Don't be sad, you're not alone.

Since I borrowed my husband 's car today, I had to drive him around after I'm done with it. No logic at first glance but yeah...
We were driving and about to change to another lane but didnt make it and I remarked "don't be sad, you're not alone" at one point. Then husbsnd replies "Im not sad, I should actually be happy if I'm alone." BOOOM! Thats not exactly far from what I would like to actually say myself.

Later after eating dinner when I had to pick him up again, we had to stop by at his workplace but there were still people coming in going when we got there. He was a bit surprised and seem to back off and said "why are there still a lot of people here? weren't we the last one from the resto and people are also showing up at the office?" He even took the time to "hide" in the car and wait til the other cars got settled or left. That is just so funny. He doesnt want his other coworker to see him show up there at night, after the office dinner, and ask him what are you doing here? I told him to just echo back the question along with a surprise look as well. Oh boy! Their work system is really something. This is just a common government employee. The private company employee would be more of a challenge.

posted from Bloggeroid

Telemarketing

Vent Blog

I just have to write this down.

1. Hindi lahat ng wife ay di nag-iisip. If you want to get to the husband through the wife for business or whatever, make sure you know your products or services well and be able to explain it to the wife first.  Just telling the wife to just let the husbands talk will get you nowhere even if your business is up and up. Long-time married couples usually would have already developed an unlabeled dual protection. We don't just pass off information of our spouses just like that. If you cannot explain it to the wife, better luck getting to the husband.

2. People who pass off info without giving you any heads up...specially if it will sound like a telemarketing thing. Come on..some decency please. I try to understand any possible circumstance that might have caused some people to do that but one should be aware.

Oh well...I've been married long enough.

Weekend Project: DIY Yoga Mat Bag

Planning about my upcoming trip made me think about yoga and my yoga mat.
I've wondered about making one myself before and I finally completed one today.

I was looking for what material that will be easy to find and work with by hand sewing. Recycling leg pants! I mentally searched my brain for any old ones we have but I didn't feel like digging up in the closet so thought how about some of the old ones I shopped off from my son's pants before. And I found these soft denims!

After measuring them, they weren't long enough so I had to add something to the middle. And guess what I found in my stash? Leftover scrap from my hand warmer project last time. 😁

The last bit of material I needed was the string. I know that I have a couple of extra shoelaces that came free with some Reebok shoes so I just have to find them somewhere. This is the best one that I found. Green ones but they will do.

Ad breaks on Korean TV and other countries...

It isn't the first time that the length and frequency of ads in regular Korean TV has caught my interest. It's one of the first things that I noticed when I first got here and just recently figured out that Korean household has some fee to pay if they have an existing TV at home even if it was just a regular free-to-air channel.
Viewers angry over commercial breaks
By Park Jin-hai

MBC and SBS, two of Korea's three major public broadcasters, surprised and angered viewers after they interrupted programs with commercial breaks last week. 

Viewers of the new dramas "Ruler: Master of the Mask" (MBC) and "Suspicious Partner" (SBS) both aired their first episodes May 10.

Half way into both shows, the broadcasters aired one-minute-long commercials with notices that the next 35 minutes of each drama would follow.

Under the current broadcasting law, public broadcasters cannot run mid-show commercials. However, for years the broadcasters claimed that this ban has been the main cause of their worsening financial situation and continuously called for scrapping it.

Regarding their apparent breaking of the law to get cash from the commercials, viewers showed anger for not being notified properly of the broadcasters' new advertizing format called "premium commercials." They complained their rights were violated.

"It was uncomfortable to see them split the shows in two in order to gain more profit from commercials. It really disturbs the flow of the story," said Shin Mi-hae, who watched "Ruler." Another viewer said, "Public airwaves are owned by the people, not broadcasters." 

Jang Bo-hye, another watcher, also said she was surprised by the pricing policy of the video on demand version, which treated the one episode as two episodes. The duration was the same but the price was doubled because of the split. "The abrupt break with the mid-show commercial is nonsense. Charging separate fees for the same show angers me even more," she said.

According to Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO) data, the 15-second advertisement rate for a public TV weekday drama, where commercials are played before and after the show, averages 13.5 million won. But the rate for a "premium commercial," a de facto mid-show commercial, costs more. "Although the rate is not double or triple the price, as some say, it is true that the rate is way above the average," said a KOBACO official.

MBC claims that its move was in consideration of the changing content consuming patterns of viewers who are more prone to watching short-length content through mobile devices than watching full-length content on TV. "We thought viewers, who are now used to the American soap operas where each episode runs 30 to 40 minutes, can easily accept our new form as well," said a MBC official.

