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January, 2006

  1. In Memoriam: Dr. Romeo Echauz, 89

    January 27, 2006 by ajay

    My dear kumpadre, Dr. Romy Echauz, passed away last week. It was something that caught me by surprise and brought tears to my eyes, having known about it after the funeral already as I have changed phone numbers. To those close to him, he will always be the esteemed banker and billionaire businessman, having founded one of the Philippines’ largest non-life insurance companies. But to me, he will always be a cherished mentor, benefactor and loving godfather to my twins whom he fondly called hijadas.

    I met Dr. Echauz close to ten years ago when he introduced himself to say how he liked one article I’d written for our newspaper. A meeting over coffee ensued and from then on he called me his “associate,” something that flattered me coming from a man of his stature. Not only did he tap me for his professional projects, I was also privileged to be part of their extended family. Memorable were the countless vacations we spent in their sprawling retirement subdivision which Doc Echauz relentlessly promoted till his death. For the past several years, the kids also enjoyed attending the Feast of the Three Kings at the Casino Espanol in Manila courtesy of Ninong Romy.
    (more…)

    Category Family & Friends | Tags: | 6 Comments

  2. Which Sports Car Are You?

    January 26, 2006 by ajay

    I’m a Dodge Viper!

    You’re all about raw power. You’re tough, you’re loud, and you don’t take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust.

    Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

    Read more about the Dodge Viper here. Unofrtunately, this one can’t be found in Manila as it’s also not perfect for our traffic, potholes and..my yeoman’s salary. Dream on!

    Category Blah-blahs | Tags: | 3 Comments

  3. In a kimono mode

    January 26, 2006 by ajay




    kimono

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    Am now a proud recipient of a kimono like this one, but there’s no picture of me wearing it since am still trying to figure out how to. Actually it’s a Japanese yukata (summer kimono) in a black and white fan-like design with an accompanying maroon obi. According to this website, the basic premise is to “wrap the right side of the kimono over the body, then overlap it with the left side.” But other than this, you also need to put on white tabi socks, Japanese sandals (most often the zori), the white collar that goes around the neck called eri-sugata, plus of course the obi and obi sash to keep the whole thing in place. It seems that wearing the kimono is a meticulous ritual that there are schools for this in Japan. Except for the fact that am so fascinated with it, am still trying to figure out my use for the kimono – maybe use it as a houserobe or don it for a costume party one of these days. I can’t wait to see Memoirs of a Geisha all the more!

    The kimono was an unexpected gift from my Tokyo-based blog friend Atinna who is one fascinating person to meet and undeniably has a heart of gold.
    Well, it seems that most of my pals who visit the Philippines have killer schedules and I could just sympathize. I had to meet the lovely Miss A in Starbucks Araneta Center en route to her next destination: Bulacan. Even though it was out of my location, I had no regrets since (aside from the meeting) it was my first time to see the newly-built Gateway Mall, an urban oasis in the heart of the Cubao jungle. I admired the landscaping that is like Greenbelt and I can’t wait to try all the restos and the state-of-the-art theater which reportedly boasts of La-Z-Boys for a unique viewing experience. Some of us can’t help but wax sentimental over the old Cubao which consisted of the Fiesta Carnival, Ali Mall and the Farmers’ Market but I could say the present one is definitely an improvement.

    There were other gifts from Atinna and these were these cellphones for each of my kids. They’re real ones except that you can’t call or text with them, hahaha. Ms. A says they’re “decoy” phones, the ones you can find being displayed in mobile phone stores. Whatever, the twins had a fun time tinkering with them:)

    Finally, here’s a picture of the twins being settled with their toys.

    I concede that they’re more good-looking than the mom and super lovable, di ba? *smile

    Arigato A….hope to see you in another part of the world soon!

    Category Family & Friends | Tags: | 11 Comments

  4. ’10 Things About Blogging in 2006′

    January 23, 2006 by ajay

    Here’s the condensed version of my Manila Bulletin Blog-O-Rama column today on “10 Things About Blogging in 2006:”

    1. Blogging is here to stay but the excitement will be leveling off. Blogging will no longer be viewed as a novelty and will create less of a buzz as it did two years ago. It will continue to become a widespread and accepted online activity. Those who can take the pressure of maintaining constant, regular posts will stay while the others will quit or go on to other pursuits.

