Philippine Stock Exchange (Tektite), Ortigas, Pasig City

Philippine Stock Exchange in Ortigas


Where are huge profits made or lost, where billions of pesos are traded every working day from 9-12:10pm? It is the stock market! or at least in the Philippine setting, it's the Philippine Stock Exchange!

You may have noticed my long hiatus in blogging, the reason behind this is that i have been so thrilled by the stock market, the ups and downs, and all the rumors and speculation. Nothing is guaranteed, except for the fact there will be risk.

Anyone could invest in the stock market! I walked into the Tektite building with my P5000 initial investment, driver's license, SS number and TIN, walked into Accord Equities (http://www.philstocks.ph is their online access) and created an account with them. You could too!

It took me some time to convince myself that I should go into the stock market rather than mutual funds, another viable alternative for putting my money. The thrill of making it (or losing it) is part of the stock market, so I chose the stock market for my money.

Part of my initial investment was my purchase of 10 shares of SM Investments (PSE:SM) at P365.00 each. The following week it plummented to P302.5 per share. I was disheartened at first but the following week saw it regain its price and went as high as P385.

My first profit was the sale of my SM stock at P375. so 375-365=10 x 10 shares = P100 !!! My first profit! It sure beats my interest from an ATM account. That was sweet. The sweeter part was the timing of my selling. It fell swiftly to P340 today, so I was proud of my decision.

My reinvestments were not as sweet. I bought 2000 shares of Geograce Resources (GEO) at 1.54 and lost confidence. Sold at 1.6, then later in the day the price shot up to 1.76. Frustrating, but it was just speculation. My reinvestments in GEO and MA (Manila Mining), hopefully, should reap a profit.

Try it out, save your P5000 and try the stock market out!

Max's Glorietta 2: Hanne's Debut

Lady's sister Hanne asked for her help to look for a venue for her debut. After looking at so many packages, she decided to hold it at Max's Glorietta last Saturday, August 4, 2007.

Lady and I with the debutante Hanne.

It was scheduled to start at 7pm but the program didn't start until 8pm. I did the invocation/opening prayer and then there was the 18 roses. After the 18 roses, dinner was served, and then there were the 18 candles. The singing of "Happy Birthday" followed, and then there was so many picture taking afterwards.

The food served was by a per table basis. Two whole chickens, two servings of fried lumpia, two plates of pancit, chopsuey, and caramel bars were served together with iced tea.

All in all, we got the famous Max's flavour in every viand that was served. My only qualm was the chicken. There must be more chicken! But probably only I complain about not having enough chicken. :)

Max's handled the event without us having any major complaints. Anyhow, if you guys are planning to hold any event, consider celebrating it at a Max's Restaurant.

Burgoo Rockwell: Experience

In celebration of our 2nd Anniversary, Lady and I decided to go to Rockwell for a simple celebration. We watched Ratatouille, which was a very heart-warming animated film. After the movie, we had dinner at Burgoo.


We were seated initially near the entrance, but when a couple left the foam bench seats beside the to our left, we requested to be moved there.


When we got the menus, I have to admit that I got startled with the prices. From the top of my head, you could expect to spend at the very least P300 per head, not including the service charge and VAT. Anyway, it is the first time we ate at Burgoo and it was our Anniversary, so all was OK with the prices. (hehehe)


There were condiments on the table as well as information cards. Very good strategy to have information cards, they suggest side dishes and desserts if you want more.
While waiting for our dinner, we took pictures of each other. This is just one of them. The others will be posted on http://xxavier.multiply.com shortly. Finally, Lady's order arrived: Fettuccine with mushrooms and garlic bread. A few moments later, my order arrived: Medium Country Steak with potato wedges and corn on the cob.


The fettuccine was rich in parmesan, bacon, and mushroom. It was sprinkled with parsley and had two pieces of garlic bread on the side. It had a rich, creamy taste, and was rather oily. for P185++ it was a bargain compared to other items on the menu.
The country steak I ordered on the other hand was an 8-oz steak grilled with spices herbs served. Admittingly, it was smaller than I expected for P395++ but it was juicy and very rich in flavor. The potato wedges reminded Lady of KFC's fries, only less oily, and crunchier.

