Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Cupcaken - If you're in Cebu and you want Cupcakes!

I have previously blogged about Cupcaken here and so far it's doing quite fine. But have you been there?

A few other bloggers have been there and have, of course, posted very good reviews about the place. We want to thank them and recognize their posts about Cupcaken here:



For others that may not be aware, Cupcaken has a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/CupcakenPastries



An Instagram page:




And a twitter page:
http://www.twitter.com/CupcakenCebu



For inquiries, please drop a line see our FAQ Notes at our FB page, or shoot us an email at cupcakencebu@gmail.com


Cupcaken can also be seen in Tyke's Cafe at the Mezzanine of Pier 1, Cebu Port Area.







We would like to hear from you!
  • leave a comment below if you have posts about Cupcaken
  • tag your photos in faceboook and instagram with Cupcaken with: #cupcakencebu #cupcakenofficial
  • hashtag your twitter posts with  #cupcakencebu #cupcakenofficial
  • DM or tweet us in @CupcakenCebu



Friday, October 3, 2014

Filipino ID Card - I Have Issues that need to be Clarified!!!

Saw an article in PhilStar today - House pushes issuance of 'Filipino ID Card'

1. Ok, 1 ID number for life, or until a person reaches 18. Why 18? Does that mean you get to change your entire identity when your 18?

2. "other revisions deemed necessary by the cardholder" -- so that should mean that the government should not deny changes to a person's 1-number-for-life ID just because 'deemed necessary', right?!?

3. So what if I just got that new unified ID for sss/phic/pagibig, and now this new Filipino ID? And what about those with professional license numbers? The TIN number/ID?

4. So this ID will totally scrap out the relatively newly implemented unified ID for sss/gsis/pagibig/phic, right? Which also just scrapped out that other new unification for other IDs before that I can't remember anymore -- which are half-baked plans that underwent half-baked implementations. Right?

5. Will the banks and other GOCC's and corporations stop asking for at least 2 government issued ID's as requirement? Because that's going to be weird.

Hmmm, how come, all of a sudden, there's this BIG project that can potentially make 1 or 2 or 3 major suppliers of plastic ID cards so rich starting, let's say 2015/2016? Are we fishing for supporters and financial support for 2016 because you just lost PDAF and DAP, huh Government?


But I guess I have to read that bill (House Bill 5060).

Monday, September 22, 2014

Stocks, Investments, Getting Rich

Who doesn't want to get rich?

I know I want to. In the shortest possible time with the littlest effort possible. But we all know that's improbable. Impossible even.

So... Instead of waiting for interest income from a savings account that doesn't exist, husband and I decided to invest in stocks. It wasn't that difficult to understand given my background, yet of course we need to go through making some bad decisions along the way. Bought some shares that we're good, bought some that are now awesome. But we all have to get the right information from all sources we can get from that are actually credible and believable.

For the Philippine setting, I found one - it's Pinoy Investor.

pinoyinvestor.com

They provide all sorts of information ranging from technical analysis to fundamentals, even the entire stock symbols listed in PSE (that's Philippine Stock Exchange, genius...). If you want to subscribe to their updates and research, I have included a link to their page at my sidebar.   :)

I still am not a millionaire, nor do I have a very big account because of the stocks I have acquired, but at least I have started. And so far, we have a couple of green figures there now. Who for those who already have a COL Financial Account can understand what I mean. Yes, I do my own analyses and buys and sells through COL Financial, formerly CitiSecOnline.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

#uselessWednesday



The most number of laptops that are running and being used by the attendees in one single meeting.

So far.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

It's Real, Robin Williams is Dead

It's not a hoax, it's true. Robin Williams is dead.

photo credit: http://en.mediamass.net/

According to reports, he committed suicide.

I found out about it early this morning from CNN.

And there are several other news reports regarding his death, therefore, it's not a hoax!

And from twitter and other social media accounts like facebook and instagram, for the hashtag #RIPRobinWilliams, just click on the photo above to see the latest posts.


Monday, August 11, 2014

Dingdong & Marian - NOT their First Engagement!

It’s trending and I got curious what’s the fuss. Although I totally applaud Marian for that particular program’s opening number. She danced really well. I thought the only steps she knew was the gyrating hips for Marimar. Haha. But for those who haven’t seen the youtube video versions, check them out from Marian Rivera’s Youtube channel and directly go to part 4/5 so you can watch the proposal (or just see the video I embedded, after the jump). And for you to notice something  that may or may not have been clearly noticeable with the telecast version which, by the way, was live and kept the stars on their toes because they’re so used to just recording episodes and airing them weeks later.

dingdong marian while watching the macau video
photo credit: pep.ph (obvious ba?)

