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Baby Steps to a Greener Lifestyle

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~ Confucius

It has been on my mind for some time already but I finally started the journey. I have decided to start greening my home.

We don’t realize it but toxins are everywhere and we are breathing it in, ingesting it, applying it on our skin and polluting our air, water and soil as well. Everything from makeup to household cleaners to garden pesticides and laundry detergent contain toxic ingredients that pollute and damage not only our surroundings but our own bodies and body systems.

For many years now, I’ve always put a little bit of Lysol disinfectant in our mop buckets to disinfect our floors. And I used to buy Lysol aerosol cans to spray around the rooms when someone was sick, in order to kill the viruses. Many of my household cleaners (I won’t name all of them anymore but you know these brands as they’re readily available in supermarkets) like my toilet bowl cleaner, mildew sprays and drain decloggers, are tough on the nose and lungs and some of them have that really acrid smell. Now that I think about it, those fumes could not just be harmless if my body is reacting to their smell. Could I have been killing the germs but killing bits of myself and my family as well? I now wonder…

I remember that my maternal grandmother wiped all her furniture and countertops with Lysol daily. She died of lung cancer. I’m not saying Lysol caused her cancer but surely my Lola must have ingested so many toxins during her lifetime to contribute to her condition.

One of my brothers-in-law in the province has made it his advocacy to do things the natural and organic way. Several years ago, on one summer visit to my in-laws’ place, I noted how he had created a composting pit on the side of the house and in one corner of the garden stood a greenhouse filled with vegetables and herbs of all kinds. Frequent conversations I’ve had with him over the years involved his stories about difficulties maintaining the greenhouse pest-free without the use of chemical pesticides. Most of the vegetables and fruits my in-laws eat at home are freshly picked from the greenhouse. On a recent visit, he told me how he is now helping farmers in the province plant organic rice and how it involved a great mindset shift but the results are clearly paying off in terms of cost savings and harvest yield.

With more and more homegrown industries now starting to offer organic and all-natural products, I can’t make any excuses anymore as there are so many alternatives to commercial cleaners. Baking soda and vinegar, for example, have been widely known to be effective disinfectants, cleaners and odor removers but I don’t know that many who actually use them in these ways. It seems so much easier to reach for those cleaners in grocery shelves, right?

Several months back, on a talk show I was half-watching while doing something else, I saw an interview of someone from Messy Bessy, a line of non-toxic, all-natural, biodegradable products that are all made in the Philippines! At that time, my brain simply filed away the information. But on a trip to EchoStore Podium a few weeks back, I saw many brands now offering all-natural products including Messy Bessy products and EchoStore’s Home Basics line. I got myself a small Messy Bessy Eucalyptus All-Purpose Cleaner with peppermint scent to take one home. So far I’ve used it on my bathroom tiles and countertop. Loved the peppermint scent so much that on my next trip a few days ago to the bigger EchoStore Serendra, I came home with all these:

(L-R) wood cleaner/conditioner, anti-roach spray, tea tree mold and mildew spray

 

(L-R) Eucalyptus all-purpose scrub, dishwashing liquid, window cleaner

I’ve done away with Lysol, for one. My unopened container here will be donated to Philippine General Hospital (PGH) where I think it is still being used to disinfect patient rooms and hallways. I’m also trying out now some gugo-based shampoo/conditioner products as well as an all-natural feminine wash. I’m on the lookout too for an all-natural and effective deodorant.

I am far, far from my ideal green home yet. I’ve just started on household cleaners. But there are so many more toxic products that I must find acceptable substitutes for: makeup, laundry detergent, beauty products (I even need to replace my Safeguard soap eventually!). But got to do all these slowly and get the kids to buy into my changes or else I’ll face a mutiny at home.

I believe that saving Mother Earth (and more so, saving our own bodies from toxins) is something that should be at the forefront of our awareness these days because of so many toxins around us, including pollution. It’s truly a challenge to move to organic and all-natural products. And it can get expensive. But in exchange, it could translate to less hospitalization/medical costs.

It may be a little too late for me, at my age, to reverse all the toxicity I’ve ingested over the decades (hopefully yoga can help me detox more of it) but if I start now at home, I will be doing my kids and the rest of my family a big favor by sparing them from as much body toxins as possible.

If you’re already into organic and natural products, I’d love it if you could leave me your suggestions here or tell me what you’re doing in your own home.

