Reyjr.com | Born on a Syzygy ~

I am Newsworthy in AIYF Aberdeen, Scotland!

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:26:20 PDT

The Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2010

The Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF) in Aberdeen, Scotland "brings together and presents the best young performers and performing companies. It is a unique multi-arts event and has a reputation for attracting some of the finest young dance companies, classical dance academies, youth orchestras, bands and music ensembles from around the world." It is an annual festival that I have been privileged to be a part of twice - in the years 2000 and 2003. :)

This year, the Opening Ceremonies for AIYF 2010 has just kicked off - welcoming groups including The Hungarian Dance Academy, the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra, Pure Brass - one of UK’s top Brass Quintets, Cheremosh - a dance group from Canada, Doina Folk Ensemble from Romania, The Norwegian Girls Choir and so many more.

My AIYF Experience

I was then with the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC) - my first time to go to Aberdeen was a mere 1 year after I joined the choir. It was a wonderful and memorable experience to be part of something like the AIYF - to meet other young people who were as passionate to the arts as we were - ballet dancers, theater groups, instrumentalists, choir singers, and orchestra players from Russia, Belarus, Norway, Hungary, Scotland, England, Africa, China, Iceland and numerous other places...
One memorable part for me was the singing of the National Anthems of all participating groups. Us being a choir, we would had to learn the National Anthems of Germany, England, China, Japan, and others, and perform it during the Opening Ceremonies.

Another memorable part was the rehearsals for the International Variety Gala, which included different performance groups, and the Choral Concert where all participating choirs perform together. The rehearsals are where you get to meet and interact with people from other groups.

At the end of the festival you always have a difficult time saying goodbye to awesome artists who have become wonderful friends in such a short span of time.

The Parade, the daily concerts and Newspaper Features

The UPCC, being a festival favorite, always had a full schedule in Aberdeen with 2 sometimes 3 performances daily on top of the rehearsals. It was an exhilarating time for all of us, you can almost say we felt like celebrities in Aberdeen, with our faces on posters all around the town, the sold out tickets to every show, the autograph signing and the "Can we take a photo with you?" became normal occurrences. Haha! :p

The news clipping below was during the 2003 AIYF - that's me on the right, and Liz, my girlfriend on the left. In the middle are Kaich (now of the Ryan Cayabyab Singers), Gabo, and our Pianist, Joy.

Our courier, who is up to now one of our good friends, was named Celio. He even learned a few Filipino words from us and the whole group became really fond of him. We have remained in touch, thanks to technology (aka Facebook).

Below, another news clipping, with one of the Festival organizers. That's me again on the rightmost. :p

AIYF rocks!

Needless to say, if given a chance I will surely come back to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival - if not as a performer, as one of the couriers perhaps? Haha.

If you are from Europe and want to help out in the festival - I can guarantee it will be a memorable experience for you as well. :) If you are a performing group and wishing to participate, visit their website for more information: http://www.aiyf.org

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Ask Me Anything

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:37:39 PDT

Formspring.me? Formspring, you!

No, I do not have a Formspring.me account, and I do not intend to create one - I do not think I have the time nor the energy to manage another online account. But I do realize why Formsping has become quite the phenomenon - people just cannot resist answering a question.

Questions are in fact a key tool in Learning. When you are giving a lecture or even just presenting a report, a question triggers the audience's brains to answer even when you are not addressing them directly.

The whole concept of the lie detector test basically hinges on this particular human necessity - your body answers the questions for you even before you actually say anything.

Questions on Formspring range from serious to silly - questions like
"What is your nickname?"
"What's the oldest piece of clothing you still own and wear?"
"What kind of music can you just not stand to listen to?"
"How would you spend a million dollars?"

And a whole lot of other irresistible questions. :p

Ask Me Anything

So, even though I won't be making a Formspring account anytime soon, I've decided to join in the fun, and try it out on this one highly interactive post.

It's your chance now to ask me anything - I promise to answer every question. :) Oh, and reward everyone who asks with a linkback. :D

On top of that, I will give a prize for the most interesting question I receive. ;)

Ask me anything - You can put it in the comments section below. Or you can put it in the shoutbox at the bottom of the page if you wish to remain anonymous. :p
Ask me anything - seriously... opinion, clarifications, likes, dislikes... I will post all my answers on this blog post! :p

Ready, Set, Fire away!

Questions? and Answers.

Read the really thought provoking Questions andmy answers after the jump...

Noelle of Her Name is Noelle asks: "Have you been to Cebu?"

Argh! Nope. :p I've been twice around the world and never been to Cebu. Can you believe it? My gf Liz went there on a business trip already and so the chance of me going in the near future is slim. :( What's your favorite thing about Cebu that I need to do/see/eat/experience when I eventually visit?

Jan of Writing to Exhale asks: "Have you had a romantic relationship in the past which makes you slap your forehead today and mutter under your breath, "What got into me for crying out loud!" I'm not interested in who, but why."

Lol! Jan! Haha... Well, thankfully, none in my adult life. I haven't really had a lot of romantic relationships. The truth is, when I was growing up, I had no idea what to do around pretty girls. I found them intimidating. And how I now have the prettiest girl in the world in my arms still baffles me. Daily.

What's your follow up question? :p

Jan of Writing to Exhale asks: "Seriously, why is your blog reticent about you and Liz, except for the occasional pictures and mentions in your posts? It's not as if we were interested in finding out who snores the loudest and who has got the most ridiculous tattoo between the two of you. Us common folks are interested in that magical bond, you know."

I'll leave Liz to answer that "what's gotten into her" question... haha!

There is actually a serious answer to your serious question, that is I am saving that story for a special occasion. ;) For now I guess I can say... We've been together for 7 years now, been through some tough times, rough patches, and all that shebang - but we're in love, so we're still together. Hehe! I'm also not big on being mushy in public (and well, this blog is "public").

Roy of The Struggling Blogger asks: "Will you sing one of my compositions"

Oh wow, OF COURSE Roy! :D I'd be honored to sing your composition.
As a singer, it is an amazing feeling to be singing an original song. I find it very flattering that you would ask me to. :)

Jhong of Jhong Medina's Life in Dasmariñas asks: "Can singing be learned? What I mean, even you don't have the talent, can you still be a good singer? hehehehe I love singing but singing doesn't love me... I envy those people who can sing well. Any tips?

That's an interesting question Jhong! :D My short answer is Yes, singing can be learned. Sure, some people, more than others, have the gift of music and melody and rhythm. But like riding a bicycle, singing can be learned just like talking can be learned. It's got to do with making the movement of your "singing muscles" like a habit. Practice makes it easier to do or you can do it better than before. Maybe to illustrate, when I joined the choir in the year 2000, I had no idea (no idea!) how to hit notes that I can now sing with ease.

Now, the long answer is (hehehe) that - it depends... on how far away from the actual notes you are singing. Harhar! There is of course a minimum - you can follow the melody, you can follow the rhythm - then you can sing! But having said that - it doesn't matter! If you love to sing, then, for heaven's sake SING! :) Singing is Fun, it is an expression of your personality, it is freedom of expression. :D

DiTesco of iBlogZone asks: "What Would Yo Do For $5?"

Haha! That's actually a tough question - it made me think about how much value I attach to links and tweets and such. Hmmm... But with no 10k Twitter followers to leverage on, how do I market my online self for a $5 fee?

Let me put it in perspective, $5 is about Php250, or equivalent to a cup of Starbucks coffee and a slice of cake.

"For only $5, I will write you a 300-word book report! Good grammar and spelling! Good enough to get an A!" That's amazingly cheap, my market would be high school kids. Hahaha!

Roy of The Struggling Blogger asks: "Do you consider rapping, singing? I want your honest answer Rey ;)"

No I don't. But that doesn't mean I do not respect the mad skills of rappers. They are modern day poets, really, the way they rearrange words to fit into beats and rhythms, how they are able to convey ideas in unique and interesting ways, awesome! I wish I could rap, but I can't. :p (I tried, hahaha!)

Justin of Dragon Blogger asks: "Did you have any dreams or aspirations that you gave up on?"

I had a lot of aspirations when I was growing up - I wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, a painter, and a travel photographer among others. I suppose you can say I've "given up" on those already.

But really if there was one dream I regret giving up on is my dream to be a stage actor. ;) Hehe.

Roy of The Struggling Blogger asks: "Can you or have you performed an upbeat song ala Gary V?"

Funny you should ask Roy. Hehe. I was actually a member of my high school hip-hop dance club "Sagala" (short for Sayaw-Galaw which means Dance-Move). I joined when I was a junior, we were the first "auditioned" batch because it was created just a year before that. I had a lot of fun in that group - dancing to "Gettin' Jiggy wit it" and songs from Puff Daddy and Omarion. Woot! I was so hip hop in high school. Lol!

Jena Isle of Gewgaw Writings asks: "Have you ever tasted sisig and buro? If not, then when are you coming here, so Roy, Paige and I will treat you at Mr. Frosty...lol"

I love Sisig! We order it all the time! Buro on the other hand - that's the fermented stuff right? I remember making buro for a class back in my elementary schoolboy days, and being really grossed out about it. Hehehe. If it's gross out food - you'd probably have a difficult time making me eat some. Hehe! I'm not as adventurous as Holly - I don't even eat Balut! :p Or goat!

