The Journey. It’s Mine. [Raine’s Mom, Problogger, Techie-wannabe, Wheelchair-Traveler]

We eat more fish and vegetables and from the time I can remember we only usually have meat once a week. It was like tradition, meat on Sundays.

That “rule” isn’t very strict though for we sometimes have meat on Wednesdays too. But in general, we have more fish (and other seafood) as compared to having pork beef of chicken in a week’s time.

My mother is ‘allergic” even to the smell of chicken meat and I have the same aversion to beef. So if there’s going to be meat on the table, it must be pork even if we all hate the fat (only my father used to love that part in pork).

But now, (since October 11) the ban on shellfish from Sorsogon Bay has been imposed because of red tide.

[click on photo to enlarge map]

From Wikipedia:

Red tide is an estuarine or marine algal bloom and is caused by a species of dinoflagellates, often present in sufficient numbers (thousands or millions of cells per milliliter) to turn the water red or brown.

The red tide toxins can induce neurological damage and death in marine mammals which feed on affected filter feeder. These include whales, seals, and otters. Red tide can also increase fish mortality; they are also accumulated in the digestive tracts of filter feeders.

This bioaccumulation of toxins causes bivalves – like oysters and clams – collected in areas affected by algal blooms to be potentially dangerous for human consumption.

So what are going to eat? Green vegetables (lots of it) and meat (no choice).

We don’t eat exotic meat either: like the snake’s, monitor lizard’s. Not even carabao or dog meat. My family’s palate is not that adventurous and we aren’t much of meat eaters.

We’ve always been seafood lovers and this province has various kinds of bivalves (I don’t even know their names but I eat them) and fishes.

But then even the bounties from the sea aren’t always safe to eat. In the mean time, we are on anything-seafood-hiatus.

[Photo Credit: Global Pinoy]

Took a blogging break to meet bloggers. Not just any other bloggers but bloggers that I came to be close with na.

It was a second meeting with Rico & Sasha, Jayvee & the love story (notice the & sign?)  and of course the highlight of the “event” was meeting AnP (Melissa) and her family.

Finally we met, two years after meeting online and she’s everything I imagined her to be.

We forgot to pose for a photo (Melissa and I), we were all so busy talking, it was good that Jayvee always has his camera in tow.

These two (AnP’s JP and my Raine) combined was a riot in kakulitan:

Meeting other bloggers always amazes me. I don’t know why. Maybe because bloggers are so real…and they turn out bigger than life in person, it was always more than being starstrucked. Really.

So the normally madaldal me tend to bask in their presence and listen more. He he. Yes, guys…di pa yun ang pinakamadaldal ko.

As always it was a night of fun and Raine enjoyed it as well. (I hope your back is better now Rico!)

Super thanks Melissa. Have a safe trip back to Germany. Until we meet again.

[Photo Credit: Jayvee]

…after 17 years.

Since 1989 (the year I entered as a freshie), U.P. tuition was stucked at P300 per student-credit unit (P250 in Los Baños and P200 in Baguio, the Visayas and Mindanao) when the Jose Abueva U.P. Sytem Presidency lauched the Socialized Tuition Fee Assistance Program, more popularly known as STFAP.

While the “higher brackets” may not agree that STFAP (was and) is a good system, STFAP is an ingenous mechanism that allowed UPCAT passers from far-flung, economically challenged places ( like moi) to set foot on a U.P. campus and get a decent college education - the kind that hones young minds both inside and outside of the four corners of the classroom.

So say the least, yes, I owe my U.P. diploma to STFAP and of course to my father’s strong will and disposition and whole lot of other financial benefactors.

(Now that the 5.0’s i got are flashing back like lightning…i shiver of shame. He he. But lest you worry and ask, the 5.0’s are a young, restless mind’s irresponsibilty that I can now equate to a 1.0+++ in life. ;-))

OK, enough about me before I divulge more of the younger, wilder days that should remain hidden in my son’s reading eyes…let me go back to the UP tuition fee increase that will be implemented in the academic year 2007-2008.

