Don't Let The Little Things In Life Piss You Off

Have you ever seen someone complain about his or her boss or workplace as if it’s the end of the world? Have you been cut off in traffic and let it ruin your whole day? How many times have you let your experience at the airport (crying baby, delayed flight, missing luggage) be the first thing you bring up in conversations with friends?

I want you to repeat after me: “these things happen.”

We all have these types of events come up in life, but successful people just go on as if nothing has happened, and unsuccessful people let it derail them.

The next time you feel a surge of anger coming on over an insignificant event in your life, go over these points in your head:

You look like an idiot
There is no polite way to put this. When others around you see you COMPLETELY lose it over a cup of spilled milk, they aren’t feeling sorry for you and wondering how they can help. They are subconsciously judging you and coming to one inescapable conclusion: "you aren’t in control of your life."
If something this small throws you off, imagine how you’d react to a REAL problem in life. Overreacting tells the people around you that you can’t be trusted to deal with important issues. You’re not the go-to guy (or gal) when they’re in need, because you can’t even take care of yourself.

The only person you’re hurting is yourself
Did you ever realize that when you get upset at someone who cuts you off in traffic, they generally never even know? Usually they speed off never the wiser to your insults and gestures. By getting angry, you’re doing zero harm to them while simultaneously hurting yourself even more. That doesn’t make much sense, and is a waste of your precious time and energy.

Now heres the zinger; What if that person purposely WANTED to upset you (they have some subconscious need to pick on others, they’re parents didn’t love them enough, etc)? Well then they are getting the exact reaction they wanted, and you’re playing right into they hands.

If you really want to mess with someone who flips you off in traffic or at work, try smiling and waving back, and watch the confused look on their face. With time, you can even learn to appreciate and love these people (bizarre I know) for the important role they serve in life: helping to remind you how NOT to live. Don’t judge them, they are just at a different point in understanding life.

Find something to be grateful about
So you’re sitting there in rush hour traffic about ready to tear your hair out. Train yourself to go right into gratitude, and start listing what you’re grateful for and what good can come from this situation. Maybe its the perfect time to make a phone call to a loved one you’ve been putting off. Maybe you can get some “reading” done on that audio book you’re listening to and be grateful for the chance to learn something new. Maybe its just a chance to put things in perspective and marvel at how far technology has come. After all, primitive mankind would have had to walk this distance. You get to SIT in an air conditioned chair barely pushing the accelerator.
There is something good in every situation, and you can find it. Even if its just that you’re grateful for the chance to practice being grateful.

Unsuccessful people are REACTIVE. They are a leaf blowing in the wind, the world is happening around them, and they are just trying to stay alive. When something bad happens, someone did it TO them and they take it personally. They get caught up in the victim mentality and take every opportunity to let people know it.

Successful people, on the other hand, are PROACTIVE. They make things happen in life and are on a mission. And by golly, they aren’t going to let some silly boss or colleague take them off their mission. Instead, they say to themselves “these things happen” and move on to more important tasks.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

I'am Thankful

I am Thankful for my Job
I have so much to be thankful; a wonderful family, good health, few good friends and a career. But, this year I have something else to be thankful for; a great job. I’m not just employed and bringing home a paycheck; I have the best job of my career and I am very thankful for that.. considering I'm starting all over from zero again. I enjoy coming to work and I like the people I work with. Which for me is the best part.

Do What You Love
There is a constant debate on the blogs about whether people should do what they love or pursue a career with high earning potential. I’m very fortunate to do what I love and also get paid. Being in the Food and Beverage Industry and Service Line isn’t for everyone. It can be very stressful and you constantly have to keep up with new challenges. Busy days like Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, manpower shortage, rowdy and complaining customers..all that jazz! But, I chose to work in this industry and I’m happy with the choice I made.

Good & Bad Jobs
One of the reasons I love my job is because I’ve had some really bad jobs in the past. So, I really appreciate working in a nice, cool,hip place; having benefits and having a weekend off. Some of the people I have worked with have never had to labor or work for low wages and they don’t appreciate just how good they have it.

Good & Bad Employers
Another thing I have experienced is the difference between good and bad employers. I won’t go into any lengthy definition; most people have worked for both and know the difference. I quit a couple of jobs that mistreated me as an employee and it’s very empowering. Hanging around and hoping it will get better or taking one for the team is just the opposite. I’m at the point in my career where I recognize soul-sucking employers and I quickly move on. I also appreciate a good employer and treat them with out most respect and loyalty.

Complaining at Work
There was a great post and comment thread over at Invest it Wisely about Pet Peeves. As I started writing this post I realized one of my biggest pet peeves is people who complain about their jobs. Right now, I know people would kill for a good job. Meanwhile, others have great jobs and spend their entire day complaining about them. Complaining is unproductive, unprofessional and dis-empowering. Promotions and opportunities are lost for employees who complain about their company. Positive and successful people avoid others who are negative. Complaining can become an expensive habit.

Making your Own Paycheck
Some people are born entrepreneurs and they would never be happy working for someone else. One day, I would love to be self-employed and not answer to anyone. But, it’s not easy to give up a job with such good colleagues and superiors. So, I will continue to appreciate and do well my current job; even as I dream of one day being the master of my own destiny.

The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that a job is more than just a paycheck, it’s an opportunity. And, the most important part of any opportunity is what people make of it. The most humble of professions can be the start of a bright future.

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”
- my late Grandfather; Mr. Fausto Reyes Flores

Have a nice week ahead y'all! :D

What If?

Hi there people! Its been a while since I last posted an entry here coz I've been away for some Rn'R in The Philippines. And talking about my beloved country, we just celebrated our Independence Day yesterday. Well yea, I posted it on my Facebook, that it doesn't seem real or I'm really not feeling the independence or freedom that we Filipino's are celebrating.. So not to brag about it and frustrate myself more, I decided to write something off the hook of my "subversive thinking" and yea, this is my post-Independence Day post :D

WHAT IF? ...we were still an American colony in 2011? Let me humor you with what we could have been had if The Philippines did not won its independence in 1946;

Several months ago, Senator Bongbong Marcos made a highly debatable statement: " if my father (then former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos) was not exiled, the Philippines could be a Singapore now." Or something to that effect. Taking his cue, can we boldly declare: " if the Philippines remained an American colony, the country could be a Hawaii or Puerto Rico or a Guam right now? " How would our lives be different?

OUR FAUX AMERICAN ACCENTS WOULD BE JUSTIFIED
You wouldn't have to work in a call center or to be a DJ to spot a heavy drawl or twang. When people ask, "You talk like you're from the US, where you from? Well, if it was me, i can answer proudly, "I'm from the coffee state of Batangas, biatch!"

OUR SARI-SARI STORES WOULD HAVE MORE PX GOODS
I love Chocnut, but it would be nice to have a broader variety of junkfood at our disposal. Sari-sari stores would carry American items as Twinkies, Mars, Baby Ruth, Jelly Beans, fresh milk in a tetra pack and Budweiser beer :D

WE WOULD'NT NEED A U.S. VISA
Or need to line up at most embassies, for that matter. We would enjoy the same " no visa policy" that most of the world enjoys - -except from China and other countries that are'nt too crazy about them Yankees. Japan, Europe and the rest of North America would welcome us without that condescending look as if we're coming to take away their jobs. We would rightfully say, " I'm here to spend money, so stamp my passport and get our of my freakin' way!"

AMERICAN IDOL WOULD BE DOMINATED BY PINOYS
Ryan Seacrest would learn to speak Tagalog or Chabacano - after all, the top 24 would all be Filipino's belting out songs like Aint No Mountain High Enough, Umbrella, Easy Like Sunday Morning and Anak. And there would finally be an American Idol of Pinoy descent \0/

STREET KIDS WOULD WEAR REFLECTORIZED VEST
In true enterprising Pinoy fashion, they would still peddle their wares on EDSA, but at least they would be dressed appropriately to keep them from being run-over :D

AMUSEMENT PARKS WOULD BE SCARY FOR THE RIGHT REASONS
We would be thrilled with huge drops and scream-inducing speed not worrying about getting tetanus from rusty metal or whether the ride passed the safety inspection.

WE WOULD GET SOME OF THAT OBAMA BAILOUT MONEY
We would cry like those on Wall Street and get a piece of the stimulus package pie =)

Truth is, we'll never know for sure. We are where we are for a good reason; what it is, i still don't know. What's clear is we gotta love the Philippines , for better or for worse. :D

have a blessed week y'all!

