Its almost the end of love month but it doesn't mean that the loving stops there.  February 14 / Valentines day is just a reminder to all of us that we must continuously show our care and affection to our loved ones.  Come to think of it, if February 14 wasn't known for Valentines day then it would have been a normal day.  Love shouldn't only be shown or given during that specific day.  Make them feel special the whole year 'round and celebrate when deemed necessary.  You'll never know what life may bring, one day you and you're partner will still be together and the next you'll be away for a long time temporarily or even permanently.  Its not about how much you spent on your gift or if you gave none at all.  What's important is the time you spent together.  Priceless moments of such as watching the sunset, admiring the moon, sharing a morning jog, spending a chill day at the beach or just by having that comfortable silence in between those coffee sips - or tea in my case ;) 

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Was out and about with a good friend last night.  Its been almost a year since the last time we've hung out that long.  We've talked and planned a lot of things and I cant wait! I'm even excited to write about it if some of it will push through. 

Anyway... we tried out this Pizzeria called Classio, fronting the Caltex gasoline station near the flyover in JP Laurel Ave.  Whats amazing with this little pit stop is they make the pizzas fresh and bake them in a wood-fired oven at a back of a converted multi-cab type of thing.  Sorry if I'm describing this poorly/wrongly though.  

The verdict.  We had the Nacho Pizza and Pepperoni.  Surprisingly, I liked both of them!  I didn't expect that my taste buds would approve of the Jalapeño's on the former, as I have a low tolerance for spicy food, but I guess the amount of chili's was just right for me.  Added a bit of Heinz Ketchup on both of it (I'd add up a dash of cheese as well if I can) :D  

Pizza was good considering the very affordable price, location isn't bad at all if you have your own car (its a bit difficult to ride a jeep there going Sasa or downtown), the music is a tad too loud though (or I'm just getting old?) but overall I'd give it a B+.  Will surely be back and try all of the other flavors.  I'd recommend it to my family, friends and to all of you and those travelers out there who happen to drive by Davao.  

 

Photo is from John Patrick aka "Daboy" :D

And oh, happy CNY everyone!

Our internet connection has been off / phone connection has been intermittent for a week now.  When we get the chance, we call up a service/technical line to have it fixed but it seems that no one wants to help or nothing an agent says helps.  Please at least try to let us feel that your doing something about it.  We've been receiving the same feedback and no ones seems to tell us the reason why it even happened so we could try to understand.  We've been a loyal customer for almost two decades now, PLDT.  I spent a few hours on a coffee shop which I rarely do and got an internet load on my phone just so I can use it for my work/studies when I'm home.  Having additional costs for something that you're paying monthly on time for isn't a good thing.  I had not imagined myself that I'd be feeling bad for something like this but at this day and age the internet has become a necessity.

*sigh*

Its February!  And hearts are all over the world this month ;)

Anyway.  You always want to do something special for that special someone to make them happy, right?  Especially this time of the year.  There are tons of gifts that you can think of and maybe you already ran out of ideas.  So I thought of sharing with you these Vday gift ideas for him / her that could help you out, two of which are DIYs. No need to worry as these are so easy to do and the materials are inexpensive, and you can actually customize each gift any way you want it to be! 

4 Valentines Day Gift Ideas

1.) Bamboo Bonsai Plant
I'm not sure if these are sold all over the Philippines but these are available in Malls here in Davao and quite affordable too! You can leave it as it is or you can put a little note around it like "You can plant a dream" -Anne Campbell

What I like about this gift is the idea of having to take care of something, just like a relationship.  You need to take time and effort to water it so it wouldn't wilt and die.

This one is priced at Php 300.00 (around US$7), and was bought at Gaisano Mall of Davao.

2.) Power Bank
Well, in this technological era you can never go wrong with this one!  You can also look for Power Bank's with 2 output ports so that you can use it together when your phones are running low on juice. Sweet!

Price depends on the battery capacity but you can buy these for as low as Php 305.00 if your lucky ;) So check out affordable Power Bank's in Lazada. Though may take some time on the delivery (5-10 days).

You got the couples shirt, the couples shoes, now you have the couples power bank! Promate 5200mAh for Php 1900.00

really digging on these Airborne Tech ones though and I want to get one for myself! 11200mAh with one 2.1A and one 1A output priced at Php 2,650.00 (about US$ 58.88).  This isn't affordable for me but if this was on sale for 50% off I'm definitely buying it :P

Checked a Momax power bank at a shop in SM Lanang Premier, it is 11200 mAh with the same outputs with the Airborne Tech's priced at Php 3750.00 (about US$ 83.33).

And now for the DIYs...
3.) Wall Art / Frame Art

This is my favorite! This takes minimum effort and may cost none at all for some (like I did).

Materials needed:
-a picture frame
-short/long bond paper or colored paper or photo paper
-scissors(optional)

3.1.) Think about his/her favorite Bible verse. Or just look for cheesy or inspirational quotes on the internet!*

3.2.) Measure or try to give a good estimate of how big you want the printed art to be taking in to consideration the size of your frame. 

