PhotoHunt#6 Together

Together, we can make a difference. Small or big task, doing it together is easier and can have more impact than doing it alone.

Pictures were taken when our gym had a Gawad Kalinga activity day. We helped in the construction of several houses for indigent Filipino families in Bayabas, Toril, Davao City through the initiative of the Gawad Kalinga organization.

The project site will house 22 families in eleven duplex houses constructed with the help of Gawad Kalinga volunteers. So far, when the picture was taken, we already had 2 houses done and 2 more houses in their finishing stage. To know more about Gawad Kalinga, go here.

Litratong Pinoy#25 Maalaala Mo Kaya?

Puntod ito ng aking lolo at lola na aming pinupuntahan tuwing Araw ng Patay. Sa tuwing araw ng patay, karaniwan na sa ating mga Pilipino ang dumalaw sa puntod ng ating mga namatay na mahal sa buhay. Ngunit may napansin akong mga puntod na wala man lang alay na kandila o bulaklak at tila nakalimutan na ng mga nagmamay-ari. Iniisip ko tuloy na tiyak na naghihinagpis na ang mga nasa loob ng puntod at sinasabing “Maalaala Mo Kaya?”.

Hala kayo, baka dalawin kayo niyan….

Translation:
This is the grave of my grandparents which we visit every All Soul’s day. It is customary for Filipinos to visit their dead loved ones’ graves every All Soul’s Day. However, I have seen some graves that are bereft of any candle or flowers and seem to have already been forgotten by their owners. It made me think that those dead people could be missing their loved ones and wondering themselves, “Can you still remember?”.

Watch out, they might visit you…

Election Day

By now, Americans are flocking to voting locations to vote for their new president. I read in the news that Barack Obama won big in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Of course, we will know the final voting results tomorrow at the earliest.

Why do I find the US elections interesting? I am just amazed how fast their poll results can be had compared to ours. It is also interesting to note that some US states have online voting and some allow early voting. Isn’t that just so high-tech? I have been wondering if the Philippines can actually do that in my lifetime.

Well, the wait is just a few hours away. Let me get to bed and for sure, the election results will be out by the time I wake up tomorrow. Cya all.

Office Halloween Party 2008

I almost forgot to do this slideshow until I saw my co-employees’ pictures yesterday. We had our Halloween Party for kids last week after a long hiatus due to budgetary constraints. The party was a blast and employees used a lot of used carbon papers for the Halloween decorations and for some decorations, they pooled up their personal resources to come up with really cool Halloween decorations.

There were more than a 100 kids plus another more than a 100 more of wanna-be kids who made the party a huge success. Here’s the slideshow:

For more pictures, click here.

PhotoHunt#5 Blue

Blue skies, blue sea and a bluish silhouette of the mountains in the background…what more can you ask for. This picture was taken while we were on a boat for our summer outing last year.

The island is called the Vanishing Island located between the Davao City and Samal Island. It is called as such as like most sandbars, it vanishes during high tide. This island is memorable for me because some years ago, an incident here almost ”vanished” us off on the face of the earth. Nonetheless, this place is really beautiful.

Happy Halloween!

…to everybody! I hope the Dallas, Texas earthquake did not dampen the Halloween spirit of the affected people. Nonetheless, let us be reminded that Halloween is not all trick or treating but a day to remind us of our dead.

Here’re some Halloween text jokes I got from a friend:

• One Sunday, a guy plan to go to church to pray for his girlfriend that died a week ago. That church was where both of them attended mass together. While walking for the entrance of the church, the guy suddenly felt weak, the more he gets further inside, the heavier his body become. As the mass ended, the guy was approached by a flower vendor and asked him, “Sir ang sweet mo naman.” He asked, “Bakit mo nasabi?” “Kasi, pinasan mo pa ang girlfriend mo papasok ng simbahan.” Happy Haloween!
• A girl was on the way to the dorm. She’s the only remaining passenger on the jeep. She had taken this route many times before, so she was surprised when the driver suddenly changed his course. Alarmed, she told the driver she’s off to the dorm. After few minutes, they returned to the original route and the driver dropped her off the dorm, but before letting her, he gave her few words of advice. “Ineng, pag uwi mo, hubarin mo agad yung damit mo at kung pwede, sunugin mo agad. Iniba ko yung ruta para makaiwas sa disgrasya. Kanina kasi, pagtingin ko sa salamin, wala kang ulo!” Happy Halloween!