Personal Branding Musings + Breaking The Silence

Sorry for the long silence. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been fighting off a nasty case of blogger burnout. I haven’t been writing much, or checking email, Facebook or Twitter. I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things now – thank you to everyone who sent me concerned messages and emails.

I wish I could tell you that this long hiatus was planned and purposeful, but that’s not exactly true. Originally, I planned to take a day or two away from blogging to recharge – but those few days turned into a week, and a week or two after my last blog entry. What do you do when you feel burned out? I have a tendency to retreat into my own head and my own space for long periods of time. I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad.

One of the reasons I’ve been feeling so burnt out was the pressure of living up to the personal brand I’ve worked to build. Every time I sat down to write a new post or respond to an email, I agonized over every word, trying to make it fit this image I’ve constructed of myself

– so shouldn’t I be writing about great and important issues and doing great and important things in my life? But my goals are a work in progress, and often I feel lost and discouraged. Sometimes I make plans and never fulfill them, or give up at the wrong time. Can I write about that stuff on a blog like this?

And what about other topics? Like politics, technology, family, books? Can I write more about those – or should I stay 100% “on message?”

Mentally, I know these are strange questions to ask. It’s my blog; I can write about whatever the hell I want. But sometimes it sure doesn’t feel that way. Yes, I own and run this site, but it’s not mine alone. When you read, comment, question, or criticize, you become part of it too.

It’s also hard to write when you know that friends (both online and off) and family – people you know and who know you – will be reading your words. In some ways, it’s easier to write for strangers. Less pressure.

Maybe part of the problem is this fixation on having a Personal Brand. We’re told that a strong personal brand helps you get job offers and book deals and special access and more Twitter followers, which is all well and good – but sometimes naming something means disconnecting it from ourselves, making it something foreign, faraway, detached. We concoct this separate image of ourselves (one that we think is attractive, insightful, promotable, hireable), put it out there, then work desperately to live up to it. Our personal brands devolve into sets of rules that chafe and bind and weigh us down.

Hold on a second, you might say. A good personal brand should be authentic, not artificial. And you’d be right. But if that’s the case, why talk about a personal brand at all? Wouldn’t it be less misleading to simply talk about sharing you, instead of branding you? A brand is something corporate; a veneer of sorts to tie all the inner workings of a company up in a neat little PR-able package. But we’re people, you and I, not companies. It’s okay that we’re complicated, capricious, and often contradictory. It’s hard to cover all that in a polished little brand. And it’s exhausting as well.

Anyway, the the point(s) of all this:

Sorry I’ve been away for so long – I’m back now.
Thanks for sticking with me through all this.
Personal brands are tricky. Better to share yourself than brand yourself.

This One's For You, My Backstabbing Friend!

Heyo people! its been a while ya? guess i've been enjoying to much of my country lifestyle while on RN'R here at my beloved motherland so no time to blog..anyhoo, these past 3 weeks has been quite ok for me and gave me ample time to reflect on things about friendship and life (to those who see and read my Facebook Wall, I think y'all can relate on this one)

You always thought your “friend” was the one you can depend on, the rock you can build on, the shoulder you can cry on. It's all well and good, until the person you once called your friend starts to spread rumors and gossip about you behind your back. He or she calls you names, destroys your reputation, and does just about everything most friends would never do. Yes, your friend is a two-bit backstabber.

It always hurts to lose a friend, but it definitely hurts to be betrayed by people you trust. "After all that you have done for your friend" and after all the "good times" you shared, you feel so used and manipulated by him or her. You're faced with so many problems and consequences once you end a friendship because of a backstabber, not to mention having to repair and restore your standing among other people. Here are some ways to help soften the blow dealt by a backstabber.

It's Not Your Fault

It's called “backstabbing” for a reason; betrayal feels like someone plunged a sharp, rusty knife deep in your back, gave you a pat on the back to dig it in deeper, and still called you his or her friend. Some people tend to feel that they're the ones to blame, like they haven't been paying enough attention to their friends, or that they did something wrong.

The important thing to remember is that you're the victim. You've been a good friend to the person who stabbed you in the back. You were genuine, upfront, and you had nothing to hide. It's all right to feel bad for yourself, but you shouldn't blame yourself for being betrayed. You're the one who's already suffering from your friend's betrayal, so you have every right to be mad and feel victimized.

Start at the Source

Nobody is born a backstabber, but there are many reasons why a person you once thought to be your friend can betray you. Get to the root of the problem: why did your friend betray the trust you had in him or her for so long? Some of the reasons can get quite ugly:

Jealousy. Chances are that your friend is insanely jealous of you. Maybe you're more well-off, more popular with others, or that you're doing better in life than him or her. Some backstabbers feel that they're being treated like that “other friend,” and are not getting as much attention or respect as their other friends.

Selfishness. Another common excuse for backstabbing is, “I did it for you.” Some people try to justify backstabbing, and say that they only did it to protect you from people who want to do you harm, or are up to no good. Chances are your friend is just trying to get away with backstabbing you.
Somebody else made him or her do it. Two of the most common excuses a backstabber makes are, “I didn't know what I was doing,” or “Someone else made me do it.” While it's tempting to take the crocodile tears of your friend as genuine, don't believe a word of it. Remember: he or she decided to freely and consciously betray your trust when he or she stabbed you in the back.

Demand an Explanation (but im not doing this, hell no!, but still take my word for it will ya?)

Some people have problems breaking up a friendship, even if they were totally betrayed. They may feel that the memories of the good times they spent together are more important than a “squabble” like a betrayal. For most people, a betraying backstabbing friend should be dumped and thrown out at the soonest possible moment.

Make it clear that you're not “asking” for an explanation; rather, you are demanding it. You want closure to the issue so that you can move on with your lives, and at least save enough of your past friendship so that you can both maintain a civil relationship.

You Have the Right to Overreact (which i already did, with the shout outs on my Facebook Wall, heck!)

An insensitive backstabber will tell you that you're overreacting, or that because you overreacted, you're pretty much guilty of everything he or she said about you. No one can blame you if you're angry, or if you really blow your top off. After all, your own trusted friend was able to double-talk and make bad stories about you.

While it's your right to overreact, try to get a grip on yourself. It's OK to be mad, but try your very best not to be violent. Deal with the situation as peacefully and as diplomatically as you can. When you do overreact, settle down and don't make yourself look bad in front of other people. Your backstabber will try to bait you into proving that he or she is “right” about you.

Ignore the Backstabber

A backstabber craves for attention. He or she will do anything to prove that the lies he or she is spreading about you is true. If you pay too much attention to the lies your friend is spreading about you, the lies will come across as true to other people.

When you ignore the backstabber, you send a clear message to him or her: you are not dignifying his or her lies with a comment. You have more important things – and more important people – to attend to, than a backstabbing loser. Show him or her that you can go on with your life just fine, and that he or she means nothing more to you than excess baggage.

Restore Your Reputation

Many people realize that their friend is a backstabber only when the damage is already done. The lies your so-called friend has spread about you have already spread all over work,school and all over social networking sites. If he or she had it his or her way, then the lies have made their way all over town. When this happens, it's time for you to restore your reputation.

Restoring your reputation and standing will take a lot of time and hard work, especially if people believe the backstabber more than they believe you. Here are some ways that can help you restore the trust people have in you that was ruined by your backstabbing friend:

*Explain to them that your friend was spreading lies about you.
*Ask them if they would rather believe the backstabber, or if they would believe you.
*Show proof that you haven't been doing the things your friend is accusing you of. If your friend told friends and family that you don't pay your debts on time, show them documents, deeds, and receipts that show that you're financially stable.
*Show and explain to people about : Intellectual Property Rights, "Permissions" and Third Party Commission on hobby, craft and any form or kind of media.

The important thing to remember is that you shouldn't exert too much effort proving your backstabber wrong. Instead, your efforts should come across as genuine. You're not out to discredit your backstabber, but you're out to prove that you can be trusted. While it may seem wrong that you're restoring your standing on your own, there's pretty much nothing you can do. It may be too much trouble to ask your backstabber to take back everything he or she said about you.

Take It Up a Notch

Some backstabbers may damage your reputation so much that they can damage your standing in your community. Sometimes you have no other option than to go to court and file a freakin' law suit for libel or slander. You don't have to skull-sue your friend if it's a minor case, but if you can no longer do business with local establishment, or if your reputation is damaged enough that people no longer want to talk to you, you may need to take legal action.

