It’s been a long time since the last time I joined a meme. So welcome back to meme world. LOL! Anyway, this is my entry to Mum Writes’ Nice To Know You Wednesday.

For this week, here are the first 5 questions for starters:

1. Grab the book nearest you + find page 28, what does line 3 say?
2. What is the last film you saw?
3. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
4. Is the glass half-empty or half-full?
5. Where were you on Valentine’s day?

My answers:

1. The nearest book I have on hand is A Worldwide Feast Cookbook + page 28, line 3 says: 1 1/2 cups sugar
2. The last film I saw was War Horse
3. I would have to say Justin Timberlake. He’s my bigtime crush LOL
4. If you are filling the glass, it’s half full. If you’re emptying it, it’s half empty. If it’s just sitting there, it’s sitting at half capacity!!!
5. hmmm, I was home spending some quality time with my husband =)

Here are the most important benefits that you need to know about so you can see why shopping on the internet makes a lot of sense for anyone, no matter where you live.

Saves time – When you shop online, you can do this from the comfort of your own home. You can also buy small backpacks for women at any time of the day or night when you have the most time to do it.

Lower prices. Online shopping can reduce overhead costs in a variety of ways, which can translate to lower prices for you. In fact, one 2004 study found online prices to be 6 to 16 percent lower than offline prices.

Shop around the world – There is no store offline that allows you to compare and purchase any product from around the world. You would have to visit the place where you wanted to shop by not shopping online and this can waste a lot of time and money. Shopping on the internet lets you get whatever product you want to find without any difficulty. It doesn’t matter if you want to purchase something from India, with the help of the internet you can easily do that. Shopping on the world wide web definitely gives you a ton more shopping options than you would be able to find in a local store near you.

Shopping has changed a lot over the years, but today, the internet has changed everything, you no longer need to leave your home to do all your shopping. Shopping has never been so easy.

That’s one of the reason why I want to join a certain roadside assistance club near our place.

Roadside assistance is something that everyone who drives needs to have. It doesn’t matter if your car is brand new. It can still break down.

Some emergency roadside assistance plans offer perks that aren’t directly related to the mechanics of your vehicle (like an empty fuel tank, flat tire, or smoking engine). Such perks might include providing:

Directions and assistance with planning your trips.
Emergency transportation when you can’t let auto troubles keep you from your destination.
Emergency personal assistance when you need to relay messages to your family members, friends, loved ones, or employer/employees about your situation.
Roadside assistance for your bicycle.
A certain amount of financial assistance (such as with citation- or accident-related legal fees or emergency room visits).
Discounts on hotels and other travel accommodations.

When doing your research to choose the right roadside assistance program, make sure you look at all of the benefits. From there, look at the cost. If one is cheaper than the other, take into consideration that the cheaper one may not have the services you need. If it does, then that is great. If it doesn’t, look at the more expensive one and then compare it with other services with the same benefits. You’re going to find so many different price ranges, but you shouldn’t have a problem finding the program that will do the job for you. Remember that it is not a good thing to be without roadside assistance because you could be placed into a dangerous situation without it.

Fetal Doppler are considered to be one of the most important prenatal tools by many people, especially many expecting parents. These devices help in monitoring and reporting the heartbeats of a fetus from inside the mother’s womb. A good quality fetal Doppler monitor provides immeasurable value by detecting anomalies in the baby’s heartbeat, which lets the expecting parents to take action for the best of the baby’s and the expecting mother’s interests.

With proper and cautious use, the benefits of using fetal dopplers can be both fun and rewarding to expectant mothers. It reassures the mother that her unborn child is fine, taking away much of the anxiety and stress that many women experience while pregnant. A fetal doppler may also prove very useful in alerting the mother if the unborn child begins experiencing any sort of stress and could be helpful in preventing serious complications during pregnancy.

Airphil Express announces a new seat sale promo offering as low P888, you can travel to Singapore and Hongkong. Pay only P888 base if you are flying from Manila to go to Singapore and vice versa, as well as if you make Cebu your hub for flying to visit Hong Kong.

