Money, money, money

"I guess there's no escaping the dreadful job for now eh?". I said to myself.

But for others, who have more guts, more glory and anything in between. You actually have other options not to go to work yet earning as much or even more than the regular 9-5-kiss-your-boss'-ass-job.

My search for a perfect job/profession/work has given me various options which will enable people to work inside the confines of their home without worrying for their travel fare or if their babies are being tortured by their yayas. Also, knowing the traffic in urban areas, it's actually a miracle if you're able to reach your workplace without the train breaking down in the middle of its tracks, being mobbed, or anything that will ruin your morning (or evening) commute.

Here are the 10 Home-based Jobs that you can try in no particular order:

1. Blogging- What a great way to start this top10! Haha. Everyone writes. Everyone reviews. It's a free country. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.  Of course you need to have a blog page but it's easy breezy. www.blogger.com is one of those blog-publishing service where you can go to to set up your free blog domain. You can earn here if your blog has ads already and one way to have ads is to have lots of visitors and readers, that is if your blog has a lot of interesting stuff in it.

2. Freelancing- www.odesk.com and www.fiverr.com are just two global online marketplaces where people can offer to do jobs for an employer for a fee. If you have an experience with being a Virtual assistant or a copy writer or even do silly, unimaginable things like sending a prophecy directly from God (check it out on Fiverr, i swear it's there), then this is perfect for you.

3. Online Teaching- Tired of being discriminated, cursed, shouted on, maligned, degraded etc(the list goes on) by your customers over the phone for a call center that's not allowing you to take your break even if it's already more than halfway of your shift yet can't kick the urge to speak with a twang? Then you should try helping students (Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Martian etc) learn to speak the universal language. Here, you get to be paid 100 pesos and up per hour just talking about anything under the sun. And if your lucky, you might be sent to the shooting site of your favorite Koreanovela. You can try applying here http://www.bizmates.ph/apply-now/

 4.Cooking- Who doesn't love a home-cooked meal without the hassle of chopping and popping oil? You don't really have to cook like a chef. If you only know a couple of dishes and you're good at cooking them then sell your dishes just outside your home. Prepare a table outside your home, get them kaserolas and kawalis where the people can see and smell what lies inside them. Just make sure that flies are not around when you're serving or the customers will get an extra, unnecessary meat.

5. Baking- Cupcakes are the in thing nowadays and if you can make them really good then why not sell them. If you're really entrepreneurial, you can actually go to some milk tea or frappe establishments (which proliferated like mushrooms) and sell them your baking goodies. Cupcakes and biscuits go along great with tea or coffee right?

6. Multilevel Marketing/ Networking/ Direct selling- Avon, Natasha, Usana, Royale etc. All of them are offering products which you can sell wherein you will get 20-30% from the total price. You can also recruit other people to sell the products. This is the part where networking sets in. If you have many recruits, their sales will be counted as your sales so even if you don't sell the items, you already have passive income from your down line. Registration ranges from nothing to 30000 and up depending on the company and the products that you will sell. Usually the products are supplements, cosmetics, lotions, apparels,etc

7. Sari-sari store- Why walk some 5 blocks away to buy something when good, old sari-sari store is just around the corner right? From the word sari-sari, you can sell anything you want. For the kids, what's patok and tubong lugaw most especially this coming summer are the nata (1peso only), ice candy, ice pop, ice buko and anything with ice. You can also add tiny toys like pogs (those round, colorful cards), trumpo (top) and other uso stuff you can get from the ever-handy Divisoria.

8. E-loading- Everyone needs to communicate and everyone has a cellphone but not everyone is on postpaid line. Majority are still on prepaid so this type of business comes in handy for people who are on a budget and mind you, the tingi- tingi customers are those whom you will get the most profit because what the e-loaders do is if you're buying load for less than 50 pesos then you will have to add 2 pesos on top and you don't have to sales talk people or do demos, just put a note outside your house and they are the ones approaching you in no time at all.

