Only Filipinos Would Understand The Humor in This...

Ok, for my foreign readership base of one or two. ...

SOGO is the name of a motel in the Philippines. In Korea and I think, Japan, a motel is call a "Love Hotel".

Strongest banks in the Philippines

Before I go into my travel posts, I would like to share the list of Philippine’s strongest banks as rated by Theasianbanker, according to an article at yahoo. Metrobank is adjudged as the strongest Philippine bank and BDO is rated to be the largest.

In terms of profitability, Security Bank leads the pack with its strong profit performance in terms of percentage of assets. Other Philippine Banks in the list of Asia’s 500 banks include: BPI Savings, BPI, Land Bank, East West Bank, RCBC, PNB, Unionbank, UCPB, PS Bank. I went to the source of the article at Theasianbanker.com and tried to download the list which has the basis of the ranking but my internet connection is bad. If I have time later, I’ll port the list and write a bit more about this topic.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/16-phl-banks-asias-500-list-160000912.html

My Travels and the NAIA

After reading about the world’s worst airport brouhaha, I decided to write a few articles related to my use of our airport terminals. This will make this blog look a bit like a travel blog but I intend to write a few things that I hope the readers will find useful.

Please stay tuned.

A Lesson from Solar Impulse: The Solar Powered Plane

In Switzerland, two visionaries are implementing a project so massive that it can almost be elevated in status to the heights attained by the Wright brothers. They have successfully flown a plane running on solar power for 24 hours, night and day. The pilot observed that their solar plane had absorbed so much of the sun’s energy that they could have fed it to the power grid if they had enough battery in the plane. Named the Solar Impulse, the plane has a small cockpit and runs on small power. It has a long wingspan fitted with solar cells that is fitted with a lot of solar cells.

If solar cells can lift people (Solar Impulse), what more can it do for the household? All we have to do is install solar cells, use low consumption light bulbs and appliances and we won't be paying for electric power at all.

Take the solar plane model as an inspiration and improve your lives. Let us realize that one need not work harder to fully enjoy his labor. Start by becoming more efficient and before you know it, you would and up with more disposable income, better quality of life and a lot healthier.

Are you a part of the problem?

When you spot something that you dont like, how do you react to it?

Do you solve the situation or do you worsen it?

As the saying goes; "

"If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem."

I have just seen two young managers create problems and make matters worse for their subordinates and suppliers. They spend a good deal of time looking for loopholes in what their subordinates and suppliers do and make a big deal out of it by shooting down the concerned parties.

Being managers, they are supposed to correct this problems to the benefit of their employers and everybody else. What they do is simply make their projects run more slowly and make life difficult for everybody.

I have seen this happen a few times. I can also see the possible career paths of those two. It's not rosy, I am telling you.

Wow!

It's almost a month since my last post. Gotta do something about it.

My internet connection at work is not so good these days. A lot of people also come to talk to me about work the whole time so I hardly have the moment to think of a topic to blog about.

Anyway, i'll try to write something later.

Prevent Bullying

In Japan as well as other countries, a lot of kids have committed suicide because of bullying. In the Philippines, I know of at least one who died as a result of it. He was a high school student in a very expensive school who one day, dropped out and refused to leave his bedroom. After a few years, he killed himself or died from depression. It’s been a few years since his demise and I can’t exactly remember the cause of his death. I was just informed about it by his high school friends. What I am sure of is the fact that he stopped going to school because of classmates who bullied him.

Bullying as simple as repeated name calling and mocking in laughter to degrade another is very destructive. I know of a very lovable child who went as far as entertaining thoughts about killing herself because classmates would not stop calling her “Weirdo” and similar terms. When her mom found out about it, it was discovered that the kid had in some instances used a box cutter to make shallow slashes in her thighs. She was already practicing.

I, myself, have been a victim of verbal bullying. One thing different about me is that I am a man of the street and I was DRUNK when a few so called “friends” did it. One push that sent one of them sailing a few meters into the air and landing heavily into the floor plus a menacing growl made them stop. I was intoxicated and my God, I could have broken a few necks that night. Had I not done it, I probably would have sulked to this day.

I heard that the the "Bullies"still talk about that incident to this day and since I am not in their presence, they still laugh at me. But nobody would dare do the same when I am near. They also know that they dare not retell the story to other people.

For those of you who have kids who are being teased in school or by anybody else, do not take it lightly and gauge how your kid is taking it. Better yet, post me a message here and let’s communicate via email before it’s too late.

Linked to this post is a Time post about a similar story

My advice regarding this matter is given for FREE.

Build your own clean power source

I’ve always wanted to put up my own mini wind turbines at home and generate enough power to light my home and power my television sets. Getting it to power the air-conditioning and refrigeration units may be a distant dream but I will not stop until I’ve attained that. I also want to be able to convert my car into a hybrid because buying a Hybrid vehicle is not yet economical. Based on my calculations, the gas savings generated by using a hybrid vehicle (in this country) is nowhere close to offsetting the buying costs. In this country, a Toyota Prius still sells very expensively.

