My sweet Caroline

I "discovered" this new restaurant last Saturday. But I should give credit to Raddy Mabasa for this because he insisted on it while at first, battling sinuses and a fever, wanted to go somewhere else. Good reason, or shall I say, "sige na nga", prevailed and we walked over to Caroline Pattiserie. It's a minute's walk from Raddy's clinic in M. Paterno Street in San Juan (close to the San Juan Arena).

The moment I stepped in, well, I got that nice homey feeling that I felt at Cookbook Kitchen or Serendipity. And those cakes were plenty inviting. I'd say Banapple but as much as I love the place is too cramped for comfort.

The pattiserie, located at #17 M Paterno Street, is small with six or seven tables. At most, it will seat like 20? But even if it's small you don't feel boxed it. It retains that homey ambiance.

The food is homemade. As was my lunch -- corn beef! And for dessert -- a slice of Tres Leches cake that had me ordering another. Talk about a sugar shot right there. But it was good. hey, Raddy! I'll be back and to take pics of that old Spanish house.

The Gustavian @ Ayala Cebu

An excellent European restaurant in Cebu. There are two -- one in the Ayala Mall (beside another fave of mine Cyma) and one near the airport.

At the Waterfront Hotel, Mactan, Cebu

Stayed at the Waterfront Hotel just beside Mactan International Airport.Never forget to make sure you are booked in a non-smoking room! Arrrghh! But the rooms were spacious and clean. Not so bad. Wifi is like Php600 for half a day and it's super duper fast. I brought with my Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Haven't been able to finish it but this time I will. Food is expensive at the hotel. You might want to cross over to the airport where they have a nice resto called The Tinderbox. Outside the airport there's a stall that sells lechon. So you can just buy rice and literally pig out. This is Cebu so the lechon has no sauce. But all in all though, I enjoyed my brief stay.

Interview with Bobby del Castillo on the South Pole Expedition 2010

I guess it's okay to call these guys

Iron Potatohead

Check out the Iron Man Mr. Potatohead. Cool isn't it? I wonder if they also have a War Machine and Iron Monger version of this. I have the Optimus Prime version. Better than the Bumblebee edition that didn't look kosher. Here's to the success of Iron Man 2. Mr. Jon Favreau... I know this is a long ways off but are we going to be seeing the Mandarin or Crimson Dynamo is the third film?

A Global Warning

A Global Warning

Climate Change is both real and frightening and not the product of some filmmaker’s unfettered imagination. Unfortunately, we are merely players. Rick Olivares takes a look at the signs and asks everyone to take the issues of Global Warming more seriously. This appears in a forthcoming issue of Philippines Free Press.

Roland Emmerich, producer of extinction event films The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, couldn’t write anything more frightening than this.

Exactly one year after Leo Oracion reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 17, 2006, he went up again. This time, along with Erwin “Pastor” Emata who scaled the world’s tallest mountain peak alongside him, they were back to guide three Filipina mountaineers – Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayondon, and Janet Belarmino on their date with destiny.

During the ascent, Oracion was aghast at the sight of a barren portion of the mountain side that only one year earlier was white from the snow and ice. As much as he was excited for the three Filipinas, he couldn’t help but think of the implications of the melting ice. “I hope we don’t pay for this,” he silently prayed.

Oracion made no bones about his concern for Mother Nature and when he returned back home. He took every opportunity tell anyone who was willing to listen about the effects of global warming. “When you’re a mountaineer, you have a better appreciation for life, your surroundings, the world… everything. You cannot be indifferent to these changes because it affects everyone of us.”

More than two years later, Oracion’s worst fears were confirmed when Typhoon Ondoy submerged Metro Manila as a frightening form of payback after years of deforestation, erosion, pollution, and a general lack of care for the environment. It wasn’t anything of Biblical proportions similar to the time of Noah, but it did sweep away many a home, property, and a life. Nature served a stern warning that no one – whether rich or poor – was unreachable by her wrath.

Despite moderate winds, Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) brought down the worst rainfall in the history of the country in a matter of hours. A “State of Calamity” was declared over Metro Manila with water levels reaching an alarming 20 feet high. At least 464 people lost their lives that day.

