(country) of terrorism, piracy, and inefficiency

just let me rant. and after this, i'll give it a rest.

last night, my younger brother jacob called me up. in between hiccups and quivering voice laced with terror, he told me he was held-up while walking with his classmate down luneta hill (near SM Baguio). the hold-uppers asked them to give up their phones at knife point. fortunately, he was unhurt though i knew he was clearly terrorized.

after reporting it to the police station (on session road), my sister nikka, the one living with jacob in baguio, asked me to give (text) her the phone IMEI number (i have it on the original receipt and the box) so they could inform the police. she further asked me to call NTC hotline.

so okay... i know there are "services" that unlock/unblock blocked phones. i even lost time pondering whether to call NTC to hve the stolen phone blocked or just let it go. i decided i have to report it, because there are personal information on the phone that might be used in other "scams". but alas, i cannot contact the NTC HOTLINE. it turned out, the hotline's (02-926-7722) only available during regular office hours--meaning Monday thru Friday, 8am to 5pm.

just this morning, i tried calling again-- nth times... and of course, the phone's unanwered.

nakakainis... i logged on to NTC's site at ntc.gov.ph meron silang online complaint form pero andami mo pang gagawin bago mo mai-request na i-block yung phone. naisip ko, naiinis ako hindi dahil nanghihinayang ako sa nawalang telepono (who cares about the phone, as long as hindi nasaktan yung kapatid ko) pero ganito ba talaga ka-inefficient ang government offices dito sa atin??? ganito ba tayo ka-lax sa pagbibigay ng public service???

for info, nasa akin lahat ng kailangang i-submit para sa request to unblock. we reported it to the police, mayroong valid ids, original receipt and even the phone box...pero hindi namin sila makontak. sabi ko nga, give it rest. hayaan mo na yung police na gumawa ng action. but you know what, when i told my sister na hayaan na yung police, parang pag-amin na yun na wala nang mangyayaring action sa insidente. let's face it, ano lang ba naman yung hold-up sa araw-araw na napakaraming krimen na nangyayari sa pilipinas??? would we really bother the law enforcers and the ntc about that incident? hindi na, alam namin na mas marami pang mas seryoso at grabeng krimen silang haharapin. isa pa, may mangyayari pa ba? i doubt nga kung mahuli pa yung mga hold-uppers eh.

so, lessons learned?

1. doble ingat dapat lagi dahil hindi safe ang mundo.
2. huwag nang mag-attempt lumaban pag na-hold-up kayo para hindi kayo masaktan.
3. isulat sa hangin ang mga reklamo dahil wala ring mangyayari
4. ang nokia care line na (02)886-1234 ay from 8:30am-8:30pm only-- goodluck kung makatawag kayo dahil laging busy. at kung makakontak ka man, goodluck dahil lalaitin ka pa kapag sinabi mong lumang model ang telepono mo--dahil ang pwede lang i-block na hindi magagawan ng paraan na palitan ang IMEI number ay yung mga teleponong Nseries model o mas bago. meaning kung lumang model, wag nang mag-abala...sasama lang ang loob mo. asa na lang tayo sa karma!
5. goodluck din kung maka-contact kayo sa NTC Hotline na (02) 926-7722. Serving you Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. Magri-ring ang phone pero walang sasagot, at take note, yan daw yung active na Hotline nila sabi ng Globe. Pag naka atleast 50 na tawag na kayo, kokonekta naman sa fax machine. trust me, i counted the number of times i tried to call.
6. walang capability ang network na i-block ang SIM card ng lost phone. Ang gagawin para hindi magamit ng magnanakaw para kontakin ang mga kamag-anak niyo-- isa isa niyong inform ang mga kamag-anak at kaibigan niyo na i-block ang SIM Card ng nawala niyong telepono.
7. next time, bumili ng cellphone sa mga reconditioned cellphone dealers--para may pag-asang mag-reunion kayo ng nawala mong cellphone.

Only in the Philippines talaga! ang galing!

Know Your Korean Name

Annyeong haseyo!

Been curious about my Korean name since I enrolled in Extramural Classes in Asian Languages (Korean) in UP Diliman. Classes started last Saturday and until now, I'm still in heaven although I've been having sleepless nights memorizing hangeul alphabet.

Anyway, I found this thru the net. A fun blog on how to 'get/know' your Korean name. Thanks Kaitor World!

PS. This is not in any way accurate. I've yet to know how Koreans name their children. So this is just for fun. And if you want to know how to write in in Hangeul, just wait 'til I finish the course ^_^ Koreans usually get three names. Surname comes first,then Middle Name, Then your (First) Name, as opposed to Western naming traditions.

So, what's your Korean Name? Mine is Shin Ji Kyo. Please tell me yours. Kamsahamnida ^_^

Surname : Korean surname is the last number in your year of birth .

0: Park

1: Kim

2: Shin

3: Choi

4: Song

5: Kang

6: Han

7: Lee

8: Sung

9: Jung

Middle name : is your month of birth .

1: Yong

2: Ji

3: Je

4: Hye

5: Dong

6: Sang

7: Ha

8: Hyo

9: Soo

10: Eun

11: Hyun

12: Rae

(First) Name : is your date of birth .

