Blessings!

We were truly blessed when we went for our Ipoh Trip last week. We met able to join the seminar, met with our friends and on the way back home, we were also able to visit our family in Taiping.

We stayed in one of our friend's house and indeed they were very hospitable and blessed family. We admire the parents and how they've brought up their children ( in their 20s) to be very respectful and kind. One night we saw the whole family gathered in the dinner table for Bible study and prayer. It has been their ritual for many years to pray together and study God's word. Wow! We were impressed as to how the parents nurture their children in God's word. My Hubby and I were encouraged to do the same too when our children will grow a little bit older.

When we were in Ipoh, we also had a wonderful surprise when our friend took us for shopping. They told us that they want to bless and and asked us to pick any clothes we like for us and our kids and they will be the one to pay for it. :) We felt shy and tried to refuse their offer but they said, they can choose for us but we might not like it so we better choose for ourselves. So all of went home bringing our new clothes. It's such a blessing...imagine, we didn't have to save nor do cash advance no faxing to be able to buy new clothes but it was given to us as gifts. Thank God for wonderful friends.

Ah Long or Loan Sharks

What is an Ah Long? As described by Wikipedia,

Ah Long (derived from the Cantonese phrase "daai ji lung", 大耳窿) is a term for illegal loan sharks in Malaysia and Singapore. They lend money to people who are unable to obtain loans from banks or other legal sources, mostly targeting habitual gamblers. They charge a very high interest rate (about 40% per month/fortnight which equals 1422%/33087% per annum due to the constantly compounding interest.) and frequently threaten violence (and administer it) towards those who fail to pay in time.

That's why there are a number of cases in Malaysia where the lenders were being harassed, tortured or blackmailed by the Ah Longs or loan sharks. Sometimes, when the lenders are unable to pay and the pressures and threats of the loan sharks are too unbearable, they tend to take their own lives. This is such a pitiful state.

That's why Malaysia is warning their citizens on these illegal money lenders. But one reason why the people are also being drawn to them is that because money could be loaned fast and without a collateral and therefore pay their outstanding debts from other people/establishments fast. But the problem is, it's illegal and the Ah Longs are tough. They could have gone to legal companies that offer debt loan consolidation or better yet they could have managed their finances well and lived within their means so as not to owe anyone.

My Precious Jewels

Here are the latest pictures of my kids.. It's a little bit dark since I just took a picture of their studio pics. I also don't have a program to edit this and make this brighter..heheh! Anyways.. i just want to show you God's precious gifts for me.. I'm a blessed Mom with these two adorable kids. :)

My Dream House

This is one of my dream houses called Falling Water. It's the house designed by my favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright . Ever since my Interior Design days, I've always admired Frank Lloyd Wright's building designs as they are simple yet functional and blends in well with nature and the environment. Though some people dislike his designs as they find it too stiff and bare. But back to the house, just take a look at this house, it blended really well with the waterfalls, unobtrusive to the natural surroundings and it didn't look like something that is out of place.

Our house in the Philippines is near the river and it is my dream to rebuild our house to be designed something like this. A house that doesn't seem to have just jutted out from nowhere but would have to blend very well with the natural surroundings, the river , trees and etc. The house would have a modern design but with the use of different textured rocks, logs, with good natural light and ventilation. Well, I would have to find a 'Frank Lloyd Wright' Filipino architect. to help me conceptualize my dream house. But before anything else, I would need millions of pesos worth of mortgage loan first for this dream house to be realized. Oh well, I guess for now it will remain to be a dream. Dream...dream. dream.

To Buy or not to Buy

We found a very cheap laptop yesterday at Tesco. The brand was Asus and it's so cute . It's white and only has an 8.5 " LCD. It's very light and very handy to carry everywhere. And guess what, it was worth for only 12,000 baht! Whew! I think this is the cheapest laptop I've ever seen. The configurations are good too but I guess only the brand is not so popular. Anyway, we were looking at it and my Hubby asked me if I want a laptop of my own. I thought that it would be good to have one so my blogging career can be undisturbed( hehehe) but actually it's not a need.

