ChocoCherryCoco

My birthday song ... or lyrics

2011-11-22T20:26:00.002+08:00

Just a little something to uplift my spirit (just youtube the song. hehe):

Lyrics | R. Kelly lyrics - World's Greatest lyrics

Happy birthday to me :)

Reflections on "My Maid Invests in the Stock Market ... and Why You Should, Too!"

2011-04-04T17:24:00.005+08:00

Here are my notes and reflections on Bo Sanchez' "My Maid Invests in the Stock Market ... And Why You Should, Too!"

Envelope System
1. First Envelope - Tithe Fund (10%)
2. Second Envelope - Expense Fund (Food, Gas, Bills, Mortgages, Entertainment)
3. Third Envelope - Support Fund (for the family)
4. Fourth Envelope - Emergency Fund (6 months living expenses)
5. Fifth Envelope - Retirement Fund (pension plans, mutual funds, stocks)

Four Rules of Making Millions in the Stock Market
1. Invest Small Amounts Every Month for 20 Years or More
- Invest, not trade
- Take advantage of Money-Cost Averaging
2. Invest Even When There's a Crisis
- A crisis is a wonderful buying opportunity
- You can buy the stocks of great companies at cheaper prices
3. Invest Only in Giants
- this way, you'll be assured that when the stocks go down, they will be able to bounce back
4. Invest in Many Giants
- diversify your stocks

Nothing much to reflect on because I know most of this stuff already. What I took away from reading this e-book was the renewed desire to invest in stocks. I thought to myself, "I learned about stock investing five years ago, why didn't I try it then?" Then it occurred to me, I had no extra money then. Now that I have a little money I can set aside monthly and forget about, I think it's high time for me to start investing in the stock market. My goal is to have a net worth of 50M when I retire and I believe stock investing will play a great part in helping me reach that goal. I just have to have the discipline to buy stocks regularly and keep them. This is why I signed up for an account in CitisecOnline.com (COL). I sent my application forms last week, funded my account today, and tomorrow I can already start investing!

As if this is not enough, I have another secret weapon that will urge me to invest in stocks regularly and wisely. Being a member of Bo Sanchez Truly Rich Club, I get to receive his monthly Stocks Update which tells me what great companies to invest in, or if I'm more aggressive and have the extra money, what growth companies to look out for. This way, I don't have to waste my time researching about each and every company in the stock market; I'll just do my due diligence on the shortlisted companies and pick what I would like to invest in for that month. Good thing I already received my Stocks Update the other day, I can go right ahead and choose the lucky company for my first stock investment. Now if only I can remember to log in to COL tomorrow from 9:30am to 12:10pm :)

Reflections on "How to Know If Your Dreams Are God's Dreams"

2011-03-31T16:47:00.003+08:00

By subscribing to Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club, I get to receive free ebooks authored by him. The first ebook I read was "How to Know If Your Dreams Are God's Dreams - Finding His Will in Your Deepest Desires" Here are my notes and reflections on it:

The Three Powerful Secrets Behind All Successes in Life:
1. Desire
2. Belief
3. Action

The 4 Signs of a Soul Dream
1. The Dream Is Connected to Your Most Important Values
2. The Dream Must Bring You Closer to God
3. The Dream Must Be Connected to Your Life Purpose and Core Gifts
4. The Dream Must Make You Happy in the Deepest Way Possible

How will you know your life purpose?
- Examine Your Roots
- Ask yourself two simple questions:
1. Passion: What do you enjoy doing?
2. Potential: And what do you do well?

I think my life purpose is to help. That's what I've always done and that's what has always made me happy. I don't have much talent to share but I've always been good at giving people the support they need. I don't know how this will translate to my Soul Dream but maybe it will have something to do with empowering the underprivileged and underdogs in our society; providing them with tools and knowledge that will help them get out of their dire situations. Maybe a scholarship foundation for not just the bright kids, but the not-so-bright kids as well -- anyone who wants to learn, basically.

Another passion of mine is reading and learning something new. I would love to put up a public library with an interactive section and play area. Because learning should be fun, really! Nowadays, we don't just learn from books anymore so we should make knowledge available through all media. We'll have computer stations with access to the internet, we'll conduct skills trainings and we'll offer personal development seminars. After all that learning and "sharpening the saw" is done, one needs to have a break and unwind so my library will be adjacent to a recreation hall where people can watch movies, play games or just hang out. I've always had this vision -- you know how there are centers for culture and arts? Mine will be a center for hobbies and fun. I would call it The Beehive because it will be a complex abuzz with activities. Each room in the hive will be full of people pursuing their passions and interests. One room would be a music room, the other a dance ballroom, and still another a board games competition arena. I don't know if I would be able to build this library and activity complex but I've always fantasized about it. Hey, I can dream, right? :)

Ready-ing to Retire

2011-03-20T11:22:00.005+08:00

I am so excited! I'll be making the last payment on my condo next month and after that I can start processing the papers for the transfer of title. Of course there are still turnover fees to pay but I think I'll be able to manage that. Just this month, I was able to pay the property taxes which had already accumulated since 2008. Now I know I have to take care of it yearly to avoid the penalties.

