Thank you guys for reading my article on SOPA. I know it’s not the best explanation but it’s sort of a brief intro on it. I really want people to become aware of THIS HUGE ISSUE that’s going to affect the whole INTERNET. Call it communism or socialism but they are trying to hold a monopolistic power over your Internet freedom. Please read as much as you can about it even though it has been TEMPORARILY SHELVED at the moment because the FBI isn’t waiting for some bill to pass. They’ve already killed Megaupload and Megvideo and what’s stopping them from taking Dropbox (aww sh*t I have some files in there! I better back it up…). If you haven’t read it yet, I hope that you do read it if you have time!

Imagine that, Timothy Brown after 4 years of an innovative procedure… suddenly has no more trace of AIDS in his system… this is groundbreaking news! I hope that this year, I’d be able to blog more responsibly and spread news such as this more. I do like sharing information with people, information that I care about too. Maybe this is one reason why I’ve thought of being a journalist… but it isn’t one of my top career goals. I just really like sharing information with people… is there a name for such person?

If you were able to read about my very depressing post (the one about hamsters), I dreamt a very weird dream that night and I have been dreaming and have recalled EVERY DREAM THE PAST TWO WEEKS. Is this normal? Do you dream and then remember your dream every night? I was able to do some research online and every article says that EVERYBODY dreams except you probably don’t remember it since you woke up too far from R.E.M. stage or you didn’t have an R.E.M. stage. It’s so strange that ever since I internalized and thought about death and was frightened and shocked at the possibilities because of my sickness, I’ve been dreaming EVERY night constantly and sometimes I dream more than one dream. Sometimes I feel like the dream has been going on for a LONG TIME and once I even dreamt of the dream TWICE in a row but in a different manner. And just the other night, my dream felt SO REAL, I thought I was having a lucid dream. I somehow knew in my dream that I was dreaming…. and swimming in the ocean under the bright blue sky and I thought to myself, “Wow this is so realistic” inside my dream. Usually though I have weird dark and morbid dreams (i just had my Zombie Apocalypse dream, also me getting sliced by a meat cleaver at my back, don’t worry I wasn’t frightened of these dreams since they’re so common and I probably got used to it :/) so the wonderful dream about swimming in the ocean was such a respite from the past days.

Maybe it’s my subconscious telling me that graduation is nearing…

In one month I’m about to enter the real world…

and my subconscious is saying…

Not yet.

Questions

1. Did you hear about the medical breakthrough?

2. Have you every dreamt and recalled your dreams EVERYDAY for more than 2 weeks? Just hope that I’m not alone…

*title taken from Google’s post regarding SOPA*

****UPDATE! AS OF JANUARY 20, 2012, SOPA’s mastermind Lamar Smith POSTPONED and will review the bill once again along with the committee and various Internet entities. This is GOOD NEWS but I am sure isn’t the last act of this World War Web

It’s been so long since I made a REAL blog post and not just a filler video to keep my blog running. Priorities priorities I say! I even ran out of pre-made blog posts that I wrote before. This is how delayed I am -_-

Several serious issues have blotted the start of my 2012. In short, my too optimistic self who says that 2012 will be a better year is in for an extremely CHALLENGING YEAR. My successes will be greater but so will my failures. I’m willing to make that hundreds of TRIALS just to get that right formula or fix the light bulb and this, standing up to a great issue is one of the challenges that not only I but THE WHOLE 21ST CENTURY GENERATION will have to face.

Almost everyone on the online world must already know about the business regarding SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP) as last January 18, 2012, the world wide web witnessed the largest temporary shutdown of thousands of sites in protest to these US Bills that the US government wants to pass. Some known sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and even simple blogs like ours joined hand in hand in this silent war against this atrocious bill. By January 19, 2012, US President Obama joined us netizens by going AGAINST SOPA and PIPA.

But what happened to this stand from Obama when just a FEW HOURS LATER, The US government and FBI sued and arrested 4 out of the 7 shareholders including the owner of file sharing sites of Megaupload and Megavideo. They took their domain and this what you see when you visit their page

I haven’t really explained SOPA or PIPA yet to you guys and maybe you think I’m just riding the bandwagon here because it’s “in” to be against them. NO! I think that everyone should be against this because of the “ripples” it creates for EVERYBODY. Do you realize that when SOPA is passed (or not, wtf did FBI just do? and HOW COME OBAMA DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS yet he claims to protest SOPA), not only is Megavideo and Megaupload targeted, but EVERY IMAGINABLE SITE (which includes ALL FILE SHARING SITES, YOUTUBE, 9GAG, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, TUMBLR, WORDPRESS HECK EVEN MY BLOG, WIKIPEDIA, AND 99% OF ALL SITES) that can host copyright materials is a potential threat and will be shutdown. The Internet as we know it will cease to exist. Think of this analogy, SOPA treats it as a cancer so if they see that for example your hand has a cancer, they not only will chop your hand off, but KILL THE WHOLE SELF AS WELL. So even though Youtube has this agreement or policy that it is not responsible for the ANYTHING that is uploaded in their site, the bill will still target Youtube once a user uploads a whole movie or used a song in his music video. Because I can’t really explain the bill well and only give you scenarios, it’s best for me to leave the explanation to the experts.