And then, I calculated the amount in $$ and I later realized that I could actually buy one if I want to because I have my blog earnings. Hmmm.. I thought for awhile, it's very tempting huh? BUT then again I reminded myself that my blog earnings is reserved to save for our trip next year so, I easily shun the tempation away. :)

Well, if I really wanted to buy the laptop without using my blog earnings, I could easily get payday loans with sites that offers cash advance no credit check but still, I don't find it a need and I'm very much contented using my HUbby's laptop.

Refresh..Refresh...Refresh..

This is one of the most important button when you're doing paid blogging. You refresh the browser like hundreds of times for you to be able to grab an opportunity to write paid reviews.

So, for the past 2-3 hours I've been doing that while I was also writing my posts. And now I feel dizzy.. hehehe! Too much thinking maybe on how to create a meaningful post to put a certain link.. and dizzy because of constant refreshing my browsers and going back and forth different sites.

I still have a few more posts to finish.. but I guess I'll just have to do that tomorrow and be on a break. I'm not complaining but no matter how you enjoy blogging but if there's just so many assignments to write, it'll wear you out, eventually. And to think I only have 3 blogs..what about those who have more? But still I'm thankful for the tasks that comes my way.. It's an added blessing for us. BUT I just need some break..

I'm tired and I better rest now.

HAve a Blessed Weekend Everyone!

Good Bye Eyeglasses?

My Hubby uses eyeglasses since his vision is no longer 20/20. Whenever he forgets to wear his glasses, driving would really be a struggle for him since he is near sighted and therefore he couldn't see clearly from afar. And at the end, he gets headache as he forces himself to see from afar.

One of my Hubby's dream is to get his eyes corrected through the use of LASIK technology. I've read a little bit of LASIK information and indeed I'm amazed by such high technology. This procedure has been used by NASA and US Military to improve the vision of these specialized personnel facing extreme, physically demanding conditions. The Department of Defense and NASA even validated the fact that " today’s LASIK exceeds all established standards of safety and effectiveness". So, it means that the procedure is not just safe but as well as very effective.

In a survey done in 100 military personnel who has undergone this procedure, 95% achieved 20/20 uncorrected vision or better. Then 100% of the naval aviators who has undergone this procedure also higly recommends this to other naval aviators.

If you have some problems with your vision, wouldn't it be great to forever say Good bye to your eyeglasses and welcome a 20/20 vision through iLASIK.

Amusing Tricia

Our 4 year old girl sometimes gives us amusing remarks that make us chuckle. I can't remember many of them but here are samples of her chatter that is themed on ' Husbands'.

Scene 1: At the gasoline station

Tricia: What are you doing, Appa?
Appa: I'm putting gas for the motorcycle.. This is how you do it.. ( Appa demonstrating how to put gas inside the tank and etc..)
Tricia : ( Becomes silent for awhile and then.. ) Oh?.. That's how you do it. When I grow up, and when I have a husband, we will come here in the gas station and I'll teach him how to put gas for our motorcycle!
Appa: ( Scratches head and just become silent..)

Scene 2: Inside the van with Pati ( Grand mother in Tamil) and the Attais ( Aunts in Tamil)

Tricia: Why are you not married yet Debo Attai?
Debo Attai: Because I'm still young.
Tricia: When I grow up, I will marry a Filipino!
Pati: Why not Indian, same like your Amma married to your Appa who's an Indian.
Tricia: Ah..... ( thinks hard..) OK.. I'll marry an Indian.

* note: The Filipino Amma nevercoached her to choose a Filipino husband.. ok? hehehe!!

Rice, Anyone?

It's already late here and I'm hungry. It'll be too late and unhealthy to eat at such time but looking at the photo above makes me all the more hungry. This is a Mississippi Redfish Courtboullion with Seafood Dirty Rice. This recipe was created by Chef John Currence from Mississippi and is a winning recipe for the 2008 GREAT AMERICAN SEAFOOD cook off.

This recipe is my favorite among the rest since it's a mixture of rice, seafood and a little bit of meat with all the herbs, sauce and spices. Just reading through the recipe made my mouth water and it seems that I could already smell the delicious aroma of this dish. If only I could try out this recipe. It does seem a little bit complicated and requires a lot of spices which I'm not sure if it's available here. But then, I can always look for a substitute. I'm not also familiar with the fish being cooked in this dish since it's seems like a local one. It's indeed best to utilize domestic seafood since it's a lot fresher, tastier and not to mention cheaper compared to the imported ones.

