Ondoy Typhoon Aftermath

A senseless, unproductive hibernation which lasted for 4 days (and wish to stop counting), this is how I would describe my days after the Ondoy typhoon strucked the Philippines. 4 days and our area is still submerged in waist level flood, not subsiding for even just an inch I was begging every morning the moment I get up from bed. As of writing, power has not been restored yet. This irks me. I can go on with the flooded area and all, but please have the power restored at least so I can resume with my almost-normal life then. But according to Meralco, they will restore it within the week PROVIDED that the flood already subsided. And I could read it as It is not possible for your area because the water level has not even subsided by an inch for days!!! It generates a lot of nuisances I am slowly losing my patience dealing with:
- Idleness. Can’t do anything but clean the house, tidy the dogs, cook, and wash the dishes. With much effort as you struggle through the darkness.
- Dead Cellphones – can’t communicate with other people outside because I can’t recharge my cellphone. Can’t even read ebooks.
- Less awareness of what’s going on from the other side of the earth. Now I realized the importance of Newspapers in the absence of other news media.
- Piling laundry. Won’t do it now without washing machine. Unless I am so damn bored.
- Spoiled Food. Without refrigerator around, we are forced to consume everything that is easily spoiled within the day; otherwise food will go to waste.
- Humidity and mosquitoes. Why is the latter created anyway?
- Can’t stay late. Need to be home before the sun sets, unless you want adventure struggling through the dark streets of Pasig.
I opted not to challenge myself coming to the office for the past 2 days. But I decided to do so today because I feel I have a lot of catching up to do. I can spend my day doing something productive than staring at the water which can't do anything anyway.
I hope the Pasig City government will do something about the mess left by Ondoy. According to residents of Pasig, this is the first time the area has been submerged in a flood for days (I am even thinking it will not be over for a week, pessimist *grin*). But there is always a first time. I hope they will come up with something so we won’t have next times.

HSBC Annual Fee Waived!!!

For the first time in 2 years, they finally approved my request to have my credit card annual fee waived.

My first attempt to request for annual fee reversal last year was denied. I can't remember any reason for that, considering I've been paying regularly (or could that be the reason why???). That time, I can't threat the company to have my card cancelled because I still have on-going installment transactions (which I opt not to pay in lumpsum because it will drill a big hole in my wallet). So I ended up paying the Php1200 annual fee. Yaiks...
Come last month, I remember my annual fee will be posted soon. I called the company and ask for the reversal again. They told me I will be qualified for the reversal by complying with any of the following:
- Should have at least 7 transactions using my card for the after your annual fee has been posted.
- Minimum accumulated transaction(s) amounting to Php14,000 (regardless of whether it is a straight or deferred payment)

The first one is easy, you can do as many transactions as you like without aiming for any required amount. But I settled for #2. It just so happened that I need to purchase something with that big amount. At least I saved 1200 bucks to spend on something else.
When I checked my statement online, whoa!!! My annual fee has been reversed.
That's cool. At least I don't have to resort to threatening them that I will have my cards cancelled. I love my HSBC credit card compared to my other CCs because of it's relatively high credit limit and their service is good compared to Citibank (citibank agents suck).
Call HSBC to confirm if they still have the same pre-requisites before granting annual fee reversal. I am not sure if these conditions change from time to time. But make sure to have the request forwarded by an HSBC agent (call 85-800) and wait for 3 to 5 working days for approval.

My shih tzu

I have a 6-month old shih tzu named Keira (sometimes I call her keirabels, hehe).



Unlike other shihs, mine is a very active one. Could have been an influence of my other naughty lhasa apso. So most of the time, after kei has been groomed, it will only take hours or a day at most before she turns into a rag-like dog again:

My ukay ukay finds

I rarely refresh my wardrobe, unless there is a need to do so, or is some cases, when I came across a dress that is perfect bothways, reasonably priced and fits nice. Recently, I had both reasons to get new set of clothes. But instead of heading to the mall, we decided to check on the thrift shops (read: ukay-ukay) along the market avenue in Pasig City.
I am fond of Ukay-ukay shops. They sell a variety of items (pants, skirts, tops) to choose from. The basic rule to follow when visiting one is to be patient scanning through their items. And when you found an item you like, take it. Someone might get it while you're having second thoughts about taking the item.
Unlike in malls, it is uncomfortable to shop in ukay-ukays. Most of them are not airconditioned. But that what pulls the price cheaper, so it pays to be extra patient.
Here are some of the items I got from my ukay-ukay trip.

The first one costs 25 pesos, while the other 2 costs 50 pesos. Great deal.

New Moon extended trailer

I just stumbled into the latest trailer of the 2nd of the Twilight series, New Moon. This one makes me look forward to November.

Trouble with Samsung Slider Phones

My hubby owns a Samsung U600 for more than a year now. To date, that unit has been serviced by Samsung twice already, and sad to say that the cost of having it fixed is not cheap.

