Your Daily Dose of Useful Stuff

I just wish that many foreign banks will enter the Philippine market so that our local banks will provide better services to their depositors.  Consider this scenario: Friend A, who is working in London asked me to deposit $10 in his dollar account in BDO to prevent his account from getting dormant. So to BDO I went and since I have no dollars laying around, I attempted to buy from BDO, but I was refused because they only sell dollars to those who will go on a trip overseas.  I did not make a fuss about that because a policy is a policy and I can see logic here.  Dollars should be used wisely and sparingly so that we would have a steady supply around us.  After that, I went to a money exchange who allowed me to buy $20 for P47.50 each dollar.  It seems that it's the only deal I can get, so I went for it.   With $20 with me, I went to BDO to deposit it to my friend's account only to find out that the said account was already dormant and he has to a...

Whenever someone would approach me to offer special memberships to this and this establishment, I always question the wisdom of it.  I'd think first that this is just one of their marketing ploys to get people to shop more frequently in their store and it is not even a free promotion oftentimes.  At the Robinson's Grocery, I paid P100, just to give it a try, well, I frequently buy my groceries there anyway.  So might as well avail of the Robinson's Rewards Plus.  How do memberships work and what do customers get from them?   A customer earns points every time he shops in Robinson's Department Store or grocery.  And upon accumulating about 100 pts, (not sure how the payments get converted to points, but i'll try to find out) you can now use those earned points which have corresponding cash equivalents to pay for your groceries or purchases. But the benefits go beyond that, two days ago, I was a lucky recipient of a a letter from Robinson's Reward...

Taxi scams are just one of the things that we always hear over the radio, television, social media.  Almost anywhere and in whatever season, taxi scams often happen.  There are horror stories of taxi drivers who spray sleep-inducing chemicals to make the passenger fall asleep, only God knows what could happen to the passenger upon losing consciousness.  Taxis are now becoming unsafe, no wonder app-based transport services like Uber are becoming popular.  They seem to be a better alternative to taxis, especially that reputations of car owners are spread by comments from those who availed of their services. I have always been a cautious rider, locking doors securely upon entering a taxi.  It has been my practice ever since one taxi that I took was victimized by 'hamog boys' along Guadalupe Bridge.  But I got victimized again.  I have to admit that I did not see it coming.  It was subtlely done and up to now, I am still fuming about it. ...

No pun and disrespect intended.  It just captured my attention that quite a number of local stars have lost their lives by committing suicide, and they are not even matured individuals yet.  Who could forget Marky Cielo; though being his fan, I still doubt it was suicide that caused his death.  Then there was Miko Sotto, who accidentally fell off the terrace of their condo unit; some people still think it was suicide.  Cesar Montano's son also took his own life.  It makes you wonder if there is a suicide bug plaguing the celebrity world.  The latest victim, so to speak, is Julia Buencamino, the daughter of theater power couple, Sharmaine Centenera and Noni Buencamino.   The parents have already accepted that the cause of death is suicide and the entire family requests that they be given privacy as they mourn for the passing of Julia.  

Daniel Cabrera has been living a life of a child from a family who can barely get through the day with his mother earning less than $2 a day by working at a retail store.  It's no wonder that the child has great dreams.  He dreams of becoming rich someday and smart enough to know that education is the key to attaining his dreams.  "I don't want to be poor for the rest of my life," He told his mother.   Because of extreme hardship in life and their home having very little comfort, not even any electricity, he has to study his lessons at night at a nearby sidewalk in order to be lighted upon by the escaping gleams from the nearby establishment.   It was during one of those times he would be using the lights from the establishment that one passer-by was struck by the power of the image of the boy making do with what is around him to survive.  Ms. Torrefranca, a medical student, did not feel pity, but instead felt inspired upon seeing the boy in that s...

I have had my share of bad teachers and instructors in the past (not in driving but in my academic experience), so I either just shrugged them off or I just thought about how pretty badly they were treated when they were learning also.  Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.  What is worse than a relative who can teach you , but refuses to teach you, is a driver who is either obssessive-compulsive, a perfectionist, or just plain fault-finder.  So it is just my luck that I got this kind of instructor today.  My last practice was about seven days ago, which is really not a practice as I was really able to form a mere letter "L" in a subdivision.  Because my 'mentor' was so impatient, he could not wait for me to finish the entire length of one side of the tree-lined park, for no reason, but just mere impatience.  If I was not really strong in spirit, I'd given up earlier, but no, I'm just not the type to give up, not easily.  My theme song n...

Is Ben Affleck out of his eff-ing mind? Men are just unbelievably obtuse and unappreciative at times.  What is it with them? I thought my favorite Hollywood couple is for keeps, so imagine my shock and disappointment when Jennifer and Ben called it quits.  It seems that having three kids together just could not stop their disunity.   I remember being wildly thrilled when I heard these two were going to be tying the knot.  They are perfect for each other as far as I am concerned.  They are both young, single and have a Hollywood career that is working steadily.  Their movies are making money, and they have a fan-base that could help their social media presence felt and active.   Their union couldn't have happen at the right time. Ben was never great for Jennifer Lo, knowing Jennifer Lopez is almost a MILF.  She was married twice already.  For me, Ben was made for Jennifer Garner, young, smart, sexy, and pretty.  They were Holl...