237: Unplugged

There was a frantic call from my family back home today as I was about to leave for the office. They saw my posting on Facebook that I will be arriving over the weekend. As I was talking to my brother, I can hear chatters and music in the background. Sounds like everybody's having fun, I told my brother. "Well everyone is going crazy! Are you really coming home?", he asked. I laugh and told him no but don't tell anyone. Of course they know that it was all a joke. But it was a good laugh.

My brother then passed the phone to my mom. She sounds very happy but obviously didn't hide a little sadness due to the fact that she expected me to be there. I told her I was quite disappointed myself but my long awaited trip back home will have to wait. We finally bade our goodbyes as I can hear in the background my brother shouting about phone bills.

It was a great way to start the day. I drove by the California freeway as the morning rush was waning. I turned on the radio and caught Dan Henley (Hotel California Unplugged Live) saying "...and I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell....you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave!" Really?

236: Women know what men want

Got a chance to watch the Padre's game tonight but instead gave away all my tickets. I'm not a baseball fan but it would have been nice to go out on a friday night, a fitting end of a crazy week.

But it was just one of those days when you just want to go home and lay on the couch. After all, I got to catch up on my DVR viewing. I have not finished watching the Tour De France (even though it was over a week ago and am still in the Pyrenees), 10 episodes of Sienfeld, Curly, Larry and Moe, King of Queens, Big Bang and yes Gilmore Girls.

Of course, I caught a glimpse of my mom on Facebook and a blow by blow stories from my sister on her trip back home.  No thanks to the government (for shifting to the so called e-passport which ironically takes ages to process), I would have been suffering (happily) with the humid weather back home.

Instead I'm laughing silently with Jerry saying"Women know what men want and men know what men want...We want want women. How do we get them? We don't have any idea. Men gets frustrated when they see women reading articles like Where to Meet Men. We are here...we are everywhere".

235: Am back home...sort of

It's happening I thought. After quite an eternity of waiting, the intercom suddenly crackled. "Ladies and Gentlemen we are now approaching Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Today's temperature is 32 degrees celcius. The local time is 6PM. Welcome to Manila and thank you for flying Hawaiian Airlines". I jumped out of my chair startled. I feel the cold in my room and it was all dark. It took me a while to regain consciousness. My phone vibrated and I sleepy checked an in coming text message. It was my sister. "Leaving in a few hours, will call you with mama when we get there". She's leaving for the Philippines and I am not.

#158: Overwelmed and concerned

After launching the new abrenian.com last night, the site has been buzzing with activities. As of this writing we already have more than 130 registered users and still climbing.

The launching of the site coincides with the last day of filing for Candidacy for the 2010 Local and Presidential Elections. Already, Abrenians are reacting to the candidates in our province. Looks like a two cornered fight between the Valeras and the Lunas, with some other familiar names like Ching Valera and Mailed Molina.

For those familiar with politics in Abra, you can be sure that with the protagonists I just mentioned is a recipe of disaster. The only question is who's going to draw first blood.

I have mixed feelings, overwhelmed and concerned.

#154: Maybe just a smile...

I mostly listen to rock music but in my college days  I had some favorite Filipino Music too. I remember those days we commonly called them OPM (Original Pilipino Music).

One comes to mind this song by Jam Morales. Okay not that Jam Morales but this Jam Morales. Why can't they make songs like this anymore?



can't view the video on Facebook? Click here for the original

#151: Monsters

The world is zeroing in on the Philippines with the shocking massacre of at least 52 people in Maguindanao which according to the news is politically motivated. The victims are known supporters of a politician who's planning to run for Governor.

Most of the victims where shot point blank execution style and dumped in a hollow grave. And to top it all, the victims are mostly women (there were signs of rape as well) and journalists. But why are these monsters so brazen in their acts? Well for one thing they are Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's hardcore supporters (check this photo of Arroyo being so cozy with the suspects). Why not, this Political clan delivered the Coup de Grace and gave Arroyo presidency in 2004.

 This news is so horrible that it was even mentioned in a local radio station in San Diego. The announcer asked this question "What's with the Philippines? "What's so special being an elected official in that country that you kill 52 innocent people just like that?, What kind of people would do such a thing?".

Only in the Philippines that you see monsters in power.

#142: Food, Taste and Hunger

This was sent to me by a friend of mine. This video is hard not to pass along. It shows the reality of what our country is suffering from. This film entitled Chiken-a-la-Carte was written and directed by Ferdinand Dimadura.

Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

can't view the video on facebook? Click here for the original

#107: Demostration project for Abra High School

I got a surprised call from my brother Panchet from the Philippines. He said he read about my earlier post about online Course Management Systems. He had earlier checked the site and opined that this could be an interesting project for Abra High School. Panchet is currently the principal of the school.

Apparently, the school is somehow already connected to the Internet and most of the teachers and students are allowed to use their system.

The idea of the project is for me to establish a central host in the U.S. and install the software. The School will then be connected to this server via the internet. The system will feature an online learning tool for students such as courses, schedules, resources and even a facebook-style collaboration.


This project will certainly teach student, teachers and even parents about utilizing technology to improve collaboration, communication and the quality of education.

And by the way, I would like to point out that this project will be of no cost for the school.

Watch out for more detail about this project in the coming days.

#103: Help for the Philippines

The government of Canada is responding positively to our typhoon ravaged country. Canada recently announced special immigration measures for typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Effective immediately, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) visa office in the Philippines is responding on a priority basis for those directly affected by the disaster.

This will be applied to new and existing applications from Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in the Philippines. They must, however, identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current situation and notify CIC.

 In addition, CIC also posted a guide (FAQ) about priority processing in this link.

This is a great gesture from the Canadian government to reunite Filipinos in Canada with their families back home. Canada is definitely a great place to live specially with their Universal Health Care System, a system that is seems to be impossible to attain in the U.S.

Also related to the calamity in the Philippines, the Abranian Association of America in San Jose President Mr. Julieto "Juli" Elpa Dizon calls for help in this post at abrenian.com.

An effort to help the affected Abrenian students in Metro Manila by the Abranian Association of America in San Jose, under the leadership of its President, Mr. Julieto "Juli" Elpa Dizon is ongoing. Displaced students are being contacted to determine their immediate needs. You will be updated with their progress in the immediate future and on how you can help in alleviating their plight.

Please pass along these important announcements to your relatives and friends.

#98: Two Birthdays, a Funeral and new belts

Couple of things happened today.

Birthdays

First birthday is for my younger brother Panchet. I talked about him on my earlier post. Panchet is the youngest of the family but I feel he had achieved more than what most people have done in their lifetime. I heard he's having the time of his life. What's with all the parties they have prepared for him. A lot of people would like to be in his shoes. That includes me. I'm very proud of him.

Second Birthday is for our youngest in the family, JR. He listed his birthday today but some argued that he's birthday is really on the 5th. Well, either way he's celebrating his birthday. JR is my nephew's son. My parents took him in our family at a very young age. My parents fell in love with JR the first time they saw him. Why not! he was so cute, like a baby in a soap commercial. JR like any other kid, has some shortcomings. But who doesn't. The important thing is He knows very well that his family loves him the way we love each one. Happy Birthday JR.


A Funeral

It's wasn't a surprise. It was announced as early as January this year. Intel Philippines is closing.

internal memo circulated yesterday that Intel is definitely moving out of the Philippines. Actual reasons vary — from high corporate taxes, to expensive electricity charges and even stealing of microchips.

Today, it finally happen - the last nail in the coffin. Intel Philippines is officially closed. This is a big blow to the Philippines specially the hundreds (it was thousands at its peak) of Filipino workers who lost their job. One of them is my good friend and classmate Francis . He's a Design Engineer at Intel. Back in my college days, he was my study buddy. We've collaborated in many school projects as well as "other" projects. He's a brilliant Engineer so I'm sure he'll bounce back.

New Belts

My two girls successfully moved closer to their quest for the black belt. It was a grueling one hour of testing of forms, routines, breaking boards and sparring.  It was also a test of stamina and mental control. In the end it was very rewarding as Deirdre moved two belts up to green belt. The grandmaster explained that she was so good that she qualified to skip yellow belt, which doesn't happen often. Nadire, though, was two point shy of following her sister's feat. She still got the yellow belt but I sense her disappointment, I was too. But I explained to her that "never mistakenly consider one defeat a final defeat". Don't worry dad, I'm ok, she said. Later, I treated them to a nice Japanese restaurant  with some sushi, udon and a mochi ice cream dessert. And they were all smiles.

