Food Trips | Batangas Lomi

 

Being a Batangueña, a visit to my home province would not be complete without visiting a lomi house and having a taste of pancit lomi, or simply lomi to most Batangueños. Lomi is an egg noodle dish in thickened soup stock with meatballs (sometimes squid balls) and slices of kikiam, pork and liver as toppings; sometimes, with chicharon and hard-boiled eggs, too. But definitely, no vegetables! That's what sets Batangas lomi apart from other lomi variety.

Lomi was made known in 1968 by To Kim Eng, a Chinese immigrant in Lipa City who served this dish to his mah-jong friends. Because of its good taste, he then started getting orders of lomi. Soon after, he, together with his wife Natalia, started their own Lipa City Panciteria, the first lomi house in the city. From then on and due to the dish' sudden popularity, more lomi houses sprung up around the city and the neighboring towns as well. (history source) Nowadays, most (if not all) local eateries or restaurants has lomi in their menu. It is a recommended dish for travelers and food-trippers alike. And, it has now become Batangas' icon, aside from Batangas bulalo, and of course, the famous kapeng barako.

Lomi is usually served with soy sauce, calamansi and chili pepper. It is the customer who then prepares his own seasoning mixture, depending on his preference. It is typically served in a medium-sized bowl filled almost to the brim. Non-Batangueños and first-time eaters of Batangas lomi were usually astounded by its serving size and often wondered how they would finish it. But for some Batangueños, the serving size is just enough because it serves as a substitute to their regular meal, what with its carbo- and protein-rich ingredients. It's a heavy snack-cum-meal at a price that's not heavy on the pocket. An order of lomi usually costs around 50PhP to 100PhP, depending on the toppings (regular or special) and the location of the eatery or restaurant.

 

Curious about this hearty and delicious noodle dish? Go food-tripping in Batangas. Try a steaming hot lomi with a super spicy calamansi-soy-sauce-chili-pepper seasoning and you'll have that sweat-and-mucus-dripping but definitely tummy-filling experience. Enjoy! ^_^

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Financial Wanders | UITF Investment and Investment Risk Profile

If you read my blogs, you already know that I mentioned my UITF journey in several of my posts. A note to the reading public though, I am not a financial advisor and certainly not an expert in financial management. What I write is normally just based on my understanding of what I read/researched and my experiences about UITF and investment in general.

So what really is UITF? 

UITF or unit investment trust fund is an investment vehicle offered by banks to the investing public. It is a pooled funds (can be peso-denominated or dollar or other currencies) collected from investors and is managed by professional fund managers. In UITF, funds collected from the public are pooled together and invested in different financial instruments like bonds and equities.

UITF, though managed by professional fund managers, is not risk-free. It is subject to risk factors like changes in interest rates and stock market fluctuations. That’s why it is important that an individual find out his risk profile first before diving into UITF investments to minimize loses.

What is investment risk profile?

Investment risk profile is an individual’s evaluation of his ability to take risks on the money he’s going to invest. The areas subjected to evaluation include an individual’s financial capability in terms of his earnings, savings and investment time horizon. This means understanding the current financial state of an individual and the length of time one is able to let his money out for investment. Knowing an individual's risk profile is important to help find out the right portfolio appropriate to an individual's profile and to minimize the risks accompanied by this investment vehicle.

Investment risk profile is generally categorized into three; conservative, moderately aggressive and aggressive. Conservative investment profile means an individual can only accept minimal risk with minimum returns, one that's normally focused on preserving capital. Funds for conservative profile usually includes money market funds, a fund that seeks to invest on short-term fixed-income instruments and assets with high liquidity (ease of getting in and getting out of an investment) like treasury bills. 

Moderately aggressive investment profile means an individual is willing to accept some risks and invests on medium-term instruments that offer higher returns. In moderately conservative profile, an individual is usually offered funds that both invest on liquid investment that offers fixed return on a slightly longer term like bonds. When I first enter into investment, I was classified as moderately aggressive and was asked how much of my fund will be put on to low risk instruments and how much to put on medium risk instruments. Back in 2013, I didn't quite understand this concept yet and just opted for a 50/50 ratio. 

Aggressive investment profile on the other hand means you are willing to accept high risks for a possibility of much higher returns. In this profile, one seeks to maximize the growth of his funds on a long term horizon. Nowadays that I quite understand the risks that come with my investment, I purposely make sure that I get the aggressive profile so that I can invest on highly risky funds. These funds usually invest on equities and stock markets. This carries a lot of risks and there's a high probability of losing money. In order to counter the risks, I make sure to invest money that I won't be needing in the short term; money that I'm willing to let go for years, if need be. I also try my best to study market movement so that I would know somehow when to subscribe and unsubscribe to aggressive funds like what I'm doing with my BPI Invest Philippine Equity Index Fund. Of course, I can't exactly predict market movement so whenever the market goes against me, I do top-ups and accumulate shares. So far, with these strategies, I was able to ride the market fluctuations without losing money. I didn't earn that much but I definitely earn much higher return compared to just saving money on the bank, higher even compared to money market funds or time deposit.

Please note though that each and everyone of us is unique, our risk profiles are different, our financial situations are unique to us. What works for me might not work for you and vice-versa so please know yourself and your situation and do your own research before investing, be it small or considerable amount of money.

Where to invest in UITF?

As mentioned above, UITF is usually offered by banks. Many of the commercial banks in the Philippines offer UITF using Peso or other currencies, usually US dollar. Some of these banks include BPI, BDO, Security Bank, Metrobank, etc. Although majority of those that offered UITF are banks, there are investment companies that also offer UITF. One of these companies is ATRAM.

Of these companies and banks offering UITF, BPI, BDO and ATRAM (thru GCash) are the ones I’ve tried. Of the companies I tried, BPI and ATRAM are the ones I can recommend. I like BPI and I’d say it’s the most appropriate UITF bank for me. BPI’s certain funds (like BPI Invest Philippine Equity Index Fund, a fund that tracks the PSEI, the Philippines stock exchange index) has no holding period which means you can unsubscribe anytime you want to (Other banks require 30 days holding period which means you will be charged a fee if you unsubscribe before the 30-day period ends). In this BPI fund, peso averaging is also allowed, which means, if the unit value of this fund goes down, I can buy at lower prices and accumulate shares.

I also like ATRAM because even though I don’t have a dollar account, I can still subscribe to global funds. Other banks like BPI only offer global funds if you have a dollar account. The minimum initial investment is also usually high in global funds, from USD500 to USD1000. The minimum top-up amount, in case you want to accumulate shares is also high, at least USD200. In ATRAM, the minimum initial investment is PhP1000 and top-up amount is PhP500 making it quite accessible to all Filipinos, especially those like me who only has minimal amount to spare for investment.

 

If with BPI, I normally subscribe and unsubscribe in fairly short period of time, sometimes a week or two, I can't quite do this with ATRAM. ATRAM has longer settlement period and unlike BPI Invest Equity Index Fund where I can easily monitor it by checking PSEI movement, ATRAM's global technology feeder fund is quite diverse that  it's quite hard monitoring the securities they invest in. So for my ATRAM Technology Feeder Fund, I just accumulate shares on a pretty regular basis, every payday as much as possible. Will this work for me in the long term? Shall I get higher return from this fund in the future? As of now, I don't know.  I'm giving this fund five (5) to ten (10) years to work. In this same period, let's also see the rate of return of my BPI Invest Equity Index Fund and compare these two (2) funds. Hopefully, both goes well. Wish me luck my dear readers, if there's any. 😉

~ oo00oo~

Blessed Sunday everyone.🙏 Stay safe and healthy!😊

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Random | 2022 Wishlist and Resolutions

Time flies really fast! It’s already two weeks past the start of 2022, before we know it and given this continuous rise of Covid cases, December will be here once again without notice, just like last year.

But before that, let’s start our 2022 right. I know it’s a cliche to always come up with our wishlist and resolutions every start of the year but, whatever, I’d like to do it once again. Normally, my wishes revolves around material things but this year, my wishlist is totally different. It’s more about saving money and investing while my resolutions are focused on good health habits. Here are my 4 wishes and 2 resolutions this 2022.

Double My UITF Fund

First on my list is to double my Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF). I’ve started my investment journey last 2017 but I only bought my first UITF fund last 2019 using GCash's GInvest by Atram. It started as just a sort of game for me and my friends so we can join GCash promos that time but I took it seriously since then. Initially, I only subscribed to Atram's Money Market Fund but I withdrew the small amount I saved there and transferred to Atram's Global Technology Feeder Fund. This feeder fund is more risky but I'm looking for long term investment here so I just accumulate shares every payday, consistently.

Now, aside from my GInvest, I also have BPI UITF. I’m trying to do “trading” in my BPI UITF by subscribing and redeeming my shares in a short period of time but I only do it when I have gains. If I lost (paper loss) or the unit value of my shares is lower than when I bought it, I do cost averaging and buy additional shares when the price dips and then sell it only when I have gains. In BPI UITF, I only subscribe to BPI Invest Philippine Equity Index Fund because I can easily track it by monitoring the PSE Index. My goal is to double by BPI UITF fund and consistently add shares for my GInvest.

Note: The funds mentioned here are not a recommendation, they are highly risky. Please do your own research and subscribe only to funds you have researched thoroughly. And please only invest money that you won't be needing at least in the next 5 to 10 years so you can weather market fluctuations. If you just need to park your money for a short term, go for low risk funds like Money Market Fund. I'll create a separate  post about the different UITF funds available next time.

Double My Emergency Fund

For my emergency fund, I’m using GCash’s GSave as my savings account. My GSave account was initially created in 2020 also for GCash promo purposes but now am using it to build up my emergency fund. I make a deposit to it every payday, immediately after my salary was credited to my payroll account. 

For those building their emergency fund too, use GSave. It has higher interest rate compared with the traditional bank. It’s also risk-free since it’s covered by PDIC.

Pay-Off My Credit Card Debt

I know some of you may find my financial approach kinda wrong, that I should pay my credit card debts first before saving but this is what works for me.

I tend to spend and charge my spending on my credit cards only to realize at the end of the month that I overspent. I used to think it’s okay, I’ll pay my CCs first and then I’ll start saving, again only to find out in the end that I don’t have any savings also. To be able to do both, I started to allocate certain amount on my savings (emergency fund) and bought UITF shares every payroll religiously. These are the first things I do whenever I received my salary every 15th and 30th of the month. Whatever’s left, I will allocate for my CCs (I have 2; one I used for my essentials which I pay fully every month and the other one for big ticket or unplanned spending). Because of this approach, I was able to limit my unplanned spending. I still have unpaid balance because of my previous spending habit but I plan to pay all of it this year.

Create a Blog Post At Least Once A Month

I promised myself to spend time on things or activities that are worthwhile and limit my screen time from useless activities like playing games and scrolling through social media posts. But since I’m used to always checking my phone, I decided to just go back to blogging. At least in blogging, I’ll be able to practice writing again and still use my phone. 

But instead of me posting more travel stories (I don’t have any because of the pandemic btw) it will be more about savings and investments now. Of course, I will still write about travels and food adventures and I will still posts photos of anything and everything (because why not, I love taking pictures 😉).

Phone Down/Ready for Sleep by 12MN

This I struggle a lot but I’m trying my very best to really put down my phone and be ready for sleep by 12MN. So far, I was able to control myself and put down my phone on or before 12MN. Hopefully, I can do this whole year round especially that soon, we’ll be going back to office for work. Staying healthy is also a must nowadays so I better sleep and rest right.

Get Back to My Daily Exercise Routine 

Back in 2020, exercising became part of my routine. I exercise at home for 30 minutes every other day and if quarantine rules allow, jog/walk in the park for an hour or two every weekend. 

But when I started my current work (lost my previous job and became part of jobless Filipinos last 2020 also), I forgot all about exercise and healthy habits. In 2020, I lost 15 pounds. I ate healthy, too.

Last year however, I gained back  the 15 pounds (and some more) I lost in 2020. I also was prescribed amlodipine for my hypertension last year and until now, I’m still taking it. I’m still hoping I could reverse this by eating right again, by sleeping right and by living right through healthy habits.

Join me in quest for a healthier and happier life this 2022. Let’s get back to shape; physically, mentally  and financially. Happy, healthy and prosperous 2022 everyone. 😊

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Random | Home Alone! Christmas in the New Normal

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year 🎶🎵🎶

Yes, despite the ongoing pandemic and the many struggles that 2020 has brought to us all, Christmas still remains the most wonderful time of the year. Our current situation (pandemic) may have changed how we usually celebrate Christmas, it may have forced some of us to celebrate it away from our loved ones but Christmas is not about us. It's about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ so let's still celebrate and be happy. Merry Christmas everyone! 💗🤶🎄

Each of us may have different struggles, struggles that others may not consider as one. But each of us is unique, we are individuals. We do have different levels of tolerance to certain issues. What may have been difficult for me would be easy for some, and vice versa. For me, this year is one of the most difficult one especially in terms of career. For the first time in my life, I was laid off. I lost my job. I haven't been laid off before so it was such a big blow for me, mentally and emotionally. Also, for the first time (except when I was living with my aunt) I am now celebrating Christmas alone, away from my family. We don't celebrate Christmas the way other families do but for the longest time, we are always together (at least, with my parents and sibling in Batangas) on Christmas. This year was not. I'm here in the Metro, in a building where people don't know each other, where I don't know anyone. There are some other struggles I don't know that others are experiencing. This is our situation now. We just have to deal with it. We just have to accept it and move along with it.

