80's and 90's Music

I loved the music of the 80's and 90's. These decades were the growing years and the songs and music carried us thru. Music in 2000's can't compare. Those decades produce big hits and big names in the music industry. Even the youngsters now a days love the music in those decades despite not growing into those years. Well they can Google search and hear and watch on Youtube. Thanks Google and Youtube. FM Radio Stations still play those songs and they have a particular day programmed for them.

During 80's and 90's, remixes and 12 inches were also the hype, that which you hardly find these days with music. I considered remixes as masterpieces, defining the artistic skills of music engineering.  During long drives which I was still single, I had always with me CD-R with remixes.

One of the band's that I love during these decades was ABC. I am sure for those who grew in those years, they are familiar with this band. I particular like the following 12 inch remix songs:

1. The Night You Murdered Love

2. When Smokey Sings

3. Be Near Me

And there other great bands and groups such as OMD and AHA.

Coca Cola Adds Life

My grandmother is now 94 and  is still strong. She almost died about 5 years ago when her kidneys failed. Thru God's grace, she overcame this ailment as her kidneys were able to recover. She had kidney stones and fortunately indeed, there is a remedy for it - Coca Cola and asparagus.



Coca Cola adds life -- true



To add there is actually a list of uses for cola. One interesting use is to clean your windshield.
You can find it here.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps CFL

If you Google search save electricity and check the sites that Google recommends, they almost present the same tips. At the top of the tip list of course is to change your light bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) as they consume a lot less electricity and lasts longer. There are also now CFLs which are brighter or has higher lumens at lower wattage. I am actually changing to mostly 5watts CFLs that are even brighter than 8-watt CFLs. I purchase Philips 5-watt Tornado Spiral CFLs and I recall Philips was first to market this in the  Philippines.

I have had several brands of CFLs installed in our home since we moved about 4 years ago. I had Chinese brands and Taiwanese brands, and of course Philips. Philips CFL is a bit pricey compared to the other brands, however the Philips CFL is brighter and lasted longer.  Now all of my CFLs are Philips despite being more expensive.

The next time you change your light bulbs at home, I highly recommend Philips CFL.
You can check their site: Philips

Of course there is the LED bulb which consumes a lot less power than the CFL but almost double/triple the price. We will have to wait till the prices are affordable.

And for additional reference on tips on saving electricity, I found this website very informative:Save Electricity.

Car Wash Part 2

In my previous post car wash, I shared to you my car wash regimen. In this post I would like to share to you the state of our cars as a result of sticking to my car wash regime about 7 months now.

The shine is care of Polyglaze Car Wash and Wax. Along side it are the red gritt guard, and the microtex wash mitt. On the side mirrors of the car are the dark gray 3M chamois and the yellow 3M microfiber towel.

I hope I have helped you a bit in your personal car wash experience.  I have also crunched some numbers if it is more expensive to do your own car wash versus having it washed by a car wash service. Over a long run, you will save your money if you personally wash you cars. It will be a regular exercise  for you and as well as using the two-bucket method,your ride will have minimal swirls and scratches on your cars.

Have you ever gone to a car wash service. They water spray your car, apply car shampoo foam and use bucket of water and a wash mitt to rub all over. Just imagine the dirt and grime the wash mitt removes from your car, and then use the mitt all over the car. They just soak the wash mitt and that's it. As I mentioned before, if I really had to have my cars wash outside, I only go to Big Bert's.

Great alternative to flowers

It is given that on important occasions, we give usually give flowers to the important women in our lives. Flowers have been a symbol of love, care and you name it.

Flower these days are very expensive. The last time I bought a rose it was 100pesos a piece, a bouquet could cost at least 1000pesos. You would think twice to buy and just opt to buy some more practical gifts like clothes and bags.  As an alternative, you may still opt to give flowers but why not something different...something eatable.

You can give a bouquet of flowers made of fruits, flowers made healthy to eat. Fruiquet makes these beautiful flowers out of healthy fruits.

Website: http://www.fruiquet.com/ 
Map: View Fruiquet in a larger map

You can also buy flowers made of sweet pastillas. Sweets Blooms makes these sweet lovely pastillas. 

Website:http://sweetblooms.multiply.com/  
Map: View Sweet Blooms in a larger map

I came across these on the morning show Umagang Kay Ganda at ABS-CBN Channel 2. If you are planning to buy on special occasions such as Valentine's day, make sure you order at least 1 week before the occasion.

Remembering Coca Cola

Coca Cola is celebrating its 100 years. They have really come along  long way. It has become part of our culture. Apart from being the favorite beverage, I loved its commercials and jingles during my lifetime.
Here are my favorites c/o youtube.


1980's



1990's

 

Car Wash

Since childhood, I have been washing our cars, helping my dad. It was simple then, using running water from a hose and wash cloth. I personally washed our cars till today. I moved from using car shampoo to using water alone. I have the cars cleaned at any car wash service if I am in the rush. I used cloth to sponge to apply my car shampoo... and there you go, scratches and swirl marks.  Don't you just hate to seem them whenever lights or the sun shines on your car paint. It irritates me. 

I did quite sometime reading thru the internet about it and from there I made my car wash regimen around the two-bucket system. Mind you, I have little swirls and scratches on my cars. In fact, I once had my car washed at Big Bert's in Ortigas and they were amazed on the rarerity of swirls and scratches.

video reference c/o youtube

Wash Materials:

1. Microtex Wash Mitt ~ 329.75Pesos @ sulit.com.ph

2. 3M microfiber towel ~ 249Pesos @ aceharware SM

3. 3M chamois ~ 240Pesos @ sulit.com.ph

4. Polyglaze car wash and wax ~ 500Pesos @ acehardware SM

5. gritt guard ~ ordered from the US @ 10USD 

6. 2 x large plastic pale

7. foam

The microtex wash mitt is the cheapest but still you would get quality in applying the shampoo and removing dirt and grime. The 3M chamois is lasting and has good water absorbing versus the others I used. The 3M microfiber towel is very good is drying the car after washing as it absorbs the water and that it feels soft while rubbing on the car paint.