Now that I've already made my first property investment, this got me thinking that I should start building the rest of my investment portfolio and start thinking about my retirement. I've read dozens of books and magazines about personal finance already and now I think it's time to start applying what I've learned from them. I have always wanted to take advantage of the power of compounding but it is only now that I'm taking steps towards it. I know that I should have started earlier and there are a dozen excuses I tell myself why I didn't, but at least now I know that I am ready and willing and that it's not yet too late. This is why I signed up for Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich Club so that I could be properly guided as I go along my financial journey. It's only been two weeks since I signed up but I am already reaping the benefits. Reading the e-books and hearing Bo's power talks reminded me why I wanted to be financially independent in the first place. His newsletters and inspirational emails encourages me not only dream my big dreams but also to take concrete actions to realize them.

For those of you who knew Bo Sanchez as a Catholic lay preacher, don't worry, he still is. But what business does he have, teaching about personal finance? Sounds weird right? I know! I was a bit turned off myself when I first learned about it. I thought he turned into one of those fanatical evangelists who masquerade as messengers of God but only really want to con people into shelling out money for "miraculous healing items". But when I heard his reasons for doing something about his financial life and deciding to teach others how to save and invest, it actually made sense to me. After all, most of the things people have problems about and pray about is money. And hey, I believe in God and I think about money, so why shouldn't he? So having said that, I am now a convert. I am ready to be wealthy and I want others to be the same :)

Automated queueing at BPI

2010-11-30T16:45:00.002+08:00

In what I suspect to be a bid for efficient and paperless over-the-counter bank transactions, BPI has implemented an automated queueing system in their BPI-Philam Makati branch. I experienced this wonderful innovation today when I deposited to my account. I usually bank at the BPI branch at the KPMG building but when I got there shortly before lunch, the line was so long that I decided to have lunch first at Jollibee the Insular building. After lunch, I remembered that there was another BPI branch at the Philam building so I decided to go there instead of going back to KPMG. Getting inside the Philam building is like going through airport security; you have to pass through a metal detector doorway scanner and have your things go through the x-ray machine beside it. After subjecting myself to that tedious process, I went to BPI and found it odd that all the customers were seating. I asked the guard if there was a queueing system and he pointed me to the side of the entrance. I was expecting number tags hooked to door, or a ticketing device that prints numbers which will be called by the teller later; but I was not expecting to find touch-screen computer terminals. I gave it a try and I soon found out that before a number is issued to you, you have to input the transactions you are planning to do at the bank. But then, I thought, this would mean that there would be no more need to fill up deposit and withdrawal slips. I glanced at the counter where the forms are usually placed and sure enough, there were nowhere to be seen! I completed entering my account number and transaction amount, got my number and sat at the couch to wait for my number to be called. It still took 10 minutes before my number was called (I guess this is just because there were really a lot of customers), but when I got to the counter, I just handed my number and money to the teller and she already had all the transaction information in the system. She counted my money, gave me my receipt and I was off!

It would be really great if they could implement this in all of their branches and I do hope that all the other banks follow suit. It would take a bit of getting used to, especially for those who have aversions to technology but I'm thinking people can adapt. This would mean no more precious time wasted at lining up at banks. Now if only someone could apply this to doctor's offices and clinics, that would be sweet!

Sick birthday girl

2010-11-30T16:27:00.003+08:00

I celebrated my birthday with the beginnings of a cough. A week later and I'm still hacking. At least it has subsided and has become less embarrassing. I'm starting to sleep better too. Good thing I was able to rest over the long weekend. But now that I'm back at the office, my coughing fits have started again; I think it's the cold air that's aggravating it. I even stopped running in the mornings because my coughing has left me weak. I do hope I regain my health soon so I can use the new shoes I gifted myself for my birthday.

Heavy feet

2010-10-13T14:03:00.004+08:00

After several years of not working out, I started exercising again last Monday. I decided that I would jog around our neighborhood for 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of crunches and dumbell exercises in the mornings. I began my warm-up by walking for 10 minutes. This was going to be easy, I thought to myself. Then I decided that I would alternate jogging and walking every minute for 10 minutes. This was when my torture began. As I started to jog, I felt my feet become heavy. Even though I knew I was jogging, I felt I was going so slow that I thought I moved faster when I was just walking. It didn't help that my shoes are kinda old so I started feeling pain in my right foot. Then my shins started hurting. I wanted to stop but I didn't. I waited for my one minute to be up then I slowed down to a walk. That eased the pain for a bit, but then I had to do it all over again, jogging and walking and cursing until my 10 minutes was up. Then I just walked all the way back to my home for my cooldown.

At home, I laid out my mat and did some crunches. Then did some leg lifts and dumbell squats. I felt good afterwards and I would have gladly gone back to bed; but I had to go to work so I just took a shower instead.

It really perplexed me why I had such a difficult time jogging. Have I become so heavy that I can't even carry my own weight? Probably. Should I have stretched after my warm-up? I don't know. I don't recall my shins hurting when I run on the treadmill. So was I running incorrectly? Or is it really more difficult to run on the road than on the treadmill? Don't know the answers to those questions either. But I definitely need to replace my old shoes, that's for sure.

I rested yesterday then I tortured myself again this morning. I plan to exercise M-W-F to allow my body to recuperate in between workout days. I feel I could keep this schedule better than trying to exercise everyday and failing. I just hope I could control my food intake so I can lose weight faster. I'll buy some groceries over the weekend so I can prepare my own food. Until then, I'll stick to sandwiches and salads for lunch.

