Philippines Archives - Page 8 of 15

March 19, 2009

Earth Hour 2009

earth-hour-2009

MARCH 28, 2009 — SATURDAY — 8:30 PM — ONE HOUR — LIGHTS OUT!!! Over 930 cities and towns in 80 countries, across 25 time zones are expected to power down for Earth Hour 2009.

This year, it is being taken to another level. The Earth Hour website describes how it has evolved since it first started in 2007:

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

This will be my second year to participate in Earth Hour. Last year, we turned off our lights at home at exactly 8:30PM Manila time to join the numerous countries doing so.

New Zealand will be the first country to turn its lights off and over the next 24 hours, we will see a wave of lights going off in the different time zones of Earth. Manila is a participant in this event, with Rizal Park and Manila Cathedral poised to turn off its lights and countdown events happen in different areas of the metropolis.The Earth Hour site describes Manila’s participation:

Last year in the Philippines, millions of people switched off their lights to signal their support of this global warming action. Manila, being the largest city, will be a big focus this year and Earth Hour continues to spread its positive message about the importance of energy saving. The Department of Energy in the Philippines is a supporter of the Earth Hour campaign.

Local businesses in Manila are contributing to Earth Hour and will be switching off their lights on the night. Thousands of people, around the Philippines, will be coming together to light a candle in support of this global warming awareness initiative.

See the Earth Hour Global Timing Schedule HERE.

(Update, 3/19): I am happy to note that not only Manila will be participating. This article shows that Earth Hour will be observed nationwide.)

What can YOU do to participate in Earth Hour 2009?

1. Register your vote with Earth Hour and join in the bid to reach 1 billion votes for Mother Earth. Sign up here.

2. Write a blog post about Earth Hour’s Vote Earth movement. The results of the election will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009, so help get the world talking! Tag your blog so others can join in, with tags like ‘VOTE EARTH’, ‘Earth Hour’, ‘Copenhagen’, and ‘global warming’.

3. Email your friends. Encourage them to email their friends and so on. Before you know it, you would have created a ripple of votes for Earth.

4. Twitter it. Say as much as you can about VOTE EARTH in 140 characters. In the countdown to Earth Hour, you can let others know about what you’re up to every step of the way. Make sure you include ‘#VOTEEARTH’ in all tweets so others can follow your messages.

5. On March 28, record your Earth Hour experience. Take a photo about Earth Hour and post it on their Flickr group. Make a video of the event and post it on their YouTube group. Write a live blog post during the event and tag it earthhour or voteearth. Update your Twitter status on the night and tag it #earthhour or #voteearth.

Here is the official Earth Hour 2009 video:

Continue reading “Earth Hour 2009”

March 11, 2009

2009 Kuangchi Awardees

Every year, Xavier School selects the Xavier-Kuangchi awardees from among its alumni who exhibit outstanding achievements in their respective fields.

I am very happy to find out that I know 2 out of the 3 awardees for this year.

2009 Xavier-Kuangchi Awardees

Joaquin (or Jake, as we fondly call him) C. Yap, Jr. is someone we consider a relative. His family and that of hubby come from the same town in China. His mother (whom we call Di-kim) calls us on every occasion (Mother’s Day, Christmas, New Year) just to chat and ask about the family. Jake’s sister, Janet, who is now in Australia, was someone I knew even when she was still single.

Jake obtained his Masters Degree in Theological Studes in 1995 from the Loyola School of Theology and his Doctorate Degree in Theology in 2003 from the University of Oxford in England.

Xavier School calls him one of its exemplary alumni “for his devotion to the Catholic faith, consecrating his life to serve God through his long-term involvement with the university campus apostolate of the Servants of the Word and the teaching ministry of the Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon Catholic Charismatic Community.”

Vincent S. Perez (or Vince as we call him) is a dear friend and confidante while we were taking our Masters degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. I have many wonderful memories of Vince and the group of Pinoys I went to school with. Vince always had this never-to-be-forgotten dimpled smile and a listening ear for friends (and as one of his countless friends, I remember hours and hours we spent chatting over the telephone with topics that covered the inane to the dreams). During United Nations Day, both of us managed to borrow 2 bamboo poles from the Philippine Embassy and danced the Tinikling for our foreign schoolmates. Yes, Vince was and still is, a great dancer. Even back then, Vince had always nurtured a deep desire to serve in government and I never really imagined that one day, this friend would return from a successful investment banking career abroad to serve as a Cabinet Secretary.

Xavier School gives him the Xavier-Kuangchi Award “for his commendable service to the country as Secretary of the Department of Energy, setting a high benchmark for achievement and professionalism in government service, and earning the distinction of being the first Xaverian in the Cabinet, and the youngest and longest-serving Energy Secretary to date.”

Congratulations, Jake and Vince. I am so, so proud to know the both of you and to see you accept this award you richly deserve. May this award only serve to spur you both to greater heights for His greater glory.

