Category: Lifestyle

Secret of Savings

Posted by Finance Dude On June 6, 2010

“Before becoming a money master, first be a self master” –J.P. Morgan

A finance guru once said that there are three ways to be rich: 1.) Marry it. 2.) Inherit it. Or… 3.) Make more than you spend. Feel free to use any combinations of the three. The last way is the simplest but not the easiest.

Where Did My Money Go?
Have you wondered how you basically end up using all your money paycheck after paycheck with little or no savings left? After reading all the financial books and seeing a thousand planners, it all boils down to character—discipline.

It’s similar to food and diet where you basically count your calories and plan your meals. All it takes is discipline. It is not the amount of money you make that is the issue for most. It’s the amount you keep. (I know you heard it a million times. But it’s the truth.)

Sources and Uses of Cash
How does your cash flow? I know you hate numbers. I used to hate it too. But money is basically expressed in numeric terms and thus having knowledge of basic mathematics is a must. Make a budget. (So cliché!) Everytime you spend, list down all your expenses. This amount must not exceed your budgeted expense. You can use software such as the basic excel templates to keep track of not only your expenses but also your finances. An example of a money managing software can be found at http://www.pocketsmith.ph/.

What’s Important to You?
How do you decide what to spend on? Simple. You have to know what’s important in your life. Assuming you plan to take your family to a vacation in Hong Kong. In doing so, you’ll be indebted and you might risk not saving enough for the kids’ college education. Ask yourself why are you taking this family vacation? Your answer might be “To have an enjoyable quality time with your family.” Is there any affordable site that would meet your goal of mainly “having an enjoyable quality time with your family”. I’m sure you could list down a whole lot. Pick about 5 or 10 of them. Decide as a family.

A book by David Bach called The Automatic Millionaire started something called the Latte Factor. The basic idea is that you can save a whole lot by simply reducing nonessential expenses in your budget such as Premium Coffee Shop Coffee (Latte). Some things are unnecessary, such as daily intakes of soda. Water on the other hand is actually cheaper and healthier.

Hope these helps!

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About the contributor:
Finance Dude
The writer is a financial planner, investor, speaker and a self confessed cheapaholic. (Cheapaholic- a term he invented to mean someone who is addicted to being very cheap).  Send in your questions.  He will try to answer any questions you might have, preferably on finance and money matters.  Although he does not object to questions on love and relationships, he never had one and due to his extreme cheapness, will probably never have one (In case you’ll send it mistakenly, he promised to forward it to HeaRty).

Disclaimer: Advice posted in this portion is merely opinions and views of the writer. It does not constitute formal advice. The writer will not be responsible for any of your gains or losses. If symptoms persist, contact your trusted financial planner.

Insider Secrets to Google AdWords

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On June 5, 2010

I got an invite for the Insider Secrets to Google Adwords event in my gmail inbox a few days ago.  I guess it’s because I have a Google account.   It’s been on the back of my mind for the past few days already.  I really want to attend the event as I really want to learn how to improve HeaRty’s Haven especially when it comes to search engine optimization.  Currently, I don’t have the slightest idea how to do it.  The only struggle I have is that I don’t have a budget for it right now (the Google AdWords event is pegged at Php 10,595.00+VAT).  For those who have the budget for it, I urge you to join now.  They have pretty good promos like the ff.:

  • You’ll get discounts if you register on or before June 10, 2010, early bird rate is at Php 9,795.00+VAT.
  • If you register for 5 or more people, rate will be slashed to Php 9,295.00+VAT per person.
  • 1st 50 registrants will receive a special bonus CD, the Jealously Guarded Secrets of Google AdWords.

I still have 5 more days to decide as early bird rate will end at June 10.  Waahhh!!! I really super want this! 🙁  Anyway, to register, you can call (02) 470-1055 or SMS at +639053364486.

Insider Secrets to Google Adwords is a one-time event that is actually a first in the Philippines.  Event will be on June 24-25, 2010 from 8:30am-5:30pm & will be held at Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila.

Featuring 2 international speakers that will share the Insider Secrets to a Google-friendly Website:

  • Simon Leung – retired most senior Google optimization specialist & Google insider for search & advertising results.
  • Fabian Lim – Asia’s top pay-per-click & search engine optimization expert trainer.