Months after the incident, it is as if nothing has happened. The municipalities of Marikina, Cainta, Pasig, and other hard hit areas have been swept clean of mud and debris, infrastructure repaired, and houses given a fresh coat of paint. The rehabilitation efforts are cosmetic for the scars remain. Real estate prices have gone down in the flooded areas as its previous residents have left for safer and higher ground. The rivers have receded but remain quiet and still predators. Every once in a while, talk about the disaster crops up. Some dismiss it already as a freak event.

After all, life goes on and there is the urgent matter of the coming national elections.

Yet lost amidst the electoral mudslinging was a bit of news that quickly made the newswires last March 24 even if it emanated from thousands of miles away. To say that the news was every bit disturbing and frightening is a massive understatement.

New Moore Island (or South Talpatti Island as it is called by the Bangladeshis), a tiny island four square meters long and the subject of three-decade long dispute between Bangladesh and India, was no more. Gone as if it never existed.

There's no trace of the island any more,'' proclaimed Sugata Hazra, a professor from the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. “What two countries could not resolve was settled by Mother Nature.” The only evidence left of the island’s existence are some branches from a tree that jut out from the water as if it were waiting to be rescued. But given the quick rising sea level, it is only a matter of time before even those defiant branches would be swallowed up by the silent but silent waters.

The loss of New Moore Island is by no means over. Hazra also warned that the rising waters could eventually claim another ten other islands in the area. And if nothing was done soon, by the year 2050, Bangladesh and its population of 150 million people will be in extreme danger.

It isn’t only the seas around the Bay of Bengal that have been on the rise. The phenomenon is worldwide. And the Philippines essentially being an island nation, the signs are telling.

The Klima Climate Change Center, located at the Manila Observatory of the Ateneo de Manila University in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, prepared a report that noted a steady rise in the sea level around the CAMANAVA (Cavite-Malabon-Navotas) area as well as Bohol and Iloilo in the Visayan region.

“If people think that the floods are nothing out of the ordinary since we live in a tropical country then they have another thought coming,” said Deanna Olaguer, spokesperson from Klima. “It’s like a Pandora’s Box. Once opened, flooding spawns a whole new set of problems from health and sanitation. Not to mention means of livelihood. We cannot be fatalistic about such things. We have to act now while there is still time because this is one battle (against nature) that we cannot hope to win. We cannot just throw up our hands and say, ‘Okay, we’re going to be good now’ and everything will go back to normal. It doesn’t work that way.”

Studies have shown that from 1961-1993, the sea level rose at 1.8 millimeters a year. Then from 1993 onwards, it almost doubled at 3.1 millimeters a year.

The Philippine National Statistical Coordination Board reported an increase of diseases such as dengue, cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea.

Global warming affects the temperature, precipitation (rainfall), sea level rise, and extreme events such as typhoons and heat waves. In more specific terms, it means that there has been a decrease in rainfall in Northern Luzon that threatens our food security. However in the Visayas, there has been a significant increase in typhoons passing over the area. Overall, it also means more hot days and nights and fewer cold days and nights.

Natural disasters have plagued mankind all throughout history yet the indications are there that in the 21^st century, they will happen more frequently and affect man more severely.

And with the rapid urbanization of our surroundings, more and more people are exposed to risk and disasters. In the Klima report, 20 areas were listed as the most susceptible to risk to typhoons, rainfall changes, temperature increase, and El Niño.

1. - Ifugao

2. - Albay

3. - Pampanga

4. - Sorsogon

5. - Rizal

6. - Cavite

7. - Sulu

8. - Biliran

9. - Laguna

10. - Northern Samar

11. - Batangas

12. - Pangasinan

13. - La Union

14. - Basilan

15. - Nueva Ecija

16. - Metro Manila

17. - Western Samar

18. - Tarlac

19. - Masbate

20. - Camarines Sur

In the 2007 study by the Belgian Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), the Philippines ranked second in the world with an average of nearly 3,000 people killed annually due to natural disasters. More than the human cost, the economy pays a stiffer price with an estimated $988 million lost per annum.

