monday mumblings: iloilo trip -- batchoy, brian, and coffee; comics on the reading list

I've not been reading any books of late because I've been rather hooked to reading (backtracking) on the events in DC comics. Right now I'm working on getting through the pre-Infinite Crisis series of books. As can be seen on the right side of this blog, I'm currently reading The Return of Donna Troy, one of the books that tie-in to the whole Infinite Crisis and after this 4-issuer, I'll get on to Villains United before I finally read Infinite Crisis proper and the ensuing 52 (and 52 Aftermath).

When I'm done with 52, I'll be proceeding to Final Crisis.


The unfortunate victim of my sudden turnaround to comics is A Game of Thrones which continues to be unread despite having traveled with me to Iloilo and Roxas City last week.

* * * *

Desk-work brought me back to Iloilo City last Wednesday.

My last visit to the place was I think late 2004 when I went there with the then RP National Basketball team coached by Boycie Zamar and bankrolled by Cebuana Lhuillier, my former desk. We were in Iloilo for the "Try-Outs ng Bayan" along with then the young national players of which I remember only Dennis Madrid, Celino Cruz, Marc Pingris, and Cyrus Baguio.

Last week, work again found me in Iloilo albeit for a quick stay (unlike the 2004 stay which was, if I remember correctly, 5 days). I had to visit our Iloilo branch and see what improvements can be done on the marketing-advertising side. I planed into the city on the noon-time PAL flight and was at the branch by 2:30pm. After an hour and a half and a dozen or so photos of the branch, I then had to kill time before meeting up with my pal, Brian, later that evening.

So, I undertook a mission I had promised to do -- sample the local coffee shops.

I was aiming to sample at least a couple of coffee shops but due to time constraint and the fact that the night plans changed abruptly, I was only able to check out Coffeebreak.

Near the Desk's branch was a branch of Coffeebreak which I promptly went to for a late lunch (I had just realized that I hadn't had a proper lunch as the flight was right smack in the middle of lunch-time).

Hazelnut coffee with passion "brownie"

I ordered their brew-of-the-week which was Hazelnut and also ordered a pastry which CB called Passion.

Passion is a moist choco-cake slice that is more brownie than cake with a choco-layer in between and almonds (or were those walnuts?) on top.

I'm not much a connoisseur of coffee but the CB brew was quite good and brownie was filling. Since I only had enough room for one coffee-type, I didn't have the chance to sample their iced or frapp coffee versions. Next time probably.

Aside from the great coffee and brownie was the free wi-fi at CB. 

Access to wi-fi granted!

I finally got the chance to test out the wi-fi capabilities of the PSP I brought along and after finally getting it configured, I simply asked the barista for wi-fi access and in minutes I was happily surfing away.

Using the PSP to connect to the internet shows one that not all websites have been configured to work on all mobile devices. Maybe the sites would work well on most tablets and smartphones but websites like Yahoo and even this blog did not display properly on the PSP screen. I could not even access the CMS of Blogger.com which made on-site blogging impossible. Fortunately, the mobile website versions of Twitter and FB worked well. Maybe I just need to install another internet OS on the PSP or upgrade it.

Just like any other coffeeshop, Coffeebreak's counter was easy to understand although they were more colorful than your usual green, brown, mocha variant shops.

Aside from passion, there were a lot other pastries and sweet stuff to chose from. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for a sugar-load. The other delicacies will just have to be tested on another occasion.

* * * *

It's always good to see Brian. 

Brian relocated to Iloilo several years back, got married, had kids, and has settled in his home province for good. So, it's quite seldom that we see each other, the last time being on the sad occasion of our friend's death.

Despite my trip to Iloilo being just a one-nighter, I still checked up on him and we agreed to meet later in the evening. He picked me up from my hotel around 9:30pm.

Deciding that coffee was the last thing on his mind that evening, we went instead to a small watering hole just off Loney Bridge (I think) for two bottles. While the videoke was blaring with tunes sung by the other patrons of the bar, we talked about life, careers, future plans, diabetes cares, and other stuff including reminiscing old times. 