Before you file a lawsuit for slander or malicious intent, you first need to consult with your lawyer. At best, you're going to claim damages, but you have to think twice. Not only would you add to the many cases already docked in courts, but you can also give yourself a major headache when the case does proceed.

Learn to Forgive (im still in the process though, sighs)

Not only do backstabbers cause a headache, but they can also cause heartache and grief. It's never an easy thing to lose a friend, especially if the loss could have been easily avoided. While you definitely have to move on with your life, you have to forgive your backstabber eventually. You don't need to take him or her back as a friend and start your friendship over, and it will definitely take time before you can learn to trust your friend again.

At the very least, you should find a way to maintain a civil and formal relationship with your backstabbing friend. You can't give each other the cold shoulder forever. You don't have to exchange hugs or spend some time with each other, as long as you still feel that you can do things together at work,school and i say again; social networking sites..

Backstabbing can damage and hurt anyone's reputation. Pity, anger, and despair are normal reactions to betrayal and deceit.

One day, you're going to look back at that backstabbing episode and learn an important lesson in life: "thanks to a backstabber, you now know who your "true friends" are.


***oh hey, by the way.. the image featured in this entry is used with permission, from its owner and/or copyright holders just in case you see it via wiki or google search, same goes with the rest of the images i upload from my previous/old entries here and on my other photo blog*** peace!

Try Being Bored, It's Quite Entertaining

The next time you go out for a walk, focus on being bored for a while. It can be quite entertaining. I rediscovered that nugget of truth today when I took a walk around our block earlier.

This morning, I read a story about a journalism professor challenging her students to not use technology as much in their daily lives for five days. Fewer than 10 percent of the 43 students lasted longer than two full days. So the concept of how technology has infiltrated our lives was already on my mind when I went to go on my walk and discovered I’d left my iPod at home. Usually when I take these walks, it’s with my music playing, as a way to escape and relieve some stress. It was so beautiful outside and I needed the exercise, so I pushed ahead without my iPod, allowing myself to be bored during my walk, for lack of a better term. In truth, I wasn’t being fed lyrics to process, which allowed my mind to wander a bit.

It was enlightening to hear birds chirping and the wind rustle the leaves in the trees — and fun trying to figure out how many different kinds of birds and trees we must have on our block and the whole Clementi Town area. I also noticed a few new things involving the current expansion and landscape rejuvenation project we have going on — things I probably would have simply overlooked before because the noises in the area of those changes wouldn’t have caught my attention.



I also took a moment to stop and stare at the old steel benches that sits in the HDB mini park but that I’ve heard is being torn down as part of the landscape project. I snapped a photo and daydreamed a minute about the history behind those old steel benches and the entire HDB Blocks in general. After that, I started formulating this blog entry in my head.


I think the professor’s idea to have people realize how dependent we’ve become on technology for more than just productivity is a valuable lesson for students. I’m certainly not about to abandon technology and I think our lives are better because of it. Even while I was out enjoying my nature walk, I used my mobile phone to snap some pictures and send them to myself via email for use in this blog post.

Technology is a wonderful thing and we should use it to our full advantage for work and play. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t allow ourselves a little freedom from time to time. The old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” That may be true, but I also like my new saying, “Boredom is the father of entertainment.” Or at least a blog post.

Have a nice day everyone! :)

Just Another Random Thought...

Pencil: I’m sorry….

Eraser: For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.

Pencil: I’m sorry cause you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you’re always there to erase it.But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That’s true. But I don’t really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong.Even though one day, I know I’ll be gone and you’ll replace me with a new one, I’m actually happy with my job.

So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.

Feel Like Giving Up?

Do you ever feel like giving up? Giving up on your goals, your dreams, or even life itself? I think we have all felt that way at some point..and that is exactly what I'm feeling now. But still, I'm here typing this entry to inspire myself and anyone who's in the same situation as mine.


There are those times in life when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. These dark moments can seem so unbearable, so unbelievably hopeless, that you feel like giving up. I hope today’s inspirational words will help you to see that this is NOT the answer.

When faced with suffering that’s more than you can endure, do exactly what you think you cannot do. Instead of giving up, prove yourself wrong.

If you feel like you can’t keep moving, take just one more step. If you feel like you can no longer hold on, hold on another millisecond.

The hardest thing you’ll ever have to overcome is your belief that you cannot overcome. So, in the moments when you feel like giving up and falling flat on your face, remember that the biggest obstacle standing in your way is you. Confusion, anguish, frustration, pain—feel the emotions. But don’t give up. It is okay to weep, but weep as you keep going. Climb, run, walk, step, or even crawl just one more inch.

You may not be at your strongest, fastest or best; but the best of you is the reason that you can keep going. You may not be enjoying your journey nor having an easy time, yet you are headed toward a better season in your life. As you endure suffering and beat the odds, you become a shining example of the limitless possibilities available to yourself and others.

The next time you feel like giving up, remind yourself that you have to go through to come through. The hard times you’re experiencing are simply rocks (or boulders) on the path to your destination. Don’t let them discourage you from making it. They may be there to prepare you for something greater, in this life or the next. We don’t always get the answers to our “Why” questions, but everything, no matter how painful, will serve a purpose.

The journey of life is remarkable. Sometimes remarkably wonderful, sometimes remarkably painful. When you feel like giving up, it’s important to remember the moments that take your breath away: the smile of a loved one, the smell of fresh flowers, a heartfelt “I love you,” a beautiful sunrise, a passionate kiss. There is so much to live for, to hope for, to keep going for.

My friends, I encourage you to stay on the path, follow your dreams, and create the life you deserve. No matter what, never ever give up. If you will simply overcome the defeating lies you tell yourself, you won’t just go through hell— you will come through hell.. I’ll see you on the other side.

5 Lessons Your Kids Can Learn From Manny Pacquiao

While im still in high spirits over Manny Pacquiao's win over Mexican Margarito, i cant help but to share with you about me and my son's recent live chat over at YM.

Manny Pacquiao does more than make Filipino and Asian hearts swell with pride and lower the crime rate to almost zero during a fight.

On a micro-scale—the family unit, the level that matters the most—he opens the opportunity for kids to learn what winning is all about, especially in this time and age when victory means crushing the enemy and gloating.

Sensing the frenzy online and my furious following of tweets on the fight, my eldest son asked me: “Why does Pacquiao always win?” “Because he practices with dedication in his heart.” I answer instantly.

According to Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, successful individuals—The Beatles, Bill Gates, for example—have spent at least 10,000 hours of their lives doing what they have become famous for.

Make this fact relatable to your children by pointing out what they like to do, or what skill or talent they have. For example my son, Paulo, is heavily into basketball—not just the typical street and clubhouse basketball stuff, but the hardcore junior basketball leagues in his school. He even had “lessons” at Milo Best Center in Alabang Town Center during summer. He began 6years ago,and was hooked.

Lesson no. 1: Practice, train, and rehearse your skills every chance you get.

But Pacquiao didn’t ALWAYS win. In 2005, he lost to Erik Morales. After, Freddie Roach came into his life and has since been unbeatable. I point this out to Paulo. “to also win, you got to have a good coach or mentor.”

A good friend of mine and sports journalist Allen Barra writes in The Daily Beast: “(Roach) has worked with dozens of champions over the years and learned his training skills from the great Eddie Futch. He said Pacquiao is, ‘Maybe the greatest two-handed fighter I’ve ever seen. You see a lot of great fighters who have one great punch and a good second punch. Joe Louis had the greatest jab I’ve ever seen. Joe Frazier had a great left hook, Mike Tyson had a killer right. But Manny has the best punch of anyone in boxing with either his right or his left.’”

Lesson no. 2: Choose a teacher that will help you excel.

While many get caught up in what people think of them, putting image before purpose, Pacquiao remains focused on his goal: winning the fight. Training with a single-mindedness chronicled in other reports, he also remains unfazed by criticism and trash-talk.

Paulo sums it up: “You mean he believes in himself?”

Exactly. Stand your ground.

Lesson no. 3: Be strong within so you can be strong on the outside.

Pacquiao is also known for “lifting up” his fights to God and country. I point this out to Paulo also.

i told him; "we are not a religious family, but—I like to believe—a faithful one. Paulo considers his good night prayers a powerful call to a Divine Force to protect him. This is the same God that allows (because He could very well NOT) Pacman to win.