“It is the poor who usually suffer the most during disasters,” noted Olaguer who underscored a tripartite approach of Prevention-Mitigation-Adaptation* to Global Warming. “First we have to acknowledge that Climate Change is happening and is affecting us. The three-pronged answer is the best vehicle for no regrets measures. And for this to really give us a fighting chance against Climate Change, there has to be a honest-to-goodness effort from all sectors – transport, energy, forestry, industry, agricultural, waste management, and land use. It’s the only way. There is no other way. And while there is still time.”

The last sentence is loaded and says volumes for it means a profound restructuring of lifestyles. Whether the country, currently embroiled in selfish measures in a struggle for power, or the world with all its concerns, gets its act together is altogether another matter.

In the meantime, last February 26, a massive 2550-long glacier broke off from the Mertz Glacier in East Antarctica. The iceberg not only presents a threat to the shipping lanes but also reduces the fresh water supply of the world as it melts into the salty ocean.

“You mean another Titanic could happen?” asked one wag in an online forum about Climate Change referring to ill-fated passenger liner that struck an iceberg in its maiden voyage out of Southampton, England on its way to New York City that received a Hollywood treatment in a film starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.

“I wonder if we take things seriously.” said an exasperated Oracion as he summed up his talks about Climate Change, “We are the architects of our own problems.”

----------

· Prevention refers to the reduction of greenhouse gases and the protection of the earth’s atmosphere.

· Mitigation refers to measures or actions to decrease the intensity of Climate Change.

· Adaptation refers to minimizing the effects of Climate Change.

Woz interviews Rick about his Apple stuff

What Apple gear do you have?

I have an iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook, iPod, iPhone, and very soon, an iPad. I was given another laptop at the office and it took me a while to figure it out again.

So you don’t have a PC anymore?

Nope.

All those Macs. Isn’t that overkill?

I use each unit for something specific. But essentially, everything is backed up on each unit. So I can transfer to one and it’s all there. No need to transfer files via email or flash drive.

Quote: Remember the American Express tag line “Don’t leave without it?” That’s how I feel about my Apple stuff. I feel naked without them.

So you bring everything with you?

Of course not. If I tell you I will have to kill you.

Okay. I want to live -- sheesh -- so let me rephrase the question – what will you bring now –Macbook or iPad?

The iPad. Cheaper to replace. God, I can’t believe I said ‘cheaper.’ (computes mentally about expenses). Sigh.

You must have some workstation at home.

I think of Tony Stark’s workroom in the movie iron Man. It’s a frigging mess. And to think I’m super OC.

What about iTunes?

It is as they say – it changed my musical listening experience. That’s what Apple is all about – not just the technology but the user experience. I’m so OC. My CD collection is filed according to genre then by alphabetic order of the artists and is chronological order for every release. Every disc is in plastic with the jewel case immaculately clean. Every disc is upright and spotless. Every time I play a disc it’s like a major operation in cleaning it and replacing it in the rack.

ITunes eliminated all that. I still buy CDs. Always will. But now, when I buy them, I upload them on my iTunes and put the disc away. I download the album cover and all the details and it’s on my laptop and iPod. I can mix and match with it. Something I was unable to do before. Plus it’s really handy.

Do you think that iPods make people anti-social?

Not really. I think it’s a great ice breaker to ask, “What’s on your iPod?” Like others, if I don’t want to be bugged, I slip on the headphones and I’m gone. Unless you're Jessica Gomes you can bug off.

Touchy bastard you are. Sorry. I don't want to die just yet. Your fave application?

How much time you’ve got?

Will you buy a new iPod?

Arrgghh. Yes, I will.

Any last thoughts on your Apple gear?

I’m a statistic.

Huh? How so?

In 2009, more than 10 million units of iMacs/Macbooks were sold, 24 million iPods were purchased, and 300 Apple Stores were open worldwide to serve customers. I contributed to Apple’s coffers.

And they've got Summer Courses too!

Wish I could enroll. Alas. I'm poorer than poor. Bwahaha. So this is for ya peeps with lotsa time on yer hands.

That black penguin sure looks cool

The Pacific -- coming March 14 on HBO

The Eternal Hong Kong

The Eternal Hong Kong

by rick olivares

In my first ever trip to Hong Kong, my mother told me to look out from the window at the lights that lit up Victoria Harbour. That exact moment was significant for two things: 1) ever since then, I always asked for a window seat whenever I ride an airplane, and 2) I fell in love with Hong Kong.

