QC Trash

It's not really surprising, but I was surprised just the same. Filipinos are Pinoys, wherever they are. Many of us just leave our trash behind as if we always expect some other people to take care of them.

As I have written a few pieces ago, the Quezon Memorial Circle is undergoing a lot of facelifting, including new concrete picnic tables, trash bins, decorative fountains and park benches. But the old bad habits, like all other bad habits, do not die easily.

Park-goers enjoy sharing their early morning coffee and breakfast on the picnic tables, but some just leave their refuse behind without regard for others who will use the same picnic tables.

My dad, who is twelve years shy of his centenary, insists that this is due to the fact that Good Manners and Right Conduct is no longer a vital component of early education, unlike the school system during the American period. Quite a long time ago, of course.

But there must be something to what he is saying - if you were taught and you learned early how to dispose of your trash properly - you will most likely do the same thing the rest of your life.

GMRC is part of what I refer to as the 5 Rs of basic education - Responsible Citizenship, along with Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmeric and Research.

Come to think of it, these are the 5 Rs of lifelong education.

Choco Castle

You must have seen it if you have passed through D. Tuazon in Cubao near the old LVN Studios. It's the castle, or at least a place that looks like a castle, and seems like made of blocks of chocolate.

It is supossed to be the Castle of Baking and Confectionary Arts, a culinary school established in 1995 by Annie Carmona-Lim, a pastry chef and entrepreneur, based on a posting in Wikipedia.

Chef Annie started commercial baking in 1977. She trained in local culinary schools and opened a homebaking business. Then she took a course in Master in Cake Decorating and in Gumpaste and Pulled Sugar Technique at the Wilton Cake Decorating School in Woodridge, Illinois.

She also attended the Culinary Institute of America in California, where she studied the making of European pastries, chocolate fundamentals and flavor dynamics. Later, she studied Chocolate Manufacturing and other confectionery skills in Solingen,Germany.

She also opened Chocolate Lovers Incorporated, a retailer and wholesaler of baking and confectionery supplies.

I am sure that Chef Annie is doing very well, not just on the basis of her "castle" but simply on the fact that very few people can resist Hersey's or M&M or Cadbury or even Goya.

I am probably one of the few.

Garbanzos

By itself, minus its halo-halo cousins, chickpeas may be considered the preferred ingredient. There’s a small study which indicates the efficacy of chickpeas or garbanzos in lowering cholesterol levels in the human body.

As reported in Real Age, one useful site in the Internet, people who ate roughly 25 ounces of chickpeas per week for 12 weeks (3 months) showed an improvement in their total cholesterol levels compared with the times when their diet did not contain any for 4 weeks.

Surprisingly, even their insulin levels also improved, while losing a small amount of weight, without dieting or exercise. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen garbanzos in Sta. Lucia, my neighborhood talipapa, although I have spotted canned garbanzos in my favorite grocery. I wonder if this will register the same results.

Researchers speculate that the fiber, protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids in chickpeas should get the credit for the lower cholesterol results. Garbanzos is also a great source of vitamins, minerals and polyestrogens.

Here’s more: sesame seeds also help fight high cholesterol. They are tiny but rich and nutty and they lower cholesterol by keeping our intestines from absorbing the stuff. They contain an antioxidant known as lignan which is found both in the seeds and in sesame oil, a regular occupant in my cupboard.

Sesame seeds also contain a powerful antioxidant that may play a role in blocking cancer. We can make a chickpea puree and mix it with tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds. The chickpea puree is called hummus. First time I heard about it but it is supposed to be good as spread on pita bread or whole-wheat crackers or even as a dip for fresh vegetables.

You can bet your last centavo that hummus will be on my kitchen on the weekend.

Created Equal

We seldom believe that all men and women are created equal. It is obvious that some are richer than others, taller, fairer, more articulate, more artistic, more this and more that. This reality is undeniable.

But now, meet the equal opportunity employer - TIME - best evidence that all men and women, indeed, are created equal.

Someone said that each of us has exactly the same number of hours and minutes each day. Even if you have all the money in the world you can't buy more time. You may be the greatest scientist but you cannot invent new time.

The dismal fact is that you cannot save time to spend for another day.

Time, they say, is amazingly fair and forgiving. Although you may have wasted so much time in the past, you will still surely have an entire day tomorrow.

Success in life depends upon how we use our time wisely, how we plan and how we set our priorities. They say that time is worth more than money so if you kill time you are actually killing your chances of success.

Will a time machine make any difference?

