We arrived in South Africa last week and went on safari for 7 days. The safari was amazing but I’ll post the experience on another article. We flew in to Durban last night at their new King Shaka International Airport, which was only opened at the beginning of May. Crazy. The Cameroon team arrived around the same time but they were quickly escorted through security. We also missed the Chilean team last week when we arrived at Nelspruit Airport. Bummer.

I tried to get my tickets printed at one of the ticket kiosk at the airport and was told to get an assistance from one of the attendant. I guess 20 tickets are way too many for the kiosk to handle. My girlfriend’s 14 tickets were not a problem for the kiosk to print. We will be attending at least 9 World Cup matches including the FINAL. Could end up going to 3 more matches depending on how adventurous we are. A good friend will be arriving tomorrow and my cousin will be joining us at the end of the month. Bring on the World Cup. Go England … Go Bafana Bafana …

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Northwest Airlines offers online courses through WorldPerks University where you learn about the WorldPerks program. 

The courses are as follow:

• WP101 – Introduction to WorldPerks
• WP102 – My WorldPerks Number
• WP200 – A Global Prespective – SkyTeam
• WP201 – WorldPerks Mileage Partner

Each course has about 3 slides of information and at the end of the course you will have to answer 3 easy questions. Don’t worry about getting the answer wrong.  You will get a second chance at it. Once you complete the short courses and quizzes, you will be able to earn 100 WorldPerks miles for each course.

I took the courses yesterday and the 400 miles were credited within 24 hours.  Hurry up and earn the FREE miles before WorldPerks program integrates into Delta Airlines SkyMiles at the end of the year.

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The navigation is easier to use now. I had problems with the old theme because the drop down box in the navigation bar did not display the correct content.  The main page is covered mostly in images.

The new design of A Romantic Spot

I added the rating system on the post level to allow users to rate each romantic spot. The rating is from 1 heart to 5 hearts (instead of the regular 1 star to 5 stars.)  I modified how Lifestyle theme displays the content for category, archive, tag, and search result. Instead of displaying every article in its entirety, it now only displays a featured image of each article; allowing users to browse through them quickly before deciding which one they are interested in.

Archive Navigation

A Single Post

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However, if you are not a frequent traveler, you can always find ways to rack up those miles right and you can do that right here on your computer … free of charge. With majority airlines revamping their frequent flyer program, you cannot afford to let your account stay inactive and lose all those miles you already accumulated in your account.

I am a member of United Airlines Mileage Plus (which I think the most generous of them all), Northwest Airlines Worldperks, and American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyers. All but one of my free trips have been on United Airlines. I am not enrolled in Continental, Delta, or US Airways frequent flyer programs.

Here are a few website that can help you earn frequent flyer miles on these airlines:

1. MyPoints.com (United Airlines Mileage Plus)

You earn points by reading their promotional emails, take surveys, or sign up for their offers. Easy points are available periodically. Typical email will get you about 5 points. Answering survey will get you about 30-60 points depending on the survey. Signing up for offer can net you anywhere from 25 points to over 1000 points depending on the offer.

You can redeem the points for frequent flyer miles (gift certificate and other awards are available as well). You can redeem 5,000 points for 2,500 United Mileage Plus Miles or 10,000 points for 5,000 United Mileage Plus Miles.

Mypoints.com is a bit stingy with the points but I still manage to rack up the 5,000 points without signing up for any significant offers in a little over a year. Most points have come from reading the emails. To receive enough emails, you should opt-in on every categories of email to receive.

2. e-Rewards.com (Northwest Airlines Worldperks and others)

e-Rewards offers rewards in term of currency for each email you read or for every survey you completed. Some surveys are worth more than $10.00, others as little as $1.00 or less depending on the length of the survey. Although dollar value is rewarded to your currency, no actual cash is paid out. Reward is redeemable in $5.00 increment.