As for the lack of advanced notice, the official said "it was in the TV schedule."

SBS's position treated the single episode as two 30 minute episodes. "At the end of each episode, we ran the commercials. So they were not mid-show commercials," said an SBS official.

(Korea Times, May 2017)

This recent newspaper article reminded me of the stark contrast on the amount of TV ads in my adopted country ROK and home country PH. An hour program back home would have around 5 minute ads after every 10 minutes of the show. An hour block of prime time program would run for 35 minutes but would have 25 minutes of ad scattered in all throughout the hour. By the end of the hour, one would feel that they watched more TV commercial than the program itself.

This got me interested and google about how is it in other countries. I got this feeling that PH would be similar with US as it has heavily influenced the former in many ways. It turns out that that is the case indeed. Europe, on the other hand, is somewhat in the middle. Not extremely like here in ROK nor on the other end like US, or maybe worse as PH.

US.  half hour blocks sitcoms : 22 minutes
           Full hour shows : 44 minutes
The general rule on scripts: one page = one minute. 
8-10 mins of ads and programs promos

Almost the same in PH in terms of the length of ads and placements., or even worse.

EUROPE
1 to 2 ad breaks in an hour..or 5 minute ad break every half an hour. 

SWEDEN
15 to 20 mins ad breaks

FRANCE
9 mins ad breaks

Googling some more, an interesting comment in a forum caught my attention.

"TV tends to be a more social experience in the U.S. from what I remember. You talk during commercials, make a snack, play with the dog, make a phone call, etc. These days it seems like the ability to pause on demand has replaced that, so it's now it's just annoying."

Social experience. Talk during ad breaks, go bathroom, do a chore, etc. That's basically what I had seen. Growing up with the slew of ads running on every program on TV taught me to multi-task. I can still be productive while my eyes are glued on the TV waiting for the ads to finish. But yeah, anyone would come to a point of hating those seemingly never ending ads.

So when I got to Korea, the ads at the end of ech show were a welcome sight. I realized that I sure can learn a thing or two with those ads. But yeah, I do appreciate that I can have a whole 10 minutes block of ad, do what I have to do and I'll still know what time I should be back to catch my fave show. It's pretty efficient. And I can still multi-task, albeit with only chores that would just require my hands or whatnot.

Now, I'm a bit torn on these opposite settings. But I guess, it's a little bit of a point of no return. Once you've done away with the frequent ad breaks, it will be frustrating to actually go back to that frequent ad breaks anymore.

This can be an interesting essay topic for my son to write about one of these days. The pros and cons of the frequency of ad breaks.

That's it for tonight. Goodnight.

The SDA and EGW

Weekends make me ponder on spirituality. The church that I grew up in has it's flaws and has been branded as a cult in some places. This I learned later on when I was in my late teens. Growing up, it has all the good things that a decent person can live and grow up into. The rest day, the food, the healthy lifestyle were all good. Around mid-teens when I started to become more active in the church, joining evangelical programs and youth camps. Yet, it is also at this point that I stumbled and really question the inner workings of the church.

"A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing." or originally "A little learning can be a dangerous thing" ...(Alexander Pope, British poet)

Along the lines also come "Ignorance is a bliss." But I 'm not going that line of thought now. The little learning that I learned made me think about a lot of questions that were left unanswered or if answered, it didn't satisfy my inquisitive mind. I totally didn't buy the whole EGW thing the minute I heard that she is considered as the modern prophet of the church. This got worse when I learned about a set date of second coming failed miserably. It's just like any other groups that try to put out these things and it blows back into their faces. I questioned how the church try to do this evangelism to draw people in but cannot keep the back door to keep them in. It didn't really make me hate the church but I withdrew. I still try to keep the healthy and other lifestyle that makes sense to me. Or if not, some are just out of habit. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so otherwise. I dared not to dig deeper into it.

I still believe in God. It's a struggle to continue doing so inside or outside the church I grew up in though. I am not looking for another church but to find my own state of spirituality. My dilemma now is being a mom. This is another road to figure out. Part 2.

The Fridge Puzzle

This past few weeks had been a challenging one on how to put together our food. I've seen a lot of fresh produce in the market with the spring season and it made me want to cook a lot of different things. Eggplants, cucumbers, broccoli, zucchini, minari (dropwort) and more! I have to list up the dishes that I want to make in order to keep track or else I won't be able to make anything.

