Free Movies? Why Not?

It's been a while since I signed up as a Regal Crown club member for Regal Cinemas. It was all worth it because I am now reaping the rewards! I have claimed several free movies already, and sometimes, I can get a free soda or a free pop corn for every movie visit...not bad!

My husband doesn't have one, so that when there is a free movie ticket available, we get to only pay one regular ticket price for one, which is not quite bad. A regular movie is 7 bucks each, unlike when it's a 3D movie, we pay like 9 bucks each. Free movie tickets are not valid for 3D movies though, and there are times that it will take time for me to use the free movie ticket for a regular movie, like if the movie has been going on for 3 weeks or more. 

I still love freebies no matter what..who doesn't?

Go Car Tours Epic Fail!

So, yesterday (july 7th, '13) we started early going SF for our scheduled GoCar Tours at their kiosk in Union Square. We were coming from Oakland, and it would take 20 minutes to get there as per GPS. We were not sure of the traffic situation so we decided to go there early.

We are scheduled to pick up our Go Car at 10AM, and we reached the area 30 minutes early. We signed up forms, watched video tutorials, fitted our helmets, and we were good to go.

We were then asked to choose the faster one or the one that has slower speed. We choose the faster one. After a few quick instructions from the Go Car guy, we then started to go on the road. It looked like the hubby was driving too harsh from the start...and made me nervous! He said he isn't so comfortable driving the thing because the system is like driving a motorcycle. The break and the accelerator are all controlled by hand, so that the accelerator can go as drastic as it is when you press on it, and the break can be nerve wrecking.

Now, the worst part...as we reached the Chinatown, the GPS suddenly went off and we were completely lost! And the super worst part. As we tried to pull off the road for a stop to figure out where we are, the hubby didn't know how to park the Go Car in a stop mode so it wouldn't go forward and on the road! Nowhere to go, we tried calling their 800 no. and told them that the GPS stopped working but the lady on the phone didn't help us that much. She simply adivsed us to go back where were at when the GPS stopped, but we simply told her we didn't know where we came from since we are not from the area and we were completely relying on the GPS.

Also, there was a map provided on the car's dashboard just in case we are lost. It looks like a vintage map and quite blurred..duh! I couldn't even read the letters on it.

I tried to unbuckle and went at the back of it and opened the trunk of the car to get hubby's backpack where I had the brochure to find out if it can give us any helpful information..nope..nothing on it! I was so frantic as I went back to my seat and I completely forgot to close the car's trunk! My bad!

So, as I went back to my seat, I now had to alternate the hubby to press the break while he has to go out from the car and push it out from the parking spot since the car can't do backward mode.

GPS still not talking! The hubby started driving around and we ended up driving up a steep hill. It was probably like going up Lombard Street and we were stuck up at the middle of the hill because the car can no longer make it. lol! As the car is trying to gain its momentum, there was a car at our back honking at us. At first, I thought it's a police officer trying to pick us up to jail..wahahaha! Then he was telling us that the backpack fell from the trunk of our car. Oh my God...the camera and some valuable things were there.

So, off I jumped out of the car and had to run down that steep hill to recover it. It was probably like 500 meters away and the backpack was at the middle of the road.

As I was running down, there was a truck coming up the hill and I had to run at the middle of the road screaming at the top of my lungs saying "Stop. STOP" and waving my hands like crazy!! Thank God, the truck stopped! If it didn't, the back pack would surely be a piece of garbage with all our gadgets broken into bits of pieces!

After recovering the back pack, I had to run up the steep hill again, and I felt like I wanna pass out because I was running out of breath! As I got back in the car, hubby told me I had to continue driving up the hill til we reach the plain surface while he will be pushing it up. I had to take time to catch my breath and had to get my instructions on how to drive that thing because it is entirely different from a regular car. Gosh! This was crazy!

So, here came me driving and I was talking to my husband what will I do next...only to find out he wasn't pushing the car. He was just down the hill still struggling to climb up. I was mad! But that lasted in seconds of course...lol!

I stopped at the end of the hill but the car was still on a reclining position. So, hubby said I had to drive turning right unto the even road doing a sharp turn. Imagine that? I said, I can't do that! The road was busy and all the people were taking photos of the car (not me) and they said it's cute! If only did they know that we were having trouble and we were lost!

Anyway, I still had to do the sharp turn. I did and I went past by the lane, and hubby was shouting "stop!, stop!" The cable cars stopped! And they were all looking at me...huhuhuhu!

So, it was the hubby's turn to drive. We then mutually agreed to return to the kiosk using the google maps on my iphone....whoa! Thank God for iphones and google maps! We also had to cancel the 2-hour tour as we had spent an hour just trying to push that car without any GPS aid.

It was like we threw away our hard earned money for this, but we didn't want to risk our lives on the road for a car like this! We didn't get a refund, but charged us another 50 bucks for the cancellation! Ripped off! :((

Actually they asked us if we still would like to get another car so we can continue our tour...we both said NO! That was a nerve wrecking experience, and that's more than enough of a nightmare!

Phew! Off we went back to the hotel! My muscles were trembling...hahahaha!

What an experience. This was my first time having the hell of an experience instead of having fun. As a traveler, it is always expected so to speak. I am still getting fun in some other ways anyway.

Still long way to go for this trip.

Sent from my iPad

Going, Going, Gone!

I'm missing you!...can you pls. come back???