Lesson no. 4: When you call to God to help you in a fight, you’ll know you’ll win; and if you don’t, there’s a really good reason why.

In the last rounds, which i showned my son Paulo via a YouTube clip how Pacquiao is just prancing around, when he could have easily battered Margarito into a human burrito.

Post-fight, the 8-time Welterweight Champion tells the commentator: “Boxing is not for killing each other.”

Paulo, struggling for the words in his 11-year old vocabulary, remarks when I ask him what he thinks about Pacman letting Margarito go. “It’s only a game…it’s about compassion.”

Lesson no. 5: The gracious and merciful victor is the best kind of all.

In ending, i told my son; "Victor Paulo, i hope you can share this too with your little brother Juan Miguel when he grows up..of being humble and kind in words and in your deeds."

Advertising 101

Going back to my college days, i took up Marketing Major in Advertising before i landed in Business Administration. I'm tackling this issue because i feel that not too many people have the intimate understanding of modern advertising like i do.

Todays topic is: Understanding Modern Advertising.

Of course i say this in light of the Ulu Pandan bear, here in Singapore about two weeks ago. That was one heck of a mis-understood guerrilla marketing campaign.

All anybody wanted for was for people to watch a video of a wild, potentially man-eating animal scavenging for food at a bus stop near their home and their defenceless children and then go out and buy a whole bunch of electric shavers. Instead, they went and reported the bear to the authorities. The next thing you knew, there were people with tranquilizer guns looking around looking to shoot the bear.

Needless to say, very few potential shaver-buyers were amused when they found out the bear was actually just an advertising guy in a bear costume. In fact, many were furious. Those behind it were investigated by the cops.

In advertising circles, the whole thing was just a demonstation of how straight-laced we as human beings always take threats to their lives too seriously. Anyone else would have laughed at the prospect of getting mauled by a bear while waiting for the bus. It wasn't like it was a bomb hoax. It's a bear hoax. A bear can only kill one person at a time. Nevertheless, even with the public nuisance charge, the subsequent public apology, the waste of resources and the unnecessary panic, many marketing experts would still say this campaign was a resounding success. In fact, its something like a coup. The advertisers gets a lot of attention and got it for a relatively cheap price. And that's the principle of of modern advertising : it's all about attention.

It doesn't even matter if the attention comes in form of people cursing you for the destruction you caused or if you get to sell any shavers. Whats important is they've heard of you. Of course advertising did not start out this way. The early days in the trade were rather different:

In the beginning advertising simply meant telling people what was good about your product so that they would buy it. For instance, if you were a caveman with a rock to sell, you would tell your your customers what was good about the rock.

Caveman Juan: "this rock many good for pound on head of mighty dinosaur."
Caveman Pedro: "do you have it in blue?

And that was it. If someone wanted a rock to hunt dinosaurs with, they'd just pick one on the ground because there were lots of rocks in prehistoric times.
They'd be silly to buy one. Also Commerce had not yet been invented. Early advertising was not very effective.

Then one day, a marketing pioneer came up with a novel concept that would forever change the industry: Lying. Cavemen were no longer limited to telling people what their rocks did, they could just make up stuff about it to make it more attractive:

Caveman Juan: "this rock not just good for pound dinosaur. Also good for hips, thighs and abs."

Lying was quickly followed up by Lifestyle Advertising. Instead of just lying to you about the features of the product, they could lie to you about the kind of lifestyle you might lead if you used the product. Cigarette and alcohol companies loved it. They started putting out a great many advertisements implying that if you smoke and drank heavily, you would be slim, have a healthy glow and live on a yacht.

While these developments were great, they had drawbacks. For one thing, it was a lot of work for advertising firms to brainstorm concepts, pitch them and then rent yachts. Thats when they up with the advertising we have today: Guerrilla Marketing

By far the greatest benefit of this approach is that many older businessmen don't understand it. The advertising firm tells them they need to get "hits" , go "viral" and "leverage on social media" and they just lap it up. They no idea what it means. That free's up ad firms to do- well- whatever they feel like.

Suppose they felt like posting a suggestive Facebook message about liking it "on the desk in the office" . They'd do it and then pretend later it has something to do with breast cancer. Suppose they felt like vandalizing postboxes. They'd just go out there, spray paint some postboxes and pretend it is a good way to get publicity for a postal company. That's right, advertisers get paid to vandalizes postboxes. I know a whole bunch of people who would do it for free.

Still, the campaign was so successful that when real vandals spray painted real graffiti on a train, people thought it was advertising. And im not saying this is exactly how it happened, but suppose it was the night before the pitch for the electric shaver campaign was due and ad people are out drinking instead of coming up with a campaign. Suddenly someone has an idea:

Drunk Ad Person 1: "hey, i have this bear costume i'm saving for haloween. Wouldn't it be fun to put it on and scare some of my neighbors on the way home to Ulu Pandan?"

How Would You Asses PNoy's First 100 Days?

I was on my way home yesterday after work via cab. suprisingly, the cab driver noticed me asking; "are you Philippine? (referring to me as a Filipino) and of course at the spur of that moment i was a bit pissed and replied him back "why? is there any problem uncle? He said: "no lah, your plesident (President) Aquino is close to ending his first 100 days in office, i follow Philippine politics leh.".. as a Philippine, how would you rank his performance on a scale of 1 to 10." Then i said; "oh is that it? i answered and explained him why:

"Failure. He needs to show more effort as a person and not rely only his staff, thus making himself look inefficient and incapable.

Sincerity is a perception. If he appears sincere to most people, some perceives him as arrogant and insincere by his put-up humility.

Apparently, the President merely relied on his staff who are not vigilant but vindictive as displayed at the way they want to blame the past administration on everything and even their own failure.

It is high time that the President become aware that as a leader he must carry the mantle and the banner that will lead the people to a better future. The problem is he always looks at the past administration's failure and not his own."

After that, the Uncle just gave me a blank but smiling face and said .. "aiyah, all same-same lah!.. but then i realized; ya, see this Uncle is a Singaporean and yet he still seems to care about the Philippines even if he doesnt know much about it.. or maybe he just wanted to start a friendly conversation with me partly because he is sleepy..

So im asking you now Kabayan? What do you think about PNOY?

Have A Heart For Pakistan

Yes. Those babies are lying on concrete.
Yes. That bottle is empty.
Yes. Those are fliess swarming their little bodies.
Yes. This is the condition of Pakistan, at the moment.

A couple of weeks have gone by since the floods in Pakistan have flowed and the number of people effected by this are staggering & record breaking.

Over 20 MILLION PEOPLE.

That is MORE THAN THE COMBINED TOTAL of the 2004 Tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and the American Katrina disaster.

How many of you knew about this? It’s a shame at the extreme lack of coverage on this horrific disaster. Pakistan is getting MINIMAL help.

Ignorance never ends, a recent poll was taken in America on whether if they would donate or have donated to Pakistan or not. 67% DO NOT wish or want to help Pakistan. 67%.

And as for the donations that are being sent… 60% of aid needed now, has not been delivered. Who has them & why haven’t they reached the public?

Few months back, i posted and entry of my dismay of Islam (Muslim hardcore-extremists in particular)

link:
http://rapidfire0525.blogspot.com/2009/12/which-one-is-stupid.html

I'm posting a different entry this time. I can not fathom the words…believe you me and i sh*t you not, tears are flowing out of my eyes while I'm typing this with the amount of hurt I am feeling.

No one is helping those poor people in Pakistan. I was inspired to write this as i have good-Pakistani friends here in Singapore and to a humanitarian point of view i think its my on little way of helping out and letting people know about their situation. What I’m trying to say is, Please…take note of this. These people are innocent and now they are homeless and sick. Children are dying quickly due to the lack of care. People have drowned, crops are ruined..animals are dead & homes are gone.

This picture breaks my heart..I want you all to look at this picture. What do you see?



Do you see terrorists? Do you see future killers? Do you see another plot against America? Do you see that in those flies that can possibly and most likely have left diseases such as diarrihea? Do you see harm in that empty bottle? Extremists are the ones to blame, not Muslims. Why should they be left hopeless? They didn’t do anything..

And as for the Qu’ran burning this weekend in Florida, the thought of that saddens me. Do you all understand the severity and ignorance of that act? Why isn’t anyone stopping them? Their religion, their faith didn’t hurt you. EXTREMISTS DID! They are NOT religious. Their faith like yours and mine is NOT a cult.

