January 21, 2013

Food Trip in Macau

I don’t have any list of must-try restaurant in Macau all I wanted is to taste their Lechon Macau so we eat whenever and wherever we want. During our first night, my husband bought food here.

Macau Recipes
Second day, we took our breakfast in McDonalds and we took advantage the free taste on our way to Ruins of St. Paul.


 We tried the famous Portuguese Egg Tart is Pastelaria Koi Kei.


We’re already full so we just bought dumplings here for our lunch and went back to Hotel.


For dinner, we went to New Yaohan Mall to look for the food court so I could taste Lechon Macau but we could not locate it so we ended up in 7-11, they have rice meals which we like so the following morning, hubby bought rice meals in 7-11 for our breakfast. 7-11 is few minutes’ walk from Hotel Sintra.



I finally tasted Lechon Macau in Venetian Hotel Fastfood.


We bought Portuguese Egg Tart again but this time in Lord’s Stow Bakery and CafĂ©. I have no idea that Lord Stow’s egg tarts have been available in the Philippines since 1999. They have branches in Madison Square, Banawe and MOA. #pambihira.


For dinner, we ate at the airport. Macau International airport is not that big, so if you’re planning for Hongkong and Macau trip, book Philippines to Macau and Hongkong to Philippines because HKIA is big, there are so many restaurants and shops so you will not get bored while waiting for your flight.

Note: Hongkong Dollar is widely accepted in Macau so we did not exchange our money to MOP. 1HKD = 1MOP

January 19, 2013

Why Should You Buy Baby Bibs Clothes and Baby Pacifiers Online?

When it comes to babies, a mother should buy many things for the well-being of the child. Some of these things include baby bibs clothes and baby pacifiers. Well, the problem when it comes to buying these items is the process of looking. As you know, baby bibs clothes and baby’s pacifiers are part of a child’s wardrobe. These days, these items are found in different options and styles.

Photo from Freepik
Bibs cannot only be used to protect baby’s clothes, but they can also be used as decoration to a certain outfit. A long time ago, they were used by adults also. However, in today’s world, bibs are used to keep and protect the child’s clothes clean. Bibs are used to feed a baby and they can wear them from birth up until toddler age. As you probably know, baby bibs clothes are made out of plastic or material. Each material has its advantage over the other. For example, a plastic bib can be wiped clean whereas the material bib can be machine-washed.

All you have to do is select the best and the one that you prefer. Baby bibs clothes come with a different mode of strapping. You will get them with Velcro, button or even string. These items feature a range of cute designs and colors for your baby.

These items are found in a wide range of designs like long sleeved bibs, which they are advantageous in covering the sleeves of the clothes. However, these items go hand in hand with baby pacifiers. These items can be found in different designs, shapes and even funny. Pacifiers come in different colors also.

Baby pacifiers are used to make the baby sleep out throughout the night. Moreover, they help parents to do something ease like working without the baby crying. In other words, it keeps the baby busy for some time until he gets hungry. Even though these items can be found in all leading stores across the globe, you can save that time by buying them online.

Benefits of buying these items online 

You will get many benefits from buying these items online. First, you do not have to queue to buy these items; they are just a click away. Below are the benefits that you are going to get by buying baby bibs clothes and baby pacifiers online.

1. Affordable prices: buying items online provides you with the quickest method to compare prices. Therefore, before buying these items, you can look around to look for the best and affordable product.
2. Best deals: online stores offer its consumers with better deals that will keep them coming back for more items. Remember, online stores are like normal and traditional stores. The difference is only the location.
3. Saves time, money and energy: buying items online will save you not only your money but also your time and energy. People who buy items the normal way have to move from their house to the location of the store. In the process of traveling, they end up using time, energy and time
4. Easily found online: baby bibs clothes and baby pacifiers are easily found online. All you have to do is search using the name of the product or item.