Friday, August 8, 2014

Can I lose 12-17 Pounds with JUST Water?!?


6-day Water Fast (photo from GQ.com)


17 pounds gone (for that guy) BUT after migraines/headaches, irritation/angst, hunger, and for me, probably working while hungry while everyone else at work, and at home, is eating something that smells really very good and eats so very slowly just to annoy you... Can 6 days with absolutely nothing but water be worth it?

6-day Water Fast (photo from GQ.com)


I have no idea.

But it sure does make you curious doesn't it? -_-

It will take me more than the promise of 10+ pounds loss to get me to try it!



Saturday, August 2, 2014

I've Finally - For the Last Time - Decided to go for that Ebook!

photo from dreamstime.com


I have finally, again for the nth time, decided to write one ebook.

And another for a different category.

And another.

And another.

Until I finish at least 2 ebooks before 2014 ends.

Or so help me......


CPA Board Exam Results - July 2014 Exams

cpa board exam july 2014


PRC (the Professional Regulation Commission) has released the results of the CPA Board Exams held in July 2014 about three (3) days after the last exam day. We are now welcoming 1,107 out of 5,540 new CPAs to the real world. Now, goodluck in job hunting!


snapshot of the Official Statement from PRC


For more details on the following, just click on the titles:






Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Realizations at the Middle of the Week

I have always had this feeling that I need to do something that caters to my “creative” self, my artistic frustrations, my need for brain non-stress-triggering activity, and my financial goals, all at the same time. Yes, if there’s something out there that can cost little to none and answer for all of the above, I’ll take it!

After browsing around my bookmarks, I revisited one of these blogs, Frugal Honey, a recent financial niche blog of someone who owns/manages one of the known sites for beauty bloggers, Kikay Exchange. From there I realized, I have been moving the wrong direction for more than a month now. I wanted to start beauty blogging, but Frugal Honey has started detaching from it. I wanted to generate income from these things I write, but was starting something that did the opposite (beauty/fashion blogging entails purchasing products for reviews, especially if you’re a newbie since no one would sponsor you!). With that said, I know I was in deep sh*t. So I pulled out my journal and a pen, and started working up my mojo back by journaling first. I even included a snapshot of that below. (Funky handwriting, I know.)
snapshot of my journal & green ink.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Oily Acne-Prone Skin Care Routine Using Local Drugstore Products

I promised myself that one of these days I will post something about my skin care routine. So just so you know, again, I have very oily skin. I used to have terrible acne (thus the scars on my cheeks) and I do still have some of those pesky things on my chin and at both sides of my jaw.

Let’s move on. First, I wear makeup to try and hide the scars and the blemishes. So by the end of the day, just so I won’t encourage my face to bring on a few more recruited pimple soldiers, I remove my makeup. Though I try to make my makeup as thin/little as possible, I still have to use a makeup remover.

Makeup Removal

I used to use Maybelline Eye and Lip makeup remover, but after weeks of debating with myself and looking at online reviews, youtube videos, etc., I finally decided to stop using it and instead try the famous oilcleansing method (OCM). Good thing there’s a local brand here in the Philippines that are natural – Human Heart Nature. I use their 100% Natural Cleansing Oil with Sunflower Oil. I bought mine in Shopwise, for P295 for a 195ml bottle, I think, and mixed it with extra virgin olive oil, simply because I can’t find castor oil anywhere in Shopwise – 2 parts olive oil, 2 parts sunflower oil. Which I later changed to 1 part evoo, 4 parts sunflower oil because… see the story below.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Shawill ColorStay Mineral Foundation

Started using this new mineral foundation I found in Shopwise - Shawill ColorStay Mineral Foundation. Bought it for Php288, just Php11 cheaper than Maybelline Clear Smooth Extra Shine Free Powder Foundation, which was priced at Php299. I bought because I've already finished my Maybelline, after so long - I've been using it on and off.

So it's Php288 for 16grams of mineral foundation claiming to be lightweight and natural. So I'd presume it's going to be of sheer to light coverage. I'm shade 006 by the way, been using Natural with Maybelline Clear Smooth Extra blah blah, name's too long and I'm lazy. :)


Here's how the plastic jar looks. Sorry I already threw away the box. Haha. 



Saturday, July 12, 2014

Oily, Super Oily Skin!

I have super, super oily skin. It's not just the t-zone anymore because sometimes, even my cheeks and jawline are oily. Just imagine, an hour or so from applying very minimal makeup, my t-zone's already shiny as an oiled frying pan. And I'm not just an oily face, i have acne-scarred cheeks, and still get pimples on my chin and jawline. Like right now, I have these pesky ones on my chin.
(Take a look at that photo: left sheet is the unused one.)

