My Best Friend's Wedding - Day 1 : Pangasinan

Here's the first part of my blog posts about our 5-day vacation to the northern part of Luzon. I hope you could bear reading my long posts and I hope you enjoy the ride. :)
On December 18th, my best friend May / Tina got married to her then-boyfriend/fiancé Freddie. It was one moment in my best friend's life that I wouldn't miss for the world! That's how important she is to me! :)

I received my invitation a few days before the wedding. Good thing May delivered it personally to me. Otherwise, we might have gotten lost! Hahaha. I thought she was going to make custom address labels so she could just mail them out instead of delivering each invite herself. But, I guess she felt it was important to deliver or hand out the invites herself. :)

Now, before I even tell you about the wedding, I just want to tell you a quick background behind our 5-day vacation. I asked my mother and brother to come with me to the wedding since I wasn't sure yet who else will be coming from Manila besides me. The original plan was to only attend May's wedding, stay for the night and leave the next morning. But, the whole idea of our North Luzon getaway started when my mother said she really wants to see Vigan. I, then, said since we're just a "few" (I'll expound on this later on so please, stay tuned!) hours away from Pagudpud, it'll be best we go straight there after. I also wanted to go back to Baguio for shopping and to visit the place again. Hahaha. Too ambitious for a 5-day vacation, eh? Read on!!

Holiday Greetings + Quick Updates!

Apologies for the late greetings, but believe me when I say that in my heart, I wished everyone had a warm and merry Christmas.

I just got back from our 5-day vacation which turned out to be a marathon. 4 destinations in 5 days! Hahahah. It was crazy, short, but fun! I learned my lesson. I wanted to see all the places (Vigan, Pagudpud, Baguio - the other one is Pangasinan but we didn't really tour the place, only attended my bff's wedding) and I didn't anticipate how long the travel time would be, especially from Baguio to Laoag and back. Hahaha! I so want to go back to Pagudpud!!

Good thing I was with 4 people who wanted to have fun alongside me on our vacation - my mother, my brother, aunt Zeny and my mom's best friend, Tita Beth. That's us on the photo above at Oh My Gulay in Baguio. Killjoys weren't allowed! *LOL* I'll be posting about our trip next so stay tuned! I've already posted some of the pasalubongs from Baguio that we bought home on our food blog. There are some of my recommendations and some you should avoid. Hehehe.

For the winners of my Thirty on 30 blog contest, I have already sent most of the prizes. For the shirts, Adgitize advertising, and SMS load - including the ones from my viral posters, my apologies for the delay. I forgot to reload my account for the holidays so I only got 120 load left. *LOL* The shirts, I'll be purchasing this week online so they'll be sent to your mailing address directly. For the Adgitize ads, I'll send them this week, too. Please be patient. It was really hectic since I got back. And I'm also a bit hung over from our vacation.

Please stay tuned for further updates. Thank you all for being patient and dropping by my blog. I'll be moving this blog to Wordpress permanently so you might notice a li'l downtime. Wish me luck, please? ^_^

I'm sending you all warm big hugs! *hugssss*

Blog Updates

I just wanted to post links here to my latest posts on my other blogs. Some of you might have seen them already (those who joined my last blog contest). If you haven't, I hope you'd find time to check them out.

• This is, well, my geek blog. I write about my love for design, photography, gadgets, blogging, etc. I also share tips and guides here based on my experience.
• Latest posts:
  • Tips from a Newbie Food Photographer, Part 1
    If you're just starting to enjoy taking photos of food and sharing it on your blog, you might want to check out my tips on how to improve your photos. I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot of things through self-training myself to taking professional looking food photos. Stay tuned for Part 2!
  • How to Setup Email Subscription for your Blog through Feedburner
    I still see a lot of bloggers out there who don't offer email feed subscriptions on their blog. For me, this is important because I'm actually one of those readers who prefer to receive alerts or updates through email when there's new content. So, if you don't know how to set up Feedburner for your blog yet, check out this guide.
  • Looking for a Wedding Photographer? The 12Masters Photography
    If you are getting married or you know someone who's about to and is looking for a wedding photographer, then, look no further. I am highly recommending my HS batchmate Marvin of The 12Masters. He takes awesome and kick-ass photos! Check out his online portfolio.