You can redeem 500 Northwest Worldperks miles for $25.00, 1,000 Northwest Worldperks miles for $50.00, and 2,000 Northwest Worldperks miles for $100.00. You can redeem the Northwest Worldperks miles ONCE per calendar year. (Update 09/14/2009: It’s now redeemable once every 6 months (180 days) per Terms and Conditions.)

One thing I don’t like about this program is 75% of the currency you earned prior to June 30th will expire on August 1st. I think it’s stupid because it forces you to redeem an award whether you like it or not. I have earned about 5,000 Worldperks miles, 2,000 AAdvantage miles (redeemable only until June 11, 2008), 18,000 Hilton Honors Points, and other rewards as well.

They also offer Delta SkyMiles, Virgin FlyingClub miles, US Airways Dividend miles, and Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles.

(Update 06/27/2008) E-Rewards is invite-only.  I found this link to register with e-Rewards if you are a member of Northwest Airlines Worldperks Program.

3. e-Miles.com (Northwest Airlines Worldperks and others)

e-Miles offers frequent flyer from Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways, and Delta Airlines. You earned 5 miles for evaluating their offers. Sometimes you will get an extra miles if you sign up for the offers. Once you evaluated the offer, you normally answer a few short questions regarding the offer. You can request for the miles to be deposited to the frequent flyer of your choice in 500 miles increment.

4. OpinionPlace.com (American Airlines AAdvantage)

I just signed up for OpinionsPlace in part because I want to keep my AAdvantage account current. You participated in the the survey and upon completion, you will be rewarded AAdvantage miles (100 – 300 miles per survey). I did one survey today for about 15 minutes and received 100 AAdvantage miles as a reward.

Well, I am sure there are plenty of programs out there that offer Frequent Flyer as a reward but for the time being, these 4 are the one I am enrolled in. You want quick miles? Apply for the airlines credit card. Most Airlines credit card waive the annual fee for the first year and you would receive 20,000 to 25,000 miles bonus miles on your first purchase. You can’t beat that.

5. Frequent Flyer Online Mall (Almost every frequent flyer programs)

I am sure most of you have made purchases online. The next time you want to buy something from Dell or Best Buy or Circuit City or other online retailers, go and check whether those retailers offer frequent flyer miles through the airlines online shopping mall. You will be surprised how comprehensive the list is and how generous they are in giving away the miles. For example, I recently purchase a Dell laptop for a friend and Dell offers 3 miles per $2.00 spent on United Mileage Plus Online Mall.

If you know other valuable (i.e. generous) programs that reward Frequent Flyer miles, please do share.

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I am not normally known for losing thing or leaving things behind. However, in the last one month I have lost major possessions at the airport. First it was my mobile phone which I lost on the flight to Sydney, Australia. I don’t even know where I lost it. It probably was on the seat pocket but I do not remember putting it there. At the time, I think it was just a case of carelessness and discounted the idea of ‘getting-old-and-don’t-have-a-good-memory-anymore’; that until yesterday when I lost my favorite jacket at Hong Kong Airport during my transit. I realized I don’t have my jacket about three hours into my flight. And again, I can’t recall where I placed it. It probably was in the restroom. Sigh.

Now the question I have for myself is … is it really a case of me getting old, start losing memory and don’t remember where I place things anymore (again, this only happened at the airport) or am I cursed for flying all these “Free-Trip” so in a way it is my way of paying my due for the “Free-Trip”? Or perhaps it is my way of giving back, but as I recall I still do use all these things I lost so that can’t be it.

Now not only do I need a new mobile phone, I also need a new jacket (considering how cold it was when I arrived last night, I really need a new one to keep myself warm.) Anyone care to contribute to the Joey’s Memory Loss Fund?

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The price has to be reasonable in nature, well .. a little bit expensive for a special occasion is still considered reasonable. Definitely not a $5000 a night hotel or a restaurant that no one can get into or a bed & breakfast with 6-month-long reservation. I want the list to appeal to a wide range of audience. Ideally the place will be suitable for Valentine’s Day, Birthday Celebration, Anniversary, or any other special occasions, or even for a quick visit like watching the sunset, an afternoon walk, a joyride along the scenic road, etc.

