migrating

hi guys, am in manila right now - and gosh, do i miss davao. this city is waay too expensive for me! waaahhh anyways, i arrived yesterday afternoon and ill be here till the 12th-- and it feels like an eternity already. well, maybe because i'm bored, it seems as if all my friends migrated somewhere far from here...so i was holed up in my room last night waiting for something to fall from the sky -- or the cieling, rather. I'm happy nothing happened though, the management wouldn't let go of me then if i don't pay up for the damage...and that is trouble waaahhhh

anyways, that is not the reason for this post, but that is a good rant. i needed that... now i feel better.

and for the news of the day: i've officially migrated to 13thwitch.com -- it is still not fully done, but hten again, sites are always half-baked...we always find something to tweak everytime the urge to do so is felt. and we almost always feel it when we look at our sites, don't we all? but yes, find me there... i've imported my posts from here... so u can just browse...and get lost. im still making the navigation friendly enough hehehe!

i'm having slush for breakfast! well, that is something davao doesn't have ^.^ ok so im kinda happy now ^.^

Sample Photos for our upcoming calendar and photobook collection

Gambling and mental sharpness

My nephew, a registered nurse, and a computer science graduate (yes, the tendency to take multiple courses runs in the blood) took an exam to be poker dealer for PAGCOR. Well, He took an exam to be nurse for PAGCOR and he passed --- that is not the point. PAGCOR was also giving out tests, all math-related...and if you passed, you get to be a dealer. Now why the heck do u want to be a dealer? simple, aside from the tips you get, the salary is basically higher than that of the nurse's. What's the catch? you have to pass the test first. Easy? sure, you just have to mentally calculate complicated mathematical equations. Perfect. and oh, my nephew failed...along with the whole batch who took the test. *ahahaha! Not a very bright bunch...

we get to laugh at it because the whole group failed...if he was the only one who failed...I would not have laughed as much as I did, I'd be plotting to murder him because of the disgrace he's brought to the family.

Ironically, we are a family of accountants. My dad, my three 3 brothers, my sisters, not to mention my in laws. We had an accounting firm and I see people of great skill in math coming in and out of the house everyday...Sadly their genius on numbers did not rub on me...or on my nephew.

My dad and his friends also has this monthly casino thingie that they do for charity. I never was able to attend those...well, mingling with people who cannot hear you is not fun, so I was not motivated... (nyehehehe)

Anyways, I stumbled on an online casino thingie -- ooops, i didn't know that, never thought that online casinos are existing... I mean, I've seen stuff and I've seen advertisement, but never really thought it as a huge thingie...wow...I got lulled at how complicated it is. Click on the link to see what I mean. They have instruction and manuals that makes me wanna say waaaahhhh!!!!

It looks fun though , and i got into browsing it and stuff...and got dizzy for a moment.

One thing I noticed though is that, gambling, whether its online or not, creates a great requirement -- one must be a genius in mental calculations. I used to look at people gambling as something weird, but the inner workings of the game and the brain ticking behind their very composed posture is something I did not expect to be very sharp.

It's not actually a matter of luck, but a matter of being able to calculate your opponents "cards" by studying his throws and his expression and posture. That's why, they sit still, expressionless, and more like a statue than a player, because every sense of given emotion and expression is actually a variable for them to understand what numbers you may have in front of you. of course...this is no mental telepathy, and this is not really that accurate, but isn't math also about probabilities?

as the chinese say, they don't try their luck...they gamble. Pretty accurate in terms of how we're supposed to face the future, right?

Please nod. Perfect. It's not a matter

let me round you guys up...

We will be having an event where all business owners, budding enterpreneurs, and all people who are thinking of starting up their businesses are invited. No, it won't be a business convention, it's gonna be a party where business cards exchange is required. There will be performers and a little fashion show to entertain everyone.

This is a party as an introduction to next year's high profile business event where we would only exclusively invite business owners who participated on this party to meet with invited foreign guests and investors.

Will post details when date and time is confirmed.

Sponsorship is welcome. contact me for details, leahvalle@gmail.com

We will be printing calendars and a photo book featuring our sponsor's products and services with their business details and contact information.

camping up for wordpress

never thought newsletter and the like are actually that important, until i learned about this upcoming event for september.

