Francesca in France

My Mme employer arrived from New York. She brought some gifts(Hermes, Celine, Gucci,Choose Juicy, FTC shop)already packed to put soon under the Xmas tree .(Hope I get one from those boxes lol!)

Here comes Chico, bored, got nothing to do, checking the boxes looking for his gifts ? He is used to it that everytime Madame travelled far she would bring home something. Chico got already some "pasalubong"(im-home-chico-gifts"lol) like rat toys.Yes, Rat toys. I wonder if he can catch a live rat???!!!

I bring one soon hehe. shhh, just to see if he is a real cat or not, HAHA !And I will blog it to the full! Aahh, I can imagine, a live rat around, then Madame came home, run on top of the table, telephoning Monaco firemen to rescue her, haha!
shhh, joke only. I know Chico wouldnt bother...!

Chico got already five small rat toys,ones he played football with, (or munch under the bed). Also he had stuffed rat toys with tunes/music when rolled in the floor,and pretty cheecky collars made in fine leather , in gold (plated) or in silver).I told him :"not to touch any of the gifts! Play with your toys ,sleep, do something somewhere or eat your Croquette(cereals)!!!
He just looked and gave me his "charming bits..."
That goonie...














scratch... sniff ...scratch...chico in the boxes as if asking:
Where is my GUCCI collar ??!

more photos

What is it about?

Stated in P.D. 851 Philippines,the 13th month pay is 1month salary out of 12 months of the total "basic salary" earned by an employee within a calendar year.
but some accountants are cheeky, they compute like these:

13th month = ("Basic Salary" -(less) (undertime + lates + unpaid leaves))/12

It is supposed to be like this:13th month is 1 month salary, but if you had incurred absences like maternity leave or a month long sick leave it will be a pro-rated computation because you did not render any services on that period. Undertimes and absences should not be deducted since it was already deducted on the covering payroll period.

Grabeh, (c'est grave)! Its too small monthly salary already, nenenok pa ng accounting, nobayan?
But then, better than nothing...sige na nga?!

I will compare the 13th month in France...
None. Its not mandated by law. Meaning its up to the Boss if he give or not. I remember a very memorable gift from our Boss, me and Butler: a
Panetonne
or a 5€ burberry imitation scarf!
haha
Butler and I were really "happy" of those gifts. Very memorable.I will call him this holiday season and ask for his panetonne, hehe.
I think he would deny it!

Why Panetonne? it is typical italian cake.
Click here

And you, will you be expecting a nice BONUS this coming month?

Pautang !

Marriage in the old times was done by: bringing the bride to the groom's house and they considered married. Example of Mary and Joseph.
When Ceasar was the Emperor of Rome, he commanded all people to register and thus what Mary and Joseph did. They traveled to Bethlehem to comply with the law.

And it is going on until our days. Those who got married must register thier marriages to be recognize by the law.

Authorized persons to perform Marriages:In France, ONLY marriages being celebrated in cityhall IS valid. In Philippines, a judge, a priest, or a pastor or a muslim minister as long as he is authorise by the law to perform marriage, the marriage is valid.

The Ceremony:
Some wedding ceremony lasted for one or two hours.Some would take three ceremonies, one with only their parents present, one with family and friends in a church, one with the state.Imagine the guests to tag along to three ceremonies before they can eat!
Michel and I married in QUEZON city hall Aug 2004 by a judge, it took US fifteen minutes only! We were in a hurry to get out, haha!

In some tribes, no need for any ek ek, the bride goes home with the groom, they are considered married in the area. In some areas, (is it in Las Vegas?)they just present themselves before the (person to perform marriage), sign documents, register it, then on that day onwards, they are consider themselves married. Some does it in the beach,(with "Katrina" blowing them, lol) or inside a boat, anywhere the couple agreed or fancy.

Why the need to register the marriage? It is to protect the widow(er) and the children in case of death.Take note, it is a protection in case one of the spouse died!

Reception:Some wedding reception is held lavishly with all the important people around including politicians, ambassadors, holywood actresses,prince and kings.
Some are held with 12 horses' carriages with french kings and nobles motiff where all guests dressed in 18th century. Some held it in a Castle with horses instead of cars. Some held it simply in a cityhall with just two witnesses present and after that continue to have a swim in Cote d 'Azur beach.It's true!