#93: Flooding, blaming and insensitivity

The worse calamity in 40 years that hit Manila and surrounding areas last Saturday has been on the news. It was reported that rains continuously poured for 9 hours resulting in massive flooding. There some pictures here that showed the damage of the typhoon.

As the typhoon progresses, I have witnessed real time unfolding of event through twitter and facebook. A couple of friends on my network posted videos, photos and emergency hotline to help in the rescue operations.

But as the flood waters starting to subside, now comes the blaming part as posted on this site.

On Saturday opposition representative Teofisto Guingona, citing government audits said that President Gloria Arroyo had violated Philippines budget laws by spending the entire annual $16 million national emergencies fund on her frequent, and very often extravagant foreign trips. (She has been on an average 6 foreign trips a year since becoming President in 2001).

And then of course the internet is buzzing about this picture of Mikey Arroyo trying to figure out what liquor to buy while the city is going under water.Call it insensitive.

Now the bad news is that, 2 more tropical depression may hit the country this week.

Barely had Luzon recovered from the destruction wrought by tropical storm "Ondoy," a state weather forecaster on Monday said two tropical depressions threaten to enter the country later this week.

In an interview on dwIZ radio, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) forecaster Connie Dadivas said the two weather disturbances are likely to enter Philippine territory late Wednesday or Thursday.

Tragedy such as this always brings people together but it always brings out the bigger question on how to respond better or even yet how to prevent such disaster from happening if there's one.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/virginia-moncrieff/philippines-notebook-a-na_b_301400.html

#61: What Matters Most

As I was rushing back home to pickup Nadire so we can go to the library to borrow some books, I heard this song "What Matters Most" playing on the radio.

I have not heard of this song for a long time. This was a sign-off song of one of my favorite radio station back in the Philippines. The station would play this song at exactly 12 midnight everyday together with a sign-off quote from the DJ "Keep reaching for the sky but keep your feet on the ground". It's a very short song but the lyrics makes it worthwhile to just listen to it over and over.

It's not how long we held each other's hand
What matters is how well we loved each other
It's not how far we travelled on our way
Of what we found to say
It's not the spring you see, but all the shades of green

It's not how long I held you in my arms
What matters is how sweet the years together
It's not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

It's not how many summertimes we had to give to fall
The early morning smiles we tearfully recall
What matters most is that we loved at all.

What matters most is that we loved at all.

Here's the song by Kenny Rankin:



Can't view the video? Click here for the original post

#59: College Buddies

Today I finally got a chance to re-connect with my college buddies through facebook.

I attended University of the East (U.E) Caloocan, College of Engineering majoring in Electronics and Communication in 1983-1989. I remember it was during this time when the school were in some kind of financial difficulty. In fact it was almost sold to a school based in the U.S. who promoted the practice of transcendental meditation. But it was averted due to protest by the students. Soon the government has to step in and save the longest running University in the Philippines.

U.E. wasn't as high profile as La Salle or Ateneo, but what made it worthwhile was I was hanging out with friends that has the same dream as I am of finishing college. As far as I know we all made it and become engineers.

With the permission of Kuya Manny Rulle, here's a snap shot of our group during a trip to matabungkay beach. Guess where I am in the pic?


During this outing, I think 3 of us didn't have partners. So we were kicked out of the cabin while those who had, had the luxury of sleeping inside.

Staring at this picture, I can't help rewinding 20 or so years ago...

#37: More on Cory

While watching the coverage of the death of President Cory Aquino, I can't help but reminisce the events that led to her presidency. Admittedly I became a little bit sentimental as the images of the what transpired from when Ninoy was assasinated in 1981 up to the People Power revolution in 1986.

Here's the song that sum up what had happened. I have not heard of this song for a long time until today. This song was written by Jim Paredes. What struck me are the words:

'Di na 'ko papayag mawala ka muli. 'Di na 'ko papayag na muli mabawi, Ating kalayaan kay tagal natin mithi. 'Di na papayagang mabawi muli.

Unfortunately, it seems that these words are being swallowed by the current president who seems to want to cling to power forever...

While watching the video, read Ninoy's Arrival Statement just moments before he was gunned down.




Can't view video? view original post here

#35: Cory

This is all I have to say today:

Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino (January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009)

#20: Chichacorn and the magic jack saved the day

Often times I suffer from brain drain. It's a situation where I just want the day to pass without doing much effort. It was like everything is blurry and in a very slow pace.

