The Comfort Rooms

*taken February 2008

Is he the newest face of Filipino heroism?

Ooops! Pardon that one word above. But come Friday until Sunday (Oct. 24-26, 2008), all the technocrats, technogods, and techies from around the big city (Manila, that is) will gather for the first Consumer Electronics Live! (CEL) Manila 2008 on SMX Convention Center in the Mall of Asia no less! For those who are quite unlearned, the venue just happens to be the most stylish, most cosmopolitan, and most cool hall in the country as of late. Ha!

And oh, please don't make that darn excuse that you are too-cool-to-be-actually-interested on this event. Cool people will attend this event because they can afford the gadgets offered. Capische?

Summit Media is producing the event and companies like Apple/Senco, Canon, HP, LG Electronics, Nokia, Samsung and Sony will showcase their latest toys to the gratification of those who would come to the event. There will also be displays from Bose, Creative, Fuji Xerox, JBL, Myphone, Sennheiser and Western Digital.

For some longer-lasting satisfaction, there will be daily gadget raffles, as well as great discounts on selected items on exhibit. Some things to expect:

1. Sony VAIO launch and new Alpha cameras
2. Up to 40% off on selected Canon items
3. Up to 70% off on selected My Screen items
4. Get a free one month subscription of Sun Cellular Broadband for every purchase of HP laptop or personal computer
5. Get a free luggage worth P1K for every Certina purchase
6. Popcorn Hour product launch
7. Win a Bose Sound Dock and Nokia & Samsung cellphones in the daily CEL Gadget Give-Away

Entrance fee is P50 but will be waived if you bring a copy of the Oct. issue of T3 magazine. You can register online and find more information about the event here: http://www.celmanila.com/.

In the stillness of the night
my mind wanders.
Words come into play,
emotions run wild,
my body relaxes as it feels
the grunt of earlier activities.

Several ideas pop out,
mind becomes active.
No matter how soothing the sound
of the still night is,
I'm still wide awake.

More than just giving of donations, I believe empowerment is the best way to alleviate poverty.

The solution, I believe is a two-way process. More than just helping the poor with a starting fund or some scholarship, it is instilling in them the belief that they can be successful, that they can be self-reliant that will bring them out of poverty.

I really believe that a better life starts as a determination deep within each person.

I posted about this amazing Fil-Am from Alaska named JR Aquino a few months ago. He's still amazing and I believe that no sooner than later, he will be a mainstream artist!

Here's another cover from him.

That's how I am feeling right now.

When you feel unappreciated (like me), there are a few things you can do...

1.) Harbor ill feelings towards those who you felt unappreciated you. You can ignore them, cuss at them on your mind, and just get pissed off at them and think why the nerve would they think of you as a nobody.

2.) Ask them out. I believe that is also important. You need to know the reason why, right? What if they pretended that they didn't hear you or haven't received any e-mail, or SMS, or Instant message coming from you? Well, its not your fault any longer. At least you made the effort.

3.) Pretend nothing happened and still be friends with those people. You can convince yourself that you're just a borderline paranoid and that everything is fine. That way, you're not really resolving your concern huh?

What should I do?

If in case that US$700B is given to the Philippines instead? Hmmm, here are the things that I will do with the money.

