Welcome to a new page soon

After a long time....

I am contemplating on doing a make-over of this blog.  But it seems a hard work to do.  It's not an easy job for a non-techy person like me.  It had been a study-apply-learn cycle to me since the very start.  So I decided to let it be and just add a new page.  But what could it be?

Well, I had been going around places in the Philippines lately.  So I guess the new page would be about travels and places to note in the Philippines.  I hope I had saved nice pictures to upload.  I will try to remember these places and write a few lines.

Nice to think about a new topic of interest for sharing.

Canadian deal and coupon websites

After almost half year of absentia, I'm back bringing along the partial product of my current online freelance work - a long list of Canadian deal and coupon sites.

While searching for these sites, I read blogs inviting readers to post their favorite deal/savings/coupon sites in Canada.  And there are queries asking for information where they could find coupons online.  I thought, I should share with you what I gathered so far.  Pick your choice.  Please do leave a comment if you think should not be in the list or share some you know.

Thank you.

Please see the list from here.

It's more fun in the Philippines!

Cool job

iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy

To those who are confused which to have, iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy SIII, this video might help you decide.  That is, if you are not only after efficiency of smart phones, but durability as well.

As for me, it depends on how much is in my wallet... ^_^

What is your choice?

How to see hidden friends of facebook user

I admit I am an active Facebook user, but not addicted.  I check updates of friends, find good information for my freelance job, collect some good quotes and images, connect with friends, and posted personal/family pictures.  The last one is in the "past tense" because I used to make Facebook as a venue where I could share my photos with friends, until Tat told me that "Facebook is not a photo album."  He is right.  Facebook should not be regarded as platform to show your "life" to the whole world and be exposed to "criticration" (lol - meaning criticism + admiration).

Anyhow, Facebook had taught me to be web savvy in my own standard.  I browse here and there and realized that some profiles have a number of friends but are not shown or hidden.

So I asked myself - How to see hidden friends at Facebook?

Curiosity got me, so yesterday I researched the secret on how to be able to see the "hidden" friends.  It seems, not really secret after all.

I found out how and here are the steps:

1.  Log in to your facebook account.  My source says you don't have to be logged in, but I feel you need to because of the next step.

2.  Get the facebook user's ID number.  How to know the user's ID number?  This is the reason why you have to be logged in.  Click on any photo in the facebook user's profile.  While hovering the cursor on the photo, take note of the series of numbers that appear at the left bottom on your screen with the "www.facebook.com/photo(series of numbers here...)."  The group of numbers after the last dot and before "&type" is the user's ID number.

3.  Use this URL and replace USERID with the user's ID number:  http://www.facebook.com/ajax/typeahead_friends.php?u=USERID&_a=1.

4.  Viola!  You can see the hidden friends of the facebook user.

Update::  Today, I tried this facebook trick but it doesn't give the same results as yesterday.  I can't explain why.  If you do, please share it to us in the comment space.  Thank you!

Job Openings in New York City

My recently concluded freelance work is to collect job openings in New York City that has a keyword "marketing" in the job title or job description.  I wish to share it here in case it might be useful to you.

The list may not appear good.  I could shorten the URLs but it is a long list.

See the list from the Freelancing page.

Facebook

As of September 2011, Facebook had claimed 800 million users and still growing to reach 1 Billion next month.  This post is not to evaluate Facebook nor to make a review; but to share what I found somewhere in the web how FB had specifically impacted Agnes.  It made me smile.

Read on!

'Agnes was 101 years old and had been a professional comedian for 54 years.  She knew that she was very near her end, so she had her staff contact her only next of kin, her granddaughter.  


The granddaughter flew to her bedside, and could plainly see the end was near.  Agnes weakly hugged her and asked her to pull up a chair.  Her grandchild leaned in close to hear, as Agnes said.  


"Sweetie, I am leaving you with everything I own, including my farm.  That includes the villa, tractor and other equipment, the farmhouse, orchards and $22,398,750.78 in cash."  


