Contingency Plan

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Contingency plan

with the financial market on a heck of a rollercoaster ride, times have become so uncertain. I guess am guilty of not saving enough for the rainy days, in fact my account now is in dire need of a 'bailout' (read: need salary..now!)

in the middle of work, break and panic attacks, am trying to find ways to scrimp moolah

1. eat veggies only with 2 meat meals per week - oh geezzz, this is very tough for me.I love antagonizing my friends who love salads that they are eating rabbit food. But veggies are way cheaper :( , on the brightside, i suppose it will be healthier (but not so happy) for my heart

2. Avoid takeouts - same argument as above....hmmm but i might still consider Chinese take-out. Cheap and big in volume.

3. Curbing Pubs/night outs - no more thrice a week pubbing! It should now be once a week or none at all! My wallet got a hard hit during the Euro2008 games. And i will now limit myself to 1 drink. No more of those itty bitty hard drinks like vodka, wine or even whisky (*sniff*), it's not worth paying 5 euros to 5 gulps of liquor. I must learn how to love beer, instead :P

4. Unplug all the appliances - Well, i only do this on my bedroom, but now i'll be doing this on the common room also. It should save some electricity bill and helping the envt as well.

5. PC usage limitation - well, it might save me electricity and might give me more time.

6. No more books until the book queue are done - sigggggggghh...so no more trips to the bookstore for me

7. Use the room heater for only two hours a day - I will just have to bundle up and think that marshmallow man is sexy

8. No more window shopping - it seems the more i see, the more i want. so see nothing, spend nothing.

9. The hair can wait - no more attempts to have my hair done here, it's cheaper back home.

10.cut down the list xmas card list - no point of sending xmas card on people who couldn't be bothered to keep in touch

CoffeeDuck

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings CoffeeDuck

for the coffee duck in the merlion land,


1. know that you are unique and special. no other duck can waddle like you :P
2. when you look in the water reflection, pay no attention to the ripples that you see. what matters is what you can see through
3. When the waves hurls you back, take heart and take that it's only a minor setback, you've already gone so far and you become strong duck than you ever think.
4. Despite the multiple times your heart-egg got broken, belive that it's not you. PErhaps, it's not just yet time.
5. Most importantly, everytime you feel sad that you can't help to look down on your feet, please see that there are 4 sets more beside you...always



so. happy birthday duck!

ecoChicShop

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings the EcoChicShop

Hello everyone: My sis and I are finally doing what we love and taking
that big plunge: Setting up a small online business! Do visit
www.ecochicshop.multiply.com.

We're selling handmade all natural bath and beauty products. They're
both eco and skin fiendly and were crafted by Filipino
artisans.(Filipinos are known around the world not only for our
CREATIVITY but also for OUR BEAUTY!!!!)

We're initially offering the following: By Nature Handmade Soap,
reusable S.O.P. bag and Gypsygal Travel Kit. But we plan to offer more
SOON!. Other products in the pipeline: organic personal care products
and yummy essential oil blends.

So if you're looking for something unique, nice and socially
responsible products to give to your friends, family friends, family
or yourself, and you want to shop without having to suffer from the
hassle of traffic jams and going to crowded malls please buy from
www.ecochicshop.multiply.com!

the right attitude towards a stormy market

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings the right attitude towards a stormy market

aoi: So, ms.financial analyst what can you say about the market today?

Y: oh ... the market sort of corrected itself the other day.well, i don't know what will happen, if not i'll be millionaire



i like that....

iPhone is the answer to all your questions...

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings iPhone is the answer to all your questions...

I was tinkering the iPhone of an acquaintance (he went to the loo), when my friend F approached me and said:

F: "I don't get it! That guy (the owner of the iphone) is good looking, has a good disposition and a good career...yet he still has no girlfriend!"

I accidentally clicked one of the files in the iPhone and this song blared out:

"Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away"

Aoisoba: *blinks and turns to F* "What was your question again?"

Isang pitik sa be---wang para kay Apo

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Isang pitik sa be---wang para kay Apo

To my dear apo,

October 8 i made a quick jot to greet you, that was the most that i can do back then (i was having a gizmo issue that is still crippling me now)...

Oh well, but i cannot let the month of october go without making a small entry about you...Well chili A and Chili D already did theirs ... and every single word they say is right :)


i mention this a lot of times, that you are a good acquaintance to have, but a rare friend to catch ...am glad that my gaydar went fully on when i first saw you (despite the denial of your loyal team member :p)

I just have to let you know despite the distance you have helped me a lot in surviving alone in this place...you and the chilis made me realize that distance is just a physical separation but thoughts and feelings can still grow.

what i really regret now is that... no one took a photo or that super ultra rare moment of you shirtless with machete on one hand and cutting branches of tree :P

so, i wish you had a good day and will continue to have good days...if there is anything we can do (including blindfolding you), let us know.

You are our special espasol in our life...isa kang itlog na maalat sa aming bibingka :P

Happy Birdie uli! :D

(photo stolen from Apo's TB account)

quick one!

