Life in slow motion

Once, while looking up a potential vacation destination, I chanced upon a blog which warned would-be travelers that services were slow in that part of the world.

It had to do with waiting time at eating places. I remember particularly that the blogger said something like "there's no sense of urgency to serve you your food" and that visitors "would do better to conform with the pace of life in the locality and not to expect the kind of speedy services that they are used to in a cosmopolitan setting". Something like that.

I think I understand that better now.

Constant, este Coastal Cleanup

When my husband asked us to join “Tracking Trash”, Shell’s initiative in support of the 27^th International Coastal Cleanup last October 6, this Cebuana imagined a white sand beach, maybe rocky, littered with plastic and the odd debris here and there.

Instead, I found it dark, pebbled and lined with shanties.  The site that Shell chose was near its refinery in Tabangao, Batangas and home to a small settlement.

(from left) Shell executives Jay Javier, Conrad Parizal and
Cesar Abaricia wait for the Shell contingent
at the assembly area.

I was amazed at Shell’s preparations. We were given a hearty breakfast then sent off with bottled water to the assembly area in Barangay Tabangao Aplaya, where the staff briefed us on how to conduct and document the cleanup. Each team was given a data sheet, gloves, sack and sharp sticks for trash pickup.

You're asking what?

I saw this post in Facebook today:


To all my contacts, friends, I request that: With the recent
changes in FB, now one can see things from people who are not
in your contacts list. Just because a contact of yours makes a comment or "likes" in some activity of that person. I do not want people to contact me, and would like that they not read and see all my comments and stuff. But I can not change this myself because facebook has configured it this way. But you can do it for me. PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (do not click), a window will appear and move the mouse on “FRIENDS" (also without clicking), then down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear. Click “COMMENTS & LIKE" and it would thereby remove the CHECK. By doing this, my activity amongst my friends and my family does not become public. A Thousand Thanks! Paste this on your wall for your contacts, if you care about your privacy.

Better remembered

When my husband and I were still dating, he took me to El Pollo Loco at the SM Megamall in one of my visits to Manila. He wanted me to experience one of his favorite eating places.

Although I never took to the yellowish chicken, I appreciated the gusto and enjoyment he always displayed at eating there so we always included it in any of our Megamall visits.

No room for cynicism in Aloguinsan

My sister and her family were visiting from the US so I flew to Cebu to see them, two weeks into their trip. By that time, I knew they’d already been to the beach, malls, eaten lechon and done the round of new restaurants, visited the dentist, spa, hair salon…in between all the other planned activities.

So when my sister told me I could do what I wanted on two of the days I was spending with her and the rest of the family in Cebu, I didn’t hesitate. I’d learned about the efforts for community-based tourism in Aloguinsan, Cebu via FB from Boboi Costas, who serves as consultant, as well as friends who’d been there via their FB postings.