Watch UK Law Graduate and Professional Gaming Commentator “Total Biscuit” explain SOPA

For those who prefer American accents, watch David Sohn’s explanation

And of course, the ever reliable Wikipedia (don’t use this as sources in high school or university dear students! but for blogs you can

The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. After delivering a court order, the U.S. Attorney General could require US-directed Internet service providers, ad networks, and payment processors to suspend conducting business with sites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws. The Attorney General could also bar search engines from displaying links to the sites.
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from conducting business with websites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites.
The bill also establishes a two-step process for intellectual property-rights holders to seek relief if they have been harmed by a site dedicated to infringement. The rights holder must first notify, in writing, related payment facilitators and ad networks of the identity of the website, who, in turn, must then forward that notification and suspend services to that identified website, unless that site provides a counter notification explaining how it is not in violation. The rights holder can then sue for limited injunctive relief against the site operator, if such a counter notification is provided, or if the payment or advertising services fail to suspend service in the absence of a counter notification.
The second section covers penalties for streaming video and for selling counterfeit drugs, military materials or consumer goods. The bill would expand penalties to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content and other intellectual property offenses. The bill would criminalize unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months.
The bill provides immunity from liability to the ad and payment networks that comply with this Act or that take voluntary action to cut ties to such sites. Any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement would be liable for damages.

And after everything, we can ask, “IS PIRACY THE ONLY THING THEY REALLY CARE HERE?”

NO.

They want MORE PROFIT. MORE BUCKS. MORE DOLLARS. So they eliminate competition from Indie film makers, programmers, artists and writers. They don’t want to share and instead EAT THE WHOLE PIE. So please I hope that you can include a STOP CENSORSHIP ribbon on top of your website to protest against SOPA and PIPA (well the bill has been postponed but doesn’t mean we can’t stop expressing our views and beliefs and be ready for the next battle as the American government doesn’t seem like to be waiting for the bill to pass to take action. Rapidshare could be targeted next).

Everyone must informed about this case. Everyone should be alarmed that this bill AFFECTS EVERYONE.

Questions:
1. Thoughts on this? Agree or Disagree?

Love Jesus.

Check out the poem that this guy wrote about religion and Christianity. You don’t have to be a Christian or even a theist to understand this. I want to hear everyone’s opinion!

Sorry guys if I can’t blog about personal stuffs now, currently sick (with hemorrhoids ONLY hopefully so I just change my diet) and dying with Academics, so please ponder on this!

and Satisfaction Brought It Back.

So which do you believe? The first phrase or the whole sentence? I kinda believe both and context is always important!

So when Discovery Channel started its Curiosity series, I was intrigued. Heck and they keep on showing the commerial for its episode on female orgasm and what it’s for narrated by maggie gylenhall. But what really interested me was their segment for….WAIT FOR IT….

WHAT IF U COULD LIVE FOREVER?

Yeah what would you do? Would u avail these medical treatments if it were possible? Andrew Sage (guy from myth busters) tries to explore this world and yep, freakily (is there such a word?) the technology we have today seems to be telling us that it is possible in the near 50 or so years. THEORY OF SINGULARITY GUYS! (try googling what it is. XD) I really liked the segment except for a few farfetched parts (a flying brain… Seriously? but…) anyway i’ll stop yapping and you can check it out now. Thank you Youtube for full videos and movies!

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY ▼

So it’s the New Year tomorrow. Besides asking a lot of questions, I do want 2012 to be a fresh start. So many thins will change and i am optimistic at saying that 2012 be an awesome year for me. I swear that today will be the last day of procrastination. I have to fix my life and find le reason! LE REASON! I even thought of a new tradition of writing down this year’s failures and achievements and burning it afterwards. Or maybe i should only burn the failures… Maybe oh dear i only have a few hours to decide xD.

So before I say goodbye and welcome the new year, a little plugging for my offline friends’ new spaces in the cyberworld!

1. Randz’ Randzomeness! I swear he has a knack for blogging and of course mixing and matching clothes! He even did a stint at Topman! So go scurry ahead please

2. Mariel’s Indeemand dot com! She’s a very curious girl who likes to snap pics at everything and anything! Also if she’s bored, she does these.

3. Nicole’s Fashion Blog! She’s an investigative journalist and writes well and is addicted to lashes, pink and SHOES! Man you should see this girl! Please head over to her blog!

4. JV’s Sociologist Chemist Chinese Blog! hahaha I hosted JV before but he’s on his own now with a new perspective in life especially shifting to BS Sociology. Go for what you want guys! But he’s still a Chemist at heart methinks!

5. Chair’s dreams and realities! One of my best friends and she has a lot of stuff to talk about especially gaming! She just recently returned to blogging (like me!) so please show her some lve. She also featured Inotia 3, A SUPER ADDICTIVE ANDROID AND IPHONE RPG GAME! I slept at 3 and 4am for this. And in 3 days am now a level 47 archmage. So yeah, TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF PROCRASTINATION!

6. GEORGIE’S FREE WORDPRESS THEMES! Hahah I haven’t really met Georgina personally but I loved her themes so much and have been a follower of her blog for YEARS now, I think that it’s just right to promote it. PLEASE DO CHECK HER FREE THEMES OUT

7. Oh this is just shameless plugging but do visit my Europe photoblog and instagram blog! Currently updating them. Can’t believe I left it alone for months now. Again 2012 WILL BE A NEW YEAR.

LOTS OF LOVE!

Thank you so much for the new visitors of my blog! Hallo and hope you guys don’t get bored here Sorry if I annoy some people but heck, you’re still here hahaha

I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY FANTASTIC AND YES NOT THE LAST HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 (UNLESS YOU BELIEVE ANOTHER THEORY LIKE ALIENS– CHECKTHISVIDEOSERIES :alien: :alien: ) TO YOU!!!
(stop 9gagging! XD)

Lol I forgot to put the…
Questions:
1. So would you want to live forever if you could?
2. Please visit one of my friend’s blogs and tell me what you think
3. 2012 will be… I will…

Who here has been called up by some mysterious caller who suspiciously knows your mobile, landline numbers, your university, schools and your name and is being offered an “executive” or “junior executive” position in some company like NU Skin, Synergy, Pharmanex, Biotechnological US-based firm?

