Cat's Walks

20 things I hate about the Philippines

2012-03-15T19:11:00.001+01:00

I admit that I agree with some of his points but some points can be attributed to cultural difference. For one I don`t agree that all the beautiful girls in the Philippines are lady boys ;-). I guess the thing that annoyed me the most about this video is not the content but how much conviction the host showed in his delivery of the reasons he hate the Philippines. If he truly hates it there then he should go home. What say you?

Taho nga!

2011-12-04T18:07:00.003+01:00

I had a big taho craving today. Several blogs posted a few interesting taho quick fix recipes but I decided to follow the recipe from "Panlasang Pinoy". It is very easy to make! I didn't make my arnibal though but used maple syrup instead. The key ingredient is the soft or silken tofu and the tapioca balls. I boiled the tapioca balls for about 1 hour then put in on top of the silken tofu that I heated in the microwave then poured a generous serving of maple syrup and I have my taho! Brilliant! Yummy!

Bestfriends

2011-09-25T20:16:00.001+02:00

50 things to do before I die

2011-07-11T11:03:00.000+02:00

On 8/28/09, in a moment of introspection, I listed the 50 things I wanted to do before I die. It's only 50 because I couldn't find enough things to extend the list to 100. Now, barely 2 years later, I halved that list! Here are the stuff that I still need to do:

1. Go to Egypt and see the pyramids;
2.Write a bestselling novel;
3. Own my dream house;
4. Tour the Philippines;
5.Learn German;
6. Learn French;
7. Learn to drive;
8. Be 42.0 kilos;
9. Get a Master's degree;
10.Dye my hair blond;
11. Run a marathon;
12. Get toned abs;
13.Stay in a really expensive hotel for a weekend;
14. Go around the world for a year;
15. Adopt a homeless child;
16. Offer a college scholarship grant;
17. Ride a camel ;
18. Have a nude artistic photograph of myself;
19.Own a house on the beach;
20.Go to Thailand;
21.See the Grand Canyon;
22.Plant a tree;
23.Own a Mercedes Benz;
24.Get an MBA;
25.Cut my hair really short;
26.Travel around Europe in a mobile home.

Plus, I got a tattoo! It was not on my list but I mentally added it. It was 51st on my list. See:

Bohol Beach Club

2011-07-04T11:46:00.000+02:00

If you have time to go to only one island in the Philippines, I would definitely recommend Bohol. I love Bohol. I think it has the best of what the Philippines have to offer. For our second trip to Bohol, we wanted some peace and quiet so we decided to stay in Bohol Beach Club instead of Alona Beach.

The beachfront of Bohol Beach Club is very photogenic. The sand is white though not as fine as the sand in Boracay. The resort is quite exclusive so it is quite peaceful to rest on the beach.

The resort offers diving, kayaking, and free glassboat rides! In Kenya, we paid 35 dollars per person for the glass boat ride and we saw 1 brain coral. In Bohol Beach Club, the glassboat ride was free and they took us to their wonderful house reef just a few meters off the beach. The reef was full of beautiful colorful coral and fish . That was a highlight!

My only problem with the Bohol Beach Club was that their rooms were not so nice. Their avid use of fluorescent lights did not do the rooms any favor aesthetically. I would suggest using less fluorescent lighting and more soft yellow lights. I am all for energy conservation but energy saving bulbs come in different hues too. The white tiles in the bathroom made the room feel quite cheap. On the positive side, the garden was beautiful, the pool was great, the food was good.

Since we were busy learning how to dive. It was only during our last day that we realized that we can go out of the resort to eat. Immediately next to the resort is a public picnic place where there are stalls that offer grilled treats. There is also the Dumaluan Beach Resort nearby with a pretty decent restaurant. We spent 6 days at the Bohol Beach Club, even though they have 3 restaurants, I got tired of it that I was very glad to go somewhere else to eat.

Bohol Beach Club -http://www.boholbeachclub.com.ph/

Bengal Cats

2011-05-17T14:53:00.005+02:00

What breed of cat looks like a leopard, barks like a dog, and loves water? Answer: Bengal Cat! They are a relatively new breed of cat that came about by cross breeding a house cat with an asian leopard cat. I am so in-love with them! I first saw them at the Animalia in St. Gallen last weekend.

