Days of Yolanda

All text for now, guys. The damage is too sad to see so I decided not to put a picture for this one.

We just got out of the monstrosity of that Magnitude 7.2 earthquake that happened 3 weeks ago and now we had to face another: Super Typhoon Yolanda. At first, I just dismissed it as just another typhoon. When I found out that it would be as strong as Ruping (a typhoon that caused a lot of damage in the '90s), I became super concerned. Unlike that one, people were more prepared.

Thanks to PAG-ASA's Project NOAH, the weather forecast for the days when Yolanda would strike, everyone affected was able to prepare. Everyone was panic buying for groceries, people suddenly buying powerbanks so that problems wouldn't arise when we need to call for emergency purposes. This just proves that with the right and accurate information, and swift preparation by the government, casualties could be minimized (even prevented).

On the day that Yolanda struck Cebu, I wasn't just at home. Together with my dad and relatives, we went to my dad's office to get some power supplies. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is a device that provides temporary power to any electricity-powered device in order for them not to suddenly power down and cause problems. Besides that, we just dealt with the situation that we had at our own homes.

It was hard trying to get the latest information on the typhoon because there was no internet due to the brownout, and the cell signal's not enough to handle mobile internet. Good thing I was still able to text for the whole day (Thanks Globe!). As soon as we got the UPS running, we used it to get internet access. Since the electricity didn't come back yet, the internet connection was faster than usual. I saw a lot of pictures of the damage that Yolanda caused, particularly in Leyte.

Even though most of us are okay, there may still be people who need it. People in the Northern part of Cebu are in dire need of food and water. People in Leyte cannot be reached because all lines of communication are down. A lot more need our help. We should do everything we can to give them what they need. They should be our top priority.

As people have said,

"Since Yolanda is the strongest typhoon (of this year), the Philippines is the strongest country."

Bye Yolanda! You won't be missed.

#BangonVisayas.

#BangonSugBohol: Story of the Earthquake

This has been a long, long week. It all started last Tuesday, October 15, 2013. It was supposed to be just another ordinary holiday. We were eating breakfast in a way that we usually do during holidays. Suddenly, we felt the earth shaking. It lasted longer than I thought it would. My sister was still sleeping when it happened. While we hurried out of the house, Dad had to wake her up. It was so shocking and frightening because we didn't know what else could happen in the house.

Few minutes after we got out, we were talking about how that earthquake was the strongest one they have ever felt in their lives. My grandma, who lives with us, is already 74 and she feels the same way. We kept talking about it even as that first wave stopped.

Initially, there was no power in the house for precautionary measures. Eventually it was put back on. While watching the news on TV, the aftershocks kept coming. Good thing we have a mirror that can detect the slightest movement due to aftershocks. All plans I had for that day went to a screeching halt.

In the afternoon, all I was doing was watch TV and anime on my computer. I went up to my room shortly after watching certain shows on TV to watch Shingeki no Kyojin. (This is a really dark and morbid anime, but cool nonetheless. I might review it soon!) The sad part about watching it that afternoon was that the aftershocks kept kicking in, so the morbid parts of the episode felt more morbid than usual. After one aftershock happened, I went down to the living room to take a breather. Few minutes later, I went back up to watch again. THEN ANOTHER AFTERSHOCK HAPPENED. After that, I just stayed downstairs and meddled with my phone.

While all that was happening, a lot of sad news came in. People died because the roof of the Pasil Fish Port collapsed. The belfry of the Basilica del Sto. Niño fell. Churches in Bohol were crushed by the powerful earthquake. Some bridges there became impassable. People in Cebu and Bohol are panicking because of the quakes. They either brought tents outside and slept there or simply slept on the roads since they were all scared of going back inside for there might be more aftershocks.