When I received my update of posts from the mindanao blogger's community newsletter my eyes just swept on the current discussion taking place...and hola, I saw the word wordcamp in flashing lights similar to that of the 60's old cabaret headers that shouts the name of the performers entertaining tonight...except that wordcamp cannot dance like sexy showgirls...it doesn't have feet to begin with...but this one word has brought out an excited flutter of feelings within me...that i can almost see me raising my leg alternately doing the new york, new york routine. Not that I know how to...but hey tyson bit his opponents ear and i forgave him, why can't i do a fab routine in a sucky way and can't be forgiven...and besides, well-kept heartaches are deadly, it can result to a heart attack -- see? sentimental dudes don't last that long on this earth... they either get hit by a bus becuase they are not very mindful of where they are going or they just go eck! as they fall forward (if the attack didn't kill them, the rock hitting their head when they hit the ground surely will -- heeh morbid)...

anyways, going back to the real reason of this post --

attending the wordpress camp in manila is obviously the first choice to be able to attend a formal event in terms of blogging and stuff for me...and although it is just an hour flight from davao - acquiring a ticket -- no, spending money to buy a ticket, getting a hotel room, being in a place i could never ever understand the directions, and being in the middle of people talking in tagalog fluently when i have a hard time composing tagalog sentences and saying them correctly, accent-wise, is a risk I've been brooding over these past few weeks...

apparently, i'm not alone...turned out majority of us living in davao cannot go to manila for various reasons -- my gosh, it would be a sight to flock in NAIA all speaking in visayan, with the exception of few people who would try to speak in tagalog regardless of the hard southern accent -hehee (we'd drive the guards crazy...) -- by virtue of luck and wishful thinking -- WordCamp is crawling its way here! wohoo!

I just registered and am happy I did. I wonder what type of event this will be... I bet almost all of the bloggers attending will individually haul their laptops as they grope to simultaneously apply whatever bitty-boo taught by whoever-wordpress-master- is-in-charge-of-scrambling-our-poor-brains. Regardless if how it will be, I bet it will be something I'll be very happy about, scrambled brains and all. (Eoow, i just had a vision of someone opening the upper part of my head, as if it was a lid, and stirring it with my brains turning all goooey....gross).

anyways, wordcamp will be one sept. 4, 2 days before the manila wordpress camp...nyeheheh! so that meansMatt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic, is coming first before he face the blogger crowd of manila in WordCamp Philippines 2008 ...

that means, if all of us, Davao Bloggers, unite to capture him and put him in a sack, to hang from a sturdy jackfruit tree, the wordpress camp in manila is gonna be missing one important person... the most important guest in their event, actually...

I wonder if he goes missing, will they be able to figure out that their beloved Mr. Mullenweg is missing in action...will they be able to find him on time before the victim gets a stomachache from his hanging jackfruit buffet ?-- or before the bow breaks... whichever gives in first...

i'm just kinda confused with the schedule...on the registration form, it starts around 6pm-10pm...when you click the schedule...it starts early...or i just missed something? -- like the two sets of activities are actually happening on different dates? sheeesh... now i'm embarrassed... help?

anyways, here are the list of the sponsors that made this all possible to happen:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer

ps - please don't mind that it is being posted in blogger -- this blog baby has already been a personal favorite not for any specific reason -- anyways, i'd like to make it clear that i do have a wordpress blog...

really =D

chaos, the universe, and i

The complexities

what's the difference between the universe and I?

at a glance, the universe and i look look chaotic.

Let me correct that. It is true, that the universe and I stay to look chaotic even if you stare at us for an hour or so. And we will remain to do so for the rest of your life, if you dare to just look for the rest of your life.

the underlying order in the existing chaotic way I live my life, is the same to the system the universe is using. The silent relationship of give and take that's happening between me and the cosmos is something I have yet to deeply understand, but only now do I see it unfolding as I unfold.

You see, I am a woman who loves to study other people and their personalities, not to make fun of them -- but because I find it interesting how differently people react to the same thing we all have and this one thing we all share -- it's what we call life and world.

I easily catch manners and detect abnormalities in the situation. A certain look passed between two people. a certain smile, a certain reply...I can easily spot the not in a situation in terms of human relations. That's why I don't ask...I assume...this is a game i play silently with other people...hmmm what is he up to now?

