#laagnitantong

My all-time favorite movie in foreign language, the Children of Heaven. It presented to me a metaphore of my family background, that is being born from the less privileged family --- which molded in me an supernatural kind of volition to aspire for a bountiful life for me and my family. I am sharing this to all of you... Just please bear this message: "count your blessings"!

September 11, 2011 is a much-awaited day for me. It is not because it's the 10th year anniversary of 9/11 US NY twin tower-attack but because I will be spending a day with my nephews and nieces in Tacloban City. One benefit of my work is that I can travel for free to Tacloban City due to the fact that the project I presently work with have areas around Samar and Leyte. This means that I can always drop by my elder brother Bobby's residence whenever I have official business in the region. What is exciting visiting his place are the kids, my nephews Keith Robert and Kim Herbert, and my nieces Ayssa Rosette and Dulce Paula. For more than a year now, I was not able to spend time with them since my last visit in 2009. The kids have grown taller, Kuya Keith and Ate Ayssa now tower over me. And are now teenagers, both in their high school and they have grown really physically. Thus my chitchat with them was generally about school and their school performance. I am so proud to hav...

This is an open question in Yahoo forum. And since it interests me, I dare to answer. And my answer is that Philippines can never be! hop on the white (naked) island in Camiguin All tourists I rubbed elbows with during my foreign travels fear kidnappings in the Philippines (Abu Sayaff and/or NPAs). Unless we can promote our country refuting this concern and not just refuting but taking measures to address it, we can somehow attract them to visit us. Yes there are a couple of tourists coming in and out of our country but those are daring, open-minded, and adventurous. walk barefooted around the white sanded Boracay Island Furthermore, I noticed that our tourism industry way way lack the worldwide promotion. If we compare it with Malaysia's, we notice their promotions in all pay-(cable)channels are visible and ubiquitous. If ours is as this frequent, attractive and worldwidely, then all negative travel advisories against our country may be drowned by it, because tourists ar...

Reference: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/incomplete-guide-filipino-food-terms-051006742.html  By Gilda Cordero-Fernando in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer ANN – Sun, Sep 4, 2011 This is an interesting read! I intend to share it directly but the url doesn't have direct linkage to any social networking or blogging sites. So I cut and paste the whole article to my blogspot. Enjoy reading... Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - It has been claimed in scholarly papers on food that sinigang is the national dish of the Filipino, like the sampaguita is our national flower and the monkey-eating eagle is our signature bird, and therefore sinigang is known all over the Philippines. In an extensive food research trip I made in 1990 (covering the Tagalog provinces as well as the Ilocos), it was interesting to note that sinigang, so much a part of Luzon's barrio cooking, is virtually unknown, at least in several municipalities of Ilocos Norte. What may pass off as sinigang could be wha...

The message came with a buzz in my pocket: “Flight Borromeo. Tonight. Reunion.” K never failed to gather us, even after all these years. I hesitated, then gave in. Curiosity always wins. The bar was dim, neon lights flickering against bottles lined on the shelves. I spotted familiar faces through the haze. Mel, Len, K, Jo, and Ric— freshly back from California, green card in hand. We greeted each other with cheek kisses, laughter, and the awkward warmth of old classmates reunited. At first, the talk was light, almost rehearsed. Dreams of America. The promise of migration. But soon, the secrets began to spill. Ric leaned back, sighing. "California isn’t what you think. I struggled. Jobs, rent, loneliness… it’s not the dream they sell you." Mel shook her head. "I was scammed by a fake agency once. Lost everything. Now I’ll take any chance, even if it’s hopeless." Jo chuckled, raising his glass. "Not me. I’m staying here. Toyota taught me — ‘Push yourse...

I used to read about it in every articles I got the chance to scan. Since then, it drew in me a dream to one day set my foot on its ground. And now, here I am in Siem Reap, Cambodia to witness the glamour and intricacy of old world's wonder, the Angkor wat and other temples! From now on, I can tell eveyone "I was there!" like the usual t-shirt printing declares. August 27 to 30 is a four-day long holiday in the Philippines. I expected that early this year so I booked a trip to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam via the Cebupacificair when it offered a promo fare. Saigon is my point of entry and exit as I cross the border to Cambodia. August 26 came and despite the tiring business (work-related) in the Philippines, I flew to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) that evening and arrived in the city around 3 o'clock dawn. I initially thought of taking the bus in crossing the border to Siem Reap, but it will took me 13 hours which trip would put my August 27 to waste. Thus I opted to book a f...