The Bookworms

The latest findings shows that the Indians (10.7hrs/week) are the biggest bookworms in the world. This is followed by the Chinese and surprise, surprise, the Filipinos.

To me it's not a wonder why the results are not surprising in the last Spelling Bee held in the United States. Same for the Chinese people whom I am amazed with their reading ability. At least in the MTR station at 8.25am from Quarry Bay, I am walking towards Sheung Wan-bound train. All you see are fast moving, pale looking people, motioning as if it's been the way their feet has been made for. But not's the case as it's been pretty well known already. With the free tabloid Metro HK handed every morning, news-hungry masses can't help pass time without grabbing a copy. I used to pick one but the two-page English spread almost makes it unworthy to be picked up by a non-Chinese reading The ability to read while walking 10 miles an hour is just a wonder to see. In short, it's not surprising to see the Chinese people as the second most reading-savvy race in the world. If the Chinese read while walking briskly, I imagine Indians doing the same reading while running. Kidding folks.

Filipinos, third? Maybe, but I am not really sure about it. Americans spend half the time reading in a week than the Indians, while Koreans and Japanese spend only about 4 hours a week. Perhaps they are more fond on arcade games than reading the news.

Out: ESPN, In: FOXSPORTS

Commercialism at its best. To all who thought reading the news over the Internet is absolutely free. Think again.

I have made it official that I am switching to Foxsports in my NBA coverages over the Internet. Chronologically it was NBA.com that was my choice way, way before (after all virtually no one else is in sight). Later, I got attracted to ESPN's layout, quality newswriting and in-your-face photos and Flash informercials. What made me stick to it was the live NBA scoring page which even got better recently without the need for page refresh. Chad Ford's articles are well read, the frankness of Marc Stein, the influential Dr Jack Ramsay, David Aldridge, Peter May and Marc J Spears, whose outtakes are feasted by my hungry eyes. Of course there's Eric Neel and the Sportoon which never fail to make me smile. Simply the best.

But ESPN was simply too popular that its executives and creative directors would be a fool to let quality content pass without getting back in return for the excellent by-product of their team. Little by little the NBA pages became pockmarked with tiny orange images: premium content that could only be accessed if you pay $4.95 a month. If you do, you become an Insider, which enables you to read content not only in NBA but NFL, MLB and several other disciplines. Well, I subscribed in late 2002 but had to give up after six months; I can read them through public newsgroups from fellow "Insiders".

Ford's take on international basketball players is often a public knowledge. He personally went to Eastern Europe to scout some of the most difficult names to mention whose talent ranges from flashy to flamboyant. Yet talents back in America still are prominent. In 2002, when Houston picked Yao Ming, it was a vindication on Ford's part; he is sometimes tabbed as pro-internationalist who raves talents from Italian, Spanish, Yugoslavian and Russian leagues. But at the end of the season Amare Stoudemire had a bigger smile after coveting the Rookie of the Year Awards.

With the fact that ESPN is more about that subscription based, pay-per-read scheme, I had to find something new. Then hoopshype.com came. It's a nice compilation of basketball stories from across the US and the world, all packed in one page for your enjoyment. Free. I still do read that. But that too became -- no, not paid subscription type -- emrboiled with sites requiring people to register for free to gain access to the articles. I don't do that. So then I came across CNN's Sports Illustrated site. Quite nice, large font text by default yet less flashy as ESPN (with those ORBITZ ads in the horizon). Then came AZRepublic, but that's more focused on Phoenix Suns, my favorite team, and a few other big news around the league.

But when I came to FoxSports to read more on the coverage on the Suns-Mavs series I guessed I found what I was looking for. A decent lineup of writers although Charley Rosen becomes a favorite writer. The site's content is free for everyone to read, plus photos and videos too. That made me think to abandon loyalty to ESPN. I need content, man.

Hopefully, ESPN would give up that selfish Insider idea; we deserve all to be informed, even if a writer spent three hours to a full day scouring information from Elias Sports Bureau to come up with a noteworthy article. CNN used to have paid content in its video galleries. Now it's gone and everyone should see interesting videos from there. They did it because BBC can do it, without asking for money.

Foxsports though is not as well-written as ESPN's articles. With the arrival of John Hollinger in ESPN, the future of sports journalism has been shaping. Full of interesting stuff, from stats, compiled data you'd never think they did it. Foxsports article was read Joe Johnson as an unrestricted free agent and Amare Stoudemire was spelled Stoudamire (maybe the writer was thinking of Damon or Salim).

Anyway, I think it's worth switching the allegiance. It does not prevent me from sneaking to ESPN's pages somehow.

Reminders: Keeping The New Year's Resolution

I believe this is the right time to assess how we are doing in terms of achieving personal goals as listed on our New Year's Resolutions more than six months ago. At June, the time gap between Christmas is the same, backward and forward.

I have my own New Year's Resolutions:

1. Learn Japanese. Owing a chunk from Gloria, my AIA agent who used to interview me for a non-IT related job before, I am now equipped with what it takes to learn Japanese. So far, I did listen to the tapes and read the basic notes once since I got the items last April. I have quite a good urge to learn this language. But everytime I attempt to load the tape, I easily decide to listen to D'Sound or Crowded House instead. Rating: D-

2. Never Get Late in Office. I used to live in South Horizons and since I need to leave home before 8am to beat the dreaded Aberdeen tunnel bottleneck. At that time I am still half awake half asleep in the bus, and while I get an extra 15 minute nap on my way to the office, I seem to be grumpy walking across the Victoria Park. What I did was to move to Quarry Bay which so far, has addressed the punctuality issue.
Rating: B+

3. Travel. Anywhere I can, with no-frills trip the preferred one. I want to go to Korea or Taiwan. Japan is still too expensive for me (maybe Korea too). Palawan or Sagada are more viable option but I'd rather go to Davao or Bohol if I made the choice at the last minute. Bad news: half the year has passed, and still haven't made any single trip. Good news: my annual leave days are still intact, which gives me enough buffer to go on adventure towards the end of the year.
Rating: D-

4. Take care of my health (read: play sports). So far I had made some strides in this one. In my struggle to scrape unwanted stuff in my body, I can tell I am still gaining weight. But I am making headway, I suppose. Although my last squash game was in November with Karen, I was able to play basketball with my officemates as well as my Singles buddies. Playing table tennis was even a bonus. The catch though is that at the time of composition of this blog, my last basketball game was a month ago.
Rating: C-

5. Avoid Going to Office on Weekends. Benjie used to say that staying late in office is a sign of inefficiency. Let alone going to office on weekends. But what if pressing deadlines are haunting that even when you sleep, you dream of coding or discussing the sitemap? Who would want to visit the office if you can wake up late on a Saturday morning? But sometimes at the office we have to. Luckily, I can't recall having to stay in the office on weekends, apart from the March-April Tourisnm Australia Media newsletter.
Rating: A-

What about you? How far have you gone on your own list?

Hong Kong - the Ninth Most Expensive Place to Live

It's a wet, wet, week in Hong Kong. I have been patiently waiting to see the "No Need to Go to Office" weather advisory just before heading for showers but so far, nothing happened. Here, with too much rain, dangers of landslips is imminent. Therefore the government is careful not to put its workforce in peril and as a worker, you get the chance to stay home until the advisory is lifted. Back in Davao, rainy day means bad news to our little store in the public market as fewer people come. Remembering those times makes me miss my father more.

***

Good news, Hong Kong's cost of living as dropped compared to last year. Bad news, it's still among the top ten most expensive places to live in the world. From number 5, Hong Kong is now at number 9. The ranking is topped by two Japanese cities, Tokyo and Osaka. The ranking is based on cost of housing, public and private transport, food and entertainment, among others..

1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Osaka, Japan
3. London, England
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Seoul, South Korea
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Zurich, Switzerland
8. Copenhagen, Denmark
9. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
10. Oslo, Norway

As the economy improves, prices of property also skyrockets. I have read newspapers about shop owners closing shop not because of poor business but because of landlords who raise monthly rentals by an unexplainable 60% or 100%. One example was the egg tart shop where former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten gets his ample supply.

As property prices are becoming important indicators, property owners have become more unscrupulous, taking every opportunity very seriously. After all, good times don't last forever. These are the same owners who practically begged shops to stay by lowering their monthly rents just to have income derived from these properties. Now it's the shop owners who get the boot if they can't keep up with the rising costs of maintaining a shop.

That's the price of Hong Kong, the world's ninth most expensive city to dwell.

Nyoman, the Man

Here's an almost accidental friend who turned out to be a true one. Nyoman Koen Krisnawan is an Indonesian first name as everyone in the country disputes that they don't have surnames, and since it's not the same as how Brazilians do their own (Pele, Ronaldinho, Nene), it's difficult to conclude about its singularity. But there are hints though; you can tell former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri is a daughter of the country's founder-leader Sukarno.

Nyoman comes from the beautiful island of Bali, famous for its beachers but was also a vulnerable place. The huge bombing in its Kota Beach in 2002 took the lives of 202 people, mostly tourists from countries loyal to America's fight against terrorists, which was perceived to target the Muslims. And while Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country in the world, not all people are Muslims. I was lucky and blessed to visit the cultural city of Jogjakarta during the Singles For Christ 2002 Regional Conference. There are thousands of Christians in this country (but still very minority to the entire nation due to its enormous population). Nyoman himself is neither a Muslim nor Christian even if his mother is (that is why Kris is one of his names) a believer of Christ.

I met this guy at work at PCCW, my first employer here in Hong Kong. I thought he was a resident nerd who worked for a long time and also a Filipino since my colleague Jay seems so friendly to him. Even Onin was talking about him. I did not know he is an Indonesian for at the time I haven't met a lot of foreigners such that I can't seem to distinguish a Chinese from a Korean from a Japanese physically (now I can). Indonesians and Filipinos belong to one race and so there are lots of similarities in physical and cultural structure. It is said that there are hundreds if not thousands or words commonly spoken in Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesia. With this being said, I still can't understand the Indonesian language. I classify it along with Cantonese as a noisy language, unlike Thai, Vietnamese or even Japanese.

We did not stay as colleagues for long for I was part of those let go by PCCW in late 2001 but we still did keep in touch. Shortly before I left the company, I was in his team along with an Indian guy named Rahul and our team leader Johnson. It was a multinational team whose fate as a group was doomed as manifested in that ominous phrase from Rahul 'I hope this is not a send off lunch with you guys'. That was the last day I saw him; both I and Rahul were fired.

But shortly after I got another job I still got to see Nyoman, going for squash games where he would masterfully shred me to pieces, or take refuge of the winter chill on an Indonesian restaurant in Sheung Wan. Along with colleague friends Steven and Patrick, the four of us enjoy each other's company cracking jokes or telling stories from distant shores.

But time has come that Nyoman's contract will not be renewed and that he'd be leaving Hong Kong on summer of 2003. The ever historically-rich brain of mine recalled those days when he was so excited to hear how my description of Jogjakarta is: raucous motorcycles plying in all directions of the city central, the rather funny name of the hotel where we stayed and of course his university: Gadja Mada.

I got the chance to travel to Malaysia during the "Amazing Race" trip that includes Singapore and Thailand in five days. There we met up and almost reunited with Onin who is already working in Kuala Lumpur. He even drove all the way from KL to Genting Highlands, getting lost at times, using a borrowed car. Just like the old times, same topic, older faces.

He came over last April to "collect" his remaining savings in Hong Kong. He decided to go back to Jakarta (in a sharp, strong "r" accent) and start a business or find a wife. Somehow I believe what he tells me but at times when his facial expression suggests otherwise, then I will have my reservations. He's a funny guy who'll get you irritated with his subtle overtures. I met other Indonesians in the Jogjakarta Conference (Juliana, Irmawaty, etc), and in KL Devi Afianto and they are very warm and humble people. Perhaps we Filipinos influenced Nyoman a little bit. He ocassionally brags about "sige sige" or "ayun!", common Tagalog expressions not understood by common Indons.

To Nyoman, whatever your plans are, my friend, good luck.

Happy Fathers Day!

Eugene (left) and Ernest on a fun meal. Having our names start with "E" does not mean they are my kids (who thought about it, anyway?). No, they're not my kids. They're my godsons and I'm their godfather. Their mom is my officemate and got to know I am a Catholic through Irene of SFC Hong Kong. What a small world!

To my father, you're the best. Thanks for bringing me to where I am now. Get well soon!

To all fathers, you deserve the best. Makes me wish I am a father too!

If I Have a Chance to Talk to GMA

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will be coming here in Hong Kong on Monday to encourage businessmen and investors to consider putting up business in the Philippines. This comes amidst the controversy about the alleged wiretapping scandal which featured her talking to Virgilio Garcillano of the Commission on Elections. I heard the taped conversation a few days ago over the live feed of DZBB. I'd say the voice is similar to hers but then let's face it: Michael V has a commercial in that station which showcased his talent of mimicking voices of Robin Padilla, Mike Enriquez and Bubble Gang's Bebang. Therefore, it's inconclusive that it was Madam President in the tape. As technology can almost uncover the soul of a human being, what more can it do to an aging voice tape, faking a video (remember the dozens of sex scandals?) or replace heads of porn stars with wholesome celebrities in photographs.

While I would like to have a fair treatment to GMA unless the voice has been proven to be hers, I scorn her for being mum to the issue, with only Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, whom in my opinion is not a credible person for such noble position, doing the blabbering, sometimes misquoted and misinterpreted by the media. Worse, while they deny the said accusation, they are attempting to suppress the hunger of the masses to hear the controversial tape for themselves. In a country that appreciates sensational stories -- from office gossip to the sexy mistresses of congressmen -- trying to seize the illegal copies circulated everywhere (but not in illegal DVD stalls) is like finding a needle in a haystack inside a dark barn. Is the effort of trying to prevent people from listening to it an indirect way of admitting that it was the President who was in the conversation with "Garci" about the election results during the time of canvassing? Well, thanks or no thanks to technology, the voice conversation can now be heard on ringing tones with matching pop synths in the background.

