Cheers for the New Year!
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Friday, 09 January 09 - 04:46 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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My holiday has been wonderful. I was able to meet some of my friends, god-children on Christmas day (who would have missed that!), and a very good friend of mine which turned out to be a surprise.
New set of snapshots can be seen in my gallery. Everyone wants to have something left for memories. I don’t have the full album yet, so here are some photos from my cam.
N.B. I have a strong weakness with these things, so please bear with my goofy shots. :D
I had a wonderful holiday! Hope you had a good one too.
Merry Christmas
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Monday, 29 December 08 - 10:51 AM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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Inexpensive Gifts for Christmas
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Wednesday, 03 December 08 - 02:27 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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Christmas has always been a rave all over the world. A well celebrated holiday of the year is always accompanied by colorful Christmas decorations, shining lights at night, enchanting Christmas carols, and Christmas-themed displays fills the areas of malls white it awaits for busy shoppers buying gifts. In spite of all the logs going around, the spirit of Christmas will still flourish in our hearts. The feeling has always been the same - everything is on bliss.
Gift-giving is by far a big part of the Yuletide. It’s overwhelming when we see that winning smile of our loved-one while unwrapping your presents for them. It’s the thought that counts – so make the thought brighter by giving that super cool stuff they’ve always wanted. It hasn’t had to be expensive. They may have just been sitting around the corners of your house or on one of the oldest stores in your area. This needs a little research – just remember the times when you’re together and think of the things that makes them happy or bring-out their child-like wonder.
Here are some inexpensive treats you can give to your loved ones.
1. Plants on pot or gardening tools - If they have a green thumb and gardening is their thing, they will surely love these gifts.
2. Books – A popular gift on Christmas. If they love books, it doesn’t need to be their favorite author. Find the plot of the story they enjoy and get a book with a similar plot. A health book is a good option too especially for elders to improve their health.
3. Tops – Choose something that’s in their style or better yet their favorite color.
4. Homemade cakes – I have a sweet tooth so I will surely have a big smile when I receive one. Anyone who wants them too?
5. Vintage photos – Find their oldest of their old photo collection and frame it just to tease them.
6. Spoof Shirts – It’s always fun to see spoof shirts and they will surely smile when they receive one.
7. A bag of lollies – Kids will surely love this. Everyone seems to be giving toys to them and to make you different, give them a bag filled with candies. You can use Santa’s socks as a substitute.
8. Spa gift certificate - Very indulging gift for your loved ones. They will surely love it especially after the busy season.
9. Bath and body gifts – Give them something they can use to indulge their bodies. A basket with a body wash, shampoo and conditioner, lotion, bath salts, hand wash and soaps is all good.
10. All Personalized – Give shirts, bags, mugs, calendar or anything that can be customized to have the personal touch.
7 Ways to Slash Stress
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Wednesday, 05 November 08 - 01:31 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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An article from Dr. Maoshing Ni
Chronic stress seems to be our national disease, especially these days. Millions suffer from symptoms of stress: nervous tension, restless sleep, difficulty focusing and remembering, irritability, and health complications. Generally speaking, stress speeds up aging. Learn the ways to manage stress, and you will look and feel younger.
1. Start your day with meditation
Spend time every day in meditative relaxation, with calming music if you desire. Start with five minutes and work your way to 15 or 20 minutes each day. Meditation is your number one way to reduce the output of stress hormones and avoid adrenal exhaustion, serious threats to your health.
Try this Stress Release Meditation: Breathe consciously, relax, and with each exhale focus on relaxing each area of your body in sequence, starting from the top of your head and moving all the way down to your toes.
2. Manage your mood with diet and herbs
Chinese Medicine considers the liver to be the center of your emotions. To allay stress and balance your emotions, keep your liver healthy and happy:
• Every day, eat lots of green leafy vegetables, barley grass, seaweed - anything high in chlorophyll - to keep the liver in good health.
• Take 500 mg dandelion daily for a month or longer to cleanse the liver and help release built-up anger.
• Take 400 mg white peony root daily for 1 to 3 months to soothe the liver and balance your mood.
