Travel to Vatican City

As you all know that the Vatican City is famous for its magnificent St Peter’s Basilica. Near St Peter’s stands the Vatican Palace, the Pope’s residence. There are a lot of historical buildings to visit there.

However, make sure you read a little bit about the history of Vatican City. You will enjoy more when you get there. You will know what is the story behind each places you visited there instead of just admiring the architecture of the buildings.

The main church is amazingly huge. I was lucky that I can get a good picture of the light passes through the window. Just lucky to have a good timing.

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Does Money Equal Happiness?

The truth is that we human beings require each time more that we already have. So, rich people complain that money has stolen their happy days and those who are not so financially fortunate say that only money could complete their life, that they would surely get everything else on their own if only they had the means to do that.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

It is not accurate to say money brings happiness, because it doesn’t. But at the same time one can not claim money has nothing to do with it. We are never really happy, maybe just for the brief moment when we reach our purposes or complete one of our dreams. But then, very soon after that, a new totally different problem or desire arises to take that happiness away. It’s human nature to be unsettled and uncertain and it is not a bad thing.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we all are happy at certain moments in life, but all we say is that we are never happy. There’s always something to inflict with our self-assurance or way of living that makes us nervous, sad or depressed.

And money is indeed one of those factors. Many people need it just to pay for food and shelter and they are happy if it’s enough to provide just that. But others, and I’m not talking here about rich people, they already have some living assurance and need more money for other desires or things they want to buy. And the list can go on and on as we climb social and financial levels one at a time. Everyone wants something, and once they have it it’s not enough or just too much and too stressful to deal with.

In fact, we should be happy just with what we have and stop thinking about money so much. Money is an important factor in achieving stability and eventually even happiness because we let it, we even push it up to that pedestal. Money does not equal happiness, it’s even worse than that: because money exists happiness is harder to reach.

But then again, if not for money, we’d come up with something else that we would let interfere with our life and cause us an infinite diversity of problems…It’s just human nature.

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4 Signs You Might Get Sacked

The end of the year might often bring personal revising for many companies. The immediate consequence will be firing people. So that a similar managerial decision will not get to you unprepared, here are some signals you should watch out for.

1. The consultant.
The consultant is that person that comes to reevaluate and to make plans for the distribution of personnel. Sometime, his job can be to tell who stays and who goes from that moment on. His presence is a sign you should have your CV at hand – you will have to convince him of your abilities in the new created structures or, if the situation requires, you will need to convince another employer of your professional abilities.

2. Closed-door meetings.
It can often happen over night; in a department where the boss used to apply the open-doors policy and all of a sudden he appears to be all the time in meeting with his superiors, there for sure something different is going to happen. You can think of asking him directly if they are going to take measures of reducing the number of employees. Experts and practice show that you won’t get a clear answer. There are managers that denied this possibility in front of a large group of people, although later it was proven to be true.

3. A new boss.
If the department you are working n is coordinate by a new manager, then it is highly possible that he will bring along his own team – people with whom he had worked before and therefore trusts. Maybe you professional level is high and no one can argue with that, but the new boss doesn’t know you abilities. This situation doesn’t occur all the times ( the top-manager can accept him in the new position on the condition that he keeps the old team) but then the decision of the manager is heading to this direction, the replacements will not be made at once, but throughout a longer period of time.

4. Change in responsibilities.
Some experts say that if your responsibilities change over short periods of time, without a prior evaluation (that normal brings decisions linked to promotion or salary rise), and the new position is presented as a true opportunity, but you know very well that no one wants that job, then you should keep your eyes wide open. if, on the contrary, you are given less and less work and it seems as if no project is for you or a whole bunch of meeting you would be interested in are organized without your knowing, then maybe it is time to invest in the perfect suit for a job interview.

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Ranking 16 at BlogPicks

At the moment of this post is written, my blog is ranked 16 in BlogPicks.net. What is BlogPicks? It is a new blog listing site that enable blog owners to add his/her blog and ranked based on the traffics given to the BlogPicks.

Here are some details on how it works from their site:

So how exactly does BlogPicks work? Simple. First you add your blog by clicking Join. Once you get your linking code, place the link on your blog (somewhere people can see it). The more people that click on the link, the more votes you get and the higher your blog will rise! Generally, the blogs that are highest on the list will in turn get traffic from users surfing BlogPicks.

If I can be in the high rank, for sure your blog can beat me in a while :D So far, I am just lucky to be in fist page. You can help me raise the rank by voting my blog.

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Funny Picture - El Rastro Flea Market

When I was visiting Madrid for a short time, one of the places I visited is El Rastro Flea Market. My friend who live in Madrid told me that it will be a good experience to visit El Rastro that is open only in Sunday morning and finish the shoppings with couple of beers around the area. At least, this is what he usually does to kill time with his friends.

One thing that took my attention was when I found a beggar along the El Rastro market. The beggar had several signs where people put money on. The signs are "PARA CERVEZA", "PARA WHISKY", "PARA RESACA". Well, I dont understand much Spanish words but my friend told me that it means "FOR BEERS", "FOR WHISKY", "FOR RESACA". What an idea to ask money in the street :D

I took my cellphone and took a picture of it. All of the sudden, this guy brought out another sign and showed it to me "PARA FOTO... EUR50". Whuahaha... I wanted to took the picture as well of this sign but I was afraid that this guy would get mad if I took another picture. Also, I did not want to pay EUR50 only for this. It is better to spend my EUR to treat my friends who have been accompanying me around in Madrid. In any case, I got a funny picture I already.

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Trip to Sukabumi, West Java – Water rafting and War game

Sukabumi is one of the places that often missed by the tourists when they visit Indonesia, especially West Java. Sukabumi is only 2 hours drive from Jakarta. To tell you honestly, I also almost missed visiting Sukabumi :P.

I was asked by my friends to visit Sukabumi 2 years ago. We went there by car from Jakarta. The side views was amazing if you if nature. By the way, we contacted an agent first before coming to Sukabumi to arrange the water rafting that we wanted to try. We did not plan to spend overnight, so we just booked for the facilities to do water rafting.

We got at the resort place in Sukabumi around 10 in the morning, the instructor has been ready for us and taught the basic water rafting and some survival basic in case of emergency. We rode up a jeep to reach the river and started water rafting. Whoooah, we enjoyed it so much. We rode down the river for about 12 km. Not very long, but good enough for starters like us to enjoy. It was a nice experience.

After finish water rafting, we still have time before leave Sukabumi. So, we tried War game as well. I could never imagine that in the war game you fell like a real war. I was becoming so afraid to walk or run in open area. I was hiding behind the trees or bushes. Just crawling around to reach the flags of the other team. I knew that I have limited bullets so I need to use it wisely. Well, in the end my team lose because the other team had a great sniper I must say. Even if my friend was hiding under the bushes, when he was raising up his head to look around. Baaaannng, his helmet was covered by red color due to red painted bullet.

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Travel light – Bring your sports towel

I like to travel especially doing some outdoor activities. The problem that I used to encounter was when it came to pack my things. I like to bring most of my outdoor gadgets to enable me to do more activities in the places I visited. But as you know that traveling outdoor should be having your back pack as light as possible since I will involve walking a lot while carrying my back pack.

One thing that seems to be ignored by us and could bring us a lot of hassle is a towel. Have you been in the situation where you are confused to bring a big towel or a small towel? You want to bring a big towel because it will dry you up fast after taking a bath or after swimming from the beach. On the other hand, you do not want to have a hassle bringing back a wet large towel in your back pack that will add up to the hassle.

Well, the good thing is that you can find many sports towel that could resolve your problems. I bought this sport towel 2 years back and it helped me a lot. This towel is made from special material that can absorb a great amount of water considered its small size. I just need to squeeze the towel to dry it up and use it again to dry myself. It comes also with a plastic hard cover that I do not need to bother to put it on my back pack. You can see how small the towel is. By the way, the watch there is just for a comparison for the size of the towel :D.

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Trip to Vigan - North of Philippines

Vigan is considered one of the heritage city in the Philippines. I visited the town 5 years ago with my friends. Yeah... it is a long time age. But I bet that the city center buildings do not change much because they want to preserve the old style that the Spanish build hundred years back.

I like the city as it gave me a different ambiance. I can just spend hours walking around the city looking at the different styles of old buildings. And people are still living under them. Well, mostly are store now. If you get tired walking, you can always stop by in the big round about near the city center to get some drinks an local delicacies like empanada. They offer different kind of foods there. What I like is the "cornic". It is a dried corns. Some are added with flavors like cheese, garlic, etc. It just a good snack to enjoy while relaxing

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Today I decide to remove NoFollow in Comments

Well, I have changed my template to remove nofollow script. This means that all comments on my blog will be followed by search engine spiders. Of course to implement these changes mean that I need to beware of the spam comments. But in the end, I like the motto "FIGHT SPAM. NOT BLOGs" that is used by Andy.

The image of DOFOLLOW I got from Randa. I hope you do not mind Randa :D

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Why it is better to reserve your Hotel Online?

Most of you do not take in detailed plan for your vacation in holiday seasons. You just focus on the place to go and save money in order to buy the tickets and all the accommodations needed for the vacation. When the holiday season is near and you want to pay for the ticket or make hotel reservation you are surprised because the prices hike during the holiday seasons.

I recommend that you plan you vacation in details. In details mean that you know exactly when to go and when to come back. File your leaves in the office once you get the dates because everyone else file the vacation leaves. Having a dates will benefit you a lot when booking a hotel. You can book 1 month early or more and enjoy the benefits you can get.

