Facebook Trick and Tip: Changing back to old format

Today, Facebook released a new homepage format where you can choose to only see "Important Updates" on the news feeds, or "Most Updates" and "All Updates" from a person without having to go your friend's profile page.  There's also a real time activity widget that shows what your friends have just done the very second they have done it.   If you don't want the new Facebook format you can revert back by:

1)  Go to "Account Settings"

2)  Edit Language and choose "English (UK)"

I hope this helps and I guess this work around will work until Facebook doesn't fix the bug.  In anycase, it's just too weird it happens only when you switch to English (UK) and not any other language.


From,

Save Your Friendster Photos! Last Day Today!

Yes, today, May 31, 2011, is the last day to save your Friendster photos and/or blogs!

Click on the link below which directs you to the "Exporter" application that Friendster designed to easily download your precious memories (it will also prompt you to login)!

ALL IMPORTANT LINK:  http://widgets.friendster.com/exporter

If you're just interested in saving your photos you can choose to just do the "DOWNLOAD YOUR PROFILE" part.  Make sure to choose the option that INCLUDES PHOTOS.  Wait a little bit (around 2-5minutes, and a zip file will either be automatically downloaded or there will be a link in that same exporter page that you can click to commence download.

If you like to download your Friendster blog, you can do that too.  There are links to show steps on how to import the XML file you'll be getting from Friendster (for both Blogger and Wordpress).

Hurry!  Before it's too late!

If you're asking what kind of changes they're doing to Friendster after May 31?  Refer to my previous post (click here).



From,

Firefox version 4 - How to Confirgure Saving Tabs When Quitting

I just installed the new Firefox version yesterday and ... to my dismay, when I quit Firefox, it only gave me 2 options - "Close Tabs" and "Cancel".

See how many tabs I have open that I would need to 

re-open one by one if I don't save them?

What's missing is "Save and Quit" offer where Firefox saves all the tabs you have open before quitting, so that next time you start Firefox again, it loads all those tabs.

This is what I need that Firefox version 4 doesn't have 

(for some unknown reason).

This function is very important to me because I load all my anime pages and my online games in progress so that I won't have bookmark them, or search for them in my long list of saved sites...  I found a wonderful solution to this (searching the web) and I want to share it with everyone!

HOW TO BRING BACK "SAVE and QUIT" OPTION for FIREFOX VERSION 4
(click on the images if you want to see a LARGER version)
1)  Type about:config on your Firefox address bar (this brings you to the not-so-user-friendly version of the Firefox preferences)

2)  Click "I'll be careful, I promise!"

3)  look for the line that says "browser.showQuitWarning"

4)  Right Click and click on "Toggle" to change it to "TRUE" or double click

This remedy takes effect immediately!  No need to restart Firefox or anything.  Just simply close that tab (Yes, don't try changing anything else...  Remember you promised to be "very careful"?  ^_^)



From,

Source:  http://www.raymond.cc/

They Are Attracted to Me: Mosquitos

In the office, yesterday, and from as far back as I can remember (I think high school), I've been favored by mosquitoes more than anyone else staying in the same room as I am.  I've read once before, that mosquitoes are more attracted to the smell of perfume and to people who use lotion, than those who don't.  I'm a regular (daily) lotion user, I always have a mini lotion container in my bag, and I use perfume too.  I also read that they are attracted to body heat (well, nothing we can do about that).  I figured, it's time to update my "mosquito" knowledge based on the principle of "know thine enemy".

Here are some mosquito facts I've gathered from the internet and ways to stay clear of them:

1)  Only female mosquitoes bite for blood, but why?  Female mosquitoes require a "blood meal" for egg development.

2)  People are not their primary blood hosts.  In some areas they prefer the smell of herbivorous animals and birds.

3)  Mosquitoes locate their blood host by CO2 emissions (like when we exhale - we release a good concentration of CO2 in the air), by the lactic acid in our sweat, body heat, floral perfume scents and lotion (moist).

