The Truth About My Mission

Something weird happened last Sept. 10, 2009 to me. I woke up at a very unholy hour of dawn because of a very strong impression going in circles inside my head. It was a call to pray for the Philippines. I do not know what got in me but the idea was pressing too strongly in my heart that I decided to get up and work on a plan. 

It is not really a big thing. It is just that something deep inside me wanted to start inviting people to pray for the Philippines. You may think it was weird, but I am one big believer of the Philippines. In spite of everything our country had gone through I always believe that time will come again that the Philippines will regain it greatness. And so with so much love for the Philippines, I decided to start my personal crusade which I tagged as “Light a Candle, Say a Prayer, Love the Philippines”. 

Starting last September 11, 2009, I will start going around the Catholic Churches and pray for the Philippines. I will also leave in each churches an envelop containing a candle, a rosary and a short letter that explains what the crusade is all about.  In my letter, I have asked the one who will find it to offer a prayer for the Philippines. I also requested them to send me a text message or an email after offering a prayer. This will help me track the number of prayers offered for the Philippines. 

So far, I have gone to two churches over the weekend: Baclaran Church (in Manila) and Sto. Nino Church (in Cebu). This weekend I will pay a visit at the Basillica of Immaculate Concepcion (in Naic) and St. Andrew’s Church (in Bel-Air). 

Honestly, I have received only one reply so far among all the first few envelops I planted last weekend, but I am not disheartened. Having convinced one family to pray for the Philippines is enough motivation for me to continue my crusade. 

Long Live the Philippines!!!

The Truth About My Disappointments Over the Special Holiday Declarations in the Philippines

To say that I am disappointed over the recent special holiday declaration in the Philippines will be an understatement. I am terribly disappointed as a matter of fact.

I have no problem if the President wishes to sympathize with the mourning of all the Iglesia ni Kristo for the loss of their much loved Ka Erdy Manalo. I am a non-Iglesia ni Kristo but I also offered a prayer for the loss of a great man of God.

What I am really disappointed about is that the declaration was made in such a very late hour of Friday giving the management team of each company a dillema on how to communicate it to their people. And to top it all, come Saturday another declaration was made to annouced that BPOs and Electronics industry were excluded due to the request of DTI Secretary Peter Favila.

Since when do we allow one industry to be exempted to a Special Non-Working Holiday declaration. Will it not make a precedent that in the future any industry will also do the same? What’s going on in the mind of our government? Who ever made that decision should have lifted it to all as the goverment sometimes do that (announcing a special non-working holiday pero may pasok), rather than excluding a certain industry.

Simply put, it was an insane declaration of a special non-working holiday! Another Malacanang booboo!

The Truth About Sen. Mar Roxas Withdrawal for Presidency

I went home yesterday to get my badminton racket for an unscheduled game. But before I finally hit the road for the game, I decided to check the news. In the news was a live feed of a press conference called by Sen. Mar Roxas with the members of the Liberal Party. 

“This is it!”, I told myself. Somehow, I knew that somewhere along the press conference Sen. Mar Roxas will declare his withdrawal to run for presidency and just support Sen. Noynoy Aquino. 

Please excuse me, I just want to be honest with my feelings, but  I don’t consider this action by Sen. Mar Roxas as a heroic deed but as an act of self-preservation. Fact is that while Sen. Noynoy Aquino is getting more popular day-by-day, Sen Mar Roxas’ hasn’t. He hardly make it to the top three in all the presidentiable surveys. He only placed  fifth in the most recent survey of Pulse Asia. All his effort the infomercial ( na napakashowbiz ) and  well-publicized engagement (super showbiz talaga) has not helped improved his statistics. 

By withdrawing his bid for presidency and endorsing Sen. Nonoy Aquino, he created a heroic impression that he can used as he vie for vice-presidency. Hmmmmmm! Bravo! Excellent strategy! Unfortunately, he has to face another strong contender with Sen. Anthony Pangilinan who not only have the Megastar Sharon Cuneta and KC Concepcion but a sterling record for his integrity.