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A Conversation in Manila: a social media event with US Sec. of State Hillary Clinton

It’s not every day that I get the chance to be in the presence of someone like U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. So when I found out that I was one of the bloggers invited to grace the social media event which was being hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Manila in cooperation with GMA News TV, I jumped at the chance to be there.

We arrived early. People were not allowed yet into the main hall where the “conversation” was to be held because Secret Service people were sweeping the room. So we waited at the ground floor of the National Museum, the venue, with other bloggers like Juned, Noemi and Brian.

U.S. Embassy staff manning the registration table

After a while, we were given the signal to proceed to the main hall. The crew and anchorpersons were already there as well as the audience which were composed of select Twitter celebrities (spotted Heart Evangelista, Maxene Magalona and Isabelle Daza), Congressional interns, editors-in-chief of different university publications and of course, us – bloggers. Also spotted in the crowd were blast survivor Raissa Laurel, Winnie Monsod, Maria Ressa, and other GMA-7 newscasters.

Part of the audience

There was a quiet air of excitement in the air. Ramon Bautista of GMA News TV went around the room asking young people what they thought of the Secretary and everyone seemed to hold her with the highest regard. Some even commented that they’d like to see her as the first woman President of the United States.

We bloggers had our corner on the right side of the room. Cocktail tables were set up near power strips. Noemi, Bong and I took two of the cocktail tables and quickly had our gadgets set up. Later, we were joined by Janette in our table. Marcelle and Vince also joined our little group later.

Bong and I (livestreaming with mobile phone, tweeting with iPad) and taking photos with digicams (photo courtesy of Noemi)

Secretary Hillary Clinton spent a total of about 45 minutes with us, answering questions sent in through text, Skype, Twitter and Facebook. Questions ranged from political (would she help Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo get treatment in the US) to personal (does she have further political ambitions to run for President) to curious questions like what were the contents of her purse, iPad or iPod.

Secr. Clinton with hosts Vicky Morales and Howie Severino of GMA News TV

 

Maxene Magalona asks a question

All went smoothly except for one incident where the editor-in-chief of the UP Collegian, Marjohara Tucay, stood up just as another question was about to be asked from the floor. Tucay held up a cloth sign (cleverly folded and tucked away to avoid security scrutiny) and began shouting “Junk VFA” (Visiting Forces Agreement). He continued shouting as he was calmly led out of the hall. Meanwhile, Sec. Clinton kept her cool as she witnessed everything. Just before this, she was saying that in politics, one had to have skin as thick as a rhino. She indeed showed she could not be fazed even under frequent protests she sees in many places she visits.

As for the message that Tucay was trying to deliver, he has his points but I really doubt that the method he used delivered that message across effectively. He seems to have come off as a distraction who actually spiced up the entire forum. If only he had addressed the question directly to Sec. Clinton.

Protest sign held up by EIC of UP Collegian

In an article published by GMA News prior to this event, it was referred to as “groundbreaking”. It was, indeed. When we were chatting earlier with Robin Diallo, Counselor for Public Affairs with the US Embassy, she told us that this was the first time EVER that Sec. Clinton would be doing this. With security always very tight around her, mobile devices and gadgets were never allowed. The fact that the US Embassy Manila was able to get her (and her security) to agree to doing this was one-up already. Robin said that internally, as they were planning for this event, they referred to this as “townterchat” (short for TOWN hall, inTERview and CHAT). To actually get citizens and social media together and up close with her was a social media coup.

I am happy to have been part of this social media event. I congratulate the US Embassy in Manila for putting all this together. Indeed, they are the social media pioneers in diplomatic circles in this region. The success of this event will hopefully pave the way also for others who visit Manila to do something similar and engage netizens and the citizenry.

 

Here’s the entire Conversation in Manila, courtesy of GMA News TV’s YouTube channel:

 

Also visit the US Embassy Manila’s post on this event HERE.

 

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YouTube launches in the Philippines

When YouTube chooses the Philippines to launch its first localized service in Asia, that is telling of what my country’s social media statistics must be like.

Media and citizens in the Philippines have taken to YouTube like fish to water. Watch segments of talk shows, entertainment, news on TV and most likely, portions of these can be found on YouTube. I’ve been to birthday parties where the celebrant is greeted via YouTube by relatives and friends from all over the world. My own son is glued to YouTube videos every day as he watches stuff from computer-related videos to videogaming videos. In Blog Watch, the citizen media group I am with, we already had a YouTube channel since late 2009 and we’ve used it extensively to document the interviews we did of the candidates running for office in the last 2010 elections.

