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Tuesday, November 8, 2016

So antok

It's one of those hard Monday nights at work. Where I slept the night of Sunday and woke up feeling lively the next day. After 12 or so hours I get tired, exactly when my shift is about to start. The struggle begins.

I was supposed to get a hot Christmas drink from Starbucks but the line is snaking outside, it's crazy (and discouraging) so I settled two stores away and bought some ice cream instead. A scoop of espresso gelato has helped, but to be sure I've complemented it with a slice of New York cheesecake 'cos I may be needing the extra sugar rush tonight. I LOVE NY CHEESECAKE!!! That's about all the rush I got from it.

I'M STILL SUPER SLEEPY.

I got to work pretty early but I learned that DST just happen so the time at Minnesota fell by back by an hour. We're now 14 hrs ahead of them.

The good: I can come to work late. 10pm means 8am to them and they mostly get in around 9am. More time to lounge around my area in case I come too early.

The bad: Afternoon meetings will be a fuss, imagine if they set a meeting at 3pm CST. Early for them, late for me. That'll be 5am here. The time when I'm supposed to feel lax and get ready to leave. It's not like I can just leave after meetings immediately, I have to stay a while in case something pops up. Hay.

The ugly: Let's keep things beautiful and skip this!

Time to go! :D Hoping for a great week ahead!

ETA: WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT I HAVE A MEETING IN 1 MINUTE. AAAARG.

ETA 2: LOL IT JUST GOT CANCELLED. Please don't re-sched this day. I'm going home na talaga!

Monday, November 7, 2016

Life Lately and a bunch of undistributed cards

I suddenly missed this format plus I'm busy procrastinating at work so here goes!

Reading

Right now, I'm jumping between Before we were Strangers and Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, but BWWS is mostly still on hold. I want to finish it before we become strangers but I'm close to tagging it as DNF. New acronym! I learned it while browsing my friends' Goodreads account. It stands from Did Not Finish, and yeah there's such a tag. It makes reading halfway count even though we all know it's just an excuse to add a book to our e-shelves.

Writing

This. Nothing paid lol.

Listening

To the loud hum of the aircon vents in the office that will eventually merge into silence.

Thinking

About when to finish this report due at work. lol

Smelling

Nothing!

Wishing

I had something interesting to watch lately. Scarlet Heart Ryeo just ended and it had me in SO MUCH TEARS. It was tragic but it ended right. Even though the producers had a creative license to that particular part of Korean History, they still made it so that nothing was tampered in the books, and all the interesting chapters remained unwritten chronicles.

Even Hae Soo, whom we all want to stay as a royal consort, didn't stay long in the palace and wasn't even officially registered as a royal concubine, hence her character wasn't written in history. It's all these unwritten possibilities that drive creatives cre-azy no?

Wearing
Shirt, shorts, slippers

Loving
That I'm up early and the skies are rather gloomy this morning. That means I can run outside. Or not cos I'm too lazy for anything lately.

Wanting

Needing
To seriously do some physical exercise. The thought of doing yoga, learning the jump rope, and running (on a gloomy morning) all sound exciting. BUT I'M TOO LAZY DAMMIT

Feeling



Semi-regretful that I didn't get to hand out any of my blogger business cards last Saturday at Blogapalooza. I designed it quickly in the office (shhh) and had it printed at my boyfriend's. Then I labored through cutting them and manually rounding the edges. Thanks for the help Jeckie and Tito Larry! <3

This year's Blogapalooza was, I dunno, less exciting? I don't know why it has to be held twice this year. I also didn't hear much hype about it, unlike two years ago, when I started taking blogging seriously. I'm thinking if Blogapalooza appeals mostly to starting bloggers, 'cos maybe seasoned ones are too busy to attend events like these? Curious. Haha.

For the most part, we just strolled around. Thanks Jeckie for coming with me. I was looking at the booths and was too shy to inquire. OH THAT'S WHY. I should've come earlier when there are still a lot of people looking around! XD

Smaller (but cuter) venue, fewer sponsors (because it was held twice this year?), fewer people (I came in around 5pm so maybe the crowd has left already). Glad to have bumped into Dems and Leo though! :D

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Life lately and yet another layout change

Welcome to (yet another) layout change!