After the two bottles and a song each, Brian proceeded to give me a tour of the city. I was surprised that at before 11pm, Iloilo was already relatively quiet, not unlike Cebu which at midnight was still roaring with life.

See you on my next vist, bro.

* * * *

The next day, I got up early, had breakfast at the hotel's resto, packed up my stuff and headed to the bus station for the trip to Roxas City which I'll chronicle on a next post.

* * * *

Everyone knows that Iloilo is famous for La Paz Batchoy. And when it comes to batchoy, the name Ted's easily comes to mind.

Deco's La Paz Batchoy

So, I evaded Ted's even though it was just around the corner and instead tried the La Paz batchoy at Deco's.

I ordered their special which promised a whole lot of extra stuff that would turn-off my doctor. This was dinner, some 30 minutes after I just had my mid-PM/late lunch at Coffeebreak. 

Along with the batchoy, I ordered four pieces of pre-war pandesal. The digit-sized pandesals were more interesting than the batchoy, sadly. These pandesals were bite-sized and were packed. You could use them as pamato if they were flatter. Despite their diminutive size, they were surprisingly filling. And they were baked well -- firm, packed, solid, yet easy to munch on. More like soft biscuits only thicker.

Going back to the batchoy ...

If my tastebuds remain accurate, the batchoy at Ted's was tastier. Although both stores used the same ingredients and are cooked the same, it all boils down to the sabaw or the broth. Ted's sabaw was the more superior one IMHO.

friday frolics: wet and flooded, diaspora ad astra, another writing project idea

Waded knee-deep yesterday just to get home after a circuitous route that took an hour as I my usual way home was inundated. While the route home (had to walk as traffic was on a standstill, taxis where hard to come by, and if you do get to flag down a taxi there's no guarantee the driver will take you to your destination) only had me wading through ankle-high puddles, our street was already flooded.

My shoes and socks were flood casualties but even with an umbrella and a jacket, there was no evading the downpour as winds complicated things. Tall buildings didn't help shield you from the rain as they instead served as obstacles to the wind and rain in that instead of the rain just going one way, the rain attacked you from all sides. Really, while I was walking home, jacket and umbrella, everything was just about pride -- panindigan mo na ang payong at jacket!

Thanks to kind neighbors, in particular Tatay Dido, Big Red was moved to a secure place before the floodwaters in our street reached the sidewalks. Because that would've meant waters would have already seeped into the car. By the time I got home around past 7pm, the waters were already a dangkal (about 7 inches or so) above the sidewalk, reaching up to my knees. So, I profusely thanked my neighbors for their concern for Big Red.

This morning, I took Big Red to office just to be sure. If the rains don't let up and flood waters persist on our street, Big Red will be spending the weekend at the office.

* * * *

Not so lucky last night were Dennis and Pilar who got stuck in traffic on their way home to Montalban. Along the way, while sitting in traffic, water seeped into their car. Good thing they've managed to get home safe and sound although their car is in need of a check-up (doors aren't locking, Pilar says) and for sure, a bath.

* * * *

Elvie also wasn't able to go home immediately after her shift ended. Since our street and the streets leading to our street were flooded, it was safer to stay at the office and wait until the waters receded. The floodwaters receded around midnight and that was the only time my wife was able to get home. Fortunately for her a taxi cab pulled up close to where she was standing (there was no taxi queue) and the driver obliged when she told him her destination.

* * * *

After a long while of no news, Estranghero Press aka Banzai Cat aka Joseph Nacino has come out with an apology for the long-time-no-hear phase and the table of contents for the highly-anticipated Filipino science-fiction anthology Diaspora Ad Astra. Mind you, it's an e-anthology meaning there's no print version (at least for now) similar to Estranghero Press' previous offerings (The Farthest Shore and Demons of the New Year) and it'll be launched this month, or in the next six days.

Diaspora Ad Astra is edited by Nacino along with Professor Emil Flores.

