Speedtest in Malta

This was taken last 25 November 2012 in a hotel in Malta. My laptop is connected to their wireless network and the results were awesome. 

Tuding's Pork Chop

Here comes lunch after a long travel from Alabang to Carmona.
Tsaraaaan!! It's Tuding's Porkchop time. Situated beside Petron gas station near Carmona rotonda. Google Maps shows where Tuding's is located.. maps now has details for shops.. good good good..

 








I have to wait for at least 5 minutes before my order is served.. that is enough for me to send some text messages or write notes.

Then the short wait is over... Lunch is served. No extra fried rice for now.. :)


 Tuding's meal is usually served with a sunny side up egg.. 

 

A saucer with natural vinegar and ketchup.. Yummy.. :D

Starbucks 2013 Planner

Take a look what's inside the Starbucks 2013 Planner. My office mate.. a Starbucks fanatic.. collected 17 stickers just to get this planner.

Unboxing the planner..

What's Inside.. planner comes with a magnetic book mark... the Starbucks cup..

Each month has different motivation or encouragement..

How much do you need to earn this lovely planner? 
It comes with a pricey purchase of their products.. 2,020 pesos at the minimum.. Buying a 3 in 1 sachet of Nescafe at 5 pesos each.. that would be 404 sachets in total... minus the free planner that is made in China.. :D

Enjoy your coffee!!

 






Infographic created by MyManila.. not mine.. :)

Tuding's Beef Tapa

The sun is shining across the blue skies.. birds are chirping to the tune of Payphone by Maroon 5.. as I am walking down the streets of Carmona... I looked at my cellphone and it is already 12:10 noon. Need to fill my empty stomach after my adjustment session with the dentist... I am already as hungry as a dog... ha ha ha probably I can eat the whole elephant for now..

Then a voice is calling me to turn and look right.. well it is not really a voice.. I am probably hallucinating by now.. its the smell of fried pork that will enchant you as you pass by... tsaaaaraaan!! Tuding's.. I need to eat and the smell is very encouraging..

I looked for an empty tables just for one.. then started to order.. pork chop or beef tapa... my head and stomach is betwixt two opinions.. he he he.. OK, I'll try the Beef Tapa for now, "Isang tapa".. I have to pay P58 for meal.. but as the gay cashier said.. "Mamaya na lang po sir.."

Prepared a spoon.. fork.. and a glass of water... drink a tap water straight from the faucet... joke. Of course from the water jug.. After waiting for almost 7 minutes... then here comes my Beef Tapa.. they have cooked it well done.. just like what I preferred even I don't mentioned it. The meal always comes with a sunny side up egg and fried rice... fried rice that seemed to be taken from a half cooked rice grain.. but it tastes good and fills the hungry stomach!

Beef tapa is just right.. what I loved in Tuding's is their vinegar or suka.. hmmmm.. it tastes very good.. probably because it is natural coconut vinegar, just like in our province..

An extra rice will cost you P13.. and will cause your belly to swell 2 inch further.. he he he.. Indeed it was a good meal after all.

Place: Non airconditioned but well  ventilated by electric fans
Can accomodate large groups, they have lots of tables and chairs
Food: Beef Tapa
Price: P58... extra rice is P13
Waiting time: 5-8 minutes
Service Crew: Smiling and Courteous
Overall: Good place to eat

While waiting for the meal to be served

Beef Tapa is served

Closeup view :)

Container Port in Singapore

The world's busiest container port is in Singapore. It is located near Jurong Island in the western part of Singapore. I had a chance to visit and take some photos of the massive structures that handles containers from all over the world. 

Singapore has been and will always be economically powerful due its very strategic location when it comes to trading. 

Philippines has the great potential to become one of the key ports in Asia like Singapore.

Obama Wins Over Romney

Based on the recent polls made from different bodies, Obama will win the election today over Romney.

But it is the voters from all over America who will decide. God bless America in your General Election today.

NAIA Terminal 1 voted 'Worst airport in Asia'

Ooops! We did it again! 

Congratulations to the management of NAIA Terminal 1!!
It always boils down to the management of NAIA Terminal 1. They are the policy makers.. they are the one who will implement rules and standards to the staff, workers, porters, drivers, janitor, passengers, or any person in NAIA Terminal 1. Unfortunately they themselves have this culture and mind set that.. "Pwede na yan.." "Hayaan mo na yan.." It lacks decency and order.. so much the more about discipline.

People of the Philippines will definitely obey if management is firm enough to implement a high standards when it comes to services in NAIA Terminal 1.

Again, Congratulations to another feather in the cap!


For more details, please see the links:

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/asia/index.htm
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/asia/manila.htm 

Disorganized taxi lanes, chaotic atmosphere outside the Ninoy Aquino Int'l Airport's Terminal 1, are among the reasons why it was voted 'worst airport in Asia in 2012 by the readers of the online travel site The Guide to Sleeping in Airports. 'With its collapsing ceilings, overcrowding, rampant bribery, and taxi drivers scamming travelers on fares, it's easy to understand why ‘disappointed’ and ‘unbelievable’ are just a few of the words travelers use to describe the place.'

#from http://www.gmanetwork.com

American Dream

Reality of American Dream

An imagination conceived to the very minds people from different parts of the world (including the Philippines) that if you go to America.. dream big.. work hard.. after some time you can have your own house.. a decent car.. a good savings account..  a good family... a month of holiday in a year as a tourist to other countries.. good education for your children.. a house filled with appliances.. an LCD TV maybe.. and living a life in your dream.

