San Mig Super Coffee: 10's vs. 30's

A pack of ten is P49.50, while a pack of thirty is P154.50. Which is more sulit?

If you mindlessly thought that the pack of thirty San Mig Super Coffee sachets would give you more coffee for your peso, think again. Three packs of ten would only cost you P148.50, which makes you save P6.00! Or that's like getting your 31st sachet for free and some change! Makes you wonder if any of the products have been mis-priced by this particular supermarket. But as it is, this is why it's always important to pay attention to the price. Dili sa tanang panahon mas makabarato ang mas daghan.

Throwback Thursday: The Ride

I was riding a jeepney to SM one day and out of boredom, observed my co-passengers: Four women, two ladies, two couples (boyfriend and girlfriend), a husband and a wife with their two kids (son and daughter), and another two ladies with a girl on their lap each. Now, I've got a question: How many people were in the jeepney?

Post your answers and let the world know how smart you are. I might just give away a prize. Hehe.

The original version of this blog entry was first posted at The Talkthrough with Johnny Talker on July 30, 2006.

Bigger and Cheaper

On one of my recent trips to the supermarket, this caught my attention: A 182-gram can of Pringles only costs P81.50, while a 140-gram can is priced at P89.50. Yup, the bigger one is cheaper – that's 42 grams more and P8.00 less! When I pointed this out to the merchandiser, he told me that it wasn't a mistake: The former is local, the latter is imported. So if you didn't have a reason to buy and patronize local products before, now you have one: you get more for less!

50 Centavos Short

The sliced bread
from the bakeshop.

A loaf of sliced bread at the nearby bakeshop costs P33.00. Mom asked if I had P3.00 to add to her P30.00 so we could buy one. Here’s how our conversation went:

Mom: Naa ka’y P3.00 dinha, Poy?
Me: Kadali lang, Ma.
Mom: Aw, ayaw na lang. Kini na lang tibuok para ma-sinsilyuan.
Me: Kini lang. P3.00 ra man kaha? What do you think of me, poor?!

It turns out, I only had P2.50 worth of coins. I spoke too soon. Moral of the story: Don’t be too cocky — you might have to eat your words.

Jeepney Tales

Here are two jeepney tales that I have overheard over time. While the first is rather funny, the second is a sad reality of how some need to conceal the truth just to keep a job so they could provide for their family:

Where Are We Going

Two elementary school girls had this conversation on the jeepney:

Girl 1: Asa diay ta monaog? Sa Lahug?

Girl 2: Dili, sa eskuwelahan.

Girl 1: So sa Lahug lagi?
Girl 2: Kay eskuwelahan diay nang Lahug?

They disembarked at Lahug Elementary School.

A Kid's Question

I was on my ride home one Saturday night and there was this mother and daughter on the jeep with me. The mother, still in her youth, late 20's maybe, was wearing a uniform indicating that she is a saleslady of a certain product brand in a department store. Her daughter was around 3-5 years old. I overheard the kid ask: "Ma, di na ko mag-Até nimo kay wala na man ta sa Ayala?"

A Kid's Question was first published in 359 Degrees, my blog at Yahoo! 360° on May 3, 2006.

The Jobseeker and the Coffee

A jobseeker applied for work at Company A and Company B. He passed the interviews of both companies, and soon, he was given their respective job offers. The offers were almost identical – salary, perks and privileges. But in one minor difference, Company A revealed that a small benefit that their employees can avail of is the discounted price of drinks from their vending machine – coffee costs only P1 per cup. Company B, on the other hand, allowed their employees to have unlimited drinks from their vending machine, for free!

Being the coffee lover that he is, not to mention he also loves everything that's free, he decided to take the job at Company B. On his first day, he learned some good news and bad news. The good news: The unlimited coffee is true. The bad news: On the vending machine, is a glaring notice, mentioning the bad effects of having too much coffee. As he also cared for his health, he made an effort to only consume two to three cups per day, which was still within the normal intake. It was far less than the unlimited cups he imagined, but at least he is able to save P2.00 to P3.00 daily.

I'm a Dirham, Not a Peso!

Seems like I’ve become a magnet of foreign coins lately. Last week, I posted about the 100 won (South Korean coin) that was in my possession, and now, I have this 50 dirham coin, a denomination in the State of Qatar. And I got it in exactly the same way as the previous one.

The driver gave me my change, I counted it and the amount was correct. But I didn’t really examine each coin that I got. I just assumed the Qatari coin was just another piso since they are about the same size. I was gonna use it as fare for my next jeepney ride when I noticed. 

So I kept it, checked and found out that it’s actually equivalent to P5.75! I thought I had a peso, but it turns out it’s worth more. Again. Well, I’m not complaining!

The dirham is a subunit of the riyal, the currency of Qatar. 100 dirham is equal to one riyal, much like 100 centavos is equal to one peso.

