Bayantel Wireless Sucks

A month after terminating their services, Bayantel is still giving me headaches.

I just received another bill from them. When I called customer service, a kind lady told me that their Cubao bayanCENTER has not forwarded any information as to my request for disconnection. This is after I sent the center a letter and called customer service on the same day to inform them of my decision to terminate their services. Good thing that I have a received copy of my letter.

They now want me to go back to their Cubao bayanCENTER to confirm my termination request. WHY THE HELL WILL I DO THAT? I already did what I had to do. I've broken up with Bayantel. Why will I go meet him again to remind him that it's over. IT'S OVER BAYANTEL! You've ripped me off long enough.

Misery loves company. I am not alone. Darrel James writes, "I am not the only one that BayanTel has ripped off with this. A lot of people have been complaining and returning their units and giving up their subscriptions. The ratio could be 9 out of 10 users are not satisfied. They are making money with their P500 processing fee instead of their actual monthly service fee." (Read full article here)

I wonder how Bayantel can still be in business. We victims should do something about this.

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The Terminator: Sample Termination Letter

Express your dissatisfaction! Complain! Terminate!

Below is the termination letter I am sending my wireless phone provider. Their service sucked from Day 1 but it took me more than a year to decide to terminate their services because I was too lazy to draft a termination letter.










25 May 2009

***** CENTER
[Insert the company address here]

Re : Notice of Termination of Line
---------------------------------------

Gentlemen: [I am seething mad. I don't have time to be gender sensitive.]

I am Mrs. G, the subscriber of telephone number 02******* with ***** Wireless Account No. *********. I am terminating my account effective immediately.

The unit I was given have not worked properly from the very beginning. If you check my account usage, you will notice that I rarely made or received any calls. My number is always busy or cannot be reached even if I am not using it. It takes almost 15 seconds before my call is connected, if ever it is connected.

Last week, I sent my phone unit to your center. My representative was told that I could either pay P3,000 for the repair of the unit or pay P799 for a replacement. I called your customer service center to request for the waiver of the replacement fee but it was flatly refused.

Since I could easily get a brand new unit from **** for the same amount it would cost to get a replacement from *****tel, I decided to terminate my account with you and open another one with ****.

While I am paying my current bill (May 2009), I am terminating my account immediately because I am dissatisfied with your service. I expect not be charged henceforth.


Signed
Mrs. G

RECEIVED by:

_________________________
(Name and Signature)

Date: ____________________

Photo by Horst Frank

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I'm Still Alive

I'm working again.













Will blog soon.

No, that's not my desk. That photo came from Wikimedia.

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BPI-Jollibee Promo: Yum-Yum!

Shop anywhere and get these FREE!
At least 1,000: Yumburger or Sundae
At least 3,000: 2 pcs. Chicken Joy with Rice

Armed with the promo flyer, I went to Jollibee today to check if this promo is for real.

Well, I have good news and bad news.



GOOD NEWS: IT'S FOR REAL!












Just present your charge slip and credit card. It's that easy.

TIP: If you need to retain a copy of your charge slip, photocopy it first before going to Jollibee. They will get the original.

Redemption period is until March 15, 2009.

BAD NEWS: Only receipts from November 15, 2008 to January 15, 2008 will be accepted

Promo period is from November 15, 2008 to January 15, 2008 only.

I was not able to save all the receipts from last year. Aaaaargh... I think I only have around 5 receipts left here. Sniff...

I have until March 15, 2009 to redeem my treats.

IMPORTANT: Only 1 free food item can be redeemed per charge slip or cash advance receipt. A cardholder is allowed up to 3 redemptions per day per store.

GOOD LUCK! Enjoy your Chicken Joy!

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Baby - Made in Taiwan

"Mr. G, bring me to the hospital! It's time!"



They just opened a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital in Taiwan. (See more pictures here.)

How cool is that?!

Note to Mr. G: The baby need not be made in Taiwan. I just want him to be delivered there.

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GoodHousekeeping's The Maid Manual

I got a copy of GoodHousekeeping's "The Maid Manual" by Tisha C. Bautista last week.

As advertised, it's truly "your ultimate guide to finding, training, and keeping your household help."

Part 1: Finding Help
Part 2: Training your Staff
Part 3: Keeping your Staff

Bonus:
Template for Household Staff Bio Data
Household Staff Interview and Assessment Form
Cheat Sheets for Cleaning the House
Sample Weekly and Daily Schedule for the Household Staff
Laundry Labels
Easy Recipes (my favorite!)

