Manong Romulo

I've taken so many cabs in my life and I've had both good and bad experiences. Most of the bad experiences I remember well, but the good ones aren't really that significant since I'm already happy when the driver brings me to where I'm headed without complain.

It was Manong Rom who was dispatched to my house when I requested for a cab. The dispatcher also excitedly mentioned to me that the car was new. When I got in the cab Manong Rom shared to me that his cab was new and the first one in the set of the new fleet. He also said that he was awarded as the best driver for the year in 2007 and received other awards because he was not absent for 5 years and never had an accident. 

Manong Rom's also very talented. He said he was fluent in speaking Arabic (and gave samples) and also showcased to me all the foreign and local languages he knew how to speak. And I could just mumble that I understood "Bicol". He said that if I put my mind into it I would definitely, easily learn other languages. 

The trip to Manila from Paranaque was quite long and Manong Rom also managed to tell me a ghost story! And that I guess I'll share one of these days on Tales of the Moonless Sky.

Thanks Manong Rom for bringing me safely to my meeting.

The Bloggers Oktoberfest Party

About 450+ bloggers, blogger-friends, and our friends from SM and San Miguel trooped to Taste Asia at the Mall of Asia last night for the San Miguel-sponsored Oktoberfest 120 for Bloggers.

I was amazed with the many new faces that I saw in the party (andami ko nang di kilala!). Made me remember the first blog party I attended over a year ago. Everything starts with hello and you would definitely make a lot of new friends if you put some effort into it (case in point: don't just sit there, mingle!). Last night I saw a lot of new faces and new groups (or what some call "cliques") and of course the veterans.

San Miguel knows how to party! Everything was down pat, from food to the games (thanks Marcelle a.k.a. Faith for being the official bloggers party host!) to the band (Moonstar88!!!!!!!!). All you basically needed to do was have fun and I have a feeling most of the people who attended last night are still asleep with a hangover.

Thank you very much to San Miguel for being interested to do a party with bloggers and SM Hypermarket for the support given to bloggers.

CHEERS!

Here are some of the photos I took:



Posts:

An Apple a Day (Aileen)
Let's Go Sago (Jonel)
Azrael
Ronald Guanzon
Student Athlete (Galwin)
Rockersworld (Karla)

Think of Me! (Tom)
Think of Me and Laugh (Tom ulit)
Turfsite Manila (Bob)

Prudence and Madness (Doc Tess)

South Spiral (Galwin)

Food Tripz Unlimited (Mon & Anna)

Wawsabaw (secret daw name niya)

Halohalo.ph

Manila Freelancer (Melo)

Micamyx
Music Blogger (Ed)
The Typical Guy

Marcelle a.k.a. Mike Abundo

Poytee

Anna KatharinaMD.com

SM Hypermarket's post

Photos

Aileen's Photos
The EvilMartian's
Azrael's Photos

Melo's Photos

Ravenfox (Ian)
Poyt's Photos
Sharmskee
Let's Go Sago
Music Blogger
Juned's Photos

Please let me know if you have a post!

Game ba kayo for Halloween?

Bloggers Oktoberfest Updates

Due to insistent public demand you can check out the the party list here (if you got the confirmation message when you registered that's good to go too, pasensya na had to figure out how not to share people's email addys).

And the first 120 bloggers who registered will also get a thank-you goodie (thank God I registered!). But hey there's already food and drinks so the goodies is just icing on the cake. Do come on time too!

Registration will be closed end-of-day tomorrow (September 25, 2008) so the organizers can prepare for Friday's party.

Cheers!

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9/26 Update: Please be reminded that you have to come on time to get your goodie coupon. And if you don't show up we'll just give it to the others.

Aliens and Teaching

I was at the Enterprise Center waiting for a friend and was quite bored so I took a snap of the Makati skyline and was surprised with the result, check this out:

Photo taken with a Nokia N70.

See the three glowing lights beside the buildings. Aliens! I thought.

Aliens huh? The glowing thingies are just actually the reflection of the ceiling lights and NOT aliens. Will they even bother visiting the Philippines? Hmmm… I don’t even want to think about it coz aliens kinda freak me out.

Dot. Dot. Dot.

So I had my fourth class session today and I had my students do group work that involved bond paper and crayons. I thought that they should have a little fun while learning.