Despite all these, Christmas is still a season to be merry and gay! And this Christmas, I am! I'm still happy and grateful. I lost my job but found a new one. My family and my loved ones are safe and we all are healthy. We are struggling financially but we're coping. We still have food on our table, we still can eat 3x a day. So thank you Lord! Thank you for the new job and for sending people who believe in me. Thank you for keeping my loved ones safe and healthy, especially during this pandemic. Thank you for always being there for me, for protecting me, even from myself. Thank you Lord for all the blessings and even the hardships, for they make me (us) stronger. Thank you for everything. Thank you for letting us survive and get through this 2020! With all these things to be thankful for, yes, I am happy and gay!

In a few days, another year would come, a new beginning. May the new year brings all of us all the blessings that we are praying for. May we all be safe and healthy. May we find peace in everything. To everyone, let's not focus on the difficulties of life, on the negativities around us. Let us all look forward to the new year with a positive outlook, with gratefulness, with hope. And let us all be kind to one another. Let's help shape a better world for everyone. Let's share and help each other, even in the smallest way we can. Let us all be each other's hope!

 

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Financial Wanders | BDO Securities (BDO Nomura) Trading Platform Review

BDO Nomura

I've been using BDO Nomura for several years now, since the start of my stock investment/trading journey. I even wrote how easy it is to apply for BDO Nomura account back in 2017. For the past 3 years, I tried to learn the ins and outs of stock investing and trading. At some point, although I have an 8-5 work before I got retrenched, I tried to do some daily trading. And in those trades, I win some, I lose many. I attributed all of my loses to my being a newbie in the stock market. And it's true! But after 3 years of being in the stock market, I realized it's not just me that is the problem.

In the past, there are trades that I know for a fact is so volatile and could really be a winning or losing trade real quick. But I still joined the herd; bought some and planned to exit just after I got my TP (target price), which I know would only take just a few minutes. I set a GTC (good 'til cancelled) sell on my target price. I also planned my exit, in case it goes against my predicted price. And it happened, it goes downward real quick! I'm logged in so I tried to edit my GTC and set a sell price 2-ticks below the current selling price to make sure that I could sell it at a minimal loss. The platform says my modification was successful so I continue watching while the current price was being consumed. When the selling price hits the price I set, I thought I successfully exited the trade. Unfortunately, it was just a thought! When I checked the View Orders tab to see the status, it's not there. I tried to refresh and check several times but I couldn't really see my sell order. I logged out of the platform and tried logging back in but I couldn't anymore. And that's it, I resigned to the fact that I probably wasn't able to sell my position since I couldn't see it.  Only after the trading hours was I able to log back in again. And it's confirmed, I wasn't able to sell my position.

this is supposedly BDO Nomura's trading platform homepage; yes I was able to login but I couldn't connect to the trading platform itself; this happened so many times I already lost count of it.

 

I only bought minimal position so I didn't lose that much for the particular trade but this scenario happened several times that in total, a loss of considerable amount. There are other scenarios like not seeing my positions or non-loading of trading platform (see photo above) or not being able to login during trading hours (platform is under maintainance) so I couldn't trade. In part, not being able to log in and trade volatile stocks were okay; at least I didn't lose money but it also means I didn't have the chance to gain some too, a lost opportunity.

sometimes, I was able to connect to the trading platform only for the above instance to happen; i.e., I couldn't select a sector for which the stock I'm supposed to trade belongs

 

I'm not attributing every loses I had with BDO Nomura. I know I made some bad trades, too, but a reliable trading platform is essential in trading the stock market. The trading platform should always be available, especially during trading hours. It shouldn't undergo system maintenance from 9:30AM to 3PM during trading days (9:30AM to 1PM during this pandemic). I worked in the IT industry and our system maintenance was always during non-peak hours, normally during midnight when there are only a few people (if there is any) using our system or, if we really need to deploy some hotfix, to make sure to do it in just a few minutes.

Nowadays, I only use BDO Nomura for medium to long term trades. I don't do daily trading especially those highly volatile trades anymore. If you're planning to be a trader, and by trader, I mean those who want to do buying and selling stocks in just a short period of time, within the day normally, don't go with Nomura. Try other brokers. But search and research thoroughly. Ask people from trading forums and social media who are actually using the platform; list down the pros and cons of the recommended platform/broker, ask for their experiences and how reliable the platform is, and then decide from there.

But if you're a medium to long term investor, you can still try BDO Nomura. It's easy to apply, especially if you have a BDO account; no additional paper requirements. You can do everything online. The funding is also easy and real time, with no transfer fee so yeah, it's not 100% bad at all. Just make sure to know what type of investor/trader you are.

~ oo00oo ~

PS: I'm also trying another investment vehicle which is unit investment trust fund (UITF) but I'm using BPI for this one (and GCASH Invest Money too) ; will talk about UITF next time. Blessed Sunday everyone, stay safe always! 😊

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