Archive for January 15th, 2010

Who doesn’t know about Long Beach? The beautiful city situated in California houses the nation’s busiest ports and largest marina docking everything from the tiny sabot sailboat invented here, to the historic Queen Mary Ship and huge freighters from around the world. As its name implies, Long Beach offer long stretches of beaches. There are  some sandy beaches and coastline near downtown, Naples, Belmont Shore and Long Beach Peninsula that are enjoyed for their scenic beauty. But it is not all about beaches for Long Beach. Once you go downtown, you will be greeted by high rise condominiums and complexes — shopping, tour trips to museums and dining are the main highlights when you go to this place.

I guess the two most popular tourist spots in Long Beach are the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary. You meet more than 12,500 animals as you explore sunny Southern California and Baja, the frigid waters of the Northern Pacific, and the colorful reefs of the Tropical Pacific at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The historic ship of Queen Mary has a Behind the Scenes Guided Tour of the historic ocean liner and World War II troopship, where you can see restored areas that have been under wraps since the final voyage in 1967, including the Isolation Wards and the aft Machine Rooms. Long Beach cruises by Carnival are also really popular. They offer 3-day, 4-day and 7-day itineraries year-round. All of these cruises go to Mexico. Once done with the cruise, you can try the famous Long Beach restaurants that offer waterfront dining such as Stefano’s Pizza and Bogart’s Coffee House!

Long Beach hotels, such as the Courtyard by Marriott Long Beach Downtown, is only walking distance to shops and restaurants. What’s a vacation without some shopping right? For mementos from the trip!

Studies show that the top two resolutions every year never change – that is to lose weight/be healthy/go to the gym AND save/eliminate debt/shop less.

It is ironic that weight and money are equated to losses and gains, just like the stock market. And like it is today, it is risky, shaky and its future unseen. Unlike the stock market though, you have control on these things. And the bottom line or key to achieving these goals is one attitude: Discipline. Discipline with eating, discipline with your wants and discipline in spending.

And it isn’t enough that you just save and save. You need to be wise with money – invest it on something that will yield high returns. If you are not that confident, make sure that you open an account that can have perks and high interest rates. Savings Accounts usually only have 1% interest rate annually.

It is best to know about credit card interest rates, savings accounts, checking accounts and other financial matters before you start working. That way, you know where to spend, keep and invest your money. You can know more about mortgage loans, cd rates, credit cards, home equity loans, auto financing and insurance products at Banktime.com.

Back when we still had cable TV, the rare times I watch TV, you can bet that I’m glued either to MTV, HBO or HGTV (I know, so very different channels, right? It goes to show how many aspects my personality has).

I love HGTV because it lets me see homes I have always dreamed of having and how it is so near yet so far from my reach. As much as I hate to cook, I love to watch to cooking shows. Chefs make it look so easy – I bet they never have to wish the dishes afterwards or clean up after their mess )That’s why I hate to cook!). Even the cooking is done at the most lovely kitchens, ranging from sleek to modern to cozy to elegant and efficient.

I notice though that sinks these days are so different. While most kitchen sinks still have the same chrome faucets, sinks have virtually been transformed to something else. You have ceramic, over the counter sinks (which look pretty but are really scary if you think about it.)

Here is proof:

Kitchen Faucets remain to have double handles and chrome finishing. I would love to shop at the Faucet on Sale store. They seem to have the biggest discounts on the most quality faucets.

I’d want a traditional sink, thank you very much.