Going to the event for these two speakers I think is worth it enough.  There’s just a lot of knowledge that you can’t get anywhere except in a one time event like this.  I’m sure there will be questions that will be asked, and considering just how much of an expert these two are, there really is just so much value in this event.

Personally, like many bloggers out there, we love to write, but sometimes writing without a solid readership is daunting, and eventually, one really wants to be read considering the amount of work and love we put into each one of our articles.  I think as bloggers, these events should definitely be attended as our readers become the most important part of why we write to.

The Course Outline is pretty interesting… wahhh I really wish I have enough budget for this.  Let’s see if I can join.  For the kind-hearted out there, you might want to donate to my Insider Secrets to Google Adwords fund hehehe 😛

  • Understanding The Google Ardwords Fundamentals
  • Building Relevant Keyword Lists With The Right Research
  • Writing Converting Ads With Only 95 Characters of Space
  • Putting Together The Most Effective Account Structures
  • Planning Your Bidding Strategy To Minimize Costs
  • Designing Landing Pages That Google Absolutely Loves
  • Setting Up A Google Friendly Lead Generation System
  • Converting New Subscribers Into Paying Customers Instantly
  • Why Search Engine Marketing
  • Market and Keyword Research
  • Google Ad Networks
  • Basic Pay-Per-Click (PCC) Concepts
  • PPC Campaign, Ad Groups and Ads
  • World-Class Case Studies
  • Your Own Live PPC Ads

Some interesting things that I personally would pay close attention to as a personal and lifestyle blogger would be understanding the fundamentals, market and keyword research, as well as a closer look at just what these “World-class case studies” are.

This is definitely a rare event.  If you use the internet for your business, then Google Adwords, the lessons that will be covered are definitely crucial to gaining an online presence.  You shouldn’t miss this one-time event in the Philippines!

Lost the TV Series

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On June 4, 2010

The famous TV series Lost has recently just ended.  It started airing on ABC last September 22, 2004 & ended last May 23, 2010.  I can’t believe that I really watched each & every episode of Lost for 6 long years.  That’s a total of 6 beautiful, exciting seasons.  Since I live in the Philippines, I was only able to watch Lost on my laptop 🙂

Lost’s story evolves around a group of survivors whose plane (Oceanic flight 815) crashed in a mysterious island.  During the course of the season, I was actually a bit lost with the storyline.  Thus, the title “Lost” actually meant me being lost too with what was happening in the TV series.  It also meant the survivors being lost in an island.

When I finished the last episode of Lost, it was then that I was finally no longer lost with the storyline.  I have to admit that I had to seek help to understand the plot better.  I asked a colleague who finished the series, I also searched through the net but it was this video that finally made me understand the story, and the video below is definitely one of the most unique summaries to LOST that I have seen yet.  I hope it also helps those who haven’t seen the show, or still don’t understand the plot.

The series has a large cast but I would say my favorite would always be Sawyer (played by Josh Holloway).  Well, mainly because he is hot, hot & hot!  Any complaints? hehehe!

Here are the main cast:
Lost Cast

  • Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox)
  • Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly)
  • Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia)
  • James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway)
  • John Locke (Terry O’Quinn)
  • Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews)
  • Jin Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim)
  • Sun Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim)
  • Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin)
  • Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan)
  • Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson)
  • Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell)
  • Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick)

I’m just glad that even though Lost was one of the most expensive TV series in history, it was still successful enough to actually complete the story.  I somehow feel bad that a lot of other TV series was just axed because of low viewers turnout.  Really glad Lost was able to retain 11 million viewers till the end.  This was I think the 1st TV series I was able to watch from start to finish.  Here’s a quick summary of each season.

Season Summary
Season 1
20040922 to 20050525		 this is where it all began.  Survivors of plane crash lands on a deserted island.
They will need to work with each other to survive.
Season 2
20050921 to 20060524		 Conflict between the survivors & “others”-the island’s habitants are seen here.
Hatch is explored & Dharma Initiative is revealed.
Season 3
20061004 to 20070523		 We got to know who the others are, why they are in the island & who leads them.
Survivors made contact with the outside world.
Season 4
20080131 to 20080529		 The freighter Kahana has arrived to the island, motives to be known.
Six survivors was able to leave the island, they’re called Oceanic Six.
Season 5
20090121 to 20090513		 Survivors travel back in time.  More Dharma Initiative dealings.
Have a peek on the history of the island, about Jacob & his enemy.
Season 6
20100202 to 20100523		 All the confusions/questions that we had during the 1st five season can be answered.
You’d get to see what happened to the survivors of Oceanic 815.  TV series ends.