Crappy Weekend

2010-08-09T16:36:00.002+08:00

I just had the crappiest weekend, literally. At first I couldn't figure out what could have caused my diarrhea but after careful review of what I ate last Friday, I was able to determine the culprit -- mushroom soup! I suddenly remembered that my stomach does not agree with shiitake mushrooms; but I have never had it this bad before. I was going to the bathroom almost every hour on the first day, and night! I was totally drained and dehydrated but still I didn't take any medication, thinking I would get better the next day. But I didn't. At least the interval lengthened from one to three, giving me a chance to catch some decent enough sleep. But I still had to keep my food intake at a very minimal amount because by this time, my bottom could not take the battering anymore. Good thing I woke up feeling a bit better this morning. My bowel is still loose but at least I didn't have a compelling urge to go running to the toilet all day. And I'm still watching what I eat, just in case.

So let this be a lesson to all. Know thy enemy, and avoid it :)

That hippie show

2010-06-18T12:02:00.006+08:00

I recently finished watching the whole series of That 70's Show. It took me a couple of months to go through every hilarious episode, all two hundred of it! When it was first shown in the Philippines several years back, I was instantly fascinated because I would spot some home decors and appliances that were similar or exactly the same as what we had from the 70's. We had the glass fruits, framed hanging painted tiles on the kitchen wall, that brown refrigerator, orange and green-colored ceramic jugs and even the garden set. Then when I got to know more about the characters, that's when I got hooked. Unfortunately, the local TV network airing the show did not complete the entire series so it took me until now to find out everything that happened in the show.

I'm an 80's/90's kid but if I were to choose, I would choose the 70's. Maybe that era wasn't so great in this country because of martial law, but generally speaking, the 70's was groovy! Life was simpler then; as long as you have a decent job, you would be able to provide for your family comfortably. Families spent more time together because they have breakfast and supper together and watch TV at the living room together. Since there were not too many things to do, the neighborhood kids hung out together and found creative ways to entertain themselves. Contrast all these with what we have now. Sure, everything is high-tech, convenient and available in an instant but somehow, the family values and quality of life have been sacrificed.

Now if only Kelso was indeed able to invent a time machine so we can visit the glorious days of the past! But since this is not so, I'll just content myself with visiting Nostalgia Manila so I can go back and reminisce my childhood days. :)

On the road to fabulosity!

2010-06-16T13:13:00.005+08:00

Since I am not getting any younger, I decided to start paying attention to and doing something about my looks. Just like what happened to my weight and metabolism, age has caught up with my skin. The sun's damaging rays and other external factors contributed as well. So, armed with a Slimmer's World gift certificate, I called their Trafalgar Plaza branch to have me scheduled for a free facial treatment. On the day of my appointment, I went and got my facial and felt wonderfully refreshed. I knew that this was not enough though so when the beauty consultant asked me if I would be willing to stay for a short while for a beauty discussion, I willingly obliged.

Ellen, my beauty consultant, walked me through the beauty package that would be most appropriate for me and would address my concerns. She prescribed 12 sessions of facial, 12 Diamond Ultrapeel, 12 Nutracell and 3 Glycolic Acid Peel, all spread throughout a period of one year (for more info, click here). This got me all excited until I heard the price. Good thing that they're having a buy one treatment, get one treatment promo so I can avail of the package with 50% discount. Still, I was not prepared to make the commitment because it would not fit my budget, even if I get it on 0% interest for 6 months on my credit card. I told Ellen that I will just have to wait for my salary increase this year before I can start on my face and skin program. However, I did sign-up for electrocautery to get rid of my warts so that's a start.

I had my first electrocautery session yesterday. Initially it was supposed to be the face and neck only but it turned out I also had a lot of skin tags in other areas so I upgraded my enrollment from face and skin only to full body. The first session covered the face, neck and chest so the assistant applied topical anesthesia only on those areas. After that, she put masking tape where the topical anesthesia was applied so that my skin could absorb it better. Then she left me for 30-45 minutes so that the anesthesia could take effect; I think I was able to sleep during that time. After that, the dermatologist removed the masking tapes on me and started cauterizing my warts. Thank God for the topical anesthesia, I wasn't able to feel any pain. There were maybe two or three times when I felt it (the assistant may have missed applying anesthesia on some warts); the pain was like being pinched, but with heat. I did smell the burnt skin and it wasn't pleasant. I must have more than a hundred cauterizations so the procedure took almost an hour. When it was all done, antibiotic cream was applied on the cauterized areas and I'm supposed to do this morning and evening for the next 7 to 10 days until the scabs vanish. I'll be returning to Slimmer's after two weeks for a followup session on the same areas then I'll start electrocautery sessions on the abdomen and back. Hopefully by that time I would have my merit increase already so I can sign up for other beauty treatments :-)

June Gloom

2010-06-02T11:40:00.004+08:00

For many various reasons and a particularly major one, the month of June makes me sad. During this time, I turn to music to keep me sane. Current on my playlist is Rob Thomas' album, Cradlesong and The Script's self-titled album. I dunno why but I seem inclined towards songs that have, to borrow from Paul Doucette's words, "more uplifting melodies with really downer lyrics" (see Matchbox Twenty, my favorite band). I guess maybe because it allows me to cry and sing my heart out at the same time. Just like The Man Who Can't Be Moved:

Lyrics | The Script lyrics - The Man Who Can't Be Moved lyrics

Suffering in Suffrage

2010-05-10T20:25:00.003+08:00

Today marks a very important event in Philippine Elections. This is the first time that we had nationwide automated voting and the experience was very promising and very horrible at the same time. What used to take 30 minutes took 3 hours for most. My sister and I were less fortunate, it took us 6 hours just to cast our vote!