Aside from the international destinations mentioned above, you can also get Manila to Laoag flights for as low as 288 pesos.

288 Pesos
Manila to Laoag

888 Pesos
Manila to Singapore
Cebu to Hong Kong

Travel period is from July 1 to November 30, 2012.
Booking period is January 30 to February 2, 2012.

So book your flights now and start looking for Disney vacation packages and Singapore package tours?

You can book your tickets online at www.airphilexpress.com or at any Airphil Express ticketing office*. You can also do phone reservations by calling these reservation hotline:

Manila: (02) 855-9000
Cebu: (032) 505-1616

Hundreds of aspiring chefs from universities, colleges and culinary schools in Metro Manila and nearby provinces battled it out in both culinary and non-culinary competitions to dish out the best meal of their life.

The entire day was reserved for competition and cooking demonstrations. Participants battled in group competition with the Umami Bento, Plate-My-Dish, Amazing Aji-Ginisa Race, Prep, Shake and “Tak-Tak-Tak” (PST) and Mystery Umami Ingredient categories.

But the highlight of the whole day event is the Awarding Ceremony hosted by Ms. Suzi Entrata-Abrera. Ajinomoto Executives opened the program with a special recognition to Philippine Culinary Icon, Ms. Nora Daza, for her significant contributions in the Food Industry. Mr. Taro Fujie, President of AJINOMOTO PHILIPPINES CORPORATION, gave his welcome remarks to congratulate all participants.

Wild cheers and applause met Ms. Sarah Geronimo’s memorable performance as the Popstar delivered a message of inspiration and motivation to all guests and participants.

Miriam College came out strong “The Ajinomoto 3rd Umami Culinary Challenge (3rd UCC)” as they bagged the Umami Bowl Award for garnering the highest average score in major competition categories including the Umami Feature Writing Contest which also made them bag the Dr. Ikeda Award. The school brought home an Elba Kitchen Showcase on top of other prizes courtesy of AJINOMOTO PHILIPPINES CORPORATION.

Mr. John Paul Ventura of Jose Rizal University was awarded the Umami Master title after delighting the judges with his umami masterpiece which he named “Pan-Seared Salmon w/ Veggie Rolls and Micro Green Salad in Spicy Coconut Sauce”.

Other winners:

• Lyceum of the Philippines Manila: Umami Bento and Mystery Umami Ingredient Categories
• Centro Escolar University: First Place in Amazing AJI-GINISA Race and the Umami Buzz Jeopardy Challenge
•  Trinity University of Asia: First Place in Prep, Shake and TakTakTak competition
• De La Salle Araneta University: Plate-My-Dish competition and Appetite Magazine’s Capture Umami Challenge (Food Photography Contest)
• College of the Holy Spirit: “Media’s Choice for Best Plated Umami Bento”

Top three (3) culinary schools in 5-Ingredient-Umami-Healthy Dish competition:

1.  Global City Innovative College
2. American Hospitality Academy
3. MOST Institute Culinary School

The Ajinomoto 3rd Umami Culinary Challenge is a collaboration of organizations which strongly support the development of the Philippine culinary scene, among them are Glutamate Association of the Philippines (GAP), Elba, Whirlpool/Fujidenzo, Masflex, PR Gaz, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Anvil Publishing together with media partners GMA 7, Appetite Magazine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer Libre and PR Moms Network.

Image by jferzoco via Flickr

You somehow feel you’ve been transformed from a good neighbor and customer into a potential criminal and con artist. They make you jump through hoops and fill out more paperwork that seems necessary. And only after you’ve been put through the ringer will they then start to decide if they will provide you a loan.

But if you watch television and listen to radio, there seem to be a lot of companies out there willing and happy to lend you money, saying that your handshake is the only guarantee they need. While it may sound a little too good to be true, there are indeed some companies out there that make a nice profit by loaning money to people without a lot of hassle.

For one, take cash advance lenders. For a quick cash loan, they simply need to see you have a steady income. It just takes a few signatures to walk out the door with money in your pocket.

Here are four characteristics of a reputable loan company you should look for before you do any business with them.

