Empowered Consumerism: Legit or Scam?

Homebased, chat-based, copy-paste, script provided, students/full-timers/part-timers all welcome, earn 3-5k a week....too good to be true? I know, very promising indeed especially if you need ways to earn money during the pandemic. You might have come across these type of advertisements on Facebook and to be honest, it is rather interesting because it seem like a piece of cake plus you get to earn without leaving the comforts of your own home. 

I must admit that I also got curious just like most people, also because I have chat support experience both office based and home based so I thought it wouldn't hurt if I give it a shot and see what the fuzz is all about. To make the long story short, I signed up for it. I was asked to provide basic information like my name, address and contact number (I did not disclose my real name and complete address by the way for security reasons). I was provided a webinar schedule (simply put, it's just as simple as an online or web-based seminar) and a link to a certain Facebook group that I needed to have access to so I can attend the webinar on the given date and time. I attended the webinar as I was supposed to. As a protocol prior to the start of the webinar, you have to provide the name of the person who endorsed you which everyone did. The facilitator was presentable, he did the usual check to ensure that everyone can see and hear him clearly. I'm lucky to have fast Internet at home so I did not experience any lag at all. The facilitator set the expectation that the webinar will last for an hour and a half and did a little introduction of himself as well as the company he represent. He talked about "empowered consumerism" which I think I've heard before. There were proofs of how legit the company is, as well as testimonials from those people who made it big. Everything was just so promising and convincing. The webinar was not boring at all because it was spoken in the vernacular. Everyone was glued to the littlest details. Let's just be honest, if it has something to do with money, who would wanna miss a thing right? Everything was pretty straightforward but within the course of the webinar, I started having doubts as to how something with very little effort can let you earn so much? They say that it is not a job so it's not for people who are looking for one but it is a simple task for those who are willing to work hard. I told myself, how is this even possible? 

I worked 13 years in various BPO industries but did not earn as much as these people did. I was almost willing to give it a go and waited until almost the end of the webinar only to find out that, of all the 1k plus attendees, only 200 will be given a chance and in order to qualify, you have to pay almost 9 grand to be given an account number where you will have access to all your future earnings. I told myself maybe this was the catch after all. It was kind of disappointing, at least in my opinion, because the reason why you are looking for ways to earn more is because you needed money which means that shelling out money is out of the question. 

So what exactly is "empowered consumerism"? When I Googled it, this definition came up:

"The empowered consumer has used information technology to shift the balance of power away from sellers and towards themselves, allowing unprecedented price and choice control. ... Rather, it is a change in consumers' expectations about their interactions with suppliers and partners."

I am totally not against finding ways to earn especially if it helps uplift the quality of lives of our countrymen especially when times are tough however, please be reminded that whatever it is that you are willing to invest, bear in mind that there are no guarantees and nothing comes easy though it may seem like it. 

 

So, is "empowered consumerism" legit or scam? You be the judge.

Another B-Day in Pandemic

I just turned a year older yesterday and I still can't believe that the pandemic is still here. Oh well, nobody knows for sure how many more birthdays we all get to spend with this pandemic but somehow I am grateful that despite of all that's been happening, I am still here.  

I celebrated my birthday in private as usual, which I like a lot because I'm not a people person and I'm happy to spend it only with people who matters to me. I don't mind if it's just two or three people as long as I'm happy. Some friends greeted me and my twin on social media and I'm glad that they remembered and nobody asked why they weren't invited, well, given the situation. 

My twin and I did all the cooking and decorating which we love to do anyway on any special occasion in our family. We had vegan food, Netflix marathon and exchanged birthday presents later on. I got a Snoopy pillow from sissy whilst I got her a mini tv bluetooth speaker in return  Overall it was just a very chill birthday celebration but I enjoyed it a lot and I am more than happy to still get to celebrate. I guess we all just have to make the most of life because we'll never know when it'll be our last. Life gets more and more unpredictable so savour every moment while you still can. Birthdays come and go and while most people say "YOLO" or you only live once, I say you live everyday and die once, but if you believe if reincarnation, maybe not. On a serious note, live every moment, seize the day because we only pass through this life once. 