 

If I have to make a suggestion, Sen. Mar Roxas should just re-run for the senatorial race, if he wants to win.

The Truth About JetLags

Time and again , I hear people complaining about this so-called jetlag. At times, I even thought they are just over-reacting… well, not until I travelled from the Philippines to Chicago this weekend.

Everyone who knows my sleeping habit agree that I won’t experience it…actually, I also thought the same. Well, I was wrong. For the last two days, I am battling endlessly to get my body clock changed. I can’t believe it… my body used to be my slave … I tell it when to sleep or eat or play hard or even get sick. Now, all I can do is beg that my eyes drop Chicago time. Am getting heaviness on my head due to lack of sleep already and my body feel exhausted without even doing anything. Golly…bring me back to the Philippines…NOW!

I checked in the internet on ways to prevent jetlags and am surprised that there are some easy steps that only if I observed coukd have spare me with it. I am sharing it to some future travellers:

1) Get organized a few days before your flight. Anxiety or excitement can cause you stress that will eventually lead to jetlag. Sleep well the night before your flight.

2) Drink plenty of water. The dry air in aircraft causes dehydration.

3) Try to get quality sleep inside the plane. You may consider bringing blind folds, ear plugs, neckrest and blow-up pillows. Remove your shoes too if you want.

4) Get as much exercise as you can. Walking up and down the aisle, standing for spells, and doing small twisting and stretching exercises in your seat all help to reduce discomfort, especially swelling of legs and feet.  This also helps to reduce the possibility of blood clots and associated trauma.

So there, these are just few tips that may help you avoid jetlag. I will try to do these on my trip back to the Philippines.

                                                      

The Truth About “Expressions,Opinions & the Truth”

I have something to celebrate! My blog reached its 5000 hits two nights ago.

And true to my promise of giving it a new and more appropriate name, I am now announcing that starting today (April 26, 2009) “Live To Tell” will now be known as “Expressions,Opinions & the Truth”.

Perhaps you may be wondering how the change of my blog’s name will affect its format. Honestly, there is not much of a difference. I will continue to write about my personal opinions on various issues sorrounding us. But in addition, you can now expect from time to time that I may be using different forms of expression inmy blog: pictures (that I took), poems and even comedy sketches.

Thanks a lot for viewing my blogsite and may you continue to read my entries in the coming days.

Cheers to the Good Life!

The Truth About Searching for a New Name

I am not yet a blog superstar … as a matter of fact my hits have not yet reach 5000. But in all honestly, I am already happy and proud of the progress of my blog site.

 

From its humble beginning last May 2008, my hits for 2008 had only reached 439. I have to admit it, I was frustrated with my hits’ figure. I was even tempted to close my wordpress account … no one is reading it anyway. 

 

But things begin to change in 2009. On January, my blog site got 316 hits. On February, I got some more 653 hits. On March, my blog site tipped and got 1,671 hits . Now my average hits per day is already at 37. If my average hits per day continue up to the end of the year , I estimate it to be at 14,000 hits for 2009 , some 3215.71% improvement compared to 2008. My apology, I am sucker for numbers.

 

However, as my brother put it, my blog entries somehow deviated from its original theme which originally was about my personal experiences and the lessons I gained through the years.

 

Lately, I have written more about my opinions on various events surrounding me and the world.  “Live To Tell” is indeed no longer appropriate for my blogsite’s title.

 

In this regards, I am now challenge to think of replacement title that will be most appropriate to my current blogsite. Hopefully, I can think of a new name by the end of this week.

 

To all my regular viewers, perhaps, you can suggest me a name.

 

As of this writing, I have two titles in my mind: My Personal Opinion and Nothing But The Truth . But I am still open for some suggestions.

 

Thank you for your patronage and I hope you continue reading my blog.

The Truth About Brian Villoria’s and Nonito Donaire’s Double Victory

This is a day of celebration for the Philippines! It was a double triumphs for Brian Villoria and Nonito Donaire.

