Kowloon Park in Hong Kong

Located in the heart of Hong Kong is a park. A typical picture of a park would include children playing and their parents to the side watching. But it is different at this park. It is a daily ritual for many senior citizens to come down every morning to engage in their exercise of tai chi. Tai chi is a traditional Chinese exercise that consists of taking 108 slow and relaxing body movements to sooth one’s mind and body. Under the shining sun, one can typically see a plethora of people working out with their minds patient and flowing with the force. After about thirty minutes, one would see groups of people meandering away from the park and into the seats of a restaurant to enjoy their breakfast of dim-sum. Throughout the afternoon, one would see many elders sitting under the pagodas, playing games of Chinese Chess, tending to their birds and sipping hot tea. It is a pleasant sight in a hustling a bustling city like Hong Kong, a busy financial center as well as one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

Also posted on Helium and Xomba..

How to get more for your money at Olive Garden?

How to get more for your money at Olive Garden?

If you are by yourself...

Well, you know how each pasta dish includes a soup or a salad and bread sticks? Order any pasta dish and select either soup or salad. When the bread sticks and soup or salad arrive, finish it and ask for a refill. When the pasta comes, don't eat it. Continually ask for more bread sticks and soup or salad until you are full. Then, ask to take home your uneaten pasta. Guess what?? Dinner is already taken care of for you.

If you are with someone else...

The same applies. Each of you order a pasta, but make sure only one of you chooses soup and the other selects salad. That way, you can have the soup and then ask for a refill, but for your friend, and your friend can the salad with you, or vice versa. When the pasta comes, don't eat it. Continually ask for more bread sticks and soup or salad until you are full. Then, ask to take home your uneaten pasta. Guess what?? Dinner is already taken care of for you both.

Other tips...

Never go on Saturday, Sunday or Dinner, unless they are offering the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl special where you can have unlimited pasta for under $8.00. Otherwise you get charged more for the same pasta you can have during lunch.

If they offer the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl special where you can have unlimited pasta for under $8.00, go for it, even if you think you can't eat more than one serving. It's cheaper than most other items on the menu anyway.

Further, this goes for all restaurants, drink water... don't pay $3.00 for a soda you can get for 25 cents at a vending machine. Also, by the time you dessert is offered to you, you should be full...

In addition, if you havent gotten one of those no-annual fee credit cards that offer you points for every dollar you spend, feel free to do so, and you save about one ot two percent every time you go out.

Lastly, since you saved all that money and if you think service was good, you could consider tipping the server a little extra. It's amazing how an extra dollar can brighten somebody's day.

Source: Frugality 101 (http://frugality101.blogspot.com)

What happened to the old Larry’s Market stores?

What happened to the old Larry’s Market stores?

If you were curious about what happened to the Larry’s Market stores after its bankruptcy, then check this out…

Bellevue - GI Joe's (A national sporting goods store)
Kirkland - GI Joe's (A national sporting goods store)
Redmond - New Larry's Market (Owned by Supermarket Management Corporation/Associated Grocers)
Lower Queen Anne - Metropolitan Market (An upscale supermarket)
Oak Tree - Hop Thanh (An Asian supermarket)
Tukwila - Summit Trading Company (A supermarket from Puyallup)

Stupid Spyware...

I don't know how I get it... but I have reason to believe it's all from AIM. I have also noticed that Limewire can add spyware into your computer, so be careful. I had a old Windows 98 computer that lost its sense of keeping track of time and I think it's because of spyware related viruses. I also had a friend who had to reformat her computer several times due to such viruses. To save your computer from such failures, one should download the following applications:

Ad-Aware SE Personal

Spybot - Search & Destroy

They are quite effective in removing adware, spyware and all that other crap. Should you have any questions or other suggestions, please contact me. Thanks!

Best of Seattle Awards

Art Supplies
Art Primo
http://www.artprimo.com

Carpet
PDIC
http://www.pdicusa.com

Casework
Woodworks 360

Construction Management
PDIC
http://www.pdicusa.com

Laser Engraving
Commercial Engraving Services

Mortgage
Columbia Mortgage Capital
http://www.columbiamortgage.com

Music Consulting
AD Entertainment
http://www.audiodose.com

Property Management
PDIC
http://www.pdicusa.com

Real Estate Development
PDIC
http://www.pdicusa.com

Wallpaper
PDIC
http://www.pdicusa.com

Studying for AP Euro

Resources for AP Euro

These are pretty helpful websites for studying for AP Euro.

http://www.prenhall.com/kagan

http://www.holynamehs.com/academics/euro/

http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/kagan3/

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. It is because of the Veteran that allow us the opportunity to live the American Dream.

