The Legaspi Sunday Market

Cooked food

I figure that summer is the best time to go to the few weekend markets Manila has. There’s really no point doing so when it’s all wet and rainy, doesn’t it? At least with the sunshine out, you can see fruits, plants and vegetables in full abundance, never mind if you have to sort through them with sweaty arms (and pits!) It’s that hot and humid in the city these days.

The Legaspi Sunday Market is located in a quiet enclave of offices and residential condominiums, with a pretty park beside it. I didn’t know how to go here at first, and my personal GPS just told me to go around the side streets of Greenbelt 1 (near AIM) and find the Union Church of Manila. The market is located in a spacious parking lot, with a Starbucks just a few walks away. I would think that the weekend markets in Salcedo and the Lung Center are bigger and have more selections, but foodies and homebound fellas are sure to find interesting things here as well.

Some pictures from this market:

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Columnist and writer Barbara ‘Tweety’ Gonzalez sells her paintings here, as well as a line of talismans from Mt. Banahaw for attracting love, happiness and prosperity.

PICT0474< The Japanese-designed Waraji slippers , made of abaca, are said to massage the feet and cure the body of certain ailments.

The garden lady

From the stall of a gracious lady named Delia, I was able to buy kitchen herbs like thyme, coriander and basil for our mini-garden. No more panic-buying in the grocery for any last-minute addition of things like parsley and oregano in one’s dishes!

Food, and more food!

Crab & Shrimps

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I Am Your Twitter Beatles Song Personality Reader

I would like to develop a new skill. Unlike writing or cooking, this new skill I have in mind doesn’t have any practical purpose at all. I’m not even sure if I can call it a skill, really, but at the very least it makes for an interesting topic for those awkward social situations where you need to keep the conversation going but can’t quite think of anything to say.

Yesterday morning, Elliott Smith’s cover of “Because” came up on the random playlist at the exact same moment I happened to be thinking of a particular friend. I literally dropped whatever I was doing and stood completely dumbstruck by the freakish coincidence and by the discovery that the lyrics of the song was an almost exact reflection on his views on life, love, and beauty. “Because” is his favorite Beatles song. (Not long after the song ended, I received a text message from that friend. Life is full of strange coincidences.)

I immediately started forming a haphazard theory that maybe there’s a lot you can tell about a person by his or her favorite Beatles song. A song, in the most basic sense, is a poem set into music. Let’s assume that poetry (lyrics) is a reflection of universal human experiences, thoughts, attitudes, etc. Let’s also assume that a person loves a particular song because he or she feels a strong, personal connection to its message - the song could either reflect certain beliefs, philosophies, behaviors, or ways in which he/she perceives the self. Why The Beatles? Because you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who has absolutely no clue who the Beatles are and because I’m so out of the loop with pop culture that I’d be like, “Who? What?” if another song or artist was mentioned.

Testing out my theory was something that happened by accident. All it took was a single Tweet on Twitter*, and soon my friends were asking me what I have to say about their favorite Beatles song in 140 characters. It was a Friday morning and I guess nobody was in the mood to do anything productive.


FRITZ

Fritz started off the whole conversation when he said:

Fritz: Mine’s “I Got a Feeling”, tell me what you think. D
Me: You work hard and party even harder. Also, you keep missing the jeepney and are usually almost late for work.
Fritz: WTF? You can tell that from a Beatles song?! Your reading powerz can kick Nostradamus’ butt anytime!

What a sarcastic, this Fritz. =P


ADE

Then there was Ade, who is probably the biggest Beatles fan among my friends.

Ade: My faves, as you know, are “In My Life”, “Come Together”, “I Am The Walrus”, and “A Day In The Life”. What does that say?
Me: That’s a lot of songs! Which one’s the ultimate favorite? My Beatles Song Personality Reading Abilities can only handle one.
Ade: “A Day in the Life”
Me: You can’t decide if you love and hate your routine and it drives you nuts. You’re also too afraid to go for what you really want.

Over Y!M, Ade confirmed that my Beatles song reading is in fact correct. w00t!


KLASSY

Klassy saw what was going on through Facebook and decided to join in.

Klassy: My favorite Beatles song is “Helter Skelter”.
Me: You try your best to depend on no one but yourself when you hit very low points in your life, but deep down you want someone who will help pull you back up.
Klassy: HUHLOLZ. Spot-on. You read me well :p


COCO

Coco: Butting in on this Beatles action before I go to sleep with “HelloGoodbye.” Also, “We Can Work It Out” and “Eleanor Rigby.” K.
Me: Based on Hello Goodbye, you like being around people who have more differences than similarities with you. Amirite?