The screen went totally blank after a 10 months of use. Good thing it is still covered by 1-year warranty. They replaced almost every interior part of the phone and it worked like brand new (except for the case and other exteriors).
However it took us my hubby a week before he was able to got it from the service center. They claim unavailability of parts to be the reason for delay. I feel they just don't prioritize repairs covered under warranty.
Recently, the phone malfunctioned again. The speakers are not working. After a couple of days, the camera went dead. We suspect that it could be the flexi ribbon, which is most susceptible to damage due to frequent sliding.
We brought the phone to the samsung service center (megamall).The technician confirmed that it is indeed the flexi ribbon:

Good thing they have available part so it didn't take 30-minutes to complete the repair.
However, they charge us a whopping Php1500 for the service, since the warranty already lapsed:
- 1k for the replacement part (flexi-ribbon)
- 500 for the service/labor (if the unit has NTC sticker, 1000 if it doesnt)

The unit is back to its old self again. I keep on reminding my husband to refrain from sliding the phone on and off, especially when he is at home or in the office and he can let his phone slide open.
But what I think best is for the unit to be sold before another trouble resurfaces.

Splog Fight Update

Update on my previous splog post: I checked on the blog wherein my a portion of my blog was posted a couple of days after I reported the site to adsense.

And I am happy that the blogger account can no longer be found. At least my effort paid off. It's time to for those thieves to be busted, at least disabled their blogger accounts. Good job Google :)

Splog Fight

Part 2 of Stolen Blog content rants

Have you been splogged?
If you stumbled upon some post which appears familiar to you, take a second look. That might be your original content published sometime ago.
As I mentioned from my previous post, my first blog entry has been stolen. I thought it was just re-phrased. But I just found out that I have been splogged.

Splogging (splogs - "spam" + "blog") is automatically scrapping a portion of your post (or different posts) and putting it together, so most of the time the content no longer makes sense at all (the content is auto-generated). The purpose of these thieves is to generate income by including frequently-searched keywords, links to other sites they probably own as well, or to increase Page Rank and falsify google search results. What is also disheartening is they may also cause your site rank to drop.
In my attempt to fight back sploggers, I reported the site to Google adsense. I clicked on the Google Adsense on the site and reported a policy violation regarding the site. I indicated "splog" under the comments section, posted a link to the original content versus the copied one. In case their ads get terminated, at least I caused them inconvenience. Better than staring at your stolen content and do nothing.
Once there was Splogreporter.com which lists splog sites reported. But the site is already dead (and I don't know why). You can check on Exposing Sploggers to submit splog sites and for anti-splog tips.

Wondering if someone is earning with your own hardwork? Check Copyscape.com.

Stolen blog content

As I was googling my previous blogposts, I stumbled into one blog post (about blood donation) which is obviously based from a portion of my post, it was just re-phrased. I knew it was from me because it displayed my blog name on the title, but there is no backlink to my site.

I was frustrated because it was my first blog entry. I guess that blog is pretty old so their ranking is much better than mine. But I just wish the blogger who copied my post acknowledge that she just got it from somewhere. Just ranting...

I love Russell!!!

Still having hangover of the latest Pixar movie Up. I can say it is the best pixar movie for me. I haven't been so amused with any cartoon character before Rusell came. Russell is the cute little stowaway boy in the movie. I find him so adorable because he is effortlessly funny. Russell and Fredricksen's chemistry is amazing. The story closed the 70 years gap of the characters.

I listed few of the best lines in the movie:

============

Dug (talking to Fredricksen): I hid under your porch because I love you

=============

Russell: "With my Wilderness Explorer GPS, we'll never be lost! (he throws hands back and GPS flies out window) Oops!"

=============

Russell (realizing kevin the bird have babies): Kevin is a girl????

============

Russell: My knee hurts...

Fredricksen: Which knee?

Russell: My elbow hurts!!

==============

 If you can't get enough of this Up hype, here are 3 Upisodes (yes, UPisodes) which are not part of the movie. Enjoy:

Quick Cash Loan using Metrobank Cash2Go

Ever in need of an emergency cash or quick loan but don't want to use the cash advance facility of your credit card?

If you happen to have a Metrobank credit card, then that might do the trick for you.

Metrobank's Cash2Go enables you to convert your credit card's available credit, or a part thereof, to cash and repayment scheme is available in 3,6,9,12,18 and 24 months. Minimum amount to be converted is Php3000, or the monthly payment should not go below Php500.

I availed of this promo twice already. I applied in the nearest Metrobank Branch for this quick credit loan and got my transaction approved and cash ready in just a couple of minutes. I just presented a valid ID and my credit card, and the accomplished Cash2Go application form (available in the bank). On my second application (in a different bank), they asked me to photocopy my valid ID (front and back), together with my Metrobank credit card. So if you are planning to avail of this quick cash loan, have the photocopy of the said cards handy, just in case they ask for it.

The request is still subject for approval. But I think they are just evaluating you in terms of the available credit you have in your credit card, as well as your credit standing (how regular have you been paying your bills). To determine if your transaction is approved, bank officers are calling a certain phone number, stating your name and credit card number, as well as the requested amount (Yes, that simple!!)

The good thing about this is you don't need to submit a lot of requirements such as payslip, certificate of employment, unlike other loan facilities wherein the processing of your application takes a week or two. You can use this to consolidate your debt with less hassle. This one of the main reason why I keep my Metrobank credit card, on top of my other credit cards.

You can also avail of Cash2Go promo by calling 8-700-700. Interest rates are slightly lower for phone-in transactions compared to that offered in Metrobank branches, but the amount you applied for will be credited to your account (MBTC or other bank) after 3 business days. You may use their calculator for you to have an idea of your monthly amount due on your desired terms.