My Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Experience

I am no coffee addict, so coffee shops would be the last place you'll ever see me hanging out, especially alone. So ask me where was I last Wednesday?
In Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Ortigas Park. Odd...

I was there not just to spend money for a caffeine boost, the reason I cannot disclose yet. But I should say I had the best "ME" time in CBTL.

I ordered Caramel Ice-Blended drink and Cheese Muffin. I also got the chance to use my CBTL coupons courtesy of Belle de Jour planner and that entitled me to a free Chocolate Chip Cookie. Aren't freebies so great?

I loved Caramel Ice-Blended drink (Php155). The sweetness is just right, although the caramel taste is not so distinct. The coffee taste doesn't come out too strong (just as I wanted it), and it doesn't gave me the bloated feeling after I finish one regular-sized drink.

The Cheese muffin (Php80)  is just a regular tasting pastry, nothing too special, though I must commend the staff for serving it warm. Yet it wasn't so appealing because it appeared dry and crumbly. I should have tried something else, but at least I knew so I won't go for it the next time.

The chocolate chip cookie, on the other hand, tastes great. It is larger than the usual chocolate chip cookie we know, so a piece would be enough to fill you up for a snack.

Other things I loved about CBTL in Ortigas Park:

• They have friendly and accommodating staff - well, at least the people I have encountered when I visited. They were so helpful to guide you through the menu, and they served me water at least without me needing to ask for it.
• Quick Service. Orders are ready for pick-up within 3 minutes, without compromising  the quality.
• The shop (interior and Al Fresco) are clean and cozy, great if you really want to unwind. The store is spacious and quiet, unlike other coffee shops.
• The drinks and pastries are not so steep, price(s) are still competitive.

Great Customer Service. I am sure to swing by CBTL anytime soon.

Jejemon Invasion

At last someone got to name them!!

I've seen friendster profiles (then) and facebook posts which makes me pull my hair in annoyance while trying to undenrstand what the heck are they trying to say.

Still clueless what a Jejemon is? UrbanDictionary defines Jejemon as:

1) Usually seen around social networking sites such as Friendster and Multiply, jejemons are individuals with low IQs who spread around their idiocy on the web by tYpFing LyK diZS jejejeje, making all people viewing their profile raise their eyebrows out of annoyance. Normal people like you and me must take a Bachelor of Arts in Jejetyping in order to understand said individuals, as deciphering their text would cause a lot of frustration and hair pulling.

CAUTION: THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE BREEDING! THEY CAN BE SEEN WRECKING GRAMMATICAL HAVOC ON FACEBOOK TOO!

2) Jejemons are not just confined to trying-hard Filipino gangsters and emos. A Jejemon can also include a variety of Latino-Hispanic fags who enjoy typing "jejejejeje" in a wider context, much to the disdain of their opponents in an internet MMORPG game such as Ragnarok and DOTA.

3) Basically anyone with a low tolerance in correct punctuation, syntax and grammar. Jejemons are usually hated or hunted down by Jejebusters or the grammar nazi to eradicate their grammatical ways.
The term Jejemon originated from the word "Jejeje" - a colloquial word denoting laughter (as in "hehehe"), suffixed with mon (as in monster, just like pokemon).
I am sorry the following lines might annoy you but these will further show some examples of a Jejemon Lingo:

"e0wSsZz pOwhhZzmUsZtAhH nUah pOwhHzz kEowHsz?"
"yUckNesZ m9a g@nyAn pOowThaA vuTi nA LnG di akEw ganYan! EwEeWneSz!"

“miSzMaldiTahh111 here EoW pFuOh! PuNtah TyO0 ZtArBuckKzz! Jejejejeje!” - Geeezzz... it's effin annoying.

They are fond of using sticky caps and inserting unnecessary letters to simple words to challenge your comprehension.

Some might defend that this is only a fad that most teenies go through as they try to discover themselves.
But I must contest that the fad we have gone through have not generated annoyance to the extent that nobody wants to talk to you.

Interesting though, Jejemons themseleves are not aware that they were already named such. And some who recently discovered that they were Jejemons were trying to change their ways, or were just in denial.

But what I found out? Jejemon linggo is a local version of LEET. Check Google's Leet page

Do I hate Jejemons? Not that much, they are just plainly annoying...

