2010 Philippine Election: Who’s who?
Yesterday, January 30, marked the 100 day countdown till this year’s 2010 election. For an OFW like me who’s out of the country and who doesn’t receive Filipino channel, it’s hard to know who to vote for the upcoming election.
As a citizen of the Philippines, I did my obligation and registered for overseas voting. Up until now, I’m still waiting for the elusive voter’s ID. The last time I voted was 1998. I know I’m not being a good citizen but before I got the chance to vote in the previous elections, I saw myself uprooting myself to another place and it’s such a hassle to just vote knowing that the candidate I wanted to win, won’t win.
For overseas voters, we are advised to vote as early as April 16, if I’m not mistaken. Hopefully, by then, I won’t see myself moving to another location and lose my chance to vote. So.. who are the presidential candidates? Here’s the list I got from COMELEC.
- Vetallano Acosta for KBP
- Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for Liberal Party
- John Carlos “JC” De Los Reyes for Ang Kapatiran
- Joseph “Erap” Estrada for PMP
- Richard “Dick” Gordon for Bagumbayan
- Jamby Madrigal as Independent
- Nicanor “Nicky” Perlas as Independent
- Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. for Lakas-Kampi
- Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva for Bangon Pilipinas
- Manuel “Manny” Villar for Nacionalista
Movie Review: Confucius
With a star-studded cast, this movie is bound to be a hit. My friends and I watched this movie on a Sunday night not knowing what the movie is all about. Our first question was if it has English subtitles and luckily they do.
The movie started with Confucius visiting the ruler of the Kingdom of Lu where he is the mayor of one of the cities. The ruler is impressed with how he ruled his city as people were happy with how he govern and they are contributing much to the kingdom’s coffers.
With his rise in fame and how he outwitted one of the other mayors, he gained disciples who follow his teachings. His disciples are well known for their intelligence, strategy and loyalty. From mayor, he became the Minister of Law, then Interim Minister of the Kingdom. A lot of government officials were jealous and upset with him as he’s merely a commoner and not a noble. In the end, they were able to convince the ruler to let him go.
Starbucks Money Saving Tip
Do you like to drink Starbucks latte everyday or do you think it’s sinful to spend money on a latte when a lot of people are starving? A blogger at a Chinese website “Kai Xin Wang” wrote this Starbucks saving tip for those who are on a budget but can’t get enough of your daily dose of latte.
Here are the steps in creating a Starbucks latte for half the price:
- Bring your own Starbucks mug at your nearest Starbucks store and buy a cup of espresso.
- At the condiments counter, pour 3/4 cup of milk into your own mug.
- Pour your cup of espresso into your own mug.
- Stir your concoction and add necessary flavors like cinnamon or chocolate.
Easy right?! With only the price of an espresso, you’ll get your own cafe latte. I haven’t tried it yet but I might do so in the near future. Post your experience if you’ve tried the tip above and let other readers know if it worked to your satisfaction.
Now.. where did my Starbucks mug go?
Photo credit: http://speedendurance.com
Ten Minute Makeup
Running out of time and you want to look your best? Here’s what I learned from my makeup teacher on looking your best with just the basics and ten minutes. When we had this class, my teacher did it to herself and I tried it on my face. The verdict: She did it in 8 minutes while I did it in 20 minutes. No miracles specially when you’re just starting but as you practice, you’ll get the hang of it and can make it in less than ten minutes.
Make sure you’ve cleaned and moisturized your face before you do the following steps in putting on makeup in ten minutes:
- Corrective Concealer: this type of concealer hides your red spots, dark spots and under eye circle. For myself, I use Makeup Forever’s professional concealing palette #5. The lime green color hides my red spots, purple hides my dark spots and tangerine hides my under eye circles. Since I’m in a hurry, I just use my finger to put it on my face.
- Skin tone Concealer: using the same concealing palette, I mix the light shade and the dark shade to get a medium shade and put it on top of the tangerine, at the center of my nose from forehead to the tip, form a circle on my forehead and the sides of my lips.
Starbucks China – 2010 Chinese New Year Edition
Christmas has come and gone so did the New Year. That means next major holiday in Beijing is Chinese New Year. With this holiday comes new merchandise at Starbucks. Since I’m working for the building’s leasing department, I was able to get the latest news buzz about Starbucks from the newly opened store in our 3rd level. In my previous post, I’ve talked about the Christmas stuff, well.. if you’re lucky enough the remaining unsold merchandise will go on sale soon.
What I’m going to post today is what will be happening at Starbucks starting tomorrow till February. I believe they will update the site soon to correspond to their new offerings. The theme for January and February is “Celebrating with Coffee”.
Coffee and Food
The delicious Honey Orange Latte is back! I’ve tried this last year courtesy of my Starbucks cousin addict Gold who graciously treated me to this wonderful concoction. A tall cup will cost you RMB30, Grande is RMB 33 and Venti is RMB 36.
To go along with your latte, you can either have a Honey Peach Souffle Cheese Cake (RMB 23) or a
Chocolate Royal Raspberry Crunch (RMB 23). Of course, the usual pastry selection will do as well but why not try something new right? BTW, the chocolate muffin isn’t that great. It’s huge but nothing to brag about. It will also set you back by RMB 12. The regular muffin sold in packs of four in the supermarket is way better than Starbucks.. 
Claudine in 2009
2009 is just another chapter of my book called life and I’d like to share with you what happened throughout the year. It may not be as exciting as what others have but I thank God for everything that happened.
January – Family
I started the year with a bad bout of cold and cough. I remember trying to barely keep myself awake to toast the new year. Good thing though, I spent it with my second family here in Beijing, the Camposagrado’s. I met the Camposagrado family through Marco and bowling. They’re a loving family who keep me grounded here in this mad world that I’m living.
This month also brought me to my ancestral home of Fujian. It’s my first visit and I didn’t know what to expect. As my family was never that into the Chinese New Year tradition, I don’t really know what to expect. One thing I know is to be equipped with lots of red envelope. It was quite a different Chinese New Year for me. My direct relatives were warm, accommodating and attentive. They were too attentive that I can’t seem to go around the place by myself. I feel like a kid who’s out in the big world for the first time. One thing I’m sure, I don’t want to go back there unless I’m staying at a hotel and no worries of somebody looking over my shoulder.
February – Love
I was in love or I thought I were. Every year at work, I saw my colleagues get flowers during Valentines Day. If your boyfriend gives you one rose, it means “You’re the Only ONE”. If he gives you three roses, it means “He Loves You”. However, if he gives you ninety-nine roses, it means “He loves you forever”. Well.. Valentines came and gone but I didn’t receive any rose nor went out to any date. I’m a romantic but somehow the person that I was going out with wasn’t romantic at all. Hmm.. maybe I’m setting my standards too high.