REPUBLIQ 1st Anniversary Ball

The 1Meal Program was created in Iloilo as a way for the private sector to get involved with the improvement of the Public School system in the province.

There are 1100 Elementary Public Schools in Iloilo province, and they are not in the best condition.

How does one achieve academic epic-ness when one must worry about

their next meal,

or where they will get the money for tuition fees, books and other school materials

and even the sanitary conditions of their school…
But the 1Meal Program hopes to change all that!
Join us! 
Every time you have 1 Meal at a participating restaurant you have the chance to give a child 1 Opportunity at a better future!
Check us out on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/1Meal

reminiscing sunset in Pililia 

Mikko Eating Balut. Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga, Philippines. May 2011.

BORACAY, I WILL SEE YOU VERY SOOOOON! :D

Happy belated independence day :D

 

Philippine national hero Jose Rizal wrote to the women of Malolos once, expressing his admiration for their courage in standing up to authorities for their right to education. I’ve never read that letter — I suppose the nuns and priests running the Catholic schools I studied at would not have thought it A Good Thing for us to be something other than Maria Clara types — till I saw Red’s article today at the Filipino Freethinkers site which had the full text of Rizal’s letter.

An excerpt:

An excerpt:

No longer does the Filipina stand with her head bowed nor does she spend her time on her knees, because she is quickened by hope in the future; no longer will the mother contribute to keeping her daughter in darkness and bring her up in contempt and moral annihilation. And no longer will the science of all sciences consist in blind submission to any unjust order, or in extreme complacency, nor will a courteous smile be deemed the only weapon against insult or humble tears the ineffable panacea for all tribulations, You know that the will of God is different from that of the priest; that religiousness does not consist of long periods spent on your knees, nor in endless prayers, big rosarios, and grimy scapularies, but in a spotless conduct, firm intention and upright judgment. You also know that prudence does not consist in blindly obeying any whim of the little tin god, but in obeying only that which is reasonable and just, because blind obedience is itself the cause and origin of those whims, and those guilty of it are really to be blamed. The official or friar can no longer assert that they alone are responsible for their unjust orders, because God gave, each individual reason and a will of his or her own to distinguish the just from the unjust; all were born without shackles and free, and nobody has a right to subjugate the will and the spirit of another. And, why should you submit to another your thoughts, seeing that thought is noble and free?

I always knew Maria Clara was a crock. 

[Read the full article at The Entropy Blog]

REPUBLIQ 1st Anniversary Ball

23rd of June, 9PM

ATTIRE: Gods & Goddesses (White & Striking Gold)

STRICTLY BY INVITATION

Philippines, why you so HOT?!?

Only in the Philippines.

(c) Ian Aranilla

Flying over the northern coast of Pangasinan, #Philippines (Taken with Instagram at Himpapawid/Aerospace)

Siquijor on Flickr.

I even think of naming my daughter “Rizalina” :))) 

Logan Lerman’s in the Philippines? :O Please tell me if this is true. *o*

Location : Philippines

best after swimming food ever!

Philippines, why you so HOT?!?

29- A picture of something you miss!

Lead actress/actor died? LOL NEVERRRR. Leads do not die in Filipino dramas. They always come back, always. Amnesia/faked death/hiding/escaped. They are unkillable.

Infographic of the Day: The Women in Riza’ls (Love) Life

Click image for full infographic (GMANewsTV)

Mount Pinatubo Crater
Tri-Cabusilan Mountain Range

Since I changed my URL, I need to repost this.

PHILIPPINES | Bangka in White Beach, Boracay

My new favorite store! Center of Gravity in Burgos Circle, Th... on Twitpic

As stated at the end of my last post, I was filled with the need for a hamburger, so I jumped onto google maps and found the nearest Jollibee. Jollibee is a Filipino fast food restaurant that was opened to compete with McDonalds and won. I knew I’d need to try it sooner or later.

The walk was about fifteen minutes long, crossing one major road. (I filmed it, but the footage is unusable thanks to the fact that I couldn’t see the screen between the bright-ass sun and my wearing sunglasses. For a simplistic summary: it was hot as fuck and the roads were pretty chaotic.)

Jollibee’s menu is a strange one. They have their signature burgers, some spaghetti-like dishes, fried chicken and other kinds of chicken—it seems all over the place, but hey, different culture. I got their signature burger, the Champ.

They gave me a number and I took a seat, which was when I made, ultimately, a great decision because it allowed for such an interesting event: I sat by the window. Almost immediately, I realized that in doing so, I caught the attention of two little beggar girls who’d been sitting around outside (pictured above).

I never give beggars any quarter (pun intended), so when they knocked on the window to get my attention, I just ignored them. I thought about changing my seat, but me being myself, I ended up deciding to bear with it.

I went over the recordings of my walk to Jollibee whilst waiting for the food to arrive, finding the videos utterly worthless. Meanwhile, I observed the game that those little girls were creating outside. 

They had three one-peso coins between them, and they were repeatedly chucking them at the metal pane that went across the bottom of the window, off of which the coins would bounce, and the girls would scramble to recollect them. This entertained them to no end. Thankfully they didn’t make any noise or it might’ve been horribly annoying.

I did find it interesting, however, that no one stopped them. Here, there are security guards at the entrances to pretty much every place, but none of them went outside to stop the girls. I didn’t mind, but I knew it’d be a totally different story in the US (not to mention that where I live, there aren’t any beggar kids running around.)

When my Champ arrived, I removed the lettuce and tomatoes from the burger and started eating. There are definite differences from an American burger: for one, the cheese is white instead of yellow. Also, the whole thing is absolutely drowned in mayonnaise. I love my mayo, but this was taking it to a while new level. Anyway, once I’d eaten my fries and about half of the burger, I was already feeling really full. I tried to devise a way that I might take the burger with me, but the container it’d come in was rather inconvenient for carrying around, and regardless I knew I was going to be overstuffed back at the house.

While I was struggling with the idea of finishing the burger, the beggar girls had turned their attention again to me. They kept tapping at the glass by my head and pointing. After a little while, I realized that they seemed to be pointing at my burger. 

It was a sound idea. If I’m not going to finish it, I might as well give it to them. To confirm the message, I turned to the girl and pointed at the burger, and then at her. She nodded enthusiastically, smiling with excitement. “Good enough,” I thought, closed the box, and headed for the door. The apparent older of the girls met me at the door. She hoped I’d give her both the box and some money, but I just gave the box. As I did so, she said something in tagalog ending with the word “Jollibee.” For my own amusement, I want to imagine that she said “thanks for shopping at Jollibee!” I gave her the box, and then I was gone. 

I couldn’t help but wonder how straightforward this had really been. Had she really wanted the burger, and if so, were they really about to eat it? I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if they planned to resell it? Or if they got mad that I didn’t give any money and threw the burger at the glass window like they did the coins? Or maybe they’d eat the burger and then throw the box just for entertainment. I mean, there aren’t exactly trash cans laying around here. It’s only just occurring to me, but I’ve inadvertently littered a burger box by leaving it with those girls.

Whatever. I don’t care what happened so much as I feel satisfied that the responsibility of not letting that burger go to waste is no longer in my hands. 

29- A picture of something you miss!

My hometown; Manila, Philippines!

I really wish I could go back and visit soon :)