I actually almost joined the academe right after graduation, but I was lured to join the corporate world and I had to make a choice a week before classes started. So here I am today.

I always wanted to teach. I remember when I was a kid I would teach my yaya how to read (with matching blackboard!) and I’d get mad whenever she was lazy to do her writing homework (LOL). I eventually taught catechism in our parish and then backstopped for Miguel’s nursery teacher whenever she couldn’t make it to class (the kids called me Teacher Mommy back then).

It’s in my blood. My Dad taught in Ateneo de Naga while he was waiting for the results of the board exam. My Kuya taught in DLSU too and my Ate now teaches too in the US. My Mom sometimes teaches crafts to kids and as an outreach for livelihood projects in the parish. I have a grandmother who used to be a high school principal in Davao. So, you get the picture.

And I guess no matter where you go and no matter how busy you get when you say you want to teach… just DO IT. I do hope tough that my students would eventually pick up something from me that they’d manage to use when they graduate.

Are You Green or Blue?

It is funny how the rivalry between the two best universities in our country has landed in the news of foreign newspapers. Not only that, in the past few months my friends abroad have been talking about our local schools as well and they've been getting mixed feedback. It came to a point I had to step-in and say that it really depends on who you speak with. Gave me a bit of headache though. LOL.

We are a mixed breed in our household. My Dad's a true-blue Atenean while all of us kids are La Sallians. My Dad is a staunch supporter of Ateneo and you can't take him away from the TV when he watches basketball games - after all he was a basketball player for Ateneo and his shooting record is-yet-to-be-beaten to this day. So you can just imagine what a rowdy household we are whenever there are games. (Gwapo ng Dad ko noh?).

In the past few years my Ate and Kuya would burn phone lines just to tease my Dad whenever Ateneo lost. I got the brunt of it whenever La Salle lost. I have not been personally following the games this year and had to ask my students to explain to me what's happening. I was pretty pleased that the games are Ateneo vs. La Salle. My Dad though hasn't been on my case that bad now because of Sweetie (he's Atenean), he said, "I knew you'd eventually find your way back." (Translation: You are in good hands with an Atenean). LOL.

BUT when it comes to basketball... I'm still very much GREEN. Animo La Salle!

Here's the Plurk conversation about this post.

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Don't forget:

1. Philippine Blog Awards, September 21, 2008, 5:00 p.m. at the One Esplanade.
2. Oktoberfest 120 Na! An Oktoberfest just for bloggers! September 26, 2008, 7:00 p.m. at Taste Asia. Register here.
3. Get a chance to win a Delifrance Tray Couture coupon. Join here.

And some plugging for my other blogs:

1. Google News Philippines, You Got Tech
2. Cebu Food Vlog, Lakwatsera Ako

Oktoberfest 120 Na! (Oktoberfest for Bloggers!)

Ho-ho-ho! Christmas is just around the corner, BUT before November there's the Oktober-fest here in our country (even bigger than Halloween eh?). This phenomenon has been going on for several years already and it's been getting bigger and better each year.

This year, San Miguel has decided to make it bigger, better and longer! 120 days to be exact and this was kicked off a few weeks ago with the Third Eye Blind.

Anyway, I got an SMS the other night and San Miguel would like to invite all bloggers for a special Oktoberfest party just for bloggers. Here are the party details:

What: Oktoberfest 120 Na!
When: September 26, 2008, Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Taste Asia, Mall of Asia (beside SM Hypermarket)
Why: Parteeh!

Of course, kindly REGISTER HERE TO JOIN. Kindly spread the word around!

I Heart Bugoy

A few months ago I blogged that I wasn’t watching TV anymore and that I was just getting most of my entertainment online, but since I wanted to be “offline” in the evenings so I could do other things I found myself watching TV again. One of the shows that I managed to watch from start to finish was Pinoy Dream Academy (okay, okay and some telenovelas Jerome).

I managed to watch PDA season 1 as well and at the beginning of PDA season 2 I thought that the PDA scholars from season 1 had more oomph and talent, but I had taken a liking for Bugoy early on. I just had that gut feel that he was really going to do well and hopefully become THE Dream Winner.