"Part 3: Keeping Your Staff" was most helpful for me. It has tips on how to motivate household staff and an explanation of standard employee benefits.

As to the other parts -- cleaning tips, weekly and daily schedules, and interview notes -- I already have them in my own household manual, thanks to Mrs. Frannie Daez.

For only P195, "The Maid Manual" will be a valuable addition to your household management library. (Click here for my other housekeeping reference materials.)

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Book Worm Meme: The Myth of Monogamy

I’ve been tagged with the Bookworm Meme by Maria of "Writings of Maria". Thanks, Maria! You just gave me a reason to share with everyone this wonderful book.

Here’s how this meme works:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the Closest.
6. Tag five people to do the same.

MY BOOKWORM MEME

For a "married" male to engage in out-of-pair heterosexual sex, his EPC partner must in turn be (1) seduce, (2) coerced, (3) a willing co-participant, or (4) an active initiator. ... We'll find that all patterns occur, in animals as well as human beings.

THE MYTH OF MONOGAMY: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People by David P. Barash, PH.D., and Judith Eve Lipton, M.D.

I bought this book after watching Penn and Teller's show, Bullshit! The episode's topic was "The Business of Love". Several experts on love were interviewed, including authors of my favorite books, "The Rules" and "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus".

The only book featured in the show that I haven't read was "The Myth of Monogamy". I had to get my own copy immediately! For a household manager like me, it is important that I am kept abreast of research on home topics such as Romance and (In)Fidelity.

It was a funny and informative read. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"Unattractive males guard their mates more closely."
(The uglier the guy, the more more jealous he'll be.)

"Males who remained monogamous when they apparently had the opportunity to attract a second or third female were those mated to unusually aggressive females. (This aggression, incidentally, was directed toward the potentially home-wrecking females, not toward the male.)"
(I'll be watching "No Retreat... No Surrender... Si Kumander" for a few tips.)

"In territorial species, a female generally chooses a male based on the quality of his territory. ... By getting a resource rich male, a female also gets the best genes. But this need not always be true. If a male who is genetically subpar ends up with a high-quality piece of real estate, he may also end up with a female who looks elsewhere when it comes to a sexual partner."
(Gold-diggers are bad news. "You've got to love me for what I am, for simply being me...")

It must be noted that Dr. Barash and Dr. Lipton were talking about the mating habits of birds and not humans. I never knew birds live an exciting life.

Despite all the examples of infidelity in the animal kingdom presented by the authors, they ended the book with a positive note.

"By establishing a durable, long-term relationship with someone who not only cares, but also shares an expanding history, who understands one's strengths, weaknesses joys and despairs, the successful monogamist assures himself and herself a companion for life, long after the children (if any) have grown, when work is no longer an option, when even sex may be mostly a memory, at just the time when two devoted people can keep track of the doctor appointments, change each other's senior diapers, and sit together, watching the sunset."

Sigh... *googly eyes*

I wonder where my husband is right now. Time for some mate-guarding.

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Promises, Promises: Waking Up Early

Interview of First Lady Laura Bush by Jay Leno

MRS. BUSH: This was back in 1977 when we married, he was thinking about running for Congress, which he did, in our home district in the Panhandle of Texas. So I said, you'll have to promise me I'll never have to give a political speech. And he said, oh, no, of course, you'll never have to. So much for political promises. (Laughter.)

But also, I have to admit, I promised I'd jog with him, too. And I never did.

JAY LENO: You never did?

MRS. BUSH: No. (Laughter.)

JAY LENO: Well, okay, so that works. One cancels out the other.

PROMISES! PROMISES!

I promised my husband that I will ALWAYS eat breakfast with him. I was able to consistently do this the first few weeks of our marriage. I was even the one preparing breakfast! However, as time went by, I began slipping to the point that my husband would sometimes say goodbye to me while I'm still in bed. So much for promises!

But it's not too late. I can still make good on my promise. I resolve now to wake up early and make sure I eat breakfast with my husband EVERYDAY.

I was never a morning person so this won't be easy. Good thing there are so many self-help sites in the internet today. I am trying some tips from www.howtowakeupearly.com.

1. Advice #1. To Wake Up Early, Go To Bed Early

What?! This is like DIET and EXERCISE. Obvious and correct but nobody wants to hear it.

No fast fix? Fine. I resolve to sleep no later than 11:00 12:00 12:30PM.

2. Advice #6. Take A Nap In The Afternoon

This one I likey! However, it is advised that afternoon naps be limited to 20-30 minutes. No more 2-hour afternoon naps for me.

