I am so tired and worn out from all the anxiety this problem has given me. I will try my damndest to get this story out there. Something should be done about this issue since the banks are getting away with it! The following is a letter I sent via BDO’s feedback page (OF COURSE there’s no email address you can write directly to for complaints)

—————————————————–

I am a BDO depositor via a payroll account, and I hope this message reaches the HV dela Costa branch manager, as well as the president of the bank.

Last February 25, 2009, I tried to withdraw P18,000 from the Pasong Tamo branch and without dispensing the money, the entire amount was debited from my account. It has been 5 banking days already and, as promised by the CSR I talked to, my money should have been credited back to my account by now.

I hope you understand that this kind of service is UNACCEPTABLE and this bank has literally cost me loss of income, almost my entire half month’s salary. Regular customers like myself have rents due, electricity bills to pay, and food I need to put on our table!

I will file complaints with DTI, SEC, and other consumer groups within the week especially if my money, which I have worked HARD for, is still not returned to me by Friday. I sincerely hope that this kind of “red tape” is seen by the higher-ups and something should be done about it. I have read and heard a lot of “debit without dispense” incidents from co-workers and friends, and your bank owes it to us as your customers, to fix this problem for good.

Decided to post some of my digi scraps here. Caption reads “Our roots says we’re sisters but our heart says we’re friends. Rose and Ren ‘08″. This is for my two sisters who really are the best of friends.

I am miserable today. Miserable miserable misery. The only thing that keeps me sane is writing down my thoughts. It’s like exorcising the turmoil inside of me through pen and ink, or digitized photons and keyboard, whatever tickles your fancy.

The reason I’m miserable is that my boyfriend left me. Well, not for good, but only for a few days to visit his family. Ha ha. Sheesh I know how that sounds believe me, I can’t help it though. We’re crazy in love and being apart is like taking a whole chunk out of each other. Oh gawd the self pity, cliche, lovesick misery is killing me, and I’m sure it’s killing you right now too. Ha ha. That’s what you get for coming here, please come back though this is only a temporary phase.

Here’s what I recommend if you are in my situation:

1. Write him a soppy blog entry and tell him how you feel. Ha ha. The thing with Bede is that we’re  surgically attached at the hip so one blog entry is definitely not enough. I want to tell him EVERYTHING that’s happening to me. Even the mundane dream that I have about me and my sister roller skating in body tight outfits knocking each other down, but that’s a totally different therapy session.
2. Write him a letter every time you miss him. I already wrote two and he only left 12 hours ago! So to prepare myself, I took out all my scrapbook papers and my Sharpie colored pens, and a big roll of Sanicare toilet paper (I ran out of perfumed Kleenex). There should be a short slobbery novel when he gets back.
3. Cook your favorite food. OK so I tried making my ultimate fave, baked ziti! It ended quite badly though, let me just say, dumping a whole lot of flour in butter will NOT make white sauce, I’d call it white clay if I haven’t poured a whole lot of milk to make it, white.. watery substance. Bede come back soon or else I will die from food poisoning.
4. Listen to Guns n Roses. OK do this but skip the songs Don’t Cry (coz it will make you cry) November Rain (coz it’s November and I want to cry) Patience (“shed a tear coz I’m missing you”), which will pretty much leave you with Civil War, Knockin on Heaven’s Door, Welcome to the Jungle, and Yesterdays, which will probably leave you more depressed, opressed, and… very angry at the world. Damn you world! Listen to Eheads na lang, they’re like music comfort food.

E.T. Heart

I’m miserable. I miss my best friend, my labs, my protector, my comedian, my artist, my poet, my downloader of torrents, my chatmate, my DOTA partner and teacher, my personal photographer, my personal chef, my bebeh, my soulmate.

Takit na mata kuu…

Edit: Bede is back from his trip! Reunited and it feeels so gooood! Haha.. OK sorry for subjecting you guys to the soppiness of the entire situation. It’s great to feel whole again, yehey! Thanks to my brave friends who read this entry.

Ever since I got my digital SLR I’ve been struggling with getting just the right exposure for my pictures. Too often I get photos that are too dull and dark, even opting for Manual mode didn’t do the trick. Here’s a sample shot of my pink piggy, Av mode F1.8 @50mm.

Pink Pig - Exposure Compensation 0 step

One day I got fed up and searched “400D dull colors” on Google. They’re pretty much saying the same thing, try and move the exposure compensation around a bit (this only works for advanced modes like Av and Tv, and not Manual).

Exposure Compensation – Av for example relies on your camera’s meter to adjust which speed setting to use to match the aperture you wanted, saaay F1.8 @50mm. Exposure Compensation tells your camera to adjust its “perfect exposure” one or two steps away from 0, depends on how you set it.