Back here in Hong Kong, United Filipinos in Hong Kong chairperson Dolores Balladares promises a wave of protest will greet the President's arrival here. I don't know this person nor this person knows me but if I may say, the group's name is a misnomer because it's just one of the multitudes of regionalistic groups scattered around the territory; there's United Ilocanos, United Bicolanos, United Ilonggos, United Warays. Scrap the name UNIFIL Ms Balladares, it's outright hypocrisy.

So when the President will be here, I must be working on an internal newsletter and minisite in the office and will have no time to greet her at Chek Lap Kok. But in the evening if given an hour to talk, I'd do the following:

* Ask her to face the controversy on national television on a degree little lesser than state of the nation address. In this case the Filipino people will have better idea of what's going on and not through other means which are mostly lies.

* Ask her to tell Ignacio Bunye to shut up because the more he talks the more he creates confusion. In the movie 'Bean', a distressed Peter McNicol calmly advised the quirky Rowan Atkinson to stay put and everything will be fine.

* Laud her for making work do the talk; but there are instances you need to talk to clear things up. Going to Hong Kong is translated as work but it's also translated as avoiding the chance to talk.

* Tell her to engage in a one on one debate with Senator Aquilino Pimentel televised on all stations. Maybe not, as it creates a deep division among Filipinos.

Perhaps I could add more but an hour is not enough to accomodate them. By then, I'd appreciate her time and would only show she values a common tao like me whom he refers to as a modern hero.

Finally. The Simpsons: The Movie!

While jobless early of 2004, I am usually at home watching DVD and television in between surfing for jobs. During the time I started to get hooked to the 6pm TV series, The Simpsons. From then on I got addicted that after I got a job a couple of months later, I even sneaked out of the office before 5.30PM - the office dismissal hour - to catch the show at home, some 25 minutes by MTR and walk.

I got an expensive collection of "The Simpsons: Season 2" DVD and a decent collection of movie downloads which I delete once I finish watching (hence, the 'collection' term is dropped); with over 300 episodes, I can't get enough of the whole bunch stored in my hard drive. I have been salivating over the notion of having the series produced in the movie.

I used to hear rumors about apparent movie production, but soon these hearsays flicker away. Recently there's a claim that the rumor has been true this time. Producers used to insist that a movie cannot be made until the end of the series (I'd prefer to have the movie in 2010 or beyond, if that's the case) but now they say it could come together with a season's episodes, something that's within the striking future (say 2 years?). The voice Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright, yes Bart's voice is a woman's) confirms this one.

I can't seem to wait.

Anybody out there?

Hey, thanks for dropping by and reading my web log!

I have been blogging for the past 10 months and so far as tracked traffic would explain, I barely get anyone read it. No one's talking about it, no one's linking to it. Of course. Why would someone NOT link to my articles?

1. It is purely personal and I am not a celebrity that one has to keep track of what I am doing on a daily basis. That is true because just like the multitudes out there, I want to post something that I have in mind. I gave up writing for my diary in favor of this so when this sites bogs down irreparably, my logs are doomed. But then again, the more I write the more I reveal my personality. The more one gets to know me. Be it my peers at SFC, my childhood buddies, contacts at Friendster or anyone who types in my name on a search engine.

2. There is little or nothing interesting in what I say. Who is interested in Laika, the Soviet Union's poster model for animal cruelty, or search engine optimization or an assumption of Steve Nash as a Filipino or simply what I notice about those crappy Citybus ads about slimming? Yes, topics vary from almost any topic not needing a censor. These articles revolve around my mind and at some point need to be shared from. My brain's got a little data mining on regular intervals and each exhaustive process produces somewhat interesting pieces of facts.

3. There are better appealing blogs out there. Blogs that cater to a specific genre, something that I personally am unable to provide. Major league baseball history, taking care of your bonsai or traveling in Andes, to name a few. If I attempt to do so, what would it be? Should I build a blog about my lunchbox during the week? (Day 1: Never-dying corned beef, Day 2: My home-cooked pinakbet, Day 3: Fried fish, Day 4: Fried noodles, ordered by Carmen, my cubicle neighbor, Day 5: Chicken filet) Can't do that, man. I want it 36% trivial, 30% personal, 34% combination of little things too many to mention.

4. There are many things to prioritize than reading ewc21. Yeah, sorry for being too demanding, but before I ask someone to read it, I must read my blog first and see if it's worth publishing. There are things to do ahead of ewc21 such as cleaning your car, updating your diary or formatting your hard drive.

