Ever saw the movie The Holiday (2006)?



Remember when Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) switched houses? One of them was from England and the other was from LA, they both wanted to escape from their life in the city and seek comfort some place they've never been. While finding a hotel seems like the usual option, imagine going on a vacation, but at the end of every tiring dayyou get to hop on your bed as if it were home!

The house alone gives the entire Surrey experience. The fireplace, the carpets, the paintings, the stone walls. Some things you can never get from a hotel. I've always thought this whole idea house-booking idea is all but a dream, until I found out about Airbnb.com.

I learned about Airbnb through my sister when she went to Malaysia a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was brilliant!

The idea is they have listings of houses (homes) all around the world, and you can view pictures and details, and book them right there and then as you would with hotels.

Well you are not exactly switching houses like in the movie, but you book them like hotels. (Which is better for me because I haven't got a house to swap with!)

I got very lucky to find this listing in Airbnb which I equally loved!


[caption id="attachment_1133" align="aligncenter" width="622"] Cozy living room. I can picture myself growing old here.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1134" align="aligncenter" width="613"] The kind of houses you only see in movies. Gaah! Isn't it lovely! *cries silently*[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1135" align="aligncenter" width="394"] The kitchen.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1136" align="aligncenter" width="384"] The house listing on Airbnb.com[/caption]

This place is for Php 4,030 a night for the entire house which is nice if you are coming with the whole family or barkada. They won't charge for extra guests. The neighbourhood is in England countryside, probably 50 minutes away from London. Just the perfect escape.

If you are not after the whole old European house thing, you'd still find yourself a place to stay anywhere else from Airbnb. Prices can go as low as 1,000++/night in England, or even cheaper in most countries.

WHETHER AN APARTMENT FOR A MONTH, A CASTLE FOR A WEEK, OR A VILLA FOR A MONTH, AIRBNB CONNECTS PEOPLE TO UNIQUE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES, AT ANY PRICE POINT, IN MORE THAN 34,000 CITIES AND 190 COUNTRIES

#WhereToNext #Airbnb #AirbnbPH
Yup. Castle. You can rent a castle for realz. Check it out here: www.airbnb.com

[su_button url="http://www.airbnb.com/c/pfigueroa34?s=8" target="blank" style="flat" background="#FF5A60" color="#ffffff" size="7" center="yes" radius="0" icon="icon: home" text_shadow="0px 0px 0px #aaaaaa"]Go to airbnb.com[/su_button]

I have a few travels scheduled for the year and I can't wait to book all my accommodations from Airbnb! Yay!

 

 

 



Out on a Monday Date going to the computer store. That's actually how the geeks spend the night out, if you're wondering.

We recently got matching laptops (SURPRISE! You probably don't know that yet). The Acer B115 TravelMate sounded like the best ultraportable notebook PC we could get in its size. (BEE-BOOP! GEEK ALERT!) Everything else came in 2-core CPUs, and we were lucky to find these Acers that were at least quad-core. Another thing I liked was that I could still upgrade the RAM. Flexibility is always good. This is very rare among small notebooks.


Here's the catch: It came with Windows 8.1. Newer isn't always better. #WindowsUsersWouldKnow
It hogs the RAM like crazy! Launching a few tabs on Google Chrome alone can put the PC in an unusable LAGGY state. It kills me. Both my PC at work and at PC(laptop) are up to par and this baby just could NOT keep up.

We decided to head on over to Silicon Valley were we got these PCs and had a 4GB memory installed. Boo-freakin-yea. Luckily, they have an in-house computer service centre partner, CompuServe, so installing upgrades is part of our warranty.

If you are still one of the few who uses netbooks/ultraportable notebooks who experiences lag and slow downs, you can bring them over to Silicon Valley in Glorietta (4th Flr, New Glorietta) and have them look if they can upgrade it. Just ask the kuyas over there, "Can you upgrade the RAM on this?" and they will help you through.

It usually comes in 2, 4 and 8GB(?) variants. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me through the comments below or through email.

All the best!

Trixie x

If you have been reading my blog, you probably already know how much I love Uber. I've been using it religiously since around October last year and I can stand by my words that I find their services outstanding.
It made me very upset when the LTFRB started to pick on Uber few months back. I use Uber everyday going to work and going out on weekends. I probably have spent enough to fend for my driving lessons, but who has time to get on the road ahead of everybody, find a parking and drive back home? Not me--and probably a lot of others, too, who has been tired of haggling 'against' ruthless taxi drivers.

Uber, if you didn't know, by definition, is classified as a Ride Sharing service. What sets them apart from taxicabs is that they are owned by private individuals under no franchise. In the country today, every transportation service, according to the law, needs franchising to operate legally. This means Uber, not matter how great we know their service is, is not in the scope.

Today, Uber is encouraging all of us to help them to Get Ridesharing Regulations Signed by DOTC and LTFRB.
These are the exact statements from Uber Manila:

For the last six months, DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya and LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez have shown tremendous leadership in crafting a regulatory framework that will allow the people of Metro Manila to continue enjoying a new and revolutionary transportation option.