4)  Diet can affect mosquito magnetism, and some say people who have high potassium diet (yes, those banana dieters), tend to attract mosquitoes more than other people.

5)  Dark colored clothes tend to attract mosquitoes.  Stay away from trees with dark colored leaves as well.

6)  Aedes aegypti, the mosquito culprit for most diseases, tend to be more active in the day (9am-5pm) and they fly low (children are most often their victims).

7)  Female mosquitoes can lay 100-300 eggs at a time, or 1,000-3,000 eggs in her lifetime (females live 3-100 days).  They breed in stagnant water (yes, DOH always reminds people to make sure there's no stagnant water near where you leave or cover them up at least so that mosquitoes can't breed there.)

8)  Citronella oil when used with a diffuser can help repel mosquitoes but you have to stay near the diffuser for it to be effective.

Will knowing these facts help?  Yes, maybe, sometimes...  Well, at least the ones about "perfume", "lotion", "sweat", "stagnant water" and "dark clothes" can contribute to a mosquito free afternoon.  The other ones are just fun to know.  ^_^

Stay mosquito-bite-free and protect you and your family!  -  from Anne in Red.


*sources:
http://www.control-mosquitoes.com/#mf11
http://www.allmosquitos.com/what-attracts-mosquitos/what-attracts-mosquitoes.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026172056.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-attracts-mosquitoes.html

Transitioning to a No-Rice Diet

I'm going back to my "No-Rice" diet.

One self-designed diet that was really effective for me is my "No-Rice Diet" which, is simply, staying away from rice.  I did this diet a few months before my wedding in 2009 and it was really effective!  Well, I didn't lose as much weight as the "Biggest Loser" contestants but I did lose weight every week (everytime I go to my gown fittings, they had to adjust to make the gown smaller), and it's also something that I know I can do easily even after the wedding.  Why did I stop, well, I got cocky.   ^_^  After finding out the formula for my own weight-loss program, and finding out how semi-easy it is to do, I figured I can just go back to doing it if I find that I'm gaining some lbs.  Well, I'm gaining a "few" pounds back, so it's time to steer clear of the rice section and on to the meats, wheat breads and many more.


Reasons why it worked for me:
1)  There's only 1 rule to remember
2)  I can still eat the viands that I love without limiting myself

Challenges:
The biggest challenge really is how to not eat rice if you've been eating rice for as long as you can remember.  Staple food in the Philippines and for most Filipinos even abroad is rice.  It's always rice + viand, or even rice + anything at all (yes, some eat rice and ketchup - that's it... XD )  Not to mention, I'm a real rice eater.  I eat more rice than viand (compared to most people).  For example, Jollibee's 2pc. burger steak, I can consume 3 orders of rice (or 4 if I want to).  So how did I overcome not eating rice?  Here are the things that I think helped me transition to a NO-RICE diet:


1)  Wheat Bread
This is the ultimate savior.  I am not a bread person but, it turns out, I like wheat bread a lot! It really does a good job in making you feel full with just 1 sandwich.  It satisfies your hunger really well, and what I do is, I convert some of my favorite viands into a sandwich spread (sisig, liver steak, tuna, etc).  How do I do this?  Well, sisig, no problem with that.  You can use it as is, and just stuff it in your sandwich.  You can also put some honey barbecue sauce or any barbecue sauce to add a little sweetness, just like Subway's sweet onion sauce.  Make your own variations by adding veggies (the leafy ones and onions, etc) and/or hot sauce!

For the liver steak,  you can grind or mash it (the liver) and add some tomato paste, chili, and some onions.  For tuna, I use the canned tuna and turn that into my version of tuna sisig (cook the canned tuna in a pan and add onions, pepper, mayo, hot sauce, and egg).  Then store it in the fridge and use it whenever you want to!  Keep it in the fridge for about a week.  Longer than that, I'm not sure if it's still safe to eat.