*raises hands*

and who here has turned down the offer?

*raises hands*

and who here has showed up for the meeting?

*MAY RAISE HAND*

NU Skin or the Octagon Building in San Miguel Ave. in Ortigas has been the TALK of blogs since 2009 or even earlier! You had friends telling you that you have been contacted by so and so and with such a shady conversation with no concrete answers, you decide to “research”, google it and lo and behold hundreds of blogs talking how it is a SCAM because hey it could be a modus operandi of some kidnapping gang or something or it could lead to a PYRAMID SCHEME.

“A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud.” – thank you Wikipedia

People then avoid it like a plague but haven’t you ever wondered why IT DOESN’T SEEM TO STOP? Is this strategy by NU Skin actually working? I mean now you have LOTS of people talking about it and as they say, news have wings in Filipino, news whether good and bad (oh especially bad) fly around a lot. Is this what NU Skin exactly wants and why isn’t the government doing anything when clearly a lot of people have been or almost been “scammed?”

Well I did a little research and I found 2 very helpful blogs that shed some positivity into this negativity. I am not saying that what they’re doing is a scam or what they’re doing is correct, it’s all about research and UNDERSTANDING the strategy behind this.

I will preview some excerpts from these 2 blogs,

This 15th floor of Octagon Building is actually the HEADQUARTERS of NU Skin.

“Nu Skin Enterprises is a US based multi-level marketing company that’s been in operation since 1984, worldwide…it’s completely legit, and what they say about the company is true…They are publicly listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and has been featured numerous times in CNN and other world news. They are also the corporate owners of Pharmanex and Big Planet.” – from RandyPau’s blog

From what I understand, Pau has experience with NU skin and based from his commenters, they too have benefited from working at NU Skin (as retailers? sellers? marketers? they don’t really specify how which puts the skeptic in me in thinking mode… is NU Skin telling them to do all these but NU Skin is an established brand. I mean 25 years!) so they have a right to defend NU Skin. Unlike other blogs there who just base their opinions on hearsay and gossip and say it’s a SCAM without really trying it. But we can’t blame them too really for being very cautious. Based on the readings we had for our liberation theology class, Filipinos are very PERSONAL which leads also to extreme personalism to the point they also do not care about others anymore and they take everything personally. Which is hard to do in sales and business so does this make Filipinos bad salesmen? No I’m not saying that at all but there’s a reason why Filipinos are aversive towards Sales and this kind of Networking when it has been going on for a longtime in Western countries. Networking is actually used here in the blogosphere when sites get referrals to boost up their ratings. I have another excerpt from another blog.

Network marketing has created millionaires and multi-millionaires for over 50 years and I expect it to end anytime soon. So when I see a person bashing the industry in general or bashing a company in particular by claiming “nuskin scam” or some other derogatory… it really makes me made. Because the reality is, for whatever reason, the company or business did not work for them. And they’re mad. So they tend to point fingers versus taking personal responsibility for the result they produced or didn’t produce…are seriously considering joining Nuskin to start your own business, then you deserve to hear the truth about the company and not read someone foaming at the mouth because it did not work for them. Because, regardless of the company you are considering, the unfortunately reality is you will always find more than a few people who joined, didn’t do anything, and now… to save face… seem compelled to scream something ridiculous like “nuskin scams – avoid them”… – from Rob’s blog

So what they’re trying to say is that NUSkin is merely PRESENTING AN OPPORTUNITY. As they say in their phone call, this is a no-commitments gig so you don’t need to join IF YOU REALLY DON’T WANT TO. Don’t go around saying it’s a scam. And for those who know how to utilize this opportunity, then GOOD FOR YOU and you might strike big. This isn’t the perfect job for everyone and I guess they employ this strategy to sift the risk takers from those who are not. What is wrong though for me is they actually (based from the comments that I’ve read) HAVE PEOPLE who go to these seminars and make them write down a list of other people to call. That’s really not cool with me. The people or agents they have us calling aren’t properly trained in my opinion because of the amount of negative reactions that they are getting. So their “plan on expounding to Southeast Asia” isn’t really working out despite being a multi-million dollar company. They have to change their tactic a bit. If you’re wondering where they get your numbers, they probably bought it from companies or checked jobstreet or your friend actually wrote down your name in the list of people to contact. So BE PREPARED guys. Be wary but be informative and do proper research.

I actually have a rescheduled meeting for tomorrow 3pm since I’m not feeling well today. I clarified that I DIDN’T WANT TO DO ANY NETWORKING OR SALES such as that (heck i don’t even use the products… well not now) and I DON’T WANT TO SHELL OUT MONEY (i don’t have any, i’m kinda broke…) AS STARTUP OF WHATEVER and this lady actually agreed that I have the ability to choose the projects I wanted and that the friend who referred me will actually be in the meeting. Unlike other comments, I will be going to an “interview” and not a seminar. WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT. I really want to get to the bottom of this all and tell people what really goes on inside of that building. I’ve already read both positive and negative comments from people who actually WENT to the orientation and they did say it is a seminar. But if it isn’t… then I don’t know. I do want to meet my friend who referred me there and get to the bottom of this. It’s quite shady that they actually DON’T ask for a resume. Really weird.

Be safe everyone and understand things before going on saying it’s a scam or not. I shall update this with a new post after tomorrow’s “meeting” Wish me luck!