 

• Most of you might have seen Pinay Online Money Maker already. It's my blog about how I make money online. I share detailed guides/tutorials, tips and my trusted sites list to help you start making money online, too.
• Latest Posts:
  • How to Make Money Online with Nuffnang
    Nuffnang is one of my highly recommended ad network simply because they have an office here in the Philippines. They also organize the coolest blogger events and contests so you better sign up with them now. :)

 

• Wai Ying Fast Food in Binondo, Manila
  My first food trip with my mother in Chinatown. Wai Ying now tops the list of my favorite Chinese food joints. Check out what we ordered and how affordable they all were.
• KFC Double Down Sandwich
  I know! I'm guilty! I finally got a taste of KFC's Double Down sandwich. It wasn't that bad. It's just too salty and sinful for me. But, it's good. Check out my full review.
• Very Easy Homemade Quesadilla with Salsa Recipe
  A very simple recipe of chicken quesadilla. I love the salsa I made. Check it out! :)

 

I'll be doing this possibly every week just to share latest updates on my other blogs. Keep posted because I'll also be hosting giveaways over at my other blogs really soon. I'm actually cooking up the next one, probably at my food blog or geek blog. Will get back to you after my vacation!

Bucket List #8

Before anything else, I just wanted to say that I am afraid of heights. I can't even look outside the window of the office in Ortigas where I used to work. It's located on the tenth floor and just looking outside makes me really dizzy.

So, why the heck do I want to take a jump shot at a mountain top if I'm so scared of heights? Well, it's a challenge. I want to add it to my list because I believe that one's bucket list should include things where we could test our courage, live on the edge before our morbid end. And climbing a mountain is one of the things I really wanted to do before I pass.

I've got friends back in college and now who are into mountain-climbing. I did ask a couple of them how it goes. Like what they need to bring, what kinds of preparations are necessary, what kind of difficulties to expect during the climb and while on top, etc. I remember a friend telling me about their mountaineering group joining this event where there were multiple stops before they reach the top. And at those stops, climbers can rest, eat, and they even received promotional first aid kits sponsored by some medical / health company. I found it really interesting and I promised to join them next time there's an event. I prefer to climb when I know there are a lot of other people with us along the climb.

I've seen a lot of photos of my friends who climb and I seriously envy them. Though I am scared of heights, I still wish I'd have the courage to actually climb a mountain and stand at the edge for a photo. *LOL* Just thinking about it now gave me goosebumps. Hahaha.

While I was checking for cool jump shots at mountain tops on Google, I found this:

That's the coolest jump shot I've ever seen! Oh, I love this photo. Credits: niknokniknoknik

I literally LOL'd when I saw that photo. I wonder how many times they tried before they got this awesome shot.

Have you climbed a mountain yet? Please, share your experience. I know it's worth it, but I need more convincing so I can finally take this one seriously and set a date. First, I need to lose weight and be healthy so I can endure the actual climb.

I just realized that my last bucket list item photo said #6 instead of #7 as the title said. *LOL* No one said anything! Waaah! Hahaha.

My Sleeping Habits

I've admitted in a previous post that I'm an insomniac. I really can't sleep at night and wake up in the morning no matter what I do. I'm worried I might need the best acne face wash as I grow older because of my sleeping habits. My eye bags are also starting to darken and bulge more, especially now that I'm starting to lose weight (yayy for me!). But, I can't seem to keep my mind still past 3am.

I very much want to fix my poor sleeping habits, so I came up with a few of these techniques to make myself sleepy.

DISCLAIMER: I don't recommend you follow these tips, okay? This post is meant to be funny 'cause I've tried almost everything just so I could sleep before 3am.