2)  Wheat Pasta
Umm... Yes, wheat noodles for spaghetti.  We tried it, it works for me, but not for Mario.  He said that he can't enjoy the "spaghetti experience" because of the wheat pasta's different taste.  Oh well, still the same effect as wheat bread.  It makes you full a lot faster than regular noodles.  It's because of all the fiber in it.  Do I use the same sauce?  Yes, the same spaghetti sauce recipe without change (and lots of cheese).  I told you, the reason why this diet was easy for me is because there's only 1 rule, and that's no rice.  ^_^  But still, I lost weight!  Because if wheat pasta makes you full faster than regular noodles, you won't get another serving, thus also lesser sauce... I guess... ^_^;

3)  2 Viands - No Rice
In the office, at lunch, I order 2 viands (no rice) and eat them by themselves.  ^_^;  (Umm... I can already sense violent reaction from some readers...)  Yes, it's possible.  But you'd have to choose the type of viands that have a lot of meat, big chunks of veggies, or viands that are soup-based and the other viand which is dry or a little saucy so they balance out.  Viands that are meaty and also with lots of veggies like kare-kare, caldereta, liver steak (yes, I love liver dishes), and sweet and sour pork/fish.  Soup-based viands that can be eaten alone or with bread or another viand are sinigang, tinola, and nilagang baka.

4)  Water
Lots of water!  Our bodies need that anyway.  It's to make you feel full if you really have that urge to eat.

5)  Meat
Eating a lot of meat with veggie side dish is what Mario really enjoyed when he joined me in my diet.  He particularly loved grilled fish, grilled beef steak, and grilled chicken.  So all things grilled plus corn on the side or something else.

6)  Weekends are the only exception... ^_^
I'm a food blogger and I just can't resist going to restaurants and tasting their dishes (with rice).  I mean, come on, there's gotta be 1 (or 2) days of reward after 5 days of successfully (assuming) not eating rice, right?

7)  Fruits!
That's a no-brainer, right?  Lots of this, and you can switch them up (different fruit everyday).

*  I coupled my diet with green tea, as it helps increase your body's metabolism by a certain percentage, thus burns more calories than usual.  Some folks recommend 4 cups of green tea, I only took 1 or 2 during the time I was doing the no-rice diet.  I'm still drinking green tea occasionally.

I really had fun with that diet but it can also be a little more expensive than the usual rice+viand meal.  For starters, wheat anything is more expensive than regular anything (wheat bread vs regular bread, and wheat pasta vs regular pasta).  Next is buying a serving of rice is a lot cheaper than buying an extra viand.  Rice is 10-15php in most restaurants, but viand (in an office cafeteria) is around 50-60php.  So if other people have 70php lunches, you spend 120php for your no-rice lunch.

After reading those transitioning tips, do you think it will still be difficult for you to do this diet?  I'm not a doctor or a scientist so I don't know the other implications to the body of this diet.  Best is to always consult your doctor before doing a drastic change to your diet.  But the most important thing is to love yourself, your body, your face, the whole you no matter the size, weight, color, shape.

Love yourself and everyone else around you will feel how much you respect and value yourself so they will treat you with the same respect you treat yourself. - from Anne in Red.

Amateur Mini-Photoshoot - With a Point and Shoot Camera

^_^  Just sharing some of the shots we got from a mini-photoshoot at home.  I needed a solo picture for something (I'm excited to tell you but I can't 'coz it's still in the works...), so I "hired" my Mario to be my photographer (Thanks, Huney! - yes, that's "u" in my version of "honey").  And before we start, because Mario's not the most patient photographer out there, I told him that he needs to take a lot of shots so that we'll have lots to choose from.

Here are some of the good ones...  ^_^

* There's a couple of shots showing me and my new painting in progress... ^_^  I'll post it once it's done.

Camera Used:  Casio Exilim 6MP


LESSONS LEARNED:
1)  Make sure that you get rid of everything you don't want to see in the photo before the shoot.  EVERYTHING!  You'll see some household stuff in the background of some photos, and even my comb, make-up, kabuki brush.. ^_^  Yes, too lazy to put them away...

