yaya woes

when i was still pregnant, officemates who had kids started to say "welcome to the world of yayas". they should've warned me better about the horrors of having one.

1) before i went back to work (2.5months due to CS), i already had 3 yayas. the 1st one had to go back to the province his her ex-husband was murdered (read: chopped up) by the other woman & the other woman's mother (telenovela anyone?). the 2nd one was just temporary and stayed with us for roughly 2 weeks. and the 3rd one is the one that's currently staying with us.

2) personal space. given that we're living in a 52sqm condo unit, this is something which we don't really have, unless we lock ourselves up in the room or in the bathroom. having someone looking over your shoulder while you're browsing through old pictures with matching "Te, payatot ka pala dati" comments are totally annoying.

3) "si bailey kasi eh". why blame the kid for your inefficiencies like breaking the bottle of mansinilya or not putting together the cover of the rice cooker properly because the baby was crying???? puhleeze.

4) "Ate, magagalit ka ba?" well it depends right? this was followed by, "Pwede ba mag-syota". wah. as it turned out, she got together with the male helper from my in-law's house after several texts and phone calls. and after several weeks, i wake up one monday morning to a "Te, 'wag mo nang isipin na kami pa ni ". like i give a flying f if you're still together or not.

5) which brings me to my next point. unlicalls & unlitexts. i'm a big fan of this service, regardless of the provider. but i think all parents with yayas will attest to the fact that this is ABSOLUTELY ANNOYING especially if it's what they do practically the whole day. add to that the fact that this yaya of mine even has a handsfree headset (sosyal di ba?). so she has it plugged in her ears when doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, carrying the baby, watching tv, ironing the clothes... and the list goes on. we just imposed a rule that she can't use her mobile during work hours since she might not be able to hear the bailey, plus, it absolutely slows her down so she can't finish the simplest of tasks right away. but of course, since we're not at home all the time, she might be sneaking in some chat time whenever we're not around.

6) breaking things in the house, and just saying, "ewan ko nga kung bakit eh". HUWHAT. i replaced the medicine dropper for bailey's vitamins bottle since the measuring lines got faded. of course, before paying for it, i checked if it was in good condition. a few weeks later, i look at the dropper and it already has a crack near the rubber handle, like when you close the cover of a bottle too tight and it just cracks open. i asked her what happened, and she goes, "ganyan na yan eh, ewan ko nga ba kung bakit ganyan" (Lord grant me patience....). i just told her that she's the only one using it, so she can't blame bailey or anyone else for breaking it. and yes, it is BROKEN and it's not normal to have a CRACK on the medicine dropper.

SIGH. there's more but it just gives me a headache to think about it right now. so i'll just update the list once something monumental happens (but i hope not).

book swap anyone?

i'm a big fan of spring cleaning. not that we have spring here in the Philippines, but that's beside the point.

i periodically assess my stuff to see which ones i really want to keep, and which ones could probably find a better home. this is partly due to OCD, and all those makeover shows in cable tv. marie and i have been doing this for the longest time, and the only reason why we get to trade is because we're a size or two apart. she stays the same size, and i fluctuate. WALANG HIHIRIT. >:(

anyhow, i've accumulated several books along the years since i'm a bookworm like most of my friends. i've tried to sell them off in bulk, but the price apiece was utterly pathetic and it won't do justice to the books. i read this article about some Filipina who started a book swap group overseas to promote a coffee shop as well as create an avenue for social networking.

so i figured, why not start a book swap group of my own? or maybe, if there are exisiting book swap groups in the metro, maybe i could join too? the group could meet once a week, or maybe every other week. venue could be static or it could change from time to time.

this isn't just for those people i personally know. whoever's interested could also be a part of this group (if it actually pushes through). i think a group of 5 at a time would do, and maybe each person could bring 2 to 3 books which they'd want to swap.

please reply if interested :) then we could schedule a date, time and venue.

gripes

nearly 2.5 months in my new firm, and i still experience those moments wherein i'd ask myself -- is this where i'm supposed to be? is this really what i want to do?