A Rob Story

It was Wednesday, around 12:30am. I was riding a jeepney, on my way home from work. As the jeep I was on approached N. Bacalso Avenue from Panganiban Street (that corner near the Cebu City Fire Station and the Cebu City Medical Center), I and my co-passengers witnessed what could have been a taxi robbery of some kind.

Mr. Man in Red, wearing a polo which looked like his duty uniform and most presumably the taxi driver, was spotted on the road yelling for help. I’m assuming that some guy from inside his taxi asked him to get off the vehicle just moments before, since he was still near the driver’s side door of the car. He seemed quite rattled and didn’t exactly know what to do.

Baguio Been

Trip. The Victory Liner bus left the Cubao station on time, but it was only out of EDSA after about an hour. Traffic: very uncool. But what's cool is the bus had free wi-fi service, courtesy of Sun Broadband. I was able to test it out during one of the stop overs, and the verdict: Connection is good and the speed is fast enough. We finally reached Baguio at around 1:30am, or after seven and a half hours of being on the road.

Taxi. The taxis in Baguio don't have air conditioners, as these are very unnecessary. That makes the ride cheaper: flagdown is only at P35.00 with P2.00 increments. We took one to get to where we stayed for the night. We finally were able to doze off and rest at around 2:00am.

Been. After some setback, we were finally able to explore Baguio in the afternoon. It was still drizzling a bit, but the sky thankfully lit up soon after. With only limited hours in our hands, we were able to go to Burnham Park (where I learned that I suck at rowing), Mines View Park, the Mansion House, and Wright Park, as well as a quick stop at the front of the Baguio Botanical Garden. We then ended up at SM City Baguio, before we headed back to base. After a good night's sleep and a good breakfast, we headed early to the Victory Liner terminal for our 9:40am return trip to Manila.

Touchdown Manila!

Airplane. On the plane, I initially enjoyed looking at the window, seeing the city lights. But as we moved farther away from Cebu, all I could see was the dark night sky. So I decided to take out the book lent by Godsend Debbie and read some Freaky Fact or Fiction: World Records. I also actually kind-of anticipated for an in-flight game, but as I found out, not all flights have one.

Airport. At NAIA, while waiting for mom who was on a later flight. I decided to see if they got free wi-fi services. Well, there were two public networks I could connect to, but none could provide internet access. I wonder why that is. Once mom arrived, we stepped outside only to confirm that the immediate exit to the terminal only had fixed rate and yellow cab taxis. Since Mom was rather in a hurry (and hungry), she opted to just take the more expensive yellow taxi to get to our next destination. To find out how to get a regular white taxi, check out this post.

V. Luna. The V. Luna General Hospital is quite relaxed and peaceful, unlike most hospitals. Maybe because it's exclusive for military personnel and their families. We went there to see my uncle (who is confined, but now fine enough and on his way to recovery) and aunt. We had breakfast at the hospital's canteen before going up to my uncle's ward. Where I could say that some hospitals may give you a feel that you'll get sicker staying there, this really is a place where one could recuperate. I was even able to take a comfortable short nap on a reclining chair (not sure how it is called).

Bus Terminal. We went to the Victory Liner bus terminal in Cubao after lunch. There was a long queue! (It doesn't help that we are lining up along with fellow passengers who will be going home to their provinces for Undas.) After more than an hour, we were finally able to secure 6pm bus tickets for Baguio. Since we had time to kill, we spent it at SM Cubao, before heading back to the bus terminal at around 5pm.

Fish

Lesson learned: Eat slowly, especially when you are eating fish. No matter how hungry you are.

Not only would you enjoy your food's taste more and improve your digestion (read about it here), you also minimize the risk of having some mouth injuries caused by the food you eat.

I was starving during lunch last Monday that I carelessly hurried in having my stomach filled with the piniritong isda that I've brought from home. While I was chewing my meal, I felt some sharp fish bone pricking the side of my tongue, which I didn't actually give much thought about at the time.

I Know You're There, I Can Hear You!

One late afternoon in the office, the phone rang. I picked it up, "Good afternoon."

There was no answer. However, I can hear some noise on the background telling me that the line was still open. After several seconds, I said, "Hello... I know you're there! I can hear you!"

"Uh, hello, mamalihug kong Mark," the voice on the other end of the line finally demanded.

"Ah ah, kadali lang Sir," I stuttered as I replied. It was our company president.

This entry was originally published at my Talkthrough blog on September 14, 2006.

Gearing Up Again with the GoGear Vibe

It was late December last year when my GoGear Vibe SA1VBE04K/97 stopped working. I got in touch with Philips and to cut the long story short, I got my replacement unit already. It's still a Vibe, but a different model. The process may have taken some time, but it's quite understandable. Actually, I'm just satisfied to finally have a music player again. So thanks, Philips Consumer Care!

I've been using this unit for several weeks now, and it's time to share with you some of my thoughts on the Philips GoGear Vibe SA2VBE04S/97. For product specifications, check it out here.

First Impressions. While it looks good, I still dig my previous GoGear's all-black appearance. The lanyard slot is misplaced and is an inconvenience (it would have been better if it was placed on the bottom area), but maybe it's not meant to be worn on the neck. However, it has better graphics, and its function buttons provide faster and more friendly navigation.

