To Rent a Car or Not To, That is the Question

Going to my seminars via a rented car is the next best thing to owning one for myself. I'm sure there's a plus-factor reputation-wise if attendees will see me drive to and fro at the venue inside a car.

My assumption of high expense in renting a car is the only thing that stops me from doing so. Other than that, there are merits that really works on my favor.

Weekend car rentals, for instance. Most of my out of town seminars are scheduled during the weekends. It is that same time of the week when passsengers going to their respective provinces almost doubles in number. It's a nice thought not having to fall in line in securing bus tickets.

Holiday car rentals, on the other hand, promises to offer wide open highways and road almost exclusively to yourself.

All in all renting a car affords me the chance to easily fetch my daughter Sophia and bring her to fun places for a father-and-daughter bonding whenever my seminars are north of Luzon.

I had a friend with car rental contacts but he is currently in Columbia. That is why I will only be relying online in finding affordable car rental rates just like CarRentals.com. It has partnered with car rentals agencies all over the US and World to bring all the best car rental rates for you to compare. It also also made it easy to compare its prices to Priceline and Expedia, so their users know where to find the best price.

Meralco Call Center | Reporting Meralco Service Problems

Until now, there are Meralco customers leaving comments on the blog entry about Meralco Customer Service I posted some six years ago. To date, there are 33 comments on the entry most of which are reports of service interruptions, complaints, follow up on the service requests, etc.

As to why these Meralco customers prefer to post comment on this blog than contact Meralco Call Center is beyond me. Thus, I'm making this blog entry now to correct it.

For Meralco customers who want to report service problems or other Meralco service issues, just contact Meralco Call Center. I've heard they respond quickly now.

Meralco Call Center: 16211
SMS Numbers: 0917-5592824 / 0920-9292824

You can use any landline whithin Metro Manila to contact 16211. Again, please don't leave comments here to report Meralco service problems.

Planning to buy a ceiling fan?

Cold air is heavier, it tends to go down. Hot air is lighter, it tends to go up. Ceiling fans are being utilized using this principle.

During summer, your ceiling fan should run counter clockwise to force the room air down to you giving you a cooling effect. During cold season, running your fan clockwise at a low speed will help the warm air down.



The problem, however, with ordinary ceiling fan is that it produces too much noise while running. If you are planning to buy a ceiling fan, check out Hansen Wholesale Ceiling Fans. You can call them at 1-800-201-1193 and a fan expert will answer your queries.

Manila Zoo Revisited

Pia and I visited Manila Zoo again yesterday. If I remember it right, it's her third visit. She was only three years old when she first went there. That was three years ago.



Although there are some improvements in Manila Zoo, it is still in a sorry state as a whole. That's partly because of the zoo visitors' lack of discipline. For example, there's a wishing pond there with lots of garbage. You get my drift.



One improvement I saw is Kinder Zoo corner inside the Manila Zoo premises, where you can take unlimited pictures with a huge snake, baby crocodile and different kind of birds. There's also a mini zip line and wall climbing area for kids.



To enter the Kinder Zoo, you need to pay another P40 entrance fee and additional P75 if you want to try their zip line and wall climbing. That's on top of the P40 you need to pay to enter the zoo. I could be wrong but I smell some irregularities there.



Another new activity to try at Manila Zoo is the horseback riding. It will cost you only P60.



I'm not sure what this guy is doing with the crocodile but he sure became an instant attraction for the zoo visitors.

To see more pictures of our Manila Zoo visit yesterday, you may go to my Multiply Account.

I found Nemo!

When I saw this Nemo stuffed toy being displayed in one those stores at Coastal Mall, I thought of Pia and decided to buy one. 'Finding Nemo' is one of her favorite movies.

The sales lady initially priced it at P580 but I was able to get it for only P400. :-)




If you have kids who also like Nemo, this will be a great Christmas gift. But if your kids are into hamster, Zhu Zhu Pets would be perfect.

Twitter Client for Palm Treo 680

I finally found a twitter client for my Palm Treo 680 - MoTwit. It's easy to install and more importantly, it's FREE!

Through MoTwit, I can now send a tweet through my phone without needing to open a mobile browser. The limitation, however, is that in order to read tweets from people I follow, I still need to open a browser. Not a perfect twitter client but this will do for now.

Are you into twitter, too? You may follow me @apolthegreat and @gatewaytocanada.

To download MoTwit for your Palm Treo 680 click here .

AZUI | azui.com - Arizona Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claim

Yesterday, my friend and I were discussing the options we have should we suddenly lost our job. Although we both make money online, the income we get from it is not yet enough to cover our expenses. I jokingly told him to start trying his luck with lottery.

The thought of losing a job is not that stressful if we also have unemployment insurance like that of Arizona Unemployment Insurance (AZUI).


If you are from Arizona, you may now view additional information about your Unemployment Insurance Claim by accessing the UI Weekly Claim System. More information about AZUI weekly claim is available at azui.com

Driving Direction from Google Maps

Here's a YouTube video featuring a cool driving direction from Google Maps.


If you're in Canada, here's MaqQuest Canada Driving Direction.

Father's Day Gift Suggestion: David's Cookies

June 21 is Father's Day! Still thinking what to give your father as a father's day gift?

If your father loves cookies, you may want to consider fresh-baked cookies as your father's day gift. You don't have to bake it yourself, you can order online at David's Cookies!



Aside from chocolate chip & other fresh-baked cookies, David's Cookies also carries desserts like cheesecake and brownies. Visit http://www.davidscookies.com for more information and or to p;ace your orders.

Happy Father's Day to all fathers out there!

No Problem Videoke Bar

How's that for a name of a videoke bar? :-)

Indie clothing, anyone?

If you fancy indie clothing, you may find www.alwaysurban.com interesting. It offers a great selection of designs made by indie fashion designers from all over the globe.

I browsed its men's clothing selection from t-shirts to sweat shirts and found many designs that I really want like this one:

Unfortunately it's not included in their sale items and it has a regular price of $40. It may be a reasonable price but I can't afford it. I'll just wait for this at ukay-ukay. :-)

Practical Training for Professionals

Practical Training for Professionals (PTP) provides training program that are useful for companies or organizations based in UK. It specializes on management training, sales training, customer care training, personal development training, finance & planning.

Unlike other training programs, PTP offers a U-Choose program wherein companies and organizations can choose any PTP's courses, location and their convenient schedule. The only requirement is that you have to book your schedule at least six weeks in advance.

PTC also offers a program called Finance for Non-Finance Managers. This is ideal for business managers who don't have background in finance or accounting. It is a one-day course aiming to provide business managers a basic idea how finance affects business operations and objectives.

For more information about Practical Training for Professionals (PTP), visit http://www.ptp.co.uk.

Village Luggage and Gifts

If you are a frequent traveler and is looking for durable and stylish luggage, Village Luggage and Gifts may be the answer to your quest. It offers a wide variety of designer luggage for you to chose from. Their luggage brand includes Hartmann, ProLite, Boyt, Delsy and many more.

Village Luggage and Gifts is not just a luggage store. It also offers leather goods, travel accessories, and some unusual gifts and corporate giveaways.

You can find more information about Village Luggage and Gifts at www.villageluggageandgifts.com.