All Vegan Menu

HBD to me

Birthday Vegan stash 

Pandemic Bayanihan

I’m just counting the days until my birthday and I’m kinda getting used to celebrating the holidays in pandemic including my birthday. Thank God I’m not into big celebrations and stuff, I prefer to celebrate in private and would not mind not having people around aside from family members. One of the many perks of being an introvert is not having the fear of missing out on anything, because what is it that I’m going to miss out in the outside world anyway? Since the pandemic started, I feel like we are living in a biohazard planet. It’s like the air we breathe in these days is not safe anymore, I’m not even sure if I can stop wearing a mask even after the pandemic ends. I don't think I'm being paranoid because it's better to be a germophobe than be too comfortable because the world we're living in has become way too dangerous. 

Community pantries sprouted like mushrooms all over the country

I hate being pessimistic but it happens all the time especially if what I see in the news every day is nothing but bad news. But looking at the bright side of it, I think the pandemic is not so bad after all, it also brings out the good in people. When some parts of the country was put on ECQ again, people have no choice but to stay home again just when things are slowly starting to somehow go back to normal. Getting aid from the government is a tedious process especially for those who need it the most. It is rather frustrating to see people go hungry and resort to doing bad things so they can feed their families. But those days are gone. When help started pouring in from private individuals, a lot more followed. A community pantry organized by Patricia Non went viral about a week ago which paved way for over a hundred more community pantries nationwide. Despite of red tagging issues, the pandemic bayanihan continues which only proves that nothing can stop the Filipino spirit from spreading positivity and goodwill because if we will not help each other, then who will? 

Hello B-Day Month

April is here, yay! My birth month. This will be my second pandemic birthday. It's been over a year since the pandemic started but it seems nothing has changed. While other countries are slowly opening their economies and going back to normal, we are back to where we started, even worse. More and more people are getting vaccinated but it does not mean the pandemic will be over soon because as long as there is no cure, there is no end to this. 

As much as I do not want to think about all the negativities in the world right now, I just couldn't help it because it has changed the world so much. Anyhow, I am keeping myself busy with other things like home modifications while I'm not busy with my online business. Just like any type business or industry, there are highs and lows but that is not reason enough to be disheartened, take it as a challenge. 

At the moment, I keep myself busy by doing some minor home modifications like installing wallpapers, painting walls, etc. I made a few projects and I love how it turned out. You can find some of my recent projects on my most recent vlog by clicking on the video below.

I guess life goes on no matter how hard it is. We have to keep going and find things that'll make us happy. So what keeps you happy and sane these days? 

Keep safe everyone. 

DIY Projects on a Budget: Upcycling Furnitures (How I Made Our Old Console Table New Again)

Making DIY projects is such a fun and rewarding activity. It keeps creative juices flowing and also a good way to de-stress. I don’t usually make drastic changes especially when it comes to old furnitures, as much as possible. My project last year included upcycling narra sets for our dining and living room however, it was nothing major since I just applied varnish to make them look new again. 

I started doing minor home improvements last year because the pandemic got me all bored. A lot of things were put on hold during lockdown I feel like I needed to do something. So when restrictions are more relaxed, I told myself that it’s now or never.

Come January this year, sissy and I decided to convert one of the bedrooms into a home office and we moved a lot of stuff from our own bedroom there in order to free up a lot of space including the black wooden cabinet/shelf where we pretty much put all our office supplies. For my first DIY project, I bought a roll of faux wood wallpaper to upcycle the cabinet/shelf since it’s a lot cheaper compared to buying a liter of paint. A 10-meter long wallpaper goes a long way in fact I was able to use it on our old computer table, utility kitchen cupboard and plastic cabinets as well. I also did a makeover of our utility kitchen walls and bought a few sheets of foam brick stickers. It looked so much better after that it inspired me to think of more DIY stuff.  