From Solita Monsod’s November 18 INQ7.net article:

Entering students (starting in school year 2007) whose families are in the bottom 36 percent of families as far as income is concerned (annual incomes of P70,000 or less), Bracket E, have free tuition plus a monthly stipend of P12,000.

Those whose family incomes are above the 36th percentile and up to the 67th percentile (annual income of P70,001-P135,000), Bracket D, will enjoy a tuition discount of 70 percent, meaning to say that their tuition rates will remain at P300 per unit.

Those whose family incomes are above the 67th percentile up to the 97th percentile (annual income of P135,001-P500,000), Bracket C, will be given a 40 percent discount.

In other words, only those entering students whose family incomes are between P500,001 and P1 million will actually be paying the full tuition of P1,000 per credit unit. And by the way, in the true spirit of socialization, those who belong to families with incomes over P1 million a year are going to have to pay full cost or near full-cost tuition — P1,500 per credit unit. They don’t deserve to be subsidized by the Filipino people, and they will not be subsidized.

Neat, huh? Assuming that the income profiles of entering UP students in 2007 are the same as in 2004, only about 20 percent of incoming freshmen will be paying full tuition (which still means a subsidy of about 30 percent) or full-cost tuition (no subsidy), with the additional income from them being used for stipends for the poorest students.

To top it all, the tuition rate increases will be imposed only on incoming freshmen starting next year. Those already in the university will pay the old rates.

And I guess if the old rule is still in place, in those brackets getting a monthly allowance, a student don’t get it (from partial to none) if you had bad grades in the preceeding semester.

According to the above article, currently, Ateneo’s tuition charges are P2,200 per unit, and while La Salle’s are P1,700.

Ateneo and De La Salle are U.P.’s close competitors (i guess) in prestige and the quality of education.

So U.P.’ll be charging P1000 per student-credit unit, when it should have been dirt cheap if not free since time immemorial if only we were under ideal governance. But then that is another story for debate.

You know what, if I had enough moolah (which ony should be) by the time Raine goes to college…I’d rather send him to Ateneo… and don’t ask me why!

Okay folks, here goes my 2 minute claim to fame. Just excuse the occasional tagalog and the few typos.

Special thanks to Ms. manila bulletin Annalyn Jusay. Now, if I could only get a hard copy, there seem to be no newspaper seller in this “sleepy” town.

Darn! Do I still have to travel 17 kms just to get a newspaper?! Ah. I guess I have to.

Update: There goes my luck of getting a street edition copy, the article appeared yesterday (Nov. 20).

Mind giving your copy to me (if you have)? My mother would really appreciate it.

ooopps…i totally forgot that my affiliation with Pinoy Travel Blog is responsible for this blog’s domain and hosting. Gets mo na yan Abe ha?

That very question has been answered by Creative Weblogging’s Executive Editor Anita Campbell in her most recent article at The Blogging Times.

I really liked the way Anita answered this tricky question: honest, straight to the point items that any blogger should have a clear idea of before venturing into blog network blogging - which really starts on what an individual blogger is looking for.

Of all the things she itemized, this is my favorite :

Finally, are you blogging primarily for fun and don’t care about visibility or being paid or anything else? In that case be honest with yourself — you might be better off going it alone. You’ll have the freedom to have fun with it – and no obligations to anyone other than yourself.

Bottom line: there is no single network that is the best or right for everyone. But unless your objectives dovetail with the blog network’s model, it will not be a marriage made in heaven.

Yes it’s as simple and honest as that!. Read the rest of the article.

Electricity was back in the homestead Saturday afternoon. Yes, in time for the Pacquiao-Morales Grand Finale like what SORECO II promised us. The Gamats were in pandemonic glee we were all squinting our eyes in front of the tube since Saturday night, the sudden bright light was a shock to our eyes that survived the “darkness” for the last month-and-a-half.

Sunday was when the world stopped revolving under Philippine skies and I guess under any other ground where a Filipino stands.

3 rounds. Only. I was screaming for Morales to get out of the ring and out of the Pacman’s fast and strong punches. Naawa talaga ako kay El Terrible.