3. Advice #27. Advertise Your Early Wake Up Habit

"Start spreading the news. I'm waking early today..."

I already announced my wake-up-early resolution to my Plurk buddies last week. So far, today is the only day that I was able to successfully wake up before 6:00 AM. I woke up at 5:47 AM and was connected to Plurk by 6:14 AM.

(I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my Plurk buddies for the encouragement and support you have given me this past week. I couldn't have done it without you. *bow*)

There are 45 cool tips in the website but I'm only trying 3 this week. I hope it works.

What time do you wake up?

Note: The White House transcript is dated Oct. 7, 2004. I watched that interview when I was already married which meant that it couldn't have been earlier than mid-2006. I've always known that the Leno shows here are reruns but 2 years?

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Wordless Wednesday

We're having party spaghetti and chicken lollipops today.

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My Garage Sale Experience

My Garage Sale Tips

1. Prepare early. Two weeks before the sale, I went through every cabinet in our apartment looking for stuff I can sell. I then sorted the items and carefully packed them in boxes. Come Sunday morning, the day of the garage sale, I was relaxed and in a happy mood.

That's Jody's table being swarmed by shoppers. She was selling her kid's Crocs for only P150.







2. Let go. True to my hoarder genes, I started reclaiming stuff from the box a few days before the sale. I'm still stuck with this big server plate shaped like a fish. It comes with 6 matching fishy mini-plates.











Letting go does not end with the firm decision to sell the item. It extends to pricing. I was selling my tops (blouses, button-down shirts, t-shirts) for P25/$0.50 each. I used to just give away my clothes so I had no problem selling them at a very low price. However, when one woman started to show interest in my K & Company blouse, I started having second thoughts about selling it. I wore that blouse only once, during my husband's birthday. Why was I selling it?!?!? My heart was pounding! I wanted to snatch it out of her hands. I was tempted to answer P500/$10 (I was selling my Crockpot for P400/$8.00) when she asked for the price. Aaargh! In the end, she got it for P25 but she had to stay and listen to the history of the blouse and a reminder to love and cherish it for the rest of her life.

3. Think out of the box. The sale started at 10 AM. By 11 AM, most of my stuff were already sold. I was getting bored and so I decided to sell the remaining items in bulk -- P200/$4 for one box of clothes and P100/$2 for one box of magazines. 15 minutes later, still no takers.

A woman selling crabs approached my table. Since I haven't sold a thing in the past 15 minutes (an eternity on a hot and humid day), I was in no mood to buy anything. Good thing Mrs. Crabs was in the mood to shop. She was interested in my shoe racks and offered to pay for it in crabs. SOLD! I offered to give her the rest of my inventory in exchange for another bag of crabs. SOLD! She left with 7 shoe racks and a box of clothes (she didn't want the magazines) and I with around 3 kilos of crabs. Everybody happy.

I remembered to take pictures of the crabs only after we finished eating.







I was back home by 11:40 AM.

Note: I joined the garage sale Ting organized in Mabini Hall, Quezon Memorial Circle. Thanks, Ting and Cesca!

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My Moleskine and I

What will I write in my Moleskine notebook?

Recipes and Tips. I will write down recipes from the magazines I read in beauty salons, my doctor's and dentist's waiting areas, and restaurants. (Corny?)















My niece copied this French Toast recipe from her teeny-bopper magazine into my Moleskine planner.

[This post is my official entry to Toni's Moleskine Giveaway Contest. Thanks to Wifely Steps and Avalon.ph.]

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7 Random Facts About Me

I've been tagged by Amy (http://artsyfartsyfooladi.blogspot.com).











Here are 7 facts about Mrs. G that are probably not known to many.

1. I heart HELLO KITTY.














2. I am a closet fag hag. (Hi, JJ!)
3. I can eat a whole doughnut in two bites. (Hi, MM!)
4. I make party spaghetti whenever I feel like it (which is sometimes as often as 2x a week). My party spaghetti is cooked with banana ketchup and cocktail hotdogs.
5. I am a natural-born detective (a.k.a. snoop, stalker).
6. My favorite color is pink.
7. I like staying at home. (No, I don't get bored.)

I now tag http://www.maidapaypay.com/ and http://baglove.blogspot.com/.

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Bad Mothers Anonymous

Photo by Jennanana









Hey, Mommies!

Have you ever felt guilty for --

• Not Breastfeeding (or stopping after your child turned 8)
• Leaving the baby for 5 minutes so you can shower
• Buying a dress that's worth 2 cans of baby formula (because you stopped breastfeeding)
• All of the above and more

STOP FEELING GUILTY! You are not alone.

