General

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Sick Baby

By on Thursday, May 10, 2012

The other night, Jeanne was had a fever and we suspected UTI. So the yesterday Michelle took her to the doctor (Thanks, mommy!) for consultation and urinalysis. They were able to submit the urine sample late in the afternoon already. I was actually out of the office by then so we met up and had snacks at Krispy Kreme, strolled around, and had dinner at Gilligan’s before going home. Today, Jeanne still had fever. Michelle is going back to the doctor to get the urinalysis results and a medicine prescription (Thanks again, mommy!). I hope it’s nothing more serious. Get well Jeanne!

UPDATE 5-12: Jeanne still had fever. We visited Jeanne’s regular doctor and she decided to have her confined since she wasn’t drinking her antibiotics nor eating her food.

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Afternoon Out

By on Sunday, May 6, 2012

Michelle had work to do so I took Jeanne out. First, we went to Gymboree where Jeanne played. There were not too many kids and the few who were soon left or preferred playing on their own. Jeanne had no choice but to solo play, too. I really should get around to scheduling play dates with friends’ toddlers.

At one point during solo play she was trying to the balls inside the mini-basketball basket. She started by grabbing the basket from below the hoop, lifting it up then grabbing the basket from above the hoop. But she didn’t have enough height. So I showed her how to push the basket from the bottom. She mimicked and was soon able to get the basket with all the balls inside out.

After Gymboree, we went to the grocery to buy some food and supplies for the house. I got her a small pack of wipes and told her not to open it yet because we haven’t paid for it. Around 30 minutes later, I promptly forgot what I said and was going to open it to wipe her nose when she reminded me that no, we haven’t paid for it yet.

After paying, I wiped her nose :P Then went home to drop off the groceries and pick Michelle up.

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The Philippines Astounds the Skeptics

By on Saturday, May 5, 2012

Maybe the skeptics’ expectations we’re really low :P But seriously, I read this article in Businessweek today which certainly brightened up my day. For decades, a lot of good people have been going overseas for work, and their remittances no doubt is one of the biggest contributors to the economy.  But there are also a lot of good people who decided to stay and directly help the economy. And because of their help, especially in the outsourcing sector, the economy has grown. Now more than ever, is a good time to stay, even go back, to the country.

Of course, one problem that needs to be addressed is the propensity of the average Filipino, especially those left back home, to consume rather than invest. As my overseas-based friends observed when they visited, it didn’t look apparent that there was a recession in the US, that there’s an ongoing debt crisis in Europe.

The sad fact is that most people don’t have bank accounts, don’t know how to handle money, don’t even know how to budget. We may be in a good position today, but if we don’t invest, we could eventually get into the same situation as Japan with its lost decade, the US with its recession, and Europe with its debt crisis.

And while from the top-level, with the government (if you trust them) can make the right economic and fiscal policies, from the grassroots level, the answer is financial literacy. Maybe it should be made part of the tertiary, secondary, or even primary education. The average home is dismal at it.

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SM Monstrosities

By on Monday, April 16, 2012

Passed by the monstrosity that is SM Mega Mall yesterday. As expected, the traffic was horrible. I can just imagine how the crowd is inside. Recently, SM was in the news because of all the pine trees in their Baguio mall that they’re “transplanting”. If you read what the experts are saying, they’re effectively just cutting the hapless trees down. Only gave me one more reason for me not to go to SM. I used to go to the original SM City but slowly I grew an aversion to it, the traffic, the crowd, the fugliness of the mall itself. Eventually I gravitated towards smaller malls like Robinson’s Galleria and avoided SM malls as much as possible. It’s past due time SM reinvents itself and do the community and the environment a favor. How about smaller malls  with a focused market like High Street? Or ones where the ugly parking structure is underground and out of sight like Power Plant? Or ones a bit farther away from major thoroughfares? You can help by not going to SM. You’ll reduce the traffic. You’ll reduce the crowd. Maybe you’ll even help save some trees.

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