John Ford Coley @ SM Megamall

When I went to SM Megamall last Sunday, there was a stage set up at the Atrium for a small, 15-minute concert. The performer was John Ford Coley. Who is John Ford Coley? Unfortunately, Filipinos know his music more than man behind the talent. He performed a lot of love songs during the 70's and surprisingly, his tunes are still being aired by the local radio stations making them unforgettable classics to the Filipino people. Here's a sample of his music below.

PLDT Stockholder's Meeting

I went to PLDT's annual stockholder's meeting with may dad at the Dusit Hotel in Makati. He figured that it would be a good opportunity for me to learn the activities of the corporate world. We don't have any investments in PLDT but it turns out that all land line subscribers are technically entitled to 1 share. It's not at all significant but it's enough for us to get invited to the meeting. I saw some big personalities in the business world like Mr. Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee, Mr. Alfred Ty of Metrobank and of course, Mr. Manny Pangilinan. Believe it or not, Fr. Nebres was even there as an independent director and, as expected, he presided over the opening prayers. I don't know exactly what an independent director does that is different from the regular members of the board. I also have no idea whether Fr Nebres really owns stocks or if the Ateneo owns it and he is just the university's representative.

What I learned from the event... during the portion of the meeting where the shareholders ask questions about the company activities, there were (and I guess always will be) people who either asked irrelevant questions or did not ask any questions at all and just ranted random sentences. There was this old lady who began preaching verses from the Bible (weird!) and this greasy fellow, who looked like a drug pusher, who voiced out his useless concerns loudly and emotionally. He kept on hogging the microphone even after the technicians cut off the mic's power to force him to shut up. He finally stopped only when Mr Pangilinan threatened to throw him out (But I think he should have done that earlier). These people acted as if they had a majority of the shares when they probably don't even own one. My dad said that these nuisances are a fact of shareholder meetings. They're just there to waste everyone's time and annoy the board of directors. Now I'm really impressed with CEO's like MVP because not only do they put up with the rigors of corporate activities but they also put up with these disruptive lunatics every year.

Tony Blair in Manila

My dad and I went to Tony Blair's speech on the Leader as Principled Negotiator. Too bad my camera has a poor zoom function that's why Tony Blair cannot be seen clearly. One of the main sponsors was DLSU and they gave him an appreciation award and a school jacket. They probably heard the news that ADMU also gave an Ateneo jacket to Mr. Blair during his earlier speech at the Irwin Theater (ha ha). His talk in Ateneo was supposed to be an "invitation only" event but there were more of students than faculty, staff and alumni guests combined... so who were the lucky bastards who got invited? The ticket in Sofitel costs P1000 each but despite the crowd and traffic, it was all worth it. But of course it still feels different (and probably better) watching the event from your own alma mater (and it was probably free!)

Moving on to more important matters... Tony Blair's talk is about negotiation as the primary tool for leadership. Surprisingly, this kind of leadership is not limited to politics but also in business, social activities and the like. He said that problems are not solved through conflict or force but through dialogue and conversations (yes this comes from a man that declared war on Iraq). One must always be willing to engage in open conversation and negotiations with another party. Once dialogue is closed, how can a compromise be reached? With such topics being pointed out, I couldn't help but remember the Rorty's philosophy echoing in my memory. He said the same thing about continuous dialogue, a willingness to negotiate and reaching compromises. Tony Blair's description of leadership can be summarized in one word - courage. It is to have the courage to listen to the views of the opposition, the courage to question or even abandon your own stand and, yes, even the courage to continuously find resolutions despite the possibilities of failure. With this, I like to end with a line in his speech that struck me the most:

"What is forgivable is to fail but what is unforgivable is to not try at all" - Tony Blair

Dave Batista in Ateneo!

Last week, Thursday at around 2pm, a Nissan Urvan pulled over the Moro sports center drive way and then suddenly I saw all the people flock to the entrance. The next thing I knew, I was the only person left in the gym. It turns out, Batista paid an unannounced visit to the Moro Lorenzo Gym. He was there to have a pictorial for Solar Sports with the Talk n Text basketball team practicing on the upstairs court. Unfortunately he only stayed for around 15 minutes and when I met him in the hall way, he was already about to leave. I wasn't able to take any good photos of Batista because my camera was too slow and his bodyguards were in the way (with those muscles, I think the last thing he needs is a bodyguard :D ). This photo was taken by one of the staff and it's one of the only clear shots of the celebrity. It is posted on the front desk as proof that Batista was there... who's the aryan woman, you ask? Got no idea.

Finals Aftermath

Words alone can't describe how good it feels to click the "send" button on my email to submit the last requirements for school. The finals week I had this semester probably was the most rattling one I ever had. Probably becasue the subjects were all rushed since we seniors had to finish early. I'm just glad that most of my final papers could be sent through email. It saved me the trouble of going back and forth to school. But despite the difficulties, it finally comes to an end. But there are things I still need to accomplish. My ordeal is far from over.

