Telling it like it is

You usually start a 2012 list at the start of the year. But considering that I now rarely have time to sit down and write for this blog, am going to do this now.

Okay, what has happened in 2011? A lot. Last year was full of life lessons. It was a roller coaster ride that ended with a high note in December. But what kept me going is my family who is always there to remind me that they are the reason why we work so hard. As a father to two amazing daughters (one is a geek, the other is just like her mother ), you need to find ways to keep their attention from straying. Not to say that they are often distracted by computer games. They are quite a handful sometimes. But as my friends say, keep them close now. Next time, they will feel awkward spending time with you as they grow older.

Work in 2011 was amazingly difficult. But the lessons you learn from doing new stuff is something very valuable. Of course, you’ve seen good people come and go. But many have become good friends–and in this world of social networks–it’s not hard missing them.

Now, 2012. I believe this year is a turning point for me. A lot has changed–my life, my work, my interests. I still get to play my guitar from time to time. But I also have been spending Saturdays teaching students about what I do. (Most of the lessons I share, I draw it from experience). Waking up early in the morning to give young minds a piece of your mind is no cakewalk. But this offers an opportunity for me to reflect on what I have done, where I have been, and where I am now. From that, you have better appreciation of your life.

Back to 2012 and my list. So here we go. These are statements I have written in my whiteboard at work and I’m keeping them close and handy.

1. Always provide context. As my current mentor and boss would often tell me, you have to over communicate. Not everyone will be able to get your message in one go. If it needs be, repetition is key to getting understood. It is also the best tool in teaching and learning. That’s why most musicians would say the key to being best at your craft is practice, practice, and practice.

2. Own it. Don’t hesitate. Own it. Make a decision. If it’s a bad one, then apologize. Try again. It’s okay to make mistakes. What’s more important is you learn from them. So at the start of the year, the word “post-mortem” is right up there.

3. Be Paranoid. Remember this saying, “Only the Paranoids Survive.” That’s an Intel mantra that remains true especially in a world that is fast-changing. But don’t get me wrong. You also have to pace yourself. But always keep in mind, that complacency will bring you nothing but trouble.

4. Exercise, exercise, exercise. I couldn’t just stress that enough. Yesterday, I just realized that the old folks that I knew when I was a child are dying one by one. Seems morbid, but yes, that’s gonna happen soon if you don’t take care of your health.

5. Travel with the family. We have not been traveling so much last year. So this year, we’re finally going to do it more, even it only involves driving to a nearby park or museum.

6. Focus. I tend to juggle a lot of things in the air. So this year, I will focus on accomplishing a few great things. I have 3 in mind. And I won’t stop until I become great at it. That’s how I will rock and roll.

7. Giveaway books. Yes, I have accumulated a lot. I need to give them away soon. E-readers were invented to keep the trees.

8. Look for a bigger place. Convenience has its disadvantages. Yes, I’m nearer my workplace but I’m living in a cramped apartment. My home which is by far spacious, I sorely miss.

9. Save and get rid of liabilities. Yes, this is quite simple, but not an easy task. First target: credit card expenses should be at a low. Spend cash than getting credits. Save the credits for bigger expenses. (Read: don’t buy too many apps).

10. Be closer to my creator. I have been away too long.

Do you get enough breaks in a year? Well, not enough But life is short, and you have to cherish every moment of it.

I didn’t have a camera with me last night. I forgot it for some reason. And because of that, I don’t have evidence about the weird food names I witnessed last night.

We planned an all-Thai food Monday night. We later got the name of the place: Antique House. We decided to walk from the hotel to the place. But even before we could start walking, the rain happened. We were soaked as we searched for the restaurant. [The shoes are still soaked as I write this]. But the walk under the rain was worth it. We found the place in 20 minutes. [And I really thought we got lost. Imagine walking in a foreign land with signs that are all in a language you don't comprehend]. Chiang Mai is still riddled with Thai signs. So we struggled finding the place. Then from a far, we saw the sign in English. The parked cars and the security guy holding an oversized beach umbrella over a foreign guest were a giveaway.

I realized as we sat in the restaurant that the view of the river was close by. But since it was raining, I couldn’t see anything that would resemble the river. Besides, my shoes were soaking, and I just decided to plant myself in a chair to dry off.

But I digress.

Okay, why the title and what I discovered. As we were ordering [our Thai friends were not yet there when we started pointing to food we want], one item stoke my interest: Sauteed Crocodile meat with something else I couldn’t recall. Then, one of my colleagues called out another: Alien Bird with something else. What’s happening here? Eventually, the Northern Pork Curry lured me. Our Thai friends then confirmed our suspicion. The Northern Pork curry was good. So we ordered that. There were others in the menu that I could not remember. But I was tempted to order the crocodile meat. They also found the “Deep Fried Snake Head Fish.” I wondered what that was. There were others in the menu that baffled me. [Was it meant to scare tourists and make them want it?]

All in all, this restaurant was quite exotic. For me, Tomyam and the sticky rice was enough to fill an empty belly.