In the news today, Google invested $168 Million for a solar power plant that will produce enough electricity to power 85,000 homes per year. Wow! I hope that its next project will be the development of mini turbines and solar cell roofing and wall claddings that will power individual homes. That will be the best.

Reference: Google's Solar Power Project

NaWillie Na

I am starting to hate the guts of this guy and the people around him. I've read statements fro him telling those who hate him that he is helping people with his program and nobody is getting exploited. Such statements I find overly arrogant for a person who has made his money from such programs. Yes, some poor people are making some money but make no mistake about it, the biggest beneficiaries of his shows are the brains behind the program is Willie Revillame himself.

Because of his "Philanthropic" programs, Willie Revillame had become the proud owner of some of the most expensive cars in the country. Because of such program, a high rise condominium and mall is scheduled to rise in Quezon City and who do you think owns it? Yes, It's Willing Willie! A Google search for "Willie Nepumuceno properties" will show a lot. And I don't think that's the entire thing.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE

No wonder people find him such a bogus. I hope he stops, listen to his critics and start doing the right thing. I hope that none of his kids and descendants will have to dance a la macho dancer or stripper on national TV just to be able to earn a few bucks. I hope he realizes that before it actually happens. Willie Revillame, do you hear us?

How To Apologize

Be sincere and keep it short.

That's one lesson that Willie Revillame should learn. Alot of people think that he should have stopped after two sentences.

As the saying that goes;

Never Explain.
Your friends don't need it.
Your enemies won't believe it.

Here's where I am coming from --> Willie's Apology Criticized. They think it's bogus

Beware of Those Who Mention Religion

In my 15 years of professional career, I've developed a few timeless formulas.

One of them is to stay away from people who mentions their religion. People like them are the biggest crooks that you will ever meet.

Decision Points

In life, people gets to a road that fork, from time to time. The question, always is, will it be to the right or the left, this time? Decisions may be easy or difficult, before one can even decide on anything, it is most important to know whether a situation had reached a decision point.

When is the right time to leave? Is it when the escape route had become impassable.

Remember that the problem is not limited to one’s own vicinity. From Pasig to Libya, the reasons remain the same.

During the onslaught of the great typhoon “Ondoy”, the people in the subdivisions in Pasig failed to monitor and forecast the rising floodwaters in their possible escape routes. When the waters have started to threaten their homes, it had become impossible for them to drive out. The escape roads which were on lower grounds, has been deeply submerged.

In Libya, the same thing basically happened. The Philippine government tarried. They didn’t do anything substantial until it had become almost too late to make one. Newscaster and former Philippine Vice President Noli de Castro laments that the Department of Foreign Affairs even lambasted them for painting a gloomy picture of Libya’s unrest.

When the government finally decided to evacuate Filipinos from Libya, the roads had become gauntlets of death. Even if the Philippine government had money, it had become very dangerous to drive out. Even the borders had become very difficult to cross.

The two events draw parallelisms in a lot of things in people’s daily lives. Take a moment to contemplate and you’ll be surprised at how many decision points were ignored as we dealt with the daily rigors that life threw at us.

There’s a lesson in everything that happens in our daily lives. Let’s hope that we will never fail to learn it.

From Egypt to 9/11

The Middle East is now in the midst of the Twitter and Facebook inspired revolutions that started in Africa. The first to go down was Tunisia’s Ben Ali in January 14, 2011 and followed by Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak less than a month after. Soon to follow is Libya’s Colonel Muamar Gadhafi. In between the three governments, there is the turmoil in Sudan, Bahrain and Yemen.

Going to Egypt, Vice President Hosni Mubarak became the President after his predecessor Anwar Sadat was assassinated by terrorists. Sadat was a prime mover of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and that infuriated the Jew hating Arab world. In fact, during Sadat’s funeral, only 3 out of 24 states sent representatives.

What surprises me about is something that not many people know. Sadat was assassinated after a Fatwa approving it was issued by a cleric named Omar Abdel-Rahman The cleric was acquitted of conspiracy charges related to the assassination.

I am not aware about the facts behind the trial but Abdel-Rahman was probably not convicted because a Fatwa can be argued as nothing more than any individual's interpretation of an Islamic law, just like any lawyer’s legal opinion.

The thing is, Abdel-Rahman was given a US Visa despite his inclusion in the terrorists watch list. Taking comfort in the fact that Arabic is largely foreign to Americans, he issued Fatwas calling for the destruction of the US.

“He traveled widely in the United States and Canada. Despite the U.S. support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan, Abdel-Rahman was deeply anti-American and spoke out against it, safe in the knowledge that he was speaking Arabic and unmonitored by any law enforcement agency. He issued a fatwa in America that declared lawful the robbing of banks and killing of Jews in America. His sermons condemned Americans as the "descendants of apes and pigs who have been feeding from the dining tables of the Zionists, Communists, and colonialists". He called on Muslims to assail the West, "cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land.”

The end result is what we all know as a tragedy called 9/11. Abdel Rahman is now more popularly called the blind Sheik.