Dust 'em Cars

Inspite of my frequent visits to the Quezon Memorial Circle, I haven't seen them or even noticed them. Maybe it's because I never expected to find these electric cars in such place, much less to ride them for P30 per hour.

But there they were. I stumbled on all four of them in some obscure corner of the park. I did not know how I should react to such "discovery" realizing that, indeed, there they were but they were all in a state of disrepair and gathering dust.

The park administration must have thought about them as models for environment-friendliness. And rightly so. But it seemed that they suffered from "maintenance fatigue" and have all been "retired" behind a net enclosure. So sad.

In fact, dumped behind the four electric vehicles were two electric bikes which have also seen their days. I wonder why all these environment-friendly vehicles were all left for dead?

The Taguig City government, if you noticed lately, has fielded a number of modern-looking electric tricycles in the Fort area. People in the Fort seem to have caught on them, especially now that there are a number of interesting places in the former army camp.

Even the Makati City police is using electric patrol cars which I often see at the Market!Market! area. Of course I don't recall having seen any electric vehicle on the road. Maybe it doesn't feel "macho" to drive one since it does not make much noise and probably does not provide the "feel" of power.

But I am really sad that the four electric vehicles at the QC Memorial Circle have met their untimely end. I will not mind if one of these is "donated" to me so I can resurrect it and show it off in EDSA.

I don't really care about not being "macho". It's all in the mind, stupid!

Mega Atrium

I have heard much about it but it was only a few days ago when I had the opportunity to see it. This is the latest "pakulo" of SM Mega Mall - the Mega Atrium - a modern-looking additional wing to the area which connects Building A to Building B.

The area is mostly signature shops and classy-looking dining places. I informed the wife of my whereabouts and she readily accepted my invitation to join me for a simple dinner.

We wanted to try the delicious pizza in Amici again but the place was full so I suggested that we try Kimono Red for some sushi, sashimi or sukiyaki. But the wife was not in the mood for a chopsticks dinner - she wanted to have her fill.

So we ended up getting a nice table at Chef's Quater which serves a fusion of Asian dishes. We agreed on baked salmon with mayo-wasabe sauce as our centerpiece dish. The fish was not really excellent and I am not really sure whether it still had the expected Omega-3.

We had a similar dish at Conti's in Tri-Noma a few days before and it was not easy to fight the urge to compare one cook's creation with another's. Anyway, the salmon dish was gone in a jiffy - we were really hungry.

The bill came and the total figure was not really that bad, although the wife, who had to foot the bill again, decided that her credit card should come in handy. It did because I only had loose change for the parking fee in my pocket.

The pizza in Amici will wait for another day.

Star Tollway

Some nights ago, I got a call from the office with the instruction that I should proceed to Batangas City the following day to attend a symposium on the maritime sector at the Lyceum of the Philippines University.

I have recently been re-designated as focal person for the maritime industry so this assignment fell on my lap.

I had to leave rather early to try to make it to the 9am program, realizing that I had to consider the morning traffic in EDSA and the traffic to Batangas City along the old highway.

Luckily, the early EDSA traffic was not so heavy so I managed to get to the South Expressway some half and hour ahead of my expected schedule. Construction work in the Expressway was still in progress, although this did not significantly affect the pace and flow of vehicular traffic.

I exited the Expressway at twenty before ten and prayed that the road leading to the Star Tollway would be a bit forgiving. I was not disappointed. I reached the Tollway in a breeze.

I was hoping that I could get to the Lipa Exit in fifteen minutes so I floored my accelerator and kept at an almost constant 100 kph which is the allowable speed limit. Then I got the surprise of my life.

While I used to turn right to the Batangas City Exit, the directional signs indicated that vehicles bound for Batangas CIty should stay on the innermost lane. I did and found out that the Tollway had been extended, up to what point, I was not sure.

I sent an SMS to Provincial Director Al who dutifully informed me that I was on the right track and that he would be waiting for me as soon as I got out of the Tollway. It ended in Batangas City thus cutting my travel time possibly by about half an hour.

PD Al and I made it to Lyceum at half past ten, only to realize that we were somewhat in the tail end of a half-day symposium. Unexpectedly, I was suddenly called to speak before an audience of about 200 people, so I gave them my usual maritime "piece" in about 15 minutes.

Perhaps, the next time I go to Batangas City the South Expressway and the Star Tollway will be one contiguous highway. Not a bad dream!

