Explore Manila, the Philippines and the World!

I encountered this nice website called Good News Pilipinas. It is a website that gives us nice news about the Philippines. Achievements of some Filipinos abroad and more. Here’s one of the good news that I want to share here.

Tagaytay City is one of the top five retirement havens in the Philippines as cited four foreign trade chambers – European, American, Japan and Korean Chamber of Commerce.

The enclave south of capital joins Manila, Subic, Cebu, and Dumaguete in the list of the most preferred choices of local and foreign retirees.

The citation is a testament of Tagaytay’s unique characteristic and comparative advantage over other places in the country, a city official said.

Its advantages as a retirement haven include its peace and order, cool climate, scenic view of the Taal Volcano, proximity to Metro Manila, and abundance of housing facilities, recreational and leisure sites, religious institutions, and retreat houses.

The Tagaytay local government lauded the citation by the foreign chambers and vowed to work in partnership with them, as well as the Philippine Retirement Authority, in the efforts to promote the entire country as a retirment destination.

The recognition, he said, inspires the people of Tagaytay to continue efforts aimed at preserving the “rural charm” of the city. This would ensure that it is truly a retirement haven, he also said.

The retirement industry has been growing over the years due to changes in global demographics with the rapid aging of the world’s population, officials said.

This demographic trend offers an opportunity for the Philippines as it offers a comprehensive retirement program to serve the needs of foreign retirees.

I know there are a lot of Filipinos already residing in Canada. They are living pretty well there and are quite happy with their current situation. So if ever you want to visit a relative or friend, you might need to look for a phone number in Canada. I suggest you checkout a website that offers canada phone number reverse. It is definitely free! All you have to do is type in the cell in the website, home or business phone number and then click search. With this the canadian reverse phone directory will look it up in the database. After the search information will be provided for you. Yes, it’s that easy so do check it out now!

Are you in the mood for a buffet? Check this out.

Eat all you can (the Ala Carte Style) at only P499.++ at Eastwood City.

The participating restaurants include:

Agave Mexican Cantina • Blackbeard’s • Seafood Island • Ebisu • Heaven n’ Eggs • Serye • Shanghai Bistro • Somethin’ Fishy

Hmmm…Maybe Hubby and I should check this out one of these days. Anyway, promo period ends on December 18, 2008.

Want to more? Visit Eastwood City’s official website.

Ever since Hubby and I had our own home we can’t help but shop for some home furniture in the last couple of months. I must admit that it was hard especially if we wanted the modern and not the traditional furniture. Only a few stores offer this type of furniture and sometimes the stores would offer it in a high price.

Researching over the internet is also one option that we took. I found some nice Lexington Furniture for the kids’ bedroom and I found it so cute! I found it at DiscountQualityFurniture.com. They also offer coaster furniture, American drew furniture, lexington furniture and dining room furniture.

Our little girl’s bedroom has been ready ever since but the nursery was not. But we were thinking of just putting up furniture that the baby can actually use until she grows up. For the mean time she can use the crib of the little girl. In this way we can save the money for other stuff.

Check out more kids’ furniture I found at DiscountQualityFurniture.com.

Here are a few tips that you might find helpful especially now that the holidays are coming! As for me, I shopped early this year since I will be giving birth in a few weeks. Yes, in a few weeks! So I had to finish my Christmas list before the big day!

Check out what I got from Practical Money Skills.

1. Know how much you can afford. Some financial planners say that you should spend no more than 1.5 percent of your annual income for the holidays. However much you decide to spend, make sure you decide before you get caught in the holiday rush.
2. Make a gift list and set an amount you expect to spend. Keep track of your actual expenses and compare it against your budgeted amount. If you overspend in one area, reduce cost in another.
3. Trim your expenses. You can cut back on your expenses by giving your time. Or you can draw names and give fewer, nicer gifts.
4. If you’re traveling, determine first how much that will cost you. Include all the minor expenses that you will possibly incur.
5. Avoid holiday hangover by planning and budgeting your entertainment. You don’t have to bust your budget to have a great Christmas.

I know several people are into credit cards already. I think almost everybody has at least one. I myself own a Mastercard. Hubby owns one Visa credit card. I know the convenience of having when it comes to emergencies. You will never know when you are going to need cash.