These exemplary alumni will be formally awarded in “by invitation only” conferment rites on March 13, 2009, Friday, 6.30 PM at the XS Angelo King Multipurpose Center.

January 22, 2009

It’s Tikoy Time — Kiong Hee Huat Chai!

January 26 ushers in the Chinese New Year — the year of the Earth Ox!

Here in the Philippines, we celebrate it just as, or more noisily, than the Western New Year. Binondo, most especially, will be the center of fireworks and firecrackers, lion dances, family dinners and the ever-present tikoy.

Tikoy is made of glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, water and sugar. The ones from China are traditionally made with white sugar but here in the Philippines, we have innovated and come up with the brown sugar, ube, buko pandan and even the red bean variety.

(clockwise) white sugar, brown sugar, buko pandan, ube tikoy

Tikoy is usually given because its stickiness represents the strong bond of friendship that the giver wishes to have with its recipient/s. Its round shape represents eternity, no end. Tikoy has evolved, however, with some of them already coming in the shape of carp. It can be eaten as is, steamed or fried. We normally fry tikoy. We put it in the ref overnight to harden the tikoy. Next day, we slice them thinly. Then we beat 1-2 eggs. Each tikoy is then rolled in egg before it is fried. Yummmmyyyy!

Today, I went to DEC (we call it Diao Eng Chay) along Wilson St., Greenhills. The owners of DEC were very gracious and accommodating and allowed me to take any pictures I wished inside. I also went to Little Store which was not too far from DEC and also took pictures there.

img_4493-low-res

this pile of tikoy will be sold out most likely by New Year's Eve

Here are some of the stuff people were buying earlier for the Chinese New Year of the Ox:

gold chocolate coins, the carabao, and other items (carp, pineapple, round objects) — gold chocolate coins, the carabao, and other items (golden carp, pineapple, round objects)

img_4495-low-res2

img_4498-low-res

a blown-up representation of an old Chinese gold coin — a blown-up representation of an ancient Chinese gold coin

The main doors of Chinese homes would have what is called a couplet (paired set of Chinese characters wishing the family good luck for the year), something like the one below:

couplet-cropped

I printed this couplet out this evening on red board paper and hope the kids will help me add gold trimmings to it before I hang these up on the left and right sides of our main door.

Tomorrow, I will plan the menu for Sunday evening.

Wishing you all the best in the Year of the Ox!

KIONG HEE HUAT CHAI!

January 22, 2009

My Obama Blog Posts Make it to Worldfocus

To tell you the truth, I have not heard of Worldfocus until last night.

A backlink on my blog alerted me that people were visiting my blog from that site. And the reason for the backlinks on my blog? Well, I was delighted to find out that my two (2) posts — the first covering the technological aspects of this inauguration and the second covering my initial impressions of Pres. Obama’s inaugural speech — made it to their list of ten (10) global blogs on the Obama inauguration!

Hooray for including the Philippines in your list, Worldfocus!

world-focus-obama-inauguration

Worldfocus’ anchorman is Martin Savidge who I used to watch on CNN as one of the embedded journalists covering the Iraq War. It is NOT unlike CNN in that it seeks to report on international news. However, it attempts to differentiate itself from CNN and the other mainstream news networks by its ability to use the reach of social networking sites and blogs to bring the news from abroad closer to American homes. Below is a screenshot of their page that shows how their news can be accessed.

connect-to-world-focus

Their section called Blogwatch also “summarizes what bloggers and news sources are saying about the international news of the day. We’ll link to informative and bold voices that place the headlines in the context of the global conversation.” Their In the Newsroom blog gives you behind-the-scenes look at Worldfocus as seen from Martin Savidge’s eyes as well as news coming from on-the-ground global reporters. A network of global contributors’ blog posts form part of their Perspectives section. Interesting!!!

For a simple blogger like me, breaking into Worldfocus was a pleasant surprise. It just proves that no blogger can be too obscure nor too small to be able to contribute to a global outfit.

Keep on blogging, everyone!

December 1, 2008

Jupiter + Venus + Moon = Smiley Face!

In astronomy-speak, it is called a planetary conjunction — when the planets seem closest to each other. The National Geographic News article ” Planets, Crescent Moon to “Frown” on Skywatchers Dec. 1″ said what we would see is a frown but lucky, lucky us here in Metro Manila tonight because what we saw in the skies was this (I only had a digicam so I leaned on a window ledge to steady my hands while taking these using the slowest exposure my cam had):

Tonight we saw the 3 brightest celestial bodies — Jupiter being the largest planet, Venus being the closest planet to Earth and our own moon! Some historians even think that a similar conjunction could have been the “Star of Bethlehem” source.

Whatever it was, so many bloggers took pictures tonight, blogged or Plurked about it and shared a special moment together. What an amazing happy night tonight was!

Special thanks to a special friend who gave me a heads up to look up into the sky.

November 22, 2008

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s 12 Cups of Giving

I love coffee. Period.

