Season’s Greetings

This year was a bit tough but I made it through somehow. My hands were always full in the office and in the house as well. In the house, I’m doing some artworks right here and there, reviewing things about math particularly Algebra which is very useful in computer programming, studying more about C#.Net and T-SQL, brushing up on my piano skill and doing some gardening.

You see, I hardly have any time left for computer games and for watching movies. But I still do when I’m really free.

I found this edible Ginger Bread house at the Meat Haus in Waigani area. I’m not particularly picky about cake designs, but I like something that is cute. I am also of the persuasion that anything, which possesses extreme awesomeness, deserves some kind of positive reaction.

For this Ginger Bread House, I give it a two-thumbs up. 

In Mity Meat Haus, one can find a plethora of longanisa of various origins. My favorite is the Spanish Longanisa.  All of which are actually good, but the word “Spanish” has a familiar ring to it. Our ancestors in the Philippines have once been under the rule of Spain, and despite having been in the hands of American and later, the Japanese occupation,  the influences brought about by the Spaniards didn’t immediately vanish but were still carried on up to this generation. This includes our fondness for eating longanisa or the Spanish Sausage.

It’s for this reason also that we have words in Filipino vocabulary like silya, bintana, kutsara, diyaryo, telebisyon; all of which are Spanish origin.

In some household, Christmas is celebrated with a good ham on the table. I’m not usually a fan of eating ham but if one is looking for a nice ham for this holiday season, you can find a good lots of them in Mity Meat Haus. 

Last week, I bought a couple of gardening tools from Brian Bell. I don’t usually buy things unless they are of great importance but I think these are great tools.

Second only to Gold and Metal detectors.

Here are some of the plants that I take care in the accommodation. When I was younger, we used to do a lot of flowery plants planting. Aside from its purely aesthetic purpose, it’s a good way to make yourself appear useful in those days. 

I also planted cherry tomatoes in the pots. This variety of tomato does not grow well without having some kind of a framework to grow onto, so I stopped planting them after the harvest.

I also have saluyot plants and kamote plants. I like to grow them for their leaves which I cook every once in a while.

I also have a chilli plant. For all of the plants, I am using a compound fertilizer, which contains 12% nitrogen, 12% phosphorus and 17% potash. They grow really fast and healthy in this plant food.

I’m pretty flat out since I came back from holiday and didn’t realize that my hair had grown longer.

Here's the notebook that I use when I'm brushing up on my math comprehension. I have pages full of these indistinct scribbling. 

I like to read about financial literacy books nowadays. It gives me some kind of financial guidance that regular schools would not normally teach us. After all the time I spent reading, I have come to realize that to unlock the key to financial success, one must go devotedly through the following in the exact order:

1. Pay all your debts.

2. Establish an emergency fund from a five-month three-month worth of your monthly salary.

3. Establish a savings fund aside from emergency fund.

4. Invest your saved money wisely.

At the end of the day, what we do today does apply a certain effect to our respective future. If one is working hard today, it is said to be in preparation for tomorrow. But eventually, some of us will not live to see that day. So do things wisely and enjoyably. 

Happy Holidays!