i bumped into an old college buddy the other day, and we were just catching up on what's new with work, friends, and the like. i found out that he's still with the same outfit which was equivalent to 2 previous jobs already for me. he's quite happy with what he does, and won't even entertain other companies even if there were offers already.

it just got me thinking some more about what i really want to do, and where i eventually want to be. my current stint isn't bad, don't get me wrong. though it's not in the same industry or line that i wanted to be in when i started out in the corporate world. i really hate numbers -- promise. i almost flunked my MS back in 3rd year college, and i even had to take removals to get a pathetic 3.

so, what have i done since then? i used to be in events, then sales, then business development, and now i'm a portfolio analyst. the latter one sounds fancy, i know. it surely does wonders for my CV. well, i basically make sense of numbers, and hopefully find a segment to tap into, or discover what program could be implemented for a particular consumer group. i've yet to have a eureka moment with all the projects i'm juggling now, but hopefully i'll get to claim a successful project as my own.

just the other day, i was being gripe-y over meebo (my damn office computer is so old school, i can't even download any client messenger) and was chatting up with steve about work and random stuff. so after ranting bit, he tells me that i'm experiencing existential angst. hahaha, he still remembered it from his philo class in college.

i tried to look it up, and it seems quite depressing. something than stems from anxiety. so, no steve, i'm not experiencing existential angst. but thanks for the thought :D

maybe i should just take up a hobby, or start a small business on the side to take my mind off these questions. my hubby sometimes tells me that i think too much. hehe, well, that's my character flaw. i just have to deal with it and move on.

when i read up on my friends' blogs, i sometimes wish that i had some story to tell, or some new experience to share. i feel that my life is so boring compared to theirs.

oh well. just deal with it.

Stock Market, and then some

There's this article in Inquirer today which discussed the difference between saving and being miserly. I really hate it when people say refer to others as kuripot (being miserly) since each person has his own way of saving up or cutting down on costs. Who are we to say which route would the best way to go about it?

Another thing that annoys me is when people refer to me as Intsik (Chinese) when I discuss the options on how to earn more, be it from side businesses or investment options. So what's so wrong with wanting to get the most of what you have, and more if possible? I'm actually looking at this plan from Manulife wherein I pay a fixed amount for 10 years, and upon the plan's maturity (20 years), my investment would have earned 162% already. Well of course, the annual interest would vary depending on the market conditions, but the range of 4 to 8% is not so bad anymore. At least this kind of investment has an assured return, instead of investing it in a bond fund (mutual fund or UITF) wherein the principal is not assured though the returns is in roughly the same range. And compared to a time deposit or savings account (which is 2.25% and 1% respectively) that is still subject to 20% withholding tax, 4% per annum is not bad at all.

I discussed this with two other officemates since 1 of them was also considering the same plan I was looking at. We were trying to convince our other officemate about the benefits of the plan, only to be called "Intsik ka talaga, and that's derogatory".

Now that I think about it, do you mean the term Intsik is derogatory, or are you dissing me now? I didn't bother clarifying that anymore. Bottomline is, so what if I want to earn more? I'm not doing it illegally so what's up with that?

Anyhow, I attended this seminar last week, and another one last night (Tecnical Analysis in Stock Trading, and Market Outlook 2008). According to them, should the PSEi breach 2850 points after the double test of support, then the Phil market would officially be in the bear market already. As of today (30 Jan 2008), the PSEi closed at 3,256.53, so it's still far off from the 2850 range. I just hope that the market doesnt reach the 2900 level since I'd be forced to sell all my position, or hold until the next bull run. during the seminar last night, the speaker mentioned that the 75-B Stimulus Fund has been approved by President Arroyo already, so here's to hoping that I feel the benefit of the supposed income tax reduction as well as the reduction in electricity rates.

Wrong Timing

The PSEi plummetted to a low 0f 2,978.41 when markets closed last Jan 22, 2008, the lowest since August 2007 when the US Subprime Crisis first made a huge impact in markets worldwide. I never imagined that it would come to this again in less than a year, which makes me just shake my head since I shifted my fund too soon into Equity when I should have left it in Bonds, and moved it just now. Oh well, lesson learned.

