An Apple a Day

Surviving -6°C

2012-02-02T01:43:00.000+08:00

Zurich, Switzerland

The first thing I did when I found out that I was going to Zurich was check the weather forecast. I was mollified when I found out that temperatures go below zero and this week was supposed to go as low as -3°. I sought the advise of my sister and friends who's had winter experience. I didn't have any winter clothing so it was a great excuse to go shopping! My brother-in-law said, "Layer as much as you can."

My cold weather experience is quite limited -- US, Japan and Hongkong and it was cold. I remember when I was a kid I kept complaining to my Mom about how cold it was in Chicago. I hate feeling cold and this is oftentimes something that Sweetie and I struggle on (aircon temp can't go below 23°C). Anyway, my housemate just came from London and she said that it wasn't so bad. Just make sure to bundle up.

When I arrived in Zurich last Monday the temperature was 0°C. It wasn't so bad. I even enjoyed the walk to the office. In the evening though I was surprised to find out that it was snowing outside! Tiny snow flakes were falling fast like a gentle rainshower. It clung to my coat but it didn't feel cold. I even got to taste it! It was sweet, haha. It felt like it was Christmas!

The next day the air was colder (-3°C) and there was snow everywhere. My colleagues said that it hadn't been snowing in the past few weeks so this was a surprise. They warned though that it was going to get colder and today I got to experience -6°C (I'm hoping it won't go any further down!). I must say that it was truly a struggle for me to get to work. I was just really thankful that I managed to fling myself inside our building just before I could turn into a popsicle!

This week has so far been a new experience for me. Acclimating to this kind of weather is pretty hard for someone who grew up in a tropical country. Whatever Siberian wind I got to experience back home is nothing compared to the Siberian wind blowing towards Zurich. I wouldn't dare go out without proper winter clothing. I'm pretty sure I would turn into a popsicle if I do.

I still have about 36 hours left in this lovely city. I hope I get to see more of it before I leave. I hope the sun would come out though tomorrow! (And I need to eat RICE!!!).

Dear Dad

2012-01-19T19:04:00.001+08:00

Dear Dad,

It's been a year since you've gone and I miss you so much!

So much has happened in the past year and I think one of the big surprises was me moving to Singapore! But back-tracking a bit I'm sure you would've been excited about some of the projects I did in the fourth quarter of 2011. I never imagined that I'll be doing those, but I did and what helped me was the exposure you gave me when I was younger. I new you were there for me every step of the way. I wish though you were still here to witness it (but I know you're in a place where you can monitor me 24 hours a day wherever I am).

I opened a whole new chapter of my life last October when I moved to Singapore. I really had mixed feelings about it since I did not want to leave Mom, but after praying I realized it was the direction I was meant to go. I didn't realize that I could be so mobile! Imagine, I lived with you until the day I married. So I've actually moved four times in the past 2 years! It's been a struggle being far away from home, but I comfort myself by knowing that you are looking over me.

I know we told you just before you left that your favorite apo passed his entrance exam at your alma mater. Unfortunately they don't offer the course that he really wanted to take, so we enrolled him in my alma mater (hehehe). He's been having a great time and I don't understand half of what he does in school now. Jay's been busy too with his job. I'm really glad I found someone who's just like you Dad! He even likes eating ice cream sandwich! (That's how lucky I got!).

Anyway, I did not want to mope on this special day since we're supposed to celebrate it. Will visit you this weekend, okay?

Love,
Aileen

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

2012-01-15T15:41:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I moved to a new flat. A colleague of mine advised me that I should just get a room instead of renting an apartment for myself. During that time I was still unsure about moving and prayed that if I was really going to move that I would be able to stay with one of my friends. My prayer was answered because two of my close friends offered me a place to stay! All I needed to do was to choose. So I took that as a sign that I was heading the right direction.

Today I celebrate my third month of being far away from home. Three months ago I packed a bag and asked Sweetie to help me move to Singapore. I'm lucky because I've managed to come home monthly, but being far away from home is one of the hardest challenges I've faced in my life. We cope by keeping in touch all day through Gtalk and through Google Hangouts in the evenings (and it's free!!!). What I miss most though is the daily hugs I get from my boys.

Tomorrow I go back to work with renewed vigor and I'm pretty excited about what I will be doing in the next few months. I'm going home to Manila in a few days for some work and for my Dad's one year death anniversary. It seems just like yesterday that he had gone to heaven, but I know he's just always there for me (walang kilitian Dad ha!).

And, of course, be a star!

Be a Star

2012-01-09T21:25:00.000+08:00

Happy new year!

My blog has been silent the past few weeks because I thought I'd spend every extra second I had with my family. Being away from home has definitely been a huge challenge for me and despite the fact that it's been almost 3 months it's still a struggle for me every single day.

My boys and my Mom welcomed the new year with me in Singapore. We decided to stay in and just celebrate in the apartment since my Mom was not feeling well. We had fun despite missing the fireworks and usual Christmas ham. We replaced the fireworks by just watching what was happening at Marina Bay through TV. And substituted the Christmas ham with some honey ham from the supermarket. Despite the missing elements we were complete because we had each other and I'm glad we managed to spend some time with my brother and his family too.

I have been thinking a lot about making a list of new year's resolution, but decided not to make one because I have a backlog as old as my blog. The year 2011 is probably one of the worst years of my life because I lost my Dad, but I guess he wanted me to move along and I got so busy the rest of the year and eventually found myself living in another country! Moving was totally unexpected and unplanned, but opportunities are hard to pass if it's something that you love doing.

My heart is far from being whole still since my Dad left a very, very huge hole. During mass yesterday I realized that such is life. One's parents grow old. My Mom kept telling me when I was younger, "How will you survive if I'm not around?" It is one of those things that made me stronger and brought me to where I am today (that's how I became self-sufficient boss since you wondered, haha).

I realized yesterday during mass that what brings out the best in me is my family's love. Said in a cheesy way, "They are the wind beneath my wings". And I have to do well while I am away. The priest nailed it yesterday during his homily when he said that each of us should be a star for others.

So that would be my mantra for this year.

Be a star.

Help for Typhoon Sendong Victims

2011-12-17T20:49:00.000+08:00

As you may have probably heard, flash floods has killed 133 Filipinos in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro this morning and more than 200 are still missing. Local organizations are requesting for help in cash and kind.

Hoping for your kind generosity.

Thanks,

Aileen

Here's how you can help:

Philippine Red Cross

Cash or Check Donations

Account Name: Philippine Red Cross

Bank Name: Banco De Oro

Peso Account: 453-0018647

Type of Account: Savings

SMS Donations

Text RED<space>AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshops

Make a donation at any of the 1,500 Cebuana Lhuillier pawnshops nationwide.

In kind, through ABS-CBN

SAGIP KAPAMILYA ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. Mother Ignacia cor. Eugenio Lopez St. Diliman, QC

Directly send through Iligan through the Iligan Bloggers Society (they are my friends)

One For Iligan

Donate $1 for the ILIGAN FLOOD VICTIMS OF TYPHOON SENDONGDONATIONS:Paypal ID: singcol.inquisitor@gmail.comBDO Account: Revilla N. Carbonell-Noel - 109451077611Maayong Iligan in this season of giving.Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. is humbly requesting your generous help for the victims Bagyong Sendong of Iligan City.Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc.  is accepting donations in kind for the victims of Typhoon Sendong in the city. We encourage the following items for donations: canned goods, noodles, bath and laundry soaps, toothpaste, rice, used clothings, slippers, and cash donations.SENDONG DONATION DROPYou can contact the following point persons for your donations and other inquiries. ILIGAN BLOGGERS SOCIETY, Inc.SITE: http//:iliganbloggers.comEMAIL: iliganbloggers@gmail.comFB Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/iliganbloggersLISA (LAI) MARIE MIRASOL | Pinay Travelista, @pinaytravelista(IBS, Inc. Web Content Manager) http://www.pinaytravelista.com/09062558863; (+63) 222-2117 ALEXANDER SINGCOL | iligan Inquisitor,  @lexuzinquisitor(IBS, Inc Board of Trustee Member)http://theiliganinquisitor.blogspot.com/09053117925, (+63) 8360272REVILLA CARBONELL-NOEL | Adventures in Life(IBS, Inc Board of Trustee Member)092193209944, 09427009788For more Updates on Iligan City status after Typhoon Sendong:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rmn-dxic-iligan

Musee D'Orsay Paris

2011-12-10T21:52:00.001+08:00

I have not been really doing any sight-seeing in Singapore since I want to experience seeing more of Singapore with my family when they visit. I grabbed the chance to see the Musee D'Orsay Paris exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore during our company's holiday party. I just looked at the paintings in awe most especially since I only encountered the paintings of masters like Henri Rousseau, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Goh and many more in books when I was still in school.

Photos of the masterpieces does not do any justice to their artwork. I can probably spend hours wandering around the gallery admiring the paintings. I must have been absent when God showered people with artistic talents. I cannot draw and I really have high regard for people who can. Anyway, I was really ecstatic to have the chance to see works of the masters. Here's a few of the paintings I really liked.

More photos here.

The exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore is open until February 5, 2012.

Movie Review: No Other Woman

2011-12-04T01:27:00.001+08:00

I'm still up coz I just finished watching "No Other Woman". This is one must watch Filipino movie. I should've watched this on the big screen when it came out, but I was terribly busy that time. Anyway, I shelled out 3x more than what it would've cost had I watched it back in Manila, but it was worth it!

This movie was a big hit in the Philippines. Adultery isn't a common movie topic and I was really curious at the ending (I'm not going to spoil it for you in case you have not watched it). I must say that this very delicate topic was well-played out in the movie. Both sides were shown, the grief-stricken wife vs. the seductive mistress. I loved how the writer played with words - one sample is the mother-daughter dialogue and watch out for the wife vs. mistress scenes. It was very Filipino and I'm sure it resonated well with those who could relate to the characters.

Casting for this movie was also superb. Anne Curtis has proven once again that she has evolved into a serious actress and Christine Reyes' play as the wife was believable. And Derek, wow, the abs! Oh sorry, I liked his acting too. I also hope to see more of Carmi Martin in more movies. I was hoping though that they would've picked a more appropriate song although I guess it's quite hard to find a song other than "Hiram" to measure up.

You can watch this movie via TFC Now, but it's available only until December 4. I heard though that it's out on DVD already (not sure if those have subtitles, I'll ask).

Watch. Be Happy. And Weep.

2011-12-02T17:21:00.001+08:00

Why is it we are moved to tears when we are happy?

Watch. Be happy. And weep.

Tears welled up in my eyes half-way through the video, which was a bummer since I was at work when I took a break to watch this video which has gone viral on G+, Twitter and Plurk. I hurriedly wiped away my tears when they started to trickle down and I had to pause the video so I could compose myself (my seatmate would've probably asked why I was crying!).

Anyway, I guess the video moved me to tears because I am now an OFW too. It's really hard to be far away from your family and all you can do is hope and pray everyday that everything is doing well back at home. I'm still lucky though coz I think I can manage to go home monthly (crossing my fingers) so I could be with my family. I could not help but cry for the others working abroad who could not visit their family as often.

Dear Coca-Cola, you made me cry with this video!

BlogFest Soccsksargen, Experiencing the Funnest Bloggers in Mindanao

2011-11-29T21:05:00.001+08:00

It seems just like yesterday when I joined DigitalFilipino's Women in Web, Wireless and Outsourcing roadshow in 2006. It was a trip where we went to Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Cebu to talk about what businesses could do on the internet. It was during that trip that I met with the Davao internet community, organized by Andrew. I was still finding my way around my job back then so I just made a suggestion that they come together as a community. They did and that community has grown throughout Mindanao.

I'm really happy that the local internet community in Mindanao thrived and flourished and I try to come and attend their events whenever they send me an invitation. And this year I was invited again to speak at the BlogFest Soccskargen. I thought I would not be able to go in person and was just planning to join them via Google Hangout, so I surprised them and told Avel that I was flying in.

True enough, the Sox Bloggers, known to be the funnest bloggers in Mindanao, put together 2 awesome events. BlogFest Soccskargen had a line-up of bigatin speakers. I hope I was able to convey a couple of opportunities for the Mindanao bloggers through my talk.

In the evening, I got to attend the Philippine Blog Awards - Mindanao leg. The ceremonies outside of the awards night in Manila are usually straightforward. We all got a big surprise though when Donna, the host, introduced each award category in the most fashionable and entertaining manner. Everyone in the room was laughing and I must say that the fatigue I was feeling was wiped away (I was already up at 3 in the morning so I could make it to the 5 am flight).

Well, I'd like to make a correction to the Sox Bloggers slogan (if I may) because they are the funnest bloggers in the Philippines!

Congratulations Sox Bloggers, especially to Avel and Orman, for another very successful event! (I hope someone would upload Donna's fabulous performance!).

Hello Mr. Bird

2011-11-13T10:19:00.000+08:00

I was surprised to see a bird hang out outside of my window yesterday morning while I was having breakfast. It sat there for awhile that's why I was able to sneak up and take a photo. In Manila I am always awakened by birds chirping on the window beside our bed. They like hanging out there too.

At the DevFest Singapore

2011-11-12T19:51:00.001+08:00

Today was my first time to attend a Devfest outside of Manila! As usual the talks were awesome! I loved the demos especially for HTML5 and the samples Amanda showed for YouTube. I'm not a developer, but I'm certainly looking forward to new apps/sites that would utilize all the fabulous technologies the Google developer advocates presented today.

Photos from the awesome day!

If you are a Filipino developer based in Singapore you might want to join the Google Developer Group Philippines - Singapore chapter! They're planning a fun meet-up next weekend!

Sleepless in Singapore

2011-11-10T22:59:00.001+08:00

I'm back in Singapore for work and it's a good thing all of us (me, Sweetie and Miguel) are busy. We haven't had the time to be sad about being apart. I must admit though I was messing up a bit at the airport the other day while waiting to board my flight. Good thing I bumped into one of my Mom's friends who was also bound for Singapore.

I grew up with a lot of "aunts" because my Mom had a lot of friends and they like hanging out at our home. Tita Maris, who I always thought looks like an angel, was the perfect companion for me that day. She's very chatty like my Mom and shared to me that she and her husband has been commuting to and fro the Philippines and wherever he was assigned for many years now. That kinda reassured me that things would be okay and that my family will survive from my move. Singapore anyway is just 3 hours away from Manila and there are a lot of inexpensive flights (now I have to watch out for those piso fare promos!).

I've been in Singapore for a couple of days now and I gave myself three challenges. One, I have to spend no more than SG$10 per day for food and anything else I want to buy. I'm lucky though because I don't have to worry about breakfast and lunch, so I just need to scout for dinner. I ruled out cooking for myself when I realized that the ingredients here are way too expensive. But I still want to cook because I know I would start craving for a home-cooked meal. My second challenge is to find stores where I could buy inexpensive items. My last challenge to myself is not to buy anything not needed, I have to survive on the resources that I have for now (until my boxes arrive!).

I'm happy to share that I have so far been meeting expectations and have discovered quite a few things in the past few days.

(1) If there's no hawker's center near your place, the malls may have a hidden food court either at their basement or at the top floor. A complete meal usually just costs $5 to 6. Skip the beverage coz it's expensive.

(2) My workplace is near Lau Pa Sat and a friend told me that Tapa King has a branch there. I almost cried when I saw it (sorry emo much!) because I was really hungry that time and I wanted Filipino food.

(3) A couple of friends and colleagues told me that the humanized (makataong!) groceries/supermarkets are outside the city and I should check out Value $, NTUC and Sheng Siong. I'm glad that all their branches are mapped! Also discovered "Katipunan" at Lau Pa Sat. It's a small grocery selling all-Filipino items! I bought 3 important items -- suka, toyo and Jufran banana ketchup. I almost hugged the cashier earlier when I paid for the items. Haha.

We take a lot of things for granted when we are home. I realized that aside from your loved ones you'd also look for things you can't live without and being Filipino, local cuisine is something you'd really long for. I know there's a lot of stuff at Lucky Plaza, but I'm staying away for now because I think I'll end up buying a lot of stuff there. I hope to stick to buying Filipino grocery items though so I can help the economy back home too.

And yes, I've been sleepless the past few days because I'm used to having my boys around.

Ganbatte!

Meeting Joshua

2011-11-06T10:02:00.000+08:00

Joshua is the 7-year old little boy who sent in a question for President Aquino on the YouTube World View channel. His question got quite a lot of votes and was asked during the interview. I received a call from his Mom last Friday night and she said that Joshua wanted to see me before I left for Singapore. Of course, who could say no to a charming 7-year old?

I was surprised as well when he handed me this card (which I'll be sharing with my colleagues when I get back).

He even drew the YouTube logo. So cute!

Thanks Chelle and Joshua! You guys made PNoy smile when the questions was asked :)

The YouTube World View Interview with President Aquino

2011-11-04T18:53:00.001+08:00

I wish my Dad was still around to witness this historic day.

Today President Benigno Aquino III is the first Asian leader to go live on YouTube World View. I'm really happy that it's the Philippines who came first for this endeavor because it shows that we are truly a democracy and that our government is open, transparent and keen on reaching out to its citizens. There were thousands of questions submitted on YouTube World View, but the top ones were answered by the President. I must say that I was truly impressed because the way he answered showed that this government is really working hard and I am hopeful that our country will soon move forward full steam ahead.

Here's the full interview:

And more photos:

YouTube Philippines Launch Party

2011-10-26T23:07:00.000+08:00

Had an awesome time at the launch party of YouTube Philippines last night at White Space. Just wanted to share some photos:

Entrance decor.

It won't be Pinoy without a jeepney! (I wonder if the jeepney owner will repaint his jeepney).

YouTube-d dumplings.

A karaoke nook!

White Space was pretty filled up.

Youtube sensations, Moymoy Palaboy.

I got officially deaf after listening to the Greyhoundz, but they were awesome.

Rivermaya performed as well. <3

The Googlers.

More photos here.

Youtube Launch in Singapore

2011-10-22T09:00:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Google for launching Youtube in Singapore! The event was made of awesome :)

Lost in the City

2011-10-20T23:59:00.000+08:00

The past few days I've been trying out different modes of transportation to and from work. The only time I have the energy to walk is when I'm in the mall (haha) and that's why I'm really motivated to find a way to and from work. Anyway, I went to far today since I thought I'd try to take the bus from work to the event venue. Did some research online and found a bus that would bring me to the event venue. Good thing Sweetie went to visit me at the office.

We originally planned to go to Chinatown to get some mee-goreng, so we took a bus to Vivo City so we can take the MRT to Chinatown from there. But we changed our plans when we got there and grabbed a quick bite. After having dinner we headed back to bus stop to go to the event. Hopped on the bus that was supposed to pass the street we were going to.

A few minutes into the ride we noticed the landscape change and that's when we realized our mistake. We took the right bus but it was going the opposite direction. I knew Sweetie was uncomfortable about the fact that we were "lost", but because I'm used to getting lost I told him we should just get off the next stop with a MRT station on it.

I knew we were going to miss the event already so I just said we should just go back "home". To lessen travel time we ended up riding the yellow, purple, green and red lines. Haha. My best friend and I used to get lost a lot in Manila, but we eventually always found our way back.

Lesson learned: for the first 3 months, always be OC when getting directions and write everything down if you don't have access to the internet. So much for lessening walking time!

The Start of a New Adventure

2011-10-16T08:34:00.002+08:00

I never really thought that I would someday live in another country. The only time that I moved out of my parents' house was when I got married. Take note, we moved seven streets away from where I grew up. Eventually I thought it was too far from my parents so we moved back to the same street, just a hundred meters away from them. Moving back near my parents allowed me to visit my Dad everyday when he was sick. Everyone assumes that the youngest child takes care of his/her parents so I never entertained the idea of moving far away from home.

An irresistible opportunity came along and after the exciting event I attended this week I packed my bags and moved to another country! It took me awhile though to figure out how to manage my boys and household, I'm still working out a few things, but so far everything's just falling into place. And for me that means it's meant to be!

I'm really glad my family, especially Sweetie and Miguel, have been very supportive. Sweetie managed to take a one week leave to accompany me for a week. I had wanted to take my usual airline (PAL), but their rates were quite expensive so I decided to just take JetStar. I haven't been to NAIA Terminal 1 for a few years now so I was a bit disappointed that things are the same (good thing we went to the airport 3 hours before our flight because of the long lines!).

The flight felt very long and I unfortunately forgot to bring a book to read. After going through immigration and customs we immediately looked for a place to eat and found Quiznos, a sandwich place. Their menu kinda reminded me of Chipotle in Washington DC. I got a beef sandwich and a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup. Both were surprisingly yummy! (Now I have more reason to fly Jetstar haha).

After eating late lunch we proceeded to my temporary home to check-in and rest. I just brought some clothes so unpacking was easy.

Dinner was at Tarbush Restaurant, a Syrian-Lebanese place. We both had some kebabs! Yum!

So after walking back to the apartment I thought I'd make a blog post about the start of my new adventure. Half-way through though I conked out. Haha.

I'm so excited for my first day at work tomorrow!

Youtube Launch in the Philippines

2011-10-13T16:45:00.001+08:00

So this is kinda the reason why I have been unable to blog in the past few weeks, haha. I've been so crazy busy!

Today Google launched Youtube in the Philippines (the 34th globally!), we are the first country to do this in Southeast Asia. I was really surprised when Adam Smith (head of Youtube for Asia Pacific) shared that Filipinos watch over 1 million hours of Youtube videos everyday. (I do contribute a lot to that too!).

I was really excited about the launch today and I could not help but feel teary eyed after watching Charice share her Youtube story. Watch this -

The launch included the announcement of President Aquino's two Youtube channels, the Official Gazette and Radio, TV Malacanang (check out this channel and watch the speeches of former presidents too!). I'm looking forward to watching President Aquino's World View interview on November 4. And would have thought that the President's team would be game for a souvenir photo -

Read His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III's message.

Of course together in the launch were equally important Youtube partners, ABS-CBN, GMA, TV5, Viva Records, Vicor Records, Star Records, FILSCAP, Pinoytuner and Procter & Gamble.

One of the things that I've always wanted to do is find a way to help out the indie music community and I'm really excited that Youtube has partnered with Pinoytuner because it would definitely help more artists to be discovered and get proper recognition on Youtube. I never imagined that I would get to know and work with rockstars!

And, of course, also wanted to thank my Google family for making this happen.

Weeeee! This is truly a great end to my current role. It's been 5 long years and I'm finally moving on to a new adventure beginning next week.

Also wanted to say a special thank you to my family (Mom, Sweetie and Miguel) for keeping me sane and for being patient; and to my Mom's driver, Kuya Lito who drove me around rain or shine, typhoon or no typhoon to get things done. Dad, I know you're watching up there!

And more photos!

Posts about the event:

GMA News
Spot.ph
Official Gazette
ABS-CBN News
Interaksyon
NewsBytes.ph
Gadgets Magazine
MovePH Video Coverage
An Apple a Day
ABS-CBN News (Youtube Gives Front Row Seats to Aquino Government)
Aquino Launches Local Youtube Channels

An Evening Reception

2011-10-07T08:55:00.000+08:00

Last week I had the privilege of attending the reception to welcome the new officers of the US Embassy's Public Affairs Office. It's always a pleasure to attend embassy events not only because it's where my husband works but because their parties are fun and you get to meet a lot of interesting people.

(L to R) Ms. Robin D. Diallo, Ms. Bettina A. Malone,

Mr. William B. Cocks & Ms. Lisa K. Harshbarger

The reception was held to welcome the following: Ms. Robin D. Diallo, Counselor for Public Affairs; Ms. Bettina A. Malone, Information Officer; Mr. William B. Cocks, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer; and Ms. Lisa K. Harshbarger, Regional English Language Officer. Each of them shared a little about what they do (that was during the serious part of the program) and later on they were all dancing to 80s music (and hubby refused to dance even though I wanted to, bummer).

Added bonus to the evening, I got to get to know Jay's colleagues and spend time with our godmother, Jane, and blogger-friend Bernie.

Thank You Steve

2011-10-06T08:57:00.000+08:00

I will remember to "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

5 Years of An Apple a Day

2011-09-29T09:11:00.002+08:00

Wow! How time flies! It's been exactly five years since I set up this blog right after I met the Blogger team in Mountain View, California. (Yes, this blog was born in the premises of Google!). When I set it up I actually had no idea what to do with this blog. I started off with a post which I originally made on Friendster. The post was titled, "30 things I did at 30". I was feeling brazen during that time and thought that I had finally come out of my shell.

Looking back at that post I had just began the joys of traveling, gaining weight and coordinating weddings! But like any girl I had a lot of love related problems and if you've been reading my blog for 5 years I wrote a lot about love and relationships (those posts surprisingly still get a lot of views!).

I would like to believe that I evolved in the last 5 years. From someone really scared of committing I got lucky, found the right one (thank you St. Jude!) and settled down. I also never imagined living elsewhere, but have since moved twice and I'm moving to another country in a few weeks! I hated public speaking, but I got over it (was forced to!). I was Mom to a sixth grader 5 years ago, now I'm Mom to a college student taking up robotics engineering. The farthest places in the Philippines I visited then were Banawe (north) and Cebu (south), now it's Ilocos and Zamboanga and I have friends all over the country now.

I think I can attribute my growth to two things: love and opportunity. I have been blessed by very loving, supportive parents, siblings, son, husband and friends. I know I oftentimes made crazy decisions, but they never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. I have also been really lucky in work and the opportunity to experience, learn more and acquire new skills has been abundant in the last 5 years (here's a sample of what I do).

I was anxious about a lot of things in my life when I started this blog, but through prayer, de-stressing through writing and taking things one day at a time, things just fell into place. I'm about to start a new adventure in a few weeks and I'm really, really excited about it!

I guess it's time to change my favorite slogan, "Do not take life seriously. After all, no one has ever come out of it alive. - Bugs Bunny"

Now changing it to -

"To infinity and beyond!"

=======

Oh, happy 4 years Sweetie!

An App a Day: Pedring Crowd Map

2011-09-28T09:32:00.000+08:00

My good friend Brian Tan-Seng, the genius behind one of the elections projects I supported (AESWatch.org) created this crowd map to allow people to send in reports and tie it on a map. This would certainly help authorities to find out areas that are severely affected, very much like how the Google Typhoon Ondoy Disaster map helped two years ago.

Here's a screenshot of the map:

You may access it here.

Other disaster-related/weather apps made in the Philippines:

PH Weather Android App

Flood Hazards Map

Typhoon Pedring Disaster Mapping

iTyphoon

Help for Typhoon Pedring

2011-09-27T17:55:00.000+08:00

Posting for the Philippine Red Cross

As Typhoon Pedring (international name: Nesat) continues to slam the Philippines, authorities have ordered more than 100,000 people to shelter from rains and winds of up to 170 kilometers per hour, which prompted the closure of schools and government offices. Electric power has been cut in many parts of Luzon, flights have been cancelled, inter-island ferries have been grounded as thousands of civilians are stranded and more than 50,000 have moved to evacuation centers or relatives’ homes nationwide.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has deployed 2 rubber boats and a 6x 6 truck to Baseco, Manila where a mass evacuation of an estimated 800 to 1,000 persons was conducted. Approximately 200-300 individuals were evacuated and moved temporarily to a covered basketball court. 469 families who were moved to the Delpan Sports Complex earlier were transferred to the P.Guevara Elementary School in Manila. PRC also deployed 2 rubber boats a 6x6 truck to assist 100 individuals being evacuated to the Dagat-Dagatan Elementary School. The PRC also responded to Payatas where a structure collapsed. A 6 x 6 truck, amphibian and 3,000 watt generator have been deployed to the Ospital ng Maynila to assist in the evacuation of 300 persons. 115 bags of blood from Ospital ng Maynila have been temporarily moved to the PRC National Blood Center for proper storage during the power outage.

PRC maintains strict 24-hour monitoring of all situations throughout the country, while conducting detailed assessments in close coordination with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. Evacuation centers in Nueva Ecija, Manila, Marikina, Rizal West and La Union are temporarily housing a total of 3,098 persons. Hot meals have been prepared for distribution in evacuation centers. 3 welfare desks have been situated in Metro Manila. 36 PRC search and rescue teams and more than 1,056 staff and volunteers have been mobilized or on standby for further intervention.

Pedring has claimed the life of one year-old baby Shawn who drowned in Catanduanes after falling into a river. Four fishermen have been reported missing. 45 passengers were stranded in Tabaco Port in Albay. In Camarines Sur, 6 small fishing vessels manned by 27 fishermen were found in Butawanan, Siruma. In Sorsogon, 150 passengers were stranded in the Pilar Port. A tornado hit the town of Maconacon, Isabela yesterday that lasted 4 minutes, destroying properties along its path and ripping the roofs off of 5 houses, injuring at least two people.

Pedring is the 16th cyclone to lash the Philippines this year. As we continue to wage this battle against disasters, we are in need of cash assistance to provide ongoing relief and recovery efforts for all affected communities. We are appealing for your support to be able to continue to provide food, non-food items and our services to the most vulnerable in the hardest hit cities and provinces. Through your generosity, we can stand prepared for the onslaught of disasters. We appreciate your continued support to the Philippine Red Cross. Thank you!

Cash or Check Donations

Account Name: Philippine Red Cross

Bank Name: Banco De Oro

Peso Account: 453-0018647

Type of Account: Savings

SMS Donations

Text RED<space>AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

Two Years After Ondoy

2011-09-27T08:30:00.003+08:00

How time flies. It's been 2 years already since Typhoon Ondoy struck our country. I remember when it happened Sweetie and I had to decide whether to push through with our wedding or move it to a later date. Both our parents said that we should proceed with the wedding since it was exactly 3 months away, plus they thought that we should have a joyous occasion after going through the disaster.

I still get antsy whenever it rains hard. Sweetie and I made sure to find a place that doesn't flood, but it doesn't take away the worry we have for our parents who both live in places that flood. We're just thankful that in the past two the typhoons have been less fierce and I guess the work Maynilad did in our village has helped alleviate the flooding.

One thing I really kept to heart since Typhoon Ondoy is living simply. I used to be like Imelda with tons of shoes and bags, but I have since just narrowed down my collection to the basics (I haven't even replaced my sneakers yet!). Everytime I buy clothing I force myself to retire some clothes which I don't wear often and I have since learned the joy of donating stuff to Caritas. This was reinforced when my Dad passed away and we realized that he didn't really have that much material things, just books and a couple of clothes.

And so it took me 2 days to write this post (that's how little time I have for myself these days!) and there's another typhoon ravaging the country. We don't have electricity at home so I can just hope and pray that this would be the worst experience for everyone else (no flooding and flying roofs!). Just stay home and be safe!

For AJ

2011-09-09T12:05:00.001+08:00

I woke up today to the news that my dear friend, AJ, has gone to heaven. Juned said that despite the pain that all of us, especially his family, is going through it should be a joyous occasion because he is now with our Creator. I am just telling myself that at least AJ is now relieved from all the pain that he has gone through in the past year.

The first time I read AJ's blog in 2007 I became an instant fan. I kinda stalked him by leaving comments on his posts and eventually got the chance to meet him at the Taste Asia bloggers event in July 2007. He was all suited up because he said he just dropped by before heading for work. I was ecstatic to finally meet him and had the chance to get to know him better in the last four years. We always updated each other about our love life and cute boys.

AJ was full of life and I was envious on how he was always full of energy and always all over town. He's just like a rainbow, colorful, glowing and you'd definitely not miss him in the crowd because he always stood out. Through AJ I understood my best friend better. AJ is one of the glittering gems in my life and I will forever cherish the times we've spent together.

It's been months since I last saw AJ, but I've been texting him just to say hello and see how he's doing. He had grand plans and one of them was building a church for his hometown. I told him that he should sync with my Mom on how to do it. He was very excited about it and I would pray every night that he would be able to fulfill his dream.

AJ visited me through a dream early Monday morning. He told me, "Ate okay na ako, tara lakwatsa tayo! Rampa na!" It was a very brief dream but it felt real. I'm sure AJ's now strutting around heaven. Creating rainbows in another dimension.

Thank you AJ. Thank you for sharing your life with me. You certainly brought color to my life. Do not worry about your family, as I told you, kami na bahala. Love you friend, please say hi to my Dad when you meet him :)

Help Needed

The Philippine blogosphere is coming together to help AJ's family in this time of grief and need. For more info please visit the FB page.

An Evening of Pinoy Music

2011-09-06T21:42:00.000+08:00

I am a big fan of Filipino music, it's what brought me and Sweetie together since he owns the oldest Filipino music website (Titikpilipino.com). I oftentimes work alone so music is my companion during the day.

I discovered Pinoytuner.com one day at home. I don't have a radio so I had to look for other means to find new Filipino music (so thank you Google!). I've always been curious so I grabbed the chance to experience the indie music scene together with some friends last Monday evening at Guijo.

Guijo Street in Makati is known to be the hub of independent music artists. My friends, Karla and Sha, go there oftentimes and have been telling us we should spend some time there. Sweetie and I arrived at Shift Restobar first and I noticed that the neighborhood was quiet. Pinoytuner.com founders Norman, Vin and Ali explained that Mondays are usually their day off, so our visit was really a special treat. My friends arrived one after another, Nina, Sha, Karla, Anne, Harry, Markku, Hana, Juned, Winston, Coy, Gail and Marc.

The first thing we did was try out the cherry beer. I haven't drank beer in years! So, I was a bit hesitant at first, but it smelled so yummy I just had to try it. I ended up drinking a glass and a half (Harry's fault!) because it tasted just like juice (that's what my Mom used to tell me to be careful about hehe). And then we tried an assortment of pika-pika, burger, steak sandwich, tacos, bacon-wrapped cheese (heaven!), the La Sallian sisig (it surely tastes like Kaibigan's!) and the chocolate siomai (not sure what they call it). Yum! (more about Shift Restobar here).

The best treat was listening to live music. First was Boogie Romero who sang "Wag Mag-alala", "Photos" and "I'll Carry You". I absolutely loved Boogie's soothing voice and he mentioned that he's launching his album on Wednesday evening. Next was Nino Avenido (Greyhounds) who sang a couple of alluring (nang-aakit!) songs. His music had a different flavor and charm and I felt the kilig he was feeling while singing the song (perhaps because he was inspired!).

Jazz legend, Johnny Alegre, followed Nino's performance. I remember attending his album launch a few years back. Sweetie reminded me that he used my photo for his post on his site. Johnny's a very, very talented jazz artist and I look forward to hearing his contributions on Pinoy Tuner once the jazz section is up. He graciously shared a Stevie Wonder song with us and then did a couple of songs with Mayo Baluyut.

Mayo Baluyut traveled all the way from Tarlac just to be able to share his music with us. That's what I call passion! He sang a couple of songs for us, "Visions of Missiles", "The Girl Who Spoke In Songs", "Me & Mr. D.", "I Fell In Love With You", "Nearness of You", and "Conspiracy Theorist".

With Francis Reyes (rockstar, legend, musician).

Funny, I met Vin Dancel as a lawyer first before I realized that he is a rockstar legend (and brother of Ebe Dancel). Which I think is a good thing because I would've probably been too starstruck to talk to him (check out my Toblerone post to get an idea). Anyway, he rocked the place last night with a couple of songs which he performed with the legend Francis Reyes. Vin shared the story behind each song (unbloggable sorry!) and yeah Francis was right in saying that you'd feel like there's a frog stuck in your throat when listening to Vin. Anyway, I took vids so I can share the experience with you. Check them out at my Youtube channel. Here's my favorite:

Anyway, I don't think I was able to capture on my post how much fun I had and how excited I am to share my discovery. Please do check out Pinoy Tuner and Dig Radio!

I love, love, love Pinoy music! Hope you do too :)

Thank you Norman, Vin, Ali and Francis for the awesome evening!
--------------
My other vids:
"Ispelling", "Isandaang Araw", "Agawan Base", "Tayo", "Bakasyon"

Stressed Koi

2011-09-04T15:48:00.000+08:00

The poor stressed out Japanese koi fish. I wonder if this is normal?

Thank You (Toblerone)

2011-08-26T08:20:00.000+08:00

Last night after attending the DOT bloggers briefing I shimmied over to Duty Free to check out Toblerone's Thank You Day launch for the Global Pinoy. I thought I'd just stay for a few minutes, get some Toblerone and then head home.

But...

As I walked towards the event area I heard a familiar voice. They were singing a True Faith song. I told myself that I wish it was Medwin Marfil of True Faith singing because they are my most favorite Filipino band. I immediately walked towards the stage and lo and behold it was indeed True Faith! I must have stood immobile for a few minutes (fan girl mode!) until I managed to tear myself away to look for Juned. Haha.

Anyway, so the celebration at Duty Free last night was to thank the Global Pinoy who continue to sacrifice for their families. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those Pinoys who have sacrificed being away from their families just to be able to provide better lives for them. I do hope and pray that you can come home soon.

And thank you Toblerone and GMCI for getting True Faith! Haha. You definitely made me smile last night. (Sorry Medwin, I was on fan girl mode. Can't help it since I've been your fan for about 15 years now! Haha.)

An App a Day: Metro Traffic Live

2011-08-19T18:00:00.000+08:00

I really appreciate all the efforts the current MMDA administration has taken to inform us about traffic updates. Before we can only get traffic updates from reports on TV or radio, some local websites and the occasional SMS system. I only go out whenever I have meetings and absolutely abhor getting stuck in traffic. I immediately followed MMDA's beta Twitter account and was glad to see that the team was pretty efficient, albeit it's hard to search for info via Twitter. MMDA's mapped traffic info is heaven sent although they only have a web version for now.

Anyway, Michael Perez, Jay Quiambao and a couple of friends put together an iOS, Blackberry and Android app using MMDA's live feed, aptly named Metro Traffic Live. So it's easier to get traffic info when you're on the road. Pretty soon they'll also have it available for Windows Phone 7 users too.

I wish though that our traffic authorities would cover more roads (especially Taft Avenue) since I also use the info to check my boys whenever they're stuck somewhere.

Araw ng Wika

2011-08-19T14:22:00.002+08:00

Sabi sa akin ng aking mga kaibigan na araw ng wika ngayon at dapat magsalita at magsulat lamang sa wikang Filipino. Naisip ko gumawa ng isang blog post gamit ang ating wika para matingnan kung meron pa akong kakayahan magsulat sa wikang Filipino.

Nagugulat ang marami kong mga kaibigang nakatira sa ibang bansa kapag sinasabi ko sa kanila na mas madalas tayong mga Pinoy magbasa at magsulat sa wikang Ingles kesa Filipino. Kung iyong titingnan mas marami tayong mga website na nasa wikang Ingles kesa Filipino. Pero kapag tayo naman ay nagkwekwentuhan mas gamit natin ang Filipino o kung minsan, jejemon.

Sa tingin ko sasang-ayon ang marami sa obserbasyon ko na ito. Aaminin ko na kapag pumupunta ako sa tindahan ng mga libro bihirang-bihira ako bumili ng librong nakasulat sa wikang Filipino. Pero mahilig naman ako manood ng mga lokal na pelikula at paborito ko si John Lloyd Cruz! Mahilig din ako sa OPM at mas madalas ako bumili ng lokal na CD. At mas gusto ko rin nagbabakasyon dito sa ating bansa dahil napakarami natin magagandang isla at siyempre mas matipid ito kesa pumunta sa ibang bansa!

Ikaw kaibigan, katoto, kapamilya, ka-berks, kapuso, ano'ng mga trip mo? :)

How I Work-out

2011-08-18T14:11:00.001+08:00

I always wondered how my Mom managed to keep slim all her life. I never saw her participate in any sports activities like my Dad. She doesn't go walking every morning. And, mind you, there are times she eats more than I do! All along I thought it was her metabolism and I hoped that I inherited it. Unfortunately, my metabolism has slowed down a bit and there are days I have to do some extra activities so I don't go beyond my weight limits.

I used to play badminton and tennis, but both are extreme sports for me now so I try to stick to my weekly malling regimen. My doctor thought I played bowling and burst into laughter when he realized that I meant mall-ing, the act of walking around the mall and window-shopping all day. He said I was his funniest patient. Due to some health restrictions I realized that the best way to keep slim is to be my wriggly self all day in different ways. Here's what I do:

1. Cooking - when I was still living with my Mom I did not have to do any chores at home, save for the occasional days I had to wash dishes. But now I turn into Cinderella at 6 in the evening when I have to prepare dinner for my boys. It takes me an hour or two to cook dinner depending on what dish I'm making. I rarely turn on the fan in the kitchen when cooking so I could sweat a bit. Cooking exercises both my arms and legs.

2. Dish Washing - may be strange for some, but I love washing dishes. I hate bringing out stuff to the sink, so Miguel does that for me. My kitchen is small so I have set-up different drying areas for pots and pans and that forces me to walk around. More exercise for my arms!

3. The Laundry - doing the laundry allows me to carry around the dirty clothes bin. I first roll it down the stairs (hehehe), sort the clothes into separate bins and then carry them to the laundry area and pop the clothes in the washing machine. They come out almost dry so hanging them gives me a chance to do some stretching.

4. Sweeping and Mopping - I don't usually do this, but my cleaning lady has been sick for more than a month now and I don't trust anyone else to come to the house to clean for me. I do this by area since I'm allergic to dust. Aside from a complete workout, the best thing about doing this is taking a long cold shower after.

And the best work-out for me...

5. Garden Weeding - I have a tiny garden and my Mom insisted I plant some grass on it. I thought it made sense since grass kinda helps cools down your house (versus pebbles!). My Mom's gardener has been MIA too for awhile now so I had to cut the grass myself too and do some weeding. I spent two hours in the garden the first time I did some weeding. I could barely get up and I was drenched with sweat (kinda like how my boys are sweaty after a run). I was really surprised but liked the workout since I was being productive at the same time. And that's when I discovered what my Mom's secret is at keeping slim. Weeding and gardening!

Terror Teachers

2011-08-17T09:53:00.000+08:00

I dedicate this post to all my teachers who terrorized me in school. I can say that fondly now, but back then my teachers used to make me cry.

When I was in first grade I remember trying to skip school every time I had English classes. My teacher was really strict and I was messing up pretty bad because I was scared of her. My English communication skills was in the gutter even though my first language was English. I was behind until I was in fifth grade and I don't know what happened but I was assigned to a special section when I was in sixth grade. They said that we had talent for communicating. Well, to this day I'm still not sure why I was assigned to that class haha.

In high school I realized I had to improve my English writing skills so I joined the writing club and attended a couple of the workshops. I became a voracious reader and devoured tons of books (that's where my allowance usually went). I thought I was okay already until I encountered my Filipino teacher. There was a lot of talk about the terror Filipino teacher. And whatever we heard from higher batches was real.

I was seated on the front row (alphabetical order) and that kinda made things worse because she'd see any movement you do. Looking back the class felt like it was an hour long military drill. You're not allowed to talk. Don't make any extra movements. Cheating was definitely not allowed and you had to roll down your paper during the test (bilutin ang papel!). And your not allowed to share anything with your seatmate, so if you don't have paper you're not allowed to take the test.

When I get together with my high school buddies we always talk about that class and all our misdemeanors. My highest grade for that class was 81 and I think that was the average for everybody. It was hard, but looking back I realize that I carried the discipline that our teacher instilled in us. It taught me how to be independent and how to be prepared. And I carry that to this day.

I eventually bumped into my English teacher a couple of years ago and I was happy to tell her being strict pushed me to improve myself. I told her that I became editor-in-chief of our university's literary publication. I was one of her many students so I'm sure she didn't really remember me, but I just wanted to let her know that she made a huge impact in my life. As for my Filipino teacher, I haven't seen her since high school and I heard she already retired and lives in Canada. The daily terror drills we had with her definitely disciplined me and it's been key to who and what I am today.

Thank you Mrs. Parcon and Ginang de Vera for being great teachers :)

A Day at my Alma Mater

2011-08-16T09:01:00.001+08:00

Last Saturday I was once again forced to wake up early since we had to attend a parent-teacher forum at Miguel's school (which is also my alma mater). Anyway, after attending the forum Sweetie and I had to wait for Miguel to finish a meeting so I got the chance to take some photos of my favorite spots in campus.

The college canteen.

My favorite spot at the college canteen. I used to hang-out here every morning to eat spaketchup for breakfast.

Eventually when I joined the Malate Literary Folio I hung-out at the publications office, so I always passed the bookstore everyday. The cashier during my time is still the same cashier. She still ecognizes me sometimes.

This is behind the SPS building (Bro. Connon Hall). It wasn't there before, but I always passed by this area everyday.

The DLSU Chapel, a sanctuary for me.

This building wasn't around yet before. This was where the college gym was located.

St. La Salle Building. I used to have a lot of classes here. Also had some classes here when I was taking my MBA. One fond memory during course card distribution day was Rico Yan excitedly telling me that he was set to graduate already. He was inviting me to join him for lunch at the faculty room because he was bringing KFC fried chicken. That was the last time I saw him alive :(

Time flies so fast and now my kid's enrolled in the same school where I got my degrees. I'm getting old! Oh noes!

Greek Cuisine with Executive Chef Robby Goco

2011-08-10T18:04:00.002+08:00

I was excited to attend the Greek cuisine cooking class at Maya Kitchen last weekend. Sweetie literally pulled me out of bed early Saturday morning to get me up and running haha. I didn't want to miss the class so I told him to wake me up by any means.

I arrived at the Maya Kitchen just a few minutes before Executive Chef Robby Goco (Cyma, Ristras, Go Greek etc.) started class. He started by teaching us how to make Baklava and while showing us how to make it he regaled us with stories from his childhood and how a 75-year old Greek taught him how to cook Greek food. I listened intently to everything he was saying and watched how he prepared the food since he didn't follow the recipe that was given to us. I tried my best to also write down the tips he was giving since I've never tried cooking Greek food. The baklava was served at the end of the 5-hour lecture and here it is.