If you're interested to download the recipe from the photo above, then better visit www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com and you'll get to see the other winning recipes as well. You can also get a chance to win a a trip to New Orleans prize package by just voting for your favorite recipe. No purchases required. Just visit the site, cast your vote and get a chance to win!

Free Water and Electricity

Just a week ago, we found out that aside from the water bill the Thai government is also subsidizing their citizens' electric bill. The bill must not exceed a certain amount of usage and then it'll be free. But if it does exceed the limited amount, then they have to pay on their own. I think this is also a drive from the Thai government to let the people be aware and conserve power and water. They also have a similar program for the water bill, like if the water bill is under 500 baht and then you don't have to pay anything anymore.

Last month, we were happy that we also saved some money since our water bill was under 500 baht. We thought that this time, we would also be exempted from paying our electricity bill. But unfortunately when we saw our bill this morning, it exceeded 500 Baht and therefore we have to pay ourselves.

But you know what, after finding out of our excess, we started to become more aware of our electric usage and get to quickly turn off the lights and fans when it's no longer in use. Hopefully, next month we will be able to avail of the 'free' electricity from the government.

The Frustrated Singer

Aside from talking, our Li'l girl loves to sing. She sings from English , Tamil, to Tagalog songs and even creates her own language and sings it. It's really cute when children sings songs but the problem is , she usually sings at the top of her voice and to the point of shouting. It's a bit annoying sometimes, especially when my Hubby and I are seriously talking and here is our Li'l opera singer, doing her act. And just this evening, when we asked her to stop singing since my Hubby and I are talking, she exasperately said, " Why doesn't anyone want me to sing?". My Hubby and I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Maybe I should get her a vocal coach so, she'll learn how to control her voice and sing sweetly.

Seriously, if our Li'l girl is really interested in singing and music, we would gladly let her do some lessons. My Mom sent me for piano lessons when I was younger, but I guess I wasn't really interested that's why I didn't last long and on top of that my teacher was very strict and snobby. I never enjoyed Saturday mornings then.

That's why when looking for a music or singing school better choose the best as this will indeed make or break the student. I heard that the International Artist Academy has the best training as they just don't want to create a singer out of the student but a complete artist who will have the potential to excel in the international scene. Wow!

Back from Ipoh and Taiping

I've been away for awhile since our family went to Ipoh and Taiping for the weekend. We truly had a great time with family and friends there.

We were not able to get a chance to go around Ipoh this time since my Hubby was busy with meetings. In Taiping, we been to two malls and discovered that they were on Merdeka Sale. It's going to be Malaysia's 51st Independence day this 31st and they usually have a nationwide sale during this time. So, most of their items were really on sale from 10-70% off. So we were able to buy a pair of pants and shirt for my HUbby.

And while were were going around Taiping, we saw a new mall that's going to be opened on the 31st of August. It's called Taiping Central and it's quite big. What excites me about this mall is that there's a big cinema inside, Starbucks Coffee and all the other fast food chains! Wow! Taiping is no longer a lonely sleeping town. It's really booming with all the malls and fast food chains sprouting around. Shopping or rather window shopping is no longer constrained only in Taiping Jaya but now there are more choices like Tesco, Giant, Taiping Central and etc. I'm excited because we will be staying there for 3 months next year and it means we have more places to go and eat during our stay there. :)

Of Cameras, New York and Tours

I was just chatting with my cousin and we were able to talk about my bro-in-law's experience when he went to New York and went on a tour to see the Statue of Liberty. So when it was time to take photos, everyone took out all their digital cameras. My bro-in-law was so amazed at all his companions' cameras. They were all so slim, small and all looked hi tech. And reluctantly, he took out his camera which was 'huge' compared with all his friends' cameras. And so they stated to take photos of the great statue, but it seemed that his companions' cameras can't fully capture the great image. So, at the end, his seemingly big and low tech camera was the only one that captured the whole statue.

