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Showing posts from 2016

TEXT SCAM Targetting New PLDT Subscribers

I had to write about this scam that I experienced recently. Although it can be viewed as small-time, even silly, I think it can be a big deal to others especially those struggling with their budget. Here's the story. My friend whom I'm sharing the internet connection has to move to another place. With that, we agreed that I will be the one to take over the internet connection. So I went to PLDT to process the transfer of account to mine. I also have to move the physical router from his unit to my unit since we are living in one building. The process goes smoothly and after a few days, the transfer process was completed. Now here comes the scam. Shortly before I received my first paper bill, I received a message which at first glance looks like a friendly reminder to pay my bill and installation fee. The message goes like this Good day from pldt...mr/ms (my name)...this is your account number 251732566...fyi for your payment, installation. The message was sent using a

Sirao Flower Garden - A New Place to Visit in Cebu

Celosia Flower grows like weeds in Sirao due to its cool weather. Way above the city, Sirao Flower garden offers stunning view. Sunflower is also dominant in Sirao Flower garden. The photos shown above is taken at Sirao Flower Gaden in Barangay Busay, Cebu City. High upon the mountain and close to the Transcentral Highway that traverses the island of Cebu, this beautiful garden is the new destination for both local and foreign tourists in Cebu. The site is also frequented by photographers for different purposes but mostly for prenup shots. The cool weather up in Busay is conducive to the growth of many flowers such as Celosia, the most dominant flower in Sirao Flower Garden. But aside from Celosia, Sunflower is also one of the prominent flowers in the area. What to do in Sirao Flower Garden? Obviously, take pictures, a lot of it! But aside from that, you can bring food for lunch or snack and rent out one of the cottages inside. Entrance fee is just 50 pes

Making Sense of the Waze Report Tagging Cebu as the World's Worst City to Drive

First and foremost, let me give a little background of myself. I was born in Bulacan, studied college in Manila for five years, graduated in  2007, moved to Cebu the same year and stayed in the city for about nine years now. Every year, I travel to Manila and Davao at least twice. I'm also a long time user of Waze App. What I'm trying to establish here is: I know what I'm saying. Driving in Cebu. So, there's this latest buzz about a report from Waze tagging Cebu City (or likely Metro Cebu) as the worst city to drive at. Looking closely at the published report, the famous Google traffic app uses the following indices to rank the cities: Traffic – Density and severity Quality – Road quality and infrastructure  Road Safety – Density of accidents, road hazards and weather  Driver Services – Access to gas stations and easy parking  Socio Economic – Access to cars and impact of gas prices  Wazeyness - Happiness and helpfulness of the Waze community (as measure

How to Apply for a Korean Visa here in the Philippines?

This article will give you basic information on how to apply for a Korean visa. Korean Visa Stamp - Image by Wikipedia Commons Where is the Korean Embassy/Consulate? In Metro Manila, here's the address of the embassy: 122 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Town Center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig city 1634, Philippines In Cebu City, here's the address of the consulate: 12th Floor Chinabank Corporate Center, Lot 2, Samar Loop Cor. Road 5, Cebu Business Park, Mabolo, Cebu City Phone numbers and email addresses can be found here: Korean Embassy Contact Information How Much is the Visa?  59 days (or less) stay in Korea -- GRATIS (FREE) 60 to 90 days stay in Korea --1800 Pesos So if you just want to tour Korea in 59 days or less, you can have a visa for FREE!

How to Get 4 Free Audiobooks from Audible.com?

Love audiobooks? Well, I do. As a busy person, I can't find time to sit down and read a good book. With audiobooks though, I can enjoy a book while I'm doing other routine tasks such as cleaning or just riding a vehicle to and from work. Audiobooks, though, are not cheap. A regular novel will cost you about 30 USD (1500 Pesos). That's what? twice the price of the hard cover edition? And four times the paper back edition? Might be too expensive of a hobby for many. Now, one of the leading audiobook provider is Audible.com. If you sign up for a premium account, the price will be slashed down to half (about 15 USD or 750 Pesos). But did you know you can have at least four free novels from Audible.com? But before telling you how, let me assure you that this is purely legal. We are not stealing in here and I think Audible is okay with this. So without further ado, here's how:

How to Apply for Unionbank EON Debit Card?

