My nephew, Elric, is cute!

I have my first nephew. His name is Elric. He is cute!!!
My mother dotes on him and when i visited, i barely got to carry him because my mom wanted to get him right away. Im not really sure who he looks like but i like his eyes :)

Poor gas mileage

After refilling the gas last night, I realized that the ford is just running at less than 5 km per liter! My old car was running at 10.It has been under lousy traffic lately but it still is dismal mileage.

Singapore 4th day

Home sweet home! :) I still love the Philippines more than any other country :) Singapore was nice but i dont want to stay there. All i bought was uncommon chocolates, a nice brass bell for the house, a desk clock, a magnet for our collection and some souvenir keychains as pasalubong. I was looking for a case for my samsung galaxy S but the ones i saw will probably be sold cheaper in greenhills :)

I missed my chair in the office. It is so nice to be back home.

Today was busy. I started the day by calling the Health Science Authority to schedule a blood test that my brother in law and in laws needed. We went to Orchard road for lunch before heading off to the hospital. The test was fast and the facilities were high tech. We passed by chinatown before heading back to the hotel. My wife bought me a nice engraved chop with my chinese name.

The taxi arrived on time. We checked in in time just to get our refunds and eat a snack. I injected my in-laws' insulin at the airport before tucking in the cannister with the meds into our check in luggage. The flight home was ok. It was not as turbulent as the flight to singapore. Philippine airline pilots still landed very smoothly as always and the drive home was uneventful.

Now, we have to catch up on work :)

Singapore 3rd day

We started the day with a visit to the church at the back of the hotel. It was well attended but the church was really dilapidated. The paint was peeling from the ceiling to the walls. I was sad that the temple in chinatown was impressive and the catholic church was so old and unkempt.

We went home to meet the cab that was supposed to pick us up. The ride to sentosa island was uneventful. We ended up in a really nice low rise place where we met up with a family friend, Jeffrey. His place was impressive! To think that it was paid for by the bank where he works. It was small but very tastefully done. The private elevator opened up to his place. The view was nice and the area was more breezy than most of singapore. His wife cooked lunch and it was good. He told me that the other churches were much much better than the place we went to.

After lunch he dropped us off at the marina bay sands hotel. It was nice and impressive. A 20 sing dollar fee got us to the roofdeck park to check out the view. Afterwards, we parted ways with my wife's family and we went to the mall across and then checked out the spiral bridge.

We later had dinner in the movie mall near takashimaya before taking the MRT back to the hotel. A nice warm bath lulled me to sleep.

Singapore 2nd day

Day 2 in Singapore was much better. We woke up early and started the day by going to Chinatown. I was much more comfortable there. The stores were just opening at a half past 9 so we checked out the Budda tooth relic temple. This is one of the most amazing temples i have seen! There were so many statues and little ones adorned the wall all the way up to the high ceiling. I didnt expect that of a temple. The large buddha in the main hall was impressive too. I caught one of their prayer rituals and it was interesting to see and hear. We checked out the statues of the saints that were protectors for the different years. We even took pictures of the one for our little boy who will be born in the year of the rabbit.

Later, we checked out the shopping area which was all open by that time and the shopping was pretty good. We found a good bargain in souvenirs, bought a nice bell for our house and my mother-in-law saw a really nice table watch for cheap. We told them about the temple so they went with us again. Only when i got back did i notice that it housed the tooth of buddha so we checked out the first floor and went up to the 4th floor to a really nice place. Behind the glass in the far room was supposed to be the relic of Buddha, his tooth. They were showing it in the tv monitor. The most amazing experience was when my in-laws asked my wife and i to get a blessing from the buddhist monk. We did and when the monk placed that bell like thing on my head, i felt an electrifying surge affecting my crown chakra. That monk had an amazing Qi! If he was just one of the newer monks, since he got that task, i am curous how much stronger the Qi of the more older monks will be. I must find out someday.

Anyway, after lunch at Wendy's, we went to join our tour. We started out by visiting the fountain of wealth. It was just a drive around it. It wasn't flowing that time. Then we passed by the Singapore flyer before stopping to see the Merlion. We saw the esplanade, the marina bay sands and the helix bridge across the singapore river.

