I'm still not feeling well...
Last night, before going to bed, I had taken in medication for my colds hoping that when I wake up it will be a good day for me; I mean this common illness will go away. I was wrong.
When I woke up this morning I felt like my body is very tired and my head is heavy that I can hardly get out of bed. My nose is still clogged up to now; in fact I have a big roll of tissue with me to use. My voice is husky and that I am feeling irritation in my throat everytime I talk. I swear it is affecting my performance in work. What is happening with my health?
I have a health problem now, the weather is bad that I think it's going to rain again, and the president of our beloved country is there talking about her promises and lies in her SONA. What is going on in this country today?! Let's just face it, this is the reality. Arrggh! Let's drink coffee.
I like hiking and trekking. I like going up the mountains, feel the air up there and shout, "I am the king of the world!"
When I was studying in U.P. I joined the UP Mountaineers; that was last 2001. I experienced jogging around the UP oval for about 4 times, very tiring. Well, I wasn't able to complete all the Basic Mountaineering Courses though, so I can say that I'm not one of them. So sad.
When I decided to continue my college education at the Kalinga-Apayao State College (KASC) in my beloved province I tried to establish a mountaineering organization and called it Tagu Mountaineers (Tagu means life or person), many become interested and actually joined. However, that organization didn't last long for we lack equipments and that I wasn't able to complete its paperworks. Also, I lacked support. So we called it quits for good.
Last 2005, there were KASC students who planned to organized a mountaineering group in the campus. They were determined and ambitious. They had seeked my opinion and help. Because I knew that these students had the potential and determination I decided to give them some information. But I wasn't able to hear from them since I left KASC.
Last year I've heard from some friends in the province that there is a new organization called Kalinga Mountaineering Society (KMS) being put up and planned by good people. I felt very glad for it. I've been hearing good news and comments for KMS; they had already their climbs and events. In fact we and Nats had a little chat before and he was inviting mo to join, well as much I want to but I'm based here in the metro and my schedule could hardly allow me to join the fun and events. The organization is growing, thumbs up to that!
I am talking to a customer as I am typing this article. A woman from California who is just frustrated with the performance of VISTA and what is going on in the U.S. today. She is actually friendly and its oblivious to the fact that she knows a lot of information, or news, not just in America but also around the world. I am actually helping her install the VISTA Service Pack 1 in the system and I decided to stay on the line for additional assistance.
I can say that she knows a lot about the information super highway, the world wide web. From bloggers to hackers; from freedom of speech to internet monopoly. She had told me also about what she believed to be flaws of the internet technology; well she got some points.
I admire customers like her; friendly, cool and very informative. Well, people like her are rare this times. Way to go!
Nothing much to talk about today I think. As usual, it is somewhat petics again here in the office so I'm going to update my blogs and think of something that I can possibly write about.
The weather here in the metro is very cloudy and i think the sky will pour rain again.
If the rain is going down, here in the Philippines almost everything is going up. Prices of goods in the market, prices of oil, fares for the public utility vehicles, school tuition fees and many more. Whatta!!! If everything else are going up why do our salaries don't go with the trend?? The rice allowance is still the same even though the price of rice in the market went up abruptly! The transportation allowance, also, is still the same knowing that fares went up! What or who is not going up? The president!
Can't really think of something to say. I'm going to chill out first. Be cool.
I am so proud that our province is the white water rafting capital of the northern Philippines. I've been hearing and reading information that a lot of locals and tourists are visiting our province to experience the rapids of the great Chico River. Well that's good for us iKalingas.
I am an adventurous person; I like doing things that involves physical and mental capability. However, it saddens me that I've never tried rafting. I never had the chance to go white water rafting when I was in Tabuk; how much more that now I'm 12 hours away? Arrgghh! I envy those people who were able to go extreme and conquered the excitement that the Chico River is offering. I'm hoping that I can do that too. Oh well!
The local government of Kalinga should maintain the "greatness" of the river. By doing so they can invite more tourists and enthusiasts to visit the province and that is a big help to the ecotourism industry. It would be also good to pair that with peace and order. Way to go Kalinga!
The Ces Drilon kidnapping case have been the talk about for the many last month; well in fact until now it is. News broke out that Drilon, an award-winning broadcaster for ABS-CBN, and her group, were seized by the Abu Sayyaf at the village of Kulasi in the town of Maimbung on June 10. Drilon’s team arrived in Sulu province on June 7 to pursue a story after an Abu Sayyaf leader reportedly sent surrender feelers.