I recently discovered this site - Bad Mothers Anonymous - where mommies all over the world confess their deep dark secrets on motherhood. I bet you won't feel as guilty after reading their confessions.

Here are some of my favorites:

• I have a 6 and 7 year old and since they don't know where babies come from I use it to my advantage when they are getting out of hand I tell them that I'm going to take them back to Target to get some other children. I know it's wrong but it works.

• My hubby and I bought our son some candy at Godiva Chocolatiars. When he fell asleep that night and I carried him to bed I found the candy bar laying there and ate it. The next day or so he ask about it and I gave him a regular chocolate bar wrapped in the other ones wrapper....couldn't help myself it was SOOOO good.

• When My son was little he was a biter, I got sick of it and finally bit him back! I didn't break skin or anything, but it actually worked. My daughter is a biter now, I mean HARD, I haven't bitten her yet, but I've been tempted to just throw her when she bites into my shoulder during a fit.

What's your bad mommy secret?

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The X-Men's Favorite Dessert

GELATINOUS MUTANT COCONUT

What's in a macapuno? MarketMan has the answer. Check it here.

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Teary Over Nido Commercial

It's that time of the month. I get all teary eyed when I watch this commercial.

I am dedicating this video to all my Plurk buddies.



Thank you Spraky24 for the video and lyrics!

"You're My Number One"
Lyrics by: Sandy Sulit
Music by: Caloy Agawa
Performed by: Sharon Cuneta, with daughters Frankie and Miel Pangilinan

Look at me mom
Shining like the sun
Bright as the day
You're my number one

And there's no treasure
That i will cherish like you

And when i smile
They all see you glow
And they all know
You're my number one

My one and only joy
Is to give you my love

(bridge)
My one love for you
I give through and through
I see you and the signs that bring joy
That all the world can see so clearly

Look at me mom
Shining like the sun
Bright as the day
You're my number one

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Adobo and the China Food Scare

I wanted to cook Marketman's Adobo, Gata at Sili for dinner tonight but I was worried about the canned coconut milk in our pantry. I remember the can having some Chinese writing so, to be safe, I decided to cook something else.

I won't be eating adobo tonight, but all is not lost. After learning that Marketman used coconut milk from Thailand, I immediately checked our pantry. Luckily, our coconut milk is also made in Thailand and not China as I first thought. Whew! It's going to be adobo for lunch tomorrow.

Ate S on the China Food Scare

The China food scare is making even Ate S nervous. When I handed her the coconut milk, she kept on asking if I was sure it was not made in China. I had to explain to her that the writings in the can are Thai and not Chinese. I also pointed to her the words "PRODUCT OF THAILAND".

I am trying to access the BFAD site for the partial list of products pulled out from the groceries but the site is down. In the meantime, Ate S is removing the China-made products in our pantry.

UPDATE: I got the partial list from ABS-CBN News. Get it here.

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Housekeeping Reference Materials

"Basa ng basa, hindi naman marunong mag-walis. Isosoli ka ng asawa mo dahil hindi ka marunong sa bahay." - Lola

If only she could see me now. God, bless her soul.

What I did not learn at home when I was growing up, I made up for by reading how-to books. (Yes, Lola, all that reading worked out for me.)

Here is a list of my books on household management:

1. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger













I bought this thinking it was a cookbook. I'm still happy I got it. I love Dr. Laura's no-holds-barred way of dishing out advise. She can, however, be a bit sexist so you have to keep an open mind.

(W)omen get married thinking largely about what their marriage and their man can do for them, and not what they can do for their men. And when there is so little emphasis on the giving, the nitpicking and pettiness chews up and spits out what could have been a good marriage.

2. KIT: Keep It Together by Frannie S. Daez














Mrs. Daez is an angel. Her book inspired me to develop my own household manual and I credit her for most of what's in it today. Thank you Mrs. Daez. (Note: This is a perfect wedding shower gift.)

KIT is a home management manual to help women keep it together. Frannie Daez introduces a corporate approach to managing the home... The author shares how she manages her home based on personal experiences.

3. Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan














I discovered their website -- http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ -- a few months after my husband and I moved in our apartment. Maxwell's EIGHT STEP HOME CURE made me buy the book. It's not you regular run-of-the-mill interior design book.

A top interior-design guru shows you how to create a home that works for you -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

4. I Love You, Yaya Handbook by Maricel Laxa Pangilinan




















Even those without children can learn a lot from this book. It comes with a CD containing the lectures in the hand book.

