Project Bibliophile: 52+ Books in 2015

I am a certified bookworm. I grew up reading a lot of books and I spent most of my lunch breaks at our school library. My childhood was basically an adventure to the other side of the realm. Reading is fun as it takes you to other worlds for free. This is probably one of the reasons why I wear a -225 grade glasses now - the effect of too much reading. But then again, no one can stop me from reading!

In 2014, I didn't had the chance to read a lot books. During that year, I was still a new kid in town (lol, I didn't care if everybody loves me, lol at the reference though), adjusting to my new work environment. New Year 2015 came and one of my new year resolutions was to read more books.

Look, who's TALKING!

I am so thrilled that I am one of the speakers for the #CBSTalks: Best Blogging Practices. Who would've thought that I'd be led to this kind of thing from just being a hobbyist in travel writing and photography.

Hope to see you in Cebu this Saturday!

Cebu Bloggers Society (CBS), Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino and Smart Communications present #CBSTalks: Best Blogging Practices #CBSTalks: Best Blogging Practices is one of the major events that Cebu Bloggers Society is holding this year. This initiative manifests the Society’s commitment to promote best practices and nurture professionalism in blogging and social networking. Patterned after the rousing TED Talks, it will feature Cebu and Davao’s best digital influencers who will share their personal inspiring stories of best practices related to content, website management, ethics, and online interactions, among others. Their stories will be captured on film, edited and uploaded on Cebu Blogger Society’s YouTube channel, website and other social media channels. Join us on November 28, 2015, 9AM-4PM at the Jimei Room of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. Admission is FREE!

Visit http://www.cebubloggers.com/cbstalks for more registration details. This FREE event is organized by the Cebu Bloggers Society, Cebu's first and premier blogging organization, established on February 14, 2008.

Co-presentors

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is the Philippines' leading wireless services provider. Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino is the official venue of #CBSTalks. The hotel is grandly situated at the heart of the city’s commercial and business district. A convenient 30-minute drive from the Mactan International Airport, the hotel is home to 561 guestrooms and suites, 10 wining and dining outlets, and is popularly known for its superior meeting and conference facilities. With a seating capacity of up to 4,000, the hotel’s Convention Center is outfitted with 4 function rooms and 2 grand ballrooms designed to host all event types and sizes.

Haters Gonna Hate

It's not surprising that the Duterte haters had risen from their graves a day after his announcement. Once and for all, can you do me a favor?

Look around you. Is your city safe, clean, and organized? How about your cab drivers? Do they choose their own passengers and charge more than what the meter shows because "trapik kasi sa EDSA"? Do you drink water directly from the tap, or do you still buy purified water from a water station? Does your city have a free 911 emergency service? If you haven't been to Davao, I urge you to book a flight and experience what the city has to offer, aside from the tourist attractions. Davao City is just one of his success stories.

If he was a dictator in Davao, my family would've migrated somewhere a long time ago. But no, it didn't happen because he wasn't. I just can't stand the fact that there are still people who support candidates that do not have a clear platform; just vague promises. Not to mention some of them are elitists and traditional politicians.

Dirty South Live In Cebu

Cebu, Philippines (November 20, 2015) – Vinyl Entertainment Cebu and LIV Superclub announces a special live performance of International DJ Producer, Dirty South. The Serbian-Australian DJ will be performing live for the first time in Cebu on Saturday November 28, 2015.

Dirty South, aka Dragan Roganovic, the world-renowned DJ, two- time Grammy nominated producer and global festival headliner, is coming to the queen city of the south during his global Find A Way tour promoting his new single, ‘Find A Way’. He has been busy dominating the festival circuit of Coachella, Ultra Miami, and Electric Daisy Carnival but has managed to pump out a remix of Zedd’s Beautiful Now and release a new single.

Dirty South has collaborated with world-renowned producers, including Axwell who he also shared the studio with in creating their Grammy nominated remix of Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’. Also known for his massive hit with Alesso, City of Dreams, Dirty South looks to continue releasing hits with his new single, Find A Way.