Next post..pictures taken during our office’s Halloween Children’s Party.

Litratong Pinoy#24 Kadiliman (Darkness)

Kakayanin mo bang pumasok sa isang kuwebang tingin mo’y puno ng tubig, lalo pa at inaakalang madilim na madilim sa loob? Napatinag kami nang sinabi ng aming bangkero na kailangan languyin ang pagpasok sa kuwebang ito (nagbibiro ka ba, bangkero??!) Eh, napakadilim kung titingnan galing sa labas. Ngunit dahil na rin sa kanilang pagbibigay katiyakan ng aming mga bangkero na hindi ganoon kadilim ang looban ng kuweba ay dahan-dahan kaming lumangoy sa loob. Laking gulat at mangha namin nang sa pagpasok ay parang inilawan ang kuweba (siyempre pa, lumalangoy pa rin kami habang nakatunganga). Ang dahilan daw nito ay ang liwanag na nanggagaling sa labas na tumama sa tubig at dinding ng kuweba na may mga makikislap na mineral kaya parang mistikong nakailaw ang loob nito, kaya naman kinailangang tumahimik kami dahil daw kilalang engkantando ang lugar na ito. Siyanga pala, napapasok lang ang kuwebang ito tuwing pagkati ng tubig.

Kuha ang litrato sa Sohoton Cove, Socorro, Isla Bucas Grande, Surigao del Norte.


Translation:

Can you get inside a cave that you can see to be full of water and you thought to be quite dark inside? It took us a while to think about this after our boatman told us that we needed to swim to get inside this cave (are you kidding, boatman??) The cave looked so dark as we see it from the outside; however, with the assurance given by him that the cave was not that dark, we took the plunge and we slowly swam in.

To our amazement and surprise, the cave looked well-lighted inside when we got in. The reason for this was the light that came from outside reflected through the waters and bounced off on the shining minerals on the cave walls which gave the interior of the cave its mystical color. That is why we have to be silent as this place is also well-known for being enchanted. By the way, this cave can only be accessed during low tides.

The picture was taken in Sohoton Cove, Socorro, Isla Bucas Grande, Surigao del Norte.

What would you write in your moleskine?

Toni and Avalon.ph is having a Moleskine Giveaway contest. Toni is asking this:

In this age of computers, I still bring a notebook everywhere I go. So, should I get a moleskine, I would use it write down anything that comes to my mind. I might even get back to my daily journal which I stopped some years ago.

I found about Moleskine a few months back and decided to check it in the National Bookstore. I like Moleskine’s paper quality and it is one of my must-haves this coming Christmas. Curious about Moleskine? Check out Avalon.ph.

PhotoHunt#4 Scary

This was taken on one of our mountain climbing activities. Our goal was to reach the Tudaya Falls at Kapatagan, Davao del Sur which is located by the slopes of Mt. Apo. On our first day of the climb, our group leader made us choose between the short-cut or the long-cut way to the falls. We chose the shortcut without asking much and boy! Did we regret it?

We have to get through this mountain wall which was more than 50 feet with not much foothold and has just this wood ladder to start with. When we saw this vertical mountain wall everybody balked. Who wouldn’t? It looked so scary and scarier to use because one has to start with the ladder which was really unsteady and was standing precariously at the side of the mountain wall. It was not even nailed to something nor supported by anything but was just there standing up. One wrong move on that climb through the mountain wall and the thought just always gives me the shudders.

After getting done with the mountain wall, we congratulated each other with having another lease of life. Cats with nine lives!

MBS2 Epass and Update

Finally, I got my epass yesterday for the Second Mindanao Bloggers Summit . I was starting to wonder and worry about it. Thank goodness, it is now here and I am truly excited about it. It will be my second blogging event after the Digital Filipino Club Blogging event the other day. See you all there!

