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Attack of the Giant Siopao

zigfred — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:52:00 +0000

Aside from being known as “Abalos country” and the Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City in Metro Manila would soon have another attraction that will forever be linked to it’s name – GIANT SIOPAO.

For those of you who do not know what a siopao is, a siopao is a Chinese steamed bread buns filled with pork, chicken, egg, vegetables and a sweet filling. Siopao is best served with ketchup or the maker’s own unique siopao sauce.

The maker of this Giant siopao is PVL Food House. They sell this humongous, giant, siopao for P 120.00. Purportedly the largest in the Philippines, this giant siopao is about 4 times bigger than the ordinary Siopao and weighs about a kilo. The average male eater can consume this giant siopao within 15 minutes.

I still have not tasted this giant Siopao, perhaps when I go to Manila someday I will be able to drop by Mandaluyong and try out this insanely huge Siopao. I learned about this giant siopao through Inquirer.net video. Watch this inquirer video on the Giant siopao and see for yourself.

Thanks for subscribing to my feeds. If you are a new user here are the 3 free ebooks as promised. (right click and choose "save target as" to download:

1.) Our very own "Guerilla blogger's strategy and tactics on how to make cash online"
2.) SEO made easy
3.)How to setup wordpress

The free ebook for the month of December 2008 is: Cheescake recipes

What the Gospel is truly about

zigfred — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:32:30 +0000

Years ago while attending a Baptist Youth Congress, I heard that during the conference, a young man was taught what the gospel is all about by a Bible student. After saying the “sinner’s Prayer” the young man was asked by his friends if he was already “saved.” With a look of surprise the young man replied “Saved ?” “Is that what being saved is” To my mind this young man doesn’t have the faintest idea on what the Gospel is truly all about.

Unfortunately this scenario is repeated thousands of times every day even in the most orthodox of evangelical circles. The real message of what the Gospel is truly all about has been watered down to a gospel of “easy-believism.” Today most people when presented with this watered down gospel do not understand the commitment involved when one is explained what the Gospel is all about.

Nevertheless, God has continued to raise men throughout the centuries to stand firm, steadfast and committed to communicating the truth about what the Gospel is as Jesus taught it. Among those men that God used mightily today is Dr. John MacArthur.

In the book “The Gospel according to Jesus” John Macarthur shows how Scripture calls for a rejection of a watered down gospel that has unfortunately gained popularity in today’s evangelical churches. “The Gospel according to Jesus” calls evangelical Christians to return to what the Gospel is as Jesus taught it, as the Apostles has taught it, and as the early church fathers and the reformers preached.

The “Gospel according to Jesus” shows what the Gospel is truly all about. It tackles the erroneous thinking that is so prevalent in churches today that is accepting Christ without acknowledging him to be Lord over one’s own life and claiming to be a “follower” of Christ without truly repenting of one’s sin. John MacArthur shows in this book how Jesus demanded a humble spirit of conditional surrender to his authority which is the essence of what the Gospel is truly all about.

“The Gospel according to Jesus” was first published in 1988. As it did 20 years ago when it was first published, this book on what the Gospel is truly all about caused a controversy among evangelical circles and still continues to do so today. It tackles the issue of “Lordship salvation” and shows in the light of Scriptures that that what the Gospel is truly all about as taught in the Bible and that is none other but “Lordship salvation.” One cannot truly be saved without acknowledging that Jesus is both his LORD and Saviour. No other Scripture encapsulates this one fundamental truth about what the Gospel is all about than the words of our Saviour himself when he said “He who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me” (Mathew 10:38)

I received my revised and expanded 20th anniversary edition of “The Gospel according to Jesus” from Grace to you sometime last month. I finished reading exactly on the first day of this year (2009) while I was spending New Year with my wife’s family in San Carlos City Negros Oriental. As with my other John MacArthur books I gave my copy of the “Gospel according to Jesus” to my father-in-law, Pastor Eddie Gerodias, Senior pastor of the Bible Baptist Church of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Philippines.