 

True to his title of being the Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire almost won the match over Raul Martinez through a technical knock-out at the first round of the match. Undoubtedly, it was his speed that really spelled his victory. Raul Martinez camp boasted about the strong punches of Raul but unfortunately he was way too slow to make any contact with Donaire.

 

However, I would like to commend Raul Martinez on his will to fight  even after he had been knocked down for the fourth time on the fourth round of the match. Unfortunately, the referee has already stopped the match and declared Donaire as the winner. Many might ask why stop the match when the player still wanted to fight. I immediately sent a text message to my dad ( whom I have been texting in between the matches , technology has its way of connecting people J ) and asked why the match has been stopped. My dad told me that part of the referee’s responsibility is to protect the boxers from permanent disability that he may get from excessive beating. It was quite admirable of Martinez when he waved the Philippine flag around the ring. I am sure he may not have won the match but he earned the respect and admiration of a lot of Filipino.

 

Brian Villoria’s fight against Ulises Solis proved to be a more exciting match. Both boxers showed excellent performance during the match. I almost thought it will reached up to the 12^th Round. It was an emotional win for Brian Villoria. I remember how his coach talk about how in good form Brian is but what lacking him is the desire to win. Well… I supposed they really work not only in the physical aspect but also in the emotional aspect of being an athlete. He was full of aggression in most part of the match, throwing punches too many on Solis’ head. No wonder Solis has committed around four below the belt punches on him … Solis might be completely disoriented in some part of the match.

 

I must honor though how strong a boxer is Ulises Solis. He has endured the numerous numbers of punches he got all through-out the match. In some occasion he threw strong punches on the mid section of Villoria which somehow hurt Brian too. To be honest, I was on the edge of my seat on the mid part of the match,  a little worried that Solis may win through a lucky punch that may knock down Villoria.

 

It was indeed a good day to celebrate for Filipinos. I hope Villoria’s and Donaire’s

victories opened doors for our official to take a good second look on our boxers. We have a couple of good ones … let us invest on their training.

 

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

 

                                             

The Truth About Being a Bazaarista

People who have known me for a quite a number of years would know my past bazaarista experience.

I took a two year off from the corporate industry after being burned-out. Doing small business and joining bazaar kept me busy those years. It was fun! As a matter of fact, there are times when I miss selling. My bazaar experiences helped me in  developing my negotiating skills and PR. Through joining bazaars, I also built a lot of contacts. A lot of my friends consult me where to buy original branded shirts for crazily low prices like Armani Exchange shirt for less that P600 or Mango hoodies for less than P1,000 or hollister jackets and hoodies for P750 etc. etc. etc.

Too bad, my parents are totally in disagreement with my bazaarista life then, perhaps I could be earning a lot now. Mind you, bzaaristas really earn a lot. During my time then, I am paying P1,500 in my space per day but I am really earning a lot still. I remember how my former boss can’t convinced me to report to work during Dec. 2004 when he just hired me because its peak season and bzaaristas are earning around P4,500 per day. You can not underestimate those bzaaristas because in every bzaars you’ll always find a La Salista owner of a stall. hehehehehe

Anyways, since the economy is down now, and I need to get a source of extra income, I went back to check if there are good items from my suppliers last Saturday. So I woke at 4:00am to check my suppliers …yup! if you want to get the best item, you have to wake up that early.

I want to share to you pictures of what I think will be a sure winner this summer. I am attaching below pictures of my good finds: original victoria shirt (70% off their standard retail price in USA) and maxx shirt ( the truth is i am not familiar with this brand but i bought it still because their designs are fabulous!) Mind you, none of this shirt I will sell more than Php 400.00. Unbelievably priced,isn’t it?

If you are interested, contact me at edcelmbalicusto@yahoo.com

I will be waiting… Thanks!

The Truth About My Boracay Experience

 

With only three and a half hours of sleep, I got up from my bed to catch the first flight of PAL Express heading towards Caticlan Island at 5:30 am. To my disappointment, our flight was delayed by two hours due to some airplane maintenance activities. Whatta way to start a vacation!