Well, it must be fun going on New York tours with friends. I could just imagine the bloopers, the laughter and jokes that circulates around. What makes it even more memorable is you get to see a lot of places and do interesting things with great companions. But you must make sure to check some online travel guides so you won't get lost and be able to get most out of your trip.


I heard that Trusted Tours and Attractions offers discounted tickets to the best sightseeing tours like the Cypress Gardens Florida in 23 cities across America. Well, if you're planning for a vacation somewhere better sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and get a chance to win a $150 Magellan’s Gift Certificate!

IM Blogger Contest: Win 300$ and Custom Domains

While I was blog hopping I came across IM Blogger which is holding a cool contest with cool prizes. Well, since I'm in the mood for contest these days, I thought of joining and who knows I might be able to get some of these cool prizes.

Here is the list of the prizes that you can get a chance to win, once you join:

1st prize.
125$ cash.
2 .COM/.NET/.ORG domain names of your choice.

2nd prize.
100$ cash.
2 .COM/.NET/.ORG domain names of your choice.

3rd prize.
75$ cash.
1 .COM/.NET/.ORG domain name of your choice.

How to join?

1) You just need to subscribe the blog's feed via email and that will entitle you 2 entries. If you don't have a blog yet, you can still join by subscribing via email.

2) And/Or you can blog about the contest and which entitles you another 5 entries.

The more entries you have, the more chances you'll get in winning the Grand prize of 125$ and custom domain.

So, check out the contest now before the deadline ends which is on the 1st of September. Who knows you might also be one of the winners... don't forget to give a treat then okay?

Haayy....

It was just recently that I've been serious with 'catching' opportunities to write paid posts for my blog. Serious means , constantly checking and refreshing the sites for me to able to grab an offer or two. For the past weeks, I was blessed to get a few opportunities and I'm glad that we could save some money for our upcoming trip, next year.

So today, I made an effort to be in front of the computer as much as I can and try to grab an offer. Indeed for the whole day, our computer was on and whenever I'm free ( and I really make it a point to be 'free') , I just refresh my browsers and hope to get an opportunity.

Afternoon, Evening came... but still I was not able to grab any. Then, just an hour ago, I saw one that popped out !! I was so surprised to see one and I panicked!! hahah! My connection was quite slow , so when I clicked to reserve the opportunity, it looked as if it wasn't moving at all. So, I hurriedly closed some of my windows and my media player ( since music was on) and thought that maybe all these slows down my connection.

And then suddenly, my window for that site disappeared!! Only then I realized that I mistakenly closed it as I thought it to be my windows media player! Arrgghhhhh!!!

So, there goes my opportunity... and now, I'm kinda regretting that I've kinda wasted the whole day, waiting, waiting, refreshing, refreshing.. and I got nothing..heheh!

Tomorrow will be another day... I don't think I'll do the same thing again.. I've learned my lesson and I'll have to do what I have to do first and not try too hard to get some tasks.

So, for now I need to get some sleep. Gud nyt!

On Going Home

We're so excited to go back home!! A few more months to go and we'll be going back home to the Philippines.. Yippee!! I'm already mentally listing out all the things that we're going to do there, the people we have to visit or meet, the food that I want to eat and all the other things. For sure we will be busy going around the city to SM, Big R, Limketkai and etc. Oh you must have noticed, all the places I've mentioned are all malls or shopping centers. That's because I'm a Filipino. That's what my Hubby has really noticed, Filipinos love to go to the malls. Oh, I'm really looking forward for the few months break that our family is going to spend in the Philippines.

One good news though is that my blogging life is going to be uninterrupted as my mom already subscribed for an ADSL connection in preparation for my coming.. hehehe! I've got a cool mom! huh! My Mom, who we call as Nanay got a friendster and facebook account. Maybe I should teach her how to blog too.

oh..I'm so excited...I just hope days would go so fast...

My Cheeky Boy

My Li'l Guy just turned 10 months on the 15th and boy he's a real BOY!.. haahah! So strong, active and bites real hard that could make me scream for help.

