Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Manila in the 1930s
It was great then, let us all do our share to make it great again!
The Philippines - one of the next emerging N-11 economies. (Goldman Sachs)
The Grandeur of Old Manila (circa 1938)
pointed to this direction by FB buddy Rye Buaron, this amazing video of Old Manila shows us all the veritable Grandeur of Old Manila, before the Japanese devastated the city in World War II.
it was great then and if we all work hand in hand and do our share, it WILL be great again. No place of pessimists in a world of infinite possibilities.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Text/SMS your friends in the Philippines, USA, the UK, Spain, India for Free using your Googletalk/ Gmail Chat -Absolutely Free!
for example - texting a US mobile Number:
steps
--> add the phone number buddy into your gmail account this way
(country code) (area or mobile network code) (phone number) @chikkatalk.com
so if you're adding friend in the US with phone number 1(941)2717985 add:
19412717985@chikkatalk.com
as a regular googletalk buddy , then proceed to text. they will be able to receive the text in their phones, and they will reply to your googletalk/ or gmail chat as a regular chat dialogue. (premium sms charges will apply)
example 2: adding a UK mobile number with phone no. +447518816855
add 447518816855@chikkatalk.co
YET ANOTHER SHAMELESS PLUG, NOTHING IN IT FOR ME, BUT IT'S A GREAT SERVICE, USE IT TO KEEP IT ALIVE AND FREE!
other countries you can sms to for free are:
* Guam
* Hong Kong (Smart 1528 only)
* India
* Indonesia (XLcom only)
* Philippines
* Saipan
* Spain
* United States
* United Kingdom
* charges apply to replies from your friends' mobile phones.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Is this for real? salvaged photos of last moments in the doomed Air France A330 Flight
Yesterday the world saw the disappearance of an A330 Air Frane during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris
Two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed. Unbelievable! Photos taken inside the GOL B 737 aircraft that was involved in a mid air collision and crashed.....
A B737 had a mid air collision with the Embraer Legacy while cruising at 35,000 feet over South America . The Embraer Legacy, though seriously damaged with the winglet ripped off, managed to make a landing at a nearby airstrip in the midst of the Amazon jungle. The crew and passengers of the Embraer Legacy had no idea what they had hit. The B737
however crashed, killing all crew and passengers on board.
The two photos attached were apparently taken by one of the passengers in the B737, just after the collision and before the aircraft crashed. The photos were retrieved from the camera's memory stick. You will never get to see photos like this. In the first photo, there is a gaping hole in the fuselage through which you can see the tailplane and vertical fin of the aircraft. In the second photo, one of the passengers is being sucked out of the gaping hole.
These photos were found in a digital Casio Z750, amidst the remains in Serra do Cachimbo. Although the camera was destroyed, the Memory Stick was recovered. Investigating the serial number of the camera, the owner was identified as Paulo G. Muller, an actor of a theatre for children known in the outskirts of Porto Alegre . It can be imagined that he was standing during the impact with the Embraer Legacy and during the turbulence, he managed to take these photos, just seconds after the tail loss the aircraft plunged. So the camera was found near the cockpit. The structural stress probably ripped the engines away, diminishing the falling speed, protecting the electronic equipment but not unfortunately the victims. Paulo Muller leaves behind two daughters, Bruna and Beatriz.
================mid-air collission? didn't the plane crash on the sea? how'd they manage to find the camera, let alone salvage the memory card?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Live your Dreams Campaign
This "Live Your Dreams" TVC is now being aired on CNN, CNBC, ANC and other few foreign channels. http:://www.liveyourdreams.ph
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Passing of a very close tito and family friend . . .
Today, deeply do I mourn the passing of a very close Tito and family friend, Tito Joe . . . a second father to me while we were growing up . . .
Requesting prayers and good memories, from those who have known his kindness . . .
A great man who has moved on to be with his Creator . . . you will never be forgotten. . .
R�quiem �t�rnam dona eis, D�mine,
et lux perp�tua l�ceat eis.
Requi�scant in pace. Amen.
Thanks for everything Tito! Godspeed!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Be proud you're Filipino.
Be proud you ARE Filipino.Be proud you ARE from the Philippines.Put your mouth where your pride lies.Your deeds. Your hopes.Share the good in the PhilippinesStop airing dirty laundry - keep it to ourselves, not the whole world to see.and actually do something about it.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Sunday, May 03, 2009
He is straight . . . OKAY!!!!!