Estate Tax Debate from noestatetax.blogspot.com

As i see it there is nothing wrong with an estate tax. it is not like they take all of your money just some of it. Your family still gets to get 2 million untaxed and then taxes apply. the money is taxed exclusively for education and only applies for roughly 250 wealthy households. therefore obviously it does not effect you or me. we only stand to benefit. since it goes to education it indirectly benefits us. why should 250 households get tax relief when ultimately public education would suffer. The common citizens would end up getting a tax increase while 250 household get a tax break. hardly fair don't you think. we have a social and moral responsibility to make sure everyone has a decent education and if 250 household have to spend a portions their millions for social good is that really all that bad. granted they lose some money but they still are gonna be rich. tell me what you think.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

My response is as follows:

You must be kidding me!? Sure fact... "is not like they take all of your money just some of it." That's easy if your inheritance is tangible like cash, stocks or bonds. What if you inherit a family business or a real estate portfolio, those things aren't tangible. Many families have invested every penny and bit of their sweat into running a successful business. Hypothetically, let's say my parents die and I happen to inherit the business. But guess what, the government is going to make me sell the business at a loss to some multinational corporation because I have to cough up this so-called estate tax. My family had worked their lives for nothing.

Further, just because this may not affect you shouldn't be a good reason to forget about morals. Another hypothetical situation:

My parents made some money and paid taxes on that money. (That's fair).

Then in event of their death...

The government comes and tries to steal more money... guess what... it's because they became deceased.

Where's the moral in stealing money from someone whose already suffering from the death of loved ones.

Double taxation in general isn't fair. Where's the American ideal of capitalism and free market??? Double taxation just leads us closer to a socialist society.

There are other ways to raise money for public education. Government funds are being abused daily. Besides, public education isn't in any trouble. Since that is an unrelated issue, it will not be discussed in this forum.

Money isn't the real issue. It's the principles of the estate tax that deeply terrorizes me.

-Adrian

Commercial Space for Lease

Commercial Space for Lease

Prime commercial space located in the heart of Georgetown.

Incubator Offices - AVAILABLE (Only 2 Left)
Secured Fenced Yard approx 4000 sq ft - AVAILABLE
3 Retail Spaces - LEASED
640 sq ft Workshop/Warehouse - LEASED
Recording Studio Space - LEASED

Plenty of free off-street parking for you, your employees, vendors and guests.

Easy access to Highway 99 (East Marginal Way) , I-5 and major thoroughfares (1st Ave S and 4th Ave S) Close proximity to Downtown Seattle, SODO, Seattle Design Center, Pacific Market Center, Boeing Field, Stadium, Pioneer Square and International District.

For more information, please e-mail pdicusa@gmail.com or feel free to call us @ 206.622.8228.

A PDIC PROPERTY.

Wasting Valuable Time Online Part One - Gmail

Is it just me, or do you spend a lot of time online? Well the following is a list of websites I go to all the time to quell the feeling of boredom...

Gmail
http://www.gmail.com

Gmail is an e-mail application owned and operated by the one and only Google. Gmail is one of the best free e-mail accounts offered and it has the most user-friendly interface too. Currently, I use Gmail as one of my e-mail addresses. If you would like an invitation for a Gmail account, please feel free to let me know, and I will send you a free invitation to join Gmail.

Make money blogging using Xomba

Welcome to Xomba, an online community for people to share ideas, make friends and get paid to write. Xomba has been designed for people looking for information and aspiring writers who are trying to get published.

Write what?

You can write about anything you want: an article, blog, poem, short story, review, ect. We refer to any content you write on Xomba as a Xombyte.

Get paid to write?

Yes, once you sign up for a free Google Adsense account and post a Xombyte we will split the ad revenue with you 50/50.

Google Adsense?

Google's definition of Adsense:

"Google puts relevant CPC (cost-per-click) and CPM (cost per thousand impressions) ads through the same auction, and lets them compete against one another. The auction takes place instantaneously, and, when it’s over, Adsense automatically displays the text or image ad(s) that will generate the maximum revenue for a page -- and the maximum revenue for you."

Google Adsense displays relevant Google ads to our webpages. The Google ads are targeted to what you write about in your Xombyte allowing your audience the chance to view other websites that might interest them. When the reader clicks on a Google Ad you get paid. Xomba automatically rotates ownership of the ads so we can split the revenue 50/50. The best thing is you get all this for FREE and you get paid directly from Google.

Help make you money?

We act as a virtual publisher for you by marketing your Xombyte to readers, placing your Xombyte in search engines, hosting and publishing your Xombyte on our site. We offer tips on how you can earn extra money from your Xombyte.

Is it just about the money?

Absolutely not, we want you to have lots of fun being part of the Xomba community. You DO NOT need an Adsense account to use this site, but you MUST HAVE have an Adsense account to make money. Xomba's goal is to provide an enjoyable community where you can interact with other writers, easily find and read useful information and help you make money.

Anything else?

Of course! We plan to offer contests where you can win money and prizes. You can find exclusive interviews on Xomba of professional print and online editors and writers that will offer tips on how to get published and develop your writing skills. Think of Xomba as a support community for your writing addiction. Other features include allowing you to post comments to Xombytes, send private messages and upload pictures.

Where do I begin?

Click here!

For more information, feel free to contact me.