Sorry if this post came out so late! I actually have a new issue in the works but I’ll go ahead and post this first. It’s most likely that you’re here because you’ve been waiting for the second installment of my experience with the most stressful travel agency I’ve encountered (please read this first if you haven’t). Well surprisingly… they were able to book everything except again, I have some complaints.

Photo credits to Mich and Chair! THANKSS!!

Us!

Airphil’s Airbus

Puerto Prinsesa Airport. It’s a really small terminal

It wasn’t written in the deal but the airline that they got us was Airphil Express and it was my first time to ride with them. I was really nervous because the only domestic flights I trusted were Philippine Airlines (even if they’re always late, they are established) and Cebu Pacific so I was really apprehensive. And to think I watched this feature on National Geographic about this air-crash investigation before boarding haha! Good thing though nothing bad happened except for a few delays of a few minutes. I was asleep for most of the 1 hour and 10 minute-ride there so didn’t experience any strong turbulence unlike the one I experienced with Cebu Pacific going to Shanghai. Man THAT WAS THE WORST FLIGHT EXPERIENCE -__-. This flight didn’t me migraines at all and I commend them for that. So don’t be afraid of Airphil express Their terminal by the way is located at NAIA terminal 3. If your flight is at 7:30am, don’t be deceived that there will be a “short” line. There’ll actually be a long line when you arrive at around 5:30am but this is manageable as the long line is actually for Cebu Pacific flights. GOOD LUCK TO THEM! By 6:15am we were actually waiting at the gate and had enough time to kill. Oh and for those who booked with Ensemble, you only need the photocopy of the credit card of Joey Regis or whoever PAID Airphil thing. You don’t need their valid IDs but don’t forget to bring your valid ID too and the travel docket!

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Kookaburra Travel Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

We stayed in Kookaburra Lodge finally after demanding Ensemble that this hotel was the one written on the deal so I really wanted to transfer here. It was a good decision even if the location was 10 minutes away from the main city because the people there were really so friendly and SERVICE-ORIENTED (unlike some people *COUGH COUGH*). I was texting one of the staff before we arrived because I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to attend the Underground River Tour that we booked with them (instead of Ensemble, GOOD THINKING. it’s 1,500 pesos though but I think you can get a cheaper deal if you book early) because our flight was scheduled to arrive in Puerto Prinsesa at 8:40am and the tour was at 9am. Of course I feared for the worse like our flight getting delayed and true enough it was delayed for 10 minutes. Surprise surprise when we arrived, Kookaburra arranged to have a separate van to transfer our things to the hotel and the Underground Tour van was already there waiting for us. Good thing we were able to dress properly and we immediately got on! Our tour guide Tita Nids was so nice and was very motherly to us. We were with other tourists from another hotel and Kookaburra. Oh a tip, book your tours in advance with the hotel because they need to secure permits for the Underground River tour.

I kinda forgot how many hours exactly it took from Puerto Prinsesa City to Sabang where the Underground River was (it was 8 kilometers long under a mountain! we were able to travel only 1.2km though as the rest of the river can only be traveled when you’re a researcher). I think it was around 2-3 hours of a joyous ride because of the remnants of the “Abortion Road” (when the road to Sabang wasn’t developed and when pregnant women can’t travel there XD). Because there were foreign tourists, conversation was very lively and interesting as we got to know that they were traveling around the world and Tita Nids was also sharing her stories and explaining the different cities in Palawan. My friends and I bought sun hats too which were perfect for the occasion as it was really so hot and sunny that day! We then had lunch at this coastal restaurants where Badjaos (people native there) were selling their handmade accessories. They were really cheap too but DON’T FORGET to bargain! haha! And be careful because usually a swarm of sellers will surround you O_O You have to be assertive when you don’t want to buy at all. I was able to buy some though WARNING TO FOREIGNERS, please make sure that they are selling you the right price.

Food that comes with the package

Boat ride to the Underground River

Entrance to Underground River.

Tips: PLEASE WEAR JACKET OR PUT PLASTIC AROUND YER BAGS Droplets of water and maybe some guano (aka batpoo) will fall on top of you. Helmets are provided so don’t worry about your crown. Also spray INSECT-REPELLENT coz there are little insects buzzing around. If you’re lucky, you might get a glimpse of a swimming monitor lizard, LOVED IT! We were able to see one at the entrance of the cave. Also if you want to hold the spotlight (it’s POSITIVELY DARK INSIDE THE UNDERGROUND RIVER), sit up front but again, you will attract lotsa little critters. The bats I found out are SUPER CUTE! They’re not vicious at all but tiny little darlings Also get RENE as your boat guide. One of the corniest/funniest man I’ve ever heard/met. Seriously he’s really funny.

Overall, the Underground River was a lovely 40 minute experience. Those afraid of the dark though, this experience would be quite scary…

Us by the beach

TIME TO PARTEY HAVE DINNER! One of the best Filipino restaurants I’ve been to!

So here’s evidence of our pigging out. OH and we ate WOODWORMS. WORMS.

Fish Chips

Rice

Gising Gising (my fave! veggies, shrimp, etc!)

Buttered Prawns OMG YUM

Beef steak (Filipino style!)

Crispy Pata (Pig’s thigh feet) OMG SO HEAVENLY BUT OH SO CHOLESTEROL-Y

THE CARNAGE! Our moms taught us well to not leave anything behind

Oh yeah, did I mention THE WORMS??