After our meal, we looked at the desserts on the information card, and Lady signalled to me that she found the Mississippi Mud Pie's picture delicious. We ordered just that.

Sorry for the shaky hands holding the camera. The presentation was absolutely fantastic! The cake was on one side with chocolate syrup spiraling the plate with morsels generously spread. It tasted like ice cream sprinkled with morsels. The crust was crunchy and cold, the way the different flavors mingle in my mouth made me feel like picking and eating the bits and pieces that got stuck to my teeth. For P135++ it was steep, but it was good enough for both of us.


While waiting for the bill, we noticed the crayons on the side and the paper table cover. Why didn't we notice it earlier?! We drew different animals. You be the judge on who is the better artist. :) I drew the cat and the sheep, while Lady drew the chicken, dog, and pig.

Overall, our experience at Burgoo was a blast, and although we won't be eating there anytime soon because it's too expensive, we would recommend it to anyone who wants to have an enjoyable dining experience.

Starbucks Coffee: mass market appeal

There's something about Starbucks that makes it appealing to most age brackets. High school students enjoy hanging out at Starbucks, and even "older" office people and retired seniors could be seen hanging out there enjoying a frappucino.

Our metro's populace isn't necessarily one where an average person has extra money to buy cofffee from a high end shop everyday. What makes people actually sacrifice spending on more important things just to have a venti caramel frap?

(Lady and I sharing a frappucino)

Looking inside a Starbucks outlet, you rarely see people just getting a cup of coffee to drink and go. Most of the people patronizing Starbucks tend to stay for a while there. Some don't even drink coffee, yet stay there. Many could be seen typing on laptops and using their wi-fi, while some are just enjoying a book. Plenty of business meetings happen in Starbucks as well, salespeople and clients could be seen meeting to discuss deals.

How many cups of coffee are bought per table per hour? Sometimes, you see ten people chatting over two or three cups of coffee. Do people really go to Starbucks because of the coffee? I don't think so.

It's a great place to hang out though, What Lady and I do, we buy one frap and share it, and I get a few cups of their milk. I'm sure some of you readers have your own Starbucks experiences. Don't hesitate to share them. :)

Fitness First: Upmarket Gym

My oh my, what a coincidence! I was just singing praises about C-3 gym, and saying how other bigger gyms are not worth it.

During my CWTS class, I got a call from Richard, a promotions person for FF Greenhills, saying that I was recommended for a free one-day pass. I accepted the offer and agreed to be there by 8pm.

Lady went with me, as well as Touie. We took Touie's car. One thing I noticed was the parking, or rather the lack of availability of it. Once we were able to find a slot, we proceeded to Fitness First and we were greeted by Richard, who showed us the locker rooms and left us there.

The three of us went upstairs. We started our warm ups on the elliptical machines. After five minutes, Touie and I proceeded to work out chest. We warmed up with lying-down dumbbell presses.

One thing we noticed is the lack of respect for others from the other members. The matching pairs of dumbbells were hard to find.

They had plenty of machines, but all the machines lacked the "hardcore" feeling of the free weights training C-3 emphasized. Also, the patrons of C-3 tend to be bigger and more serious in weight training than in Fitness First.

On the plus side for Fitness First, they have all the tools you need to sculpt your physique with the least effort. No loading of plates on machines, all you need to do is move the pin. Also there is duplicity of machines for the most commonly worked out body parts: chest and abs.

I heard from my friend Blossom that the monthly fee is P2,400. The perks you get: free bag, water bottle, use of shower facilities, locker facilities, headset (?), air-conditioned gym, and aerobics classes (I don't know if this is good, I prefer non-airconditioned gyms so I could really sweat it out). I don't know if you would really want to pay such a premium for those perks. Anyhow, it's a matter of personal preference.

My personal preference? I'd rather go to C-3 gym instead for the atmosphere and "hardcore" feeling. :)

Pics to follow.

C-3 Fitness Gym: Fitness for Less

Are you cash-strapped and out of shape?
Do you live, work, or study near Mandaluyong or San Juan?
Fitness First and Slimmer's World out of your budget?