Mr. Frosty sounds like a dessert place, though. Haha! Now dessert, I like. :D When am I going there? Aw, that's something we'll have to schedule yet!

Heather of OMG! I'm SO Sure asks: "What would you be willing to die for?"

I have this delusion of invincibility.
I cannot die - especially if I am fighting for the people I Love. I suppose then, I cannot say that I am willing to die for Love - but that I am willing to fight for Love. If someone tells me that dying is the only end to fighting for Love, then I am blind to that inevitability.

Holly of It's All a Matter of Perspective asks: "Why?"

Because children play and babies cry
Because tomorrow may be too late to try
Because in this world I must occupy
Because my mistakes I must rectify

Because ostriches never learned to fly
Because someone thinks I'm willing to die
Because innocents need an alibi
Because Holly asked me the question - "Why?"

Madz of My Unrevealed Thoughts asks: "Why they did not shoot Saito to death on the first level of their dream when killing someone from a dream would wake him up?"

Let me begin by saying I was just as ~~confused~~ intrigued and interested as you after watching Inception. :p For your first question, I believe it's because of the sedative they took. If Saito dies at the first dream level, he goes into limbo as well.

Madz of My Unrevealed Thoughts asks: "Cobb and Saito met at Limbo, how? If Cobb died at the fourth level, he should have woken up right?"

I think "Limbo" is not a separate place in the dreamworld, rather it is the state at which you have lost the distinction between what is real and what is a dream. If Cobb had died on the dream level 4 and woke up at dream level 3 - he doesn't know he's still in a dream.

Madz of My Unrevealed Thoughts asks: "After the fall of the van on the bridge and hit the water, Cobb is still on his sleep. Why? Isn't falling on the bridge and hitting the water is the KICK that they need to wake up?"

Yes, but not if Cobb thinks he's already dead on dream level 4 or that his reality is now dream level 3 - Limbo rock!

Holly of It's All a Matter of Perspective asks: "For $5, will you write a 500-word blog post on why a $5 book report bought from a stranger on the Internet is not worthy of an A, no matter how beautifully written it is?"

For that, I wouldn't need $5, Holly. Hehe.
This won't be a 500-word blog post but just to emphasize - students need to focus on self development, education, training your brain to think analytically, focusing on one subject long enough to write a 300-word book report. Your experience, your knowledge, your skills - and your diploma - stay with your for your whole life, plus they're all recession proof!

Eric of Blog De Manila asks: "How many people donated for your DSLR savings?"

None so far. Haha. I should just take it down. What do you think? :p

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My cousins' Sony PSP UMDs are for SALE!

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:55:35 PDT

PSP Games UMDs for SALE!

My cousins wouldn't like this much (harhar) but here goes. Anyhow, as they say, one child's trash is another's toy (whoa, that suddenly reminded me of Toy Story 3, did you watch it?)

SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE!
100% WORKING used Sony PSP UMDs For SALE!

300
Arthur and the Invisibles
Ben 10: Protector of Earth
God of War
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Justice League Heroes
Medi:Evil Resurrection
Metal Slug Anthology
Patapon
Pirates of the Caribbean
Platypus
Rainbow Islands
Space Invaders: Evolution
Spiderman
Transformers: The Game
Worms 2: Open Warfare

Selling to Metro Manila or Batangas, Philippines residents. Price is Php700 each (neg. for bulk purchase). If you're interested to buy any or all of these, drop me an email at admin@reyjr.com.

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Avillion Hotel in Port Dickson, Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:11:48 PDT

If you are ever in Port Dickson in the state of Negeri Sembilan, about 90 km from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on holiday or business trip, I suggest you book yourself at Avillion Hotel Port Dickson for a wonderfully relaxing time.

Avillion Hotel, summer getaway

I arrived in the evening, tired from my long travel, but was reinvigorated at the sight of the room I was to stay in for the next few days. It was a resort hotel, with rooms beautifully detailed, the canopy bed was inviting, perfect for a summer getaway. The bathroom was quite interesting too, with an open roof beside the shower, you get a feel of showering outdoors in the safety of your hotel room. The soap and shampoos were all organic, consistent with the hotel's Environmentalist theme...

View from the balcony

Waking up to the Sun

I woke up the next morning bright and early for my business meetings and such - who wouldn't enjoy waking up to this...

So I got up and went out to the balcony to see the water. It was clear and cool. It was low tide when I arrived, so I saw the water was actually right underneath my room.

Unfortunately, since I mentioned I was there on business, I didn't have time to walk around the beach nor try the swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms. (argh!) But nevertheless, I enjoyed my stay at Avillion Port Dickson, (and enjoyed their Filipino band too!).

I'm looking forward to my next business trip to Port Dickson, Malaysia. :p Heheh!

______________
"Avillion Port Dickson is an award winning beach resort which sits over 23 acres of coast scenery and faces the Strait of Malacca, offering 240 exquisitely designed rooms from chalets to villas."

All photos in this post are owned by reyjr.com

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Franchise 2010, our Entrepreneurial Dream

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:56:38 PDT

Franchise 2010

Yesterday, Liz and I visited Southeast Asia's Biggest Franchise Event, Franchise 2010: The 18th Philippine International Franchise Conference and Expo at the SMX Convention Center. It was our first time to ever attend anything related to starting a business and we were eager to go around, talk to people and, of course, learn about how to start a franchise. The event ran from July 14 to 18, featuring over 330 exhibitors of various business opportunities.

Why Franchise?

We arrived late in the afternoon, missed the seminars, but did manage to go around all of the exhibits and talk to a few people...
We are newbie entrepreneurs, with no background whatsoever, but we were encouraged by the conversations we had. Here are some things I was personally pleasantly surprised to learn at the event:

If you have already a stash of money (or are comfortable with getting a loan), and a good location to start a business - i tell you this - it is a cinch. So easy it surprised me.
Some companies will do the processing of government permits for you - inclusive in the franchise package.
The smaller scale franchises can get you a return on investment in as short as 3 months!
There are franchises of all capital sizes, from P160k to P5Million and more. I mean, there will be some I can actually afford without selling my arm for. Haha!

Choosing a Franchise

We've decided to choose one of several franchises - a take-out stall for grilled fish products, a donut stand or an Ice Scramble stand - and we have several ideas of a good location. But there are numerous variables to consider, including the total franchise cost, the proximity to our houses, the total year-round or seasonal people traffic, ROI, etc. Hopefully, before the year ends I will be blogging about what I've learned as a newbie entrepreneur too. :D

One of the best lessons I got from reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad was to keep your eyes open for opportunities. This could be our first step. Who knows? Wish us luck!

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The UP Concert Chorus "Muling Dating" - A Homecoming Concert

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:03:10 PDT

The UP Concert Chorus are coming home

They're back from their international concert tour and are gearing to show everyone what makes them awesome...

The Friends of Korus Foundation, Inc. and Ambassador Alfonso Yuchenco present the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus, fresh from its 19th International Concert Tour of the USA, Italy and Germany, in "Muling Dating, a Homecoming Concert" on July 30, 2010, 7:30 P.M. at the Philamlife Auditorium, U.N. Avenue, Manila.

UP Concert Chorus Photo by Teresa Barozzo

Tickets are PhP 200 each. Seniors citizens and students receive a 20% discount, and groups of ten receive a 25% discount. For ticket reservations and inquiries, please contact 09164453560, 09396767989 or 09228580608.

Watch the UPCC Muling Dating

A concert tradition after every International Tour of the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC), the "Muling Dating", or Homecoming is a way to showcase a choir at its best.

You see, while on tour, singing together everyday for 2, 3 or 6 months, there becomes an unmatched unity in a choir - such that you've almost memorized how each other breathes, how long she can hold her high C, or how loud his Fortissimo can be. Similarly for the choral conductor, there is now an ultimate togetherness with the choir, they understand his every nuance, or every wave of her hand.

I am excited to invite everyone to go and watch the UP Concert Chorus on July 30. From the beautiful music, the wonderful costumes, the expressive faces and the powerful choreography - you are all in for a treat. :D

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The Uber Prestigious Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2010

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:59:49 PDT

What the Emerging Influential Bloggers Writing Project did for me

Last year, I met a lot of my now good friends via this annual "writing project" that awards new and emerging influential blogs making an impact in the Blogosphere. Several of them went on to be recognized as the most influential emerging bloggers of 2009. :)

A few weeks after that, I was invited to join PatayGutom.com - a group food blog and one of the awardees as well.

The Emerging Influential Blogs Writing Project is now on its 4th Year, and if you are a newbie blogger, I would most definitely encourage you to participate. :) It has helped me ease into the uncharted Philippine blogging territories and am happy to declare now that I am, indeed, a Blogger. :p woot!

So, which blogs do I think are the most Influential Emerging Blogs for 2010...?

The Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010

I will be updating this post to include my picks for the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010 - I am open to your suggestions and recommendations, I see it as a great way to interact and connect with new bloggers.

