Archive for July, 2008
Filed under food trip, human interest, trivia
Am I the last one to know that coffee can be made from animal droppings?
I saw these jars while having lunch at Abaseria Deli and Cafe, a Filipino restaurant that also sells accessories, native houseware, and delicacies that can’t be bought anywhere. I was looking over the shelves when a friend pointed these out to me:
I’m told this coffee was featured on TV. I don’t watch TV so that’s probably why I didn’t know.
I did a quick search on the web, and learned that Philippine civet (also known as alamid) is a cat-like animal that is said to eat only the best coffee cherries, which contain the coffee beans. Producers of the Philippine civet coffee call this natural processing. Right. And the digestive process of the civet is said to add to the rare taste.
This coffee is considered gourmet, and is very expensive. You can check the price on the bottle.
Filed under Photohunt, adventure, human interest, travel, trivia
This is the Delirium, a thrill ride at the Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio. (Trivia: This park is the biggest in the Midwest. It was once featured on The Partridge Family and Brady Bunch.)
Riders are seated on a ring facing outward with their legs dangling in the air. A giant arm swings the ring back and forth as if it is swinging a slingshot, and riders are spun in a 240-degree arc 137 feet in the air, or roughly more than 13 stories. Hanging, indeed!
I didn’t ride the Delirium because I was already dizzy from the other thrill rides in the park, and besides, I didn’t have the guts to go up on it. Just looking at it from afar made my insides knot.
Filed under events, technology
I am drooling. Digital Hub is hosting an exhibit of the Apple iLife this weekend at Robinsons Ermita. There will be demos, tutorials, photo sessions, and Q&A sessions on iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, GarageBand, and the OS version Leopard for two days.
Filmmakers Dante Nico Garcia, director of “Ploning,” and Joaquin Pedro Valdes, director of “Bulong,” will be there.
Never mind that attendees will be styled by artists from Shu Uemura and shot afterwards by professional photographers. I am not into make-up, and I am not that vain yet. I just hate it that I’d be missing the tutorial on the iPhoto. I am more of a learn-on-the-job person, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn techniques from those who have been using iPhoto professionally.
This is one of the reasons why I hate being away from where the action is. I am missing a lot.
Filed under blogging, events, technology
Yay! WordCamp is coming to town! 
I didn’t think it would ever come to the Philippines. It would be the first WordCamp in Southeast Asia, thanks to the folks at Mindanao Bloggers who organized this event.
WordCamp, by the way, is a conference where Wordpress users and developers discuss codes, tips, and updates.
I’m obviously a Wordpress fan. I’ve used several other platforms, but Wordpress is a class all its own. I switched to Wordpress in 2006 because I thought its themes looked more professional. I have since discovered a thousand other reasons why it is the best. I like that I have more elbow room to customize my blog. I like that it is much easier to optimize. Heck, my blog in Blogdrive used to have a page rank of five, but it rarely showed up in the SERPs.
So, Wordpress fans, let’s see each other on September 6 at the College of St. Benilde, Taft Avenue, Manila.
Actually, my current schedule doesn’t allow me to be there, but I am praying that I could twist somebody’s arm so she’d give her consent. I will be there!
Special thanks to the sponsors:
Filed under current events
I found out today that the head lawyer of Sulpicio Lines belong to the same organization as I.
I had seen him before in previous functions and I had read about him in the papers, but I didn’t make the connection until this morning, when he was the butt of friendly jokes at our leadership training.
I wondered if anyone in that room honestly believed that the shipping line is at fault. They seemed to be blaming the weather bureau. I don’t know if they said what they said because that was what they really believe, or if they were just being polite.
These past few weeks we’ve read and heard about how Sulpicio Lines has tried to squirm out of responsibility.
So when I found out that he was the Sulpicio lawyer, I thought about going up to him and talk to him (and maybe scourge him).
But I made the mistake of waiting until the program was over, and by then I had a clearer mind. He was there as a person, not as the lawyer of Supicio Lines, so I let it go. And I thought, he is only the lawyer, maybe he was just doing his job.
But if you’re a lawyer, would you defend a serial killer? (I say serial killer with conviction.)
They say, though, that lawyers cannot choose their clients, so I don’t know what to think.
Filed under business, work
One of the good things about being with a business organization, aside from the lunch meetings at posh restaurants (paid for by the company, of course), is the exposure to the exciting world of entrepreneurs.
See, I believe in osmosis. I like it that I am picking up principles here and there, even from random conversations. One of my superiors holds franchises of a popular fast food chain in the Philippines. The other one is an investor.
