July 23, 2008--I was sleeping like a baby when suddenly i was awaken by the vibration and noise that my phone is making. It was 11:00pm. I was really annoyed by that person who keeps on calling me (Karen, a dear friend) when all i wanna do is just to enjoy my self in DreamLand. I had 8 missed calls and more than 10 sms. As i was browsing the messages i was shocked upon seeing the words "Congrats Dha" and I was wondering why on earth would they congratulate me for. But as i scrolled down for other messages, one really caught my attention "dha, congrats R.N. kana, Welcome to the Club!" (dha, congrats you're now a Registered Nurse, Welcome to the club!) and that explains everything. hehehehhe. I'm really, really, really happy.

And the next morning, I received another blessing, I now have work and in one of the country's largest contact center---People Support. Ain't that great? Talking about hitting two birds with one stone. hehehe.

2008 has been nothing but good to Davao City and its people. As it has given Davao City the distinction of being the Wow City of the South. Over the few months, Billions worth of investments have have been poured into this defacto capital of the island of Mindanao. First, we have the Ayala Center Davao who has been announced by no less than the Ayala Land to the Philippine Stock Exchange sometime last year. They have partnered with Davao's Floirendo family to this PhP 3Billion project. As of blogging time, a clearing operation is on going. Ayala's mall complex is slated to open sometime next year.

Then there's Robinson's Cybergate Davao which is 85% completed as of blogging time. This Robinson's mall project is the first of its kind in Mindanao and being one of the only 3 of Robinson's Cybergate brand. The other Cybergates are Mandaluyong's Pioneer Avenue and the other one is also being constructed in Cebu. Rob Davao will have 2floors, with the first floor for the mall and the second floor will house an IT park for BPO's.

Henry Sy's SM prime holdings has been reported to have bought the 66hectares Lanang Country Club (LCC). LCC has released an announcement that it will cease to operate after July 26, 2008. Local Sunstar Davao's Columnists have hinted on numerous occasions, that a Big name in the mall industry have bought LCC and that it will build its second mall in Davao. An insider working with SM have told me that this SM's move is a retaliation for Ayala's Trinoma which is just a few meters away from SM North EDSA (LCC is less than 3kms from Ayala).

What's surprising to note is that these 3 developments are financed by the country's largest mall operators and that they are just a stone throw away from each other, thus making J.P. Laurel Avenue, the soon to be Shopping district of Davao as it is where Gaisano mall and Victoria Plaza mall is located and if you add the 3 new mall projects soon, the J.P. Laurel stretch will be home to 5 huge shopping malls while the other 4 shopping malls of Davao is distributed in other areas of the City.

Sutherland and Western Wats has also built up BPO Facilities in Davao adding to the currently 9 callcenters which operates in the city. And with other IT parks under construction, its not a surprise when Big Callcenters like PeopleSupport and others will also build their own facilities in Davao. There is also a boom in Davao's Realty industry as midrise condo units have been constructed in the city. Surely proves that Davao City is a WowCity!

Let's say you were bored at home, there's no good shows on cable and u feel that u have visited all the sites on the net that even having the world wide web at the click of your fingertips is such a boring thing for you. You are having that kind of feeling that you have visited all the websites and you can't think of any other fun thing to do. Then you decided to go to the mall and treat your self some cold drinks and pizza.

So u took a shower and changed your clothes, and then rode a cab to SM City Davao. Arriving in SM, You took 200 pesos from your wallet and gave it to the cab driver. And the first thing you did was to order Choco Freeze at Bo's Coffee and since you still have some change in your pocket from your taxi fare (Davao's Taxi fare is not as expensive as that of Manila and here we have Non-Air conditioned taxi units), u didn't bother to check on your wallet. Before you ordered pizza to go, u decided to check out some flip flops since you don't have anything else in mind.

Inside the shop, while admiring some nice Flip Flops, you were tempted to just at least try one pair. And looking at how they fit your feet and comparing it to the one that you wore that day, what the heck, so you decided to buy the nice pair. Instead of wearing your old Flip Flops, you thought of just wearing your new pair and have your old pair put in the shopping bag.