It’s a good thing that there are sites that offer credit card comparison. Since there are so many credit cards out there you won’t realized which is the best one for you and your needs. The Apply for a Credit Card Online offers these information for you. They allow consumers to compare different types credit cards and find the best ones in terms of interest rates, balance transfer, cash back reward, travel rewards, and information about credit cards for bad credit .

This website also discusses about 0 apr credit cards or most commonly known as the 0% & Low APR Low Interest Rate Credit Cards. They will give you guidelines on how to best utilize low APR offers and avoid pitfalls. Another thing that is being offered are the things that you need to know about transfer credit card balance. Each credit card has it’s own features when it comes to this. It is also a great way to save money so having this is really important.

My most favorite feature in a credit card – credit cards with cash back. It is best to know if this exists in a credit card that you are getting.

Knowing all these features gets overwhelming. Good thing there are websites that offer details of every credit card, which makes applying a credit card easy and convenient.

I took this interesting test and it looks really accurate! I love going to the beach and it really says something real about me. What a coincidence! Try the test too, and have fun!

You Should Spend Your Summer at the Beach

You’re a free spirit who is always thinking of new ways to have fun. And you don’t just love summer… you live for it. So, you really should blow off your responsibilities and head to the beach!

Hubby has been telling me about this famous Pares from Jonas (Hubby insists on pronouncing it as Dyo-nas) in QC. I haven’t tried Pares but I heard about it ever since I was in College. I didn’t like how it look then, beef in soup with fats floating. LOL! But Hubby insisted that Jonas’ Pares was different.

So one Sunday, after hearing mass at Lourdes Church, we decided to have dinner at the original Jonas in QC. We ordered for Pares of course, siomai, fish fillet in tausi sauce, and extra rice for Hubby.

Fish Fillet with Tausi

Yummy Siomai

The Famous Pares (Beef Stew)

The Pares meal includes, a huge bowl of rice, beef stew, and soup. At p100, it was definitely worth it! All the food that we ordered were good considering the price was affordable. You see, Jonas used to be a carinderia and has now improved and even branched out to Robinson’s Pioneer in Mandaluyong. The restaurant in QC has been there since 1979, serving the same delicious Pares all throughout those years.

This post has made me hungry and now thinking of my lunch but before that, will have to read up on term life insurance quotes and see what this company has to offer.

Jonas’ Pares
Retiro corner Mayon
Quezon City

Hubby and I were able to watch two Pinoy movies in a row this week and both of these movies are surprisingly good.

Caregiver starring Sharon Cuneta and John Estrada was shot in London. The first time I saw the movie trailer I was intrigued. I really wanted to see London so I watched this movie. Actually this is already my second time watching it. The first time was in a movie house with my friend and last night was the second time. I still liked the movie after watching it twice. The movie focused more on the relationship of both husband and wife and surviving in a different country. It was inspiring and it was good that through this movie, they gave value to the OFW’s and their work. They emphasized how much these people sacrifice a lot just to be able to provide and give a good future to their families.

The second movie which was surprisingly good was A Very Special Love by John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo. Honestly, I was hesitant and didn’t want to watch this movie but we didn’t have much of a choice. In the end I realized that I enjoyed watching it. It was a feel-good movie and it made us laugh too. I also thought that the movie was a bit corny but good thing I was wrong after all. The team up of John Lloyd and Sarah were not romantic but more of a barkada kind of team up. And I like it because it made the movie wholesome. This is recommended for those who just want kill time and laugh at the same time. Of course not for John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo fans though.

*A Very special Love Movie Poster from here.

*Caregiver Poster from ClickTheCity.com.

This is an interesting find I came across this morning. A wheelchair van inventory that can be used for Honda Odyssey Handicap Vans, VMI Northstar, VMI Summit, and VMI Northstar E-series. This would be really helpful for handicaps who wanted to go around the city riding their own vans.

The nice thing about Handicap Accessible Vans is that they offer many Americans a freedom of independence that was unreachable for previous generations. IMED Mobility is proud to offer wheelchair and handicap accessible rental vans in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska. These vans can be rented during the day, week, and month. And they believe that they offer the best rates in the industry.

I would say that this is the best internet find I have ever encountered and I was also hoping that one day these vans will also be available here in the Philippines.