Monthly Archives: August 2010

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Go to (the Right) School, Be Successful

August 31 10:51 pm ,

Towards the Path to Success

I look at my daughter and I see an entrepreneur.  Okay, it is all in my head, but I want it with all my heart.  Because entrepreneurs are the ones who find their passion, do something about their passion, rake in all the money and success and (have the potential to) make the world a better place.

I want that for my daughter.  So I transferred her to another school.

It was a summer and I was learning about and loving finance, and the idea of a different school for my 9-year old daughter kept growing (gnawing) in my head – an entrepreneurial school that would give her a love of finance and help her find and inflame her passion.  The next day, I started interviewing other schools.  She was, at that time, enrolled in a traditional school – rigorous daily classes, heavy assignments, a bag with wheels that would make her shoulder stoop, teachers that taught but did not really teach.  She had the burden to understand concepts that were taught to her in 30 minutes or less, and the burden to ask mother for help, yes, me, while I also tried to remember and understand concepts that I already buried in the annals of my memory.  We were a mess.  Well, me mostly.

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Posted in: Children's Stories, The Philippines , Tagged: , , , , ,

Chakra and Getting to Rich

August 25 11:57 pm ,

Whorls of Energy

The chakra.  I am intrigued and seduced by it and I think it is because it has its origins in ancient India, the island of mysticism and the Kamasutra.  And because harnessing its power can get you what you want – it can even get you very rich.

It is fascinating to imagine the chakra – as whorls of (colorful) energy from the base of the spine to the crown of the head (chakra, after all, means wheel or “turning”) – from the ovaries/prostate (Base or Root Chakra), the spinal cord (Sacral Chakra), the navel (Solar Plexus Chakra), the heart (Heart Chakra), the throat and neck area (Throat Chakra), the pineal gland (Brow or Third Eye Chakra) and the top of the head (Crown Chakra).

It first flirted with my consciousness when I read Dr. Tuesday Lobsang Rampa’s book, The Third Eye.  Now, he is an interesting man.  During his first life as a lama in Tibet , a hole was drilled into his forehead to enhance his third eye chakra and this allowed him “to see people as they are and not as they pretend to be”.

It was quite disturbing.

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Posted in: Random Thoughts, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

How I Survived Two Weeks of Not Eating Out

August 22 10:05 pm ,

Perchance to Eat

I ingest recipes and then imagine cooking them in my head.  And then I forget about them.

Because I eat out – we eat out – a lot.  And those recipes lose their allure to gastronomic treats in restaurants with ambiance that is well worth the money.  And I do not have to clean up (look, ma, no dirty hands!).

It is because of experiential eating.  And when I say experiential eating, I mean Sonya’s Garden, which entered my reality more than ten years ago.   Because of that one fine afternoon when we got lost looking for what would be our wedding reception venue, I found out that eating should not just be about good food.  It should also be about having a great experience – a meal amidst a lush garden, fine bone china, rose petals in the salad, sheer white gauze in the windows, dew on the flowers, a singing dog (believe me) and a goddess in a flowing chiffon gown…  And since then, we have been on the search for “the dining experience”.  And the Manila restaurant scene did not disappoint – there is Antonio’s (Tagaytay), Ugu Bigyan (Quezon Province), Bale Dutung (Pampanga), Abe’s Farm (Pampanga) and the other places that have been getting acclaim – the so-called best-kept secrets.

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Posted in: Recipes for Frugal Nights, The Philippines , Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Beg, Steal or Borrow

August 18 2:26 pm ,

Still

I was young and found myself in an acting workshop – my first – given by my school organization.  Someone was telling me – me – to beg, steal, or borrow.  But I could no longer make out the face behind the booming, drill sergeant’s voice.

But I can still hear it now, still see the room with faces both young, and afraid and shell-shocked, still smell the woodsy smell of the dried palm that enveloped the walls of our little theatre stage, still feel the sting of the first slap that I delivered in a scene, still feel the delicious words that rolled out of my mouth and the thunderous applause at the closing of the imaginary curtain.

I am not sure I got the principle, though, although I remember that it was repeated often – too often, in fact.  But even then, I was not sure that I could do it.  Begging seems too desperate.  And stealing – how can anything be justified by that?

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Posted in: Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , ,

Connect

August 13 2:35 pm ,

Looking Through

I am within a sea of people.  No one is looking at me.

And I am not looking at anyone.  Or at least that is what I would have done if I have not looked up and around and performed this exercise.

I have observed – in large crowds or even in intimate spaces, people do not look each other in the eye anymore.  It seems that everyone is absorbed in their own realities, in their own present and everyone else dissolves or is absorbed by the void.  Oblivious to everything. Are people just not interested anymore?  Are they too scared to share a moment, however fleeting, that they let themselves be wholly and completely consumed by their thoughts, or going to what they perceive is their goal (although at times, really trivial)?

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Posted in: Random Thoughts , Tagged: ,

Free is Good

August 10 9:38 am ,

Yours for Free

Free is wonderful.

So I spend about 5 minutes of my time everyday signing up for free stuff.  I do not even have to look for offers of the free stuff, it comes to my e-mail box every day.  And all I need is time on my hands (and for most free stuff offers, a US address).

See the picture on the left? I got all of those for free.  Included there is a big can of baby formula, baby magazines, lotions, creams, diapers, shampoos, conditioners – yes, most of them are minuscule and in sample form but I still got a giddy feeling getting them (weeeee! and you have to agree – they are great for out of town trips).  And I got coupons too, lots of coupons.  I am not sure I will be able to use everything, but the feeling of free is good.
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Posted in: Financial Education, The Basics of Finance, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

To Eat Out (Or Not)

August 6 11:52 pm ,

Fine Dining

A relative does not like eating out, even on important occasions.

You can actually feel his displeasure when we insist (except when it is the Sofitel buffet, which he loves).  This is because he thinks eating out is a waste of money.  This view is okay (and maybe true), except that he strongly suggests to everyone (read: bullies everyone) not to eat out (when it is not his money that will be spent).  And for special occasions (like Christmas or Thanksgiving), he wants the cooks in the family to do all the cooking (my husband outshines me in this regard so, no, I am not included in “cooks”).  That does not sit well some of the time with some of the members of the family, the ones who slave it out in the kitchen (who pay for the grocery too – a double whammy?).

But I know he means well.

Now, my husband and I look for every excuse to eat out.  For the past years, the lines between special and not-so-special occasions (or without any occasion) have been blurred for us. Name a restaurant, if it is good (and not so unreasonably expensive), we have probably eaten there (I partly blame food blogs, which I love to read).

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Posted in: Financial Education, Financial Planning , Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Move Your Cheese

August 1 9:31 pm ,

Be Uncomfortable

“When I enrolled in Maven Secrets, I did not know what I was getting into. I only thought I would learn about blogging, get to know the man behind all those amazing features in Our Awesome Planet and, yes, dabble a little bit in internet marketing. I did not know that it will lead to my re-examination of my life, that it will change my life, transfer me from the confines of my glass penthouse to vibrant, more exciting possibilities. Let this serve as a warning and a warm welcome to those who will follow this unbeaten path.”

The above was my testimony for MavenSecrets when I attended its pilot class more than a year ago.  But its echoes reverberate to the life I know today.

MavenSecrets is an internet marketing program.  But it was also a way out – because like what it did to Anton Diaz, its founder (and to my other classmates), it strengthened my desire to leave the rat race and go after things that I am passionate about – like family and doing the things I could not find the time to do, the more important things that give life its flesh and its color.

Through having multiple passive income streams.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, Mentors, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , ,