Technology and the Last 10 Years

I read from a post of a friend that writers/bloggers/publishers have the responsibility to invoke new thoughts for the reader. It served a good reminder for me to be more thoughtful about what I blog about. I'm now midway through my 30-day challenge and I must admit that there are days that I don't feel like writing. I end up forcing myself and just sharing what I experienced for that day (like YFSF yesterday). Those posts don't necessarily provoke any meaningful thoughts for the reader. So I told myself I shall try better.

Yesterday a new Miss Universe was crowned. There was a lot of talk online about the performance of our candidate and how she had answered the Q&A. I chose not to watch the whole show and just read and watch snippets online. Hubby chose to watch the Royal Rumble and the top 6 was just announced when I woke up. The contest though made me think about the greatest change in the last 10 years.

Technology.

Technology has changed how we live. My surgeon said that it's like we have a phone stuck on our hand all the time. We are always looking at a tiny screen for updates and information. Getting information at an instant is good. It's the information age where you don't really need to remember much because you can just easily search for information. The dark side though is we are so easy to judge with just snippets of information. I could go on and on about it, but I think it's really up to us individually how we wield this power and how you process information.

It still boils down to your values.

What about you? How have you been using technology?

Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids

I have been watching this show since it's first season and it's been a pleasure to watch how each of the artists grow as the show goes. When they announced that they were going to do one with kids I thought it would be very difficult for the children to cope. It's the fourth week now and I am just simply amazed with how the kid performers have been improving every single week.

During the first week Awra's version of Mommy Dionisia was quite entertaining -

Ehla sounded very much like the Megastar during the second week -

Xia Vigor did an unbelievable rendition of Axl Rose -

And for the fourth week I really felt the soulful performance of Sam -

Friends

Prior to "Big Bang Theory" the sitcom I loved was "Friends". I was stuck inside a plane in the past week so I got to watch season 6 again (yup all 24 episodes). I was left on a cliffhanger though because Chandler's proposal to Monica I think was shown as the first episode of season 7.

It's been more than 10 years since the final episode of "Friends" showed, but it's still fun to watch. I'm sad though that my complete set went underwater due to Typhoon Ondoy (but maybe the one who gave it to me will give me a new set haha). The show is really funny and the character stories grew throughout the years, so it's still good to watch every so often (very high entertainment value!).

Here's the cast more than 10 years after during a tribute to James Burrow -

They guested on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" too -

Too bad the show ended. "Big Bang Theory" is now on it's tenth season, I hope it won't end though. 

Congratulations Google Philippines!

Finally after more than ten years Google Philippines finally has it's own home! The journey has been a very long one and now I can say my mission/wishlist has finally come into fruition. For the second time though I was unable to attend the office launch (traveling!). I'm kilig though that DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez mentioned me during his speech. I had the privilege of working with him on some early days Google projects which allowed me to travel across provinces with the GoNegosyo team. =)

November 2007 at the STI National Youth Convention in Baguio City.

I think though the greatest achievement lies on all the communities and users who have helped Google Philippines grow. From one measly person (me) who used to just work at home and anywhere I crashed (thanks to Yehey.com who adopted me for awhile), the office has grown a lot (and I haven't visited for a year already sorry). For five long years I was alone but very much supported by the communities. The knowledge, learning and use of the platforms grew a lot with the help of the communities and this will forever be appreciated.

The Philippine community leaders from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with the Filipino Google Student Ambassadors at the Search Summit in 2013.

Some of the Filipino Google Student Ambassadors (2013).

I learned a lot from the 5 years I was country consultant for Google in the Philippines. I had the opportunity to work across many different products and programs. The skills and experience I got from working in my country and meeting many supportive people across different sectors will continue to be my inspiration for the work that I am now doing for other countries. Of course, I will continue to serve for the education programs and crisis response work for the Philippines as long as I could.

Congratulations Google Philippines!

High School Life, 25 Years After

My high school reunion is coming up in two weeks. I told my manager that I will have to take some time off in February to attend it. He said that attending the reunion will probably be tough especially if you have not seen your classmates for a long time. I agreed that it would be tough, but I think it's an event that you should attend. My batchmates have been feverishly working on organizing the event and raising money for our batch donation.

High school was tough for a lot of people. It was tough for me because there were a lot of expectations that I felt I could not meet. Being an introvert I was terribly shy, hated speaking in front of the class, absolutely abhorred reciting in class. I was simply not confident and very much preferred to work behind the scenes.

With Chare and Ottie.

Mount Makiling field trip.

Despite that my teachers did very well. They were able to teach me skills that have helped me throughout the years. The discipline they taught helped bring me to where I am today. But I'm probably like a lot of my other classmates. I have been dilly-dallying about going to the reunion. I don't know what to expect and I'm afraid of being judged. I've avoided past reunions (except the 20th year one) for many reasons.

Get togethers after college.

Hong Kong trip in 2007.

Visiting Ottie after she gave birth.

We were in our early 20s here. One of the rare times were were complete.

My sister who is 16 years older than me came from the same high school. She had brought me once to one of their get togethers. If I remember correctly she was probably about my age now when that happened. She brought me there to show me my future. She said that as time goes the class sections, the cliques, the barkadas, the "segmentation" go away. The bullies from way back are gone. The bad stuff are forgotten and friendships start and are renewed. She said, "Your batch eventually becomes just one big barkada of sisters." It's true. When our Dad passed away my sister was not able to come home for his funeral, but there were a lot of her batchmates who came to pay their respects and provided us support.

With my classmates during our 20th year HS reunion.

And this is why I have decided to throw caution in the wind and attend my high school reunion. I just hope I'd be able to convince my close friends to come so we can catch up and see how life has been in the last 25 years.

SSC Manila HS Batch 1992 silver anniversary/reunion is on February 12, 2017 at our alma mater. For details please check our batch FB group and you can bug your class president for more info.

I hope I win the car!!! 

The Legendary Makati Supermart Spaghetti

I have been eating this since I was 4 years old and it tastes exactly the same. Nowadays though you won't find the supermarket in Makati because it's now located in Alabang. It's my favorite spaghetti in the whole wide universe and I hope it will be available forever=)

Long Flight Travel Tips

I have scaled down my travels in the past year. I'm not getting any younger and I now have preference to do more strategy work than implementation. Sometimes though I still have to travel.

Here are some things I always have whenever I travel:

1. Water bottle - long flights tend to dry you up and you may end up with a sore throat (and other sickness) if you don't hydrate. I always request the stewardess to fill up my water bottle at the beginning of the flight and they always indulge refills as well.

2. Extra shirt and face towel - a change of clothes mid-flight help keep the blues (and the baho) away.

3. Toothbrush and toothpaste - not all airlines provide this so it's best to have it in your hand-carry. (Also try to bring some mouthwash if you can).

4. Lozenges - sometimes even when you drink lots of water your throat would dry up. Lozenges help.

5. Entertainment bag - you can only watch as much movies and TV shows throughout the flight. I always bring a tiny quilting kit with me so I have something to do with my hands. I also always have a book with me.

6. Pen - for filling out immigration forms.

7. Compression socks - to keep DVT away!

And one thing I try to do is assess what I really use during long flights so I can trim down what I put in my bag.