gmail now with voice and video!

you can now start enjoying flawless (for now, lol) live video and voice while checking your google mail. the link used to be visible at the top right portion of your gmail, i don’t know why they made it so difficult to find right now. anyhoots, for those curious to install, here’s the link: http://mail.google.com/videochat

gmail undefined issue

 UPDATE: try disabling greasemonkey add-on before opening gmail. it worked for me. :)

if you’re using firefox 3 and you noticed your gmail is not working properly, you’re not alone. i’ve tried emptying the cache, restarting, uninstalling gmail-related apps– nothing happened. my friends from the chat list weren’t able to receive any of my test messages, and their names appeared as “undefined”.  i can’t even send an email!

gmail looks pretty normal with safari and ie, tho. so until team google fixes this, we might have to settle for older versions of firefox or any other browser except ff3.

handwashing clothes 101

the house help was gone for two weeks and i thought laundry, like any other chore, would be a breeze. i mean, technically it’s supposed to be manageable. so when laundry day came, i tossed the separated clothes inside the washing machine, pushed start and waited until the fat machine sings. its fur elise sounded like a car backing up. i was pleased how dry the clothes were, but i’d rather let it dry for hours as long as it won’t damage my stuff. washing machines can ruin your clothes and will never remove stains completely. i know handwashing could be tedious, but it’s really well-worth it.

hope this video helps!

tuli, anyone?

for some reason, i’m being fed random images of the guillotine.

how to make DIY cheap cappuccino

a month ago, i bought an 88 peso milk foamer because i was curious if it really works. to my surprise, this el cheapo gizmo works wonders! i had my first spill-free DIY cappuccino hehe..

here’s what you need:
- milk (fatty milk creates more foam. cow head’s so far my creamy choice)
- freshly ground coffee beans
- coffee machine (cheap one will do, because i’m cheap)
- milk foamer/whisker/whatever you call it

1) brew coffee. a spoonful of ground coffee for every half cup of water.
2) heat milk in a microwave. don’t forget to put cover if you don’t want to end up cleaning the mess later.
3) use the electric whisker on your milk until you are satisfied with the foam.
4) pour brewed coffee into mugs, then add your foamy milk.
5) dust cinnamon over your beverage, if you like. add sugar as desired.

voila! el cheapo cappuccino.

Ploning

when we were little, my dad does not usually approve when we watch local films. he says we get nothing out of crime, sex and vengeance in those films. there were few notable pinoy films, but never sold as much as the crappy ones. i’m not sure if the reason behind that is the inability to develop an improved taste for better films, or there’s simply very few sensible writers out there. i doubt it’s the latter.

the movie Ploning looks very promising. i heard it’s dante nico garcia’s first time to direct this big a film, and actress judy ann santos believed in the film so much, she even co-produced it. well, ok, i’m not a judy ann santos fan, but i have to admit that she is wise enough to know where to invest her career in. you can visit the official site here. anything that would improve our movie industry is worth supporting, no?

ploning trailer

david cook is the music of the night

i’ve been religiously following american idol for weeks now, and my bet is that david cook will make it in the final 3. or make that 2, the other one being the all-time favorite, david archuleta. this will be a challenging week because not only will they be singing broadway songs, they’re andrew lloyd weber’s.

jason castro made a poor choice by picking memory, i think he’s better off singing all i ask of you or something. carly smithson was lucky she had good advice by being given jesus christ superstar. it wasn’t super spectacular but i’m pretty sure this is a lot better than making her go with her first song choice.

so, yeah. here’s david cook’s music of the night. i hope he makes it to the finals! :)

combing boracay at beachcomber

this should’ve been posted a month ago, but i was too lazy to update hehe. summer is back, and public pools that used to be almost empty and swimmable are now swarming with all kinds of people. from regular swimmers to the pool-peeing kid, the underwater pervert, the pick-me-up teenager, and sometimes, lovers straddling each other in a secluded corner of the pool. my highschool friends and i, on the other hand, decided to give ourselves a break from our busy schedule and hit the beach. it was just an idea playing in my head; i never thought it would push through since we have never gone out of town as a group. you should’ve seen how happy i was when three of them (out of, like, 10?) told me they wanted to go as well.

so i immediately booked the flights and the resort. it wasn’t that easy looking for an available resort during the holy week, that’s why we’re so lucky to have found beachcomber. liam and i had several candidates, but the pictures on the beachcomber website were so nice we took the bait hehe. aside from the very affordable rate, it’s just a few steps from the beach and the ever-popular jonah’s shake. Continue reading »

OMG IT’S IKEA!

who doesn’t love ikea??

pinoy ikea lovers won’t have to drool over an ikea catalogue, because it’s now available locally! you can visit the site at ikeaph.multiply.com or visit the showroom at 120 kamias road, quezon city. what they have on the site will never compare to the yummy ikea catalogue, but it’s a start. and i’m uber happy happy happy that it’s now available!

withdraw paypal to any philippine bank

philippine paypal users used to grab unionbank’s eon card just to withdraw funds from paypal, and pay an annual fee of P350 whether you use it or not. recently, paypal has allowed pinoy users to withdraw funds to a local bank, it will charge you P250 for every local bank you add to your account. transferring an amount more than P7,000 is free of charge, any less would cost you P50 per transaction.

paypal does not support local dollar accounts tho, but it’s good enough, yes? :) here’s paypal’s official list of bank codes, you’ll need it each time you add a bank account to your paypal:

ALLIED BANKING CORP - 010320013
AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND - 010700015
ASIA UNITED BANK - 011020011
BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS - 010030015
BANGKOK BANK - 010670019
BANK OF AMERICA - 010120019
BANK OF CHINA - 011140014
BANK OF TOKYO - 010460012
BANCO DE ORO (& EPCIB) - 010530667
BANK OF COMMERCE - 010440016
BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS - 010040018
CHINA BANKING CORP - 010100013
CHINA TRUST COMML BANK - 010690015
CITIBANK N.A. - 010070017
DEVT BANK OF THE PHILS - 010590018
DEUTSCHE BANK - 010650013
EAST WEST BANK - 010620014
EXPORT & INDUSTRY BANK - 010860010
FUJI BANK - 010640010
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK - 010060014
INTL COMML BANK OF CHINA - 010560019
INTL EXCHANGE BANK - 010680012
JP MORGAN CHASE BANK - 010720011
KOREA EXCHANGE BANK - 010710018
INTL NEDERLAND BANK - 010660016
LANDBANK OF THE PHILS - 010350025
MAYBANK OF THE PHILS - 010220016
METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO - 010269996
PHIL BANK OF COMMUNICATION - 010110016
PHIL TRUST COMPANY - 010090039
PHIL NATIONAL BANK - 010080010
PRUDENTIAL BANK - 010150018
PHIL VETERANS BANK - 010330016
RIZAL COMML BANKING CORP - 010280014
SECURITY BANK & TRUST CO - 010140015
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK - 010050011
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK - 010299995
UNION BANK OF THE PHILS - 010419995
UNITED OVERSEAS BANK - 010270189