When in Manila - I met Vince Golanco, Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director of When In Manila at a Bloggers Event at Marriott Hotel a few months ago. He was a cool guy, very outgoing and engaging - and this translates nicely onto his blogs. I've seen not a few of his video clips, including his awesome interview with Jojo (the singer), and who could forget that talk he gave during iBlog6?
The Creative Dork - This blog is really new - and yet I feel that it has a clear direction, and will go a long way in the Philippine blogosphere. Robbie, the blog's author, is an uber creative dude, witty and humorous, and he creates these hilarious comic strips fit for publication on a broadsheet. Plus, I'd love to win one of his custom caricatures! woot!
NomNom Club - With an awesome new blogosphere mascot, a Google PR4, a growing fan base, numerous contests with amazing prizes - and don't forget the gastronomical delights - all in less than a year! (Plus, the author is a fellow Isko. Hehe!)
Facebuko.com - Every single time I visit this blog I laugh out loud - not just writing down LOL with 3 exclamation points, but literally as in reverberating through the hallways of my building...
The Blogging Advertiser - Well thought out posts, an engaging and neutral tone, and fresh concepts from an Advertiser by profession. Didi Paterno merges Blogging and Advertising concepts seamlessly, two fields eternally intertwined, and she even teaches us bloggers a thing or two about Advertising.
Your blog could be here!
Or here!
Or here!
Or here!
Or hear!

Join EIB2010!

Who can join? You can join! Any blogger in the world. Only one entry per blogger. Blog or website owner profile and e-mail is accessible or visible online. Blog is at least 3 months old by the time one joins the writing project.

For more details about this writing project click: Influential Blogger by Janette Toral: Join the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010 Writing Project

This year's sponsors are Events and Corporate Video, Budget hotel in Makati, Pinoy Party Food, Copyediting Services, PR Agency Philippines, Budget Travel Philippines, Send Gifts to the Philippines, Black Friday Deals, Roomrent - units for rent, Search Profile Index, and Corporate Events Organizer.

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"Earning 10 in 2010" - June Online Earnings Update

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:04:50 PDT

Earning 10 in 2010 - Online Earnings Update

Welcome to the June 2010 edition of my Online Earnings Update. :) It is an interesting month for my online earnings, first because of the dramatic drop of my Google Adsense earnings and what caused it, and second, how much can you actually earn via the new service of Sponsored Tweets.

Click image to view full size

If it is your first time reading this, I've decided to blog about my online earnings monthly on my Twitter account, and my Personal Blog. I am not actively pursuing this earning online business - I'm posting twice a week about things I usually blog about, receiving around 150 unique hits per day, and am only spending at most 1 to 2 hours daily writing and promoting my blog because of my busy work schedule.

If you are in the same situation, I invite you to share what you know and how your efforts have been fruitful. If you are a newbie like me, then read on and join me on this journey!

See how much I earned online this month...

Break it down!

Sponsored Reviews - $25.00 -If there was one service I would recommend you to apply for, it would be Sponsored Reviews. You may not be able to earn a consistent amount every month, but actually, if you get the right opportunities, it can earn you money much faster than Google Adsense. In the last 6 months, I've accumulated $67.50 on Sponsored Reviews.

Google Adsense - $2.29 - A dramatic drop from the last 3 months when I was averaging at around $10 a month, this month was a surprisingly low $2.29 - what the heck happened?! If it wasn't for my other earning services, I would have missed my $10 target this month.

See, i was trending Google Adsense earnings vs. Ad impressions and it shows clearly that my ad impressions were increasing but my earnings have stopped. Gasp! :p I have 1 theory - ad color template. I changed it last month to make it more "visible" and well, it seems it backfired on me.

I changed it back to see if things will change. Find out in next month's update (that means go ahead and subscribe to this blog!)

Nuffnang.com.ph - Php0.00 - Zip. No earnings from Nuffnang this month, although I was able to accumulate around Php200.00 it has not yet been credited to my Earnings. Maybe next month. But there is an exciting new promo on Nuffnang for KFC Krushers. I suggest you head on over there to read about it. :)

Sponsored Tweets - $7.33 - Broken down to $6 from actual opps, $1.19 from PayPerClick tweets and the rest from referrals. That means around 16% of my month's Sponsored Tweets earnings are from PPC tweets. Is it worth the effort or not? You decide!

Chitika - $0.11 - Is it going to rev up soon? Or is it running at all? I have no idea. But the high hopes I had for Chitika are beginning to diminish. I'll give it another month before I decide!

Adgitize - $0.28 - So, I've been procrastinating in letting go of this service, and so it still sits there on my sidebar being clutter. :p The 6-month total is now a whopping $1.67 - argh! Should I just give up on this one now?

Online earnings per service - 1st half 2010

Summarizing - Monetizing

In summary, my online earnings for 2010 so far...

January 2010 = $9.60
February 2010 = $41.00
March 2010 = $15.98
April 2010 = $44.60
May 2010 = $20.40
June 2010 = $35.01

I have so far earned a total of $166.60 (roughly Php7,800.00) in the first half of 2010. Not quite impressive (lol!) but, it's a start. I only need to make it at a sustainable pace. Hopefully I will be getting my first Google Adsense and first Nuffnang paycheck in a few month's time. Fingers crossed! :)

Read also my previous month Earnings posts:

January 2010 - You can make money on the internet too - seriously!
February 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - Feb 2010 Online Earnings Update
March 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - March Online Earnings update!
April 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - April Online Earnings Update!
May 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - May Online Earnings Update

Online Earning Tips and Lessons this month

So what did I learn this month?

I learned that even though there are numerous services that pay you to post an ad or a review on your blog, you have to remember that putting it on your blog automatically gives it YOUR stamp of approval - no matter what kind of disclaimer you put there. :p So make sure you post only about things you really approve of or are sure about!
Google Adsense ad placement plays a big part of your eventual earnings so make sure you try it out and monitor it's performance so that you can optimize it. :)

What did you learn this month?

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An Interview with the author of “Balik-Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears”

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:31:05 PDT

“Balik-Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears”

On May 22, the inimitable book of Philippine Cinema's stars was successfully launched at the Trader’s Hotel, Roxas Boulevard - an afternoon of nostalgia, reliving the glorious days of Philippine cinema Many of the artists whose lives were vividly remembered in the pages of "Balik-Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears" were in attendance...

L-R Perla Bautista, Romy Protacio, Gloria Romero, Delia Razon, Pilita Corrales, Myrna Obligacion

Delia Razon, Caridad Sanchez, Perla Bautista, Gloria Sevilla (who came with her daughter Suzette Ranillo), Lilia Dizon, Marita Zobel, Minda Morena, Charlie Davao, Pepito and Ramil Rodriguez, Robert Campos and Eddie Garcia, who even obliged to rendering his version of “Dandansoy”, accompanied by the CCP Rondalla.

The well loved Anita Linda graced the occasion as well, and took the time to thank Doc Romy in public for his portrayal of their lives in print. Myrna Obligacion, wife of the Oscar Obligacion, as well as Digna Bonnin, wife of Bernard Bonnin took the time to join the celebration in memory of their husbands.

Tito Romy autographs "Balik Tanaw" for actresses Anita Linda, Gloria Sevillia and Marita Zobel.

Celebrities and Movie Legends

Asia's Queen of Songs, Pilita Corrales serenades Tito Romy

Movie legends Gloria Romero, Susan Roces, Amalia Fuentes and Boots Anson Roa were not able to attend the book launch but shared with the other stars an evening of dining, singing and reminiscing at Ms. Pilita Corrales’ home the night after, who herself sang special Tagalog and Visayan kundimans during the book launch.

Pempe Rodrigo (daughter of Soc Rodrigo and coordinator of the movie actors’ organization, Baliksamahan) who has also been instrumental in getting the movie actors together was pleased to see the fruits of her efforts, as well.

Delia Razon and Tito Romy dance while the UP Concert Chorus sings

Highlights of the afternoon included the top class renditions of contemporary Tagalog love songs by the UP Concert Chorus. Many of the song renditions by UPCC brought back memories and tears to the audience as they sang some well loved movie themes. Doc Romy was even moved to his feet by one of their music pieces and danced with Perla Bautista and Delia Razon.

Later, the internationally acclaimed ballroom dancer Edna Ledesma, with her partner Miguel dela Serna, displayed her grace on the dance floor, moving with almost a feather-like lightness, which held everyone in awe.

The afternoon’s hosts Arnel Ignacio and book editor, Carmel Beltran kept the affair vibrant and entertaining for everyone. Towards the end of the afternoon, Arnel interviewed the actors and actresses who were just as happy to share some of their unforgettable anecdotes during their days of fame.

Interviewing the Author

It was unfortunate that I was unable to attend the book launch, so when the author, Tito Romy Protacio sent me the photos above, I took the opportunity to ask him a couple of questions, like a short interview. It was a rare chance to ask him about his thoughts and feelings about the book and the Philippine Cinema in general.

Reyjr: How do you feel now that your book has been launched? Any plans for another book in the future?

Tito Romy: "I’ve been encouraged by the remarks given by the movie stars during the book launching – Nakakataba ng Puso. I’ve started my Volume II today, June 28, 2010. I interviewed Lani Oteyza. She is based in Victorville, California."