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Stupidity Abounds Everywhere: Police blocks son-in-law from Mom-in-Law's Deathbed
I dunno if this incident was caused by sheer stupidity/ or an overdose or racist/arrogance, the police man involved in this scene will forever be tagged as very very stupid, callous, and an arrogant racist, among other things, for successfully blocking NFL player Moats, from her mom's death bed. When the shit hit the fan, he just said, he thought, he was JUST doing his Job!!! WTF???????
=========================
here's the news feed from CNN.com
DALLAS — Racing to see his dying mother-in-law at a Plano hospital, an NFL player found himself delayed by a Dallas officer as her life ebbed away. It's a story that has sparked outrage across North Texas and generated interest around the country.
Dallas police Chief David Kunkle faced reporters Thursday afternoon to express his embarrassment over the incident and to publicly apologize to the family. He said the officer involved failed to use common sense.
It all started in the early morning hours of March 17. With his wife and another woman in the car, Ryan Moats — a running back for the Houston Texans — sped his car toward Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano. But when the Moats arrived at the emergency room parking lot, they were stopped by Officer Robert Powell, who reportedly drew his service revolver on the concerned family members.
Dashcam video from the Dallas officer's patrol car captured the incident.
"Get in there," Officer Powell yelled out to Tamishia Moats, Ryan's wife, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands. Get in there. Put your hands on the car."
"Excuse me; my mom is dying," Tamisha Moats replied.
She and the other woman ignored Officer Powell's commands and rushed inside the hospital to her dying mother as Ryan Moats and Officer Powell went back-and-forth over insurance paperwork the NFL player was unable to locate.
MOATS: "I've got seconds before she's gone, man."
POWELL: "Listen: If I can't verify you have insurance..."
MOATS: "My mother-in-law is dying!"
POWELL: "Listen to me."
MOATS: "Right now, you're wasting my time."
POWELL: "If you can't verify you have insurance, I'm going to tow your car. So, you either find it or I am going to tow the car."
As they argued, the officer got irritated.
POWELL: "Shut your mouth. Shut your mouth. You can either settle down and cooperate, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
"I certainly hope anybody who saw the videotape immediately understood how serious the misconduct is," Chief Kunkle said Thursday afternoon. "I don't know how you train for these circumstances other than to hire people with good common sense and people skills."
In a telephone interview, Moats said the clash with the officer was totally unexpected. "For him to not even be sympathetic at all, and basically we're dogs or something and we don't matter — it basically shocked me," he said.
No compassion was indicated in the police recording of the incident. "I can screw you over," Officer Powell said. "I would rather not do that. You obviously will dictate everything that happens; and right now, your attitude sucks."
"My understanding is that Officer Powell — even after he saw the videotape — believed he had not acted inappropriately," Chief Kunkle said, a view that was underscored by Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who reviewed the tape with Officer Powell on Wednesday.
"His belief was simply that he was doing his job," Chief Simpson said. "It did concern me that it just seemed that the compassion was not there."
The hospital twice sent nurses to try and get the officer to release Moats.
"We're blue-coding her for the third time," a nurse said on the police videotape.
A Plano police officer stopped to make a plea for the officer to let Moats go. "Hey, that's the nurse," the Plano officer said. "She says the mom is dying right now, and she wants to know if I can get him up there."
Finally, after a 20-minute delay, the officer ticketed Moats for running a red light.
By the time Moats made it up to the emergency room, his mother-in-law was dead.
"I went up after she passed and held her hand, but she was already gone," Moats said in a telephone interview.
Dallas police have launched a review of the incident.
“When it came to our attention, we immediately called for an internal investigation to be done,” said police spokesman Lt. Andy Havey.
"The essence of being a police officer is common sense and discretion," Chief Kunkle added. "I can't imagine a worse circumstance."
WFAA.com has received more than 400 comments about the incident since the story first aired on Channel 8 Wednesday night.
WFAA.com staff editors Marjorie Owens and Walt Zwirko contributed to this report.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Nicole Recants her Testimony against Daniel Smith
here's the news feed
===============
‘Nicole’ recants
MANILA, Philippines—The Filipino woman who accused an American Marine of raping her late in 2005 and testified about her ordeal in court has recanted.
