Happy Birthday To Me...

I didn't realize till now that exactly a year ago I made my very first post on this blog. Actually, I started months earlier but a blospot glitch made me transfer my posts to here.

A year of intermittent blogging has gone, hmmm, not bad for someone who hardly had the inclination to write a page full article of whatever subject. But I do believe that while we may still hold the wheel (steering wheel that is), our ship is still subject to the winds of yore that may shift or change our direction notwithstanding the preconceived course that we have set for ourselves. Meaning? We never know what tomorrow brings and that simple guy Mr. Gump was wise after all when he compared life to a favorite box of dessert. I never planned to linger long in the blogosphere but what started out as a testing of the waters had turned out to a full blown "kinareer ko" undertaking. Yes, I love blogging, and my affair with it has lasted a year na.

Housecleaning

I have been doing some housecleaning today, right here on this blog. I decided to take out some blogs on my blog roll and add some new ones. To do this, I surfed around and came up with some really good sites. Some made cry, one made me think really hard and another inspired me while the last one gave me a very good laugh.

Its a colorful blogosphere out there with very talented bloggers. Now I know why their making some newspaper in the USA a run for their money.

Of Free Wifi, Pro bono cases, and Sundays Alone

I'm making this post from Jose Karlo's coffeeshop, a branch that just opened right inside Robinsons Mall Tacloban. They got Free Wifi but unlike Bo's Coffee down in Avenida Veteranos, a single order of cappucino won't get you unlimited connectivity. After an hour you have to reorder in case you want to stay on the Net in their cozy premises. Might as well, it sure beats having servers start giving you funny looks when you have overslurped your only order of coffee for you almost four hour stay.

So what does this mean? Now I know where to go in case I'll be needing a freebie connection for work thats to be done for hours on end. Bo's it will be. Definitely, JK is not practical when your doing pro bono work, just what I'm working on, and you need to look up cases on the Internet.

Gee, there goes my alloted hour, need to order another cappucino...

Beautiful Resorts in Leyte and Samar

The Surf Camp, Calico-an Island, Eastern Samar


Cottages


Pool and the sea


The lounge

Caluwayan Beach Resort, Marabut, Samar


Infinity pool


A view of the beach


Ponds

Kuting Resort, Macrohon, Southern Leyte



The entrance


Lanai by the sea


Infinity pool
(Photo credits OTOP Phils. and friends)

Ukay Republic

A sure sign of the difficult times is the increasing number of ukay-ukay shops sprouting all over the city. Right down along Rizal Avenue, just beside Everwell Drugstore, is a collection of second hand clothes shops that peddles everything from hats down to (would you believe?) underwear!!!

Seriously, there are actually treasures to find such as slightly used branded t-shirts , polos, curtains, bedsheets that look good as new. You just have to be armed with patience, perseverance and, the most important, terrific haggling skills. I, for one, have not mastered the art yet. I do wear my shopping heart on my sleeve and I can't help but show my eagerness when I've had a terrific find (a bargaining no no). One must know how to keep on a poker face and keep the shop owner guessing as to whether or not you have decided on an item. It helps if you walk away at the first price quotation, more often than a reduction thereof would necessarily follow. Of course, they do have to earn their keep, so know when to stop haggling. Remember they are in it for the business and not for charity.

Nonetheless, for the not so fortunate who could only dream of Ralph Lauren, here is the chance to have his clothes at a fraction of the cost, if you don't mind the thought that it has actually touched the skin of someone else and has drowned in his sweat (hehehe). But for the more picky and sensitive bargain hunter, its not only clothes that this shopping haven for the financially conscious has to offer, they also have bags and shoes. If your one resourceful broad (or chap) take the time cause you just might find a Bally in there or even a Gucci with nary a scratch mark and no one's the wiser that it came from ukay republic. A friend, after having sworn me to secrecy on our doggies' grave (hehe), confessed that the long sleeve polos I've always admired her wearing are finds from segunda mano stores. Well, I''l be darned. Who would have thought that my fashion savvy friend sourced her threads this way? As she would say, nasa "carry" yan. I have but to agree, ukay or not, a fashionista will always be a fashionista even in these hardest of times.

Sangyaw and Pintados, the Battle...

A glance at the title would suggest that the words do not deserve to be in one sentence, at least from this blogger's point of view. This is for a number of reasons foremost of which is that both the Sangyaw and Pintados are celebration of a distinctly religious event, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. Discord has marked this year's festivities and provided a damper in what should have been a unifying occasion for all Waraynons in the region.

A court case has been filed and a TRO (Temporary restraining order) has been issued by a local judge. A visibly irate local chief executive has threatened to hold those responsible for the TRO accountable and from the grapevine, I've heard that certain properties in the city are to be reverted back to the province.

As a backgrounder, the Pintados Kasadyaan is an annual parade in Tacloban held every 27th of June that began sometime in the late 80's and is meant to coincide with the city's annual fiesta. It is spearheeaded by the Pintados Foundation and the province of Leyte and showcases presentations from different towns and cities in region interpreting the pagans' deliverance by the Sto. Nino in the form of dance. When incumbent Mayor Alfred Romualdez became the city's chief, he reintroduced the Sangyaw, to be the main and focal point of the celebration of the city fiesta, the feast of the Senyor Sto. Nino. From that point on, a struggle seems to have emerged as to which of the two parades, the Sangyaw and Pintados Kasadyaan has the rightful claim as to to being the festival that truly represents the city's fiesta.

But 'nuf said, since I was not able to watch both parades I've included a link here where you can watch slide shows from the event. You may also click here for well-taken pictures of both events.

When A Mall Becomes a Tourist Attraction

Robinsons Place Tacloban, located at Tabuan, Marasbaras, Tacloban City, opened its doors to the public last June 11, 2009. To say that it was one monumental event for the city is an understatement. It eclipsed even the holding of the Palarong Pabansa held recently this year. A major traffic jam caused a slowdown of vehicles on the road approaching the mall and the people inside would put fish in the sardines to shame. It felt like one big fiesta as whole families from nearby towns came on jeeps chartered solely for the trip to the mall. Going to Robinsons was an excursion, a pleasure trip and to be "in" you just had to be there.

As for this blogger, it seemed like a trip down memory lane not too many years ago when I was just fresh from college and was job-a-hunting in Manila. Too while away the time, I spent many hours in between interviews at big malls there and the experience inside Robinsons was just de ja vu. However, unlike its counterparts in Manila, the Robinsons mall here still has many vacant stalls and stores. Perhaps some are taking the "wait-and-see" attitude before making that investment to open a branch or store. The few brave ones, though, judging from the constant ringing of their cash registers for the two days I visited, seems to have made the right decision to gamble on the buying power and habits of the people of Eastern Visayas. I just hope that their good luck continues and their sales does not peter out once the novelty of a new and first mall does. Some of these "brave ones" are: Shakeys Pizza, The Travel Club, Jollibee, GUESS, Levi's Store, National Bookstore, Tom's World, Kamiseta, Book Sale, Gustavio's, Pino Fine Dining, Children's Place and the home or organic stores of Robinsons like Handy Man and Robinsons Supermarket and Department Store.

I stayed for only an hour as the crowd was too much for my clautrophobic taste but I left knowing that now, more than public parks, families can enjoy bonding moments in the cool comforts of Robinsons mall.