So you try to take your wallet out of your pocket, on your way to the counter and you realized that your wallet is not there. Your wallet is nowhere to be found. And you felt as if the whole wide world suddenly came to a halt right there and then and it felt as if you were transported to the middle of nowhere and you felt so helpless. To avoid embarrassment, you just returned the Flip Flops (read: you are dying to buy).

You just can't believe your luck and you are in a stage of denial, so you immediately went out of the store and checked your pockets again. From your sidepockets to your back pockets and to your side pockets again and your back pockets again. And its really not there... Its no where to be found. So you went back to Bo's and asked the cashier lady if they found a black wallet with all your money in it, your ID, your plastics, your pocket-size-pictures, and who knows what else you have in your wallet. You hope against all odds that the Bo's people will hand over your wallet and say, "you forgot your wallet sir". But all u got from them was "are you sure sir that you have left it here?" and then you realized that the last time you had your wallet taken out of your pocket was when you pay your taxi fare. And then your only hope is to go to the gate where you entered the mall and ask the guards if some nice cab driver has handed over your wallet that you have left unintentionally (Like who would have left their wallet intentionally?). And your only hope was shattered when all the mall guard said to you was "do you remember the name of the company and the unit number of the taxi that you had?" and you were surprised that you didn't even remember the taxi company and how could you be so stupid to left your wallet in the taxi.

And as if things is not as worse as they were, you later realized that you have only P6.00 coins in your pocket and that you have zero credits in your phone. Just your luck. If this had happen to you yesterday July 12, 2008, What will you do?

And yes I'm posting this out of experience. I spent 45mins roaming around looking for some friends in the mall. And good thing i bumped into one of my friends and he lend me P50.00 so that I could have money for my jeepney fare home. just my luck. If this had happen to you what will you do?

It has been a common knowledge, among Davao bloggers that Ayala Land is embarking into a P3 Billion partnership with Anflo Management and Investment Corp. for the development of a nine-hectare Bajada Property into a mini-city that will have a commercial complex (Shopping Mall), an IT Park (to house BPO's), a Vertical Residencial Complex (Condominiums) and a hotel, of which 4 hectares will be for the commercial complex. This surely is a welcome investment for the city of Davao and its people. Finally, Davao will have an Ayala Center, a first for the whole of Mindanao Island. Ayala Land disclosed this investment to the Philippine Exchange last December 2007 and as of writing time, a clearing Operation is on going to pave way for the construction. Isn't that great? Reports published on the national dailies reported that the mini-city's official name would be "Ayala Center Davao". hehehe

The Ayala Center will be constructed in front of the Redemturist Church along the busy Bajada Area. Construction is to begin this month for the BPO and the Mall will start before the year ends. Phase 1 of the project is said to be done before the end of 2009. WOW, simply WOW. i cant wait to finally set foot in Ayala center Davao. Below is the rendering for the said Ayala Center Davao and an aerial view of the site. so enjoy.






And here is the rest of it.

Blogging has been a web craze these days. Ever since it made it to the WorldWideWeb people just cant get enough of blogging. As for me, most of the time i spent surfing on the net is reading blogs. The internet actually has lots of must reads, if you only know what to find and where to find them. For starters, i suggest you try google.com which is my favorite search engine.

What's good in blogging is that you don't have to be an English Major or a graduate of Literature for you to have a blog. Anyone can own a blog and post anything he likes. This is not like your college term paper where in your professor will give you a red mark if your grammar is incorrect, if u misspell a word or if she just don't like your work. That's the joy of blogging.

Blogging is my definition of freedom of speech. Here i can write anything thats in that little space between my two little ears, and no one has control over my blog except me, myself, and I. And no one can tell me what i have to write and what i ought not to write. I had this blog since February of 2007, though i must admit that i really don't have the motivation or the enthusiasm like that of other bloggers who posted daily updates on their blogs. There were times where in i have an idea of a nice topic to blog but i cant just find time to put it into writing. But one thing i have to point out though, is that i love blogging and i love to share my thoughts on a lot of topic its just that i am a busy guy--busy reading other people's blogs. hehehe.

But i promise to write more from now on. I just realized that i miss blogging! and i miss my readers. Yes, i also have readers u know. I even had one from Slovenia. Yes as far as Slovenia. But that was when im at the peak of my blogging career! hehehe

I have graduated college last march 2007. At first the joy of finally saying good bye to the student life was just like a dream come true. A vindication to the many sleepless nights, cramming moments, copying assignments, going to school and even cheating on quizzes (but i don't cheat on my exams, mind you!). Of the long time that you spent schooling, the joy of finally ending it and pursuing your dream career is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. or is it?