Hopefully the next time I update my blog, you will come back and read it, or else (insert the sound of Homer Simpson straggling Bart: 'You li'l....').

Rey DJ

I got my own share of a minute of worldwide fame this afternoon when I was greeted by my childhood friend, Rey Bargamento over the radio. That broke the record established by the broadcasts when I won a grocery package from Bombo Radyo and those WRock promotions.

I wonder how many noticed my name. My bad ego wants a little more share of fame and it turns out that I have a good chance of getting that. Today's a holiday in the Philippines, and since tomorrow is the first day of classes in most universities, college students savor the last day of summer's freedom in each other's company, probably texting, joyriding, while listening to www.imix.fm. And since it's telecast over the Internet...

Shame on me (for being KSP).

Anyway more about Rey. He's one of the little guys in the classroom and I knew him since Grade 2. We used to form that dreaded and now-loathed 'Comedian Brothers' with Rodel, Christopher and Jergen. He finished Salutatorian. He joined my class of St Agnes before transferring to SPED in Bangkal. At the time I suppose he got the interest of becoming a radio personality.

In college, his voice can be heard at DXSS-FM and later on at MAGIC 89.1 (later became Killer Bee) christened George Booke, apparently with reference to former US President Bush Snr. I ocassionally meet him on the road and at times I go to his booth, which is not so far from my college campus. When Killer Bee sponsors the Engineering fund raising, Rey was there at Acropolis Disco for the Party Series in the mid-90's. He's no longer wearing that little boy persona I used to see before.

We last stayed in one classroom in 1989 so there were several permutations between us that took place yet as our friendship built during the younger years, it seemed oddly stupid to let it go just because we never went to recess together longer or that he studies in Ateneo and me in UIC.

Just today, when he announced in our Yahoogroups that his station is now live online, I wasted no time to log and listen, even going overboard, entering the chatroom. I do not chat in the office even of colleagues do.

"I'd like to greet my childhood friend [sic] who is in Hong Kong... It's foggy out there [sic]". When my name was mentioned, it was special.

If I were to be asked of any fantasy career I should take, among them would be a DJ, a fireman, air force pilot and astronomer. I did not know one friend embraced one of them wholeheartedly.

Good luck pal.

The Team Leader

The last time I had a decent post as a leader was in high school. I was the intelligence officer of our Citizens Army Training corps. At the same year, I was also the President of the Lectors Club, a group of students who take turns in reading in the Sunday afternoon and Wednesday's Our Lady of Perpetual Help masses at Immaculate Conception Parish. Oh, well I also became an Editor in Chief at our school paper, a root cause of why I have become addicted to writing/blogging for little or no apparent reason.

In between those years in oblivion and today, I was never able to lead a group except in 2002 when I co-led Singles For Christ Hong Kong's Global One with Shasha Sarmiento. I have been four years in the community and I can say my spiritual growth is rather slow. It's kinda topsy turvy rollercoaster ride so far. At times I battle depression and at times I inspire a few. I just wonder where do I get picked up someday. I admit I struggle with dealing with things though I try the best to keep my day in order. But when the call to serve was presented to my table, I did not know why I never had any hesitation to say yes. The chance was there for the taking, the opportunity to render service I sorely lacked, in my opinion. So being a team leader in the coming Christian Life Program should be a good test of my character.

I have worries, I have doubts. And as leader, these qualities should not prevail, for they entice mutiny among my subordinates. I feel sorry for being temperamental. Or maybe misinterpreted as such. That is why I rather confide to myself things that I think will bring more harm than good if I divulge it to someone. At times, I am pretty much troubled perhaps of future plans, settling down, career advancement, but I keep the boat upright for ultimately I have only myself to hang on here in Hong Kong. God is up there though.

As I embark this new challenge, I hope I get enough strength from Above. I admit I pretend to be strong but I am weak. I hope Jay, Zandro and Kuya Elmer will be there when I need someone to look up to. Or Junjun and Arme in case I unfortunately break down or get caught up in the office.

I just hope and pray I will live up to expectations and never put down the persons who believed in me.

The Great Firewall of China

China has the second biggest online population, after the United States. Yet people in the republic are unable to mirror their brain through the Internet as the government is too cautious of what are the items deemed suitable for public viewing and not satire enough to be considered a threat to the Communist Party.

This comes as a news item after a plan to police the online community formed in blogs, chatrooms and other forms of media. This is a long follow up to the long imposed requirement to require websites to be registered not only through their domains and web hosts but through government agency tasked to oversee its activities. Failing to do so will mean fines of up to 1 million yuan.