1. Stay overtime inside our computer shop. After spending almost or over 8 hours of attending to customers, I stay inside so I could do more tasks and tire myself so that when I finally go to my room, I'd feel like lying down and sleeping already.
2. Watch really boring TV series. Yes, I download TV series I'm not completely interested in just so I'd have something to watch and make me fall asleep. It worked! What were those TV series, you might be wondering. Well, there's The Apprentice UK (dang, the UK counterpart of Donald Trump bores the heck out of me!), Gossip Girl (I used to love this show, but, now, ack), House (I don't know exactly when this show started to become a bore), and Glee. Okay, the last one's a joke. I love Glee! *LOL*
3. Watch movies or TV shows with subtitles. I've watched a couple of Korean movies and DVDs my parents bought. My eyes get tired easily when reading subtitles on anything so it does help me feel sleepy.
4. Take my prescribed medications. Okay, I'm not an addict. I'm taking the medicines because I'm literally sick. I'm down with colds and cough. So, I have to take antihistamine for my cold, which makes me really sleepy immediately. I don't recommend you do this if you're not sick, aight?
5. Listen to a lot of Michael Buble and Sitti music. Yep, this one works for me, too. The other day, I even was woken up 'cause I fell asleep already without taking off my headset. It got disconnected from the laptop and the music played rather loudly, which woke me up. *LOL*
6. Play hidden object games (HOG) on my iPad and/or my laptop. I love HOGs and I've got a couple on my iPad and laptop. I play them when I'm really having troubles sleeping. But, usually, I play on my iPad after I've turned off my laptop. That way, when I already feel sleepy, I can simply put my iPad on standby and sleep.
7. Drink coffee when I'm feeling sleepy before 12 midnight. Hahaha. Yes, I do this. Coffee only keeps me awake for a couple of hours. So, when I'm feeling sleepy before 12 midnight, I drink a cup of coffee to wake myself up so I can sleep later. Why? Well, I have this tendency of waking up early when I sleep early, too. For instance, if I fall asleep at 10pm, expect me to wake up at around 1-2am. Then, I won't be able to sleep anymore. It's like my mind's telling my body, "Hey!!!! You tricked me into sleeping huh!" *LOL*
8. Sing my heart out. I'm embarrassed to even mention this, but I do this, again, to tire myself into falling asleep. But, most of the time, though, it keeps me wide awake especially when listening to Pink, Rihanna or Robyn.

Okay, so far, those are my 8 weird sleeping habits. I know, there are better ways to maintain a healthy sleeping habit. I've tried them, and they didn't work. I don't want to completely force myself to sleep so, I came up with other crazier ways to sleep. *LOL*

How about you? What are your sleeping habits?

P.S. I'm thinking about including this on my bucket list. But, that'll just be weird, right? Hehehe.

Thirty on 30 Blog Contest Winners - Congratulations!

Finally, after weeks of waiting, here are the winners of my blog contest, Thirty on 30.

I was planning on not revealing the winners here and just let you all watch the videos of the random picking. But, I know there are some of you who might have problems downloading and watching the videos so I decided to just list the winners here. If you want to watch the videos, they're at the bottom of this post.

Baguio in December… Brrrrrrr

You might be wondering why I have that Baguio weather ticker on this post. Well, if you've read my previous posts, you probably already know that on Saturday, my family and I are heading to Baguio. Waaah! Can you just imagine how cold it would be?!?!

Well, we'll just be sleeping over on Saturday and we'll be heading to Vigan in the morning. But, still, it'll be so cold at night, I wonder if my aunt Zeny has a heated blanket at her house so I won't worry too much about my mother getting too cold.

As much as I would love to bring a thick jacket, I couldn't 'cause I want to keep my backpack light as much as possible. We won't be staying in a hotel anytime on Sunday so we'd be bringing our bags with us as we roam around Vigan. Okay, our itinerary isn't as finalized as I wanted it to be. *LOL* We might just go to Pagudpud first to book a hotel or something so we could leave our bags there. I don't know. We'll just see what happens.

I can't wait 'til the 18th. I wonder if I'd be able to sleep on Friday. Hahaha. Wish me luck! And, yes, I promise lots of photos and note-taking for y'all! :)

Guess Who Won in Sulit's Contest!

The winners in Sulit's Christmas card-making contest have been announced and guess what?!

Okay, no, I didn't win the iPhone 3GS prize for the Viral Poster Special award. Fellow blogger Noypi beat me to it *sniff*. Hehehe. I guess my Nokia 5230 phone doesn't want to be replaced yet. *LOL*

Sis Grace's entry, #71, that I supported and campaigned for won TOP PRIZE! Yes, Grace just won herself a brand new Apple iMac! How amazing is that?!

When I checked the winners thread earlier, I literally yelled out, "OH MY GOSHHHH!", to all my computer shop customers' surprise. It felt like I was the one who won. Hahaha. Now I understand how Grace felt when I won an iPad in Sulit's blog-writing contest.