What a great way to start the New Year! Once again I had been reminded what the Gospel is truly all about. While salvation is by grace and faith alone, our good works is a subjective assurance that we are truly “saved”. This is affirmed by the apostle Paul when he wrote about this in Romans 15:4 that “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction that THROUGH PERSEVEARNCE and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”

Finally let me close this short book review about this fantastic book with a quote from the best known preacher of the 1800s, the Prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon who has this to say on what the Gospel is truly about “Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in A REAL CHANGE OF LIFE. If the man does not life differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance need to be repented of and his conversion is a fiction. Not only action and language, BUT SPIRIT AND TEMPER MUST CHANGE. . . There must be a harmony between the life and the profession. A Christian professes to renounce sin; and if he does not do so, his very name is an imposture. . . ” (Capitalized to emphasized major points)

Know what the Gospel is truly all about. Grab a copy of “The Gospel according to Jesus” by John MacArthur at my Guerilla blogger eStore today !

A trip to the Summer Capital of the Philippines

zigfred — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:35:22 +0000

Baguio City is located in Northern Luzon and is situated at 1500 meters (5100 ft) above sea level. Baguio City is best well known for its cool climate. It was established by the Americans in 1900 as a getaway from the scorching tropical climate from the rest of the country. Baguio City is officially designated as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines” in June 1903.

My wife Zenith together with his friend Chang had to attend a National Social worker’s convention in the Baguio City last Wednesday, November 19, 2008. I tagged along at my wife’s request. I also wanted to visit Baguio City considering that the last time I visited it was way back in 1995. So it has been 13 years that I have not seen the cool and beautiful Baguio City. Also, I’ve always loved the culture in Northern Luzon. The Filipino tribes in that area have preserved so much of their culture. Baguio City is also considered a center for the indigenous Filipino culture of the Cordillera area.

We took the early morning flight from Cebu to Manila and arrived at around 8 a.m. We then grabbed a cab and proceeded to the Victory bus terminal which will take us to the Summer Capital. The bus left Pasay City at around 10 a.m. It will be the beginning of a long 6+ hours boring journey. To amuse myself I juggled my time between writing blogposts with my Asus eepc, reading the book “Warren Buffett and the interpretation of financial statements by Mary Buffett and David Clark and watching the onboard movie.

We made several stops to go for rest room purposes and to grab some chow. Finally we started to ascend to Baguio City. After an hour in the long winding road we finally made it to Baguio City !

We arrived at the Victory Bus terminal at Baguio City at almost 6 p.m. Our first order of business was to go to the Hotel Supreme in order that my wife and Chang could register for the convention. We grabbed a cab and headed straight for the Hotel Supreme.

Baguio Cityl was not what it used to be. Back in 1995, there were only a few developments in the area. The weather was nice and cool and traffic was unknown to most Baguio resident.

Now people, buildings and houses are everywhere! The weather is not as cool as it used to be and the traffic is unbearable especially in the rush hours. What’s worst about it is that the taxis still do not use air-conditioning because the weather is still somewhat cool. So vehicles still open their windows to let the cool fresh air in. However what you mostly inhale is the carbon monoxide from the other vehicles especially when you are stuck in traffic.

Nevertheless Baguio City has not lost its appeal. The weather is still cooler than your average Philippine city. The sceneries and the ambience of the place have not lost its magic even if it’s warmer and is crowded than before.

After registering at the Hotel Supreme we then took a jeepney to our Hotel. We checked in at the Raja Soliman Hotel which has a “magnificent view” of the over-crowded Quirino Hill.

At about 8 p.m. we went out and had dinner at the Café by the Ruins. They say this is a “must” see and dine place if ever you visit Baguio city. Café by the Ruins is literally built on upon the ruins of the mansion of the former American governor of the Summer Capital. A wall which is the part of the mansion still forms part of the Café. Café by the Ruins offers food, drinks and pastries that are “indigenous” to Benguet and the Cordillera Region. We had Camote bread with Honey, strawberry jam and butter. (I never knew camote could be this tasteful!)

For our main course my wife had fresh lumpia while I had “pinikpikan” which is a a native Ifugao dish prepared by beating a live chicken with a stick before cooking. The beating bruises the chicken’s flesh resulting to bringing its blood to its surface. This ritual is what gives this dish its unique taste.

