Thoughts on life among other things
Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao’s decision (to agree to the prodding of Pres. Arroyo) to join the congressional race proved to be a wrong move for Pacman. He was reportedly ‘sad,’ ‘depressed’ over poll results and was also reported to have lost some cash. Aggravating the situation is the circulating manipulated photo that went around as soon as the results became apparently clear.
Poor Pac-Man, he should have stuck to holding his gloves rather than trying to put on those dirty barong!
May 12, 1974, the birth date of my grandfather. It was also the longest day for my mother. She was experiencing a severe stomach pain, which she and my father thought was an ordinary one. The pain was becoming unbearable. They were just a novice couple and don’t know what to do. So just before the break of dawn they walked to a house of a relative to ask for advice.
My grandaunt and granduncle confirmed that my mother was in labor. So, they rushed her to Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, a government-run hospital famous for baby deliveries (especially for poor communities, since it’s almost free). At the hospital, my father and granduncle were not allowed to come with my mother as she was ready to deliver the baby. She was all alone from then on.
My mother told me that the hospital delivery room seemed to be a market with the long lines of mothers almost lying side by side, waiting for the midwives to assist them in delivering their babies. It was amazing that there haven’t been any confusion as to whose baby is each baby delivered at a particular time. I was told that every time they deliver the baby, they are sometimes put together in one crib and delivered to the nursery room where they are placed in individual bed for viewing–each baby is identified with a tag that is tied either on their wrist or ankle.
At around 6.45am, three decades and three years ago, a son was born–I was born! My father was expecting a girl (too bad–eheheh!) that they don’t have a ready name for me, thus I became the third Domingo but my father was ecstatic nevertheless. He was also the one who gave me the nickname–Jimbo. My father claimed that he did not know what to do after I was born–since he was not allowed to see my mother (I’m not sure why)–that he decided to report for work.
My mother was discharged from the hospital after a day or two, according to my father, but not after suffering terrible hunger. The staff at the hospital have so much babies to deliver that they have easily overlooked feeding the mothers after delivery–come to think of it, delivering a baby and not having anything to eat for almost two days??!! The quality and efficiency of Philippine health service! 🙂
Today is one of the most special days of my life and I think I should have written about it in a more passionate or better way but one thing that I want to highlight today is not that I was born but the way I was born and the strongest and most loving person who tried to make sure that she brought me into this world without a glitch–my mother.
Being a father who personally witnessed the birth of my two daughters, I can now relate with my mother’s pain as she delivered me and the hardship that she and my father had to go through raising me. My father also recalled my mother’s alertness when she felt a cyst on my thigh just before I turned one. I had to undergo an operation for the cyst and I wasn’t given any anaesthetics. My cries made my mother faint.
My father also recalled my hyper-activeness and how I always slipped out of their watch and disappear in public–I remember when I was about 5 years old that I was reported missing for the nth time. I also remember having to stay with a stranger until the police picked me and my sister as we went missing at the San Pablo Cathedral. 🙂
My mother may not be the perfect mother but I know she is the most hardworking and loving mother any child could ever have. Her networking and selling skills made sure that we have food on our table when my father’s remittance fails to meet our monthly demand. She was the mother who found ways how to additionally finance our education from high school to college as the hard-earned money of my OFW father could not meet the financial requirements of four children studying at various level–elementary, high school and college. She was the mother who was also instrumental that the family (not my family) was able to secure a house that we called home.
She was the mother who endured various heartaches when I or some of my siblings have gone astray one time or another. She was always there and welcoming and was always ready to believe every explanation and stand for us in every occassion. She was the mother who tried her best in delivering our mental, financial and spiritual needs. She was the mother who always wanted the best for all of us. She was the mother who tried to remind herself that she needed to find time for herself and put on a make up.
Even if the cycle of life completed and I’m given a chance to start over, I’ll love to have Eva Caro as my supporter, provider and mother. This is my mother, who I dearly love.
Happy Mother’s Day!
In an unexpected twist, Google recently promised Thailand that it will now remove all anti-monarchy videos from [its] YouTube.com website according to a report by Bangkokpost.com. Google.com earlier rejected repeated calls from the Thailand Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to remove the said clips saying that some clips have attacked President Bush far more harshly than the Thai king had been mocked.
The original offensive clip was eventually removed by the user but subsequent video clips were uploaded to the site in protest to what was deemed an attack on freedom of expression. There was a strong feeling in Thailand that Google and the offenders were culturally insensitive to the request that Thailand blocked access to the popular video sharing website.
The Thai government claimed that it will not proceed to filing of criminal charges against Google while it is still not known whether the Royal Thai Police will proceed with charging Google with lese majeste.