The sworn statement issued by "Nicole" on March 12 comes more than two years after the Makati Regional Trial Court convicted Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of raping her.
Nicole said she expected her motives to be questioned but maintained she was bothered by her conscience
“I expect many sectors to question my motives in executing this statement more than three years after the incident. However…I can’t help but entertain doubts on whether the sequence of events in Subic last November of 2005 really occurred the way the court found them to have happened,” Nicole said in her affidavit.
“My conscience continues to bother me realizing that I may have in fact been so friendly and intimate with Daniel Smith at the Neptune Club that he was led to believe that I was amenable to having sex or that we simply just got carried away,” she said.
“I would rather risk public outrage than do nothing to help the court in ensuring that justice is served,” she added.
Nicole said she practically grew up interacting with American servicemen in Zamboanga City “who treated me and my family very well.”
She also questioned her decorum when she met Smith at the Neptune Club at the Subic Freeport, saying she was so drunk she may have lost her inhibitions and did more than just dance with the Marine.
Nicole also raised doubts that Smith raped her inside a van at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and suggested that she may have welcomed the Marine’s sexual advances.
“I told the court that Daniel Smith kissed my lips and neck and held my breast inside the van. Recalling my testimony, I ask myself how I could have remembered this if witnesses told the court that I passed out and looked unconscious,” Nicole said.
“How could I have resisted his advances given this condition? Daniel Smith and I were alone on the third row of the van which had limited space and I do not recall anyone inside the van who held my hand or any part of my body,” she added.
Nicole said all she could remember was the “very loud music and shouting inside the van.”
“With the events at the Neptune Club in mind, I keep on asking myself, if Daniel Smith wanted to rape me why would he carry me out of the Neptune Club using the main entrance in full view of the security guard and the other customers?”
“Why would Daniel Smith and his companions bring me to the seawall of Alaba pier and casually leave this area that was well-lighted and with many people roaming around? If they believed that I was raped, would they have not dumped me instead in a dimly lit area…to avoid detection?”
Nicole said with the amount of alcohol she had consumed that night and only a slice of pizza to eat, she may have lost her inhibitions and enjoyed Smith’s company.
“I had no opportunity to deny in court that I kissed Daniel Smith but, with the amount of alcoholic mixed drinks I took, my low tolerance level for alcohol and with a slice of pizza all night, it dawned upon me that I may have possibly lost my inhibitions, became so intimate with Daniel Smith and did more that just [dance and talk] with him like everyone else on the dance floor,” Nicole said.
“Looking back, I would not have agreed to talk with Daniel Smith and dance with him no less that three times if I did not enjoy his company or was at least attracted to him since I met him for the very first time on the dance floor of Neptune Club,” she added.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Not ONLY in the Philippines (America's Next Top Model Stampede)
Remember the Wowowee stampede that was a big disaster back home? Well that sort of thing, doesn't only happen in the Philippines.
Imagine a hyperventilating swarm of girls, in very high heels, motion-restricting high-heels and head-ache inducing hairdo's and weaves in all the different colors, running around at their wits end screaming at the top of their lungs.
Well this is it. hahaha. I wish we could get a video on the ground itself. here's what an eyewitness had to say, or maybe she was auditioning herself
kelly8725 (4 hours ago)
I was there and there was a car that overheated, the driver ran out of the car. Girls then started screaming and yelling FIRE!! so that caused all of the girls to go running. and when thousands of people try to run from what they think is a fire is not a pretty pic. the police did not even know that happened i told the cop hat happened and he was yelling along with me and many others to calm down and that there was no need to panic, but it was useless.
============================
here's the news feed
The casting call for the television show descended into chaos, with six women injured and three people arrested.Thousands of aspiring models queued in short skirts and high heels outside the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan over the weekend, some waiting all night for a chance to compete in the latest round of the popular TV series.
However, fighting broke out and women were knocked over in a panicked stampede after a car belching smoke reportedly pulled up near the queue on Saturday afternoon, prompting cries of "Fire!" and "There's a bomb".As women stumbled over police barricades, witnesses told a local radio station that the mayhem was compounded after a man jumped out of a car and started grabbing purses.After the stampede, shoes and clothing littered the street outside the hotel."The girls were running like it was 9/11 part two.