January 18, 2013

Day 6: Macau Hotel Hopping


This was our last day in Macau so we still woke up early to finish our itinerary. After our breakfast we went to Grand Lisboa Hotel and Wynn Hotel, we were supposed to watch Prosperity Show and Dragon Show but unfortunately, it was under maintenance. 

Imagine we’ve been in Macau for three days already and natapat pa sa Maintenance Schedule yung pagpunta namin. I don’t know the schedule of maintenance; if I knew it we will visit this on our first night or second day. Waah! Sayang, there is no entrance fee for this show. Pinoy Security Guard told me,

SG: Ma’m balik na lang kayo.
Me: Uwi na kami mamaya.
SG: Balik na lang kayo sa Christmas.

If I’m rich, I will definitely go back. hehe! So we went back to Grand Lisboa to ride the free shuttle going to Macau Ferry Terminal.

Next stop is Fisherman’s Wharf, which is walking distance from the Ferry Terminal.



Then we went back to Hotel Sintra for check-out. You can leave your baggage after check-out but we did not leave our baggage because we know that other hotels have their own storage area. We took advantage of the free shuttle bus from Hotel Sintra to City of Dreams.

City of Dreams

We left our baggage in City of Dreams’ cloak room and watched Bubble Show, this show is not free. MOP50 for adults and MOP25 for kids.

Venetian Hotel

We were hungry already so we picked up our luggage and transferred to Venetian Hotel. Again, we took the free shuttle bus from the City of Dreams to Venetian Hotel. Finally, I was able to taste Lechon Macau.


Venetian is quite big and sometimes we feel that we’re lost, good thing that there were so many Pinoy working in Macau, so may napagtatanungan kami. Pinoy Hotel Staff even gave a Venetian Hotel Map and assisted us in transferring our luggage from one storage room to main lobby storage room.


From the main lobby, we took a free shuttle bus again to reach the Macau International Airport. We did not spend a single centavo on transportation. Thank God for the free shuttle bus. 


January 16, 2013

Day 5: Macau Walking Tour

I’ve realized that I haven't finished my Macau series and it’s been more than a month already. #boo


As I mentioned in my other post, we slept early but I promised myself that we will wake up early so we could start our tour. We started our walking tour in Senado Square; it is really walking distance from Hotel Sintra. My son was not in the mood to walk so good luck to our walking tour.

Largo do Senado (Senado Square) – has been Macau’s urban center for centuries and it is still more popular venue to public events and celebrations. The square is surrounded by pastel-colored neo-classical buildings, creating a consistent and harmonius Mediterranean atmosphere.


But before anything else we took our breakfast in McDonalds.


We visited some stores and St. Dominic Church.

Igreja de S. Domingos (St. Dominic Church) – founded in 1587 by three Spanish Dominican priests who originally came from Acapulco Mexico, this church is also connected to the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Rosary. It was here that the first Portuguese newspaper was published on Chinese soil, A Abelha da China (The China Bee) on September 12, 1822. The bell tower at the back of the building has been modified in to a small Museum of Sacred Art, now exhibiting a collection of around 300 artifacts.
Then we walked towards to Ruins of St. Paul, before you reach the ruins I’m pretty sure busog na kayo sa dami ng free taste. =D


Ruinas de S.Paulo (Ruins of St. Paul) – refer to the façade of what was originally the Church of Mater Dei built in 1602-1640, destroyed by fire in 1835 and the ruins of St Paul’s College which stood adjacent to the Church. As a whole, the old Church of Mater Dei, St. Paul’s College and formed what can be perceived as the Acropolis of Macau. Nowadays, the façade of the Ruins of St. Paul’s functions symbolically as an altar to the
city.

Don’t forget to drop by at Monte Fort and Macau Museum at the right side of Ruins of St. Paul.



Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress) – built in conjunction with the Jesuits from 1617 to 1626, this was the city’s principal military defence structure. The fortress was equipped with canons, military barracks, wells and arsenal that held sufficient ammunition and supplies to endure a siege lasting up two two years. The fortress covers an area of 10,000 square meters in the shape of trapezoid. The four corners of the fortress protrude to form bulwarks.
We wanted to visit Na Tcha temple but we can’t locate it and our feet is already aching so we decided to go back to our hotel and rest. 