MICT Minister Sitthichai Pokaiyaudom said that Google’s vice president Kent Walker assured him in the letter that they would remove all offensive clips but claimed “that it would take time to find all the video clips uploaded to YouTube, but said the clips could be removed,” The Bangkok Post reported.
The Bangkok Post claimed that volunteers monitoring Youtube, however, were able to find the offensive video clips in seconds. They are wondering now how Youtube technicians “would need more time” in removing all the offensive video clips.
It is not yet clear whether Thailand would eventually allow access to Youtube in the country.
Last Monday was a public holiday in Thailand. This was in lieu of the Coronation Day last Saturday. It was an easy day at the office so before I go writing a number of reports, I thought maybe I should check on the AVFS website. We filed our visa application 13 weeks ago with AVFS, the Australian Embassy–appointed visa filing cenre. Thirteen weeks, it’s seem to be a very, very long wait. The wait for our visa result should have been just 12 weeks hadn’t it been for my wife’s period–women are not allowed to take the medical exam during their period–not that I blame her for that.
It was a pleasant surprise that the passport tracking status changed after weeks of checking, it read:
Passport has been passed from Operations Centre to Australian Visa Application Centre, May 4. Please collect the same.
It was a pity I wasn’t able to check it that Friday afternoon, I would have known the results by then. So, I had to hold on to celebrating the completion of our visa application as I thought, call me pessimistic, is it already stamped or would it have the letter explaining disapproval??? So, I kept the news to myself–I wouldn’t be able to collect the passports anyway since it’s a holiday.
So that Monday night, I tormented my wife with my worries about the passport–but at the back of my mind, I hope she doesn’t check the website! She got worried indeed–cruel me! 🙂
Yesterday, I woke up early–I was very excited for the day to finish. I have a scheduled meeting with someone near the Australian Visa Application Centre, so it was a good opportunity to collect the passports.
At the centre, collecting the passports was a a breeze. I was wondering though why our passports had a big envelope with it while the others have none–so I really got a bit worried. The five passports were sealed in big white envelopes and I did not open it. I said, I might as well share the joy (or grief) of the result with the family. So, I went on with the meeting, come 5pm headed straight home.
I called my wife and asked her to check the AVFS website. She’s dead worried why I kept on asking about the visa. The laptop was off and she’s washing the dishes that it took her a while to turn it on. When I finally reached home, she opened the door and I flashed a printout of the AVFS passport tracking result then pulled out the envelopes of passports and letters, she was literally jumping and shouting for joy when she saw what I had.
I was trying to wake up the kids but they did not lift a finger. So, we proceeded to open the big envelope. I read it fast and saw the magic word…
I am pleased to advise you that your application has been approved
Whooa! now, my joy is complete and literally it was as if a thorn was removed from my heart.
I inspected the passports immediately and all have the fresh, crisp Australian visa stamp, and they gave us four years!!
Now, that this has passed, it’s time to think about the more serious work of research, research, research! For now, I’ll be blogging from Thailand until July then will be blogging from Perth, Australia from August until I finish my studies. 🙂
Our sincerest gratitude goes to my Aunt, Ms. Loida Caro, who expressed her support for my family’s stay in Australia by lending her bank accounts. And to other bloggers, my readers, friends, colleagues who lend their hands and knees in prayers.
Many thanks, maraming salamat, khob jai, khob khun khrup, merci!
To God be the Glory!
It might have past just like an ordinary day but I know that by joining other bloggers for this one day blog silence (from posting, reading and writing) I’ve expressed my support to the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting and their families including (on a personal level) other victims of violence around the world (from Ka Jun Mallari, Julia, seven beheaded workers in Mindanao among others) . It would have made a difference if everybody have joined the exercise–that would have been news but the shooting is already a news anyway. But as with all other campaigns, there are non-believers with some deeming the exercise a farce.
In fact, this small campaign started by Steli Efti has stirred some controversy on the blogosphere according to Massa P.‘s information. The controversy is whether this campaign was just a simple case of link baiting for a subsequent money-making scheme for the domain owners. But as Massa P. and all the other bloggers commented, this still needs to be proven.
The allegations, however, did not deter the people behind the onedayblogsilence.com, led by Steli Efti, to continue the campaign and remain in their conviction that they are supporting the victims of Virginia Tech. They received support from Lorelle, who wrote a very good entry about the campaign and her own personal conviction about violence, as with Liz, Mihaela and Andy. Steli gave his thoughts on the controversy writing,
We thought that people will either join or ignore it. Boy, that was so wrong. People who disliked the idea spoke up so loud I can´t believe it. From sending me messages to call me a “jerk”, “idiot” and other things I won´t go into detail here, to forum posts about speculations that our intention was to make money and sell the website after the 30th April or that behind all this, there is a hidden big media company standing.