2)  Take time to retouch every after 3-5 shots.  I was sweating like crazy because we can't have the fan blowing my hair and whatever everywhere so it was really hot for me.  And, because I was too lazy and too complacent that the shots will not get ruined by a little bit of sweat, I ended up with pictures where I had good poses, but really shiny and wet nose, or forehead or cheeks...

3)  Sweep and mop away!  Hahahahaha!  Yeah, I skipped cleaning duties that week and it showed in the photos.  ^_^;

4)  Lighting is everything.  It would have been better if we had better lighting.  I think it's still best if this was done outdoors with natural light, so that's what we'll do next time if there's any need for another mini-photoshoot.

5)  Test your make-up with a couple of shots and adjust if needed.  I wanted a more visible eye make-up but that didn't happen.  I thought that I had already put enough shades on my lids, but it they didn't show in the photos.


In the end, I enjoyed it and Mario seemed to enjoy it too... ^_^  We'll do it again some other time, and maybe next time it will be his turn to be the subject, and I will be the photographer!  That'll be so much fun!  I love taking pictures and for my other blog, I really do take time to get the right angle and the right light.

Have you done any "at-home" photoshoots too?  How did they turn out?  Hopefully better than ours!  Share some tips and your own 'lessons learned'!

Anne in Red

Want To Sing Duet But Noone To Sing With?

I love to sing, and whether singing loves me doesn't really matter, I'll sing anyway.  I especially love singing with someone else, unfortunately, it's really hard to find people to sing a duet with me whenever I feel like singing.  It's not my husband's cup of tea.  He would sing, but he won't bother to learn or sing the way the male parts of the song should be sung.  I know there are a lot of people out there who, like me, want to sing a decent duet number with someone to sing the other part and not you having to sing all the parts alone... ^_^  Solution?  Or should I say, solutions?  Youtube and Keepvid!

How to get videos on Youtube with Male/Female parts only?

1st Step:  Search for Male Only/Female Only Youtube videos

Very simple, just type the title of the song you're looking for and add "Female Only" or "Male Only" after a comma.  One very good example is how I found this wonderful (one of my all time favorites) duet by Leah Salonga (my favorite local/international female singer/performer) and Brad Kane (who also sang "A Whole New World" with Leah for Disney's "Alladin").  My search terms were "we could be in love, male only" and sure enough, the first item on the search results is exactly what I was looking for.

By the way, it's always better to look for karaoke videos with lyrics on the video (on screen) so that you won't have to look for lyrics or read the lyrics out of a different screen or a printout.


2nd Step:  Download  Youtube Using KeepVid.com (so you can sing offline)

My brother introduced me to this.  Just copy the URL of the video (if it has the "&feature..." only copy the link upto before "&").

Open KeepVid.com and paste the link, hit on download and choose the format you want!  Click and Download!

Really easy thing!


Results!

Sure enough, I tried to learn the Leah-parts and "tried" is the keyword in this sentence, mind you... ^_^  And sang the song with the virtual partner....  Using Audacity, a headset microphone (yes, a very primitive tool ^_^;) and my PC's speaker, I recorded my voice singing with the Male-Only video.

Here's the result (Please please be kind... it's my first time ever posting anything on the internet of me singing anything!  And I'm not pro and definitely not a Leah Salonga, but this is purely a labor of love and fun so I hope you enjoy!):

*  By the way, let me be the first to say, I messed up big time in one part but I was too lazy to redo the audio...  I'm sure you'd be able to tell which part... ^_^;

Here's a video I made with the audio I recorded (my voice and youtube username firsttenor76):

* pictures are from our prenup session and wedding.  Against my better judgment, posted this on youtube!  Hahahha!

There you go!  You can start singing duets now over the internet!  There are a lot of videos on youtube from anime songs made minus 1, to nursery rhyms, without the annoying melody tune guide and a lot of Male-Only songs to sing with.