I don’t know what to do. I honestly don’t know. I’ve never felt this helpless. No one is helping, no one cares. F**k neither do my own best friends know much about this.
Just look at this picture and think about what you’ve just read.

Help. Please.

If you can…I’m not asking for a sh*tload of cash. But please, try to donate. Donating to UNICEF will send aid to children. Donate to the Red Cross & the UN Foundation. I trust the most in these three foundations, they’ve actually managed to send and successfully help the victims.

And here we are, busy browsing and putting shout-out's and photos over social networking sites, worried about paying monthly dues and bills, some of us lavish in extravagant lifestyle. One-fifth of the country is under water; 20 million+ people are homeless. All I ask if for you to help a little and spread awareness.

Godspeed..

Sorry, I Just Defriended You

Holah, shinny happy people! it's been a while, ya? cant sleep, so what to do? .. blog-lah! i just spent 4 hours Facebook'ing after coming back from work trying to make myself fall asleep and have some much needed rest.. and mind you, i deleted some not-so-familiar folks there.

I have 7 reasons why you may need to defriend someone on Facebook:

Like Twitter, Facebook is a great social networking tool. And like Twitter, it can also be used for evil — way too many people spam our news feeds every day with bullsh*t about Farmville and photos of their vacations that we really don’t want to see. Defriending someone on Facebook is a measure of last resort, but here are some reasons you might have to go there.

1. They’re spamming your phone

Like many Facebook users, I like to check my account via phone when I’m bored. And while it’s easy to block peoples’ statuses from your news feed, the Blackberry or iPhone Facebook application won’t let you. The mobile app also has a tendency to show the same dumb Mafia and Farmville spam over and over again, taking up the entire application and rendering your news feed useless. So if someone’s playing those games and your phone is the victim, feel free to defriend them.

2. They keep commenting on your posts

We all make Facebook statuses to get comments and reactions. But it’s hard to get other peoples’ thoughts when you have one Facebook friend who’s always the first person to comment on your statuses no matter what. You try to post updates at different times of day, but he always gets there first — it’s like he never logs out. If you just can’t get him to stop, you gotta defriend.

3. They keep commenting on OTHER peoples’ posts

Let’s say this girl just posted on your wall to say hey. Let’s say you’re psyched about that. Let’s say one of your douchebag Facebook friends comments on her wall post saying “hey dude, is this the girl you were telling me about?” Defriend, defriend, defriend.


4. They’re strangers

“Oh, cool, Pedro or Juan just got a new car and he’s really happy that it’s Friday… hold on a second, who the f*ck is Pedro/Juan?” When you find yourself wondering how you know somebody or if you really know them at all, it’s time to defriend.



5. They keep sending you event invites

It’s one thing if you have a cool party or show or performance that you want people to come check out. If you want to organize a special event, then by all means, invite people on Facebook. But when you have a radio show that goes on every single week at the same exact time and you keep sending me weekly invitations, you are going to get defriended. No hard feelings.

6. Their statuses show a whole new side to them

Well, I thought I liked you until your Facebook status said you were going to go see “Benigno” next weekend. Or you shared way too much information about your boy problems and now I can’t ever look at you the same way without thinking about that one thing he did with the ice cream and his finger. Sorry, but we’re not friends anymore.

7. They pretended that you were dead

When your friends get together and conspire to post messages like “R.I.P. we miss you man” or “We’re sure you’re looking down on us from heaven right now” or “Every time I see a child cry I think of you,” it might be time to get rid of those friends. Especially if someone just called your mom to send condolences.

oh well, im hitting the sack now.. its past 6am.. damn!

Your Failures Do Not Define You

I'm off today..where it was supposed to be on Sunday. so anyway, i'm here stuck in my room tapping my keyboard while listening to Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" (don't worry, about a thing.. coz every little things, gonna be alright). Yea, I've been down and out lately, frustrated and depressed. well, as they say; "shit happens" and i'm thankful that somehow im coping with it..otherwise i wouldn't be typing this entry that i hope somehow will make y'all say; "ya, there's still sunshine in the gloomy days."



Successful people love to talk about failure. From Ray Bradbury ("You fail only if you stop") to Melville ("He who has never failed somewhere; that man can never be great") and beyond, failure is an old and familiar subject. Oprah talks about her failed stint as a news reporter. Julia Roberts remembers failing to be cast in All My Children. In retrospect, it seems, the famous are all hopelessly nostalgic for the failures of their past. But, in the moment of our own letdown and disappointment, we can convince ourselves that no one else has ever failed quite as exceptionally as we have. So, how to change this paralyzing perception?

Think biology. There's a component of the brain, somewhere in the forefront, that is responsible for cataloging all of the things we have tried that have not quite worked out. The brain can then flip through this Rolodex of learning moments to make a split second determination for how we should proceed in the presence of a new situation - whether we should drive on E or wear super-dooper-ultra-mega-baduy outfit on a first date, for example. Picture rats learning to race through mazes in search of cheese, babies learning to walk and talk, newborn birds warbling mating songs. We experiment, apply what we have learned, and try again. From that perspective, are the majority of failures really that big of a deal? Think about it - Apollo 13, with its technical malfunctions and its quick-thinking MacGyver-like crew, was termed; "a successful failure."

Failure is just an intrinsic part of the innovation process - as in the abysmally cheerful refrain of; If at first you don't succeed, try, try again godamnit! For, if you are hard at work on a problem, and are busy discovering all of the things that your work is not, you might finally stumble upon that which it is. Through your stumbling, you may come to understand the intricacy of your subject in a greater depth - or an entirely different light - that would not have been possible had the path been straight and unencumbered. (Hmmm.. sound somewhat like life itself huh? Doesn't choosing that road less traveled sometimes make all the difference?) Think Play-Doh and Post-It-Notes - Play-Doh was meant to be a wallpaper cleaner and Post-It-Notes were meant to be a super-adhesive. Remember, it took Dyson 5,127 prototypes to finally produce a cyclonic vacuum that people would buy, and legend has it that Thomas Edison, in search of a suitable filament for the incandescent light bulb, said; "I have not failed. I have merely found 1000 ways that wont work."

I imagine sometime around the 70th cyclonic vacuum failure anyone would want to sit down and have a frank discussion on whether they should continue or not. So, the other critical component here is believing in ourselves, having the ability to pick ourselves up when were down, and the presence of mind to know when to listen and when not to listen to all of those critics. The FedEx business plan initially received a "C" at Yale for lack of feasibility. Einstein, Darwin, Churchill, and Newton were all told they wouldn't amount to anything. Mary Kay was passed over for promotion - because she was a woman. Louisa May Alcott's family encouraged her to work as a servant.

It is hard, whoever we are, to look within ourselves and feel any measure of success as we attempt to bring to the forefront that which resides inside us. It is difficult to pursue a dream - to slog through its challenges and setbacks - but, back to Bradbury - "you fail only if you stop." Remember: Gertrude Stein submitted poems for 20 years before one was accepted.

Failure is necessary because it is what breeds and rewards perseverance and individual thought. Those who are truly dedicated fight through the failure and rise to the top, and so, in so many arenas, it is the ability to learn from our mistakes that gives us the best product, and it is individual persistence (and standing up and shaking ourselves off) that lets us percolate up through the crowds. There is nothing magical about either of those things. They are both learned traits, possibly involving little more than the minor opthamalogical trick of changing the lens through which we view ourselves.

See, i'm good at giving out this blab's of mine. So take it and i wont mind. Have a good day everyone :D



credits:
"thanks to the Iranian guy (i think his name is Abtin) who sell's carpets at Arab St. for this photo i took a few weeks back."

Kung Pilipino Ka, Basahin Mo 'To (If You're A Filipino, Read This)

"Death to drug traffickers under Singapore law". These words scream to me and every other passenger on a flight from Manila when i came to Singapore 3 1/2 years ago. Right next to "Welcome to Singapore, they were. In RED to boot. Not even 'The Super Clean Country' like Singapore was trumped up to be. But "Death..." And In Red and bolded. These words never came back to existence in my mind until today as I'm typing this entry.

While im not keen in writing grieviance blogs especially when it involves Singapore knowing the country's strict laws on freedom of expression particularly in internet and print media for that matter, i just cant help but tell this story that yours truly and my two cousins have experienced today.