The polling centers opened at 7am but we came at around 9am. We went straight to the voter's assistance desk to confirm that our names are still in the active list and to get our room assignments. We had to do this because even though we already know our precinct numbers, the room assignments would be different because five precincts were grouped into one cluster, and therefore one classroom. Our room was on the first floor of the public elementary school and that's where we spent 6 agonizing hours standing in line. What happened was there were a lot of individuals cutting the line in front so those of us at the back were not moving. There were not much volunteers to marshall the lines and no numbers were issued, like what they implemented on the other floors. Another thing that contributed to the slow lines was the time it took for the teachers to look for the voter's information sheet in the voter's book. It seems that the voter's info sheets were not arranged alphabetically so looking through them took quite a considerable time. Also since there were five precincts lumped into one classroom, you would expect that there should be one teacher assigned to each voter's book per precinct but there were only two. After finding my info sheet and affixing my signature and thumbmark, I was given my ballot and it was a breeze from thereon. I shaded my choices, fed my ballot into the PCOS machine and had a drop of indelible ink on my index finger. I guess we were still lucky because other polling centers had it worse. Some had brownouts in their area while some had PCOS machines that did not work. Also there were reports of violence in some areas, most especially in the provinces.

Hopefully things will run smoothly in the next elections. More PCOS machines should be added (provided we still use the same automated system) and something should really be done regarding the voter's information sheets. I believe this part of the voting process should be automated as well. Either they start encoding whose voter's information sheets into electronic format, or have everyone register again electronically in order to capture everyone's biometrics as well.

Now that the voting process is over, we move on to the more exciting and critical part of the election, the tallying of the votes and eventual proclamation of the winning candidates. I just hope and pray that the no padding of the vote occurs and that the results would be truly reflective of the people's choice of leaders for our nation. Then all of our suffering in casting our votes would have been all worth it. God bless the Philippines.

Start Spark

2010-04-07T13:33:00.002+08:00

I joined SparkPeople last year but it's only now that I'm using it. I wasn't motivated to lose weight before but now I'm more decided than ever to be fit and healthy. I guess the biggest factor which contributed to my decision is my age. I've reached 30 yrs old and they say that once you reach this age, your body starts to decline. And boy, have I began to see the signs of aging! My joints are always aching, I easily get tired and I run out of breath whenever I take the stairs. I don't want want to feel like this anymore; I want to feel light and energetic. I want to be able to do the things I want to do, and look good doing them!

So far, I've set my fitness goals, tracked my calorie intake and joined a SparkTeam. I plan to follow the exercise videos as well and I'm going to do that tonight. Later on, I would like to learn to prepare nutritious meals with the help of their SparkRecipes. I've made a commitment to myself to stick to Spark at least until I've reached my goal weight. This is a big commitment for me because I really don't have the luxury of time, especially when there are project deadlines to meet. But for my sake, I am willing and determined to visit the site everyday and track my progress to a perfectly healthy and sexy me!

Click here to watch an inspirational news story about SparkPeople.

My personal finance journey

2010-03-25T19:46:00.005+08:00

Back when I was experiencing quarter-life crisis, I started to become interested in personal finance management. It all began, as most stories like this goes, with "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. Reading this book woke me up from the zombie-like state I've accustomed my self to just to able to survive the daily grind of going to work. It made me realize that I owe it to myself to do something about my situation because I'll never be able to afford to do all the things I want to do, just by being employed. From RDPD, I moved on to "Pwede na! The Complete Pinoy Guide to Personal Finance" by Efren Ll. Cruz. Since this book was written by a Filipino for Filipinos, the content was more relevant to my case and I learned quite a lot more. It taught me how to assess my current financial situation, encouraged me to think about my financial goals, and prompted me to map out a plan on how to go about achieving them. I've read a couple of personal finance books since then and to update myself with money trends and to further supplement my financial IQ, I subscribed to MoneySense, a local personal finance magazine.

Based on what I've learned so far, I was able to start building my investment portfolio. I've recently acquired a new condo together with my boyfriend and I've also started buying old pension plans. I still have lots of debts but I'm proud to say that these are not consumer debts. Let's just say I'm using them for leverage and as soon as I get my bonus/merit increase this year, I'll be able to pay off a significant part of it. Also, I'm still thinking of other ways to increase my income. Hopefully more opportunities to earn will come my way before the year ends :)

Humpty Dumpty

2010-03-22T13:40:00.003+08:00

Just as my left foot was starting to heal from a fall I've taken during the not-so-recent typhoon Ondoy, I slipped once again this morning and hurt my right foot. There's no swelling nor fractured bone, but there is definitely some mild pain. I've already applied Voltaren Gel (this was prescribed to me by my doctor way before and I keep it handy for cases like this, which happens too often for my comfort) and I hope that pain does not progress anymore or I won't be able to drive home later. Gulp!