GoGear Gone Grrr!

It was April 2010 when I decided to buy an MP3 player. My mobile phone, a Nokia 3110 classic, is already capable of playing MP3s and it even has a decent music player, but using it to listen to music for several hours consumes too much battery power, thus, the reason why I wanted a standalone MP3 device.

One of the features I required was the support for MTP. MTP, or Media Transfer Protocol, allows me to manage my playlists the way I want to. I was making heavy use of this feature on my N3110c. Based on the Philips website, the GoGear Spark sufficed, so I bought it at Wellcom.

But there was no MTP feature on the GoGear Spark, even after thoroughly examining it. I tried updating the firmware, still no MTP. I even tried to search for a workaround that would allow me to enjoy similar playlist control, but it's not even close to the convenience of an MTP device. I felt cheated by the Philips website. That’s considered false advertising, ain’t it?

Maybe it would have been possible for me to exchange my Spark for another MP3 player at Wellcom, but at the time, they also didn't have any other item that met my need. Maybe the law even states that I could return it and get my money back. But Wellcom was actually of no fault regarding my purchase. I can only put the blame on Philips. (And probably on myself too since I didn’t bother checking with product specification and consumer reviews on other websites and just relied solely on the “official” information from Philips.)

So I called Philips Consumer Care, asking for my options on what they might be able to do for me. A refund was on my mind. But they instead opted to replace the Spark with a GoGear Vibe, which was fine with me. I got the Vibe on May 14, 2010, after almost a month of getting in touch with them. The Vibe did have MTP support, and I was satisfied. Everything was well.

Fast forward to late December 2010. The Vibe wouldn't turn on anymore. I didn't even drop or misuse it, so who knows why it suddenly died just like that. I checked it in at Pro Logic, the Philips authorized service center in Cebu, but I was told it was beyond repair. Since the GoGear is still under warranty, they said they would take care of things and file for a possible replacement unit. The technician told me to keep the busted Vibe, but instead asked for the receipt, saying that the information he needed for processing was there. Although a bit hesitant (that is my only solid proof of purchase after all), I gave it to him. Yeah, I know, my bad.

Anyway, I made several follow-up calls to Pro Logic in January 2011. The bottomline: it's still being processed, according to them. With the lack of development, I decided to contact Philips Consumer Care again in mid-February, telling them of my present woes. A representative got in touch with me. In our correspondence, I made mention of the receipt, and I was told that the receipt should be always with me and if the need arises, I should only be giving a photocopy of it. I was instructed to turn over the busted GoGear Vibe to Pro Logic, and I did so. The unit shall be sent to the Philips head office in Manila.

While at Pro Logic, I asked to get my receipt back, but I wasn't able to. I tried to reason that the receipt should be with me, as what the representative told me, but to no avail. I was told it's on file and that it wasn’t retrievable at the moment, so I should just come back to get it. This is what bothers me as there might be something else going on. This should serve as a lesson for me that next time, I should never let go of my original receipts.

The technician at Pro Logic also mentioned that Philips’ policy is for them to only replace items once, which they have already done for me back in May. But why should I be the one on the losing end when (1) it’s them who placed wrong information on their website, and (2) it’s them who made a device which is not durable?

I am hoping:

1. for a favorable action from Philips, which would either be a refund, or an MTP-enabled replacement MP3 device with a capacity of 4 GB (I wouldn't complain if it's more),
2. that I would be getting my receipt back as soon as possible (or that the receipt would be a non-factor in the event that I don't get it back), and
3. that it would be straightforward from here on and that a resolution would be reached before February ends.

I recommended the GoGear as a more affordable and even better alternative to the Apple iPod. However, at present, I am un-recommending it as it is bringing hassles and inconvenience to me. And certainly, I am not getting the value of what I paid for. It’s not even one year old, and it’s already out of commission!

The GoGear is a very good MP3 player (while it is still functioning). I am also satisfied with how my concerns are handled by Philips Consumer Care. Now if only Philips has a better service center (only complaint here is the receipt issue) and longer-lasting, tougher devices.

Tale from a CD-R King Lady

(Overheard from a co-passenger on my jeepney home last night.)
A CD-R King sales lady was narrating her personal experience to her companions:

CD-R King Lady: Unsay ato, ma'am?
Woman: USB unya akoa, daigh!
CD-R King Lady: Unsa nga USB, ma'am?
Woman: Kay naa diay laing USB?!
CD-R King Lady: Naa! Naay flash drive, cable, suga, higot...

The woman reportedly walked away without buying.

Now I'm not sure what the CD-R King lady meant by "higot" but regardless, I guess this is a case of an all-knowing, superior-acting potential customer being shamed by the fact that she's wrong and that the saleslady knows better than her.

It may have been a lost sale, but maybe, just maybe, the woman came back to the store, made sure someone else served her, kept it low key that time around and bought the USB. (I assume it's a flash drive.)