The destination doesn’t have to be a place you have visited personally but at the very least you know someone that have. I want it to be a word-of-mouth list from people like you and me instead of a list from travel pundits or travel agencies. It doesn’t have to be E! Channel worthy; just a place that means something to you because it’s romantic and you think it’s a place others will feel the same way as well.

So please send me your list or you can just use the comment below. Please do provide as much information as possible (address, price, web url, or a short excerpt will be greatly appreciated). Share the love …

Thanks.

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I went with 3 of my younger siblings, one who is terrified of height. We picked the twilight climb so we will get to see the sunset from up there. We arrived 15 minutes before the climb. There are pictures of celebrities on the wall who have done the climb in the past including Will Smith, Matt Damon, Al Gore, Sir Richard Branson, Nicole Kidman, etc.

The whole experience will take around 3 1/2 hours, about 1 hour of which will be spent on safety prep, putting the gear on, and a trial climb up and down on a small stairs. We are not allowed to wear anything on our wrist or to bring anything with us on this climb. The harbour bridge is the busiest highway in Australia. I can only imagine some punks go on this climb and start dropping something from the bridge onto the highway and cause an accident below. We are given a one-piece track-suit, a safety belt (similar to the one people use for rock climbing except this one only goes around the waist), a safety latch that attaches to the belt and to the rail alongside the bridge, a fleece and a raincoat in a small bag that goes behind the belt in case we get cold or it rains (it’s been raining in Sydney in the last few days), a head piece that attaches to a main radio unit so we can listen to the guide during the climb, and a headlight. I am amazed with the safety they take. Every piece of safety instruments we wear are attached to either the belt or the one-piece tracksuit including glasses and hats.

We started the climb at the bottom part of the bridge just below the highway. The guide explained some of the history of the city including the story where James Cook (discoverer of Australia) first arrived in Australia. The view of Sydney Opera House is amazing from up here. I wish they offer bungy-jumping (also on the Life’s To-Do-List). We then had to climb the stairs so we could actually start climbing the arch of the bridge. It wasn’t too hard. My siblings were struggling a bit. They are not in shape. Shame on them.

When we got to the top (bottom of the arch) before the actual climb, cars were zooming by on the bridge. It’s pretty similar to the walk on the Golden Gate Bridge where you are only a few feet from the road itself. The climb was amazing. The view was breathtaking. I could almost see the entire city except those that were blocked by the skyscrapper. The weather was perfect.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top. Well, we stopped a lot along the way to enjoy the view and to listen to some stories about the thing that we saw. At the highest point, we were about 134 metres from the sea-level. The sunset on the western end were amazing. I virtually saw the sun disappear on the horizon. Too bad I couldn’t bring the camera with me. That would have made a beautiful wallpaper. The sky turned dark on our way down so it’s time to put the headlight on. I don’t think it helps though because we could still see pretty much anything. But hey, I don’t get a lot of chances to wear these gears all at the same time. The descend down took longer because the group in front of us were really slow.

When we arrived back, we were given opportunities to purchase the pictures the guide took of us. We received a free group picture. Everything else is not FREE. You can purchase the images in CD or you can have them printed out in 6 x 8, 10 x 12, and frame (if I remember it correctly). I have no use for printed photos since I am all-digital in my photo collections. It costs AU$ 64.95 for the first 4 pictures and AU$ 5.00 for each additional. It actually helps going in a big group because you can make one single purchase instead of multiple individual purchases.

The whole experience was amazing. Yes, it is pretty expensive at AU$ 249 a person but it is worth it. Will I do it again? May be.

Doing the Thizzle Dance at the top of Harbour Bridge.

Group pics at the highest point before our descend down.

With my siblings.

City View of Sydney on the background.

These are the steps we climbed.

The View of Sydney Opera House from the Bridge.

The descend on the west end of the bridge.

The descend at dawn with the City View on the background.