Here are some of his development:

• He's got 4 teeth now and when he bites..OUCHH!
• He could expertly clap his hands.
• When asked, " What's your name?" answers ..JE - DA!!! ( his real name is Jedaiah Lyle)
  
• When asked to point the bird.. He points up the sky!
• Dances or rather head bangs, when he hears loud music.
• When he's holding something 'illegal' and you're trying to get it from him, he crawls away soo fast and holds the 'illegal' thing soo tight!
• When he's scolded, he makes that face like he's going to cry but there won't be any tears.
  
• Waves hand to 'say' bye bye.
• When in a good mood, he goes to anyone from neighbors, to sales ladies, to security guards and etc...

Haay Lyle, buguy na mn kau ka uy!!My Man with my li'l guy.. flying a kite

Of Tricia's INdependence and Being with the Ates

My li'l girl is only 4 years old but it seems that she's growing up too fast ...

Since her favorite 'ates' were here for the weekend. She always kept close with them and even asked me and my Hubby if she could sleep with her Tabi Ate and Debo Ate. So, we agreed and thought that maybe she'll change her mind. But she didn't instead she took all her night clothes and milk with her since she'll bathe by herself in their room and drink her milk before going to sleep . And when I went up to their room to check on her, she was telling me, "it's okay Amma, I can sleep here with Tabi Ate.. You can go back to your room now, Amma". Oh , and she was shooing me out of their room! Ouch! heehehe!

SO, for the whole three days her Ates were here, she spent most of her time with them. She truly enjoyed every minute of it. Only then I realized that my once so clingy li'l girl has changed and found her 'independence'. A part of me was glad that she has grown..but a part of me still wanted to hold on.. that's the drama of a mom I guess. :)

But maybe she just really enjoyed being with her Ates so much that she didn't mind not being with us for the past days. When it was time for them to go, she just felt so sad and cried and begged us if we could let her Tabi Ate stay with is in Hatyai. :)

But anyways, just 3 more weeks to go and we'll see them again..

Techno Christmas 2008

Want your Technorati to increase? Grab this Tag now!

*Start Copy Here*

You do not have to be tagged to play along. This game is simple and so here are the rules.

1. Copy from "START COPY HERE" to "STOP COPY HERE".

2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post the "Techno Christmas 2008" at each site you add.

3. You have a choice to tag or not to tag, however, the more tags you create the longer the list will grow.

4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving a comment HERE, so I can add you to the master list.

5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often as you can. This will allow the new comers to achieve equal benefit as the late comers do.

6. Watch your Authority Rise

7. You may want to grab the Techno Christmas Badge

Please follow the rules. Blogs in the list will be subject to removal if their lists are not updated. I will check all of the blogs once a week.

Masterlist:

1. Aeirin Collections 2. Biz-N-Honey 3. Life In Pictures 4. Pinay Mommy Online 5. Blessings and Beyond 6. Mommy Earns Money 7. OnlineBiz and Resources 8. Lourdes' Mia 9. Digital Life Scraps 10. Pexlinks Triple Love 11. Pinay Mommies Community 12. Deranged Insanity 13. Traipsey Turvey 14. PierrEzarh 15. Dancing in Midlife Tune 16. Life is What we Make it 17. Picture Clusters 18. My Wanderings 19. Maiylah’s Snippets 20. Moments of Colours 21. MBA On Line 22. Mom of 2 Dancers 23. Wonderful Things In Life 24. The Fountain Of Happiness 25. A message From My Heart 26. My Life's Adventure 27. Photographic Memories 28. Love Is... 29. The Joy Of Life Forever 29.In My Dreams 30. I love nice 31. My Resting Place 32.You In My Heart 33. Life's All About 34 Design By Pieces 35. Gala Tayo! 36. Buhay Pinoy~Making Money 37. Hesitant Wife's Blog 38. PTC100 39. My Little Home 41. All Because Two People Fell in LOVE 42. Come, Let's Talk 43. Three P's in a Pod 44. 3P's In a Pod 45. Ivory Task 46. I Play Mom 47. Lalaine's World 48. YOUR BLOG HERE...

* END COPY HERE *

I am tagging everyone from my blogroll, grab it now!!

Let's Be Practical

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, My Brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to GOd in all good conscience to this day. ' Acts 23:1

Let's be practical about decorating. Being practical really isn't boring. Rather, as you clear away the hassles you will discover that you will have more opportunity to be creative. I have a few questions to ask before you start decorating. They are so simple, yet most people forget to think through some important practical details. These questions will help get you started.

