The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel

St. Peter's Basilica

Travel to Rome is not complete without the visit to the St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel Museum.  The Vatican is the smallest state in the world and the seat of Catholicism.  The St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are the two main attractions of the Vatican.  From Rome central train terminal, the travel will take 15 minutes.  I advise tourist to avoid taking taxi, it's expensive.  You have to do some homework by getting to know the trains route.

La Pieta

Expect long queue at the Sistine Chapel Museum, be aware of  cut off time in the entrance. Once you are inside all the artifacts of the ancient times will be revealed, it's an amazing experience.  The museum have thousands of different artifacts, statues, paintings, collection of wide array of arts, gold carvings and many more.  It's a magnificent place where history of man and creation can be visualized.

Sistine Chapel Museum

The entry to St. Peters Basilica is also a long queue.  Female visitors are required to wear below the knee skirts and modest attire.  Remember, this is the main church of the Catholics. Once you enter the basilica, the La Pieta one of most famous work of Michelangelo is located at the main entrance on the right side.  The walls to ceilings is decorated with different types of arts from paintings to sculptures from marble to gold.  I wonder how creative the Romans are?  They have designed the interiors of basilica beautifully.

At the Copula

To finish your tour, be sure to climb the copula, a 320 steps.  Imagine how far you can go?  There are areas where you can take a breath while you are on your climb.  Imagine that this is a way to heaven, or may somewhat be a penance.  If you are suffering from any kind of illness that prohibits such activity better to avoid it.  Expect heavy crowd in this copula climb.

A magnificent view of the square and the Vatican City can be seen in the top of the cupola.

A view at the top of copula

Tom and Jerry

When I was a kid, the Tom and Jerry, the TV series was one of my favorite shows.  Tom was very much annoyed by Jerry's stubbornness.  The TV show became popular and gained the leading spot and became a legend for every kid; similar to Popeye, Naruto, Captain America, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and our very own Pinoy Darna.  Since I loved to watch the series, I did some readings on how it got started.

Tom is the Cat and Jerry is the Mouse.  What a very good combination in the cartoon world, Cat and Mouse.   

Tom was "Jasper" in the first appearance,  a gray and white domestic short hair cat. He lived a pampered life; Jerry on the other hand, was a small brown house mouse and lived within the proximity of Tom.  Jerry portrayed surprising strength as a mouse.  At his size, he lifted items such as anvils and metal blocks.

The "cat-hate-mouse scenario", was actually a rarity between the two.  Tom acting to devour Jerry was only his attempt to torment or humiliate him.  Tom was energetic and very determined; however, Tom was no match to Jerry's brains, wits, and high level of intelligence. 

In most episodes, Jerry emerges as triumphant, however, there are instances when Jerry's attempt to trap Tom backfires. The episodes show that malicious intentions would not result in a favorable manner in the end - a lesson that every kid needs to learn.  Taking advantage of others most often backfires!  The Tom and Jerry series equates the two extremes.  In the end, the true friendship that bonds them serves as the most significant key for them to stay happy and to survive the day to day challenges.

Tom and Jerry  series was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

The Making of Sushi - Simple and Easy

When I visited the US in March 2013, we were invited to a dinner  with Ed's mom.  The mother-in-law of Hazel who also my sister-in-law.  I was not a lover of Japanese food before but the taste of Mom's recipes changed my food appetite.  Mom's place is the best kitchen in America if I were to asked.  Dining outside was no longer an option as long as Mom's kitchen is open.

Since I loved to cook, I asked how to prepare the basic Japanese food, like Sukiyaki and Sushi.  Whoa, it's not complicated as you may thought about it.  It's so easy and simple.  I was really interested to learn because I really loved the food, it's Incredibly delicious!!

The process maybe tedious if you don't loved to cook.  But for people like me who wanted to explore the cooking experience, It's more of FUN and experience.  Firstly, the ingredients.

1.  Japanese Nori
2.  Avocado
3.  Sushi Rice
4.  Sushi Vinegar
5.  Cucumber
6.  Eggs
7.  Carrots
8.  Tuna or Salmon fillet
8.  Baby Spinach (optional)
9.  Mint Herbs (optional)
10.  Kikkoman soy sauce
11.  Wasabe
12.  Lettuce (optional)

Ok, let's proceed to the preparation.  Steam the rice and until cooked, mixed with sushi vinegar (you may add sticky rice of little quantity).  Sliced all the veggies in a length of at least two inches.  Slice the egg omelet.  Put the ingredients in different plates.  Pour in soy sauce in a cup with Wasabe.Then, get ready to roll your own hand rolled Sushi.    A delicious hand roll sushi is not difficult to devour.

Vegetarians can use avocado instead of Tuna.  Mango can be added if you want it taste sweet.

Most Traded Currencies of the World - Money

I am thinking of what to write after the PSE rally and cheered up the Moody upgrade.  I always ran over the business section ABS-CBN and I directed my attention to the special section on currencies.  If you are curious to know the most widely used currencies, here they are.

Spot No. 10 goes to New Zealand Dollar

No. 9 is Swedish Krona









No. 8 is Hongkong Dollar

No. 7 is Canadian Dollar








No. 6 is Swiss Franc

No. 5 is Australian Dollar






No. 4 is British Pound

No. 3 is Japanese Yen






No. 2 is Euro









NUMBER 1 is United States Dollar

Stock Investing Philippines - Alliance Global

For the last few days AGI, MEG shares were moving sideways.  Noted that foreign selling was heavy lead by CLSA, followed by JP Morgan, Deutsche, and ATR.  What made the foreigners panic?  Well, TSI was expected to move upward above 10 but it was stucked to 9 and swung below 8.50.  IPO of it's hotel group in venture with Genting was cut into halves.  I thought of grabbing more of AGI @ 23 but it doesn't dipped to that level.  It was supported well at 23, however, grabbed few at 23.50 and holding the shares up to 25.50 which I believe highly probable.

  Megaworld, GERI were not isolated, both were dragged down by the panic.  Logically speaking, I want AGI for it's diversified portfolio and the growth driven by Megaworld and Emperador.  GERI has a big potential on its better position of landbank in Boracay, Maribago, and the Fairways and Blue Water (formerly crown project of Fil-estate).  Resort World Manila is generating high inflows from the Casino operations.  Looking at AGI chart, it seems that the support @ 23 was strong and broke the 23.5-24 resistance, hopefully direct to 25.

In the disclosure to the exchange the backdoor listing of Emperador was priced at 8.99 below the expected price of 11-12.  I would say that the stock fall was temporary given the strong financial position of AGI.  I am optimistic that foreign BUYING will spark at the mid of the month once the issue on IPO of hotel group is ironed out.  MEG continue to show a robust growth in terms of its high end residential sales and BPO leasing.  The Iloilo BPO center will be another big cow for MEG.  The chart of MEG is trending sideways, 3.10-3.40 but still attractive.  I would be happy to enter below 3.20 for a sure upside of 7-9%, not bad.

GERI lost it's support @ 1.40 and continue its descend, dunno it the issue will dip to 1.00 par, in which I will be happy to accumulate.  This is the year low trade for GERI shares, maybe, the shares will need attention and a possible play will drive it back.  I like GERI and I believe 2.0 level is not impossible.

BLOOM is on my watch!