It's my first week back to the office after a brief vacation and I'm already exhausted. I was ready to call it a day until the chichacorn saved the day. I got a bunch of these delicious treats from my Brother Dennis together with some kiko (Francis Magalona) shirts. My brother sent the package through his co-worker (Sunday) who's in town. Sunday even gave me some dried mangoes and a cookies & cream flavored polboron (never thought it existed but my kids loved it).

Back home, I called my brother's magicjack to thank him but found out he's in Malaysia. I got my mom instead. I forgot she's in Manila (I talked to her just two days ago)

We talked for about an hour (who cares, it virtually free anyway) as we exchange news here and there. I finally bid adieu to my mom...as I explained my kids need to go to their Taekwando practice.

As I hang up the phone, I realized it's not a bad day after all. Now am sitting, watching TV and on my second pack of chichacorn...

#10: A glimpse of the past

My whole family love humor. My late dad had endless jokes and often times he would talk about priests and nuns. There were times when a storm would knock off power for hours at night and we would light candles and snuggle with each other as my dad would belt off story after story until we would fall asleep.

I also remember when watching sitcoms became a happy family event. I remember, we would sit around and watch our favorite sitcom just after dinner. Although there's been a lot of instances where my dad would dooze-off in the middle of the show.

Anyway, definitely a family favorite was the local sitcom "John and Marsha". I just love Dona Delilah's sermon "Kaya ikaw John...magsumikap ka!". But for foreign shows, there where several. "Three's Company" was definitely a must. Different strokes, Doggie Hauser MD, The Cosby show and my mom's favorite "The Golden Girls".

Except for Three's Company, I never watched the finale of the rest of the shows i mentioned, until today when I caught the finale of The Golden Girls - in a nutshell, Dorothy married Blanche's uncle Lucas after Blanche set them up for a date. Dorothy and Lucas moved to Atlanta. Sophia decided to stay with Blanch and Rose in Miami.

I love watching old sitcoms because it reminds of the good times I shares with my family. I really miss those days.

#3: Help from the Philippines

Murphy's law say "If anything can happen, it will". And it always happens on a monday.

Today as I was getting ready for work, I suddenly got frantic calls from three of our office locations. "Internet is down!!!" shouted one of our clinic manager. Great! I whispered as I whisked out of the shower, kiss my kids goodbye and grab my car keys as I got three more calls and a text message, which I choose to ignore.

As I was driving, my tech assistant finally called me up and started briefing me on the situation. "It's pretty bad, I restarted the firewall and the switch but nothing seems to be working", he said. "Do you want me to reset the T1 router?", he asked. I said NO, as I was sure it was something to do with our T1 provider (AT&T).

Arriving 10 minutes later in my office, I was confronted with some more co-workers throwing the same questions. "What wrong with the line?, is it gonna take long?" I have a deadline to meet". I ignored everyone as I slammed my door and start calling Technical Support.

After trying to navigate the complex Automated Voice Response, I finally heard a live person. "Thank you for calling AT&T, my name is Owen, how may I help you today?". It was a very pleasant voice that for a moment I amost forgot the reason for my call. As I was explaining the problem, I slowly realizing that am talking to a Filipino lady. How would I know? oh I know believe me.

She seems to know what she's doing as I heard the clicking on her keyboard. She put me on hold as she tries to determine the issue and got back a minute later. "Sorry for the inconvenience Eric, but there seems to be some error on the T1 line, we are trying to isolate the problem now and we should be able to fix your issue".

As I waited, I finally can't help but asked her, "Miss Owen nasa Pilipinas ka ba?". "Opo", she said. Wow! that's awesome, I said. "Yes sir, we are somewhere in Pasig", she continued.

Well back to the problem, she finally told me that it will take about 20 minutes to get some results back. She asked for my call back number and vigorously promised me that she will call me back.

Fifteen minutes later, the line when up and I can hear the whole office rejoicing! a few minutes later, Owen called me back and happily informed me that we are back online. I said yes we are. She finally asked me "Is there anything else I can do for you?". Well I said "pwede ba kitang ihatid?". "She laugh and said, "nakalimotan mo na yata, nasa Pilipinas ako". ooops.

This is a first time I ever encountered a tech support based in the Philippines. When we were just using a DSL line, I normally deal with techs in India. It seems that AT&T prefers the Philippines for the premium business customers like us. And they seems to get it right as my issue was resolved quickly.