 | Picture Perfect :-] | Mar 25, 2006 |
 | Moved | Sep 12, '10 10:46 AM
for everyone |
I moved back to my original space, please visit
I'd appreciate if you will leave a comment!
xoxo
I've downgraded from Premium Account. Multiply has been a good storage device but I have to discontinue because I have more important priorities. I've established a good backup in our trusty desktop so that would do it for now.
Multiply Premium has been good to me so far. I love it. I'll get back on it soon :-)
Here is an account of the manager of my co-worker Jhaycob on the incident involving one of Eastwood Mall Escalators today. The surnames of the people involved were removed for privacy. If you want to contact them, send me a personal message.
I would like to report an incident happened in one of the escalators (going down from 2nd floor to 1st floor) of Eastwood Mall (Main Entrance) at around 4pm today, June 23, 2010
At around 3:00pm today, I took out for lunch 5 of my technicians (Steve, Edward, Arnold, Richardson and Jhaycob ) for winning in my team’s mini-pod competition. We decided to eat in McDonalds at the 3rd level of Eastwood Mall. Afterwards, on the way out of the mall, we took the escalator just outside McDonald’s from the 3rd to 2nd floor. Then escalator again from 2nd to 1st floor. This was when and where the incident happened.
Steve was the one leading the way down the escalator followed by myself and Edward . Then Jhaycob . A few steps up was Arnold and Richardson . After I alighted the escalator, I noticed that Jhaycob was having a hard time getting off the escalator. I noticed that he was pulling out his feet from it. I personally saw how he struggled to pull his left foot out of his left shoe leaving him barefooted. I and the rest of the people on the escalator behind Jhaycob saw how the escalator devoured the shoe and his sock. Take note that the escalator did not stop when the shoe got stuck contrary to other escalators stopping when that same incident happened for safety purposes.
We then tried to look for a mall personnel to get his shoe and just create an incident report to prevent that from happening again.
Several maintenance personnel (contractors) approached us and opened the escalator to get the shoe. However, instead of apologizing for what happened, they insinuated that Jhaycob himself was the one at fault by putting his shoe in between the escalator steps. Moreover, one of them said that Jhaycob’s shoe is not that sturdy. He added that there are 2 types of shoes. Sturdy (matibay) and non-sturdy (hindi matibay). I asked them then why did they not put a warning sign then that their escalator is “only for people with ‘sturdy’ shoes”. I also pointed out to them why the escalator did not stop when the shoe was just starting to get stuck just like the escalators of other mall. Instead of replying to my question, they implied that it wasn’t a mechanical failure but that Jhaycobdid something deviant to get into that situation. That statement prompted us to go to the mall management to have the problem escalated. Please see attachment for Jhaycob’s affidavit.
While in their admin office, one of the mall officer asked the security guard which escalator. The security officer (Mr. Carandang) mentioned a certain number. Then I overheard the mall officer said, “Yun na namang escalator na yun!” (That escalator again!). After a few minutes, another mall officer (Mario Caudia) approached us and talked to Jhaycob for what happened. He did apologize and said that he would talk to the contractor of the escalator (the one who implied that it was Jhaycob’s fault) to discuss the matter. We reiterated to him that we were reporting this matter not just for our own safety but of all the mall’s patrons.
Personally, I do not think that they will actually do something about this incident. Jhaycob’s shoe was damaged because of the incident but they never offer a replacement at all until Jhaycob asked him about it. Instead of asking for Jhaycob’s or any of our contact information, he told him to follow-up on it by going back to their office. He never even bother to get any of our contact information nor give us theirs. I even had to ask their office phone number. Moreover, no medical check-up was offered. I personally felt that we were taken lightly.
This should not be taken lightly as this involves a person’s well-being and safety. Jhaycob is a well-grown man who had the wits and the strength to pull his foot out of danger. I couldn’t imagine this happening to another person, especially to child of another, a friend, a co-worker… or yours! With that said, I would like to request from your office for assistance on this matter.
Sincerely,
Bernie
Team Manager
Attachment: Affidavit.pdf
| Friends | Jun 17, '10 12:52 PM
for everyone |
Our female lovebird just laid 3 eggs to date!  We're excited!
| Books | May 14, '10 3:09 AM
for everyone |
This post is quite long and I know the moment that you open this page, you'd read this from start to finish. I thank you for your time in advance.
I've been planning this trip since March of 2009 and was able to invite company with a total of 13 friends. Tickets were all set for most of the people joining the trip but come November 18, only 4 confirmed. 6 of us boarded the plane. Kit is the host along with her girlfriend, Elle.
Our friends know that these trips are usually the main highlight of our year. We make sure that we prepare, save and research on places, sights and restaurants. On this trip, I leave it up to our host because its his hometown. I wasn't disappointed - our first couple of days left me in awe. Took a lot of pictures but the pics that I'll share are Gara's. Here are some:
 Our unusual but very sturdy service all around Puerto Princesa and nearby towns.
