I did a snowy new year greeting last year, thought I’d share some again!

Hey I could do this every year -as long as I’m living in the east coast- there will be snow!

Farewell 2008 with all your sorrows and heartaches,

Welcome 2009 with all your promise and prospect…

Wishing everyone a very healthy, prosperous and peaceful new year- heaven knows we all could use a little break from it all!

I have been feeling the Winter blues for the past two weeks. When you’re thousands of miles away from family and relatives, you can’t help it. Everything seems forced- a smile, the energy to go out in the cold, greeting people- it’s hard when deep down, you wished you were somewhere else…

It didn’t help that Boston had it’s first annual snowstorm last weekend where it snowed for three days! Probably a total of 18 inches of snow after it was over. It is going to be a White Christmas as promised as it has been every year in the east coast. I had a little fun in the snow which was good and I found some more cheering up while I was shopping online at Gap.com.

I’ve loved the Gap store ever since I can remember and its sister companies: Old Navy, Banana Republic and its latest addition Piperlime- its online specialty shoe and bag shop. I could visit these stores every week even just to window shop (in this case, I don’t always leave empty handed- can’t resist the SALE SECTION!) I would endorse it happily for free any chance I get!

They always come up with the most trendy TV commercials and print ads and Gap has ventured into Music Videos of late. Here’s this year’s Holiday carols with an all-star cast from Selma Blair, Rainn Wilson, Freddy Rodriguez, Romano Malco, Jason Biggs, Jon Heder, Janelle Monae, Flo Rida, Trey Songs and Sandra Barnhard to The Dixie Chicks. They are all wearing the Gap clothing of course!

Please click more to view the videos. I’m sorry to note that the videos auto play. Please adjust your sound volume appropriately. Thanks!

Continue on next page…

Winter Songs

Currently playing on my ipod, downloaded from a new cd: The Hotel Cafe Presents… Winter Songs
My mood: subdued

Winter Song
by Ingrid Michaelson feat. Sara Bareilles

This is my winter song to you
The storm is coming soon
It rolls in from the sea

My voice, a beacon in the night
My words will be your light
To carry you to me

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love…

They say that things just cannot grow
Beneath the winter snow
Or so I have been told

They say we’re buried far
Just like a distant star
I simply cannot hold

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?

This is my winter song
December never felt so wrong
‘Cause you’re not where you belong
Inside my arms

I still believe in summer days
The seasons always change
And life will find a way

I’ll be your harvester of light
And send it out tonight
So we can start again

Is love alive?
Is love alive?
Is love alive?

This is my winter song
December never felt so wrong
‘Cause you’re not where you belong
Inside my arms

This is my winter song to you
The storm is coming soon
It rolls in from the sea

My love, a beacon in the night
My words will be your light
To carry you to me

Is love alive?

The Hotel Cafe Presents…Winter Songs

The Heartache Can Wait

By Belinda Carlile

You’re talking about leaving
It’s right about Christmas time
Thinking about moving on
I think I might die inside

I’m thinking about years gone by
I’m thinking about church at midnight
I’m thinking about letting go
I think that might finally be alright

But this is where we shine

Silver bells and open fire
And songs we used to sing
One more chance to be inspired
Is what I’m offering if love is not enough
Then stay with me because
The heartache can wait

It’s not about hanging on
It’s making my deal with God
If I could call one last truce
We’ve given it all we’ve got

Then I’m gonna catch my breath
And make it a long December
If we’ve got nothing left
This could be worth remembering
With a smile upon my face

Silver bells and open fire
And songs we used to sing
One more chance to be inspired
Is what I’m offering if love is not enough
Then stay with me because

Silver bells and open fire
And songs we used to sing
One more chance to be inspired
Is what I’m offering if love is not enough
Then stay with me because
The heartache can wait

Mistletoe

By Colbie Caillat

…
Fake plastic Mistletoe
Wrap me in a great big bow
And tear me apart

It’s Christmas time
So open up the flood gates
Tell me that you’ll be late
And rip me apart

Cause you say that, you say that things will be alright
But I’ve heard that, I’ve heard that so many times and I know that

It’s not Christmas if the snow don’t fall
And I’m still standing here three feet small
Lose our troubles because after all
It’s Christmas time

It’s Christmas time…

Cold
Icing on the walkways
Slip in to the games we play
We’re falling apart

A great big house
That’s made out of ginger bread
Crumbles to the ground
We’re breaking apart

But you said that, you said that things would be alright
But I’ve heard that, I’ve heard that so many times and I know that

It’s not Christmas if the snow don’t fall
And I’m still standing here three feet small
Lose our troubles because after all
It’s Christmas time