As a teaser, the stories in this sci-fi antho are (in no particular order):

• War Zone - Prof. Emil Flores

• The Day the Sexbomb Dancers Invaded Our Brains - Carljoe Javier

• The Malaya - Dean Francis Alfar

• The Cost of Living - Vince Torres

• Ina Dolor's Last Stand - Raymond Reyes

• Oplan Sanction - Alex Osias

• The Keeper - Audrey Villacorta

• Ashes Ember - Dannah Ruth Ballesteros

• Rizal - Eliza Victoria

• Gene Rx - Katya Oliva-Llego

• Robots and a Slice of Pizza - Raydon Reyes

• Lucky - Raven Guerrero

• A List of Things We Know - Isabel Yap

• Taking Gaia - Celestine Trinidad

• Space Enough and Time - Anne Lagamayo

While some names are quite familiar in the list, a good number of names are new to my eyes and this'll be one antho that would be worth looking at.

And as in previous e-anthos from Banzai Cat, this one has a book cover done by Oscar Alvarez. Neat cover, kinda reminds you of the Dune landscape.

* * * *

My mind, after that disastrous shut-off of sorts last Tuesday, has been quite busy. Another personal writing project idea has resurfaced and I've been devoting huge amounts of my downtime on it (that is, when I'm not playing Zeus). Not talking about it in detail yet but it's partly inspired by Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series that's set in an alternate World War I. While waiting for my wife last Tuesday night, I spent a better part of the waiting time at Power Book Greenbelt with an open copy of Leviathan. I'm about over half done with the book and it's one of the recommended steampunk-related books by John Klima .

Also call in Paolo Parente's Dust as an inspiration. And yes, history -- Philippine history, that is. Already have an idea? It's steampunk, it's set in the Philippines, and involves one great Filipino polymath :P

Keep crossing those fingers!

* * * *

It's a wet weekend, folks. Stay safe!

spec-fic anthology toc revealed!!!

And the names are out. Spotted over from Bibliophile Stalker, Rocket Kapre and PhilGenreStories, the tentative table of contents for the forthcoming Philippine Speculative Fiction V anthology has been released. The TOC showcases 25 stories along with 12 shortlisted stories. According to Kenneth Yu, the reason for the 12 shortlisted stories is that they'll be back-ups should stories from the initial 25 be pulled out from the anthology for any reason. Furthermore, the 12 are stories the editors would've wanted to include but could not due to lack of space.

Congratulations to all writers!!!