We stayed in this pension house. Its so clean and the breakfast was so good!
Willow amazed by how big the crocodile remains are!
The group before having dinner at Kinabuchs (promise this is really hard to pronounce)
On our way to Dos Palmas Beach Resort
Dos Palmas
Kayak
One of the best buffet lunch ever!
Girl chat on our way home
Ka Lui's dinner.
People who celebrated my birthday with me :-)
Our table was set this way every morning.
Rough roads
Inside Narra Nickel, preparing for the Arena Island trip
Obligatory tourist shot :-P
Calm seas before the boat ride
Our last picture before the accident.
I've been itching to write about this story for quite some time already. I just don't know where to start. It brought a lot of change - both good and bad to all of us. As time passed by, I saw more good than bad on it, I am bravely writing this experience as a legacy - of survival and faith.
The third day of our trip that Kit's dad had planned for us is a night stay in Arena Island. Its situated west of Narra and its a small island where sea turtles lay eggs during breeding season. All of us were hyped about it, its an adventure we find new and exciting. We left the pension house early, and had a 4-hour travel to Narra via our service (towns in Palawan are always 2-hour far from each other). We had plenty of shrimps, crabs and other food for lunch in Narra (courtesy of Kit's dad), rest for a bit and arrived in Narra market to buy food). We arrived in the shores where the boat to Arena was docked at around 4PM. The island is a 45-minute travel by boat.
The sun is still up high (look at our last picture together) even after 30 minutes of travel. We're all soaked in water because the boat that we rode on is a small speedboat. After that 30 minutes, the ride was bumpy, most of us got scared. One moment, a big wave hit the back of the boat where the motor is. The motor stopped and the water filled the boat and it slowly sank. The driver threw a lot of things away to keep the boat balanced but it did no good. Its halfway sank - we only had no option but to jump. We weren't together when we jumped. Everything is pretty much in a mess. I lost my bag (out of confusion) where our only communication is inside, my life vest was hang loose why I was having diffuculty swimming. Jake pretty much got hold of Willow, but he also had a hard time keeping himself on top of the water. I don't know what to do, darkness fell into the sea fast that I can't see my friends anymore.
We held on to on anything that floats. Wood, ropes and the boat. The boat capsized and didn't completely sink (made of fiber daw) and all that we're holding onto is tied on it. The boat driver emptied two containers of unleaded gasoline in the middle of the sea where we jumped. He tied the containers into the ropes and the wood to make the wood float. Willow was able to sit a little comfortable position. But getting out of the sea wasn't the only problem that we had. The unleaded gasoline burned us. It left burns in chest, arms and torso. Its torture. So we had to swim together to get to the part of the sea where there's no gas. We had to paddle our feet, swim together and aim for an island where there is light. We were surrounded by few islands but the waves go in the open sea and its no easy task swimming against the waves. All of us had no idea what time it is because of the total darkness. We can only see reflections of each other and we call out names to check if we're still intact. We're losing hope, everybody's saying I love you to everyone, how our friendship and families are valued. Willow was throwing tantrums already, looking for slippers, asking for milk. I feel for him but I had to explain that we're going home in a few moments. Ocassionally, he asks for water and milk but I can't do anything but sing him Thomas and Friends lullabies until he get to sleep.
We continue to swim to nowhere just so to say we're doing something. I myself can't stop moving my feet for the fear of drowning into the bottom of the ocean. We don't have track of time - Gab has a watch but due to darkness, we can't see any. The same time we're wondering what time it is, we saw a 180 degree picture of the sky - how the clouds populate, the stars fill up and disappear. We got some hope of drinking water when few drops of rain fell but it didn't quite quench our thirst. We kept on drinking sea water because of the huge waves.
It was a surprise we're still alive when the first ray of sunlight sprung out of the sky. It was a new hope. Finally, we got to see each other. Within the first 10 hours, it was an emotional torture - and the light gave us hope. We're laughing at each other's faces - how pale our lips look. We can see the shore of the nearest island - and we are now ready to swim going to the inner current of the island. We used teamwork to paddle together and push the boat. Or maybe get a fisherman boat to notice us and use the whistle on our lifevest to call for help. After hours of paddling, we saw a boat pass by, but the waves were too big for them to notice us. Hoping for another boat, we tried and tried until a boat with a group of 6 fishermen extended their help to us.
The first time I stepped my foot into the boat after about 14 hours, I felt a sigh of relief - relief I never felt in my whole life. We were given drinking water and Willow gulped about 4 glasses in one sitting then he slept on the rest of 1.5 hour trip to the shore. We're very thankful to the guys (out of tiredness, I wasn't able to get the name of the boat) who saved us. They sacrificed one day worth of their gasoline to get us back.