9. Online selling- You gained weight or you bought a dress which you really liked while you're still on the shop but when you got home, you realized that you don't like it anymore. Well don't fret. Those pre-loved clothes will be loved again by someone else if you sell it online. Just post it on your Facebook or Instagram account, wait for a buyer to contact you, set up an appointment, and voila! You now have an extra space on your closet for your new clothes.

10. Perfumery-  People don't have to spend so much just to smell good. For as low as 50 pesos, they can get dupes of branded colognes and perfumes by buying fragrances made at home. There are a lot of seminars being held for this type of business. Chemworld along Buendia, Makati has a wide variety of fragrances that you can choose from if you don't want to go thru the mixing and everything part. However, you can also create your own fragrances and they're also conducting training and seminars. Here's the website that you can check. http://www.chemworld.ph/

All of these and more can help you get extra cheese with a little effort and patience. Of course, you will not earn overnight and everything will be uncomfortable at first most especially if it wasn't a hobby before you start venturing into it. But the thing is, once you get the hang of it, you'll see the benefits of not following any dress codes and being your own boss. Who knows? You might be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs right? :)

A tribute to my lost dream

Armi

Two red, ambiguous lines,

Finally my sun shines.

Two hearts beating as one,

Suddenly I came a fan.

Surprised, confused, anxious,

Contented, stressed, impervious,

Exulted, proud, excited,

Emotions I never knew could

 have simultaneously existed.

Fair or brown, curly or straight,

Chinky or round, all depends on fate.

How you'd look, it didn't matter.

For me, you're the most beautiful.

No one will be better.

Countdown started, advices taken.

Demons warded, spirits forsaken.

My life had a new meaning.

Never did I such a great feeling!

As unexpected as when you came,

When doubts and fears had retreated to shame

You left us without further ado.

Tears streamed down as you flew.

My love, I don't understand why,

You would rather say goodbye.

I put on my familiar disguise,

As I try to get by.

A part of me was gone.

Many things left undone.

I will never get too see,

You smiling back at me.

The hole you've made,

Will never, ever fade,

Even as years go by,

Even as I lay down and die.

You will always be missed,

As long as the sun rises on the east.

My gratitude will never be adequate.

Even to riches, it wont equate.

The Idiots' Guide to Learning How to Ride A Bicycle when You're in your 20s

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I never thought that I would be able to learn how to ride a bicycle.

I have always been scared of not being in control. And falling. And having gashes or wounds that will eventually become scars (that will forever ruin my bid to wear miniskirts and short shorts). And being run over by a truck.

All of which can be caused by riding a bicycle.

So I didn't learn how to ride a bicycle until I'm already 25.

So what made a disillusioned-job-hopping-jaded-millennial-me try to learn an activity which should have been learned ages ago?

Nothing. Just for the heck of it.

But really, I wanted to learn something new. Something that will give me a different perspective in life.

And I wanted to be able to operate a vehicle since I don't really have a means to have a car for now so why not a bicycle.

It's low-maintenance, cost-efficient, environment-friendly and good for the health. (I'm just really justifying the reasons why I chose it because I don't really have the money to buy a car yet. Just kidding.)

So my roommate taught me how. On the fifth try, I learned. Without falling hard. (Some minor falls, yes. ) Without having major wounds. (Some scratches and bruises, yes but nothing life-threatening.) Without being run over by a truck. (I actually ran over some ornamental plants. Sorry plants.)

And it felt great. It was one of the moments that I will always remember since I felt my inner kid jumping with joy and my smile was all over the place. It felt like flying except that there's are no wings involved (and I haven't experienced flying) but it's exhilarating.

I felt proud of myself for having to accomplish what before was only a dream. And I'm not exaggerating.

I've mentioned that I never thought that I would be able to ride a bicycle because of the fears that I had but I was able to overcome all those fears and with the help of my roommate who's very patient with me, I have fulfilled my lifelong dream.

So where's the The Idiot' Guide to Learning How to Ride A Bicycle when You're in your 20s?