To list:
marinated tofu to fry? (stir fry) or grill/broil as well..
sliced eggplant - to broil?,
cucumber in salt - boil egg and potato for salad
red kidney beans - ?
chicken soup - rice and lots of ginger
freeze the stock--

dishes to empty the freezer:
dumplings!!!
I've also got bread to toast with butter and garlic.

And there's still this fruit juice that I planned to bake into some sweet bread one of these days.. which I think I can mix with the frozen ground oats I have somewhere.
Boy! I do need to try to cook from the freezer more now. If I were to buy some produce, it would be the staples like garlic, onion and green onion maybe.

But right now, I've tried to grow my own green onion and leeks out in the veranda so let see how it will fare. Sometime later, I will have to prep my ginger box so that I can at least have 3 gingers heads growing fresh in my verandah even if I have some dried ones in my bottle.

Since I got a slight cold this week, I'll have to start the chicken soup today. I can do this!

And here are the results for the day! The leftover tofu broiled in the oven, the leftover salted cucumber from gimbap into a potato salad, the red kidney beans with frozen bell pepper, and onion jang achi, seasoned smoked paprika, cumin amd a bit of sriracha. And last but not the least, the whole wheat bread with an egg replaced by ground flaxseed!

I'll try to build a decent burger with the basic vegies tomorrow: tomatoes, onion, cucumber and lettuce. 

Time to clear up the mess after cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Nah! Nothing about skill but more on energy. Done!

Weekend Mind Wandering

The spring season is upon us as the cherry blossoms festival have started this month all over the country. That also signals increased outdoor activities and goods on sale related to it. I've seen camping and picnic goods so far, along with fitness and exercise goods.

Realistically, there is a very minimal possibility of my need for those. It is a bit different from my dreamland though. I would like to be able to let my son experience more outdoor on his teen years with a little similar with mine. Those memories will surely be treasured as one grow older. Things that a person will learn beyond the pages of a book, outside the walls of a classroom are priceless.

Being able to complete a long trek, sleep under the starry sky, survive a few days of limited comforts of daily life and learning that one can actually live despite the situation will hopefully build a person to become stronger as one faces adulthood.

Sitting on the "throne" made me dream of an outdoor adventure with my son in the near future. It also made me think of an adventure tour of sorts -- a specialized one. What possible activities should be included? trek/hike/ pitching tent/ starting fire without match, navigation etc. My mind is starting to go wild again. I remember a UPian blogging about a course like navigation in UP.

I have to tame it down for a bit. I would also like to do beach camping. I know that my folks had taken my son on one when he was younger and I do hope to be able to do that as well. It may be just a casual one with just simply sleeping in a tent by the beach. I think there's this place somewhere in my friend's hometown where that is possible. Beach camping.

I think I can try that here for now and see how they work it here. I know some expats occasionally do that round here. What will I need? Tent, sleeping bags, portable stove and cooking pots. My dad would probably just bring his bolo, hammer, saw and nylon tarp for the sleeping and kitchen need.

Back to the beach camping that may be more possible...P with the neighbor brothers at Fione's place. Just chill for 2N3D. When will that be possible? Let's work it out.

Signing off for now.

Super Out-of-Town Target Destination NEXT MONTH!

I'm pysched! I will be taking my first round of level 5 test, without really studying but what I'm psyched for is driving there. Not this time but on my next test. Ha!

This is the second time that I am heading in the same location but my husband gave me a ride on my first. This time, he has no plan to do that again since I didn't really study well, plus he is also busy. I volunteered that I can perhaps drive myself but he totally refused to let me do that. Still a bit risk he says. Well, yeah...it's not my car. What can I do? Instead, I'll be taking the chance to take the public transportation via train which will take more than half an hour more compared if driving. I'm going ask my son if he's interested to go for an adventure (plus moral support) but if not, I'll be fine to go alone. I'll stake out the area so that next time, I can more confidently drive by myself. Hoho! That's the plan! :D

As for the test, well, I really have to study more seriously starting now. I've seen a well-used book yesterday by a Viet thru a common Fil friend and wow! I should be doing just that and perhaps, I'll be in a better position with this tests. I'm thinking of doing the studying in the car at the parking lot after my swimming class. I can also go out there early and do that. Or go there on weekend and do that. We'll figure that out.

I can do this! I know! But for now, I have to figure out the public transport going there this weekend.