Being alive means many things for everybody and the world can be as colorful or can be as desaturated -- depending upon one's perspective.The composition of my thoughts and action and its relevance to my life and decisions are strings not available for others to scrutinize unless I opened it up for anybody to criticize. The private me is a certain show I rarely put on stage.

I am not terrified of being scrutinized but I find it irrelevant and inconsequential. Little did I know, this is a product of me being scared to test my capabilities. One example is that, If someone gives me a project, I can deliver it, more than what is expected. I can spearhead it for the other person, plan it according to what he may want, act on it according to his tastes and preference...Ask me to lead even a small team for a project that originally came from me, my knees buckle and i call in sick. i will change that. soon.

anyway, one person commented on how i look scattered. I was about to say the same thing about him too... except that he believes otherwise... He know what he wants and what he is doing...just as I know what I want and what I am doing...

His need to re-arrange my life according to what he can understand, is a need he must do, not for me, but for himself. This need if he acted on it, will benefit him, he will begin to see me flawlessly as I strut in this life. However, I will feel broken. His order is my chaos, just as my order is his. The perfection of the moment I am experiencing can only be perfect in its perfect sense to me, others may try to understand, other may actually understand a little, but never will they look at it the way i see it.

Just as the unverse chaotically choose to exist, my chaos is partly a result of a certain system relaive to my existence and also partly an acquired choice.

No one needs to understand it not even me, just as no one needs to understand yours. There are somethings that we must answer to socially. The community requires the individual to do so,however, the creativity of one's life as one lives it is beyond time and space. And so if you see me jumping up and down the bed, you don't need to know the reason why...just join in if you feel it's fun ^.^

a more refine post on this one when I wake up. *tsup!

Drinking Coffee the Kangaroo Way...

Books & Brew with a special dropping in between...

Hopped my way towards this new coffee shop at Tionko last night, and was hopping excitedly with a promise to taste this "Kape Balos" that Kangaroo Coffee Company is now offering, is making my left eye twitch... Kape Balos or Kape Alamid, as it is more widely known, is something I've heard of a few years ago but I never really had the chance to taste it.

When I reached the place, it was buzzing...so many people. It's my first time at the Kangaroo hole and I heard it's new, but I never expected it to be very busy.

The ambiance was nice...the people friendly (don't ask the guard though, he will just answer you with a one word: ha?) ^.^

The best thing about this place is that it offers books for you to read.

Heartbroken? read the inspirational books, tired and depressed? grab the self-help books. They tend to keep the reading light but something that will make the customers feel good.

Books and coffee shops have long been partners but this is the first coffee shop that I've seen here in Davao that offers books. Reminds me of Border, a bookstore in Singapore, cool place,...and they won't bother you if you read and read...problem is, it is so big you wouldn't know where to start...

Anyways, this is a cool concept, it brings not only coffee lovers together but intellectuals as well... So the place becomes alive with discussions and stuff, this type of setting will sooner or later gather an interesting pool of people with various talents, opinions, and perspective...

Soon people will come to this place not because of the coffee but because this place has become a part of them in terms of their learning process with coffee drinkers as their peers and the couches and tables as their collective space. The place, if properly managed and allocates time to providing a venue for intellectual growth will flourish not as a business establishment but as a second home with with friends as clients.

service with a smile

Hehehe! Not that I have a very interesting social life but if ever I am to have a life, I'd rather socialize with people I'm comfortable with in a place I find cozy...And it's always the people the creates the atmosphere...So when I drink my fair share of coffee, cafe latte in particular -- well more of milk with a little coffee --- and someone says something funny, that forces me to laugh unexpectedly making the liquid to come out of my nose --- I'd rather have it trickle down in front of people who will laugh with me ... Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever is apt) I don't belong to the group of coffee drinkers who periodically experience spasm and epileptic attacks if their daily dose of coffee was not met...

Wait, Why was I in Kangaroo in the first place?

OH, KAPE BALOS -- Civet coffee, Kape Alamid --- o

Oh, did I mentioned that i hopped in a few minutes late?(what's new huh?)...when i reached our table i saw Blogie and Kuya Migs, Bob Martin and his adorable wife Feyma. The KULIT Tandem - Chattee and her shaolin monk who clicks on his cam as if there is no tomorrow-- arrived a few minutes later.

photography by Chattee

THE COFFEE. Kape Balos is Kangaroos' edge against other coffeeshops. Believe me, this coffee is one heck of a coffee. It is interesting and I don't only mean the flavor...but let me start with that....