* Gah, where’s my manual? Uy pun not intended. *

For 400D, and most Canon users, you can compensate your exposure by using the +/- button while moving the wheel thing near the shutter button. Voila! You can have your camera take slightly over-exposed or under-exposed photos depending on how much light you want to take in, because sometimes your camera meter does not give you the “perfect” pictures like your standard point n shoot. Here’s a sample pic of the same pig which I’m submitting for Pretty Pink Tuesdays:

Pink Pig - Exposure Compensation +1.3 step

* Geez I pay so much for a camera and it doesn’t give me perfect pictures? Photos are better from my Sony HSC-2!*

Ehr, that’s why it’s called a professional camera because of it’s versatility. My pic above is NOT perfect but it sure looks better and if I learn how to set my camera correctly, I could probably get a better result. Get to know your equipment a little bit more to get great photos out of it. Read the manual, observe the histogram.

XOXO

I’m super excited for our Boracay trip three weeks from now. It’s only a short vaca, 3 days 2 nights, but it’s been a while since I’ve been on the island. Growing up in Iloilo where Bora is only a few hours away, we’ve been visiting the island since 1986, during its pre-commercial, pre-hyped days. Eventually, the trips lost its excitement and we only go there when there are weddings, sightseeing relatives from abroad, and other family events.

It’s different now though because it’s Bede’s first trip to Bora (yehey!) and we’re bringing along two of my bestest friends so I just have a good good feeling about this trip. On to my shopping list:

1. Snorkel gear - On a limited budget this one’s kind of a luxury item. I had a Speedo set but it’s probably back home in Iloilo so it’s too late and expensive to have it sent to me. Can’t decide between Speedo, Mares, or Dorfin but it’s sure going to set you back at least 1.5kPHP (30USD). We’re both water babies so I think it’s a must have for a nice snorkeling trip (boting ma’am boting?). Flippers are very optional unless you decide to explore on your own. I’d highly recommend the boat trip though, they’ll take you to the best snorkelling spots, 500 m from the shore. “Boting” will cost around 600/person? I’m not sure now, it used to be super cheap like 600 for the whole BOAT especially if you’re a local, but they must have hiked the price up since there are loads of tourists now.
2. Swimsuit and board shorts – I’m thinking Arena swimsuits because they’re just as good looking as the Speedo ones, and of course cheaper! I saw a couple at an outlet-type store for only 600 petot. I only hope there are some good ones left. Board shorts also don’t have to be expensive. I’m sure there are pretty good “roxy” and “billabong” shorts out there. Check out Greenhills, Cash n Carry, or Market Market.
3. Slippers, Flip-flops, tsinelas – or ’smagol’ as we witty Ilonggos call them. Geez I used to scoff at the gullible people buying 900 petot slippers, where you can buy equally functional, yet much less stylish Dragon tsinelas at 30 petot. Well, heck it’s only 900 petot and it’s cute, and I wear it to work yes, and I love my smagol. Havainas are on sale this week! Most designs are 20% off. Hmnnn lovely flowery and slim.
4. Shades – Except for Oakleys I don’t think it’s smart to buy shades at more than 3,000 pesos. Though I only bought mine for saaale at $69, loove Cabazon. Woot woot! Anyway, for a much cheaper alternative but very stylish, I’m thinking of getting a pair at Bench. Ohh I like Bench shirts and stufff.

After our trip I’ll post more tips on how to have a great Bora vacation without burning up your wallet. Haha, I hope I’ll be able to follow most of it though.

Note: the best way to save? Get a good deal on your airfare. We got ours from Cebu Pacific, they have discounted fares if you don’t check-in any luggage (good luck with that hehe). And for hotels, get one that’s not on the beachfront, a short walk doesn’t really hurt if you get to shave off some of your vaca expenses. For food especially if you have the time and patience, buy fresh at the Boracay market and have it cooked for a nominal fee. Our favorite is fresh chili crab by a filipino-japanese couple who owns a booth right on the market.

XOXO

Jamie lent me her Twilight series to read and I just finished the third book New Moon. It was kind of a difficult read for me, going through the tweeny romantic stuff between Bella and Edward and Jacob. I must admit though it’s a bit entertaining and I’m looking forward to reading the 4th book.

Related to that, isn’t it funny how similar the HBO series, True Blood (our new TV fave) is to the Twilight story?

1. Twilight’s main female character Bella – True Blood lead male role is Belle
2. The female lead is human with strange mind powers. Bella can’t be mind read or tortured, Suki can read minds
3. Mind reading! Suki and Edward
4. Werewolves! Jacob Black and I think it’s Suki’s boss. He acts wolfy. Hehhe..
5. A vampire trying to be good.