Last night I have watched the special show of ABS-CBN entitled "Kidnap" and it's about the revelation of what Drilon, and cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama experienced under their alleged Abu Sayyaf kidnappers. During the show there were feeds, re-enactment and actual footage, as the three victims relate their stories. After knowing all these things, their claims, questions and doubt started to evolve in my mind. I started thinking that the kidnapping could be real but it could also be hoax. It could be a case well-staged by some non-professional actors.
I arrived here in the office early and asked the opinion of my colleagues regarding the kidnapping of Drilon and most of them are doubting it. One even said that what happened could be just for a documentary purposes by ABS-CBN because their rival network, GMA-7, have a lot of award-winning documentaries. He got a point there though.
I listened closely to what the three were sharing last night. I observed the feeds of the actual footage. Well, they could be genuine but still questions are lurking in my mind about the credibility of their claims. They've said that the kidnappers are very smart but how could they (bandits) let the camera and film walk away? Holdappers, kidnappers or criminals wouldn't definitely want leaving evidences for their deeds; how much more for a possible video?
I cannot recall now if it was Encarnacion or Valderama who claimed that he had asked for the camera, from the abductors, so that he can refresh the device and the film for it might get moist. Will you still think of cleaning your camera if the time is ticking for you to be beheaded? If you are one of the kidnappers will you give that camera? Weren't you be smart enough to think that the cameraman could manipulate his own toy and may deceive you? If the drama is real then they are just a group of dumb kidnappers I ever heard of. Beats me.
The kidnapping drama may be real but there are still people who may think that everything was staged. We, definitely, have different point-of-views of what's happening in our country today.
I'm a coffee drinker. I love coffee. When I was still in Tabuk I drink about 3-5 cups of coffee everyday; that had diminished to 1-2 mugs ever since I stayed here in Manila. I drink coffee at home and even here in the office. I drink coffee almost everyday. But what I missed the most is the coffee from our province. Kalinga is now producing processed native coffee powder and also being commercially introduced; Kalinga Coffee and Kalinga Blend are the top brands. I've tried those brands already but still I'm missing the taste of something, the taste of a coffee that I haven't drink for a long time. It is the coffee that my beloved grandmother used to roast and process by herself; so sad she is now very old that she cannot identify what is a good coffee bean from not.
Last Friday me and my girlfriend went to the University of the Philippines (UPD) and after requesting for my OTR we decided to take a little walk and visit the Vargas Museum; it's going to be our first time to enter that museum. Before we entered the museum we noticed that there is a small cafe on the left wing of the building and we were somewhat surprised, it is Cordillera Coffee. I have a friend in Kalinga that talked a lot about the Cordillera Coffee when I was still there. The cafe is owned by a family from our hometown. My friend is actually staying with that family and he once had tried to work in a branch of that cafe here in the metro; he had roasted coffee beans. So me and my girl decided to try what the Cordillere Coffee can offer; to my curiousity I ordered their Kalinga Cafe with whip cream and orange slice. Well the coffee is good but the orange slice had added a little sweetness to it, I like a coffee that is a little bitter or let's just say less sugar.
Cordillera Coffee says Drink for a Cause for they are patronizing the best coffees of the entire Cordillera Region, that's good. Kalinga coffees are also being sold not just here in the Philippines but also abroad; if the iKalingas and the governmnet will continue supporting these native products then we might see a boom and economic progress in the province.
I love coffee. Well then I have to drink my coffee first for it's getting cold.
During my rest days I was not really able to do the movie marathon that I talked about in my post Day Off Movie Marathon; instead we (w/ my girlfriend) went to the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) to request for my transcript of records. For the first time in my life I was able to visit the Jorge Vargas Museum in the campus for the fact that I studied in UPD for about 2 years, from the year 2000-2002. Actually there are places in UP that I never been to; there are buildings that I never entered during my stay there. Have I missed a lot of opportunites? The answer is a sorrowful YES! But what saddens me most is that me not continuing my education in that great university before. If ever I will be given the opportunity to study in UP again I'll definitely grab it. Sigh.