Philippine Speculative Fiction V

edited by Nikki Alfar and Vincent Michael Simbulan

'A Game of Quam' by Andrew Drilon

'A New Hospital' by Raymond Falgui

'A Yellow Brick Road Valentine' by Charles Tan

'Carbon' by Paolo Gabriel Chikiamco

‘Death and Noy’ by Fidelis Angela C. Tan

‘Embedding’ by Aileen Familara

‘Eyes as Wide as the Sky’ by Gabriela Lee

‘Heart in the Flesh’ by Mia Tijam

‘If We Catch Fire’ by Marla Cabanban

‘Just Man’ by Rica Bolipata-Santos

‘Keeper of My Sky’ by Timothy James Dimacali

‘Leg Men’ by Dominique Gerald Cimafranca

‘Monsters’ by Eliza Victoria

‘New Toy’ by Joseph Anthony Montecillo

‘Rogelio Batle and the Curse of the Crimson Court’ by Alexander Osias

‘Sink’ by Isabel Yap

‘Strange Weather’ by Dean Francis Alfar

‘The Autochthonic War’ by Joseph F. Nacino

‘The Creature’ by Christine V. Lao

‘The Goodlyf’ by Kate Aton-Osias

‘The Left-Behind Girl’ by Veronica Montes

‘The Sparrows of Climaco Avenue’ by Kenneth Yu

‘There’s a Waterfall in Your Rainbow’ by Ejay Domingo

‘Three Stories’ by Angelo R. Lacuesta

‘Very Short Fairy Tales’ by Apol Lejano-Massebieau

Shortlisted

‘A Novel Escape’ by Celine Roque

‘Bio Notes’ by Monique Francisco

‘Beyond Flight’ by Kristine Draei Dimalanta

‘Carnivale’ by Sarah Catherine Ureta

‘Moving Houses’ by Oscar Bryan Alvarez

‘Robots, Eyeballs, and a Slice of Pizza’ by Raydon L. Reyes

‘The Beloved Servant’ by Elyss Punsalan

‘The Void’ by Spencer Simbulan

‘Under a Mound of Earth’ by Celestine Trinidad

‘Upstaged’ by Gerard dela Cruz

‘Watchmen and Puppetmaster’ by Erica Gonzales

‘Wolf Man’ by John Philip Corpuz

Philippine Speculative Fiction V is slated for local release in February 2010.

job vacancies plug at the desk

Philippine Veterans Bank (aka the Desk) is looking for people to fill in some job vacancies but there's a clincher. The clincher is that applicants need to be related to a World War II veteran directly (apo) or indirectly (you're the cousin of the apo of the World War II veteran) and there are some mighty paperworks involved in the application process. But hey, there's a reason why I moved here and it's a real deal guaranteed to secure your future -- career-wise and family-wise.

See below the list of Head Office openings. We're located in a 1970s-designed 6-floored building at the corner of Herrera and Dela Rosa streets in Legaspi Village (we're behind Rufino Tower if you're on Ayala Avenue). You may send your resumes to me (indicate the position you're applying for in the subject) via rlragandan(AT)veteransbank.com.ph (replacing AT with @, of course).

Without further ado, here are the HO job openings:

Head, Financial Information & Reports Division (Comptrollership Group)

- CPA

- With at least 3 years experience in financial reporting and management accounting

- With good knowledge in regulatory reporting and taxation

- Proficiency in the use of MS Office-particularly in Excel & Word

- With good English communication skills

- Good management / interpersonal skills

Head, Financial Planning & Budgeting Department (Comptrollership Group)

- With bachelor’s degree in accounting; preferably CPA

- With at least 3 years experience in financial reporting and management accounting

- With good English communications skills

- Proficiency in the use of MS Office-particularly in Excel & Word

Head, Commercial Banking Deparment (Account Management Division)

Head, Government Credits & Specialized Lending Dept. (Account Management Division)

- College graduate, preferably business degree related or with MBA units

- At least 3-5 years experience in account management, corporate finance, investment banking or other finance related experience

- With good verbal and written communications skills

- Knowledgeable in financial analysis

- Computer Proficient (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

Marketing Officer (Sales & Marketing Department-Branch Banking Group)

- Graduate of any 4-5 years business course

- With at least 4 years of experience in sales and marketing

- Excellent verbal and written communications skills

- Computer literate

- Knowledgeable in BSP rules and regulations

- Knowledgeable in Bank’s policy and practices

Head, Client Servicing Section (Loans Administration Department)

- Must be a graduate of Accountancy or any business course

- At least 1 year experience in Administrative function

- Knowledgeable in Word and Excel

- Good people skills management

Audit Section Head (Internal Audit Department)

- Must be a CPA

- With at least 2 years experience in banking operations & auditing

- Excellent in oral & written communications

- Willing to be assigned to branches nationwide

Audit Examiners (Internal Audit Department)

- Must be a CPA

- Preferably with experience in banking operations & auditing

- Excellent in oral & written communications

- Willing to be assigned to branches nationwide

Economics Research Analyst (Financial Planning & Budgeting Department)

- Must be a graduate of Accountancy, preferably CPA

- At least 2 years experience in Financial Planning & Reporting

- Proficient in MS Office particularly in Excel and Word

- Highly organized and analytical

- With good written and verbal communication skills

Loans Processor (Loans Administration Department)

- Must be a graduate of Accountancy

- With experience in bookkeeping and administrative function

- Knowledgeable in Word and Excel

Marketing Assistants (Retail Banking Division)

- Preferably female; preferably not more than 25 years old

- Graduate of any 4-year business or commerce related courses

- With good verbal and written communication skills

- With pleasing personality and good inter-personal skills

- Computer literate; proficient in Excel, Word, Powerpoint

Accounting Staff (Finance Division)