When asked why the reception is like that? The bride beamingly explained, I dreamed to be Queen, so I was on my wedding day. ( wow, I was jealous, hehe)
One bride said: whats the fuss, its my tenth wedding anyway.(ngeeeh!)
Or me: "I am practical. I saved for a simple wedding but not to a memorable honeymoon! lol! We eat (ten persons only )in dads kamayan saisaki, eat all you can, haha! Besides, my wedding is for me !Sarap eat all you can oi!

I remembered Sharon Cuneta married Gabby Concepcion,Sept 23,1984 it was a wedding of the year. Her second wedding with Mr Francis Pangilinan, was an opposite, very discreet, held in her home.The second wedding is simple, its not because they dont have money, its because they choose it to be solemn and alone with thier family.
What ever, how ever your marriage was been,as long as it was recognized by laws of God and man, it is honorable.

Questions are:
How do you view marriage? How was your marriage?
Tell me, maybe you beat my fifteen minutes marriage ceremony with Lolo Michel.LOL

Boss and daughter left the apartment to have a swim at Beach Club Monaco. At 4 pm, I finished work and visit the office until 6pm. I was in the train station of Monaco to take a train home.I opened my celphone to call Michel to pick me at Nice Train Station when I saw in my phone's screen,I got two messages from my Boss:
Message 1: "Hi, this is Mr-----.Please call me in my celphone, we cant get in the apartment, we lost our keys in the swimming pool! We need you to come back to open the door with your keys!"

The call was at 4pm! Fantastic, and I learned the message it was 6pm! They must be outside the door for long now! And my train to Nice is entering the station, grrrrI dont know what to do!

I decided to run out of the station to go back to Boss' apartment while listening to the second message. I could hear the train arrived and left Monaco Station. Huhu!

My phone's second message says: Hi, this is Mr -----, again, just to let you know that we got the keys, you dont need to bother coming back...thanks!
Waaaahhh!

2. I was securing from DSWD (dept of social welfare and development) a Travel Consent for my son to go to France. I went to their website and study the procees. So I scanned my documents,(passport, residence card, birth certificate etc etc )and sent it to my daughter's email add. Next day she went to DSWD office to have the Travel Consent approved.
When I arrived home , my daughter YM me, DSWD OFFICE didnt process the travel consent because:
I am presently living in France, the travel consent is not proper/correct.
I must provide a Travel Consent signed by the father (my ex)
I must provide an affidavit that my son is really my son because his birth certificate says: Mother: Amalia Velano VELOS(ex husband's surname)
My birth Certificate says : Amalia Velano ENSON(my mother and father's surname)
Discrepancy on my son's BC entry about mothers name, (typing error)of the midwife, when I gave birth to him.Inis, inis, inis!
DSWD said, I am not the mother in my son's BC!
What to do?
1. She said, I have to rewrite my travel consent, change "affidavit" to "letter"(;ek ek!) take off the words, sworn and subscribe, (another ekek,)etc etc;
2. Have a signed affidavit of the father , notarized , that Amalia Velano VELOS and Amalia Velano ENSON is same person, as the mother of (our son).
3.Have the father personally present himself to DSWD, bring Identification.(meaning :i have to ask him again!!!) Reminds me of a photo--->>
(Hi, my ex, wanna have a scratch???!)(shhh im bad...soweee!)
Imagine the trouble because of typing errors!!!
I wonder, they will require also DNA tests or Dentures Identification in the future...

3. I visit my doctor today . He said, my neck is now healing. I told him, I have itchy skin in the operated area, so he said he will prescribed me a cream for it. He told Michel to apply the cream and massage the area for soothing effect.Day and night.
This evening, I remind Michel to massage my neck. He said:
What are you talking about???! Come here, so I can strangle you...instead.
Good night to all!