1. I still need to finish the clearance process

2. Attend the Pabaon

3. Have my post-semester clean up

4. Find a job

The post-semester clean up is the one I hate the most because it does not only involve cleaning up clutter like papers and books but it also includes cleaning up my hard drive, burning files into DVDs and organizing everything left behind from last semester. This is one major obstacle standing between me and my summer vacation.

The Smartest Investment Ever

During the sem break, the library administration closed the computer labs but they closed it down longer than usual. They didn't renovate the place. They did something better...

They replaced the old computers with flat-screen lcd monitors, brand new CPU's and installed the latest softwares! It's unbelievable. The desks became more spacious without the bulky CRT monitor. Every single key in the keyboard is functioning. They got rid of the non-responsive ball-mouse units. Best of all, the computers are running on a 2.33GHz Intel Core Duo processor with 2GB of RAM and they have a mind-blowing 80GB of disk space. Insane! Installed are the latest version of MS Office 2007 and an Antivirus (If I remember correctly, it's not Norton this time). It was a rare sight to see every computer in an entire lab working properly.

I wonder how long will it take for the students to wreck these new computer units?

After Four Years...

After waiting four years, which seemed like an eternity, our Ateneo High School yearbook is finally out. To be honest, I actually forgot the existence of this book since it took so long for it to be published. And I find it unfair that some alumni who went abroad won't be able to claim the item that they PAID for.

So... is all that wait worth it? I really can't tell. Why? Check out the photo below. No, I didn't make a mistake of taking a picture of the book upside down. I want you to pay attention to the small label on the cover...

3 days? WTF?!?

When I finally open the book and benefit from its contents, I have actually waited 4 years + 3 days. Is this a way of having a last laugh on us after making us wait for so long? What the hell? Will the pages disintegrate when the book is taken out of its plastic cover within 3 days? Maybe they are hiding some subversive material printed on the book and it will take 3 days for that content to disappear. It sounds crazy, but I don't want to take any chances. My damn imagination is getting the better of me again...

It was an experiment after all...

Remember that Honesty Store I mentioned in the past? My question was answered. It doesn't work after all. After one month of operations, the store lost nearly 20% of its expected earnings. That's Php12K+! Now the store is forced to close in a few weeks.

Here's something new in school...

Situated in a corner on the ground floor of the MVP is a curious cabinet called the Honesty Store. The name alone should give away its purpose for existence. The cabinet is filled with all sorts of snacks labeled with corresponding prices and there is also a small tin box where you place your payment. Whoever owns the Honesty Store trusts that its customers will pay the exact amount, will not steal any inventory and especially will not take the cash box (I think the box is not even chained to the cabinet). Its purpose is to cultivate and instill the said value on the customers. But I wonder if it actually works?











I must say the store is quite popular to the students. Some of them get a kick out of the fact that there is no salesperson guarding the store. So far there are no known incidents occurring yet... and for good reasons. The store is located on one of the most populated and high-traffic areas of the University. If you have any evil intentions on the defenseless store, you'll certainly consider theft a suicide because you have this many people who can testify against you.

(The picture may show only a few people but when I was there, there were really a lot more than that)

If you really have an evil bone in your body or a kleptomania disorder, the Honesty store seems more and more of a trap, don't you think? =P

Fire? Where?

An unexpected incident suddenly disturbed the silence of the Rizal Library just this afternoon. A deep, loud and piercing alarm was heard throughout the building. The sound wasn't the kind you'd usually hear when school bells ring. It was more of like the sound of an alarm when a reactor is having a meltdown. You get the picture. At first I thought it was the fire drill. But then two things popped out of my mind. First, the drills were scheduled on a Wednesday. Today's a Thursday. Second, it's already 5:30pm. The drills were only supposed to happen from 8am to 5pm! After I saw some of the library officials frantically searching the nearby rooms and corridors of the library, it daunted on me. Holy crap this is for real!

We evacuated the building but fortunately, nobody panicked. In fact, nobody knew what the alarm was for and what exactly is going on. A lot of people even ignored it. If it weren't for the librarians who told them to evacuate, they would still be in their seats minding their own business.

I really don't know what happened back there. Maybe it was a malfunctioning alarm. Maybe it was a real fire. As far as I know, they didn't find anything there. Not even traces of smoke. After the alarm was disabled everyone returned inside. But I didn't want to go back in. I didn't want to take any chances.

Why Buy Rice?

First of all, I'm not endorsing other rice alternatives nor am I discouraging people from consuming rice. I like rice and you can pretty much guess it's a part of my diet since I'm Asian. However, I want to talk about the alarming rate at which the government is importing rice from other nations. Just recently, the countries from the Indochinese region banded together to form the Organization of Rice and Exporting Countries or OREC. Rumor has it that they are planning to regulate the price of rice in the international market just like how OPEC regulates oil prices. It's clear why this is happening. The global food crisis is still not over and it looks like it will stay here with us for a while. And what does the Philippine government do about it?

