My thoughts turned into rant...

So, finally, I have time on my hands. Some quiet time alone where I can just be with my thoughts. Aside from not having time, I also had a hard time logging in to my blogspot account. But, as my Sr. Manager would say,  That is now water under the bridge, there's nothing much we can do about that. Well, she was right.

A lot of things happend since I last wrote here. Changes and movements at work, changes with my personal life, and lastly changes in the world around us.

Just recently, I saw a post one of my colleagues uploaded in FB. It says something about not being happy with their current work, and if this is the only thing the Philippine Government can offer us. I am not a big fan of the government but i'm not going to condemn them either.

My 2 cents on this is, if you hate where you're working at now, why stay? Nobody is forcing you to stay and work, accept degrading things that your customers say to you. I see this as a problem not just with certain people but the public in general. This also applies to the upcoming Presidential / Mayoral Race. This year is going to be exciting. The way I see it, this is anybody's game. The fact still remains, that corruption, be it with a seated president or even just during elections is evident. People tend to support a certain candidate to the point of risking their lives for them. They don't see anything wrong, until that person is seated in office. First few months in office, the person is doing good, then come one particular incident, everything good this new government official has just done, gone. Everything else he/she does in the succeeding years are a disaster in the eyes of the public. This is a vicious cycle that the Philippines have to go through every three to six years. But who is to blame? Is it the person seated in office, or is it the people who voted for them? No one will ever be good enough for the general public.

That's it for my first blog in 2016... forgive the ranting. Hopefully i'll have time to write more meaningful articles. thanks for reading anyway. :) till my next blog...

Poem: A writer's Block

I've been wanting to write a poem for a very long time but it seems that I've had writers block so I decided to just write essays. Something so overpowering came upon me today so I sat down and tried to scribble some words.. so after so many years here goes my first poem in my adult years...

A writer's block

staring into space,
is like staring into a blank page
don't know where to start
my mind clouded, it's dark

no words come to mind
the meaning to this writing i can't find
simply listening to music
inspired me to write a poem like a lyric

where is this really leading me?
somehow I want my mind to be free.
free from a writer's block
but I can't get out i'm stuck

they say practice makes perfect
but it seems with words i don't connect
maybe I just need to wait
for beautiful words into poems I'll create.

Random Acts of Kindness

I was browsing through a friend's Facebook Account and came across the hashtag #RAK. I got curious so i googled what it meant and the search results showed as Random Acts of Kindness. It led me to its homepage.

Surfing the site it made me look at Kindness ideas and some stories. While reading some of the resource materials I realized that on a daily basis we do random acts of kindness. It comes so natural that it doesn't seem like we're doing much.

As simple as saying good morning to a person may not sound much but it can make a difference to change someone's mood.  Probably this is what we all need. If we just try to do one simple act of random kindness daily, maybe we can make a difference in the world. Maybe even if we just try to watch what we say or how we react to posts in social media can make a big difference in this time where the internet and the social network impacts our day to day lives.

Just to share, being in the Training Department of a BPO, often recognition can be a big challenge. I felt that being a supervisor, my trainers don't get recognized enough so I came up with a Quarterly program where I treat my team to dinner, just to say thank you for all the hard work that they have showed. In turn, my trainers also held a Training Sup Appreciation Day. This just shows that even just a small gesture of kindness can make a BIG DIFFERENCE.

Share your Random Act of Kindness stories.

My thoughts on Masskara 2014

First, allow me to express my disappointment for this year's Masskara Festival. 

I have been braving the streets of Bacolod for the past  4 years taking pictures of our masskara dancers and I didn't expect it would end up this way in 2014. 

The Hype for this year's festival was not as we expected. The initial schedules prior to the start of the festival has been misleading. One website's information differs from another. Netizens especially those who has booked a flight to Bacolod for the festivities have been anticipating this event rely heavily on social media but information from both the Bacolod City PIO and Masskara Bacolod are not aligned. 

For one, the Photo Contest registration fee is 1,000 Php , which comes with an ID and a "limited edition" TShirt. I was excited to get my Photographer's ID assuming that it was going to be personalized since they required the contestants to submit at 2x2 ID Picture, but lo and behold, the ID which i expected to be personalized can easily be photocopied. The "limited edition" shirt was not impressive at all. A few days before the competition I saw an Ad saying that the registration fee was lowered to 700Php but this time did not include the shirt. I don't believe that the "limited edition" shirt would cost 300Php. I'll let you be the judge to that. 

Evolution of Photographer's ID from 2011 - 2014.

What ever happend to the trademark latin flare for which the festival was known for? What does "Waka-Waka" have to do with Masskara? The Official Theme song has been released 3 times thus giving the choreographers and dancers a hard time changing their routine to match the song. 

MassKara has been known for its streetdancing, colorful masks and costumes. However, this year the Arena Competition came first. People lined up the streets to see dancers perform but what the people saw was a bunch of dancers running to catch up with their groups. We don't know what officially transpired nor why there were 30 mins gaps or more between participants. 