Catch Dirty South when he performs in Cebu on Saturday November 28, 2015 at LIV Super Club inside City Time Square in Mandaue. With his huge hits and world-class production, Dirty South is set to make the Cebu crowd dance till the sun comes up.

For tickets and VIP table information visit www.vinylcebu.com Follow the Vinyl Entertainment Cebu social media accounts to be updated on special offers and upcoming events. Instagram - @VinylCebu, Twitter - @VinylCebu Facebook – facebook.com/vinylcebu #DirtySouthInCebu

11.19 Thoughts

Some morning thoughts that I need to post online, for the sake of updating my personal blog.

No fly-zone in RPLL/MNL today until tomorrow, thus all flights to and from Manila are cancelled. I Throughout my shift, I only handled two flights so far, all coming from Mactan-Cebu. Spell boring. Tomorrow, I shall bring my laptop and start editing the photos and videos of our recent KL-SG trip.

Speaking of our recent trip, it was a success! Yey! More trips in the future with  them! I didn't expect KL would be that clean and organized. I thought it's like Jakarta, only that they have a better mass transportation.

Haven't started with my presentation this Nov 28. I was chosen to be one of the resource speakers in Cebu. I will be talking about travel blogging, how I started this career, and how to build your own style in travel blogging. It's gonna be a 15-minute (or less) talk, TEDx style. I'm pretty nervous but hey, I'm comfortable with the topic but I am not sure about talking in front of the crowd. Well, as the saying goes, comfort zone is a comfortable place to live but there's no growth on it.

The world is full of bigots and hypocrites, and that fact alone will forever exist. Sad truth but, there are still people out there who don't belong in that ugly circle.

Book Review: The Martian

Ilustration by Matt Taylor

I am a self-proclaimed science geek, and I am not ashamed of it. I have lived and breathed science since first grade, well until the year that I finally ditched the prospect of studying medicine in exchange of pursuing the road to my first love - aviation (well, it's still science, right?).

I started reading sci-fi novels at a young age of nine, starting with Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. Since then, read most of his sci-fi novels. Timeline, State of Fear, Next, and Airframe were my four ultimate favorites. Until his untimely death in 2008, I thought that no sci-fi novels will ever surpass his works. Until James Rollins came. To be fair, both were good and they have different styles in presenting science to their novels.

The New Beginning?

People are pushing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for President this 2016 National Elections. Even citizens outside Davao are starting to believe that he is the main solution to our country's predicaments; that he'd solve the long overdue problem of our government - graft and corruption. He says the otherwise, but there are indications that he'd run. Whether he'd really run or not, people who do not yet experience his leadership should have taken a lot of considerations before campaigning him.

Quarter Life

This should've been an obligatory thing every year - publishing a blog on my birthday. But yeah, I failed. But that's not really important! Haha excuses.

You know, I still can't believe that I am already 25. It feels like I'm still a fresh graduate from college, barely twenty one. The past few years had been challenging. Uhm, I didn't mean any major family dramas or things that you see on TV. Nothing melodramatic, to be honest but let us put it this way - I have learned a lot about life in general.

Anyway, I am so thankful for my family because they're supportive in all of my endeavors. I have my true friends who have stayed by my side through thick and thin. There are some though who left me in a void, unknowingly they wouldn't come back to you. They leave you behind just because they can. Something like that. But it's okay. It made me a stronger and a more independent man than before.

Quarter life, bring it on!

Too Lazy to Adult

When we were still young, we rushed to become an adult. We wished to grow up too fast, act like one, and be like one. After all, being an adult entitles you to do cool things. However, when we become one, we wish to go back to the days when we were still young, and problems were as simple as memorizing the multiplication table, or finding the least common denominator of dissimilar fractions.