An interesting sidebar I got from the news in the same week was the sentencing of a gamer to life imprisonment after he killed a fellow online gamer after the latter sold his virtual property -- a sword used in the game The Legend of Mir 3 -- for 7,200 yuan.

Back to the topic, I don't see China as a good implementor and the move will only backfire. Chinese bloggers will only be encouraged to do more and will eventually succeed in finding a hole in what could be purported security and censorship methods.
Just as pornography could never be prevented from spreading through the web, China will face the same problem in dealing with online content.

Just wondering though, in my tracing of spam messages, notably phishing emails (noted to trick someone to disclosing his password in a fictitious bank login system) in my junk mail folder, I found out that the e-mails were addressed from the United States but the IP addresses are from China. So with the campaign the government is trying to set up, it's purely political and nothing much as seeking welfare for online users.

Season of Empty Nest

I was lucky to finish my pinakbet (I am learning to cook at home in Quarry Bay) last Sunday in time to pick up some items from Mia at her place in Causeway Bay. Accompanied by her husband Ricky, we got into this nice conversation about life in Saudi Arabia and the life of its king and princes, on our way to the Church of Annunciation in Tsuen Wan.

Going to Prayer Meetings, Chapter Meetings and other gatherings that were to be held in Tsuen Wan requires 45 minutes to travel. Not that the trip is very burdensome, as I already got used to the 45 minute journey from home to work when I was in Davao, but even with the most sophisticated transportation system in place, the journey is typically Philippinesque: 4 rides before you reach your destination (well, three of those rides are in the MTR's Island Line, Tung Chung Line and Tsuen Wan Line) plus the 39M KMB bus to Allway Gardens.

Gatherings are posted at 1pm but often start an hour later so as I reckoned, it's not too late to be there at two and arrange the lumpia inside the hall. It was 2pm and Kuya Elmer was practicing the crowd with songs.

Then flashback to the previous gatherings similar to this: I can see someone arrange the keyboards, the drums, a couple of accoustic guitars, a bass guitar, an electric guitar and assorted shakers; the musical group used to be lively, exciting and definitely moves the audience into their feet. Now, it's only Kuya Elmer by his lonesome in front. I learned from him a few days ago that he underwent treatment on his swelling lymph nodes. At that point I felt we're a little fewer than the past attendances.I could hardly name any SFC Sunday group seated in front of me.

But it's good that the usual crowd I go with on Friday nights' (when I am available) are around. The often-present Noche siblings, Zandro and Charm (Charm is a few months away from delivering her baby), Agnes who is one of us on those Friday night escapades, Mark who should be around as he lives just around the area and Karen whom I seem to run out of phrases to describe her.

The highlight of the day was the coronation of the Little Mr and Ms Gawad Kalinga, our fund raising event to help the less fortunate Filipinos in various areas of the country. The stunner that I learned from Mia earlier was that the kids were able to raise about 72,000 HK dollars (more than half million pesos) on two canvassings. Singles For Christ was able to shell out less than twenty thousand dollars. So the eight month effort led by Ariel and Monique Quiambao paid off; in fact Monique quipped in her e-mail to me: "We're surprised!".

We're almost where we are aiming in terms of the number of houses we should put up on a town in Camarines Sur. And with the funds raised by the kids, the backlog has been drastically brought down.

When the dancing and presentation of candidates and winners were done, we're back to the fact that I always ask myself that the number gathered today is not a normal sight I see. Perhaps I often miss such gatherings, or is it because it was raining today, I am a little disappointed. (Maybe the folks were too, when I was not around.)

With departure of SFC members, two more are leaving, and our Ancop coordinator himself is bringing his family back to the Philippines. It shook me again as I used to think I would be way, way ahead of them going back home. Now, I am on my 52nd month in Hong Kong and they are going back for good.

It's a little case of a season of empty nest. While it's not that everyone has gone, a feeling of being orphaned taunts me a little.

Back to school

I can't help it but always look back years back.

It's almost June and even if we know this is a wedding month, something I haven't booked yet, it's more known as back to school month.

Here in Hong Kong, following the British system that school starts in September and ends in July to fully cope up with the thought that July and August is meant for overseas trips, summer camps and crazy sale while learning is at peak during winter season.

After a month of playing native games with neighbors and watching TV, the fun is over and everyone's back to school. Enrollment is not much of an excitement because walking thirty minutes to my grade school building is not like a walk in the park. My mother brings me to school and while walking, we would talk about how many notebooks do I need, whose the teacher I would like to enroll to and negotiate my baon for the school season. The process of enrollment does not take a couple of hours and the sight of the growing weeds in the landscape means we will start the school year cleaning up the field. So I then ask my mother to get me a new piece of sanggot from the pandayan next door.