Coco hasn’t gone online since yesterday so I guess I won’t know if I was indeed right.


MARCO

Marco: My favorite Beatles Song is “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
Ade: Um, you like circuses?
Me: You treat life or social situations as one big performance. You’re very guarded and put on different masks around people.
Marco: BLASPHEMY!


PAU

Pau:
Sige nga. Mine’s “Come Together”.
Me: You’re not as safe and conventional as you seem, and you only reveal the twisted side of your personality to like-minded folks.

I know that reading sounds like a lot of bull, but what I really meant to say was that just like Come Together (which sounds like a safe pop song unless you pay attention to the whacked-out lyrics), Pau seems completely normal and harmless - at first. Then you get to know him and realize that he’s perfectly capable of running through a crowded street wearing nothing but boxers while screaming something really random like, “PROTECT YOUR VAGINAS!” Except I couldn’t say that in less than 140 characters.

* * * *

Throughout the duration of Twitter Beatles reading, I realized two things. First, the less I know about the person, the more my reading sounds like a fortune cookie fortune. They’re not as specific as I’d like them to be, and I’ve got no clue if I hit the mark or missed completely (seriously - did I come anywhere near at all?). Second, the readings I gave to friends I know well (Fritz, Ade, Klassy) came not so much from their Beatles song as from the things I already know about them. Which got me thinking that maybe it works the other way around. Maybe I can only make a more or less accurate connection between personality and favorite Beatles song when I’ve achieved a certain degree of knowledge about that person.

Before going to bed last night, I asked Ale the favorite Beatles song question. To my surprise, he told me that he doesn’t really listen to the Beatles and that the closest thing he has to a favorite song is John Lennon’s “Imagine” - or rather, A Perfect Circle’s cover of “Imagine”. I said that if he could be a Beatles song, he’d definitely be “I Am A Walrus” - crazy, unpredictable, and scatterbrained. Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with him because he likes to jump from one thought to another totally unrelated one.

Was I correct? Well yes, but not in the way I expected.

“You do know what walruses are known for, don’t you?” Ale asked once he was done laughing hysterically.

“Um, no. What?”

“Walruses are the mammals with the biggest penises.”

See how that random bit of information came from out of nowhere?

As for me, my favorite Beatles song is “In My Life”. Explanation in less than 140 characters: I may not be good at showing it, but I love everyone who’s been a part of my life, even the assholes. I wouldn’t be who I am without them.

* Twitter, for those of you who aren’t glued to the Internet like I am, is a live micro-blogging tool where you answer a simple question (”What are you doing?”) in 140 characters or less. It’s great for finding out what your friends are doing or feeling and using that as an excuse to procrastinate.

NBI ID Card – de facto National ID

I went to the NBI Mall Center in Carriedo, Manila last Wednesday, 2008-June-04 to get my NBI Card/ID. A former colleague informed me about this ID Card last month, the day after I renewed my NBI clearance. This NBI ID is a legal Identification Card, even Philippine Banks highly recommend this Card more than any other legal IDs in the Philippines. A legal ID, supposed to be honoured anywhere and in every government institutions…. it wasn’t the case.

After waiting for almost 3 hours, I got my NBI ID, also rumoured to become the future Philippine National ID, although it is already the de facto National ID. The card was provided by Mega Data Corporation, and I am really impressed with it, a color green card called “Clearance Renewal Card” from “NBI Carriedo". The first thing that I noticed and looked for was the technology embedded in the ID card - to my excitement, it is a combination of the Old and the New.

Old Tech #1

Magnetic Stripe. At the back of the NBI Card is the old technology we are all very familiar with, the magnetic stripe, that thick pure black stripe. However it doesn’t have the little white stripe below it where you put your signature. We’ll talk about this later.


NBI ID Card - Back

Old Tech #2

Barcode. In front of the ID, at the very bottom is your Identification Number Barcode. This is another piece of old technology that is still widely used today, especially here in the Philippines. I can say that Barcode is a “mid-tech", between the old and the new. Although, it is used mostly for identification, example, an item’s price or in the NBI ID’s case - your unique, as I call it - Citizen Number.