How often are you willing- and able- to clean your house? If you hate dusting, what's the point of all the knickknacks sitting around? Is there anyone allergic to feathers , wool, or other fabrics? What about the needs of small children or pets? Do you have special lighting requirements?Will you be doing a lot of entertaining? You'd be amazed at the number of people who forget to ask the crucial and then end up with a beautiful home that no one can enjoy- except maybe the decorator! It wouldn't hurt to do a little inventory with a friend before you start decorating. It helps to keep things easy and of course , simple.

Simple Pleasures

• Plan a personal one-afternoon vacation - choose a destination just a couple of hourse away.
• Look at a local college catalog and consider taking a class or seminar.
• Make a goal this week, and then toast its completion with delicous sparkling cider.

Wisdom for Living

When I see my life through your eyes , Lord, I know what matters most. I pray for perspective and discernment as I make choices abuot the use of time.

Mom's Devotion COming Up!

In the next few days I'll be sharing with you excerpts from the Devotional Book I'm using. Each daily reading has a dose of encouraging tidbits of advice from the author Emilie Barnes, ideas for simple pleasures, "wisdom for living" prayers and assurances of God's word.

I really like this book since its very easy reading, short and practical. I think that's why it's entitled Keep It Simple For Moms on the Go by Emilie Barnes.

If you're a Mom, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading this book since it's really meant for busy Moms. That's why I thought it would be nice if I'll post some of the day's devotion here.

So, stay tuned...

Great Find!

We've been wondering for quite sometime how to download YouTube , convert it and save it in the CD until my Hubby through the help of the internet found a way to do it. It's actually a free software that he just downloaded in our computer. So, now we're enjoying watching the YouTube videos in our computer offline since it's all stored in the CD or sometimes just in our hard drive.

Just now, I also discovered a powerful all-in-one multimedia application that offers conversion, ripping, editing, recording, burning, playback, ( and much more!) of videos and audio. Other great features are also included in this application like include video capture, video creation, combining, and extraction, video editing, copying of music CDs, and more. It has AVI converter too!

Quite an extensive list of feautres huh? Oh well, I'm excited to tell my Hubby about this. It sure is a great find since this will help us to make our video presentations a whole lot better!


Here is a sample snapshot of its video editor.

I've Lost!!

No.. I didn't lost a game or a tournament.. but instead I've lost some weight! YEs, you've read it right... weight! I've been battling with my weight for the past months because even if I've already given birth 10 months ago but my extra weights, fats and flabs just refused to budge.

I've tried to do some kind of diet here and there but I was never successful as I always get tempted to eat my favorite dessert or my favoorite Thai food. So, last week I resolved to be serious with my weight loss journey and follow the Mayo Clinic Diet or otherwise called as the Grapefruit diet.

And guess what, I've lost 3 kgs. in just more than a week. I know it's not healthy to lose such weight in such a short period of time but I'm using this to jumpstart my 'Healthy Living' goal. I think it's really working for me since, from this diet I've learned to eat and enjoy eating vegetable salads and stir fried vegetables.. yes, that's me I'm talking about..heheh! I never like dto eat vegetables.. but I think now, I can say, I already like 'em . :)

So, if you want to know the menu plan for this diet, then please visit my online weight loss journal blog called Trying to be Fit. I haven't updated it yet with my diet results but the menu is there. :)

My Custom Domain

This blog used to be free hosted by Blogger, but ever since I've gone serious with my blogging 'career', I thought it would be better for me to have my own domain. So, I bought this domain and even if I had some problems activating it a few months ago, but I'm now enjoying the benefits of it.

• 1st benefit is it's cool to have your own .com people can easily remember your site.

• 2nd benefit is it's shorter to type in the URL of your blog since you don't have to put the .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com after your chosen URL name.

• 3rd benefit is if you're into monetizing your blog, you'll get more opportunities or tasks to write paid reviews since most advertisers would want a site that's not free hosted.

So, are you thinking of buying your own domain name or .com ? It's not really expensive and in fact there are a lot of sites that can offer domain names for as low as $ 4.44 a year! If you want there are also offers for free domain names with webhosting .