Our home office

A roll of wallpaper goes a long way

Our Utility Kitchen is looking neat
with these foam brick wall stickers

One of the things that’s been bothering me for quite sometime now, is our old, rustic console table. It’s a hand-me-down furniture from a previous neighbor and when we first got it, it was in a really bad shape. Since I didn't know much about upcycling furnitures back then, my sister and I decided to just do the usual thing, we applied varnish after sanding until it looked new again. It stayed like that for a few years until something happened that caused a slight damage to the tabletop. One night, our house almost caught fire due to a lit candle that was left unattended. Thank goodness no one was harmed but that incident left like an ugly scar on the far right side of the console's tabletop. It was so obvious that we just covered it with a table runner. I thought it was beyond repair until I found different ways of upcycling furnitures on the Internet.

Our old, rustic console table 
before upcycling it

These drawers need
some work

When February came, I already have a lot of ideas on what I would like to do with it. But before starting any project, I make sure to find inspiration first, Pinterest is actually my bestfriend when it comes to DIY stuff because it has a bunch of really cool ideas. When we talk about execution, I make sure to watch videos on Youtube on how to do it to avoid messing up the process and wasting materials too. When I think that I’m finally ready to do it and I have everything that I need, then it’s time to start the project.

A liter of wood primer 
should come handy 

You can pretty much buy 
everything online including 
these drawer handles

Since I’m looking to entirely change the color of our console table, I bought a liter of wood primer from Shopee which costs roughly less than P300. I start by sanding the damaged part on the tabletop to smoothen it out then put a little bit of putty to even out the hollow part. I applied the first coat of wood primer and waited for it to dry completely before applying the second coat. Our console table has gone from its wood color to completely white after two coats. I also ordered new drawer handles online since they need updating as well. While waiting for the colored paint to arrive, I decided to remove the old drawer handles, sand it a little too and cover old holes with putty. I asked for my sister’s help to drill new holes because the new handles are wider. The new paint arrived a few days later which is better because I’m certain that it’s ready for the new color. I started painting almost immediately and saw how nice the color was after 2 coats. After waiting for roughly an hour, sissy and I started installing drawer handles and it was finally complete. I thought it turned out really nice. I used leftover paint on our bedroom doors it actually looked good in that mint green too. 

I love Davies paints.
They have all the pretty 
colors

Yay! Door handles 
are very easy to install

It already looks good even 
without the handles yet

I painted all the
drawers first

Mint doors are real
cute

I must say that the entire process was quite tiring but it was all worth it. I guess upcycling furniture is not so hard after all. I’m looking forward to doing more of these DIY thingy in the future 'cuz it's quite addicting. 

If you'd like to see how I turned our console table to look like this, you can watch it on my YT channel by clicking on the video below.

Year of the Ox

Belated Happy Lunar New Year! Now we officially welcome the year of the Ox. I know, it's been a year since the pandemic but things are still not back to the old normal. I guess this is how things are going to be moving forward, the new normal. Nobody knows for sure how long we are going to wear masks, or face shields but I guess we are all in this for the long haul. 

So how is 2021 going for me so far? I guess it's too early to tell. All I know is that we all have to keep going because life goes on whether we like it or not. There are so many businesses that closed down, even those we thought would be there forever like the airline and even hotel industry. This is going to be the third year that I don't get to travel and I kinda miss it already. My passport is also expiring in two months time but it would not be practical for me to renew it this year, especially with the current situation. I think I better wait until things are better.

A lot of things were put on hold this year, who would have thought that one day, a pandemic like this would come? I'm still apprehensive about having the vaccine to be honest. I still have a feeling that it would do more harm than good, well at least in my opinion. In some countries, they are eager to get a dose of the vaccine because they believe that it is the only solution. I know it's silly to believe in predictions because only God can tell what the future holds but I just cannot get Nostradamus' prediction off my head that a zombie apocalypse is going to happen this 2021. What I'm trying to say is, what if the vaccine is indeed a weapon of mass destruction instead of a cure to the virus? There are conspiracy theories that Covid-19 is a man-made virus and did not just happen by accident. I guess there's just way too much going on in the world that we do not know about. There is no wonder why more and more people end up suffering from mental illness these days because the world that we know is changing very fast. 

Should we just let tomorrow worry itself or what? Happy thoughts, I guess? 

