Christmas Nostalgia on a Sunday Morning

I was online looking for Chirstmas songs for my mom when I came across some rare gems in YouTube that surely brought out the child in me on Christmas day. When I was a young boy, my dad would play his favorite vinyl Christmas albums on all weekends of December leading to Christmas day. The usual suspects: Ray Conniff "A Very Merry Christmas Album", "Pamasko ng mga Bituin" and the "Mabuhay Singers Christmas Album".

Your ears would bleed every weekend listening to these songs over and over. But my dad would just sit by the record player and gently tap the chair to the melody of the Christmas carols. Simple joys when cassette players were the hottest thing in music. But my dad said that the quality of vinyl records were way better than those of cassettes (of which I totally agree).

Okay, I'm not that old to actually be part of the era when this Ray Conniff video was made. I'm a child of the 80's and 90's. Its just this video took me back to a time when Christmases were much more simple and meaningful. I used to sing along with my dad on some of these songs; truly priceless memories.

Christmas nostalgia is in the air on this gloomy Sunday. May the spirit of the season haunt you as well, in a good way of course. I've thrown in some Boney M Christmas music as well for your viewing pleasure. I find the video creepy and if you have problems sleeping at night, refrain from viewing this video. Pump up the volume, listen to the song in the background and sing along if you want. Happy Holidays everyone!

The New Generation Philippine Banknotes

Its been a while since our beloved Peso had a makeover, and yes, it sure is a welcome change. The new designs were very well received by the public. The changes were striking and it sure brought the Peso at par with other world currencies in terms of design and security features. The colors were much better as well. I'm not really sure if they would be of the same size (dimensions) with the old bills, but I sure hope that they would be similar to that of the Australian and Hongkong dollar.

There were notable changes on the bills. The reverse side of the notes now feature some of our most beautiful tourist spots and unique Philippine fauna. I especially love the tarsier and blue-naped parrot on the 200 and 500 Peso bills. However, there were some geographical errors on the notes. There were some issues in the accuracy of the location of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean Park and of the Tubbataha Reef on the 1000 and 500 Peso bills. Also, Batanes seems to have been cut off from the Philippine map on the reverse side of all the new bills.

The Bangko Sentral has also decided to let go of some of the more important historical depictions in the new designs. Gone is the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo oath taking image on the 200 Peso note and images of the EDSA People Power I on the reverse side of the 500 Peso note.

I am very excited to get my hands on these new bank notes. And yes, I'd also start keeping some of the old notes for posterity. To our Central Bank, just one small wish: please start producing more paper money and less of the coins currently in circulation. Also, please reintroduce the 1, 5 and 10 Peso bills into the market. I'm pretty sure you'd be doing the Filipino nation a big favor.

For complete details on these new designs, do check the official Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas website: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/publications/media.asp?id=2471

theuglykidproject Christmas tree

I spent most of the weekend decorating our house for Christmas. With so many rooms to decorate, I told my mom that we are limiting the decorations to just two: the living room and the study. But then mom had her way in decorating the kitchen as well. This year, my major holiday project was the Christmas tree. I want a tree that reflected my personality. A tree with balls! Blue balls! LOL. So thats what my family got. A tree dominated by blue ornaments. The official uglykidproject Christmas tree!

Next project: photos of the Metropolis this Christmas. From Alabang to Makati, I'd be taking pictures of how Christmas is shaping up this season.  Time to fill up the gas tank and get the camera ready... I'm going on Christmas road trip!

Christmas becomes theuglykidproject

There is no escaping Christmas! Its (counting with my fingers) 23 days left before one of the most awaited holidays all over the world. The metropolis is now glowing as Christmas lights adorn every tree, house and building facade. The Yuletide spirit is definitely in the air.

On that note, I'm decking the uglykidproject halls with boughs of Christmas holly (fa la la la la, la la la la). Because this indeed is the season to be jolly (fa la la la la, la la la la).

Enjoy the festivities! Let the season of fun begin!

The Morning Rush and the "Marinduque" incident

Okay, I guess the people in the office now thinks I'm looney; thanks to the "Morning Rush" podcasts which I have been listening for the past week at work. After missing almost 3 weeks worth of Chico and Delle's morning radio show (I was away on Java Training for most of last month), I pretty much made up for it by listening to the podcasts nonstop since Tuesday. True to TMR (The Morning Rush) fashion, the episodes last month were hilarious! I was trying my best not to laugh out loudly. What started as chuckles, led to louder snickers (with matching bobbing shoulders)- then bursting out in laughter in an otherwise deathly silent workplace.