3.3.) Type it* out as a word document and play with the variety of fonts, colors and sizes.

3.4.) Create a border so it will be easy for you to cut it out (this step can be interchanged with 3.3. or can be left out if the paper your printing on would fit perfectly in to the frame and needs no cutting).

3.5.) This step is optional as you can leave it already as it is, plain and simple. But if you want you can add in little graphics here and there.

3.6.) Adjust the paper size if needed, then just print.

3.7.) Trace and cut out the border if needed

and...

3.8) Place it in the frame! Simple as that!

NOTE: If you're good on your editing skills, then use photo shop or any editing software you have and get extra creative! (Not going in to the details as I easily fail in those type of things :P)

4.) Candy/Chocolate Dynamite
This is just a unique twist to one of the most given item this season.

Materials needed: 
-Candy/Chocolate
-1 sheet of red construction paper (1/4 red cartolina paper or 1 red art paper)
-black fuzzy wire (black yarn may also work)
-Double sided tape for a clean finish, but you can also use scotch tape or any adhesive of your choice
-scissors

For the chocolate, most people are using Nestle Rolo's but I don't think they're sold here in PH.  Suggest to use candy like Polo mints or basically anything thats round so to make this DIY easier.  Though you can also use Snickers/Mars especially if its your partner's favorite.  You can use Hershey's Nuggets which they have in 3s currently priced at Php 36.50 or Hershey's Kisses in 175g priced at 194.50.  I got the Delfi Treasures but in 4s which looked similar to Hershey's Nuggets but only priced at Php 20.25.

4.1.) Divide and cut your paper into 3 sections lengthwise, cutting the excess off if too long for the chocolates.

4.2.) Wrap the chocolate in the paper forming it into a circle (which mine turned into an oblong), and secure with an adhesive as you go
4.3.) Repeat until you have 3 individual candy/chocolate circles
4.4.) For the wick, cut a 4-5 inch long fuzzy wire and glue it on one of the back sides of the candy/chocolate circles
4.5.) Group the 3candy/chocolate circles together and tie them up with the fuzzy wire.
4.6.) OPTIONAL STEP. In a small paper you can write phrases like "you're the bomb", "baby, you're a firework" or "you light up like a dynamite" and glue it on near the knot on the fuzzy wire.

For this one, I spent only Php 68.00 for the chocolates.  Didn't need to buy paper as a used up red cartolina was available at home.  Instead of also buying fuzzy wire or yarn, I just cut up a one inch paper which I covered with black color and cut up some strips and twisted it for the wick part of the dynamite. 

I hope you got some inspiration from these 4 Valentines Day Gift Ideas. I know Valentines Day is just around the corner and you may not have the time to look/make one of these but I'm pretty sure that no matter what you give your partner they will appreciate it nonetheless.  Theres really no need to buy anything material, these are just ideas to help you out.  What's important is you spend quality time with the one you love.

"I'll get it if you need it. I'll search if you can't see it. You're thirsty, I'll be rain. You get hurt, I'll take your pain." - Gavin DeGraw

So last week I got the chance to serve and give back to the community with the help of the Ninerz Choir (an OMPH choir group in Davao City).  Though it was only for a very short time only as I needed to be somewhere else after a few hours, it gave me a sense of purpose and that kind of feeling that made me want to stay longer.

So just to give you a little background of our group, we are volunteers to serve God through our voices.  We are not professional singers, although some of them are :)  We sing in the 9 o'clock mass every Sunday, thus the name "Ninerz".  We are in various age groups, some already have established jobs and have their own families, some are young adults making their way in the real world (like I am), and some are still in College and High School.

Every Christmas season we try to sing carols to family and friends to raise some money to help others.  We have donated money to those who were affected by the typhoon Yolanda 2 years ago, typhoon Pablo 3 years ago, and had our first outreach in Marilog District 4 years ago.  There are also times when we get to be a part of weddings of our family and friends or of some of the members.

I admit that I'm a pretty lousy member as I've been missing a lot action of lately, but I'm hopeful that I can do better this year.  I've considered this group as another branch of my family and it feels different when I am just sitting in Mass than when I am singing songs of praise with them.

Members posing with some of the kids after giving the bags full of goodies.
Original photo is from kuya Leo.

Kids playing paper dance and longest line.
Original photo is from kuya Leo.

The kids were just so nice to watch.  They still enjoy the simple things in life like playing parlor games which I was so envious of as I still enjoy them too ;) Just standing there helping facilitate some of the games made me feel thankful for days like that.  Simple yet so meaningful.  You know what I mean?

Layout was done by kuya Leo's (the group's president) friend.

Original photos are from ate Grace.

The group was able to give out new slippers, a bag full of goodies, some food and toys, faces with smiles and hearts filled with joy to a hundred kids.

It took a lot of effort and coordination to make this activity a success.  Wasn't really able to help out in the planning and organizing, but I was lucky enough to be there on the day.  Thank you again for the opportunity, Ninerz.  Looking forward for the next outreach activities in the future!

I hope that this post inspired you to give back whatever you can to the community.