The FLAVOR: I find Kape Balos strong for my taste, but then again I'm the One-cup-of milk-with-coffee-please-girl, you know... I'm proud to say that I didn't faint and even had more than one cup --- but generally speaking, it was not strong , The strength is dependent on the saturation, i think (correct me if i'm wrong)... You can, I think, request for stronger brews to give your palate the flavor it is looking for.

I've noticed that almost all coffee lovers are also weirdos who like stronger brews aside from them being aroma freaks...I know someone who brews his coffee so strong that the mere sniff of it makes me faint... It is so saturated that if you serve it in a wake, it would push the dead to get out of the coffin, drag its carcass around, just so he/she could slap you (wala nay mu-abuloy kung makuyapan pud ang nibisita tungod sa kape hahah!)..

Going back, the beans was roasted well,thus, no burnt or bitter aftertaste, and the taste becomes better after every sip. Interestingly, the taste doesn't change -- you know how the taste of coffee changes when you drink it first and then you eat something, and then you take a sip again? In this case, the food enhances the taste of the coffee without altering it... Expect it to be musty and with rich jungle undertones).

Kuya Migs noted how it goes well with the (Chamomile?) tea.

As for the aroma...it is chocolatey ( i love chocolates kaya 2 thumbs up sa aking ang kapeng ito!), elegantly bold but not heavy handed, kinda nutty (i think)... It was served without sugar and cream, you can put some if you like, but try drinking it first without the sweeteners, you'd be surprised.

Anyways, Kape Balos is not suited to be served everyday. The dead will die again if you do so... why? it's so freakin expensive you'd have a stroke.

Estimated to be commercially priced around P10,000 (yes, ten thousand pesos) for half a kilo (yes, you read it right, tunga ra sa kilo), when I heard of it last 2003, it was priced around $600 per pound.

Kape Balos or Kape Alamid as it is widely known is actually the most expensive coffee in the world. Kangaroo offers a it for Php300 a cup -- expensive? not really, in other places, people are actually paying $50 a cup.

If you find the price interesting, wait till I tell you how it's made...hehehe!

In case the word Balos or Alamid is a word not part of your vocabulary, let me then happily inform you that those are words pertaining not to the finest arabica ( Liberica or Exelsa) coffee beans that this expensive coffee is made of.

Balos or Alamid is the proper name of a wild feline, nocturnal by nature and is an expert in sniffing the ripest and sweetest coffee cheries to glutton over.

musang.civet.alamid.

No, the alamid or musang is not being used to find the best coffee cherries the way a hound dog is slaved over to locate a prey...One harvests the coffee by picking the droppings of the creature...You can read the last line again, I wouldn't mind ;D

Indigenous Tribesmen from the mountains of Matutum gather the Civet's droppings early in the morning, most likely before the sun would rise... they'd clean it, then roast it, and then make coffee out of it...mmmm...yummy. hehe! ;D

Why the heck would people pay so much money for coffee harvested from a wild cat's droppings?

Aside from the fact that humans are actually gross, this process of the coffee cherries -- being eaten, then digested, and then finally excreted, is a process that prepares the beans for it to taste the way it does-- exuding an almost musical, fruity aroma - dark and sweet, -- strong, chocolatey, and just perfect even without sugar and cream.

High levels of proteins is the reason why coffee beans become bitter upon roasting, but the Civet, upon digestion breaks the protein down giving the Kape Balos it's superior taste. That's why I wasn't really surprised when Mr. Mark Seng, part owner of the establishment, noted that the best coffee is the type that you can drink and savor without the artificial sweeteners.

You would notice also that the liquid looks reddish rather than brown (reminds me of mangosteen tea, actually). The color is due to the the biochemicals present upon digestion -- a factor why a change of color takes place.

This natural process makes the procurement of these types of beans scarce but the demand for this coffee is high, thus, the reason for such high price... Did you say high demand?! yes, I did - there's a lot of crazy people in the world you know...and this is some weird craze...

Heck, I'd try it just so I could say I tried a coffee that once passed through some creature's ass

IT being actually edible and the fact that it is the best tasting coffee in the whole world is a sure sign that there is some higher power watching over freaks like me who is willing to do crazy stuff just because....

but sadly these animals can only collectively poo 250 kilos of coffee beans worldwide per annum... You cannot do anything till the animal does its thing... the phrase "patience is a virtue" is an apt mantra for this.