Morning Musings

This is the second day that my son goes to middle school. I've managed to let him eat a thick slice of bread and drink a cup of choco milk drink before he went downstairs at 7:45. I watched him from the window until he got on the bus. It was a bit of a wait for him out in the cold along with other kids who were also wearing similar uniforms. He thought it was going to be bulky if he just stuff the jacket in his bag later so he opted not bring one.

As the bus left, I checked what other buses come around this time online. I found that there are 1 or 2 more that he can take if ever he miss the 7:50. The tricky part is how long it would be walk from the bus stop to school. Bus ride alone takes 10-15 minutes, depending on time and passengers. I checked the buses coming and their locations as it is a bit tricky to figure out if the bus coming is going out or in since we only have one-sided bus stop. The one going the opposite way stops on the same bus stop. There is no way to know if the bus coming is going in or out unless I open another tab on the online menu or actually see the bus with it's LED out in front. Sometimes, even the latter can be wrong. The color-coded one online info is better. One can actually follow the bus' current location as it is updated real time, give or take a few minutes. It's almost creepy to think of that GPS thing on buses but it is pretty useful.

It made me reflect on how a parent would try to push the kid out in the world while still trying to keep the strings on him. He has been keen on taking the bus himself since day one of middle school and we've tried to teach him the basics. But as I chatted with him last night, he said he'll just follow the crowd. Ha! I guess he's not that ready yet? Even if I tried to let him find the stationery store to buy his supplies, he flat out told me that he doesn't know it, he's not good at navigating and he might get lost. Good or bad? I guess he won't be going anywhere except school anytime soon. I should be contented with that view for now.

We should do some more navigation trips later when we can. I noticed from our last trip to Seoul that he has stepped up a bit in navigating unlike our previous ones before where he simply didn't care and just relied on me for directions unless I try to push and ask him. This time, he was more involved although when I remarked that getting lost and navigating is fun, he tells me that it's the opposite. Where has his sense of adventure (a.k.a. Amazing Race spirit) has gone? Let's see what other changes will come these coming years. It would be totally nice to have him plan a whole trip by himself one day. I managed to let him do a bit of route research this time. He was the one who researched the trains and buses schedules and cost to COEX and this was because he wanted to go there in the first place. I'm not sure what other destination places would encourage him to do such. Or do so even if it wasn't a trip that he would like to take.

I actually like planning trips and such. But as I am a free spirit, I am very flexible. I have a plan, yes, just so that I will be on the safe side but at the same time, I can also tweak some on the fly provided that I have an extra info as back up. My son, at his age, is still a work in progress. It would be an interesting life trip ahead for him and see him navigate on his own in this so-called life.

My husband had his literal life trips on his own but it's really amazing how he did it considering that he suck at navigating streets. We've lived for more than ten years together in four different cities in between and he is like a homing-pigeon. He will only be be familiar with a couple of routes. That is probably why he ended up in Coron when his final destination was supposed to be El Nido when he first came to Palawan eons of years ago! I should've known better. :) He managed without his luggage and survived to tell the story and it's still a good one to remember now.

This reminded me about the interest to travel abroad soon together. Destination: Vladivostok, Russia. We all came up with possible interesting places. P, for Italy. Me, Greece. But both are a bit far for starters so Hubs kind of zeroed in Russia. Kid was interested in Russian language last year, and German this month due to hubs' encouragement mostly. Crossing my fingers that some family trip will happen soon!

Got to get to that uniform shirt for handwashing now, though.

Konmari and Capsule Wardrobe

I've decided to try the Konmari method of decluttering this month but it took me forever to get started and longer to get my head once I'm into it. Thus, the pile of clothes stayed there for how many nights.

After piling everything on the floor, I was at lost on how to actually to do it. Oh boy! I've managed to remove a few pieces which I can truly say "don't like" but I still got more "maybes" which I thought I would be happy to wear if the color or size changed. So for now, I have to put them somewhere else where I can still consider how to "fix" them up.

Then, I remembered this "capsule wardrobe" thing. The idea is good, moving to minimalism route but what I saw with most blogs means 33 or 37 pieces per SEASON! That will still total to more than 130. And some doesn't even include base stuff as they categorize other more activity-specific items. I have to rethink this a little bit more.

Ideally, I would love an all-season set just like how it can be possible if I live in the tropics. But sadly, that will be impossible. I have to be extra warm for winter but at the same time be mindful not pile up a lot of these thick stuff. I've bought a couple of pieces that made me doubt now if it was the right one. Buyer's remorse.