Pacman’s punches were like lightning, you don’t know where they’re coming from.

Nakakaiyak sa tuwa. Promise. (Magkano kaya ang ma-n-netto ni Manny Pacquiao sa $3M na prize money?)

Pacman…you are THE MAN.

Bow.

——–

Read: Manila Bulletin Online.

[Sorry INQ7.net, your website is taking forever to download from my end here!]

[Click photo to enlarge]

Normally we have a motor pump that brings water up the hill to our house. But since that “service” has not been restored just yet, we have to get down the hill where the water is to fetch water, do the laundry and yes, even to take a bath.

For Raine, this daily adventure of doing a little hike to the little forest down the hill, is like a treat. I’m afraid when the electricity comes back he’d still be forcing me to get down to the spring as this has been our bonding time lately. With my new blogging routine, i just “talk” to Raine in the mornings and in the evenings before he goes to sleep.

I’ve never been a morning person but living in the province for seven months taught me to start the day as early as 6 am. Between us 2, Raine is the  morning person so getting up at 6 is not a problem but yeah I guess I got the hang of it now that even if I spent the night “wriiting” I’m usually up at 6.  

[Well, how could i not get up? There’s so much activity in my surrounding already. Poeple here get up as early as 4 am!]

Click here for more photos of Raine’s daily bath adventure and our morning bonding sessions. ;-)

Did anybody notice? Well maybe just Ruth because she’s the one I’ve always been bugging to insert the ads code anyway.

(The last time I tried to insert code or a plug-in, my blog went kaput — Internal Server Error — Yuga had to restore it. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am that tech-ignoramus, no joke.)

I’ve always had Google Adsense in my personal blog since i found out about it sometime in August 2005. But I’ve never learned how to optimize its use so I have some 7$ to date. (Heck, I can’t even insert a code, how should I know how I’ll optimize adsense in this blog?!).

Anyway, you just never know when the $$ will trickle so at the moment I’ve got bidvertiser, text-link ads and of course google adsense.

I’ve heard the buzz about ReviewMe, like the gaya-gaya that I am,  I jumped in. Why not? if there’s a pot of gold for doing something legit as reviewing a blog, product or whatever it is they want reviewed for a fee. 

Easy for 200 words and with no HTML code to insert in your blog’s template. After all I am a blogger and yes I can review stuff I have something to say about and write about it. They’ll just have to brace themselves because I’m not going to give a good review just so I get paid. I’ll make an honest (good or bad) review, promise.

Well I still have 47 hours left, but I’ll publish this now and (hopefully) get the promised 20$ on payday. (20$ is the highest pay-per-post rate I ever got!)

Whatever else others may say about p-p-p, I see nothing wrong in that and even in blogging for the money. (Not everyone has the luxury of getting paid on writing on the net about the stuff they know and love doing.)

Like pay-per-post, I see nothing wrong in ReviewMe, honestly.

The second semester have already started but Raine wouldn’t be budged. He said he’ll go back to school next year when he’s already four (as if he’s not  turning 4 next month!).

So he’s just hanging out in the house these days with various activities. But I guess the “school activities” have rubbed off on him that at certain times of day he’ll be seriously scribbling down on paper with various shapes and mishapen figures or just “reading” his books.

As he could recognize most letters of the alphabet, I asked him once to write the letter ‘R’ because that’s the first letter of his name. So he did. Only that he originally wrote it upside down!

Also. he reads M as W.

Confused pa o baliktad orientation ng utak?

Somebody once told me that being poor or not having enough money for your needs at one point in time is actually a good training for better days to come. I guess that is actually true, for some people at least (maybe not for some nouveau rich I’m seeing here who’d raise their eyebrows at you because you’re still wearing your old tattered shirt on weekend mornings.) [Bakit ba, eh favorite kong pambahay gula-gulanit na damit eh!]

For instance, I never had much luck in the love department anyway; therefore the lack of one at the moment isn’t going to make me sulk for the rest of my adult life. Really? Yeah, REALLY.