Day 2 begins! Now I was really worried about our tour that came with Ensemble, the Honday Bay Island Hopping tour. I was reassured a bit when Joey Regis, their ACCLAIMED CEO (I was wondering though, WHY THE HELL IS THE CEO THE ONE UPDATING OUR TOURS? WTF?), suddenly called me and reminded me of our tour at 9am. It said though in their travel docket that we were supposed to be picked up at 730am. I wondered what the hell happened but I told him okay. I also asked for the contact number of our guide and got it anyway. I asked Kookaburra’s staff about our tour and they honestly can’t give me any answers coz Ensemble really is the only one who knows about it. SO PLEASE, WHOEVER GOT ENSEMBLE’S DEALS, PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK WITH THEM ALL THE TIME COZ YOUR HOTEL WON’T KNOW EITHER. And I actually asked Tita Nids about Ensemble and they have been hearing horrible things too especially this story about Ensemble ruining a couple’s honeymoon because they booked them at wrong times and they could only go on the City tour which they had to book themselves. Really frustrated couple. SHEESH. Ensemble MUST LEARN.

So we got up and had breakfast at 8am and surprisingly, the guide arrived before 9am and we were able to go with a couple of people who also booked with Ensemble (again we shared our own experiences with them, ALL NEGATIVE). It was cool that we met Mich’s long lost relative there and also met a very nice couple. They got Cebu Pacific’s flight though. It turns out that Ensemble ONLY provided a tour handler, NOT EXACTLY a tour guide so he wasn’t like Tita Nids who talked about Palawan. So I absolutely didn’t learn anything about the islands. We didn’t have a snorkeling instructor or guide too (I saw that other groups had someone go snorkeling with them) which was a pity coz they could have taught us the proper way to snorkel. I knew how to swim but I didn’t exactly know how to dive. I did see the pretty fishes and got to feed them! Oh by the way, we rented out beach shoes and snorkeling gear and had some free fish food There’s a stop on the way to the port. We were able to hop to Snake Island (my fave coz of the LOADS of fishes) and Pandan Island (LOTS OF ALGEA! Some starfishes and fishes but not as many, you could ride on banana boats, jetski and other activities though) only because our guide said that they were doing some renovations or what on Starfish Island. SO THEY SAY. So Ensemble again FAILS in this department because our tour wasn’t really equipped with a guide. WTF really. To those who have arranged Honday Bay Island hopping with other travel agencies, did you have a “real” guide? So I’ll let the pics do the talking

On da boat!!

DELICIOUS LUNCH THOUGH!! Our tour handler was a great cook! Now that’s a good thing

Snake Island!

Next stop was DINNER AGAIN! haha boy we loved our dinners! Oh by the way, Kookaburra can arrange tricycle rides to the main city BUT it’s really MORE EXPENSIVE! 20 pesos per person though the tricycle was indeed better than Manila’s trikes, i still think 20php is STEEP. So when going back from your location, you can either get another trike offering a cheaper price or contact Kookaburra again to pick you up So we had ours in Kalui’s! They were fullybooked by that time and it’s a good thing we reserved a place. I LOVED the ambiance of the place and we had to go barefoot inside the restaurant. The sounds and lighting were perfect. Except I actually loved the food at Kinabuch’s better though. Kalui’s seemed lacking something… hahah!

Front of Kalui’s. Yeah Lui owns this restaurant

No slippers or shoes please

We kinda pigged out again except we had more fishes and vegetables Kinda too lazy to put everything. I’ll only put if someone requests the 7 dishes we 4 girls ate

Dropped by Puerto Prinsesa’s Bay walk area!

BEAR CAT! SO FLUFFY!

Baker’s Hill!

DELICIOUS HALO HALO!

Basically I LOVED my Palawan trip except for some minor flaws (Ensemble -__-). Our island hopping day could have been better. I sure wish we stayed here for more than 3 days. It just isn’t enough. And now I’m wishing I could go back. But definitely not booking with Ensemble anymore (unless they hire me and I’ll fix their booking system, HA! XD)

So toodles all!

*NOTE THIS IS NOT TO DEGRADE any of the coupon site or the travel agency. This is just a recap and opinion and FEELINGS of MY EXPERIENCE which I think can help a lot of people who had/have undergone (or ARE undergoing) this experience with the said sites. I was able to book my flights, accommodations, tours and everything in the end and I will fly on October17-19. I will make a separate blog post for POST-vacation to see if everything really has gone smoothly. I am not telling you to bash or boycott these people, just BE WARY AND TAKE LOTS OF CAUTION*

In case you wanna skip the whole post, here are the RELIABLE CONTACT NUMBERS

*With updated Metrodeal new hotline number*
ENSEMBLE E-TRAVEL AGENCY
DARYL (for PALAWAN DEALS)
E-mail: ppsdeal2@gmail.com
Celphone: +63 9174886388
Landline: 5469083
OTHER Person people have been able to contact
Joey Regis +639174246558
+639174886386

BANTAYAN DEALS
E-mail: bantayandeal2@gmail.com

METRODEAL
Landline: 8858848
MetroDeal Inc.
27F (Regus) Tower 2 The Enterprise Centre
6766 Ayala Avenue cor. Paseo De Roxas
Makati City

I feel so STRESSED AND HURT the past weeks.

Okay sorry how very callous of me to start my post with these kinds of words. But I haven’t endured this kind of stress and axiety with any other TRAVEL AGENCIES in my whole years of…. almost adulthood. My parents have been the ones arranging flights for me but I am sure that they have never encountered such horrendous service in their entire life. And we thought travel agencies were service-oriented. We didn’t demand leopard skins or a red carpet treatment, we just wanted BASIC customer service. Listen to the customer, reply to the customer ASAP, respect the customer and be a cheery dude.

Okay so let’s go into detail about this.

