As I update my I-pod and read other blogs.....

what comes to mind? Longing to visit my favorite cities in europe :(

I was just adding some french song collection as well as the music of Laura Fygi while reading blogs from pinoys in europe when all of a sudden I waxed nostalgia. Missing Paris, Positano and even the various plaza mayors of spain.

I need to apply what I learned in Cash Flow fast and improve that much sought after passive income so I can again go beyond my asian trip. Hmmm but I need to go to the US soon for my visa will expire in less than a year! Gosh, decisions, decisions......

In the meantime, not bad to dream. If I had a couple of millions (dollars or euros not pesos) right now, I want to fly to Ediburgh, have not seen the place yet and from what I heard and read, its lovely. Would want to again visit the islands of Greece, at least the major islands that I was not able to see when I first experienced the place after college.

Want to experience christmas at Rothenburg ob de Tauber, see Ghent, visit Lourdes, and Fatima, my parents favorites, spend early spring again in Positano but this time visit Sicily which I missed the last time. I want to spend a two nights in Naples which I just saw for less than a day, ride the Gondola in Venice in the summer (which I never experienced even after a number of visits due to the cold weather), and spend a few nights in Florence.

Its not bad to dream so let me add, a few visits to the spas in Switzerland which I was never able to do before, enter the beautiful castle of Neuschwanstein which I was not able to see for my parents couldnt walk too far then, and this time take a trip to Koln to see the world renowned Cathedral with the remains of the Magi. My video got stolen when we were about to board the train for Cologne so missed seeing the city.

For all its worth I wanna go back to Euro Disney since the tape of the video I took got stolen. In this day and age no one uses a video tape much. Its the age of digital cams :)

I wanna visit Lisbon and try to see Erica who helped me and dad when he was hospitalized last 1999. I will always be indebted to her and her husband. I wonder if she had a baby something she has long been praying for.

Also, maybe I will go with Bebeth to Sweden this time as she had been drooling about her trip her a few years ago. Since I will be in the area, would like to visit Finland and Iceland, the two countries I have not visited in the Scandinavian region.

Perhaps I will also take the Kirkenes steamer (ship?) this time instead of doing land travel to Svalbard, somewhere near north pole.

Since its not expensive to dream, I would also love to visit south america. Mom had been wanting to join a south american tour but was never able to. I will always remember her dream if ever this travel dream becomes a reality.

Now my i-pod is updated and I need to wake up :)

How techie can one be in makati?

I bought a small laptop in Singapore so it will be convenient to tug along whenever I want to get connected in a mall. Right after my Cash flow afternoon, getting my dry cleaned stuff and some groceries, I decided to take dinner somewhere there maybe a hot spot (except the cafes). I was planning to try Fridays at Glorietta 3 (since its near the Digital Exhange area I would supppose there as some wireless connection) but since I was famished and preferred jap food, I decided on Zen.

After I took a table I asked the server if they had some wifi conection and guess what she replied? She gave a 'Duh?" look and said she will check the menu. Was it better if I asked if they were a hotspot? but then again, she might think I was asking for hot soup?

Didnt know whether to laugh or feel exasperated. To think that the owner of the resto is an IT guy :) I tried calling him to share the experience but I think he changed numbers.

After the meal, off I went to the third floor to take coffee at seattles best. At last I said to myself I can surf and check my mails. I noticed that there was a Wiz signage near the cashier. I didnt have a Wiz account so I asked for a prepaid card. They said Innove recalled all of them since the codes have not been working for weeks. Duh! So I asked if there was some airborne access connection as in other Seattles Best branches. I have an I-Manila account which could access Airborne accounts. The supervisor replied that they usually carry Airborne accounts except in this particular branch since its a Globe terriotry.

Now for an internet advocate, I have been getting frustrated to no end. He told me to try to access airborne since some of their clients in the past had seemed to be successful in connecting to such. I tried searching for available connections but there was none!

I then called a friend in Innove who reports the president and shared my frustation. I asked her to also talk to the suprvisor of Seattles Best who has expressed his disappointment with lost potential income from Wiz prepaid cards.

This happened in Makati, not other places in metro manila, not even the rural areas. Yes I was in makati and Wi-fi sounded like a type of food and I couldnt even connect inside the biggest mall in the heart of the financial district!

A Cash Flow game on a Sunday afternoon

I attended for the first time a Cash Flow game at the exportbank bldg. I have heard of such gatherings in the past through Belen and have always planned to join someday. Through the multiply site, I learned of a recent gathering so I reserved a slot.

Was truly interesting. I have read (albeit halfway) Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad. My ex boss, Ric, gave this as a birthday gift several years ago but only got to read it late last year (or was it early this year?). Got hooked on his teachings that I bought the other sets.

The object of the game was to get out of the rat race. In reality, I have decided to get out middle of this year. Typical of an ex-banker, I tended to be conservative and keep liquid so I was not able to get out of the 'rat race' fast in the game. It didnt help any that the profile of my group was risk averse so I tried following them :)

Anyway, was fun and the facilitator Jerome, shared several learnings, most of which were in the various books of Kiyosaki. Would love to be able to play the game once more.

By the way, the sunset was a sight to behold at the penthouse of the Export Bank.

Binging on Gadgets

Went to Sum Lin (not sure of spellling) bldg as singaporean friends recommended for the best prices of laptops and other electronics I had been dreaming of purchasing a tiny laptop like the toshiba libretto although a batchmate based also in singapore recommended a Sony Vaio
Off to the mall I went and upon entry spotted very small versions of camcorders. I was just curious on how much these cost so I asked but actually ended up buying the smallest version, which is the Fisher cameracorder (stills/DVD).


The only gadget I really planned to buy was an I-Pod Nano similar to what Arnold showed me when I had dinner with him and edna a few days prior to my trip. He mentioned that the price was a bit lower than that in manila. I went straight to the Apple Center at Wheelock Center (Orchard). I drooled over the latest models specially of the Ipod Photo and Video but my budget was just for a 2bg nano. The stocks really went very fast for as I was deciding on which color and model to get, I noticed some immediately got out of stock.

I decided to get the black since it was not common. Those few mins of indecision just left me with the white nano ( I got it lest it disappears at once. Tony, a British business colleague wanted to buy a nano the following day but the stocks were gone and waiting to be replenished.

When I went up the bldg to check on the laptops, I noticed that the best bet would be the tiny sony vaio. The price though was too dear for me. There was a small tablet type but it was a celeron so a no no for the heavy user moi.

I ended up though with a twinhead.

Two regrets - I should have bought the ipon video and sony vaio, I just needed to control my expenses so I guess those two will remain a dream purchase )