Seriously, there is a sanitation process involved but extensively cleaning the beans with simple running water is enough to dislodge bacteria... Also Kangaroo being a legit establishment, will not offer you a ticket to the bathroom --- but this makes you wonder, before the sophisticated sanitation process, before the wonders of technology in terms of brewing, who first thought of trying the droppings as a possible source coffee? ( I don't want to imagine -- but THANK YOU for people like that...)

So did I scare you or what? Here's a suggestion of what you could do... gather your friends and head collectively to Kangaroo (it's in front Sunburst, at Tionko Street) order one cup and take turns sipping it and watch eachother in amazement the way Spongbob and Patrick would in a similar situation...you are not allowed to laugh like spongebob though...but yes oggle and let your eyes glimmer until you all turn yellow.

Oh, here's another, make it an initiation rite. When I was still in high school branding according to one's group is one of the most important thing to achieve a certain social status... I'm sure in many levels and ages, such is still existing in various forms (anyways, let me stop myself before I delve into the mysteries of peer and labeling)....

where was I? oh - the initiation...HE WHO DRINKS THE Balos COFFEE IS A TRUE MAN... with a tagline, it is one thing to be called an ass, but it is another to drink from one...true men do the latter... o di bah! bongga!

• For the Social Climbers, order a mug and keep the receipt for future show off...

• For Intelligence Officers, this cup of coffee can actually be an effective psycho warfare technique... (umamin ka na o oorder ako at ikaw ang pagbabayarin ko!)

• For the ones who slave over article writings and deadline chasers - the strength of the price and the coffee is enough to keep you guys awake.

• For the insomiac, celebrate some of your sleepless nights with class and style...drink it with your pinkie up ;)

• For the bookworms and the nerds, invite your rich friends and let them order Kape Balos while you tag along and read for free...

• For the humanitarian and the socially aware, ordering a cup is actually helping the indigenous tribes who gather these beans in their livelihood, these beans produces an income that promotes welfare and pushes civic development amongst the community, it is also raising an awareness to protect the Civet or Alamid, and is helping in protecting them and their habitats.
  

Whatever reasons you may have, or whatever reasons you may not have, do find time -- hop your way at this interesting establishment... and try the darn coffee, will you? because the Civets are not gonna stay here forever. You might find enough curiousity to try it one day only to find that the coffee is not available anymore because the creatures involved are already extinct...that would be a shame.

If you tried it, and you find it not suitable to your taste...fine...order something else (wala may pugsanay bleah!)...

the PAPA KANGAROO

If you see a lanky guy
with chinky eyes & wears glasses
He is the part-owner Mr. Mark Seng...

He is mainly in-charge of the discounts mwehehe!
so be nice to him

PIG OUT!
----------------------

Original Post @ Emptied Spaces (July 14, 2008)

iPhone 3G is almost out!!!

When iPhone came out, I was salivating at it...Now.? tulo japon akong laway hahaha!

I mean who wouldn't want a revolutionary phone with a widescreen iPod that is also internet capable (rich HTML email plus desktop)...but heard that it was having problems...so i abstained --biting my lip and holding on to my money so that I wouldn't give in to the tempation of buying something beyond what I can afford...and regret afterwards...

but I stumbled on an article that stated the next gen of iPhone, to be called IPHONE 3G will be now be released in 22 different countries this JULY 11...but that is not what I am excited about...what made me scream was that its price was to start at $199 eeeeehhhhhh!!!!!!!

ang pangutana, pila kaya ang patong ani pag abot sa atoh...tagem...

(Black model, 8gb is $199 while the white one with 16gb is $299)!

New features of iPhon 3G

• Faster, 3G data networking. One demo took 59 seconds on the old EDGE network, 21 seconds on the iPhone 3G, compared to 17 seconds on WiFi. Apple claims it’s 26% faster than competing models from Nokia and Treo.
  
  
• Longer battery life. 300 hours standby, 10 hours 2G talk, 5 hours 3G talk, 5-6 hours browsing, 7 hours video, 24 hours audio.
  
  
• Better audio. No details were available on this.
  
  
• Integrated GPS, including live GPS tracking.

it will be available on july 11, 8am in these countries:

iPhone 3G will be available in these countries later this year...

bu