Author: ajay

Lumaki akong kaharap lang ang dagat kaya naman ako ay nabibighani kapag nakakakita ng tanawing tulad nito. Natatandaan ko noong ako’s maliit pa, nakikita ko ang mga mandaragat na pumapalaot sa kanilang bangka tuwing umaga. At pag gabi naman, naririnig ko sa aking kwarto ang paghampas ng alon sa mga bato.Too good to be true, pero totoo.

Masasabi mo ngang malayo na ang narating ko kasi nasa Maynila na ako. Pero ano naman ang panama ng mga naglalakihang mall at gusali ng siyudad sa puting buhangin at malawak na dagat na kinagisnan ko? Kahit wala man gaanong pinagpiyestahan na TV at tsokolate sa paglaki, nakaukit na sa isip ko ang mistulang paraisong kinamulatan na yon.

Dalawang taon na rin ang lumipas mula ng ako’y huling napadpad sa aming probinsya.Wala pa ring gaanong pagbabago, maliban sa ilang mga banyaga na nagda-diving doon. At sa aking pagbisita, nandun pa rin ang panalangin na balang araw ako ay tumira uli sa bahay sa may tabing-dagat, kung saan ang aking mundo ay makukulayan na naman ng berde, asul, dilaw at puti. At ang pinakahigit dito ay… asul!

If you’re a Filipino hard put in getting a visa at the US Embassy, this is not for you. But in case you’re still interested, read on -

Citizens of countries under the US Visa Waiver Program will now have to make an extra effort to enter the US. This is made possible with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization implemented last January 12 by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Prospective passengers are now required to apply online for travel authorization at least 72 hours before their trip.

The ESTA website asks travellers to input their personal data, such as those contained in their passport, and their flight numbers. This is then matched to the DHS database. If the applicant is rejected under the online system (by reason, perhaps, of being on the terrorist watch list or a previous record), he/she is enjoined to apply for a US visa in the nearest embassy.

Related post:

http://www.annalyn.net/2008/08/25/countries-which-dont-need-a-us-visa-the-visa-waiver-program/#comments

This year-ender is coming a bit late, since another year is obviously beginning. But it feels poignant to reminisce how full of milestones and pitfalls my 2008 was. For 2009, I can only wish for peace, stability and of course, never-ending love. Best wishes to us all!

January - New Year, New Dear. My online knight in shining armor flies into town to spend New Year’s with me, and we do so at Sofitel’s New Year Countdown by the bay. Sparks fly, literally. We go on a long drive with the kids to Baguio, and afterwards decide to fly by our twosome to Batanes.

Little did we know that what awaited us as we struggled to get out of the island-paradise. Our three days and two nights vacation package became eight days and seven nights ’stranded in no-man’s land’ package. Our travel agency rescues us by wiring money from Manila, since there were limited ATMs, plus Visa & Mastercard were unheard of in the island. In the meantime, we were so tortured waiting for the flights to resume that we joked about going to Taiwan instead, since it was nearer to Batanes than Manila. The much-maligned Asian Spirit would eventually become Zest Air.

February - A generally quiet month. By the time Valentine’s Day approached, I get accustomed to the wonders of ‘online delivery.’ I reciprocate by posting pics of a meal I prepared for him. At around this time, the Sweetheart wins an online ‘Tell Your Love Story’ Contest

March - More food trips. The family just spends Holy week in Manila. The blogosphere is agog with the expose on the Gucci Gang, and I get to have an interview with Brian Gorrell.

April - We watch the amazing show “Wanders” for the first time in the PAGCOR Theater. I also get to have first dibs with the DSLR the bf bequeathed me. Until now, I still have to master it

May - Unblogged: The family moves to our own house in the Paranaque suburbs. It feels great to be seeing trees and wide roads, even as I adjust to the long drive. Suddenly, I become a homebody.

June - I visit Singapore for the first time to cover a Nokia event. I feel posh, and shop till I drop The dreamy plan of the boyfriend and I to vacation in the US is shattered after the US embassy refuses to renew my visa. Unbelievable. I witness first-hand how some consuls have MBAs (Masters in Being A$$klowns). With the US in recession a few months later, you get karma. I’d rather be in Paris than see you MBAs again. The boyfriend and I celebrate nonetheless with a family vacation in Hong Kong.

July - Unblogged: Dear Boyfriend Pops the Question and I become the happiest girl in the world. He buys me a Tiffany engagement ring, rather prematurely because not even FedEx would accept it. And so I’d see it in Flickr and in Plurk. Tiffany, ang ganda mo.

August - My post on the rudeness of US Embassy staff becomes one of the top results in Google when people search for US Embassy Manila visa interviews . I consider this my belated contribution to Philippine nationalism. Heh.

September - Blogger coverages are at its peak. I get to to have a face-to-interview with Matt Mullenweg. Unblogged: I also transfer to a new office which means I sleep at sane hours and have my weekends back. Joy!

October - A busy month for travelling as I tour Laguna, Quezon, Cebu and Davao. The most awful thing happened because my bag was snatched, with all my valuables in it. The culprit turns out to be a Manila policeman Shame, shame, shame! He’s freed after posting bail in less than 24 hours. The incident made me lose faith in the city I love, and made me wish I was based somewhere else.