1.Blogger wanted me to switch to new version. Is it really easy and helpful?
2. Tom Kat wedding in a castle, and Scientologist wedding? What's that?
3. Where do you send money for family in Phils? XOOM or WU or yespinoy daw?
4. Is it true, purchasing plane tickets (example manila -abroad)via internet is much cheaper compare to abroad-manila?
5. Why turkey is served on Thanksgiving day? Whats wrong with Lamb or beef ?
6. Bakit ang taba ng barbeque palaging nasa hulihan?(silly question, hehe)
7.Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
8. Why is it when we are CLOSE to someone ,we are OPEN to each other ?
and lastly:
9.Why "bakla" are increasing in quantity, they never give birth? (hehe)

la, lang! Maybe you know whats best answer? happy weekend to all!



and more here?

1.ANAEM, Agence Nationale de l'Accueil des Etrangers et des Migrations sent me a letter today. It is a branch office of immigration in France that process the coming of my kids to France. The letter said that I must pay them the amount of 265 €(18,000 pesos)for processing the papers.
Nobayannnn! Kung kelan butas ang bank account ko ngayon...
2.Today, I took the train going to work. When the train starts, the inspector asked my ticket. I showed to him my monthly ticket for November and my certificate from employer that I am working in Monaco, which allows me to get a monthly ticket of 33€ Nice-Monaco,(round trip and unlimited trip).
The inspector is a nasty one. Must have had a bad day. He told me to pay 35€ fine. I was shocked! He told me, the train is "grand ligne" , meaning it is international train going to Italy and I should not take it, as I am only an employee, not an international voyager.He said I should ride only on TER (regional trains). Inis. I told him,I dont have cash, he answered he accept my visa card,his machine is ready, and voila, 35€! I told my experience to co filipinas in Monaco, they said: if no ticket, 7€ .If take a non voyager train or TGV (bullet train) or CORAIL train (from Paris), 35€.
If it is TER normal train, and we sit on first class, they charge 35€ also. Luffeett!!! international naman punta ko ah!Monaco is a seperate country ha!hehe...
3.I should have get some sickleave payments because of my hospitalisation. Ngek, SSS France sent me a letter that I must provide them a certificate from SSS Monaco to prove I am not working more hours, before they process my check. Kainis, wala na ako kuarta!!!If I send them the certificate, they will pay my "arret de travail" (stop work due to sickness)and they would also refund us some money we paid in advance to the hospital...SSS Monaco provided me the certificate today. Kelan pa pera ko???!!
Katagal naman ng process ng back pay... Parang bansa ng India..Or Sri lanka...!

4. My employers are supposed to go to New York next week.It is Monaco Day on Novemeber 19, so holiday it is! Thier flights and hotels booked.I was happy, because I will be off also for a week! Then today, they were told that their daughter do not have her passport (as kids here do not have passports, only a travel card issued by their EU countries (ata ?) US immigration will allow Mama and Papa to New York, but without the daughter. So canceled lahat. Kala ko off ko na for a week, sarap sana...

I told Madame today:
"Madame, I have my passport,Ako na lang, I can go with you and Sir to New York , hehe..."

The owner of the house and lot where our internet shop situated (in Antipolo), informed us, she is selling the property. If I'm interested, she is selling it for 500thousand pesos , cash. It is 200sq mtrs lot area, with 150sqm house bungalow type.No land title ,only rights to stay to the area.

I said to my daughter via email to send me the documents so that I can discuss it with Atty Pulido and Michel. She did.I cant believe it when the document arrived via email, so I print it for Michel to have a good view. Michel had a good laugh (almost to tears)upon seeing the document.

The document(the owner called it her "deed of sale") was handwritten, by two CONTRACTING persons (not the owner) dated May 4,1999 to the amount of 120thousand.Two witnesses signed below the page.The paper is not registered to any govt agency.Just like that. No details of the property, no notary seal, nothing to consider it a legal document!
What a joke!

What is a deed of sale?

Such a sale would be one whereby the seller retains title to the property until the buyer has paid for it,called a Bond for Deed, whereby we can utilize the advantages of a delayed transfer of ownership until the property is paid for in full or paid down to an agreed upon level.

The bond for deed is defined as being a contract to sell real property, in which the purchase price is to be paid by the buyer to the seller in installments and in which the seller, after payments of a stipulated sum, agrees to deliver title to the buyer.