The story didn't stop there though, as the next day was even more troubling. At dawn, ANOTHER aftershock happened and people were awakened by it. Some couldn't even sleep because they were frightened by it. On my way to work, I tried to find some damages of the earthquake. Unfortunately, I never found any until I got in to the elevator area of the ground floor of our building. There were already remnants of the earthquake. When I got to the 7th floor and reached my cubicle in the office, my McDonald's tumbler fell to the chair. At least that's what happened in my cubicle. In other cubicles, I saw CPU towers fall on its side. On the ceiling, there were lights and smoke alarms moved. Thankfully, the network didn't suffer any damage, as that would have affected our work that day. Unfortunately, we felt TWO aftershocks in the office in the morning. After lunch, we were allowed to go home early since the aftershocks really worried the people in the office.

Up to this day, we are still experiencing aftershocks. It sucks that we have to live with this for a while since I am most concerned with the people of Bohol. They are the ones who suffered most in these tragic times. The reason why I put up that picture of the full moon is because it reminded me that despite the darkness, there will always be that light shining on us. We can rise again. We should help those people in need so that our comeback will be stronger than ever. If you're confused as to how you can help, check out @BangonSugBohol on Twitter or those non-profit organizations that you already know, or go here: http://www.istorya.net/forums/content/bangonsugbohol-call-action-help-our-brothers-and-sisters-need-480/. 

Fellow Cebuanos and Boholanos, stay safe always!

Simply Stunning: Gravity review

I've heard a lot of things about this movie. They say that it is a very good movie and it should be watched in 3D. THEY'RE SPOT ON.

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity is a film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission. She is accompanied by Matt Kowalsky (played by Clooney), a veteran astronaut. (WITHOUT SPOILING THE MOVIE) All is well when the mission goes haywire and both Dr. Stone and Mr. Kowalsky are in deep trouble.

The movie in itself is pure in form. There is nothing extra that would distract you from the story. 3D isn't annoying at all. It helps you be immersed in the story and all the emotions it conveys to the watcher. The story alone is very simple, maybe even too simple but that's what I think is one of its charms.

George Clooney still has them good ol' acting chops, but it was Sandra Bullock who shines a lot in this movie. We can feel her every emotion flowing through from the big screen. I always thought that she's a good actress, but this is her defining moment in 2013, maybe even in her entire career! She makes this movie her own. I couldn't imagine who else could play the role.

I didn't really mind all the scientific irregularities in the movie because at the end of the day, people will enjoy how simple yet so immersive this movie really is. I bet it's already your favorite movie of 2013. I would surely agree with you on that.

Those Fruitful 6 Months...

It's been months since I posted something about work and the people in it. That's just because I've been busy working so hard that I didn't really wanna put up any posts about it... until now. It's been 6 months since we started working here. A lot has actually happened even though we never really had a bonding session as a whole batch. Some of us actually bonded through various ways such as drinking sessions (I won't elaborate as to what transpired) or just a normal dinner out. Some of us even bonded due to our overtime in the office and we usually eat together.

To my fellow batchmates, thank you for the experiences that we've shared together and to more of them for the years to come. I love you all!

I'm gonna cut this short because there's nothing more to say except,

THANK YOU!

When in Starbucks...

I love Starbucks. It's a coffee shop that I go to every Sunday with family and sometimes on weekdays when I feel like it. There's something about Starbucks that's really unique (and maybe when you're a regular of your favorite coffee shop) whenever you talk to the people working there. Here's my history with Starbucks since my long standing companionship with expensive coffee has been with them.

When I was still in high school, my uncle had an issue with the coffee shop he always went to. He had problems with their service, so he switched to going to Starbucks. Ever since then, he would always go to Starbucks every Sunday (initially in the first branch in SM before moving to the one in The Northwing) along with his family. Since our family always meets with his, we go to Starbucks almost as much as they do. Because of that, it became an ordinary thing to go to everytime we're in SM on Sunday.

