Friday, September 07, 2012

SunLife Sun Shorts: So how do you deal with debt?

This short film got me smiling this afternoon. It's a humorous way of getting the message across, making sure you leave your loved ones with something even when you're gone. I won't say much about it and will let you watch it instead since it's brilliant!



There's a lot to learn from this short film, the importance of investing or hearing out opportunities even when you think you're too busy to do anything new, since they may be the solution to your problems. This short film, and the other four created for Sun Shorts, gives a funny twist to a very serious matter which is preparing for the future.

This special feature is brought to you in part by Sun Life Financial. The Debt is one of the five digital short films produced by Sun Life Financial collectively called Sun Shorts.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Austria: Historic Centre of Vienna & Schönbrunn Palace

Having taken up piano lessons as a kid, I was introduced quite young to classical music. Learning Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss and Brahms, all Viennese composers, and listening to the beautiful waltz An der schönen, blauen Donau (Blue Danube), I've been fascinated with the contribution of Vienna, Austria to classical music. No doubt, it deserves its title, the City of Music.

So I did not pass up on the chance to visit Vienna as we drove around Europe last year. Aside from music, Vienna is also rich in architectural heritage. The Historic Centre of Vienna and the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn which is also in Vienna, are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Vienna was just an hour away from Bratislava, Slovakia. After our dinner in Bratislava, we drove to Vienna where we decided to spend the night. The next day was unfortunately foggy, windy and cold. But it didn't stop us from walking around Vienna's historic streets.

We spent the morning walking around and exploring the Innere Stadt or Old Town of Vienna around the area of Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) and Stephansplatz. The streets were actually being decorated for Christmas and I could imagine how charming it would look when the lights are switched on.

We walked through Michaelerplatz which is dominated by Michaelertor, the impressive neo-Baroque gate to the Hofburg Palace, the Hapsburg seat of power and currently the residence of the president of Austria. There was actually a tourism promotional campaign from Azerbaijan happening at Michaelerplatz. And we got to enjoy Azerbaijani food, drinks and cultural performances.

From Hofburg, we walked towards Maria-Theresienplatz, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (Museum of Natural History of Vienna) where stalls had been set up for the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market), a street market that is held during the four weeks of advent.

One highlight of Christmas Markets are the food stalls which feature local snacks and dishes.

I enjoyed the local breads, sausages and potato dishes, plus the schinkennockerl! Really good!

Later in the afternoon, we took Vienna's underground to Schönbrunn Palace. Unfortunately, since it was autumn, the gardens were not at their best. We got to marvel at the interior of the palace. Too bad though we couldn't take photos.

It got really cold and windy that we decided to call it a day quite early and start our drive to Prague, Czech Republic where we were going to spend the night. See more Vienna, Austria photos.

How to get to Schönbrunn Palace
You can take underground line U4, tram number 10 or 58, or bus number 10A to Schönbrunn Station. The palace is walking distance from the stations.

Saturday, September 01, 2012

Philippine holidays and long-weekend schedule for 2013 (Proclamation No. 459)

Hunyo 12 by Claude Tayag (1989 Fiestas Serigraph Series)
Malacanang issued Proclamation No. 459, s. 2012 declaring the regular holidays, special non-working days, and a special school holiday for 2013. Here is the list of holidays and long-weekends of the Republic of the Philippines for 2013:

  • January 1 (Tue) - New Year's Day (four-day long weekend from December 29 to January 1)
  • February 10 (Sun) - Chinese New Year (no holiday declaration yet, wait for possible proclamation next year, possible long-weekend if February 11 is declared)
  • February 25 (Mon) - EDSA Revolution Anniversary (holiday for schools only, long-weekend for students from February 23 to 25)
  • March 28 (Thu) - Holy Thursday
  • March 29 (Fri) - Good Friday
  • March 30 (Sat) - Black Saturday (four-day long weekend from March 28 to 31)
  • April 9 (Tue) - Araw ng Kagitingan
  • May 1 (Wed) - Labor Day
  • June 12 (Wed) - Independence Day
  • August 8 (Thu) - Eid'l Fitr (calculated date, no declaration yet, possible three-day long weekend if declaration for August 9 is made, wait for proclamation next year)
  • August 21 (Wed) - Ninoy Aquino Day
  • August 26 (Mon) - National Heroes Day (three-day long weekend from August 24 to 26)
  • October 15 (Tue) - Eid'l Adha (calculated date, no declaration yet, wait for proclamation next year, possible three-day long weekend from October 12 to 14 if Malacanang sets holiday on October 14)
  • November 1 (Fri) - All Saints Day
  • November 2 (Sat) - Special Non-Working Day (three-day long weekend from November 1 to 3)
  • November 30 (Sat) - Bonifacio Day
  • December 24 (Tue) - Special Non-Working Day
  • December 25 (Wed) - Christmas Day
  • December 30 (Mon) - Rizal Day
  • December 31 (Tue) - Last Day of the Year (five-day long weekend from December 28 to January 1)
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