I Survived 2020: 2021 Bring It On

Happy new year! Welcome 2021, the year of the metal ox.

I know 2020 was a rough year with all the natural calamities here and there not to mention the worse because of the pandemic. But since there are things that cannot be undone we just have to move on because that is what life taught all of us. One thing for sure is that the virus is here to stay so we have to live with it I guess, the new normal way.

We made it through 2020! For those of us who are still here, I hope that the time spent at home with your family and friends was totally worth it. Despite all the bad things that happened last year, I still have a lot of things to be grateful for. There were ups and downs on the financial side, but my family and I managed. But what I am most grateful for is that none of us got infected by the virus even my dad who never gets tired of going out no matter how hard we tried to stop him since he is a high risk individual due to his old age. He did not catch the virus however, he was hospitalized and had to undergo a minor surgery. Thank God he recovers pretty fast maybe because he’s still got a good immune system.

My twin sister and I also made some home improvements this year, something that we have been yearning to do. We repainted our walls and decorated for Christmas as early as October because we just wanted to feel the holiday spirit to deviate from all that’s been happening. 

I enjoyed online shopping and bought pretty much everything we needed from Christmas decorations to gifts without leaving home since going out is a thing of the past for most people now. Working from home and managing my online shop got me through this whole pandemic. I never appreciated everything until I was left with no choice but to stay home. 

I miss traveling too because I have not travelled for the past two years but maybe things really do happen for a reason. My passport is expiring this year but I have no plans of renewing it until the pandemic is over. In God’s perfect time I will travel again. 

I hope this year will be better one. May this year be filled with so many blessings. I hope the pandemic will be over soon or but for the time being, let’s make the most of what we have. I am looking forward to learning new skills or perhaps opening a new online shop? Change is inevitable so I guess I’ll just go along with it.

Christmas Feels

Hey, hey November! It’s 50 more days till Christmas, who’s excited as I am? My sister and I started decorating for the holidays as early as September, because why not? This whole pandemic is not reason enough to dampen our spirits because for those of us who are still here, we should be grateful that we made it this far. My prayers goes to all those who did not survive the battle with Covid-19. This year has been pretty rough but there is always a reason to be grateful somehow. One thing for sure, 2020 has taught me a lot of life lessons. 

Decorating for the holidays bring so much joy and excitement to me. Our holiday theme is different each year, this year is going to be a “Scandi Christmas” which consists of colors like champagne gold and blush pink. Our holiday motiff began three years ago when my siblings and I thought about changing our theme every year for a change. I enjoy brainstorming and stuff because it made me look forward to the holidays even more. 

I already started shopping for Christmas and New Year presents for my family so I’m not pressed for time. We celebrate the holidays with traditional holiday dinner and gift giving. It feels good to have something to celebrate towards the end of the year, plus, it only happens once a year. 

I couldn't wait for the holidays to come. Let's make this season a reason to always celebrate. Have a happy holidays y'all.

It’s Still Out There

Hello July! we’re halfway through 2020 and the virus is still out there. I’ve lost count of how many days our country is in quarantine but all I know is that we are still in community quarantine, may it be ECQ, GCQ or MGCQ. Nobody knows for sure when all of this will be over so it’s better to be safe than sorry. I don’t think things will normalize soon because if we look at the history of every pandemic, it could last a year or two, or worse, for many years. While the rest of the world is slowly getting back on their feet, our country is far from flattening the curve, despite all the efforts of the government. 

Fear is still in the air, that is why I cannot even imagine how some people don’t see how serious the situation is. Why can they afford to attend social gatherings or not wear a mask properly? While there are citizens who strictly follow government directives, there are some who still choose to take the risks. The Philippines have the longest quarantine to date, but is it all worth it? Our Covid cases are still going up and we don’t know for sure how high it is going to be? I guess let’s just wait and see.

So how do I keep up during quarantine? I know most people are still struggling with a lot of stress, both financially and psychologically. I’m just thankful that I survived the most critical period of quarantine that was back in March, when Covid-19 is just getting started in the country. My online business was paralized for two months because of ECQ, thank God online commerce resumed in May. Patience is a virtue, because in times like these, giving up is not an option. We cannot rely on the government alone. It’s survival of the fittest, so to speak. 