Last year, in order to get my 2 girls the planners they wanted, I was at this coffee shop almost daily ordering a cup of coffee. This year, though, I told myself I would not do that. After computing the cost of daily coffee at that shop, I figured it was an expensive way to buy a planner.

But I have changed my mind after attending the blogger event hosted by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) at Boni High Street.

I confess I had no idea what the event was all about except that I was drawn to the word “Giving” in the text I got from Geiser Maclang.

C1 came along with me. As we entered CBTL, we were surprised to see bloggers huddled around tables talking with people who had brochures laid out. That was how I found out that CBTL was launching its Christmas program, 12 Cups with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Give in to Giving. At each table were representatives of each of the 12 organizations being supported by CBTL this Christmas.

img_3912-low-res

Here’s how it works. Every cup of coffee or tea you buy, which is covered by the program, gets you a stamp on a card. Once you complete the 12 stamps on the card, you get to choose your favorite cause/advocacy from the 12 supported organizations and CBTL will make a donation in your name. Not only that! For having completed the card, you also get one of the 3 CBTL limited edition commemorative journals specially designed by 12 of the most important Filipino artists in the country today — FREE! And if you get to donate to all 12 organizations (that means 12 cards x 12 cups = 144 cups), CBTL will give one year’s supply of coffee!

Whatever your advocacy is, there is sure to be one organization from this lot that you can help. Here are the 12 organizations you can help support via CBTL as well as the kind of support CBTL will donate in your name after you complete your 12th cup of giving:

1. Kababaihan Gabay sa Bayan (KAGABAY) – poverty reduction through social, political and economic empowerment of women. CBTL will donate P600/child for their education needs.

2. The Restorative Justice Program of Caritas Manila – service to prisoners and their families through formation, paralegal assistance and outreach. CBTL will donate P1,000 under your name for values formation class materials per school year for inmates.

3. The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) – animal protection and care. CBTL will provide medicine for animals under PAWS’ care.

4. Bahay Tuluyan – serves streetchildren. CBTL will give a birthday present for a child worth P250 under your name.

5. Haribon Foundation – conservation of Philippine biodiversity. CBTL will adopt a seedling under your name.

6. Cartwheel Foundation – education for the country’s indigenous people. CBTL will donate P8,000 for educational materials, curriculum development, tuition, teacher training & seminars, and school supplies for each student per school year.

7. Kythe Foundation – supports children with cancer; its Child Life Program seeks to alleviate the anxieties of a child during hospitalization. CBTL will sponsor an unforgettable kids’ outing for the kids and the volunteers.

8. Autism Society Philippines (ASP) – committed to the wellbeing of persons with autism spectrum disorder. CBTL will donate P2,000 for books needed for autism disorder awareness.

9. Philippine Cerebral Palsy, Inc. – aids cerebral palsy victims. CBTL will give a patient P1,800 per month to help in their medicine and rehabilitation.

10. Philippine Band of Mercy (PBM) – attends to indigent Filipinos suffering from cleft lip & palate, congenital cataract & glaucoma, hydrocephalus & meninggoceale. CBTL will give P8,000 for the operation of each child & become the leading provider of comprehensive craniofacial health services for the less privileged.

11. Resources for the Blind – seeks to ensure that blind students have access to the same information that sighted students have. CBTL donate P1,000 for the production of Braille textbooks.

12. Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) – seeks to improve the quality of life for Filipinos through corporate citizenship. CBTL will sponsor a child’s medical consultation worth P200.

img_3933-low-res — Representatives of the 12 NGOs with Paolo del Rosario of CBTL

I had the chance to speak with Coffee Bean’s Marketing Director, Paolo Del Rosario, who enthused about the program. I told him that I was very touched by their gesture to support not one but TWELVE NGOs. And Paolo assured me that this is going to be a yearly thing with CBTL and not just a one-shot deal. Much later, I also had the chance to meet CBTL’s Managing Director, Walden Chu, who was likewise very enthusiastic about their program.

If I had to spend my money on coffee, this is were I would plunk it down. Not only do I actually enjoy CBTL’s coffee and tea (Chai Latte and African Sunrise are my all-time favorites) but their food fare, for a yogini, is very healthy and tasty. There is a CBTL on the ground floor of my yoga center and we would often hang out here before or after classes over cups of coffee or tea. With The 12 Cups of Giving program, CBTL has earned my respect and admiration — not just for their good food but more so, for their generous hearts for the marginalized among our citizens.

A big THANK YOU to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for giving us good coffee, tea and food while giving us this rare opportunity to give back a little of ourselves to society as well.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is located at TriNoMa, SM The Block, Gateway, Ortigas Park, Paseo Center, Bonifacio High Street, Mall of Asia, convergys Ayala Avenue, Salcedo Village, Alabang Town Center, Rockwell, Robinson’s Ermita, Greenhills Promenade, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood, Tomas Morato and 2 more branches in Cebu.