Full width and left sidebar. I'm trying to get used to it, but I like it. What do you think? Should I stop with the frequent updates? I know I should lol.

If I were to backup all my previous templates, I would've collected enough to offer them ala Gooyabi, Sora, or NBT. But whatever, I'm not confident enough to take credit, moreso, provide support.

I still don't understand why I can't seem to stick with a layout for at least 3 months. Is it because I worked as a web developer? I don't know of anyone who changes themes this often. I also like to constantly update my logo. Talk about a branding nightmare.

Taco (seasoning) overload

I tried this burrito bowl recipe from Tasty and it was okay. Haha. It looked super delicious on the video, but it's only keri lang level in my kitchen. My sister loved it though. Maybe because I was the one who prepared it? You kinda get immune to the deliciousness of your own food diba haha.

Then in the afternoon my sister baked pies. They were shaped like hopiang baboy but the filling was chili con carne. Sarap! We're actually selling them, follow Pocket Pies PH on Facebook to learn more. We just started so there's not much to see on the page haha but if you can help us promote we'll bake a mean bunch for you! :D

My online portfolio is up!
I finally turned my old blog into my official online portfolio. Check out www.yanbirog.com and tell me what you think. :D

My 2nd car accident
I didn't mean to write it so fondly, but yeah. Thursday last week I was on the way to the office when I got hit by a truck. It looked like an 8 wheeler. It was turning right to East Ave. (from Elliptical road) and I was beside it. I should've stopped to let him turn but I thought it would be too late because we were too close, his curve could hit my front bumper, so I did this stupid thing of speeding up then BOOM. I was hit at the rear bumper. The car shook and I got startled. I stopped at the side to see if the damned truck stopped too, but it didn't so oh well.

For some reason I wasn't too fazed by the incident. In case the truck driver stopped, I would've known what to say in my defense and I could've saved myself repair costs too, but that didn't happen. Looking back I felt I shouldn't have given him the leeway to pause on the curve, I should've just sped up entirely. Or not cos that sounds reckless. But seriously, I wish I had accelerated faster, 'cos if I was any bit slower I could've been hit at the driver's side and that's gonna be, uhm, sadder.

My bumper got dented and part of tail lights shattered. Good thing the lights are still working, yey?

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Review: Smart Bro Plan 499 (6GB monthly + FREE LTE pocket wifi)

Curious about this offering? Here's my take on it. Who knows I might save you from a useless subscription, or not. We'll see!

Promo valid until December 31, 2016
When I heard about this promo I knew I had to get it. In this country where we're so deprived of internet speed, a slight raise in data cap or a promise of increased minimum speed will make us scramble to our feet for an upgrade. Most of the time it only serves to strengthen the chains keeping us enslaved to these telcos, but there are times it makes being their cows much bearable. Enough metaphors lol.

So this Saturday I went to Smart SM Fairview to inquire, bringing along with me 2 valid IDs, a billing statement, and cash amounting to the monthly service fee just in case I jump in with the subscription. Those are the usual requirements, and it still holds.

According to Smart's website, here's what's new:
  • Bigger data for all plans  - ₱299 for 3.5GB, ₱499 for 6GB, ₱799 for 10GB, ₱999 for 15GB
  • Faster Speed - 48 to 256kbps minimum speed with 80% reliability. This minimum speed achuchuchu has been largely misused lately, I remember seeing a SkyMobi commercial saying they offer 12kbps minimum speed with 80% reliability, I was like wtf are we still living in a 2G world, surfing over WAP? Or did they want us to read that off as 12mbps? At least they're honest haha.
  • Free device on all plans - No cash out needed for the free pocket wifi. For plan 299 you get a 3G pocket wifi, for the rest, you get an LTE pocket wifi. Uhm, yey.
That's definitely worth checking out don't you think? I don't know how much Smart has improved its infrastructure, but to be able to promise these "much" to its subscribers (see, I have higher internet standards but where I live that's already a stretch offer lol), I'm about to cry here guys. Srsly. Joke lang anuba.