Thank you for the sponsors of this exciting blogging event. Here is the updated list of gracious sponsors:

CO-PRESENTERS:
City Mayor Pedro B. Acharon, Jr.
Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio
NOKIA
Department of Tourism XII
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
Bariles Republic
Gen. Santos City Tourism Association
SOCCSKSARGEN Blogers

GOLD SPONSORS:
Friendster
Globe
AMA Computer Learning Center
Grab A Crab Restaurant and Coffee Club 101
Gregoria Printing Press

SILVER SPONSORS:
Nokiahost.Com
Asia United Bank
Family Country Hotel & Convention Center
East Asia Royale Hotel
Fine Pixel Advertising IDEAS

BRONZE SPONSORS
GenSan Sale.Com
Blogging from Home Book
Pacific Seas Seafood Market
Generals Logimark Exponent
Prints and You
Writing Edge.Com
Forest Lake San Carlos Park
Rolee Bakery & Cafe
Jehzlau Concepts
Techykid.Com
Jaypee Online.Net
Blue Media Communications
International Container Terminal Services, Inc
Shalom Wizard Academy
Dreamworld Travel and Tours
Sta. Cruz Seafoods, Inc.
Dellosa Design Build Services
Kristan Bookstore
DOLE Philippines

Husky Bus Lines
Shakey's Pizza
Family Brand Sardines
Gaisano Mall of GenSan
Chowking - KCC
Jollibee National Highway
Procter & Gamble Philis., Inc

Mega Sardinesc

Litratong Pinoy#23 Liwanag(Light)

Gandang-ganda ako ng nakita ko ang punong ito. Nag-iisang nagliliwanag sa hilera kasama ang iba pang puno. Lalong nagliwanag dahil nasisinagan siya ng araw ng dumaan kami. Kaya naman, nakisuyo ako kay mamang drayber ng dyepney na kung pwedeng huminto sandali at kukunan ko lang ng litrato ang nagliliwanag na puno.

Translation:
I find this tree very beautiful. It was the only one shining bright among a line of trees. It shone more brightly because of the bright sunshine. So, I requested the jeepney driver to stop for a few seconds while I took some pictures.

Eto na siya..

Here it is...

DigitalFilipino.com and Davao Bloggers Networking Event

The Digital Filipino Club Networking Event held last night at Grand Regal Hotel along JP Laurel Ave. was a success. Our regret, we did not know that there was a free buffet dinner. So, we had eaten our dinner before going to the event and we end up drooling over the overflowing food. Nevertheless, I was amazed to see how young most of the bloggers were. Young but quite smart and driven. Here are the pictures I took:

entrance to the event

Ms. Janette Toral discussing the salient points of DigitalFilipino Club

Bloggie Robillo accepting his award for his blog, davaodeli.com

Live band after the presentation

I would like to thank Ms. Janette Toral for initiating this event and our host PAGCOR Davao for making my first blogging network event fun and memorable.

Additionally, PAGCOR Davao management showed their visual presentation regarding their contribution to the flagship programs of the government.

I cannot wait to get to the next blogging event. Kudos and more power to all!

Incomplete Blogroll

To my blogger-friends, please bear with me as I am still in the process of reencoding my blog list. I have been looking for a better option to save space (a nosebleeding activity, trust me) and the drop down menu is the best option I have seen so far. Junelle was kind enough to provide a tutorial website for the scroll down but I found the drop down menu more suited to what I want.

If your name is still not on the list, you may leave comment here as I will finish the reencoding within this week. Thanks for the patience.

PhotoHunt#3 Family

This is my family on our way to Costa Marina Beach Resort, Samal Island, Davao Province. There was a long weekend holiday and we took time off by getting to the beach early. The water was nice and there were just a handful of people around so we end up having a portion of the beach all by ourselves. Lovely!

Morning Banana Diet Frenzy in Japan

This is good news to our banana growers in Davao City and neighboring areas. Japan, whose 90% of banana source came from the Philippines, is going crazy with the Morning Banana Diet and is now gobbling tons of bananas faster than they can be replaced in the store stands.

The diet? Eating only bananas (as many as you want) and room-temperature water for breakfast to jumpstart weight loss. Eat anything for lunch and dinner until 8 pm. No deserts and bed before midnight.