Am sure that everyone must be acquainted with coupon sites already which I think is an ingenious thing. The stores, establishments and agencies put up this limited offer and people would react impulsively to this because they would all think, “if i don’t buy this now, I may never get the chance!”. These services are also PRE-PAID so they immediately earn money without even doing anything. Smart eh? I mean look at this travel deal we bought, it’s worth almost 10 thousand pesos and around 3 thousand bought the coupons. Do the math and they’ve instantly hit GOLD! Such was the case of our deal in Metrodeal and Ensemble E-travel.

Metrodeal is an established coupon site here in the Philippine as one of the first few coupon sites. My friend recommended it to me because of its great deals on food and services. When the offer for 2 people to go to Puerto Prinsesa for 3 days 2 nights including airfare, accommodations, tours and breakfasta for only 10 thousad pesos, my friends and I jumped at the chance and boight the great deal. It’s my dream to go to Palawan coz I believed that it was better than Boracay because there was less people. I researched the hotel, Kookaburra Lodge and it rained with GREAT reciews so I told my friends, all systems go! Let’s do this thing!

This happened last July 2011. Here’s a screenshot of the offer.

Note the terms and conditions, it said that they would immediately call you after the deal has ended. Note again that it did say subject to availability on SOME DATES but does not mention that you can actually go to only if you pay an additional fee so we all assumed that all flights WHEN AVAILABLE ONLY (meaning if it isn’t available on October20, then there aren’t flights at all) would have the same price. NOTHING SAID DEPENDS ON PROMO PRICE. It’s vague and discreet. Why didn’t we notice this? So guys always READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS VERY CAREFULLY. If you feel like there’s something wrong, don’t push through with it and find another deal.

Note also that I actually didn’t check on the travel agency. BIG MISTAKE. I assumed that all travel agencies would function well since booking a flight actually takes less time now especially local flights since you don’t even need passport details. Again DON’T ASSUME. ALWAYS MAKE SURE OF EVERY DETAIL. It was a mistake to assume that Metrodeal and Ensemble actually had GOOD COMMUNICATION. I was only alarmed after 2 weeks when my friend kept on wondering why hasn’t Ensemble contact us yet. So I did my part and emailed them our voucher details.

Tik tok tik tok… a day has passed… two… three… four… (hey did they really get my email?)… five… six… seven…

HOW DOES A TRAVEL AGENCY TAKE 7 DAYS TO RESPOND?

I got scared thinking maybe Metrodeal or Ensemble scammed us. I looked again at Metrodeal making sure it was a legit site (well of course it was, they had HUNDREDS of deals!) and then I searched for Ensemble’s site. Their site didn’t look professional and actually shady and they had TONS of numbers which I tried to call to NO AVAIL. No one was answering and one number was even WRONG. I then googled and did my own research about the company and I saw SCAMS, COMPLAINTS, ANGRY WORDS written all over the forums. I called up Kookaburra Lodge just to ask if Ensemble really did make reservations with them before and if they were legit, I finally got their cel number from them and the landline number from a blog I found. I tried that but again NOBODY WAS RESPONDING. I emailed Metrodeal and they replied back an email that only told Ensemble to please handle our matters immediately. Knowing that I couldn’t actually just depend on an email that might be left unanswered once again. I kept on calling and trying Ensemble directly. I NEEDED to speak to someone. I tried for 50 FRIGGING MINUTES CALLING THEIR DARN PHONES and gave up so I just sent them TWENTY texts inquiring our situation. By the good grace of the Lord, THEY FINALLY REPLIED (via text) and then I replied FOUR TIMES AGAIN just so that I can get a reply. What are they thinking? Are they not getting our texts? The good thing was I got a reply from the e-mail afterwards. After feeling harassed, stressed and frazzled. I knew that we had to call them immediately because flights were probably running out and we had to really book in advance.

His excuse was that they lacked manpower and the phone lines kept crashing because of the number of calls. They were going to add more people and more lines. Well THIS ISN’T MY PROBLEM. They should have expected this to happen when they put up that good deal/voucher on Metrodeal. They should have anticipated and added more lines to their communication. They should have REVIEWED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (and to think i’m not a business major but I do know that CONTINGENCY PLANS MUST BE MET) and fixed this problem BEFORE SERVING TO THE CUSTOMER. I know that no company is perfect, heck nobody is. But to not look like they prepared at all? YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Um…. where did all the other information go in their original voucher? This is the email one they sent us.

What contained in their e-mail frustrated me even more because the dates that I asked weeks before WAS NOT APPLICABLE but we could go if we add a thousand pesos to it. Promo wasn’t applicable on those days but we can still go. Now wait a minute, nothing was said about promo fares or anything. My friend whose brother was a lawyer was even encouraging us to file a lawsuit against them because of misinformation and lack of legitimacy (im not sure if Ensemble is listed in the Department of Tourism) because of their service (I read also from blogs that some actually have tried to file, I am not sure what happened to these). I emailed Ensemble about this concern and they mentioned that it was MISCOMMUNICATION WITH METRODEAL, Metrodeal didn’t put that fine print there in the promo. But AGAIN this shouldn’t have been our problem, this should have been theirs.

My benefit of the doubt and my desire to see Palawan at all costs made me lose heart in arguing over this so we just made a compromise and settled for October 17-19. I have to give it to the one that I was talking to though because he was able to settle our flight in one night (which made me wonder, WHY COULDN’T THEY HAVE DONE THIS FRIGGING SOONER?). He told us that he will e-mail us our itinerary, flight details, accommodation details (travel docket in short) by September. One month after. I felt more at ease now because I was able to talk to a real person this time and he seemed efficient anyway. This is DARYL (not sure if Darryl) from Ensemble and he sounded nice.