Below is an Animal Planet documentary about this wonderful breed of cat:

We are on our way to getting ourselves one. If you also want one, here is the link of the club of reputable Bengal cat breeders in Switzerland: http://www.igbengal.ch/IGB_ZuechterCH.php

Memorable Photos: Trump Tower in Chicago

2011-04-09T12:42:00.000+02:00

Filipino Accent Tutorial by Mike Bustos

2011-04-05T12:39:00.000+02:00

This is really good. So true.

5 Most Common Issues in Contraception

2011-03-31T13:04:00.001+02:00

Estrogen pills may be used by both men and women for different reasons, but even with regular use in women to try to alter their fertility patterns, mistakes can nonetheless be made in birth control methods.

1. Not Using Protection

This can be one of the biggest mistakes. Men who don't use condoms are at a remarkably higher risk of making women they sleep with pregnant. This contraceptive mistake happens either because many the younger generation engaging in sex do not understand the importance of using protection or they just don't want to use condoms since the sensations to them don't feel as stimulating and pleasurable. But this is sometimes a very costly error in case a couple is looking to avoid getting pregnant.

2. Forgetting to Adopt Birth Control Pills

Some women never obtain a prescription for contraceptive pills in the first place, and some do but forget to take them. This can pose a critical hazard to an intelligent birth control approach between couples. These pills have to be taken on a regular basis, usually in the exact same time on a daily basis. If not, the chances of effective contraceptive are severely diminished and the ease of getting pregnant becomes greatly magnified. It's really not a wise decision to miss taking these prescribed pills.

3. No Intrauterine Devices

Some women want to take their chances at conceiving a child by not only not using protection or contraception pills but by also never getting an IUD from their gynecologist. This is an immature technique of looking at birth control since IUDs are so effective at preventing pregnancy. While they are not 100% effective by any means, they're still an outstanding birth control choice for women of most any age who are sexually active. Plus, they can be applied inside a woman in a short doctor's visit and also the procedure is completely painless and relatively inexpensive too, so there should be no reason why women make this wrong birth control decision.

4. Using Inefficient Withdrawal Method

Withdrawal of the erect male organ is among the worst birth control methods ever invented. It almost never works since the temptation for the male is to continue to keep his penis inserted inside female at the point of orgasm and ejaculation. This mistake is so costly to an incredible number of girls and women of nearly every age.

5. Having Sex During Most Fertile Time

One of the worst birth control mistakes is for a woman to engage in sexual practice during her most fertile times of the month. That is not very logical. It makes little sense, yet it's done on a regular basis, mostly by younger ladies, who might not have a full understanding of exactly how the fertility and pregnancy processes are associated.

About the writer: B. Coon has a degree in Gynecology and blogs for the www.estrogenpills.org website, her personal hobby blog she uses to deliver free information on estrogen pills.

Contraception

2011-03-31T13:03:00.000+02:00

During lunch with my colleagues we talk about a lot of different topics. A few weeks ago, I told them about my misconceptions about contraception when I was a teenager and this shocked them a lot. Filipino teenagers get their information about sex solely from their friends. Most of the time the information is total crap. Maybe 1 or 2 of my highs school classmates got pregnant in the first year of university and each year a few more succumbed. By the time we finished university, about 50% of my high school classmates had a child or got someone pregnant. Some were forced to marry early and some even stopped studying. Not surprisingly, most of these marriages did not work and ended up in separation. Since we don't have divorce in the Philippines, it was very difficult to correct this mistake. It was such a pity because we were supposed to have good futures as we were supposed to be the "scholar ng bayan"! No matter how intelligent we were supposed to be, we were ignorant about sex because we didn't have any kind of proper sexual education. This ignorance really messed up a lot of our lives. The problem was, since we were not supposed to be having sex, adults did not think it was necessary to inform us about it. Going to the gynecologist for a pill prescription was out of the question as the doctor would probably call our parents. The only option to get information was to listen to other ignorant teenagers about contraception.