We bought pasalubong in Pastelaria Koi Kei. We enjoyed our free taste and free drinks. Sayang, no free taste sa egg tart. Hehe!


After our rest, we went to Michael Jackson’s Gallery at Sofitel. 20-30 minutes of walking from Hotel Sintra. No entrance fee.


Then we want back to Senado Square for night photos.



Source: Macau Tourist Map

January 15, 2013

Philhealth Premium Adjustment 2013

Increase in Philhealth contribution is one thing I don’t look forward this 2013 but I was happy when I’ve learned that they will delay it due to public request for the reconsideration of the implementation of the premium increase. Philhealth released circular No. 057,s-2012 for the partial deferral of the new Philhealth premium contribution increase until the end of the calendar year 2013.

According to this circular;

For Individually Paying Program and Overseas Workers Programs

Self-employed individuals under the Individually Paying Program shall pay the minimum annual premium contribution of One Thousand Eight Hundred Pesos (Ph1,800.00) effective only from January to December 2013. Provided that, self- employed professionals earning an average monthly income of more than Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (PhP25, 000.00) shall pay their annual premium contribution in the amount of Three Thousand Six Hundred Pesos (PhP3,600.00). Provided further that, all valid and effective policy contracts signed prior to this Board Resolution shall remain effective and enforceable until expiration.

Overseas Workers under the Overseas Workers Program shall pay the minimum annual premium contribution of One Thousand Two Hundred Pesos (PhPl,200.00) which is effective since January 2012 up to December 2013 only.

For Employed Sector
   
The premium contributions for the Employed Sector, starting January to December 2013 only, shall be in accordance with the following premium contribution schedule using the following baselines:

    1. Premium rate at 2.5% of the basic monthly salary
    2. Use of salary bracket
    3. Salary bracket floor shall start at P7,000.00
    4. Salary bracket ceiling shall be at P35,000.00

Click here for more information. 

Lemon Brownies

I baked triple chocolate chips last Saturday but I wanted to eat something not so sweet so I baked Lemon Brownies.

It doesn't look good in the picture but I swear it is yummy!
I was delighted with the result; this is really lemony lemon brownies. I only used half lemon to make this recipe and I can really taste the lemon. It was funny because when I made calamansi cupcake, I can’t count how many calamansi I squeezed to produce 1/3 cup of calamansi juice. 

My son did not taste my lemon brownies because according to him he likes brown brownies not yellow. Hahaha! He was expecting triple chocolate brownies. =D I love Contis Lemon Bars but after doing this, I realized that I can do it at home and mas tipid. It is yummy even without the tart glaze.

I got the recipe from Becky Charm's site. 

The "Brownie" Batter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour {King Arthur All-Purpose Flour}
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt {Sea Salt}
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Tart Lemon Glaze
1 rounded cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoon lemon juice
8 teaspoons lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease/Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with butter/cooking spray and set aside.
Zest and juice two small/large lemons; set aside. {whatever you have}
In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing.  Do not overbake, or the bars will be dry. {even with the yummy glaze}

When brownies are cooled completely, make the glaze...sift the powdered sugar, add lemon zest and juice, and whisk together all three ingredients. Spread 1/2 the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula.  Let glaze set.  Spread the remaining glaze over the bars, and let it set.  This glaze does not harden like most.  Cut into bars, and serve!

January 14, 2013

Paying Real Property Taxes in the Philippines

Owners of land and buildings have to pay Real Property Tax every year. A tax that you can pay annually or quarterly but I have no idea about quarterly since we are going to pay it every year. Last Friday was our first-time experience personally pay our Real Property Tax (RPT) because for the last two years we already issued post-dated checks to our Developer for our RPT. 

We went to our municipal office to pay our RPT, we’re expecting long lines but it took us only a few minutes to pay for it. We just gave our Official Tax Receipt from our Developer and pay the fee. That’s it! 