Visit C-3 Fitness Gym and get real value for your money!

• No Membership Fees
• Low Monthly Usage Fee (P500)
  
• Daily Rates also Available (P50)
  
• New Equipment
• Free Parking
• Free Fitness Program Consultation

Left: Lat Pulldown Right: Bench Press

These are pictures of my then-10 year old brother who also works out at C-3 Fitness Gym. The equipment is at par with other gyms, and the owner, Carlo Capati, used to teach at Fitness First.

Personally, from a skinny 120 lbs I increased my bulk to 140 lbs, which is just about right for a guy standing at only 5'5.5" I have gained a lot of strength in all of my lifts. Try it and see your own transformation. The best part is that there are no membership fees. If you have P50 and want to try out a new gym, C-3 fitness gym is definitely the place to try.

How to get there:
(From Shaw Blvd.) Turn at Torres St. (towards Nissan Shaw) and turn left at the end. Turn left at the next corner and follow the street to the sign "Cookbook Kitchen." C-3 Fitness Gym is located on the left side of Cookbook Kitchen.

(From Wilson Ave.) Turn left at P.Guevarra (You will see Asiatrust Bank and Happy Feet at the corner) and turn left again to Luna Mencias (the downhill street.) Go straight down until the road begins a mild incline. Go up the road and turn left at the first corner and follow the street to the sign "Cookbook Kitchen." C-3 Fitness Gym is located on the left side of Cookbook Kitchen.

/Be Bench Model Search

I am sure that most of us Filipinos have heard of the /be bench model search going on in the country. I had the privilege to have a friend tell me his experiences as a bench model search contestant.

He summed it up like this:

"10,000+ contestants
1,400 qualified contestants
10 from Trinoma(Where I auditioned)
200 contestants battling it out in Studio 1
15 Girls, 15 guys for the show..."

He maintains a multiply site. The contest was very competitive. 200 people with model-type bodies battled it out at ABS-CBN studio 1. Only 30 will be accepted to join the show, and 12 will be named the next bench models.

Wow.

From 10,000+ to just 12!

Looking deeper though, it looked like an effective marketing strategy. My friend practically had no Bench(TM) clothes. A minimum purchase of P200 is required. An added requirement is a full Bench outfit from underwear to shoes to jeans to accessories. That could go all the way up to P1000 or more!

Assuming P1,000 per outfit per person, and 10,000 contestants, an estimated additional P10,000,000 in revenue will be generated. In addition to that, Bench will be able to recruit new models who won't command a talent fee as high as those already in show business.

There was no consolation prize, which was the sad part. The lunch given to the 200 qualifiers was just siomai and garlic rice from PotDog. Hardly a sumptuous meal. There should have been at least a gift certificate for those who made it to the final 200. Anyhow, they might have thought that bragging rights are enough.

As of the posting, the show hasn't been aired yet. You might see me, or my friend in the show when it gets aired on July 29, 2007.

Opening Metro Explorer

Metro Explorer is now officially open! I hope you will be following my adventures in, around, and outside the Metro. I won't only post about places, I will also post about personal experiences in and out of the Metro.

We may all have different points of view of urban life based on our natural environments. During the course of your viewing of my blog, you may find points where you may not agree. Some of my posts may be biased. Please bear with me, and feel free to post your comments. Just don't flame me. :D

I live in Central Metro Manila, in the now-city of San Juan. I live literally in between a slum (or squatter's area) and two mansions. That makes me middle class.

I am a graduating student (March 2008) at the University of the Philippines Asian Institute of Tourism. That is in Diliman, Quezon City, around 15 kilometers north from where I am. My girlfriend studies there as well, and is also a graduating student. She lives in Makati, just across the Pasig River, approximately 6 kilometers south.

If you are good with roads, you will find out that I pass EDSA, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Avenue, C-5, Shaw Blvd., Ortigas Avenue, and Boni Avenue frequently.

Metro Explorer is now open! Feel free to send me an email for comments and suggestions on existing posts, or just about anything you want me to post.