- BSBA or BSC graduate major in Accounting

- Not more than 30 years old

- Computer literate, with good working skills in MS Office applications

- With good verbal and written communication skills

Account Analyst (Corporate Finance Division)

- With degree in Business Management or other business related course

- With knowledge on basic accounting principles for financial analysis

- With good verbal and written communication skills

- Computer literate, with good working skills in MS Office applications

- Preferably male

Credit Financial Analyst (Credit Administration Division)

- Preferably not more than 30 years old

- With a Business degree, preferably in Accounting, Economics or Business Management

- At least 2 years experience in Credit Management/Administration or as a Loan/Account officer (Preferably with experience in credit review or credit/Financial analysis)

- Computer literate

- With good verbal and written communication skills in English

Appraisers (Credit Administration Division)

- Male or Female, not more than 35 years old

- Preferably graduate of Civil/Mechanical Engineering course

- Preferably with at least 2 years experience in property appraisal

- Computer literate , with good working skills in MS Office applications

- With good verbal and written communication skills

Records Processor (Premises Administration Department)

- Graduate of any Business related course

- Experience in record management and processing is an advantage

- Computer literate

- Good verbal and written communication skills

- Keen to details

Head, Network Management Department (IT-Operations Division)

- Must be a graduate of Electronics & Communications Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or any similar IT course

- Must have at least 5 years experience in Network design and implementation.

- With strong foundation & knowledge in:

- Data Communications, Data/Voice network topology, Transport Protocol, Firewall systems, Business Continuity systems

- Must have above average technical skills in configuration and/or programming of the following: Routers and Modem, Switching Technology, IP Telephony (analog, digital, and IP based), PABX operations, Intel-based Servers and Microsoft Operating Systems

- Must show adequate ability in the following managerial attributes: Problem Analysis & Problem solving, Effectively communications to users; Technical writing capability, Project management & leadership qualities.

Database Administrator (Data Administration Department-Information Security Division)

- Must be a graduate of Computer Science or any related course

- Must have at least 2 years in Database & Systems Administration.

- Must have the following skills in

• operating systems – Windows (NT, 2000, 98.x), LINUX
• Relational Database Management (Oracle, SQL,, etc.)
• Server configuration (Intel/Unix)
• Analysis & problem solving
• Policy & procedure writing

Technical Support Specialists (IT-Operations Division)

- Must be a graduate of 4 or 5 year degree of Computer Science or any related course

- Must have at least 1 & ½ years in IT-related positions.

- Must have the following skills in:

• operating systems – Windows (NT, 2000, 98x), LINUX
• office productivi8ty tools-MS Office, Email
• PC & Network troubleshooting
• Analysis & problem solving
• Policy & procedure writing

Systems Administrator (Systems Administration Dept.-Information Security Division)

- Must be a college graduate with a degree of computer or any related IT course

- Must have at least 3 years in-dept experience of the systems as assigned including at least 1 year systems administration exposure.

- Must have the following skills in

operating systems

- Windows; office productivity tools-MS Office, Email

- Analysis & problem solving

- Policy & procedure writing

- Knowledge in the following is preferred

• Linux and/or OS/400
• Any related database management systems (Oracle, SQL, etc.)

Help Desk Staff (IT-Operations Division)

- Must be a graduate of 4 or 5 year degree in Computer Science or any related course

- Must have at least 1 & ½ years in IT-related positions.

- Must have the following skills in:

• operating systems – Windows (NT, 2000, 98x), LINUX
• office productivity tools-MS Office, Email
• analysis and problem solving
• policy and procedures writing

Data Network Administrator (IT-Operations Division)

- Must be a graduate of 4 or 5 year degree in Computer Science or any related course

- Must have at least 5 years experience in network administration positions.