Like a moth to a flame, she calls out to me.

It is the one true place where east meets west. A unique melting pot and a hub for ideas, culture, and commerce. And there’s more… there’s the governing dichotomous principle of “one country; two systems” in relation to mother China.

Even with the emergence of China as a global economic power, Hong Kong has retained its vibrancy and importance. Their dollar is the world’s ninth most traded currency and it still is a financial pillar. And they have the most number of millionaires per square foot.

When I say the east meets the west, the latter is the British and European influence. I grew up watching F-4 Phantoms, A-10 Warthogs, and C-130 Hercules aircraft rumbling into the Pampanga sky when my grandfather would take me to the former Clark Air Base. My mother worked for a time with the US government and I would oft see US Marines detailed at the building’s lobby as security. So seeing British servicemen and the Union Jack in Hong Kong was a different experience.

Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore are all beautiful yet they still somewhat resemble being on home soil. Hong Kong… has a certain shimmer and sheen to it. It glistens in its temperate climes. The name in Cantonese means “fragrant harbour” and in the Old World sense, the harbor was the gateway to a new country. And the island is still one. Commerce, culture, everything passes through here. Even those imported goods that find their way into our stores.

I’ve always advised first-time travelers that if ever, their first trip abroad should be Hong Kong. That’s not because it’s the closest but because it offers a striking difference from ours whereas Thailand and Singapore still somewhat resemble being on home soil. Hong Kong is a truly a first world country in Southeast Asia.

Find me a place that is more fashionable here in Asia? Find me a place that is equated with shopping? Bangkok? Yes, it is a lovely place, but Hong Kong – the island is one shopping mall. And they were the first to have a Toys ‘R Us that is always a favorite. Here in Hong Kong, for those not used to going to Divisoria or tiangges in Greenhills, this is where you first learned to haggle for lower prices. For price-conscious Filipinos, haggling is a must if not an art form. And unlike on the home front where sales are faux sales, here prices truly drop.

Only you don’t need to shop ‘til you drop. Why wait when there’s a smorgasbord of culinary delights from the trendy (Lan Kwai Fong, Knutsford Terrace, and SoHo) to the street variety (Aberdeen, Causeway Bay, and Stanley Market).

Whenever I go to Ocean Park (at least once a year), I make sure to volunteer for the dolphin and sea lion show. I sit in the lower seats of the grand stand and raise my hand and jump like crazy so when the hosts ask for volunteers, they notice me. The jellyfish and shark exhibits are worth the price of entrance! As for the cable car rides – I’m going to have to admit that I suffer from extreme acrophobia. But a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. I sit inside those cars and close my eyes and pray a hundred novenas until I can set my two feet on good old terra firma. Somehow after every ride, my heart rate goes fast and I feel older. It’s a good thing there are rides, attractions, and games because they make me feel young again.

Maybe it’s the mystique of China. Maybe it’s a touch of Europe in Asia. I think of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, night markets, all these tourists that you will not see in Manila, sales at HMV, buying clothes at Giordano, eating at Vietnamese restaurants, the nightlife, walking along Nathan Road, going up to Victoria Peak and dreaming of buying a house somewheres when I become a billionaire – I can dream, can’t I? I enjoy the Double Decker buses, ferry rides along the river, the sense of fashion, Chinese mysticism, and enjoy the fact that what I’m looking for can be found here. I wonder at the cleanliness, the quiet efficiency of a place that steps out of a postcard.

I gaze at Hong Kong with a wonder of a first-time tourist every time I’m there.

I'm applying for this!

The Next...

With Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino outside Balay Expo after a meeting for the entire campaign group (infiltrators from the corrupt government included) Saturday morning February 13. I am glad I attended today because now I'll be giving more time to the campaign.

The Art of Selling and the Lost Art of Reading

The Art of Selling and the Lost Art of Reading

by rick olivares

While driving the car one day, Danny Generoso’s young daughter popped him a question. “Pa, why is the stop light colored red?”