Chef Robby taught us a lot of recipes: horiatiki (Greek salad), spanakopita and spanakotopika, kotopoulo avgolemono (Greek lugaw), garides saganaki pasta, and the moussaka. At some point he started to multi-task and teach us three recipes at the same time! I had to keep asking Don for clarification because I couldn't catch up anymore. Haha. Anyway, here's some of the dishes he prepared:

Horiatiki, Greek salad. I made a mental note to buy ingredients for this dish since Sweetie loves cucumber. It's easy to make, I think I'll just have a hard time looking for feta cheese (I'll probably use kesong puti in case I couldn't find any). [Update: I made this on Monday evening and Sweetie loved it].

Spanakopita. When Chef Robby taught us this dish I realized that I still have a lot of cooking skills I need to learn. Spanakopita uses phyllo pastry and because it's very thin you really need to be careful when handling it since it tears easily. Anyway, I think I'll try making spanakotopika (smaller version) first before I do the big version. My inspiration when I make this dish would be Miguel since he doesn't really like eating veggies, but he actually liked this dish!

Kotopoulo avgolemono (lugaw). This dish takes time to cook, so this is where Chef Robby started to multi-task and taught us several recipes all at the same time. Thank God I oftentimes need to go through tons of data at work, so that skill kinda helped clear things up for me. I rarely eat lugaw and only like the one my grandmother used to cook for me when I was a kid. I liked the Greek lugaw too.

Garides Saganaki Pasta. I have yet to learn how to cook with wine and how to cook shrimps. Chef Robby though made it look easy to do so I'll probably try making this delicious dish someday.

Moussaka. The first time I tried moussaka was in Boracay and I really liked it. The dish looks doable, but I think I would need about 3 hours to do it (Chef Robby prepared it in less than 30 minutes). I absolutely loved the bechamel sauce that he prepared and ended up sampling several teaspoons-full hehehe.

I love the fact that Greek dishes use a lot of veggies. Chef Robby mentioned that Greek cuisine is the most healthy of all cuisines. I learned a lot in his class and appreciate Chef Robby's generosity since he taught us a couple of other easy-to-do recipes. He was also very patient in answering questions and giving tips on where to buy ingredients. I'm definitely including the recipes for my dinner cooking (watch out for it on Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal).

Super duper thanks to Maya Kitchen! <3

Cheesecake Day

2011-08-02T09:36:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday I attended a cheesecake baking class at The Maya Kitchen. I was really nervous because the last time I attended a cooking class was in high school. I wasn't really fond of the kitchen, much less getting pressured to cook with others. I learned how to cook out of necessity (cook or starve!) when I got married, but I have never cooked outside my kitchen.

Anyway, my fears were soon abated when I realized that we were not going to have a hands-on session. Our teachers, Nikka Cleofe-Alejar (Veronica's Kitchen owner and president of Filipina Home Bakers) and Wel Garcia-Dy (Toto's Bakeshop owner) said that they were not professional chefs, but Mom's who just love to bake. So I relaxed and listened to them intently.

Nikka taught us how to make no-bake mango cheesecake first. It looks easy to do and probably has the least cost among the four recipes that they taught. Here's how the mango cheesecake looked before we gobbled it up.

Then Wel taught us how to make Oreo cheesecake. I got a lot of tips from Wel since she explained some technical baking stuff in layman's terms. Aside from mixing techniques, she also gave us an overview about some baking tools and materials. You don't actually need to buy everything since you can actually make do with just a couple of stuff. You can also use local brands instead of Oreo. Here's the sumptuous Oreo cheesecake.

And then Nikka taught us how to make mini cheesecakes. I learned from this session that you should put out your ingredients, butter and cream cheese, at least an hour before you start baking so that it would be easy to mix them.

The final recipe was chocolate cheesecake and it was Wel who did the demo. I think among the four recipes this would be the most challenging for me to do since I've never baked using baking chocolate. In good time maybe.

Here's our class photo:

I'm definitely ear-marking some time this August to bake cheesecake!

Lessons from the Blog & Soul (Point and Shoot) Photography Workshop

2011-07-26T09:12:00.000+08:00

Last weekend my family and I attended the Blog & Soul photo workshop for compact/point and shoot camera users at the 8Ten.co Studio. The last time I attended a similar workshop was a few years ago and I thought it would be good to join to brush up on my (non-existent) photography skills.

Back in 2007 I got a Canon G9 because they said that it's almost a DSLR. I thought it would be a good camera before I actually buy a DSLR. I told myself that I would use it for at least 2 years before I get a DSLR. When the camera conked out for the second time I decided not to get a DSLR because I thought I hadn't maximized my G9's capability. My friends were trying to convince me to get a Lumix or a Canon S95, but I was pretty comfortable already with the G series so I got a Canon G12. The Canon G12 definitely has a lot more buttons and features than the G12 so I would really have to push myself to learn all of it.

I honestly never really grasped the difference between shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc. I've been trying to understand it better by reading online tutorials, but it was Winston who kinda managed to make me understand the different through a faucet-water-glass analogy. Winston, Juned and Markku have been teaching me how to use my camera better and I now have better understanding of what P, M, Tv, Av on my camera means. Miguel has been key at teaching me how to tweak color settings etc.

Anyway, I digress... here are some key learnings from the workshop:

1. Read your camera's manual! I don't read manuals so I usually ask Sweetie to read it for me hehehe. So, if you don't like reading your manuals you should explore your camera! Juned explained more about shutter speed to me when we stopped over this bridge at MOA.

Bridgeway at SM Mall of Asia.

2. Experiment! The only way to learn about your camera's features and to learn the right mix of elements is to experiment. Modern day company cameras have a lot of features. I have not explored taking B/W photos yet. Juned's really got at this and I guess I'll bug him for more advise.

Juned, Markku, Winston and Hana.

3. Rule of thirds, this is a classic rule and your camera usually has built in guides to help you frame your photo.

View from 8ten.co Studio's garden (one of many).

4. Observe your subject so you know when to take the shot. Back when photographers were using film they didn't have the luxury of taking many different photos, they had to be precise. Sha (below) is a fun subject since she smiles a lot. What I need to improve on this photo though is its settings so my photos don't come out blurry.

Sha.

5. Lines can help tell a story. I thought the grass edge and gutter kinda pointed to the person like an arrow. Need to improve on lighting though.

He inspired me to vlog again! Hope I'll have time :)

6. Action shots. It is important to know your camera's quirks so you can click on the button at the right time when taking action shots (i.e. jump shots). My photo though is a bit blurry accckk.

Fitz on air!

7. Macro photography is hard! Well for inanimate objects it would probably be easy, but taking photos of the baby grass hopper was quite hard. I would've loved to capture clearly the ridges on his back. On the opposite side of things, when taking photos during concerts and let's say you are seated on the bleachers, take photos in a larger format (or raw) so you can just crop it.

The baby grasshopper Miguel picked up.

8. Perspective, try taking photos from another perspective. This is another creative way to take photos. It was Sweetie who actually got me to take this photo.

Well, I still have a long way to go and as the mentors said during the workshop, "It's not the camera, it's the photographer!"

Thanks Blog & Soul for organizing this workshop. And for 8Ten.co for the hosting us and for the yummy lumpia and pancit bihon! (Ano pala yung ketchup ninyo, masarap eh hehehe).

Mentors

2011-07-25T10:02:00.000+08:00

"At each point of your life you should have a mentor."

That's one of the most important things I learned from Dr. Ned Roberto when I was his student for market research. He explained to me that to continue learning one must continue learning and you also have to learn from those who are already successful. You don't actually need to tell the person that he/she is your mentor. All you need to do is to be very observant and pick up important skills, knowledge and behavior from your mentor.

I've been following this advise ever since Lolo Ned mentioned it to me and it has helped me to learn more and improve myself. Back when I was still working for a local company I oftentimes observed my superiors. I was lucky to have had the chance to be exposed to executives (president, VPs etc.) and I picked up a lot from observing how they worked, how they thought about things, how they communicated, how they handled people etc. It certainly helped a lot because I learned how to work well with higher management and I learned how to get my projects approved easily! Haha.

Now I am still doing the same thing. I guess I'm lucky to get a wider reach now, so I actually have more mentors! My Dad's college seatmate (he's now the Speaker of the House of Representatives) told him when I was just twelve, "You have a very observant daughter" (I kinda told him that it looked like the ceiling of his office might fall down on him anytime hehehe). Eeeep! (I hope I did not embarrass my Dad so much.) Anyway, my being observant has so far helped in the past few years.

Always On (Tipid Way to Go Online!)

2011-07-22T14:59:00.003+08:00

I work remotely for my company so whenever I'm not at my base I check my mail every so often and take a peek at my SNS in-between meetings. I usually just use my phone and go online through my laptop (using SmartBro) for longer periods of time. I found the 30 minute limit though a bit limiting since I usually go overtime especially when I have to answer a couple of emails.

I thought I'd share Smart's new "Always On" offering which I think is a perfect solution for me whenever I'm out. You can use the offering based on your online activities. So if you only check mail and check your social networking site (and probably check-in on Foursquare), it will just cost you about PhP20 the whole day, versus paying PhP50 for going online the whole day but only using it mainly for email and SNS.

Here's "Always On" table -

To activate a package, send the keyword to 2200. This is available to Smart Buddy, Smart Gold, Talk N'Text and Smart Bro subscribers. Smart Bro users can available of it through Smart Web Connect. Users will be notified before a particular package expires (when you've consumed 80% of the availed scheme). When the package expires, charging will go back to regular pricing of PhP10 for every 30 minutes of use.

Not bad huh?

An App a Day: Haybol.ph

2011-07-19T09:03:00.000+08:00

Here's another interesting app (site) done by a Filipino company - Haybol.ph. The site is essentially a search site for Philippine real estate properties that are either for sale or rent.

The site allows you to search for properties by street, city, barangay or province and aside from just going through a list of properties it offers a view of the exact location using Google Maps.

If you are a seller you can just simply post your listing for free.

You can visit the site at http://www.haybol.ph.

Think Before You Click

2011-07-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

I love GMA News TV's new campaign "Think Before You Click". Here's the video they've just posted:

More often than not kids nowadays are more techie than their parents. That holds true for me as well, so it's very important to monitor what your child does online. I knew early on that my son would spend a lot of time online (my fault since he was always on my lap whenever I was online when he was a baby), so I briefed him about do's and don't's online and "Think before you click" and "Think before you post" are just some mottos I've imbibed on him.

If you want to learn more about web safety for your kids then check out Sonnie's site on Web Safety Philippines and perhaps attend one of his seminars.

An App a Day: Kanya Kanyang Bayad

2011-07-13T09:12:00.004+08:00

I thought I'd write about some cool locally-made apps I've discovered.

Last week my friends at CodeFlux published their Android app "Kanya Kanyang Bayad". I was ecstatic because I know they've been working on it for a couple of months now and I knew it was going to be a hit.

"Kanya Kanyang Bayad" is an app that would help you compute for your bill. This is what I did last Friday when I went out with my high school friends (I always end up computing for our bill every time we go out!). My friends ooh'ed and ahh'ed. Well my duties as the person who splits the bill in our barkada when one of them gets an Android phone haha.

My Favorite Things

2011-07-08T22:51:00.004+08:00

I just realized my favorite things are... favorite food! Eversince Typhoon Ondoy I kinda learned not to be too attached with my things, but I must admit I still get upset whenever I lose anything.

Here are a few of my favorite "things" (in random order):

Food
1. Makati Supermarket spaghetti
2. Lachi's Sansrival Atbp. pork marinara
3. Becky's kitchen chocolate crinkles
4. Cielin's chocolate cupcake (the one available at Shell Select Magallanes)
5. Dayrit's cheeseburger
*#1, 3 and 5 has been my favorite for 3 decades now hehehe.

Things
1. Minnie! (my car)
2. My N1 and I still can't let go of my Nokia E71
3. My pillows!
4. My camera
5. My apple pendant, wedding and engagement ring
6. All my Angry Birds toys
7. My Winnie the Pooh watch
8. My chair
9. A ratty old shirt that Sweetie says would be better off as a rag
10. Earrings my Tita gave me, I always wear it

I think I'm going to check this post again a few years from now to see any of my choices change.

Robbed

2011-07-07T00:02:00.000+08:00

Something was off. At around 1:30 p.m. I wondered why Miguel hadn't texted me on his whereabouts. He lets me know when he's left school, where he rides (van, LRT or jeepney) and even tells me when he's on our street already. He greets me with a kiss and a big hug when he gets home. We text more often when I'm out for meetings and today was one of those days.

Miguel texted me at around 11 in the morning that he was on the way home. He rode a jeepney at EDSA together with 2 classmates. I put my phone beside my plate while eating to wait for his update. I expected him to be home by noon, but by 1 p.m. I started to wonder why he hadn't sent me any message. After my lunch meeting I tried to reach him but he wasn't picking up the call. At 2 p.m. I had to settle down and focus on my meeting, but I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. I managed to call my Mom before my meeting started and told her that I was worried already. I was so distracted during the meeting because I was praying for Miguel's safety. One of my messages to him was, "Where are you? You are going to give me a heart attack from worrying."

At 3 in the afternoon I finally got a message from Miguel. He used my Mom's phone and his message read, "I'm okay now. Na-budol-budol kami." So here's his recount of what happened --

They went down at SM Bicutan. On the escalator a guy trailed after them and convinced them that he could teach them how to protect themselves (something about anti-hazing). He wanted to give him his business card but said it was with his companion. He managed to get them to move to building B of SM Bicutan and from there convinced them (now with three other students from another school) to go to Yellow Cab along Dona Soledad.

They didn't order anything at Yellow Cab and I wonder why the crew didn't even notice since they were there for about an hour. The guy asked them to go back to SM Bicutan and had them leave their bags and valuables in Yellow Cab. They thought that it was okay since one of the students was asked to stay behind to keep an eye on their things. Half-way to SM Bicutan Miguel told his classmate that they should just go back to Yellow Cab and get their things. His friend said that they should just go with it and they did and walked to SM.

Much to their surprise the other student followed them at SM Bicutan and when they went back to Yellow Cab their stuff was gone. According to SM Bicutan security this is not the first time this modus operandi happened and oftentimes the robber brings the kids to either Yellow Cab and Chow King (on Dona Soledad, it's closed now).

As a parent I've been teaching Miguel not to talk to strangers, much less go with them, since he was a kid. He's been commuting on his own for just 2 months now and I kinda expected something like this would happen. I'm just glad that he wasn't hurt and had the sense to go straight to his Lola's house after the incident. The guard at Yellow Cab said that the 2 robbers was joined by another guy when they left (probably a back-up in case of any trouble).

I'm pretty sure these establishments and our local police already has a long list of reports of similar nature. I wonder though if they really catch any of the offenders. I guess not since they don't really do any follow-up. My bag that was stolen at SMX was never found.

I just told Miguel to be more alert and not to talk to strangers, much less go with them. These things happen to the best of us and the best I can do for now is to remind him and coach him how to handle situations like this. And, of course, pray.

Emergency Alert: La Nina Appeal

2011-06-27T11:45:00.000+08:00

The Philippine Red Cross needs help.