• Schisandra berry protects the liver from chemicals and calms the spirit. For emotional anxiety, take 200 mg daily for a month.
Take these herbs anytime during the day and before bed in tea or capsule form. All the herbs are available from health food stores and Eastern medicine practitioners. Many of my patients have had remarkable results with Calm-Fort Elixir, an all-natural formulation of herbs to calm your spirit. For more information, click here.
3. Suppress stress with positive thinking
Instead of letting your thoughts run wild with anxiety, say affirmations to yourself, such as "I can handle the tasks I have ahead of me. I enjoy my responsibilities and fulfill them well." In fact, repeating positive affirmations can actually suppress the cortisol that the adrenal gland releases in times of stress - leaving you peaceful and calm.
4. Get stress out of your head and on paper
Writing in a journal every day can help you release thoughts and emotions that are causing you stress. Write from the position of an observer, recording your thoughts without any judgments. Just write it down so that you can see clearly what is going on inside. The next step is to identify the source of any anger or stress so you can begin to make changes. Looking into your thoughts give you the opportunity to gain insight into your feelings and reflect the underlying issues.
5. Unblock tension with exercise
The constant pressures of your job and family can lead to chronically elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is a direct cause of muscle and joint pain. Clenched jaw? Lump in your throat? Chronic back and neck pain? These can all be manifestations of stress in your body. Release physical tension and clear these emotional blockages by using massage therapy, exercise, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong to get the circuits moving.
6. A Retreat to Avoid Burnout
Overloading your brain is a recipe for stress and health problems. Information overload is particularly harmful at midlife because we have less tolerance for stress, which can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. Press the "reset" button on yourself. Give yourself a retreat from the stresses of modern life. Take one day out of the seven-day week to minimize "screen" time. Don't watch TV, don't check email, and don't look at the news - it will be there tomorrow, and after a day of rest, you will be refreshed and ready to look at them.
7. Perspective from the Natural World
Use nature to reduce stress. Go outside, hike in the woods, walk on the beach, anything that puts you in contact with the natural world. It is difficult to feel stressed when you are surrounded by nature's abundance of vitality and wonder.
I hope you find the ways to have less stress! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!
The World’s Billionaires
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Friday, 17 October 08 - 02:03 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. According to forbes.com, Warren Buffet is now the wealthiest man alive - a friend and a bridge partner of Gates.
Here is the list of the top 10 richest man in the world as of 2008. Lucky for them to have lots of money. :)
1. Warren Buffett - Net Worth: $62.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: United States
Age: 77
Source: Berkshire Hathaway
Industry: Investments
An American investor, businessman, and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Often called the "Oracle of Omaha", Buffett is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.
2. Carlos Slim Helu - Net Worth: $60.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: Mexico
Age: 68
Source: Telecom
Industry: Communications
A Mexican businessman largely focused on the telecommunications industry. Slim has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry in Mexico and much of Latin America as well. He controls Teléfonos de México (Telmex), Telcel and América Móvil companies. Though he maintains an active involvement in his companies, his three sons Carlos Slim Domit, Marco Antonio Slim Domit and Patrick Slim Domit head them on a day-to-day basis.
3. William Gates III - Net Worth: $58.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: United States
Age: 52
Source: Microsoft
Industry: Software
4. Lakshmi Mittal - Net Worth: $45.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: India
Age: 57
Source: Steel
Industry: Manufacturing
A London-based Indian billionaire industrialist, born in Sadulpur village, in the Churu district of Rajasthan, India, and resides in Kensington, London. The Mittal family owns a controlling majority stake in ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company.
5. Mukesh Ambani - Net Worth: $43.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: India
Age: 50
Source: Petrochemicals
Industry: Manufacturing
He is an Indian businessmanthe chairman, managing director and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune 500 company. His personal stake in Reliance Industries is 48%. His wealth is valued at US$43 billion (according to Forbes), making him the fifth richest man in the world and the richest in Asia. Mukesh and younger brother Anil are sons of the late founder of Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai Ambani. Mukesh also owns the Indian Premier League team Mumbai Indians.
