Cyber Monday on Buy.com

For techies looking for great deals on the newest gadgets, do check out Buy.com . They have a wide variety of computers, electronics, smartphones, software, books and other stuff at affordable prices. If you want even better deals and great buys, they also have Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials!

I am also surprised that they now carry more items than before, even jewelry and ladies' bags!

Cebu Pacific 50% Off Seat Sale

From Cebu Pacific's website (link here):

Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific (CEB) celebrates the first anniversary of its operations in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (T3) on July 22, 2009 with a first-of-its-kind 50% off seat sale.

Passengers can avail of the 50% discount on all domestic and international flights from July 22 to 24, 2009. This is valid for travel from September 1 to November 30, 2009.

“CEB’s move to T3 has allowed the airline to grow continuously despite current global market conditions. Now, not only do we provide our passengers with the lowest fares, newest planes, most flights and destinations; we also operate from a world class airport.” said Candice Iyog, VP for Marketing and Distribution.

“Our first anniversary in T3 underscores the solid partnership between CEB and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). The MIAA’s support has been instrumental in CEB’s expansion,” she added.

Passengers are advised to book their flights through www.cebupacificair.com, or CEB’s reservations hotlines (02)70-20-888 and (032)230-88-88, or their travel agent.

CEB, Asia’s third largest low-cost carrier, has flown nearly 36 million passengers since its inception in 1996. It now flies to 32 domestic destinations and 14 Asian cities from four hubs, utilizing the youngest aircraft fleet in the Philippines.

Health Insurance

Even if we are doctors ourselves, we still find health care costs steep, especially if you're looking for quality health care. Because we want to choose the doctors that we want, we didn't get an HMO anymore, but we do get hit with huge bills once in a while.

HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) are a good idea if you want health coverage with less, if any, out-of-pocket expenses and do not mind the limited choice of doctors. You may opt to look over some low cost health insurance -- perhaps there's a plan that would be best suited to you or your family. After all, we won't always be healthy (although we wish we were). And getting sick not only drains your finances, it also costs you in terms of potential income since you have to take time off your work and/or your business.

Find The Cause

Of all the acne treatments I've tried back when I was getting lots of pimples while I was in medical school, the one which really worked was an oral contraceptive (Ethinyl Estradiol or brand: Diane 35). It turned out that what I had then was a hormonal imbalance due to stress. Looking back, my periods were also more irregular then.

Lesson learned: Find the cause so that you can solve the problem. This works not only for acne but for other things in life as well.

Before Hiring A Nanny

With a newborn and a preschooler, I definitely need help as I will soon be going back to work. With so many crimes reported on the news nowadays, one can't help but be a little paranoid about employing people, especially one who's going to take care of my kids and stay in our house. That's why I make sure that my nannies should undergo at least a basic employee screening. But even with that, I make sure that somebody I trust is always with them-- either my husband, my mom or mother-in-law, or our siblings -- if I'm not around to supervise their work. It's better to be safe than sorry.

I also have my nannies undergo a pre-employment checkup to make sure they don't harbor any communicable diseases to our kids.

Grand Vacations With Kids?

My husband and I agree that it's best to travel with the kids when they're older. Like maybe at least 4 years old. This is because of the following reasons:

1. They do not need as much gear, unlike babies, wherein we have to bring the whole caboodle -- stroller, sterilizer, crib, etc etc

2. They will actually have memories of the trip.

3. The parents (that's us) will enjoy the trip more because they don't have to spend their time watching out for the babies' various needs.

That means our Orlando vacations will have to wait.

But that's our opinion. Others also say that trips with babies on board are very enjoyable. So, it's pretty much up to you.

Win a Jollibee Kiddie Party!

Join the Play happily ever after photo contest. This is sponsored by Johnson's Baby powder.

Click here for the mechanics.

Good luck to everybody!!!

(Now off to find the perfect pictures...)

Lights!

We all know that not all light fixtures are created equal in terms of energy efficiency and brightness. Incandescent lamps are less bright and consumes more electricity while fluorescent lamps and so-called energy efficient lamps are brighter and consumes less electricity for their brightness. However, sometimes we do want pretty lights in the more "public" areas of our homes.

The solution is to pick the rooms where you need more aesthetics and the rooms which need more light and do not need to be too "pretty". For example, living rooms look much better with chandeliers, while the study or workroom needs more lighting.

Let Your Fingers Do The Walking....

A handyman-at-heart, my husband often wonders why it is so difficult to find some industrial products in handyman shops like Ace Hardware, True Value and DIY store? My guess is that the things that are difficult to find are the ones that are not very saleable, so the store owners don't really keep them in stock.

The good news is that there are actually some companies which, while not being retailers of such products, do let consumers buy some in retail quantities. Just flip open the yellow pages and look for the item that you are looking for. Chances are, you can find them there. Or, use the net to research on where best to look for the item that you want.