It seems that the amount of time spent on planning for the festival has not been as long as it should have been. The logo has been copied, pasted and edited from last year's logo. There were even rumors that the caption "One Rhythm, One Bacolod, A Million Smiles" has been copied from another festival. As to how true, I'm not sure. It has been a tradition from previous festivals that the official logo has been done as a contest to help our local artists.

Photo from the Visayan Daily Star

The real essence of Masskara has been lost in translation this year. I may be traditional but it's good to keep some aspects of the festival as it was way back in 1980. May we not lose track of why we established the festival in the first place. The way I see it, a lot of people are disappointed with this year's turn of events. Well.. just saying.. these are just my 2 cents. 

On the Vhong Navarro Case

The Vhong Navarro case is buzzing yet again. This is brought about by the granting of bail for Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee and Zimmer Raz. From what I understood earlier. Serious Physical Injury and Illegal Detention is a non-bailable offense. So why would the Court allow bail?

Corruption again is at work. We all know that Cedric Lee has money and has probably either bribed the court or threatened that he would kill all of their families if they are not granted bail. Granted that the bail has already been paid, how can we then ensure that all the parties involved will not run out of the country to flee?

Corruption and bribery are things that should not be taught at an early age. Though let's admit that at some point we have used this with our kids. I don't actually have a kid but bribes like "I'll give you this if you do this" - a form of bribery when not clearly explained to our children why were are doing what we're doing. We might think for a moment that this is some sort of reward, but this has to be partnered off with setting of expectations. Education is the key, so let's start teaching kids right manners and conduct.  

Being Childlike

Photo from: http://hydristor.com/

I have learned in school that Childish is different from being Childlike. Childish means that you lack maturity by behaving like a child. Childlike however is the complete opposite of Childish. It simply means that you're resembling a child marked by innocence. 

So, earlier today, I was at home and our helper's little boy AJ was with us watching TV at the dining room. He was restless and playing as if he was at war and using his hands as guns. I felt bad for him as he had no toys to play with. I remember he was playing with a blown up plastic bag tied to a string resembling that of a balloon.  I went to my room, grabbed one of the inflated balloons and blew up one and gave it to him. He was having dinner and eating mango and when he saw me with a bright red balloon, he put down the mango without finishing it and attempted to climb down the chair when I said that needs to finish his dinner first, wash his hands before coming to see me. It amazed me and made me realize that childhood is something that is meant to be remembered as I saw the eagerness in his eyes to play with the balloon. To us adults, a balloon would not make a difference but to a child with no toys, it means everything. 

Simple things like a balloon, a bathroom tissue core, or a plastic a cup, may not mean much to us, but it makes a a child happy. Something we probably unlearned when we grew up is our imagination. Now as adults, we only use our imagination when we read books. Not being utilized by play or make believe. 

Points to Ponder: 

Let's not forget what it's like to be a child, not to act immature but remind ourselves of their inquisitive nature, and the fullness of their imagination.  

What's up in mid year 2014?

Hello Dear Readers, it has been quite some time since I have written here. Maybe it was from the lack of equipment, ( My netbook died a year ago, it couldn't handle my obsession with photos, photo editing and video editing.) or just totally forgot about my blog and became more involved with the social networking sites. I really haven't had the time to sit down and think about writing. 

So just to update you on the things that has been happening. Nothing really significant happened in 2013.  2014 however, really got busy for me. I was sent to Cebu for a month to help out with the ramp for our company.  It was there that I realized that the culture was entirely different from what I was used to. I had a hard time understanding their language but eventually learned. 

After returning to Bacolod, my mom and a couple of friends went on our summer getaway to Isla Gigantes located at Carles, Iloilo. The pristine beaches and virgin islands were a magnificent sight.  If you want to know more about our Misadventures at Isla Gigantes click on the link. 

Pulupandan Island, Carles, Iloilo

Isla Gigantes Sand Bar

Just a few days after my adventure to Gigantes, I was again sent to Cebu to manage the team while they were still looking for a replacement supervisor. The stress level was high but it was a good thing that I had two good friends who were with me while I stayed there. 

I asked to be sent home for the weekend and a day so I will be able to monitor my team at home, and asked to return on a Tuesday after the weekend. I wasn't able to go back as promised as I acquired measles, and was out for 8 days. It was the longest 8 days of my life. Measles is not something that I would want to encounter again. Aside from rashes, you would also get dehydrated from LBM and loss of appetite. Honestly, I lost around 10lbs during those 8 days. Not only that you'd also get free sore eyes or conjunctivitis with your measles. 

After a few days upon returning to work, I was up on my feet and ready to take on the world! Me and my friends had a planned vacation to go to Ilocos. Though I still wasn't feeling well, I had to go. It was the only time for me and my friends to bond and see the rest of the Philippines. Ilocos is a wonderful place full of history and rich in tradition. Old Spanish houses have been preserved for future generations to enjoy and learn from.

Calle Crisologo, Vigan, Ilocos Sur

My Friends Kirsy, myself and Feli at Bantay Bell Tower

Well another adventure is waiting to be documented sometime next month. So I'll see you on my next blog. I hope you enjoyed reading this.