You don't believe me? Then better check the site that can give you all the reviews and web hosting rating of all the Web Hosting Providers all over the worldwide web and choose for yourself the cheapest and best web host .

Talkative Tricia

Since been awhile since I've updated about my li'l girl. She's 4 yrs and 3months old now and she's still the same, she talks non-stop and ask questions unceasingly.

Just a few days ago, we've had guests from US and she easily befriended them and even went with them wherever they go. We were quite surprised that even our American friends get amazed by her use of 'big words for a little girl' as she talks to them non-stop, tell them stories and even corrects them at times on how to point their fingers here in Thailand..yes, she can be very bossy at times.

Even if my Lil girl is quite stubborn at times but she never fails to amuse me everyday with her use of words, her logic and her questions that makes me think sometimes that maybe she's just thinking too much!..hahah!

Anyway, this is just an update and I'll be updating about my Lil boy later... Yeah.. this is a proud mom speaking and please bear with me.. :)

How I Earn Through Blogging

I started blogging mainly as a past time and a way of updating our family back home and friends about our 'happenings' here in Thailand. I started blogging in my Friendster acct. almost 4 years ago, and the moved to Yahoo 360 and finally here in Blogger. And the early this year, I join the bandwagon, in earning money online through blogging. I really had a lot of expectations and I thought it was an easy task. It's really fun to blog and earn money at the same time but to gain more opportunities, you really have to spend an ample of time being online. Why? Because you need to build your traffic to improve you Alexa ranking, build backlinks and google indexes to increase your Page rank , join all the meme's in the world to improve your technorati and people to comment in your blog and so on and on.. For those you don' t know all these blogging jargon yet and wants to monetize your blog, then you have to search all these with google for hours and hours..heheh!!

Actually, I've done all those above a few months ago, and somehow I got tired of doing too much in less time that now I've resolved that I'll just do what I can in a day and not to try too hard. But, I have to enjoy blogging as I used too, since it's just my past time.

So, you might ask, HOw I earn through blogging and which sites I've joined. Here is a list of the sites where I signed up and earned in ascending order as Number 1 to be my top site:


1) Social Spark - This one of the newest sites and is like the sister company of PayPerPost. For the past 3 months, I've got regular tasks from this site. That's why it's in my Top 1 site. They've got opportunities raging from 5$-12 $. But lately, they have been quite silent and giving more opportunities to US Bloggers. I hope it'll only be this time and not forever..hehehe!

2) Sponsored Reviews - This site requires you to bid for opportunities. So, you don't have to log in to their site and refresh your browser a hundred times a day but just at least once a day to see if there are tasks for you to bid. Then once you get approved, they email you and you've got 7 days to finish your post. if your blog doesn't have Page Rank, most likely you'll only get the 5$ opportunities which becomes 3.25$ since the site gets 65%.



3) Smorty - This is the first site that I applied when I decided to monetize my blog. Their blog approval was fast and immediately I was given a task. I got some tasks for the first few weeks and then --- silence----. So, now I got tired of checking their sites for opportunities and gave up on them.



4) Review Me - I've just joined my Travel blog which has a Page Rank in this site and I've got a few tasks from them recently and their pay is quite big, I've got a 15$ task from them for one post. For this site, you must check on it regularly, as in many times a day for you to be able to grab an offer.

5) Pay Per Post - This is one of the biggest GPT blog sites and they give you 20$ just for writing the first paid post " I Signed up for PPP" and 15$ for every referral. But unfortunately, this site doesn't work well for me since you have to be constantly in their site, refreshing and refreshing your browser in order to grab opportinities. Since I don't have all the time in the world to do that, I haven't got any task ever since the first 20$ post. But, whenever when I'm online, I still try to grab their opportunities but it's either my PC is so slow or I log in at the wrong time. coz I' haven't grab any since March. But for the US based bloggers, they've been enjoying a lot of tasks and also for those with page ranks.

Update as of February 2009 - Since my blog got a Pagerank, I've been enjoying PPP's opportunities. To date, I've already earned more than 400$ just in this site.




Along with these, I've also signed up with Snapbomb , Blogsvertise ( update as of February 2009 : since my Pagerank, I've had more opportunities with Blogsvertise) and Bloggerwave but they've only given me 1 task so far.