The granddaughter, absolutely floored by the realization she was about to become rich, said, "Oh Granny, you are so very generous! I didn't even know you had a farm.  Where is it?"  


With the last of her strength, and her very last breath, Agnes whispered, "On facebook..."'  

Grin Friday

Shanteshima!  I just realized I haven't posted for a week now and it's Grin Friday again. :(

I have been lazy lately, too busy with online work and more work.  Have to catch up with escalating cost of living.  Guilty as well for failing to visit friends' sites.  Pardon me.

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it.  No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination:  never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."                      - Lord Chesterfield

I know, Lord.  But sometimes it is beneficial to become lazy after work; set aside for tomorrow what can be done today.

Imagine yourself being in this state after long hours of sitting down and pounding the keyboard.  Sooo relaxing!

Word power - LIBERTINE

Word power this week is LIBERTINE.  What does it mean?

Libertine is a noun -

1.  One who acts without moral restraints.

2.  A dissolute person.

3.  One who defies established religious rules of action or conduct.

4.  A freethinker.

5.  An immoral person.

The word libertine is derived from the Roman mythological figure "Liber" meaning 'free'.  Also known as "Liber Pater" (the free father), was a god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom.

Read more http://www.answers.com/topic/libertine.

Would you like to be a libertine?

Grin Friday

Top Coupon and Deals sites

More and more coupon and deals websites are opening up to give opportunities to users to avail of great sales and good deals.  Couponing and offering deals provide more edge to local businesses such that they are able to promote their brand, upsell their products and services, and thus get more clients/customers.

I just completed a project of a client that wanted me to complete a list of about 20-50 coupon/deals sites with a page rank of 4 or higher.

I like to share this list with you.

The following top coupon and deals sites have a page rank of 7:

1.  http://shortcuts.com/

2.  http://www.livingsocial.com/

3.  http://www.gilt.com/

4.  http://www.pricegrabber.com/

5.  http://www.redflagdeals.com/

See more top coupon and deals sites with page ranks 6, 5, 4 at Freelancing page.

Rich summer tomato recipe

Ever wished tasting your favorite tomato and potato both in one dish?  Try this healthy Potato Stuffed Tomato recipe I grabbed from fitsugar.com.

This is a good recipe if you are controlling serving size and can be an entree or side dish.  Whichever you want it, it tastes good, healthy and easy to make.







Ingredients:

8 tomatoes
3-4 red potatoes
1/2 green chili
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I prefer olive oil)
salt pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Wash the tomatoes.  Slice the top off of each one and scoop the seeds and juice out of the tomatoes and into a large bowl.  Set aside.

Microwave the potatoes for about 8 minutes, and let cool.  Mash the potatoes (keep the skin on).  After mashing, add the cumin-coriander powder, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Then, combine the mashed potatoes in the bowl with the tomato juice and seeds.  In a small pan, saute the chopped garlic and green chilis in vegetable (or olive) oil.  Add this to the mashed potato mixture.

After mixing thoroughly, spoon the mixture into the hollowed tomatoes.  Top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 400F for 25 minutes, or until the cheese has slightly browned.

Hmm, yummy!

Remember, use the reddest tomato!

Grin Friday!

Social experiment.

How to grow tomatoes

While searching in the net for a good source on how to grow tomatoes, it surprised me to know that there are actually different ways to plant tomatoes.  The most common, of course, are planting out in the yard, in the garden, in a box, and more.  But there is one method that caught my interest - growing tomatoes Upside Down!

I found this article on growing tomatoes upside down from wikiHow.  I chose this to share it with you because it looks ornamental hanging from the ceiling.  This is useful when you live on limited space.  Tomatoes are very tolerant plant; they can grow easily and having your own assures you it's chemical-free.

Imagine having tomato plants hanging somewhere in your house such as this one.

You may use any kind of big containers, preferably plastic containers.