According to research studies, eating breakfast will help in the pursuit of weight loss. But not only that, regulating and balancing one’s food intake is important, eating more fruits and vegetables and backed by regular exercise, weight loss is attainable.

So, am not impressed with the Morning Banana Diet. It’s just a fad. What about you?

My Blog Roll

Hi there, peeps..just realized my blog roll is missing after I change my template. I will be putting it up and your URL's one by one within this week. Please be patient with me:) Meantime, you can leave comments or check out my posts. Have a nice day.

Litratong Pinoy#22 Bago Nga Kaya? (Is it really new?)

(poste ng isa sa mga kubo sa Nayon ng Tam-awan. Translation: houseposts of one of the huts in Tam-awan Village)

Ito ang mga kubo ng Ifugao sa Nayon ng Tam-awan, Siyudad ng Baguio. Sa unang tingin, aakalaing bago ang mga kubong ito ngunit lahat ito’y mas matanda pa sa atin. Kung hindi ako nagkamali, pinakabagong kubo nila ay ginawa noong 1950. Magandang kahoy at maayos na pag-aalaga ang nakatulong kung bakit mukhang bago at maganda pa rin ang mga kubo. Kinuha sa iba’t-ibang panig ng probinsiya ng Cordillera at saka inilagay sa tabi ng gulod, ang mga kubo ay kasalukuyang pinapagamit sa mga bisita. Ang nasabing nayon ay nailunsad sa pasimuno ng sikat na magsisining ng Baguio na si BenCab. Maliban sa mga kubo, makakakita ka ng iba’t-ibang klaseng pintura at iskultura sa iba’t-ibang panig ng nayon na kanilang ipinagbibili.

Translation:

These are the Ifugao huts in Tam-awan Village, Baguio City. At the first look, the huts can be mistaken as newly-built but they are actually older than us. If I am not mistaken, the newest hut was built last 1950. Good wood and diligent care helped maintain and retain the houses’ beauty. Taken from the different parts of the Cordillera Province and installed by the slopes, the huts are now being rented out to visitors. The said village was established thru the initiative of BenCab, a well-known Baguio artist. Aside from the huts, there are different paintings and sculptures that are being sold inside the village.

October’s Blogging Events

I have been blogging for several months now and have been wishing for blogging events that I could attend so that I can meet other bloggers and exchange notes with them. Now, my wish will become a reality with two blogger events coming up next week, to wit:

1. Mindanao Bloggers Summit which will be held in GenSan City this coming October 25-26, 2008.

2. Blogging Networking Event which will be held in Grand Regal Hotel, Davao City this coming October 21, 2008.

The latter has free registration and I am encouraging all bloggers or wannabe ones to register at DigitalFilipino.com. Click here for more details.

Davao bettor wins more than P131M

How does one spend the more than P131m in a lifetime? That has been our talk in the office yesterday.

I can sleep on them for a week and probably would end up not being able to sleep on every bill because it will likely look like an ocean. LOL! Oh yeah, I can buy a bank too! Maybe, pay our nation’s debt too? Nah! I would not want to give the corrupt politicians something to be happier about. One thing is sure if I win that staggering amount, at least 10% of the winnings shall all go to the charities.

The Superlotto bettor’s combination last Sunday’s draw was 42-12-46-26-49-19. The winning bettor bought his winning ticket just down the street where our office is located and it took him 20 minutes to claim his prize in Manila.

Now, I wonder if he still can sleep with all that money in the bank. By the way, I rarely bet on the lotto.

My HP Photosmart 2610 Printer

…is unrepairable. That’s what the technician said to me the other day and it really was disappointing. The said printer has been with me for just about 3 years and was really not used as often as it should be. I started doing my scanning project early this year but the project took the backseat when I got busy with blogging. When I used it again the other month to scan a pic for one of my nieces’ school project, the picture came out hazy and I just thought that the glass just needed cleaning. After a few days, I tried printing a page of my niece’s school assignment but it won’t print.

I took my printer to a HP technician and I was told that the contact point was broken down and there’s no way they can replace it nor solder back it in place. They didn’t give me any alternative and just suggested that I should buy a new one. What???