As much as I dnt want to think about those mistakes, I might as well take what I've learned from those buys. Never buy Uniqlo down because the fillers shed sooo much. My first down didnt shed that much within the first few months that I had it. This one, on the other hand, is a pain to wear next to anything dark and clingy textile. Ugh. My 40k should last for at least 3 winters. I can even stretch it for fall and spring as cold breaker and as layers during winter. 

I'm sure I still got a few more items that I wasn't that happy after using but let me just focus on the lessons I've learned about acquiring clothes and stuff.

Stick with my colors, and my shopping list. I have a shopping wish list that runs about twice a year, summer and winter. Fall and spring is pretty short here so I find it wiser to lump up fall with winter. As for spring, well, is there really one here? It's still cold for me until May so my fall and spring will pretty much be the same. I really don't mind the colors theme much as long as I am warm.

Learn to say no or let go. Growing up with limited budget (poor), I had always had hand-me-downs, and thrift shop clothes. Beggars can't be choosers. This is maybe why I had never developed my own "sense of style." I've never really cared much for clothes. I do remember a few items I really liked and was able to buy but these were few and between and I realized that shopping for style does not really come natural for me. My taste, or lack thereof, has led to a lot of buyer's remorse too often when I was in my teens. I always had to bring a friend with me to help me choose clothes when I actually had the money to buy one.

This has been my solution for a while but things change, I can't have stylish friend to drag all the time and shopping alone has become the norm for me. I have actually come to like it. I have to learn how not to commit the same mistakes again now that I'm older. This would mean doing my research.

Some realization came early like as much as I love the color yellow, it doesn't really look good on me. I've had this BH90210 over-sized yellow shirt back in my teens that I thought looked nice but not on me. Then there was this bright pink flower-patterned button-down top which doesn't really fit me and has wrong placement of buttons that it was just so annoying to wear later on. And I had to beg my mom to be able to buy that! Goodness!

This brings me to the current situation. I tend to get a few hand-me-downs because I am still on the slimmer side but I have to train myself to be able to remove things that just doesn't go with my theme because it just messes up stuff. One thing though is I still shop at thrift stores until early last year and still ended up with a few odd ones. What was I thinking? I knew I had to learn to say no and let go.

And finally, live with as little as possible and don't think about what other people would say as long as I am not hurting anyone. That's about it for now.

Let me go back to actually doing this clothes decluttering now. Another post for my plan!

My First Out-of-town Drive!

I drove out to the department store in the nearest town with P today!

It was definitely more than 35 minutes, well almost an hour for me. I checked out the route online since last night and there were just too many to choose from. I've learned that Daum and Naver  maps online have different features. Naver map shows other routes and these are highlighted just by dragging the cursor over the choices. Daum map, on the other hand, would only have one but I can add stopovers anywhere on the map and the route will be updated. I kind of prefer that one so I can customize the route I prefer to take. It's like a puzzle in my brain as to which ones I have already tried, then just add new routes and thus expanding my mental map.

This time, I planned on starting off at the KTX station and extend on to the bus terminal. It didn't turn out that way going there. We chose to go straight and follow the car GPS nav. We managed it alright without much glitch until we reached the parking lot. That always tricky parking at that department store.

Heading back home started out a bit lost after a few turns from the store block. I made a wrong turn somewhere but managed to change the destination to KTX again and figured it out back to the familiar intersection. I just tried to follow the car GPS again from there and emerged at my favorite bulk store. I feel better driving from there on. I felt hungry and tired already going back home so I chose the more familiar route. It will be less stressful and less possibility of mistake.
It took us around 45 minutes or so and my lower back bone was starting to hurt.

There's my out-of-town driving. The car GPS can be tricky but I can follow as long as I did my homework beforehand. At least, I'll have an idea on the layout of the area and notes on some landmarks.

Now I need a short power nap since I only had 5 hours sleep since 3:30 early this am. I still have a lot of stuff to do but I really need my nap!

 

Grad proj: Chocolate Bouquet

The idea came up to me last weekend to get something like a bouquet for my son's elementary graduation. I would generally skip stuff like this but I've asked him about such recently and I found out that he would also want to get something like that. So, even if I really don't subscribe to these kind of stuff, I had to consider. 

Instead of buying flowers, I thought about channeling my inner creativity and make it fun. I won't go for flowers, nor sweets like lollipop. I found the perfect match for what I want to give and my son will also love! The graduation themed chocolate pops! I got the perfect bouquet holder which P got on White Day last year, a dozen of Chupa Chups. That's a very good place to start creating my first chocolate bouquet. 