You may wish to post this flyer in your office/school bulletin board. You can download a copy here.

Angry Birds Theme covered by Pomplamoose

2011-06-25T11:26:00.000+08:00

Spending a lazy wet Saturday home, Sweetie discovered this video and shared it with me. It's so cool!

17 Years Ago

2011-06-22T11:04:00.000+08:00

I thought I'd break out from hibernation on one of the most important days of my life - Miguel's birthday!

I had him 17 years ago in the midst of Typhoon Gading. He was tiny at 5.6 pounds, but quite a long kid already at 18 inches. My friends said back then that he was the most peaceful looking baby they've ever seen. And it was true despite all the turmoil I was going through during that time.

It wasn't easy, but with support from my family and real friends things just fell into place. What helped though was talking to my Ate's friend who went through the same thing. It was like talking to myself ten years forward. It was what set me off to follow the path that would ensure that my son would have a secure and stable future.

Miguel has been the driving force behind whatever I have achieved. After I had him I managed to become editor-in-chief of our university's literary publication, garner a best thesis award (for my Political Science degree), get a job at the country's leading telco even before I graduate and now work for an international company. I just realized recently something profound (to me at least!), "You can mess up your life, but make sure you don't mess up your kid's!"

It's just amazing how patient Miguel has been with me (not the other way around). I've dragged him around so much (he's my official assistant too) in the last 17 years without any fuss, although now I've been giving him a choice to just stay home (now I'm being a good Mommy). In the past week that I've been sick he's also been cooking for me! (And I hear he's planning to make some leche flan this weekend).

Thank you Papa God for sending me my angel :)

Happy, happy birthday to my one and only, Miguel.

Nestle's "Unplugged"

2011-06-14T09:58:00.000+08:00

Here's one of my favorite Nestle Kasambuhay Habambuhay short film anthologies, Unplugged. A must-watch for us internet and device addicts.

Crazy for Angry Birds

2011-06-13T16:51:00.000+08:00

Last weekend Clipper had new Angry Birds toys. They have a really huge plush toy (as big as the pillow) and I had a hard time keeping myself from buying it. I managed and just got myself a mouse pad. Haha.

I also contented myself by just taking photos and hubby took a photo of me doing just that.

Such lovely toys, I just don't have space at home anymore :)

Crispy Pata Bloggers Association

2011-06-12T09:56:00.000+08:00

When me and my blogger friends get together we oftentimes make up stuff (as what storytellers usually do). I remember I used to do that a lot back in college when I was part of our university's literary folio. Anyway, our banter revolved around crispy pata this time around. The reality though is most of us can't consume as much crispy pata as we used to when we were younger and some of us aren't allowed to eat crispy pata anymore. That didn't stop us from ordering one large crispy pata when we dined at Max's Restaurant last weekend.

So what is the crispy pata bloggers association? It's an organization of friends who love eating crispy pata (can you count the number of times I've included crispy pata in this post?) and well... that's just about it haha. And here's our pledge of allegiance (made by Sweetie):

The Crispy Pata Bloggers Creed

I pledge allegiance to the association of the Crispy Pata Bloggers
And for which it stands, one nation, under pigwith crispiness and pata for all.

Please note that this post was just born out of boredom and fun.

Happy birthday Juned! =)

A Pig and an Angry Bird

2011-06-11T09:28:00.000+08:00

Hopefully the last Angry Bird souvenir I'm going to buy. My target is to post a home-made Angry Bird project. But first I need to remember how to crochet!

Rainy Day Playlist

2011-06-10T09:11:00.004+08:00

It's been raining the past few days so I thought I'd put together a new playlist - songs that talk about rain. My friend, Jomar, said that most of the songs about rain are sad, but with help from Plurk and Twitter friends I managed to put together a good mix of happy and weepy rain songs.

I didn't know some of the songs so I had a grand time listening to them for the first time via Youtube.

Rain Rain - Nyoy Volante and the Mannos
Sukob Na - 17:28
Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka - Eraserheads and Franco & Ayen Laurel version
Ulan - Cueshe
Pumapatak na naman ang Ulan - Apo Hiking Society
Rain - Donna Cruz
Ulan - Rivermaya
Tag-ulan - Wency Cornejo
Tag-araw, Tag-ulan - Hadji Alejandro
Sa Pagpatak ng Ulan - Cesar Montano (never heard this song, I just got it from Sweetie)

Rain - Madonna
Storms in Africa - Enya
No Rain - Blind Melon
Crying in the Rain - Everly Brothers
It's Raining Men -
Laughter in the Rain - Neil Sedaka
Kiss the Rain - Billie Myers
Singing in the Rain
Rhythm of the Rain - Cascades
Bus Stop - The Hollies
Soldier in the Rain - England Dan & John Ford Coley
Belle - Jack Johnson
Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
Rainy Days - Ja Rule
Sunshine on a Rainy Day - Emma Bunton
Walking in the Rain - A1
Rain on Me - Ashanti
Thunder - Boys Like Girls
Purple Rain - Prince
November Rain - Guns N Roses (not the TV show!)

Nestle's Kasambuhay, Habambuhay

2011-06-09T12:38:00.001+08:00

My curiosity was piqued when I first saw Nestle's ad on the Kasambuhay Habambuhay short film anthology and I was about to bug hubby to watch it over the weekend at SM Megamall. We got lucky though because my friend, Ricky, sent out invites to an exclusive screening at Nestle. I was bent on going despite the rains.

I can just imagine how hard it is to make a "centennial ad". How can you cram 100 years in a short television ad? Nestle said that they just "aimed for the heart" and I must say that each and every time I see their ad I couldn't help but relate to it. Here's the epic TV ad if you haven't seen it yet -

Anyway, so Nestle went a step ahead and created a 100-minute story of lives intertwined with Nestle products - Bear Brand Powdered Milk Drink, Nescafe, Milo, Nido, Nestea, Coffee-Mate, Maggi, Bear Brand Sterilized, Nestle Ice Cream, Nestle Koko Krunch, Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt and Nestle Fitnesse (have you checked what's in your cupboard lately?). They worked with directors who have done their TV ads - Raul Jorolan, Henry Frejas, Jeorge Agcaoili, Carlo Directo, Sid Maderazo, A/F Benaza, Jun Reyes and Stephen Ngo.

Here's a rundown of the ten short films:

The Howl & the Fussyket - directed by Chris Martinez, the Howl & the Fussyket tells a story about a boy who joins a declamation contest. He wasn't the best choice of their class, but his mother and sister realized that he had a "f" and "p" speech defect they enlist a couple of people to help him. With Eugene Domingo and Kiray, this anthology was really hilarious and a must-see for Moms with their kids.

Unplugged - directed by Raul Jorolan. This is one of my favorite films. The story is about a coach who brings his team to his grandpa's place. Seeing that the boys were more enamored with their gadgets, the grandpa (played by Eddie Garcia) confiscates all their devices so they could reconnect back to life. Being someone who is always connected I oftentimes wish that there would be days that we can just stay offline and enjoy what's out there more.

Silup - directed by Jun Reyes. Sid Lucero plays the role of a tough, role-model policeman who keeps his gun in the cupboard beside cans of milk. The story shows what is essential in life: love.

Isang Tasang Pangarap - directed by Sid Maderazo. Comedienne Ramon Bautista plays the role of a "coffee psychic" (Elias) which brings hope to people. The film was really funny and everyone burst out laughing when Elias proclaimed, "Walang himala!"

Sali Salita - directed by A/FBenaza. We all get caught up with work and oftentimes we forget that our children need our undivided attention. The story is about how words managed to reconnect a boy and his Mom. You'll also be surprised who played the role of the grandfather.

Oh! Pa Ra Sa Ta U Wa Yeah! - directed by Jeorge Agcaoili. The film is an extension of the Nestea TV ad "ibuhos ang saya" where Nico shares to his family his dilemma in courting Mattina. Nico's father shares a family heirloom, a 100-year old manual on how to court women. It's a musical comedy, so I'm sure you'll be entertained. Will Nico finally get Mattina's sweet yes?

Downtown - directed by Stephen Ngo. I was swinging from being teary-eyed and giggling throughout the film. The story unfolded mostly through actions and I love the twist at the end. It's one of my favorite stories especially since it integrated life in Binondo.

Tingala sa Baba - directed by Henry Frejas. The two kids really pulled off their roles well in this film. Two kids, one rich, one poor, are on a see-saw and their problem was how to get the chubby kid to be on top for once. Both lead very different lives, but find friendship while playing. Another one of my favorite films!

Cooking Mo, Cooking Ko - directed by Chris Martinez. A simple Romeo and Juliet story told through rhyme. Would love (or Maggi Magic Sarap) bring peace to the warring families?

Sign Seeker - directed by Carlo Directo. The John Lloyd film. `Nuff said.

Watching the short film anthologies would make you feel a myriad of emotions, so bring tissue, water and Kitkat when you watch the film this weekend (for free!) at SM Megamall.

Crispy Pata bloggers (a.k.a. my blogger friends) with Ricky Baizas of Nestle.

Thank you Nestle for this experience and thank you for the cookbook! I can't wait to try out the awesome recipes!

Save the Philippine Seas, Save Pasacao

2011-06-08T15:02:00.000+08:00

We've been seeing news about how exploitative foreign companies with local partners have harvested corals twice the size of Manila. This made me really sad because I love going to the beach. I was just 8 months old when my parents started bringing me to our place in Pasacao, Camarines Sur eveyr summer. During low tide I would usually explore the reefs that would jut out from the water and I do that year in, year out.

What's alarming though is how our lovely beachfront has been ruined by a neighbor who built an illegal pier. Their area used to show a bed of coral reefs during low tide. My Dad tried to fight them numerous times by reporting the illegal port, but the local government did not do anything about it. My Mom called me up the other night to tell me that there are now three illegal ports in Pasacao and that's why the government port isn't earning anything.

The illegal pier.

When our neighbor built the illegal pier I observed that the number of fish and sea creatures I used to see lessened significantly. I have also witnessed them dump water (probably dirty) into the sea from the ships (not small bangkas) docked at their pier. I know my Dad did his best to report this illegal activity, but the local government in our area has just continued to ignore it.

Our small place in Pasacao is my home. A place that holds happy childhood memories for me. Unfortunately today it's now part of a statistic of places that need saving. But how can we possibly save a place that's being exploited by people with money?

De La Salle Philippines Centennial

2011-06-08T09:15:00.001+08:00

My thesismate, Johannes, who heads the marketing communications office of De La Salle University called me up the other day and asked if I was going to attend any of the centennial activities. So I thought I'd look for some info and get my college buddies to go to some of the events! Here's a list and some resources:

De La Salle Philippines Facebook Page
Proudly Green, June 11 at SMX (pre-celebration kick-off)
Opening Celebration, June 16, 2011
Cantata "Fire in the Soul" directed by Peque Gallaga, June 19, 2011 (I want to watch this!)
Centennial Calendar

And just to annoy my thesismates, here's our group photo from way back when we defended our thesis (it garnered a gold medal award for best thesis! Hehehe).

Boracay Dusk

2011-06-07T09:26:00.002+08:00

There's something about Boracay that makes you want to go back again and again. Each trip for me has been unique and bitin! There's just something about Boracay that makes you want to stay and become a beach bum.

And I guess I'll just let the photos speak for itself.

Experiencing the Future (of the Internet)

2011-06-06T09:00:00.000+08:00

Almost 2 decades ago my friends and I kidded each other one hot summer day that in time we'd be in touch with each other through our PCs. During that time we had no idea what the internet was (it wasn't commercially available), so we had no idea that one day we'd indeed be in touch with each other through this platform. We knew that we'd eventually part ways because we were going to go to different universities (me in DLSU, one in UST and one in UP), but we swore to keep in touch with each other.

We did, through snail mail then eventually through email, Friendster, chatting through YM, then came Multiply, calling each other through Gtalk, then Facebook and Twitter. Each iteration allowed us to share more about our lives (despite the distance) and collaborate on the cloud (especially during my wedding!). We also hopped on different ways to connect online - first through dial-up, then DSL and now through mobile internet. Usually though the means to connect to the internet can't catch up with what we do online.

I am online most of the time because of work and I'm quite dependent on the "cloud" so I'm really fussy about internet speed. I had to upgrade my DSL plan last year because my requirements weren't being met by the lowest DSL plan. So I jumped on the chance to try out Smart LTE in Boracay. Smart LTE stands for Smart Long Term Evolution. It just essentially means that we can experience much faster internet - up to 25x faster (assuming you are using 2Mbps connection) and up to 50x faster in the future. A 4 gigabyte file which usually takes hubby 16 hours to download (his log files for his website) would just take approximately 30 minutes. Or uploading a 320+MB file which would take an hour or two would just take about 5-6 minutes. To me it just means humaharurot na internet!

I asked Allan Siao (Smart's technical lead) why they chose to showcase this new technology in Boracay. He said that it was marketing's idea to challenge them to implement it there. He showed us a diagram which compared how 3G/HSPA vs. LTE technology worked. 3G/HSPA required more transpo and access gateways versus LTE which was essentially flat (or straight). Both though have trouble with obstructions (walls/rain/fog). Speed is also dependent on the device you are using, so that meant my 3-year old jalopy of a laptop wouldn't be able to maximize the available capacity of LTE.

Anyway, here's the first glimpse we had of Smart LTE. Speedtest was done using a newer laptop using Firefox. Download speed was 44.49Mbps, upload speed 2.94Mpbs.

I asked Allan if the browser you use would make a difference and he said that it would, so I asked them to do a speedtest using Google Chrome. Download speed was 52.67Mbps, upload speed 2.85Mbps.

I thought I'd test Smart LTE using sites built using HTML5, so the first thing I did was to play Angry Birds on Google Chrome on HD! It brought me great joy to be able to play Angry Birds on a high-speed connection because there wasn't any lag.

And then I tried playing around with some Google Chrome Experiments.

Watched Youtube Movies.

Watched Janette's live stream interview of Anne Binuya (Smart Bro team).

And the an online book, "The 20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web".

For the rest of my stay I tried out Smart LTE by doing my daily routine - opened 3 browsers (Chrome, Chrome Incognito and Firefox) and opened more than 10 tabs for each browser, accessed my data on the cloud, checked mail, chatted, Gtalk voice calls, uploaded photos, and hopped from one social networking account to the other. I can say that I was more productive since I wasn't worried about the speed even though I was using my 3-year old laptop.

I hope that Smart LTE would be available soon (they said late 4Q 2011 or early 1Q 2012). Pricing isn't available yet and I hope it would be very affordable! This would also be awesome for schools that would be using tablets this schoolyear (ask Mr. Jun Lozada and Neil Andrew Nocon about their two separate projects) and since was able to do it in Boracay perhaps they can also make internet connectivity better for schools in Mindanao. :)

With bloggers Van, Az and Mark.

With Rezza, Az, Anne, Gay, Kyle, Janette, Mark and Van.

Thank you Smart for allowing me to experience the future of the internet!

Okay, I'm Addicted to Angry Birds

2011-06-01T08:51:00.003+08:00

I ended up sleeping in the wee hours of the morning the first week I played Angry Birds. The last time I got so addicted to a game was a year ago when I started playing Plants vs. Zombies. I can't explain it, but obliterating pigs using birds has been a great stress-buster. After I finished the first game I managed to curb my addiction. Anyway, now I'm trying to finish Angry Birds on Chrome and discovering the Chrome dimension made the game super fun too.