 STEPS:

1.  Set up the hanger

Choose a sunny place indoor.  Your tomato plant can be hung from a hook in the ceiling or tied around a beam.  Use what works in your place.

2.  Select a small tomato plant

Plants bought or grown from seed are both fine choices.  Water this plant well and set it to one side.




3.  Take the large, clean plastic containers.  Open the lid and cut off the bottom part.  Tie string or twine to the edges of the cut end of the container for hanging.  Punch out the holes using a hole puncher, or use a sharp tool to insert holes through which the string can pass.  Knot the string in place in loops to attach to the hangers you've made.

4.  Take the tomato plant out of its original pot.  Gently set it upside down in the container.  Gently feed the plant through the pouring hole, so that the tomato plant is hanging out of the hole, with the roots still inside the container.

5.  Fill the container with a mixture of good compost and garden soil.  Then water it.  Take note that it is important to set up the hanger first because it is impossible to put the plant on a surface without damaging plant.

 You will start picking fresh tomatoes about 60-85 days after planting seedlings in the garden.  Fully ripened tomatoes tastes much better than picked early.

Good luck!

Don't ignore tomatoes!

I would like to share a very helpful article about keeping one's youth.  There are many cosmetic products available in the market nowadays that could make us look young.  Some known products and said to be effective but cost much.  Other beauty products are discouraged because they contain harmful ingredients.  Also, it is sometimes too tiring to follow the 'how to apply and what to apply' during daytime and during nighttime.

You have an option.  If you love tomatoes, you can maintain your youthful skin.

There is a recent study released in the UK acclaiming tomatoes as key factor in maintaining youthful-looking skin.  And what's more - eating tomatoes reduces appearance of wrinkles!

Read more from the Home and Garden page.

Tourism Website Designs

While working on an online contract, I came across this neat and great website in New Zealand - the tourism campaign landing page of 100% Pure New Zeland.  The whole page showcase the beautiful nature of NZ, the people and festivities.  Really nice!

This one is in Thailand, an invitation to the country's "Amazing Thailand Grand Sale" that runs from June 15 - August 15, 2012.

Japan tourism website shows latest features on heritage, indulgence, gourmet, adventure, modern art, pop culture/anime...

Australia's official tourism website has nice features, as well.  However, in my opinion, it's not very eye-catching.

With the rising number of IT talents, India's tourism website is not at all bad. It's comprehensive such that you can view places of interest in each region.  

I know there are more amazing designs of official tourism websites.  Watch out for updates!

Mabuhay.

Dance Walking Fitness

Ever heard of Ben Aaron?  Yes, the NBC TV guy who is an all around nice guy, so his fans say.  I never knew him until I came to this "new" fitness he created called DANCE WALKING FITNESS in youtube.com.

This is Ben Aaron...

If you watch his video of this fitness craze he created, you would believe it works.  His body is obviously slim.

Continue reading from the Fitness and Yoga page.

Paris Hilton fitness routine

Long time ago, I wrote an unfinished article about Paris' health habits that kept her fit.  I am posting it now.  I'd like to believe that the write-up I found in the net (www.luuux.com) is the latest (posted March 8, 2012) and the photo attached (www.popsugar.com).

Continue reading from the "Fitness and Yoga" page.

Puerto Princesa Underground River

Let us visit the waters in the Philippines.  Proudly presenting one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature - the Puerto Princesa Underground River.

The Puerto Princesa Underground River is known to be the longest navigable underground river in the world.  The entire catchment of the underground river is included in the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (PPSRNP).  PPSRNP is located about 76 kilometers northwest of Puerto Princesa City, facing the South China Sea.

Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan province, can be reached by air and sea.  This site Bambua Nature Park Resort provides a good information on how to get to the Underground River.