Procedure:

1. Wet the car use water from the hose to loosen/remove dirt.

2. Put the guard gritt in one plastic pale and fill to the full with water.

3. Put 1 cover cup of polyglaze car wash and wax on the other pale. Fill this pale to half level. 

(My mix is usually diluted with water. The amount of car wash shampoo will depend on how dirty your car is.)

4. I usually start with the hood and pour car shampoo first  from the wash mitt and let it stay for awhile. Then wipe the hood and the bumpers with wash mitt. Turn over the wash mitt as you wipe so dirt that clings to it will not scratch the paint. Minimize wiping in circles as this will result to swirl marks. I usually wipe in straight direction.

5.. Clean the wash mitt in the pale of water with gritt guard. Sud the wash mitt with the shampoo mix.

6. Shampoo the car windows and pillars. Clean the wash mitt.

7. Shampoo the roof. Clean the wash mitt. 

8. Shampoo the rear. Clean the wash mitt.

9. Waterhose the shampooed areas.

10. Shampoo the each side of the car. Make sure the wash mitt is cleaned. 

11. Waterhose the car.

12. Dry the car using the 3M chamois. Clean the chamois occasionally with water.  It is best that you don't dry the car using a rubbing/wiping/swirling action. Dry it by just patting the chamois over the water remains. This is same as some who wipe dirt/sweat from their face not by rubbing cloth but just patting on the face. This is to prevent scratching.

13. Wet the 3M microfiber towel and squeeze to remove excess water.

14. Wipe the car with the 3M microfiber towel occasionally in straight directions, turning the cloth. Clean the towel with water and then continue to wipe until the car is completely dry.

Last things:
I like the polyglaze car wash and wax because it makes really the cars very shiny and the smell is very good.
Als hHardly you can find in MetroManila a car wash service using two bucket method. If I have my car washed outside, I only go to Big Bert's in Ortigas and that's it. I personally do my car washes twice a week doing two cars. I stick to this regimen car wash and schedule to the dot regardless if it rains. It is part of my physically exercise weekly.

Baby Diapers

One of the major items to spend if you have a baby at home (and that's two good looking toodlers) is diapers. To make things complicated, their skin is a bit sensitive. We found that mommy poko diapers were the best for our first baby's sensitive skin. The diaper was very soft, feels like cotton and does not smell with baby pee. Unfortunately it's the most pricey. With our second baby, we had to downgrade and tested some other diaper brands.The following is our chronology of diaper use and experience.

1. Mommy Poko
      > best diaper and most expensive
      > we only buy it if its on-sale especially in SM Department Stores
2. Pampers
      > price is within range of the other brands
      > the kids find it itchy to use
3. Huggies

      > price is within range of the other brands
      > the kids find it itchy to use
4. Drypers
      > price is within range of the other brands
      > no experience of itchiness with the kid

We are happy now Drypers although we usually have problems with availability in the grocery store.
Otherwise, we purchase huggies as alternative. We have yet to try the other brands.

Where to buy groceries

I have been taking the opportunity to shop our groceries in different stores to be able to determine the lowest prices. My general observation is that it seems these grocery stores are talking with each other. There are items which are cheaper and expensive in one store, but vice versa in another store. There are items which can only be found in certain stores. So where do we do our groceries..  it's the store near us with free parking. The following are our grocery store preferences:

1. Pioneer Center, Kapitolyo
     > generally cheaper for all grocery items ie oil, canned goods, distilled water, formula milk
     > free parking
     > exclusive item bought/usually available - drypers, ram beans
2. Robinson's Supermart
     > a bit pricy compared to Pioneer Center
     > free parking for receipts with more than 1,000Pesos
     > exclusive item bought/usually available - bundling of items, free taste
3. SM Store
     > generally same price with Robinson's ie cheapest tag price for the formula milk we are buying
     > no free parking, we only do our groceries if we need to go to the SM Malls

I have been also to Pure Gold and Cherry Fooderama which are also generally same price with Pioneer Centre. I will still have to do my groceries in Super8 which I heard maybe the cheapest.

Induction Stove and the old reliable Gas Stove

                           
Electricity is very expensive in the Philippines. In fact I recall a news saying it is even cheaper in Japan. That's why it is hard and expensive to operate a business here in the Philippines heavily relying on electric power.Several manufacturing companies already moved out of the country. As individual homeowners, electricity now is huge expense in the household. So we find ways on how we can save our money.

I came across a saving tip on radio and from the website of the local electric company...use induction stove instead of the gas stove. They claim you can save money if you use induction stove apart from the benefit it being more efficient and safer to use. Our household uses lpg gas stove and I crunch some numbers if you can really save from using this new technology.

Here are my findings:

1. Induction Stove costs more than the gas stove. (3000Php vs 600Php).

2. If you currently use your gas stove more than 1 hour per day, changing to an induction stove would cost you more in the long run. You will be paying more than the cost of the lgp tank (745Php) per month.

3. If you use your gas stove less than an hour per day, then you may opt to change to induction stove considering the safety, cleanliness and efficiency.

As for our household, I will still stick to our old dependable gas stove considering our usage. We refill our lpg every two months and we use the stove at least 3 hours a day.