My collection was waiting for me when I got home from Singapore the other day.

And then got a couple of keychains from Clipper the other day. They're just PhP55 each. Perfect excuse to change old keychains!

Turtles and Ducks

2011-05-31T20:40:00.000+08:00

Mr. Turtle just before he dove to the water.

Another turtle, surrounded by bigger fish.

Duck lane.

Duck stretch.

Took these photos at Greenbelt park last Sunday.

Stolen

2011-05-20T17:18:00.003+08:00

So, the event at SMX just started, I was the first speaker for their seminar. I was gone from my booth for just about 30 minutes and when I got back my laptop bag was gone. It was just beside my handbag and Miguel was there in the booth too. I immediately realized it was gone because my calling cards were in it.

Thieves, they're just really fast.

The contents of my laptop bag were 2 brand new Smart Bro USB modems, my laptop charger, a couple of USBs (free ones I got from some events), my Starbucks diary where I list daily expenses, a notebook and papers I'm about to throw away. My laptop bag though was a collectible item since it's a Google laptop bag which was given to me during the Google Geo User Summit last month.

I'm very lucky though because my laptop and phone wasn't in the bag. I remembered to get my phone in it just before I left the booth for my talk. Good thing I also forgot to bring my camera. The thief is probably kicking himself by now because he essentially did not get anything of value to him or anyone. What sickens me though is the thought that someone so evil got so close to my son. Everything in it can be replaced, and thank God I've got everything on the cloud. Harumph.

One thing that irks me though is how slow SMX was at responding to my report and was only when I called up one of the bosses before security actually got moving. I guess they're so used to this thing happening they just end up counting it as another incident. I decided to immediately leave the vicinity because I felt I wasn't safe anymore. I didn't want to give the thief another chance to get the prize. But, after all these years, it's quite unbelievable that this modus operandi has still not been solved by convention center security.

Well, if you see a Google laptop bag in any of the online buy and sell sites, please let me know. I want my expense diary back!

And to the thief, manood ka ng 100 Days to Heaven!

Update: As I was leaving SMX I received some good news about a project I've been working at for a couple of months now. And when I got home I received a bag of Hershey's Chocolate Nuggets from 7-Eleven and some goodies from Chef Laudico and GMCI! Weeee!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-05-19T19:09:00.000+08:00

A year ago today my Dad was still around and we celebrated his 77th birthday by having lunch at North Park. He ordered his favorite noodles and we were happy then that he finished his order. We didn't expect that it would be his last birthday here on earth.

The past few months have been hard. I know my Dad's happy where he is, but it has been really hard not having him around. I've always been "Daddy's little girl" even though we disagreed sometimes. It was my Dad who got me in my line of work now even though he never learned how to turn on a PC. It was my Dad who kept motivating me to write (although my Mom was the one who made me start writing). And my Dad read everything I wrote (even my diary when he got his hands on it!). My Dad also managed to teach me a couple of his signature dishes when I finally managed to follow his fast-cooking moves. My Dad also taught me how to properly shoot a basketball.

And I have been mopping the past week because I've been missing him terribly. Buying myself some Angry Birds toys helped for about 5 minutes.I guess I'll just go on and focus on work because my Dad would really hate seeing me idle.

I miss you Dad. I really wish you didn't have to leave us so soon.

More Angry Birds Toys at Clipper

2011-05-18T19:58:00.000+08:00

I haven't been this excited over toys since I started collecting pigs. Here are some new stuff available at Clipper. They also have bags and pillows (PhP799).

Stuffed toys. (The yellow one though is from SM.)

Wallets.

Window toy. (I'm parking this inside Minnie!).

I asked the sales crew if they've played Angry Birds already and they said no since they don't have their own PC or a smartphone. They all got excited when I mentioned they can play using Google Chrome.

Movie Review: In the Name of Love

2011-05-15T20:34:00.000+08:00

Watching Filipino movies is one of my guilty pleasures, so I dragged my boys to watch "In the Name of Love" with me. I felt it was a must-see movie based on the trailer.

I'm glad my boys accompanied me to watch the movie since my Pinoy-movie buddy (my aunt) lives in Bicol. "In the Name of Love" is a love story full of twists, turns and many surprises. I like how the narration switched from present to past. It allowed the story to unfold like a multi-wrapped present. Unlike other movies, the trailer truly showed just the tip of the iceberg - enough to make a prospective movie-goer interested to watch.

I liked how Aga Muhlach and Angel Locsin portrayed the characters of Emman and Cedes and I now understand why Aga mentioned in his TV interview that it was the hardest role he had to portray. Emman and Cedes are just like any Filipino who dreamt big. Went abroad, found love and soon-after met trouble. Both characters went through trials, a sacrifice for love and Aga and Angel successfully conveyed the pain that the characters went through.

"In the Name of Love" is worth-seeing and I don't share that much about the movie because it might spoil your experience. I heard it took a year to make this movie and I wish all Filipino movie producers would take as much care in making films so the viewing public can enjoy great stories such as "In the Name of Love".

Chocolate with Siling Labuyo at IFEX Philippines

2011-05-12T21:40:00.000+08:00

I got the chance to try chocolate with siling labuyo today at the IFEX Philippines show (International Food Exhibition Philippines). I was hesitant to try it out first since I don't really like spicy food, but thought that a tiny piece wouldn't hurt. I took a small piece from the bowl, ate it and thought "Oh it just tastes like any other dark chocolate, but with a surprise." As you are about to swallow it the spicy siling labuyo tickles you a bit. A minute later though I felt the full effect of the siling labuyo, I started sweating! Haha. I gulped down some water and thought, "That chocolate with siling labuyo had a lot of kick!" Eating a whole bar is not for the faint hearted and probably only for a true-blooded Bicolano.

So that was the highlight of my visit today to the IFEX Philippines show. There are lots of other interesting food and beverages as well, like the Gourmet barako coffee.

The Yakon root crop which tasted like singkamas and sugar cane.

I'm probably biased, but I kinda hung-out at the Mindanao area more hehe.

If I have time I think I'll go back and sample the Honey Wine.

Thank you CITEM for the invitation!

IFEX Philippines (site)
May 12-14, 2011
SMX Convention Center
(beside SM Mall of Asia)
Pasay City

Angry Birds on Chrome

2011-05-12T10:41:00.000+08:00

I downloaded Angry Birds on my phone, tablet, PC and now it's available on Google Chrome. Try it out by going to http://chrome.angrybirds.com.

And if you love Angry Birds as much as I do you may also want to buy tshirts and toys! Here's a list of where I've spotted some AB stuff:

SM Department store: tshirts at PhP249.75; plush toys at PhP99 and PhP199

Clipper: plush toys at PhP349.75; caps at PhP349.75

Phone accessories stall in Cebu: Angry Birds iPhone and iPad case

Stranded, Again (5J574)

2011-05-08T20:31:00.000+08:00

And not due to bad weather, again.

This is the third time I got stranded, second time with Cebu Pacific, for the same reason - the airplane needed to be serviced and they had to wait for a spare part from Manila. Other flights got delayed soon after because of bad weather. Past experiences taught me that it was useless to get mad because there's nothing you can do. Best way to handle the situation is either to sit it out and wait or reimburse your ticket and look for another flight.

There's a huge difference though between how Philippine Airlines handles situations like this. With PAL we got immediate updates and we were not made to wait for several hours in the airport. I was already in the plane in Singapore when we were told that we had to deplane due to engine trouble. Soon after we were brought to a hotel for a free overnight stay. They also kept their word and made announcements when they said they would.

I am not sure about CebuPac's on-time stats right now, but with the many times I've seen (and experienced) it happen, they should by now know how to keep their customers happy. And here's a couple of suggestions for them:

1. When boarding time passes and passengers aren't asked to board yet we start thinking there's something wrong. You should immediately announce why there's a delay.

2. Keep your word. When you say you are going to give an update at a certain time, make one. Traveling is already stressful, making passengers go to your info desk just to get an update increases that stress.

3. Flight delays is most stressful for passengers who have connecting flights. You should have a ready plan on how to deal with them even before you announce the delay. I noticed that PAL took care of passengers with connecting flights as soon as they announced the delay.

4. I'm not sure how this works, but passengers shouldn't be made to wait in airports (say more than 3 hours) for a delayed flight for long periods of time. I would think that hanging out in a place with so many people increases your chances of getting sick (I am not feeling well right now already).

5. Well, if you are so much of a cheapskate and want to keep your passengers waiting, at the very least keep us hydrated. One bottle of water for an 8-hour wait is inhuman.

My other stranded stories at:
http://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2007/09/stranded.html
http://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2009/04/flight-pr-5087.html

Trees

2011-05-05T17:04:00.000+08:00

As I was entering our village the other day I noticed the colorful blooms as I drove home. I was a curious about a tree that had yellow blooms and was happy to find out that it was on our street! So I took a photo -

I immediately posted it on Facebook when I got home and was surprised to get comments from friends and neighbors. My neighbor/friend, Ate Neysa, suggested I go to our park and check out the fire trees. Since my internet was still wonky that day I dragged Miguel to go out with me. And here's what greeted us at the park:

Offline

2011-05-04T19:50:00.000+08:00

I've been wanting to write this post since Holy Week when I was forced to go offline for a few days because my lines just went dead. It took awhile to get fixed because the telco re-connected it to my old address and eversince my internet connection has been on and off. And it's been detrimental to my blogging muse.

Anyway, goes to show how much my time is spent online. I've been really grouchy all week because my daily flow has been badly disrupted, so both work and other personal online activities have been going haywire. It wasn't so bad during Holy Week since I didn't have to work for a few days and I just focused on stuff that needed to be fixed at home.

And here are some things that made me really happy to be offline during Holy Week:

1. Gardening

I've been trying my hand at gardening for about a year now. I didn't like it at first, but I just feel so accomplished when a seed I planted sprouts. You should see my collection of mustasa in my garden. Now I can prepare my favorite mustasa beef dish whenever I like, served with fresh mustasa! It's so far the only thing I've been successful at. I'm awful with flowers. The white rose plant my Mom got for me hasn't been giving any blooms since February and the other flowering plants I have... well they're gone, save for the angel plants Mom gave last year.

My tree plants -- 3 orchid trees and 2 fire trees -- are so far growing steadily. The herbs I got from Tagaytay, half of them died already hehehe, but I'm working on keeping the others alive. I planted a couple of veggies during Black Saturday and I'm now seeing some sprout to life! Hooray!

I've been trying to blog about my gardening hobby at Gardening for Noobs. Hopefully someone can tutor me, haha.

2. Summer House Cleaning

I think a lot of my neighbors did this during the Holy Week break because the garbage truck was overflowing with trash when it passed by after the weekend. We doubled our trash too over the weekend after cleaning out some rooms. It was a great thing to do since it allows you to do an inventory of what you have and have in excess. One thing I'd like to learn is how to be like my Dad. He only bought things that he needed. I dread moving houses again because of all the things we have already. Uh-oh!

3. Cooking

I'm happy to report that I have surpassed my "learn one dish a month quota". I've lost count of the recipes that I've used in the past 17 months. I'm far from inventing any dish, but I can say that I'm very much comfortable now cooking for my boys. This is one adventure I'm glad I didn't get to do before I married because I managed to learn how to cook on my own.

My friend, Denz, the other night said, "Diba di ka naman marunong magluto bago ka kinasal? So natuto ka for survival?" Haha! He knows me well and he just recently got married too -- in the same boat that Sweetie and I were 17 months ago. I told him I learned just by watching Youtube videos (an important tip I actually learned from Dominic Ochoa, yes the artista!).

My cooking adventures are at Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal.

4. Crafts

I was planning to make a couple of home-made frames during Holy Week. What I ended up doing though was the lay-out of three photo books -- our wedding album, my Mom and Dad's wedding album and our first year album. I was supposed to do just one, but ended up doing three! It's addicting! Anyway, hopefully I'll find some time to make frames in June.

So, as part of my sacrifice when our lines got fixed, I decided to do and finish a long-awaited project for my community - our Parish website. I was called to do it last year, but my Dad got sick and I put all other projects on hold to be able to spend time with him. I finished the site minutes just before Easter Sunday. I was really happy that I managed to finish (well continuously being edited) the project on the deadline I set with Him.

Quite surprising how productive I was over the Holy Week break. I think it means I should spend more time offline so I can do more :)

Here's a happy note though about having your life online:

Help the Philippine Red Cross through Mapping

2011-05-04T09:07:00.001+08:00

The Philippines Google Technology Users Group together with other volunteer mappers are hosting MapUps this summer to help the Philippine Red Cross. You may want to join one in your area (or maybe host one! see below). Here's the schedules for mapUps this summer:

Bukidnon MapUp
April 27, 2011, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Malaybalay, Bukidnon

Soccksargen MapUp
April 30, 2011, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
General Santos City Mayor's Office
Event Site: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124046884336491

Baguio City MapUp
May 7, 2011, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
University of Baguio
Sign-up Form: http://goo.gl/1QWpT
Event Site: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199999790039007

Iloilo MapUp
May 21, 2011, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Netopia, SM City Iloilo
Sign up Form: http://goo.gl/2y8CT

GTUG Philippines Metro Manila MapUp
May 21, 2011, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
RedFox Training Center,
Sign-up Form: http://goo.gl/Bh7On
Event Site: http://www.gtugphilippines.org/2011/04/may-21-mapping-party.html

GTUG Zamboanga MapUp
May 23, 2011, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
Sign-up Form: http://goo.gl/jSFzq
Event Site: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=183467248372722

Upcoming: Cebu, Tacloban, Ormoc, hopefully Dumaguete.

If you are interested to host a MapUp, kindly let us know at http://goo.gl/DR2gA

Testing Blogger Droid Android App

2011-05-03T23:30:00.001+08:00

Just testing the new app I downloaded on my phone. Hopefully this will allow me to blog more often.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Remembering World Youth Day 1995

2011-05-01T18:01:00.000+08:00

I was in college when World Youth Day was hosted by the Philippines. I went together with my friends in my parish and it was an experience I would never forget and here's a handwritten line from my scrapbook,

"Pope John Paul II became my crush. He's so cute! I saw him!!! My friend carried me so I can see him better. It was exhilarating and indescribable. It made me cry. He really does have an aura which he projects widely."

World Youth Day 1995 was the most attended WYD. There were a lot of people and a number of my co-parishioners fainted and we slept on Roxas Boulevard (near the island in front of Quirino Grandstand). It was all worth it though because seeing the Pope John Paul II pass by in his Pope mobile is an experience that can never be replicated. I remember crying when I saw him. He glowed! I don't know how it is possible, but his aura was white. I felt love and peace.

And here's some of my memorablia from World Youth Day 1995 (they survived Typhoon Ondoy!).

Takbo para kay Kristo

2011-04-30T22:19:00.000+08:00

Early this morning I accompanied my boys to the "Takbo para kay Kristo" (iChoose Life) run at Alabang. Since I'm not allowed to do any strenuous exercise I thought I'd just take some photos. Here it is:

If you joined the run and want to download a copy of the photo please go here.

For Denz and Leejay

2011-04-17T09:17:00.000+08:00

We waited for this wedding for over a decade, approximately 14 years I think.

Leejay, I met you while you were still part of the children's choir (together with my crazy neighbor, Jajah, who was your best bud back then). I tried really hard to find the photo where you guys had on white togas and a huge purple bow, but it escaped me.

