Greetings to All!

Sex and the City and Other Movies to Watch Out for in 2008

Get Carried away in 2008 as Sex and the City makes its way to the big screen.

For sure, I will. It will be a very exciting reunion with Carrie, Sam, Miranda, Charlotte and my girlfriends. I really miss SATC and those random afternoons of SATC marathons with my girlfriends at our HQ (former apartment). It's so fun to look back at those moments and as well as with all the fun and realistic characters of the hit series. Women can indeed relate to most of the episodes.

The movie is set to be released on May. I am not sure if it's going to be followed here in Manila but well, for sure, my girlfriends and I will drop anything for a get-together: a SATC movie date.

Meanwhile, to excite you more, here's the movie's teaser trailer:

Also visit the Sex and the City Movie Blog.
And watch more trailers at Yahoo's 2008's 10 Most Anticipated Flicks (Indiana Jones 4 not yet included).

Starting 2008 in Style

Got myself the #1 item on my Christmas wishlist: the Belle de Jour Power Planner.

I have to say that it's a must-have for Pinay women who like to strut in their heels.

For one, it is self-empowering. It has the tools that allow women to effectively organize their activities. Day-to-day to-dos can be managed by listing down the priority tasks to start on and finish. These tasks and other appointments can be separated into morning, lunch, afternoon and dinner. A budget and credit card expense list is also part of the monthly set of organizing tools.

Each month has a theme and a corresponding write up to promote awareness and women empowerment.

Dreams can also be turned into reality with BDJ's goal planning tools. Timeframe, steps and resources needed are part of the planning process.

As every hardworking woman-in-heels deserves her own taste of luxury, BDJ has a Vacation Planner and monthly Personal Treats to Enjoy to help her remember that she is also entitled to her own rewards. Aside from this, shopaholics will certainly enjoy the discount perks of having a BDJ planner. BDJ Girls can get 10 to 15% discounts from chic stores or freebies from some restos in the country. My personal ooh-la-la favorite is a FREE BRAZILIAN WAX at Lay Bare!

Other features of the planner include a Menstrual Tracker and a Birthday List.

Lastly, here's something about BDJ which really caught my attention. A percentage of the planner's earning goes to Tahanan Sta. Luisa, which is a center for street girls and sexually-exploited girls. For me, this is what makes Belle de Jour Power Planner the ultimate 2008 must-have for the IT girl.

BDJ Planners are sold at P548 in selected outlets. For more info, visit the Belle de Jour Power Planner website.

Mother-Daughter Bedtime Bonding

For working moms like me, bedtime is essential to make up for all those long hours spent at work. That's why I make sure that reading, playing and making lambing are part of my baby and I's bedtime.

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz was given by my daughter's lola-tita 2 years ago. It has become so much a part of our bedtime routine that as soon as I mention Counting Kisses, she'll stop whatever it is that she's doing to get her book and lay down on the bed afterwards.

As a very effective read and kiss book, my daughter has learned much about the characters of the book and as well as polished her counting skills. Role-playing is also an activity in the process since we sometimes invite her lola, her tita (who acts as the older sister) and her stuffed toys—a cat and a dog to kiss her.


The book ends with “One last kiss on her sleepy dreamy head. And now, it's time for baby's bed.” She immediately falls asleep (read: no more NOs, DON'Ts and AYAWs on trning the lights out) after a short bedtime prayer and some whispers of I Love Yous.

Counting Kisses is available at Amazon.Com.

Click here to view the book's page at Amazon.

My RegaloService.Com Experience

As I have mentioned in my older posts, I was lucky enough to win a $25 GC from RegaloService.Com. Excited as I was to avail of their service, I immediately shopped for holiday presents from their site. However, there was a glitch. I could not choose the GC as a payment option so I sent them an e-mail to inform them about the problem.

The answer arrived not through e-mail but through a better means: the telephone. I was happy that the response was fast, there was a solution already being offered and that the caller was courteous. An hour or two after, I got another call from them informing me that the problem has already been fixed.

I checked out my ordered items and just this morning, as I have requested, they were delivered to my office, nicely wrapped and ready to be handed to my contacts.

I am glad that excellent customer service was exhibited by Regalo Service even in the absence of a face-to-face encounter during purchase.

And just an update, the Terry Selection platter which I gave to a colleague was greatly appreciated.

Thanks RegaloService.Com.

Proudly Pinay presents Janette Toral

Proudly Pinay

presents

Janette Toral

PROUDLY PINAY recognizes all the Filipino women who, symbolically, walk their talk in heels and skirts. These are women who have made valuable contribution to society. They are the ones who make us truly proud to be Pinoys.

The second Pinay who makes it to Proudly Pinay is the woman behind the recently concluded Filipina Writing Contest. She is also involved in various internet-related policies, businesses and advocacies. Now let me present to you,

Ms. JANETTE TORAL.