This is a well-deserved victory. Out of the 5 entries of Grace that made it to the Top 20, we picked this entry, #71, because it followed the theme of "Pasko ng Pamilyang Pilipino sa Makabagong Panahon". Plus, it's so freaking cute when printed! I guess that's why it won first prize.

Congratulations, sis Grace!! Enjoy your iMac! Can't wait for you to come home to the Philippines so we can finally hang out.

To everyone who supported and voted for Grace, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

And to all my viral posters, as promised, I'll be raffling off prizes for all of you. Let me just finish announcing the winners of my Thirty on 30 blog contest. ^_^

This month of December is turning out to be a really great month for me. Though I didn't win anything from this contest, I won a couple of other contests. Will post about them here or on my other blogs so keep posted. I'll also sum up all the prizes I've won here by 2011. Woot… 16 days before 2011, eh? Aren't you all excited?!

What Christmas Tree?!

I've been seeing a  lot of people on Facebook sharing photos of their Christmas trees. I also watched the last episode of Glee where they were all singing while they were decorating the Christmas tree.

Where am I going with this post? Well, to be honest, I can't seem to share that feeling of togetherness when decorating the Christmas tree. Heck, we only got two weeks before Christmas and, for the first time, we haven't put up our Christmas tree yet. I guess I can say my family don't share the same feelings towards the Christmas tree.

Just take a look at our Christmas tree, pictured on the right. Yes, it's colorful. My mother managed to buy and collect Christmas tree decorations over the years, but we never decorated the tree together as a family. And, I don't get the same feeling everyone else seems to experience when they look at the Christmas tree.

We used to put up Christmas lighting fixtures all around our house, but now, no lights, no tree. I was about to ask my mother why, but she's already asleep.

I guess it's safe to say that we're just too busy to put up our Christmas tree or any colorful lights around our home. Besides, the tree has no sentimental effect on us. We're pretty happy just spending Christmas eve together and enjoying Noche Buena together.

You know what, I just realized that maybe, I'm the only one who's not really into the Christmas tree decorations. My mother was usually the one who'd start the decorating. Then, my brother would absolutely hate it and he'll do a tree makeover, just like what he did on that Christmas photo on the right. *LOL*

What I'm trying to say is the Christmas tree doesn't give me any holiday cheer. Yes, I enjoy the lights, but it's not a family thing for us. I love Christmas songs though.

How about you? How important to you is putting up a Christmas tree and decorating it with your family every year? Share your sentiments please. Maybe, you can change my mind. :)

P.S. I think, I'll have a different view on Christmas trees if they are true pine trees, just like most of the trees used in the US.

My BFF's Wedding & My Mixed Emotions

Okay, before anyone of you goes on wondering why I'm having mixed emotions about my BFF Tina's wedding, it's not because I'm against the wedding or something. I'm so happy for her and I genuinely wish her well. The mixed emotions isn't really about her and her upcoming wedding. It's not because she didn't include me or any of our barkada in her entourage (trust me, I'm glad she didn't. At least I'm not going to worry about wearing bridesmaid dresses. It's not just my thing. *LOL*). Okay, just read on.

In about a week, my best friend Tina would be walking down the aisle to marry her boyfriend. I'm so excited to experience her wedding with her. I know this is a VERY special day in her life and I would never miss the opportunity to be there for her, to let her know there's someone else who's happy she's going through this phase in her life. (Okay, I'm getting a li'l teary-eyed here and I'm just starting!)

I'm actually buying an extra battery for our digital camera because I want to take lots of photos during her wedding. I know, they have their own photographer, but his photos will reflect his view of that wedding. I've got a different perspective because my friend of almost two decades now is getting married! It's something really special for me. I actually feel like I'm the one getting married!

I'm not the only one who's excited about her wedding. I know our friends Jaan, Sheryl and Mina are happy, too, and wishing her well and all the wedding bliss in the world. Sheryl and I were even talking about how surprised we are that Tina is beating ME in the race to getting married. Okay, there isn't really an actual race or competition on who gets married first, but I guess they all thought I'd be the first to tie the knot. Now, Tina would be officially the first among my high school best friends to enjoy wedding bliss.