The initial plan was to find Flat Tops or Curly Tops coz I find Reese's way too sweet for my taste. Unfortunately, there wasn't any at the foreign mart. No choice but to settle for the Reese's. I got 6 pieces of BonBon instead. I also picked up a couple of chocolate bars, MnM's, chocopen, white straw and some plastic and paper for wrapping. 

On my second store run for some stuff I missed, I saw this lovely set of stickers perfect for people who likes to read like me and my son. 😊

It was very tricky to wrap the papers and plastic around red holder. I had to use a stronger tape not to let it slide down. I also had to staple the colored papers together. 

Feb Finance and Shopping...Week 2

BTC gone at 6k profit over the weekend.

Bluedio T2 Headset bought @ around 27k after the 10% discount. 

After almost a month since I looked into sending bitcoin by buying it @ around 1.126 then having it go down to 890k the next day made me think harder on how the BTC works. I couldn't touch that for a while until I have learned more about it. It's not something for the fainthearted. I left it there in BTC currency for a while. 

It started to hit the same levels late last week and I held on until it reached 1.2 until finally deciding to let everything go. Whether it goes up some more, I should be happy with the 6k profit for my trial purchase. I never really intended to trade but circumstances led me to it. I would have to think about it more and wait for it to go down again before trying to get a slice of the pie again if ever I decide to do so later. 

As for the other finance related thing, I finally decided to buy my second bluetooth headset to replace my faltering 2-year-old one. That one actually just lasted for about a year and the other months were spread over some "battery rest." It didn't work for a few months then suddenly comes alive after a tricky charging session. Totally unreliable. Totally no-brand phenomena so I thought about looking into a brand that has more google search results. Not a real fancy one as prices can go crazy when it comes to headsets and alike but just a decent one for my budget.
This one has been in the back burner since November last year weeks before the Black Friday. Why? Well, changing economics plus other priorities came up: my Woori installment savings ending, buying a Windows based computer, my son's uniform cost and stuff. 

With all these done, I can now get down to this headset. It certainly pushed me to do so since my husband has been complaining about my audios as I hang out and work around our small apartment unit. 

I've started researching for this last year and has found a brand that fits my budget. It was the first part. When I finally looked into it more specifically as I am about to buy, I was faced with the many models and confusing terms in buying such. It was a little overwhelming at first just reading the reviews and all. They are all flawed in this way or that. I couldn't really decide until I finally put them down on paper, disregarded the reviews, looked into what each model has and of course, the price.

There were about 4 in my budget range: HT, T2, T2S, T2 Plus, and T3. Since the reviews turned out to be mixed regardless of the prices, I had to use the prices in my elimination process. That still brought me down to two similar prices, T2 and T2S. I would have wanted the T3 since it's supposed to have a more sturdy built (non-less plastic) but I've also read some not-so-good reviews so maybe not the one to get for now as my first buy into this brand. I should just have to take good care of this plastic one (fingers crossed.) 

Comparing the T2, T2S and T2 plus was pretty tricky. The Bludio infographics on facebook helped. This one below plus a few more research on some terms like over ear, on ear, noise isolating, and noise cancelling gave me a clearer picture of these.

Infographics for comparison

T2 plus has both the SD slot and FM radio features which I would have liked but maybe next time. It might be a toss between T2 Plus and T3. For my first buy, I'm down to T2 and TS2.

T2S - on-ear, noise canceling, 223 g
T2 - over-ear, noise isolating, 224 g

So the questions that I have to figure out on this hunt are:

1. price range? -- Need I explain?
2. over or on-ear? --- Over-ear is bulkier than on-ear one. I would have preferred the on-ear but both having a foldable part evened it out a bit.
3. Noise canceling (NC) or Noise isolating (NI) - This last bit wasn't exactly on the top of my criteria before because I didn't really know better. I learned that isolating is more manual thing while cancelling is a bit more techy part. What worked for me was that NC works best with a continuous noise source and the other one is in a more varied/flexible environment. READ. Flexible. My kind of thing. Plus the info that low-end NI > high-end NC had me zero in on T2.

T2 is over-ear, has noise isolation feature and fits my budget. It is made of fragile plastic but can hopefully last for at least two years. Since I'm buying from gmarket, fixing and returns might be out of question. I just have to hope for the best and make the most of it. Just like my life's motto. ^^

The 15 day wait starts now. 

Last Week of Elementary for my Kiddo

This is the last one week that the kids go back to school as 6th graders and my son has finally decided to get his haircut.

We went for about 15 minute drive to B area just to get that 7k haircut and the Dunkins which also cost me with almost the same price. I really don't know why we decided to drive out there being a little far from our place but faster to get to since it has no traffic light at all along the way.