Reyjr: Wow! That's great, Tito. Looking forward to it. Now, your book immortalizes the actors and actresses of Philippine television and cinema, but what do you think of the current roster of artists as compared to the past? How are they similar and how are they different?

Tito Romy: I asked the same question to German Moreno and I’d like to share what he said,

“Ay naku, I really do not know what to do. It is really dying, dying, and dying – hanggang dumating na nga ang mga “indie” films. Bumaba ang mga presyo ng artista para makagawa lamang maka-create na pelikula. Maraming bagay ang nangyayari sa industria ng pelikula na talaga naman nakakalungkot.”

Personally, I hope to see more quality films coming out, that are artistically made, unique and can be true representations of the Filipino talent.
The life stories of movie stars can be an inspiration which I want to see immortalized in the pages of this book. I know that their legacy will live in the hearts of our future readers, including the younger generations of movie stars who will benefit a lot from following their footsteps. The new stars should always remember that fame is transient, and it is only their art that will sustain them. For this reason, they should love their art, the same way that most of our yesteryear stars have done.

***********

How to get a copy of the book "Balik Tanaw"

“Balik Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears” will be sold at leading bookstores, but can already be ordered now thru email at: baliktanaw2010[at]gmail[dot]com

Thank you Tito Romy and to all who made this book and this event possible. I hope you continue to be an inspiration to the new breed of celebrities and movie stars today!

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Gmail Help Spammer - don't fall for this stupid sh*t

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:16:33 PDT

Gmail Help Spam

I just received an email titled "Precaution" from a supposed "Gmail Help". The email address is servinusers@gmail.com

To make it look real, it listed Google, Inc. and the address (which can be found on Google) and proceeded to request for the user's ID, Birthdate, Country and, get this, your Password. Doh!

It follows through with a threat of consequence of non compliance.. "Comply in 7 days or you will lose your account... PERMANENTLY!" Lol!

Well, the weird thing about it is, it was not captured by Gmail Spam. They should maybe reconfigure their spam tracker to be able to capture these posers too.

Anyway, to anyone who will receive this, please don't fall for this stupid sh*t.

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The Disney Tween in You

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:11:53 PDT

The Disney Tween in You

Admit it, you loved the High School Musical series: the class geek transforms into school "it" girl, the basketball jock can sing, and the uber mushy love story between them gives us all goosebumps. For teens and tweens alike, it gives them something to look forward to and dream about. For the tweens at heart, it brings back memories of your high school sweetheart, your high school crush.

If you missed the last of that trilogy which was shown on the big screen, Disney Tweens now offers the High School Musical 3: Extended Edition along with numerous other Disney movies just right for the Tweens and the Tweens at heart...

The awesome folks at Disney have opened up a brand spanking new website for all the Disney Tweens out there. The website provides you direct access to Disney movies like The Princess Diaries Special Edition, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Cheetah Girls and Jump In! Freestyle Edition. The website features the movies with the biggest Disney stars from Miley Cyrus's Hannah Montana, to the Jonas Brothers and Lindsay Lohan's Confessions of Teenage Drama Queen.

All these awesome movies right at your fingertips. :)

My favorite Disney Tween movie

I would say the favorite Disney Tween movie of the lot would be the first Princess Diaries. I thought Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews made a perfect grandma-grand daughter pairing. And the scenes during her transformation from wicked to Princess was hilarious.

What was your favorite Disney Tween movie?

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Charice joins Glee (for real)! Good or Bad news?

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:39:04 PDT

This post is covered by a Creative Commons License.

Charice on Glee

Reyjr.com has been following Filipino singer and International Pop Star Charice Pempengco's performance on the Billboard Charts, and so it comes as a pleasant surprise (albeit already half expected) that Charice will be joining Glee.

Several weeks ago, a false report came out that Charice was to join Glee. She, her mom, and her US Manager Marc Johnston denied it, saying Charice's Philippines Manager might have been "confused". This time around though, it came straight from the Johnston's mouth...

Entertainment Weekly reports that Charice is set to join the Glee kids in a recurring role as a foreign exchange student next season, for real. Of course, it will come as no surprise that she will be pitted against New Directions' resident female lead, Lea Michele's Rachel Berry. I foresee a sing-off - but on what song? Hmm...

While Lea Michele, being foremost a stage actress, leans more towards Broadway-type songs, Charice's voice is more pop-ballad. What would be interesting for me would be how they would portray Charice in the show.

Charice's image, new role

Of course they will have to take into consideration Charice's image. I suspect they won't allow her to be portrayed as the evil exchange student from Asia. Hehe.

There's also a mention that one of the Glee kids will take interest in Charice's character in the show. My guess would, of course, be Finn. His character was attracted to Rachel Berry's talent, so that might be the angle they will take.

In any case, Charice's addition to the international hit TV show is another milestone for Charice and for all Filipinos. Way to go!

The wait for Glee's second season begins now.

Photo of Lea Michele by David Shank. Photo of Charice from Google. :p
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Look Who I Met in Paris...

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:11:19 PDT

Following up on my "vintage" celebrity photos series are, not one, but two celebrity photos taken in the year 2004, during my last tour with the UPCC.

Reyjr at the Louvre in Paris, France

The last stop of the tour then was Paris, France - and the last concert on November 13, 2004 was at the American Church of Paris, Quai d’Orsa. With a standing ovation - it was a great ending to our 3-week tour of Germany, Italy and Paris. It was made a bit more special because we met 2 celebrities there - and Nope, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre was not one of them! :p

Look Who I Met in Paris...

Karen Davila, ABS-CBN News Anchor

After the concert ended, we found ABS-CBN News Anchor Ms. Karen Davila was in the audience and was actually doing a Special Report on Filipinos in Paris. We ended up getting included in her feature segment, and our Conductor and Music Director Prof. Jai Sabas-Aracama gave a brief interview. :D

Reyjr with Ms. Karen Davila

KC Concepcion, Actress-Singer

The other celebrity in the audience was Mega-daughter KC Concepcion who was at the time taking a degree in International Corporate Communications with a minor in Theatre Arts at the American University of Paris.

We actually saw KC in the audience and almost pulled out one of the songs in the second act - the Gary Granada track called "Mabuti Pa" which had the line: "Bakit si Gabby Concepcion, lagi na lang kinakasal?" We were so relieved when she just laughed when we asked her about it after the show.

Reyjr with KC Concepcion

Are you fans of Karen Davila or KC Concepcion? Sound off in the comments section below. :)

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Short Story: "The Mystery of the Child and the Ice Cream Jingle"

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:14:18 PDT

Part 1: "The Mystery of the Child and the Ice Cream Jingle"

*Selecta Ice Cream Jingle plays in the background*

Baby Keisha: (with eyes widening) Mommy... what's that sound?
Mommy: (sweetly) Nothing....

*Selecta Ice Cream Jingle continues to play*

Baby Keisha: (ears twitching) What's that sound Mommy???
Mommy: Nothing....

Baby Keisha: (jumping up and down) Mommy! Mommy! What's that sound, Mommy?!

Mommy: Nothing! You're FAT!

-end-

What's the moral of the story?

Part 2....

Part 2: "The Mystery of the Child and the Healthy Food"

Mommy makes Keisha eat healthy but not very nice looking food...

Mommy: Oh, Keisha, eat this na.
Baby Keisha: Mommy...I don't like!
Mommy: Eat this, it's healthy!
Baby Keisha: I don't like!
Mommy: Hay nako, C'mon, Close your eyes.

-end-

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What does your Weekend smell like?

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:58:22 PDT

The inspiration for this post came from an exchange on Facebook - one of my Facebook friends Status read:

"I can almost smell the weekend!"

This led me to wonder what MY weekend actually smelled like... if I was to describe it...

...my weekend smells like Liz's perfume, and Cream silk on her hair, and when she just got out of her car - a slight scent of that Australian car perfume I gave her (pasalubong from my sister's fiance)...

...my weekend smells like freshly laundered clothes, drying under the sun. Not sure what my mom uses as fabric softener nowadays - but it smells good...

...my weekend smells like newly watered garden soil - I can almost hear the ground sighing when the spray of water hits...

...my weekend smells like dogs! - 3 Yorkies and a French bulldog whose cages I sometime help clean.

...my weekend smells like crushed Indian mango leaves - when I pick the fruits I always get a leaf or 2 to crush in my hands and smell.

...my weekend smells like Colgate - I use Closeup in Batangas. :p

...my weekend smells like newly cooked rice - straight from the rice cooker - when I set the table up for a meal.

It's Friday, 8 'o clock in the evening and I'm about to leave for Manila. :)
...I can almost smell the weekend!

What does your weekend smell like?

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"Earning 10 in 2010" - May Online Earnings Update!

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:52:04 PDT

If it's your first time reading this post series, let me explain briefly - I've decided to blog my journey of Earning Money Online - with a monthly update, a target amount, charts, the whole shebang. (Hehe.)

As a disclaimer, I will say this series is meant to share my experiences in this venture - but mine is a personal blog that does not receive a whole lot of traffic, I do not have a lot of time to blog, but do want to earn a little bit from it. If you are in the same situation, I invite you to share what you know and how your efforts have been fruitful. If you are a newbie like me, then read on and join me on this journey!