A bond for deed is not a sale itself and title is not transferred thereby, even when payment in full is made according to its terms. A separate act of transfer from the seller to the buyer is required.

Ganyan ang deed of sale. Not handwritten oy!What do they think, Im buying a piece of bread? I'm ashamed to show the paper to Atty Pulido.

Michel said to me: Please email your daughter to inform the owner of the property that:
we need a stamp of Mickey Mouse in the "deed of sale" to validate it.
Then we can believe the document is "Legal".Di ba?!(wink!)

Our country have talented and skilled workers but not serving our country... Why? Lets consider this viewpoint:

"we must encourage our fellow filipinos to study , work ,live and die in Philippines, not abroad, for the sake of our country"..(Hmmn, some patriotism points, but...)

... to study in Phils...?

here is an example of Ms Magpantay. She graduated from Tarlac National High School, as valedictorian,and passed the exams in UP DILIMAN,to take Political Science, but parents cannot afford the expenses of her stay in Manila (UP DILIMAN). why cant she have it all FREE!Poor lang parents niya?

... to work in Philippines..
1.Cynthia, As PhD degree holder since graduate in college and work/study hard to earn her noble degree , how much salary she gain? P 15,000/month to feed her family, then she have to buy makeup as she is a manager of the company , dress as a manager , have a lifestyle different as she is a manager ... do you know how much left from salary?... NOTHING! Galunggong na lang, di pa kaya minsan...
2.The driver of Atty Pulido, who works for them for twenty years now, is earning 7000pesos with own room and free food. Atty Pulido's sister, a banking and finance graduate, works in a bank in Ayala for 7000 pesos a month, less make up costs, lunch, snacks, mrt tickets, or minsan picked up by their driver...Whats left on her salary less tax and sss contibution? Buti pa sweldo ng driver, malinis! Kanya !

...To live in Phils?... To do what? The govt do not offer a minimum standard of living, the rent is unaffordable,no potable water, no roads.There's electricity, Juan cannot afford to pay even for his bed light during the night. Then fare of fx, jeepner, bus, MRT, gasolina no price control.Crime rate is mounting. Even sinampay mo sa bakod, nawawala!

... and die in Phils..Oh yeah...
One is already dead, and have to pay the Church on top for "burial mass" charges... And on top the dead's family will have to provide meals (or coffee and biscuits) for those who attend burial...May pakain at painom pa!

Then ang tradisyong, sama sama, mula anak until inapo, walang breadwinner sa pamilya?

Thats why we go abroad... Thats why some proffesionals go abroad, thats why our country is braindrained...of skills and talents...Thats why, hero daw ng bansa ang mag OFW...Thats why some young girls prefer to marry a Kano. Ano ibubuhay ng kapwa pinoy, he has no work or if got work, contractual lang or, paid with peanuts?

Eto pa:TRUE STORY
1.A priest went to Rome and nag tnt na, leaving his post as a priest and work as Butler , he cant resists 100,000 pesos salary a month.
2.A teacher in Philippines, with honors, working as Personal Maid in Hongkong.
3.A Chemist graduate from Bacolod,Phils, works as a house employee in Monaco.
4.A former CIA agent in Philipines, now a gardener in Nice, France.
5.A former Nurse Or midwife in Philippines, now works as a nanny in UK.
6.A Certified accountant from Philippines, now a chambermaid in Dubai 7star hotel.
7.An english teacher from Bagiuo City, now works as caretaker of old persons in Canada.
Where are their skills now?
Michel said, the filipinos are hardworking and very clever but paid peanuts. The filipinos are talented but govt do not support it. Thats why its normal some of them become a "slave" (despite professionals )in other countries. High Salary is the answer.

No wonder,embassies do not approved tourists visas easily. No wonder, for three months now, family visa of my two kids to go to France is ON HOLD, waiting and waiting...!!! &"#!@ç!*ù!@!nakakasikip ng dibdib!