In case you were wondering why it took so long for my left foot to heal, it was because I didn't have it treated. I didn't go to the doctor because I knew I didn't fracture it and I knew that it would take more than Voltaren to reduce the swelling. I needed a "manghihilot" to massage the misplaced blood vessel in my foot back into place. I dreaded going to one because as much as the pain in my left foot gave me discomfort, I knew it wouldn't be as torturous as having my foot injury corrected. I know this for a fact because I went to a "manghihilot" when I was a child and tears actually streamed down my cheeks as she was massaging my foot that was "natapilok". The pain in my foot immediately disappeared after the massage but I guess the process traumatized me so much that I didn't want to undergo it, even now that I'm already an adult. Fortunately my boyfriend's househelp had previous training as a massage therapist so I finally obliged to have my foot massaged.

I did almost cry and it took three massage sessions to get it completely right but it was worth it. I just don't know if I can do it all over again for my right foot but I'll try. In the meantime, I think I need to shop me some new footwear, or a new pair of limbs :p

Vision Boarding

2010-03-17T17:14:00.004+08:00

I believe that my dreams are beginning to unfold into reality so to reinforce this further, I visualized what I want my life to be using the O Dream Board. This is a great tool for vision boarding, especially if you don't have the time and inclination to cut pictures from magazines and tack or paste them on a board to be hung on your bedroom wall. You just have to download and install the software on your computer then you can start forming a picture collage from the images found in its library or from the internet. You can save as many snapshots as you want, and you can look at them whenever and wherever you have your laptop with you. Isn't it great or what? I'm even thinking of setting my dream board snapshot as my desktop wallpaper. But before I do that, I'm going to post it here first:

Surprise!

2010-03-10T17:24:00.002+08:00

Yes, this is what I've been cooking up. I wanted to cancel my web hosting plan but keep my domain so I set about migrating my blog entries to my original blog site. It was not an easy task migrating content from Xoops Xpress to Blogger I tell you. I even lost the comments and my post dates were delayed by a day. After migrating the blog content, I had to work on redirecting my domain to point to my blogspot. Thank goodness I managed to do all these. Now I can get back to blogging :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T17:48:00.000+08:00

I'm terribly sorry I've been amiss in my postings. I guess I have no excuse for it except work. But don't worry, I have plans for this site. Though I'm not sure how I'm going to get around executing those plans. Never mind ... new year, new start, new hope :-)

In your face

2009-09-01T20:21:00.000+08:00

I was supposed to write about our Wensha Spa experience but my friend beat me to it. I don't mind really because she summed up our evening perfectly. I enjoyed the food, the massage and the dip at the jacuzzi. Never mind that the pressure points on my back ached the next day, I'm thinking that this is evidence that the massage was effective. I still yearn for the most relaxing massage though. Maybe the hydrotherapy massage at Ace Water Spa will do the trick. But that's for another post.

What I do want to write about right now is how busy I've been ... with facebook. When before I would just log in when I receive email notifications for friend requests and wall announcements, now I find myself logging in everyday, sometimes even several times a day! It all started with the Hatchlings game application. I'd collect the eggs in my profile, and in my friends' profiles, hoping that I could acquire the those with limited edition designs. I soon grew tired of searching for eggs, then I got invited to Sorority Life and that's when I got really hooked. From then on, I started trying out what my friends are also playing: Mafia Wars, FarmVille and Restaurant City. I haven't tried Farm Town and Barn Buddy but I'm guessing they're pretty much similar with FarmVille. I'm hoping that I won't get addicted to the point that I start neglecting my tasks for the day. I'd like to think that I have better self-control than that. But just in case you're looking for me and I'm nowhere to be found, just login to facebook and you'll find me there ;-)

Your radio is not defective

2009-08-13T22:36:00.000+08:00

As if in response to my "Good morning sunshine!" post, RT shuffled their radio programs' timeslots. Now, I have something to listen to on my morning drive, which is The Brewrats Show hosted by DJ Tado, DJ Ramon and DJ Angel. I used to catch them when I drive home late at night because their timeslot is 9pm-12mn. They have now been moved to the 6am-9am timeslot so I get to listen to them spread the bubonic plague every morning! And here's another good news, Sam and Gibb have been moved to 6pm-9pm timeslot, which gives me listening pleasure on my drive back home. Perfect!

Going back to the Brewrats, I was just listening this morning and they were interviewing someone who was going to share the not-yet-released Tie a Yellow Ribbon President's Remix. This version of the 1973 song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" was commissioned by Kris Aquino to a group of local music artists because she was putting together a tribute album for her mom. One interesting trivia is that the Tie a Yellow Ribbon President's Remix was completed just a few minutes after President Cory Aquino passed away. Right now, it is not yet clear how the song is going to be released commercially but everyone involved in the production agreed that it should be aired first on the radio. So it was really fortunate that I was listening to RT this morning because I got to be one of the first few people to hear it! The remix starts with a sound byte of Tita Cory saying her farewell speech during her last SONA. Then the lyrics of the original song is sung to a catchy beat with a short rap portion in the middle. The remix version gives the song a fresh and updated vibe and is something that I'm sure the Filipinos of today would appreciate. I hope that more radio stations would get to play it, especially now that Ninoy Aquino Day (Aug. 21) is fast approaching. It would be a fitting tribute to the man who said that the Filipinos are worth dying for, and who did.