Happy Singing! - From Anne in Red

Bug War 2 - Tips and Review

ABOUT THE GAME

Bug War 2 is a second release (duh!) for the Bug War title by Bubblebox.com.  It’s one of those strategy games where you or your minions occupy a tower at the start of the game and you have to overrun enemies by occupying all of their towers.

There are 2 types of towers in the whole game, the Spawn tower which can produce bugs every second and there’s the Cannon tower that can fire cannon balls at incoming attacking bugs but can’t create bugs.  Both towers can hold unlimited number of bugs.  There are 13 levels in the game and after finishing a level you’ll get a rating of 1-5 stars depending on how well you do for that level.  5 stars is the maximum number of stars you can get in a game and it’s very important you get all 5 stars for every level if you want to complete the trophies.  This game encourages replay by offering trophies and other races of bugs.  At the start, you’ll see that there are 3 options for races of bugs: Agile, Fast or Strong – but you can only choose Agile type of bugs if you’re playing the game for the first time.  Fast and Strong bugs can be unlocked after finishing the game using the Agile Race.  Also, there are 12 trophies or achievements you can complete while playing the game which are all fairly easy to get.

Here's when all levels are played and have 5 stars rating each plus all the trophies completed.

HOW TO GET 5 STARS IN ALL LEVELS

The key to get all 5 stars in each level is speed and to some extent, not losing any spawn over to the enemies. 

SPEED

To finish the game really quick, you should attack the enemy straight on.  Don’t bother occupying the nearby towers if they’re not leading the shortest path to your enemy’s tower/s.  Better if you capture another spawn tower at the start of the game for higher levels so that you can produce more bugs per second, but for lower levels,  if the nearest tower is a Cannon tower, then go ahead and occupy it right away.


SPAWNS LOST

The lower levels are more forgiving in terms of losing spawns to the enemies.  As long as you finish the level really fast, even if you lose a couple of spawns or towers, you’ll still get 5 stars.  But for the higher levels, 10 and up, you’ll need to secure the spawns/towers you occupy by concentrating on putting bugs until you get to have 30 or so bugs in the tower, a comfortable number that you know can’t easily be overrun by the enemies.

Here's finishing level 1 in 11 seconds and 1 spawn lost, still got 5 stars.

OVERALL RATING FOR THE GAME

I love this type of strategy game because it does get you to think of strategies per level because some levels can prove to be challenging if you make a wrong move for the first few clicks.  But I think the games is a little too easy and the trophies, aside from being easy to get, aren’t at all that rewarding (well, maybe it’s because they’re easy to complete so that’s why there’s no ‘feeling of satisfaction’).  I like the art and the levels but after completing the whole game, I won’t bother to play the levels again unless it’s to complete the trophy set.  I’ve played a lot of other games like this that really have more replay value.

The end of credits - after you finish level 13 'aka' "The Final Level"

For more game reviews and tips, you can go to my game blog GameBoots (http://gameboots.wordpress.com).

Happy Gaming! - From Anne in Red

How to Get Top Score in Bejeweled Blitz Every week

Bejeweled Blitz is one of the games in Facebook that has sustained its popularity since it has been introduced to the site last year by PopCap.  It is a fast paced puzzle game, a round lasts only 1 minute, and the goal is to out-score your friends every week because the scores are reset every Wednesday early morning.  Here are some tips on how you can out-rank your friends every week and be the talk of the town for your high scores in this game.  Our goal is to get 300,000+++ every week for a safe spot on top.
 
First, you should know how to recognize a good set from the first 5 seconds of the game.  If you find yourself struggling to find a match, then chances are, it’s not going to give you good results in the end.  Quit it and start a new game.  If you start a game and quickly find matches easily, then that’s a good round.  Halfway through the game, if you haven’t got any multiplier or you’re still at less than 50 thousand points, then it’s best if you quit the game and start again.  It’s important not to waste time on games that won’t put you on the leader board.

This is a so-so game.  You can find 3 matches in a glance so you can play this set but I've seen better combination so you can quit this and start a new one too.