1) No application fee.
If your goal is to borrow money from a lender, there is never any reason you need to give them money before you have received a loan. An application fee might turn into a review fee or wire advance fee and suddenly you are out hundreds of dollars with no loan. No reputable company will do this. They make their profit on the interest from your loan.

2) They meet with you in person.
If your only contact with a loan representative is by email or a website, be wary. The Internet is a great business tool, but a real lender wants to meet you in person and assure any documents you provide are legitimate. You should expect the same in reverse. If they won’t meet you in person, email them goodbye.

3) Real lenders don’t ask for your credit card number.
A legitimate lender can do a background search on you and see how many credit cards you have. If someone wants you to put in your card number with the expiration date and security code number on the back, they are planning on making a charge to your account. This is a huge red flag.

4) There are no guarantees.
A real lender will try to work with you but can’t always deliver a loan. If a company says they guarantee to approve anyone for a loan, this is just not true.

Take these tips to heart and go look for a loan company and avoid some of the pitfalls.

You don’t even need a fax machine when using online fax services. With so many online companies offering assistance, it can be tough to decide which one to go with. Consider the following tips when deciding which online faxing company to use:

Image via Flickr

Know What You Need
Before signing up for a free site, you should know what you are looking for in an online faxing company. Consider all the features you will need when using Internet faxing and narrow down your list based on what each site offers.

If you are using online faxing for business purposes and you fax documents often, you may want to consider a site with more features, which you might end up having to pay for. However, most companies are very affordable, offering their services for under $10 a month.

Consider More Than Price
While some online or email faxing companies offer their services for little to no cost, you may find that these companies do not give you what you need. There are, however, affordable companies that have all the features you are looking for. It is a good idea to consider features and security before crossing a site off your list simply due to price.

Make sure to watch out for hidden fees, too, as there are several companies out there that will charge for some of their better features.

Read Reviews
Do not sign up for a site without reading proper reviews. When you search for email faxing with Metrofax or similar sites, you will find excellent reviews, but you may want to stay away from sites with low reviews or ones that you cannot find any feedback on. It is important to be extra cautious about whom you give your information to, and reading reviews from a variety of sources can help you find trustworthy sites.

These review sites may give you more information on a company than the company’s site does, so it is a good idea to check out other sources even if you are sure the site is reliable. This will help you make a more informed decision on which online faxing company to use.

She said that Teflon is the trade name for PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), a polymer consisting of carbon and fluorine. One common household use for Teflon or PTFE is cooking. Many kitchen supply brands market their Teflon pots, pans, and utensils. These products are safe and make cooking a lot easier.

Now, I learned something new from our small talk. I really love my mom =)

RC planes come in a variety of styles. Some of them are propeller driven and there are even some that are jet propelled. Some of the propeller planes are still driven by internal batteries but you are more likely to see gas powered RC planes.

RC boats need special care in regards to their use. You need to make sure that the boat you are using is rated for both fresh and salt water if you plan to use it on both types of water. Salt water is very destructive to electrical components and can cause corrosion in a very short period of time. I have even seen some RC submarines but I don’t trust that I wouldn’t lose track of it and lose my hefty investment. Always have fast setting sealant on hand and check to make sure that your craft is entirely water tight before you take it out. Don’t trust that your seals are still in perfect condition. It’s best to check than to be sorry.

The world of RC vehicles is in a constant state of advancement and even the humble car has grown by leaps and bounds. Where once you had cheap plastic bodies covering very simple and durable components you now see collectible cars designs with great detail to replicate real cars and trucks you might see driving down the road. Keep these away from sand at all costs. I had a set of roadsters when I was younger that I ruined by driving them on sand and other cars that I destroyed simply by taking them out on an unclean, Ne England road too soon after the sanding trucks had done their job.

There is a lot to learn when dealing with RC vehicles. If you plan to pick u this hobby do as much research as you can on each vehicle and each part that they use. I suggest sticking to cars and trucks to start and then transitioning into RC boats. RC jets and helicopters are the most expensive and hardest to control. I have seen many crashes simply because of some wayward gusts that made a well-trained pilot lose control in an instant. Then there is the world of competitive RC…