6. Anil Ambani - Net Worth: $42.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: India
Age: 48
Source: Diversified
Industry: Diversified
Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications and Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Energy, and was formerly Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited. His personal stake in Reliance Communications is 66%. Reliance group is India's largest business house, founded by Anil's late father Dhirubhai Ambani (1938-2002). His mother is Kokilaben Ambani. He is married to Tina Ambani (Munim) who was a well known Indian Actress in early 80's, and with whom he has two sons, Jai Anmol and Jai Anshul. He has been linked with buying Newcastle United and Everton premier league football clubs.
7. Ingvar Kamprad - Net Worth: $31.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: Sweden
Age: 81
Source: Ikea
Industry: Retailing
Ingvar Feodor Kamprad is a Swedish entrepreneur who is the founder of the home furnishing retail chain IKEA. The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name (Ingvar Kamprad) plus those of Elmtaryd, the family farm where he was born; and the nearby village Agunnaryd.
8. KP Singh - Net Worth: $30.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: India
Age: 76
Source: Real Estate
Industry: Real Estate
Presides over DLF Universal Limited, India’s largest real estate developer. It has an estimated land bank of 10,255 acres (42 km2) with about 3,000 acres (12 km²) being in prime city locations such as Delhi NCR, Chandigarh and Kolkata.
9. Oleg Deripaska - Net Worth: $28.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: Russia
Age: 40
Source: Russian Aluminum
Industry: Diversified
A Russian billionaire, and a member of the Board of Directors of UC Rusal, a Russian aluminium industry company. Deripaska is the sole owner and a Chairman of the Supervisory board of Basic Element, a diversified investment company established in 1997 with assets in Russia and abroad. Basic Element's main assets are concentrated in six sectors - Energy, Resources, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Construction and Aviation.
10. Karl Albrecht - Net Worth: $27.0 bil
Country Of Citizenship: Germany
Age: 88
Source: Aldi
Industry: Retailing
A German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo. Karl and Theo Albrecht were raised in modest circumstances in Essen. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Their mother had a small grocery store in the worker’s quarter of Schonnebeck. Theo completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl also served in the German Army during World War II. After the end of World War II, the brothers took over their mother's business (1946). The first Aldi (Albrecht-Discount) was opened in 1961.
Mama Mia: How Can I Resist You?
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Monday, 06 October 08 - 07:14 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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After the successful stage musical comes the film adaptation of the book of Catherine Johnson. Mama Mia, a comedy-drama, is based on the songs of pop group ABBA.
It is about the story of an independent single mom Donna (Meryl Streep) who raised her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) alone on a beautiful island of Kalkairi in Greece. Donna runs Villa Donna, taking no day-offs from repairing and maintaining the small hotel. Sophie is about to marry her fiancé Sky (Dominic Cooper), with a Greek celebration on their small town. She secretly invites Sam, Harry and Bill, the three men whom her mom had an affair. She suspects that one of them could be her father that she has been searching all her life.
Playing to be a film critic, I can say that the movie is fun but can’t get a two thumbs up. I like the way that they were able to connect the songs of ABBA as the lines of the characters. I love how the stories within the story were delivered. Specially the part when Donna and the Dynamites sung ‘Dancing Queen’ with the girls of Greece. I had goose bumps while I was watching them sing it. They were successful to bring the message to their audience – that girl power spirit every woman has even if she has wrinkles on her face, fats all over her body and has seen her better days.
I was disappointed on the wedding ceremony of Sophie though. I was expecting it to be the highlight of the film but the scene was spoiled when the Donna interrupted the priest to introduce Sophie’s father. That was annoying because it can’t happen on a real wedding. I won’t go into details of the movie, see it and you might have a different opinion.
All in all you will enjoy the film. You will find yourself tapping your foot and smiling while watching. Like what Joe Baltake, a Passionate Moviegoer, said 'Mamma Mia!' Is Like Taking a Tiny Vacation.
Just a thought...