Note: 
Real Property tax payments are made at the Land Tax Division of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO).

Requirements: 
Copy of latest Real Property Tax Declaration 
Photocopy of latest Real Property Tax payment/Official Receipt 

Taxes, Fees and Discounts Taxes: 

Basic Real Property Tax = Fair Market Value x Assessment Level x Basic Tax Rate 
Additional Tax (Special Education Fund) = Fair Market Value x Assessment Level x 1.00% 

Fair Market Value: Based on the Schedule of Fair Market Values proposed by the City Assessor and approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. 

 Assessment Level: 

On Land Type /Assessment Level  

Residential / 20% 
Agricultural / 40% 
Commercial / 50% 
Industrial / 50% 

 * Residential 1.5 % 
 * Commercial 2.0% 

Discount and Penalties 

Prompt payment (paid on or before the deadline) - 10% discount on basic tax, SEF 
Advance payment (paid before January of the taxable year - 15% discount on basic tax, SEF 
Failure to pay tax - 2% interest per month on the unpaid amount or fraction thereof, but total interest shall not exceed 36 months Source:

For more information click here 

The discounts depend on where you live but it ranges from 10 to 20% or even higher in some places. The deadline for the discount varies too, it depends on where you live, some places until January only while other places until March. And because I want to save money, I want to pay for our RPT every December so I won't miss the discount.

Merienda at Banapple

Banapple is one of the restaurants that I really wanted to visit because I wanted to try their famous Banoffee Pie but as usual the branches are too far. I saw Banapple in Alabang Town Center when I redeemed my free J.Co Donuts last December so I promised myself that I will be back again and eat.


So when we went back to Alabang Town Center last Friday we had our merienda here. The place is quite small especially the table, nasisikipan ako. Once seated, they will give you the menu but you have to go to the cashier for your order.


We ordered Lasagna (P180), Buttermilk Pancake (P135), and of course Banoffee Pie (P95). I don’t understand why my son ordered a pancake for merienda but he really wanted it so we gave in.


Hubby loves the bread

When my order came, I took this photo and immediately tasted it and after few minutes…


Chocolate toppings were gone


…and my son was eating my banoffee pie. Thank God, his pancake arrived.


We enjoyed our food, Bannaple is not that expensive and the serving is big. 

January 10, 2013

Macau: Hotel Sintra Review

One of my dilemmas while I was doing our Hongkong-Macau itinerary is our Macau accommodation. I know that there are so many hotels that I can choose from but I dislike the rates, it is too expensive for my budget.

I have few lists of different affordable hotel, hostels and guesthouses but the problem is they don’t have website and I’ve read some not so good reviews. Some people reserve a room through email but when they arrived in Macau they have no room. Some people even called long distance to confirm their booking but the hotel/hostel staff can’t speak English. I don’t want to experience that.

I was thinking of going to Macau on the day of our departure so I can save on accommodation but I don’t want to take risk like, what if there’s problem with ferry and we can’t travel to Macau. Are we going to enjoy our tour if we’re always in a hurry because we need to finish everything before our flight? So after several months of thinking I booked our hotel which is four months before the trip.



Hotel Sintra is one of the most recommended hotels in Macau so I booked here. It was an online reservation and there’s no down payment. You can reschedule or cancel your reservation two or three days before the trip.

Tip: If you are going to Macau, as much as possible don’t visit during weekend because the rate of the room is very expensive, the rate from Sunday to Thursday is cheaper than Friday to Saturday. 


I did not know this before and our Macau trip falls on Friday and Saturday so the rate is high. Waah! If I knew this before I should book Clark to Macau and Hongkong to Clark.




Anyway, fast forward to our trip. We took TurboJet ferry from Hongkong to Macau; it was more or less one hour trip. Hotel Sintra has free shuttle bus unfortunately there was no shuttle bus at the time of our arrival. 

Thank God for casino free shuttle, we rode Grand Lisboa free shuttle bus and from there we walk on our way to Hotel Sintra. We had a hard time looking for the location because people can’t speak English. 