We had heard a lot of good things about Singapore but this is goin to be something different and i assume not-so-new. My wife recently gave birth to our second child so we decided to ask one of my cousin from the Philippines to come here to help us look after the baby for at least a month until my wife gets back to work per se' .. Luckily one of my cousin agreed to give us a helping hand and decided to come here together with another cousin together on the same day and flight.

With visions of bazaars, city parks, lots of greenery and a laid-back but professional atmosphere, we were rather excited. Expectations were running high. The Changi Airport Arrival Terminal-1 was "nice", nice'. Clean, landscaped, airy. They came via XX delayed flight XX from Manila around 09:45am (airline name and flight withheld for obvious reasons)

[Stop!} Due to the nature of the events about to unfold, i choose, for easier writing, to borrow from Keifer Sutherland's award-winning drama '24' and title this section '4½'.

"The following takes place between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm"

Changi Airport Arrival Terminal-1
At this point my cousins were in high spirits. Happy to be in a sub- tropical country! Little did they know what Singapore had in store for them especially my Cousin-1...
They bounce up to the lady at the immigration counter and handed over their passports and immigration forms. Cousin-2 is cleared first, her passport stamped and returned to her. The lady refers Cousin-1 "for routine checking" to a special immigration desk of the hall. Cousin-2, concerned, moves away to baggage carousel. Cousin-1 is escorted by an immigration officer, bespectacled and a gimp (name withheld but we'll call him Officer X), to an enclosed holding area. The room is tiny and rectangular and contains only 3 chairs. The door is locked from the outside. There is no door handle on the inside and there is no window except for a small glass square set high in the door. The glass square contains metal wires. Twenty minutes pass.

Outside, Cousin-2 stands with her luggages. Worried. Pacing. "I'm sorry Ma'am but you can't stay here", she hears. Turning around she sees a female security officer. "But i'm waiting for my cousin. she is still in there", Cousin-2 said pointing at the closed room. "This is a restricted area. You will have to wait outside". There was no arguing with her. Cousin-2 exits.

Enter an immigration officer. Not Officer X. He escorts Cousin-1 to another room. There is a big computer screen on the wall, a keyboard and some sort of pad. The officer lifts Cousin-1's hand and places it on the pad. He is taking fingerprints. First the left thumb and then the right. He taps away at a keyboard, clicks with a mouse and then 'No Matches Found' appears on the screen. Cousin-1 is escorted back to the holding area. Forty-five additional minutes pass.

Cousin-2 is worried. Very worried. An officer comes to inform Cousin-2 that they will not allow Cousin-1 to enter Singapore and that they will detain her. She gets coins and call the Tourism Hotline. They say that they can't help and that it is an immigration matter. She calls up three numbers asking for their assistance, for which she would pay, and for a good immigration lawyer. They deny assistance. One says "get a criminal lawyer. Maybe your cousin has drugs' or partly because shes a Filipina, they suspected her as a prostitute." "She's is NOT a prostitute.. She doesn't have drugs." Cousin-2 almost screams into the handset but to no avail. She wonders whatever happened to the lawyers' code which obliged them to render legal assistance. With no other options, she calls the Philippine Embassy for advice. Their emergency number is unanswered. She is very upset now. A total of 2 hours have passed.

Officer X escorts Cousin-1 back to the counter in the immigration hall.
X: "Why did you come to Singapore?"
C1: "For Holiday, same time i will be helping out my cousin who just gave birth"
X: "Where will you stay"?
C1: "my cousin's house" *pulls out my invitation letter (my name and address also given).
X: "How long will you stay here?"
C1: "1 month hopefuly".
X: "do you have money?"
C1: "yes"
X: "Do you have a ticket?" C1 hands over the e-ticket printout.
x: "How do you intend to pay for your stay here?"
C1: "my cousin will bear all expenses". X reads my invitation letter again.
There is a pause. A long pause. The officer reads thoroughly before her. Another pause.
X: "I'm sorry but you are not eligible for social admittance. We will detain you and arrange deportation".
C1: "What? Why? Where to? When? Why?" I have a sponsor, more than enough money, a confirmed return flight in 30 days and I don't need a visa for Singapore. Why?" she is flabbergasted.
X: "You will get official paperwork and I will have to talk to the airlines".
C1: "Can I call a lawyer and also speak to my cousins. they're waiting for me outside?"
X: "You don't need a lawyer. You are not under arrest. I will see what I can do about your cousins". He escorts cousin-1 back into the holding area. Total elapsed time: 2 hours 45 minutes.

Cousin-2 visits the Terminal Manager's office and insists on meeting him. He listens and lends her his office phone. She tries calling more lawyers but without success. Its Saturday and is even a bigger concern. Plus, it is getting late and all the law offices are closed or closing. She asks the Terminal Manager (name withheld) to see what's going on and if he could lend any assistance. He consents. The pangs of hunger start setting in for both Cousin-2 and me. The only meal was breakfast from a lousy food stall that sell a unjustified ceazar salad which i never finished. Cousin-2 and I have not yet been allowed to talk to Cousin-1. Time check: 12:45pm.

Cousin-1 is back at the counter. The Terminal Manager is now present. He tells that he is in touch with Cousin-2 and that she knows the situation. The officer has consulted with the airlines.
X: "We have no immediate flights. Therefore, we will hold you for few more hours and deport you to country on flight no. XX (number withheld)".
Cousin-1: "What? You mean you will detain me only to send me out of Singapore on the SAME flight I am originally booked to travel on?"
X: "Yes. In the meantime, I have prepared transfer papers for you and this officer (a new arrival) will escort you to another place. You will be more comfortable there". He hands the transfer papers to the new officer and motions for the officer to leave thru a back door.

Cousin-1, who had been uncharacteristically calm throughout the entire ordeal, now became ever so slightly agitated. "I am not leaving this building until you inform me why you are detaining me when I surpass your entry requirements. Plus, I need to speak to my cousins and a lawyer. Why are you detaining me? What have I done wrong?" The officer didn't answer. "I believe I have a right under law to be informed about the reason for your refusal to admit me into Singapore. Why are you detaining me? I have a sponsor here...", Cousin-1 demanded while rehashing a previous defense. The officer whispers to a nearby colleague and then he picks up the phone. Time expired: 4 hours.

Cousin-2 is livid. The Terminal Manager has not returned. She feels helpless. She prays.

Inside, Cousin-1 prays silently too. After a long telephone conversation in a language Cousin-1 did not understand: "We've decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. We will issue you a Special Pass after which you are to leave Singapore", the officer informs taking the transfer papers back from the new officer. The new officer exits. Cousin-1 hides her elation. "What doubt?", she persists but quickly eases up. She wants to get outside to see us. Officer X types up a Special Form and hands a copy to Cousin-1. She is free to go..but not to see us, but to get back to Manila. Her passport was not stamped in.

Tick tock tick tock. Time expired: 4½ hours

The Aftermath

I left the airport and left Cousin-2 there as she was waiting for another friend coming from the next arriving flight form Manila. I grabbed a cab and the driver noticed my stress and inquired. "my cousin had hard time clearing immigration, was denied entry and then sent back to Manila", I said. "It's like that sometimes. You're out now. Just forget it and go shopping", he replies. "Go shopping? Go shopping? Singapore wouldn't get my hard-earned money." They don't deserve it! I would not even send my neighbour's mangy dog here", I vented at the driver. He thought about apologizing. He didn't.