It is a two-part reference book containing informative articles on hiring, training, and nurturing caregivers, as well as practical guides for children, common illnesses, developmental milestones, and even fighting stress.

5. The Home Organizing Workbook by Meryl Starr














The book contains clutter-busting tips and wonderful photos. The pictures will inspire you to organize your home.

Finally, an accessible and utterly practical handbook that offers lasting results for anyone looking to clear the clutter.

6. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook by Martha Stewart














This is my housekeeping bible! A must-have for every household. If expectant mothers read "What to Expect When Your Expecting," brides should read this before moving into their own homes.

Martha's indispensible handbook for creating comfortable and beautiful home and caring for everything in it.

7. Real Simple Solutions














Most of what's in the book is also in their website -- www.realsimple.com -- but I like browsing through the pages and looking at the pictures when I need inspiration.

Real Simples' indispensible household-hint book. Features more than 300 fast, practical, and affordable solutions to make your busy life easier. Includes inspiring ideas for cooking, cleaning, decorating, entertaining, and more.

8. Good Housekeeping:The Complete Household Handbook














Very comprehensive. It is a nice complement to the Martha Stewart Handbook. But if I have to choose between the two, I will choose Martha's.

This is the ultimate comprehensive, authoritative, and easy-to-use source of practical information for organizing, cleaning, and managing your home.

9. Better Homes and Gardens: Clutter Cutters













I got this from Book Sale. It gives you practical advice on how to stay organized. This was the book that helped me develop my own system of storing things.

Cut the clutter and reclaim your space and your life. Clutter Cutters offers advice and encouragement for clearing out the clutter in every room of the house.

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Jollibee Yum Burgrrrr...

28 August 2008

I placed my ordered at 3:36 PM.

The delivery guy arrived in our condo in less than 30 minutes. Good.

He spilled the drinks and had to go back. He also did not leave the fries I ordered. Bad.

The delivery guy was back in less than 15 mins. Good.

I discovered that my Yum Burgrrr had no beef patty. Bad.

The replacement burger arrived at 5:15 PM. Very bad.

They refused to honor their 30 minute guarantee. Very, very bad.

They picked the wrong customer to mess with. Not today. Not me.

Jollibee guarantees that you will get your order within 30 minutes. If they fail to deliver on time, they will give you a P200 gift certificate. In my case, since their delivery guy arrived at the lobby of our condo within the prescribed time, the manager said that I am not entitled to the P200 gift certificate. She offered me two peach mango pies instead.

BurGRRRRR...

The guarantee is for THE ORDER and not the driver.

I can forgive the spilled drinks but I really insisted on the gift certificate when I found out that they delivered other orders first before bringing me my replacement burger. They thought the 30-minute time limit no longer applies in my case since their rider was on time the first time.

My position was that they were already in default when the delivery guy failed to deliver the drinks and the fries. They just aggravated the situation by delaying the delivery of the replacement burger.

To cut a long story short, I got the gift certificates and 2 peach mango pies.

Want a Jollibee treat?

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I Love You, Yaya Handbook

I was late discovering the I Love You, Yaya Handbook. Good thing they had one copy left in Fullybooked, Powerplant.



















I initially had second thoughts about buying the book because it looked like the browsing copy. (I hate wrinkly/crumpled book covers.) When I opened it, I even saw scribbles in the title page. WTF?!?












"Oh, wait! That's Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan's authograph. SOLD!"

I bought it for P499. Since I am childless and don't need a yaya, I got it purely for research. This review is for you my dear readers.

The book comes with 2 CDs. They contain the same subjects discussed during the I Love You, Yaya Training Seminars. You can use it to train your yayas at home.

I listened to Disc 1 and all I can say is that I love Maricel's voice. She sounds so soothing and pleasant.











Here are some of the topics I liked:

• Common Mistakes We Make in Feeding Our Children (can be applied to husbands)
• Teach Your Yaya the Value of Disease Prevention
• Yaya: Your Organization Buddy
• Love Your Kasambahay
• Letting Go

It's a handbook for you and your yaya!

If you want to see it first before investing your P499, you can borrow my copy.

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Katipuneros, REVOLT!

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE

Photo from Google Earth

Are you affected by the newly closed U-turn slot in front of National Bookstore, Katipunan Avenue?

So close yet so far away...

If you want to go to Ateneo from the U.P. area, you now have to go up the Katipunan fly-over and make a U-turn in Santolan Ave. That's an extra 3 kilometers! (You can still use the U-turn slot under the Katipunan fly-over but the traffic there is worse.)

Check out the Ateneo Traffic Bulletin for more information.

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