I agree with Gibo, send them back to Elementary School.

I just turned Coleto addict!!!

This is a long-overdue post but I've been itching to brag about this just the same.

I was into fine-tech point pens since I was in college because I love to write review notes in small papers so I can carry them around especially on my way to my class.
Point 0.3 pens suits it best. But a month ago, I came across a set of 0.28 pens in 5 colors!! I was so happy. It was so rare to find a colored fine-tech pen (other than red,blue and black).
I purchased it and was happy for a moment. After a couple of usage 2 of them no longer dispenses ink. That was disappointing.
Then my friend who shares the same addiction (if you may call it) as mine, told me about Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto. Coleto is a multi-ink pen which is apparently sold in National Bookstores.
The barrel comes in default colors of black, blue and red ink. You can then buy other ink cartridges of different colors if you would like to replace the default ink cartridges that came with the barrel.
Customizing the pen becomes relatively expensive since you cannot buy just the empty barrel.
But the staff told us that empty barrels, as well as separate ink cartridges can be purchased in Cosmos Bazaar in Binondo, Manila.

We sneaked out of our office and travelled to Binondo for our Coleto search. We arrived at the store minutes before their closing time. Our eyes feast on how many pilot products they sell.
Though tempting, we just satisfied ourselves buying coleto barrels and cartridges. A barrel costs Php65 each, and ink cartridge costs Php 35 each. We got a bargain by giving us the ink cartridge for Php28 only since we bought 12 ink cartridges (6 colors for each of us).
We were able to customize our multi-ink pens for only Php150, a lot cheaper than buying in NBS.

The six-0.3 ink cartidges I chose: light blue, violet, pink, black, orange and green




I am not a fan of multi-ink pens since most of them are so bulky. But What is addicting about coleto is that the barrel is slim though it houses 3 inks.
It has a rubberized grip so it won't slip. The inks dries fast, and the pens glides gently on the paper you'll get really addicted using it.
The down side, it is a bit expensive to use it on long writings since the ink drains a bit fast. And one of the cartridges I bought skips ink.

Overall, If ever I ran out of ink, I will still buy this pen. Coleto is still my best best for ultra-fine tech colored pens.

My Pretty Shih-Tzu's Photo Ops

My doggie had some sort-of photo sessions courtesy of my brother and his reliable DSLR camera (*envious*). I requested him to take photos of my shih tzu immediately after I groomed her (she won't look so adorable after a couple of minutes, believe me). Here are some of her nice pictures, I want them all framed and hung on our house:

Keira with my brother's shih tzu Oliver. They look good together :)

My doggie getting bored, LOLz

 

Missing my laptop

My dog playing with my no-longer-working laptop

Today I'm torn again. I asked my husband to call up the repair center where we brought our laptop a month ago. According to the technician, he tried re-aligning the video chipset and brought the laptop back to life for a couple of minutes then died again. He tried replacing the video chipset, and has been successful for only 25-minutes or so, then the laptop died again. The last resort, replace the motherboard, since it might be due to the motherboard's faulty wiring why my laptop keeps on dying (haha, what a term!!).

Now, why the hell I was torn? Because the cost to replace the entire motherboard is Php9000. I want my laptop to be repaired so badly that I am willing to pay the price (ehem, courtesy of my credit card for the meantime, until I get hold of my cash). I love the laptop so much even if it has only served my techie needs for a short period of 15months.  I was just having second thoughts because WE are unusure of how our Internet shop business will perform come June. Taking Php9K out of my forthcoming 14thmonth is significant. We don't know what the future holds (amf!!).

And another pain, I am paying a DSL service for almost 3 months now without actually using it. This is another sad monday

Chinabank Online Banking

I opened a checking account with China Bank (Pioneer, Mandaluyong branch) a couple of months ago for the repayment of my housing loan through post-dated checks. I never realized the greater value of their service until I used their Online Banking portal.

I used to wait in long lines to pay my credit card bills for different banks. When I started to use their bank online facility, I was able to make most of my time because I can pay my credit card bills online, in the comfort of my office or own home. I don’t need to hurry before the bank closes because I can pay my bills even on weekends or after office hours. You can also schedule payment transactions ahead of time so you won’t miss your bills’ due dates. You can also purchase prepaid call card. This comes handy especially when I ran out of mobile phone credits but can’t leave the office or house because I am swamped with work. Cable and gaming prepaid cards are also available.

