Singapore and Hongkong---second best homes for me

Of course, the Philippines is my home but if you ask me where is my second? Two countries occupy my mind most often---Singapore and Hongkong.

I love the vibrancy of Hongkong. Whenever I'm there, I feel alive. Every single thing gets my fancy and what I love there is, you never tire of discovering new things. There is always something new even from old things.

I love how Hongkongers was able to fuse together the East and the West and made it a beautiful thing. Hongkong is just an island but a magnificent symbol of how mercantilism and culture can mix together to form one beautiful masterpiece of a Nation.

I was highly fortunate to work in Singapore for many years. Even now, I still remember those years spent with friends and Singaporeans as colleagues. Yes, I admit there were also times of great sadness when you remember your country and the things which you love most yet lost because you are now several thousand miles away.

What is best in Singapore is yes, racial harmony. Singapore is the best model of a cosmopolitan country--a country tolerant of every race. I also love and admire of how Singaporeans think--they show a firm faith in science and in the arts.

Just recently, the Singaporean government says they need 18,000 more citizens every year. Every year, they give permanent resident visa statuses to about 30,000 foreigners and more than half qualified as citizens. Singapore has the lowest birth rate in Asia, and this drive is one way of securing a healthy future for everyone.

While working there, I love every minute of it because I was able to share new ideas into the culture. Whenever I see those ideas germinate and see them used by those banks which we were able to sell our proposals, I feel happy and satisfied, especially when I got my promotion and pay raise. :-)

I am now thinking of migrating after the May 2016 elections because I feel that, with the current crop of candidates and the people behind these candidates, I expect nothing new or nothing to change come 2016.

Smart charges 34,500 pesos for 81 seconds of alleged roaming in Hongkong

Just 81 precious seconds, and the poor guy was charged 34,500 pesos. Sounds familiar to me. But the guy was really astonished---how in the world did his phone ever do that? He just used the phone for instructions on the map, and never downloaded anything.

In fact, in his Smart post-paid billing statement, when he asked for specifics, he found out that 12 seconds cost him 630 pesos. Wow. If that is the case, then, what then is the cost of 81 seconds? For sixty seconds, it should have stated 3,000 plus pesos. But no. The amount says everything--34,500.

Of course, Smart would rationalize that those charges were charges made by their counterpart in Hongkong.

But, really now, that is astonishing to say the least. How in the hell can a phone accommodate that amount of data worth 34,000 pesos in just 81 seconds??? Can anyone explain this to me please??? Is it possible to manage data that huge in 81 seconds, in a phone which was not used for downloading anything?

This is precisely why I made the conscious decision to form a consumer group that will be used as a platform for ordinary citizens like me who are being victimized by these corporations.  However, I am still open to suggestions. Will anyone explain this to me, if it is really, really possible to be billed for 34,000 pesos for 81 seconds worth of data which Smart claims is equal to 3.4 million bytes?

Chip Tsao & Chinese Food

I love Chinese food. Ask me about it and I’ll tell you where to eat the best Chinese food and what to eat. And I know what’s a cheap chow or a good chow.

And it’s not just Chinese food that I love. I also respect and love their culture. Ever heard of the Tale of the Three Kingdoms? Or I Ching? Or Tao Te Ching? Or how about the entire biography of Chairman Mao? Read his poems, read how Chairman Mao and his Chinese Liberation Army swept the whole of China and made monumental history. That’s good chow. And I did’nt imagine myself reading such rubbish coming from a cheap journalist based in Hongkong. It’s just unthinkable reading such cheap chow coming from the eminent People’s Republic of China.

Poor Chip Tsao (pronounced “cheaap chowww”). He’s a Chinese journalist over at some indescript magazine in Hongkong and he, obviously, does not like Chinese food. What he loves are all things Japanese. When the Japanese planted their flag over at Diaoyu island, a known island of China, he was one of those who shouted “bansai”! He usually watches Japanese anime and thinks of himself as a Japanese superman.

He eats purely Japanese food, especially sashimi. And he loves being with Japanese women, the anime kind.

That’s probably the reason why BBC kicked him out. When the Japanese occupied that Chinese island, he was one of those went over the fence and declared Japanese rule over Hongkong and the mainland. Good that some magazines still want him to write for them, with some exceptions though—he cannot and is barred to write about Chinese food. He can’t write about good chow, only cheap chow.

And you know what? Chip Tsao can’t understand why Filipinos acted differently when Filipinos claimed those scattered rocks in the Spratlys island as their own. No. Chip Tsao simply can’t accept the reality that most Filipinos are still proud of their being Filipinos. Not his maid, says Chip Tsao. She’s with me for all these time, cleaning my toilets and is at my beck and call, all the time. The government of my Filipina just made an unthinkable thing—claiming some scattered rocks as their own off the South China sea.

It can’t be. Chip Tsao is not familiar with the term “national sovereignty” nor does he know about “national pride” and “nationalist spirit”. Chip Tsao does not know what’s “national territory” is all about. He just have a map in his house, with a big region which he calls “MAPHILINDO” or “ Hongkong, Republic of Japan”.

And I really can’t understand why his publishers still allow him to dish out such embarrassing articles. Maybe they don’t know what good writing or cheap writing is all about? Maybe they’re used to eating cheap chow over some hawker store in Hongkong that they consider Chip Tsao’s articles and columns “world-class”? As they say, when you eat cheap chow everyday, you’ll get to be Chip Tsao.