It happened to me

Yes finally, it happened to me (lol screw that Ariel TVC). I am back on the grid. Two months ago, I swore that I should update my personal blog more often but lo and behold, my approach control training stopped me from doing such. After more than six weeks of training, simulated dry runs, written and oral exams, and the extremely difficult check-out, I am proud to say that I'm officially a rated procedural approach controller here in Tacloban Aerodrome/Approach Control. Meaning, I'm on my own. No more seniors or slantbars to guide me on what to do with my traffic. Bigger responsibilities, yes but everything's worth it at the end of the day.

Anyway, I should start writing blog drafts soon.

Right now, I am trying to finish at least a hundred novels before the year ends. Current read: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I think it's my 37th (or was it 38th?) book for this year. I am confident that I'd finish more than a hundred before the year ends.

Lastly, mom and granny's going to visit me in Tacloban this 16th! I can't wait. Teehee. Plus, this June, I'd be wearing braces. So yep, good luck to me, most especially on the food that I always eat. See also: sabaw diet.

Mixtape Mondays, Vol 1

Sometimes, when the summer heat is unbearable, I'd pray for a rain, or at least an overcast weather. I love rainy days, but not to the point wherein mandatory evacuation is necessary. A cup of hot tea or coffee on a rainy day is already nice, but it would be better if it's accompanied by good music.

For the first volume of the Mixtape Mondays blog series, allow me to share Hues & Blues - my snuggle weather playlist. However, you can't download the whole playlist because it's illegal. Good thing, there's Spotify.

1. The Scientist - Coldplay
2. Lost At Sea - Dave Thomas Junior
3. Illgresi - Sigur Rós
4. O (Ghost Stories) - Coldplay
5. Time Forgets - Yiruma
6. England - The National
7. Coffee - Copeland
8. Vienna - The Fray
9. Collide - Howie Day
10. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
11. I'm Not Talking - A.C. Newman

The Sunday Currently, Vol. 1

This personal blog will turn 9 this October. Time flies so fast! I created this blog last 2006 to document my not-so-awesome high school life. I used to have a journal but I thought of publishing my thoughts online. And besides, those were the days when only a few people know what a BLOG is. Years after, this blog became stagnant. I focused on updating my travel blog since 2011.

This year, I am going to update this more often. I've been promising this to myself since 2012, but due to my busy schedule, I wasn't able to fulfill it. And now, I'm going to publish more personal posts this year by starting this blog series, The Sunday Currently. I first encountered this after reading Camie and Chester's blog. 

Alright, here goes nothing.

How to Become an Air Traffic Controller in the Philippines

Lately, I have been receiving emails regarding on how to become an ATC (Air Traffic Controller) in the Philippines. Well, let me tell you something about the nature of the job of an air traffic controller. You see, they are the guiding voices of the sky. They instruct pilots when and where to descend, climb, commence a left or right turn, and other specific instructions. They are responsible for handling air traffic in a safe, orderly, and in an expeditious way.

Here in the Philippines, Air Traffic Controllers work under the Philippine government, specifically at the Air Traffic Service of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines or CAAP.

Here are the steps on how to become one:

10 things I miss about being an Iskolar ng Bayan

It's been three and a half years since I left the premier institution, the University of the Philippines. The best days of my life were spent in UP and I can't help but to be nostalgic after watching the #OneUP video, which went viral on social media.

These are the things that made me miss UP.

Luntian at Pula. Sagisag magpakailanman.

The Papal Visit Experience

Philippine 8010

No words can express how I truly felt when Pope Francis visited Tacloban City. Mixed emotions. This must be the reason why I was here in the first place. I never thought that I would have a close encounter with him. Seeing the pope smiling at the crowd and officiating a Holy Eucharist while battling the strong wind and rain was truly remarkable. Despite the inclement weather in Tacloban, he opted to pursue the trip and be with the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

That alone was a humble act already.

Even if he's the leader of The Holy See, he is still gentle and a down to earth person; never a condescending one. He inspired millions of Filipinos through his words and homilies.

It was truly a memorable experience to handle the papal flight here in Tacloban. It's not about the responsibility or the prestige on taking part of this historical visit, but it's a reminder of how to be merciful, compassionate, and to remain your feet on the ground no matter what.