Then we went to Chinatown to visit the oldest chinese temple in Singapore, the Thian Hock Kheng. It was nothing compared to the relic temple.

The tour guide then brought us to a tourist trap of a jewelry place then up Mount (seemed more like a hill) Faber and then the last stop was the Botanical gardens. The orchids were nice... it rained a lot and i got wet.

On the way home, we asked to be dropped at Orchard road and did some shopping in Takashimaya and the nearby malls. I've been trying to find a case for my new Samsung Galaxy S but most of the cases are for ipods.

Im now waiting for my bathtub to fill so i can soak away the day :)

Singapore 1st day extra

On a more pleasant note, there was a malay guy who stopped and helped us when we were looking at a map and also a chinese guy who helped me call the attention of a friend who i saw on the street from inside the restaurant. The people at the Corum store and Red army were friendly when assisting us with the watch repairs.

Singapore 1st day

Singapore is nice. Not great but nice. No trash but not exactly litter free since there are lots of leaves here and there. I guess its ok to visit it once and thats that for me. Nothing really spectacular to see so far but its still just the first day. The only interesting thing i saw was mint flavored cadbury chocolates. Yum!!!

It is hot with not a lot of fresh air. Lots of trees but there's no breeze. In the end, i would rather be in Hongkong. There are a lot of indians, chinese and foreign folk.

We ate at Long Beach for dinner. The food was nice. It was a little spicy so i had to run back to the hotel to anticipate going to the bathroom. In the morning, we were able to manage to check in, eat lunch at a nearby food court, have 1 watch fixed and another watch changed strap. Then we went home to take a nap because we didn't sleep the night before.

After dinner, we went to Mustafa, a 24 hour mall in little india. It was full of indians of course. I could not stand some smells but i lasted the hour and managed to find the mint bubbly cadbury chocolates. The prices are similar to manila so i didn't really buy much. I did buy the merlion magnet to add to my collection of magnets from places i visited. I do not want to go back to Mustafa or little india. Too traffic and chaotic.

Thus ends our first day in Singapore. Nothing to want to come back for but i'm still open. Bayview hotel is simple outside but nice inside. Free internet! :)

Looking for a car

This car search to upgrade my trusty Lia who is a 1994 Mitsubishi Lancer EL. Lia only got rust on a dent. No rust anywhere else. Still, it is time to move on in preparation of our coming baby.

Since i have tried and tested a mitsubishi lancer, i figured that i want to have another one just like it. We passed by Toyota first. Would you believe that the vios costs less than one of the the compact Yaris?! There's a vios for half a mil but the yaris costs about 700k. The Yaris does look really modern inside. However, i saw a person riding in the back and i realized that the 6-10 inches distance between the back and the head of the person is not really a good thing in case of collisions.

We then went to Diamond Motors in C5 libis. The person there immediately catered to our questions and gave us brochures. I wanted a replacement lancer but my wife wanted something not so boring. We checked out the lancer EX which was cool but the EX was nicer. So for that time, it was the EX for us. I wanted mitsubishi because of their 8 dip zero rust treatment for their cars. I tested the 6 dip for 15 years and i believe their claim.

Sadly, a week later, the crazy diamond motors woman still did not get back to us. Go figure. They also dont have a ASX for us to see. I had to call her up so that we can get info on where to see an ASX. Later that week, we went to Diamond Motors Quezon ave and all they let us do is look at the outside of an ASX.

Another week passed before they went to our house to check LIA and give an offer for a trade in. Another week passed before they did say that they did not want to buy it so to heck with them. We went to Citimotors and they were more than eager to meet us, show us the ASX and let us check the inside. Lesson here is that Diamond Motors suck! I called their sales manager and the sales manager covered for the girl and even failed to send me a quote. Anyway, while checking out Citimotors, my wife said that since were already going to spend over a mil on the ASX, why not just add a little and buy an actual SUV instead of the crossover ones which are a little low. It sounded reasonable so we also tried peak motors in pasay to see if they can give us a better deal. The montero sport was there and it looked nice outside but inside, it looked old and low tech.