Imagine that it was a common belief in my time that if you drink aspirin (some other variation of this legend says you should drink coke with it) after sex, you won't get pregnant. It was said that it is better of course if you drink a lot of aspirin. If you bleed then there would be no baby. Gosh! Aspirin is a blood thinner. It's crazy to overdose on it for contraception purposes. Even if I didn't try the aspirin method myself, I know for a fact that drinking aspirin won't prevent pregnancy. Maybe, it can kill you but it is not a form of contraception.

Since politicians and the church are still arguing about the RH bill, I thought it is a good idea to post some pointers about safe sex and contraception here. So when Betty Coon asked me if she can guest blog about contraception, I said yes immediately.

Here in Switzerland, parents give their teenage children condoms themselves. This is not to encourage them to have sex but to prevent them from contracting AIDS or getting pregnant. The fact is, young people do it anyway whether we can admit it to ourselves or not. What we should do is educate our children about it. Actually, in doing that,we demystify sex and maybe even achieve to teach them abstinence. Why is it so bad to teach teenagers about sex? Gosh, I am not asking for a practical demonstration of the Kama Sutra but only lessons about how to protect themselves against STDs and unwanted pregnancy. Will that really be so titillating?

I hope bloggers who support the RH bill will post more materials about sex education.

7 Bataan barangays follow Ayala Alabang, pass own RH laws

2011-03-29T17:44:00.000+02:00

I am reposting this article from Inquirer.net. I think this just shows how the Catholic Church can easily manipulate the common mind. Prohibiting condoms (making people get prescriptions for condoms is the same as prohibiting it) is a crime! If I would be a lawmaker, I would pass a law that would make it mandatory for government officials to "pass" an IQ test.

7 Bataan barangays follow Ayala Alabang, pass own RH laws
By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
First Posted 04:59:00 03/28/2011

Filed Under: Family planning, Local authorities, Legislation

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Seven barangay councils in Balanga City in Bataan province have enacted ordinances similar to the controversial Ayala Alabang ordinance that bans the sale of contraceptives in its locality without a doctor’s prescription.
The local law allows only the Catholic Church-sanctioned natural family planning methods to be discussed in village health centers.
First batch
Barangays Puerto Rivas Lote, Puerto Rivas Ibaba, Puerto Rivas Itaas, Cupang Proper, Cupang West, Tortugas and Tanato became the first batch of villages in the country to follow the lead of Barangay Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City in the Catholic Church-led campaign against House Bill No. 4244, or the proposed Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011 (RH bill).
Protect rights
Catholic Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said the barangay captains gave copies of the ordinances enacted from March 16 to 25 to Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III before the closing of an anti-RH bill rally attended by some 10,000 people in Balanga City on Saturday night.
“We signed a covenant where we promised to protect the lives of our constituents—including the unborn,” Tortugas Barangay chairman Victor Baluyot said by telephone on Sunday.
Santos said he was happy that village leaders made “prol-ife ordinances.”
“These reveal the unity and harmony between the church and government and we are working hard for the protection of life,” he said.
Result of forum
Asked why the village councils passed ordinances that were almost a replica of the Ayala Alabang ordinance, Santos said that might have been the result of a forum he organized on the request of barangay leaders where the lecturers were from the Ayala Alabang council.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is campaigning hard against the RH bill which is currently being discussed in Congress. The CBCP on its website encourages village officials to “defend their positions against the RH bill by enacting ordinances that would protect the sanctity of life, especially of the unborn.”
Fear of extinction
“Kinopya po namin (We copied the Ayala Alabang ordinance),” Puerto Rivas Ibaba Barangay Captain Manny Bustamante said by telephone.
“Ayaw po naman namin na lumiit o mawala ang susunod na henerasyon sa aming barrio (We don’t want the population in our village to shrink or be gone),” Bustamante said. His village has almost 5,000 residents.
The city government is expected to deliberate on the controversial ordinance.
Earlier, the Muntinlupa City Council put the Ayala Alabang ordinance on hold and remanded it back to the barangay, reminding village officials to brush up on human rights laws.
Unconstitutional
“The right of any individual to access contraceptives and family planning methods deemed illegal in the barangay ordinance, yet allowed by the Department of Health, may constitute a violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution,” the city council had said in its letter to the barangay.
Catholic educator and constitutional legal expert, Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas S. J., denounced the ordinance as likely unconstitutional, adding that it was a crude “attempt by a sector of the Catholic Church to instrumentalize the power of the state to impose Catholic belief on all others.” With reports from Elmer Kristian Dauigoy, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Romulo O. Ponte, Inquirer Southern Luzon

