Long Stay in Europe (Travel)

We have been in Europe now for a month and a half and having a wonderful time. We have explored most of Hungary, spent a couple of weeks in Budapest, visited Esztergom (with a brief peek into Slovakia), Vác, Pécs, Kalocsa, Szeged (twice), the lake Balaton (Siófok), the thermal baths of Mórahalom and Igal -- to mention just a few places.

We have spent an incredible week in France. Four days in Paris is barely enough to get a flavor of the city and we could have easily spent months on the French Riviera instead of just three days. Even though it is the most expensive part of the world, we found a hotel in Nice that did not break our budget but was clean and comfortable, right in the heart of the city. We made side trips to the beaches of Ventimiglia, Italy and to the opulence of Monte Carlo, Monaco. If I weren't lucky enough to win 100 Euros at the Casino Royale, it would have been too expensive. We also visited the historic town of Eze -- stunningly mideval.

We are getting ready for a trip to the German Alps and plan to visit many of Ludwig II's castles (Neuschwanstein, Hochenschwangau, Linderhof, Chiemsee, etc.) and some historical sites around Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (like the passion play town of Oberammergau and the church of Weisskirche). We will also explore Salzburg, Austria.

Cheche has been posting many pictures on her Facebook page, so I will not upload them here.

Travel Plans (Lifestyle)

It has been some five months since my last post. As I wrote earlier, I am busy finishing up a new project, an exciting new Metro style application for Windows 8. It really is great fun to be working with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and the WinRT class libraries, although I have done most of my past development in C#, XAML and WPF. I found that I can do more and with greater ease in HTML5. I want to become more proficient with SVG (markup language for graphics).

We are making travel plans. We will be traveling to Europe for a 3-month stay beginning June 2012 (next month!) and we are really looking forward to our second trip there in two years. We will visit Paris, Germany, Hungary and other places as time allows. Unfortunately Qatar Airways has discontinued its direct service to Cebu from Doha, so we will be flying Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and then Qatar to Doha then onward to Budapest. Qatar has excellent service, it is truly a five-star airline.

December and January are challenging times to be in Cebu. The Christmas rush begins here in early September (or late August in some places) and the celebrations culminate in the second half of December. Celebrations do not imply genteel cocktail parties or elegant dinners but massive fireworks with so much noise that cities are turned into veritable war zones. Sleep is near impossible as the explosions continue well into the early morning hours. Even before all the Christmas presents have been unwrapped, the new year festivities begin. Even more fireworks, but not in some public park but everywhere. Streets get littered with the detritus of massive explosions and the air is pungent with gunpowder smoke — sometimes so thick that visibility is reduced to mere inches.

What could possibly follow this kind of mayhem? You would think some peace and quiet would be welcomed by the populace but that is not the Cebuano way. The biggest festival of the year in Cebu is Sinulog which takes place on the second or third weekend in January. Families gather for massive feasts, people travel here from far-away places, there are parades all over the region, people dancing in the streets, major arterials are closed off to traffic and (drumroll, please) enormous fireworks all night long. Last year we were unfortunate to get caught in the midst of all that as we were returning on the fast ferry from Bohol on a Saturday evening. We were wondering around downtown Cebu for hours trying to find a ride — any ride, taxi, jeepney, bus, anything — home, to no avail. We vowed "never again".

So we will be gone for a month from mid-December to mid-January, traveling around Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. But that trip is far off, so more detail will follow later.

I am getting connected to the local techie and start-up community. This past weekend I was at a Startup Weekend in Cebu at the University of the Philippines in Lahug, Cebu City. It was well attended, had great sponsors and I had a chance to meet some really talented and fascinating people. I hoe to find the time to write about that in another post.

The Philippine Art of Bill Presentment (Lifestyle)

A year ago last December 1 we rented a 2 br apartment in a large complex on V. Rama Ave, Guadalupe, Cebu. We had PLDT set us up with a landline and broadband DSL. We have not received a bill by the end of January, so I called PLDT. By way of an answer, I received the motto of the Philippines: "Wait for awhile". I repeated the same experience at the end of February and at the end of March, with the same results.

In early April, our phone and internet service was summarily disconnected. I called PLDT again and they read me the riot act about not paying my bill. I asked when were the bills delivered. "Ahem, hmm, they were not. But you are still responsible for paying." It turns out that the PLDT installer has recorded the wrong address. I nearly lost my composure. I told the agent that in the civilized world if this happened, the company would make an attempt to contact me via email or phone or both and correct my address of record.

Read more »

Bread and Circuses (Politics)

The title phrase, originally panem et circenses in Latin, was first coined by the Roman poet Juvenal around 100 AD. He used the metaphor to depict the Roman populace's only remaining concerns amidst its widespread apathy and ignorance of the once great nation's birthright and politics.

As I reflected on the 2012 Presidential race after watching the last Iowa GOP debate, it came to mind that the bread has been scarce but circuses abundant.

Political rhetorics aside, it is quite amusing to watch the GOP contenders compete with one another on who is most consistent conservative. If that was the sole criterion, Ron Paul would have already won. No one can compete with Dr. Paul on consistency.

As for the Democrats, is there not a single person in the entire Democratic Party who thinks that they might be able to do a better job than President Obama? You could randomly pick a senior from any high school in the land I am sure they would be no worse as president.

I came across this short video about Dr. Paul's foreign policy of non-intervention. I think it is well worth watching.

A Special Circle of Hell (Opinion)

Dante Alighieri could not label Circles 8 and 9 of Inferno (Hell) properly because cell phones did not yet exist in the year 1300 when the Divine Comedy begins. Circles 8 and 9 are reserved for souls guilty of sins of malice (fraud and treachery) and should more properly be labeled "Verizon".

I have been through nine circles of Hell with Verizon Wireless. My two-year contract is up with them today, Wednesday, December 7, 2011, which is a red-lettered day on my calendar for this very reason.

About a week ago I sent customer "service" a nice email requesting to cancel my service upon contract expiration. I have included all my relevant information, even my SSN. I cannot cancel via their web site; they require me to call them so they may verify my true identity. Read more »

More Americans Go Abroad for Economic Opportunities (Econ.)

So little is worth listening to (or reading) on CNBC that I was shocked to find this article of some relevance.

CNBC is one of the pillars of "MSM", or the main-stream media, owned by General Electric. Thus (and this should not come as a big shock), its talking heads and writers serve the interests of whose logo is on their paychecks, the corporatocratic oligopoly effectionately referred to as MSM.

This veritable but rarely verisimilar arm of the once-relevant fourth estate has published the following story on their website: More Americans Go Abroad for Economic Opportunities and it is worth reading!

Sorry about the short post, I am busy working on a new project.

Letter to Husband (Humor: Joke)

My Dear Husband,

Before you return from your business trip, I wanted to write to let you know about a tiny little accident I had with the pick-up as I was trying to park it in the garage.

Luckily nothing serious happened, I was not injured, please do not worry about me.

I was just returning from grocery shopping. As I turned into our driveway, instead of the brake, I stepped on the gas.

The garage door got slightly dinged but fortunately the pick-up stopped immediately after jumping up on your Vette.

I am very sorry about that, but I am sure you will find it in your kind heart to forgive me. You know how much I love you, baby!

I am attaching a photo about the minor scratch on your car.

I can hardly wait until I can hold you in my arms!

Your loving wife,

Hugs & Kisses

P.S.: Your girlfriend called.