One guy who picked Willow from the shore gave his own shirt so my son would stay up warm. They fed him with rice and noodles, which Willow happily indulged out of hunger. Minutes after, the Kit's dad and staff was there, Coast Guard and a lot of people checking us out.
When we got home, I was able to see the extent of our injuries. My whole chin was wounded, my belly and arms got lots of scratches from the wood and burn marks on my chest. Willow and Jake got burn marks in their bodies as well. My other friends were wounded as well but thankfully we're all okay, no any other injuries other than wounds and burn marks. After we've been treated, we estimated the damage on our things, and boy, it wasn't good.
We lost a lot of things but the worst is that I lost my camera that has all our memories before the accident. But for sure it found its place 2000 feet under. We're all more thankful that we survived. Its the scariest moment in my life and having friends and family like them made it worth surviving.
A day after we had a trip to the market to buy us some slippers because we're all barefoot when we got to the shore. Then we spent an extra couple of days to recover. We made a visit to some places worth visiting before leaving Palawan.
A very sad Willow after the accident.
My boys spending quality time in Kit's motorcycle.
Visiting Estrella Falls - believe me you have to be brave enough to get in its waters. Its ice cold.
Having lunch by the river side.
Playing like kids.
The water is so clear.
Survivors.
Estrella falls.
We also visited Narra Hotspring and on our last day, had great time shopping Palawan's delicacies. We booked a last minute flight the next day and we were late. When the plane was landing Manila, I cried buckets - I never knew me and my family would set foot home through such an ordeal.
Life goes on and admittedly, everyone got depressed on how to move on and live our lives again. But everything that happened has more upside - we treated this as our second life, we're now the new brothers and sisters, Gab and Gara are now happily married, our personal relationships with each other gets better in time.
This is a lesson that is hard enough to get through but once you're able to get with it, you realize how strong your faith is, how lucky you are to be alive and how you have to be thankful for every single thing that you receive.
I'm not a cook. But I can follow steps from the cookbook. Sometimes I'm afraid to experiment but for the sake of the holiday season, I tried to bake a cheesecake. It ain't no fun.
Nobody has done it the way I'm doing it then . I can't figure out what's lemon grind, had to do research and how to do water bathing. I neither had fun waiting for 40 minutes for the oven cooking. Then another hour for the pan to cool. It's a real torture. That's exactly how I felt because there is 99.9% chance that I wasted my money and time - and come out with delivery pizza for the new year.
That 0.1% left save me the hassle of doing a last minute cheesecake. After 24 hours in the fridge, I took a slice and served it.
I topped it with nestle cream, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. The filling looked firm and didn't crack. They said it tastes good - well maybe because my friends Elle and Mecky had a bite and I think their comments were pretty decent.
It wasn't too perfect though. When I served it, it looks perfect but the pan where the cheesecake was baked did not look too well. The crust was too thick, only half an inch of it stick to the cake. Maybe I shouldn't have too much crushed grahams and instead bathe a good amount in butter so it will stick to the filling.
Well, good amount of my effort went to my loved ones taste buds and for me its a success already. But who doesn't want to see a pretty picturesque gourmet cheesecake? I do. In due time.
I've been reconnected to my old abode in cyberspace and when I went back on my previous posts (multiply doesn't import that much), saw that I'm blogging for 5 years now!
1321Visitors in my Original Page since 2005. 8293 Visitors here in Multiply (since 2007)!  Roughly 2-3 hits/day. 
I'm so proud that I'm actually around since the pre-friendster and facebook page. Its great to reconnect your quick thoughts but the power of writing is different. It gives you the real information, the facts and the story.
This line is so cliche but on my 5th year, I promise to share more often. :-) A lot of great things are happening that I think I'm so blessed in many many ways than one! One of which is this little space which I am proud to say that through it, I was able to give important information to other people, made friends and share stories.
I'm inspired! :-)
Last month, Jake brought home four guppies home and setup a small aquarium on the top of our fridge. The fishes were pretty because of its color and they wiggle endlessly in the four corners of their abode. A week after, two guppies died and two grey ones were left.
First batch of our pet fishes
After a month, he brought home 4 more small fishes and one orange betta (fighting fish). It didn't stop there. He setup a new and bigger home for the now 6 small ones with a cute Doraemon filter, pebbles and plastic plants. The betta fish cannot be in the same place with the guppies so we have to put it in the old aquarium. Days later, we bought a blue betta fish to breed with the existing orange but they both died hours after we bought the blue. (the bettas were pretty but I don't have photos, they died fast)
 Our second aquarium
The day after the bettas died, one of the 6 fishes gave birth to 8 little ones (update: 3/23, 10:57PM: they are now 10!) so we have to separate them from the others (they're too small). A new bigger home was built with real plants and cute ornaments. Currently, we're treating the biggest aquarium so it would be inhabitable by the bigger fishes. The newborn fishes will stay on the medium sized aquariums while the smallest box is to treat sick fishes. Our mini pet store
Did I mention that all the aquariums are complete with filters and oxygen supply? Its like we have a mini pet store in our table. Even I can't take my eyes off them. They seem so happy in their own small world.