So there… one week passed… two… three… four… FIVE… SIX…

It was already October 2 and since our flight’s on October 17, I started panicking a little and decided to call them again. Same problem. My friend told me that she saw new deals that they were servicing (THEY EVEN TOOK MORE JOBS, CAN THEY HANDLE IT?) and saw that they added more cel phone numbers. So they did fulfill their promise of adding more lines. GOOD JOB. But were they answering? UH… NO. Even Daryl wasn’t replying to my calls or texts. I was also using two other cell phones and trying out ALL the available cell phone numbers they had. FINALLY I got in using their landline. I asked to speak to Daryl because he knew our problems unfortunately he wasn’t there. I can’t remember what the guy said but he transferred me to a guy named Kurt/Kirt. Now this is where I blew my fuse because when I inquired about my problem, KURT/KIRT seemed like he had absolutely NO IDEA what I was talking about. He just kept on telling me that he will email me this week (it was a Wednesday when I called I think) and if I don’t hear from them this week, I should call next week (next week meaning, uh just 7 days away from our flight, OH GREAT) again. He didn’t sound ACCOMMODATING OR FRIENDLY AT ALL. I can see him shrugging his shoulders in the phone, not even caring for the customer, didn’t even sound like he was making an effort to view our package or emailing us, it’s as if his shift was done and I was just a liability. I was HURT AND EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AT THIS but I kept calm. I waited again but of course to no reply and I tried Daryl once more the next day and THANKFULLY HE PICKED UP. Now he was appalled and confused as to why our travel docket wasn’t made yet so he told me that he would finish it tonight (AGAIN, it is not my problem that the people in the agency didn’t seem to know about my deal with my the agency. How was I supposed that only one guy knew about my problem????). He was able to make it even though it was around 9pm already (bless his soul for staying up late), but when I saw the travel document that the agency sent,

“As we are the only e-Travel Company in the Philippines available 24 HOURS and who derives 100% of its business from the travel market industry, you are important to us. ”

I almost spat my drink out and almost wanted to cry uncontrollably. 24 hours, me being important to them. I can’t help but laugh at the irony of it all.

There were some curious things though, they changed our accommodations when a big part of why I wanted the deal in the first place was a good hotel and also they had lots of typos and mistakes in their travel docket. I emailed Daryl about this and he obliged and found a way to comply with my requests. He was really nice and everything. The only problem I had was with the optional Underground river tour which I wanted to cancel (we didn’t pay the fees yet so I thought we could cancel it ahead of time) but he texted that there would be cancellation fees. I was… WE HAVEN’T PAID YET, HOW COULD THERE BE CANCELLATION FEES? Well i again gave the benefit of the doubt and maybe he thought I was talking about canceling the whole trip which wasn’t what I meant. Good thing in the end it was all sorted out 5 days before our departure.

So my friends, would you have been stressed if you were in my place? Maybe. I know I certainly was stressed from all the confusion, the extremely HARD-TO-CONTACT agency but we were able to pull through. If Ensemble had more people like Daryl and can be contacted easily, I wouldn’t have no problem at all. If they had more Kurt/Kirts, then I’d really be fuming! I just want to tell the people who availed of vouchers by Ensemble that

THEY ARE NOT A SCAM AGENCY. THEY REPLY. JUST FRIGGING TRY AND TRY AGAIN. DON’T LOSE HOPE! CONTACT THEM UNTIL THEY REPLY!

It’s just so frustrating that Metrodeal also doesn’t answer on their landlines. And frustrating that Ensemble’s offices are in Cebu. I suggest going to the office directly would be the most efficient way but it’s in Cebu… aww man…

Here are the contact numbers that I was able to reach through. I’m not sure with the others. I also got this number from another blog site. If you have any problems with contacting them, I would contact Daryl and tell him about it.

*With updated Metrodeal new hotline number*
ENSEMBLE E-TRAVEL AGENCY
DARYL (for PALAWAN DEALS)
E-mail: ppsdeal2@gmail.com
Celphone: +63 9174886388
Landline: 5469083
OTHER Person people have been able to contact
Joey Regis +639174246558
+639174886386

BANTAYAN DEALS
E-mail: bantayandeal2@gmail.com

METRODEAL
Landline: 8858848
MetroDeal Inc.
27F (Regus) Tower 2 The Enterprise Centre
6766 Ayala Avenue cor. Paseo De Roxas
Makati City

If you have any other difficulties, please contact me or them. PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS. A GOOD DEAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S AN EFFICIENT DEAL. AND ALSO GOOD LUCK!!!! Pls spread!

Last October 5 was indeed a truly memorable date. I woke up excited and getting ready for university and preparing for my Philosophy orals. I visited our thesis lab and decided to hang out with my friends. The minute I got in, a close friend saysngf

Friend: “Hey did you know about Steve Jobs leaving?”
Me: (thinking it was his resign) “Yeah! That’s old news, he’s been like that for a LONG TIME!”
Friend: “Oh really? Okay…”er
(after a few minutes)
Another Friend: “Man it’s all over how Steve Jobs died so suddenly…”
Me: “WTFJWEIOFJEOFHEKF387438UEIHW289*?”:l{u^rgi%! ARE YOU FRIGGING SERIOUS?”