The question caught him off guard. Generoso wracked his brain for a plausible story that he could use for an answer. “Ah, anak, red is the color of blood and when people see blood that means they must be careful.”

His daughter let loose an “ahh” then kept quiet. Privately, the dad was kicking himself for not knowing the answer.

Generoso is a salesman for Filway Marketing selling Time Life educational books. He’s surprised that he’s been at it for so long – 15 years to be exact --and has become very good at it. Yet it has been every much a learning experience for him as well.

When he first informed his family that he was going to be a salesman for Filway, he never heard the end of it from his parents. “Think of your family! Ano ang ipapakain mo sa kanila?” they would constantly say.

It got to the point where he had to chose to tell them that he was instead doing something else so the talk would stop. When his first paycheck came in, he brought the whole family for dinner at Kamayan. When everyone had their fill, only then did he tell them the truth that their dinner was courtesy of his paycheck from selling those dreaded and maligned Time Life books. No one ever said anything derogatory about his profession again. And Generoso had more than the last say.

He asked for referrals.

People can smell a salesman a mile away -- the semi-formal attire looking very uncomfortable under the tropical sun and a spiel where that he wants to get over with as soon as he can and hopefully, close the sale. They are regarded as smooth talkers out to take your hard-earned bucks.

More often than not, their entreaties are met with rejections. Some say that they’d rather get their child a laptop computer. Once, Generoso was even chased away and bitten by a dog. “Hazards of the job,” he smiles at the memory.

One parent dismissed Generoso by saying that not only did he not read as a child but he also failed to finish school and yet, he was successful. He was so sure that his son would be the same.

That might be true but times have most certainly changed and the world is a much more competitive place. And despite all the advances in technology, it has not compensated for the values learned from proper reading and

Chito Tagaysay, President of Filway Mktg. tells of a bookfair in Germany one year when the internet exploded in the stratosphere and the exhibitors were few. There was a fear that increased usage of the internet as a means of sharing information or reading material was killing of actual hard copies of books. A few years later, the exhibitors mushroomed once more. It turned out that the early reports of the death of the paperback were greatly exaggerated.

Ask him or Jacq Narciso, a colleague of his, and both unequivocally say that they are best able to do their jobs when they have the utmost belief in their product and are most sincere in their dealing with parents.

“We not only believe in our product but we use it with our own children,” clarifies Narciso who has been with Filway Marketing. “Nakikita ng tao kung talagang sincere ka. Every time we go to parents we always impart the value of reading; it’s importance and how it develops creativity and imagination.”

Generoso added: “We also tell the parents that it is important to read to their children because it’s a time for bonding. Soon after that they will no longer have to do that for the child on his own will have picked up the habit.”

It’s more than selling books, it’s selling the future and whole being of a child through a set of books tailor-fit for their age level. Many parents believe that a lot of learning and research can be done through the computer.

One parent of an Ateneo Grade School student purchased a set of books and months later bumped into Generoso and gleefully informed him about the startling changes in his son. He had become more confident and well read that he would show off what he learned such as creating electricity through an apple and copper wire that surprised relatives. Even in school, the son’s teachers would commend him on his much comprehension. “Sana noon pa kita nakilala para yung panganay ko nabilan ko rin ng mga libro.”

“To me that is the best compliment I can get because of the belief in my product and how it helps,” beamed a proud Generoso.

The Ahon Foundation, of which Tagaysay is also the President, has provided these educational books in Marikina City and they were all pleased to know that at a certain time every day, all students in public schools make time for book reading.

Even Filway’s own sales people like Generoso have taken to reading their own books.

Once while reading through them, Generoso was surprised to read a topic on the colors of traffic lights. It was a revealing moment and he remembered that conversation with his daughter all those long years ago.

He quickly met up with his daughter now all grown up and asked, “You remember the time when you asked me about why the stop light is colored red?”

The daughter nodded and even reenacted how her father had delivered his answer much to his amusement. He learned that the color “red” is one of the primary colors of light that is the longest wavelength discernible by the human eye hence it’s being the color for the stop sign.”

“I guess the learning here is that these books aren’t just for kids but parents like you and me.”

For more information about the AHON Foundation and career opportunities at Filway Marketing, please go to ahonfoundation.org and Filway’s website.