Earning 10 in 2010

Click image to view full size

It has become apparent that I will probably be earning more than my target $10 per month every month until the end of the year. My Adsense earnings have been growing (albeit slowly) in the past 5 months or so - and this month, for the second month in a row, it actually earned enough to cover my target $10. That means all other services are revenue. :p Awesome!

The question now is, is this growth sustainable? That remains to be seen. See how much I earned online this month...

Break it down!

Google Adsense - $10.41 - The Philippine Elections and Jejemons helped to increase my blog traffic and earnings on Adsense this month.

I had a difficult time accessing PPCRV and the Comelec website during the elections and so I contented myself with looking at PPCRV Twitter updates. I found it was a bit difficult to read from Twitter and so I transferred them to a blogpost. Turns out a lot of people were interested in that.

I find it ironic that my "Learn How to Jejemon write" post is one of the Top Search Engine results for this keyword. I mean I am hardly a Jejemon and would even readily join the Jejebusters army. Hehehe. :p But I guess Google doesn't discriminate. Go ahead and search for "Learn Jejemon" on Google.

Nuffnang.com.ph - Php312.39 (roughly $7.00) -It was a good month for Nuffnang, I had around 5 ads in rotation in May. I also wanted to join several contests but just couldn't get around to it because I was busy with my real life job. :p

Sponsored Tweets - $3.13 - This was quite an exciting month for Sponsored Tweets, obviously not because I earned a tremendous amount of moolah (heh), but because they launched a new service for CPC tweets! Read more about CPC Sponsored Tweets here: "SponsoredTweets CPC".

Chitika - $0.05 - Five cents?!?! Lol. But no worries, Chitika is upgrading their configuration and their ads. Reyjr.com was "Pending review" for most of May, but was finally (finally!) approved in the last week or so. With these changes I am hoping to get more revenue from Chitika in the months to come! Fingers crossed!

Adgitize -$0.30 - Erm. Yes well, I still have not been very active here, hence the minimal returns. What else can I say? :p I'm probably giving them a bad rep, sorry. I am certain this ad service works very well for those who actively use it. There. :)

Summarizing - Monetizing

In summary, my online earnings for 2010 so far...

January 2010 = $9.60
February 2010 = $42.00
March 2010 = $14.98
April 2010 = $44.60
May 2010 = $20.40

I have now earned a total of $131.59 (roughly Php6,300.00) in the first 5 months of 2010... and still waiting for the day when I get to receive a check from Google every month. (still waiting...LOL!) Below is the breakdown per site/service of my January to May 2010 online earnings (only).

Click image to view full size

My previous month Earnings posts:

January 2010 - You can make money on the internet too - seriously!
February 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - Feb 2010 Online Earnings Update
March 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - March Online Earnings update!
April 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - April Online Earnings Update!

Growing Blog Traffic

One final chart I wanted to share with you all for this month is my Sitemeter tracking for my blog traffic. In May 2010 alone, Reyjr.com received around 4600 hits. That would be more than 4 times the hits it received in May 2009. And more than 90 times the traffic it received in May 2008 (when my blog received a whopping 50 hits :p).

Click image to view full size

What I think is more interesting though is - do you see those tiny columns on the left side of the chart? Those are 2008 monthly hits. Between 2008 and 2009, my blog hits increased by 1,658% - I of course attributed it to more posts - from 2 posts per month in 2008, I averaged almost 13 posts per month in 2009.

This year though, in the first 5 months of 2010, my average monthly blog traffic increased by 136% compared to 2009 - BUT my posting frequency decreased by almost 40%!

My conclusions are (1) the more blog posts you have, the more traffic you get in the long run - so it would be good to have a few perennially visited blog posts, and (2) it's not always about the number of posts so much as the content. If you write a blog post with good content, it will be visited again and again even years from when you first published it. :)

*****

I do hope my blog continues to grow as I have bigger dreams for it. Hopefully when the income from blogging becomes stable, I can set up a one-time Scholarship grant, or help sponsor a Choral festival. That would be tremendous. :) For now though, I'll keep on trying my best.

How about you? What are your dreams for your blog?

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My Gadget Review: Nokia N900

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:45:10 PDT

Last March, my birthday gift from my parents was a new cellphone - a Nokia N900 Touchscreen Mobile Computer. My phone before this one was also a Nokia, model N73, which makes for a huge jump from a semi-retirement age phone to now a top of the line touchscreen phone.

My Nokia n900

Nokia N900 features

The N900 is Nokia's latest offering. It uses a Linux-based Maemo software. If you wish to read more about the full Technical Specifications of the Nokia n900, hop on over to Nokia's website, they have the whole thing there. Putting it all here seems a bit redundant. :p

Here's my personal review of my cool new gadget....

Gadget Review: Nokia n900

Here are some of the things that I LIKE and some of the things I DO NOT LIKE about the Nokia n900 phone.

LIKE: I like the automatically threaded conversations. It becomes so much easier to follow a thread or review what has been said before. This is especially good for those like me who cannot reply to messages as soon as they are received. :p Text messaging turned into a chatroom. I suppose, the only downside to this is I now text much more often than before.
LIKE: I like how it is so much easier to delete messages, when you're cleaning up your inbox (it gets cluttered easily :p) You can delete per message or per conversation. There is also an option to mark all the conversations you wish to delete and delete those all at once.
DO NOT LIKE: That it is a mostly "horizontal" phone - makes it difficult to use with one hand (like texting while eating ice cream or something hehe). Texting even on the virtual keypad is horizontal - there is no vertical virtual keypad for texting.
LIKE: The very convenient built-in interface with Skype IM and Skype calls - Free international calls! Calls and Instant Messaging is free if you have a wifi connection. (Good thing we have wifi in our home in Manila, in our house in Batangas, in SM Batangas, SM Marikina...) This works well with me because my gf uses Skype at work, and with my mom in Manila, my dad and my 2 sisters working abroad, it becomes much easier to stay connected to them.
LIKE: Add to that, Nokia n900 also interfaces with Google Talk, Jabber, SIP and Ovi by Nokia. Of these, I only have Google Talk, but yeah it works fine with it!

A photo I took using the n900

DO NOT LIKE: I don't like that they took out the "Groups" feature for bulk text messaging. You have to build up a list everytime you need to make a group text. And for each recipient, the phone makes a threaded conversation.
LIKE: I like the images that the built-in Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/5.2 camera takes. Makes for a good alternative for those Kodak moments and you don't have your camera with you. ;)
LIKE: I like how my blog Reyjr.com appears exactly as it should on this device! And the internet speed is quite good as well, provided the connection is stable.
DO NOT LIKE: OVI Maps is great and it works well with the internal GPS, but you need to be connected to the internet to get a stable GPS tracking. I've also separately downloaded Mobile Maps 9, but it appears I still need to download the actual map before I can use it. :p
LIKE: I like that you can customize the contents of your "Dashboard" with whatever you want to put - like shortcuts to certain programs, speed dial to important people, or even widgets for Twitter or Facebook.
LIKE: I like that the apps menu has a lot of free stuff. :p I found that the apps for the iPhone that I want are also on n900 - like the Piano and the GPS powered exercise monitoring program.
DO NOT LIKE: The battery life is short if you have wifi on the whole time or if you continuously play games. Hehe. I just recharge it every night and when I'm in the car.
LIKE: Finally, I like that people are allowed to make their own programs that can run on the Maemo platform - open source! Hopefully a lot of people make a lot of cool apps for this phone too. Looking forward to it!

Twitter on N900

Do I recommend this phone?

I sure do! Go ahead and buy it then Skype me. Lol.

Aesthetically, it is not as "beautiful" as the iPhone, but it has very good interface with the WWW which makes you really (ehem) "well connected". :p The price I would say is commensurate to its capacity. It's cheaper than the iPhone by a lot!

So I do recommend this phone for you. I think it is a good alternative to Apple's iPhone. :)

Do you own this phone? Sound off in the comments section below!

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Charice's album, single crack Billboard charts! (Chart run so far - updated July 30)

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:31:40 PDT

Charice enters Billboard 200 at No. 8!

I wanted to share with you that our very own Filipino YouTube sensation Charice Pempengco has just cemented her International Superstar status with a No. 8 debut on the Billboard 200 Albums after selling 43,000 copies of her self titled US debut album. The album "Charice" also enters Billboard Digital Albums at No. 8 and the Canadian Albums Chart at No. 4. The 18-year old vocal powerhouse visited “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with other YouTube phenomenon, Justin Bieber last week. And more...

Charice's Pyramid featuring Iyaz enters Billboard Hot 100 at No. 56!

The first cut off the album, “Pyramid feat. Iyaz” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Songs last week (it is down to No. 12 this week), and she enter the Billboard Hot 100 this week at No. 56. Woot! The single is also No. 32 on Billboard Digital Songs and No. 41 on the Canadian Hot 100 Charts.

Charice’s international media success on the Billboard charts is unmatched by any other solo Filipino artist - she was even recently interviewed by CNN for an article titled "Charice: The next Celine Dion?" Cool no?