Anywaaaay,

Before signing anything I made sure the following was clear to me:
  • The free pocket wifi is an LTE one and not the older 4G units they have. Customer rep assured me they're giving an LTE unit, provided by Evoluzn (not Huawei or ZTE).
  • I can pay my bills online.
  • The 6GB monthly cap is a continuous one and doesn't have a daily limit.
  • If I consume my allocation before the next monthly cycle, I can opt to buy additional data packages and it will be added to my bill. Fair enough.
I have to wait for my application to be approved before I can pick up my unit. So I did. The next day (Sunday) I received a call from them telling me that the unit is ready for pickup. Earlier today (Monday), I drove to the mall to get the unit after paying the ₱499 down payment.

It was nice that the customer rep setup my username/password for me. Saved me the hassle of fumbling through the admin page. I mean, if you're not too arte about giving your password, why not diba haha.

Unboxing
Do you even need this? But anyway,


I personally don't like pocket wifis with screens like that cos it's ugly. I don't like how it lights up and I don't like the fonts. I prefer those with little icons lighting up cos it's cuter but that's just my kaartehan.

Off the box you get your unit w/ battery, a charger, a charging cable, and a bunch of manuals nobody really reads. This unit is an Evoluzn model FXPR2L, and it has a microSD card slot. It's good to note the battery has 2050mAH capacity, for a small device I'm assuming it'll last long. The front is still printed with their old logo, so obviously it's an old stock but whatever, it still works; and I prefer the old logo anyway.

Okay, this review will consist mainly of speed tests. I will update this regularly, whenever I get into a new area, and check over time if the quality of my connection will be consistently strong (cos right now it frkn is and I'm impressed). I'm trying to manage my expectations seeing that my plan just got activated haha. But we'll see.

Dashboard
You can access the router admin panel by going to 192.168.1.1. From there you can login using the default username and password (make sure to change it), update your wifi SSID and password, and check messages. I have yet to find an android app that makes the admin panel easier to navigate, as in like a mobile app where I can easily check messages and even text.

To manage your acount, pay bills, and update your profile info, login to your My Smart dashboard by heading over to www.smartbrosettings.net (always access with a www), or my.smart.com.ph (works better). Sign up for an account, and everything will be pretty straightforward from there.

Speed Tests
I'll try to keep the tests regular, but maybe monthly only 'cos the test itself is consuming a lot of data lol. But so far, so good! Since we already have DSL at home, it's a good thing to have when you're outside or travelling. :)
Date Time Location Download (mbps) Upload (mpbs) Ping (ms)
Oct 26 2016 1:10 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 26.14 11.85 19
Oct 26 2016 1:11 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 23.61 12.57 19
Oct 26 2016 1:12 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 25.79 9.75 19
Oct 26 2016 1:13 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 32.66 16.79 20
Oct 26 2016 1:15 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 27.40 10.71 20
Nov 20 2016 3:28 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 23.76 17.00 17
Nov 20 2016 3:29 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 18.87 15.45 20
Jan 4 2017 3.32 AM UP AyalaLand Technohub (LTE covered) 31.27 15.89 16

Update
I think my speed tests are enough proof that it's really fast especially in LTE covered areas.
I tried using it in Batangas City and it's pretty weak there. Signal at our place in Fairview used to be soooo bad but now it's pretty good. I can connect in my room now! Hehe

So, should you get it?
If you need something fast and reliable while on the go - go get this plan.
If you need something to use at home regularly - get yourself a DSL connection instead. Capped services like this isn't good for home use, specially one that involves a lot of video streaming. :)

Hope this guide helped you somehow!

Friday, October 21, 2016

#FreeTheJoy with Limited Edition Cadbury Dairy Milk Christmas Flavors


Cadbury Dairy Milk is back at it again with their limited edition Christmas flavors! I definitely missed this. They're the perfect gift and each flavor was crafted with utmost quality, ensuring they bring out the most authentic holiday feels.