No, I'm not jealous. Okay, I am… a little. Hahaha. I'm jealous because there's this one person who makes her happy and loved, romantically. When I saw her over a month ago for our bonding time, I saw that glimmer in her eyes. She was blooming (what a cliche) into this really beautiful and happy woman that I've never seen before. Well, from experience, I know that's what good LOVE can do to you.

Yeah, I'm jealous, but, I know my time would come. I would meet that someone who would make me believe in marriage and the lifetime commitment that comes with it. For now, I'm just going to enjoy life and not wait. If no one comes, then, I'd be completely contented that I experienced LOVE once or twice in my life.

Okay, enough about me. Going back to Tina, I can't think of a gift for her yet. I told her I'll just send her my gift next year. I've got a ton of things listed that I'd love to give her, but I want to make it really special because Tina is so special to me. She's a big part of my life and would continue to be even when she'd be miles away. I'm hoping I could finally decide on what to give her.

I'm the only one among our barkada who's confirmed to come to her wedding. I wish we'd all be there to celebrate with Tina, but unfortunately, Jaan and Mina won't be able to make it. But, I promised them that I'll set up a post-wedding celebration with just us girls by January. I miss all of them. And I miss us all together. We usually have a get-together before or after the holidays. The last time I saw Jaan, Mina and Sheryl was like years! But, they're still 4 of the most important people in my life.

A VERY old photo of my "barkadang tunay". I hate how I looked on
this photo but it's the only one I could find of all of us 5. *LOL*

Jaan was a li'l disappointed that we haven't seen each other for ages. She was saying things like I was just making excuses not to see them. *LOL* I was actually touched when she said that 'cause I know how much she misses me. I miss her, too, so much. I miss all our serious and crazy conversations, may it be online or face-to-face. I reminded her of what we used to tell each other - that we don't need to always text, call or see each other. Deep inside, we know, we love and care for each other. And I think she'll be the next one to get married. Tina and Jaan were the last people I imagined to get married first among our barkada. Now, I'm the most single of us five. *LOL*

Anyway, going back to Tina's wedding (again), I just want to say that DIY wedding invites rock! Look at this one she and her family made. I love them! I haven't received mine yet though *LOL*

I know she's busy so I told her not to worry too much about the album and invites meant for me and the rest of our barkada. We could wait. I told her to focus on her actual wedding. I hope everything goes well on her wedding day. As much as I would love to be with her all the time to help her completely with the wedding preparations, I couldn't. My schedule's a bit hectic, too, with all the things I need to do offline and online. But, I'm praying for her and for her wedding to be a complete success. And, of course, for her happiness. :)

Maggie Wilson and Victor Pre-Nuptial Video

I've watched this Maggie Wilson and Victor pre nuptial video a few days ago and I didn't really find anything too racy or scandalous about it. Maggie and Victor's pre-nup video is now the most controversial video out there because of mixed reactions from different people.

Background: Maggie Wilson is a beauty queen-turned actress and is tying the knot with Victor Consunji, one of the most powerful people in the real estate business here in the Philippines.

I was actually surprised in a very good way when I watched their pre-nuptial video. I mean, seriously. Who would've had the guts and the courage to shoot their pre-nup vid in this very sensual (yes, we can say sexual) theme? Ahh, I love it! They look good together. No pretensions. Just pure sensual love and passion for each other.

Yes, the video is steamy. But, not too much. Some people are just over-reacting over this video. It's very tasteful and artistic. Shout out to Jason Magbanua, the wedding videographer who's behind this sexy pre-nup video.

If you want to watch this Maggie and Victor pre-nuptial video, then, head on to Jason Magbanua's Vimeo page. Since it's a very sensual video, only adults should watch it.

You can also check out Jason Magbanua's blog.

What do you think of the video? Care to share your views? ^_^

My 2010 Christmas Wish List

I've seen a couple of my fellow bloggers writing their own Christmas wish list so I decided to come up with my own. It's a wish list so there are no rules, right? Here we go…

 

#11: A Flickr Pro Account
(Just added this. I only was supposed to have 10 items listed here but I remembered I also want this on my list)

I need a Flickr Pro account because I'm using Flickr now for all of my Wordpress blogs so the images won't take much space on my hosting. If you're not yet doing that on your Wordpress blogs, oh gosh. You should! Though I have unlimited hosting, I still want to keep my posted photos in one place so I won't worry about disk space if in case I needed to move again to a new hosting.