I think its a weird addiction but I like it better than the original idea of breeding turtles and hamsters.
| Weddings | Mar 22, '10 1:49 AM
for everyone |
Last March 18, I witnessed the union of my good friends Chinky and Paul. I'm always floored by weddings, especially when the bride march down the aisle, when the bride and groom say their vows to each other and the traditional father-daughter dance.The dance reminds me of "What a Girl Wants" and always makes me cry.
The church doors opened for the beautiful bride.
Moment when the couple say their vows to each other. The bride balled her eyes out.
The traditional father-daughter dance.
After the wedding I was thinking of what my own would look like. I couldn't imagine yet how would I start - its not an easy task from the preparation to the main event. You have to be emotionally and physically ready. I admire my friend Grace and Chinky's job on their own weddings because most if it has their own touch. If it would be me, maybe I could only be in charge with my gown, Jake's suit and the entourage's clothes. Other than that, I'm not sure.
To the point that I was thinking of it the whole weekend, l finally dreamt in my sleep of my own wedding where Jake and I decided one day to get married without any preparations. I was so stressed about finding clothes, who to invite and everything!!! The whole process was painful and when I woke up I promised myself to prepare (at least).
This is one of the most frustrating dreams I have to date and its close to reality because I am well-known as a slacker and disorganized person. I continue to admire these events but what if its my turn?
I'm afraid. 
|  | (Feb 6) Tita Cris and Tito Jun met us at Market Market and had lunch at Maxx's.
(Feb 20) Tita Cris also invited us to her birthday dinner at Mall of Asia.
Pictures from my cam and Tita Cris' :-) |
But my boys are still asleep and I'm hungry!!!
I have this in no more than 4 hours yet. It takes good pictures but the dials are too many. This will take a long time of learning.
Sample of Custom Shot: (sorry I just rotate the dials then click, I'm not too techie on aperture etc etc yet) Our very dark neighborhood. I don't know where the sky got all its light but there's no flash in here.
Well maybe this is the start of re-blogging. Help me use this wonderful but complicated piece of technology!!!
This is in response to Makoydakuykoy's post re: Gloria's fancy dinner in NY City. For those who hasn't seen it yet - inspect the photo like you're checking your own bill and wondering what made you pay such a hefty price.
Now you already saw 11 orders of $510 worth of wine - what can you say? OMFG, it didn't stop there: the Palace made a remark earlier that they just had a simple dinner, and claimed that the allegations came from Bayan. How sosyal is Bayan (a party who wants to throw GMA out of office) to have a connivance in NYPOST? I'm appalled.
For the benefit of future buyers from these money grubbing people.
We are selling a 2M worth condominium in Riverfront Pasig City. Downpayment fully paid, turn over would be this coming June 2009. We posted an advertisement in Sulit, in the hopes that we could sell the unit so the money could be used for something else. There was an interested buyer who is very willing to pay and she already talked to a Mayfield agent to take her downpayment that same day but she wanted to take chances because this is a very good deal considering that units here sell for 2.7M these days.
We went to their office, sales agents weren't helpful to us because they keep on telling us that transfer of ownership is not possible if its not to next of kin. Another thing is that we were just asking for the key to the unit so the buyer could view it and the sales agent kept mentioning on 76,000 pesos and 100,000 pesos closing fee, plus he said that it will take about 30 days to process the clearance for the unit before turn over. He said a lot of things involving money but we told him we have to take things in our own way since we have the right on that unit. The office wasn't either helpful to us since they won't provide us with the right direction on how we can proceed to it. Worst case scenario, after turnover, we can consult a lawyer and sell the condo using Deed of Sale. All those people want is to get our money and get the condo as well.
I hope there's any law protecting people who buy to these developers. They always think that people get money easy so that they can take it away themselves. Its so unfair. It sounds selfish and mean of them not to help us just because they can get as much as they could if they don't.
Don't be intimidated by these people who makes you realize you are breaking the law or something. Be communicative with them and tell them that you will arrange the matter on your own and you are not going to deal with them on this. They are only middleman, they don't have the power to make such special notices to you, so don't be afraid to stand up to them.
I'm not against them but I would suggest, show some respect. What goes around comes around after all.
 | Category: | Restaurants | | Cuisine: | Seafood | | Location: | Market Market, Taguig City |
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