    2. Niche blogs will rule. While political blogs will continue to lend their voice to the Pinoy blogosphere, trends show that themed blogs dealing with food, tourism, entertainment, technology and other dominant concerns will gain leadership, if they are not already. Blogs will be an extension of popular culture as manifested by the high traffic of sites dealing with Korean telenovelas, music lyrics and reality TV shows like Pinoy Big Brother. This could serve as a tip for those who are still thinking of putting up their sites or want to be successful in this endeavor: go where the crowds go.

    3. More Pinoys will attempt to go into professional blogging, or at least derive profits from their blogs. In reality, many are called but only a few will succeed. The majority are still trying to make sense out of Google AdSense, as it is.

    4. The rise of the community or group blogs. If thinking by your lonesome in front of the computer intimidates you, then why not gather a handful of your friends and blog away. Group blogs are primarily hinged on the idea that two (or more) heads are better than one. Plus, there’s less pressure to post since the schedules are rotated among the members. Good examples of this venture are Blogkadahan, Echeblahblah and the irreverent The Man Blog.

    5. A handful of bloggers will be recruited into mainstream media. The key is having an idea or opinion that matters.

    6. More members of the mainstream media will get into blogging. And not only this, we foresee that the mainstream media will themselves add blogs as a component of their websites.

    7. Blogging and the mainstream media: a happy coexistence? Rather than debate on whether one will dislodge the other, blogs will continue to provide links to relevant news articles and bloggers will rely on the media as sources of their blog posts. “(Blogging) is not a substitute for the resources and brands that media companies have developed. Investigative journalism will still be the hallmark of the media. Bloggers are viewed more as fact-checkers to keep the media honest. The challenge for mainstream media is to keep up with the bloggers’ speed,” cites a paper from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

    8. Blogging as a marketing tool. It is already noted that more corporations, businesses and private institutions will get into blogging. It seems like a good idea if you want to get your message across dynamically and considering that most people aged 18-30 are now spending more time online. However, it shouldn’t scream “hardsell.” Put up a blog that smacks of a press release and readers will most likely hit the “Close” button.

    9. Politicians who blog? A no-no! Honestly, we prefer to hear our politicians on radio or see them on TV. We wouldn’t love to read something which is most likely penned by his gofer or publicist. Besides, he really wouldn’t have the time to respond to all the love letters and/or hate comments.

    10. High-tech blogging: the next wave. Even though podcasting has yet to take off in this country, our telcos are well-advised to mine the potentials of moblogging. Who knows the next time we might find ourselves blogging substantially from our mobile phones, or flash live video images from our camphone to WordPress? The possibilities are endless.

    Relevant links:The Cat’s article on Blogging Trends – Profiles of Top Pinoy Bloggers
    Knowledge@Wharton

    Category Blogosphere | Tags: | 14 Comments

  5. One Proud Pinoy Moment

    January 23, 2006 by ajay




    pacquiao

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    I know this post is late in coming but here’s my take on why Manny Pacquiao’s win against Erik Morales was one big Pinoy moment:

    1. He showed to the world he’s one hell of a slugger.

    2. He’s a perfect example of one poor lad who made it good and made it this far.

    3.Filipinos need a modern-day sports hero, and he’s it.

    4. Filipinos need to be inspired that one can strike it rich by dint of ‘bloody’ hard work, not by stealing, winning the lotto, or engaging in illegal rackets.

    5. He’s the only non-bombastic star who can make traffic and insurgency fighting stop in this beleaguered country.

    6. At last, here’s one piece of good news coming from the Philippines.

    Our hats off to you, Manny. Keep the commercials coming. You will always be a hero in our eyes, so please…….

    Don’t ever think of running for public office.