I feared for my life," said Jennifer Brown, an aspiring model from Brooklyn."It was pretty scary," said Jessica Paravati, a prospective contestant who had camped out overnight in the queue.New York police said two women and a man were arrested on charges of inciting a riot and disorderly conduct.At least six women needed medical attention after being crushed or fainting due to lack of food.
Some would-be contestants blamed poor organisation of the event.Women were unable to go off to leave to get food or use the lavatory without losing their place in the queue.Most of the women were still queuing when police told them that the auditions were over and that the organisers had already packed up and gone home.
Now this is really really f*cking hilarious !!!! hahaha
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
THE PHILIPPINES: ASIA'S BEST DESIGN DESTINATION -HELP Spread the Word
I am promoting this event at my work in Brussels and London. Please help us spread the word :D THE PHILIPPINES - ASIA'S BEST DESIGN DESTINATION
US, like USSR, will crumble—Russian envoy (Signs of the Times?)
US, like USSR, will crumble—Russian envoy
MANILA, Philippines—Is the American Dream finally coming to an end?
With the financial crisis worsening in the United States, the world's lone superpower could start breaking up into six different territories by the end of the year.
This was the assessment made by the dean of Russia's diplomatic academy Tuesday morning during a lecture at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Professor Igor Panarin, a former KGB analyst who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry's diplomatic academy, likened the current crisis in the US to the last days of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the late 1980s and said that US President Barack Obama would not be able to do anything about his country's economic meltdown and eventual "disintegration."
“I've studied the history of the United States and my conclusion is that the US has no future...The fall of Wall Street last year could be likened to the end of the American Dream,” said Panarin, who predicted as early 1998 that the US would eventually collapse.
“Obama will not be able to do anything. He is like (the USSR's last leader Mikhail) Gorbachev, who had beautiful words to say but when it came to work, it was a different matter. Obama is the American version of Gorbachev,” he said.
US, like USSR, will crumble—Russian envoy (Signs of the Times?)
US, like USSR, will crumble—Russian envoy
MANILA, Philippines—Is the American Dream finally coming to an end?
With the financial crisis worsening in the United States, the world's lone superpower could start breaking up into six different territories by the end of the year.
This was the assessment made by the dean of Russia's diplomatic academy Tuesday morning during a lecture at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Professor Igor Panarin, a former KGB analyst who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry's diplomatic academy, likened the current crisis in the US to the last days of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the late 1980s and said that US President Barack Obama would not be able to do anything about his country's economic meltdown and eventual "disintegration."
“I've studied the history of the United States and my conclusion is that the US has no future...The fall of Wall Street last year could be likened to the end of the American Dream,” said Panarin, who predicted as early 1998 that the US would eventually collapse.
“Obama will not be able to do anything. He is like (the USSR's last leader Mikhail) Gorbachev, who had beautiful words to say but when it came to work, it was a different matter. Obama is the American version of Gorbachev,” he said.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
The Lexus LS 600 h l -
This was what's parked in front of my car, Thorr yesterday. Whoaaaa Drrooool! Droooool!!!!
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| Lexus LS 460h L wallpaper | Wallpapers - desktop backgrounds - blirk |
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Pinay Cancer Survivor Survices Turkish Plane Crash
by LOUI GALICIA, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau | 02/26/2009 12:54 PM
A Filipina cancer survivor was among those who survived the Turkish Airlines plane crash in Amsterdam Wednesday, according to an exclusive report of the ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau. The Filipina, Susan Yango, was reportedly among the 50 passengers who were left injured when a Turkish Airlines plane carrying 134 passengers on Flight TK 1951 crashed into a field short of a runway at Schipol airport in Amsterdam.
The incident left nine dead. The Boeing 737-800 had reportedly smashed into three pieces, allowing Yango to exit from the right wing. "Yung mga lalagyan ng ano talagang nagbabagsakan. Hindi yung ano, yung lid talaga, they were coming out of the roof. Tapos makikita mo yung mga wires are coming out of the roof. Ako talaga hindi ko alam kung pano ako makalabas dun eh. I don't know how I came out. Tapos nakita ko nalang ano, get out, get out so dun ako nagpunta sa may exit, nakita ko nakabukas yung exit, dun ako sa may wing lumabas," Yango recounted.