Tubero

Oftentimes, I pass by D. Tuazon on my way to EDSA from Balite Drive. I'm always amused by the way the "Tubero" signs have proliferated in the area. I wonder why?

Of course, this is not the only place in Metro Manila which is "hounded" by plumbers, assuming that these "Tubero" signs were really posted by true plumbers. If I am not mistaken, professional plumbers are supposed to pass a PRC exam to qualify for a plumber's license.

This came about because in the old days TESDA did not exist and national competency standards for plumbers have not been officially promulgated. Nowadays the story is quite different.

TESDA has promulgated standards for plumbing with three levels. These standards were derived from the inputs of industry people and practitioners - the real plumbers. I am not sure how these standards compare with the PRC standards, assuming that it does have any.

It should be interesting to find out how many of these "tuberos" who have "advertised" their services in electric or telephone posts are really qualified, complete with either a PRC license or a TESDA national certificate.

Gone are the days when plumbing would just involve GI pipes, reducers, enlargers, nipples, brass faucets, chrome plated fixtures. These days vinyl pipes, reducers, gate vaves, check valves, etc. have become quite common and these have greatly made plumbng jobs a bit faster and a lot easier, perhaps.

Two years ago I bought a vinyl pipe cutter for a few hundred pesos. This allowed me to cut half-inch vinyl pipes in a jiffy, instead of using a hack saw. I have been able to assemble my water purifying facility at home with this useful gadget.

It is just too bad, I did not pursue my water refilling business.

Daily Ritual

While being caught in the early morning rush (again) at EDSA I busied myself getting some pictures to put on record how reality bites. I got the attached photo as I was inching my way towards the vehicular underpass near Crossing.

The area is a spectacle by itself. The MRT line is just overhead, along with a pedestrian overpass that gets people across EDSA from the Star Mall to the Mega Mall and vice-versa. Of course there is also the vehicular fly-over on the Shaw Blvd. crossing built by Japanese contractors, presumably with Japanese money (loan or grant?)

On practically all sides of the road are the ubiquitous billboards, along with the directional sinages in deep green and white. I almost forgot the pink fences together with the pink pedestrian overpass and the MRT concrete posts laced by Chairman BF's cadena de amor. What a spectacle indeed!

A Japanese friend has other ideas, unfortunately, and the kindest word he has about EDSA is "UGLY". I cannot blame him, of course, because his reference point could be Tokyo, which is rather truly unfortunate.

But the wife's niece who earlier came for a short vacation after more than a decade in the States, made practically the same observation. I hope her reference point is not Beverly Hills. But it could be.

The yellow taxis of old are still around, but nowadays taxis are usually painted white. Whether white or yellow, most of them, thanks heaven, are now tidy looking, air conditioned and relatively new models.

Which is my other pre-occupation, by the way - I can identify the make and model of most cars on the road starting from yesteryear's Toyopet, Beetle, to today's Camry, Vios, Impreza, Escape, Tribute, Sentra, CRV, City and many others. It's a challenge for me to be able to identify a car by merely looking at the rear lights, even at night.

And thank God for the mobile phone - it's the only way to make my daily four-hour ritual on the road a bit more worthwhile - although a lot more risky.

Cancer Cure?

An email that I received a few days ago sounds interesting and intriguing as it detailed the efficacy of asparagus against cancer. I have always known that asparagus spears are good aphrodisiac, but this is the first time that I hear about its positive effect in cancer treatment.

It's not really news, because in 1854 a professor from the University of Pennsylvania edited a literature referred to a "Materia Medica" which made the claim that asparagus is a popular remedy for kidney stones.

The book even makes reference to experiments done as early as 1739 on the power of asparagus in dissolving stones.

Here are some of the cases mentioned in the email message: 1)a man with an almost hopeless case of Hodgkin's disease (cancer of the lymph glands)who was completely incapacitated; 2)a 68 years old businessman who suffered from cancer of the bladder; 3)a man who had lung cancer; 4)a woman with skin cancer - all of them were relieved of their symptoms and eventually got well.

The asparagus spears are supposed to be cooked, either boiled or steamed, then placed in a blender to make a puree. This should be kept in the fridge. Each morning and evening four table spoons should be taken. It may be diluted with water and may be taken as a cold or hot drink.

Sounds very simple. I cannot exactly imagine the taste, but as an asparagus lover, I think I will like the drink.

Asparagus is said to contain a protein called histones, believed to be active in controlling cell growth which probably accounts for its action on cancer. It can be considered as a general body tonic or a cell growth normalizer.