For interested tourists who wish to visit PPSRNP, please take note of this booking notice:

Booking status of Puerto Princesa Underground River can be found in this link. As of this writing, booking schedules are "all open" from July to December 2012. (last update was done on May 15, 2012, 12:20 a.m. PST)

Bookings and other information for the Tour can be made at the Underground River Booking Office and are confirmed on a first come, first serve basis.

Notice is hereby given to the public not to be misled by pronouncements posted in the internet and other medium that going directly to the Park or staying overnight in Sabang (village) is a guarantee for the issuance of a Visitor Entry Permit to the Underground River Tour.  The Park denies the existence of such a policy nor has it authorized anybody to make such commitments.  These claims are inaccurate and are designed to promote private interests.

The above notice is found in the official website of Puerto Princesa Underground River.

This new Wonder of Nature is my next destination in two-months time.  Excited!

(Photos from google)

Outdoor adventure

If you are in Dumaguete City in the Visayas region, Philippines and you want to go nature-tripping, go no farther.  The next town of Valencia, just a few minutes away from Dumaguete, offers you a breathtaking view of the mountain and the sea.  The Rush Zipline Tierra Alta is a highly recommended outdoor adventure with your family and friends.

The ride is only Php250.00 per person.  They have complete safety gears so no need to be alarmed.  They have competent personnel to make sure you are well secured before trying the Zipline.

There are four different ways to ride the Zipline:  superman, tandem, sitting and inverted.  I suggest you choose that which gives you the best view from above.  It is 600 meters ride, so I am sure you will enjoy the moment.

See views of the place and some locals enjoying the Rush Zipline:

Rush Zipline ad

The Tierra Alta

A view from starting point

Inverted way

Sitting in tandem

I can't find Superman.. :(

"Oh, my God!"

As RSS Editor of a NZ-based community news website, I have the advantage of being informed of what's new in New Zealand.  This particular news item on tourism caught my interest.  It's about the world's highest cliff jumping.  The operator, Shotover Canyon Swing in Queenstown, that developed a "unique new jump style that offers adrenalin seekers another dimension and a whole new level of scariness."  Imagine sliding off a very high cliff edge from a height of 109 meters?!!  Oh, my God!!!

Read the full article below:

The world's highest cliff jump operator has done it again - developing a unique new jump style that offers adrenalin seekers another dimension and a whole new level of scariness.

In what is believed to be a world 'first', Shotover Canyon Swing's jump masters are 'stoked' over the company's newest jump style, 'The Slide'.

The Queenstown-based thrill ride is already renowned as an 'undie-staining', high-speed adrenalin activity that involves throwing caution to the wind by launching off a platform at the top of a very high cliff edge.  And now customers can literally slide off that cliff edge from a height of 109 metres.

"We're lucky to have very dedicated staff who are committed to finding innovative jumpstyles, and very willing customers happy to enjoy something they can't do anywhere else in the world!" said General Manager, Matt Hollver.

"'The Slide' evolved out of the efforts of our new ideas and testing team who put in a mammoth effort in our stunning outdoors laboratory, perfecting the ultimate jump style, while keeping professionalism and safety always on top of mind.

"After a lot of testing on our in-house 'lab rats', otherwise known as the sales and marketing team, we're pretty sure by the scream decidel level this is the best way to jump we've found yet."

Not your average playground slide, customers get massive speed acceleration from the top of a relatively short aluminum slide.  When they reach the end of the slide, they accelerate faster into free fall, before gently transitioning into a high speed giant swing over the stunning Shotover River.

Continue reading:  Shotover Canyon Swing adds another dimension

Is this not the scariest of all?

Runway fail

The following photos are compilation of models falling down in runways that I stumbled on the net.  This shows  modelling is not an easy job.  Apologies to the ladies.

  

                                             

                                                      

    

Philippine Fashion Week: Holiday 2012

I love the collection of Pablo Cabahug.  So light, sexy and feminine.  

         

Check out more designs by Pablo Cabahug for his website at www.pablocabahug.com and the FASHION page in www.inamothersmind.blogspot.com