Denz, I met you in our alma mater while you were part of Harlequin Theater. You became my friend for life when you brought Alan, my thesismate, to my house at two in the morning. And then eventually you joined the choir.

Who would have ever thought that someday the two of you would tie the knot. Well... I did. Jajah did. Everyone else did, except the two of you. And that's why we just let you be when you started having coffee time on your own (notice I did not term it as "coffee date"). We knew that something was brewing, but you guys were taking your own sweet time.

I wasn't surprised when one day I received a call from Denz. He told me he was falling in love with Leejay. He didn't want to since you were best friends and he didn't want to ruin your friendship. At last! I thought and I was one of those who encouraged him to pursue Leejay. And when I got the chance, I gave Leejay some unsolicited advise to take the chance and get in a relationship with Denz. Now na!

Well, you guys made up for it and here you are, MARRIED! It was truly a pleasure to witness how God wrote your love story and here's the video I put together with the help of Jajah, Ate Edith, Kuya Yul, Ate Rose, JM and Jay. I shed some tears while making the video because I realized how much you guys have been part of my life.

Take care and may God bless you with many, many kids!

Ancestors

2011-04-15T09:09:00.000+08:00

I've always been curious about my ancestors because I only got to meet one grandparent - my Mama Lola, unless you count my Papa Lolo's surprise ghostly visit to me when I was 4 years old. He was in full white military uniform and since he was smiling at me I started chatting with him. I was just a kid, so it did not occur to me that he was visiting me from heaven in San Francisco! He's only done that to me and my nephew, Gabby.

Sometimes I feel short-changed because I did not have the opportunity to be dotted on by my other grandparents. My Mama Lola though made up for it because I was always at her side. She spoiled me and they say that I am very much like her -- loves bags, sewing (I used to when I was a kid), and eccentric. I loved spending time with her and oftentimes drove her crazy. She left us though when I was 12.

I learn a little about my ancestors during (maternal) family gatherings. My cousin, Kuya Koko, presented during one Christmas reunion our family crest and showed our family tree which was traced from Spain. Recently, during my Tito Mon's funeral I learned that his namesake went back to Europe during war time and never came back. I have little knowledge on my paternal ancestors. I only know that my grandparents eloped and had 9 children, my Dad being the youngest. I also know that both my Lolos were hunks!

And that's probably why I've always been fascinated with the movie "Back to the Future" and originally wanted to take up archeology in college. I've always wanted to learn more about my ancestors. Their quirks, favorite food, what they did for a living and if I'm like them in any way. I don't want to learn about it though through ghostly appearances! I do appreciate though that my Papa Lola visited me, my nephew said he looked exactly the same when I saw him (he just recognized him when he saw a photo by accident). Too bad I don't think anyone of time liked writing because we haven't found any old diary lying around!

Anyway, I'm writing this for the sake of Miguel and my nephews and nieces in case they become curious to find out more about their ancestry. Hopefully when my cousin comes back from the US I can get a copy of our family tree from him. Well, someday I'll meet them when it's time for me to party up there.

And if, by chance, this gets read by my future grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Hello! You're lucky I like writing hehehe.

*First photo - Francisco and Merced Enrile (Papa Lolo and Mama Lola)
**Second photo - Ramon T. Enrile Sr. (June 24, 1863 - January 15, 1924) and Paulina Soler de Enrile (April 29, 1866 - August 19, 1937)

Just Do It

2011-04-12T10:26:00.000+08:00

When I was taking up my masters in business administration they taught us a lot of fancy buzz words. They made us read through tons of books, solve many different cases (which I loved to do!) and churn out feasibility studies. I didn't have a social life for 2 years because of that, but I'm glad I sacrificed because at 25 I already earned my MBA.

And that was a decade ago already! I thought by now I would've earned my DBA already, but I just haven't had the time to enroll. I'm not giving up though.

Anyway, I did learn a lot from business school and I got to use it when I shifted careers. I had to learn though how to make compressed versions of marketing and business plans. Thirty-paged plans certainly impressed my bosses, but they only had time to two pages of it. So I honed my craft and pretty soon the things I thought would be best for my brand was getting approvals.

That's when I realized that you don't really need all those fancy words to be recognized for your talents and skills. You just need to learn how to speak the language of your approving authority and an excellent implementor of plans. And maintaining relationships is still key (this is something I'm still struggling with).

Well... this was just a brain fart a decade after earning my MBA. Just Do It.

Help Map the Philippines

2011-04-04T17:19:00.000+08:00

Following the Google Geo User Summit last week, the mappers said that they wanted to do mapping parties for the Philippine Red Cross and my friend, Dennis, from the PRC said he's looking forward to these mapping parties. Mapping would help the Philippine Red Cross when help is need in specific areas (check out here how mappers helped out during Typhoon Ondoy). The more we map, the more lives we can help save.

What is a mapping party anyway? A lot of my friends smile whenever I mention the phrase to them. It may sound geeky, but it's basically just getting together to map your neighborhood. Know more about how to plan a mapping party here. Mapping on Google Mapmaker is easy, here's one of the video tutorials -

To learn more about mapping on Google Mapmaker, visit http://www.google.com/help/mapmaker/philippines/.

Here's some timelapse videos of how maps data has grown in some provinces in the Philippines:

We have still a long way to go! If you'd like to help map for the Philippine Red Cross, kindly fill out this form http://goo.gl/DR2gA.

The Pinoy super-mappers -

My Google Geo User Summit Singapore Experience

2011-04-01T11:49:00.001+08:00

I've been in Singapore the past week for the Google Geo User Summit together with eight Filipino mapping enthusiasts from all over the Philippines. We were a huge contingent with a total of 10 Pinoys (plus the famous Brian Bautista from Google).

My mapping efforts are not comparable to what Wayne, Dante, Leonel, Theo, Lakan, Allan, Avel and Orman have done. I've been focusing my mapping efforts in my own neighborhood and learned a great tip from Wayne a few years back -- take a video of your neighborhood while driving through it and then start mapping! That's what I've been trying to do and have received a great compliment from one of the moderators because he said I was placing really important info through Google Mapmaker (car shops/talyers, tailors etc.). Yay!

The contributions of Filipino mappers have gone a long way. It's been used for crisis response and the elections and as Avel mentioned in his presentation, "Nobody gets lost in South Central Mindanao!". And it's really great to see other communities in other countries do the same thing. Ed Parsons, Google's Geo Evangelist, mentioned in his opening speech that mapping has changed tremendously in the past decade. Back then you had to be a cartographer with 2 degrees just to do maps. Now everyone can be a mapper!

The summit was a fun experience! I finally got to go on a river cruise in Singapore. Meet mappers from other countries. Listen to other communities share how they've used maps in their own countries (Avel, Lakan and I shared what's been done in the Philippines). Hear expert mappers give feedback on the platform. And now, the Pinoy mapping enthusiasts are planning some mapping activities in the Philippines!

Day Zero Photos

Day One Photos

Day Two Photos

Internet Freedom Day

2011-03-29T10:11:00.000+08:00

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending an intimate cocktail reception to celebrate Internet Freedom Day at the US Embassy Manila hosted by US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr.

I was born during the Martial Law era and my parents explained to me as a child what it was. They said that you had to be very careful about what you say about the government, especially if it's negative since you could get jailed for it. My parents' friend, Tito Ed (Olaguer), also regaled me on stories of what he did as part of the Light a Fire movement. He eventually landed in jail. (Tito Ed by the way was one of the people who strongly encouraged me to pursue my interest on the internet back in the 90s).

The internet has definitely changed the world in so many ways. It allows us to communicate easily and it has democratized access to information. And it has somehow made the world borderless. I think our generation takes for granted the freedom we have right now to speak our mind, especially on the internet. We are very lucky in the Philippines that our Constitution protects our right for freedom of speech. Nobody gets jailed now for speaking their mind (provided it's not libelous!).

In the past few months alone we've seen how the internet has helped save lives, helped free nations (some still ongoing), build businesses/careers and so many other things however big or small. I've seen locally how the internet community has managed to influence legislation, government plans (i.e. NTC stuff), battle ISP price hikes and communicate to action a wide array of things (i.e. my previous post). I cannot imagine my life without the internet now and I probably wouldn't have gone back to writing without it and I'd probably have a different career! I just hope everyone would have the same freedom we have as Filipinos and acquire it as peacefully as we did back in 1986. =)

Thank you to the US Embassy Manila for inviting "An Apple a Day" on that special day!

Exploit Them Not

2011-03-28T21:44:00.001+08:00

Last week one of my friends in Singapore pointed me out to a Youtube video of a little boy dancing like an exotic dancer (watch it here at 5:00). I was shocked. I felt cold all over and wanted to berate his parents. I wanted to take action, but I was pressed for time so I thought I'd tweet about it and ping my fellow online mommies. So I did. I then became so busy over the weekend and only got the chance to see updates today and so I saw Noemi's letter to MVP and DSWD's statement and TV5's apology. I'm sure my Dad would be happy to see how one tiny protest tweet went a long way.

What's done is done and hopefully the little boy won't be traumatized over the incident. What is disturbing though is the values we are showing on TV. Inasmuch as TV5 and the show producers are saying that they did not mean for it to happen and that the child was allowed by his parents to come out on TV, it should have been instinctive on the part of the host and the producer to stop what he was doing.

I never really understood why some local shows are based on awa and poverty. It doesn't really help in creating a right mindset in re-building our nation/economy. People just end up hoping that they would win a contest as their ticket to have a good life. It breeds laziness. And the child was used as an instrument to get money. That's a double whammy. I believe there are other creative ways to entertain and to help. What I saw in that video is exploitation.

Some would probably say I'm being a prude and should just see it as harmless fun. Pasensya na, but that's not what I learned from my parents. I was given dignity and respect as a child and I've done the same with my son. I hope it's not too much to ask these show producers to review what they are doing vis-a-vis proper values (check your GMRC). They have so much influence on so many people, so a little effort to uplift our nation/economy in a creative way would go a long, long way.

“Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and never succeed. (Proverbs 12:24)”

You might also want to read my Dad's thoughts about Moral Discipline.

High School Graduation

2011-03-28T09:28:00.001+08:00

We've reached another milestone!

Last Saturday was Miguel's high school graduation and I've been so ecstatic about it the past few weeks! I couldn't wait to get home from Singapore because he told me just before I left that he was receiving several awards - Special Award in Computer; Special Award in Science and a Merit Award. All I could say when he told me was, "Wow! Congratulations!" And I've been smiling since Tuesday evening because I'm so proud of Miguel's accomplishments!

Grade School and High School graduation.

It just seems like yesterday when Miguel graduated from grade school and so much has happened in the past four years and I am just really thankful for all the support from my family and friends and blessings from God. We finished high school with flying colors! I know Miguel's really talented and intelligent and I never had to prod him to study and I never demanded for high marks. Just like my parents I just told him to enjoy his studies and his "A" marks would get paid (by me and his grandparents also bought high marks).

Miguel's teachers since his grade school days said that he's very quiet in class. I always told them that he's just being observant and obedient. He's actually a chatterbox at home and shares so many things! Year-in, year-out I've had to explain to his homeroom adviser that he's intellectually advanced and more comfortable talking to elders. And once I had to write a letter to his math teacher to explain why he managed to compute the "remainder" in his division exam (this was in grade school) and that he didn't need a calculator to do it (it was my fault since I gave him some advanced lessons).

We had our ups and downs, but Miguel and I, we've been partners since he was born and we've gone through everything as a team with our family, friends and God. This is a huge milestone for us and one that I did not expect to pass with flying colors!

Congratulations Miguel! Pretty soon you're going to be a La Sallian like me! And as we said in our letter -- we'll always be here for you!

I Eat Everything with Rice, a Filipino Dining Tutorial by Mikey Bustos

2011-03-24T09:27:00.000+08:00

We always talk about food. Just take a peek at any social networking site - Twitter, Plurk, Facebook, blogs etc. - and you'd definitely see a post related to food. Whenever I have guests from other countries I require them to gain 5 pounds before they leave and threaten that I would tell immigration not to let them exit unless they gain weight. Of course, I'm just being funny, but I'm happy to say that a lot (if not all) of my guests say we have great food (they haven't sampled my cooking yet!).

And yes, I eat everything with rice. I get cranky if I don't have at least one rice meal in a day. It's a must! And I guess, my body craves for it. And I just realized that all of our local dishes are best eaten with rice (adobo, kare-kare, lechon etc. -- I can't imagine eating those without rice). Sweetie sometimes eats some meals without rice and to this day I cannot imagine how he does it - mashed potato just doesn't do it for me.

Anyway, Mikey Bustos has become a favorite Youtube star of mine and I just couldn't stop laughing over his "Filipino Dining Tutorial". He's got it down pat and even has the same Corelle plate as my Mom's! Haha! Pinoy na Pinoy! Watch this -

Bullying

2011-03-23T09:34:00.000+08:00

This video made me cry -

The video shares a story of a 15-year old boy, bullied all his life. He snaps one day and fights back and he was lucky because it was captured on video. He's lucky because he was much bigger than the bully and it showed that he was exercising full tolerance. Without the video he would've probably been blamed as the bully.

My heart goes out to Casey since I was bullied when I was a kid (some people still try to up to now) and my son was bullied too. I looked really different when I was a kid. I stood out since I was so white and my hair was not black. My classmates would tease me that my Dad was Redford White (may he rest in peace). I was also small and stick thin. I never fought back and I would just cry. To rectify things I would stay under the sun as long as I could so I'd get a tan (never worked haha) and well, thank God, I had a growth spurt in fifth grade so I wasn't tiny anymore.

I was terribly shy and for some strange reason I also got bamboozled to do things I didn't want to do. I was glad to go off to college because I just left everything behind in high school. I was lucky though because I had a lot of support in my community and that's where I managed to shine and the confidence I got helped me go through college and be where I am today. I did experience getting bullied at previous jobs. It came to a point I almost lost myself because of the boszilla, but eventually I stood up for myself and tearfully told the big boss he should just let me go. I never looked back.

Casey reminds me of myself and my kid. My son experienced the same in school because he's pretty advanced intellectually. I had to explain to his teachers that they shouldn't treat all kids the same way and not box them into tiny neat categories. I told my kid if anyone bullies him he should just punch them in the nose if they're too much already (hehehe). He has more tolerance than me and I guess he managed it well because they've been off his case. And well I told him, "Geeks rule!"

Earth Hour

2011-03-22T10:34:00.000+08:00

I was a bit disappointed last year that we were the only house on our street to turn off our lights for an hour. Anyway, I hope it would be different this year (will remind our homeowners association and parish council to push for it).

Anyway, just wanted to remind everyone that Earth Hour is on Saturday, March 26, 8:30-9:30 p.m.! For more information please visit there website at http://www.earthhour.org.

A Day in Dumaguete

2011-03-21T09:23:00.001+08:00

Finally got the chance to visit Dumaguete! I've always wanted to go because my best friend told me a lot of romantic stories about her stay in Dumaguete when she was there for the National Writers Workshop at Siliman University. She told me how simple life was and you can walk by the sea along the boulevard. As with 98% of my trips, I had less than a day in Dumaguete.