I've already exceeded the limits of my free account with Flickr so I really need to upgrade soon. One-year Pro account is only $24.95. I know, that may be a little expensive for some people, but since I'll be using it for my 6 blogs, I guess it's all worth it. But, I'm still taking this for serious consideration 'cause I can still use PhotoBucket for my other images. Anyway, we'll see. But, I really want a Flickr Pro account. :)

 

#10: Maintain my PR4 (Forever)!

I'm so happy to find out the other day that Just Another Pixel is a PR4 blog again! Woot! Good thing I wasn't able to take care of the migration to Wordpress in the past week. I initially wanted to move 'cause I already lost my PR so I thought it's about time to move this blog to WP. But, I'm still moving this blog to WP. Just need a different strategy in moving now.

I know, some may find it ridiculous that keeping my PR4 is on my wish list. Losing my PR did affect me 'cause I did work hard to get it. I'm just glad that problem didn't cause any issues with my blog contest Thirty on 30 because almost all of my sponsors continued to support me. Thank you so much for the help! I know, I still owe my primary sponsors site/blog reviews. I've already written most of them, but I haven't published yet 'cause I really thought I was going to move to WP. Since I'm going to delay that, I'd be able to complete the reviews.

 

#9: General Cleaning of my Room.

Yes, my room's a freaking mess! I've posted a couple of photos of the mess here, but let me just remind you:

 

The new computers are no longer here since I've already set them up. The old computers are now in my parents' old room. But, my room is still a mess because of all the boxes that are still here. I seriously need to move them somewhere else. We're running out of space for all of them! *LOL*

I'm not a hoarder, okay? I just need these boxes for warranty purposes. I'll throw them in the trash after a year. Or at least 'til my mother can take seeing them scattered everywhere. *LOL*

Once I've cleared all these boxes, I need someone to clean my room for me! I couldn't really do it because I have to man our computer shop, and I'm allergic to dust. Excuses, excuses. *LOL* But, seriously, I can't find the time to do it. So, I'm hoping that I can get my room cleaned before Christmas. I don't want to go on our vacation with my room looking like this.

I've already changed the window covers. All the anime posters and stickers are gone and are in the trash now. It's still red and blank for now. It's now one of my projects - to fill up that whole red space on my windows with photos, especially from our upcoming trip to Northern Luzon. I'll post photos once I finish this "art project".

Vote for #71 in Sulit's Christmas Card-Making Contest and Get a Chance to Win a Blackberry Curve!

Bad News: My entry didn't make it to the Top 20 in Sulit's Christmas card-making contest.

Good News: 5 out of 8 entries of my friend Grace (of Dress Up Your Blogs and Grace in Creative Life) made it to the Top 20!

Don't fret. I'm okay with not making it to the Top 20. It wasn't really my intention to make it to the top 20 (but, of course, I was hopeful). My initial purpose was to bag the Viral Poster Special award. To all my viral posters, check at the bottom of this post for info about my own raffle for all of you. :)

Now that the Top 20 have been announced, I would like to humbly request for your support for my dear friend, Grace. If you don't know yet how our new friendship started, please, take the time to read this. She's the nicest person I know, promise! She's genuine and I consider her one of my true friends online. She's like a sister to me, especially after how she cheered me up during the stressful campaign period in the blog writing contest by Sulit (where I won an iPad, by the way!).

So, I really hope you would vote for her entry. Though she's got FIVE entries in the Top 20, we would like to request that you vote for only one - #71.

UPDATE: The photo above is a sample printed version of Grace's #71 entry. Cute, eh?

Let's all support our FELLOW BLOGGER, Grace!

There'll be a separate raffle for ALL voters where you could win a brand new Blackberry Curve.

(Instructions on how to vote after the jump)

Deadline for voting: December 12, 2010

Akihiro Sato is Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition Winner

Akihiro Sato, one of the popular male models of Penshoppe, was voted the winner of the first Survivor Philippines Celebrity edition.

I honestly didn't religiously watch Survivor Philippines' Celebrity edition. Actually, I never watched any of Survivor Philippines' past seasons. I guess it's because I didn't like the format.