Kenya Adventure: Of tents, camps and lodges

2011-03-22T15:43:00.000+01:00

Staying in a lodge and sleeping in a tent is a big part of the experience of doing a safari. These lodges are inside the park so there is always the possibility of having wild animals outside your tent. I am using the word "tent" very loosely as these tents are actually more like hotel rooms. Whatever the case, it can get pretty unnerving because in the middle of the night, you hear strange noises outside your tent. Twice we stayed in a lodge built a few meters from a body of water. Both times, the water was populated by crocodiles and hippos. Crocodiles sometimes go out of the water and stay a few meters from the tent! I was always afraid that I wouldn't see them and they would bite me. The hippos on the other hand like to go out of the water at night. They are most dangerous when they hurry back into the water at dawn.

Tents at the Vogayer Safari Lodge

Hippos run over anything between them and the water. Of course, there is always the possibility of a leopard waiting to eat you when you step out of your tent at night. Thank goodness for the Maasai warriors protecting us!

Accomodations at the Vogayer Safari Lodge

It was an eerie experience being the "hunted".

Patterson Camp

Kenya Adventure: Safari at the Tsavo Park

2011-03-19T00:09:00.004+01:00

There are actually two Tsavo National Parks, the Tsavo east and Tsavo west. As I am quite confused about which Tsavo Park we took the photos below, please allow me to simply say Tsavo Park.

It is quite easy to distinguish the two parks, as Tsavo East is dryer, the soil is red and flat whereas Tsavo West is greener and mountainous. Tsavo park is divided into East and West by the A109 highway. Going there for safari is probably one of the highlights of my life. All throughout our 3-day tour, I had the soundtrack of Lion King in my head...awimbawe,awimbawe,awimbawe...

We did not see all of the big five but we saw enough. We saw elephants, lions, jackals, hartebeests, zebras, and giraffes to name a few. I was not able to take photos of all the animals we saw as I was not fast enough. Now, I have more respect for wildlife photographers. I realized that very few animals actually stop to pose for you. Before I could adjust my shutter speed, the animals are gone. I was always on auto as a result.

We booked our trip from Private Safaris in Switzerland. I do not regret booking from Switzerland (Kuoni) even if we realized upon arriving in Kenya that we paid maybe 5 times more than if we would have booked from Kenya. I can't complain because we had a good experience with them. The Private Safari staff were extremely professional. We were alone in the van during the safari, and our driver Thomas was great and really knowledgeable. We wouldn't have seen anything at all without his guidance. In contrast, we booked locally for a tour of Mombasa and we were quite disppointed about the whole thing. We will most likely book with Private Safaris again when we go to Serengeti next year. We are positive that with them, their guides are well trained to handle demanding tourists like us.

If you are on a limited budget, it is more than possible to book the safari when you arrive. It is much much much cheaper. Just be careful to find a good operator. If you are in Diani Beach, you can check out DM Tours and Safaris. We saw a lot of their vans in Tsavo. We also checked out their office and the staff seemed nice. We didn't actually went on tour with them, we just checked out the price for the next time.

This guy I think is an gazelle:

Giraffes:

These gals could be impallas:

Elephants playing in the watering hole:

Termite mound:

Next year we plan to go to Masai Mara for the great migration. This happens around July-September.

If you are thinking to go to Kenya for a Safari, I strongly suggest to do a combination of Masai Mara and Tsavo. I am really kicking myself for missing Masai Mara.