And I’ve been waiting for you to come
And it’s hard cause I feel so alone
And I just want you to come home

Waiting for you to come
And it’s hard cause I feel so alone
And I just want you to come home

It’s not Christmas if the snow don’t fall
And I’m still standing here three feet small
Lose our troubles because after all
It’s Christmas time

It’s not Christmas if the snow don’t fall
You’re not here to keep me safe and warm
Lose our troubles because after all
It’s Christmas time

It’s Christmas time again
And all your friends, all your friends
Are smiling
It’s Christmas time

I talked about Black Fridays here in America quite a bit last year. It is the country’s ONLY biggest sale of the year! Supposedly. With the ongoing recession, it is looking bleak and dreary for both retailers and consumers.

Black Friday is the day when most people shop for their Christmas presents because it is the time, you are assured to get the best deals before hitting that Holiday rush in December.

For an ailing company, how do you offer bargains to your customers when you’re buried in debts? For a consumer, how do you head to the store and shop when you’ve lost your job or unsure if you’ll still have your current job in 2009? How do you splurge on a new notebook or HDTV when you don’t know where to get the payments after swiping it on your credit card?!

It was a crazy and ridiculous Black Friday last year when people literally camped out with tents and sleeping bags for 17 hours outside the store to get ahead of everybody else. I was in the mall myself at 2 in the morning, amidst bitter wind and freezing cold waiting for the store to open at 5.

That was enough to raise doubts in my mind if it’s even worth going again. How much is your time worth, I asked? I wasn’t willing to risk hypothermia for a bargain!

But this is a different scenario today. I feel I don’t really need to shop on Black Friday this year. It just doesn’t seem right for me to do it with too much uncertainties around. Even Circuit City, my most favorite store for electronics filed for bankruptcy and will be closing 155 of its 700 stores by the end of this year! Linens ‘n Things, another store I frequent filed for bankruptcy in May and are closing all stores by the end of the year! Sigh.

After seeing some of the ads for Black Friday 2008 which sucks, I think I’m going to have to skip on this one. The deals the retailers are giving aren’t really giveaways! Where is the thanks in Thanksgiving?? They’re supposed to give their annual thanks to its consumers for the patronage but most of these stores aren’t doing very well and some are really in the hole. Understandably so. Therefore, I’m skipping it this year and look forward to sleeping in Friday morning. So long, Black Friday! I’ll see you when you don’t have “bleak” attached to your day…

When some middle aged adults begin to experience that their lives are not the way they wanted it to be and they have little time to change it, when they are on the verge of perhaps a midlife crisis, how does one gets his biggest break at 40 years old?

And when he does get it, how does one process fame, (fortune!) and glory coming from very humble beginnings, from surviving as a struggling musician singing covers of other people’s hits and now to becoming a bona fide international rock star performing beside legendary and iconic band as a front man?! How? Try being Arnel Pineda!

His is a story that could have been taken out of a Charles Dickens novel and as Arnel Pineda himself admits in a GQ interview: “My life is a fairy tale. But I’m awake, and I’m dreaming it.” His is a story of perseverance, hope and never stop believing in yourself! His is a true inspirational story of the 21st century not only for aspiring musicians but for everyone who dreams of making it.

Indeed this youthful 41-year old is living his dream. He did his first concert with Journey before a huge crowd in Chile in February, performed in Las Vegas for the first time, finished a full recording album for worldwide release, guested in prime time US TV shows, featured in GQ magazine’s June 2008 issue, currently on tour in the United Kingdom and will be touring over 50 cities in North America in the Summer! In a matter of six months, his whole world “changed for the better!” as one of his songs featured in the new album says.

Over a year ago, Arnel was singing Journey songs in some nameless bars in Olongapo and Manila, Philippines- and he has been for most of his 25 years career in the Philippines and Hong kong. In June 3, 2008 with the release of the new Journey Album with him as the lead vocalist, comes the legitimization that he no longer is a cover singer but is now the lead singer, who would take Journey into a new direction!

The album aptly titled ‘REVELATION” is a wonderful revelation to all Journey fans and an “open arms” welcome to new fans. I am a new fan. I am a convert. I thought “Open Arms,” and “Faithfully” were mushy but classic nonetheless and I can even sing most lines but I was never a fan. I liked “Don’t Stop Believing,” and “Separate Ways” but that still didn’t get me to buy any of Journey’s albums. It took Arnel Pineda, to make me a Journey fan. Given that I am Filipino and would support him in any way is beside the point.