I am truly hopeful her success continues with more hits and more albums. Put that big voice to good use, and blow them all away, Charice! We are proud of you!

*************************************************

Update - 2nd Week on the Charts

The new Billboard Charts were just released.

In its second week, "Charice" drops from #8 to #28 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. It also drops a same 20 places in the Canadian Albums Chart to land at #24.

On the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, Pyramid feat. Iyaz drops from its #56 debut to #93. It remains strong in the Billboard Dance Songs Charts though holding on to the #14 spot. In the Canadian Hot 100, it drops from #41 to #73, but it also enters at #15 of the week's most-streamed video clips on AOL Music.

We'll see next week if the false rumours of a "Glee" appearance kicks her album back up the charts. :)

*************************************************

Update - 3rd Week on the Charts

In its 3rd week, album "Charice" drops further from #28 to #55 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and the first single off the album "Pyramid" feat. Iyaz drops out of the Billboard Hot 100.

The song is still charting on the Billboard Dance Songs Charts, holding onto the #15 spot, and claims #77 on the Canadian Hot 100 Charts.

So the rumours are still afloat that Charice will be joining the cast of Glee soon - what do you think about it? Do you like it? Do you think they don't need a new cast member?

*************************************************

Update - 4th Week on the Charts

Now on its fourth week, album "Charice" lands at #81 from #55 on the Billboard 200 Albums Charts. On the other side of the river though, it zooms back up and re-enters the Canadian Albums Chart at #14 following a very successful series of shows in Toronto, Canada.

On the Billboard Dance Songs Chart, it drops from #15 to #48, but on the Canadian Hot 100, it jumps back up 11 spaces to #66.

Do you want Charice to come to your country too? Shout out below. :)

*************************************************

Update - 5th Week on the Charts

It is Week No. 5 for Charice - the album which entered and peaked 5 weeks ago at #8 is down to #156 this week, dropping 75 places from the previous week on the Billboard 200 Charts.

Pyramid feat. Iyaz is still charting though on the Canadian Hot 100, holding on tightly to the 75th spot, although down from last week's #66.

Will this be the final week for Charice on the Billboard Charts?
When will she release a new single?
Will her appearance this week on Regis and Kelly affect her Billboard Charts ranking positively? We hope so, but we'll find out next week!

*************************************************

Update - 6th Week on the Charts

Album "Charice" is #173 on its 6th Week on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart slipping further down from #156 last week.

On the singles charts, Canadian Hot 100, Pyramid feat. Iyaz is still on the charts at #77, down 2 places from last week.

I am expecting a resurgence next week of her album sales - by how much, we can't say for sure. But definitely, after the announcement that Charice will be joining Glee next season, I am sure a lot of people will be curious about her.

Watch out next week for Charice's Billboard Charts positions!

*************************************************

Update - 7th Week on the Charts

It is an exciting 7th Week for Charice on the Billboard Charts!
Her self-titled album jumped from #173 to #139 this week and is one of the titles with the greatest airplay and sales gain this week - thanks largely to the announcement of her participation in Glee come September when the 2nd Season begins.

Last week over at Charicemania.com I had a short conversation around what Charice's character in Glee should be named - hopefully something Filipino sounding like Mayumi or something. Hehe. What do you reckon? Will her character even be Filipino?

Anyway, Charice also debuted this week on another Chart - Pyramid feat. Iyaz debuts at the Top Spot on Yahoo! Video, a chart that lists the Top 10 most-streamed video clips for the week on Yahoo! Music. She was also featured on Billboard.com's Mashup Mondays singing Shania Twain's "You're Still the One". See the VIDEO here.

Also this week, Charice sang the Philippine National Anthem for the Inauguration of the new President of the Philippines, Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

*************************************************

Chart Run Ends - 8th Week

On its 8th Week on the Billboard Charts, Charice dropped off the list but not without an impressive run...

Billboard Hot 100 - "Pyramid" feat. Iyaz entered and peaked at #56, dropped to #93 on its second a final week.
Billboard 200 Albums - "Charice" entered and peaked at #8 and from there continued to chart for 6 more weeks - #28 - #55 - #81 - #156 - #173 and rebounded to #139 before dropping off the list.
Dance/Club Songs - Pyramid is a Chart topper here, and stayed for a total of 9 weeks.
Digital Songs - "Pyramid" entered at #32, 1 week on this chart
Digital Albums - "Charice" entered at #8, 1 week on this chart
Japan Hot 100 - Proving she's an international phenomenon, "Pyramid" entered this chart at #61, stayed for 1 week
Canadian Hot 100 - A total of 9 weeks on this chart, "Pyramid" feat. Iyaz peaked at #41.
Canadian Albums - "Charice" is a hit in Canada, going up to #4 on this chart and staying on for 3 weeks
AOL Video song - #15, 1 week
Yahoo! Video - #1, 1 week

Do we expect another resurgence when Charice appears on the small screen come September? What do you think?

Source

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Learn how to Jejemon write! Lolz!...~ jejejeje!

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:45:41 PDT

Jejemon Encounters

ei0w p03Hwz!!

So, we've all had encounters with them Jejemons - from random text messages, Friendster friend requests (back in the day, you remember?), Facebook status updates, etc. - and now they have conquered mainstream media - with a fast growing viral popularity that rivals MelaSon or OchoOcho. They are now (unfortunately) part of Philippine Culture.

During the Philippine Presidential Election campaigns, we saw Jejemon being used as a campaign tool - like this photo of Sec. Gibo Teodoro. I also heard VP Candidate Jejomar Binay was turned into Jejemon Binay.

Because of this though, I have begun having this nagging feeling that I need to learn how to write in Jejemon so that at least I will be able to understand it, if eventually it takes over our normal language. :p

Here goes... I apologize in advance for any headaches this post will induce - it's all for academic purposes. Lolz!,,,Jejejeje!~~jeje!! Read on!

Jejemons use numbers f0r lett3rs - just b3c4use th3y're cut3r!

So I started with the obvious ones, exchange letters for numbers - "a" can be "4", like with a sl4nted psychedelic look to it. Exchange "e" with "3", but not 4ll the tim3. You c4n still us3 the normal "e", sometim3s. 3xh4nge y0ur capital "G" with "6" and sm4ll "g" with "9" - it m4k3s s3nse ri9ht? You can use "2" in pl4ce of "to" or "4" inste4d 0f "for" 4nytim3 y0u f33l like y0u n33d 2 do it... 4nd finally, us3 th3 numb3r "0" instead of the letter "o", just b3caus3 it's cut3r th4t w4y. Co0l! 63ttin9 th3 h4n9 0f it n0w?

Jejemons use symbols, m4k3,,tEx+s~,,'m0r3,,iNterezt!n9~~

L3t's g0 n0w 2 symb0ls! Try usin9 "+" in pl4c3 of "t" sinc3 i+ lo0ks th3 s4me anyw4y. R3pl4cing "i" wi+h "!" is jus+ w0nd3rfully art!st!c 4nd !ngen!0us, d0n't y0u 4gr33? By th3 w4y, an "a" c4n als0 be r3pl@c3d with an @ symb0l, d3p3nd!ng 0n h0w difficult it will bec0me 2 c0mpr3hend. I m3@n, d0n'+ us3 @ wh3n y0u're wr!tin9 an 3ma!l @dd3ss!

To g3t a wave-l!ke effect on your texts, use UPPER and lower case letters alternately. And wh!l3 w3'r3 4t !t, l3t's dr0p th3 "s" 4 s0m3 w0rDz and üs3 "z" inzte4d. Zpr!nkl3 i+ ar0und y0ur s3nt3nc3z 2 mak3 it m0r3 v!br4nt aNd in+er3sting 4 th3 r3aD3r.

J3jem0nZ aLs0 uSe a Wh0le l0t of pUnCtü4t!0n m4rkz,,, iMpr0p3r ~uSa9e,,oF''c0mM4s iz f0r3m0st. ExCl4ma+i0n po!ntz aRe a müzt,,!!

S0me uzefl jejemon shorcüts!! ~~üüü
Alt + 126 = ~
Alt + 129 = ü
Alt +130 = é
Alt + 131 to 134 = âäàå
aNd,,m4Ny~o+hérz!

Jejemons abbrv8 much

4n0tH3r j3jeM0n wR!+N9 rUl3, If~ tH3RE Ev3r~ w@z oNe IS - AbBr3v!8! Lolz!~ sINc3~ It wuz OrI9In4llY mEanT~ 4 tXT mEsSGEz, D ShORTEnInG Of~ wOrDZ iz å MüSt~ w3lL, eSPeC!ally sinC3 åNoTH3r~ rulE oF jEjemON wRitnG iz,, d adDiN9 Of A G3NErOüZ aMOUNT of coMMaz, ElLIpseZ, nD Wha+vER~ eLse~.

uSe "u" INsT3ad of "you", "d" INsteAD~ oF "the", "w/" f0r "with" aND dr0P lett3rz~ WeNeVER pOssIbLe.