Just take a look at various Hotel Discounts. You can find on that sites many promos prices available in different hotels in your destination place. These promos are seldom offered when you come right away to the Hotel. Why? Because the hotel knows that if you come straight to the hotel, most of the time, you are desperate to find hotel. So.. prices become less priority for you. The reason also that such company (in this case: "Hotel Reservation" ) can offer lower prices because they are specialized in hotel reservation and vacation packages. That means that the "Hotel Reservation" and can bring tons of guests to the hotels. Thus, hotels are lowering the prices to attract more customers through "Hotel Reservation" site.

Aside from the hotel, it also offers different selections of Motels and Resorts. So, what you need to do is entering the searching criteria in the main page and the site will give you a lot of choices from their updated hotel database collections.

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Sofa Bed, It is so relaxing

Aside from surfing the net, I like to read as well. That means that I need to have a good ambiance to enjoy my reading. Recently, I bought this sofa bed and put it in my reading room. Whoaaaa… I really enjoyed it. The price serves the purpose. It levels up my reading experience… hehehe… Maybe I am too exaggerating the situation here.

Most of the time now, the sofa is on bed position because I like to stretch my legs while reading.

Since I am not living in a big house with many rooms, this will serve as well as a bed for my friend if they spend a night in my apartment. Sorry friends…., you need to bare with me until I can save up to buy bigger house :D

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Stressed Out? Try Wrist Ball

Most people use this wrist ball to strengthen their arms, especially arms grip. I think trainers in tennis and other racket sports recommend this wrist ball for exercise. The size is small and easy to use. I mean, you can do it as you like... while watching TV, while relaxing in the sofa, or even while traveling. But I personally used it for relieve my stress.

Maybe you have heard about the stress ball. What you need to do is to squeeze the ball. What I like about this ball is that you need to maintain the rhythm to make the inner ball always turns. I don’t know what brand my wrist ball is. I just bought it a year ago along with my kettler ball.

I must admit that at fist, it is difficult to start the inner ball always rotating. But once you get the rhythm, you can keep it spinning all day if you have the strength. You can pace the speed and strength as you like. The more you move the wrist ball circularly, the more resistance you will get. In the end, you have to grasp it more firmly.

Turning this ball and keep the rhythm is what makes my stress gone. This is something interesting you need to try other than your stress relieving method you have.

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Don't Take Your Car Insurance For Granted!

My Car insurance is going to expire next month. To tell you honestly, I am not using my car a lot since I am now the work assignment that requires me to travel. It means that the company provides the transportation.

Before I did not care about the insurance coverage for cars. The cheapest the better. But after I heard my friends complaining about their car insurance company and insurance policy, I think I need to take it seriously now.

I put in my task list to research about Automobile Insurance Policies. The first thing that I will do is to find Quote Insurance Auto. After I have the idea about the prices, then I will compare regarding the insurance policy. The last part which is the important part to research about the feedback from existing customer regarding the company.

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Unique Bidding Website - What an idea!

Recently, I got my external disk by bidding it on the eBay. Well, with the internet technology nowadays, we can just bid for anything we want online. I am sure that you have heard eBay.

But have you heard about bidding the lowest price and you will be the winner? I was told by my friend about this unusual bidding site that give as well Free gifts. At first, I could not understand the concept of this website. But, I viewed the 2 minute video explanation on the main page. It was very easy to understand.

Some might say that it is like a Sweepstake. But for me, it is like a nice-easy game to play and in the end you can win products or even Cash price.

In a nut shell, people will bid a low price on the product. After the bidding closes, the person who has the lowest unique bid will be the winner and the product. If it still confuses you, can the video explanation yourself on the main page of Bid4Prizes.

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Hand Made Souvenir from my friend

In one of my last month posts, I had a trip to Sahara with my friend. He was born in a small town located near Sahara. That was the reason we did not spend a night in Sahara because we could travel back to the small city and spend the night in my friend's house.

His father was still living in the unique house build (I do not know exactly when) a loooong time ago. Aside from farms as the source of living, they also made hand made souvenirs to be sold in the city for tourists.

My friend gave me one of the souvenirs. I really appreciated it. Thanks man!

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Finally my hard disk broke down - Put under air condition and it worked

Well, this is not a good story to tell. I noticed 3 months ago that my hard disk in the laptop started to make a rattle noise. This was quite noisy that usual. Starting from that day I planned to back up the important data every week.

As expected, a week after I encountered the "blue screen" while working with my laptop. I needed to re-start the computer and everything goes well. I might say that almost every week I encountered "blue screen" minimum 1 time.