The dinner ended with a free photo in a shop within the restaurant and a few American cover songs by the Bee Gees, Frank Sinatra, and an alternative song called “Deep.”

My shoes are still soaked, by the way.

I did some reading last night. Chiang Mai is a northern city of Thailand. Among the key attraction here is the “walled city.” I hope  I have time to check that out.

What’s interesting today and last night is meeting new people who share the same passion of educating the young. I haven’t seen the students, but I have seen the list. For the next two weeks, I will be involved in shaping young minds again. I will pass on years of doing journalism to willing students who will someday become the next-gen journos.

Today, I will explore the market, hoping to get a feel of the local community.

Stuck in a jam

UPDATE: Just after I left my meeting in Ortigas, the rain started to pour. And I mean “Ondoy-like” downpour. I was lucky I was out early to miss the growing “mishap” in EDSA. Traffic went bad 30 minutes later. Back in the office, I saw people on Twitter and Facebook complaining about the traffic. Did the weather bureau miss this again? A refrain I now often hear on social media.

One hour later, I read news about typhoon Falcon moving north, northwest and straight into the little island of Batanes. The weather bureau was insisting the heavy downpour is due to the typhoon and the monsoon.

Okay, goodbye summer.

Then I chanced upon another tweet: the amount of water that haD been pouring that day was about “30 percent” of the volume of water poured by Ondoy. Dams had to be opened late Thursday. Classes in pre- to high schools were suspended.

It was 9 P.M. I was stuck in my office, waiting for traffic to die down, and hoping the floods would subside.

Filipinos are no strangers to rain. The country experiences the most typhoons compared to other Southeast Asian countries. I’ve read, seen and even experienced the worst typhoons that killed hundreds — many due to flashfloods and landslides.  But while this is not news anymore, the country often suffers. People die. Thousands are rendered homeless. Rivers swell and water levels rise. Clogged esteros give up. Thousands of commuters and workers get stranded.

We’re not learning our lessons about typhoons. We keep making the same mistake every time.

It was 11 P.M. I was driving back home. The streets were almost empty. The downpour started again. Hazy red taillights were ahead of me. The heavy downpour drowns out the music from the car stereo. I can barely see the road, except for the wipers going left-and-right, left-and right. About 10 meters, I saw a white taxi swerve. It cut me. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel. @#$% driver! I almost slammed into a lazy taxi that was lost in the downpour.

Radio commentators were delivering news of flooding and traffic. More traffic updates. Typhoon updates. I listened instinctively while I watch the oncoming traffic. I shook my head. Here we go again.

Everybody I know seems to be getting an iPhone 4. Why am I not rushing to get one? Hmmmm.

First, I want to get the real iPhone. Why would I let my hands do the “surfing” and “navigating” when I can just use my eyes to do everything. Forget the iPhone. Get an eyePhone!

Second, if you’re really dead serious about the iPhone, you should watch this video and decide. This model is going to be available in the future. So, I’m waiting for it.

I recently stumbled upon this music video from Ok Go. It’s their latest, geeky take on a new song “White Knuckles.”

Excerpt from my Fit to Post article:

The geeky band that created a viral choreographed music video “A Million Ways”  and the hit “Here it Goes Again,” has done it again. Now, the viral music video that is making rounds on social networks  involves trained canines and, er, well trained humans too.

Here’s the video that’s going viral.

White Knuckles

I have to admit, the book title itself piqued my curiosity. Now, it’s hard to put down this brilliant work by Leonard Mlodinow who is a physicist.

New York Times wrote this wonderful review:

Mlodinow — the author of “Feynman’s Rainbow,” “Euclid’s Window” and, with Stephen Hawking, “A Briefer History of Time” — writes in a breezy style, interspersing probabilistic mind-benders with portraits of theorists like Jakob Bernoulli, Blaise Pascal, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Pierre-Simon de Laplace and Thomas Bayes. The result is a readable crash course in randomness and statistics that includes the clearest explanation I’ve encountered of the Monty Hall problem (named for the M.C. of the old TV game show “Let’s Make a Deal”).

Such books make me wonder why my physics professor couldn’t make that subject interesting back then? It’s not that I hate Physics. I love it. But there are a lot of concepts in physics or mathematics where I go off into lala land. Prof. Mlodinow has avoided boring me about all these weird concepts, and that makes this book a good read.

This one is a good buy!

Secret here is to always find something relevant in our daily lives that you can connect hard topics such as physics.

It all started last Saturday when Tonyo Cruz, a blogger and a consumer rights advocate, started “#sentisabado,”a Twitter hashtag that translates to sentimental Saturdays.

Meant as a social experiment on Twitter, Cruz said the #sentisabado has attracted TV personalities and journalists, and celebrities to tweet about sentimental things in their lives.

More from Yahoo! Southeast Asia’s Fit to Post.

Those are three brands, one fairly new, are going to be working together.

This week, Yahoo! announced a deal with mobile phone manufacturer Nokia.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! also announces the acquisition of Indonesian firm Koprol.com, which offers social location-based service similar to Foursquare and Gowala.

All these are strategic acquisitions that have two things in common: mobile.