Upon surfing the net, i came upon a news article that states that for the first quarter of 2008, the unemployment rate in the Philippines rose to 8% from 7.4% of the same time last year. That's 2.91 million Filipinos jobless. The same article reported that this is due to the soaring oil prices.

In the Philippines, thousands and thousands of Filipinos graduate every year from college but there aint enough jobs to meet them. This just means that graduation is more than just a bye bye to the student life but it also mean the start of a new challenge in life--and that is the joy and pains of being unemployed.

I have graduated last year and until now i haven't got any job yet. Well, maybe because i haven't pass my board exam yet. But i know for a fact that there are many Registered Nurses who are still jobless. In the Philippines, thousands and thousands of students graduate every year and this number is overwhelming, so overwhelming that there simply is no place for them to work. Take for example the many nursing graduates, Thousands and thousands passed the board exam each year but hospital numbers don't multiply at the same rate as that of nurses, and i am sure that the same problem exists with other professions. There simply is no room for all the college graduates to work and there are still those who have been unemployed for years.

With this sad reality, the only logical solution is to try your luck with other industries even if it is far from what you have studied for. Just like me, I am currently attending a pre-employment training with People Support-a contact center, and I'm pretty sure that i have not taken any Call Center 101 in college.

But i kinda like being a call center agent. I think I like this job more than being a nurse. One thing is that you are not dealing with lives here unlike that of being a nurse. In the Call Center Industry, if you commit a mistake you just have to try your best not to commit the same mistake again. Unlike that of a nurse in which even a small mistake, such as giving a wrong medication, could be detrimental to your patient.

pic courtesy of http://www.loansguide.org

I received another political SMS just now. Hahahaha. I don't Know how to react on this one. They derived it from a prayer. Comment on this guys, here's the full Text:



Special Prayer 4
Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo:

Aba Naman
GLORIA Puno Ka
Na ng GRASYA!
Ang YAMAN ng
BANSA Ay
SUMAIYO Na.
Sa HUSAY ni
GARCI Naging
Pekeng PANGULO
Ka! Bukod Kang
MANDARAYA sa
Babaeng lahat.
pinagpala ring
MANGURAK0T,AS
AWA M0'T
ANAK,kayat wala
ng natira sa
AMEN!
iPasa sa lahat ng
Pilipino

I received an SMS which i wanna post here. Comment on this one guys. Here's the exact text, word by word:

at the time the then NBN deal kickback being demanded by Abalos equaled P6.5B, this is more than half of the entire govt budget for DOH & more than 5x the entire yearly budget of PGH. It would have paid for 49,000 open heart surgeries, 325,000 cataract surgeries & purchase of antibiotics for at least 6,500,000 people. And this is only one anomalous deal. It's no wonder our people are dying w/o benefit of Healthcare.

NO TO GREED.
Pls. pass

And here is the rest of it.

So I failed the NLE. At least im not the only one. Only 43% passed and 57% of us didn't so u see, its not just me. SO i failed BIG DEAL. What i hate the most was when i received texts from people telling me that "Dhawell, its ok. Its not the end of the world. U dont have to feel bad!" . I hate it when people are concluding that when u fail u have to be upset and u have to feel bad and that They have to text you and tell you that its OK TAT-TAT-TAT-TAAAH. So i failed Big deal. I dont need your Pity. all i need is a shot of Tequila (well, ok SHOTS), and a hot SEX. Which i had so i guess im ok now.

And here is the rest of it.

Last week has been the worst week of my life. As in WORST and if there's Worse than Worst then its the WORSTest of them all. Yes Jake, its Mader Packer Packing Shit. For all of you people who dont know it yet, I recently took the December 2007 Nursing Licensure Examination. Last week i have received info tru text, emails, and blog comments that the results would be Finally released that week. And boy was i so excited . And you guessed it right, i spent most nights waiting on my computer for the results. Google was of no help this time. Most sites were flock by people who, like me, awaits the results. and then Finally on Thursday 21 February 2008, the results were released by the PRC and YES u guessed it again. My name was no where to be found.

