Goodbye Bermuda!

Tomorrow we are off to a very loooong journey to reach the Pearl of the Orient Seas: Bermuda to New York to Hong Kong to Philippines. Everything, except a few clothes and important documents, has been sent for shipping yesterday. Today we will spend our last full day in Bermuda to cancel bills, take the bag of a trillion Bermuda coins to the bank and, of course, will go shopping for some souvenirs. I will leave you all with a Bermuda Gombey Dance: Be back online maybe next week with more Bermuda photos. Happy Blogging!

I'm Going Home!

To inspire me and my fellow Filipinos living abroad, here's a clip to remind us how beautiful Philippines is. I don't know some of the artists here but, hey they are good huh! Mabuhay Pilipino! Hurray! After ten years away living in different countries, I am finally going back home. This time it's for good! Thank God we got this great opportunity to settle down in the best paradise of the world: Philippines. This time it's official because we just booked our flights. Our papers took longer than we anticipated, in fact we should have been gone last week, but better late than never! Hence, we are extremely busy these past couple of weeks rushing documents, packing up stuff for shipping, throwing things that are not worthy shipping or giving away and filling suitcases while our son helps by "sorting" his toys. On the other hand, despite my excitement going back home, I am dreading the thought of heat, humidity, traffic, etc. However, if we survived living in 5 different countries in the last decade, then we should be perfectly alright to live in the Pearl of the Orient Seas. I, myself, will have to adjust but I'm sure my sisters will be there to help me as they always do whenever I go home for a holiday. Anyways, almost finished sorting and ready for shipping company to pack and pick up our stuff. Here's some of our stuff sorted for shipping (others are in the other room):

Not the Usual Lullabies

I never sang the usual baby lullabies to my son. As a matter of a fact, I do not know any of those lullabies except for the all-time children's favourite: "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" which was my son's first ever memorized baby song. All the other children songs that he knows are learnt from his school teachers. Singing my heart out with soulful ballad songs, enchantingly or painfully, which are usually old type of songs, was one of my passions in life. I used to sing years ago so when I got pregnant I sang unconventional lullabies to my own bulging belly, unbeknown to me yet how beautiful it is to be a parent. My son, who is now five years old, never goes to bed at night without his radio on which plays mellow songs. However, sometimes after reading a

I sang unconventional lullabies to my own bulging belly, unbeknown to me yet how beautiful it is to be a parent.

bed time story for him, he will ask Mommy to sing a song for him which, of course, I would gladly do for him. And, maybe because of my influence, he himself now sings and love James Blunt type of songs, in fact he knows the song: "You're Beautiful" by heart. Below are some of the songs, on top of my head, that I sing or hum softly for my son from when he was just a tiny human life growing in my belly five years ago up to present, in no particular order: 1. Dreaming of You - by Selena 2. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Zsa Zsa Padilla's version, a Filipino singer 3. The Way We Were - by Barbra Streisand 4. Do You Know Where You're Going To? - Jennifer Lopez' version 5. Tell Him - by Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion 6. You've Got a Friend - Carole King's version 7. Evergreen - by Barbra Streisand 8. I Could Fall In Love - by Selena 9. When You Say Nothing At All - by Allison Krauss 10. Come Away With Me - by Norah Jones And, here is one of my son's recent favourite and most requested lullaby the past couple of weeks: Who Painted the Moon Black? Performed by: Hayley Westenra Did you see the shiny moon? Turned into a black balloon Just as you walked away from me Did you see how hard I've tried? Not to show the pain inside Just as you walked away from me Who painted the moon black? Just when you passed your love back Who painted the moon black? Oh won't you, won't you come back? It must have been the darkest night Not even a star in sight Just as you walked away from me, now Who painted the moon black? Just when you passed your love back Who painted the moon black? Oh won't you, won't you come back? Who painted the moon black? Just when you passed your love back Who painted the moon black? Oh won't you, won't you come back? Who painted the moon? Da da da... Did you see the shiny moon? Turned into a black balloon Just as you walked away from me Pause the background music of this blog which is located underneath my welcome message before pressing play on this player to listen to my son's favourite lullaby: "Who Painted The Moon Black"

Discover Hayley Westenra!

Enjoy!

Ref.: Good lullabies for helping baby get to sleep

A Beginner's Guide to FFXI

Final Fantasy XI or FFXI, which is from the highly-acclaimed Final Fantasy series, is one of the most popular MMORPG (massive multi-player online role playing game). Aside from leveling one job or more job combo, FFXI have lots of other possibilities and vast areas to explore. There are also various fun and challenging quests and missions in FFXI, for every player of any age from anywhere in the world, to enjoy. Moreover, it has translation feature to help bridge the communication gap between the Japanese players and the English speaking players. This game is available for three platforms which are playstation 2, pc (personal computer) and Xbox360. This is a guide aimed for those players who have zero experience with FFXI or never heard of Final Fantasy. Summarized detail of aspects of the game is listed here in layman's term which focuses only on events related to creating the player character and building the main job career. After downloading the game and logging into your account, you will be taken to a page where you can choose what type of race you prefer for your character. Spend some time browsing at all races to make sure you really like the race and gender of your character and make sure as well that you are satisfied with the (player character) name you chose or typed in so you do not regret it. FFXI Races: 1. TARUTARU - tiny and childlike faces with long and pointed ears. They are the best

Spend some time browsing at all races to make sure you really like the race and gender of your character and make sure as well that you are satisfied with the (player character) name you chose or typed in so you do not regret it.

