I have been quiet for a very long time, and I think it is time for me to put an end to my vacation in this little (yeah right) place that people call the internet. Time to add more words to this little space of mine that I call my blog.

The reason why I haven’t been writing much is because I got a new job here in the Philippines and I was still trying to adapt. Now that I have gotten used to it, there’s no reason for me not to write. After all, writing is one of my most favorite things to do. You can say I like to blabber. And I can say… A LOT!!!

If you have a Degree in Business Administration, a background in Finance and Accounting and took up Business Law courses during your undergraduate years, which higher studies would you take, Masters or Law?

In the Philippines, we follow the US educational system. Meaning you can’t take law without a degree. So both MBA and Law are considered as graduate studies here. I’ll lay out the pros and cons of each.

If you take law, it would entail four regular load years or five years if you take the night classes for those working students. The process is grueling. I’m sure everybody knows that already, especially the training in the University of the Philippines is patterned in a way that the students would be able to be future supreme court justices, senators and even presidents.

It’s not easy though. And you don’t have any assurance that you will be able to finish the course, especially if you can’t devote most of your time in it. But – if you do, the benefits are exponential in nature.

You will be one of the most sought after litigator, arbitrator or something like those. The future would be very easy to predict already. You’ll have a successful and fruitful career either in politics or in the business world if you decide to take business law or international law.

On the other hand, if you take MBA completing the course would be easier. It is more on case studies and analysis, and real life application of all the management theories available now. It would take two and a half years full time, or three years if you want to take it slow and easy.

The success rate after graduation is not as exact as law though. Promotions would be easy, and the lowest position level would still be managerial. But most probably, you will be tied up in Business. There is the option of consultancy but that also depends on your network. That’s okay because your orientation is business anyway.

So there. Those are the two options for someone with the background I described. Of course there is still the question of whether or not you’ll pass the entrance exams in those fields of studies. That’s an entirely different thing all together. Hehe!

I went to UP (University of the Philippines – Diliman) for the first time after so long. Actually, I can’ remember the last time I came here but that’s not really the point. It looks and feels different now. It’s either it’s really different, or I’m just getting old

Okay, here’s the scenario. More than a week ago, I went to NUS with Princessa and Bubbles. It’s a scheduled soccer game for Bubble’s gang. After making sure that he gets there safe and sound (he grew so fast, I could barely catch up… hehehe!) Princessa and I decided to take a short tour of the campus.

As for me, I was trying to find a ‘yellow box’, because Princessa gave me this idea that there are such things. And those are the only places where we can smoke. We walked and walked, until finally I decided to ask someone where I could find those yellow boxes.

To my horror, the guy I asked said there’s no such thing! Aaaah! What kind of campus would do such a cruel thing? I mean, it’s a state University for crying out loud. *sigh* I was gravely disappointed.

I just tried to console myself by taking in the sceneries that the campus has to offer. It reminds me so much of my own University, which is UP. Even the trees are the same. And in UP, I particularly like the trees.

NUS is like a smaller version of UP, I mean if we’re talking about land area. But, It’s a newer UP, in a sense that the facilities are more advanced, buildings are new and all. There are a lot more students in UP though.

Culture, almost the same. Of course innately there would be racial differences, but if you only look at the student culture, pretty much the same. You can sense the combination of humility and haughtiness in the students. That sense of pride for their University while trying to cover it with modesty which is the classy way of doing it. The educated way.

Haiz! I miss going to school. Back to reality now. As I was saying earlier, I went to UP right? I was supposed to meet Cathy at 4PM. But she, left her phone somewhere, and after that went to the gym! Arg!

I was getting ready to kill her. Then Tita Dina (her Mom) called and asked me to stay where I was. She picked Cathy up from the gym, then after that me.

While waiting for them, I noticed something different. There’s something very wrong. I can’t find a single person smoking!!! Aaaah! I was thinking, am I in UP or did another entity decided to rent the whole University. Hehe…

To lick my wounds, I decided to go to the nearest store to buy cigarettes. I’ll show them how it used to be done. Hah! I gave the store keeper a wide smile and asked for a pack of cig. The store keeper smiled back and said…

“Oh, we’re not allowed to sell cigarettes anymore.”

Of course I was a little disheartened, but I didn’t lose hope. So I asked her…

“Alright. But where within the campus can I buy cigarettes?”

“you can’t buy cigarettes anywhere inside.” Was her casual reply.

And that’s that. And to think I was telling Princessa that NUS was so restricting. Haiz. I didn’t realize that my own University is also trying to suppress it’s students rights! What happened to freedom, and liberalization?! What happened to choices and responsibilities and living up to the consequences?!

Okay… I’m not really that affected. Just got a little carried away. I need a smoke. Geez.

Ever since I joined ping.sg, there is not a day that I don’t check the website. It has been a habit to me, and I believe it will continue long after I leave Singapore. That being said, I stumbled upon this entry with the title Philippines: The Blog Capital of the World.

Here’s an excerpt from that entry that I particularly liked:

Surprisingly, it has never occurred to us until now that this same hospitality and friendliness would extend into cyberspace. Only after joining entrecard and seeing the sheer number of Filipino blogs as a result, did we realize just how vast the Filipino reach really is around the world. Truly, the Philippine diaspora has come home on the web. Thousands upon thousands of Filipinos log on from every corner of the globe each day to upload entries about their work, their hobbies, but mainly about themselves.