After a sumptuous dinner we walked to the city center and up Session road to have coffee at Star Bucks in SM City Baguio. We were also scouting for a hotel where we could transfer to. We wanted to change hotels for two reasons. First we wanted to be in walking distance of the City center and secondly we were not very happy with accommodations of Rajah Soliman Hotel. After enjoying our coffee, we decided to call it a day so we grabbed a cab and went home.

The next day, Thursday, my wife and Chang woke up early and went to their convention. I enjoyed the cool nice breeze and slept until 9 a.m. Then I woke up and went to have breakfast and to canvass some more hotels. I’ve always wanted to be somewhere in Session road because that is where the action is. Finally I found a cheap but nice hotel just at the tip of Session road near Burnham park and Baguio City market, the La Brea hotel. I wasted no time in getting a room. I went back to Rajah Soliman, checked out, grabbed our gear and deposited it at La Brea.

I had brunch at the Zola Café in session road then I proceeded to check out the Museums in the area. I learned that Baguio cityl has three museums.

My first stop was the Baguio-Mountain provinces Museum. I was informed that the museum will be open at 2 p.m. so I decided to check out another museum, the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Museum. Aguinaldo’s daughter Cristina Suntay once lived in Baguio City. That is why there is an Aguinaldo Museum in Baguio housing some of Aguinaldo’s memorabilia and the historic Philippine flag that was unfurled during the Philippine Proclamation of independence in Cavite.

Unfortunately the attendant of the Aguinaldo Museum was not around. The gardeners informed me that they do not know when the attendant will be back.

I went back to the Baguio-Mountain provinces Museum. I regret to inform you that I cannot show you some pictures because picture and video taking is not allowed in the museum.

The three story museum showcases the rich culture, traditions and artifacts of the tribes of Northern Luzon most particularly the tribes in the Cordillera Region and Benguet. There were three things that caught my attention. First is the mummification process. I was surprised to learn that the Igorots (aside from the ancient Egyptians) were the first among the ancient cultures that practiced mummification. The second thing that caught my attention was the fact that the Kalingas of Kalinga Appayo were said to be more “well dressed” (heavily-ornamented) among all the tribes of the Philippines. (I stayed in the mountains of Kalinga Appayo for 5 days several years ago for a medical mission) Thirdly, that there are several tribes in Northern Luzon and that the tribal people of the Philippine represent about 5 % of our population. Among these tribes the most scattered tribe are the Negritos which are found almost everywhere from Luzon Visayas and Mindanao. I want to study in-depth these Filipino tribes and get to learn more about their culture perhaps I will do this when I retire in the near future.

There are also several showcases on how Baguio City was founded featuring the history of Baguio City through old blown up photographs of the past.

After the rich cultural tour, I decided to go to the SM City to relax by watching a movie. Ichose to watch the tagalong film “One True love” as it is the only movie I haven’t watched among all those featured in SM cinema. Before the movie started I took pictures of Baguio City.

After enjoying the film, I decided to try out the Cordillera Café in SM. The Cordillera Café offers unique coffee flavors and food from the Cordillera area. Unlike Star Bucks, they offer free WIFI. So I surfed the internet and enjoyed my coffee. After a while my wife called in and told me that I should meet them at Palizzata.

Palizzata is a nice little restaurant with a great view of Session Road. We ordered salads and pizza. After satisfying our gastronomic cravings we walked back to the hotel. At around 10 p.m. my wife’s aunt, Helen Mecarsos Naces and my wife’s cousins, JR and Ann dropped by the hotel. We chatted and talked for a while. They said they would pick us up to invite us to dinner on Friday night.

Friday morning came and my wife and Chang went to their convention. I spent my morning watching the History Channel and trying to get a WIFI signal from the McDonalds across the street. Later on I went out and ate pancit palabok at a Filipino restaurant just beside Session road. At around 3 p.m. my wife told me to go the Hotel Supreme as we will be visiting the Strawberry farm in La Trinidad Benguet, just the next town from the Baguio city which is about a 15 to 20 minutes ride.

The Strawberry farm features several goods that are made of strawberry. We tried their strawberry “Taho” a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft tofu, brown sugar, vanilla syrup and pearl sago and of course some strawberries. We also tried their straw berry ice cream.