There nothing wrong about that dream.. but come now to reality.. only few out of the thousands make to live that dream. Specially how the banking system of America operates.. how the government squeezes the tax out of its citizens.. how many Americans lives in a materialistic manner.. sad but true.

One piece of advice from a mentor.. "Don't live over your budget to save you from troubles."

Nod from the statue of Thomas Jefferson.. "This is Americaaaa!!" - coool!

PH competitiveness ranking up by 10 notches

Good news ito para sa ating mga Pilipino.

Salamat sa programa ng pangulo na habulin at ikulong ang  mga kawatan sa gobyerno at ibalik ang tiwala ng tao sa pamamagitan ng matuwid at matapat na paglilingkod bayan. Mas gaganahan ka ng magtrabaho at makisama para paunlarin ang ating bansa.

Good job Mr. President!! :)

PH competitiveness ranking up by 10 notches

First time country is in top 50% of world ranking

By Michelle V. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Enjoying a favorable economic performance and having a government that claims to put premium on its anticorruption drive, the Philippines leaped 10 notches in the global competitiveness ranking for the year to 65th spot out of 144 countries.
The country’s latest performance followed a similar 10-notch jump to the 75th spot last year, resulting in an overall 20-notch jump so far under the Aquino administration.
“The Philippines makes important strides this year in improving competitiveness—albeit often from a very low base—especially with respect to its public institutions,” The World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Report, which was released Wednesday worldwide.
The WEF said the Philippines was one of the few countries that registered a double-digit improvement in ranking this year.
The Philippines landed on the 65th spot after it registered an overall score of 4.23 points (out of 7 points) across all 12 categories considered by businesses as major areas for determining a country’s competitiveness.
Guillermo Luz, cochairman of the Philippines’ National Competitiveness Council (NCC), said at a press conference Wednesday that this year was the first time the country landed on the upper 50 percent of countries ranked in the global competitiveness survey.
He said the NCC was targeting the Philippines to join the upper one-third of the global competitiveness rankings by 2016, the end of the Aquino administration.
12 pillars
The survey on global competitiveness, which taps businesses as respondents, grades countries based on the following 12 categories or “pillars.”
These are the following: [government] institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.
Luz said the Philippines registered improvements in 11 out of the 12 categories.
Huge gain in institutions
The Philippines gained the most in the “institutions” category, where it jumped 23 places to the 94th spot from last year’s 117th.
In the “infrastructure” category, the country improved its ranking by seven places to 98th; for “macroeconomic environment,” up 18 places to 36th; for “higher education” and training, up seven places to 64th; for goods market efficiency, up two places to 86th; for labor market efficiency, up 10 places to 103rd; for financial market development, up 13 places to 58th; for “technological readiness,” up four places to 79th; for “market size,” up one place to 35th; for “business sophistication,” up eight places to 49th; and for “innovation,” up 14 places to 94th.
Drop in health, primary education
The only category where the Philippines registered a slippage was in “health and primary education,” where it fell six places to 98th.
The country’s favorable performance in the “institutions” category reflects the success of the Aquino administration in convincing the business sector that there has been an improvement in governance, Luz said.
Of the 15,000 businesses that responded to the global competitiveness survey for this year, 132 came from the Philippines.
On macroeconomic environment, Luz attributed the country’s improved ranking to the country’s favorable economic performance.
The Philippine economy grew 5.9 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, making the country one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. This brought its average growth rate for the first semester to 6.1 percent, making the government’s full-year growth target of 5 to 6 percent attainable.
Infra spending low
 
But Ramon del Rosario Jr., chairman of the Makati Business Club, said a lot of work still had to be done in several areas to help ensure that the Philippines reaches the upper-third rankings in 2016.
To reach the upper upper third, the country must improve significantly on infrastructure development and market efficiency, particularly labor market efficiency, Del Rosario said.
Despite increases in government spending on infrastructure this year, infrastructure investment in the Philippines remains one of the lowest in the region.
Infrastructure spending in the country is estimated to be equivalent to less than 3 percent of its gross domestic product, below the 5 percent average for Southeast Asia.
“Despite these very positive trends, many weaknesses remain to be addressed. The country’s infrastructure is still in a dire state, particularly with respect to sea and air transport, with little or no progress achieved to date,” Del Rosario said at the press conference.
He said businesses considered infrastructure a vital area in deciding whether to invest in a country.
With its improved performance this year, the Philippines has beaten Vietnam, which enjoyed better rankings in the previous years. This year, Vietnam ranked 75th.
The Philippines, however, continues to lag behind other major Asian economies in the competitiveness rankings.
Hong Kong ranked 9th, Taiwan 13th, South Korea 19th, Malaysia 25th, China 29th, Thailand 38th, Indonesia 50th and India, 59th.
Singapore remained the highest ranking among Asian countries, landing on the second spot, the same as its last year’s ranking.
Switzerland was again named the most globally competitive country.

Garoto - Chocolate from Brazil

Dark Chocolate with Almonds
Hindi masyadong matamis kaya pwede kang kumain ng madami.
Yung brand name niya ay Talento.. ang ibig sabihin nito ay talent, talino, o kakayahan.. siguro magiging matalino ka pag kumain ka nito... he he he :D

Price: 3.90 Reais , US$2.00, PHP 95.00