Manicure, Pedicure anyone?

Some people find going to the beauty salon, get a foot spa, manicure or pedicure, very relaxing. Although getting any of these would eat up a lot of time (at least one and a half hours), but having these would 'force' your brain cells and body muscles to relax and get ones self recharged.

When in Bohol one can enjoy these little pleasures at some beauty salons which offer professional and friendly services.These salons can be found at the Island City Mall (David's Salon) and BQ Mall (David Salon and some others).

However, my favorite shops are the one infront of Bohol Institute of Technology - IC for my pedicure, manicure and foot spa. For my hair, Melan at Meg's Beauty Salon at the Courtyard along Airport Road in Tagbilaran City.

How much does these cost? For foot spa, prices range from P180 - P250 for a 30 minute pampering of the feet. For pedicure, P60-P80 and manicure also at the same price. You can choose to have your nails painted with the color of your choice or just have them coated with colorless substance. For hair trim/cut, it's P90 - P110 with shampoo and blower. Hair color/dye is about P250-350. Color streaks - P350. Hair Spa (which is also highly recommended) P350.

You also deserve some pampering sometimes. Kick your shoes off, toss your hair and relax. Enjoy life!

Court Experience

Have you been to a court hearing? I have. The first time I attended a court hearing was about four years ago. It was not a very pleasant experience though. It was me and my husband who were the complainants, however.

Yesterday, I was in a court hearing again, this time as a petitioner. I had to file a petition in court for a re-issuance of another copy of a Transfer Certificate of Title to replace a lost one. I was with one of the best lawyers in Bohol. My Dad, of course.

Our case was assigned as the third case to be presented so I had the chance to 'witness' the court proceedings of the two cases ahead of mine.

The first was a rape case. When the case was called, I noticed a woman sitting beside me stood up (when names were called) and the accused, wearing an orange BDRC (Bohol Detention & Rehabilitation Center) t-shirt also stood in and approached in the witness stand. The clerk of court read before the accused, who pleaded guilty to the charge, his sentence of at least 4 years, 2 months and 1 day to 6 years.

While the sentence was being read, I was looking around to check who could be the rape victim. I was so surprised when I discovered that the poor old lady (she looked very old to me) sitting beside me was the rape victim! And I started to feel angry.Why? because how can this guy be just sent to stay inside the jail for a few years after he raped a lady old to be his grandmother! He deserved to get a death penalty or at least a life sentence!

I asked the old lady how come she agreed to that arrangement and how come she didn't ask to be paid for damages. She told me that she didn't know that she cahas the right to ask for money for damages, in addition the imprisonment of the evil guy. All she said is that it was her lawyer's suggestion. For me, she got victimized again. And that is so sad.

The 2nd case was about a dispute of land use. It was a sad thing to hear about disputes like this. Co-heirs fighting over the use of land left by ancestors. The subject of the conflict was only harvesting of coconuts and few coconut trees.

It is really so sad to hear about situations like this too. Why can't these co-heirs settle things among themselves and share their blessings.

Oh well, no matter how harsh matters may situations appear to others, that is how law is all about. Each one deserves his own right and his right to be heared in court too.

Academic Upgrade

For me, having graudated BSC-Accountancy and being a CPA by profession is never enough. Specially that I am involved in the educational sevice industry, I need to upgrade my academic qualification too. And aside from that, upgrading ones academic level gives me a different level of personal satisfaction.

I graduated college at the age of 18. After finishing my 6-month CPA review and after taking the board exams, I went right-away to pursue further studies, to get an MBA degree My MBA classmates at one of the top universities in Manila would ask me "are you a genius?" and of course, I replied "I don't think I am.. Why?". "Because you are only 19 and you are already taking masteral studies". Well, it just so happen that I started school very early. Grade 1 at the age of 5 and finishing college in only three years and one semester at the age of 18. In our family though, it's not a surprise for starting school so young and very early.

However, my dream to get an MBA degree was only realized 17 years after I first enrolled MBA. Delayed but no regrets though. I wasn't able to finish it at the Manila university, however I instead graduated MSBA at the University of Bohol in 2002. My thesis was "Promoting Bohol Through the Internet: A Marketing Plan".

See? even my masteral thesis was already into what I enjoy doing now - promoting my beloved Bohol through the Internet.

But earning a masteral degree is not enough. I still feel the urge to upgrade academically. So last June, 2006, I enrolled myself to pursue a degree in Doctor in Business Adminstration at one of the universities in Cebu City. I am now on my 3rd trimester and 3 more to go. I am enjoying every bit of my doctoral studies and I am already excited of working on my dessertation soon.