    Category Life & Living | Tags: | 8 Comments

  6. 10 Things I Didn’t Know About Me

    January 20, 2006 by ajay

    LOL. Trying this out was really cool…..! I cracked up on # 5, 6, 7 & 9

    Ten Top Trivia Tips about Annalyn!

    1. An average beaver can cut down annalyn every year.
    2. Annalyn has only one weakness – the colour yellow!
    3. There is no lead in a lead pencil – it is simply a stick of graphite mixed with annalyn and water.
    4. The ace of spades in a playing card deck symbolizes annalyn.
    5. Annalyn cannot swim.
    6. The difference between annalyn and a village is that annalyn does not have a church!
    7. Annalyn can use only about ten percent of her brain!
    8. South Australia was the first place to allow annalyn to stand for parliament.
    9. In Chinese, the sound ‘annalyn’ means ‘bite the wax tadpole’!
    10. The first domain name ever registered was annalyn.com.
    I am interested in
    – do tell me about

    Try now for fun!!!

    Category Blah-blahs | Tags: | 2 Comments

  7. Presenting… The Day-Off Chef

    January 20, 2006 by ajay

    “The Day-Off Chef” is a new category am putting in this blog which will detail my hard-pressed attempts at domesticity in the most-cherished part of my week: my day-off. Hopefully, this will motivate me to spend more time in the kitchen -something I have been doing less and less of ever since I discovered that snoozing, shopping, gadget-reviewing, blogging and doingathousandotherthingsbesidescannotbe doneallatthesametime by someone pretending to be Superwoman. Thankfully, my kiddies are still eating decent meals but I thought it’s high time to flash the apron and try something new.

    My first venture was the Banana Chocolate Chip muffins I saw on Epicurious. I have been meaning to bake cupcakes and was taken in by the recipe because the kids love both bananas and choco chips. It was a bonus that these muffins were easy to make even though they were not as robust as Mrs. Fields. Still, they tasted luscious coming straight from the oven and are best eaten when hot, just as the choco chips are melting away from all that heat. Hmmm.. For the do-it-yourself, click here.

    The second dish I tried for this DO (day-off) is a comfort food and family favorite. My mom calls this picadillo although I doubt if that’s the correct name. It’s a tasty soup which basically falls for sauteing strips of lean beef in onion, garlic and lots tomatoes. Then, add water and cover the meat till it’s almost tender, season to taste with patis and put in the potatoes cut into cubes. Lastly, add the pechay leaves (also cut into strips) and turn off the heat. The pechay will cook by itself in the hot broth. Serve fresh from the casserole.

    Hurrah! I’ve just updated my dormant food blog (heheh)

    Category The Day-Off Chef | Tags: | 3 Comments

  8. Top Ten Blogging Blah-Blahs

    January 17, 2006 by ajay

    This cracked me up:

    Top Ten Blogger Lies
    Top Ten Reasons Why Nobody Reads Your Blog

    Link care of Instapundit.

    Add to this the Top Ten Lessons I Learned in 18 Months of Blogging:

    1. Man does not live on bread alone but Google Adsense will do.
    2. Politics in the blogosphere is as bad as the politicians bloggers write about.
    3. Blogging cliques, anyone?
    4. Accept the fact that your writing quality suffers if you aim to post everyday.
    5. Unless you’re paid to sit on your ass like what those probloggers do.
    6. “Just because I don’t leave a comment doesn’t mean I don’t read your blog (or else you’ll be getting 276 comments in one day, ugh!)”
    7. You don’t always have to believe site statistics. What led you to believe you can trust some bloggers’ site statistics?
    8. There are insecure peeps who think that linkbacks are as precious as the availability of water in the Sahara and therefore will do their darn best to deprive you of it.
    9. Good writing and good manners need not go together (as manifested by some bloggers who don’t have the courtesy of responding to your emails)
    10. Not all bloggers want to be in the limelight, even if they bore you to death with all those family pictures.