Many talk about very personal matters, from their families to their search for love, to the friends they’ve made and broken up with, the fights, the follies, the shopping they’ve done, their futile attempt to be interesting, or just the everyday. Whatever it may be, this love for gab and “bearing it all” manifests itself very plainly on the web.

To be honest, I didn’t truly realize the endearing qualities of Filipinos (even though my cousin who has been born and raised in the US kept telling me that Filipinos has a lot of character) until I went out of the country. » Read The Rest

This is a situation where in you will not be quite sure who is more ridiculous.

Let me give you the background first. I saw this entry from the media slut:

ST701.com exposed a few hundred job seekers’ email addresses today when a job alert from their mail server was send out in the evening.

I wonder if ST701.com really need to send their emailers on a one day course to find out the difference and importance of BCC and CC.

First - I agree with her (or him). If I was one of those job seekers that have been exposed, I will definitely be very unhappy about it. First of all, I would expect that they treat my personal information with utmost confidentiality.

That would have to involve due diligence from their part. What’s so difficult about using BCC?

I don’t know if ST701.com is doing anything to mitigate the damage that they have done. One thing is sure though - they should very well be doing something. Otherwise it wouldn’t be healthy for their business.

Second - For those job seekers that are using company emails in their account at ST701.com or for any job portals. Here’s what I have to say - what in the world were you thinking?

Obviously, company emails are owned by their current employer. If everybody are to be very strict about it, company emails should not be used for any personal business whatsoever.

Using it to apply for another job is wrong however angle I look at it. Think of it this way, company resources are there to help improve shareholders wealth. Do they honestly think using it to find yourself another job is supporting that goal?

I don’t have to think about it. Because the answer is obviously NO. As a matter of fact, it’s helping the company to lose yet another resource which is them. (Although judging by what they did, I find that questionable)

Oh well. There’s a good side in all these. Now people would be more inclined to use BCC, while others might consider using their own email to look for jobs.

I just find the whole thing Ridiculous.

Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time in the LAN shop. Almost four hours a day. I’ve never been a gamer in my entire life though.

The games I played most people don’t even know about it. Like Battle Realms, Gun bound and those kids games. *shy*

About a few days ago, together with Princessa and Bubbles I went to GGH which means Gaming Giants Home team. Basically it’s another one of Gaming Giant’s LAN shop that could be found at Balestir.

There I played my first CS (counter strike. but of course everybody knows that already ) game ever!!! Can you believe it? I know quite a lot of people who got addicted to this game before. For example, my newest best friend Ian (this is not the jerk ex. They just have the same name).

Anyway, here’s the front view of the shop.

Not a very good photo because it looks so much nicer in real life. I actually kinda like the style of this shop. Probably it doesn’t look like the normal LAN shop. It’s very classy and inviting. Magnifico!

We decided to play a 3 on 3 game. I was like…. whaaaat?! I don’t even know how to play that game!

So fiiiine… I’ll play whatever! Oh and by the way, all 5 of them knows how to play. I was the only noob there. It was sooo embarrassing. Still I played. I was thinking what the heck. Let’s get this over and done with. » Read The Rest

When I first came here in Singapore, I wasn’t able to get most of the jokes that people are saying. The humor just isn’t the same.

Especially those with underlying meaning to it, which should be able to make it funny. Want to know what I’m talking about?

Try these comic strips out…

Get it? Well, because most common perception is that our country is so low tech. It’s normal for people in my country to make pass it off as a joke. Normal. You will rarely see a Filipino who doesn’t like to smile and laugh a lot.

Okay, this is supposed to be a serious topic… yet they managed to make a joke out of it still. haha! Sometimes even I’m amazed on how my people can find humor in even the direst of situations. Works both ways I guess. » Read The Rest

It’s not that I want to date in the first place, but I find this interesting. Can’t believe it’s so easy for people in the US to get dates!!!

And it’s even free. Geez. Life is really that easy for them huh? I’m not complaining seriously. I’m just a little dumbfounded. haha!

Oh, hold on… You guys might be wondering what I’m talking about. I apologize for that. Anyway, I’m talking about chat lines where people can talk and you know, eventually meet maybe.

» Read The Rest

Ugh! I feel like my whole world is collapsing on me and I can’t do anything about it. It’s frustrating. Right now, I don’t have to go to work yet I feel more restricted and pressured.

Still trying to get a hang of the changes happening in my life. I think I’m gonna take a little break and play backgammon for a little while.

If you think I’m gambling… answer is no. I’m talking about online backgammon only. I’m not going to any casino at all. Because that would entail a lot more effort and money, not to mention.

See, the goal is just to have a little fun. A time away from it all. A time to stop and smell the flowers. So to speak.

And right now, for some reason that I’m not sure off… what popped to mind is backgammon online. Probably because I don’t have to play using real money. haha!

Do you know how to play backgammon? I’m not sure if I do. But I remember playing before. See, the one time that I have played online casino, I was able to try a lot of games.

I guess backgammon was one of those.  There is this site that actually prepares you for backgammon tournaments and how to be good at playing it.

Aside from giving information about up coming tournaments, they also provide details on backgammon events. Haha!

I didn’t know that this game is actually being played in a professional level and revered enough to have events. Hmm…

What say you? Want to give it a try? Anyway, there are six different languages you can choose from. So if you want to be on top of this game, no harm to practice a little bit and play online with other players. Can be fun too!