race for magicians. 2. HUME - as the name suggests, they are like humans and the most versatile race. 3. ELVAAN - stand out against other races for being tall and lean. 4. MITHRA - identifiable with their cat-like looks. 5. GALKA - largest race with short legs and furry tail. For beginners, the following are the choices for basic jobs, which you can always change to another job inside your mog house: 1. WARRIOR - master of armed combats and effective as close melee fighter. 2. THIEF - melee fighter with sneak attack and, of course, steal ability. 3. MONK - martial art specialist. 4. WHITE MAGE - medic in the battlefield. 5. BLACK MAGE - specialist in black magic which can blow up an enemy in one cast. 6. RED MAGE - have the ability to use black and white magic, and at the same time, can be a melee fighter too. Then, there are three nations to choose from to be your character's hometown. They are: 1. WINDURST - favourite hometown amongst players so this one is heavily populated. 2. SAN D'ORIA - proud nation of Elvaans. 3. BASTOK - a nation founded by Humes. After choosing your nation, you will find yourself in the game. Welcome to the world of Final Fantasy! Now, go explore your own hometown. Before we move on to missions or activities to engage with, let us talk about the advanced jobs which can be unlocked by doing a quest once you have reached level 30 on any basic job. 1. BARD - the musician who can heal, enhance ability of party members and harm the enemy with effective songs. 2. BEASTMASTER - can charm some enemies to turn them into a pet. 3. DARK KNIGHT - carry a very large weapon with black magic ability. 4. DRAGOON - damage dealer accompanied with a wyvern. 5. NINJA - melee fighter with two weapons at a time and a master of stealth and ninjutsu. 6. PALADIN - considered as best tank who can hold enemy's hate whilst protecting the fragile players. 7. RANGER - deal damage from afar using arrows. 8. SAMURAI - bushido warrior using great katana. 9. SUMMONER - have the magical ability to summon avatars. Below are the new jobs that were added in the recent updates. 10. BLUE MAGE - the magician who can melee and can replicate special attacks of the enemy. 11. CORSAIR - the pirate who can use either a sword or a gun. 12. PUPPETMASTER - melee fighter with a puppet. 13. DANCER - melee fighter who helps enhance abilities of party members and inflict damage to the enemy by dancing. 14. SCHOLAR - uses books to damage enemies and also capable of using both black and white magic. To communicate and socialize with other players, it is a must to learn how to chat properly so here are the keyboard shortcuts: 1. To talk to a person: press control + T space then type the name of the person you want to talk to. For example: /tell Pikupiku 2. To reply to the message you received from /tell: press control + R 3. To talk to your linkshell friends: press control + L For example: /l Hello! Good morning! 4. To talk to your party members: press control + P 5. To shout when you need help because a monster is chasing you or if you want to sell something: press control + SH 6. To talk with people around you: press control + S Now, off to your first mission! Of course, as in any games, you start as level one of the job you chose when creating your character. Highest level is 75 so you have quite a long way. Equip the basic weapon which is provided automatically then head out of town to meet and bash your enemy to gain levels. It is advisable to fight solo until you reach level 10 to 15. Around these levels you may receive a /tell that says "PT?" or [Team up?]. They meant to ask if you want to join their party to defeat monsters together and gain experience points faster. When you get tired of bashing enemies and your inventory is full, go back to town to sell the items to non-player characters or guild shops that were dropped by the monsters you defeated. Some monsters drop gil, which is the FFXI currency. Either way, this will be a good way to start earning and level up at the same time. Another way to earn gil is to craft. Run to the guild of your choice to sign up and start crafting. Windurst Guild Crafts: 1. Fishermen's Guild 2. Boneworkers' Guild 3. Weavers' Guild 4. Culinarians' Guild Bastokan Guild Crafts: 1. Goldsmiths' Guild 2. Alchemists' Guild 3. Blacksmiths' Guild San D'Orian Guild Crafts: 1. Carpenters' Guild 2. Blacksmiths' Guild 3. Tanners' Guild You can either sign up to all guilds or just concentrate on one craft to earn gil

always remember that this is only a game, do not forget your family and friends or your school or work.

sooner. The more gil you have the better so you can purchase decent armour, weapons and food. There are two other means to earn gil which are: 1. Farming - go outside of any town and farm the drops from monsters. Of course, that means you have to defeat them until they drop items. 2. Gardening - if you are patient enough to wait for a few months (yes months!), then by all means, do gardening in your mog house. More reminders: - Do as many quests or missions as you can which you can start by talking to NPCs (non-player characters). Doing these will reward you with gil and fame in your hometown. - If you are unsure what to do or where to go, ask other players especially those who are wearing nice gears and are high level. I am sure anyone with high level job can provide answers for you right in the game. - Socialize with other players so you can gain friends because you will need a lot of help to do tough missions or quests. - You will need a lot of patience as well because leveling a job takes time and it costs gil. So, while leveling a job, find a suitable gil-earning crafts for you. Lastly, always remember that this is only a game, do not forget your family and friends or your school or work.

Ref.:A Beginner's Guide to FFXI

I'm back on FFXI!

After six months staying away from FFXI - Final Fantasy XI, which is a mmorpg (massive multi-player online role playing game), I am back today to join my husband on a mission, i.e. mission in the game. I was welcomed heartily by fellow gamers and luckily we succeed with our mission and achieved what we needed to gain from it. FFXI is one of the most popular mmorpg and we have been playing this game for three years now. It is very addictive because there are endless list of missions and fun activities to engage with fellow gamers. I created a community (which in ffxi terminology is called a linkshell or ls) in the game that my husband, my step-son and I lead. Our linkshell has been going on for over two years now. To keep the interest of linkshell members, I have designed a website and a forum for the linkshell where we can get to know each members, discuss the missions or events and post screenshots like those ones above. They are some of the linkshell's highlights last year.