- Must have the following skills in:

• operating systems – Windows (NT, 2000, 98x), LINUX
• office productivity tools-MS Office, Email
• Network Management (expertise in data communications equipment and related troubleshooting activities)
• analysis and problem solving
• policy and procedures writing

To all interested applicants, ask your Papa or Mama (or your Lolo or Lola) if they are listed World War II veterans before sending over your resumes. That saves us a lot of time.

PVB is a private commercial bank owned by WWII veterans and their heirs (we are NOT government-owned) and part of their mandate is to ensure that the bank continues to be true to its vision of caring for WWII vets and their descendants, priority is very much given to applicants who can trace what we so fondly call "veteran status". The bank's charter mandates that WWII veterans and their descendants benefit from the bank and the best way to achieve that is by hiring only those who are veteran-blooded.

If you qualify, PVB offers a competitive industry salary (repeat: industry meaning banking) and its benefits are one of the best in its industry (don't think BPO standards please). While we're not yet in the top 10 (we're No. 20 though overall in the industry), the atmosphere is family-oriented and management is continuously looking out for the welfare of its employees. And because of PVB's charter, we cannot be merged with other banks so no fear of retrenchment. And did I mention PVB employment guarantees 17 months bonus for regular employees?

So, if interested, feel free to send me your resume if you qualify for any of the vacancies posted earlier, and, of course, the veteran status.

why not go for a good president?

Yesterday, erstwhile presidential candidate Sen. Mar Roxas announced he was withdrawing his bid for the Philippines's highest office in order to maintain the Liberal Party's unity and thereby give way to Sen. Noynoy Aquino who will be officially announcing his presidential bid (unofficially, it's a foregone conclusion unless you haven't been watching or reading the news for the last month or so) for the 2010 elections.

As much as I stay away from talking about politics on this blog of mine, a comment made by the business sector represented by Mr. Peter Wallace in Inquirer.net's banner story "Roxas Gives Way to Aquino" today that was "unimpressed" with the recent events. I've excerpted the specific piece of the article:

Business unimpressed

Markets however are likely to be unimpressed by the events.

“The business community has no experience of him at all, we don’t know what he is like and what his policies will be,” said Peter Wallace, head of the Wallace Business Forum consultancy.

“He has not shown in his time in Congress or the Senate to be a very active person, or take a leadership role,” he added.

But Wallace said an Aquino candidacy on a clean government platform could be successful although the momentum would need to be sustained.

“The outpouring of affection and sympathy for Cory and family was in part an expression of disappointment, disgust with the current government’s inability to maintain the morals and honesty that people expect in a government,” he said.

“And so his running would be a popular choice in that regard. But we have to remember that what we are seeing today is a reaction to the death of Cory just a couple of weeks ago, and we are talking about elections nine months away from now,” Wallace said.

Read the entire article here.

I don't know if Mr. Wallace truly represents the entire business sectors as other business leaders, I believe, are just about as fed up as the rest of us. Moving on ...

Now, it might be true that Noynoy doesn't really have the "experience" that so-called experts believe presidents need to have gained prior to their ascendancy to the presidency. And I share the similar observation that Noynoy has not been really that "active" in both Congress and Senate unlike other congressmen and senators who are quite active (many I believe active in enriching themselves, their families and friends and doing just about all the dastardly deeds one abusive of power will do). And yes, Noynoy might just be riding the wave of euphoria sweeping the Philippines right now (the so-called Cory Magic) and yes as well as that Noynoy will be a popular choice given the lack of morality shown by the current government leaders.

But don't you think it's high time we put morality and delicadeza and plain good manners and proper conduct to the highest office in our country?

Noynoy might not be a perfect president (but then again who is), and he may not be an economic standout that the business sector will like or a very charismatic leader who can lead his flock into total righteousness and Godliness. But then we will have a president who will be of good moral character. A president who, like his mother and father before him, will put the interest of the country first (unlike a president who puts her and her family's interest first and foremost) and that bodes well for the business sector as well. A president whose actions will always be subject to the scrutiny of his family (I can just imagine Noynoy being lambasted by Kris in public if he goofs up) and who has a moral obligation to his honored parents to remain guilt-free and stained of immorality.

Don't you think it's time we get a good president again?