Tabu

"Tabu" is the bisayan word for market day. This is the time when farmers come to the city, bring their fresh produce and sell them at the local market.

Last week, I was lucky to find time to go to the market early in the morning and feel the 'tabu' scenery at the market again. It has been quite sometime already that I have not gone to a 'tabu'.

For me and my husband, it's always a pleasure to be able to do the marketing for fresh vegetables, fruits and seafoods ourselves. But coming to a 'tabu' is more interesting becuase we get to buy vegetables grown organically which are of course safer to cook and eat. On this particular 'tabu' trip, I bought 'camote', okra, ginger, squash, onions, eggplants, petchay, sayote, patola and a lot more.

I also bought four kilos of fresh carrots because we always stock-up with these. My husband loves to drink fresh carrot juice which we prepare ourselves at home using a juice-maker machine. And although I don't use tomatoes often in my cookings, I was tempted to buy a kilo of fresh tomatoes for they looked so appealing.

Next Tuesday or Friday (the market days in Tagbilaran City) I hope me and my husband can go to the market to wade in the 'tabu' again.

LifeStyle Bohol

On February 18, 2007, I was happy and proud to be part of the launching of the official website of LifeStyle Bohol. Of course, I need to be there because I am the sponsoring partner of the said website.

The launching coincided with the celebration of LifeStyle Bohol, the lifestyle section of the Bohol Chronicle, in its 3rd year anniversary. Yes, LifeStyle Bohol is now on its 3rd year of providing information on a lot of interesting things to read about Bohol, aside from the usual news items.

Dance presentations and a beautiful song number rendered by my cousin Vida May Tirol with her boyfriend was also in place during the said launching at the Island City Mall. Snacks of my favorite corn muffins and squash muffins with mango iced-tea followed at The Buzzz Cafe.

The website, which is still under a continuous upgrading, contains the following sections : Trends, Stings from the Wild, Dining, Arts/Culture, Island Blend, Destination, People, Treks, & Advocacy. Pretty soon, more articles in each section will be published.

Outsourcing

I was reading a Cebu newspaper yesterday and browsed at the classified ads section and I couldn't help but notice the ads for job openings at call centers, export processing zones, business process outsourcing services , tech companies and others.

Seeing all those made me realize that Bohol is still far behind from Cebu when it comes into providing employment opportunities. That is no wonder why a lot of graduates from the local colleges and universities go to Cebu or Manila to hunt for jobs.

But nevertheless, Bohol still has its own role in the employment scene. Bohol also contributes in providing the human resource needs of industries in Cebu , Manila, other provinces.

Some months ago, I was able to attend a briefing on the possibility of a call center set-up in Bohol. Infact there were more than two meetings conducted, participated in by the adminstrators of the local schools (for the human resource supply), DTI local government officials, and local businessmen. However, until now, no call center is put-up in Bohol yet. I really don't know what is still lacking that Bohol cannot yet host this oursourcing facility.

I have checked websites of a few companies providing business process outsourcing services and I noticed that the people that they need to work in their companies are readily avaiable in Bohol. Local colleges and university produce them.

I do look forward to seeing Bohol also getting a big share of the outsourcing industry.

Election Fever

The election fever has started to contaminate the scene in Bohol. National candidates has started coming in to Bohol to campaign and sell themselves to the Boholanos. Tol Defensor was already here. His campaign poster is seen everywhere. He was at our school the other Saturday, but I missed to meet/see him.

And of course, not to be missed mentioning if our fellow Boholano - Cesar Montano, who is trying his bid for a senate seat. I admire Cesar for his being vocal and proud that he is a Boholano. I wish him good luck though. A Bohol newspaper came out with an editorial about Cesar Montano.

I noticed that recently, there has been private planes flying into Tagbilaran City too. Maybe they brought in those politicians who wants to woo the Boholano votes. But it's still very far from the election date and the election fever hasn't reached it highest temperature yet.

In the local scene, I heard from my dad that the administration ticket has already completed their candidate line-up, except for mayor for two municipalities.

I have been exposed to this campaign fever since I gained consiousness into this world. Things like this is no longer strange to me and it has been part of my life, with my family. The 2007 election will just be another chapter. This would mean getting involved in the campaign trail for my mom who is seeking re-election for Bohol provincial board member of the second district. I promised myself that this time, I will not tie myself to be a home-based campaign coordinator but instead a field-campaigner. I want to be with my mom as much as possible so I will also experience more on the field campaign. Who knows? Someday, I might be going out to campaign for my own candidacy.