It was pretty cloudy and there was a bit of rain when we started out, not to mention that it was cold as well. We got there past 5, waited for a few minutes, and finish the haircut and buying donuts at almost 6 pm. We got to our apartment parking lot at around 6:15 so roughly 15-20 mins. (And I've become more familiar with the nearest exit to home.)

There's just this little "hiccup" with the hairdresser. She doesn't listen to the parent but the kid sitting on the chair. hahaha..I'd better be more tough next time if we ever go back there. Why they always think that "bangs" or "fringes" are the only way for the kids here? Duh! If everyone wears that haircut, then why is it difficult to be different? Pleeaase!! (Rants)😒

(Note: I've just discovered how to insert videos and smileys today. Well, I do know before but just didn't bother to do it.😀 )

DIY Pumping Gas (Korean Self-service Gas Station)

It took me two tries to fuel up today at this self service gas station nearby.  First was around 2 pm after lunch but there were just a more cars coming behind me than I can handle. Plus I was in a bit of a hurry so I drove in and out right away. Another chance came up later that night after I took the highway to the KTX station.

Luckily, the station was empty. I was almost afraid to step out since I had been warned recently that I should be careful in that area. Thinking rationally, there should be a lot of CCTV in the area so that got me settled. I can take my time to figure out the touch screen. I almost did it all right except for the pump itself. Duh! I inadvertently closed the pump when I chugged it in the tank. That's one more thing to practice on for me.

So basically here's what I think I should do.

1. Do the screen. Select 

a. what kind if gas or diesel maybe - GAS

b. how much by liter or amount - _ _ Won

c. mode of payment (cash, card, point etc.) - CARD (debit or credit will do)

Then I will be instructed to insert my card. 

2. Next instruction is to put the hose in the tank. The suspended lever means that the tap is closed. Let it go and the fuel will flow. (I hope I remember that right) Wait while it fills up. 

The last part here is to remove the hose, close the tank lid, and replace the the pumping hose on the right on the higher holder coz the lower one is where the handle rests. 

3. Finally, go back to the screen to get the card and receipt. 

I think, one or two more try soon and I'll be more confident in this Korean self-service gas station. It's usually cheaper and still more fun for me. 

I just found a couple videos on youtube which are almost the same with what I've tried. 

Here's another one filling up his tank full through an SK gas station. 

And finally, an English one from John Erskin at Woosung College.

How come I didn't find this the first time I ventured to fuel up at that self-service station? I remember that there was this nice ajumma who helped me through the whole thing at that time. Then on the following ones, an ajussi was there as well. But with time, I needed less help from them. One day, I'll get there! ^^,

Driving Log (Jan. 31, 2017)

Second time to go to the KTX station last night through totally new routes!

I had to give my dear SIL a ride sometime around past 9 so I decided to take the small road going to the highway. We took the longer but faster route without stop lights, and the new alternate loop going to the station. It was a bit winding but not bad. I managed to get her to the station anyway. My next thing was where to go after that. I was not planning to go to Emart like last time but that's the only route that I know where to go to turn around. (Note to self to find any U-Turn lane in the area.) 

I found myself at the unusually spacious parking lot at the other side of the station. I pulled over, checked the not-so-helpful Navi/gps and decided on my route. Instead of going my usual route on the north, I took the counterpart of how I got there in the first place. I could've turned left, and double right to get to the big road but decided to make a whole circle of the station and went right, then left and another right. From there, it was all straight ahead and a matter of getting into the right lane of my destination. The next dilemma was where to get off. I needed to fuel up so I had to decide where. I went for the tried and tested Uni exit to get to the DIY gas station. (That pumping gas is for another entry.)

If I had opted for the non DIY station, I would have to exit at the next one which I had only taken once, and which will need to make a U turn to fill up and go backwards of sorts to take a more complicated road back home. Both not very desirable at that time so DIY I did, with some trepidation. 

The ride back home along the highway was pretty boring and creepy since I was alone on the mist of the time. it was cold and dark so the i had to figure out where i was with limited light. To add to that, my front lights are a bit busted this making my lighted vision more limited. i really have to get those lights fixed.

I left our place at about 9:40 and came home at almost 11. it took an hour, give or take 25-30 minutes on the road both ways, plus at least 5 minutes for figuring out my route and fueling up on the way home. It was a long drive for me and I felt tired when I got home. 