Journey has been struggling for years looking for a new voice to fill in after THE Steve Perry wonder years. They had two lead vocalists prior. Neal Schon, Journey co-founder and possibly one of the greatest guitarists of all time found Pineda in YouTube putting a great twist to the now much celebrated ‘Cinderella-like’ story of Arnel Pineda. There has to be some great respect with Schon’s judgment. He brought this serendipity to his band’s attention and they all liked and agreed on the choice.

Schon has long been weighing it out the past 10 years whether to continue or disband for he doesn’t just want to end up as a nostalgia band of the the 70s and 80s era singing in reunions and tent houses venues. He wants the Journey band that he co-founded continue on as a current band with a long, almost immortal history spanning over 30 years in the music scene and still alive and rockin’ it out in 2008 forward.

Having said that, who are we- especially the hardcore Journey fans- to judge these great musicians: lead guitarist Neal Schon, awesome drummer Deen Castronovo, slick bassist Ross Valory and the amazing keyboardist Jonathan Cain, for choosing Arnel Pineda as their new front man? They saw something in Pineda that they have not seen in the many auditions and demo tapes/videos they have received all these years. And may I remind that Arnel Pineda is a class of his own. He is not some amateur singer who could sing. He has been a lead singer in his own right and has been in the music industry for 25 years.

He is a guy with a great voice and talent but was never given a break. Journey is giving that chance to him now. Besides that, it wan’t a done deal just hearing him sing in YouTube. They had to fly in Arnel Pineda from the Philippines to a studio in San Francisco and have him audition. Pineda proved his worth and all the Journey guys agreed, Arnel Pineda is the man! How do you question that?

He has his limitations like not being adept in English for example as his detractors would say, but that’s because it is not his native tongue. And for a Foreigner speaking in English, his is fine compared to other nationalities trying to speak English. What he lacks there if any, he definitely makes up in his singing. It may be the cheapest audition ever as others would further ignite being discovered in YouTube and all, but what Neal Schon has done is actually revolutionary if not been done already! What about the reality TV shows dominating the boob tube? American Idol? Rockstar? and now Nashville star?! It’s the same thing.

Going to forums and sites and reading nasty comments about this whole thing is almost funny. Hardcore Journey fans- accept it or you don’t! Steve Perry has been making his own ‘journey’ since leaving the band in 1994. There are unresolved issues between him and the entire band. Perhaps it is Mr. Perry’s own arrogance that got the better of him. We don’t know. It’s between him and the band but something happened and one can not continue living with the past. Steve Perry was monumental to Journey’s success, nobody’s forgetting that. Steve Perry WAS a HUGE part of Journey but he is not Journey in as much as Journey isn’t Steve Perry. Journey is a 5-man band, and it doesn’t stop because one left voluntarily. Get over it!

And I say, we can’t please everybody no matter what. Win some, lose some. Let Journey lose some of it hardcore fans because they are gaining NEW FANS all over the world in double if not triple numbers!

Arnel Pineda is not trying to be Steve Perry, he knows there can only be one Steve Perry. But he is up for the challenge to be compared now and eventually become his own person with Journey in the future. We will Journey with Arnel Pineda for as long as he is a member and hope there will come a time when the world will remember Steve Perry alongside Arnel Pineda as two great men who defined Journey in different times in Journey’s history. We would be there “new” Journey fans when that happens. © 2008

As if I don’t have enough widgets on my blog, I found another handy blog tool that I couldn’t resist having. The name is ROMlet.

ROMlet is a three in one widget: a brag badge, bookmarking tool and stats counter- for now. Who knows what other cool features this fresh website has yet to add since starting only a year ago? At a glance it looks as though it is just another blog social networking copycat but wait, there’s much more to it!

*Romlet is useful to both a blogger and their blog readers in multiple ways, despite the deceptive simplicity of the widget itself. Romlet helps a blogger quickly assess their own daily statistics and see their refering sources without logging into an analytics account. In turn, Romlet shows a blog’s reader the best buttons for bookmarking and supporting a blog. It also encourages readers to return to a site, out of curiosity bout refering sources.*

On its website, you can see “Currently Popular Articles on Romlet User Sites” which attracts you to click and read more- (like the Blogrush widget or Entrecard). It offers incentives to users by getting and giving referrals. It displays current and on-site information to you and your readers. It allows bookmarking of blog posts like Addthis; but unlike Addthis, *ROMlet automatically provides buttons that are up-to-date and relevant each time a visitor sees it. Like a FeedBurner readership badge, Romlet shows information about incoming visitors but is limited to one kind of statistic: number of feed readers. Romlet shows off the best statistics by displaying top referers at any given time.*

The process of registration and putting the widget on my blog was hassle-free! It took me about a minute to set everything up.

