Judas

Dear Friend,
Please don't pretend to be someone you're not. Someone can tell that the face is a facade and that the words are not meant. Someone can catch on that you do not mean your praises and do it just to get on everybody's good side. Do not feign idealism because you do not practice what you preach. It only makes you more of a hypocrite than you already are. You try to justify every wrong thing you do and pass it off as goodness. But friend, even the devil can quote the bible in his favor.
Does everything you do have to take credit? If it does, then I wonder who you really are when no one else is watching.
It seems like we are living in a farce,
so think twice before you provoke again. For the world may not be as considerate the second time around.

" Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass. "

- Desiderata

D E S P E R A T I O N !

DESPERATE!
I badly want to have a copy of the "Management" book by Bartol and Martin. :( And the only ones I can find are those through the Internet which will cost me my whole month's allowance just to have it shipped from the U.S to me!

So given my meager resources, I have decided to abandon any hope of ever acquiring the book. But after thinking it over for quite some time,
I have FINALLY come up with an ingenious plan! ( sinister laugh inserted here)

First off, I go to a bookstore very accessible to me like National Bookstore. This costs me only 6 pesos for my jeepney fare. There, I find a tattered paperback on Aerospace Engineering. After much persuasion and annoying wheedling, the management finally allows me to have the
book for free given its pitiful state. I shall then read the book thoroughly until I master aerodynamics, materials science, avionics and fluid mechanics! I become so much of an expert that a prominent airline company soon offers to pay for my education if I agree to work for them as their chief engineer. I consider the offer. . . but then realize that this might sway me from my original goal. So I reject their proposals and continue in my quest!











Equipped with the knowledge, I realize I needed the resources to put my plan in action! I look up "stock market" on Wikipedia and read about the legendary Warren Buffett who began his multi-billion dollar fortune with just 100 US Dollars! Inspiration strikes and I decide to emulate his feat. I gamble away 100 pesos from my earnings and wait patiently for a result, ready to accept a good or bad outcome. Luckily, just after a few days, I find out that the stocks I bought come out big time! I had struck the gold, and was now another step closer to my destiny.

With my newfound fortune in hand, I design and finance the building of a powerful aircraft! And again, I was getting closer and closer to my goal.

Even with the best attempts I had at frugality, I am now left with only a little cash in my pockets. I then opt to sign up for a crash course in Aeronautics. Through hard work and sheer detemination, I am able to graduate the course at the top of the class! Even before my graduation day, I already begin receiving several offers from different companies for me to lend my expertise to them. Each promises me a handsome salary which I graciously turn down in favor of my now almost-complete plan.

On the day before Christmas, I fly my self-designed and self-financed aircraft across the skies! After an hour or two, I finally land in the United States of America where I am AT LONG LAST able to purchase a hard-bound copy of my book! I am in a state of euphoria as I fly back to the Philippines, directly to USC - TC.

Fortunately, I am just in time for my IE 220 class. I happily fish out my new book from my bag, and join in Engr. Maglasang's discussion. . .

- T H E E N D -

Hehehe! Wa koy lingaw. . . :D

Btaw, kung kinsa naa ani na book, pyde ko mu xerox? :)

UPDATE!! as of March 2007

I didn't need the book after all..Sir provided us with photocopies and discussions and everything. Wee, lingaw au management!!ü

Downtown!

Downtown Cebu! We have a store downtown located right smack in the middle! I'm here helping out almost everyday during days with no classes. And since today is (sniff) the last day of semestral break. . . Here I am! :) So I decided to write about the beauty often left undiscovered of downtown Cebu. . . :)

It's nice to be here amidst the flurry of activities of people of all walks of life. Everyone is busy and hurrying around as each one tries to accomplish what he needs to do before the day ends.

As early as 6:00 AM, the streets are already streaming with people and transport vehicles. The wet markets known all over the island for their über- cheap prices are situated here, and it is a sight to see the groups of middle-aged women in their floral dresses as they lug around big bayongs they hope to fill up with market purchases after they scour the wet markets. They are mostly loud, but jovial in manner as they greet acquaintances and haggle for lower and lower prices. :) Passing by the streets, you will ALWAYS catch a glimpse of vendors selling any item feasible enough to endorse to a crowd! Pirated DVD's, mechanical toys, fruits, pets, flowers, accessories. . .and the occasional vendor who squats on the sidewalk with a reptile in tow who goes on and on in a droning voice how the concoction containing the skin of his pet snake, can heal anything from a toothache to cancer! ( Modern medicine, eat your heart out! :D )

By 9:00 AM the "licensed" stores finally open. Mostly owned by the Filipino-Chinese living in Cebu, the business establishments downtown offer you whatever you may be looking for at very affordable prices. Hardwares, electrical stores, boutiques, banks, book stores, special services agencies, all with similar rusted signboards that usually say "since 1981", stand side by side, lining the streets of the area.

At this point, let me write about one of my favorite aspects of this exciting part of town. . . :)

Downtown Cebu overflows with boutiques with the latest in fashion! Wandering around the busy streets allows you to discover little stores found in hidden corners where you are able to buy clothes marked originally at 200 pesos in your local department store at 2 pieces for 99 pesos! OMG! A shopaholic would go wild!
There exists the "Tabo sa Banay" where they display clothes openly! You just have to point any item of clothing you want to try out and the person in charge promptly and excitedly takes it down for your inspection. The "Tabo" is like a mini labyrinth where you enter one opening and you find yourself in another street upon your exit! :)
There's also the "Metro Center" where you can find bags, shoes and more clothes! They have heap stocks of what's IN this season at very very reasonable prices that you find yourself vowing to patronize this place instead of the department stores you usually favor.
Crossing over to another street of downtown Cebu, is a small dark store you would never expect to be of your liking. Shockingly though, you enter to find accessories of different colors packaged by the bundle where one bundle would cost you just somewhere between 10-30 pesos. Now you have a variety of accessories that goes pretty well with the rest of your rainbow-colored wardrobe! :)

Walk along the streets, you'll definitely find more. . .

It's not only the "shopping aspect" of downtown Cebu that will capture your heart. In that part of town, there are still those old dimsums,bakeries and bookstores that you thought didn't exist anymore. But you're wrong! They are still there, though not that visited anymore because of the uptown competition. They are still standing, still with the old charm they were once loved for. . .

The sun starts to set and the stores eventually start to close again. You soon hear the successive closing of rusty old roll-up gates being pulled down one after the other. But the day doesn't end here. . . Soon, big truckloads overflowing with vegetables, fruits and any other edible rootcrops imaginable start to arrive! A new group of vendors usually hailing from the mountains set up their products at the doors of the now closed establishments. It is a delight to walk past them at this hour when the air is cool and you smell a faint scent of fresh fruits and vegetables wherever you go! What srikes you even more though, is when you see these vendors who are supposed to be "competition" help each other weigh, pack and recommend each other's goods. :)

Cebu is supposed to be known for its crunchy otaps, crispy chicharons, our sweet dried mangoes, the yummy lechons and as being the most-developed city in the southern part of the country. But next time
you do chance a visit to the city, take a time out of your busy schedule and explore the not-so-developed part of town. I promise you, it's most probably where you'll find the beauty and charm of this little city I call my home. :)