Like sheep lost

2009-08-06T20:50:00.000+08:00

Former President Corazon Aquino was laid to rest yesterday. It was declared a special non-working holiday so I was able to watch the last funeral rites on TV. Before that, I was able to see her coffin up close when her remains were transported last Monday from De la Salle Greenhills to Manila Cathedral. The funeral cortege passed by Ayala Ave. so I just went down from the office to join the procession if front of our building. I offered a little prayer for Tita Cory then flashed the 'Laban' sign while chanting her name together with the crowd.

I felt sad the first time I heard that she passed away last Saturday. Although everybody knew that she was battling with cancer, it still came as a shock because news reports said that she was already in a stable condition. I guess we always assumed that Tita Cory would always be there to lead us in protest and prayer, especially when there are scandals brewing in the government or there are threats to our democracy. Now that she is gone, I'm afraid that we would all be like lost sheep, following the mob but never really knowing where to go. I'd like to believe that after witnessing the Cory magic that brought the whole nation together in unity and prayer, the Filipinos would step up and take it up on themselves to continue what Ninoy and Cory started. With the Filipinos' short term memory, there's a big probability that this will never come to be but I'm still hoping that we would be able to rise above ourselves and make our nation great once again. Let the spirit of Edsa live on!

Good morning sunshine!

2009-07-31T20:17:00.000+08:00

My boyfriend recently started in a new job and it's conveniently located near my place of work. We decided to have a carpool together with my sister who works in Ortigas, which is just along the way to Makati, where we work. Unfortunately, we have different office hours so there are major adjustments to be made, mostly on my part. My sister needs to be at the office by 7am, my boyfriend starts at 8am and I can come in any time at work, but I usually am in around 10:30am. When before I set my alarm to 6am and get up from bed at 8am, now I set it at 4:30am and get up at 4:30am. The last time that I had to wake up this early everyday was probably when I was still in elementary! Just this morning, my alarm went off while I was dreaming so I woke up with a huge headache and it felt like I never went to sleep at all. Good thing this kind of headache goes away once I've hit the shower. I think the reason is because the pain is replaced by another, in the form of bathing with very cold water. But once I've taken a bath and eaten breakfast then I'm ok. My sister and I then leave the house at 5:30am; we arrive at my boyfriend's house at 6:00am; my boyfriend takes my place as designated driver; we drop off my sister in Ortigas at 6:30am; we arrive in Makati at 7:00am. Whew! Thank God I'm a morning person so I'm not bothered by all the early morning activities. I even enjoy getting to the office early because I can concentrate and get a lot of things done before everybody else arrives.

What I do miss from my old routine is being able to listen to my favorite morning radio show while driving to work. I do not miss the horrible traffic but I do miss laughing out loud while I listen to 'Sam and Gib, Disturbing the Peace.' The name of their show says it all; they're totally hilarious! I'm a SAGO (Sam and Gib O-dience) and proud of it. I also like the music that they play so the stressful EDSA traffic doesn't affect me as much because it just gives me more time to listen to their show (they air Mon-Thur at 9am-12nn at DWRT 99.5 FM). When I'm feeling a little 'jologs', I switch to 'Tambalan' briefly from 9-930 just to listen to Nicole Hyala and Kris Tsuper. I hope the SAGOs don't crucify me for this, but I just can't help it. These two are out of this world and if you're just like me then your sides will also ache from laughing hard, listening their silly antics. Now with my morning starting earlier than these morning shows, I can no longer listen to them. Of course I can listen to them online once I get to the office but it just won't be the same. Plus my officemates would wonder when I suddenly start cracking up in my cubicle.

I still have to find a cool morning radio show to listen to while in the car with my sister and boyfriend. Suggestions, anyone? :)

And the list goes on

2009-06-27T01:42:00.000+08:00

The second ANC Leadership Forum is interesting on a very different level than the first. In this round, the guests were Former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. Sen. Panfilo Lacson was supposed to be there but he backed out again and this time he also announced that he was withdrawing his presidential bid for 2010, citing his lack of funds as his reason. However, many are speculating that he struck a deal with the government that he would back out from running for president in exchange for easing him out of the Dacer-Corbito murder case. I wouldn't be surprised if this is true because of the timing of his announcement -- Cesar Mancao, who is supposed to be the state witness for the trial just arrived in the country then. Anyhow, the leadership forum pushed through without Ping and the University of the Philippines School of Economics was jampacked with students and teachers alike wanting to witness the forum live. If you haven't seen it yet, you can do so here.

Listening to the guests, you would really see their different visions for the country. Estrada just wanted to continue what he started when he was president, Binay wanted to replicate Makati's success on a national scale, Fernando wants to exercise political will by implementing the laws that are already existing and Legarda wants to address specific national issues through programs. Of the four, Fernando is the only administration candidate while the rest are opposition. Aside from being the lone woman among the guests, Legarda is also the only one not having experience serving on the executive level (being senator, she served on the legislative level). Here's what I think about each of the guests in this batch:

Jojo Binay - He comes as a no-nonsense type of guy. He is really serious in running for president, should the opposition pick him. And if not, then he is content with running for VP. This to me is a sign that he really means business. He is proud of what he has achieved in and for Makati, and he is sure that he can replicate this success on the whole country. This is where I begin to doubt because he said that the way that this can be done is by decentralizing government and giving maximum power and responsibility to the mayors of each municipality. This would work in an ideal world, where the mayor would be the exemplary model of his/her community and would really use the government funds for the betterment and overall development of his/her municipality. But not all mayors are like him, or Gordon, or Hagedorn (Palawan mayor). Most would probably divert the funds to their personal pockets (I'm not saying that the mentioned ideal mayors are not or have not been corrupt, but their performance and what they have done for their cities outweighs whatever flaws they have, and in this society, that is already acceptable), build their own private armies, rule their place as if they were royalty and reign endlessly. Such a dismal outlook but at the same time, so probably true.