You’ll find yourself comparing it with a lot more blog resources available but you can’t deny it’s uniqueness. To go on, it works very much like MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog, Bumpzee, FuelmyBlog, RSS readers, Feedjit it, Stats counter among others but rolled into one, making it really another useful, relevant widget to have.

See the widget live on my right sidebar! Get your own and boost and boast your blog popularity!

* Information Source

I know, I know- you have not heard from me in a while. Lest you think that I inadvertently forgotten this blog, on the contrary, I have been journalizing my Philippine trip offline and will be posting them soon! Hang in there for me, I’ll be back!

Yay, I love the Philippines!!

01. Call an old friend, just to say hi.

02. Hold a door open for a stranger.

03. Invite someone to lunch.

04. Compliment someone on his or her appearance.

05. Ask a coworker for their opinion on a project.

06. Bring cookies to work.

07. Let someone cut in during rush hour traffic.

08. Leave a waitress or waiter a big tip.

09. Tell a cashier to have a nice day.

10. Call your parents.

11. Let someone know you miss them.

12. Treat someone to a movie.

13. Let a person know you really appreciate them.

14. Visit a retirement center.

15. Take a child to the zoo.

16. Fill up your spouse’s car with gas.

17. Surprise someone with a small gift.

18. Leave a thank-you note for the cleaning staff at work.

19. Write a letter to a distant relative.

20. Tell someone you thought about them the other day.

21. Put a dime in a stranger’s parking meter before the time expires.

22. Bake a cake for a neighbor.

23. Send someone flowers to where they work.

24. Invite a friend to tea.

25. Recommend a good book to someone.

26. Donate clothing to a charity.

27. Offer an elderly person a ride to where they need to go.

28. Bag your own groceries at the checkout counter.

29. Give blood.

30. Offer free baby-sitting to a friend who’s really busy or just needs a break.

31. Help your neighbor rake leaves or shovel snow.

32. Offer your seat to someone when there aren’t any left.

33. Help someone with a heavy load.

34. Ask to see a store’s manager and comment on the great service.

35. Give your place in line at the grocery store to someone who has only a few items.

36. Hug someone in your family for no reason.

37. Wave to a child in the car next to you.

38. Send a thank-you note to your doctor.

39. Repeat something nice you heard about someone else.

40. Leave a joke on someone’s answering machine.

41. Be a mentor or coach to someone.

42. Forgive a loan.

43. Fill up the copier machine with paper after you’re done using it.

44. Tell someone you believe in them.

45. Share your umbrella on a rainy day.

46. Welcome new neighbors with flowers or a plant.

47. Offer to watch a friend’s home while they’re away.

48. Ask someone if they need you to pick up anything while you’re out shopping.

49. Ask a child to play a board game, and let them win.

50. Ask an elderly person to tell you about the good old days.

51. During bad weather, plan an indoor picnic with the family.

52. Buy someone a goldfish and bowl.

53. Compliment someone on their cooking and politely ask for a second helping.

54. Dance with someone who hasn’t been asked.

55. Tell someone you mentioned them in your prayers.

56. Give children’s clothes to another family when your kids outgrow them.

57. Deliver extra vegetables from your garden to the whole neighborhood.

58. Call your spouse just to say, I love you.

59. Call someone’s attention to a rainbow or beautiful sunset.

60. Invite someone to go bowling.

61. Figure out someone’s half-birthday by adding 182 days, and surprise them with a cake.

62. Ask someone about their children.

63. Tell someone which quality you like most about them.

64. Brush the snow off of the car next to yours.

65. Return your shopping cart to the front of the store.

66. Encourage someone’s dream, no matter how big or small it is.

67. Pay for a stranger’s cup of coffee without them knowing it.

68. Leave a love letter where your partner will find it.

69. Ask an older person for their advice.

70. Offer to take care of someone’s pet while they’re away.

71. Tell a child you’re proud of them.

72. Visit a sick person, or send them a care package.

73. Join a Big Brother or Sister program.

74. Leave a piece of candy on a coworker’s desk.

75. Bring your child to work with you for the afternoon.

76. Give someone a recording of their favorite music.

77. Email a friend some information about a topic they are especially interested in.

78. Give someone a homemade gift.

79. Write a poem for someone.

80. Bake some cookies for your local fire or police department.

81. Organize a neighborhood cleanup and have a barbecue afterwards.

82. Help a child build a birdhouse or similar project.

83. Check in on an old person, just to see if they’re okay.

84. Ask for the recipe after you eat over at someone’s house.

85. Personally welcome a new employee at work and offer to take them out for lunch.