Coming from downtown to get new supplies for our little buy and sell business, me and my siblings were eager to see what kind of notebooks we do have. I need a new bag as my old Flash Gordon inherited from Kindergarten is less fashionable and I need that 'box' type so i can put my Araling Panlipunan, Science, Math books, and other activity notes. The notebooks we will have for this school year are 30-leaf items whose covers appear Aga Muhlach, Maricel Soriano, Philip Cezar, Bogs Adornado and William Martinez. We would then remove the spring binder and replace it with thick technicolor yarns. As experience would tell us, spring notes often wear out by midseason and is therefore inconvenient to use. As the children then are less conscious of what others would say about their new accessories, we did not worry about being bullied or being called class clown; children then were quite corteous.

And yes, I do not need a new pair of shoes as my brown barko is still as durable as the day it was bought. We go to school in slippers and while it makes our feet dirty and exposed to all kinds of infectious diseases during monsoon season, we were pretty much confident about them.

Going home on a sunny day reminds me of the dusty road en route. We used to take either of the two routes, one at the Sampaguita Street highway or the longer, yet more relaxed, less dusty route via Kumintang and Dona Aurora Street.

On a rainy day, it's more sober on the second route, coupled with scary ghost tales especially when one member of CHDF was murdered along the same path when I was in my second grade. At home, my lola would prepare hot champorado topped with condensed milk. I missed those days a lot.

As years passed, routes change, friends add up, and interests quickly change. When I was in my first grade I only wished to go home and watch Electric Company and Sesame Street, later Superbook, Flying House, Scooby Doo, Batibot, etc. That is why I was ecstatic when I got to watch a few of the old Gospel episodes last Christmas during my vacation.

We all wish we were kids, but God made us grown ups in order to fully understand, enjoy and appreciate things around us. Afterall, as independent minded we eventually become, who would want to be crawling forever, or stuck on television watching Barney for at least sixty years?

Here come the beehive keepers

With last week's Spelling Bee contest won by another American of Indian descent, I come to think that Indians are born intellectual people and are gifted wizards in various fields. Maybe because of how parents rear their children towards education different from traditional American parents.

It would take some time before someone from the mainstream American school kid population would emerge winner as Indian American children have already won five in the past seven competitions. And this year is no difference. Nitish Lakhanpal, Sameer Mishra, Nilesh K. Raval, Arjun R. Modi, Krunal Shaval, Aravind Arun, Saptarshi Chaudhuri, Midhat Patel and Nikhil B. Koganti are among this year's contestants. Anurag Kashyap won this year's contest. With less than 1 percent of total American population, American Indians comprise 15% of the 271 entries. I believe Filipinos have quite a large community in the States especially in the West Coast but as far as I could scour in the list, I can only find Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado as the legitimate yet unconfirmed Filipino in the entry. At ESPN's mock Spelling Bee Draft (now I know ESPN also covers Spelling Bee as much as it covers Cheering competitions), Mercado is chosen by Jeff Merron as the fifth round pick simply because she has the best name in the whole field (Merron: Finally, a sentimental note: I also chose Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado just because she's got a great name – the best in the tourney).

India and the Philippines are both good English speaking countries (India's call center workers are thought to be best suited for British twang while Filipinos fit perfectly with American accent). With that fact, it should not be a problem for Filipino children to be sprinkled in the competition though I admit it's always easier said than done.

India is indeed a force to reckon with. In Davao City, there are seizable number of Indian people who work as merchants and money lenders (we call them Bombays -- not knowing this is one of India's cities, recently renamed Mumbai). My mother used to work for an Indian couple and recalled that when I was a kid, I had an Indian playmate named Sunaina.

Influx of India's programmers helped spur the Silicon Valley economy until the dotcom boom. Now, a resurgence of India's economy is driven by its skilled workforce. Multinational companies have left their cozy locations and relocated to Bangalore, India to take advantage of cheaper labor and make sure they covet the best talents, away from the prying hands of the competition.

In less than a century, India will overtake China's population (if current trends prevail) and it's not going to be difficult to be in where China is now in terms of economic prosperity. It should just be careful with its neighbors especially with border arguments with China and Pakistan as well as harmonious coexistence among its huge Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian population.

As we see how Indian parents bring up their children that Spelling Bee lately becomes a matter of who among the Indians will win, no doubt their future will just be as bright as where they stand in keeping the beehive well-spelled.

Hopefully, this article is properly spelled or else, I'd be put to shame against the kids less than half my age.

Laika, the Space Explorer's best friend

I read about Neil Armstrong's rather humorous news article on the web recently. He was trying to sue a barber for selling his hair to somebody without his consent. It made me revive my interest in space and all things related to it.