The guys in the General Santos or South Cotabato area who are planting asparagus must have heard about this. I wonder why Del Monte is not riding on this bit of "useful" information?

Zero Tolerance

We had the same intention - but the editorial writer of the Philippine Star beat me to it. Yesterday the Star's editorial was all about President Arroyo's Administrative Order 255 ordering heads of government agencies and Cabinet officials "to implement the moral renewal program".

The program has something to do with values formation and ethical behavior for government employees and officials. The Order referred to Filipino values enshrined in the Constitution - respect for law, justice, truth, freedom, equality, peace and faith in God. Nice words.

If Manong Max is still alive today, he will probably blurt out - Sanamagan!

I think it is best to proceed by quoting the editorial itself - "Against the backdrop of events in the past eight years, anyone reading the administrative order will wince." And do I see people vigorously shaking their heads in disbelief?

Let me continue - "The Cabinet members and agency heads with the longest staying power in this administration are those who have been implicated in corruption scandals, those who signed anomalous deals or those who know how to invoke executive privilege to supress information about official wrongdoing."

Did you hear someone say "Aray" in East Avenue?

To go farther - "The administrative order might have some use in slapping sanctions on the small fry who are foolish enough to think that, like the big fish, they can get away with graft." Right on the dot?

Zero tolerance for graft? Or will it be business as usual?

Malunggay Republik

He is not kidding - former Laguna governor and DILG Secretary, now Manila Hotel president Joey Lina - said that "overseas Filipinos who lost their jobs can now shift to malunggay production as an alternative means of livelihood".

In fact, he just launched the "Malunggay Republik", an informal movement meant to help address unemployment. He says that the movement "is the answer to many issues and problems, from malnutrition, poor health, to poverty, unemployment, among others."

There is supposed to be a huge demand for malunggay as an alternative source of biofuels, food fortifier and animal feeds. One businessman says that there could be as many as a million malunggay growers in the next one or two years to meet the global demand.

Biochemists and molecular anthropologists have declared that malunggay, known as moringa in English, is very rich in vitamins C and A, iron and high density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol. Its seeds have been found to be effective as water purifier.

According to another source in the web, malunggay leaves have 7 times the Vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the vitamin A of carrots, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the pottasium of bananas and 2 times the protein of yogurt. It's really super food!

It has vitamins B1, B2 and B3, chromium, copper, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc. Amino acids, including two which are important for kids, argenine and histidine, are also in malunggay.

Pol Rubia, vice president of AANI said that our native malunggay is the best variety among all the others in many parts of the globe. So why has our malunggay not received the recognition it deserves?

Secretary Joey is not really kidding.

Biofuels Irony?

Today, the Philippine Star carried this story - study says biofuels may speed up global warming. The story specifically refers to crop-based biofuels which are associated with the destruction of rainforests.

The Biofuels Act, I guess, was enacted to lessen our dependence on fossil fuel or oil. However, the study has indicated that new cropland for sugarcane, corn or soybeans are often carved out of intact rainforests or from disturbed forests.

Trees are cut down to make room for new farmland and usually burned, releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The need for new farmland has been growing since ethanol production has been increasing fourfolds from 2000 to 2007, and biodiesel production has grown 10 times during the same period.

Also it has been found that biofuels production has some negative impact on food prices and eats up a significant amount of energy. The study estimates that about a third of the deforestation could be the result of the increased demand for biofuels, often mandated by legislation.

It looks like all the major oil players in the country are now selling gasoline with 10% ethanol, as mandated by law. This is good for new and relatively new fuel-injection vehicles, but not for my 1995 vintage Space Wagon.

I wonder if the conclusion of this study will even get the attention of our authorities. Do I sound skeptic?

Get Rich Quick

It's a good thing that I got mine in advance yesterday from an outlet in Sta. Lucia, a talipapa near our place. Otherwise, I would have to join the long line of people waiting for their turn to get a one way lotto ticket to riches.

The pot has gone up to the 200 million pesos mark and who wouldn't want that sort of cash on his or her hand? I wanted it on mine so I got my ticket.

A long time ago when the STL (small town lotto) was conceived, it was intended to "kill" the jueteng, the "last two" and every conceivable numbers game in the streets. This did not happen, I think, because the lotto, (as it is simply known now) just became an additional betting game when enough betting money is available.

At least, it is said that the lotto has spawned more than a hundred millionaires since it came into being. I am not sure how many of these are still millionaires to this very day.