And who could ever claim that they went to Baguio City without buying the world famous strawberry jam? So we bought a box. We also had some strawberry wine. I was tempted to buy strawberry vinegar but I didn’t and I still beat myself today for not having bought some. We also bought other delicacies that are not strawberry based but were nevertheless unique to the region. My wife and Chang were fascinated on how cheap the silver jewelries were. I told them Benguet is also known for its mining industry which explains why silver is cheap. So they bought some silver jewelry.

We caught the taxi back to the hotel and since we still have time before my wife’s aunt Helen will pick us up, we visited the famous Burnham Park.

The world famous Burnham Park which is in the center of Baguio City was named in honor of Daniel Hudson Burnham who was a famous American architect and urban planner. Burnham was also the one responsible for designing Baguio City. The park has a man made lake which features a boat ride. You can also rent out bicycles or go roller skating. Unfortunately there is no horse back riding so there is no use for my equestrian riding apparel.

I went around the park trying to find some wood carvings to take home with me. I couldn’t find any. I remembered that there were some at SM City so I hiked all they way up to SM City. This is the thing I love about Baguio Cityl; you get to exercise a lot when walking around because of the steep terrain.

At SM I bought some wood carvings of Ifugao warriors. The ladies (2 of them Ifugaos) who were watching the booth told me that they sell wood carvings much cheaper than those sold in the Baguio City Market. I beat myself up on why I haven’t tried the Baguio City market when it was just a stone’s throw away from our hotel room. So before I went back to the hotel I tried the Baguio City Market and bought two wood carvings there.

At about 8 p.m. my wife’s aunt and her cousins picked us up at the hotel. Their house was about 20 to 30 minutes from the main city proper. We had dinner at their place and spent the night walking around their village and talking. Afterwards they dropped us off at the hotel.

We grabbed our gear and then proceed to the Victory Liner terminal where we grabbed the 12:40 a.m bus to Metro Manila. It was a horrible 6 hours journey. We were so tired and we wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed but we have to be contented with what the bus has to offer. We made only 1 stop since it was dawn and most people were asleep. Finally at around 6 a.m plus we arrived at the Victory bus terminal at Pasay City. We checked in at the nearby Kabayan Hotel and slept soundly until the afternoon. I had to go out and drop by our Lex Pareto Notes publisher to sign close to 2000 copies of the Lex Pareto Notes. My wife and Chang went to the Manila Ocean Park.

We agreed to meet at Star City in the evening. My wife and Chang wanted to try out Snow World so I went along even if I had already been to the place. We tried our luck by trying out the games that offered huge stuff toys as prizes. Unfortunately we never won any. We had coffee at Starbucks and then decided to call it a night.

The next day will be our flight back to Cebu. But before flying back, my wife and Chang went to Baclaran to shop for clothes. Afterwards we visited the Mall of Asia and bought some toys for our son Zed. I also bought some more Warren Buffett Books.

Our trip to Baguio City had truly been a well deserved break from the day to day office-home-work-church routine that I religiously followed. When I visited Baguio City in 1995 I always dreamed of living there. But now that it is so congested I do not know if I still want to live there. However I remain fascinated and long to immerse myself with the cultures of the tribes in northern Luzon. Perhaps I might spend a longer time there in the future. For now a side trip every now and then to the Summer Capital might offer some respite.

My Christmas wish list for December 2008

zigfred — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:18:25 +0000

I had only one item on my Christmas wish list last December 2007 and you can read it at my post entitled “One of the gifts I hope I will get for Christmas”

That item in my Christmas wish list last year came true. So I am posting a Christmas wish list for this year again, I hope it will become true hehehehehe

For this year, I also have one item on my Christmas wish list. Perhaps my Christmas wish list might also give you an idea on what to give this Christmas to your loved one.

The only item on my Christmas wish list this year is an ebook reader.

People who know me quite well will not be surprised why this is the only item on my Christmas wish list. I am such a voracious reader. I could finish off 2 to 3 books a month aside from my regular daily reading in my work. An ebook reader would help me save on books since it is a lot cheaper to purchase then printed books for obvious reasons. Some say it is also environmentally friendly; others might however disagree with this point. An ebook reader lets me obtain the latest title immediately. It also allows me to bring several book titles conveniently. Two of the most popular ones are the Amazon Kindle and the Sony ebook reader.