I was like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE U DAMN KIDDING ME? THERE MUST BE SOME KINDA MISTAKE HERE!

and i was like BLANK for a full minute its like The World Stop right there and then. and it occured to me that my name was not there. So I failed Big Deal.

Yes I failed Damnit. SO SHUT UP! U sensed it too eh? bitterness in the air? hehehe. Anyway, thats OK. I Dont deserve to pass it either. well for one thing, i never was serious on my review. I was always absent from class (for varried reasons). and i wasn't informed that you need to review your notes AFTER CLASS. Or take notes at all. hahahaha. (yeah RIGHT! EXCUSES)

Well anyway, im not trying to vindicate myself here. I just want the blogosphere to know that i Mader Packer Packing Shit Failed the board Exam and YEs its not the end of the world and yes i feel bad about it but not totally bad. and i'll just have to try hard next time. What sucks is that i guess i can't go to Bora this holy week with my friends. Yes akeem, and Yes March, i cant go. STOP it. I said I just can't go. i will have to attend another set of review classes. No Buts, Not IFs. END of discussion.

its been quite a while since i wrote something worth reading here. i so miss blogging but just dont have the time anymore. the internet has lots of things that has kept me busy. The net has lots of things to read and watch... hmmm, to start with theres bisean.blogspot.com, bryanboy.com, porn and movies. lol. most of the time i spent on reading blogs... i love to read and i read a lot. i can stay online reading from 8pm to 3am...

And here is the rest of it.

While i was Blog hopping, i came across this really cool blog that features everything and anything about the region that i call home--S.E.A. or SouthEast Asia.

From longest bridges, to peoples and cultures to passports and almost everything and anything under the sun. Its really cool and very informative, it's like an Online Encyclopedia about SE Asia The Blog is called B I S E A N.

I don't know what BI stands for but i bet SEAN is South East Asian Nations. If you want to visit B I S E A N you may want to click THIS LINK. You really should CLICK it.

Imagine my surprise when i read a news article on Inquirer.Net that Robots have invaded Marikina City. Not just any other robots--But Transformers. Hmmm, I really love Transformers. How I wish they'll also invade Davao.. hehehe

But citizens should not be alarmed because this robots will not spread havoc and teror but cheers and caroling for the Christmas season.

hahaha. Imagine Bumblebee or Optimus Prime or even Megatron closing on you while you are walking on christmas eve. Just when you are about to shout, he suddenly sings "Jingle Bell2x, jingle all the way". WHat will you do?

Do you know that the Philippines is building a P2Billion Cable-Stayed Steel Bridge in Butuan City--The first of its kind in the whole of Mindanao and Second in the country after the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Cebu. It is scheduled for completion by November 2008. Butuan's second Magsaysay Bridge would earn the distinction of having the world's longest road span.

A computer-generated image of the cable-stayed steel bridge

The bridge has a total road span length of 13.21 kilometers, which reportedly makes it the world's longest road span connecting bypass roads of the existing Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan City Road and Surigao-Butuan Road.

A Public Works and Highway Director said that the bridge's roadway width of 11.4 meters also earns for it the reputation as "the first of its kind in Asia."

After a relaxing Swedish Massage i immediately checked my phone for messages and missed calls. One of them was from my best friend Akeem. He wants me to read his latest blog entry in his Multiply account about the Top 10 longest bridges in SouthEast Asia. He was so excited to share what he read in another blog. He told me that of the 10 longest bridge in SouthEast Asia, 3 can be found in the Philippines. Yes folks, in Wow Philippines.

As soon as i sat in front of my computer I immediately read his blog to see if it was True. And behold, it is True. His Source was Bisean.blogspot.com a blog dedicated to anything and evrything about SEA or Southeast Asia.

In the list of Top 10 longest bridges in SEA, indeed 3 were Filipinos, and they are as follows.

# 3. CANDABA VIADUCT.

# 5. SAN JUANICO BRIDGE

#10. MARCELO FERNAN BRIDGE

Malaysia also has 3 bridges in the list and 2 came from Singapore though the #6 bridge connects these two SEA countries. For years, i thought that Samar-Leyte's San Juanico Bridge is the Philippine's longest bridge, well I was wrong all along.
For the complete list, you wanna go this BLOG.