Though I’ve been practically dumped by a boyfriend who probably thought that I was no good for the taking, I would always be mayabang of the fact that I crawled gumapang thru the most difficult years of single motherhood when I had not enough money to pay the rent on time.

So I am not going to throw a fit right now at the fact that the US$ is less than 50 PhP and that the electricity up to this time has not been restored in my small dot of the globe.

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While I am (recently) very much present online (Yahoo IM, Gmail Chat, Skype, Chikka), i might be out of touch for some people, especially my good old friends.

My cellphone is off most of the time, it’s spending more time charging than on. So by the time I turn it on, I’ve probably already lost many important SMSs.

And if you’re texting me from a smart sim, I probably didn’t receive it. I switched to Globe because the signal is stronger here and for my peace of  mind, I needed to be out of touch with some unwanted persons so I changed sim and torn the old one to little pieces. Yeah I was that MAD.

And now my cellphone is awfully quiet. So it kind-a lost its “appeal”. Well, except for data services and the occasional calls. He he.

Anyway, I’ve probably lost some few very important messages, it’s not that I am ignoring you. It’s just that I didn’t get it. So better send me an email via Gmail please for important messages. My good old Yahoomail account is just a repository of all emails sent via gmail. (in cases Gmail is inaccessible, sorry Yahoomail!). 

So if you emailed me thru yahoo directly, it most probably ended up  in the bulk mail or trash folder. Sorry, purely unintentional. Hehe.

Hey, let’s all go Gmail. Gmail ROCKS!

Ahh…ok…I’d now like go back to my favorite topic on this blog: Raine.

To those who do not know yet, Raine is my son, turning 4 on December 29, the love of my life and the center of my current universe…well besides the blogosphere and God of course, if I might mention.

Raine and I went home in April. Raine on April 1st and I followed I think a week (or was it a few days?) later. I can still clearly remember calling Raine daily when I was staying at A’s house and my mother shouting from the other end of the line (i think it was on the third day) that I should go home because Raine is constantly asking for me and (like he is always) getting impatient because it is taking mommy unbearably long to come home. That was enough to make me pack and go, pronto.

So this month (November) is the 8th month that we’ve been here. Wow, was that eight months only?! Certainly felt like eight years. Really.

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…called for desperate measures.

Candles, kerosene and acetylene lamps alternately light our home. Yes, we are still still in darkness, eventhough these guys have worked their asses off 24/7 just to fix the posts and primary lines.

Paging SORECO II: kelan ba darating yung transformer na ino-order niyo? madilim pa rin sa km. 13 ng Payawin.  opo, napagitnaan kami ng may mga kuryente na. baka naman kinurakot niyo na yung 50M PhP calamity fund na galing sa malacañang?

So I brought my PC set uptown at pinaampon ko sa kaibigang may internet shop. Still my power at internet interruptions. So there are days that I have no choice that I have to work on a night shift, when power is usually back.

(yung ibibili ko ng generator at 3G phone, sa iba ng lang muna gagamitin…di pa nga buo yung bubong namin…)

kaya ito ang naisip kong solusyon…

Nagpapasundo sa tricycle ng pinsan pag ginagabi. Kasi naman 2 wheels lang ang nasa bahay (read: bisikleta) at alas singko ng hapon ang last trip ng dyip mula sa bayan pauwi sa aming barrio.  He he. Ayan kasi, probinsiyanang problogger. Low tech! ha ha.

(Ikaw naman Digitel, isang km na lang, di ka pa magkabit papunta sa amin! along the road naman po kami…)

Pero siyempre may bayad lahat ang services na yan (pagdating ng $$$). Kahit pa, super salamat sa mga sumasalo sa aking pangangailangan! (sorry at salamat sa maraming kaibigan na napepeste ko ng kung anu-anong services!)

Kaya bisitahin niyo palagi ang blogs ko: StraightFromTheDoc, The PharmVoice at Cancer Commentary para may pambayad ako sa service kong tricycle!

(from W. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing)

Done to death by slanderous tongues was the Hero that here lies:

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