Let me jump off my story about our US vacation with one of my favorite shows among the Theme Parks we have been to. We went to 4 Theme Parks. Universal Studios in Los Angeles, Disneyland in Anaheim, Sea World in San Diego and Lego Land in Carlsbad. My kids do remember clearly about Shamu, the adorable whale from San Diego. It was one of their favorites. As for me, aside from the show of Shamu, my favorite also in Sea World San Diego was the Pet’s Rule show. It was an amazing show of animals, from dogs, cats, pigs, birds, ducks. I have never seen like it before. The show was actually very witty and entertaining. Example was like the a golden retriever dog preparing their canine cuisine for a dinner date with a poodle dog. Amazing how those animals were trained to be able to do great tricks.

I am pretty sure the trainors are like providing dog gourmet treats. I wouldn’t be surprised if their dog breakfast would be a bunch of new york steaks or even some fillet mignons? lol!

It wasn’t only the dogs who performed. There were cats, a pig, some ducks and birds who were part of the show. Look at some of the pictures we took…

How much do you know about buying a property, real estate settlement, your rights and how much you can protect yourself from being victims of fraud. I was asking a friend who is a registered real estate agent in the US on How Much Are Closing Costs. Closing Costs are actually depending on the location of the property. Different states in the United States do have different tax policies. It is also dependent on what type of structure of the property are you buying. Is it single detached house, a townhouse or a condominium. Some sites do offer a way on how to compute for it by just inputting all the details of the property like address, number of units, and even considering the agent’s rate. My real estate friend also told me the importance of Title Insurance. So What Is Title Insurance? It is actually a protection of both parties, the lender and the owner of the property for any losses on their part that might result due to fraud, errors or liens against the property. I didn’t know that there is something like that until my friend told me all about these things. When we bought our property, we had the full trust to our agent. He guided us on every step to take so we just paid the appropriate amount. Good thing, it was a breeze Real Estate Settlement on our end. I guess the husband understands some of these details already. Now, should you be buying a property, it would really be best to know some information like the ones above.

Yes, I rode the bandwagon of friends who love their iPhone to bits! Yes, I finally got mine (after fretting about the network) before the US trip. In fact, rushed to Globe Telecoms in Greenhills to pick up my unit (white 3gs 32gb) on the day of our flight. The “toy” made my kids sit back on our long road trips. And used the iPhone of their dad too, it was a peaceful trip since they didn’t have to fight over it.

I’m loving it so far. Had to adjust it’s touch-screen feature but I’m getting the hang of it now. Not to mention that I’m having a blast with all the apps loaded into it, especially the games! I’m addicted to most actually!

My grandmother who is based in California is already a retired corporate employee last year. She is now in control of what she want’s do to in life. She basically went home last year to have her grand vacation in Manila. Just last week, I learned that they are making some improvements in their home. Apparently, she got already her Lump Sum Pensions. She told us that she availed of something like Pension Loan, which allowed her to turn her retirement asset into a working cash so she can already do the things that she wants in life now that she is no longer working. It actually makes sense rather than just waiting for your monthly allowance where in you cannot do much because of the limited resources. She is now enjoying life most. She’s happy and healthy. So instead of waiting for a longer period to save up for her dream vacation or improving their home, she can better do things already currently while she still has the capacity to do so. In fact, she actually sold only a specific portion of her lump sum pension and still retained a majority for her needs later in life. I heard there are some who are doing it also here in the country. But the privileges they have in the US makes one individual ask the question: Can I Cash In My Pension Early? It is definitely possible. I’m happy for my grandmother.