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MILF in this case stands for Many Islands Low Fares. It’s a marketing campaign ran by the new budget airlines called the Spirit Airlines (I call it the “Nine Bucks Fly” – keep reading to find out why) based out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. They specialize in flights to the Caribbean; mostly from the East Coast cities like Boston, NY, DC, Atlanta, and some Florida cities. They also serve the Midwest market; most notably Chicago and Detroit. The only cities west of Mississippi it serves are LA and Las Vegas. I doubt they will come to SF anytime soon.

Some people called the ad distasteful and obscene due to its usage of MILF acronym; and the fact that they alter the image of a Caribbean island in the ad to resemble a reclining woman. I think it is a marketing genius.

Some of their fares have raised eyebrows. $9* each way. I am not sure how much in taxes and fees you have to pay. Speaking from my own experience traveling with a European budget airlines, those taxes and fees could be as expensive as the price of a regular ticket. I am not sure whether US carriers play by the same rule. Spirit Airlines has an email signup for the $9 Fare Club. You pay $9 for the 3-month trial membership to be join, and $29.95 annually after that. They also have deals on hotels, cars, vacations, cruises, and excursions.

Anyway, I checked out a sample fare from Los Angeles LAX to Boston just to see how much taxes and fees they charge. Round-trip fare was $188.00. The taxes and fees amounted to $20.80 ($6.80 Segment Fees, $9.00 Passenger Facility Charge, and $10.00 Security Tax). You have an option to buy a Travel Insurance for $12.00 a person. Pretty good deal. They have 2 Class Service, Deluxe Leather or Big Front Seat. Why don’t they just call it Fat-Ass Seat? I guess that answered my question about how much taxes and fees a traveler will need to pay.

I think more competition in the airlines industry is good for consumer. I travel primarily on United Airlines or any airlines in the Star Alliance network; mainly due to its generous Frequent-Flyer Program. I am spoiled with all the miles they throw at me. Spirit Airlines has its own Frequent-Flyer Program.

I don’t know how good the airlines is, the on-time performance, customer satisfaction, etc. I just know I have one more option when it comes to travel. The 2008 Bob Proctor’s Caribbean Cruise is sailing out of Fort Lauderdale in October 2008, so watch out for those flights.

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I felt so much better in the afternoon. I was not about to miss more seminars. I attended Gerry Robert and Paul Martinelli seminars. Gerry Robert presented in his usual way, funny and entertaining. And during his presentation, he was cut off by Bob Proctor, who announced they just secure another cruise ship for next year Seminar-at-Sea. Only this time, they will be traveling to the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale. October 18, 2008. Circle that date on your calendar. This trip is worth it. I am sure they will sell out long before the sail date next year; unlike this year where I managed to secure one of the remaining 4 cabins 2 days before the trip.

Paul Martinelli

I have always enjoyed Paul Martinelli seminar and this time it was no different. He talked about 7 level of awareness we possess:

1. Animal
Fight vs Flight. Reacting to what is going on around us instead of responding.

2. Mass
We are programmed to conform “Follow the Crowd” mentality without thinking.

3. Aspiration
The desire to be, or have more than out current circumstances. This is your desire without action.

4. Individual
This is when you begin to express your uniqueness as a human being (through action.) This is when you become more aware that there never has been or will be another expression of life like you.

5. Discipline
Not conditioning or discipline.

6. Experience
The difference between learning and experience.

7. Mastery
We truly begin to respond and no longer controlled by habit.

I like one of his quote ‘What other people think of you is none of your business.’ Take that advise and swing for the fence. Sometimes it’s your worry about what other people think of you that is holding you back. I remember one of the quote I read in Dare to Dream and Work to Win book by Tom Barrett that goes something like this (I am paraphrasing here) “If you know how little people think of you, you will never worry about what they think of you”.

He shared one quote by Henry David Thoreau

“If a person will advance confidently in the direction of their dream and endeavor to love their life they have imagined, they will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”

Very powerful indeed.

Last Night on the Ship

Tonight would be the last night I got to have fun with these wonderful people I met during the entire trip. I am sure in the state of my tipsy-ness at Northern Lights, I might have met a few more people that I just couldn’t recall now.