I often tell my friends that I don't really want to get rich, I just want to have some money. If I become "rich" my frame of mind will probably change, but if I simply have some money, things will most likely be the same.

When my dad won the Sweepstakes many, many years ago, I think he did not feel rich. He simply realized that he had some money - and he put it to good use. This has changed our lives somehow - for the better.

I am still hoping that history will really repeat itself. Who knows?

They Made It...Almost

Towards lunchtime he suddenly knocked at our gate, all smiles and excited. My dad just came from the Eternal Gardens to see a friend for the last time then he got the news.

"Manong Lando, nasa Bulletin ang picture ninyo ni Manang Carling", said one kababayan who also came for the last rites. My dad was a bit surprised, although he knew what it was all about.

He had not really seen the paper to validate the information given to him by our townmate. So after the burial he proceeded to our place to break the news.

My elder son went looking for a copy of the Bulletin but he came back empty-handed. The excitement was mounting so I went to Sta. Lucia, a nearby talipapa where a newstand had two copies left. I bought them both and proceeded to buy my lotto ticket - luck may just come two-folds.

My mom and dad did not make it to the Longest Married Couple tilt. A couple of 78 years, a 98 years young groom and a 96 years old bride were declared winner. My mom and dad were among the finalists so their picture was published in the Valentine's issue of the Bulletin.

Two registered 75 long years, one couple had had 73 years, two logged in 72 years and three, including my parents, were at the end of the list with 70 years.

Although they did not win any prize, their inclusion among the finalists and the publication of their latest photo was more than enough honor and recognition.

Sounds like sour grapes ba?

Natal Day

I gave her a wake-up smack before I left for the office this morning. The wife is taking a day off from work as a birthday leave. But since it was not mine, then I had to go through the usual routine.

The day was relatively uneventful, at least for me, but I think not for guys who were involved in the preparations for a jobs fair that will be attended by President Gloria on Monday.

In fact, I had to leave the place a bit early to hunt for a birthday present for the wife. And as fate would have it, a wristwatch is all that I could afford. The salesladies asked me if I was buying a gift for my Valentine and I naturally answered in the affirmative.

They all giggled and remarked how lucky my Valentine is to get such a beautiful present. I no longer elaborated that it was both a birthday gift and a Valentine's present. Otherwise, I will spoil their seeming excitement.

On the way home, I passed by Ineng's to pick up a few sticks of barbeque as the wife is crazy about them. I passed by the Pinoy Pansit station and ordered miki-bihon guisado, as well as ten pieces of hot pan de sal.

The brood had a small feast to celebrate and the wife's eye sparkled when she opened her gift. Fortunately no one asked how old she is.

China Lessons

A dinner with a Japanese friend taught me a few more lessons about China. Unfortunately most of the lessons was really bad news.

We were having some jasmine tea and he suddenly remarked: "By the way, when you take green tea, make sure that it comes from Japan or at least made by a Japanese company. Don't ever make the mistake of buying tea, green or otherwise, that comes from China".

I was not sure whether he was simply selling Japanese products so I demanded some explanation. And he said, "Japanese, Americans and Europeans are no longer buying China-made green tea because Chinese tea growers are using a lot of pesticides." I did not need any further elaboration.

Then our conversation shifted to the world economic recession. It seems that we didn't really have much to talk about so we shifted to this topic which we both pretended to know.

I asked him, "What do you think is the best business today, considering the global economic mess?"

"A very promising business area these days is grains-dealing, sale of rice, corn, wheat. And the destination is China!" I was rather surprised and I thought he was pulling my leg because the Chinese are considered good at farming and they have all the arable land in the world.

"There are many regions in China which used to be grains-growing areas. But lately these areas have experienced severe draught because of the changing weather patterns so they can no longer produce as much grains. Where will they get all the grain to feed almost two billion people?" Good point, I think.

I suddenly realized that with or without draught, Pinas has been importing rice from everywhere, Thailand, US, Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc. Of course, we are barely a hundred million people, if that is any consolation.

My friend's ending: Chinese leaders have a lot to worry about!

Broken Windows

In another site I wrote something about broken windows, a social phenomenon described vividly by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Tipping Point. I suddenly thought about it again when I passed by Manila High School in Intramuros on my way to the nearby Manila Bulletin.

In what used to be the canteen area of the school (as I knew it eons ago) were broken windows, literally, and nobody seems to mind. Each and every glass pane, I noticed, is broken.

I assume that it all started with one pane, then another, because no one gave a hoot until practically all the panes are now broken.