As im typing this, im thinking; should i write an official complaint letter via email to the Quality Service Manager of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and CCed it to several other high-ranking public officials who had anything remotely to do with ICA and unlawful detentions. But heck, why would i do that? When i can clearly predict they will just send me back a reply saying : that they will investigate the matter and get back to me. *if thats ever gonna happen*

Bottom line is, "The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore SUCKS! yea, you read it right..you SUCK! UNREASONABLE, OVER-CLEVER AND INCONSIDERATE! how could you say a person is a potential prostitute just because the person is a Filipina and sports a sexy outfit? Filipino's are not the only prostitutes here in Singapore. have you seen how many China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam girls selling themselves as prostitutes in Geylang and Orchard Plaza/Towers as prostitutes?? this does not include your local girls openly offering sexual services on the internet via local escorting websites, and oh..let me not forget to mention *you're beloved* "Ang-Mo's"(caucasian's) who are high-class hookers loitering in 5-star hotel lounge/lobby's. How can you say a person is a poor worker just because that person cannot speak proper English? **mind you, have you listened to your "Singlish" lately?? why cant you call the sponsor, and not have us waiting for nearly 5hours without even letting us talk or see the person you're detaining/holding? Whats the point in paying S$42.00 for a Stamped/Chopped Invitation Letter at our lame-pathetic Embassy?? Why have these poor deportee's be police-escorted to be humiliated even more inside the plane like criminals when they come here for a good purpose/reason?? How can you generally say that Filipinos come to Singapore only to sell flesh or as Domestic Helpers?? The trouble you cost people is time and money..HARD-EARNED MONEY!!! i need not say more coz it might cost me my.. "PASS??".. but yea, go ahead screw me! i know i cant make this stop and no nobody might not have the interest to read this but at least i'll let people know how full of pigshit you are! I've been working here for almost 4years now, i'm a law abiding citizen, i pay my taxes and represent this country in the industry im working, food and beverage/customer service your own people cannot fill that you rely on us foreign workers to take part..this "Thankless Job." ..and this is how you treat us back?! Jesus Harold Christ!!!

I Was Born Intelligent, But Education Ruined Me

Cant sleep, been staring blank at my laptop's monitor after having added some wonderful friends over at Facebook. And speaking of which, i posted a shout out about 2 hours ago..a shout same as the title of this entry. Of course some FB friends liked it and some commented, agreed, some negative reaction and for the sake of not flooding my mail thru never-ending threads over discussions, i deleted all comments and decided to blog about it since most of them were asking who made the famous abovementioned saying. Was it the saying of any famous people like Winston Churchill, Amelia Earheart, Manny Paquiao(?!) etc.. or its just said by someone anonymous, for the sake of amusement?

As always, in my quest to share lame-pathetic but rather entertaining one-liners to y'all, here's a simple answer from my ever reliable "facebook-shoutout-guide-for dummies."

-It's a contrivance from an Albert Einstein quote: "the only thing interfering with my learning is my education"

Both phrases mean this:
You don't get smart from school, quite the contrary. School deteriorates your intelligence with it's disorganization and varying patterns. It diminishes your potential with subjective things such as essays that a teacher can mark you down for if they simply dont like you, not based on your merit. In this way, we are held captive by the pen, and belittled by it.

Nuff' said.. Now sleepy, i stay up so late that i have my morning coffee before i go to bed.. *yawns* gonna hit the sack now peeps, I bid y'all 'gnite (or mornin') with love and peace :D

*lights out*

Fame, Like All Colors Fade

This is a follow-up to my NBA blogpost last week. I don't know if you guys realize it, but we're pretty close to entering a new era in the NBA. No, not the superteam era kicked off by the Miami Heat, though that's happening too. Rather, I'm talking about a Shaquille O'Neal -free NBA for the first time since 1993. That's pre-Justin Bieber being born, people. It's kind of like a big deal.



And while we knew this day would come eventually, no one figured it would be next season. However, now that the Atlanta Hawks are signing Josh Powell, The Diesel might end up without a team. Now here's a caption of a report i got from the interwebs:

ESPN's Marc Stein reported earlier this week, the Hawks were the only team with a "live" interest in Shaq, but with them signing another center in Powell, it seems unlikely they'd also bring Shaq on board as well.
Bottom line: It's looking like Shaq needs to bite the bullet and drop his asking price -- as well as his request for healthy playing time -- or he may not be getting a contract at all for next season.

It's hard to even imagine NBA without the league's biggest goofball would be like, but after scoring just a shade more than 600 points last year it wouldn't be terribly surprising. Shaq's one remaining skill is being huge, and while he's very good at that, he doesn't have a lot left to offer. Some post scoring, sure, but that often comes at the expense of a free-flowing offense. And let's not even consider defense, since Shaq doesn't.

That being said, odds are that someone will bite the bullet and add O'Neal. He'd have to agree to come off the bench, but he'd also be great at that since most backup centers aren't that good. Furthermore, he's always a good pickup from a marketing standpoint. Everyone knows who he is, and lots of people like him even if he does steal television show ideas on the reg.

Of course, if O'Neal ends up unemployed he'll go down as one of the more successful players in history. He's currently seventh in all-time scoring, has four championships, an MVP and 15 All-Star appearances. Pretty great career, even if it could have been exponentially better considering his size and athleticism.

However, the true tragedy if O'Neal is forced to retire is that he will not have had the chance to wear every purple jersey in the league. I mean, he looked so good in his Lakers and Suns uniforms that he should really have a shot to don the purple and black of the Sacramento Kings. Such a flattering color.


Anyone wants to have Kazaam-2 raise your hands :D

The Good, The Bad And The Silly

As I sit in front of my laptop i told myself I’ll post something you my padawan friends would be delighted to read about. After having a nice lounge session with my buddies at home, I decided to share some light on my entry’s subject. To Keith, Dyason, Alvin, Chris my family and friends, this one’s for you.

“Drinking is bad. It messes up your organs, makes you bad company and destroys your life.”

It’s hard to go against an argument so solidly backed by empirical evidence and statistics. Alcohol consumption when carried out to an extreme, thus lead to bad outcomes. But the question is, should all manner of drinking be lumped with alcoholism and uniformly condemned as a vice?

Coming from a guy like me who’s going semi-retired on drinking, I don’t have the right answer for you. And then again, being a responsible web journalist who checks the facts before he writes, what I can do is to go through the pros and cons. Then you decide for yourself whether drinking is good for you or not.




The Good :

Some studies have found alcohol helpful in fighting against heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular ailments in middle-aged people. They suggest that maximum benefit can be derived from a regular regimen that involves limited amounts of drink.

The idea that moderate drinking protects against cardiovascular diseases has a biological basis. Moderate amounts of alcohol raise the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or good cholesterol) , and higher HDL levels have been associated with better protection against cardiovascular ailments. Moderate consumption has also been associated with better insulin sensitivity and the prevention of blood clots that may choke arteries.

The Bad:

There’s no lack of literature on the evils of alcoholism, I’ll make no bones about this: uncontrolled imbibing is going to ruin you! Excessive alcohol fries your liver and your kidney like no one else’s business, damages brain functions, exacerbates clinical depression, wreaks havoc on your already pathetic-life and the list goes on….



Alcoholism is Bad. Period.


The Silly:

Given the heading of this entry, you’ll probably think that I’ll be going on about the ills of alcoholism. No, I’m not going into that- haven’t I already done it? The silliness I want to talk about is that of intellectual laziness.

To some extent, all of us are creatures of fashion. We frequently hear people around us saying things like drinking is bad, smoking is bad, gambling is bad, and the likes. Depending on your socioeconomic status, significant others and other factors, it may indeed be fashionable to admit that certain things are bad. I’m sure you already realize how uncool it would be to champion the cause of Big Tobacco! In our bid to stay on the right side of the divide, we go around mouthing cliché’s that are so tired they could fall asleep any moment!

Do you regularly chow down a juicy beef burger overflowing with oil and fats? A lot of good that does your heart! How about soda and cola’s? Calories galore with zero nutritional value about to skull-fuck your system at any given time.



Unless our definition of “the god life” is nothing short of a Spartan regimen of the most austere kind, we’re probably harming our bodies one way or another most of the time. As a case in point, I just had deep-fried fish fillet for lunch earlier today.

Things get problematic, however, when we classify our beliefs and actions into “god and “bad” according to the dictates of the prevailing fashion; and beyond a certain point, we slide down the slippery slope into unmitigated intellectual laziness.

So, don’t jump into hasty conclusions. Do your homework, widen your perspectives, then think through the issues carefully. By deciding for yourself whether you ought to drink or not, and how much you should consume in the event that you decide to do so, your taking a neat step forward on your journey towards becoming “free citizens of the universe."




i wonder when is the next Lounge Session..hmmm :D

Why Its Less Exciting To Watch NBA These Days

Its been a week now since Lebron James announced his transfer to Miami Heat, well not until today that I got my Wi-Fi back on at home coz my router went hay-wire. Finally I got this entry out from MS Word format and finally posting it.