When it comes to food favorites, I've got a lot! And if I discover a new taste that I really like, I would keep going back to that place...a restaurant, fast food chains, candy store, etc... and my husband would definitely tell me..your favorite(s)! ;)

One of my favorite place to eat and hang out to is Panera Bread. It is also located 3 minutes drive from home, so imagine the feeling...lol! And, there is but one thing I wouldn't always forget to buy there. My husband call it "apple Danish", but I think there is a name for that...now, I forgot, because I would just always point it out to the cashier and say.."I want that" hahaha! 

Anyway, I would always come out happy every time I have my meal at Panera. The hubby call it "the happy tummy" - with 3 pieces of my Danish as take out! ;)

Then, it came to a point one day when we were there, "apple Danish" is no longer available because they discontinued it. Oh no! My husband knew how disappointed I was, and he was trying to suggest other things...I just said no :(. It took him at least a month or more to let me try the cheese Danish...almost close to the apple Danish except that there is no apple on it. I still am craving for the apple Danish though.

Then, same things happen when my favorite raspberry tea drink at Burger King was discontinued, the pot roast meal at Denny's , - discontinued! Even my favorite store...Peebles which was 5 minutes away from home was closed for good...Kmart, Hollywood Video store, movie theaters close to home... all closed! My favorite scents at Bath & Body Works were all gone too!

I would always tell hubby...this is not funny anymore! Every time I find a favorite of mine, whether food or places, they end up in bad fate! Okay, so I am not announcing what would be my favorites anymore if there will still be along the way.

On the lighter note, I still have some favorites that exist, but who knows, they will be gone any day too. It's just a bad feeling when you just discover it one day they are already discontinued! 

One Fine Day In Spring...Love Birds!

So, I was cooking one afternoon in my kitchen when I saw these 2 birds perched on our porch. My kitchen table is facing the outdoor porch and as I was observing them, I had to be sure that they won't be distracted and fly away. The glass doors going through it are covered with blinds, so I had to be very extra careful not to make the blinds move that much.

As I took the photos, I had to be sure my camera focus wouldn't be blocked by the blinds, so imagine, it was tough getting my camera click.

And for sure they are lovers. That moment when they finally came close towards each other and had that final moment of kissing...hah! I got a perfect shot! There was the kiss, after which they were wagging their tails! :) After a few more minutes, and they were gone.

They made my porch a dating place, huh?

Doggy Buddies! - Only in The Philippines ;)

Where else could you find buddies that sleep together, and take naps at noon time? Only in the Philippines! LOL! These animals are actually stray dogs. They roam around the neighborhood, and just feed themselves on any kind of stuff that are edible for them. If they get lucky enough to find people who give them food, they will look happy and will then constantly follow them until at their doorsteps.

This group hangs out around my house. I caught them one time going underneath our car and catch their nap there. I guess, they are comfortable with the "car shade" from the sun's scorching heat. 

There was an issue about stray dogs in our neighborhood before so that my husband filed a complaint against them due to disturbances during the night! They howl and bark like crazy and sometimes you can just hear dog fights all night! They gave us sleepless nights! 

Since the start of construction of many houses in our area, many of the construction workers started getting some puppies (not sure where do they get them, but I heard some are pups being thrown away in a dumpster or pups that were abandoned by their mothers. So, they raise these pups until they start reproducing...crazy! And then, there were tons of them roaming around.

Then, there was a new rule that was implemented strictly against workers raising stray animals inside the neighborhood. Then, at one time, they couldn't seem to control these dogs that some became aggressive and were endangering the community, so they started killing them by giving them food poisons. I didn't know where should I stand about this, but I became speechless!

It was like I felt I should just stay neutral.

The next vacation, our nights were finally became peaceful. I still notice some stray dogs, but they were not creating any noise. I am not sure if these are dogs that are much more disciplined because they are trained by those raising them, hahaha! 

New Voter's ID

 Got my new voter's ID from the mail few days ago, and was wondering why they sent me one and both national and local elections are not even here yet. Last year, I receive voter's ID twice in separate mails and was probably around 6 months gap. I can't complain, and actually I like the fact that they are really updating voter's profiles from time to time. 

I figured out my legislative district has changed from 9B to 9A. It doesn't make any difference location wise since my voting precinct is still the same. The only difference from the old voter's ID I had was the legislative district that was changed. I don't know what this means, but as long as I know my voting precinct, I am always good to go, right? lol! Silly me, but am not that politically inclined about these matters...{sigh!}.

By the way, I blocked the details on the form for security concerns. I still have to write responsibly, you know. 

Ciao! Til my next post. ;)

My, My Bad!!!

I was looking for tablet speakers that I can connect to my Galaxy tab recently, so I got this one from Logitech. While I was taking the speakers out from the box, I noticed they come with a subwoofer!...so, wait a minute, I just wanted small speakers, what the heck should this be for???

Then, it was too late that when I went to the store with the discount paper on my hand, I was looking at the same price with the wrong item! My, bad!!! So, now, I can't use this for my tablet. The speakers are to be connected to the subwoofer and the subwoofer will have to be connected to a PC.

Probably, it was so cunning that on the box it says it can be used with MP3 players. I can still use this somehow with my other PC but it has its own small speakers which are still both doing great. My HP Pavilion laptop doesn't need any speakers as well, because the built-in speakers are as loud as can be. I couldn't afford to just abuse my eardrums for these!!..lol. 

Well, right now, I don't have any plans to return it because I can still use it for some other purpose someday. The price wasn't too bad, but it is still worth keeping.