Much to my disappointment though that he only finished second. But as Sweetie said in his post, "Text votes really don't measure who's best. They measure how many people can vote for the scholars. It doesn't even equate to a one is to one ratio. One person could vote for 1,000 times for a single scholar as long as that person had the load to pay for each SMS message." 

Yes! I agree with Bugoy when he said, “Kahit di ako nanalo sa puso ko ako pa rin ang Dream Big Winner!”

From being a farmer’s son to working as a sanitation worker in a school in Bicol, Bugoy has definitely come a long way. One other reason why I was rooting for him is because he is Bicolano! And Bicolanos rock! (I’m sure my dear US and Australia born Bicolano friends are nodding their head now). Bicol, after all, seems to have been a forgotten region because it’s poor and it’s gone through one disaster after another.

BUT!

Bicol has much talent too! Well known stars such as Elizabeth Oropesa, the greatest president we never had, Raul Roco, and known xxx Francisco Garchitorena etc. hailed from Bicol. And now we have Bugoy!

Congratulations Bugoy! Uragon ka! (And I mean it in the Bicolano-lambing way). Hope to meet you someday (so I can add you up in my wall of the famous).



You might want to check out the PDA Season 2 Scholars Sing Cayabyab (I absolutely love Bugoy's song).

Wordcamp Philippines 2008

First thing in order is to congratulate my friends, The Usual Suspects - Blogie, Andrew, Migs, Ria, Winston, the other organizers and volunteers for the very successful Wordcamp Philippines! *Clap*Clap*Clap!!!

I arrived during lunch of the WordCamp so I wasn't able to attend any of the morning talks, but I was happy to bump into my former professor, Danny Arao, blogger friends, Markku, Hana, Jayvee, Phoebe, Arbet, Juned, Gail, Marc, Melo, Gwen and a whole lot more, and we chatted happily while having a sumptuous Chowking lumpia lauriat (and the Spot.ph Sonja's cupcakes were fab too). It was also during lunch that I met Matt Mullenweg, the founder and lead

developer of Wordpress. He was quite charming and easy-going, a lot like my developer friends based in Silicon Valley.

After lunch we headed to the plenary hall for Matt's talk where he revealed Wordpress stats and upcoming features. I just have one Wordpress blog - PinoyVloggers.com - and I'm just in-charge of its content (yeah major backlog!) and it's Drew who fixes up all the stuff on the back-end (you can also say that he's my WP mentor). Anyway, I spoke a little about Google Analytics after Matt. I kept it short coz I knew most of the people in the audience were already users - that's why I kinda showed how marketers would look at their stats if they were to position their blogs for ad space (I do really have more than 100 slides about it hehe). Well if you wanna learn more about it I have more tips over at Stitching.

Regnard came after me and he spoke about standards and then Anjelo did his bit about his blog ad service. Matt came back up for his Q&A and I must say the highlight of that bit was when he hugged Ria (yihee!)! Anyway, my lips are sealed lest I get a bonk on the head by the cuz.

Photo by JayDJ

Later in the evening the Sweetie and I met up with the gang at Conti's for some dinner and dessert, but unfortunately had to miss the after-party at Magnet.

The next day though Miguel and I met up with Andrew, Ria, Matt, Fritz and some of Drew's cousins, and we had a game of Lazer Tag. After running around in the dark and getting tagged by Matt several times (and because of that I smashed onto one of the panels) I camped out with my teammates, Andrew, Fritz and Miguel and this is how our team won. Woohoo!

Photos by: JayDJ and Andrew

Give It Up for George Benson and Al Jarreau

Oh ho-ho-ho I actually managed to make buking Sweetie's plans to watch the George Benson and Al Jarreau concert last Sunday. He planned it as a surprise and just told me to block off the evening of September 8. I like getting surprised though, but I kinda figured out this surprise because of Yogajane's plurk. Hehehe.

Anyway, Sweetie's the music expert so I knew that I was in for an ear feast and I was not disappointed. =)

Here's a bit of the show which I found on Youtube -



And here are some photos I managed to take -

Al Jarreau 

George Benson

And the crowd goes wild

What Kind of Food are You?

I kinda got pretty stumped myself when I got an email from Madam Amor Maclang. She mentioned that Delifrance has rolled out a new offering - the Delifrance Tray Couture and asked if I could do a contest for my readers to give out ten Delifrance Tray Couture coupons. It did not take me long to decide and I thought maybe I should try this out since I have not tried giving out anything here in my blog (perfect opportunity!). 