This one's a good game.  You have possibilities for big scoring and multiple jewel matches.  You can play this game.

  This is a great game!  Do I need to explain why?  Just a few clicks and you'll have bonus items!

Speed is the key to this game and as soon as the game starts, you should have already found at least a couple of possible matches in the board.  And every time you successfully find some jewels to match, as your hand is leading the mouse to make the match, your eyes should already be looking for another one.  Think a step or 2 steps ahead of the game.  If you do this, you’ll start piling up Speed Bonus.  Speed Bonus gives additional points to every quick matches you make hereafter.  Speed bonus starts at 200 and increases to 1,000 points as long as you keep matching colors or jewels quickly.  You should not break the momentum or else you’ll lose the speed bonus and have to build it up again starting 200 points.  That’s a waste of a lot of points and time.  Also, once you max out the speed bonus, as long as you keep getting matches really fast, you’ll notice that the bonus (upper left corner of the game) is filling up with orange color.  Once it’s full, you’re going to have a few seconds of speed bonus explosion.  All the jewels that you create matches with will explode and break the other jewels around it, which is good because it means more points for every match.

Learn to prioritize matches that contain 4 or more jewels instead of just 3 jewels.  Simple reason behind this is that they give you more points and give you bonus items.  It’s important that if you see bonus items such “multiplier”, “flame gem”, “star gem” and “hypercube”, you should prioritize finding matches or using them, especially the multiplier.  If you can break the multiplier as soon as you see it, then it will start multiplying the points that you get for every match from the moment you break it.  Imagine if you have 1,000 speed bonus and you currently are at 7x (after matching a 7x multiplier gem), that 1,000 speed bonus gives you 7,000 points.

Start finding matches at the bottom of the board so that it shakes up the placement of the gems and gives you a lot more chance to find good set or balance of colors and matches.

If you have enough coins to buy boosts, make sure you can buy the maximum number of boosts which is 3.  Buying just 2 or 1 won’t do much good.  Here are my top 3 boosts that work absolutely great when used together; Mystery Gem (and pray it gives you a hypercube or a multiplier), +5 seconds (adding 5 seconds at the end of the game is crucial because this is when you have a big multiplier and you’re piling up speed bonuses at this point) and Free Multiplier.  Using boosts will give you easy 300,000+ points or as much as 500,000++ points.

All in all, practice makes perfect and as soon as you get the hang of applying all the tips in this article, then you’ll find yourself placing first every week with the least amount of time spent on the game.

I hope you find these tips useful! - Anne in Red

Last Minute Father’s Day Gifts

Oh my gosh!  Father’s day is just a couple of days away!!!  I hope everyone has ordered or started working on their father’s day gifts!  If not, well, here are a few suggestions for last minute Father’s Day gifts from ones that wouldn’t cost you anything to ones that need a little financial sacrifice:

1) MUSIC
If you’re musically inclined, then why not use the talents your dad has passed on to you?  Play the guitar and sing a song for him, like “Father and Son”, “Through the Years”, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, “I’ll Stand By You” or, surprise him and have everyone sing “Happy Father’s Day To You” – tune of “Happy Birthday” – while bringing out a cake or some chips and beer.  ^_^  Even if the song wasn’t really intended for a Dad, you can change part of the lyrics to suit the occasion.

2) ART
If you’re into the arts and crafts, here are some great artistic last minute father’s day gift suggestions that small kids and moms can do together,  as well as artistic ideas for the big kids… ^_^

A.  Custom Made Greeting Card with Handwritten Message

Back to basics.  This is one of the easiest last minute Father’s Day gifts.  Just fold a regular bond paper twice to make your basic greeting card shape.  On the front part, draw whatever you want to draw for Dad, let mommy help you, and then for the inside of the card, write your message.  Nothing beats a handwritten message in this age of computers, texts, and emails.  You can use crayons, water-based paints/poster colors, cutouts, glue, a pair of scissors and anything else you want to use.   Be creative!  You can use harder, thicker special papers if you want.  Throw in a poem you've made to make it more special!