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings a quick one

a happy happy happy birdie to my beloved chili friend Apo :D

Goodbye hopeless dream

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Goodbye hopeless dream

Yep, another mushy moment...someone please whack me with an ampalaya




Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy

Your fingertips across my skin
The palm trees swaying in the wind
Images
You sang me Spanish lullabies
The sweetest sadness in your eyes
Clever trick

Well, I never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me

[Chorus]
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

We walked along a crowded street
You took my hand and danced with me
Images
And when you left, you kissed my lips
You told me you would never, never forget
These images

No

Well, I'd never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me

[Chorus]
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot drive the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So you're gone and I'm haunted
And I bet you are just fine

Did I make it that
Easy to walk right in and out
Of my life?

[Chorus]
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should have known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

Blarney Chronicles 5:Up Close with Rock Close

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Blarney Chronicles 5:Up Close with Rock Close

Enchanting Rock Close:
On ground again, started walking to the Rock Close to marvel again on the unrivalled beauty of Mother Nature.
I did not get disappointed, the light rain shower, made the whole forest more vibrant green.
I spotted the megalithic structure, dolmen first, and on a little bit further I bumped into the secluded passageway, descended by a steep flight of stone steps, called the Wishing stairs. Walk backward downs with eyes closed – and without stopping for one moment to think of anything other than a wish, then that wish will come true within a year….It may be true, but the stone is slippery so I might end up wishing I didn’t do it.





I paid my tribute to the Witch’s Kitchen, contemplate at the Druid’s circle and tried not to imagine anything at the sacrificial Altar.
I was taking a picture of the Head Druid’s cave, when a man suddenly emerged from it, I was so surprised that it made me jump and my camera nearly fell off. He said I can touch him, if I wanted to be sure that he’s real.
Looking at the Witch Stone and I only had to use li’l imagination to realize who was imprisoned there, and I was really amazed by this nature sculpture.






All in all I can say that the greens are intense, each crevice of stone, crevasses on the ground are enchanting, if not enchanted.

Concluding my Blarney affair, others find the place and experience amazing, while the rest find it too hyped up and too passé. Personally, I was miffed with enchantment, for a day, I was transported back to my musings when I was a child, I got the feeling back of a curious child and feeling amused and amazed at the same time, that for me is simply mystical.

Blarney Chronicles 4:More blarney

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Blarney Chronicles 4:More blarney

Hold Me, Dangle Me, Kiss Me:
Back then, to kiss the stone, you must be held by the legs, head downwards over the battlements, and kiss it while you get yourself dangled. So back then, we can only imagine how many people have muster their courage to do this feat, but thanks to ‘technology’, there are now iron bars that we can grasp so that hopefuls like me will only need to flirt with the danger.
It was really an easy task, you lie down, hold the bar, kiss then smile at the camera….so I was really calm about it, besides a crew was also there to assist you in the kissing. When it was my turn, I realized that because of my short stature, my torso was also short! I had to lean more backward if I want to kiss the stone…I can feel my center of gravity was off down and I got sudden vertigo seeing the height of the castle from the ground in an upside down view. So in my first attempt I failed to kiss it…*sniff*sniff* after picking my confidence again, I was more composed now, I lie down again and I still cannot reach the stone! The kind man pushed me forward but with a strong grip on my waist, I then puckered up to the stone and give it with a big smack :D. I got up, my face was all red, the people after me, can’t help gushing “My God, that’s very scary for her” hahahahaha.


Top is the Best Position:
The stone is not the only thing that will make the climb worthwhile, looking on the view from the battlement would put you in awe. My friend, Coffeefairy, once said that “Ireland is so green”….i concur with her…even in autumn, it is soooo greeen.




The Chambers with a view:
While going down, I had then got a chance to explore the chambers of the castle, well the Earl’s does get the big room and I am still confused why is there a room called “the lady and the priest’s room’ :p The Family room was spacious and accessible to the kitchen, but it is still hard to imagine how they manage to move along on the castle with staircases that is very steep and narrow. I got myself stuck in garderobe, before I realize where I was..Ugh.

Blarney Chronicles 3:Baloney is not Blarney

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Blarney Chronicles 3:Baloney is not Blarney

Origin:
The Blarney stone’s reputation made a lot of statesmen, actors, orators, and writers join in the queue climbing the steps to kiss it, so that they will not be lost for words anymore.


The stone is believed to be half of the original the Lia Fail or ‘Fatal Stone’, used as an oracular throne of Irish kings, the Harry Potter-version of ‘sorting hat’ , it was presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in 1314 in recognition of his support in the Battle of Bannockburn. The power of the stone supposedly was then revealed to the MacCarthy’s by a witch saved from drowning, but hey we all love good stories here.
Now, now, why should we pay just to blabber baloney things when you can do it freely? Baloney is not Blarney, there is a difference.
Take this example given by the locals:
Baloney is when you tell a 50 year old woman that she looks 18
Blarney is when you ask a woman how old she is, because you want to know at what age women are most beautiful…
Don’t you agree ?