My daughter in Philippines told me she was offered a free Rolex watch, in exchange she open a credit card from HSBC. I said to her: Do you need one? She answered: No.End of discussion.I was happy she didnt fall into the trap of credit cards.I told her, next time they insists, tell them:" thanks but I dont take "poisonous" gifts."
Why I post this topic.
In Philippines, credit card is a booming business, the profit grows like bacteria. Citibank, Standard Charter Bank, HSBC, BPI are among those who offers this credit card to employees. AIG and Citifinancial also offers loans to those who likes to "be trapped".
Here are the experiences of some who were trapped and cannot get out:
(taken from gov.ph forum)
1."One of my friends turned to citifinancial only to realize there were hidden charges and higher-than-advertised interests when her cheque was released"
2."I realized that collecting agencies for hsbc, standard chartered, aig, and bankard also tend to harass and demean clients if they fail to pay ( due to out of work, or sick).
3."I too got a problem with union bank visa card.I was a good payer of our mortgaged house, they send me a credit card, no application form,I only have to use the card if I need it. I was trapped,took some cash, now I cannot get out"
4."yung bank ko po, SCB 10,000 lang ang utang ko, then naging 55thousand na raw after four months."
5."I took a credit card then show it off, and made a mistake, living way beyond my means!in other words.. GASTOS LANG NG GASTOS! BAHALA NA SI BATMAN!"
6."In pursuing the Filipino dream of owning a house, I incurred a huge debt from a lot of lenders (people who will lend you money if you issued them cheques) who charges 7,8,10,12,12% a month my husband works out of the country, and we live sufficiently on his income with extras for leisure of some sort. Until this huge financial disaster came and now we are on the brink of poverty."
7." about citifinancial corp.
kasi nag loan ako sa kanila ng 28,000 and i asked for 18 months term but then they told me na 24 months daw ang pwede para lumiit ang babayaran ko evrymonth and nagulat ako when i saw the paper na ang babayaran ko from 28,000 reaches 67,000++++ na. since kailangan ko that time ng pera i just signed it. "
8. "kakainis kasi grabe mag habol ang ctbnk wish ko nga ma down sana or totally shut off ang system nila na they cant retrieve the files.....grabe sila mag harass..... d ka nila titigilan kahit umiyak ka na ng dugo cguro matigil sila pagpatay kana....kainis talaga"
9."Di ko na po nabayaran yung utang ko sa HSBC, Isang beses lang po ako tinawagan ng collection agency clerk pa, magbayad daw ako kahit magkano na lang sa bangko para wag nila ituloy ang kaso. Nag yes lang ako pero di ako makapagbigay kahit 500/mth kasi ng matanggal ako sa pabrika (factory worker) wala ng kumuha sakin over age,"
10."nakakatanggap pa rin naman ako ng bills mula sa HSBC pero wala ng calls. sana po dito na nagwawakas ang aking suliranin at sana makatulong sa mga kababayan kong pareho ang problema."
11."I have been getting letters from different law offices asking me to settle the supposed arrears i have with my first line that to my surprise had already ballooned to P 33,000! As far as i remember, my unpaid bill with them at the time of my cellphone's lost was just around P 3,000."
12."im having a similar issue with that blasted domingo molaer firm. nagbabayad nako ah. doble ng principal yung inagree kong bayaran. monthly. tas simpleng pa print lang ng outstanding balance binabastos pa ko pag tumatawag ako. ndi daw pede iprint yun pag dipa tapos magbayad. !@#$^&& tlaga. nagpadala nako ng formal complaint sa recovery team ng standard chartered."

13."I'm currently paying for 4 credit cards (CITIBANK, BANKARD, EQUITABLE, and HSBC) For HSBC and EQUITABLE, I'm about to close the acount.I cant keep up. Seems here, more people are still on the credit card trap."
14."already paid 13k and since i don't have any billing statements for standard chartered anymore i can go to court now and they can just tell the court i still owe them 39k..."
15."magbabayad na ko sa HSBC. but when i call them para makipagusap they keep refering me to the 3rd party collectors (who happens to molaer law office yun mga sobrang bastos)... Di ko maintindihan why i can't talk to them directly!!!! Mgbabayad na nga ako eh!!!! Bakit po ba ganun??!!!!"
Haargh, if its me, I cant sleep anymore???!!!
In France, all loans are insured. If a person get sick or out of work, the insurance will pay the balance. The person taking loans, is paying an insurance on top of her monthly installment. It is under the law.
My daughter assured me she will not take any credit cards offered by banks. But then, at the end she said:
"Ma, what if they offer free celphone (latest Nokia), can I hehe?"