Inside the Vargas Museum we were able to view and appreciate the works of art by some renowned artists of our country. I love art. I do art. But the masterpieces that I've seen there are somewhat different. How I wished I can do something like those and be known in the future. I want to learn more about arts. I want to polish my forte. I want to be better than what I am capable of right now. I've drawn, painted, sketched, taken pictures, wrote; I've tried. I will be better. I will get there, I know. I dream for I believe.
I know the feeling of not eating a cooked rice for days. I've experienced the time when the only food that can be eaten are sweet potatoes and cassava; and it had me craved for the presence of cooked rice during meals. That's when I was in the mountains in the province of Kalinga harvesting coffee.
Two days ago I watched a documentary shown by GMA-7 and it was about the problem that our beloved Philippines is facing right now, rice shortage! I've seen how our countrymen are working hard just to have food placed on the table for their families. Starvation should not be taken for granted, it is not a burden that we could easily erradicate. Even before the rice shortage problem had conquered our country, starvation is already a plague. It's like a lion roaring loud, cannot be stopped and ready to rip lives. From north to south of the entire archipelago, poverty is present. I just feel bad everytime I am hearing a news regarding the government claiming that our economy is stable and that the current president should be credited for this. Credited for what? I know that the government is doing something to rectify the problems that our country have but that 'something' is not enough.
The Philippines is the home of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and some of the world's best agricluture schools but are we not wondering why we are the world's top rice importer? IRRI have educated a lot of international agriculturists and scientists and they were able to apply their gained knowledge in their respective countries but why can't we not apply it here? What are we lacking? Are we lacking good governance? The government is supposed to be by the people and for the people right?
Last night I watched the news and there was a feed about president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gracing the National Science and Technology Week celebrations and she had talked about her $3000 dress designed by a Filipino fashionista. She was so proud of that clothing that costs about PhP134,000.00. That value could buy about 6,000 kilos of rice and could feed a number of people. Starving people below the poverty line.
The problems and burdens happening in our country cannot be denied; no matter what we do to hide them under a mask of imaginary claims they will still be there. This is the reality that we must face. This is life.
This is rather a tough day for me. I had many calls and some of the callers were irate; they kept on shouting and interrupting while I was trying to give them troubleshooting instructions to resolve their concerns. Oh by the way, I'm a TSR of a very famous company; we support computers (hardware, software, networking). I'm in the morning shift (11AM-8PM) and I belong to an 'elite' team. I say my team is elite for during the 2nd half of our shift we are the only agents on the floor taking care of the calls. The average number of calls that I'm receiving everyday ranges from 6-8, imagine that! Petics! Petics! Petics!
I just started my lunch break about 15 minutes ago for the last call that I had was long and I had to do remote access to help the customer. It was more like a computer 101, I had to guide and explain everything to him. Obviously this is not a petics day for me. I now have only about an hour before I logout. Well things like this happen, cannot deny that.
Earlier I was excited to check my account for this network that I had applied before inorder for me to place ads to my blogs and make money but to my surprise and dismay I received a notice telling me that my account was disabled. What?! What have I done wrong? I am just a newbie to that network and program, only a month to be a member. I checked my email for the notice also had told me that they had sent me the grounds of suspension for my account. The reason is very vague and I'd rather not disclose it hear for I respect them. Respect is a good virtue that we should have. I will just Keep it cool.
I also tried applying for other make-money-on-blogs program to see my luck; I hope my application will be approved. I will have to grab a beer for us then.
If you are a writer you know that there's nothing more difficult than to think how you will start your work. If you are a good writer then you could immediately work your imagination and move out of that stage. If you are a very good writer then you may or may not agree to me and stick to what you know.
In this blog you can read about what I do. You can read about what I've been through. I am not encouraging you to know more about me, that's alright for what I will be posting here is somewhat near to my personal interests. I do have my other blogs that talks about sports and anything under the sun. I have my blog about basketball, about boxing, and about anything. Well you see you can have a daily dose of nothing here; if my posts can help you in any way then that will be good, if not then I still have to thank you for reading.
You might be asking what iKalinga means; well it means that I am raised and from the province of Kalinga. People had been relating names to my beloved province; the Land of the Brave,the Home of the Warriors, the Place of No Return! Behind those tags, still Kalinga is Kalinga.
This post could be a good start for this blog. I'll try to update or post everyday. Oh, the coffee is getting cold, I will have to drink it up. By the way, I love coffee!
JULZRYU | BASKETBALL | BOXING