An atomic bomb fell on top of my head and exploded my brains out. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even want to think about it, heck I didn’t even want to fathom how life will be different. I may be some insignificant person in southeast asia but the impact that Steve Jobs gave to my life… the fact that he built Pixar, Apple… they’re all so important to me and this tragic event is a life changer for me. I couldn’t help but tear up when I heard the news. Look at me you would say, pathetic me crying over some stranger’s death. But Steve Jobs isn’t some stranger just as Harry Potter is or J. K. Rowling. You feel like you know them because you have some sort of connection, no matter how frail it may be. Your worlds collide if I may be cheesy. Now I say farewell to this part of my Bucket List,

Meet Steve Jobs in Person.

Now I’ll never be able to do it, it isn’t physically possible. I won’t be able to go crazy and tell him THANK YOU FOR HAVING SUCH A WONDERFUL MIND!! I won’t be able to hear his brilliant ideas anymore. Steve Jobs is the reason why I want to work for Pixar or Apple. I still remember my first apple product, the ipod nano (WHICH IS STILL ALIVE BTW :D) which Steph my best friend and I were drooling over. It was the sleekest mp3 player out there and wasn’t bulky at all like the ipod classic. Heck 4gig seem so big back that and owning such a device would be a dream come true. Good thing my parents gave me the chance. And then came my 18th birthday. I had no debut or anything but my parents treated me again to my first and only Macbook Pro. It’s a DREAM because the interface, the flow, the design, the graphics, the performance was just suitable for me. Photobooth was indeed such a great invention too And Pixar was there since Toy Story, bringing me happiness and tears and being simply awesome. Steve Jobs made that all happen.

I admire Steve Jobs not only because of the great products he helped put together and sell, but also because he unlike other innovators shunned the spotlight. He was doing these things not for fame or glory (why would he stick with the same fashion for years then?) but he simply wanted to help people out of his genuine love for innovation. He gave us what we needed and not only what we wanted. I have this new perspective because of reading an article in today’s newspaper how Steve Jobs in his final weeks, just wanted to be with his family. He didn’t entertain fanboys because he was too weak and he didn’t want to be praised ALL the time. This is why… I hope he somehow felt my *quiet* fangirling. Like Steve, I’m not a crazy fan at all, I don’t push people HEY BUY APPLE PRODUCTS or hate all those Windows user. I hope that he somehow felt it and now I hope he knows how much I really admire him from afar. I hope that he was really peaceful when he left and that he was content with what God gave him even for a short while.
56 years old is just too young. Too young.

Yet I thank God for giving the world one of the most intelligent, most revolutionary, awesome human beings on the planet. He will be remembered by us through films, products and legend.

Thanks for inspiring me, for telling everyone to follow WHAT THEY LOVE. Don’t stop being foolish. Don’t stop being curious. Don’t stop living. He’s given me hope amidst this depression of mine. Grades aren’t all that. You just need the heart and the will.

iSalute, iFarewell, iMiss, iSeeYouAgain, I THANK YOU.

Watch his Stanford commencement Speech

Watch Pirates of Silicon Valley (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates docudrama)

Forever a fan <3

Guess how i’m writing this post? Hahaa

Well am using iPhone!! Haha tis awesome really how technology works. I am soo happy that you guys have visited and commented once again! I really shall visit you guys when next week comes because life would be more free then. A bit then i go to my internship duties!

And before anything else… PLS WELCOME MY TWO NEW HOSTEES, ALYSSA AND TARYN!! Pls do visit them!!

I really wanted to share a book with you guys. I picked up this book in The Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, France (every wall had a book crammed in, even the sides of stairs were not spared. It was the dream place of every bookworm!) even if saw this book here in the phils, the cover drew me to grab and sniff the pages, flip through them and just hold on tight and never let go. Im a judge a book by a cover type of person (because covers are part of books too though harry potter is my totem for breaking this rule of mine back then) and i fell in love with this edition. I wasn’t sure of the plot yet but i bought it anyway along with another book. After reading it tonight, i couldn’t help shed a tear. Scratch that tears.

It was wonderfully told in the point of view of a german girl living with a german family during the second world war. I have a bias towards holocaust novels and i love them for some reason. Maybe because i felt humanity in their pages. Of how humanity is capable of such goodness and extreme atrocity, what a wonderful and dreadful paradox! I loved Number by the stars and the Diary of Anne Frank but this book i shall remember up to my grave because of such compelling charactwrs. I cried at the hopelessness and futility of it all. And i remembered the fall of tearsdrops ive been shedding the past few days. Maybe it was because of academcs, of the intense pain of enduring that “cleanig” session in the derma a while ago which involves needles (yes it hurt like hell), and of whatever shallow or whatever reasons, i’ve been tearing up.

But then i contemplate and i try to still see some goodness in life. After all we’re here and we can’t do anything about it. There must be a reason why everything was made like this right? Sorry for such thoughts but I need to reflect a lot especially since my Philosophy final orals is next week and our professor wants insights, not just some parroting students. It’s a good thing too he let us watch Wit (HBO, 2001), a very um.. witty and remarkable tv film with the awesome Emma Thompson! I really loved how they explored death and the life of a person while the settings are only in the hospital or the university. It really does make you think…

I really do indeed recommend reading The Book Thief and watching Wit! Please do because these are such gems and am sure it’ll add something to your thoughts and reflection. Thanks so much for bearing this post. OH YEAH!! Pls do add me in Shelfari or Mubi if anybody has an account and follow me by clicking on the icons on my social slider on the left! Mubi is a site for movie lovers and they can share lists and… stuff haha. I still have a lot to fix actually around here O_O will get to it next week!

Questions:
1. Have you taken up or do you want to take a Philosophy class?
2. Have you read or watch them? If ever did you like it?
3. Share a thought for the day! (even… hey there are violent flying Asian carps invading America! or something like that… but yeah i did watch that in National Geographic yesterday XD)