I'm really tempted to buy in more right now since the NAV is quite low, and when the market recovers hopefully by mid-2008, I could just ride the wave and earn then. But since my Tubby and I are looking to closing in on a condominium this year, he's not too keen on increasing our investments just yet.

Stocks at the start of 2008

It's quite unfortunate for me that I bought stocks when the PSEi was still in the 3500 to 3600 marker since the stock prices were still near its peak. So now that the market is doing some side stepping, if not a nosedive, my stocks are all in the red.

Yesterday marked the lowest PSEi close at 3388.81 after several weeks (shedding 90points), which was quite expected since the DJIA shed nearly 200points prior to the Philippine market open. I tried calling my Sunlife agent to shift my funds from Bonds to Equity since I'm supposed to decide before the market closes so the buy NAV would be the closing NAV for the day. Just my luck that she was in a meeting during those critical moments when I've finally decided to make the move. The Sunlife VUL Equity NAV closed at 1.9504, the lowest for the past few weeks based on my spot checking. It would've been great for my VUL if the market would still slide today, but based on the market performance as of 11AM (Manila Time), most of the stocks have recovered some of what they've lost yesterday. Oh well -- good for my stocks, bad time for my VUL. At this rate, I'll just sit back and wait for another major slide.

I'm really tempted to buy into TEL when it drops again since I've seen it hit Php3100, so if I buy at Php2990 at the minumum boardlot amount of 10, I'd easily make Php1100 gross since I'd still have to deduct the transaction charges. Well, it would be paper gain if ever, unless I sell it to convert it to real cash balance so I could buy into other stocks. Bah-humbug.

Well, on a side note, the Sunlife VUL Equity is invested primarily in the following stocks: TEL, GLO, AC, ALI, BPI, SM, BDO, ICT, SMPH and MEG. Telecom, Property, and Banks. Not a bad portfolio if I say so myself. But as I read in a previous article, don't bother investing in stocks where your Mutual Fund is invested in already. It's like mimicking the fund manager already, and in my books, it's such a waste of time. If you're going to do that, might as well just invest all your cash in the Mutual Fund and save yourself the trouble of having to monitor the market and make calls on when to buy or sell. Funny thing is, I'm into ALI and BDO already, and I'm even thinking of buying into TEL. Maybe I'll look at other stocks then, just so I spread my portfolio. Maybe MER since they're having a price hike this 2008. Have to rethink my strategy then.

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Updates: I've decided to finally shift my fund today. Spoke to my Sunlife agent, and their Investment Manager has foreseen that the PSEi will go as low at 3250 this month, but projection is still at 4000 for end-2008. For the shifting, it won't use the closing NAV for the day that you've decided to shift it, and you have until 4PM of the current day to fax the shift request. Since I shifted today, my fund will use tomorrow's closing VUL Equity NAV. Here's to hoping that it's still below Php2.00/share.

Forex

It really sucks to have dollars kept in a safe instrument but the yield does not even cover half of the loss due to the appreciation of the peso in the last few months. I was initially unfazed by the strengthening of the peso against the dollar since what were the chances of the dollar going down? Slim to none -- or so I thought.

The current forex is now at PHP 41.142 : USD 1.00, and a number of financial institutions, such as Citigroup, have given a PHP 37.50 : USD 1.00 forecast by year 2008.

I also attended this Investment Seminar hosted by Citiseconline, and the speaker showed to us the Philippine Government's Budget Deficit from 2004 to 2007. The trend showed that the deficit amount has been lower for each passing year, and for 2007, the deficit was only USD 41B. Someone from the government even said that they aim for a 0 deficit by 2008. And if that happens, kiss your dollars goodbye.

So now, what to do? Hang on to the dollars I guess, and use it for travelling instead. No use converting it to peso right now since it would make me really feel the loss (not that paper loss is any better, really).