B.  Handmade Picture Frame with Family Photo or Scrapbook

Make a decorative picture frame by using craft materials like ready-made letterings you can buy from the arts/crafts (scrapbook) section of the bookstore, some buttons, lace, etc.  For the frame, you can use illustration board or any kind of board you want.  You can even recycle parts of the big balikbayan boxes.  Just use the side that doesn’t have any print or you can cover up the print with your art materials.

Mini-scrapbooks are also available.  You can put your baby pictures there or photos with you and your Dad together.  You don’t have to put photos on every page.  You can have family members sign or write a message in some of the pages.  Put photos of your Dad hard at work, photos of your Dad in the garage, family day pictures, etc.


C.  Powerpoint Presentation with Background Music and Family Photos

Be very creative here!  Mix some nice background music with your favorite photos with Dad and the whole family!  Easy last minute father’s day gift!  You can have funny captions for every photo, and have a theme and a title to tie up the whole presentation, something like “When I Grow Up…”  ^_^ Plus PCD soundtrack?  ^_^  Funny!   Then have your photos with Dad from babyhood upto your current age…  And towards the end of the presentation, switch to a more serious music and add some sincere and serious messages, something like, “And as the years have passed us by, the more I realized how much of a wonderful Dad you are.  I hope someday I could be half as wonderful as you are.  Happy Father’s Day!” 

After you finish the presentation, save it and send it via email, or post it on his Facebook wall, or sneak in and copy it to his laptop or the PC and trick him into opening the file.  Use a funny filename too if you want, or use a filename that goes like this, “Open this if you are (name of your dad).pptx”.


D.  Customized T-Shirt

This one, you can either do it yourself or have it printed by someone else.  T-shirts would cost around 150Php – 200Php depending on the size and brand of plain shirt.  If you’re going to design your own Father’s Day T-shirt gift and print it on the shirt yourself, it’s best to use cotton shirts although there are “Transfer papers” that are for semi-elastic shirts too.  The transfer papers cost around 100Php or less and they come in pairs or sometimes 5pcs, depending on what type you get.  You’ll have a choice of buying light transfer papers which are used for white T-shirts and dark transfer papers for colored shirts.  There are instructions on how to print and transfer the designs but it’s basically ironing the design into the shirt.

 If all that seem too complicated or inconvenient for you, malls have specialized shops or stalls that print designs you choose from their own album, into the T-shirt of your choice.  Easier!  You can choose to have letters and spell out a name or a message.  Each letter will cost around 5Php each.  Designs can cost from 20-100Php depending on the type and size of design.  This one’s fast and you’ll get the shirt in seconds after you finalize your design and layout on the shirt.

3)  SERVICE
What Dad doesn’t want to be pampered by his kids or his wife?  Offer to be of service the whole day!  Everything he wants, you do!  Let's say... a massage?  Back rub?  Watch his favorite movies over and over again?  Sing videoke?  Play golf?  Or you can give him a gift certificate of his favorite store whether it’s a sport shop, a clothes shop or a massage parlor.

3)  LUNCH or DINNER OUT
You can treat him to a dinner or lunch out at his favorite restaurant, or you can check out my food blog (http://thewanderingboots.wordpress.com) for restaurant reviews to find which restaurant is right for your celebration.  I recommend Lime 88 ^_^. 



These are just some of the last minute Father’s day gifts you can give your Dad, but since every Dad is special from all the Dads, I’m sure you know what the best gift is for your Dad.  It’s really the thought that counts and the effort or time your put into thinking about the gift or doing it.  This is just one day in a year that we honor our fathers, and I hope we honor them well and give them the proper respect and gratitude they deserve. 

Happy Father’s Day to my Papa! – from your little (well, not so little anymore) Letlet, now turned Anne in Red.


Here are some of our pictures from last year's Father's Day (2009)!  We were lucky enough to spend that day with him while he's in the Philippines!  He's such a funny Dad! Super Dad!