YouTube has also brought several Pinoys to fame as their videos unexpectedly go viral. There was Christine Gambito, better known as Happy Slip, who regaled us with her funny video takes on the Pinoy characteristics and customs. This was followed by the Cebu inmates whose Michael Jackson-inspired dances went globally viral. Charise Pempengco and Arnel Pineda were discovered via YouTube. Charise is now a growing star in the music industry who counts David Foster, Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and many other celebrities as friends. Arnel is now the lead singer of the band Journey. Maria Aragon of Lady Gaga fame (who I recently met at another event) has Filipino blood running through her veins and so is funny man, Mikey Bustos. Who can forget that even the video of Cebu Pacific flight attendants dancing while in flight would become viral? And those four who were caught jumping up and down on a bed after Venus Raj became a finalist?

Pinoys have really become so attached to documenting lives and posting these on YouTube that even PR campaigns and strategies include contests that are intertwined with YouTube.

Several blogger friends and I were invited to the YouTube launch party held at Whitespace. The whole night was a celebration of YouTube’s success globally, with focus on how Filipino YouTube videos turned viral. Whitespace was transformed into a fun, fun place where different YouTube activities were happening in different corners.

A karaoke booth let guests sing their hearts out while being livestreamed
Moymoy Palaboy
Greyhoundz
Rivermaya
With Hannah (flaircandy)
With blogger friends

With YouTube present now in the Philippines, we can expect easier access to Philippine-originating content. In fact, content from the government will be made available to the YouTube viewing public through two channels – RTVM and Official Gazette.

Jumpstarting this effort will be a Google-YouTube-World View interview on November 4, 2011 of none other than the Philippine President Aquino. World View is a show that features world leaders answering questions from YouTube users sent online. These past days, questions were being gathered from citizens, some of which will be answered personally by Pres. Aquino on the Nov. 4 show.

Exciting times are ahead for Philippine YouTube viewers.

Are you one of us? What do you think of this move to establish a firm YouTube presence in the country?

 

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Steve Jobs, on life

Upon waking this morning, I opened up my iPad. The familiar ding sounded and a push notification from MacWorld popped up on my homepage with the nightmarish news that Steve Jobs had died.

The brilliant, creative genius of Apple products that kept blowing us all away was gone. He was only 56.

Tribute to Steve Jobs on the Apple homepage

Many will remember him for the genius that he was. Colleagues who worked with him probably remember him either at his best or at his worst. Most of us know him by the everyday devices we bring around with us that have become part of our identities.

But what struck me today, listening to the CNN coverage on Steve Jobs, was how he pursued his own version of a meaningful life with such a driven, focused passion.

Steve’s life has been very colorful. But his close encounter with pancreatic cancer in 2004 made him realize how life was too short. This mindset shift was clearly reflected in part of his speech at the 2005 Stanford commencement speech:

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new…

Such profound words from a man who had a love-hate relationship with so many people who knew him! This must have been why he seemed so driven despite his illness. He wanted to go with a bang. And he has. He has left us with a legacy and many life lessons.

To me, what left a huge impression was Steve’s thoughts on death as a life-changing agent. It truly is. When we realize life is short, then we stop being a sham, a fake if you can call it that. We stop living someone else’s life. We begin focusing on who we really are, what we want to really do, where our passions lie, what counts in life, WHO count in our life. We realize that walls that we erect to ‘protect’ ourselves from hurt are actually walls that shut out people who love us. We begin to see people and things around us that, in many busy seasons of life, usually go by unnoticed. We learn detachment and see material things from a functional point of view rather than from an obsessed, never-ending acquisition binge.

To get a better sense of Steve’s mindset, watch this video of that 2005 Stanford commencement speech:

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for how you changed our lives in a dramatic way. How the world will communicate and connect will never be the same again. You will be truly missed.

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Apple in my life

The very first time I laid my eyes on an Apple product was in the 80s. Back then I was a graduate student in the U.S. working on my Masters degree. One of the Filipinos in my batch purchased an Apple IIe. He had it in his dorm room and I remember several of us going to his room to ogle and salivate. At that time, very few people could afford an Apple computer so it was quite the novelty amidst the Ataris and Radio Shacks others had.