In a TMR episode about the "Top Ten Tourism Slogans for the Philippines (a province or a city)", some entries presented really witty slogans (this was after the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" brouhaha):

“More Asia, Than Malaysia.”
“Boom Boom Mayon! Bye Bye Albay.”
“San Juan, Juan-derful!”
“Pinas, Ganda Mo Teh!”
“Sa Pandacan, Big Time Ka!”
“Thanks For Coming, Camiguin!”
“We Fly High In Capiz!”
“Tata Tete Titi Toto Tutuban!”
“Better Leyte Than Never!”
“Boracay, You Sexy Beach!”
“El Nido. It’s Everybody’s Milk!”
“EoW pFouHWz, pHFiLiPPeEnZZ!” (jejejeje)

And to cap off the list: my favorite entry (which made me laugh out the hardest):
“Sa Marinduque, Malalaki Ang Pu…(so).”

This almost made me faint! I thought Chico was going to blurt out "Pu**" (hahaha). And thanks to Delle, an alternative filler was given: "Pu**y" (the English equivalent of pu**) which she said on air! (I want to believe this was an honest slip-up) hehehe. OMG, this made may day. I had to run out of the office to laugh in an empty hallway.

For a complete list of all the entries for this episode, visit Chico Garcia's blog (Strange Fruit): http://chicogarcia.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/the-top-ten-tourism-slogans-for-the-philippines-or-a-province-or-a-city/. This is a truly great blog with lots of really interesting stories and amazing photographs taken by Chico himself.

I want to think Chico and Delamar's morning radio show (which airs 6AM-10AM daily over at RX 93.1) is what keeps me sane in the workplace. But after today's incident, I'm willing to reconsider. LOL.

The Pilipinas Kay Ganda Brouhaha

The first time I heard about the new Philippine toursim slogan was on a radio show where the hosts were openly criticizing the new tourism campaign. They were referring to the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" slogan which replaced the old "Wow Philippines" catch phrase. Okay, in the Filipino language it sounds serene, precise and enticing. But I am a Filipino and I perfectly understand what it means. If I were, say an American, who doesn't have the slightest clue on where, or what the heck "Pilipinas" is (and I bet most foreigners won't even know where the Philippines is in the map), this slogan sounds so misguided and wrong in almost every aspect of an effective marketing campaign (unless the Department of Tourism is aiming on boosting local tourism or targeting balikbayans). Its like taking a step back on where the "Wow Philippines" campaign has taken us these past few years. 

I gave this issue a break for a few days thinking that it would just go away. But no! It gets worse. To add insult to injury, there is a rather serious accusation that the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" logo was based (in more blunt terms "blatantly copied" a.k.a. plagiarized) from Poland's tourism campaign logo. What a joke. What were they thinking? And they expect to get away with it? Someone in the Department of Tourism must explain and take responsibility for this sham! Do check on the logo comparison and judge it yourself. So I say, off with their heads! What would they think of next? "Philippines, Truly more Asia"?  

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There is no escaping Christmas in November...

I was away most of this week on training and didn't have the time to tweet, update my Facebook profile or blog. I'm catching up with my emails, and my other cyber what-have-yous.

Anyway, I'm spending the next few hours trying to secure myself some sweet airline deals. I'm planning to go to Davao for a day then spend the rest of my 3 day vacation in Cebu and Bohol (the second time this year). I don't know. I have this compulsion to travel this month. Maybe I'm going overboard with my bucketlist. And to prove this point, I already bought myself a new travelling bag for my still unrealized and overplanned Davao vacation.

On the way home tonight, I noticed the newly set-up Christmas decorations along Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue. I would be taking pictures next week and would be posting them here soon.

Christmas is just around the corner and there is just no escaping it.

The say a picture is worth a thousand words. Armed with my digital camera and inquisitive eye, I took on the challenge of capturing the essence of this intersting city during my onsite client visit last 18-24 September 2010. Salaam!

This is my "wish-list" of travel destinations for next year. True to the uglykid way of travelling, I'm planning to backpack my way to half of these cities: Bangkok, Macau and Hongkong (probably add Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to my list).

I would be going back to Dubai for my annual vacation and if everything falls into place, this would be the time that I would finally join my sister for her New York City visit. Again, this is a wish-list. I hope fate would be kinder to me this year.