Erap Estrada - Even before this guy speaks, you would already hear the anticipated giggles of the audience that threaten to erupt (pun intended) into bursting laughter by the time he finishes his sentence. I don't think he is insulted by this because that is actually his intent -- to make the audience laugh first at his deliberate jokes, then give his serious answer. I guess this is the charisma that Erap holds. The common man can relate to him because he is the poster boy for the typical Filipino. Even though we are faced with life's struggles, we still manage to take things lightly and have a few laughs now and then. We have never taken Erap seriously yet we made him our president. Try to explain how that happened; I know I can't! But going back to the forum, you'll be surprised that Erap actually has something to say. I was amazed by the statistics he was able to enumerate and I do not doubt his compassion for the poor and for the principles he stood for regarding the US bases and the terrorists and anti-military groups in Mindanao. Sadly all his words about helping the poor never translated into action and just remained at that ... merely words. So after all that has been said and not done, he should not be running for president anymore. He has had his chance and he wasn't able to prove himself. It's time to give that chance to others.

Bayani Fernando - All I can say is that this guy is clueless. He believes that the administration should pick him as its presidential bet but this forum revealed that he should never be considered in the first place. He had a lot of bloopers and it was evident that he wants to run just for the position and not because he has brilliant ideas in mind for the country. Whatever good things he has implemented in Marikina as mayor did not do well when he applied them to Metro Manila. The pink fences and cement barriers are motor hazards and a site for sore eyes; the U-turns created more traffic and accidents than intersections; and his clearing of sidewalk vendors created more enemies for him than likely voters. I especially hate what he did to the Commonwealth Ave. area approaching SandiganBayan. You have five lanes, three of which are taken by the U-turn slot. Compare the number of vehicles going in the straight direction and those making U-turns and you will see that this is a very stupid idea (apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this is a stupid idea, just read item #2 in this post). A stupid idea made by a stupid man who is going to make the country look stupid if we vote for him.

Loren Legarda - I would like to see this woman win the presidency, just to see if she can pull off all her wonderful ideas for the country. She is so meticulous, perfectionist and full of pride that I'm willing to bet she would not dare do anything bad or let anything bad happen to the country during her term, lest it tarnish her name and reputation. I'm thinking she will do anything and everything to make this country as beautiful, as glorious and as rich as it could ever be, if only to prove that she is the best president the Philippines could ever have. Still, I don't think that we could risk having her as president. She reminds me too much of Mar Roxas, who is overly ambitious, and Imelda Marcos whose desire for a beautiful Philippines drove us to become neck-deep in foreign debt. Also I fear that she will become another Gloria who became all-too-consumed with power that she never wants to leave it (political analysts say that her plans of running for a congressional seat after her term as president is a step towards becoming prime minister, should the charter change push through). Is hunger for power a trait of all Assumptionistas? For the sake of our country, I hope not.

So far, that's it for the ANC Leadership forums, unless more presidentiable wanna-bes surface. Clearly, Senator Manny Villar and Vice President Noli de Castro snubbed the leadership forum. For whatever reasons, we don't know why. Perhaps they see no reason for joining the forum since they're already leading the pack in terms of the survey ratings. Better to ride on their popularity than to reveal their plans for the country? Or maybe they don't have clear plans that's why they're just going to bank on their popularity? Too bad because I'm thinking Villar can also do good for the country, but if he doesn't join the forums or the debates, how can we be truly sure? I believe forums such as these can level the playing field for the aspirants. Those who don't have money for informercials and billboard ads can be recognized and remembered by the people if they prove they have a head on their shoulders. At the same time, moneyed aspirants can be proven to be whether worthy of the people's votes or just merely popular. On that note, I pray this fervent prayer, God save the Philippines!

The race is on!

2009-06-02T21:08:00.000+08:00

I saw the ANC Leadership Forum being aired in ABS-CBN last night, which reminded me that I haven't blogged about it yet, which I should have done right after I watched it on ANC when it was first aired. Anyway, for those who didn't know about it, ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel), together with the Ateneo School of Government, hosted a leadership forum on May 11 for the aspiring presidential candidates of the 2010 Philippine elections. The guests were Senators Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, and Mar Roxas; Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio; and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. Senator Panfilo Lacson confirmed his attendance but backed out before the event. They also invited Vice President Noli de Castro, and Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda but the three probably didn't confirm. If you haven't seen it and you want to get an idea of what transpired, visit the following links:

Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 1

Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 2

Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 3

Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 4

Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 5

Now for my opinions.