The first drink I got from Starbucks was a Chocolate Cream Chip Frappuccino. I really loved that drink simply because it had chocolate on it. (I really had simpler likes back then.) As time passed by, I wanted to try a new drink to see if I would like it. Then my love affair with the Signature Hot Chocolate started. It was a hot drink, so it takes me longer to finish it. That alone made it taste very very good. It remains my favorite hot drink in Starbucks today. As for my favorite Frappuccino, that goes to the Mocha Frappe. It's like their "vanilla" (plain) Frappuccino. If I get confused as to what to drink, I'd go with that. There are also times when I go with their new drinks, especially when they have a promo.

The important thing with being a regular at Starbucks is the baristas that you meet there. At first, it may seem like an ordinary conversation between a customer and a cashier. The more you keep going there, the more that they get to know you a bit. It took longer for me though since they really couldn't get the name down easily. Up to this day, I see baristas that worked at SM before at other Starbucks and they still know me (even the guard does too!).

I'm sure you guys have your own moments in your favorite coffee shops. Sometimes all you need to do is talk.

A Letter to Globe…

Dear Globe,

I have been a subscriber of Globe when I was still in my elementary years. In my opinion, you always had the edge in terms of your service and promos. I constantly availed the UNLITXT50 promo because it lasted for 7 days and I still had a lot of textmates that time.

Then you changed the pricing and made it P80 for 5 days, which was already expensive for me. When Sun Cellular came along with their P150 Text Unlimited SERVICE for 1 month, I had no choice but to switch.

Then came my interest in the iPhone. I got an iPod touch for my birthday because I was amazed at how much my sister liked it. After a few weeks, I fell in love with the touch that I really wanted to get the iPhone. When my mom got the 4S, I got her iPhone 4. It was already enough for me at the time. That was also the time I went back to using your service because you were known as THE iPhone carrier of the Philippines (before Smart started selling with the 4S).

Fast forward to today. Now I have an iPhone 5 through your Postpaid plan. Your LTE internet is fast whenever it's available and I have no problems with your service except for one thing: CUSTOMER service.

My parents have been trying to pay their bills but they both have issues: my Mom's bill wasn't paid ever since she got the plan I'm using since the billing was all wrong and everytime my Dad wants to pay the bill, the system's offline.

I understand that you just upgraded your whole system but why all of them right away? You could have just done a beta test of your new system to work on just some machines of the business centers and keep the stable and working old system on others. I'm not saying you shouldn't upgrade the system but you could have just done it slowly.

Awhile ago, there was this man who wanted to have a transaction in the business center but unfortunately he wasn't entertained right away. He went on and ranted about why they couldn't serve him. An in-charge of the business center said that some employees there were on sick leave. The man said that that's not an excuse.

Honestly, the man was right. It doesn't mean that they went on sick leave that they cannot provide proper customer service. If this keeps up, subscribers might switch.

I may complain about this, but I hope that you fix this as soon as possible. I love your passion to make our lives better through your services. I still think your experience with iPhone is far superior than the competition since experience trumps quantity.

Sincerely yours,

A Concerned Subscriber

Treasure…

It's been a while since I've done a personal post, but it would be one that I haven't done in years. Unlike my usual posts, I'm posting this one without a header picture (it's a format I used for a long while now). It's okay if you don't read through the whole post. I won't mind it for this one. If you do read, thank you for your time. So here it goes…

I've done bad things in my life. There were those that I did for the better, and those that I regret because they caused me to hurt the people I care about. Unfortunately this time, the weight of my regret is unlike anything I've ever felt before.

If there's someone I didn't wanna hurt the most besides my family, it would be my newfound inspiration. All because of my f***ing curiosity. I never realized that I could do such a thing until last week when I asked her stuff I shouldn't be asking on Facebook. On top of that, I was being a jerk to her yesterday. 

You know who you are. I am truly sorry for what I did. Sorry for being a stupid jerk who doesn't consider your space. Sorry for being an idiot who doesn't think things through before saying anything.