There were 2 variety shows tonight. The first one was the collaboration of all the performers on the ship. The magician, the Elton John show, the comedian, and the dance performers. The comedian even managed to get the audience to do the chicken dance or whatever dance that was. Whatever it was, it was a LOT of fun. I am disappointed that I missed the solo Elton John show.

After the variety show was over, it was followed by the Oosterdam Idol Final. All four contestants were singing their butt off. I was cheering for Jeanette. She didn’t win but to me everyone on that stage is a winner. They are THAT GOOD.

I stopped by the Piano Lounge to see Billy played my favorite tune Piano Man. He got a little help from Edith. Good time. Good time.

Edith and Billy ‘The Piano Man’ McAllister at the Piano Lounge on Oosterdam Cruise

Billy ‘The Piano Man’ McAllister performing the Piano Man with the help of Edith

When Billy retired for the evening, I went to Northern Lights. A lot of familiar faces. It was the last night on the ship after all. I am sad that it’ll be over soon. I am very grateful for the experience. It was an eye-opening trip for me. And it brings me to another quote by W. Clement Stone “Whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.”

Meeting the individuals on the ship have been the ULTIMATE HIGHLIGHT of the trip. Just being in their presence have made all the difference for me. And last but not the least, all the staff on the ship have been working long and hard to make sure everyone has the time of their life. They are the ultimate professionals. So helpful and friendly. They are the greatest. More than 50% of the staff are from Indonesia and I have had the absolute pleasure to talk and to get to know some of them.

The End

Well, this would bring an end to my report on 2007 Bob Proctor’s Seminar-at-Sea sailing to the Mexican Riviera. The article on Day 8 of this trip was published about 10 days ago. That was actually the first article I wrote about the trip. I like working backward. :-p

See you all next year.

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Mark Victor Hansen

First speaker today was Mark Victor Hansen. For those who don’t know who he is; Mark Victor Hansen is the co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. He has sold hundred of millions copy of books.

Mark talked about our wants and where they come from. He analyzes the conscious mind vs the sub-conscious mind.

Steve Siebold

The next speaker was Steve Siebold. I thought Steve was awesome. He talked about how to be an effective speaker. He kept repeating his method and it worked wonder each and every time. His tip was ‘Make a point and tell a story’; a story the audience can relate to. His magic word to relate to the audience was … ‘Let me give you an example’.

Some of his tips for great speaking:

1. Add a character to your story
This character is you. You tell your story from your point of view.

2. Self Deprecating humor
When you have your moment of lapse in achieving success, the audience can relate to that. In speech writing, the audience will RESPECT you for your successes but the will LOVE you for your failures.

3. Brushes with Greatness
This story is about famous people and successful people that you met. You don’t do it to brag. You do it to excite your audience and capture their attention.

4. Using props
Distinguish between facts and truth. Truth is perception. Facts is well .. facts.

Wendy Soderman

Wendy spoke in the afternoon. The moment she uttered her fist sentence, I knew immediately she was going to give one hell of a talk. Wendy is not a speaker-by-trade. She was a mother and a teacher who went to hell and back. She told a very powerful life story. I wanted to share her story here but then again I would take the magic away from you if you ever get the chance to listen to her speak in person.

I tried so hard to not shed a tear. Most people in attendance were weeping. Her relationship with Kris (her husband) is something everyone should be envy of (in a good way). I’ve seen them around the ship before she gave that talk and I thought they were a great couple.

Tonight is a formal night. I really did not feel like dressing up so I decided to just grab a quickie at the Lido Restaurant. I watched a dance performance at the Vista Lounge. I watched it twice. I sat on the last row for the first show and on the second row for the second show. It surely made a big difference … a difference between a good show and a bad show.

That looks sexy

Samba Dance

Hula Dance

Hula Dance Performance

After the performance, I headed to Northern Lights. It was pretty crowded. I had a fun time dancing the night away.

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