Merry Christmas! :)

Christmas Tree Outside Ion Orchard, Orchard Road, Singapore

For Filipinos, it's not yet too late to greet everyone a Merry Christmas, even if it's two days past the 25th. :)

Merry Christmas everyone. And may you all have a grand New Year! :)

My Thoughts as a Server (Part I) - Customers, Please Think Twice

Having worked for more than two months as a server, I feel the need to share some thoughts on what a server feels and thinks (or at least MY thoughts and feelings) in almost every customer interaction.

1. OPENING

Dear customer, if you see that the lights are still dim and the stanchions are still by the entry way, please assume that we're still closed. Check the signs by the door re our opening time. Asking the staff if they're already open annoys the hell out of us (ehem, me). Common sense, context clues, please. If we're already open, all lights should have been turned on and there will be nothing by the entrance to keep you from going in.

PNoy's State of the Nation Address - 26 July 2010

From www.gov.ph.

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines to the Congress of the Philippines Session Hall of the House of Representatives

Date: July 26, 2010
Venue: Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City, Philippines

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps; my fellow workers in government;

Mga minamahal kong kababayan:

Sa bawat sandali po ng pamamahala ay nahaharap tayo sa isang sangandaan.

Sa isang banda po ay ang pagpili para sa ikabubuti ng taumbayan. Ang pagtanaw sa interes ng nakakarami; ang pagkapit sa prinsipyo; at ang pagiging tapat sa sinumpaan nating tungkulin bilang lingkod-bayan. Ito po ang tuwid na daan.

Sa kabilang banda ay ang pag-una sa pansariling interes. Ang pagpapaalipin sa pulitikal na konsiderasyon, at pagsasakripisyo ng kapakanan ng taumbayan. Ito po ang baluktot na daan.

My Photos on Lonely Planet's Mosaic

I am a frustrated photographer. I don't have the right 'gear' for it. I only have my Canon Ixus i7 (in pink) which I bought three years ago. Yes, it was one of the best ones that time but now, it's one of the oldies already. But it did not stop me from taking a few "ok" (but great according to me) shots.


Just a sample. A pathetic attempt on fashion photography and won a Php 5,000 worth of hotel GC's for this. Photo of Anika Punzalan at Sitio Remedios, Ilocos, May 2009. Taken using my Canon Ixus i7.

Sunset in Camiguin

Sometimes you don't need a companion to travel. A view like this is great company and enough to give you one memorable trip.

I was blessed to go to one of the best travel destinations in the Philippines last year (for free thanks to my Dad), the Province of Camiguin, an island born of fire. I went there alone on my first day to be joined by my dad and his officemates the next.