Injuries
Yango, however, suffered injuries from the crash including a swollen right eye, cuts and bruises on her elbow, palm and waist, as well as large bump on her head. Yango told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that she suffered pain from a bruise around her waist left by an airplane seatbelt, which jammed against her body upon the crash's impact. All passengers were still wearing their seatbelts because the crash occurred as the plane was making its descent, she said. Rescue workers had immediately brought the passengers to a treatment area where they were reportedly separated into two groups, from the lightly to the seriously injured. Yango was released from the hospital at 5 p.m. Europe time, six hours after the crash. "I was like numb, numb talaga.
Hindi ko alam kung saan ako, kaya I felt na ang tagal-tagal naman ng reaction time na 'to. Then I realized na ang layo-layo naman pala namin sa street. Nakikita ko na yung mga dumadating pero wala pa sila doon. Kasi siguro nakita ko yung iba nakahiga na. They were lying down on the ground and they were just crying. They were just crying," Yango said.
Cancer survivor
In an interview with ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau, Yango said she was thankful for a third chance at life after battling with cancer a few years before. Yango also said that she lucky that she had been asleep when the plane smashed into the ground. "If I had been awake, it would have been worse. Kasi tense ka eh, magtetense ka di ba? So mag-aano yung impact," Yango said. Yango, who is from New York but works in Lebanon, was enroute to The Hague on a business trip Tuesday. However, she decided to reschedule her flight for the next day because of her workload. Yango's friend Rommel Loveranes, also a Filipino was the first person to see her immediately after she was discharged from a Dutch hospital. "I was even joking about it. Of course [it's a] relief. Big relief that she's fine, almost unscathed, and yeah, two times survivor. And yeah...as if nothing happened," Loveranes said.
Note, some words are in Tagalog.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Mayon Volcano Philippines, The Perfect Cone wears a Shawl
MT. MAYON WRAPAROUND Here’s one for the Cloud Appreciation Society. It’s a photo taken by Dr. Jullie Sy, a surgeon from Legazpi City on June 22, 2007 at 7 a.m. He’s also into photography so that the moment he saw Mayon Volcano from his window wearing a splendid shawl of clean, white wispy clouds, he took his Canon 400D. As if that spectacle were not enough already to make his day, a flight of 7 birds got into the picture. How lucky can Sy get? His lucky number has always been 7 having been born on July 7. He had forgotten about that lucky streak of a picture until he saw page 1 of last Sunday’s issue with clouds like sea waves breaking upon the shore. JULLIE SYWhat to do in Capiz
Things to do in Capiz
Saturday, February 28, 2009
X Factor - Holistic Voice Coach Audition
Holistic Voice what? Oh no, this is scary to think am moving there next month. They're even wierder than the ones from the US, and I should say there's a lot of anger hahaha. Lunatics !!!!! Rrrroaaaaaarrrrr!!!!!!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Precious Capiz Photos circa 1890s-1900s
The first one is of a parade honoring Rizal somewhere in Roxas City. What is most notable are the spanish era stone houses that indicates the level of civilization in my home province. I have also chanced upon a diary of a Thomasite teacher, Mary Helen Fee, who got assigned in Roxas, and who narrates that people in my home province speak Spanish - even the lowly househelp spoke spanish. Whoaaa this is contrary to popular belief that the Spaniards never taught the natives their lingua franca, Castillian. Well, at least in my home province, we spoke it back then. She also describes Capiz (now Roxas City) as a town of colonial-era grandeur with white stone houses and red roofs, waaaaah.
The next photo is a group portrait of an old family in Capiz. Probably the Alcazars. I remember knowing this family's descendants in my gradeschool way back then. One of the Alcazars became Gobernadorcillo or Presidente Municipal and married Spanish Lady whom he met when he studied in Spain.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009
Don Miguel il Signorino joins Hectic Capiznon Bloggers 2009 with this blog entry.I love all things Capiz -- definitely the best place to come home to once in a while, wherever in the world you may be.HECTIC CAPIZNON BLOGGERS 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A piece of my pride . . .
. . . that sits on the right corner of my desk, to remind me of the country I am from, that I serve. The land of my birth, where my loyalties lie, wherein my hope does not waiver -- proudly symbolized by the flag, first sewn by a great great grand aunt. My country, my heritage, my pride . . .