I have not become an expert (yet) and until now I'm still perfecting my turning skills but here are the things that certainly worked for me:


1. You have to have the right mindset before you decide to learn biking. You have to anticipate that you will not get it the first time. You also have to accept beforehand that you will get hurt or wounded at some point and you can attribute this all to your age because as people age, we get to be more stubborn and we find it harder to try new things. If you learn it on the first time, then that's great. If not, you're not alone. Don't get frustrated with yourself. You have to think like a child. Children learn biking faster than us because they have a one-track mind. It doesn't matter if they get hurt, or if they have to try it over and over again as long as they learn how to do it.

2. You have to have a buddy who is very patient in showing you the ropes repeatedly to the point of insanity.

3. There should a wide place free of distracting, roaming people for practicing.

Probably, the reason why it took me 5 tries was because the park where we were practicing is always full of people during the weekends so whenever I got the bicycle controlled and moving already, we had no choice but to always let those people pass and the momentum just went off and I had to start all over again from the balancing and etc. It also helps that there is softly inclining grassy hill because it's easier to practice balancing when you're rolling downwards.

4. Your bike should have properly working brakes and a lower seat so that your feet can touch the ground which will make it easier for you to coast around.

5. Relax. Breathe in, breathe out. If you don't, your grip on the handlebars will be tighter and you hands will get hurt or worse, blisters. Also, if your body is tensed, the amount of damage caused by falling will be increased.

5. When starting, one foot should be on the pedal at 2 o’clock position – forward and high and the other one should be on the ground to give yourself a push. It depends on which foot you're comfortable to use for the push. After the push, put that foot on the pedal as well. Don't pedal just yet. Try to balance without pedaling.

6. Don't look at the wheel. Look forward.  Your focus should be on balancing. Try looking at the wheel and I guarantee your balance will be gone so just look forward.

7. Spread your legs a little bit as this helps on balancing.

8.When you're already comfortable in balancing, try pedaling. If you didn't fall, then you're good to go. Try using your brakes. You should use the back brake first because if it's the front one first, the danger of being thrown forward is imminent.

9. When you're already confident in balancing, pedaling and stopping, try turning your handlebar.  When steering, you don't really have to pedal and for starters, do a slow, wide turn with the handlebars without leaning. Leaning works best if you have to turn fast but this is petrifying for newbies (like me) since the possibility of falling is greater.

Another advise from a forum in roadbikereview.com :

" If you are turning right, put your left pedal down and keep your weight on it. (Left turns will have your right pedal lower.) "

But I will have to apply this next time I ride my bike.

What I learned from biking that can be applied in everyday life are:

1. Have patience. Tons of it. On yourself. On other people. You can't have everything your way.

2. Slow down. Oftentimes, when you already learned how to ride a bike, it feels good to go fast but if you do that and you're just a newbie, you tend to bump into other people's property(or other people themselves) and hurt yourself as the others. Just like in life. You don't need to rush. You have to savor the journey. It doesn't matter how slowly you reach the finish line as long as you enjoy getting there.

3. Say sorry. Inevitably, you will crash into someone or you will run over someone's feet so don't hesitate to sincerely apologize. In reality, you will hurt people without meaning to and sometimes people just needed  other people who did them wrong to say sorry.

4. Be careful. Always. Use your eyes and ears whenever your on an open road to prevent accident. You just can't turn whenever you want to. You will have to check if the direction your turning to doesn't have a vehicle coming towards your direction.

5. Be confident. You can never be successful in any endeavor that you will venture if you don't believe that you can do it and if you don't put your heart into it.

And last but absolutely not the least..

6. It's never too late to try. Want to learn a new language? Skill? Age is just a number. Don't let your age or any other silly factor inhibit you from crossing off things on your bucket list. I know these are clichés but let the photos tell you anyway.

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carlascovers

Art of letting go

"Curiosity kills the cat."

But I'm not a cat. I'm a perfectly normal human being and being curious is just normal.

So I'm not killed.

But I think I just committed one of the worst sins ever known in human history next to genocide.

I cyberstalked an ex.

Not really cyberstalked because that was the first (and the last, promise, cross my heart, hope to die..) time that I've done this since I've gotten into a relationship after what we had and that was after more than a year ago.