Some people say that they would rather have a sub-notebook laptop since it is about the same price as an ebook reader. I would like to point that a laptop, no matter how small will never have the “printed-book-like” experience of an ebook reader. Besides who has ever heard of somebody trying to read an ebook on his laptop while lying in bed before going to sleep ?

There are several blogs out there that gives a comprehensive detail on the pros and cons of each device. This short but concise comparison from blog.wired.com might give you an idea:

You might have a used Kindle or a Sony ebook reader that you don’t want to use anymore or one that you might have never used. Perhaps you might consider giving it to me. Hehehehehe . . . I promise you that I will put it to good use.

You might want to buy me a new one or perhaps you may want to purchase one to give to a loved one. Why don’t you purchase an Amazon Kindle or a Sony ebook reader in my Guerilla Blogger estore.

For more on the Amazon Kindle watch this video:

For more on the Sony ebook reader watch this video:

Be my Santa today and tick off this item from my Christmas wish list! hohohohoho Merry Christmas !

Nostradamus 2009 socio-economic-political prediction

zigfred — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:42:56 +0000

A brilliant stock market analyst and economist found a Nostradamus 2009 prediction hidden in the top of Nostradamus pajamas. He claims he had a hard time translating the Nostradamus 2009 prediction from medieval French.

The Nostradamus 2009 prediction was amazingly accurate. I was surprised how Nostradamus was very good in rhyming the words of the Nostradamus 2009 prediction.

The Nostradamus 2009 prediction includes the catastrophes that hit us in 2008 and furthers gives us a glimpse of what 2010 holds.

Here is the Nostradamus 2009 prediction:

“For the year two thousand eight, it will be too bad to contemplate.
It will start with a deep recession that will become a great depression.
A million people will lose their dwelling and unemployment will be swelling.
House prices will keep declining but there will be no silver lining.
And President Bush whose sheer inertia gets him booted out of Persia.
A bearded one named Ben Bernanke will regulate the hanky panky.
He will become a national hero for cutting rates almost to zero.
Two thousand and nine will not pay the mortgages but Fannie Mae.
Presses print trillions of dollars till creditors begin to holler.
Funny money is not good to hold so everything is buying gold.
Two thousand and ten will end the drama as we recover with Obama.”

Click here for some more Nostradamus 2009 predictions.

Note: The Nostradamus 2009 prediction was translated by Ron Nathan one of my favorite stock market columnist in the Philippine daily inquirer. For more funny, witty and insightful anecdotes, quips and views on the stock market and economics and perhaps some more Nostradamus 2009 prediction and prophecies check out the business section of www.inquirer.net.

Follow Warren Buffett’s signal on when to buy stocks – Part 1

zigfred — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:01:18 +0000

Warren Buffett is undoubtedly the world’s best investor. Aside from his excellent ability to analyze a company’s fundamentals, he is also very good in knowing when to buy stocks and when to sell it.

While knowing when to sell is quite tricky, knowing when to buy stocks the Warren Buffett way is easy.

The ideal on when to buy stocks is to “Buy low and sell high.” Ironically most people only pay lip service to this fundamental principle on when to buy stocks because what most are doing is exactly the other way around.

For example in 2007 people were asking the “experts” when to buy stocks. The “experts” said “now” in order not to be left behind. The Philippine stock index (PSEi) was at 3800 points (from a mere 1000+ points)

The “experts” at that time were saying that it will reach 4400 points. At 3000 points, people want a slice of the action so they jumped into the band wagon and bought when stocks were at its all time high. The PSEi eventually reached 3800 points but never went beyond that. It slid down back to the 1800 where we are now.

Now what happened to those people who bought when the PSEi was at 3800? Of course they incurred massive losses (on paper though) when stock prices dropped. In order to “minimize” their losses they jettisoned their shares immediately fearing that share prices might continue to slide further down.

This is what I meant by people “buying high and selling low” instead of the other way around. (Life lesson: stop asking the “experts” when to buy stocks. Make the judgment yourself!)

When the bear market comes along and excellent buying opportunities present themselves people who bought high did not have the money to buy anymore. They did not bother to ask “when to buy stocks “since most of them got burned by getting out to “minimize” losses or they are still holding on to their investments believing that it will somehow go back to a higher price when they first bought it.

