Reading the Hyperion Cantos

During the Christmas season, I introduced my eldest son to a few science fiction novels to read over the holidays. I was hoping that the books would keep him offline for a few days.

I showed him a couple of Star Trek novels and Frank Herbert's Dune. But what got his attention was Dan Simmons' Hyperion series.

Quarantine Haircut

Two months into the pandemic, I decided to buy a hair clipper for the family. I figured that our hair would continue to grow despite the unending cycle of lock-downs. 

My dad had been asking me to bring him to the barbershop for his monthly hair maintenance. I would always remind him that the city is in general community quarantine and it would be risky to bring him out and expose him to people.

I realized that my own hair is getting wild and unmanageable. So I decided to look for some decent hair clippers in Lazada or Shopee. Eventually I found someone at Facebook Market, selling a set for five hundred fifty (550) pesos.

Things Growing in Our Backyard

Quitting Sugar

Two days ago, I decided to stop consuming sugar. It was something I thought I need to do because I do have a sweet tooth problem. My wife noticed that I have been consuming a lot more sugary stuff over the years - from muffins and donuts to sweeten iced tea and fruit juices.

So I am staying away from these sweet treats for now. I don't know how long I plan to do this, but so far it is working out okay. I thought my body would experience major sugar withdrawal but I am doing fine. I noticed that I have moments of low energy and moments of crankiness because my body was searching for something sweet.

I think my body is still adjusting to the absence of sugar, but it is compensating in other ways. I am drinking a lot more water right now. I think the increased water intake has help offset the sugar craving that I am experiencing. I also feel lighter and more thinner, although I think this is just a psychological feeling and not a physical one yet.

I have read a few articles online discussing positive changes that come from quitting sugar. These include things like losing weight and having more energy. But these changes will take time.

Watching the 2014 Christmas Show at Greenhills

It's now part of our family Christmas tradition to go to Greenhills Shopping Center and watch the live puppet / animation show. Every year, the shopping center sets up a part of its open parking space for a free puppet show - complete with moving mannikins, bright colorful lights, and loud music. The fifteen minute show starts at six pm and plays every thirty minutes.

This year's show was a re-enactment of the nativity play, with the birth of the baby Jesus and the arrival of the three kinds. It was better compared to the shows from the previous years. The kids loved the entire presentation - from the large stage, moving animals, and beautiful songs.

The entire show was free for the public, but the mall cleverly placed a dozen food stalls and small tiangge bazaars around the perimeter of the parking space. I bought some German franks, ice tea, and Shawarma sandwiches for the kids. The entire viewing area was filled with the aroma of grilled meat and fried street food. By the end of the show, we were coughing from the barrage of overpowering scents.

DIY Mint Extract

Now that I have three large pots of Citrus mint and Peppermint plants growing at home, I started to do some research as to what I can do with them. I already brewed some mint tea for me and my parents a few months ago, I thought there must be other things I can do with the leaves.

So after some thought, I decided to find a way to make our own mint extract. Mint oil extract has medicinal properties and adds a cool minty flavor to drinks. I did some research and found several sites that talk about the DIY process of making peppermint extract.

The prairehomestead.com has an article that discusses the step-by-step process of making peppermint extract. I am looking forward to making my own batch of mint extracts to use on our tea and coffee drinks.

Cat and Dragon Paper Toys

Some of the best things in life are still free. Thanks to Google, I was able to assemble some free paper toys for the kids. I managed to download some Hello Kitty cut outs and also a cut out of Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon).

With help from the kids, we were able to cut out and assemble the pieces. Here are the finished toys in all their paper glory.

2014 McDonalds Kidde Crew Graduation @ World Trade Center

This summer we decided to send the kids to "work" at the nearby McDonalds restaurant. "Work" was actually a few hours of hanging out in McDo. The kids learned things like taking orders, cleaning tables, cooking burgers, playing games, and having fun with new friends.

It was an interesting experience and we ended up with two "brain-washed" kids who now prefer McDonald food over Jollibee or KFC.  We might enroll them over at the Jollibee kiddie camp next summer to find out if things are better with the bee.

To cap off the summer, McDonalds decided to hold a Kiddie Crew Grand Graduation ceremony over at the World Trade Center. It was a morning of fun activities (loaded with more McDonald food).

We got to take home some goodies (most of which we paid) and the kids got to meet Ronald McDonald and his crazy team.

New Seedlings from the Hidden Glen

Some new plants growing in our backyard. I am thinking of developing my own gravity-feed system for watering the plants. 

Cherry tomato sprouts...

Sili labuyo...

Tumeric...

Art Project with the Kids

Got the idea from Sir Mots and Ben Heine's art brilliant works. You can check out their drawings here:

http://motsmots.blogspot.com/2011/07/raffy-is-man.html

http://benjaminheine.blogspot.com/

Summer Reading for the Kids

Here are some of the books I plan to read with the kids over the summer vacation. I hope they like it.