November - I join Litratong Pinoy for the first time, and get obsessed with writing in the native language again. I taste “dinuguan” for the first time in Kanin Club, and my foodie adventures reach full circle. Eating isaw should be next on the list. LOL.

December - I get my belated birthday, early Christmas gift of a custom-built bike from Bike Friday. Still Plurking, and in kasal windang mode. Whatta year, is all I can say.

It’s Litratong Pinoy taym once again at okay ang tema ngayong linggo na ito: kahit ano puwedeng ipaskil at isulat. Pero bago ang lahat, binabati ko kayong lahat ng Happy New Year, gaano man ka-belated.

I like the New Year kasi it gives me an excuse to make resolutions na hindi naman lahat natutupad. Sa 2009, ito ang gusto ko:

1. Kumain ng mas maraming gulay at prutas. Mag-ehersisyo. Nakakatamad kasi.
2. Mag-blog pa rin, pero iwasan ang pagiging adik sa Plurk at Facebook
3. Magsuot ng mas maraming palda kesa pantalon, para naman feeling lady (hehe)

4.Bawasan ang pag-inom ng ilang basong kape sa isang araw. (Milo na lang)
5. Magbasa ng libro, at basahan ng libro ang mga anak.
6. Kung mahilig kumain ay dalasan din ang pagluluto para hindi magastos.
7. Related to Number 6, mag-ipon (kahit spoiled sa fafa)
8.Mahalin siya ng tunay. Love him with all my heart.

That’s all. Tenkyu.

This post first appeared in Manila Bulletin’s Terchnews last December 24, but I don’t think it appeared online. So here’s sharing with you my thoughts on Plurk and the many ways by which you can Plurk your world!

Is the Philippines on its way to becoming the next Plurking capital of the world? Unlike in other countries where Twitter continues to reign, Plurking appears to be the more popular microblogging medium now, at least among the denizens of the blogosphere. Not a few have said that they’ve left Twitter for good, or visit there now ONLY occasionally.

Let us dissect some of the reasons why.

Firstly, Plurk is addicting because of the karma philosophy involved. You gain points every time you Plurk, and lose points for even a day of missing it. It’s a slow, uphill climb but human nature dictates that nobody wants to go down, as far as thge Plurk score is concerned. You see, after attaining so much number of points (let’s say 80), you’re supposed to reach Nirvana, or the state of eternal Plurkiness. After Nirvana, one’s supposed to aspire for more, and it escapes us what’s the highest Plurk points out here. The only secret we can tell you is that you Plurk with consistency every day and Plurk Buddy will take care of the rest.

Then, there’s the concept of having Fans and Friends. The more, the merrier; and the more friends/fans you have is supposed to indicate how popular/likeable you are. You’re given Plurk icons if you’ve attained the desired number of fans or invited this many users.

Perhaps, Plurk’s most endearing trait is its ability to give instant interaction among Plurk users. Let’s say I greet everyone “Good Morning!” and 12 of my friends will greet me back.Perhaps, along the way, somebody will make a totally zany comment, or reciprocate with an equally zany emoticon.

The Plurk banana is certainly one emoticon I love. The Plurk banana dances and rocks. I wonder they haven’t imported him to YM or Google yet, he’s certainly lovable. Other unique Plurk emoticons are W00t, Ninja, Hungry and Music

In my barely six months in Plurk, I’ve been witness to some weird happenings. Like this one time a pair of lovebirds quarreled, in public! It was like a Korean telenovela unfolding. Or how some people seem to Plurk everything they do, even the most trivial ones, just to up their karma points. Whew!

Another has the fondness for attaching photos of sexy to nude women. He says its Not Safe For Work (NSFW), but I actually wonder now why I am able to see it…. at work! LOL. There’s also the touching tale of Harley_Quinn, a Filipina plurker based in France, who died in a car accident after her engagement party. To pay tribute to her, friends and family requested Plurk admin to set her Plurk karma to Infinity, a request which was immediately granted.

In Plurk, some people post recipes and food photos like there’s tomorrow. It’s almost a never-ending routine to see them Plurk about what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

Plurk is also becoming the penultimate source of information, especially among bloggers. Am afraid they don’t even email each other anymore, and texting probably has become secondary.They now use Plurk to be updated about the latest blogger events and happenings. Plurk Team Philippines has created a totally new term to describe Plurk meet-ups, usually held in coffee shops and doughnut stores. It’s called the Plurk Fiesta.

The Plurk Fiesta is where newsbits and rumors are discussed more extensively In Real Life (IRL). Online , one can choose who to share the juicy tidbits with those in your circle, and it goes by the name Private Plurk.

It’s really a wonder why I don’t check my news feeds anymore. I just log on to Plurk and I get apprised of the latest links to newspaper headlines or the latest posts made by bloggers. The beauty of Plurking is that links and reactions are made instantly and in a jiffy.

Of course, there’s the bonus of having some celebrities among my Plurk friends. These include the great Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and good ol’ IcanHazCheezburger. Locally, I dig the philosophical humor of Bob Ong.

So there, just some of the reasons why you must Plurk your world!