Blarney Chronicles 2:The Cave, the dungeon and the Court

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Blarney Chronicles 2:The Cave, the dungeon and the Court

Still on the grounds, there is what they called the Badger’s cave. Well, the appearance may not impress much, it was told that, Lord Broghill, Cromwell’s general broke the tower wall to besiege the castle, the castle was empty except for 2 retainers., the rest had fled through this cave. Legend even has it that there are 3 passages that can be found, one to the lake, to Cork and even on to Kerry…but as they say, this being in Blarney. I didn’t stepped in, with my sense of direction; I might just really end up in China.


Another structure caught my attention; it was the ruins of a Gothic mansion, called as the ‘Court’. It was a grand residence, with 3 •storeys high but the owners found it uncomfortable to live in. It was destroyed by the fire and was never restored. From my perception, the ruin blended well with the castle on the backdrop

My Sandwich for your castle

Paglalakbay ni Pansit Bughaw - Sa Maganda at Dukhang Mundo Personal photos using "tira lang ng tira" style Blarney Chronicle 1:My Sandwich for your castle

The castle was built by the local lord Cormac MacCarthy, other tourists find it disappointing being relatively small compare to the other castles (He must be in tight budget perhaps). The castle itself sits on a cliff of rock, serving as an excavation site for the castle. The castle structure implied that it was built in two stages; the right hand is a thin tall tower. The castle can actually be viewed in many angles; one of the good angles would be from the North Wall, giving the most imposing view of the castle, with walls that seems to slope inward. One can also immediately spot an encased large bay window projecting from a wall and supported by a corbel or bracket, which is actually the Earl’s bedroom window. There are also three large square holes as outlets for garderobes, and before you google the meaning of it, apparently it was built downwind :p







The castle obviously back then was of great importance especially during the time of Queen Victoria I. She sent an emissary to the chief of MacCarthy clan to surrender to her the rights to the castle. The poor emissary, every time he tried to fulfill his mission, he was faced with endless nonsense, eloquent but without substance loyalty to the queen statements from the chieftain. The queen in frustration said: "Blarney, Blarney, what he says he does not mean. It is the usual Blarney." And thanks to Queen Victoria I, the new word was formed:Blarney!

All Apologies

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings All Apologies

A few weeks ago, me and my friends were hanging out on a pub when suddenly 3 drunk men started doing weird dancing and leering on the floor.
Friend M realized that she and the men are of same nationality.
She gasped, turned to us and said:
"I'm so sorry! I really don't know why men from my country are really ugly."

After i blinked a few times, "Apologies accepted. It's not your fault that your country is part of the square centimetre where the density of cute is really low or totally negligible"

:P

blog on hiatus...

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Blog On Hiatus

i haven't blog anything for quite a while now because:
1. Euro 2008
2. Going on a pub tour with my swiss roll housie
3. Going to an awfully alot of farewell drinks
4. Touring south west cork
5. sending off friends to airports

By now..

1.i know the alcohol drinks by heart and by liver...
2.dried a lot of tears at the airport
3.missing alot of my friends
4.missing terribly the chilis
5.starting to be homesick ...very badly

Question of the Day

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Question of the Day

Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore????






So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're just time away

Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
Oh, how I wish I could
But you're so far away

One more song about moving along the highway
Can't say much of anything that's new
If I could only work this life out my way
I'd rather spend it being close to you

But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're so far away

Traveling around sure gets me down and lonely
Nothing else to do but close my mind
I sure hope the road don't come to own me
There's so many dreams I've yet to find

But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're so far away

And the boss strikes again

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings And the boss strikes again

a real email sent to my colleague



"Just to mention... easy on the invoice stamping especially while there are high profile visitors in the office."

Amusing noh?

Survey can kill you

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Survey can kill you

me and my housie were walking back to our flat, when we got intercepted by a guy who is taking a survey. He seemed to be having a tough time to convince people to stop for awhile, we took pity on him so we stopped:

SurveyGuy: How often do you pass this street
Aoi and SwissRoll: Everyday
SurveyGuy: Is there any shop that you would like to see within this neighborhood
Aoi and SwissRoll:Tesco! (grocery)
SurveyGuy: So i guess it would be tesco for that building *points to the location of our fave bar*
Aoi and SwissRoll: Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!! you can't do that! that's our fave bar! (insert a lot of caterwauling and 'Don't' phrases here)

we managed to scare-off the guy :P

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Culture Exchange

one of the perks of having a housemate of different nationality is that there's always a room for culture exchange. Just like this saturday, i let her listened to my OPM mp3s and she let me listened to the Swiss ones. She then asked me what is my favorite track so far.

Aoi:I like the third track. What is the title?
SwissRoll: Oh, it's "I wott sevs vom morge bis am obe"
Aoi: Uhmmm...what does it mean
SwissRoll: uhmm...it mean 'I wanna have sex with you in the morning, afternoon and evening'


Cool huh?! very enriching cultural exchange.

Lead the Way

Murmurs Mumblings - My Thoughts conversation with myself, rants, and more mumblings Lead the Way

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com