EON Visa Debit Card is a product of Unionbank of the Philippines that allows you to transact online. Simply put, it's an internet-based deposit account. It also offers zero maintaining balance, just pay 350 pesos annual maintenance fee and your card is up. But many are attracted to this product because it's one of the very few bank accounts that allows withdrawal of your PayPal funds. With the advent of internet home-based jobs, EON has become very popular. How to Apply for EON Visa Debit Card Living to its name as an internet-based debit card, applying for it can be done online. Just to the link below (or visit unionbank website). EON Debit Card Application Form

Cebu Pacific Announces Piso Fare - Website Crashes

Cebu Pacific announced a piso fare promo for flights July 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 on all Philippine and international destinations. But the largest airline in the country failed to prepare for the surge of internet traffic. Or was it intentional to curb the demand? Whatever the reason is, the website is down right now.

How to Pay PLDT Bill Using BPI Express Online?

Time is gold especially to busy people. And some essential activities are simply isn't efficient and waste a lot of your time. That's true with paying your PLDT bill. Whether  it's phone, internet or others, going to PLDT office requires some at least 30 minutes to accomplish. That is if there's no long line or traffic along the way. But that's usually the case here in the Philippines. Anyway, the good news is that you can pay your PLDT bill online using BPI Express Online. That said, you need to have a BPI account as well as an BPI Express Online account too. Here 's some information to help you with that. [Read:  How to Enroll An Account to BPI Express Online Banking? ] Now, here's the step by step procedure on how to enroll your PLDT Bill to your BPI Express online. 1. Log-in to  BPI Express Online . 2. In the menu bar, select  Payments and Reloading  >>  Bills Payment  >>  Enroll All Other Bills 3. Fill up the form. In the Bi

ATM Location in Cebu: Citibank, Standard Chartered, HSBC and Maybank

This season, and especially this year, Cebu City will be very busy accommodating lots of foreign tourists. To help them find cheap lodgings and accommodations, I wrote the article:   List of Cheap Inns, Hostels, Pension Houses and Hotels in Cebu City . Now to help them even further, I am writing this article to locate foreign banks' ATMs where they can withdraw money at a minimal charge. Yes, minimal or even no charge at all.  In contrast, when they withdraw from local banks, they will be charged around 5 dollars. Might be a small amount but for about five or more withdrawals, that would be a considerable amount. All Foreign Bank's ATM are in Cebu Business Park Ayala Area Here's an interesting fact: all foreign banks' ATM are located in the vicinity Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu Business Park. Check out the map below: For those who can't see the picture above, please see the following details:

BPI Introduces ATM Withdrawal Notifications

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) beefs up its security against ATM skimmers by introducing an optional ATM Withdrawal notification system. It's quite simple, when user activates this feature, he will receive a notification whenever withdrawals were made from his account using an ATM. How to Activate? There are three steps to activate BPI ATM Notification. 1. Login to BPI Express Online For those who has no online account, please see this article. [ How to Enroll An Account to BPI Express Online Banking? ] 2. Under the Other Services menu, hover over ATM Card Services and then click on Withdrawal Notifications . 3. Choose the setting that you want (i.e. email or SMS/text notification, amount of transaction etc). Click Submit .

SM Seaside Skating Rink - 5 Things You Need to Know Before You Go

SM Premier Seaside in Cebu City opened late last year. This humongous mall has a skating rink, the second skating rink in the Philippines that is open to the public. But before you go and hit the ice, please take note of the following. 1. You Need Socks Yes, SM will not allow you to wear the ice skates without a sock. If you go there without it, your only option is to buy one. Otherwise, you're out.

Netflix Arrives in the Philippines - First Month Free!

Finally, the popular TV and movie streaming service Netflix   arrives in the Philippines along with 129 other countries. This news was first announced at the annual Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Subscription starts at 370 Pesos per month with basic streaming services.

Uber in Cebu: What makes it Great is its Customer Service!

First and foremost, this article is not intended to compare Uber with GrabTaxi, GrabCar, EasyTaxi etc. I just want to share my experience with Uber here in Cebu City. Uber Technologies started operating here in Cebu in the beginning of December last year. I'm one of the early adopters. One reason is that I want to see how good it is in person. I downloaded the app, registered and viola! I'm ready to roll.