One blogger who read about the controversy immediately removed any trace of the onedayblogsilence.com on her blogs (links and trackbacks)–without looking at both sides. But I can’t blame her since some of the bloggers blogging against the onedayblogsilence.com are respected bloggers also and blogs about technology.
So, personally, I’m not sure who’s linkbaiting for better technorati ranking. I remember reading a blogging tip that says, ride on controversial issue to increase traffic. 🙂 the plot thickens.
I meant to post this entry on the dateline of the Daily Express below but I was engulfed with so many things and this draft was overtaken by a number of drafts that I wrote after that. Anyway, here it goes.
A blog entry over fruityoaty inspired me to blog, finally, about this business idea that I was dreaming about since I started hanging out with my coffee-addict colleagues and friends back when I started working, well after my Jollibee days.
Whenever I go to cafes I was a bit frustrated to end up with just one choice of chocolate drink, be it hot or cold, when coffee drinkers have lines of coffee to choose from. I said to myself, why not have a parallel line of chocolate drinks. I discussed this idea/dream with a French friend and told him that I wish to pursue this business idea with a big cafe, possibly with Starbucks or other cafe companies, given a chance.
He told me that it’s a good one and revealed that they have their own way of preparing their chocolate drink. He also told me that Spanish also have their own way of preparing their chocolate drinks. To my surprise I excitedly told him that Filipinos, too, seem to have a different way of preparing chocolate drink. As I’m writing this I’m starting drool and crave for chocolate eh! Well, the discussion certainly confirmed my business idea might actually have some basis or a good one, I mean there are certainly lot of chocolate drinkers around, I suppose, aside from me.
As with coffee, chocolate drinks when prepared in a certain can have that certain taste, texture when you drink it. I like it when it is warm enough first thing in the morning that you can feel it flushing down your throat and washing your heart and feel the lining of your stomach. 🙂
Well, as for my dream venture either with Starbucks, Black Canyon, Coffee World or any cafe, I still have to save up some money and save those recipes until it becomes a reality. 🙂 Anyone of you can pick this business idea, I’d be a willing customer! But the news below about chocolate made me more of a chocolate drink fanatic and want to pursue lines of chocolate drinks for the masses. So, anybody for a chocolate drink? For health! 🙂
CHOCOLATE CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE
By Nick Fagge
Daily Express
19 Feb 2007
CHOCOLATE, supercharged with plant compounds, can boost brain power while fighting heart disease and cancer. Scientists have discovered that substances in certain cocoa beans can dramatically improve learning and memory. They boost blood flow to the… read more…Tech Tags: Daily Express newspaper Front Page
I’ve just learned this from Al-Jazeera’s Street Talk by Riz Khan this morning.
Google Maps is trying to outdo Yahoo! Maps in terms of giving service to its clients. Outdo they did. Try getting directions on how to get from New York to London. Here’s a print screen of what you’ll get, notice direction no. 24.
Direction No. 24 says:
Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 miles
It’s certainly past April Fool’s Day, isn’t it? But Google has their way of making their clients happy. Who’s going to swim that long, well unless you’re trying to break a Guiness record. At least they were kind enough to say how long it was for a swim. eheheh!
I tried getting direction to Manila from Bangkok, both Yahoo! and Google are mum. Waaah, why can’t I go home? 😀
Driving directions cannot be determined between these locations.
-Yahoo! Maps
We could not calculate driving directions between Bangkok and Manila.
Google Maps
My good online buddy, Massa P., was kind enough to nominate Blogbastic! as best blog about stuff. 🙂 This is my first nomination but not sure if I would survive the contest as I’m pitted against some of the most read blogs on the blogosphere but it’s a good experience anyway.
You have to register though before you can vote. Unfortunately, I cannot vote for Massa P, or the other blogs or even my blog as I might violate the TOS I have here on wordpress. 
I’m still on free blog. As I’ve told Massa P., I might just have to watch the votes from the sidelines and see if my blog will earn some votes. 
With the registration requirement, any blogger who would take time to vote suuuuuureeeeely loooooovvvee Blogbastic!
For some reason or another, I was able to register just now and have an option to sign up or NOT with PPP (25 april, 9am bangkok time). So, again the invitation still holds, please vote and yes, the registration was not that tedious after all. 🙂
My wife usually asks for an embrace whenever we go to sleep. I mean I don’t mind that but sometimes with my small physique my arms tire and would eventually let go. But hugging benefits women according to a BBC NEWS health article. The gist of the article is that women’s heart particularly benefits from this hugging (and loving?). The benefit is higher for people with loving relationship.
So, give someone a hug and help them have a better heart! and mean it! 
Oh yes, by the way, I’M BACK!!! will tell you all in a few days what happened last week.
Blogbastic! 