US$54.9B to pay for total foreign debt
20B to the Department of Health. $10B will be alotted to build 500 hospitals (supposing each hospital will be $1B pesos each -the hospitals WILL NOT be built on major cities) and the rest would be to subsidize or make free medicines needed to elevate the Filipino's standard of livingm this also includes access to clean water, clean air, and a life away from Dengue fever.
30B to go to the Department of Education for the building of 1000 new schools, modernizing of all schools by means of better libraries, labs and computer labs, sports facilities and access to better food.
25B to finally accomplish all of Manila's impending infrastructure projects such as the new C6, the Skyways, the Pacgor E-City(this one alone costs $15B to finish!), Quezon City Central Business District, and also with the restoration of Manila's old buildings, not to mention the clearing all squatter's areas, declogging of all canals and waterways, and rehabilitation of Pasig River and Manila Bay.
80B to be spent to provide decent housing for 30M Filipinos (that's 5M families supposing each family has 6 members). Priority will be given to those who live in the slums, followed by those living on far-flung provinces.
50B to improve nationwide roads, priority will be given to the Cordilleras, Aurora, Mindanao, Samar, Leyte, Bicol, Palawan and Mindoro. New expressways that will traverse the whole of Luzon and Mindanao. Railways to connect the whole islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Samar & Leyte, Negros, Panay and Cebu. Bridges to connect the islands of Panay and Negros, Cebu and Negros, Luzon and Mindoro, and Luzon and Samar.
10B to rehabilitate airports and priorities will be given to Clark, Puerto Princesa, Busuanga, Cebu, Bohol, Caticlan, Laoag, Naga or Legaspi, and Siargao.
50B to modernize the Police and Military. Need I say more? Lol.
10B to be given for the welfare of fisheries, coral reefs, forestry, and wildlife in the country.
20B to fully utilize Palawan, Mindoro,and Mindanao's oil and natural gas potentials.
20B to jumpstart responsible mining in the country. It is said that the country has a $1 Trillion mineral wealth and that should well be exploited to good use!
10B to modernize the agricuture sector in the country. I believe we already have enough know-hows on how to do it. We just need money and technology to further increase production.
5B to boost the country's campaign for more tourist arrivals.
40B for the Social Welfare Department. There will always be families that will need government subsidy to help their families.
20B to modernize Philippine sports. This could be used for the country's long-term grassroots program. I propose this money be used for swimming, soccer, boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting, diving, gymnastics, badminton and table tennis. Basketball already has a good program so I need not to add to it. Although part of the money will be used to build new stadiums.
5B to help convert garbage into biofuel. Manila and other major cities will benefit a lot from it.
10B to be used to fully utilize geothermal, wind, and solar power in the country to control the country's dependence on fossil fuels for energy.
40.1B to be used to build a hub in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao for the Muslim world (rivaling cities in Malaysia). The plan is to make a city that will provide better livelihood for the Muslims in the area, a center of education for the Muslim world, a Muslim television station (or stations) and a place where rich Muslims can invest in. That city could be found somewhere in Central Mindanao near the Moro Gulf.
and the rest of the money (200B in all) to be added on our National Reserves.

What do you think of my plan?

I can get away without having to watch television. Internet has compensated it anyways. News and especially sports events are available online so it almost is no problem anymore. However, if Amazing Race or Amazing Race Asia is on the offing, I need to get it straight out of the boob tube!
Maybe it's the competitve nature in me, or the streetsmarts that I have, or the love to go places I've never been to made me love the show. Except for a few Amazing Race seasons (a.k.a. the Family Edition), I was able to watch ALL seasons of both franchises!
Amazing Race Asia 3 has been dubbed as the toughest race ever over and over again by Allan Wu. And he was telling the truth. More than just a test of physical strengths, the race has becoming more of a test of endurance of the body, emotions, and the mind. I mean, I can't even stand a 25 hour bus ride, not to mention riding a non-airconditioned one, only to change tires an old, big truck by the end of the terminal (it happened on episode 3)!
The Race is at its toddler stages, with 6 teams remaining, and no non-elimination legs yet. A few teams have stood out for me and none of them has been eliminated yet! Here are the four teams:


Geoff and Tisha (RP) - of course, I'm gonna love my country's representative! Actually, all remaining six teams have almost equal chances of winning, so I guess they're still in good standing, except for the fact that they're dead last right now out of all remaining teams. But if the spoiler I heard will turn out to be true, it would turn out that they will place BETTER than Rov and Marc!


Sam and Vince (HKG)- my favorite non-Filipino team from Hong Kong. They're funny. They have nice one-liners. Sam (the vertically-challenged one [sorry Sam!]) and his booty dance and Vince's sudden outbursts made me love the team. And if the spoilers were all correct, they end up, uhm, end up uhm...


Ida and Tania (MAS) - i think these two ladies are the craziest bunch this year! Both priveledged, they seem nice, happy-go-lucky, and cowboy enough for the race! Watch the race and it won't be difficult to fall in love with these two ladies! Especially Tania! Uber-crazy!


Mai and Oliver (THA) - it will be unfair of me to not mention these two because infairness to them both, they were one of my favorites when the race started. However, episode 4 made them look like they were starting to look like villains. But hey, I still like them both!

The 2008 Philippines 10 Best Humor Blogs! from Leonard Allan on Vimeo.

Congratulations to FerBert and GreenPinoy. I'll vote for you guys again next year! *wink*