Instead of the usual thrust bearings that hubby usually buys from Ongpin and Binondo, these are the loots from our latest Binondo trip:

This was the second weekend that we went to Binondo to buy the knick-knacks that we will need for the Chinese New Year. Most of you might wonder if we are Chinese but we are not. Well, ever since we discovered the world of feng shui and lucky charms, we try to go to Binondo to consult our frequent store there about Feung Shui on how we can prevent bad luck and attract more good vibes for us before the Chinese New Year.

My husband is under the sign of the Wood Rabbit and I am under the sign of the Fire Snake. We bought the following charms to enhance our luck and avoid bad things:
• 5 Element Pagoda for me
• 3 Guardians for me
• Crystal globe for hubby
• Wealth ship to attract more financial luck

As what hubby and I and most of our friends say, we still know our faith so we don’t find anything wrong in believing in Chinese traditions such as this.

I am happy fro my brother because they just opened up their first Lotto outlet. Business is actually doing good as they were able to meet their daily quota on their first week of opening so their business really looks promising. Thanks to online market research, because they were able to predict the success of this business in the area where they opened their outlet.

They can open additional outlets and they are planning to open more as they can see that it can bring them good revenue. They just have to get the service of professionals first like Infosurv to conduct the prediction markets for them so they can really prove if the location of their new outlet will be as successful as their first one.

Infosurv is one of the leaders in online market research. Aside from this mentioned service, they offer host of other services like customer satisfaction survey, employee surveys and even employee engagement. They use different methodologies like Awareness, Attitude, and Usage (AAU) Surveys, Branding, Naming, and Positioning Testing, Concept testing, Customer and Market Profiling and the like to produce a more reliable data for their client.

I am sure with the help of Infosurv, my brother’s business will continue to grow and be more successful.

We have hosted two Christmas parties at our house already. The first one was last December 10 with my embassy friends and former colleagues.

We have long been planning for a get together but since everybody is busy, we can’t seem to find one date where everybody will be free. Thankfully, we were finally able to agree on December 10 and since they haven’t been to our new house yet, we all decided to have the party at our place so it turned out to be a house warming cum Christmas party.

We just ordered food from CCME (we ordered Beef Roast, Baked macaroni, and Buco Pandan) and I asked my aunt, as per Dennis’ reques, to cook Crispy Pata.

They arrived a few hours late than what we agreed upon because of the Saturday holiday traffic but I am glad that they were still able to make it despite all the hurdles.

We had dinner as soon as they arrived and we have a good chat to catch up with the old times, especially with Timmy whom we haven’t seen for a year already. We had our exchange gifts after and a little boost.

It was a fun party and I am glad that the long-standing Christmas party of our group finally pushed through.

I was at the house of my friend the other night and she was so excited to give me the good news about the soon-to-be opening of her daughter’s small boutique.

It is just the hobby of her daughter to design and make clothes and since she really has the talent, her mom helped her with the funding and so she was able to create her first clothing line which she will feature in her boutique’s grand opening.

Her boutique is just located inside the compound of their property and it is just a small space, as they don’t want to rent a bigger place for now as they are just starting. Good thing they were able to maximize the space by putting Clothing Racks where they hang some of their stocks with the use of Wooden Hangers. This created an additional storage area which they really need ay they have a limited space inside the boutique.

They also checked out mannequins for sale as they would like to setup up a small display to showcase her daughter’s clothing line.

My friend is a real stage mom as she is giving her 100% support (time and money) for her daughter.

I wish them good luck and we know that she has the talent to make it big someday.

I have posted in my previous entry about the Kids from Ulingan village. Ever since I met them during the party of the daughter of my good friend Peachy, they have occupied a special place in my heart.

As much as I wanted to help them, I really can’t do much as I can only give a small monetary amount so the organization helping them, Project PEARLS, can sustain the projects that they have for the families in Ulingan. All I can do is volunteer my help during the Saturday reach outs of Project PEARLS (which I still have to do), and spread the awareness about Ulingan village to my friends and family so they can help too.

The families in Ulingan village need lots of things. We might think that they just need storm shelters, but they don’t even have a decent house to live in. For this coming Christmas, while we have our Noche Buena with our loved ones, the families in Ulingan doesn’t even know where to get their meal for the day.

Every child deserves to feel the magic of Christmas and so Project PEARLS is appealing for our help so they can distribute Noche Buena Gift Pack to each of the families in Ulingan village and each gift packs contains:

• spaghetti noodles and sauce
• sandwich spread and bread
• powdered juice

They will also be giving out Healthy Kid Gift Pack for one child per family which contains toiletries like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, food and vitamins, and a small toy so the kids can feel the spirit of Christmas.

Each Gift pack will cost $20 so they are appealing for donations. The gift packs will be distributed to the families during their Breakfast with Santa project on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Please check out the website of Project PEARLS for more details: www.projectpearls.org