Warren Buffett gives these words of wisdom on when to buy stocks, “Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can can’t buy what is popular and do well”

So how do we know when to buy stocks? Find out more in the next post as we follow Warren Buffett’s signal on when to buy stocks!

Want more on when to buy stocks? Knock on the door hardware and check out cheap Warren Buffett books at my Guerilla blogger eStore in order to learn more when to buy stocks.

Applying value investing in the Philippine stock market

zigfred — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:25:00 +0000

Ever since I started reading Warren Buffett books more than 3 months ago, I had been hooked on value investing. I bought all the value investing books I could get my hands on. Perhpas I should consider taking some diet pill to stave of my hunger for value investing books. hehehehe

I wrote about my value investing book purchases in the post entitled “How Warren Buffett made me poor” and “I’ve got the latest Warren Buffett book!” Recently, I read some Benjamin Graham books. Benjamin Graham is Warren Buffett’s mentor and is considered the “Father” of value investing.

“Value investing” according to Wikipedia “involves buying securities whose shares appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis” Graham refers to value investing as buying an item worth $1.00 for half the price. The definition of “Value investing” has evolved throughout the years and has been refined by Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett is said to have a consistent above 20 % return per annum for the past 40 years because of the application of value investing in his investment strategy.

I will deal with value investing in detail in future posts. In the meantime I would like to show you how value investing applies in the Philippine stock market.

I teach Business law class at the Cebu Institute of technology department of Industrial engineering. Since one of our topics involves the corporation code, I always insert a tidbits of value investing ideas to my students. I believe they can appreciate the corporation code more if they have a picture on how real corporations work in the real world. In order to do this, I expose them to annual reports and financial statements.

I showed to my class how applying the principles of value investing can produce an almost “Buffett” like return in the Philippine stock market. Consider this:

GLOBE TELECOMS (GLO)

Globe Telecoms is a telecommunications company in the Philippines.

In the early 1990s it has positioned itself as one of the pioneer companies which introduced the more advance GSM technology during that time into the Philippines. With the introduction of text messaging the Philippines was poised to be the “text mesaging” capital of the world. This spells fat profits for mobile phone companies.

In 1997 GLO stocks sold for P 152.00 per share. Ten years later, in the bull market of 2007, the stock sold for P 1,700.00.

If you do the math this adds up to 27.31% annual compounded return. This means that if you bought 10 shares of GLO for P 1,520.00 in 1997 (P 152 per share x 10) and sold them in 2007 for P 17,000.00 (1700 per share x 10) it would spell for you a profit of P 15,480.00.

What if you bought 1000 shares of Globe in 1997? Do the math in you will be shocked what value investing can do for you.

JOLLIBEE FOODS CORPORATION (JFC)

Jollibee Foods corporation is a fast food company that started as a small ice cream parlor in the 1970s. Today, there are more than 1600 Jollibee stores in the country. JFC has recently expanded operations to 9 other countries. Its brands now include Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Yonge King, Delifrance, Chun Shui Tang and Manong Pepe.

In 2001 JFC stocks sold for P 12.50 per share. Six years later, in the bull market of 2007 the stock sold for P 52.00 per share.

The annual compounded rate of return in six years time is 26.82 %. This means that if you bought 100 shares of JFC for P1,250.00 (P 12.50 per share x 100) in 1997 and sold them in 2007 for P5,200.00 (52.00 per share x 100) it would give you a profit of P 3,950.00.

What if you bought 1000 shares of JFC in 1997? Do the math and let value investing run your imagination wild!

MEGAWORLD CORPORATION (MEG)

Megaworld corporation is the Philippines second largest real estate corporation and is considered as the Number one condominium developer in the Philippines They are also considered as a major innovator in the real estate market with the introduction of the “Live, learn, work and play” concept. Currently its business operations include developing and marketing residential, office and commercial spaces and the operation of hotels.

In 1997 the market priced MEG stock at only P.43 per share despite its having a book value of P 1.587 per share. The Asia financial crisis has severely affected the property sector during that time. Ten years later, in the bull market of 2007 the stock sold for P 4.25 per share. This means a 25.75% annual compounded return in 10 years time.

So if you bought 10,000 shares of MEG for P 4,300.00 in 1997, (P .43 per share x 10,000) and sold them in 2007 for P 42,500.00 (P 4.25 per share x 10,000) you would have enjoyed a profit of P 38,200.00.