When I was holding office at the Phoenix Building (beside the Bulletin) in the seventies, my friends and I used to have lunch at the Manila High canteen (that same place with all the broken windows). Of course, the simple reason is that we enjoyed the "student meal" that goes with a "student price", siyempre.

Back then, I suspected that many students had more baon than most of us did in the office so we took advantage of the "privilege" to partake of the food served to students, which was not bad at all.

In fact, if my memory serves me right, a special section was reserved for the faculty and "guest" diners like us. The canteen was the OJT of students learning the rudiments of cooking and restaurant services like table skirting and table setting.

It saddens me to see that old place deteriorating simply because no one seems to mind. I wonder what the school principal is doing. Maybe raising both arms in surrender?

Tribute

"All that I am, my mother made me" - words of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. This, to me, sounds like the ultimate tribute that one can give to his or her mother.

In a way, I should say the same thing. I remember that when I was barely four or five, my mom was my first teacher, giving me the rudiments of reading and writing. With a lot of patience, she must have sensed that her bunso' will end up being a blogger, thus the reading and writing sessions.

When I was younger, she used to smoke while doing the laundry. She often asked me to light up the long brown cigarets that she enjoyed. And that's probably how I ended up being a smoker for almost twenty three years.

Thank God I made a decision to quit on December 8, 1989. And I stuck to that decision to this very day.

When I was in the grades, my mom often sent me to the market to buy things for lunch or dinner. And that's probably why nowadays doing the marketing is as natural to me as going to the john.

She always allowed me to watch her cook and even let me do some cooking time and again. And that's why I have been able to put together my book on "Food and Cooking and Some Fun".

She is only 86 with many more years to go, I am sure. A simple wife and housewife all her life, she is the beacon of our family. For the most part, I may have become what she wanted me to be, judging on the way she reads me.

My mom is truly the greatest!

Traffic

What should usually take me about two or three minutes to travel took me more than an hour. I refer to the northbound section of C-5 road (or highway) from the point where the service road to Market! Market! begins to Kalayaan Avenue.

Some bright guys are at it again. It looks like they are building another elevated U-turn facility opposite the one which is now in operation.

"Sorry for the inconvenience" is the sign that one usually sees in construction areas such as this but I don't seem to have seen such signs there. Perhaps, the builders prefer something like: "Grin and Bear It".

The C-5-Kalayaan intersection is probably one ideal place to try my concept of "managing traffic by culture", utilizing the Pinoy value of "pantay-pantay". Give each side 15 seconds, 30 seconds or a full minute, depending on the time of day. When one side is given the green light, all vehicles crossing, turning left or turning right may go within the time allotted. Then the next side can go, given an equal time, then the next side, and so on.

When motorists realize that each side is given equal time (pantay-pantay) they will be most willing to wait for their turn, I think.

This is a better way of "educating" motorists rather than "herding" them through U-turn slots, elevated or not. Of course, under the pantay-pantay system, there will perhaps be nothing "for the boys" because there is nothing to construct.

Jun Lozada's tong-pats or bukol will be sidelined. Not an attractive idea?

Out of Ignorance

My son's slider phone was not working so i brought it to a repair shop in Avenida. A spare part simply called flex was defective so I had to have it replaced for P800.

Luckily the guy who handled the repair job had the same model so he did not have any trouble doing what had to be done. In just about half an hour, the repair job was done and I thought that he did a splendid job.

Unfortunately I could not test the phone right away because it had no load. I purchased a Sun Call and Text Unlimited card for P100. After loading the card according to instructions, I received a text message from the phone company - "Your current balance is 0.00. Please load immediately" - or something to that effect.

So how did it happen? I just loaded P100 on the phone but my balance turned out to be zero. I needed some explanation, at the very least.

I went to the Sun Shop in Robinson's and explained my predicament. The customer service lady spoke in a matter-of-fact tone: "Your balance is really zero. It means you cannot make calls or send messages to other networks. But you may make unlimited calls and send unlimited text messages to other Sun subscribers for five days. If you want to use your phone to contact other networks you need to load the regular card."

So there is a Sun card for Sun-to-Sun contacts only and another Sun card for other networks. This is of course not the case with Globe and Smart. Credit my experience to ignorance.

This is Technology 101 for me.

Disgustingly Dirty

There was a bit of a drizzle when I proceeded to the Manila Bulletin headquarters in Intramuros to submit my parent's "credentials" for the Longest Married Couple tilt. From the Manila City Hall, I had to take the Lacson Underpass to cross to the other side of Burgos St. so I can take advantage of the covered walkway to the Intramuros Walls. I failed to bring along an umbrella.