The void of a blackhole, the depth of an abyss--if there is just one place in the whole wide universe that the Filipino can get lost in, it is nowhere in the map. The address does not start with a number that's followed by a street's name, rather, the address starts with http:// and is followed by 3Ws. It's the cyberspace.

Now that the digital age is no longer an exclusive privilege for developed countries and for those who belong to the wealthier social strata, it is a relief that Filipino have taken a step forward to counter naivete, misconceptions and fears arising from those whose idea of typing results into kalyos and usage of liquid and carbon papers (both are not clean, white sheets). (Side comment: I can't believe that some people actually thought of the Y2K bug as something as a deadly epidemic.) One of them--I'm proud to say that I have met her, is Janette Toral.

As a writer, Janette shares her opinions as a columnist of Sun Star Cebu. Aside from this, she has authored and co-authored two books, respectively, DigitalFilipino.Com E-Commerce Workshop E-Book and Philippine Internet Review: 10 Years of Internet History (1994-2004). She has also conducted researches on the electronic field: IT, online banking, mobile phone usage, outsourcing, etc.

As an advocate, among Janette's most successful efforts are lobbying for RA8792: The Y2K and E-Commerce Law.; founding the Philippine Internet Commerce Society; and other projects which include the Filipina Writing Project and the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs Project.

She owns the DigitalFilipino.Com Club and the Philippine Software Process Improvement Network, which are both professional online communities. She does consultancy work and also conducts training on various internet and multimedia-related topics.

With all of these and so much more at her hand, Janette has empowered the lives of the digital Filipinos and Filipinas. Hence, we name Ms. Janette Toral as our second Proudly Pinay in the list.

Info based from her personal website.

More info available at JanetteToral.Com

Lady in Red has the permission to post her photo.

The Filipina Writing Contest

A couple of months ago, we were outraged by the FilipinaBride.Com, which is supposedly a spoof for the international perverts-or-hopeless con romantics who use the internet to look for their Filipina subjects.

While concerned groups have been successful with soliciting support and a couple of reactions from Filipinos, there weren't much efforts gathered for eliminating the "Filipina bride" impression of many on Filipino women. Most actions were geared towards the site owners; they were attacks to specific groups or individuals like the pervs that I was talking about in the first paragraph. None of them countered the real enemy: the negative perception of the Filipina.

Fighting this enemy is a big challenge. This is mainly because we are dealing with individual psychos...err... I mean psyches and as well as a whole bunch of social constructions which have long been a mainstream for a significant number of ignoramuses.

Last August, another social barrier has been broken; another line has been crossed for the Filipino women. Janette Toral's brainchild, The Filipina Writing Contest, has the following aim:

"... to influence and change the impression about the Filipina by having relevant content appear in the first page of major search engines."

There were around 80 entries to this campaign and the awarding was held last 28 November 2007 at Ponciana's Kitchen along Timog Avenue.

Now ladies and gentlemen, the winners:

The judges' Most Liked Entries and won US$100 each.
The Funniest Filipina Vloggers
Ako si Pina.. At ito ang aking kuwento...
Superiority of Women in the Philippine Society

US$100 Winners in the raffle:
Filipina as Other (Betsy's!)
Two Popular and Unique Individuals, Both Filipina
The Filipina Campaign (Aiza's! Birthday gift!)
Filipina 2007

For the SEO competition part, the following won US$100:
Google - Filipina (marhgil's)
Yahoo - Filipina (marhgil's--lucky, lucky guy na nagrereklamo pa!)
MSN - Hindi lang Filipina Dating, Dating Filipina, Wow Filipina talaga!

For thoseShortlisted entries' prizes:
One (1) Customized Banner or Button (Thanks Juan Karlo Licudine!)
Filipina Pride
Three (3) Wordpress t-shirts for entries with link to our partner FilipinaImages.com (Thanks Noemi Lardizabal Dado!)
Filipina Ako. I am a Filipina
A Topless Filipina in Europe
Maria “Ria” A. Jose is a Filipina
Two (2) Strategic Problogging Audio E-Book (Thanks Manuel Viloria!)
Filipina Since Birth
Story of a Young Filipina Woman - The Fighter in Me
The following got a one-year individual membership in the DigitalFilipino.com Club.
A Different Filipina
Proudly Pinay: The Filipina Who Strut on Her Heels (wow! this IS mine!)
Macho I Love Yous
The Filipina in the Eyes of the World
Adobong Pinay
Ang mga Filipina ng Buhay Ko
Filipina works! Abroad
Podcast/Vlogs creation effort
Hot Filipina
The Portrait of a Japayuki as a Filipina
Google Suggested Pinay Scandal
What is a Filipina?
3 Things You Possibly Do Not Know about the Filipina

Congratulations to all (since I think everyone won a prize in the raffle)! And of course, congratulations to Ms. Janette!

To know more about the project, click here.
To know more about the winners and sponsors, click here.