Life is too short to just let it pass you by. We only have one shot at this, then its gone. Two lazy Sundays ago, I was able to read this interesting article on the Sunday Inquirer Magazine which talks about famous people's bucket lists. Some were far out impossible, while a lot of them were at the least, noble and interesting. For starters, what the heck is a "bucket list"? As urbandictionary.com describes it: "...a list of things to do before you die; comes from the term "kicked the bucket"

This made me stop and think: I better make myself one! I rushed on to get my pencil and tickler and made quite a long list of things to do. But then, I said to myself, is this truly worth my time and energy? Would these items on my list be at least achievable in my lifetime? I looked at it again and an entry said: "Go bungee jumping". Well, great! My injured spine would love to get that one final deathly jolt. But then, some were quite achievable (and more of a mind over matter thing) like "Eat vegetables" and "Kick away the junk food habit", while others I have already started: "Set foot in all three major island groups in the Philippines". Great! At least I have something to look forward to. On how soon I will complete it, is an entirely different story.

I think my list still needs a little refining. I would definitely post it soon and hope that it would inspire everyone to make their own list. Check on my partial list below:

• Set foot in all continents (excluding Antartica)
• Save my first million by age 35
• Watch the "The David Letterman Show" live
• Run my first marathon
• Learn a third language
• Build my own resthouse
• Meet Chico and Delamar
• Do volunteer work
• Get washboard abs
• Take a commercial A380 flight to anywhere

I hope I get to achieve these items on my list before death beats me into it.

I'm falling into the trap of being an idle kid being caught up with too much work and very little play as experienced these past few years. What used to be very regular vacations became few and far between. The Easter holidays were usually reserved for my annual Dubai escapade and my birthdays were usually spent in the urban jungle of Hongkong. But then, this uglykid took a hiatus from the good life and spent more time at work. It was a good idea during that time and true enough, I finally got the promotion I was working hard for. But this year, a lot has changed and I realized that I must strike a balance between life and work.

That's why last summer, I promised myself that I would travel more. But this time, I had my eyes set on local destinations. My resolution was to set foot on all three major division of the country in a year's time before the year ends. And oh, what makes this interesting is that I would need to "backpack" by myself to my chosen destinations.

I started March this year when I went to Laiya, Batangas (where I slept on a tent which was not a very pleasant experience). While the beach was very inviting, I came at a very hectic time of the year. My early morning walk on the beach was a very good opportunity to check the environs and the nearby resorts. The beautiful mountains meet the beach in a very relaxed setting. Then a little short of noon, I had the chance to snorkel (err, I stayed on the boat)... okay "attempted" to snorkel but my view on the boat was good enough for my already delighted eyes.  The water was quite deep and rather cold. Nevertheless, I promised myself that I'd do it next time I visit any snorkling-worthy beach.

Then last May, I decided to take the Visayan leg of my tour to visit the historic island of Cebu. It was three extrordinary days of food tripping, shopping, long walks and meeting new friends. I stayed in a rather "humble" hotel with the most basic of amenities (worthy to call this a backpack adventure). I visited the tourist staples: Magellan's Cross, the Basilica of Sto. Nino, Fort San Pedro, and the handful of modern malls in the city of Cebu. But I missed visiting the Lapu-Lapu Monument due to time constraints. I loved the food, the people and the sights of this island. Not to mention that there is not a single airconditioned bus in this city. I rode the local jeepneys and braved the heat and pollution. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Fast-forward to July, I said hello to Boracay. This was a late celebration of my birthday. This was another Visayan destination and was my very first visit to the island. This is truly paradise on Earth. The place caters to every imaginable kind of tourist. The nightlife was quite interesting (in a good way) and my walks on the beach was a different experience everytime I set foot on its powder-fine sands. I went island hopping and finally took some time to snorkel. I loved it! I was taken away on a private island where I had lunch and went spelunking (yes, there was a hidden cave on the island). Amazing three days indeed. I will definitely return to Bora next year.

Then came in some unexpected news from work that derailed my planned Davao vacation. I was sent to Dhaka for a seven day onsite-client visit. That's a different story altogether (my Bangladesh story to come out soon) and I must say it was a very humbling experience.

For now, I'm trying to squeeze in a three-day Davao vacation in the next few weeks. I hope it finally materializes. The uglykid travel project is very much back.

Postscript: To those travelling to these cities, do not hesitate to contact me and I'd be happy to give you tips. Happy travelling!

Welcome back, the uglykidproject...

Believe me, a comeback is always good. This blog is doing just that. I gave this blog a fresh look and decided to start from scratch by deleting all previous entries. Experience my travels, interest in photography and everyday life stories though pictures and words. The uglykidproject is back.