The last time I passed by the underpass sometime ago, pedestrian traffic was quite smooth as there were no vendors around. This time about half of the entire width of the underpass has been converted into a tiangge - I am not sure on whose authority.

It is not too difficult to imagine the effect on pedestrian traffic especially on a drizzing day like today.

In any case, I did not really mind the "traffic". However, I did notice that the whole underpass, including the stairs on either side and at the center were all filthy and strewn with various types of trash. Nobody really seems to be minding the store which is just beside the all-powerful City Hall.

If Mayor Lim is so busy with other things, maybe he should keep himself busy with his own backyard first and foremost. Maybe he should remind the tiangge operators, assuming they are there under his authority, to really mind their stores, including the upkeep of the whole place where they are selling their wares.

Cleanliness is next to godliness - is not a lesson somebody thought about only yesterday. It is supposed to be a lesson well ingrained in our consciousness since we started having one.

Mayor Lim is often referred to as Dirty Harry for one reason or another. But I might end up calling him Disgustingly Dirty if he cannot even clean up his backyard.

No Helmet, No Travel

A quote from Joseph Conrad - "the real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind" - may be relevant to what I noticed earlier.

I passed by the headquarters of the Western Police District at the corner of UN Avenue and San Marcelino this morning. I noticed a lot of scooters and motorcycles parked on the sidewalk and a large clearly-visible sign on the fence: NO HELMET, NO TRAVEL.

I really don't know how long that sign has been there but I suppose it is intended for members of the police force who ride those parked bikes. In fact, I suddenly saw two men in police uniform wheeze by wearing their safety gears.

Think about this: why was this sign even necessary? The sight of police officers apprehending motorcycle riders who are not wearing helmets is a day to day occurence in many places. This means that these police officers must have a firm basis for apprehending riders without safety helmets. Fine.

On the other hand, it is not really uncommon to spot uniformed police officers riding bikes wearing no helmets except the service weapons on their waist and the metal badge on their chest pocket as proof of "authority", beyond the grip of the law. Until this very day.

Maybe these police officers are not from the Western Police District. Maybe the requirement to wear a helmet does not apply to these police officers, as many other traffic rules don't. Maybe the guy who runs the Western Police District is no ordinary guy. Is he Police General Boysie Rosales who really means business?

The next time I see a uniformed police officer riding without a helmet I should probably remind him about the sign at WPD. If I ever muster the guts.

Longest Married Couple

For Valentine's Day, Manila Bulletin and SM are looking for the Longest Married Couple.

I am intending to join the search by submitting my dad and mom's "credentials". Unfortunately, I have some concerns regarding the requirements. My mom and dad got married on July 16, 1938 which means that by July this year, they will have registered 71 years of blissful togetherness as husband and wife.

Here lies the problem. Aparrently, cameras and photos were as rare as diamonds in Aparri during this age - pre-war, so no wedding photo of any kind is available. I was able to get some photos of my mom and dad but these were taken after Liberation.

My other concern is the marriage license. I was able to retrieve the original documents (marriage contract) but insects (probably cockroaches or moths) have helped themselves to the documents.

Fortunately all the vital information, names, dates, places, are still intact and legible. I have also their latest picture taken last Christmas.

By my reckoning, my dad is now 88 so he got hitched when he was 18. On the other hand, my mom said "I do" when she was 16, and she is now 86. Both were minors but documents that I have indicate that their parents willingly (I have not confirmed this)gave their consent to the (very)early wedding.

My parents have a long list of grandchildren and a still growing list of great grandchildren. At this time, I am the only exception (without grandkids) since my two boys are still in school and may not get hitched so soon.

My mom and dad may not "qualify" because of the technicality about the missing wedding photo but in my guts I believe that they may be the Longest Married Couple in the world. God bless them both!

Ego

Last Sunday Jim Paredes wrote a nice piece in the Star about ego and how we should handle ours given varied situations so that we don't "drown" in it. Worth reading, indeed.

Posted in my office is a simple white bond paper with a quote from T.S. Eliot which says "Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them."

I agree with him and so if you happen to drop by my office you will see this quote on the wall. This tends to sober me up sometimes when I am confronted with a situation where "feeling important" can be very tempting.

In this blogsite I have included a daily quote and today it comes from Leo Tolstoy of "War and Peace" fame, reminding us of the reality of threat and intimidation that is resorted to often by many. He says "All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do".

