Towing blues

Towing services provide assistance to vehicles that are distressed, as well as those who violate parking ordinances.
Today my distressed vehicle was towed.
I don't know what went wrong but the vehilce stalled even as I pressed on the gas.
I called my friend who runs a repair shop, who then called towing services.
Since the vehicle was "automatic transmission", the vehicle had to be carried entirely by a tow truck.
Around Metro Manila, towing services charge P1,500.00
Price though vary, depending on the distance.
For Subic-Manila towing, the price would be around P7,500.
The other towing services are those that tow your vehicle, in the event your car violates parking ordinances in Makati.
If your vehicle is parked on the sidestreet, you only have until five in the afternoon to park.
At five o'clock sharp, tow trucks will be dispatched around Makati like wolves preying on stalled lambs.
The tow people are quick to the draw.
Once they spot an "over-parked" vehicle at five p.m. They alight from the truck, and in a moment would hook the car to the tow truck.
In a few seconds, the car is drawn immediately to the impounding area.
One has to pay P1,500 to redeem the vehicle.
Its a good money-making racket in Makati.
It has sparked controversy.
Many are complaining against the sneaky scheme of towing vehicles.
However, vehicles can not be towed if there is somebody on the driver's seat. The driver will just be commanded to leave.
Be careful in Makati.
Before 5 p.m., be sure you are already seated on the driver's seat if you are parked on the sidestreet.

Atorvastatin

Atorvastatin rings a bell for those with high cholesterol.
I have been told that this is one of the medicines the prices of which will be sliced to as much as fifty percent.
This is a result of the cheap medicines law.
Atorvastatin calcium is the generic name.
In the market, it is commonly known as Lipitor.
In the Philippines, Lipitor costs P60 to P70 per 20mg.
This is quite an expensive medicine.
Thus, its good to hear that atorvastatin is among the medicines whose prices will have to be reduced.

Jabez' prayer

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of acquainting with a person named Jabez.
Fr. Mario Bije, SVD introduced me to Jabez’ prayer.
Fr. Mario told me, he thinks he has been given the gift of prayer-healing.
Jabez, the priest says, is peculiarly special.
Among his brothers, Jabez was more honorable.
Yet, Jabez was born from pain.
I don’t know how many mothers would name a son, Jabez.
Jabez means giving birth to a child in pain.
I am not sure if the “pain” that Jabez brought was labor pain at the time of his birth that his mother suffered.
Or it could have been the pain of shame brought about by his birth, perhaps due to having been born without a known father, or out of wedlock.
Jabez is special because he petitioned the Lord in a prayer.
And the Lord granted his petitions.
If the Lord grants your prayer, you must be special.
The prayer of Jabez has become a model prayer for many.
To many, the prayer has done wonders.
As a matter of fact, Jabez’ simple prayer was even subject of a book that became a best seller.
The prayer of Jabez goes this way:
“Oh, that you would bless me, and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.”
In this two-sentence prayer of twenty nine words, Jabez prays for four things, that the Lord generously granted.
First: prayer for blessing. Jabez asked the Lord to bless him.
“Oh that you would bless me,” asked Jabez in his prayer.
Second: prayer for influence.
Jabez then asked the Lord to “enlarge my territory”
This is not a request for physical territory like expanding land ownership, for that is the work of land-grabbers.
Jabez’ request was that the Lord grant him greater influence among others.
Third: prayer for power.
Then Jabez asked the Lord “Let your hand be with me”.
This is a prayer seeking God’s hand that is all-powerful.
Fourth: prayer for protection.
Jabez asked the Lord for protection by asking, “keep me from harm so I will be free from pain”
So Jabez’ short prayer is a prayer for blessing, influence, power and protection.
The Lord granted these requests to Jabez.
I like the prayer of Jabez.
Its simple, crisp, direct, frank, straight-forward.
Why don’t you make Jabez’ prayer, your prayer too?
(The prayer of Jabez is found in 1 Chronicles chapter 4 verse 9).

McKenzie Rex

There is that taste of delicious, home-cooked food at McKenzie Rex in Singapore.
Memories of Mckenzie Rex popped up while thinking of that tasty, crunchy little squid, that is their specialty.

We enjoyed all the food that we ordered at Mckenzie Rex.
It's an unassuming restaurant at No. 66 Prinsep Street, nearby Raffles Hotel.
It was introduced to us by our cousins Ella and Marnie who also told us they frequent the place because of the food they serve.

It was a full meal for us when we were there.
In fact, we visited the place twice.
Prices were reasonable, and depended on the size of the order (small, medium, large).

Crabs are served, as well as vegatables, that resembled our own chop suey.
I hope to be back in this fine city.
I sure won't miss to drop by Mckenzie Rex.

Unbelievable brownouts

I am shocked at the reality that in Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City, brownouts are an ordinary occurrence.
Residents are simply made to accept the reality that day-long brownouts are experiences that people just have to accept.
How pathetic.
No wonder Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City remains to be one of the poorest provinces in the country.
When brownouts occur, everything is in a standstill.
The greatest adverse effect of these day-long brownouts is on the economy.
Who will invest here in the province when investors would have to contend with the problems of brownouts?
Can you imagine a call center being disturbed by frequent brownouts that would hamper their operations?
These brownouts are the source of breach of commercial agreements.
Take for example radio stations.
Broadcast facilities have signed contracts to air commercials.
If there are occasional brownouts, these commercials/advertisements are not aired.
Technically that is a breach.
What about the hospitals?
If there are important surgeries, hospitals would have to contend with perrenial power outages.
Not to mention the impact brownouts have on department stores, and ordinary traders.
Yet it seems that these brownouts in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental are things that people accept as a fact of life.
The irony of it all is that Negros Oriental is one of the principal sources of geothermal energy in the country.
Yet, economically this province remains at the tail end.
No wonder.