Retirement Myths and Realities (Part 2)

To continue my discussion on retirement myths and realities, a lot of people made mistakes in their retirement plans. Take post-retirement income and expenses for example, many retirees have made inaccurate estimates on these numbers.

People expected some form of income reduction, but a lot of retirees failed to hit their target income (either coming from passive income source or from their pension). Aside from miscalculating their income, people failed to project their post-retirement expenses. Inflation, higher medical costs, and other factors contribute to the rising standard of living.

I admit my own retirement plan is still a work in progress. Although I have been saving and investing a portion of my monthly income, I still haven't made any concrete projection on my monthly income and expenses. I know I would still be supporting my three kids when I hit sixty and I am not sure how much financial support I still need to provide to them.

Part of my retirement plan is to learn how to become more self-sufficient. That is learning how to grow my own food and find ways of living without paying utilities. This means investing in things like gardening, buying solar panels for free electricity, storing and using rain water, using alternative forms of energy, and learning other skills. 

Aside from learning how to be self-sufficient, I need to find other forms of investments and ways to earn money. It would be great to develop multiple income sources and not just rely on one or two income streams. I definitely won't rely on government pensions like SSS or Pag-Ibig to fund my retirement. With the way our government is being managed, I believe these institutions are one giant Ponzi scheme.

One area that I still need to do is to discuss my retirement plans with my wife. While we have established some common rules on how we manage money, we still haven't talked about the nitty-gritty aspect of retirement. She is open to the idea of growing our own food and using solar panels, but we haven't discussed things like how much financial support we will still be giving the kids during retirement.

To end this post, I will say that there is no easy way to plan for retirement. In fact, it takes a lot of courage and honesty to look at one's current financial status, have the right information to plan for retirement, and the discipline to save and manage one's investments.

Retirement Myths and Realities (Part 1)

I have written a few posts about my retirement plan and how I should manage my finances to achieve my retirement goals. Now that I am in my forties, I am thinking more about retirement and wondering if I am still in the right track.

With all the problems facing the world today, I think more and more people are pushing off their retirement dreams just to make ends meet. The global financial crisis affected a lot of middle-class people from first world countries. Things like rising costs, overpopulation, and global-warming contribute for an even more uncertain future.

HSBC Malaysia posted an article discussing people's misconception about retirement. It revealed how people's expectations do not actually match the realities of retirement. What I found amusing was that the average Malaysian plan to retire at 55 years old. I personally think I would still be working until 65 or 70. 

One of the things that the article pointed about was the fact that many people love to retire early, but with rising life expectancy, people do not have enough money to support them till they reach seventy or eighty years old. Living longer means that you need to work and save a lot more.

Another thing that the article discussed was leaving a financial legacy to your children. People want to give their children some form of inheritance, like a sum of money or property. However, most retirees fail to consider the cost of supporting their children when they are in retirement. Many retirees continue to pay for their children's education and cost of living.

(To be continued)

Gifts for the kids

We went to Robinsons Magnolia awhile ago with the kids. It was a perfect afternoon for one of those family bonding moments. I brought the kids to Toys R'Us and we spent an hour inside, looking over the latest dolls/action figures/games in the store. After circling the shop for the second or third time, I decided to give the kids a little treat. They've been good little children these past few days - they've completed their school assignments on time and they are becoming more mature in dealing with each other. So after reviewing the potential items, I chose a couple of gifts that were within my budget:

They love the magazine and are excited to play the card game tomorrow. Good thing I found an excellent video that took the time to review the game and explain the rules.

Trying to Understand the Kasambahay Law

It has been some months since I last updated this blog. I've been busy with stuff from work and home -- both Ahiya and Atchie are now going to school, and Syoti is learning to stand on his own.

While we have been adjusting to the new routine of driving the kids to school and  tutoring them in the afternoons, we have also been studying the latest law concerning local household workers.

I think the Kasambahay Law sounds good in paper, but I am not sure if it can be properly implemented.  Most households I know rarely register their kasambahay in the local baranggay offices. I doubt if employers would follow the mandated practice of providing an official employment contract and monthly payslips. Although I think this would be a good time for us to start creating these documents for them. Most kasambahay I know do not possess a sense of professionalism to give their employers a five-day notice of resignation. They usually just pack up their things and leave the next day.

This year we've hired half a dozen caretakers for the kids, none of them lasted a month. I doubt if  we are expected to pay for their SSS/Pag-Ibig/Phil-health contributions. I do hope our latest caretaker will stay longer and we might be able to give her these benefits.

Celebrating the New Year

It's been an interesting couple of days.

We brought the kids to celebrate a Christmas/New year party last December 30. The day's schedule must have taken a toll on our daughter, since she had been laughing and crying most of the time (from the excitement and games).