While in the area, our friend, Jaq, said that since were at it, we should check out the Santa fe of Hyundai. So began our search for a better car. We got to Hyundai in macapagal ave at 7 and they were closing. The sales girl we talked to didnt even get out of her car. Talk about friendliness. We didnt want to buy from her. We went to the fort the next day and Elyza liked the Santa Fe when we saw it. The interior was nice too but she later realized that it was too big. It would be a different drive compared to her CRV. On our way home, i googled Ford and checked out their showroom at the fort. The Escape caught our eye. It was compact, an SUV (an actual SUV) and the price was perfect. The inside of the showroom model looked ok except that the dashboard showed a very simple console. The guy said that this was the basic model at 1,050,000 pesos. However, they had the ICE model which was just 100,000 more expensive and it had upgrades of leather seats, an in dash DVD player with LCD and backing up sensors. We were excited and asked for a test drive.

At home, we talked to Elyza's sister who had a Hyundai Tucson. She said that the tucson was a little bumpy to ride in. It had a new body design but the dash is a little simple. Nothing beats the LCD/DVD and consoles of the ASX but the Escape ICE version is close. Anyway, we scheduled a test drive of the Santa Fe and the tucson at the same time as the escape so that we can gauge. Good stability is important when you have sleeping kids in the back.

When the time arrived, Hyundai cancelled because they said that the cars werent available. We pushed through with the Escape and was very impressed. I ran over the craziest potholes and embankments and it drove past it with the slightest nudges. I guess if you build something right, it will still be right even after it gets outdated. We were partially sold on the escape but wanted to be sure.

We asked my sister-in-law for a drive on her tucson and even asked for a test drive of the Mazda CX7 in Mazda edsa. The tucson was like riding on a rocking boat compared to the escape. The dash had a couple of LCD screens but fairly basic. Audio is simple and everything else was simple. It was a little hard to enter and exit the Tucson.

The Mazda CX7 was stylish too, like the tucson. The interior was basic. A little modern but basic. Wait, i think the tucson had 1 lcd screen while the CX7 had 2 but both were no LCD entertainment devices. Just indicators and stuff. The CX7 drove better than the tucson and our old CRV but was bumpier than the Escape. For the price of the CX7, i dont think it was worth it.

Mitsubishi was offering a 20,000 discount and a 5k discount on their overpriced insurance.
Hyundai offered 20,000 for the Santa Fe but no discounts on the Tucson.
Mazda offers only 10,000 discount.
Ford offered us a 50,000 discount, free LTO registration, they will match the best price we can get on insurance and they will throw in free 3M tint. We bullied our agent, Rusty, a little and although he cant offer it to us for free, he said he can give the rain visors at a discounted rate of 640 pesos. Good deal right?!

Looking for a middle cost vehicle that was value for our money ended up with the New Ford Escape 2010 version (meaning the 2010 facelift of their 2007 model). It is an older design but the features, the added electronics and ride made it best value for our money.

Dragon Fruit, the aftermath

A few days ago, i had the pleasure of eating some dragon fruit. The flesh was violet with a reddish sap. It was a decently tasty treat. A few hours after, i went to the toilet to pee. I was surprised to see my discharge to have a pink color. I got a little worried because it would normally be due to bleeding or some medicine like rifampicin which i didnt take. Later that night, i went number two and found it similarly red tinged. I suddenly remembered the dragon fruit! That crazy fruit colored my pee and poop! Everything was back to normal the next day.

... That would be an interesting prank to pull.. hmm...

The tiny but terrible crack

For some months now, i found that my car has been performing in a strange way. Imagine this... vrooooooocoughcoughooooommmmm. Earlier this week, i had my car's oil changed and the engine area washed. The guy at caltex was quick enough to see that there was something wrong with my distributor cap. There was a spark escaping every now and then. It came from a hairline crack in the plastic that you cant even see unless the car was running and you follow the path of the spark. It was about a half centimeter long and very very narrow. That little crack was the cause of the engine's entire malfunction. All it took was a little electrical tape and my engine's cough was gone. Crazy no?