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Lost was definitely one of the best TV series I have ever watched!  One of my top 10 definitely!   Hope you were able to catch it too. If not, you might want to buy their complete DVD set.  It’s worth it 🙂

My Rating for Lost: 5 out of 5 stars.

Seafood Buffet at Plantation Bay Cebu

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 31, 2010

During the 1st night at Plantation Bay in Cebu, we ordered room service, but for our 2nd and last night, we really wanted to experience some good food and eat out.  It was great timing that there happened to be a seafood buffet being served on that 2nd night.  I’ve always loved seafoods but my specific favorites will always still be shrimps & crabs.  So, I was really hoping that they would have a lot of my two favorite seafood items at the Plantation Bay Cebu Seafood buffet.  Well, guess what?  I got my wish & more!

All the seafoods that you can think of was probably at that buffet.  And it was so fresh!  I was truly in heaven during the course of the dinner.  I remember my nonstop smile and wanting more and more of all that seafood.  I was actually craving for more after 2 hours of eating but the buffet was done by then.  The waiters were already packing up… I guess I just loved what I was eating that I didn’t realize how full I was already.

Actually, we were just walking around waiting for the buffet to start, so were actually one of the first few that arrived, and we were able to reserve a table that was near the musician as well as close to the water.  Even the table was a great touch as we were able to enjoy our meal by a candlelight!

fresh seafood

There were different kinds of fish, shells, crabs, shrimps, lobsters & a lot more out there for us to choose from.  As you can see in the picture below, the seafoods were still raw because we were able to request a few ways in which we wanted the seafoods to be cooked.  For most of the items, we had it grilled.  There’s really nothing better than fresh grilled seafood.  The taste is just so delicious.

Basically, we just choose whatever seafood and put on our plate, get a number, and then the cooked food will be served to our table.  Fresh seafood & cooked on the spot!  What more could you ask for?  The best thing is it was just Php900!  Just imagine the lobster alone costs that much and more in most other restaurants.

You could probably tell below from that seafood spread, that I was really focusing on the lobster and all that shrimp, hahaha!

fresh seafood for cooking

Cooked food are available too!  I loved the stuffed crab there, I do however forgot to get a second serving as I was too busy eating the crabs & shrimps that I asked the chef to cook.  I couldn’t get enough of it!

food plantation seafood buffet

This part of the buffet, everyone just races to get on their plate.  So, constant were the lines that would you believe, behind this specific station there were probably around a dozen cooks grilling, prepping, plating, etc.  Every 5 minutes they had to keep refilling the plates.  That was how successful the buffet was.  And the wonderful smell coming from the grills, all that smoke, it was just a seafood grill heaven :p

cooked seafood plantation

Now, what would any buffet be without desserts?  With Plantation Bay’s Seafood Buffet, we also had some great choices of delicious desserts.  There were turon, baked goods, leche flan.  But you know, I was only able to sample 2 desserts.  As I said earlier, I was eating nonstop that I didn’t realize that the buffet had already ended.  While the other areas are being packed up, I quickly went to the dessert area & checked if there were anything left, only the leche flan & macaroons were left and which I decided to have.  And the desserts capped off my seafood buffet heaven at the Plantation Bay Cebu Seafood buffet.

desserts seafood buffet

Oh!  Sorry readers! hahahaa I was talking about the food so much that I almost forgot to share that they do actually have great music playing during the buffet.  So, not only did we have great fresh seafood in abundance, but we also had some wonderful live music accompanied by the flute.