I have always wanted to post blog on the topic of astronomy, more than anything else. If only I had a chance I would still apply for a job at any agency related to space research, whether at Hubble space telescope development, jet propulsion labs, cape canaveral, baikonur in kazakhstan, or the mountains of Chile or Hawaii, staring into the vastness of the space beyond. But I know I can't.

So what best I can do is to read through the annals of history and look back at the pioneers who make things happen in an effort to become part of this history making journey of space exploration.

One of the things I read was about the stray mongrel of Moscow paving way to the appearances of Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong and other space explorers to become heroes in this generation of space travel. Maybe it was a case of cruelty to animals but somehow, as man's best friend, a dog can't seem to turn down a master's request even if it meant certain death before even a request has been made.

Laika, whose name meant barker in Russian language, is the poster dog for animal testing, recently considered inhuman, er, too cruel for that matter. Fellow testing species guinea pig and mouse replaced the canines as well as monkeys in later years but it was during the 1940s when animals became baits for humans to see how a living creature behaves on certain extreme conditions or simply testing new products.

In fact, it was a fruit fly that was the first living thing that was sent to space shortly after World War II. The Russians signaled a space race to commence as a way to prove who is more powerful among the known superpowers at the time. I read my science book in Sixth Grade about that adorable dog who went to space. But the book did not tell the sad tale that happened to Laika, who died seven hours after Sputnik 2, the machine she was told to board, was launched. And probably because at the time of printing, the book publishers knew little of the Soviet embarrassment, only knowing that the dog had been euthanized in the first place.

It was that leader Nikita Kruschev who ordered to launch a spacecraft to mark the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution that prompted the formation of the ill-fated voyage which Laika had became a sacrificial animal and whose life was doomed the very moment the idea was conceived.

Just like any astronaut or cosmonaut preparing for space mission, Laika also underwent hours of "training", being subjected to numerous physical tests and simulators.

When the flight took place on 3 November 1957, a physically harrassed dog inside the cockpit was detected with all those harness preventing her from moving about and all those monitors attached to her, measuring vital signs. Literally deprived from how dogs should live, she was clearly terrified up, up there. Little did she know that the small place she was contained would become her virtual coffin. Or did she?

The Soviet government's skillful penchant for coverup and lies made things wrapped until about half a century later. But the crew and staff who worked with Laika were aware that it was a disaster waiting to happen. Even if Sputnik 2 was able to successfully orbit the Earth 2,570 times before burning up in space, people behind Soviet Space Program knew it was a one way trip for Laika. Hastily making the space machine at little time to suit the whim of the ideologically-obsessed leader, there was very little those scientists could do to avoid a certain death, let alone the innocent Laika.

The world did not let the foolishness pass. And since the damage has been done, the only thing it could do is to honor a pioneer. Laika's portrait appeared in commemorative materials such as stamps, several songs notably one from the Cardigans, and brands of cigarettes and chocolates bearing her name. For it was Laika who paved the way for humans to cross the bounds of being a terrestrial being to a space wizard.

The Crazy Language

In my college paper, I contributed an excerpt to one favorite pun to the world's most popular language, English, from Richard Lederer. Popular as it is, still more people in the world speak Chinese or Spanish than English; actually only one in seven only speak the English language. More than half of books and 75% of international mail is done in English.

Though I was aware I could be facing a charge of plagiarism, I am too cocky to let this opportunity to pass. To let my colleague Jess put it in her own terms, there was a sense of Elmer in that effort.

And why not print something that's worth a read and make you gasp, oh yeah, I agree.

And why not? If eggplant is not an egg planted, nor pineapple contains either pine or apple, how could we say a boxing ring is square and guinea pig is not from Guinea or is a pig at all?

Call me pilosopo but I will tell you the English language is taken for granted. If I teach an Albanian or Azerbaijani, I cannot explain why if a maker makes and a baker bakes, then why don't fingers fing, letters lett, craters crate nor hammers ham. Or if a teacher taught Sciences, then why doesn't a preacher praught the doctrines of the church?

Pluralization is crazy. If a set of tooth is called teeth, then booth should be beeth. One goose, two geese so does it mean, moose will have meese? I doubt it. And if a vegetarian eat green leafy vegetables, then what type of race do humanitarians eat?

What's more, this language is a mixed combination of ironies and oxymorons when we do recite in a play or play in a recital; park in a driveway or drive in a parkway. When we call a house burning up when it's burning down or filling in a form when we actually fill it out.

Have you asked yourself why overlook and oversee be opposites, while "quite a lot" and "quite a few" are alike? How can the weather be "hot as hell" one day and "cold as hell" another? Have you met a sung hero or a person who is ruly, with peccable language skills and gruntled behavior?

Of course man created English and it reflected the human race which is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it? Confusing isn't it?