The bank’s online facility has a neat and simple interface, and easy to navigate into. Chinabank online makes banking a simple and convenient experience. They deliver the best quality of e-commerce in the Philippines.

Rabies Post-exposure treatment

It was Black Saturday of 2010, and I was there on Hospital ER with my head spinning as what the heck I was doing here.

I was bitten by a dog, and unfortunately, it wasn’t mine. I wouldn’t bother getting an anti-rabies shot if it was either of my 2 dogs bit me (accidentally) and it was such a minor wound (they have anti-rabies vaccine). But it was my folks’ dog. What bothered me? It wasn’t vaccinated against anti-rabies. Though he is usually chained and sort-of considered as clean, I would not want to take a risk. Even if he appears normal at first sight and does not manifest any rabies symptom, I cannot confidently say he is not infected with rabies virus.
At the ER, after the usual series of questions, they categorized my post exposure as under Category III:
Category III: one or more bites, scratches, licks on broken skin, or other contact that breaks the skin; or exposure to bats
Treatment of Category III post-exposure started with cleansing and disinfecting of wounds, and of course, series of vaccines. It is a big no-no to treat your animal bite wounds with garlic (as most of the elderly believe as the first-aid treatment for animal bites). It is best to clean the wound with soap and clean water.
For Day 1 of the Post exposure, I received 6 vaccinations:
- 2 Shots of anti-tetanus toxoid, injected on my left and right arm
- 2 shots of Verorab™, injected on both arms, intradermal
- 1 skin test for ERIG – This is the most painful shot since this is injected just underneath my skin.
- 1 shot (10.5mL) of Favirab™ -The amount needed is determined by my weight. This was injected on my buttocks since the wound area (my breast) needs infiltration, I opt to have it on my butt instead, and it hurt big time. This was injected 30 minutes after the skin test was administered and turned negative.

Today was my 2nd dose of vaccine schedule (Day 3 of Post Exposure). I had 2 shots of Verorab™, still administered on both arms.
I’ll be back on Day 10 and Day 21 for my 3rd and 4th dose of Verorab.
Rabies post-exposure treatment would really cost you an arm and a leg. To give you an idea how much did my first day of treatment cost, I was charged Php 9000+, while my succeeding doses cost Php 1600+ each. Thank goodness it was covered under my HMO. Else, it will drill a big hole in my pocket.

More Credit Card Annual Fee Reversal!!!

After my successful attempt to have my HSBC credit card annual fee reversed, I tried the same request to my 2 other credit cards, Citibank Classic Mastercard and Metrobank Classic Visa.

Citibank posted an annual membership fee amounting to Php1500 on my February 2010 bill. I called them up to ask for reversal of my annual fee. The agent I have talked to gave me the following options so I can have my annual fee waived:
- Enroll on e-statements. – I am already enrolled so I cannot use this for my reversal request
- Apply for a supplementary card – My spouse already holds a supplementary card under my account, and I don’t want to add expenses in the long-run, so I didn’t considered this.
- Enroll a utility on Citi one-bill – This is an auto-debit facility of Citibank for utilities such as Meralco, PLDT, and others.
- Use my points to pay for my annual fee – Ooopppsss… No!! I am aware that I can have my annual fee reverse at no cost. So this is not an option for me.
I chose to enroll another utility bill (MERALCO) under Citi One-bill. Presto!!! Annual Fee waived. I saved Php 1500.
Metrobank , on the other hand, posted Php 1400 annual fee on my February 2010 bill. I called them as well to request the same, but I wasn’t expecting too much since I haven’t heard anyone who had their annual fee under this company waved.
According to the agent I spoke with, I am entitled to have my annual fee reverse on one condition: Spend at least Php4000 (retail, cash advance and cash2Go transactions not included) for 30 days. This one is easy. And so after I had accumulated the Php 4000 –condition, I called them up to remind them of my annual fee reversal, and confirmed that it will be waived.
I don’t mind holding on to these extra credit cards and I don’t have serious spending problems, especially if they are no annual fee credit cards.