The only thing I don’t like about traveling is the traveling part itself. OK, I know that sounds strange so let me explain. See, I love visiting new places and observing how the locals live, but I just don’t like any portion of the trip that involves an airport or an airplane.

Continue reading at GIGI GOES GAGA.

I don’t know where I should begin this story but I think at 3:15 am this past Tuesday (Manila time) would be as good a point as any, when my phone rang and without warning threw my heart into the grip of a tight chokehold. Nothing good is ever afoot when one is awakened by a call at such an ungodly hour after all.

Continue reading at GIGI GOES GAGA.

This blog entry will always remain to be dedicated o the victims of Glorietta 2 Blast. It has been a harrowing experience for the entire country, especially for those who have lost their loved ones and those wounded but survived.

Many have offered their prayers and condolences in various ways–and this would be one of them. Pinoy photographers and bloggers, who in their virtual existence, have shown the world that virtuality does not become an obstacle for one not to offer one’s prayer, condolences, and good wishes for the afflicted. In this fast-paced existence, these same virtual people have become a virtual community, living up to the Filipino tradition of damayan, or the Filipino value of pakikiramay.

Continue reading

The past few months I’ve been involved in food fights, made friends with aliens in my own solar system, been called names, written on walls, kicked ass and got beaten in games of Scrabble, grown more than a dozen potted plants and have been poked a lot. And it’s all good fun!

I’m talking about Facebook. I’m so addicted to it. In my opinion, Friendster has nothing on this one. I like that Facebook is highly interactive and has so many applications that make the whole social networking experience fun.

Read more here.

Isang linggo na ang makalipas pagkatapos noong pagsabog sa Glorietta 2. Ang imbestigasyon ay tuluy-tuloy at hanggang ngayon ay wala pa ring resulta. Una, sinabi nilang LPG tank ang sumabog, tapos high explosive tapos naging methane gas na nahalo sa diesel fumes. Kung anu-ano na ang mga teorya nila. Kaya naman ang inyong lingkod ay nagsagawa na rin ng pag-aaral kung paano naganap ang pagsabog sa Glorye. Basahin ang mga nakakahibang na theories.

Yes, fellow Harry Potter fanatics, it’s true. Pasabog mismo ni J.K. Rowling. Our beloved Albus Dumbledore is gay.

Check out this link: http://hogwartsphilippines.org/book7/?p=180

Actually, huli pala ako sa balita, hehe! A co-teacher/friend/HP fanatic texted me last night and said, “J.K. Rowling just outed Dumbledore.” But since, wala akong kamalay-malay, I replied, “Ha? What do you mean?”

Not literally of course. With the first semester over and some sort of vacation (from the university but not from work) now in effect, it’s time for me to catch up on my readings. (Goodbye Sales text book, hahaha!)

On my present reading list is The Oxford Book of Latin American Short Stories (hmmm, you might want to read contemporary short stories, so here, click this link), Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises.

And since Christmas season is near (yippee!), here’s another addition to my book wishlist (all of which are easily accessible in any local bookstores – yes, I don’t wish for books with freight costs attached.):

Ma Jian’s The Noodle Maker

From Dannyreviews.com
A professional blood donor, thriving on the rewards for his labours, visits his friend the professional writer, who is unenthusiastically facing a commission to write a short novel on the theme of “Learning from Comrade Lei Feng”. They eat dinner and talk, and out come the stories the writer would like to write.

These stories are both within the framing story and part of it, with the writer and the blood donor making incidental appearances within them as well as commenting on them. Ranging in length from eight pages to forty, they are dark, visceral tales of love and obsession, of violence and death, presented with a sardonic, unsparing humour…

Ismail Kadare’s The File on H.: A Novel

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You can even make it sing, if that’s how you roll.

I checked my inbox a few minutes ago. Whoa, I won 1,000,000 Euro in a Brandenburg Lotto and another 1,000,000 Euro in The British Global Lottery. Wow, 2,000,000 Euro in one day!

I’m rich! I’m rich! I’m so freakin’ rich!

read the whole post

If things go right, the 25 or so bloggers who’ve signed up for the theater talk with Floy Quintos, 5:30-7:30pm tomorrow at the PETA Theater Center (plus a few friends who are showing up to lend a hand), will be in for a fun two hours of learning, good conversation and bonding with new people. Masaya itu! See ya there!

Read complete post here.

Its finally here! And I have been given the chance to own this famous fashionista planner. A planner that all kikay girls should have.

Aside from the great design, it comes with discount coupons to selected branches of the following establishments: All Flip Flops/Havaianas, Bayo, BYSI, Celine, Charles and Keith, Chocolate Clothing, Claw Daddy, CMG, Cocorama, Crustasia, Culte Femme Rustans, Cupcakes by Sonja’s, Fiorgelato/Fiorcafe, FlyWear Eyewear, Freeway, Get Happy Accessories, Heaven ‘N Eggs, Karimadon, Kashieca, Laybare Waxing Salon, Levi’s Girls Store, Luna Rustans, Maybelline, Moschino Fragrances, New Orleans Restaurant, RedCrab Seafood Club, RedBox, Rred Rustans, So! Fab, The Ramp Crossings, Tomato, VNC, and Ace Water Spa!!