Kenya Adventure: Can I entice you for a swim?

2011-03-10T21:23:00.002+01:00

Can entice you for a refreshing swim in this beautiful lake with a view of Mt. Kilamanjaro?

Isn't it peaceful?

Maybe not. Look again:

There are 50 of these guys (or gals, in this case) living in this lake.

Check the 2nd and 3rd photos carefully to see the crocodiles. Aside from about 50 crocodiles, there are also several hippos living in this lake.

Kenya Adventure: Maasai

2011-03-10T19:17:00.029+01:00

One of the highlights of our Kenyan vacation was meeting the Maasai people. The Maasai are semi-nomadic people living in Kenya and northern Tanzania. It's difficult to miss them. They are usually tall and thin and dress in a distinctive red cloth. It is also usual for them to have piercings, stretched ear lobes, and to wear beaded ornaments.

The video below is a Maasai dance presented in our hotel. I don't know if I understood correctly but it is supposed to be a courtship dance. The Maasai warrior that jumps the highest wins.

We slept in tents during our safari. The camps we stayed in are inside the reserve. There was always the danger of wild animals accosting you when you go out of the room. Imagine, our tent in our first camp (picture below) was only a few meters away from a river full of crocodiles and hippos. At the camp, we always had our Maasai warrior escort when we leave our room. They were armed only with spears and knives. I was really impressed because the Masai warriors were the real deal and not merely dressing like one for the show. Afterall, the national park full of lions, leopards, and other dangerous animals are the natural habitat of the Maasai and I can't be more confident that they would not allow the lions to eat us.

All the Maasai that we met were very sweet and gentle. It is strange to think that these same guys can kill a lion armed only with a spear!

Traditional Filipino Courting Tutorial by Mikey Bustos

2011-03-08T17:56:00.000+01:00

This is really funny. I love the accent. This was true when I was young(er). Now, I have no idea if the courtship rules are still accurate.

I can (almost) ski

2011-03-07T11:27:00.000+01:00

Despite evidence to the contrary, I did not fall at the end of this video.

Skiing as a beginner in Andermatt, Switzerland was great. The blue piste is really blue. There was sun until late afternoon. The best thing of all was that there were not so many people. This time I actually enjoyed myself. The previous times it was more about survival than anything.

P.S.
I really like my pink helmet!

Best Romance Novels

2011-03-04T15:23:00.000+01:00

Okay, I've stopped blogging for awhile. The reason is that I have been reading a lot of everything. The past few months though, I been indulging on romance books. The really cheesy, gooey kind preferably. It's my guilty pleasure. Here is a list of the best romance novels (I limited the selection to shallow entertainment) that I read the past few months (I read really a lot of them) in no particular order.

1. Lord of Scoundrels- Loretta Chase This is the ultimate reformed bad boy story. Lord Dain is the meanest, most tortured, but at the same most cuddly hero ever. Jessica is the ultimate girl power heroine. Jessica is the Beauty to Lord Dain's Beast. Their chemistry is perfect and sizzling making Lord of Scoundrels one of the greatest romances ever!

2.Passion- Lisa ValdezThis one is hot, hot, hot. Don't read it in the bus because it will make you uncontrollably flush and blush. I was totally taken aback by how erotic it is. What is even more shocking is that the author actually managed to write three dimensional characters that you will feel for inspite of all that erotic content.

3. Naked in Death - J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) A futuristic detective mystery romance series. Lt. Eve Dallas is a tough cop, Roarke is a swoon-worthy billionaire playboy that just wants Eve. What more can I say?

4. The Duke - Gaelen Foley Heartbreaking but ultimately rewarding romance. Most Gaelen Foley novels I've read always veer toward the dark side of life--rape, murder, etc-- and The Duke is no different.

5. Tairen Soul Series - C.L. Wilson This got me hooked to the fantasy romance genre. Five books in all, it follows Feyreisen (fairy king) Rain Tairen Soul and Ellysetta, a woodcarver’s daughter as they try to save the Fading Lands. Of course, to save the world they have to fall in love unconditionally first....

6. Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas There is a formula to a Kleypas story: Misunderstood, self-made alpha male meets a strong willed female who will cherish him. Just before the end, something will happen to her that will make the alpha male believe that he has lost her. The loss of course will make him realize really how much he needs her. Of course, everything turns out fine at the end. What can I say, it works!

7. Where Dreams Begin - Lisa Kleypas Same as above.

8. Dark Lover - J.R. Ward Action packed vampire romance.

9. The Fever Series- Karen Marie Moning I just had to read this after Tairen Soul. It is not an in your face romance but more of urban fantasy with some romance. No "I love you forever" blah blah in this one.

10. Highlander Series- Karen Marie Moning- Okay, I like Karen Marie Moning. Before writing the Fever Series, Moning was known for the Highlander Series. In this series you have the big, dark alpha males paired with intelligent, strong heroines. Very satisfying.

Ayala Alabang requires prescription for condoms

2011-02-25T14:48:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness! I just read this in abs-cbn news today. I can't believe it:

Barangay Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City is now requiring people who buy condoms to present a doctor’s prescription. In a barangay ordinance last January 3, village officials said condoms and other contraceptives cause abortions.
The ordinance also bars teachers, reproductive health advocates, and social workers from holding sex education activities in the barangay without prior consultation with parents of students.
Local officials also banned advertisement of all forms of contraceptives in the village.
Those who approved the ordinance were barangay chairman Alfred Xerez-Burgos, Jr.; kagawads Joanna Caluglug, Alice Bacani, Maria Carmen Reyes, Ma. Soledad Tugade, Mariano Manas Jr., Apolinario delos Santos III, Giancarlo Nazario; and Sangguniang Kabataan chairman Juan Enrico Parfan.
They said “contraceptive pills, hormonal contraceptives, and the IUD may kill children and injure the health of women who use them.”
Village officials also believe that contraceptives “undermine the solidarity of families by promoting premarital sex, giving rise to more fatherless children, more single mothers, more poverty, and more abortions.”
The resolution also claims that condoms are “unconstitutional” because “they promote and sanction immoral sexual congresses among the unmarried and especially among the young, thereby contradicting the Constitutional injunction that the State ‘shall promote and protect … the physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being of the youth.”
Aside from asking people to present a prescription before they are allowed to buy condoms in Ayala Alabang, pharmacists are required by the ordinance to record the following data in a book for “abortives and anti-conceptionals":
- Number and date of the prescription;
- Name and address of the physician;
- Name, quantity and manufacturer of the drug;
- Name and address of the purchaser;
- Date of filling the prescription; and
- Signature of the pharmacist filling the prescription.
Those who will violate the ordinance can be fined up to P500 or jailed for up to 4 months.
Village officials said foreigners who will violate the measure should also be deported.
Muntinlupa City officials have yet to comment on the ordinance.

I am so shocked, I am speechless. Is this really our "level" now?

Sync your Android phone to Itunes

2011-02-13T20:06:00.000+01:00

It seems that syncing my new Motorola Defy to my Itunes library is the biggest obstacle to my total enjoyment of my new phone. I tried TuneSync but somehow it didn't want to work for me. I spent hours and hours trying. I then braced myself to just physically copying my music folder to the microSD card on my phone. Today I found Easy Phone Tunes and its great! It is really easy to use and it syncs Itunes seamlessly. I spent 15 minutes on it and my playlists are all on my phone. I just followed the detailed instructions on how to connect the phone to the PC and it just worked. Sometimes with stuff like this, it is more surprising if something worked than if something didn't work. Now, I am really all set and ready to live life with my new Android phone.

Goodbye Iphone (3GS), hello Motorola Defy

2011-02-11T17:39:00.003+01:00

My iphone died two days ago. It committed suicide by jumping inside the toilet bowl. I grieved it a lot. It changed my life completely. I was so lost without it for 2 days. For a year, I slept, woke up, played, and read with it. I decided to then to buy a "cheaper" Android smartphone to help me wait for the Iphone 5. I wanted an Android phone because of the extensive app market for Android, second only to the Apple App Store.