(courtesy of http://www.allaboutapple.com/)

My next encounter with an Apple was at work. Most of the computers in the office were Windows-based ones but when it came to desktop publishing, nothing could beat what the Macintosh could do. Fortunately, I was one of those who had projects that required me to work on the Macintosh using Adobe PageMaker. It was thrilling then to see how the icon-based user interface differed from the command prompts we had to type in on Windows PCs. It was really so much easier (and fun) to use.

 

(courtesy of http://www.allaboutapple.com/)

However, there was a long hiatus as I went the way of Windows PCs and laptops when I moved to a bank which was predominantly on Windows. Both at home and at work, I became so rooted in Windows that when my girl received the first Macbook in the family as a graduation gift, I always wondered why she raved about its performance. The second Apple convert was my oldest son who began using an iMac at home. Then on one business trip, my husband came home with our first iPod  – his gift for the kids. That was followed by another iPod, won by my son unexpectedly in a consumer product raffle.

Then, it was time for me to get a laptop when I needed to be mobile. It was a personal struggle – to go with a Windows laptop or move to the Macbook. One agonizing year – yes, believe it or not, it took me that long to weigh how I’d use it, how I’d adapt to new features and commands, and whether it was worth the price. I made the move in late 2008 and got myself the unibody Macbook. At almost the same time, I got an iPod Touch. One was for heavy, serious work. The other was for portability and communication when I needed to be mobile. It was a decision I have never regretted.

The genius of Steve Jobs has shown in each and every Apple device that has been made. I’ve read a book about him and it told of how he could be very hard on his colleagues, very demanding, unsympathetic and a lot more descriptions that are not really flattering. But in the end, his devices really spoke to the hearts of everyone, young and old. He knew what we wanted before we even knew what we wanted.

Someone once told me that when you’ve tried an Apple device, it would be hard to go back to Windows. I was a bit skeptical about that statement but right now if you ask me if I’d give up my Macbook and iPad and revert back to Windows and a non-iOS device, my answer would be a big NO.

The last bastion standing now is my cellphone. Because I love qwerty keyboards, I have not switched as yet to an iPhone. I am still on a Nokia E71, loving its tactile feel and being able to type texts rapidly without the typos I get on a touchscreen device. But there are many things I cannot do seamlessly with it. I cannot livestream properly. I cannot take a picture (because its camera is really lousy) and upload photos on the fly to my social media networks. But friends with iPhones can.

Maybe this is the time to go full circle and complete my lineup of Apple devices by getting the iPhone 4S. That is a decision I am still weighing at the moment.

Our home is filled with Apple devices, just like many homes are. Without a doubt, Steve Jobs and his Apple devices have changed the way I communicate, work, play and get my news. I really hope that the spirit of Steve will live on for a long time. The world has so much to be grateful for to this one man who went against convention and what people may call common sense (at that time) to make portable devices with powerful communication features and massive consumer appeal.

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VISAtisfied Voyager: new visa blog of the U.S. Embassy Manila

(UPDATE: The blog was discontinued by the Embassy and link, as well as email addresses below, are no longer available.)

The U.S. Embassy Manila is now the most active embassy in the Philippines on social media (with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr). And just recently, they did it again!

They now have….*drumroll*…..a VISA BLOG!

You read that right. They have an official visa blog, VISAtisfied Voyager, whose goal is “to provide timely and relevant information to members of the public interested in learning about the Nonimmigrant and Immigrant visa processes.”

The choice to put up a blog shows the determination of the embassy to draw in feedback from readers. Every week, topics relevant to visa applicants will be posted. You can ask questions, leave comments and even provide feedback with any experience you may have while applying for a U.S. visa.

Behind the blog is a team of visa experts from the embassy’s Non-immigrant and Immigrant Visa units. It is hoped that through this blog, visa applicants can be kept up to date with new developments that may affect their applications.

Take note though. The U.S. Embassy Manila will not be able to respond to individual visa-specific questions on the visa blog. If you have questions that are specific to your situation, email the embassy at the following addresses:

consmanilaniv@state.gov (for individual, non-immigrant visa applications)

ivmanilareplies@state.gov (for individual immigrant visa applications)

With literally thousands of Pinoys applying for travel visas every year, the addition of this visa blog is sure to clear up many myths and provide clear advice for everyone, more so for those who may be applying for the first time.

Congratulations to the entire team of the U.S. Embassy Manila who are behind VISAtisfied Voyager as well as responsible for all its social media efforts!