cases such as accidents involving excessive loss of blood or for Leukemia patients. In movies, a blood donor is truly a heaven sent.
It never dawned unto me the reality of blood supply crisis in the Philippines. Not until 6 months ago, when my mom was undergoing dialysis treatment and her hemoglobin count went down to 65.

She was instructed to undergo blood transfusion. Her blood type is A Rh+. Rh+ are rare in the Philippines. So the search for available blood has been a difficult task for me. But I think it is valuable to share my experience with people who needs blood, maybe not now... but possibly later.
Most hospitals have enough units of blood (depending on component) to sustain an emergency situation. For private hospitals, the cost for blood used during emergency cases is higher compared to a non-emergency incidents. But when the supplies run low, the patient who do not urgently need a blood transfusion needs to outsource the blood units.
There goes the independent blood banks. But since in the Philippines, blood banks compliance to health standards are not closely monitored, it is wise enough not to consider getting blood from them.

I tried Philippine National Red Cross blood bank located in Port Area, Manila(PNRC). Before you'll be able to get blood from them, you must present the following details, together with the Doctor's written request:
Name, Age/Gender,Citizenship, Diagnosis, Blood type, #of units and blood component, contact person/contact # and address,Requesting physician’s signature.
Confirm availability of blood afterwards through phone# 5270861. Price of blood per unit varies depending on component. One unit of packed RBC usually cost php 1,100 (for Rh Negative blood types), leucocyte reduced component, on the otherhand, costs Php 1600 per unit (also for Rh Negative blood types).
I was able to get one bag from them sometime in February 2009. But around August, They ran out of blood donors so we have to get blood somewhere else.

I asked around the National Kidney Transplant Institute. Their blood banks are not selling blood. But you can avail of blood units only if you bring a donor with you. The Donor's blood type need not to be of same blood type as the one you are requesting. But you have to shoulder the screening fee for the donor (Php 1700/unit). The screening and blood donation must be completed 2 days prior to the pickup of the requested blood unit.

Some hospitals also do the same when you request blood units from them. Some are not asking for any screening fee.

If you are looking for blood donors, you can check the Philippine Blood Registry

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