Reminiscing our Racks lunch at SM North EDSA with Papa some years back...  It's Racks again, MOA branch!

And here are some cute shots we took somewhere from several locations in MOA.



Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Papa, Itay, Ama out there! - From Anne in Red.

Wedding Preparations - Where to Start?

In the light of the anniversary of one of the best things that happened in my life, our wedding, I would like to give some wedding preparation tips to all bride-to-be’s out there as they’re planning for their wedding because I know that wedding preparations are one of the most daunting tasks any 2 persons (I assume the groom is going to help the bride) can take on.  I’ll break my posts down into parts because I’m sure it’s going to be a long series of tips.

Where to begin?  What are the first steps?

Once you’ve said yes to one of the most famous questions in the world, “Will you marry me?” or even if you skipped that and just decided you’ll tie the knot, you can start your wedding plans with either of the 2 options:

A. Choosing the Date

This is for couples who have set a date in stone and don’t ever want to change that wedding date for personal reasons like favorite number, favorite date, significant date, tradition or cultural beliefs.  This means, that everything else, like the venue availability and guest availability, will have to work around this.  So, set a date first before going forward.  This will be your guiding star throughout the planning stage.  The best preparation time is a year or more before the wedding so it’s best to set a date a year or more ahead.  Making reservations or services will be a lot cheaper, your guests will have more time to plan their trip if they will be coming from outside the country and you won’t have to rush things and get all tensed on the wedding day.

The Anne in Red Experience:

Personally, we had 2 years to plan for ours, and that’s just fine because we had a habit of relaxing a bit and getting side-tracked when planning.  ^_^  We originally wanted a Christmas season wedding because the hotels and the churches are wonderfully decorated at that time of the year.  But, due to other factors, specifically my dad’s availability, that didn’t happen.  So clearly, this wasn’t our guiding star.


B. Choose the Church (or Ceremony Venue) and/or Reception Venue

This is for couples who have a specific church or venue in mind and everything else will have to work around that venue.  That means, it’s more important for you to get that venue and you’re flexible with the date of the wedding.  Decide if it’s your dream church or a dream reception venue, either way, make sure that both locations, where you’re going to have your wedding rites and the reception, are close to each other.  This is going to be your North star, and your plans will generally revolve around this.

The Anne in Red Experience:

This is exactly the path we went on.  We, well, I had a church in mind and have wanted to get married in it since I was in high school, love at first sight.  When I was in high school, It was a church in the middle of a reclamation area in Pasay and it was the only structure there.  It was like a church disconnected from the city but still very close to it.  Fast forward 10 or so years after, one of the biggest malls in the Philippines (Mall of Asia) was right in front of it and soon many other huge structures around the area that turned it into a metropolis!  Well, I still wanted to get married there so I had to put up with all the buildings and the crowd from the mall.  Later on, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

 Here's The church from the outside.  Clean lines, really neat and just breathtaking in a simple elegant way.  I love how simple and clean it looks.  It's like all outlines and no rough lines.

  Here's the church from the inside.  I love it even if it's huge and really not ideal for small intimate weddings.  Our wedding was small with 100-150 guests, but still, I wanted this big church not for the prestige but because I've laid my eyes on it for a long long time, and I just wanted my dream to come true.  Love it!

And here's how it looked in December.  Yes, the lights change!:






There certainly are other ways you can start your wedding preparations.  It really depends on your priorities and your technique or style as a couple.  Wedding is a big project in which the bride and groom are the project managers.  Create your own style of approach but if you’re lost and find yourself not knowing where to start, you can choose from either one of the options I enumerated.  I know that when it comes to wedding preparations, you'll need all the help you can get!


Happy planning and don’t get stressed out!  Have fun while preparing for the big day!  A reminder from Anne in Red.


* By the way, you can find more details about our wedding on our wedsite that you might be able to get ideas from at http://www.mywedding.com/mariolovesanne/.  You can also create your own free wedsite account to document your wedding preparations!