So what lead to checking up on him after so many things that happened?

I don't know.

And no, my roommate and I are completely A-Okay. No fights, no arguments, no misunderstandings whatsoever so I'm not really into us getting back together and we are never, never, ever getting back together like the Taylor Swift song.

Out of nowhere, in the midst of searching for possible job options and business ideas, the idea just popped in my mind. I wasn't thinking about him, really. But for no apparent reason, I suddenly had the urge to see what he's up to.

So off I went and searched his name on Facebook, (We're no longer friends because he unfriended me.) without hesitation, nor doubts that feelings, good or bad, would resurface.

And there I saw him, biking out of town. I saw a contentment on his face that I didn't see during the last time that we saw each other. A new hobby, I'm sure.

And I felt, happy. No more pain. No more bitterness. Just happy.

Then tears came running down my cheeks.

I felt relieved. I felt like something was released thru those tears I shed. I felt a heavy burden was lifted. I felt forgiveness.

For months after we parted ways, and eventually me hitting it with someone new, I still felt hatred towards him most especially when I hear or read stories about cheating which I thought affected that way I view relationships and love.

Even though I already found a new love, the doubts, the low self esteem, the suspicion had not left me and they all manifested on this new found love. And I knew it's not fair to let it out on him since he's not the same person as the person who had cheated on me but there's no really escaping the strong feelings and every time they resurface, I couldn't control myself from thinking that this is the same thing all over again.

But as the famous saying goes, "Time heals all wounds."

And I guess it's time telling me to be healed completely that's why all of a sudden, the urge to check on him was present since the reason why I didn't do that is because I didn't really think that there's a need and partly because of my hatred towards him.

Perhaps, it's also time to give credit to where the credit is due right?

I'm happy for you. I really am. And I'm happy for myself too. Because I've finally mustered the strength to check how you've been and by doing that I realized that I've already forgiven you.

I'm sorry for giving up on us. For not having the strength and courage to fight for you. For my immaturity and silliness. I guess you have to cut me some slack for not being in a relationship for so long before ours happened right? I hope you will forgive me for running from you and many other things that I did. I know it's not your entire fault that our relationship ended but I guess it's all for the better.

I would like to thank you because I was able to learn what I want and what should be in a relationship and although things didn't work out so well between us, there were still moments I spent with you that I was more than happy.

I wish you peace, contentment, good health and love in your life. I know your kids will grow up just fine because they have you as their father. I hope you find, if you haven't found yet, the woman who will be able to assure you the love that you need and will be able to help you become a better person.

I will be forever grateful that you let me come into your life.

Quarter life shower

"I don't want to go to work anymore."

That has been on repeat inside my mind for the past 3 weeks of malingering and not going to work.

On my first week of absence, I thought, I'd go to work the week after. That I just needed a breather. Then, I was absent again the week after. And I thought of the same thing I thought before. I just needed a longer breather. Even promised myself that that time I'll definitely go to work. That I'll start over again. Will never, ever be late or absent. Hit the targets. Bring home the bacon. But as the popular saying goes, "Promises are meant to be broken."

Almost one month of being absent, I decided, suck it. I'll go to work.

As I was showering, there it goes again. The feeling of dread.

"I don't want to go to work anymore."

I contemplated. What is it that I dread in coming to work? Is it the high volume of calls? or the fact that I hate my schedule being not in sync with my roommate?

Both.

Alright. Say, I find a job that will be in accordance with my roommate's schedule, will it motivate me to go to work knowing for a fact that when I come home, there's someone I can talk to? However, is it good that I'm prioritizing my love life over my job when I should be nurturing my career instead?

But then again, I thought, I don't really like this job. I hate talking to people I don't see. I hate saying the same things over and over again for 8 back-breaking hours. I don't consider this as my career. And this job has just aggravated my back pain and hyperacidity.

But what will I do? I can't be a nurse. There's just no opportunity for it.

Screw it. I'm resigning. I'm going to create my own business. or get a home-based job. That's what I thought while towel drying my hair.

PS. Welcome to my blog. Sorry for the worst first blog ever.