Posted on: March 28, 2005
That's what my answers to a
survey suggested. Maybe I am. But really, I think of myself as a pragmatic fellow. But are pragmatic people realists?
Summary of Realists * Loyal and steady workers who meet deadlines
* Believe in established rules and respect facts
* Think of themselves as mature, stable and conscientious
* May appear too logical or tough-minded and forget their impact on other people
More about RealistsRealists are loyal to the people around them and work hard to keep their promises. They are honest and straightforward with others and expect the same in return. Realists believe in standard procedures and will only support change when there is a demonstrable benefit.
Realists respect factual information, which they store up to use when making decisions. This group likes to have time to think quietly and carefully before taking action.
These extremely productive people like to be occupied in their leisure time with pursuits such as craftwork, hiking or reading.
In situations where they can't use their talents or are unappreciated, Realists may become obsessed with schedules, critical of others or have trouble trusting other people to get the job done properly. Under extreme stress, Realists may complain loudly that events have taken a turn for the worse and predict negative outcomes.
Realists typically only share their opinions or personal experiences with trusted friends.
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Posted on: March 25, 2005
You've got to love family reunions. Lots of faces, lots of food, and oh yeah, more food. Compliments of Ernie Barron, who was generous enough to buy a hundred or so lauriats from Chow King to feed the entire clan. He happened to be a relative, being the son of the sister of my father's mother. I used to brag about Ernie Barron being my relative to my classmates and they would usually look at me with a "so what?!" written on their faces. Anyway, it was a big get-together with Barron families, who I hardly know of, on one side, and a handful from the Espiritus, who I also hardly know of, on the other. Yes, I am a stranger amongst my own relatives. I don't know them, but some of them do know me, and they would comment, "Oh, so you're chong Nestor's son, the last time I saw you, you were this small," and they would place their hands, palm open, at knee height. It's a sad thing, not knowing your own relatives. But when my father gets here I'll make sure he introduces me to every one of them.
We left early because my sisters still has to meet with one of their classmates who'll be leaving for the U.S. for good. We rode on a bus to Manila and got down Vito Cruz street. Manila was unusually quiet. I was caught off-guard by the silence because it's a rare thing. Every now and then a jeep would pass by, but other than that, the street was empty. Everything was closed, even the LRT lines. The people must have gone away to the provinces this Lenten season. Instead of the usual cacophony of the city during the early afternoon, all you can hear is the wind slapping your face. It is a welcoming change, given that it only happens once in a while. Somehow I wished Manila would stay this way, peaceful and quiet. Tomorrow is a different story though.
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Much has happened during the two week hiatus on my blog. Last week alone I've done things I've never done before. It's nothing much but to me it's a major leap outside my comfort zone and this time it is not for myself or my benefit. Physically it was tiring, I was craving for my bed so much that I dream about it. But in the end, the joy of service surmounts everything, and I end up feeling happy and blessed. God is good, no doubt about it!
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Posted on: March 10, 2005
The Philippines ranked high in corruption among the countries of the world. And just recently, we won the second place slot among the most corrupt countries in Asia, that is according to a survey conducted in Hong Kong. We could have been the number one if it were not for Indonesia who took away all the glory of being called the most corrupt country in Asia. If you ask me, I think we deserve to be on the top spot. Forgive me for being cynical, but hey, it's the reality dude. Our government is riddled with officials who cares for nothing but their own selfish gain. Sure we were able to bring down the regimes of corrupt leaders like Marcos and Estrada but we replaced them instead with others who are as selfish and corrupt as them. No wonder the Philippines never progresses, there are just too many leeches in the government. We need to get rid of them. Millions of pesos that should be used for the development of our country just end up in the pockets of corrupt officials. The government should do more to track down these thieves. It's not only about fighting graft and corruption, it should be more of preventing it.
But amidst the political instability, corruption, tax hikes, and increasing prices, the Philippines, for some weird reason, is among the 10 happiest nations in the world which is according to World Values Survey. We were even happier than rich nations in Asia like China, Japan, and South Korea. It's a good thing because it shows that we Filipinos are not materialistic and that our happiness is not gauged on how much we have in our pockets. According to a TIME article that I read, it is our being social that makes us happy people. Also, we are generally happy because it takes so little to make us happy. Sabi nga diba, mababaw ang kaligayahan natin. Yes, we are complacent people na basta't buhay, may makakain, at kasama ang mga mahal sa buhay, ay masaya na.