I don’t think things are going back to the way it was. A lot of things have changed and it’s possible that we might live with the virus for a long time. I’m okay with change as long as it’s for the better, no matter how inconvenient it is for some. Washing hands is not new to me anyway or disinfecting things since I’m a little bit of a germophobe already. Being an introvert, I also don’t mind social distancing even wearing a mask especially if I don’t feel like putting on makeup. Nobody wanted the virus, but it’s here now and there’s no other way but to deal with it.


There are things that we cannot control so it’s better to keep an open mind and stay informed. Let’s just hope that the situation will not worsen, but in case it does, we must arm ourselves against the unseen enemy. 

The Lockdown Continues

It’s been almost 7 weeks since the Luzon lockdown and it still feels like it was just yesterday. Time flies quickly when you’re busy but what is left to do now that ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) is extended again?

I think being an introvert is a great advantage because I enjoy the company of my cat and dogs better than humans. I also enjoy working from home and managing my online business even if I’m not earning at the moment, at least I am safe at home with my family. I live simply and adjust quickly to change. I fully understand that if this lockdown continues for God knows how long, I have to deal with it just like everyone else. I don’t get bored with my daily routine even before the quarantine because I never run out of things to keep me busy. I enjoy learning new things like making Dalgona coffee or DIY-ing a scratchpad for my cat. I think boredom is just a state of mind especially if you are so fed up of the outside world. But it’s totally the opposite for extroverts, my dad for instance, is a perfect example. Since the quarantine started, he’s life turned upside down and feels like he is suffocating, like he’s being held a prisoner. People who are so used to socializing might need help coping with their mental state. My dad is a 70 something, he’s a senior so we have to do everything we can to keep him at home to protect him from the virus. No matter how hard we try, he still thinks that he’s going crazy if the situation will not improve. I’m pretty sure other extroverts share the same plight that is why a strong support system is key. We all need to stay sane these days, we have to look after our friends or loved ones in times like this whether they are beside us or in hospitals battling the unseen enemy. A dash of love and compassion goes a long way. There shouldn’t be any room for hate because it is much worse than the virus.

When all of this is over, things will be different for sure. Coronavirus might be here to stay though, whether we like it or not, and it is going to change how we all live. We can all go back but the normal life we’ve come to know is a world that is more cautious and even paranoid because we already know how it feels that something invisible can cause harm, even life. Let’s be grateful for the gift of life and cherish every bit of it.


Stay home, stay safe so those in the front line can get some rest and go home to their families. I know that our battle with Coronavirus is far from over in fact we’re just getting started but if people will come together and avoid being stubborn, we’ll get through this the soonest time possible.

So there.

Hold on Hope

Hello April, my birthday month! March has been pretty rough so far with all that’s happening in the world, but looking at the bright side of life, nothing lasts forever...this too shall pass. This whole coronavirus pandemic will come to an end as long as everyone is doing his/her part by being cooperative. I know we all have our sentiments towards the government but I think that so far they are doing their very best to at least slow down the spread of the virus. Some people say that our numbers are still going up despite all the efforts but this is no surprise because as more testing kits become available it will only make sense. 

According to some scientists that the pandemic is far from over in Asia and that there is a possibility that the month-long quarantine might be extended. I really do not have any problems with extended ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) if it’s geared towards everyone’s safety. I just hope that those who are in dire need of help will benefit more so that they will not feel that this whole situation is a burden. I’m glad that more private citizens are starting to reach out to the needy in their own ways, kudos to you guys! I would also like to commend all the frontliners out there who are tirelessly serving our countrymen even risking their own lives, you guys are our heroes. Let us also not forget our fallen healthcare workers, soldiers and everyone who lost their lives to fight the unseen enemy. This battle is far from over, but we will not let the enemy defeat us.

Stay safe, stay home. Let’s continue to pray because God exists, those who survived and were cleared from the virus is proof that there is hope. Nobody knows when this will end but one thing is for sure, this will change how we look at the world and how we value life, a precious gift from God.  So let’s make every second count.