Jejemons laugh heartily at every opportunity! Jejeje!

jeJemONz arE a~ Hpi BunCH. Jejejeje!! ~ thEY aRE @ctUallY nmeD dAT w4y BeC~ oF Th3ir~ VERy unIQUe l4ugHt3R~ - jejejeje! ThiZ TyP3 oF L4u9hT3R, sUm s@y, wuz oRig!nAllY uSeD bY oNl!ne mmoRPG g@meRz wHil3 tH3y pUmMeL oPp0n3nts 2 d gRoUnD. Jejejejeje!

Jejemons respect elders poehwz.

L@sTly, jej3m0nz aRe,, kN0wN 2 b v3rY~ k!nD nD r3speCtfUl, d3sp!te tHe!r wRiTin9 stYl3. It iz n0t uNuSuAl 4 j3jemonz 2 eNd aNy sent3nz w/ "po" - a s!gn of~ r3spEct 4 Filipinos. TH3r ar sveral vRsi0ns- frm d s!mpl3 "poh" 2 d mor iNteRestn9 "poewh" 2 d fLaMboUyant~ "phoewhzz" - tAk3 ur piCk pohw!!!!~~~ jejeje!

You are now a Jejemon!

Whew!

That was quite a challenge to write (and READ, i bet!). Now writing in jejemon doesn't end in the text construction - it is much more than that - something I can never teach. Well, first that it is mostly in Tagalog-English or Tag-lish.

Nonetheless, I hope you were able to learn a thing or two from this exercise - at least now, you'll be able to read jejemon! Why don't you go ahead and try it out in the comments section? Hehe! Good luck and go forth, new jejemons!

Update:

"Jejemon" won as word of the year in Sawikaan 2010

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Want more Jejemon stuff? Visit jejemon.com!

Philippine Elections 2010 Results (update)

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:11:46 PDT

Dear visitors, I have stopped updating the numbers on this blog post. For real time results of the 2010 Philippine Presidential Elections, please head on over to the COMELEC website or the PPCRV Website.

Thank you.

These are unofficial updates.

Official Results will be posted by COMELEC on this website: http://electionresults.ibanangayon.ph/

Figures below are taken from @PPCRV Twitter Account. Please Follow them on Twitter for updates. I will update this as PPCRV updates are Twitted out.

As of 8:10pm on May 14 (Friday), 68,915 or 90.11% of the total 76,475 precincts have been counted

President

Noynoy Aquino, 13,836,067 or 41.84%
Joseph Estrada, 8,756,370 or 26.48%
Manny Villar, 5,010,348 or 15.15%
Gibo Teodoro, 3,673,920 or 11.11%
Eddie Villanueva, 1,026,071 or 3.10%
Dick Gordon, 4,675,23 or 1.41%
Nicanor Perlas, 48,929 or 0.15%
Jamby Madrigal, 42,179 or 0.13%
JC Delos reyes, 40,056 or 0.12%

Vice President

Jejomar Binay, 13,485,911 or 40.79%;
Mar Roxas, 12,677,703 or 38.34%;
Loren Legarda, 3,805,564 or 11.51%;
Bayani Fernando, 937,305 or 2.83%;
Edu Manzano, 706,732 or 2.14%;
Perfecto Yasay, 330,735 or 1.00%;
Jay Sonza, 57,689 or 0.17%;
Jun Chipeco, 47,360 or 0.14%

Senators

Bong Revilla, 17,829,809 or 53.92%;
Jinggoy Estrada, 17,422,211 or 52.69%;
Miriam Defensor-Santiago 15,932,006 or 48.18%;
Franklin Drilon, 14,597,266 or 44.15%;
Juan Ponce-Enrile, 14,409,276 or 43.58%;
Pia Cayetano, 12,613,916 or 38.15%;
BongBong Marcos, 12,160,588 36.78%;
Ralph Recto, 11,399,270 or 34.48%;
Vicente Sotto III, 10,956,400 or 33.14%;
Sergio Osmeña II, 10,698,239 or 32.36%;
Lito Lapid, 10,068,304 or 30.45%
Teofisto Guingona, 9,474,051 or 28.65%
Risa Hontiveros, 8,416,741 or 25.46%
Ruffy Biazon, 7,954,338 or 24.06%
Jose De Venecia III, 7,712,718 or 23.33%
Gilbert Remulla, 6,898,536 or 20.86%
Danilo Lim, 6,749,674 or 20.41%
Sonia Roco, 6,234,708 or 18.86%
Ariel Querubin, 6,038,528 or 18.26%
Gwendolyn Pimentel , 5,850,533 or 17.69%

For more inquiries, please contact PPCRV Communications and Media Director Ana de Villa-Singson at mobile number 0917-523-2066 or email epsingson@pldtdsl.net. You may also visit www.ppcrv.org. .

PPCRV COMMAND CENTER HOTLINES:
Phone numbers 5254992; 5261417; 5262248; 5236574; 5253476; 5265694; 5260869; 5260012; 5253519;

Living Batangueño: Palaspas (Palm Sunday)

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:04:06 PDT

Here is a back post I should have published a month ago but wasn't able to. It is part of my Living Batangueño series.

I was in Batangas during the Palm Sunday weekend this year and attended the 6AM mass at the Santissima Trinidad Parish (the one beside the SM Batangas Mall).

Here are some of my favorite photographs from that day. You can click on the photos to see them full sized.

The early Palm Sunday morning

I'm not used to waking up early, but I did that day. I'm not sure why. My whole life I've only been to a Palm Sunday mass maybe less than 5 times - or at least that's how many I remember....

My friend Dom and I went ahead and bought ourselves our "palaspas". It was a glorious sight to see all of them green palm fronds together, not unlike seeing Christmas Trees at Christmastime. I got a simple one for a few pesos, and noticed they actually came in different designs - some more complicated than others.

We arrived to an already big crowd of people beside the road near the Shell gas station. The big group tried to listen to the priest's sermon despite the occasional jeepneys and the blaring campaign jingles of local candidates.

Being a former choirboy myself, I was pleasantly surprised at the small choir singing while sharing one microphone. Haha. The show must go on, make it work with one mic. Haha.

The Palm Sunday Ceremony

The priest, wearing a traditional red cape, walked around with his incense and Holy Water to bless the people and the palm fronds. The ceremony was very orderly, almost solemn.

The people lifted their palm leaves or "palaspas" and waved them in the air for the blessings from God.

After the ceremony, there was a short procession going from the corner of the street going back to the church. We had to run up the overpass to get this shot. :p From here you can see how many different palaspas styles there were.

Finally, here's a photo of light moment shared by the altar boys right before the mass begun. Soon after this, the costumed characters of the traditional "mini play" during the mass entered with the priest.

I was never an altar boy, but was a reader/lector and commentator for the Saturday "Children's Mass" when I was in grade school. There was one time, though, that they had this big play for the Lenten season in our local church...

A Frustrated Thespian

I distinctly remember auditioning for the church presentation at Lent when I was around 11 or 12. I was so convincing (lol) they wrote my part in. I played a street urchin who had only a few lines spoken repeatedly but in full drama (with real tears!).

In the beginning I would only declare events (as if people didn't already know!), I would shout about Jesus Christ's trial and then would eventually get lost in the crowd. When they announce Jesus' crucifixion I was devastated - while everyone else heckled and booed, I, like a nagging child, tried to convince everyone, including the audience that Jesus is the Son of God.

Later on, after the crucifixion, I would cry at the foot of the cross with Mama Mary (with real tears!)

I remember it was a very emotional, very draining show. But that it really tickled my interest to the world of theater. I would go on to participate in a few more plays while I was in the University. I also auditioned for a couple of professional gigs but never really got my "big break" hehe. That's why I describe myself in my profile as a "frustrated thespian". =D

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"Earning 10 in 2010" - April Online Earnings Update!

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:09:41 PDT

Earning 10 in 2010

Click image to view full size

"Slam! Bam! Pok! Pow!", echoed as my monthly blogging target was pummeled by my actual online earnings this month. Lol! Not really. :p

But for the third month in a row, I've surpassed by $10 per month target in the heels of my joining a news website, plus new opportunities from Sponsored Reviews.

Oh, and Blogvertise finally paid me my $2! woot...

Break it down!

Sponsored Reviews - When it rains, it pours. Well, OK, it doesn't. But I did get $20 from Sponsored Reviews this month. Yehey! That makes a total on $42.50 in 3 months. :D

Google Adsense - With the $11.08 earned this month from Google Adsense, I am beginning to see the potential benefits of SEO. I have tried optimizing my most read posts firsts in the attempt to keep them on the first page of Google Search, or if possible, to make them rank higher. Ok, so I said "beginning" - haha, not there yet, but as @marghil said during the last iBlog6 summit: "Be patient!"

Another contributing factor to my increasing Adsense earnings - I am now a contributor to a news blog, and am feeling very "journalistic" about it. Haha! I see awesome potential from this new venture and hope to cultivate it further as I learn more.

With these 2 combined, I hope to receive my first Google Adsense paycheck by October 2010 (maybe even earlier!). woot! It took me all of two years! Haha! Hopefully the second one won't take as long. :D

Sponsored Tweets - The problem remains, I only get 1 or 2 click from the new shortened links when I used to get up to 10 with bit.ly. It's dismal - I'm actually surprised they're still giving me opps. But I am guessing their premise is the more people see the new shortened links, the more inclined they are to click them. I earned $6.00 from Sponsored Tweets this month, plus $0.25 from referrals. That makes a total of $20.21 in 6 months.

