Treasure Jar

“Ka-ching, ka-ching!” goes the cash register. All roads lead to bookstores these days, now that classes have started on this side of the planet. I’m sure POS systems guys are on stand-by just in case a machine breaks down.

One of the things I don’t particularly like when I go to stores during times when there is a crowd is to see empty cash register stations and long lines where there is a cashier. That goes true to fast-food joints with long lines and only one or two functioning cash registers. That goes to banks too, where there are only 2 tellers with 40+ people waiting to be served.

Of course, I understand why some establishments don’t have fully functioning cashier stations since these establishments are not always full of people and it’s not practical to have people manning these cashier stations when there are no customers around.

Best thing to do to avoid these problems? Go when there’s no crowd.

Tags: bookstore, buying school supplies, long lines at the cashier stations, school opening

Filipinos are one of the more sociable people in the planet. If by chance you meet someone you know on the street (or in a mall), one of the few greetings exchanged would be:

“O, kumusta ka na?” “Saan ka galing?” “Saan ang lakad mo?”

Aside from these usual introductory greetings, Pinoys seem to find it hard to part ways with friends they meet, and the usual goodbyes are longer than the actual conversations. We even have small talks and make friends with people we don’t know while in a bus or the MRT or at the supermarket’s long line and even while getting documents for Medicare part D plan.

Funny isn’t it, but so true.

We Pinoys are an adventurous bunch but that doesn’t mean we are careless. In our society where things have gotten fast-paced, modern and everyone seems to be in a hurry, we try to be as practical as we can , using on things that will be reliable and able to keep up with everything that we have to do.

Because we live in a tropical country, we love wearing slippers. Not just ordinary slippers but functional, stylish and not super expensive.

Personally, one of the brands I use as slippers when I need to go places is my Dupe pair of slippers. This was what I wore when I went to Divisoria with my hubby last Sunday. With all the walking we did, I didn’t have any problems with it.

So, Dupe asks Pinoy: “Saan ang lakad mo?”

Tags: Dupé, Dupe asks Pinoy Saan ang Lakad mo, Dupé Gel HXP, Dupe Saan ang Lakad mo, Dupe slippers

Gadget hungry?

Gadgets like a netbook, a tablet, smartphones, iphones and cameras are product must-haves people dream to own. But the question is, how many gadgets can one really handle? How many gadgets does one really NEED?

Let’s see some hypothetical situations:

There is a lady who just can’t wait to get her hands on this certain camera even though she still has a new point and shoot camera and an even newer dlsr.

There is another one who misses the android phone because this person now has a new iphone.

Then there’s this man who totes a netbook and not satisfied with it, opens his tablet while taking a photo of himself with his android phone all the while his other smartphone is ringing.

What I’d like to see is the first person bring along the newer dslr, the almost new point and shoot and the newly purchased camera while she takes photos with her iphone. Oh-la-la!

Really now. I think it is not really a matter whether one can afford these things because the more one wants to have these things they think they need, one becomes more greedy, more materialistic in this already materialistic world.

Tags: gadget hungry

Laptop has a pop-up message for me: Low Disk Space. Oh no! I’ve got extra space in Picasa for 5usd/year but I haven’t put most of the recent photos there. Blog photos are mostly in Flickr.

I also made my Facebook page a storage of recent photos, saved in original size, just in case I may need to rely on data backup solutions, at least I have some of these online. I just hope Facebook won’t have a big viral infection and sneeze and cough out all these data.

And I hope Facebook won’t ask subscribers to pay for extra disk space used in photos.

Shopping for clothes is one thing I’m not particularly fond of. It’s true! I’d rather get lost in a hardware store between shelves of faucets, shower heads and material handling equipments than ogle at those reed thin mannequins wearing the latest in fashion.

I love clothes of course, but there seems to be more important things to give attention to than these threads.No, I’m not bitter 😀

I’d brave traffic and distance just to be in a car show rather than a clothes sale. Seriously.

Tags: shopping

So many fellow Filipinos working in the Middle East are coming home.

They are called OFW or Overseas Filipino Workers whose remittances amount to millions (or billions?) of dollars sent to the country every year. They keep the economy afloat and are even called as “Present Day Heroes”.Very apt I must say, for they don’t just “fight” and toil for their families but (in)directly help the country’s economy too.

With the ongoing conflict, they found themselves without jobs and uncertain future. With the rising oil prices along with the prices of basic commodities, we face a difficult life ahead and with what’s happening, it’s bound to be worse.

We all are challenged not just to cut back on unnecessary expenses but to live simply within our means.

Here are some few tips on how to live simply and have fun:

• Recycle
• Unplug your gadgets and spend quality time with your loved ones
• Go walking
• Know when to spot a scam to avoid people easily getting your hard-earned money
• Learn to be frugal
• Have more home-cooked meals

Having less money doesn’t mean having less fun. Happiness can’t be defined with how much you have in your wallet 🙂