86. While in a car, ask everyone to buckle up because they are important to you.

87. Let someone else eat the last slice of cake or pizza.

88. Stop and buy a drink from a kid’s lemonade stand.

89. Forgive someone when they apologize.

90. Wave to someone looking for a parking space when you’re about to leave a shopping center.

91. Send a copy of an old photograph to a childhood friend.

92. Leave a pint of your spouse’s favorite flavor of ice cream in the freezer with a bow on it.

93. Do a household chore that is usually done by someone else in the family.

94. Be especially happy for someone when they tell you their good news.

95. Compliment a coworker on their role in a successful project.

96. Give your spouse a spontaneous back rub at the end of the day.

97. Serve someone in your family breakfast in bed.

98. Ask someone if they’ve lost weight.

99. Make a donation to a charity in someone’s honor.

100. Take a child to a ballgame.

And last, but not least…

101. Forward the list to at least 10 of your friends, or post to your blog and tag the ones who tagged you with it (that’s a sure way to make one smile! )…

I’d like to make the following people smile with some link love

My Consoling Asylum | The Chronicles of a Pinay Dreamer | Digital Guide for Techie Ladies | My Emotional Recycle Bin | Snippets of a Quaint Quill | Stacie’s Blog | The Zen Bitch Speaks | Joan Joyce Says… | Bituwinfish Unwritten | Ink blots Life Unravelled | Linky Love | Pulse by Em Dy | Comics Mix | Ansichtskarten and more | Blogs That Follow | Literary Ek-Ek | Jesie Blog Journey | Malawika | Julia Aquino Blog | Thinking Out Loud | Not a Lawyer | Being Human | PJ Bacolod | 100% Batangueno | Jericho Central | Soapbox Spectacle | Filipina Images | Cyberpunk’s So-called Life | Tech at Hand | No Need For ink | I am Rozeh | Potpourri | Prudence and Madness| Modern Musings | Webbyman | Flygirl | Warmstone | Waliz Diary | Mental Stimulation | JMom | Pusang Maganda | A Linux Sysad Blog |

UPDATE: 1st January 2008

You should be looking at my new Wordpress blog… Thanks for finding your way here. May I invite you to re-subscribe to my new feed? I’m afraid the old feed won’t work anymore. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully, I’m here to stay in Wordpress.

Subscribe to Sinigang

In the Philippines, we go all out by serving good ham and fine aged cheese and other special foodie. Then there’s whole roasted pork or a heavy heaping of roasted calf and some other Filipino delicacies. In the US, well some also have the good ham and special cheese, or the good ol’ turkey! (not again, we just had it on Thanksgiving day!) and then a mix of Italian, American, Asian, Mediterranean and other cuisine.

Second off in a tie at 52% is exchange gifts galore and Christmas / year end sales! Hmmm, are we really commercializing even the most glorious of celebrations, the birth of Christ? This is asking the Christians of course, including me! Just a thought to ponder…

And what do you know, the reunion with family comes in only at third with 47%! Priorities, priorities, priorities…

Last but not the least, huh, holiday? what holiday? with 19% of the total votes. Well, Christmas really is a religious Christian holiday and for non-Christians, it is nothing but any other day and for most, just a holiday off away from work. For some, it is just the celebration of the commercial aspect of it. That’s nothing to be surprised about.

Like here in America where people are so diverse with different beliefs, it is imperative that everyone has an open mind that not everyone share the same meaning of Christmas as the other. So much so that some States actually have an unwritten law in commercial places like offices and retail stores to NOT greet people you don’t know with Merry Christmas so as NOT to offend them but rather, greet them simply with Happy Holidays!

In a Christian nation like the Philippines, it may come almost as a shock to hear that one would be offended when being greeted with Merry Christmas! We almost always assume that everyone is Christian so it’s ok to say it. Yet, if we look deeper, if we’re not sure if the person we’re greeting is a Christian or not- don’t you think it is best and polite to simply say: Happy Holidays! instead of Merry Christmas? Just another thought…

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On a different note:

Between now and the new year, I will be officially moving my blog to Wordpress, getting my own domain and the works! I’m really getting sick and bored here in Blogger. I need change. Change should be good.

The shift would be a major challenge for me though as Wordpress is way different than Blogger but I already did it with my other site, The Postcard Collector. What a pain that was! Nonetheless, should be worth it in the long run.

With that said, you might be getting error messages or something like, the page can’t be found or something. The new site may even be unreachable. Bear with me. Know that I’m doing my all to make the transition as smooth as possible for me and you. Please come back again and don’t be a stranger here! Thanks!

I’d like to leave everyone with a note here

© 2007