Chocolates may be default Christmas gifts, much like mugs, towels, and calendars, but Cadbury Dairy Milk makes it more special by letting out three flavors that has qualities you can match with your friend's personalities!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Black Forest

For that friend who's always got your back, honestly brutal with your stupid life choices but always offering sound advice. Sweet yet strong, you'll never go wrong. The Black Forest is for your Best Friend. This treat reminds me of Ivy, you got this girl!

Cadbury Dairy Milk French Vanilla

For that person who's full of surprises and holds your heart dear. To that person you feel so at home with. My Forever deserves the French Vanilla. Hi Jeckie <3

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Mousse
Light and fun, always a delight to be with. Someone you can drag anywhere and will never complain. I've giving the Chocolate Mousse to my Certified Mare! That's my sister, Terai!

See? These chocolates are the perfect gift as they each have unique flavors that would definitely match the personalities of the closest people to your heart! Ready for Christmas?

Cadbury Dairy Milk Black Forest, Cadbury Dairy Milk French Vanilla, and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Mousse are available in 180g packs for a suggested retail price of 180.00. Hurry and get all flavors – available until supplies last! #FreeTheJoy this Christmas with Cadbury Dairy Milk!

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Life Lately and look, an invitation set!

We're flying to Singapore next year!
One of my cousins is getting married at SG next year, and since it falls on my sister's birth month too, we decided to go for it for a double celebration! I got three tickets for my parents and my sister first. I told them I had to wait for the result of my US visa application before deciding if I could join, and because I got denied (more about it below), I booked myself a ticket na! But that's after waiting for another seat sale. I got a roundtrip ticket for 5k (yay?). Honestly, I still find it super mahal 'cos I still have to pay travel tax and terminal fee which is mga 2k din huhu. Juskolord ang gastos pala.

Anyway, if you want to score cheap airfares, just follow airline and promo pages on facebook, and set their visibility option to SEE FIRST. That way when you log in to facebook, edi you see them first haha. That's how I look up promos. :D

My 2nd US visa application got denied
To be honest I was surprised that I took this rejection lighter than expected. I even brought shades with me in case I come out of the embassy crying, lol, but I never got to use it. Anyway. As with my first application, I applied for a B1 (business) visa for the same purpose (client meetings) and for a shorter term (8 weeks, my last was 12).

My appointment was scheduled on a Friday at 7:25am. I was already within premises by 6:15am because I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. I parked at Ermita Center, which is nearest to the footbridge closest to the US embassy. You can park anywhere on that entire stretch. Parking fee costs 120 pesos (just 100 really but the bantays there said the extra bente is for kape kape lang lol) and you can stay until 2pm. Lo and behold when I got the receipt, it says 30 pesos for the first 3 hours. Those guys deserve some Starbucks coffee. Yung Venti. Wahaha. Pun intended.

I went in line around 7am and waited some 15 minutes before the guards started assembling people for the 7:25am appointment. There are placards showing which schedule is being served currently, and you have to wait for the guards to replace it with your call time before you can fall in line.

By 7:20 I was already inside the complex, queueing for Step 1: Pre-screening (or something). In which I handed the officer at the window my passport and guarantee letter. He asked for the purpose of my visit, then he turned to his computer to type stuff. After a while, he returned my docs and let me queue for the next step.

Step 2: Fingerprint scanning. In which I'm lucky not to have a menopausal pinay shouting at me to freaking straighten my fingers and dry them properly before trying again for the nth time. That window was scary.

Step 3: Interview aka the moment of truth, also where you should greet the consul with all the positive energy in the world. Joke. Here I was asked a lot of questions. I was also asked for a copy of my itinerary and my previous passport with my old visa. I was left to wait for a long time, and when the consul got back I was denied ultimately, saying I should consider applying for a different visa type instead. I would like to assume H (work visa), after all, my previous visa was annotated "B in lieu of H". Haizt.

I felt bad for the person waiting behind me, but worse for myself because I haven't even properly stuck my passport back to my envelope when he shouted SHAME! *ting ting ting* I mean, NEXT! K, last na yan.

Just finished designing an invitation set!