OK, maybe there’s not a whole lot of difference coz I still like True Blood better. But hey, I encourage you to get a copy of the Twilight saga, and watch True Blood and see for yourself! Mwah!

Actually I didn’t always know that muni muni means inum inum backwards, I thought it meant… thinking! Hahaha…

Honestly, I have so many random thoughts it’s hard to organize them in my head. I have so many plans for the future: both short term and long term, and they sometimes feel achievable, sometimes not. I hate this feeling of being floating wherever the breeze takes me. Hayy life isn’t so easy peasy all the time.

One thing is for sure, I’m so happy that there’s somebody I can go through all this with me, somebody who can help me sort out whatever muni muni that’s going on in this confused brain of mine.

So I was blogsurfing and found my way to my pal Alina’s blog where I found out that she tagged me!

I love lists so here goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
That would be July 1998 so I was in UP Miagao taking up Computer Science. I was living in a boarding house with 3 of my best friends studying hard (daw) and having the time of my life. Ahhh those were the days.

2. Five things on my to-do list today:

• Finish my night shift, I work from 9P – 6A and I am LOVIN it!
• I might drop by CDR-King to get myself a tripod
• And a 8-in-1 programmable remote I am hoping to use as a remote trigger for my 400D. Saw it in a forum and I am praying that the P120 gadget can save me LOTS of money.
• Related to that, write down my ideas for the 365 days project (glorified daily cam-whoring, and I could JUST SEE my beastie Troy say, ahhh yes… typical… ehehehe)
• Let certain people know just how much I love and appreciate them

3. Snacks I enjoy:I am SO addicted to CHIZ CURLS right now. I have to stop stop stop. Also no more Fudgee Bar.

4. Places where I’ve lived:

Marami rami to:

• loilo
• Diliman, QC
• Miagao
• Pag-Asa, QC
• Makati
• Bolingbrook, IL
• Normal, IL

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:
Play badminton everyday para hindi tumaba, Travel everywhere, take lots of pictures with my very very expensive camera gear, go to cooking school, live abroad and buy several houses (especially a beach house), buy my parents a house and making sure they’re comfortable, give to charity, or since i don’t have to work, help out in charity work, invest wisely para hindi maubos lang ang pera, oh and have lots of kids (kasi mahal magkaanak eh hehe).

6. People I want to know more about:
Beastie, Jamie, Bede, Calvin, Rain

These days it seems so hard to find enough free time to do whatever it is that I want to do… So here’s what I’ll do instead, make a list of what I’d like to do with my free time, with the short free time that I currently have:

1. Read one whole book. I’d like to read this one next, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones (author of Howl’s Moving Castle):

2. Scrapbook. I got a box full of scrapbooking stuff I bought from my ISU days and I’d have to say I barely made a dent in my supplies. I still got lotsa lotsa projects to do. Here’s a link to my faaave scrapbook mag: http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/. I need more pictures though, I guess I’d have to put that as my number 3.
3. Take more Pictures. I actually often dream of taking pictures. Once I had a dream about a cool shot: a smug looking kitten, hanging by a paw, literally, from a shelf. Bede asked me how on earth I could set that up, but I told him I was more worried about setting the right DOF, than how to make the kitten “hang” from a shelf. Ha ha ha.

4. Travel. Wow, this goes under my “If I have more money” list too. I’d like to go to Europe if possible, (should have a nifty telephoto lens by then) Italy is really my dream vacation.

5. Sleep. Ahhhh to escape the life of sleep-deprivation, when working 9-6. Huhuhu…

** Image taken from www.daddywasabi.blogspot.com/

Lately I’ve been a regular commuter on the MRT, and I have to say I’m enjoying it. Of course the term ‘enjoy’ is subject to several factors:

1. avoiding the rush hours of 7-9AM and 5-7PM.
2. sitting up front on the ladies/senior citizens only cab
3. If I could time it right, be the first on the line at the door
4. getting to sit down for the 30 minute ride

Now, since I’m ALWAYS on the women/old people only cab, I’ve made a LOT of interesting observations about the Pinay commuter:

1. she always wears tsinelas on her way home from work
2. she always carries a paper bag (probably containing her high heels)
3. she texts on her cellphone half the time on the train
4. maybe because of the pollution but most of the women don’t have good skin
5. chivalry is still alive! well in a sense, because pinays still give up their seat for old people and pregnant women
6. a lot of iPod/mp3 player users (mine is a beat-up old 1GB Sansa)

Anyhoo, hurray for the Pinay commuter. She puts up with a lot of everyday stress from work to home, and everything in between.