#laagnitantong

July 30 - San Jose del Monte, Bulacan We've been locked up at home since March 16... it has been 4.5 months already. Although, Jun, En and myself may occasionally go out, but for Mama and the kids, Paula and Bella, they've been inside our residential premises only.  Now, the record of Covid19 cases in Metro Manila has declined in July and the quarantine status has eased. Although travelling around the country is still restricted, most especially for those using public transport, private travel is still possible. On July 31, non-essential travels were permitted. So we decided to go home to Surigao province. We did it for 2 purposes, to rid of Manila's viral environment and for Mama and kids to enjoy the outdoors because our home province doesn't have strict quarantine rules (this turned out to be a misconception!).   In the last week of July, we decided to go home. En and Jun made all the preparations including primarily the medical certification and travel authority for...

History of Plague When novel corona virus started infecting Chinese in the later part of 2019, I was reminded of the Black Death in the earliest century (1350). I remember how it was described in a historical fiction book series of Ken Follet, the Pillars of the Earth. There were recorded pandemics in 1817 (Cholera) and 1918 (Spanish Flue). Even in ancient history, plagues were recorded in the Bible and in various accounts of human history (https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/pandemics-timeline). Then Covid19 was finally declared a pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 when it spread around the world, forcing governments to quarantine their citizenry. The Philippine Government commenced its hard lockdown on March 16, 2020. Work from Home (WFH) With traffic situation in Philippine's Metro Manila, where I spent at least 4 hours on the road to and from the office, I always wished for a work from home employment arrangement. With the lockdown due to health crisis, I was working ...

(Originally posted on April 5, 2014 in my Facebook page) One morning, as I hurried out to catch the early bus ride that usually beats the traffic in the Cubao area, my cellular phone sounded its usual text tone. A message appeared from an unknown source when I opened it. It said: "It is hard to come up with a wage just to pay off the debt that is left over." Perhaps a wrong sent item, but such is an enlightening message. It connotes that one wage-earner must not be overconfident of his / her regular pay, no matter how huge it would seem. As an earning individual, we have this tendency to avail of debt / loan, or buy stuffs especially cellphones on credit, or pawn our ATM card to afford some things at once. I was once doing the same until I learned financial discipline. Yes I now have reasonably huge monthly earnings. I can afford to buy 40 ”TV in one month, then iPhone 5, iPad or Samsung Galaxy tab in another. But I don't ... I can't ... I won't. I have my ...

Bantayan, Cebu This trip with hometown friends was supposedly the highlight of my birthday celebration. The whole gang was comprised of Nang Lolong and Nanan from Surigao City, Nang Rosshiel and Ruby from Taguig City, and myself. Our reservations at Budyong Beach Resort, in the most beautiful island in Cebu Province, was from January 9-12, 2020. Nang Lolong and Nanan traveled by boat from Surigao to Cebu on the night of January 8th. If not because of the official trip to Singapore, I should have flown with Nang Rosshiel and Ruby from Manila to Cebu at midnight of January 8th. I tricked them; I only disclosed my official call to Singapore on the day that the four ladies were already reunited at Cebu's North Bus Station. So they went ahead with my instructions to enjoy the island while waiting for me. As promised, I flew back on January 10th from Singapore and caught a connecting flight at Manila Domestic Airport that early morning of January 11th to Cebu. Now, another hometown frien...