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Anthony Bourdain's Verdict - The Philippine Trip!
Hierarchy of Pork
By Anthony Bourdain on February 16, 2009 6:55 PM | Permalink | 154 Comments
I'm very nervous about tonight's Philippines show.
I'm all too aware of the fact that the country is made up of over seven THOUSAND islands and that I visited exactly two of them. The food is intensely regional ... I mean, even the difference between the food in Manila and Pampanga -- only a couple of hours away --is striking. So I missed ... a lot.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
25+/- Things You Didn't Know About Me (But then again, it doesn't really matter)
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. It was sort of fun writing this! :) hardest part was tagging 25 people. (To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people, then click publish.)1) I got bitten by our dog when I was like 5 years old, because my cousin and I were playing scarecrow and we were putting dried grass on the poor dog's head. Many weeks or months after, I succintly remember, that that same dog died in a rabid attack, foaming mouth and all. I din't tell my folks I got bitten by that particular dog and I was never treated, and to this day, I have this hidden fear at the back of my head, that I might foam in the mouth one of these days.
2) Am a child arsonist. When I was 8, I almost burned down the entire servant's quarters/storage behind our main house and only found about it the next day, when two sides of its wall were already in ashes. My dad said it was faulty wiring but I was too scared to death to tell him the truth.
3) One day, when I was about 9, my gradeschool classmates and I did not have class because our teacher was absent or something, and we ended up playing by the high school building of my old school. The other kids decided to play with the school bell (which during that time was a traditional bell with a string and all) trying their best to ring the bell with a controlled pulse that only we could hear it. Then it was my turn, but since I'm pretty bad with my reflexes, I rang the bell once but ever soooo loudly. It was only 15 minutes into the hour since classes for that period started but all of a sudden I saw the stairway being filled with descending high school students -- they were being dismissed because of my bell ring.
4) We were playing baseball when I was in 4th grade and It was my turn at the bat. I hit the ball on first try and started to run as wild as I can for first base, I was soooo feeling the moment and was probably thinking that I must have been so fast, because I was running a homerun without as much as a challenge. Then when I just passed third base, I realized, everybody was huddling over my classmate Eduardo. He had a black-eye. I unwittingly threw the bat too high behind me, when I hit the ball and the handle landed right smack into his right eye. It was the blackest black eye that I have ever seen, even to this day. Horrified, I quit the game and volunteered to bring him to the clinic. Instead, I brought him to the cafeteria and bought him, about half a gallon of ice-cream, I think. I left him eating happily, black-eye and all - I rushed to find the driver and wanted to go home right away.
5) When we were in grade two, my classmate Gary had a stupid idea of playing gang-rape. He was our gang leader that day and he led us five boys to pursue Jasmin, one of our girl classmates who then happened to pass by. We chased Jasmin, all 5 of us, from one end of the football field to the other, drizzle and all. We finally caught up with her and restrained her playfully upon Gary's orders. Gary started to play-kiss and play-harrass Jasmin and I remember Jasmin was spitting at Gary, while trying to get herself loose from our clutches. The next day, we 5 boys were called to the principal's office and reprimanded, luckily, she decided not to have our parents called. Then just a couple of years ago, I found out through friendster that Gary, this Gary is now Gizielle, a full-fledged woman, living in London. :D
6) My childhood friends and my sister and I used to go around our yard looking for precious stones. We found some pyrite rocks (fool's gold) and we were seriously thinking that we struck it rich. Seriously though, we found some really interesting stones, some even had fossilized shells on them. :D
7) When I was in 1st year high, i noticed that I started not to clearly see what was being written by the teacher on the board during class. As a kid, my folks always scolded me not to read in the dark or while lying down or I'd be grounded or have my allowance cut off or worse if I had to have glasses prescribed. . . . ( I was a voracious reader back then, aka nerd - hardy boys, bobbsey twins, choose your own adventure books . . .) I borrowed a classmate's old pair of specs to cope and only told my mom about a year after when my eyesight grade obviously went up. I came up to her armed with an encyclopedia volume that showed that myopia is hereditary after-all. Mom, it ain't my fault, it's your genes!
8) I studied Latin for four years in High School, but I still can't speak it straight.
9) During study hall, in my old high school, (we were made to study for about 2 hours in study hall every evening), I usually read books from the library instead of studying for the next day's classes.