Just last week, the hard disk finally broke. My laptop did not want to start and kept on showing the blue screen. I was not very surprised with this as I expected it to happen even 3 months ago. I just a little bit concern about last week data. It was not a big deal but I just hope that I could copy the last one before changing into the new hard disk. I tried to restart for more than 20 times but still not showing any good results. The Windows just did not want to load. Even when I tried a safe mode, somewhere in the middle, it showed again the "blue screen".

As time passed, I finally decided to stop trying. I unscrew the laptop and removed the hard disk. I decided to continue putting new hard disk and installing software the next day. To my shock, the old hard disk is very very very hot. And as you can see in the picture, the round part (where the disc is rotating) has been in BLACK color. It meant that the disc kept scratching the cover until the cover burnt up.

I was thinking may the frictions happened because the disc has been expanded due to heat and touches the cover. Desperately to give a last try, I put the hard disk under the air condition and left it all night long. I just hope that the cold temperature will shrink the disc a little bit as not to touch the cover (which were making a noisy rattle sound).

Guess what? in the morning, when I put the old hard disk back in the laptop, IT WORKED. The rattle noises were lessen. Without delaying too much, I copied all the necessary data. I did browsing also for about 2 hours until I hear again the rattle sound started to appear. I finally decided to turn off the computer, throw the old hard disk and put new hard disk.

Now, I am working with new hard disk. Until now, I did not know if I just lucky at that time or in deed, there is a effect by putting your hard disk under the air condition. For those desperate people having the same problem, there is nothing to loose to try this. Just don't put your hard disk inside your refrigerator :D

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Charisma Building Tips

I read this article and found it very interesting. The points mentioned are common and can be easily understood by us. We just take them for granted.

How To Get A Charisma Makeover

People these days spend a fortune on trying to make themselves attractive. Many of them even go so far as to have cosmetic surgery. A term that has become popular is total makeover, where a person seeks to improve every part of their physical appearance.

If you want to become successful you would be better served by having a charisma makeover than you would be by having a total physical makeover.

Why is charisma important?

Becoming successful always involves other people. Those people may be clients or staff or partners or mentors or your power group or people you network with, but whoever they are, the greater your charisma the easier success will be for you.

Charisma is often believed to be a natural charm that some have and some missed out on but it is not true. Charisma is learned. There are several components that combine together to produce charisma and if you work to improve each of those components your personal charisma will improve substantially.

Let's look at five of the components of charisma.

The Smile

Charismatic people generally smile more often and more genuinely than average people. This smile is not a fake "politician" smile but is a reflection of a warm, positive personality. They are genuinely happy to be alive and they have a positive view on what the world has to offer them.

The Voice

Charismatic people speak with confidence and sincerity. The tone of their voice conveys that inner confidence and inspires others to follow them. Their voice is expressive and their topics of conversation are interesting. People want to listen to charismatic people.

The Body Language

The body language of charismatic people is congruent with what they are saying. If they are talking about happy, joyful feelings they look happy. If they are talking about serious issues they look serious. Their body language always matches and compliments their theme.

Charismatic people are masters of mirroring, matching, pacing and leading. These are body language techniques that help build rapport and then control that rapport so that the other person's sense of comfort is being controlled in such a way that they feel more comfortable when they fall in line with what the charismatic person is proposing.

The Communication Skills

Charismatic people use communication skills so well that other people feel more important or more valuable when they are around the charismatic person.

Charismatic people understand that charisma is all about making the other person feel better, more valuable and happier. They achieve this to the extent that other people start to feel better each time they see the charismatic person, even from a distance.

Much of this is achieved by knowing when and how to listen and when and how to speak. These are skills that can be learned and should be learned by anyone who is serious at becoming successful.

The Passion

Charismatic people are passionate people.

Most people are ordinary. Their lives lack passion and direction. They are going nowhere, living the same year over and over again.

When ordinary people are put together with passionate people who have good communication skills, then the ordinary person gets a lift from the charismatic person's passion and confidence. They feel that by going along for the ride with this person their own dull life will be enhanced and they will be more important.

Charismatic people become the leaders. They set the trends. They have the inspired goals and sense of purpose that others lack.

Spend some time giving yourself a charisma makeover and success will suddenly become a whole lot easier for you.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: James Delrojo would like to help you by giving you his ebook "Unleash the Success Power of Your Mind" (valued at $27) completely FREE. Go to www.YourSuccessMind.com

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Trip to Sahara

If you read my post about my filla shoes, now it has traveled to Sahara desert. This is my second trip to Sahara and I still enjoyed it so much. Nothing much to do there but I fell good just by walking on the desert.

This time I and my friends decided not to sleep over there. We just relax and drink a tea while sitting on the sand. It was difficult in the beginning to make a fire from dried branches because of windy ambients. After 15 mins, we finally were able to light the fire and enjoy a hot tea :D

We stayed in the sand until sun set and headed back to the town.

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