With the recent surveys in mind one can ask: Are we happy because we are corrupt? Or are we corrupt because we're happy? Before you answer that, take a look at Nigeria. Nigeria ranks third among the most corrupt countries in the world. It also happens to be the happiest nation in the world. Ironic isn't it. Go ahead and figure it out.
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Posted on: March 07, 2005
Is it just me or is the weather getting colder these days? Last Saturday it drizzled here in Cavite. The damp roads glistened under the light of the passing cars. The air had the after-smell of rain on it and from time to time a refreshingly cool breeze passed by making you shiver the chills away. On Sunday, the sky was bright and blue, with a few patches of white on them. Looking to the north, however, one can see that the horizon is blemished with dull gray clouds. It must be raining on Manila that day.
I know it's supposed to be summer here in the Philippines, but everytime I go outside I would feel the winter air of December. It's really weird because a few days ago it was really hot and our ACs were on most of the time (patay pag dating ng bills). The weather can really be unpredictable. Who among the UAEnians could forget the day it snowed in Ras Al Khaimah. After living under sunshine for so long, no one would have thought that white flakes could possibly fall down from their sky. Although it never snowed, there was a time when it reached a minus degree on Saudi Arabia - which is according to a friend who happened to live there. And now in the Philippines we see a sudden change from the unbearable heat to the refreshing cold. Freaky isn't it.
But before you start thinking of global warming, changing weather patterns, and The Day After Tomorrow, let me just say that the change is inviting, however weird it is. It gives us a short time of relief before the blazing summer sun comes back again. Maybe the earth is just cooling off itself to balance things. This certainly won't last for long but I do wish it does.
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Posted on: March 04, 2005
During the past few days the campus was littered with fliers, blown up posters, and multi-colored stickers promoting the candidates in their respective parties, who are running for the University Student Council. Their objective, as in all campaigns, is to secure the votes of the students. The candidates are at their best roaming around the campus with smiles plastered on their faces. They'll approach you in the friendliest manner and with a firm handshake would say, "Vote (place name here) for (place position here)." After which they would hand out stickers and papers that bear their names and pictures on it. It's like confetti, these things that they give you, the moment they turn around you stick it wherever you can or you just simply throw it away.
Today though the school was relatively clean. The campaign ads were stripped off walls and bulletin boards. In its place were banners that read "Halalan '05 - USC." Today's election day and the tension is rising between the members of the parties whose fate depended on the outcome of the student's votes. The parties running against each other are the ASAP-Katipunan and the Iskolar Student Alliance. The ASAP-Katipunan's cry is the fight for greater state subsidy. Backed by student activist orgs and frats, this party seem to have an edge against the inexperienced Iskolar. Among their agenda was to fight against the P357 million pesos budget cut. This has long been an issue in the UP, and now that the Congress has approved the budget cut, students has been taking it to the streets and rallying to abolish, if not strip down, the budget cut. The Iskolar argued, however, that the budget cut is only P67 million pesos - a less significant figure than that which the ASAP-Katipunan say it is, and that they had evidence to prove it. Another issue was the commercialization of the UP. The ASAP-Katipunan were against it, while the Iskolar were for it.
The way I see it, the former party is for the masses while the latter is for the satus quo.
Ang laban ng mga maka-masa at ang mga elitista, as my blockmate would say. The differences between the chairpersons of both parties holds proof to that. The descriptions of the chairperson of ASAP-Katipunan emphasized more on his membership with various student activist orgs. The descriptions of the chairperson of Iskolar, however, revolved around his academic achievements as a student. I don't want to make hasty generalizations on this but everything points out to be that way. ASAP-Katipunan openly declares in their fliers that they are "pro-masses", something you'll never hear from Iskolar. Looking back in history I remember the Magdiwang and Magdalo faction. They had the same goals but had different interests. When I look at it, I see history repeating itself in a mini-scale University level, as represented by these parties.
With all that in mind there was one last question for me to answer. Who to vote? Should it be the student activists in ASAP-Katipunan or the student pacifists in Iskolar? I voted for neither of them. I didn't take part in my so-called right to suffrage because I was uncertain if the intentions behind the smiles and the handshakes of both parties were good or bad. Neither can I really say that I prefer one over the other. I guess I'll leave it all up to the student majority to chose who they think is responsible enough to take office. But I hope that the majority would get it right this time around.
