Collectibles Here, There, Everywhere

It was few days before I graduated from UP, I recall myself withdrawing my remaining DOST stipend from the PNB ATM terminal inside the campus and, as luck struck me, the machine dispensed a dozen of the infamous ARROVO BANK NOTES (100-peso legal tender). I was with my thesis partner Ivy at that moment and she asked me to sell to her half of the collectors' item bills that I got, so only 6 stayed with me. Then my uncle bought another one of the remaining six for 200-pesos. As of the moment, 5 ARROVO BILLS are in my possession and these 5 are marked with consecutive serial numbers (AM461894 to 98).

Then, this evening, after hitting the gym, I decided to withdraw some cash from a BPI terminal at Robinson's Corporate Buiding in Ortigas. And... surprise! Ten University of the Philippines Centennial commemorative bills (100-peso legal tender) appeared in front of me. I was tempted to withdraw more cash to see how many of those collectibles were inside of the machine but I knew I would just drain my funds empty if I did that. So, I just pressed for another 2000-pesos to cover me for at least a week - and, the machine gave out 4 500-peso bills this time. By the way, these bills also have successive serial numbers (ET366161 to 70).

I am trying my best to keep them in good condition - no crease, no dog-ears - and hopefully, I will be able to sell them at higher value in the future. If you are interested or you know someone who collects rare (well, I think, they aren't that rare yet) items like these bills, just tell me - we can negotiate the price. Bwahaha.

Swipe Here, There, Everywhere

I have been my sister’s CITIBANK Master Card supplement since 2005. So every time I use my card, I earn her points. Two weeks ago, my very own HSBC Mabuhay Miles Visa Card application got approved. I activated it right away and planned to use it to purchase Incubus concert tickets. Mabuhay Miles has a promo – for an accumulated initial spending of PhP5000.00, I will get a round trip ticket to anywhere in the Philippines (except Mindanao). And from now on, I will finally get the hard-earned points in exchange of my own expenditures. Haha.

Earlier this evening, I went out with my college friends, Carlo, Cholle, Fil, Ige, Neil&Daphne, Roma, Ron&Kelly, and Teejay. We met at CTBL Gateway; though, I opted to buy coffee from Starbucks because I have a hundred bucks worth of GC. Ige and I then went to the Ticketnet outlet just in front of the main entrance of Araneta Coliseum to purchase 7 concert tickets. I gave my new Visa card to the cashier and alas, the machine flashed “CARD ERROR”. I didn't know what to do because the total price I owe the lady is around PhP14000.00. Phone booths are nowhere in the vicinity and when I asked the guard about where phone booths are, I was directed to a far place. To make the long story short, I was lucky to make a call to my bank and the service agent assured me that my card is functioning well – she instructed me to go back to the ticketing outlet and ask the saleslady to swipe my card again, this time slowly and surely. Holding my breath while she was trying to make the transaction again, I was finally relieved when I saw two sheets of receipts coming out of the card reader – meaning, my card was accepted. What a way to make “binyag” of the first credit card under my name.

We then moved to Dencio’s to dine. We had 5 sizzling plates of sisig, 2 servings of krispy kangkong, a dozen and a half of baked tahong, 200g of blue marlin, a plate of asparagus in garlic, sizzling mushroom and krispy hipon. Wow! As always, I was tasked to collect each and everyone’s contribution to the bill. A bright idea popped out of my head – I could use my new credit card to pay our bill, then I just have to pay my credit card bills using the money I collected from my friends. In return, I get more mileage. Bwahaha. Imagine, I consumed PhP16351.00 in one day? How many miles have I converted with that spending? I just need to pay my bills before the month ends so it won’t incur any interest.

Anyway, the night ended there. We parted ways around 9pm and as we headed to Gateway’s parking lot, Ige and I realized that no one took pictures of our night out. But this morning, I visited Cholle’s multiply site and saw that she and Teejay had a couple of shots taken in front of CBTL. Haha. Sila lang ang may picture.

So there… I can’t wait for March 9 – Incubus will be coming to Manila for their Pacific Rim Concert Tour. But before that, the gang planned to attend Monday and/or Tuesday nights of UP Fair (Loverage 2 and Rockestra 2). See you guys there!

Moolah

I got my first pay from HP yesterday. Unfortunately, it's diminishing in a very fast rate, like an exponential decay...

Arrovo

I declare this day my lucky day. I went to Phillipine National Bank UP Campus Branch and withdrew PhP400.00. Just like what I always do whenever I need money and ask McATM for back-up, I checked the 4 100-peso bills and to my surprise - this time, all are Arrovo bills! Arrovo bills are limited edition paper notes which were accidentally printed with the wrong spelling of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's name (obviously, the "y" was replaced by "v").

I immediately told my pakner Ivy, who was with me that time, regarding my "fortune" and she requested me to withdraw some more for her. All in all, I now have 8 Arrovo bills plus 5 more which Ivy bought from me. I heard that each can cost up to PhP1000.00 when sold to money collectors and museum/antique houses. I gave Ivy a friendly rate.

For those who are interested, and if you think you are my friend, tell me and I can bargain the other 7 (I want to keep at least 1).