Last week many people at my bar were curious to know and asking me where Lebron James is going. Being the only guy (I think) in Arab St who follow NBA instead of football. Well as a responsible web journalist who checks the facts before he writes, I came up with this;

“Lebron is going to Hades, which is worse than Cleveland. He will be sent there for putting us through an unseemly charade in which one basketball player who has won “zero” NBA championships has decided to hold a league hostage because nothing else is on TV.. (well aside of course from Pres-elect Noynoy Aquino’s media frenzy in the Philippines after he’s inauguration, the much anticipated and recently finished World Cup)

Because let’s face it my dear padawan friends, other than authenticating the Shroud of Turin or finding a bathtub stopper to plug a spewing hole in the Gulf of Mexico, are any of life’s real mysteries left than what city LeBron James will not take beyond the round of the play-offs next year?

I watched “The Decision” on ESPN because of the basic element of essential viewing exists: a celebrity in an emotional turmoil on prime time followed by an abject meltdown. I’m not talking about LeBron melting down; he’ll be fine wherever he goes. It’s the NBA, which has about a year left before the real market collapse.
The league right now reminds me of the mortgage crisis- big- splash signings and prime time announcements giving a veneer of glitz to a system crumbling under the weight of its own irresponsibility.

Did you see who got US$119million the other day? Joe Johnson, whom from Atlanta signed to six years after he couldn’t get the Hawks out of the first round of play-offs.

Dirk Nowitzki is 32 years old. He is the no.2 player on any championship team, yet he was said to have been given the Dallas Mavericks a bargain by agreeing to an US$80million deal rather than US$92million.

Paul Pierce is a year away from being unable to create his own shot. No matter. The Celtics just forked out US$62million over four years to retain “his fading game”

Desperate to hold onto their meal tickets before a looming lock-out next summer, an owner-driven spending spree- other than looking up top-flight, still relatively young stars like LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant- makes no sense.

Crazy. No? This is a league that never wanted to sell “team play” when it could sell advertising vehicles.

When the Pistons and Spurs were winning titles, entire marketing campaigns were built around LeBron, D-Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant. Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich and Rip Hamilton won rings in the month of June, but they were never to move the needle in July.

And now that LeBron gave the last rose to Miami, the franchise have had parades and parties week long, they should have savor each moment of it because it might be the last chance they’ll be doing it. And the NBA better hope the announcements get good ratings, because no one tunes in to a lockout.

The players eventually caved in 1999, the last time a collective bargaining agreement between players and owners could be reached before the season began. 32 games were lost to labour stoppage, along with casual fan interest following Michael Jordan’s 2nd retirement.

Before greedy players take an ounce more of blame, check out some of the top-25 salary leaders in league history, according basketballreference.com :
Jermaine O’Neal comes in at no.9 US$153million. Stephon Marbury is at no.10, having sign deals worth US$151million. Someone inexplicably paid Zydrunas Ilgauskas US$123million over his career making him the 19th most compensated player in league history, figuring “Z” should never be paid less than Hakeem Olajuwon or Michael Jordan, both of whom never make it to the list. Shaquille O’Neal was no.1 having signed US$209,846,146 worth of contracts in his career.

Just 7 of the Top 25 won titles. The gut here is that LeBron had left Cleveland. If LeBron is about anything more than getting paid, it’s getting paid attention to. Being fawned over. Talked about. And if he stayed the league is up for grabs. Chris Paul, LeBron’s good friend, will most likely join him in a year and give him a point guard he always needed to win it all

Most of all, LeBron comes across as the savior, the hometown hero who stayed amid all the temptations, who actually listened when they sang “please stay LeBron.” He never got the moment most high school stars get when they announce their college choice: everyone knew he was going pro. Now he gets o pick his hat for the cameras.

A star is reborn. Sappy, but good reality TV

The Internet Is Dead According To Prince

While im not too keen writing music blogs, i just cant help but write this as i was once a fan of my entry's subject. So this week, while all the blogosphere was abuzz about George Michael's 7th car crash, LeAnn Rimes' controversial canoodling pics with boyfriend Eddie Cibrian, Crystal Bowersox's new teeth, Liz Phair's credibility-killing new musical direction, and the Grammys' revised eligibility rules, the World Wide Web itself was under attack by Prince, a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As The Internet's Biggest Supporter. Yes my dear padawan friends, according to His Purple Majesty's new royal decree, the Internet is kaput. Over. Finished. You may as well navigate away from this blogsite and go back to your abacus now.



"The Internet's completely over," Prince declared to England's Daily Mirror, sounding like he's ready to party not quite like it's 1999, but more like '79. "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else [digitally]. They won't pay me an advance for it, and then they get angry when they can't get it....All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."


Prince's rejection of all thing Interweb came as quite a shock, considering that the man was once seemingly completely besotted with the digital revolution. For a man who very publicly battled with his record label, Warner Bros., because he wanted to release more product than Warner was willing to, a guy with hundreds of unreleased songs under his purple belt, it seemed like the perfect means to get all that music to the fans, eliminating the middleman.

So after Prince escaped from the clutches of Warner Bros. in the mid-'90s, he released a series of increasingly little-heard albums on his own label, NPG Records--some of which were only available through (you guessed it) the Internet! And even as recently as March 2009, Prince was introducing a heavily promoted new subscription website, LotusFlow3r.com; for an annual membership of US$77, fans would theoretically not only get the digital version of the three-CD set he was releasing through Target at that time, but loads of new and unreleased material unavailable anywhere else. But as the Wall Street Journal reported this past April, the website turned out to be a flop, at least for the disgruntled followers who never got the stream of rarities and bonuses they were expecting. And just as the mercurial Prince put the kibosh on his New Power Generation Music Club subscription site back in 2006, early this year he gave the order for the LotusFlow3r.com site to be shut down as well.


And now it seems like Prince wants ALL sites to be shut down--including iTunes!

While Forbes writer Quentin Hardy surprisingly sided with Prince (in an article self-explanatorily titled "Prince Is Right. The Internet Is Over."--which, ironically, was widely read on THE FORBES.COM WEBSITE), most musicians weren't so quick to turn their backs on the entire Interweb. Even soft-jazz saxophonist Kenny G--a man no one ever thought would seem cooler than Prince--spoke out against Prince's remarks, jokingly telling the Associated Press: "If the Internet is dead then I must be dead too, 'cause I use it all the time. Maybe I've got a sixth sense, and I only see dead people." The very-much-alive Mr. G then expressed every intention to continue distributing and promoting his new album, Heart & Soul, digitally. Additionally, many other, hipper artists who've embraced online distribution--Radiohead, Trent Reznor, Beck, and Lil' Wayne and countless other mixtape-popularized rappers--hardly jumped to Prince's defense, and not even Metallica's Lars Ulrich, once Napster's most angry opponent, spoke up.

Maybe all this is a sign o' the times, so to speak. After all, it's understandable in this post-Napster age that artists might no longer be in favor of a completely open Internet, since many industry pundits argue that it is illegal file-sharing and even legal free downloads and streams that are responsible for their music biz's current slump. Still, it seems a little silly to expect people to abandon their "digital gadgets" and the online distribution methods (iTunes and my ever-reliable and favorite Limewire) via which the majority of avid music fans play and receive their music nowadays. But, IF Prince is right, then what is going to replace the Internet? Will Prince will release his next album on 8-track, wax cylinder, or in the "smoke signal" format long favored by traditionalists? No, in all seriousness, the distribution model Prince is now favoring is...giving his music away free with newspapers..*ROTFL*

Yes, Prince's latest CD, 20Ten, will be included with July 10 copies of the Daily Mirror in the U.K. and Daily Record in Ireland, as well as other print publications in Belgium and Germany. For someone making the argument that music is undervalued, Prince has a funny way of proving its integrity when he gives CDs away like shampoo samples. (Maybe, somewhere along the way, he confused his Parade album with the Parade magazine included in many Sunday papers.) There's no plan yet to distribute 20Ten in the U.S., but Prince is reportedly in talks with his old label, Warner Bros. (yep, the aforementioned "slave"-drivers who allegedly held him so captive that he was forced to carve S.O.S. messages into his sideburns) for a future U.S. release. Apparently Prince is so convinced that the Internet is over, he's not the least bit concerned about hundreds of thousands of Europeans, who will receive free copies of 20Ten this weekend, leaking the album online for all interested Americans to hear.

And, highly ironically, right now three preview samples from Prince's new CD are available for streaming on...the Daily Mirror's website. So maybe the web isn't obsolete after all. But just in case, check the songs out by highlighting and clicking this link:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/07/08/prince-20ten-hear-three-tracks-from-the-new-prince-album-in-new-radio-commercial-115875-22385428/


...quick, before the Internet self-destructs!