Wow Philippines

Imagine spectacular sandy beaches, crystal blue waters, tropical palms and exotic smelling flowers, colourful fishes swimming in turquoise waters – then, multiply that by 7,107! That would be the country where I come from: the Philippines.

If you have not been to the Philippines, I hope you consider visiting it one day. I assure you that you will not regret it. With 7,107 islands to discover, it is truly an island paradise and more. If your idea of a vacation get-away is a lazy nap on a hammock along white-sand beaches, or snorkelling and diving in deep-blue, crystal-clear waters with unspoilt coral reefs, and spectacular sunsets – then definitely, you should go to the Philippines.

While you are there, you might as well get a taste of local colour by exploring the richness of its history and culture: century-old churches, ancient forts and modern museums. And try the food! Filipino cuisine, like everything else in the islands, is a blissful blend of our western and oriental heritage (Spanish, American, Chinese) with fresh indigenous ingredients.

I have not even mentioned the people. Filipinos are one of the warmest, most hospitable race on the planet. And boy, do they love to sing! A Filipino party is never complete without three things: lots and lots of food, music and laughter. In the midst of all that you have probably heard of our country (poverty, graft and corruption, etc.) the Filipinos rank high in the Happy Planet Index.

So there, a quick plug on the country I call home. If you happen to go there, do not look for me – because I am currently in Australia. But after I have satisfied my wanderlust, I know where to go home to. You will know where to find me.

Blogging 101

A newbie. Yep, that is what I am. Sitting pensively in front of my computer with the raw urge to post something (I usually get this ‘itchy’ excitement with all things new), I realized I do not know where to begin. Darn. Being the reserved person that I am (not!) this feeling is something alien to me. Oh well. But really. What will I post? Or more interestingly, what should I leave out. Cyber space after all is public domain and who knows, I may turn out to be someone famous (yeah right) one day. Hmmmm…

Who would have thought blogging is not an easy task. Well, truth is, I did. Which is actually one reason why I never wanted to have one in the first place. But, thanks to my good friend Amy’s insistence, I relented. So there, if you do not like what you read here, you know who to blame: her.

If you also find blogging difficult, there are a couple of useful internet sites that could help:

• 10 tips on writing the living web
• How users read on the web
• Web Style Guide
• Writing for the Web Part 1
• Writing for the Web Part 2
• Writing effective link text

I hope the links help. I got them from the University of Sydney blog help site. If it doen't help you, or the links don't work, don't blame me. In the meantime, for reasons I myself couldn't fathom, here is another picture of me taken at Hyde Park, in Sydney.

Day one at blogging

Sitting in front of the computer pretending that I am actually writing my thesis is a tough job. It is not loathsome. Just hard. It is not as hard as actually doing real work, for example. Or not doing anything at all. It is a happy little spot in between. I actually made it sound cute. Oh well. Not nearly as cute as the impending doom that awaits to befall me if I do not finish this writing job in three years. What a vision. Sometimes that is just what I need to push me to actually work on my thesis.

But why the hell am I talking about my thesis on this blog? I don't know. Well, for one, this is my blog and here, I can say what I want to say. And secondly, I need not give a another reason, just refer to reason number one. So there. A taste of things to come. I'll try to write something more sensible next time. Maybe an entry that befits my latin blog title. In case you're curious, it simply means fiction yields to the truth. If you did not wonder what it meant, or you already knew (smartass), I'm still telling you.

In the meantime, here is a mug shot of me taken somewhere in Canada.