    Category Blah-blahs | Tags: | 9 Comments

  9. Week in pictures

    January 16, 2006 by ajay




    Image004

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    Anna meets Annal. It doesn’t matter that weeks before she came to Manila, my Norway-based tokayo (in Pilipino, meaning a person with which you share the same first name) Anna Lyn and I were in constant YM conference, discussing plans about shopping in Divisoria and meeting with our high school classmates whom we haven’t seen in 20 years! But as it turned out, we were too busy for our own good – me with my work and she with touring the islands with her family. It took extraordinary determination on both our sides to finally meet, then be introduced to her lovely youngest daughter Tanya and her nice husband John.I was amazed that she looked almost the same as when I last saw her. Never mind our stray white hairs AL but how could you give birth and not gain an inch on your hips while I agonize over mine? Lol.




    Image006

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    It was good coincidence that AL’s apartelle was located beside the Hong Kong Golden Pavillion Restaurant, one of my fave Chinese restos in Manila. We were joined by another classmate Magnolia and reminisced on the old days while munching on pork buns, fish cakes, seafood noodles, fish fillet hotpot, garlic spareribs and my favorite Vietnamese spring roll. I was glad that John liked the beer which came from the resto’s own mini-brewery and I wondered if the beer went well with the whale steak which is the Bjornstads’ specialty back in Norway.Before we knew it, it was time for our marathon meeting to end but I was certainly glad to see AL again and luckily we now share the same world in this blogosphere.




    ichi1

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    Saturday, on the other hand, had me attending the first birthday of my goddaughter Ichi. When I read the invitation to “please wear your dancing shoes” I knew that this would not be your run-of-the-mill party or a children’s party at all.




    ichi2

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    The function room of the Hyatt Hotel was decked with pastel-colored balloons and a lovely-three tiered cake designed like a gift box. How lucky this baby must be to have such doting parents who are willing to give her the best of everything early on ( & never mind the ninang who is broke, hehe) Us guests feasted on the full-course buffet which didn’t taste bland like most hotel food. I savored the smoked tanguigue (taste akin to smoked salmon) which is my favorite appetizer of all time. And the ladies like me had fun being twirled around the dance floor by the dance instructors hired for the occasion. My DI Giovanni was so good that it felt effortless grooving to the swing despite the fact that I haven’t danced in ages. And when it was time for us to leave, we were even given loot bags and colorfully-designed cupcakes as souvenirs. Whew, what a party!

    Category Family & Friends | Tags: | 8 Comments

  10. Gadgetophobia & other blues

    January 14, 2006 by ajay

    “Gadgetophobia” I think is the fear of owning gadgets as a result of losing them. But irony of all ironies I now have in my possession three cellphones to make up for what I lost: one is the Samsung that I’ll have to return soon, another is the latest model Nokia 7370 which my editor has given me for review, and the last is the brand-new Nokia 6230i which my dearest sistah bought me before she left for the US. Well, what else can I say to all the kleptos now but… “steal at your own risk!”

    On the Nokia 6230i, I don’t know what compelled me to order this but I did review this before and found it to be quite a good performer. I like the fact that it’s simply designed and inconspicuous, therefore not prone to the evil eyes of cellphone criminals in Manila (or am I right?). It also came with a free 64 MB memory card which is helpful if you don’t want to erase your photos or messages. The 1.3 mp camera can take the place of my lost digital camera for now. The only glaring defect of this phone is the short battery life but I can live with it if there is always a Nokia charger nearby.

    On the other hand, the Nokia 7370 looks uber-feminine despite its chocolate brown color. It is supposed to be the centerpiece of this brand’s L’Amour collection and even comes with a fashionable pouch and cellphone strap. What more, it swivels to 180 degrees which reminds me of my dearly departed SE orange phone. The only difference is that the 7370 is lighter, less bulkier and definitely a fashionista’s dream.




    nokia 7370

    Originally uploaded by annalyn.

    In the meantime, how true are reports that prices of 3G enabled phones have gone up as a result of the forthcoming advent of 3G in the Philippines? A friend who bought who SE K600 for 13k last December now says it’s priced at 25k or so. This should be good news for owners who have found that their phones have appreciated instead of depreciated. Master Yuga reports that other 3G capable phones are Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, Nokia N70, Nokia N90 and SE Z800.

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    Category Technews | Tags: | 3 Comments

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