I normally find myself eating in coffee shops several times a week and the Delifrance offer made my mouth water a bit. Check these out -

Henri - Premiere Clubhouse and Shrimp Pesto Pasta
Amelia - Seafood Deluxe Clubhouse and Pomodoro Angel Hair Pasta
Cherie - California Chicken Clubhouse and Garlic Pesto Pasta
Philippe - Tuna Onion Mayo Clubhouse and Beef Stroganoff Pasta

If I was in line to order one of the four it would take me time to decide to choose. But if you ask me what kind of food I am, I'll probably be a Philippe. Why? Because I think I'm makulit! Don't you think putting mayo and pasta together in a meal is makulit? Yeah! But I like it!

Anyway, I'm planning to try out the Delifrance Couture Tray this weekend and maybe you'd like to try it out too! Get a chance to win a Delifrance Tray Couture coupon just by telling me creatively what Delifrance Tray Couture coupon best describes you. Come on don't be shy now! Join na!

Oh, by the way, I'll be announcing winners on October 1, 2008.

To join the contest go here.

The Noodle King

Noodles! I remember when I was a kid my Dad would always bring me with him to Quad (yeah that era) to eat merienda. He always ate noodles and siopao. I wasn't a voracious eater back then and I usually just ate the siopao skin that he would strip from the siopao (I still do to this day!). Anyway, this tidbit is the reason why I was curious about the Noodle King.

Last week I had the chance to meet THE Noodle King, Chef Liu Zheng Hsiung of Lao Dong (a very popular restaurant in Taipei which Chowking partnered with). Mr. Liu's story is just like Po's (of Kung Fu Panda), BUT unlike Po he has so much passion for noodles. Mr. Liu's noodles are to die for and Arpee even exclaimed during the demo that it was "heavenly". I'm not much into noodles, but I must say that it was superb, not oily and the beef was so soft (he boiled the beef for 24 hours!). I'm sure my Dad would love it!

Oh and I'd like to personally thank Chowking for supporting Wordcamp Philippines! =)

Double Threes

I wrote this post over a week ago... just got so busy so I wasn't able to post it immediately.

I’m somewhere South right now and having a hard time connecting to the Net so I thought I’d do a blog post while I’m trying to connect to the cyberworld. Eraserheads’ songs are playing in the background and it’s a great upper for me (not sure with the rest of the people here as most of them are probably above the age of 50).

I was bedridden the whole day yesterday, probably got over-fatigue due to Saturday’s concert, but it was worth it. The songs are still buzzing in my head and I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with the number of views my Eheads video has gotten. I did that as a thank you for Ely for doing a previous project, I never got the chance to thank him personally since I kinda left. Keep the views coming!

It was definitely a full weekend. I also had a small birthday celebration with family and close friends – something I rarely do and the next one will probably be 7 years from now when my my life begins. It party was a small luncheon at one of my favourite places – Taste Asia – I didn’t have any trouble fixing it up since I only decided to push through with it just a few days before. I just SMSd them my budget, number of guests and they took care of everything. Party in a snap!

I don’t really like hosting parties for myself since I honestly have no idea how to entertain people (my Mom’s good at it though). I hope they had a great time and here are some snippets from the Winnie the Pooh autograph book I passed around (the slam book was Juned’s idea actually hehe), kinda shows what kind of family and friends I have huh (guess the bloggers!):

Favorite actor:
Rommnick Sarmienta forever

Favorite actress:
Jolina Magdangal

Happiest moments with friends:
Talking about Shrek.
While eating.
Drinking!

Worst moment with friends:
Being with Shrek
Falsification of documents :D
With F______n
While not eating.
Drinking!

Favorite slogan on friendship:
Even in hell one needs friends.
Friendship is like a butterfly, it's beautiful!

Here are some fab pictures from the small celebration I had:

Photos by Andrew. See more photos here.

TBTB

TBTB = too busy to blog

I've been so swamped the past two weeks and classes start this week. I have a post I did offline, but haven't had the time to post it even.

Argh.

Hopefully things will clear up a bit in the next couple of days (or hours!).