You’ll have to excuse me, but it’s my first tropical rainy season here in Manila, and the last 2 weeks of constant dreary wetness have taken their toll. I didn’t even bother to look out the windows this morning, so when I walked outside and looked up, i couldn’t believe it!

Sunshine!
White Clouds!
Blue Skies!

Here’s to a fabulous day (although still hot as hell!)

A team of 5 Filipinio’s has created a business plan which has been nominated for the final 5 entries for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Entrepreneurship Competition- grand Prize being $100,000 USD. The final 5 came from a pool of 165 other entries and this is the first time any Filipino has reached the finals in it’s 16 year history.

The team’s plan, titled “CentroMigrante” works as follows:

“Over 200 million impoverished people in developing countries leave their rural hometowns and flock to urban areas to seek employment but are usually unable to afford decent lodging while searching and waiting for jobs. In the Philippines, as many as 1 million Filipinos a year spend up to six months away from their home provinces, looking for jobs as seafarers in Manila’s port areas with most of them living in shanties under depressed and undignified living conditions.

“CentroMigrante provides a unique solution to this problem with a self-help business model that provides clean, safe and affordable urban housing for such indigent, transient job seekers. The team tested the market through a pilot shelter in Manila that has shown profitability during the past two years, and has already helped 80,000 Filipinos.

“They are ready to start construction in the 4th quarter of this year, and are currently seeking an initial investment of quarter of a million dollars to build the first phase of the shelter network in Manila.”

The members of the CentroMigrante team are Illac Diaz (team leader), Niel Ruiz, Saldivar-Sali Artessa, Tina LaForteza, and Chester Yu.

Congratulations to the team! Good luck!

(original article seen in Phliippine News.com)

The Philippines was not about to passed up in this list!

Under the category “Best Legal High“, writer Liam Fitzpatrick praises the “intoxicating delectation that is halo-halo“, specifically the version created in the lobby bar of the Pennisula Hotel, located along the “smoggy carnage of Ayala Avenue.”

And I qoute: “This psychadelic eye-ball popper comprises of egg-yolk custard, chickpeas, sweetened kidney beans, colored gelatin, red white and green sugar palm, coconut gel, purple-yam preserve, sago in syryp, jackfruit, makapuno, purple-yam ice cream, toasted rice crisps, about an inch of evaporated milk, and- with emphatic excess- sugar.”

Ooof. What do you chase that with?

Apparently it is a hit- “The lobby’s patrons- a Who’s Who of Manila society- are said to order 7,300 hala-halo Haranas a year, or to put it another way, 20 patrons a day seeing double, reeling through the glass doors…thinking “It’s okay. I can deal with it all now. I’m feeling absolutly fine.”

Until the insulin coma hits.

Congrats, Manila! It’s certainly unique!

“Summit to Base Camp…Ang ginaw-ginaw dito” (”It’s so cold up here!”) Were the words spoken from Mt. Everst’s highest reaches by Emata apon ascending to the summit.

Congratulations to all, and good luck getting back down (reaching the summit is only half the trip!)

Pinoy Everst Blog
Everest News.com

Story details from article in The Philippine Star.
Image from Friendly Planet.com

Image property of tiesto.com

It seems the world-famous DJ is releasing a new installment of his In Search of Sunrise mix compilation series (#5 -due out April 25th). If you’ve enjoyed Tiesto’s grand sweeping style of majestic (yet not beat-you-over-the-head) type of trance, I’m sure he won’t stray far from the norm on this release or during his live set on March 31st at the Manila PICC Forum.

The article states that the event is being produced by World Wide Womb in partnership with Soundsgood Music Marketing, and being presented by Addict Moble, Motorola, and Smirnoff Vodka. (hmmm…parties sponsored by cell-phone companies and alcohol brands…there’s something we never saw 8 years ago!!). Anyway, check Odyssey and O Music & Video Outlets for tickets or call 897-2676. There’s also Tiesto’s official website.

NOTE: Both the STAR article and Tiesto’s site claim that his remix of Sarah McLachlan’s Silence track (released in 2000) was “the first house track ever broadcast on daytime radio in North America.” I’m not sure who tracks these stats, but surely there were others previous to this, i.e C&C Music Factory, Snap!, 2 Unlimited, M/A/R/R/S, Information Society, etc- all who had hits previous to the turn of the millenium. But for an undoubtedly great show of some of the greatest trance style of the past 6 years…check out Tiesto at the end of the month!!!

Drop some pesos in their donation box..They’re usually out around mid-day.
Here’s a clip of them playing live.

Someone suggested that we stop at Sonya’s Garden during our visit to the Taal Volcano in Tagaytay last week…
Couldn’t have been more perfect!

Organic salad, topped with crisp cucumbers, mangos, melons and a delicious homemde dressing, followed by freshly baked bread with a pesto spread, mushroom pate, and white cheese. All this followed by wonderful linguine pasta with choices of tomato, salmon or a white cheese sauce with chicken.

And the best thing: A mango/mint/lemonade mix that was out of this world.
All finished off with sugary fried plantains and fresh mint tea.

By far the best meal we’ve had since arriving here a month ago! Amazing food in a gorgeous setting of gardens and flowers. Next time we’re staying over night at the Bed & Breakfast…you get either a lunch or dinner along with breakfast..we can’t wait to return!!!

Recommended to all city dwellers- vegetarian or otherwise!!

Sonya’s Website
Our blog of our Tagaytay adventure.