It's the first time I designed a wedding invitation set so I really had to research on what goes into it. Apparently, ang dami pala lol. This is pretty basic, just four cards in total. The main card, RSVP, entourage and map. When I learned about the theme which is florals, purple, and wood... I knew it'll be easy for me! I'm also so happy to learn that the client loves it! Can't wait to see it printed!

Hire me! I'm all ears (and kilig) on your wedding! :)

:D

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

How to integrate Mailmunch with Feedburner


I used to rely on Feedburner to deliver daily email digests to my subscribers. But their opt-in form is very limited in terms of design, and I couldn't find the right code to turn it into a popover that's responsive and non-invasive ('cos don't we all hate popups?).

Then I saw this pretty form from other blogs and immediately signed up to get one too.


I joined Mailmunch mainly because their form is pretty, responsive, and has flexible display options.

But just recently, I discovered that while I'm getting a bunch of email subscribers, I couldn't do anything with them. I couldn't send email blasts and updates. I can only stare at the list, and maybe manually add them to my Feedburner list. I wanted to sync the list to my Feedburner subscriber base so they could receive regular digests as well, but there is no straightforward option.

As of writing, Mailmunch doesn't have any option to integrate with Feedburner yet. But after googling about it, I stumbled upon this tutorial that shows you how to integrate the Feedburner opt-in form to the Mailmunch popover.

The result is successful!


Now, everyone who subscribes to this form will now be part of my Feedburner list. They will not appear in my Mailmunch list though, but they can finally receive blog updates to their email addresses. Yay!

If you want the same results, read on!

Prerequisites
1. Feedburner account with active Email Subscriptions
2. Mailmunch popover that is active on your blog/site
3. UNDERSTANDING that this is not an official integration, but more of a hack where you can use the Mailmunch popover to display your Feedburner opt-in form instead. In the future, we'd like the two to team up to provide this feature. But until that happens, this should serve as a good trick.

Steps
1. Login to Mailmunch and edit your form


2. Navigate to Fields and select Custom HTML under Choose Layout


3. Paste the following code into the HTML field, and make sure to replace YourFeedburnerID with... well, your Feedburner ID hehe

<form style="padding:3px;
             text-align:center;" 
      action="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" 
      method="post" 
      target="popupwindow" 
      onsubmit="window.open('https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YourFeedburnerID', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true">
  <input type="text" 
         style="display: block;
                border: 1px solid #ccc;
                color: rgba(0,0,0,0.75);
                font-size: 14px;
                font-weight: normal;
                font-family: inherit;
                padding: 8px;
                height: 37px;
                width: 100%;
                margin-top:-10px;
                margin-bottom: 15px;" 
         name="email" 
         placeholder="Enter your email"/>
  <input type="hidden" value="YourFeedburnerID" name="uri"/>
  <input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US"/>
  <input type="submit" 
         style="min-width: 30%;
                padding: 10px 20px;
                margin: 0 auto;
                border: 0;
                -moz-border-radius: 3px;
                -webkit-border-radius: 3px;
                border-radius: 3px;
                font-weight: normal;
                display: block;
                width: auto;
                height: 55px;
                font-size: 14px;
                text-align: center;
                max-width: 100%;
                overflow: hidden;
                text-overflow: ellipsis;
                color: #000000;
       background-color: #faae1e;"
         value="Subscribe" />
  <p style="font-size:12px; 
            color: #333;
            margin-top:10px;
            text-align:left">
    Delivered by <a href="https://feedburner.google.com" target="_blank">FeedBurner</a></br>
    Promise, no spam! You may unsubscribe anytime.
  </p>
</form>

<style type="text/css">
  .foot-note{
   display:none;
  }
  a:active, a:link{
   color:#d6464f;
   text-decoration: none;
  }
  a:hover{
   color: #368fe2;
  }
</style>

I have customized the code to reflect the original style of the Mailmunch opt-in form.

4. Save and publish, and you're done!


I hope this works for you as it did with me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask by commenting, I'll do my best to answer! :) If you want to see the form live: on the navigation bar above, hover on Follow, and click Subscribe, the form should appear. :D