JP's Space on the Web

I started this as a Facebook status, but then realized I have a lot to say, so I just made this blog post instead. I checked my Goodreads account and found out that I finished 7 books in the last 3 months. It's probably the fastest I've read since a long time ago, but somehow my to-read pile is still growing. I'm now at 46 books, and 2 more are coming. I blame James Patterson and his insanely fast book releases. I think he has a new book every month now. I still remember when I first discovered him when I was still a college student (11 years ago!). I vowed to buy all his books and collect them. Back then he releases once a year. When I graduated and found a job, my salary wasn't that much but I started saving up money to be able to buy his books. It was probably around this time (2004?) that he started to release 2 books in a year. I think I was able to catch up to him, having almost all his books. But then around 2010 he became crazy and started releasing books like...

In my previous post I said I would have to buy a new laptop, but since then I discovered a phone that I should get my hands on: the Nokia Lumia 800. I was intrigued with its operating system, it was new and something I haven't seen before. Also, it looks like it's integrated with Facebook. I have an iPad so I am already used to how iOS works, and my sister, and recently my father, have Android-powered smartphones, so I know how they look like and how they work. (I wasn't impressed). So the obvious step for someone like me who doesn't always go with the flow (yay Aquarius!) is to buy something new and unique. I did some research on the Lumia 800, and even with the cons of buying this Windows phone, I am impressed with the pros that I told myself I will buy this phone, as soon as I get my credit card. Ha! So I got my credit card a couple of days ago (June 2), and went to SM Bacoor to buy a phone, and later to watch the Snow White movie (short review: it was boring). I w...

So my Samsung laptop's battery seems to be dying. Windows 7 warns me that it needs replacement. It's a great new feature of Windows 7 but can't say I trust what it's saying 100%. I Googled about it and I learned that most laptop battery's life lasts only a year, so I think that confirms I need to get my battery replaced. Does anyone know how much a laptop battery is? I'm disappointed that it didn't even last 2 years. My old Philippine-made Neo laptop didn't start having problems until a few months after turning 2 years old. :p I was already considering buying a new laptop (or maybe a Mac Mini), but can't really commit to it because of future travel plans that I need to set aside budget for. But this problem may change some of my priorities. *sigh* What's your laptop? How long have you been using it before it started showing problems?

Wow, it's ALMOST a year since I last posted in here. I guess I've been a lazy person when it comes to blogging. Very lazy. Anyway, since my last update I have been to a few more places, all of which are inside the country. My plan to go to South Korea didn't materialize, because my friend (who has a sister in SK) was not successful in getting a tourist visa, so I didn't bother getting a visa either. I've been to El Nido and Boracay though, and I can say both are spectacular, and it makes up for the missed international trip. I have tickets booked for 3 more trips in the next 12 months: Legazpi, Albay (July) Coron, Palawan (November) Hong Kong (January 2013) A friend of mine is badgering me to book tickets for Singapore for September, but I'm still waiting for those promo fares. We're targeting a total ticket cost of at most 4,000 pesos per person, and I am just finding out that it's hard to do especially if the country you're visiting is a po...

A couple of months ago my father, mother, younger sister, and I decided to apply for a Philippine passport. Before, you had to fall in line in front of their office in order to apply for a passport, but now the process is "faster". The first step is to schedule for an appearance on the DFA office. You can schedule it at their online DFA Appointment System . Mind you, we scheduled ourselves on February and the next available slot for us was on April (2 months!). However, sometimes some slots open if you keep refreshing the page. I saw a slot for March after I signed up for my schedule. We decided to stick with April 19 since we have other requirements we had to get and take care of. Me and my parents were scheduled on April 19 at 8 am, while my sister was scheduled on the same day but at an earlier time of 7:30 am. Each of us received an email confirming our schedule and asking us to print it, so we did. The next step was to gather all the document requirements . Below are t...

Last weekend I finally gave in to temptation and got myself an LED TV. It's the TCL LED32P11, a 32" LED TV. If you don't know much about electronics, TCL produces cheap electronics compared to branded ones like Samsung, Sony, etc. It doesn't mean the quality is bad though. Our two "normal" TVs are TCL, and one is about 5 years old and still working, so my family trust them a bit. And since it is my first HDTV, it would seem wiser to buy something that is not that expensive, so that if I am disappointed it wouldn't hurt much. One of the main features I liked about the TCL LED TV is that it can read movies/videos off of my USB. It recognizes a lot of format, including MKV files. No need to buy another media player just to play those kind of files. Another factor I considered was that it has an HDMI port (2 actually) which I can use to connect my laptop to. Right now I don't have an HDMI cable yet and haven't really tried if it will work, but I am ...

When you fork out that cash to pay someone, have you ever wondered where it will end up next? Will it be passed on to another customer, or will they be used to purchase other stuff? I was counting my savings and was wondering where I spend my money, and that's when the idea hit me: create a way to track it. And by track, I mean follow its movement across the Philippines. Not how I'm spending it lol. PisoTracker.com is the answer. To everyone who is interested in knowing where things are, PisoTracker is a great way to find out where your money is right now. Wait, is it still "your money"? Or is it "theirs" now? Anyway, by entering the serial number of your Philippine peso bill, you will be able to find out if somebody out there got hold of your money and entered its serial number to the site. You will see the date they entered it, as well as the location. It's pretty neat, don't you think? Before I created the website, I did some research and fou...