So, I am learning from those who really know. They teach me, albeit unknowingly, and they give me exposures as well. Just the other day my boss dragged me to a seminar on handling stocks and bonds. Last week I was at a similar seminar.
I am just so amazed at how I am being guided to places I need to be in or introduced to people I need to meet so that I could learn the things I need to know. Is this The Secret at work?
It all started late last year when I ran into a former teacher, who introduced me to their director, who asked me to help them out on a project. I was then introduced to my boss, who, in the past few months that I have known her, have dragged me to here and there, and I am not one to complain. I appreciate the exposure.
I may not be able to do much about what I know now, but I know someday I will need the information that I’ve been getting. I have long accepted the fact that my day job won’t pay for my retirement, and I don’t intend to live from paycheck to paycheck until I’m sixty.
So for now, while my brain cells are still hyperactive, I am going to learn, and learn I will from the masters.
Filed under blogging, events
Two big events are about to happen in Cebu: the 17th Visayas Area Business Conference, which will be held here for the first time, and the Mandaue Business Month, both of which will run in August.
In preparation for these events, the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry through event chairman Wilson Ng tapped bloggers in Cebu to help promote the province and help disseminate the events lined up for the celebrations.
His group invited 15 bloggers to a press conference on the Mandaue Business Month yesterday at the Sinulog Ballroom of the City Sports Club. The event was graced by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, and attended by businessmen, sponsors, journalists, and of course, bloggers.
It was the first time that bloggers were tapped to help promote events and products. Our wish is finally coming true!
I mentioned this to Mr. Ng, who said that they are exploring other forms of media.
It used to be that only the three newspapers (CebuDaily News, Freeman, SunStar) are invited to events like this. He said that, compared to newspapers, the reach of blogging is unlimited. I could only nod in agreement.
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Filed under Photohunt, art, travel, trivia
Can anything be more apt than this?
This is Atlas carrying the world. In Greek mythology, he was punished by Zeus to bear the weight of the Earth on his back.
According to Wikipedia:
One of Heracles’s labors was to collect the apples of the Hesperides. Heracles went to Atlas and reasoned with him. Eventually, Atlas agreed to collect the apples, and Heracles was left to carry the weight. Atlas tried to leave Heracles there, but Heracles tricked him and Atlas was left to carry the heavens forever. In his epic Odyssey, Homer refers to this Atlas as “one who knows the depths of the whole sea, and keeps the tall pillars who hold heaven and earth asunder..”
This is why a book of maps is called Atlas. A book containing maps of the world is called World Atlas.
This statue is somewhere in Manhattan. Photo taken by my trusty digital camera.
Filed under personal
I write this out of frustration. I am annoyed when people ask me when I’d marry, especially people from church. They are the ones who are obsessed about it.
I am only 23 freaking years old. I am not in a hurry. I am not even looking around for someone.
I still have a lot of plans. I want to travel more. I want to study abroad. I want to go to Europe. I want to make a documentary. I might go to law school.
You see, when you get married, you can’t go anywhere as you please. Every decision has to be a compromise, and I don’t want to compromise. At least not now.
I know myself better than anyone. I know that when I fall, I fall hard, and I get distracted. I know I would give in.
I believe in marriage. I believe in sacrifice. I believe in love that lasts through eternity. I want to have kids, lots of them.
But does anyone have to hurry? It’s not a race. There’s no reason to be anxious about it, even as life adds a year to your age.
Besides, can you imagine me getting hooked at this point? I might end up feeding my children with pizza and Coke and have a party.
Okay, I am kidding; I might change when I get there. But I really am not over with nightouts and sleepovers. I am not over exploring the world.
I plan to marry at 30. Any problem with that?
Filed under blogging, events, technology
Update: There’s an archived presentation here.
__________
The curious cat in me signed up as soon as I heard that there would be a webinar on Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and Google Website Optimizer. I was already familiar with Webmaster Tools and Analytics, but I hadn’t tried Web Optimizer. Besides, I was looking forward to helpful tips from the experts.
I had to stay up late, but it was worth it. The teams behind the three tools introduced their products, highlighted useful features, and gave some tips. Michael Wyszomierski discussed Webmaster Tools, Jeff Gillis discussed Analytics, and Tom Leung talked about Website Optimizer.
Why trifecta? I was curious about this so I looked it up. I learned that, in horse racing, trifecta is a way of betting in which one predicts what horses would come first, second, and third. (I think I’ve done this. I once won a nickel at a horse park in Kentucky.)
The speakers explained that the tools were intended to play parts in a three-step process. Webmaster Tools is for driving traffic, Analytics is for analyzing traffic, and Website Optimizer is for keeping the traffic in the site.
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