After considering a lot of Android phones in the market, I settled for the Motorola Defy. It seems that this phone corners the market of previous Iphone users whose phone suffered the same fate as mine. The Motorola Defy is WATERPROOF, scratchproof, or "lifeproof". Sounded good to me.

I bought it yesterday evening, and I am happy to say that after playing with it for only the whole night last night, I have my emails set-up and all my essentials apps installed. I really like the Motorola Defy a lot. I don't think I am buying that next Iphone after all.

Bishop threatens Aquino with excommunication over birth control

2010-09-30T12:14:00.000+02:00

I applaud Pres. P-Noy for standing firm regarding the artificial birth control issue. We need a good population control policy. This is very clear. I was in the Philippines recently and it is obvious that our country is over populated. This is what makes our countrymen poor. Our resources are overextended, our land is being destroyed by overpopulation. What we don't need are catholic priests controlling our government. Remember the principle of separating church from the state?

Bishop Nereo Odchimar of Tandag, Surigao del Sur, the current CBCP president said "Well, being the President of all, you must consider the position of the Catholic Church because we are approaching these issues from the moral aspect like the unborn..." I guess it is more moral to rape young boys and girls and then be not punished for it and then cover it up as in the case of some Irish Catholic priests in the news lately. Consider that it is the pope himself who failed to punish these paedophiles back in the day. In a twisted way, these priests think it is not moral or even evil for women to consider their rights to reproductive health. Women should just have one child after the other, regardless of what they want, and god will provide for these children. As in the child below:

Photo from http://www.intellasia.net/news/articles/society/111269499.shtml

The good Bishop also said that "it is ironic that the (International Rice Research Institute) is in the Philippines but we are importing rice from Vietnam which was ravaged by the Vietnam war. Vietnam is exporting rice to the Philippines." In making this statement he should not forget that Vietnam is not a catholic country and they don't have meddling catholic priests telling their president how to run their country.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100930-295226/Bishop-threatens-Aquino-with-excommunication-over-birth-control

A glimpse of Athens

2010-06-30T17:48:00.001+02:00

Here are some pictures of the Acropolis from my recent Athens trip. I was a little bit disappointed at how broken it is. The Greek ruins in Paestum near Naples, Italy are much more preserved. Embarrassingly, I was so unprepared for my trip to Greece that I even forgot to take a good camera! I did not see much of Athens because I was busy working. Well, I was there for work and not tourism. All these pictures are taken using my iphone.

The picture below is the view of Athens from the Acropolis. I was quite surprised how big it is.

This one is a view of the Acropolis from Athens.

Unfortunately, I think what they say is true, Athens is not a very charming city. I liked it personally because it felt real and not like "Disneyland".

I like: Itrip

2010-06-13T20:36:00.001+02:00

You might laugh but one of my main problems in life since getting my iphone is how to play the iphone in the car. The problem is we have one of those cars without an aux plug.Anyway, while whining about this problem to a friend she told us about the itrip. This device have existed for a long time and nobody I have ever whined this particular problem have proposed it to me as a solution. Well, I am happy to have it now!

The itrip works by converting the sound from your MP3 player, iphone, or ipod to radio signals so all you have to do is tune your car radio to the frequency you set on your itrip then you can magically listen to your ipod in the car.

The sound quality is perfect (we got the Belkin universal one)! I can't see the difference between the itrip and the CD player in the car. Great device! Wish I'd known about it sooner.

I like: Logitech Squeezebox

2010-05-27T17:46:00.002+02:00

If you also have all your music in your computer and you want to listen to it in another part of your house without turning the volume so loud that your neighbors would start to complain then like me you need a Squeezebox. This device is so cool because it allows you to listen to your music away from your computer wireless. I hate wires! This is the perfect solution for me. I am actually thinking of buying 3--one for the bathroom, living room and the bedroom. If you have high performance speakers already, there is also a model that you can just hook up to it. Funny, I did not even know Squeezebox existed until recently only to find out that 70% of people I know have it! Better late than never!

Squeezebox wireless music listen to music wireless wireless speakers