I had an early morning flight so I slept most of the trip. I woke up though when the pilot instructed the crew to prepare for landing. I had no idea that the end of the Dumaguete Airport runway was by the sea! Blame my overactive imagination, but I thought we were going to crash when I saw how close the plane was to the water. Everybody in the plane seemed calm though, so I told myself things were going to be fine. We came down hard on the runway (my first time to experience that on PAL flight) and the pilot immediately stepped on the brakes. I ended up holding the seat in front of me. A friend of mine explained that the runway was short, so that's why the pilot had to step on the brakes hard. Haha! Anyway, despite that I managed to take a photo of the airport from the plane.

The trip from the airport to the hotel lasted only ten minutes. There was a group of girls in the van with me and they were talking about all the things they were going to do in Dumaguete for the next four days. I was envious since I didn't have the luxury of time to go around. So I just comforted myself by taking a photo of the sea. Also spotted an island across and a friend of mine explained that it was Siquijor.

It was my Ninang Jane who recommended I stay at Hotel Nicanor. She said it's the newest hotel in Dumaguete, the more popular one is Bethel Hotel which I spotted on Rizal street. Anyway, Hotel Nicanor was sandwiched between Cafe Laguna and Sans Rival Cakes & Pastries, so I was quite happy about that already. After check in I had a quick breakfast at Scooby's (a local fast food chain) and then I went to Siliman University. What I forgot to do? Take photos of Siliman University! Arggggghhhh.

The highlight of my trip though was going to Rizal Boulevard. It was the most charming place!

And here's Rizal Street.

The building at the end is Bethel Hotel.

I'd love to come back someday and explore the spots the girls mentioned in the van. And I learned that you can easily take a ferry ride to Bohol from Dumaguete!

Pappabalo at the National Trade Fair

2011-03-19T22:44:00.000+08:00

Pappabalo according to National Trade Fair committee means "thanksgiving as a tribute to bountiful harvest and agricultural roots". This is the theme of the National Trade Fair this year which celebrates also Cagayan Valley's Scarecrow Festival. It's actually my first time to hear that Cagayan Valley region celebrates scarecrows and I think it's an interesting aspect of our culture to showcase at the National Trade Fair.

I still see scarecrows around the country when I travel, but the scarecrows at the National Trade Fair were quite cute! Here's one made out of sugar:

And here's a couple I saw around the hall:

I was rushing out and forgot to take a photo of the giant scarecrow! Anyway, the National Trade Fair is still ongoing tomorrow! Don't forget to bring money since there's quite a lot of interesting Filipino made products at the retail area. I got myself a cute pair of sandals for just PhP450 (and you can make tawad!).

Extra! Extra!

2011-03-17T17:42:00.000+08:00

It's just really funny how I end up on TV without my knowledge. Earl, pinged me on Twitter with this link.

(We're at 1:46).

Rare family moment at the grocery. Haha!

Kitkat Mint

2011-03-15T22:54:00.000+08:00

I haven't blogged for eleven days now. I've just been extremely busy and been thinking about a lot of stuff (and my writing muse was scared out of her wits). Well... a friend managed to shift the cycle today and I thought I'd break my keyboard's silence with a Kitkat...

Well, not just any kind of Kitkat, but Kitkat Mint!

Yum! I first encountered Kitkat Mint in Singapore last January. I bought one pack and stuffed it in my luggage. When I got home I just put it in a basket of goodies and completely forgot about it. A visitor took the liberty of opening the pack and before I knew it he was halfway through the pack! Good thing I noticed and saved some for myself and my boys. And I regretted buying just one pack.

I was sharing this story with a friend who works from Nestle and he said they actually have Kitkat Mint available locally -- it just gets sold out really fast!

Thanks Ricky, now I don't need to wait another week to get one (but I'm still going to buy in SG for safety haha) =)

Dear supermarkets, please, please have more Kitkat Mint in your shelves. It will also make my Mom happy.

Solar Bottle Light

2011-03-04T09:00:00.002+08:00

After my epic post about Puerto Galera I thought I'd make a post about this awesome project that Illac Diaz is heading.

Isang Litrong Liwanag.

Coming off from his bottle school project which was featured extensively on the news, a light bulb perhaps appeared on Illac's head. Solar bottle light, an alternative source for daylight powered by sunlight. So that means a lot of savings from your electricity bill.

The materials to create one include: (1) 1.5 or 2 liter soda PET bottle,

(2) corrugated sheets; and (3) water+chlorox+salt.

It looks like this when assembled.

Check out this house before it was installed with a solar bottle light.

And after.

Here's another sample at a sari-sari store.

Mind you the light can actually provide up to 55 watts and goes down to about 40 watts when its raining (which is still great actually). I told my Mom's driver about this project this morning since he was complaining about his electricity bill which doubled in the past month. He doesn't have a ref and just uses electricity for light, electric fan and TV. He thinks somebody tapped into his line. Anyway, he's interested in it so I thought I'd write about it so I can show him some photos tomorrow.

The group hopes to light one million homes by 2012. You can contribute either by:
(1) Sponsoring solar bottle lights at PhP150 each
(2) Volunteer in assembling and installing the solar bottle lights in the community

You can get in touch with the group by heading over to their website (it's a work in progress for now) at http://www.aliteroflight.org/

*Photos were provided by the group. I unfortunately got sick just before we were going to tour the home that had it so I was unable to get my own photos.

Filipino Accent Tutorial by Mikey Bustos

2011-03-03T09:37:00.002+08:00

This guy is just crazy-funny! Just watch...

My Epic Guide to Puerto Galera

2011-03-02T14:37:00.000+08:00

I made a post about Puerto Galera back in 2007 which generated a lot of interest, perhaps because I also included detailed costings for a one night trip there. I'm just being funny with the title okay? My friend was bugging me to update my post when I got back last Sunday evening from a weekend Puerto Galera getaway.

Jay, Miguel and I needed a weekend getaway. We've all been so busy since the year started and I thought a trip to the beach would do all of us good. I was bent on going even it was just going to be the three of us, but my dear friend, Chelle, and her 7-year old son, Josh, joined us. It was fun! We ended up sleeping a lot though haha!

Getting to Puerto Galera by Car

Batangas Pier is just about 103 kilometers back and forth from where we live (the same amount when we go to Tagaytay), so the drive was pretty easy. Just go through SLEX Southbound. Here's the toll fees:

Just go straight to the end of SLEX, exit at 50B and not at 50 (see photo below), but if you make a mistake don't worry because there's a path back to SLEX.

Anyway, at the end of SLEX you'll chance upon the Calamba exit where you'll have to pay PhP22.

And then surprise! You're actually inside the Star Tollway already. A few meters more and you'll chance upon the toll booth where you'll be given a card.

You are to exit at Batangas. Pay PhP60. After exiting just go straight to the other side of the rotonda. You'll see the Honda and Toyota dealers along the way too. Go up the flyover and then turn left, going straight will bring you straight to the water (hehehe). Follow the nice road, notice though that there's quite a number of humps.

Parking Your Car

If you want to park at the open space then enter Gate 1 of the Port. Turn left and you'll go through Gate 2 to get to the open parking space. But if you want to park at the covered parking, turn left "to the Poblacion" road just before you reach Gate 1. Go straight and then turn right where the jeepneys go. That's where you'll see the building that has the sign "Province of Batangas", that's the covered parking.

Make sure to get the slip of paper from the guard/staff. It's your "car ticket" and you need to present this when you leave. Exit the covered parking and walk to the pier.

Getting a Ticket to White Beach

Do not follow what the touts tell you. They are soooo makulit! We ended up taking FSL and we weren't happy about it because the one hour ride took 3 hours with a stopover at Sabang (GRRRRRR!). So DO NOT TAKE Father & Sons Line. The roundtrip ticket cost PhP450. Make sure you have yourself listed in the manifesto for the ride back to Batangas a few hours before you leave (or better do it when you get there).

Best to sit on the right side of the ship captain because they usually close the curtains on the left side midway due to strong waves. Dress to get wet because the ride to and from Galera is like an hour on the Rio Grande at Enchanted Kingdom.

BTW, the fast craft is only available during peak season, so if you get dizzy easily don't go to Puerto Galera before then because you have no choice on what type of boat to get.

Getting a Room

Room rental cost at least PhP1,000 during off peak season and you don't really need to make a reservation. You'll get offers when you get off the boat. We stayed at White Beach Lodge and Restaurant which is on the right side of White Beach and a bit away from all the noise. We got a standard room with 3 beds, aircon and cable TV. It cost us PhP2,000 (approx. PhP400/head). Some of the rooms beside us even had a gas range and grill where you can cook your own meal.

Food! Burp.

Speaking of food. Food at Puerto Galera is pretty much standard and inexpensive. The menu in each restaurant is pretty much the same - liempo, kebab, hotdogs, spaghetti, breaded pork/chicken, seafood, sinigang etc. The most expensive restos are the ones in the middle, so best to eat either on the left or right side. You can safely budget PhP150-250 per meal depending on your appetite (we're matakaw so we budgeted PhP250 each). You can easily buy merienda from the vendors, like corn, green mango, taho etc., approximately PhP20.

What You Can Do at Puerto Galera

There's a lot you can do in Puerto Galera. You can ask your resort or any vendor about island tours, but we were there basically for the following: eat, sleep, get a massage and swim. You can get a massage by the seashore (they don't allow it in rooms). Just sit or walk around and someone will likely offer you a massage. I always get one when I go to Puerto Galera since it's just PhP200. The massage is pretty standard, but you can choose to have a full body massage or just your back/arms or legs. My friend got a twin massage for the price of one, hati daw sila sa bayad niya haha. Just tell the manang whether you want it hard or not.

You can also try the banana boat.

Or get a henna tattoo.

Or get your hair braided.

At night there's fire dancers, belly dancers and other sorts of entertainment provided by local entertainers (mostly cross dressers). In my younger years my friends would stay up all night and drink as much Mindoro Sling as we could. It's their special drink and best drank when you are in Puerto Galera.

Oh and don't forget to buy some pasalubong. Friendship/thread bracelets are cheaper to buy at stores (3 for PhP10) than from vendors and I think you can get a bundle for just PhP15 (Sweetie did). There's also lots of necklaces and bracelets in different materials (stone, hematite, pearls, coconut, wood, shells etc.). And the usual magnets, keychains, sandals, slippers, tshirts and shorts.

Anyway, what are you waiting for? Just gather three of your friends and enjoy a weekend getaway at Puerto Galera. Here's my cost guide:

Gas - approx. PhP500
Toll fees - PhP144 (from Nichols) + PhP22 + 60 times 2 = PhP452
Parking - PhP10/hour. We paid PhP290.
Boat ticket - PhP450 two-way
Room rental - PhP300 per head for a group of 4 if you get a PhP1,200 room with 2 beds
Food - PhP150-250 per meal depending on your appetite
Massage - PhP200
Hair braid - PhP200
Tshirt - PhP90-140
Sandos - PhP75 and up
Bracelets - PhP3 and up

So for a group of 4 and just basic stuff (transpo, room, food) it's safe to say that it'll cost you PhP1,500 each. Not bad for a weekend getaway.

*Rates though may be higher during peak season.

White Beach Lodge and Restaurant
c/o Carmelita Magbuhos 0927-3163602
or Estela Candava 0920-5545067
ecandaval19@yahoo.com
(Aling Lydia just brought me there from the boat so I never met the manager. At the resort, just look for Jane).

40 Days Without Dad

2011-02-28T14:09:00.000+08:00

It's been 40 days since my Dad passed away and the oldies say that we should celebrate it like a birthday party. The party is likely to happen at my Kuya's home (he's in Jakarta) because that's where my Mom is right now. I've requested for masses for Dad here in our Parish and I'll just prepare a yummy dinner for the boys later.

I thought I'd celebrate this day by remembering some important lessons I learned from my Dad.

On being stubborn. My brother-in-law says that we're a stubborn lot. My Dad's very stubborn too. When he's mind is set on something, nothing can really change his mind. I am the same, but I learned something when I was young -- sometimes you need to listen to reason. Read my funniest childhood memory to understand.

On curiosity. Ang batang malikot, nakakadampot ng ipot. When I was a kid I'd poke on anything that catches my attention. I learned to be very observant first before grabbing whatever caught my fancy. I learned that lesson because I literally poked on chicken poop. (It was really shiny and I thought it was a really nice stone!).

(That's me when I was a baby. A lot of people say that I look more like my Dad than my Mom. Even Picasa thinks so because it sorts me with my Dad's photos!)

On heartaches. My Dad was never emo. He thought that dwelling on emo stuff was a waste of time and he'd prod me to work harder instead. It works for me and I guess that's the reason why the past 40 days have really been exhausting (and productive).

On loving. My Dad's love for my Mom is a testament that true love exists. One of his college friends from the Ateneo said, "You're Dad is so mabait. Walang bisyo, never nambabae, kaya ayan nauna na siya sa amin!" That's when I understood why my Dad was always home before sunset. His priority was our family and he was always there for us.

(I remember this photo very well. I usually play this game with my Dad -- hide Daddy's slippers! I loved the sea and it was really difficult to get me out of the water, but my Dad always stayed with me.)

In my work uniform here with Dad. My Dad likes to have his photo taken,

so we have a number of similar photos hehehe.

On writing. It was my Mom who started me on writing, but it's my Dad who's the writer in our family. He can churn out more articles than me (and handwritten!). My Dad also showed so much interest in my writing. I remember catching him read my diary and some of my school projects! (And that's why my diary turned electronic haha). I hope to be able to write a book like my Dad someday.

On cooking. It was hard to be Dad's cooking apprentice. He never measured anything! It's like he had magical hands because anything he cooked tasted really good. He just told me to be generous with salt, pepper, garlic and onions.

We both had parties to go to when we had this photo taken. He just

decided to stop dye-ing his hair. It's his "Moses look" haha.

On your mission. My Dad said that each one of us have our own mission here on earth. In his last days my Dad mentioned that his mission has been completed and he has turned everything over to Mama Mary. We don't know exactly what he meant, but my Dad fought for the life of the unborn child. He made a paper on it that was submitted by the Knights of Columbus to CBCP (details are in his book). It's really amazing to see that the projects my Dad did when he lived helped a lot of people and I hope to be the same too.

I miss you Dad, but I know someday we'll be together again.

25 Years After EDSA

2011-02-25T20:06:00.000+08:00

Happy 25th EDSA People Power Day everyone!

How time flies! Twenty five years ago I remember helicopters flying over our house every so often. Classes were suspended so I was just home listening to/reading the news and learning how to ride a bicycle. My Kuya went to EDSA and being only ten years old I had to stay put at home. One of our assignments was to put together a scrapbook of news clippings and put reactions about it. I hope I'd be able to find it somewhere. It would be interesting to see what I had to say about what was happening back then.

Wow! So much has happened in the past twenty-five years! Mabilis nga ang buhay! The past two weeks passed like a blur. I was so busy toiling. Working on things I hope would help many people. And I hope, like my Dad, that's something I'd be able to accomplish in my lifetime. I have bottomless optimism, so abangan.

My more meaningful post about EDSA is over here.

It's also been an exhausting month for me, but I completely forgot about it when Miguel presented me this -

I had to dig around to find out what it really means and I found out from my thesismate in DLSU (who now handles their MCO) that the lanyard set was sent to "top passers" across all colleges. Awesome! Congratulations to my all-around, great-genius kid!

Just Got Lucky

2011-02-21T19:06:00.000+08:00

Chanced upon this internet cafe on the way to Makati from Mandaluyong the other day.

This song started to play in my mind -