I'm a huge Survivor fan. It's my favorite "reality" TV series. So, when I found out that there'll be a Philippine edition of the show, at first, I got really excited. But, when I found out they were airing EVERYDAY and that GMA got the franchise here, I decided to not watch. Actually, I watched like the first 2 episodes and, then, decided that I didn't like the format and how GMA's handling the series.

But, there was a lot of buzz over Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition so I'm planning now to watch it.

A lot of people were rooting for Akihiro Sato to win. I'm guessing they were all caught by his charms and niceness. He's just too freaking gorgeous! *wink*

Anyway, I don't know how I'd go about watching the episodes, but I hope I'd find a way. I prefer watching on my computer.

Do you think Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition winner Akihiro Sato deserves the win? Share your comments below and let me know if I should watch this season or not. ^_^

Cartoons are Invading Facebook!

If you're not yet familiar with Internet Memes, then, let me briefly explain through the help of the ever trusty Wikipedia:

An Internet meme is simply an idea that is propagated through the Web. This idea may take the form of a hyperlink, video, website, hashtag, or even just a word or phrase. This meme may spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, news sources etc.

Internet memes can be used for viral marketing or simply to campaign or show support for a certain cause.

I love joining these internet memes because it's fun and it can actually initiate interesting conversations with friends or even strangers on social networking sites or even on blogs.

I've joined two (2) Facebook memes. The first one was the Breast Cancer awareness Facebook meme where women were asked to update their statuses with this kinky-sounding message starting with "I like it on…". But, actually, it was an answer to the question, "Where do you place your purse/bag at home?"

Some may argue that the above-mentioned internet meme didn't really help Breast Cancer awareness. But, honestly, I believe it did. Why? Because women who got the "secret" message about the meme got to thinking about breast cancer simply by reading that message. And, because it was fun, they were more inclined to spread the word to their girl friends. Even my male friends participated in the meme. One of them even said (after I told him the real story behind my status), "Even men can have breast cancer". So, question the effect of internet memes all you want, but there are still believers like me who know it got us thinking about breast cancer.

Then, last week, this new Facebook meme started (from what I know). This time, it's a campaign to spread awareness, and possibly help stop, violence against children. It's another fun internet meme for a worthy cause. This time, we need to change our Facebook profile photo to any cartoon character that we loved during our childhood. It did bring a lot of memories to me… some good, some really painful. That's why I wanted to participate in this meme.

Update: Watch this video that explains why we changed our profile photos on Facebook.

So, what cartoon character did I choose? The CAREBEARS! I love, love, love them so much. Though I can't remember their names, I particularly loved Cheer Bear, the one with the rainbow on her tummy. That's why I chose her (or him?) as my profile photo.

A lot of my friends and acquaintances already joined the fun. Just look at these photos:

Well, there's one who hasn't changed her profile photo yet on the second screenshot. But, isn't this meme spreading cuteness all over Facebook?! You can see how effective this is because a lot of people find it fun and easy to join.

So, if you haven't joined or changed your profile photo yet, then, you still have time. Just make sure to repost the following message after you've changed your photo:

Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday, there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is for violence against children.

Important: Thirty on 30 Blog Contest Update!

Submission of entries to my blog contest Thirty on 30 has finally ended. I spent my day today validating entries. I haven't checked the blog writing contests entries yet, but I'll post an update on that later.

We've got a total of 40 bloggers who are officially entered into the contest. I'm so happy that we've got that many entrants to this contest. I mean, I know a lot of you out there are busy so I kinda expected to only have about 30+ bloggers joining in. So, I was surprised when I finally tallied the entries and I counted 40! To all of you…

I know that I should've tallied or validated the entries before the end of the contest so all entrants would know if they miss anything. So, I'm doing it now. Been really busy, sorry.

Here's the list of bloggers who joined and have a couple of things that they missed among the required tasks. I've already mentioned that there was an issue before with my other  blogs not loading properly so that could be the reason.

If you see your blog's URL on the table above, please check what you're missing. If your blog URL isn't listed, then, you're good to go.