 

I am not a first-timer in the island of Boracay, my first visit there was sometime 2001. You may not believe me but Boracay failed to impress me during my first visit and that is the reason why it took me eight years to visit the island again. Let just say that ages ago my idea of a holiday is getting to deserted island away from noise of the city. And I found Boracay too commercialize for an island.

 

Time flies and people change. In spite of the fact that Boracay became more commercialize after eight years, I enjoyed my stay there this time. Hotels became bigger , the mall now sells original Crocs and Haviannas, fastfood chains like Shakeys, Yellow Cab , Andoks , Mang Inasal are all over the place … and soon to open Starbucks Boracay Island! Mind you, there is even a Smart Wireless Center at the beach front. It’s like having the convenience of the city in a secluded paradise. I am quite fortunate to have scheduled my vacation earlier than most tourists… it gave me more room to move around the island. Boracay is quite jam-packed during its peak season which is just two to three weeks from now.

 

Eating, social drinking, people watching, socializing and walking along the shoreline kept me busy during my stay in Boracay.

 

                                          

 

I have to admit it … like many people who visited Boracay, I have also fallen in love with her fine and pristine white sand and clear water.

 

Some must-try things when you go to Boracay:

 

1)      Try a mojito drink;

2)     Get a Jonas fruit shake;

3)     Eat a calamansi muffin at Real Coffee;

4)     Snorkling at Carabao Island;

5)     Party at Juice Bar;

6)     Hang-out at The Tides bar ( classy ambiance )

 

I miss Boracay! Can’t wait to visit it again.

 

I’d like to thank Norman Tamayo, my friend of five years, who serve as my host in Boracay. He has been in Boracay the last two years and is connected with The Tides Boracay.

 

 

                               

The Truth About Velasquez Park Flea Market

What is the first thing that comes in to your mind when someone mentioned the word “market”.  Well, probably you will picture something like a jam-packed place filled with goods for sale, “jologs” people in their most simple get-ups, turo-turo,foul odors etc… etc… etc…

 

If that is your concept of a market, I believe that you have never been to my favorite market still … the Velasquez Park Flea Market in Salcedo Village , Makati City.

 

It is nice to know that at this age of supermalls, there are still some places where you can go to buy the stuffs you need to fill your refrigerators: organic vegetables, breads like bagels, baguette, challah bread and pandesal, spices, fruits, and wine. There are also some who sells nice ceramics and beautiful flowers and plants in pot.

 

 

But what I enjoy most in this market is the wide selection of meals available for breakfast and lunch. There are over 20 booths selling wide selection of food which you can eat for breakfast or lunch or even take-out for your love ones.  There are california maki, sharwarma, pasta ( be it tomato-based or oil-based ), ginataang kuhol, sherbets, bagnet, lechon etc.

 

Honestly, it is one of the not so many “sosyal” type of market that I know. With no exaggerations, I will advise you to seriously consider what to wear when you go at Velasquez Park Flea Market. Otherwise, you can be mistaken to be house-helper. Even those who sell their products at Velasquez Park Flea Market are in their best porma. You will be amazed on how knowledgeable they are in the products they sell, and mind you they converse in English.   

 

To top it all, since it is a park, you can leave the kids with their yayas at the playground. Isn’t it cool? While you are enjoying yourself buying, the kids can also enjoy the company of other kids as well.

 

My last visit at Velasquez Park Flea Market was just last Saturday ( Feb. 07, 2009 ), and like the many times that I have been there … I enjoyed the day in the market to the max!  Thank God! It is just walking distance from where I live.

 

I took pictures of some of the new stuffs, I found last weekend at the park’s flea market. Some of which are : the pink salt from the Himalayan which costs around Php 190.00 per small bottle, sugar cane juice which costs Php 30.00 per serving and a very beautiful white indoor orchid which costs Php 750.00 per pot.

 

 

 

For those interested to have the Velasquez Park Flea Market experience, it is located in Salcedo Village and operates only every Saturday from morning up to 2:00pm. Give it a try and I am sure you will never regret it! Some Php 2,000 to Php 3,000 will be enough a budget to prepare.

 

Enjoy!