We got home at around 8pm and the kids were half asleep, so instead of letting them eat dinner, we gave them milk and tucked them to bed. At around 11pm, our daughter began to scream in a high pitch voice. We thought she was having a bad dream, but when we tried to comfort her, we realized she was running a high fever.

 We remembered the last time when she got a high fever. Our daughter has a bad case of Febrile seizure. She usually has convulsions that last a couple of minutes and she would lose consciousness during that time. My wife and I panicked because this seizure was different, because she was screaming.

 So we brought her to the emergency room in the middle of the night. She was still unconscious in the car, but she vomited everything she ate. We should have remembered the first aid remedy for such a situation (applying sponge bath and let her body cool down), but since we were both in panic mode, we just reacted.

A few minutes after we brought her to the ER, the nurses and doctors started asking us questions. We should have demanded that they start wiping our daughter with a cold towel, but we forgot. Her temperature shot up again and she had another seizure.

Normally we'd stay a couple of hours after her seizure, so the doctors can monitor her temperature and fever. But since she had two seizures, our pediatrician decided to admit her just in case she gets another attack.

So I stayed with her in the hospital for the night. My wife had to go home to take care of our one month old baby. Good thing her fever started to go down to manageable levels. By early morning, her fever was gone.

The doctors allowed her to leave the hospital and celebrate New Year at home. But she was still under medication (to prevent the fever from occurring). Since we had a small baby in the house, there was a risk of passing the fever to the infant. So my daughter and I had to sleep in another room.

It's now the first day of 2013 and everything has returned to normal. I hope it stays that way. I've been researching more about febrile seizures and how parents should handle the child when he or she is experiencing an attack. Hopefully she outgrows the condition soon.

Dream House

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the perfect home for my growing family. It would be nice to buy one of those fancy townhouses made by big real estate developers. But I personally think property prices in the metropolis are way to high, probably higher than their actual values.

It would be wonderful to build your own house, probably something that reflects your personal tastes and ideas. Personally I prefer smaller houses because they are easier to manage and easier to clean. If given the choice, I would build a house that would look something like this:



The house would probably have three bedrooms - one for the boys, one for Nika, and one for me and Jen. I think tiny houses like these would allow us to be more aware of our surroundings and become closer as a family. The smaller space would teach us to be more conscious of the things we own (and force us to stop collecting junk).

I also found a site that features tiny houses in America. It offers a lot of wonderful ideas on building these small houses. I could imagine living in one of these homes.

I think these tiny houses offer a different approach to family and home building. We have been trained to think that "big is better" and having more stuff means you are rich or successful. But living small doesn't mean you are depriving yourself of the many luxuries of life. It only means that you are focusing on the essentials and the things that really matter to you.

Visiting the Dead

The Dream of Early Retirement

This is something I would love to do. I don't know if I can actually leave work at an earlier age (perhaps at 45 years old), with three kids to support. I haven't talked to Jen about it yet and I think the first question she'll ask is what I plan to do once I "retire".

For me, retirement is not actually leaving work or the office. I picture retirement as a career shift, perhaps into a work that is less stressful, less demanding, and more fulfilling. I still want to earn money, perhaps discover a few passive income sources and spending more time with my family and my hobbies.

There are tons of videos and articles online, teaching people how they can retire early. According to these financial gurus, the three most common habits that can help you retire early are: (1) eliminate debt, (2) save, and (3) practice frugality. 

I think I have mastered the first and second habits. But I still need to be more frugal and cut down on the urge for impulse buying. A big chunk of my cash outflow is devoted to savings and paying off various financial investments. It would be a challenge when all the kids go to school, but I think retiring early is a feasible goal that I can achieve.

Here are two interesting videos that I found online, hopefully they can inspire you to plan for your own early retirement:

Memories of Bohol

The family spent a weekend vacation in Bohol. It was fun but exhausting, watching over the kids and making sure they don't get into any accidents along the way. We've been planning the trip since December, after getting a nice buy-one-take-one deal at Philippine Airlines. I bought three round-trip plane tickets and got another three tickets for free. It was a challenge for us, since it was our first vacation with the kids, outside the city.

The first day was spent touring the famous spots around the city -- from the site of the Blood compact, to the tarsier park, and the chocolate hills.The kids enjoyed themselves. They were curious about everything around them, asking us things like tiny little monkeys, the old churches, and the farm animals they see along the road.

We woke up around five am the following day for our trip out in the sea. The kids did not mind the strong winds, the large waves, and the dumpy boat ride. They kept looking out into the sea, hoping to find some whales or dolphins. We did spot a few dolphins and managed to feed some fish on our way back.

We left the resort the following day around eleven in the morning. Our last trip was to the Bohol Bee farm, where we had our lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for our plane ride back home.

It was a memorable, fun, and tiring experience. A big part of it was enjoying the kids' reaction to the things around them -- from riding their first boat ride, building their first sand castle, and watching them delightfully explore the things around them.