Forcing others to do what they do not want to do is probably an expression of the need to feel important - at whatever cost to others.

Below the T.S. Eliot line is another quote that I found somewhere. It says "I am not responsible for what others do or say. I am only responsible for how I react to what others do or say. I practice this daily".

Yes, this is always a good thought for the day, whatever day it is. We cannot control what other people do or say. We can only control how we react to what others do or say.

But observe - many people can't really do this. It takes a lot of practice. A lot of listening. And tons of patience.

Sentiments? Actions? Reflections?

John Quincy Adams said that “a man's diary is a record in youth of his sentiments, in middle age of his actions, in old age of his reflections”.

He was right on the dot.

I began writing during my high school years and my poems really reflected the sentiments of those yesteryears. I have put these poems together in one cover and I called them “Adolescent Embers”.

They are really the longings of my youth, my daydreams, night dreams and even the pains of a lonely broken heart.

While I continue to write, sentiments can sometimes be expressed but my pieces are often about the things that I do, the things that fascinate me and things that I find pleasure in doing. It’s generally about my actions.

Following the statesman’s logic, I must be in my middle age. I do write about some reflections but not in the sense that I am writing my memoirs. It’s probably too early for that.

So as my Fun Books go – I continue to write about food and cooking, work and bureaucracy, technology and gadgets, life and living and society and politics.

Writing CACOPHONY (see websites - http://makingsense.multiply.com or http://360.yahoo.com/caparagua) has been my main driver for the past three years. I have gained so much from the experience of writing all those weekly pieces.

I have added this journal to get me to write at least one piece a day, or probably 365 pieces in a year. The book will be called “The First Day of My Life”.

Fast Tech

My son recently had his PC assembled at a computer shop in Gilmore. He had to have it assembled because he needed a super-powerful PC that he can use for his 3D animation software.

He said that the motherboard is quad core. A few years ago the standard was dual core. He needed a powerful video card for his animation "work". But I think it is more for his games.

I still recall that the very first PC that I bought in 1993 was a 386 with a CD reader on board and a 30 MB hard disc. Those were the days of DOS 5 and Wordstar, although the very first word processing software that I ever learned was called ChiWriter.

Sometime later, I had to upgrade to an 80 MB hard disc because I shifted to Windows 3 for my operating system. Then Windows 3.1 came. That's the time I started to learn Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. I stumbled upon Pagemaker 4 and got stuck on the software up to the last version - Pagemaker 7.1 - which I still use to this day. I have acquired the new software that replaced it - In Design - but I have not really shifted to it.

Vista is on my son's PC along with Microsoft Office 2007 and other multimedia software. But I think its 320 GB hard disc is barely occupied and its 4 GB memory can be considered industry standard.

I still see some people using 128 MB flash discs when 16 GB types are available in the market. I don't want to speculate what a PC will look like in 2010. Whatever and however PCs will look like I am sure that protoypes are already in the making.

Korean Invasion

It was my third trip to Hidden Valley, that beautiful and refreshing forest resort in Alaminos, Laguna.

My first visit was sometime in the middle 70s when the valley was probably truly hidden because I did not really see much of it. The second was in the late 70s when the place still served ice cold beer.


We reached the place after about a three-hour trip from our house in Novaliches. The whole trip was made because of a niece who came for a brief vacation after a ten-year absence since she moved to L.A.

The road to Hidden Valley was surprisingly well paved and the place itself was well manicured. I could no longer reconcile the old images I had about the place with its present looks.

As we moved towards the natural pools, I noted the presence of many Korean tourists. In fact as we settled to one of the cottages, I again noted that practically all the other cottages were occupied by Koreans.

I also noticed that all the sinages had Korean language translations, indicating perhaps that Korean tourists probably frequent the place.

This is of course not so surprising. When we went for the rapids in Pagsanjan sometime ago, the story was the same. Boracay had the same picture. In fact when we climbed Taal Volcano to view its crater a year ago, the whole place was teeming with Korean tourists.

It's like an invasion - of Korean tourists which is probably good for the economy. This means that they have the means to come to the country and enjoy its beautiful spots, spending a little money in the process.

The Koreans are coming not only as tourists. I often pass through Don Antonio Village along Commonwealth Avenue and I notice that the whole place seems to have turned into a Korean Village. I don't really know why. Perhaps it's not the only place in Metro Manila with many Korean sinages.

The world is really getting smaller, literally and figuratively.