Read more…

They are nowadays referred to as controversial anomalous phenomenon which is believed by some and shunned by the rest as mere figments of the imagination.

My eldest sister Fraulein could see them. Once during the night of a neighbor’s death, she saw the spirit of the dead man outside his house, looking in through one of the windows as if checking on his family. On another occasion, an hour before my brother Junior died in his hospital bed in a Makati hospital, Fraulein saw him sitting on the step of her house as she was coming home from work. Instead of approaching him, she immediately turned around and took a cab to the hospital. Already comatose, Junior was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.

Read complete entry here. 

Related Post:
Amazing Race Season 5 - The Philippine Leg

Interesting to note that the French are starting to take notice of the Philippines.

First there was this show called Koh-Lanta, a Survivor type show. Koh-Lanta: Palawan has the highest viewership of the show with about 9 million viewers. The host has noted that the experience that he had in Palawan is “two of the best” the other being New Caledonia. A Filipina blogger has pointed out that this show has helped her a bit…

Video and more at Wake T-Rex

I listed thirteen problems (a bad luck number, from ten) and hope to have covered all the problems Filipinos are facing.

13. Garbage (Dirt and Filth)
I am not really sure whether what I am doing here is pure garbage, but garbage on the streets surely irks me. The average Filipino takes a bath daily, but does not clean about as often. I think we have to solve this problem.

12. Floods
Related to #13, this problem is personal to me. In Meycauayan where I grew, there is flood everytime there is rain (not so before). In fact, even when there is no rain, there is flood due to high tide. The same is true in many parts of Metro Manila. I guess flooding is a concern of many Filipinos and deserves to be on this list.

see more at Pinoy Solutions

The Eavesdrop Writer is Vienne and her blog transforms overheard conversations from just about anywhere into remarkable short stories. Read the character(s) come alive! Feel the character. Be the charcter. What you are about to read is part of her developmental project where each week, she posts a conversation- overheard of course, and invites readers to partake in finishing the story. Anything goes. You make your own ending. This is mine.

Meme’s are the new interactive revolutionizing experience to blogging! Know more about it and join in the fun- not to mention exposure!

To read the beginning of the story, click on the above button which will lead you to the Eavesdrop Writer’s own blog; and when done, read how I end story.

Investigators are now saying that the Glorietta explosion could have been just an accident after all. In an amusing satire piece whose conclusion I do not really agree with, the Inquirer’s Neal Cruz replies: Glorietta bombing was a mistake, not an accident.

And so all the wild speculations as to the real cause of the blast continues. But here’s an excerpt from a news report on “missing the boat,” as the cliché goes, that gave me the laughs the other day…

Candidate for village chief fills up wrong election form

By Chris Ligan,
Correspondent, Cebu Daily News
Tuesday, 23 October 2007

A barangay captain seeking a second term in office is running for the wrong position.

Mike Oceleasa, barangay captain of Day-As, Cebu City, has already started his campaign for his reelection bid. But election officials discovered yesterday that the certificate of candidacy (COC) he submitted last week was not for barangay captain, but for barangay councilor.

Marchel Sarno, election officer of Cebu City’s north district, said…the certificate could no longer be changed because the deadline for submission of COCs was on Oct. 18. For the Oct. 29 barangay elections, Ocleasa will be considered a candidate for the Day-as barangay council.

“He could have changed his status of candidacy before the deadline,” Sarno said.

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In March 2005 the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was signed by 35 donor countries, 26 multilateral agencies and 57 partner country governments. Initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris Declaration is an “unprecedented global consensus to reform the delivery and management of aid.”

Read more at Mongster’s Nest

I was in the Philippines last week for a 7-day holiday. And I had a blast! I am now back in Vietnam and the new school term is in full swing. But just before my holiday ended, I left my heart in Manila.

What is it about the Philippines that fills my entire being and consciousness with such intense longing to be back in her loving arms?

Click here to read the 7 reasons why I love the Philippines…

Today is my son’s last day in school before they go on a two-week semestral break. It is also the day for parents to meet with the teachers to discuss their kids progress in school.

I am unsure why I keep thinking PTA (Parent Teacher Association) but I feel this meeting has come to be called just that.

His teacher then presented me with my son’s report card. It reminded me of my own back when I was still struggling through grade school. This time though instead of the familiar grades of 80, 85, 90… there written were 1, 2, 3, and 4 with 1 being the highest grade given. And instead of seeing subjects like Math and English, what was listed were school activities like - use of pencil and crayon, recognizing letters and numbers, initiating activities with other kids and the like.

Read more…

How would you react if you’re paying for a DSL package that’s 180% overpriced? And, your dilemma falls on deaf ears at SMART.

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