Just imagine if you had bought 100,000 shares of MEG in 1997! Value investing is definitely something worth to look at!

A word of caution, just because I have presented these stocks, does not mean that I am already recommending you to buy them right away. Make sure you do the proper fundamental analysis by applying value investing methods before you make a decision to buy. Remember this fundamental principle in value investing “The price you pay always determines your rate of return.” Continue to visit this blog for more post on value investing. In the meantime why don’t you check out some value investing books in my Guerilla blogger estore. Click here for some cheap books on value investing.

Manny“Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya youtube video and live streaming

zigfred — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:22:08 +0000

Finally, the fight we all have been waiting for and dreaming about is coming on Saturday, November 6, 2008 (Sunday in the Philippines) when Manny“Pacman” Pacquiao trades fists with Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya !

The delayed telecast will be broadcasted in the Philippine local channel, GMA 7. However I am sure that people will be all over the internet looking for the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya youtube video and live streaming

So will experience and size overcome speed and sheer force? Oscar “Golden Boy” Dela Hoya will try to prove to the world that the former will prove to be an asset than the latter while Manny“Pacman” Pacquiao will try to prove otherwise.

For some it is a mismatch. Others say that Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao should wake up from his dream of beating Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya. Their advice to Jinky (Manny’s wife) is found in Kenny Roger’s song “Don’t fall in love with a dreamer. On the other hand Freddy Roach is telling the world that Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will send Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya into dream land via knock out. (Perhaps De la Hoya should wear and adult diapers while he is sleeping, he might piss all over his bed because of possible nightmares before the fight ? hehehehe)

Dubbed as “The Dream Match” this non-titled fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya is rightly called as such. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya is the more experienced fighter having a very impressive 40-4-0. A golden medal Olympian, De la Hoya boast of seventeen world championships and has won ten world titles in six different weight classes.

On the other hand the statistics of Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will also make those betting on De la Hoya think twice about their bet. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has an equally impressive 47-3-0 record. Dubbed currently as Ring Magazine’s world’s greatest pound for fighter, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is the first Filipino and Asian boxer to win four world titles in different weight divisions. Names for this living boxing legend have piled up. He has been called “The Mexicutioner” for consistently winning over Mexican opponents, Kid Dynamite, The Destroyer, People’s Champ and locally known also as Pambansang Kamao (”National Fist”) for bringing into the international scene Philippine boxing once again.

With these fighters having such impressive credentials, surely this is the fight of all fights and rightly called so as “The Dream Match” Tickets sold out after they went on sale making the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya fight the second largest gate revenue fight in boxing history.

I will be featuring the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya youtube video here after the fight.

Update: Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao wins on the 8th round via TKO ! Mabuhay ang ating pambansang kamao !!!

Finally here is the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Oscar “Golden Boy” De la Hoya youtube video drop me a comment if the video does not work.

Too much politics killed Andres Bonifacio

zigfred — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:52:28 +0000

Yesterday, November 30 we celebrated the birthday of one of our Philippine heroes, Andres Bonifacio. However the holiday was moved to today, December 1 by virtue of the President’s “Holiday economics.”

Andres Bonifacio is dubbed as the “Father of the Philippine Revolution.” He was one of the main leaders in the Filipino revolution against Spanish rule. Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, an organization whose purposes were to defend the poor and the oppressed, promote good morals and to liberate the Philippines from Spanish rule through taking up arms.

Usually, a public holiday is declared to celebrate the death of a hero. However in the case of Andres Bonifacio, it his birth that is being declared a public holiday and not his death. The reason for such is because unlike other heroes who died in the hands of the enemy, Andres Bonifacio died in the hands of his fellow country men.

Some historians contend that the death of Andres Bonifacio was a result of the classic “rich versus poor” struggle as represented between the struggle by the champion of the masses, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo who represented the bourgeois or upper class.

I for one do not believe that it is the classic “rich versus poor” power struggle. However I do believe that too much politics is what led to the execution of Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio.