First of all, I'm so glad that ANC and Ateneo thought of hosting something like this. Some of the "presidentiables" are already airing "infomercials" so might as well give the television viewers a chance to get to know them a little bit better via a forum minus the scripted lines and hired actors. It also gave us some hope that we won't have to settle for the lesser evil because there are actually some good candidates. And I must say that there are less "trapos" (traditional politicians), at least among those who are present. Here's what I think about each of the guests:

Chiz Escudero - Yes, I did vote for this guy to be senator. But I don't think he's ready to become the next President of the Philippines. Let's be real, he's not the next Obama. We do need change but I don't think he can bring it. Idealism alone cannot wipe out 100+ years of corruption; the system will eat him alive if he tries to fight it with just empty words, even if they are in deep Tagalog. And please stop appealing to the youth to assert their claim on the government (to quote Chiz, "...Panahon na para angkinin ng kabataan ang gobyerno...") because the Filipino youth of today are lost. They don't even know what course to take in college; they take up nursing because that's what their parents tell them to take, because that's how they can find employment abroad faster, because that's where the money is. If the youth leads our country, we'd all be Emo! If you want to have an idea of what would happen to our country if it is led by the youth, just take a look at our music/band scene. Just a bunch of yapping college kids with nothing substantial to say. Not a pretty sight.

Dick Gordon - Now here's a man who can LEAD us into change. I really believe that this is the man who can bring us into the 21st century, who can put us right back on the map (and for the good reasons), who can make us the next Singapore, even better. I have wanted for this man to run for President for so long, even when he was still chairman of the SBMA. He did a great job in Subic, he did a great job as DOT secretary and he's doing a great job as a senator. I'm just worried that he is not as well-known in the Visayas and Mindanao as in Luzon. But he did get voted as senator, and that's nationwide. And I'm sure that Visayas and Mindanao benefited greatly from the tourism brought about by the "WOW PHILIPPINES" campaign so I do hope they remember him as the man behind it. But this man is not without detractors. Some people criticize him for voting for the US military bases to stay here. But think about this, if you were mayor of Olongapo and the government is pushing for the US military base to move out, which would result in majority of your constituents to lose employment, directly or indirectly, wouldn't you have done the same? He was fighting for his constituents, not the US military base. I wish people would realize that, and more importantly, that even if the US military base did move out, he was able to mobilize the people of Olongapo and give them hope to get back on their feet. Now that's something extraordinary, to say the least. I wish that he pushes through with his candidacy and that the people of the Philippines support him. I even joined a group in Facebook, "SENATOR DICK GORDON FOR PRESIDENT" just so I can encourage more people to vote for this man :)

Ed Panlilio - What can I say, he seemed the most "trapo" of the group. His answers are safe and completely theoretical, you know they won't be translated into action once he's in office. I don't believe in mixing state affairs with religion and this man is clearly a case of that. In fact, religion is one of the reasons this country is not moving forward. We don't need another Cardinal Sin in our lifetime. 'Nuff said.

Mar Roxas - What I don't like about this guy is that he is driven more by his ambition to be named President of the Philippines, than by his passion, if he really has any, to serve his countrymen. He is willing to do anything and everything to get the most exposure, even appearing on a noontime variety show to "surprise" Korina, ABS-CBN news anchor and his fiancee, and to entertain the audience with their love story and marriage proposal (Yes my friends, that can only happen in the Philippines). He knows how to tickle the masses and takes advantage of that, that's why Mr. Palengke won the first time he ran for the senate. Now he's hoping that the same tactics could win him the presidency, and with the recent surveys showing him as one of the forerunners, this may not be a long shot after all. But these are just surveys and it's really up to us voters to choose wisely come election day.

Gibo Teodoro - I was pleasantly surprised and equally impressed with this man (but not enough to sway my top choice, Gordon). I didn't know much about him before this forum; I just see his NDCC infomercial regularly on TV and I know he is the Defense secretary because he appeared as himself in the ABS-CBN soap opera, Tayong Dalawa (again, onli in da Pilipins. Also, it seems like ABS-CBN is the go-to channel of politicians wanting to appear on TV). So what I learned is that he was a congressman beforehand, and he is the nephew of Danding Cojuangco, chairman of San Miguel Corp and 1992 Presidential candidate. That makes him distantly related to Cory Aquino as well, first woman President of the Philippines. He has the pedigreed family background, strong financial backing, and as this forum revealed, the brains to match his opponents. I would love to see this man's political platform once he files his candidacy and I'm pretty sure he would make the presidential debates a little bit more interesting.

I heard that there would be a second batch of presidential aspirants who are going to appear in the ANC Leadership Forum, this time together with the University of the Philippines. This would also be interesting as the supposed guests would be Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando, Sen. Panfilo Lacson (maybe he wanted to join this group that's why he backed out at the first forum? hehe) and former Pres. Erap Estrada. Watch out for it on June 5 and let's see if it will merit a commentary on this blog :D

Shameless plug

2009-05-14T02:33:00.000+08:00

I am going to promote it here mainly because it's our site. My boyfriend and I created a website called personalads.com.ph and we want you to be the first to use it. It's a site where people can create personal ads for free and it's perfect for all the pinoys out there are looking for new people to connect with. Whether you're looking for textmates or for new friends to add to your friendster/facebook/multiply account or, if you're more daring, for new peeps to meet and hook up with, you'll find it here. That is, if someone has the courage to post his or her ad first! You see, we don't want to put any dummy data in and we don't want to spam other people's sites and forums either. So I'll just encourage you, my dear readers, to post your personal ads and hope that when I visit the site again tomorrow, there will be a long list of pinoys wanting to socialize and interact with each other. :)