Take note of the following:

• JAP = Just Another Pixel
• PR = Pinay Reviewer
• POMM = Pinay Online Money Maker
• CF = Certified Foodies
• If you still can't access my other blogs, you can use these alternate links instead to subscribe to my email updates:
  • Subscribe to Just Another Pixel by Email
  • Subscribe to Pinay Online Money Maker by Email
  • Subscribe to Certified Foodies by Email
  • Subscribe to Pinay Reviewer by Email
• And here are my blogs' Facebook pages:
  • Just Another Pixel on Facebook
  • The Geek Side of blankPixels on Facebook
  • Certified Foodies on Facebook
  • Pinay Online Money Maker on Facebook
  • Pinay Reviewer on Facebook

I am giving everyone listed above until Friday, December 3rd, to complete the requirements and be officially entered into the contest PLUS earn the points designated for each task. After you're done with what you missed, please leave a comment here.

I will be reading through the blog writing contest entries this weekend. I'm hoping to announce ALL the winners by next week in time for the holidays.

Again, thank you all for joining and good luck! :)

P.S. I might have another blog contest for my other blog, blankPixels - The Geek Side. Haven't finalized the details yet, but keep posted! :)

Preparing for our Northern Luzon Vacation!

In about two weeks, I will be heading to Northern Luzon for a four to five-day vacation. This is part of my bucket list (remember, bucket list #1) so I cannot wait! I'll be joined by my mother and her best friend, my brother and one of his friends, plus a very close family friend.

I know, I've mentioned about our trip like more than I should on this blog, but I'm just excited. It's been awhile since I enjoyed a vacation and travelling with my family. The last time we went on vacation together was like 6 years ago! So, I'm hoping you understand why I'm excited about this trip.

Another reason why I'm excited is because I've never been to Vigan, Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. This will be my first time so I already did my research. I've got a ton of things for our itinerary. Let me share with you some of them. If you have more recommendations, please, let me know! ^_^

• Vigan Longganisa - Everyone I know who's been to Vigan recommended that I have a taste of the longganisa. Hmmm… I wonder what's different that makes them all giddy about it.
• Baluarte - The zoo owned by Chavit Singson. There's no fee in visiting this place and I love zoos so definitely, we're not going to miss it!
• Padre Burgos Museum - I happen to love the part of our history about the GomBurZa. I mean, I love hearing about the stories and how they sacrificed their lives for us, which then resulted to the other events which led to our freedom from the Spaniards. Wow. I actually remember my Philippine history. Hahaha.
• San Agustin Belfry - I want to see its magnificence myself. Waah!
• Herencia Cafe - I'd like to dine here and try their Crispy Dinuguan and Pinakbet pizza! Woot!
• Bagnet - Of course, we won't miss enjoying a meal or two with bagnet. Ack. So hungry now. *LOL*
• Calle Crisologo - As I've mentioned before, I would love to have a photo of myself taken while walking these old streets. Woot!

• Wind Mills in Bangui - We wouldn't miss seeing these giant wind mills! I wonder how windy it is out there.
• Cape Bojeador Lighthouse - I want to climb up the lighthouse to see the view from the top. I'm not sure though if I'd have the energy to go all the way to the top. *LOL*
• Patapat Viaduct - This is the famous highway in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. I just want to take photos here. *LOL*
• Pagudpud Beach - Of course! We're planning on staying for one night here to bask in the sun and lovely beaches of Pagudpud, then party at night! I'm a li'l allergic to the combination of sea water and wind. So, surely, I'll be bringing some anti-allergy medicines PLUS sunscreen, of course! My allergies to sea water isn't really bad. I won't need anything like a treatment for eczema or anything that worse. My skin just gets too dry and itchy, even with lotion on. But, that won't stop me from enjoying my time at the beach! Woot!

• Ukay-ukay - Okay, we've been to Baguio numerous times already, but we haven't gone to any of the ukay-ukay stores there. Well, I didn't have my own money the last time we were there so now, I really want to go back there 'cause I can shop all I want without having to ask for money from my nanay! *LOL*
• Zenz Restaurant - We want to try the Strawberry Sinigang! Hahaha! They're at Mines View Hotel, by the way.
• Oh My Gulay! - The famous vegetarian restaurant in Baguio. Waahh! I've been longing to go there like forever!
• Market in Baguio - I want to buy broccoli and strawberries! I know, the latter is not yet in season there. But, I love the fresh strawberries in Baguio.

Okay, that's about it. I still have some things on my list, but this post is getting too long already. If you have recommendations, again, let me know at the comments section.

Image credits: Vigan, Pagudpud, Baguio