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Tuesday, 09 September 08 - 05:17 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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People change, they really do. No matter how much you try to convince yourself they don't, still they do.
Free Nintendo Wallpapers
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Monday, 08 September 08 - 05:21 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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As I kid, I started to explore the gaming world by playing our first family game, Nintendo. The famous 'Super Mario Brothers' with Mario and Luigi was the first game I have ever played. Who can ever forget the mushroom that stretches mario and luigi if you get it on the gold box of question mark? Kill the potato-headed creatures by jumping on them. Get the power of tomato gun by bumping on another gold box while you are on the normal sized mario character. Be sure you've killed the hard-shelled turtle and kick them off the ground or else they will rise from dead and chase you again. I remember them with funny thoughts and be a kid again just for a while. C'mon, I know you love them too.
The Super Mario Brothers game goes back to back with the annoying laughing dog from Duck Hunt. I am no good in shooting so when the dog has raised my anger, I will point the red orange gun directly on the screen of our TV. I can still remember my mom shouting me to move away from the television screen when I do that; or my brother punching throw pillows on my back. Lol!
To bring back the old memories again, I am sharing with you a cool thing I've discovered from Desktop Gaming. They are giving away free desktop wallpapers of famous games we love to play. The graphics on them are not as good as the new games nowadays, but of course, the games are on that quality too.
Here are my personal favorites:
Duck Hunt - Witht the Laughing Dog
Super Mario Bros. 3 (All Stars Edition)
Super Mario World
For more retrorfic desktop wallpapers, go to their website and grab your favorite gaming wallpaper.
I am starting to hear wedding bells
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Wednesday, 13 August 08 - 03:50 PM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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"To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."
I am so happy today because a dear friend of mine is finally engaged. I cannot say the name yet because I want her to inform the rest of the gang about the engagement. I am very happy for the both of you. You deserve a lovely life together on the years to come. :)
Fast Paced Sabado Night!
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Monday, 11 August 08 - 10:33 AM (GMT +08:00) By Ces Catubay in Random Thoughts |
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For a while, I was able to take a break this weekend from a busy week. All seemed to get along pretty well, made me grasp fresh air again. 08-09 as planned, my friends and I went to our god-son kim whose size turned out to be doubled from the last time I saw him. It was his 1st birthday and I am happy to see him growing energetic and healthy. He resembles his mum's face specially the plum eyes that I saw on his day. Such a sweet little angel. I was able to hold him in my arms, shared a baby talk for a while and had few snapshots for remembrance. I hope he will like the superman jumper and cap I bought for him. I know it will fit his small frame well. :)
After the kid's party, Medz had invited us to watch for a movie. It was somewhat late and we will be heading off to the last full show. I was a bit kill joy at first of stating not to join them saying my excuses. I know for a fact that it is once in a blue moon that she asks something like that and the mere fact that I am dying to see the film somehow convinced me to say yes. Yes, I watched the super 'kilig' movie 'A Very Special Love'. Call me mushy, corny, baduy, dreamer, whatever, but yes I love to watch that kind of story. It feels like I rode a time machine making me feel that I was once again in high school, giggling with every romantic scenes as the couple steels a glimpse of each other. I can feel that I was in my sweet sixteen years when I used to stay on the corridor waiting for my crush to go out with his friends. Y.U.C.K.! Too much to relate now, I am stopping.
Going back to the movie, yes it was really good. There is something in her laugh that makes me laugh too whenever I hear it. Sarah and Lloydy (Ui, lloydy daw oh), were really good in the film, making the audience feel that all the things went as natural as it is supposed to. I must say that they were brilliant because of the fact that both of them have different paths yet they have chemistry together on big screen. John Lloyd as Bea Alonzo's pair and Sarah as a shining pop singer. I like how Sarah laughs. The film is definitely a 2 thumbs up. I am totally into it! :D
All in all, my satuday night was great! Not to mention, my sunday night was also a good one. Keith and I were able to take a break for a while. We strolled on a sandy park and headed to a local pizza house. It was great time. :)
... More items are available in my News Archive