Driving can be fun but can also be tiring if your used to it OR maybe because u got used to it? Ironic. one good thing is u can change your route every now and then to make it less boring. 

So far, my SIL was surprised that I can manage the smaller roads nearby now. And I can also take the highway as well, even though shorter distance. She mentioned that I can try driving to her place next time. Haha! That will need a lot of homework in figuring out the route beforehand and the car GPS as well. 

My nearest target destination to practice maybe Suwon or Gunsan to visit a friend. I've seen that driving thru the interchanges in Suwon can be complicated so I have to prepare well for that. 

Driving Log 2017 Jan

First driving log this year. What prompt me?

Well, a trip to the KTX station through a different route ending up at the second floor of the station, and finally trying out the exit of the highway nearest to our place.

I planned on driving out there a few days before the year ended to pick up some cheese, cheese cake, nuts, coffee and perhaps the year's supply of noodles. I ended up buying a dozen of bagels since there was no cheese cake to be found. I think I saw the last one being herded out as I went in. Just my luck!

I checked my route as usual and went around midday. There wasn't much traffic and anyway, most cars were moving so fast. Lane changing was a bit of a challenge since I happened to be in company of two big trucks or sorts. I had to match their speed and move in right away. Or else, I might miss my exit lane. This I managed luckily. Whew! The, I had to turn left to the unknown. It was just one stretch and another left turn to finally be in the station vicinity. Made it!

The next chance for me to drive there came up just after a week later. I had to drive SIL over to the station and with her on the passenger seat, I learned another approach to the station. Yay! Another route map filed in my brain.

After dropping her off, she told me to exit the ramp, and make a U-turn somewhere. I didn't see any of that U-turn but I saw a familiar-numbered bus heading right and I followed it. Once I saw what's ahead and which side of the station it was, I knew where I was and where I was going! And that is exactly the right place for me to go!

Heading home was a breeze since I just took my usual route home. I'm not sure if it's the farthest one but it sure is almost empty specially at night.

The next day, I took my son to a nearby area and decided to use the highway to get home. I've driven that route a few months ago a couple of times but it was just up to one exit point from our place. My hubs always misses this exit whenever he drives and we end up coming out on the next one farther from our place. It was so frustrating coz he always drives so fast when about to exit a highway that we end up missing it every now and then. To top it all, our car navigation always brings us there as well. So finally, after checking the route with the lousy car navigation, and disregarding it, I managed to get off at the right one. The smaller road has been recently expanded a bit (at the expense of a few pear trees.) We got home alright with our mission accomplished!

My next target is to head out to the next bigger city at least or maybe another tourist spot by spring time. I've been pretty comfortable driving in our small town nowadays so stretching my routes a bit more every now and then is a good exercise.

Trusts and Estate Planning

Looking into investments and stuff after my installment deposit matured last month brought me to consider VUL, and other investment vehicles. This led me to trusts and estate planning.

Based from what I've heard and read, investments in the banks, or any usual financial company is a bit of a problem when planning for an estate. Not to mention the taxes that can be slapped on any property or whatnots. I thought about looking for other ways to invest, be able to maximize whatever I have saved, be protected from big tax and make it easy to manage the things financially. It may sound a bit off-the-culture from where I come from but I really have to do something for the future even though I think I will live like an old-lady for a while. ^^ (Definition of an old lady: reads books, watches TV, does some gardening, yoga, swimming, and some volunteer work but still have a regular passive income without needing to be in a government's welfare.)

Why am I thinking about these? I'm trying to look fast forward to the old age and what lifestyle I'd want to live. Not like some people I know who seemed to have not thought about it. I may have opted not be regularly employed but that doesn't mean that I will not be preparing for my own retirement in a decent way.

So going back to what I've learned from my online research.

1. Try to or change my financial trading account to an ITF so it will be less complicated to change some later on if it was meant for my son anyway. If ever the age expires on it, I can change it to a joint account later on.

2.  Invest in MP2 or something like it in Pag-ibig or flexi-something in SS. Between the two, I think I'll opt for the Pag-ibig one. I have better trust with them than SSS.

On that note, no. 3.
Adjust my SSS amount but not maximum. I considered this one a bit for a while but after reading more, I've learned that it will be better if I do that later on. Although, I'll have to look into it more. It's just hard to deal with the government websites now but hopefully, things will be better in the near future.

I still haven't wrapped up my remittance route until now. Even if I have some dough, I don't know how to move it and to let it grow.

I have to figure it out soon before the exchange rates get worse.

For future notes:
Laws on Inheritance in PH
Comparison on Health Insurance