More on CDO and Bukidnon trip

Snapshots from my Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon trip.

This is what you'll see on the other end of Makahambus Cave. White water rafters pass through this river

The historical marker at the cave's facade.

Bonding time with my high school friend, Shine who now resides in CDO. The adorable kid next to me is Louisse, Shine's son and my inaanak.

An ancestral house in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental. The local folks (two men in blue and the lady in white shirt) showed us around before we interviewed 'Solo' papaya farmers.

Notice the carved image of a men at the corner, as if carrying the second floor of the house. I saw two old houses with the same architecture. I wonder what's the story behind.

In our quest in finding 'Solo' papaya plantations, we faced rain and narrow and muddy road. But the sight of the farm and the smell of the grass felt like home.

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Down South

I had an official trip to the southern Philippines last week (Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon) for our supply chain mapping of 'Solo' papaya. It was my second time in Cagayan de Oro City and my first time in Bukidnon. This trip has been very tiresome yet enjoyable and my most adventurous so far. I had several "first times" during the trip!

• It was my first time to go to Bukidnon. I knew from my grade-school books that pineapple was the main commodity of this province. True enough, I saw hectares and hectares of pineapple farms. Those farms were contract-grown by Del Monte Philippines. It's also called the Baguio of the south because of it's also an upland province and it's cold climate.
• While on our way to Bukidnon, there was a place where we are to go through a quarantine "pond," i don't know what it's really called (I had something like that also in one of my undergrad subjects but whatever, I forgot). All who pass through that place have to be 'quarantined.' It's the first province I went to with that quarantine thingy.
  
• First time to eat "binaki." Out of curiousity, in one of our stop overs going to Bukidnon, I bought this local delicacy sold in the sidewalk. My guess is it's made of ground corn mixed with milk, wrapped in corn husk and then steamed. I think it's similar to "suman" only that "suman" is made from ground rice.
• My first time to see a rubber plantation. I was facinated by the row of rubber trees because they look so the same (of course!) and they were of the same height. There was a little black thing attached to each tree that catches the latex.

• I've never been to a cave before until the Makahambus Cave which is just a few minute ride from the airport (we went there before going back to Manila). The cave served as a hiding place of Filipino Soldiers during the war. The end of this cave is a cliff and down you'll see the river where white water rafters pass. White water rafting is one of the main attractions in Cagayan de Oro.

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Travel again!

I'm thrilled! I'm going back to Cagayan de Oro! We are in our initial supply chain mapping of 'Solo' papaya in Southern Mindanao and there are quite a number of large plantations there. It's been almost four months since my last Mindanao trip. The last time was in Davao City for the wrapping up of our mango supply chain project. We'll be there for four days tentatively .

I'm thrilled because of two things. First, because this is a new project (well, relatively) and I'll be interviewing new sets of people. Talking to farmers and traders can be difficult at times but I wanna have a fresh attitude about it. I think I have learned a lot from our mango supply chain project and I hope I'd be savvy this time. Hehe. Second, I'll try to meet with my high school friend and my inaanak. The last time we met in Cagayan de Oro was brief because I was there for just a day. Hopefully we could spend more time together. We'll sure be talking about our plans for our high school batch's grand reunion this coming December.

It's gonna be a busy February!


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8 Things That Made My '08

I was reading a feature from a broadsheet about several lists of things that happened in 2008 and I thought I'll have my own. These are not really listed in order of significance. It's just a random list.

1. Blogging
Finally, I took it seriously. I blogged before out of boredom but now I'm doing it like I need to take a bath. For years, I haven't been writing for the sheer joy of writing and this is a revival. One of the good things that happened was I became aware and involved again. I mean, because before, I have been keeping my opinions to myself (especially about current events) but now, I get to write about them.

2. Mango supply chain project research, done!
One of the relieving and rewarding parts of being a researcher to see his research project finally completed. Finishing our mango research is precious to me because it was my first professional research study and I worked my butt out for almost three years. Perks included during the study includes travels to different part of the country like Davao, Guimaras, Iloilo, Pangasinan and Abra... and of course, a trip to Hong Kong!

3. PowerPoint presentations
This year, I made my boss an awful lot of PowerPoint presentations for all her lectures overseas -- Pakistan, China, Thailand and Cambodia. My highest record is four in a day. In several instances, friends from our church who are assigned to speak for our Tuesday youth fellowship also asked help from me in presenting their messages, digitally. Each slide has been a piece of canvass and to say that I am fascinated by it is an understatement.

4. Chris Tomlin Concert
This one is a major event. The work this guy is doing is really a blessing. His music is heartfelt and true worship. I volunteered for the Passion Conference Manila last August and the experience was awesome. I have been an usher for a night and seeing the crowd of almost 7000 who came together to worship God is just wonderful.

5. Ate Madel and Daph
These two officemates has been a big support for me, professionally and financially. The shared meals and the money they lent me for those times that my job contract was being processed were a huge help. Imagine no pay for more than a month... these ladies has helped me get through. Not to mention how they helped me not to screw in the lab with my clumsy little hands.

6. Online Shopping
This one is a sweet find. So far, I shopped replica watches, shirts, shemaghs and a bag through multiply.com. Lately, I have been eyeing Pepe Tees. Who knows what else are there to find in the www.

7. Ate Weng and Kuya A's Wedding
It was a pool wedding and it was beautiful. They were my former training apartment housemates and I get to reprise my perennial wedding role -- emcee. It was also a chance to get together with Ate Ritchi's family (the bride's sister) who is one of my mothers in faith. I got to spend time with her kids (her eldest was my godson) and I enjoyed it so much and I got to be a child again.

8. YM chit-chats and chat-fights
Letters are sweet and cards are good but getting in touch everyday with good friends through online instant messaging is the best, and cheap. There's my ever interesting conversations with a good good friend who migrated in the US where, in not so frequent times, end up in "mature" fights (hehe... she's a bully... oops, i hope she's not reading this). But really, thanks to online chatting, I was able to get in touch again with high school and college friends whom I never heard of for years. YM Status are sometimes enough to start a really good conversation (many times I got in trouble because of these "YM Status")
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Templates

I need to make 14 PowerPoint presentations for my boss. She will be a resource person for an APO (Asian Productivity Organization) training to be held in Cambodia next week. This is one of my favorite things to do (I mean doing PowerPoint presentations), especially the part I design the backgrounds myself. Digital editing fascinates me so much. In fact, the day I learned to Photoshop was one of my happiest (I still have a lot to learn though). My Photoshop know-how are very basic and self-taught. I plan to take a short course on multimedia graphics in the future. Later, I will be posting some of my digitally-created/edited artworks. In the mean time, take a look at some of the powerpoint backgrounds I made. I'm open for comments and suggestions.


And I have to take turns doing that and my labwork. Not to mention blogging on the side. Talk about multi-tasking! Click Here to Read More..