So, these are the sites where I earned and still earning...My earnings are not that high that can be equaled to a monthly average wage but I think it's just commensurate with the amount of time I spend blogging. Maybe if I spend more time online then I can grab more tasks, build traffic, back links and bloghop to my heart's content and etc... but I don't have that much time as I have another life and that is my life as a Mom and Wife.

-- Update as of February 6, 2009

Payu2blog - This is one of the latest sites I've signed up ( a few months ago) and I would say this is one of the best sites. You don't have to wait for tasks to grab online but writing assignments are given to you on a weekly basis. Currently, I get 2-3 tasks a week and sometimes 5. Not bad for a 5$ rate per task, huh! But your blog must NOT be freehosted ( with a blogspot.com or wordpress.com) but it must be your own domain ( www.yourname.com). It took my blog quite sometime to qualify so, I had to submit my blog a few times before it got accepted. As they said, Try and Try Until You Succeed.

Blogtoprofit - Another site like payu2blog where they assign tasks to you ( by email) and your blog must be your own domain, but their tasks are not as regular ( weekly) as payu2blog.

Payingpost - The latest site in town and it works similarly like PPP .

Looking forward for the Olympics

Today will be the Grand Opening of the Beijing Olympics and I'm looking forward to watch the opening ceremony on TV, though I still don't know what time it's going to start. I'm not someone who's so much into sports but I like to watch the grand opening ceremony and some of the games especially the synchronized swimming and gymnastics. The team sports like volleyball or beach volleyball are also great games to watch but I'm sure my Hubby would be looking forward for the football games.

It's exciting to know which country will be the overall winner for the Olympics. As for my country, it's sad to say that even for a gold medal, it's so seldom for us to get one. But anyways, as they say, it's not for the Gold or for the medals but it's for the Olympic Spirit in which in spite of different color, races, languages and background, everyone gather together in unity. Wow! Sounds like how it's going to be in heaven, .." from every nation, tongue and tribe" everyone will gather to worship the King.

Back To My Own Domain

If you've noticed, my URL is redirected back to my own domain already www.lalainesworld.com. Actually, I bought this domain a few months ago, I had some problems with it and when it was finally fixed, I was doing well in one of the get paid to post sites and thought that changing back to a new domain might change my status in that site since all the real ranks, alexa rankings and etc will be back to zero. I was also hoping that old URL to get a PageRank. So, with that I decided to leave my old URL as it is.

And now since mr g has already given PRs and this blog didn't get any, I thought it's about time to change it to my own domain again. Thanks to Ruby who reminded me about it or else I should have already forgotten that I bought a custom domain for this blog. Good thing that I could still switch it though, I was a bit afraid that since my custom domain has been dormant for a few months, maybe it won't get activated anymore.

So, now I have more tasks ahead of me..changing my URL to all the sites I've applied before like my entrecard, PPP, Socialspark, Sponsored Reviews and etc.

Any if I'm in your links or Blogroll , I would like to ask a favor to please... change my URL from http://lalainejesu.blogspot.com to www.lalainesworld.com .

Thanks so much! I know it's a bit of hassle doing this..but it'll only take a second...pleasee, ..;)

Thanks!!

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Birthday Resolutions...

I'm making my birthday resolutions as I turn 32.. and one of those resolution is to strive to be healthy. It's really true that only in our 30's we won't feel so brand new anymore. A single strain can cause severe back ache, a climb of 63 steps on the stairs will leave you breathless and all the other signs of aging.. or maybe signs of being unfit, unhealthy and lack of exercise perhaps.

So, gradually I've been eating some vegetables and drinking veggie juices and drinking a lot of water. Next I'll have to gradually decrease my sugar intake. I've got a sweet tooth so this is going to be a bit hard for me. We are also going through a detoxification process now. We've bought this detox tea from a health store here. It is made from all natural ingredients but it was a bit expensive. But just yesterday we found out that there is this online store that sells the same kind of tea and they accept all kinds of credit cards. Anyways, my next step to being fit must be exercise...haaayy.. thinking about it now already makes me tired..hehehe! but I have to really motivate myself and get up and get moving....