Investing 101

My high school friends and I were throwing ideas on FB Messenger about the next topics to tackle in our live stream for January. I suggested that we take up basics of investing because a lot of people even in their 40s have no idea how to go about it. I said why not we talk about what are the investment instruments that you should have when your investment horizon is 6 months, 1 year, 3-5 years, or 10years ++? I told them I remember interviewing the president of COL Financial about 13-14 years ago about this and he gave me excellent tips that I use up to this day.

I did a similar interview with then-PSE president Hans Sicat about the basics of stock market investing for my TV network. We did an #askPSE live tweet segment then to popularize stock market investing and to widen the local retail investing base.

I really should upgrade my digital camera now. *sigh* I should get what some Youtubers use for clear videos. And a good video editing software. These videos are just raw videos for posting on my TV network’s online news website and wasn’t meant for broadcast since these videos are accompanied by texts. I just collated them in my channel, which is just a dumping ground of my interviews that had nowhere to go.

Like this one:

I think this interview was done during Ayala Corp’s annual general meeting in April 2012.

I should fix my Youtube channel because I have a lot of interviews that could be used as reference or they could be standalone news stories.


On the other side of the coin, I was almost scammed this morning but good thing I was alert.

So you see I have posted the ad (on several FB groups/marketplace/platforms) that I am selling my Roland E-09 arranger keyboard and I had been receiving inquiries about it. Most were low-ballers but there was one potential buyer who was keen. Then long story short, we came to the advance payment part of the conversation.

Then he sent me a G-Cash payment alert

However, I realized that it wasn’t a notice for payment; it was a notice that he asked for payment as a remittance fee. It was fishy because the remittance fee was exorbitant.

I searched on Google and found that KKB (kanya-kanyang bayad) a.k.a. Dutch Treat is a function in G-Cash, like Venmo in the US, where you can split the bill and you can receive a payment from your friend for his share of the bill. The scammer made it look like it was a notice from Moneygram and at first glance it was convincing. But Moneygram transfers don’t look like this.

When I told the “buyer” this was a scam, he blocked me and left the FB messenger chat. I posted on Twitter and FB about this modus operandi and I asked my friends to report the scammer. I had one TV reporter friend from my old network to message the scammer that the network received a complaint about him and he would be reported to NBI.

I would check his many FB accounts if they’re still up. The fucker.

I was so incensed that I finished a floor-length curtain panel for my room to let off steam. By hand.

My granny curtains. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m trying to have more prints in the house because white is boring. Next time I will try graphic prints and see how it would look and if I like them. So far I’m in this cottagecore phase again, just like when I was in high school. My bedspread then were florals and I crocheted doilies, my study table was decorated with figurines of rabbits and similar designs that would go with the cottagecore aesthetic. Then when I started working, I gravitated towards Asian designs, the zen mode–the minimalism phase. I went for Budji Layug x Francisco MaƱosa designs with a sprinkling of Japanese aesthetic. This is my rebellion against the horror vacui that Filipinos are known for and which my ex-in-laws were going for. I simply rejected this pack rat mentality and this design aesthetic that was an assault to the senses.

Speaking of designs, I already contacted my future contractor and he will meet my mom on Thursday or Friday and I will do a video call with them so I can explain what I wanted. It would have been great if we could have met on a weekend so I can drive down there but he’s also a busy guy as I see him posting his multiple projects. He and I used to chat a lot in high school over the ham radio. Fun times.