10) I was a child hypochondriac. When I was like 8, I used to read up from encyclopedias in my parents' library about diseases and maladies in some part of the anatomy where I was feeling pain or discomfort at the moment. Then I'd worry myself sick, until I couldn't take it anymore, I'd run to my mom and say, I think I'm dying!!!!!!!
11) I couldn't speak tagalog fluently when I moved to Manila for college. Luckily I learned it fast, without the funny ilonggo accent. I also learned Cebuano and Kapampangan from my dorm mates at the La Salle dorm, by the time I graduated.
12) My last two terms in college had very light load because I was a shiftee. I had only like six units per term. So I was partying almost every night, or what my allowance could afford me.
13) I was reed thin, all my life all the way up to two years after my college graduation. I used to wear denim cut-off shorts under my pants just so I wouldn't end up looking like a scarecrow. Many of my childhood friends in Roxas City where am from, don't recognize me anymore -- in the mall, on the streets, on the beach. . . . .
14) I think the beer and chocolates and fresh milk and tomato juice changed the whole scenario (number 11). Now I have a weight problem.
15) I am from Capiz. Roxas City, Capiz in the Philippines. Born and Bred. When they ask me about vampire legends from my province, I always say it's true. I tell them further that my family's ascendants come from Transylvannia by way of Spain. :P
16) I went to law school for a year, and I don't regret that I dropped out after a year.
17) I bought my first car in Manila from my own money, the first year I worked after law school. It was a red toyota corolla named Maverick. I wonder where it is now.
18) I worked as Assistant Manager for a day at Hyundai Construction and Development Corporation for a day and quit that same afternoon, because San Miguel finally called me that I got the job. And besides, the GM of Hyundai Construction at that time was an idiot, he shaved off a couple of thousand bucks off my agreed salary on my first day of work, contrary to what was indicated in my offer sheet which I accepted. I think I got him into trouble with the top bosses in Korea, because he was calling me daily for two weeks, begging me to come back. ( I did not understand how he became GM then, because his background was an English teacher with
17) I can speak fluent Spanish and some Decent French, Italian and Portuguese and Catalan by some stroke of freakdom, I think the high school latin helped after all.
18) The first brand new car I ever bought for myself just last year is a Volvo s60 that I named Thorr the Viking.
19) I have moved houses/apartments about 5 or 6 times already and I swear not to do it anymore everytime. I'm moving to London from Brussels next month.
20) I am an avid photo-hobbyist. I haven't ever studied photography, but I have been told I've managed to shoot some good ones :D
21) I almost died during the first 2 months of school as a post graduate business student in Spain because I couldn't catch a word of what my mile-a-minute professors were saying during lectures in Spanish (Spanish was our only medium of instruction). After two months though, I was joking and arguing with the rest of them, like a Spaniard. :D Even if we kinda spoke it at home with the grand folks, their spanish was spoken very slowly and with
22) On my third day in Spain, and in Europe for that matter, as a student, back in 2002, on my way from Madrid to Alicante, where my University was, I got pickpocketed in the train station. They got my entire 5 month's worth of allowance, including rent deposit. Luckily, they were mostly in travellers' checks and some 15 one dollar bills for change. I did not dare tell my folks for two weeks ( I still had about 400 dollars in my other wallet) until I got my refund back at a profit because of the suddenly excellent exchange rate at that time. (The dollar was still neck and neck with the euro)
23) I love cheese, all kinds. well, almost.
24) I can cook perfect rice, without a rice cooker, and nobody taught me how. I still dunno how i figured it out.
25) I make a mean mediterranean salad, I have thereafter named after my monicker, "Don Miguel il Signorino's Mediterranean Salad"
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26) I was in Mexico City for business for about two months, and hated it.
27) I skype with my mom and dad, almost everyday.
28) Ooops, I just realized I'm over 25 things.
29) If you got this far, well thank you for wasting your time with my utter nonsense.
30) i think it took me a couple of hours writing this nonsense.
haha
Gaffe-Prone Prince sent on race relations course - CNN.com
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's Prince Harry has been sent on course on equality and diversity after a series of high profile racial gaffes have damaged the young royal's reputation, it was reported Thursday.
Prince Harry's behavior landed him on the front pages of British newspapers.