1: Hwa

2: Woo

3: Joon

4: Hee

5: Kyo

6: Kyung

7: Wook

8: Jin

9: Jae

10: Hoon

11: Ra

12: Bin

13: Sun

14: Ri

15: Soo

16: Rim

17: Ah

18: Ae

19: Neul

20: Mun

21: In

22: Mi

23: Ki

24: Sang

25: Byung

26: Seok

27: Gun

28: Yoo

29: Sup

30: Won

31: Sub

just a happy thursday journal

rite of passage

i've always thought that you've never really experienced UP if you haven't been lost in Diliman. so yesterday, five years after getting my bachelor's degree from another UP campus, i finally passed this UP rite of passage.

so getting lost in UP and riding the IKOT-TOKI jeepneys are a tradition that all true-blooded UP'an should pass. i have done it... yehey!

soul food

experiencing UP may be the ritual i needed to do to feed my starving soul. as i experienced my many 'first', i found myself deliriously happy. i've been like a fool, feeling like a freshie on her enrollment day. i got lost, bugged a lot of people, got off at wrong stops twice, walked around the campus, sat on a dirty, red-cement bench under a tree and had ants climb up my arms, leaves and twigs falling down my hair. i couldn't help giggling like a fool and wave cheerfully to some drivers just because they gave me that 'look' as if they're afraid a might go crazy soon. i felt happy. i felt at home. i felt like i've been back in baguio, back in UP. and maybe, that was what my soul needed.

a really good day

as i boarded the UP-Pantranco jeepney yesterday, i found a folded 1000-peso bill in my wallet among the folded atm receipts. whoa, it was a dead money, something that i didn't know i still have. so i went to have my facial, got a massage, ate things that i wanna ate that were normally out of my budget and spent the balance on pirated dvds from st francis. in the end, i spent it all in half day. who cares anyway, i've never felt so happy and refreshed for so long.

P.S. i wrote this piece while sipping watermelon shake from fruit magic at sm megamall foodcourt, written at around 2:45 pm, in a crumpled yellow paper i managed to find in my bag. so the "time" of the post had been edited, the content's the same. everything happened yesterday, 22 may 2008. ^_^

dreamland

i am happy. to borrow den's word 'not exactly insanely happy' but i try to be. for one, i regained the capacity to dream again. and for someone who lives in her 'make-believe' world often, it is a indeed a big deal.

i've been a happy child. i can't even remember if i had a phase of 'imaginary world and friends' when i was younger. i had too many playmates, my cousins, and my parents used to play with me. but as i grow older and realized that the real world can be cruel at times, i discovered my escape route... off to my own world.

so when the real, oftentimes cruel, world took over, i became lost and depressed.

i’m gaining it back now. i’m happy.

thanks heavens. ^_^

Eight Things People MIGHT Not Know About Me ^_^

As tagged by ladyholden ^_^

1. I don't belong to any organized religion. Yey, my bad. But yes, in my heart, I don't belong to any of those. I believe in God, don't get me wrong but somehow, I wish that there would be a church that is 'non-sectarian'... I mean, a church that doesn't delineate and differentiate between organized sects and 'religions. Just a church that preach the words of one God just as it is without biases, talk of faith and just let you be. I believe that there are only one God. I know that some of my friends are really uncomfortable when I talk about this and some are even bothered but... *shrugs* someday, I'll find my earth-bound sheperd.

2. I hate it when people read behind my back... you know, snooping on my emails, my posts, stories, text messages etc, etc and just about everything personal... you know what i mean.

3. I am naturally introvert and a snob. I am very private though I may not look it. I think that my friendster account is too crowded although people tell me 'konti nga lang ang friends ko' hehe bakit ba kasi...

4. I really don't fancy chinito at maputing guys... ask Den and Kat. But that was before Lee Dong Wook, Gong Yoo and Bae Yung Joon. hehehe Now I'm a convert.

5. I'd like to learn other language and be able to fluently speak it. I mean, unlike when I took up Spanish just so I'd have an elective... I want to learn other languages and be able to converse in that language. List includes: Irish-Gaelic (w/c is next to impossible), French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Nihonggo and Korean. I can speak, read and write English, Filipino and Ilocano na eh... and just about bits of other Filipino dialects hehehe

6. I really don't like big groups. I prefer small, intimate group of friends though I'd want to belong to organizations too. But on personal level, suplada ako. I choose who to be friends with...I know, sorry.

7. Just like Thet, I'm sipunin though baliktad yata. When I'm puyat, sisipunin ako though minsan parang si Thet din, when I'm having a long night, my sipon is like my warning device na kapag sinipon na, dapat matulog na ako.

8. I constantly change my toiletries. You know I don't have any brand loyalty when it comes to bath soap, facial wash, body wash, body scrub, shampoo, conditioner, deodorants though I have this "default' brands na kung sawa na ako sa lahat, dun ako babalik like Jonhson's baby lotion (the pink one), head and shoulder's shampoo and pantene conditioner (siguro nga in a way dun nga loyalty ko hehehe

PS. It's fun doing this but I'm not gonna tag anyone. Bahala na yung gusto rin itong sagutin hehehe

Thanks Thet ^_^