The Philippines has the opportunity to cement its reputation as one of the fastest growing and most progressive countries in Asia, by becoming the first country after the United States to create a dedicated framework for ridesharing. This would be an amazing achievement not only for our government, but for all Filipinos.

This sounds like it's a bigger deal than just letting Uber officially get on the road. Private organisations such as Uber are paving it's way to keep our country moving forward, and now they need our help.

To show your support, please Sign the Petition by click on the button below:

[su_button url="https://action.uber.org/manila/" target="blank" style="flat" background="#3ac781" color="#ffffff" size="8" center="yes" icon="icon: pencil" text_shadow="0px 0px 0px #324a28"]SIGN THE PETITION[/su_button]

Or by visiting this link:
https://action.uber.org/manila/

If you didn't know, this morning, all McDonald's branches were giving away free McMuffins to their first 1000 customers. McDonald's is celebrating with us National Breakfast Day, now on its 3rd year in the Philippines.
One thing they doing different this year is having a Hooray for McDo Mornings Card!
My friend Darryl was able to get me one when he dropped by this morning. I think this is the first time I've seen McDonald's offering loyalty cards. Very exciting! If there's one thing I love the most about McDonald's it's their breakfast. I can literally eat it every freaking day, and now I can get rewarded for it!



The idea is to collect stamps by purchasing their McSaver Meals, Breakfast Meals and Chicken McDo Meals (excluding BFF bundles, Happy Meal and a la carte orders). There are 12 numbers on the card and you get a treat for every 3 meals you buy. On your 12th meal purchase you're rewarded with BUY ONE MEAL, GET ONE MEAL FREE.

You can drop by any McDonald's branch and get your own Hooray for McDo Mornings Card.
Promo period is from March 10 to May 31, 2015.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not sponsored. This website is not in anyway affiliated with brand/s mentioned herein.

New Look![/caption]

I have started blogging way back in 2008, which doesn't seem too far ago but when you think about it, that's about 7 years ago. I cannot believe it!!!

I usually keep my blogs to myself, and if you haven't noticed I'm trying to keep my profile here on Nitpickle "anonymous" (well, except to my friends who found pictures here of people we know. LOL), but I'm still trying. I've always wanted to make this objective.

Anyway, believe it or not, I started with a melo-dramatic blog, which tells you exactly why I usually keep these things to myself. During the Glory Days of Multiply.com, I was on fire with the semi-poetic hugots.



That photo, tho. Oh god why.

What you do have to know about that is that I was blocked for some reason (I think I know why). My entire account was inaccessible and there was nothing I could do, it was very sad and annoying, but I had to give it up.


In 2012, I started a new one under Wordpress again, now with Nitpickle. I have gone through many different others but I didn't do much with those. And because I was terrified about being blocked again, I decided to ditch the whole idea of signing up with anybody (with no hard feelings, I still love Wordpress) and thus, Nitpickle.com was born.

It's supposed to be a tech blog because that's what I am mostly interested about and maybe because I really idolised technoodling.net, unbox.ph and Techpinas, but you know.

Why not embrace my randomness, write about it, and put it all in one place?

I still consider myself new, and it's very hard to get it going, especially if you're not a writer, not even a photographer. (typos, typos everywhere)
I love food, I eat a lot of food, in a lot of different places, and I'll put a lot of food reviews here on the website but I'm way too embarrassed to take pictures of food in restaurants.

Seriously, how do people do it??? People do it every meal, everyday? Why can't I?!

It's freakin' hard to understand, but I'll get there.

old logo

new logo

Xiaomi now jumps into the action camera bandwagon and released their latest product, the Yi Action Camera.

Yi Action Camera which claims to be EVEN better than the entry-level GoPro camera at LESS THAN half the price at 64USD(approx. PHP2,800 w/o tax and duties).

When Xiaomi came into the smartphone scene with a Xiaomi Mi3, with a device comparable to Samsung's then flagship, Galaxy S5, having a dramatically cheaper price tag, we were all taken by surprise. A lot of people bought the idea... and erm... the Xiaomi Mi3. Their customers seem happy and I don't remember hearing complaints as much as the local smartphone brands get, so I must say they have established themselves a name of good quality and value for money.

I haven't got any use for an action cam. I mean, come on. Strolling inside the mall is all the action I ever get. But better specs, at less than half the price of a GoPro? Mind if ah do! If it performs in real-life as it says on paper, this is a steal! (That is, if you don't mind the Yi branding. You know what I mean.)

 

Xiaomi Yi Action Camera is currently available only in China as of yet, but knowing how Xiaomi smartphones (and even power banks) boomed in the country, it might hit the local shelves really soon through a Lazada Flash Sale like the rest. You know the drill.

My guesstimate price: PHP 3,500

 

I'm not a fan of accessories. I've grown to dislike them because 1) I lose rings and earrings like bobby pins. Seriously. 2) I can't wear disposable fancy(fake) ones because I've got the curse of sweaty hands. And my ears won't let me get away with it either.

But can you resist these adorable ones?