We’re all tired and exhausted and my son doesn’t want to walk anymore so ang daming buhat. After checked-in, my husband bought some food for dinner and we slept immediately.






Likes

1. Good location. It is located near New Yaohan shopping mall, commercial area and tourist spots so you can save on transportation.
2. Free shuttle bus.
3. Service is good.
4. Free wifi
5. The room is nice. The bed is comfy and we have four fluffy pillows.
6. Towels and toiletries replenished every day.
7. They have a free shuttle bus going to COD or City of Dreams.
8. Free Macau Booklet and Tourist Map

Dislikes

1. Shuttle bus is not always available. During our 2 nights and 2 days stay, I haven’t seen their shuttle bus so we have to walk to Grand Lisboa to avail free shuttle bus.
2. I paid our hotel upon arrival and I don’t understand why they have to charge my credit card again. I received SMS message that there are unusual transactions (floating charge) on my credit card. 

Hotel Sintra
Address: Avenida de D.JoĂŁo IV, Macau
Tel: +853 2871 0111
Fax: +853 2856 7769
E-mail: rsvn@hotelsintra.com ( For reservation )
            eo@hotelsintra.com ( For general )

Toll-Free Hotline:
Hong Kong: 800 969 145
China: 4001 20 0225
10 800 153 0025 (China Telecom)
10 800 853 0025 (CNC)

January 09, 2013

Nutella Brownies


Nutella is one of the staple spread in our pantry because my son loves this hazelnut spread so when I saw this Nutella Brownies recipe in Pinterest, I immediately repin it for my recipes to try. I’ve been baking for the last few weeks but I haven’t tried new recipe so I check my board in Pinterest. I baked Nutella Brownies yesterday and I was expecting delicious brownies for our merienda.

Here’s the recipe from ‘Instructable’ site 

1 cup (280g) Nutella
2 Eggs
10 tbsp (62g) flour

Directions:

Put it in a bowl. Mash it up. 



Pour into a pan or muffin tin. 


Top with hazelnuts if you're feeling extra fancy.  Bake at 350F (180C) for around 30 minutes (less time for cupcake form, more time if the centers aren't baked through).


Well, my first try was not successful; my Nutella Brownies became Nutella Cookie because it is hard as cookie. The taste is just ok, pwede na pagtiyagaan. =D One thing for sure, I should bake it in less than 20 minutes. 

PHP25 Paper Bill Charge at Globe

Last December 31, we received our internet bill and I was shocked because there’s an additional P25 on our regular bill. I browsed the bill and I was really surprised when I saw the P25 paper bill charge. Waah! This was the first time that I encountered this, the client will pay an additional fee for the bill so I immediately told my husband to call Globe which our internet provider regarding this matter.

CS rep told my husband that they already sent a notification regarding the PHP25 paper bill charge. But I haven’t read any notification letter so we have no choice but to pay the P25 paper bill charge and switch to Paperless Billing.

I love the idea of saving paper but the client has really no choice but to switch unless you want to pay P25 every month. As I mentioned in my Green Living post Switching from paper bills to electronic billing is one of my goals to help the environment but the problem is sometimes I forget to pay on time because the ebill goes straight to my husband's inbox. Now, I have to write it on my planner so I won’t forget, or else I have to pay an additional P50 for the late payment fee. Everything has a charge in Globe Wi-Max

How to sign up your account for Paperless Billing:

Text GLOBEGREEN to 2327.
Visit www.globe.com.ph/gogreen and follow the on-screen instructions.
Email your account number and your intention to subscribe to Paperless Billing to talk@globetel.com.ph.
Call your Talk2GLOBE Hotline at 211 toll-free from your Globe mobile or  (02) 730-1000, toll-free from any Globe landline. You can also visit the nearest Globe Store.


I tried the website but there are no on-screen instructions so my husband just called Globe. As of this moment, most of our bills are paperless except for water, electricity and two postpaid lines. 

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