What I've been working on recently

Since the semestral break last year, I was working on a novel inspired by ideas I learned from my Philosophy classes. I couldn't explain what kept my imagination running to produce a novel 15 chapters long. I think writing is a great form of release from all the depressing truths of reality. At least when it comes to writing, I'm able to create my own world, my own rules and decide on the fate of every single character I give life to. After all, story characters are at the mercy of their writer.

I finished the entire novel last February but I was only able to publish it online a few days ago due to the many school activities and the bad internet connection that caused major delays. For the lack of creativity, I named some of the characters and places in the story after my college friends. But not to worry. I only used their names and not their personalities. There is nothing personal about this novel ;) Got any comments? Saw some typographical errors? Feed-backs are most welcome.

Click HERE to access the novel

Food crisis across the world

I've been watching CNN for the past few days and the news are all the same. The entire world is suffering from rising food prices. I guess this is no surprise since the country is already feeling the impact of rice shortage. Can we say that the government is at fault for rising prices and the supply shortage? Maybe not but neither are they free of the blame. Other rice producing nations are considering a ban on rice exports. This could spell trouble for the country since the government would rather increase the imports than

Suffering from thermal shock

It's summer again and with the continuous problem of global warming the temperature reaches abnormally high levels. The heat from the midday sun is so extreme that I can feel the radiation piercing through my skin like thousands of hot needles. This is the reason why I don't go out much and if I need to, I plan my trip well as to avoid as much sun as I can. I'm thankful I don't have any summer classes this time.

Killing time

Just killing some time by surfing the Blogthings website. I took some random personality tests and here's something that had an interesting result :D

Why now?!?!

I hate my internet connection! It keeps on disconnecting every 10 seconds. I'm lucky if I ever get to get to post this entry. It's been like this for the past three days and I couldn't get any work done. I know calling the help line is no use because they're just going to put me through a useless routine and trivial trouble shooting like they always do. And speaking of shooting, whoever is responsible for this incompetent internet service MUST PAY! Whoever is sleeping on the job must be shot! >:(

Prioritizing

We just had our first surprise quiz for physical chemistry for the semester and as usual less than half of the class passed. Probably only 4 out of 25. It's a clear sign that I must set my brain back to school-mode. I have to admit it's difficult to do just that this time of the year since I just came back from sem break and the fact that it's Christmas Season already. I just have this tendency to take things too easy and lightly.

I know I have to go back and hit the books but I still have to write a novel (Yes. I wrote something during the break) which is a chapter away from completion. So close...

I also have this extreme desire to make that online store and sell some of my old junk on ebay. This time of the year is perfect since a lot of people will be shopping online to buy Christmas gifts. Too bad I'll be missing out on it. Talk about opportunity costs...

Well, first things first. I must not let my Gemini instincts of starting one thing without finishing the other get the best of me. So it's academics, then the novel and finally profit. The most important task comes first before the most complicated.

Random rants - If it's not one thing, its another

Maybe I'll just post some random rants for today. I had one hell of a week and there's barely enough breathing space for me. Too much time has been dedicated to work and less to more important things like sleeping. Just when I though I was about to have a weekend off, I suddenly receive tons of assignments on the last minute. There goes my plan for the weekend. Its a good thing Amphersand is only a virtual store or else weeds and 5-foot tall grass would have been growing there by now. I guess these inconveniences all part of the gamble I made...

Two of my block mates didn't attend classes today because they used his time to travel to their Immersion destination. One of them texted me this afternoon and it sounds (I hope that it is!) like their doing OK on their first day. I mean the weather there surely must have been better compared to what happened in Manila this afternoon. A brief freak rain storm attacked the city for about 15 to 20 minutes. Winds blew with unbelievable strength. I was caught in the middle of traffic and it was difficult moving around because visibility was extremely low. If I'm not careful, I might hit another car or the street lamp post. Anyways back to the Immersion issue.

I don't know if it's just me or it's because it's Friday (hey its Caturday tomorrow!) but during our Analytical Chemistry class, which is my last class for the day, it seemed the size of the class was reduced by half. Knowing that two of my friends would be away today and for the entire weekend really made me feel that a really really big part of my day was missing. There was this noticeable and disturbing sense of incompleteness. It's kind of like forcing your car to move on a missing tire.

Well more work ahead for me tomorrow. Gotta catch some z's and recharge myself for another restless week-end.

Go Figure...

Me and a couple of my friends were one day thinking about reaching out to the marginalized people in society. Among the groups that top our list are the pessimists and procrastinators. They are the ones that need a lot of help so that they can be productive members of society. We then thought of holding seminars to give talks and inspire them to consider and change their ways. Of course preparing these conferences have their corresponding cost.

The cost will come from renting the venue. Not to mention the complementary refreshments and miscellaneous supplies. Mailing letters, pamphlets and advertisements will also contribute to it.

And what about the idea of having a conference itself? Some might think it's not a good idea. We could be only wasting our time. What if nobody shows up? What will we do if the food and supplies go to waste?

The idea will probably be ridiculed anyway and we might not properly monitor the project. We'll just end up putting all of our work for tomorrow....

Because of these frustrating possibilities, we decided to abandon the idea.

Go Figure...