Too much politics caused Andres Bonifacio to loose his place in the revolutionary government. Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of the revolutionary government and the “El Supremo” (The Supreme leader) of the Katipunan was elected as director of the interior. However, Andres Bonifacio’s position as secretary of the interior was questioned because according to a fellow Katipunero, Daniel Tirona such position should be occupied by a lawyer and since Andres Bonifacio is not a lawyer then he is not capable to perform the duties of director of the interior.

Andres Bonifacio was furious and insulted by such remarks considering that the only rules agreed upon was the vote of the majority and that no other special qualifications were agreed to be required for such post. For such reasons Andres Bonifacio declared the proceedings null and void. From that time Andres Bonifacio did not coordinate with Aguinaldo’s revolutionary government.

For such actions, Andres Bonifacio was accused of treason against the revolutionary government. Andres Bonifacio was tried and sentenced to death. President Aguinaldo commuted the sentence to banishment but somehow such order was not carried out and Andres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio were executed instead. Some historians believe that Aguinaldo was pressured to change the order back to execution on the advice that if Andres Bonifacio was allowed to alive, he will cause division in the revolutionary government. Too much politics has again done what it does best.

Too much politics causes people to engage in political intrigues, take advantage of situations, exploit the system, compromise principles and resort to partisan politics rather than take a certain stand on the issues.

Until today too much politics has continued to ravage and destroy our society. It has caused those in the office of the Ombudsman to delay or even dismiss the cases of corrupt government officials just because they are close to the president. It has caused judges and justices to decide in favor of those who wield the greater political power. It has caused law enforcers not to arrest those who have friends in high places, and it is the reason why people with questionable character and conduct gets appointed even to positions that are considered as hallowed.

The dream of a building a “just and human society” died with Andres Bonifacio in Mount Nagpatong in Maragondon, Cavite where he was executed. Too much politics kills and continues to kill the Filipino people as it had killed Andres Bonifacio.

Want more on Andres Bonifacio ? Purchase books on Andres Bonifacio at my Guerilla blogger estore.

(Andres Bonifacio picture courtesy of Wikipedia)

The financial script of life

zigfred — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:24:53 +0000

Have you ever tried seeing a movie by watching the ending first and working your way backwards to the beginning? Sounds weird hugh? But that is exactly what we will be doing now. For most people, sadly their financial script of life ends with the words “Bankrupt” instead of “. . . .and they lived happily ever after” that is, they end up relying on their little social security pension or worse rely on their children to take care of them .

So how does an educated middle income individual end up with the words “bankruptcy” written at the end of his script of life? Watch this youtube video on the financial script of life. After the video on the financial script of life, there are other informative videos as well such as the effect of interest rate, the difference between an asset and liability and the types of investor.

This youtube video on the financial script of life is courtesy of the International Marketing group (IMG) of which I am a member of. Although I am not a very active member, I still appreciate the financial lessons that I have learned from IMG.

Looking back at my script of life 3 years ago, I sure was headed on having the words “Bankrupt” written at the end of my script of life. We had almost half a million in credit card debt, virtually with very little investment, and very little assets. Although we have a “small business franchise” (not really its a small-medium scale size business) and I have several insurance policies taken by my parents, I have nothing to claim as something of my own.

A friend asked me to join IMG. I was reluctant because the marketing strategy was patterned after multi-level marketing. After several prodding, I hesitantly went to a meeting and received a wake-up call to revise my script of life. I listened to the speaker attentively and realized how important financial education is. I really wondered why this stuff is not being taught in schools. No wonder the average middle class educated person ends his script of life with a very unpleasant ending.

I attended more financial management seminars, read financial management books and subscribed to a finance magazine. I didn’t want to end my script of life to read “bankrupt.”

Wanting to change our script of life, we worked our way and finally paid off 80 % of our credit card debt through applying principles we learned. Now by God’s grace we have more investments than debt and we have managed our finances quite well.

So what about you? Do you want to end your script of life with the a big “B” or do you want to change your financial script of life to one with a happy ending ?

Happiness in life may not be all about having lots of money, but it is always so much better to be happy while having money at the same time.

Take time now to learn how to revise your financial script in life. Read more about how to wisely handle your finances. You might want to get some cheap books on personal finance in my Guerilla blogging estore. It’s powered by Amazon so shop with confidence and ease. Perhaps some articles in my financial management and investments category might also be of help. Stay tuned and learn more on how to put a happy ending in your financial script of life.