Harry, an officer in the British Army, was formally disciplined by superiors after videos surfaced showing him using offensive language -- referring to a fellow soldier as a "Paki" and another as looking "like a raghead."
Now, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper, the 24-year-old has been ordered to attend lessons on how not to be racist and gain understanding of how offensive his comments are.
A spokesman for the prince told CNN: "Prince Harry has apologized for his comments and has been subjected to normal Army disciplinary procedures. The matter is now closed."
The latest development follows a new claim that the prince, third in line to throne, told a black British comedian that he didn't "sound like a black chap."
In a 2005 gaffe, Harry apologized after he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform at a party.(source: CNN.com)
Maybe this should be made part of the entire EU curriculum for all levels :D
Saturday, February 07, 2009
The Translator
My friend mike, intern extraordinaire at the ICC in the Hague, who's here again for the weekend gave me an idea of their work by passing on this video.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
My New Office Address in London - @ Cumberland Place, Kensington Road :D
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Life in 5 Cities since 2002
Alicante, Spain
Brussels
London
My life has been one launching pad since I decided to quit my (stable) job in San Miguel Corporation in 2002 to attend business graduate school in Alicante, Spain.
After graduating with my master's degree, I was based in Manila for four years, but was travelling extensively around asia (KL, HK, BKK, Singapore, etc), opening asian markets for the company that hired me, this included twice a year trips to Europe (Frankfurt and Spain)
Then I joined Chikka.com and I was shuttling from California to Austin, TX to Miami and then to Mexico City for half the year I was there. It was crazy, 3 timezones, 5 cities in a week.
Now am in Brussels for a little over a year, and travelling for work was a bit minimal than it was the past year - Madrid, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and of course the Philippines, where I always get a chance to take time off to be HOME.
Just before Christmas last year, my boss calls me and tells me, I am needed in London -- I am being transferred to London effective April 1st and the decision has been made.
So there goes my Life again.
I am a nomad.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Look out the window
Look out the windowobserve the viewnot just a passing glancenor a fleeting glimpseLook out the windowobserve the viewwhat's across the street from youremember where you areLook out the windowobserve the viewfor tomorrow it shan't bethe same windownor the same viewLook out the windowobserve the view
My Internet Speed and Belgacom's limited BAndwidth
Belgium has got bandwidth limits to its internet connection subscriptions.mine for example only has 25gbs and they efficiently reduce my speeds to 56kbps once i reach that. then i have to buy increments of 5gb at 5 euros per. Geeez
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Carwash Day: Thorrr gets a Bath!!!
Thorr gets a long deserved bath after such a loooong time -- what with Brussels' erratic weather (rain comes 3x a week at least - surprisingly though, it's mighty sunny this weekend). I decided to take a video while my friend Mike S. takes autistic glee taking photos of the droplets in macro - while we're inside the carwash drive-through thingy. WEEEEEEeeeeee Thorr come's out sparklingly clean finally . . .
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Bernard Madoff's Wiki
On December 10, 2008 Madoff allegedly told his sons, Andrew and Mark, that the asset management arm of his firm was a giant Ponzi scheme--or "one big lie."[3] They then passed this information to authorities.[4][5][6][7][8] The following day, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. Five days after his arrest, Madoff's assets and those of the firm were frozen and a receiver was appointed to handle the case.[9] According to federal charges, Madoff said that his firm has "liabilities of approximately US$50 billion."[5][10][11] Banks from outside the U.S. have announced that they have potentially lost billions in dollars as a result.[12][13] Some investors, journalists and economists have questioned Madoff's statement that he alone is responsible for the large-scale operation, and investigators are looking to determine if there were others involved in the scheme.[14]
Madoff's firm, which is in the process of liquidation, was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street (the sixth-largest in 2008),[15] often functioning as a "third-market" provider that bypassed "specialist" firms and directly executed orders over the counter from retail brokers.[16] The firm also encompassed an investment management and advisory division that is now the focus of the fraud investigation.[10]
Madoff was also a prominent philanthropist who served on the boards of nonprofit institutions, many of which entrusted his firm with their endowments.[17][18] The freeze of his and his firm's assets have had effects around the world on businesses and charities, some of which, including the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, the Picower Foundation, and the JEHT Foundation, have been forced to close as a consequence of the fraud.[17][19][20][21]
