Change

I have been married since 2007 so that makes it 6 years this coming November.

Till this day, I still use my maiden name in the office and in most of my identification cards. I did attempt to change my last name on my passport but the hassle of changing visas (which can take up to 6 months!!) is something I am not prepared to do.

So every time I fill in forms, I still use my last name. I did ask my husband about his opinion about it and he does not mind. R even joked that maybe he can have my last name because of it being unique! :P

Mr. and Mrs. Alarcon 

I was browsing through blogs and chance upon Patty's. She has announced her new email address.

That made me think.

I have 3 email addresses (Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail). I have been contemplating whether to close down some of my accounts (in particular my Yahoo account).

So I guess the whole idea of this blog post is ---

Should I sign up for a new email account with my kind of new last name?

 

 

Writing Hoax?

For the longest time, I have been looking for possible ways to earn money via online writing stints.

I had some recommendations from friends on which online writing sites should I join (like oDesk and Elance) however from time to time, I have been receiving emails from promotional sites saying that I can earn BIG bucks by joining their website!!

Imagine that, BIG BUCKS! Who wouldn't want that right?

Of course, since I was already lured to this... I would immediately click on the site and would skim read what are their requirements.

On the initial page, they will have this page stating that there are no requirements needed to join their site just as long as you know how to write, they will take care of the rest. It encourages you to sign in and join the pool of writers!

The next page loads and there is the truth:-

Only for a minimal amount of .... $XXX.XX

This stuns me. There is a voice in my head to give it a try but I have been scammed before and it is hard when you try to spend hard earned money on someone or something that promises you with better earnings only to find out that you have been conned!

I just needed to let this out because I have again received this kind of scam message!! Grrr!!!

(photo courtesy of http://lessthanfat.blogspot.ae)

Breathe in.... Breathe out... (50x) 

I have just closed the site and I know I will eventually I will find another website or writing stint that will make me earn extra! :) 

Recovering... Tornadoes...

I'm back!

Yes, R and I braved the feisty streets of Manila so that we can see our family during our almost three weeks stay there (hopefully, I can blog about tidbits of our trip in another time).

We have just been here for about a week and a half. A lot of things have been happening around.

Taiwanese people being mad with the Pinoys (I am still in the dark about this news... I know Google is there but I am still trying to avoid knowing about it), Philippine elections happened and Senators were already proclaimed and now, on the other side of the universe, US is again facing a natural disaster.

Oklahoma is / has experiencing the tornadoes in their area. I have seen tweets about this and some even tried posting pictures of what is happening there now but this video clip from KSN TV caught my attention and I just had to post it...

(courtesy of Youtube)

I have not experienced tornadoes but watching the movie Twister and seeing this scene 

(photo courtesy of the buttonsmash.com)

It did scared me! I don't think I'd ever want to see a cow flying in front of me!! So with this video and image, I hope that we all join hands and pray for Oklahoma. For them to be protected and shielded by God. 

Shopping

I just got back from a post birthday celebration cum shopping spree with my friends today.

We went to Mirdiff City Centre for some shopping catch up and also to scout for the gadgets that we can buy for the upcoming Gitex Shoppers.

A first in the UAE as usually Gitex happens during the month of October.

This event will be held for a few days (April 3 to 6).

Now going back to shopping, I am just impressed with girls who do not need to fit the clothes they buy because they are soooo sure that it will fit them.

As for me, I always, always need to fit. It is because my size varies from different stores. I can be a medium in some stores and a large (ack!) in others.

I just had this thought because I had to wait for a very long queue to fit tank tops! Imagine that!! I sooo wanted to fit them in one of the corners of Forever 21 but I hesitated because well, it is not appropriate.

In the end, I waited and fitted the tops. They were perfect so I ended up buying four! :)

Pics? Cannot do so .... a bit revealing this should probably do it.

Photo from footziesonline.com

Innovative Cities in the Asia Pacific

As I have mentioned before, twitter has been my go-to in terms of picking up news and stuff.

While browsing through my favorite social button, I chance upon this tweet from @EntrepreneurPH about the Top 10 Innovative Cities in the Asia Pacific.

Opening the link, I was hopeful that the Manila, Philippines was at least being considered. According to the article, the categories were:- 

• human talent -- check! we have that!
• knowledge creation -- hmmm... tough! 
• technology -- okay, we are I think a bit far behind on that one 
• society -- this is a bit of a concern at the moment most especially since we still have a lot of families that are under the poverty line 
• government -- never mind 

Overall, I think we are still far off to be considered as one of the innovative cities in the Asia Pacific though I still hope that it won't be long when we can be proud of ourselves for turning one of our cities to fit their criteria. 

I think Makati is slowly moving up the pace but we need to strive more. 

I am positive that the Philippines will be part of the "one of the" countries very soon. Just watch this space...

If you want to read more about the article and who were the top 10 cities, here's the link.  

Mabuhay! 

Positive me!

The teleserye fever got into me!!!

I am still, like the rest of the Pinoy all over the world, stuck to waiting day by day for the teleserye to be shown on TV!!

This is not me!!

I have never been addicted to this before...

Arrrgggh, Be Careful with My Heart... you changed me! I got the bug!! Waaaahhhh!!!!

Photo courtesy of abs-cbn.com

Reading the news

How do you get your latest news feeds? Is it by reading the paper online? Holding a the latest edition of the newspaper or do you rely in Twitter like I do?

I don't know if you can consider me as a "person on the go" but I am always out and about of my seat. Lunch break is all about the whats and whys in the office so reading the news has never been part of my daily routine however when people tweet about them, that is the time I get curious.

I read the tweets and at the same time, try searching this online.

That's my news and I feel guilty because while I am subscribed to newsletters telling me the highlights, I still do not consider it as one.

Weird ain't it.

I just noticed that while I was purging my emails in Yahoo, I have a lot of unread newsletters from Arabianbusiness.com, my go-to for news bits and more. I am not sure if this is because I am not interested in what's happening with the Gulf (a lot of times, my manager would give me tidbits of what's happening around the globe and my look "priceless" --- because I'm totally clueless!) or I am just busy about my own thoughts.

I am now making the executive decision to unsubscribe and urge myself to read more - be it local or foreign.

Being a citizen of the world, I think we should all make it a habit to watch / read / listen to the news. I know it's not really one of the happiest things to do but it should be done.

I hope to become more active in doing so --- there! another goal for 2013! :)

What about you? How updated are you? Hope to hear from someone... anyone?

- Moi -