The New Tech

SMART Chip. This is what I first looked for, the new technology (which isn’t new at all globally). It is found on the front side of any modern card today. I was very happy to see this, the first time I used a SMART Card was during the trial-runs of MasterCard’s MONDEX - dubbed as the precursor to a “Cashless Society".

For the NBI Card, encoded are all the data about a person as recorded/provided by the NBI Database.


NBI ID Card - Front

Now I am no longer an illegal alien in my own country! Or so I thought…

I went to the Makati Post Office after I got my NBI ID. From Carriedo to Ayala Ave under the scorching sun. Once there - to pick up my GNU/Linux Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu CD installers (32-bit and 64-bit CDs) - the Post Office’s Customs told me the NBI ID Card is not honored. Why? Because it doesn’t show the signature of the ID holder!

O_O

The Signature

So, for the Post Office, a literal Human signature is very important for them to identify the person. The digitized ID of the NBI is not a valid ID in the Post Office. Your Digital Identification Number is not valid. That unique piece of digital ID number is useless.

I do not and can not blame them. First of all, they do not have the tools needed to read the ID. Which tools?

  • Magnetic Stripe reader, and/or
  • Barcode reader, and/or
  • SMART Card reader

Second, their own legal ID - “Postal ID” was *ehemm* “delevelled", not officially tho but by practice. Banks today will not honour Postal IDs because it can be easily faked at Recto (for those who are not familiar, Recto, Manila is popularly known as the area where you can pay anyone to create duplicates/fakes of Identification Cards, Report Cards, and anything non-digitally encoded).

Third, Postal IDs were ignored by the government and was never upgraded (ouch, if you work for the Postal Office)

Fourth, they do not know what the technology is and what it contains. For them, the NBI ID Card is nothing but another legal ID created by the government to compete with the SSS Digitized ID. It is a race towards which ID system will be recognized as the Official Philippine National ID. An ID developed and maintained by a private entity or an ID developed and maintained by the government.

But who cares, right? For us, ordinary citizens of this “2nd World Country” (soon to go back to being 3rd world, thanks to rising prices), all we want is to have an Identification Card that will be honoured by any government institutions (e.g. Postal Office) and private entities (e.g. Banks). Many of us are illegal aliens in our own country because they made it hard for us to acquire a legal ID.

I’ve met a lot of Filipinos, who like me, are illegal aliens in our own country, and ironically, we all have fine, good pay jobs and positions. Imagine that! So much for the NBI ID not being recognized by some government institutions. The NBI must include the oldest technology of all:
“Written Signature". They might as well include the person’s “SSS Number” and “Tax Identification Number (TIN)” to make it complete, and recognized by everyone like the Postal Office.


Are you against the idea of a National ID? Well, that’s for another day. ^_^ For this write-up, I’m only pointing out the need for an ID that is both legal and valid, with a Signature, an SSS Number, TIN Number, Magnetic Stripe, Barcode, and which is a SMART Card. An ID recognized and honoured by all government institutions and private establishments.

I know you will agree that we simply do not have the time to go spend the whole day or two trying to get different legal IDs, and then waiting for the release or we have to pick it up. We have lives to live, bills to pay, work/job to take care of. Just one ID for all. And right now, that seems to be the NBI Renewal Card (ID). They just need to make it better, so the Post Office for example will recognize its validity.


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BYAHILO set foot on his 31st province: Coron, Palawan!

BYAHILO is set to break records again, as I will be setting foot on my 31st province! The last frontier of the Philippines, also known as the cradle of Philippine civilization. BYAHILO explores the cool, clean and green paradise of Coron Palawan today!

We’ll leave no stone unturned as we explore its clean lakes, pristine beaches, and mammoth limestone cliffs. We’ll also have the chance to bathe at the warm Makinit Hot Spring.

Snorkelling is definitely a must. We will also climb Mt. Tapyas which has a commanding view of the islands. Mt. Tapyas is also known to have a fantastic sunset scenery.

I wont disclose the full itinerary here just to keep up the feeling of suspense. A big big thanks to Southeast Airlines (SEAIR) for sponsoring my Coron Busunga trip! Ill be back on Monday, expect a substantial amount of photos here next week!

Bye Manila!

WARNING!!! If you are reading this from another blog, it is possible that this has been copied without my permission. BYAHILO: Ito ang Trip Ko!

BYAHILO set foot on his 31st province: Coron, Palawan!