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Posted on: March 03, 2005
I'm flattered whenever people would tell me that I'm a good writer. But honestly, I really don't think I am. Before I started this blog I was ignorant to a certain degree of the english grammar. Words like badder and baddest existed in my dictionary and I'd always get a good laugh from my friends whenever they would hear me using it. I should know better by now but being the not-so-perfect-human-being that I am, I get a few grammatical errors and typos every now and then. Nevertheless, it never hindered me from writing. Instead of hiding myself out of embarrassment, I took whatever frailties I had and strove to perfect them. Since then, writing has become my passion and although I'm still the trying-hard writer that I am, I know I will eventually master my craft.
Writing is never that easy. It takes a lot of brain juice to come up with something new and creative. I admire those who could write so well that they conjure up fine writings expressing their thoughts and experiences effortlessly. Whenever I read them I would often wish that I could do the same. I would wish that somehow I could be as informative and entertaining as they are in their writings; hence my blog. It is in my blog that I attempt to become the words that you read. It is here that I relate my experiences so that you could learn a thing or two from them, whatever they may be. And it also here where I could store my day-to-day thoughts and ramblings so that later, when I look back on what I have wrote, I would feel and remember what I was like back then.
Being read and appreciated is one of the great joys I have in my life. Because of that I'm thankful for the small audience who continue to visit this blog. It's been five months now since my first post and surely this is not my last. I'll be posting for as long as I can keeping in mind what people say... at ang sabi nila ay writer daw ako!
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Posted on: March 02, 2005
Weeks ago I had a 20 peso bill that had a doodle beside Quezon. It's the kind of doodle you would see on my notebook whenever we have our Bio class or any other boring class for that matter. The three arrows intrigued me because it was pointing at Quezon's head. Was it pointing out that Quezon was going bald? The guy who previously owned this bill must have had nothing else to do. Anyway I used it to pay for my jeep fare that day. This morning however, on my way to school, I dug into my wallet and pulled out a 20 peso bill to pay for my bus fare. To my surprise it was the same bill that I had weeks ago, or so I thought. Coincidences have their effect on me so I decided to keep the bill and pay with another. This 20 peso bill was the change that I got from our school's cafeteria yesterday. I wondered how it got all the way from Cavite to Manila? In my mind I pictured the 20 peso bill being passed from person to person. The jeepney driver could have gave it as a change to a passenger, the passenger could have used it to buy a newspaper, the newspaper guy, during a hot summer day, could have used it to buy a bottle of mineral water, the guy selling the mineral water, along with fish crackers, and quail eggs, could have passed it off as a change to a UP student commuting to school, the student could then have bought something from the cafeteria, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Nothing can be more significant than something that makes its way back to you. I pondered on these things only to find out later that there's really nothing significant about this 20 peso bill that I had. That in fact, it is just one of the hundreds, even thousands like it circulating around the Philippines. How did I know? I saw something I missed out earlier. Written below the doodle was "UN Year of Microcredit 2005: Sustainable Microfinance Services for the Filipino Enterpeneurial Poor". I did my research and it turned out that the doodle was actually the logo of the International Year of Microcredit 2005:
"The logo depicts power, movement, and speed, each emanating from a strong core -- all descriptive elements of microcredit and where it stands in today's world." [yearofmicrocredit.org]So that was what the three arrows were all about, but what the heck was it doing in a 20 peso bill. Maybe the Philippine government was advertising microfinance. Actually microfinance and microcredit mean the same thing and that is the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for bank loans. They say it would help poor people engage in projects that would generate income. This is fine, but what if they didn't make a profit out of the loan that they used? They'll be stuck in debt like the Philippines is today.
Haay, and to think that for a moment I thought there was something special about this peso bill. This is what I get for watching too much of Serendipity.
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Posted on: March 01, 2005
Corniche Renovated
Corniche as seen from the Marina Cafe
Emirates Palace Hotel at night
The Corniche is Abu Dhabi's counterpart of Manila's Baywalk and it's a helluva lot more beautiful there. See the hotel on top? If you've read my earlier posts I've mentioned about this being the world's second seven star hotel. It wasn't stated so in their website though. Maybe someone on the other side of the world beat them to it.
It was still in construction when I left Abu Dhabi and now just a few month's later it's already finished. I would gaze at it at a distance whenever we would go to Marina Mall and I would always find myself amazed by its enormous size and grandeur. Looking at it always reminded me of Taj Mahal.
Abu Dhabi really is getting more beautiful everyday. Maybe after a few years it would be at par with the most beautiful cities in the world. If only Manila or any other city in the Philippines would do the same.
Anyway, I know my blog has been stagnant for a week now but I'll be posting descent stuff soon. I have a lot of topics in mind waiting to be written down but I just can't seem to get started. Writer's block as they say.
I'll be posting regularly soon. Just watch out for it. :)
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