music at seafood buffet

Before I end this post, lemme share with you my favorite from the seafood buffet.  See them?  Lobsters & crabs!!! Yes!! I was able to eat lots of it.  By the way, a very important tip if you want to go to Plantation Bay Cebu and try their seafood buffet.  Go EARLY, get the lobsters, crabs & shrimps first.  Believe me.  It was great that we did that or else, we won’t be able to experience how yummy they are.  Everyone wanted it as well, though the buffet was unlimited, their supplies weren’t.  So be wise! 😉

crabs & lobsters

Here’s Nick’s favorite: Sting Ray.  It’s really rare for buffets to serve this, and shows just the great amount of variety that Plantation’s Seafood Buffet had.  I was able to try it but it just isn’t my fave.  Glad though that Nick was able to eat this.   They were so accommodating that they were able to cook the sting ray just like Nick had requested.  It was cooked in coconut milk.

stingray

The Seafood buffet is situated in the center beach area of Plantation Bay Cebu.  And at night, under the dark sky, with the delicious food, dining with some soft and unique music accompanied with the flute, not to mention the ambiance and feeling as if you’re on the shore of a beautiful beach.   With the sand under your feet, the waters just a few meters away, the fresh air, and a great companion, it was truly a wow, wow dining experience! 😀

roch at plantation beach

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Seafood Buffet
Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Marigondon, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines 6015
(02) 505 9800

Teeth Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 30, 2010

Last weekend, I was able to catch a most unique horror movie on TV called Teeth.  Usually, for the past few months, I’ve been spending my weekends resting at home:  watching TV, blogging, reading books, listening to music & surfing the net.  So, it was a good thing that I was able to watch the movie Teeth on Star Movies since it really does have one of the most unique plots ever.

At first, I was grossed out but after awhile, I started to realize that I was really liking the movie.  If you’ve been following my blog for quite some time, you would know that I love horror movies.  Teeth is a horror movie but I also describe it as being unrealistic, weird, but unique.

*** there are some words not suitable for children.  If you are 18 years and below, please stop reading this post and just read the other posts in HeaRty’s Haven ***

Why do I keep saying that Teeth is unique?  Well, it is a story about a girl with a teeth in her vagina.  Yes, you read it right, she has a teeth in her private part!  I was actually curious for awhile and started researching the net if there’s actually such a thing.  According to the search results, vagina dentata is actually just a myth.  Good news for guys! hahaha!

Anyway, the plot is very simple.  It’s about Dawn who has a most rare condition called Vagina Dentata where she has teeth in her vagina.  In scene after scene, where she encounters some bad men, she realizes as the movie progresses that ultimately her vagina can help her defend herself.

I can actually enumerate all the scenes where Dawn used her vagina teeth to protect herself from bad people or from people who have hurt her loved ones.

Interested?  Then read on…

  • Dawn bit her stepbrother Brad’s finger when they were just lil kids.  In that scene though, it wasn’t obvious how he was bit.  It was just the opening scene.
  • After swimming, Tobey (a boy she likes) & Dawn went in a cave & started kissing.  When Tobey forces himself on Dawn, she panics and her vagina bites off his penis.  Yaiks!  The guy ended up dead at the latter part of the movie.
  • After the Tobey incident, Dawn suspected that she might have vagina dentata.  She then goes and visits a doctor.  The doctor, however is a maniac.  When he found out that Dawn is still a virgin, he started molesting her.  You can probably guess what happens next.. Dawn’s vagina bites off all 4 fingers of the doctor.  It was gross!  Yuck!  He deserved it though.
  • Dawn’s mother health deteriorates & was rushed to hospital.  Dawn then sought the help of his friend, Ryan.  They ended up having sex successfully.  The next day, Ryan’s friend called checking how it went as they had a bet if he would be able to have sex with Dawn.  Dawn heard then proceeds to bites off his penis with her vagina.
  • Dawn’s stepfather was hurt by Brad (her stepbrother),  out of anger and of revenge, Dawn went to the house to meet Brad.  She put on make up and started seducing Brad.  In the middle of the act, Brad then recalls how his finger was bitten by Dawn.  At that instance, Dawn’s vagina bites off his penis, where it falls to the ground and his dog eats it.. gross much?

To the guys who have been reading so far, are you scared?  Don’t be!  She doesn’t hurt good guys, Dawn can totally control her vagina teeth.  As long as you’re good, you’re safe 😉  The moral of the story, in a weird horror twist kind of way, is… be good to women and don’t treat them bad.

Since I watched the movie on TV, there were a whole lot of scenes cut.  I was so curious that I really want borrow the DVD.  I shall do that soon hahaha!

My rating for Teeth: 4 out of 5 stars.

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