We telephone the syndic ((office that deals with our building maintenance) that we had been robbed,and we wanted to install grills in the windows. No, they said, its not possible, because the design of the building will be affected, the uniformity etc etc. They advised us to put grills inside the glass windows, not outside, or else we just close the shutters if we want to secure ourselves from robbers.
Eh, the shutters are made of slim size wood, what if we are on holidays?

I told Michel, No, I wanted the windows grilled. The syndic do not bother if get robbed again, dont they?
Michel said, I am right, but he doesnt want to violate syndic rules.

I am thinking also of a video survellance ,with hidden recorder, as these lots will soon come back, they saw whats inside our flat,and we got wifi connection that they can detect, and they knew we dont stop having a pc at home.
What do you think about a video surveillance, girls?

If we transfer residence, the 87sqmtr cost 200thou€(12million pesos) in Cote d'azur!The rent here is 700€(44,000pesos) a month!We dont have that money...Huhu!

And who knows, in the new flat ,there will be robbers too, we cannot escape!!!
arghhh !!!
I already insure the new pc for 89 euros (stolen or broken) a year, but I am not at ease with that still.

What to do?

Good news: I am still off from work, will start on Monday as my employers called me they were still out of town.

Bad News: October 31 at 7:20 pm there's an akyat bahay visiting our flat via the open window which I left for fresh air . We were out for dinner that time and a neighbor spotted the robber,screamed to him, which surprised him and ran away quick with our two laptops(toshiba and asus) and my celphone (motorola).Inis.We reported it to the police.Thanks for the vigilance of our neighbor, the culprit didnt empty our flat.
Anyway, Michel bought me a new one
Samsung Q35 laptop
.(my third! mama mia) and now I'm back to blogging.Dont worry girls, there will be justice for all these bad people.We will just be careful next time.Search kami today ng security grills to put sa windows and terrace.The Police also fingerfrinted the flat today.

Topic today is interesting again.

Before you give guarantee(to stand surety for), here are some warnings for you before you engage yourself to it personally.

This is not just a story of money between friends and family, but more than that. This is a warning for you,when, one day, you have to give guarantee to friends or membesr of your family for example to pay house rent or loans.Example:If the person asking you for a guarantee to pay his rent, and you sign for him,and then he didnt honor his debts to the owner, its you to pay!
Before you sign any paper to guarantee someone, here are the tips to limit your risks:

Get a copy of guarantor document that you sign. The person you helped must give you also a copy of contract to rent the place.
The sum ( money) must be precised in the contract in the manner of:rent, interests, processing fees and the duration of your engagement to pay in case your friend fails.
Look into the matter seriously and have it documented, to stop your guarantee in case of future untoward event (of divorce of your friend, or death for example, that yo do not pay when those events happen.
In case your friend failed to pay the owner of the flat, have the owner sent an advance letter to collect rent within 15 days from your friend.If still your friend donot pay, you donot pay any addtional penalty or delayed interests incurred.
If you sign only as "simple guarantor", you inform the owner to have your friend pay his rent via his goods in his flat. This right is obtained in the idea of: having a beneficial discussion (in terms of colateral) between the owner and your friend, without you paying.
But if you signed as a "solid guarantor", you have the same title of engagement as your friend, and what ever he donot/cannot pay, you must pay.
Do not forget that when you guarantee someone, it involves your personal finances,(money in the bank, your house, salary,your profits in business,etc etc, and if you are married, your husband is included to the debt,as your legal partner of conjugal assets.
If your husband was not informed about the guarantee you signed, the husband can refuse to be engage to the debt legally. It is the wife's sole responsibility in the end.If you are renting your flat also, you will be paying double rent, and if you cannot pay, you(and your family) will end up in the street.

This tips is to secure yourself to any debts, but if you feel you dont get secured and you still pay, then do not sign any.

You may say, you pity the person, friend or family very much. Its all very nice, but are you ready to sleep in the street(or worst in jail) if the person that you guaranteed upon run away ?