Nuffnang.com.ph - This service earned me $1.18 or Php57.49 this month, not a lot, but they are still worth joining because of all their events, contests and freebies. I have so far accumulated $18.15 in 9 months.

Adgitize - It's my fault, I still have not been very active on this service and so it only got me $0.36 this month. That totals to $1.05 in 3 months. :p Thinking of dropping this now since I cannot attend to it anyway.

Chitika - I opened Adgitize and Chitika on the same day - and the difference is obvious. I earned $3.70 on Chitika this month, which totals to $6.24 since I began in January. It's catching up, and in the succeeding months, hopefully it will be at par with Adsense or at least at 80%. Haha.

Blogsvertise - The $2.00 have been paid out to me, finally! I am still on probation status on this service - I have no idea why because my blog is not less than 90 days old nor am I lacking in new content. I don't know. :p

I have sent a request to Blog4Reviews.com and ReviewMe.com but have not heard from them so far. Sponzai and PayPerPost, I am still waiting for an opp to come by. :p

Summarizing - Monetizing

In summary, my online earnings for 2010...
January 2010 = $9.60
February 2010 = $42.00
March 2010 = $15.03
April 2010 = $44.57

I have now earned a total of $111.21 (roughly Php5,300.00) in 4 months, but it is optimistic! Well, in so far as my target is concerned, it's pretty much in the bag. Hehe. Below is the breakdown per site/service of my January to April 2010 online earnings.

How have I performed in the past months? Read:

January 2010 - You can make money on the internet too - seriously!
February 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - Feb 2010 Online Earnings Update
March 2010 - "Earning 10 in 2010" - March Online Earnings update!

Learning more new things

It is a journey, learning how to make money online, one that requires patience - a lot of patience. And as with any "job" you need to work hard for it. Don't for one second think that this so called "passive" income did not require long hours of tweaking and optimizing, and yes - you need your brain for this too. :p

Another thing you need is inspiration. Inspiration may be simply your desire to earn money. Or whatever else from your family to your dog. If you run a personal blog like I do, you have to set limits -you wouldn't want to bombard your readers with sponsored posts lest they would feel taken for granted. :)

How did you fare on your online money makers this month? (Much more than me, I hope, haha!) If not, then just keep trying and we'll get there!

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Name the Souvenir Magnets Contest

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:48:38 PDT

Collecting Souvenir Refrigerator Magnets

I'm a confused collector. Whenever I travel, I always try to get a Souvenir Refrigerator Magnet, but I also get snow globes, keychains, T-shirts, mugs and whatever else I can afford. :p Well, so far, my ref magnet collection is the biggest one.

Below is a photo of our old refrigerator door with the Souvenir Magnets I've collected over the years. It is a mix of local and internation travel destinations. There are 32 magnets here - can you identify where all of them come from? (Not counting the black GE logo!)

Identify all 32 magnets! Click the photo to view full size.

Join the contest...

Name the Souvenir Magnets Contest!

Let's make it a contest! There is only one requirement: Please describe what the magnets look like and then where it is from - then EMAIL your answers to listahan@gmail.com and leave a comment below to let me know that you joined!

An example: "Black rectangle - General Electric Logo" (lol, this is not one of the magnets!)

Rules and Prizes:

Whoever identifies the most (or all of the) magnets will be featured in my next blog post. (Lol, not much of a prize, but hey it's an uber EASY contest!). I will also give your logo with a link to your blog a 125x125 ad space on my sidebar for 1 month! :D woot!
There can be more than one winner. I will feature all y'all don't worry. :p
No copying from your seatmates! Lol. :p
This mini contest will run from April 29 to May 15, 2010 only!

Enjoy!

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Book Launch of “Balik-Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears”

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:45:00 PDT

The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears, a book launch

Mark your calendar, on May 22, the movie icons of the Golden Era of Philippine Movieworld will descend upon the Traders Hotel, Roxas Boulevard for an afternoon of singing and dancing, and most of all, reminiscing of about the lives of these elegant men and women of the Philippine movie industry.

Lets us join in celebrating the launching of a book, “Balik-Tanaw: The Filipino Movie Stars of Yesteryears” a compilation of snippets of the lives of actors and actresses who illuminated the silver screen from the 1930s to early 1960s. It was written by Dr. Romy Protacio, an aficionado of Philippine movies who had the rare chance of sharing friendships with most of the stars in his book....

True to its title, Dr. Romy (or Doc Romy, as his friends fondly call him), gives the readers a chance to reminisce the glorious days of Philippine movies, as they read quotes from the stars themselves, talking about their past achievements, the love(s) of their lives, life lessons learned and thoughts on their lives today.

A Lifetime Dream

It has been a lifetime dream for Doc Romy to write about his friends in the movie industry and see them immortalized in print. With the help of the stars he featured, this is now a dream come true. He believes that movie icons such as Delia Razon, Gloria Romero, Rosa Rosal, Susan Roces, Dolphy, Eddie Garcia, German Moreno, Anita Linda, Bella Flores, to name a few, have their rightful places in the history of Philippine film. Their works are testaments of amazing homegrown talent that have survived the test of time.

The book launch will be celebrated with a cocktail buffet from 3:30 pm on May 22, Saturday at the Traders Hotel, Roxas Boulevard. Get the chance to see your favorite movie icons as they sign a copy of your book which you can treasure for the years to come.

Take part in the highlights of the evening, such as film clips of vintage movies, outstanding song performances from the world renowned U.P. Concert Chorus, dance exhibitions from world renowned ballroom dancer, Edna Ledesma and partner, Miguel de la Serna, as well as special numbers by Ms. Pilita Corrales and Ms. Marita Zobel. T.V. personality, Arnel Ignacio, will be the afternoon’s host and Don Bosco Rondalla Group will provide the afternoon’s music.

This is a fund raising event is open to the public. Suggested donation is PhP450 per person. Part of the proceeds of this event will benefit Baliksamahan, an organization focused on improving the welfare of movie stars, both still working and those who have retired from the limelight.

For ticket reservations, call Blezie Gaon at 0917-531-4715m or Becky Torres at 0917-609-3526 or email baliktanaw2010[at]gmail[dot]com for more details.

Notes about the Author - Dr. Romy Protacio

Dr. Romy Protacio began his career as a folk and modern dancer. He was a professor at the University of the East, having completed a bachelor’s degree in English, with special studies in journalism, and a Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Second Language. He went to the U.S. to pursue his doctoral degree. He was the first Filipino graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu to receive a doctorate in Education in Institutional Management.

He worked in various positions in Human Resources shortly after. In 1999, he moved to Seattle, Washington and became the Personnel Manager of the City of Marysville.

“Doc Romy”, used to write a regular column for One Philippines, “Fair and Balanced.” He is now the entertainment editor and columnist of the Asian Journal San Diego, the original and first Asian Journal in America.

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NBA player BJ Armstrong meet & greet at Velocity Bar

noreply@blogger.com (reyjr) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:43:38 PDT

Last week, thanks to Marriott Hotel Manila, I got the rare opportunity to meet one of NBA's legends, former Chicago Bulls basketball player, Benjamin Roy Armstrong Jr., or B.J. Armstrong, also referred to as "B.J., The Kid."

The event was held in Marriott's Velocity Bar, the Philippines' first and only 5-star sports and entertainment bar.

The meet and greet was relaxed and casual, with people taking turns asking for autographs and taking photos with the basketball star. It lasted about half and hour and was adjourned with B.J. Armstrong giving an autographed basketball as a gift to Marriott Hotel.

B.J. Armstrong with my friend, Ging

B.J. Armstrong - Basketball Star

Here are some highlights of B.J. Armstrong's illustrious career in the NBA according to Wikipedia...

Selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft, the 6'2" (1.88 m) Armstrong helped the team return to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1989-90.
The following season 1990-91 he helped them win their first NBA title against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In 1991-92 Armstrong averaged double-digit scoring while coming off the bench behind longtime starter John Paxson to help the Chicago Bulls win their second straight title.
In 1992-93 he locked down the starting job, helped the Chicago Bulls' win their third straight title. He also claimed the NBA's three-point field goal percentage crown.
In 1993-94 he emerged as more of a leader in the wake of Michael Jordan's retirement, placing third on the team in scoring.
He was voted a starter in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game, finished second in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage while leading the team to a second-round exit from the playoffs.
Armstrong finished third in scoring again in 1994-95 and with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc, led the team to the second round again.
Armstrong was the first player chosen in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft (via Toronto Raptors) and played for the Golden State Warriors in 1995-96 and in 1996-97. Four games into the 1997-98 season, he was acquired by the Charlotte Hornets, playing 62 games that year. He also played 10 games for the Hornets in the 1998-99 season before being signed by the Orlando Magic in March of that year.
On August 30, 1999 he was again signed by the Chicago Bulls and played the 1999–2000 season and retired at the end of the season.

Are you fan of B.J. Armstrong?

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