Been on the net hunting for the right products, but take note, just the cheaper drugstore ones that are easily available in the groceries, department stores or drugstores. Haven't found the perfect ones for me yet, but at least I have ones that I go back to, kinda like hg but not so.

Can anyone suggest anything? :) leave comments...

Friday, July 4, 2014

Coffee at Work: Does it help?

(images from author's personal IG)
You have a facebook profile, you have instagram. A day doesn't pass by without you noticing that sometime in the day, someone posted a coffee shot, a coffelfie (selfie with coffee), or a group shot with coffee in a coffee shop, even a photo of someone's desk and coffee stash. And we can not deny it anymore, more and more people are into coffee now more than ever before.

So. How do we benefit from it?

Coffee keeps us awake. Or at least we think it does. Whether its the instant caffeine fix or just the warmth (or heat of a boiling cup) of this dark liquid, it somehow extends our wakefulness a little mire throughout the morning, or thru the unholy hours of 2 or 3pm. All the more for our call center friends - coffee is the new water!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Internal Audit Still Unrecognized

credits:  www.newtimes.co.rw

When they said they will not be able to prioritize Internal Audit requests due to operational deadlines, I was not expecting that what they meant was that they will totally ignore any request for documents or questions from Internal Audit.

Darn it. Here we go again. Do they really want to have the freaking CEO or President command them to even just answer simple emails from Internal Audit??? This is... Well, somehow, expected from a company who a few years back combined In
ternal Audit with Quality Management (absorbed is the term) and now wants to separate it again and yet, does not do anything that seems to make that happen. Grrrr. Even one of the existing Internal Auditors does not want to be separated from operations and wants the charter to specifically say that Internal Auditors should be allowed to perform operational duties aside from auditing.

This is gonna be challenging.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Internal Audit as your Business Partner

Most of us, if not all, think that Internal Audit and just plain ole audit per se is on continuous police mode -- something or someone put there by Management to act as live cctv's to catch people doing things redhandedly. But as an Internal Audit practitioner for more than 6 years, that really is not the case, well at least not in its entirety.

Yes, internal audit does that - catch or try to catch people committing fraud, taking things from the office and bringing them to their homes, conniving to reimburse personal expenses, and so many other things that we sometimes think are not bad for business because we have grown so accustomed to them we think they're part of the daily grind. But aside from that, Internal Audit actually has more to offer than just be "catchers". Internal auditors can be investigators, analysts that can look into the whole business and try to pinpoint areas that lack control or loopholes that allow anomalies to slowly squeeze their way into the company. Internal audit also helps put up defenses or controls that do just that - defend the company from all these nuances.

So how exactly does Internal Audit partner with your business? Here's a short and uncomplicated list:

Getting to know you. No, this is not a song nor a musicale we're talking about. Internal Auditors will spend time with Management and the business process owners (accountants, staff, operations supervisors, etc) to get to know the ins and outs of the operations. Management should be able to make the auditors understand the entire business and how it works without divulging trade secrets (unless they want to!) so the auditors can now determine what actions, procedures, or documents are out of place. This then leads to risk assessment or pointing out areas or processes that may have issues.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Count your Blessings - Happy New Year!

2013 was a great year. But it all could be better. Disasters here and there. Old job, new job. Great car, cranky car. Terrible two is true. There's just a lot more blessing we're looking forward to thanking the Lord for this new year.

So, how about we count some of the types of blessings we've encountered in 2013? Here goes...

Blessing of:
1. Answered prayers (An answer you like and the answer you don't like, are nevertheless BOTH answers!)
2. Answered prayers on Hold
3. Patience
4. Specific prayers (God wants you to be as specific as possible, He already knows what you need and what He'll give. He just wants to validate that you yourself knows those too - up to the last dot. The more specific you get, the better.)
5. Gratefulness. In e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. 
(Notice that I deliberately spelled it out.)
6. Walking in faith, by faith. (Don't pray and doubt -- you'll never get an answer that way.)
7. Faithful family. (Next to God, you don't have/want anyone else you'd rather be with than your family.)
8. Safety and protection.
9. Provision (all aspects of that!)
10. More occasions, chances, instances to pray. (I believe God just loves hearing our voice.)

There's my list of ten for this new year. 

Adiós 2013! Hóla 2014!

Hi, Still Alive. How’re you?

 So I decided to visit my blog. Just because. And of course, since I didn’t delete it, it’s still here. Stagnant. Just observing. Doing noth...