12 February 2012

My Fave Fried Chicken List

When I was in college, I was able to discipline myself from eating meat. I managed to stay vegetarian for almost two years or so. What changed the course? I got pregnant. My doctor prescribed that I should eat meat because it's a good source of protein. So I did.

It's actually difficult not to eat meat in the Philippines. There are only a handful of restaurants that offer veggie meals. Worse, there are very few suppliers of veggie meat. And the only meat that I'd rather eat more than pork and beef is chicken meat served fried.

24 November 2011

Manny Pacquiao and His Fight Against Juan Marquez: Uncertainty of Victory for the Filipino Champ

A couple of weekends ago, I was following Gordon Marino and Dan Hill's Boxing Live Blog on The Wall Street Journal's "The Daily Fix". It documented the third match between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Marquez. Based on Marino's assessment, the Mexican dominated more rounds than Pacquiao did. For Dan Hill, it was a close fight but chose to side with the Filipino champ for sentimental reasons. The wait for the final decision was indeed nerve-wracking, with supporters from both camps vying to hear their bet's name. The score was 114-114; 115-113; 116-112 in favor of Pacquiao. 

02 October 2011

Shifting from Smart to Globe - A Good Move

There was a time when sending SMS in the Philippines was free. It was a good privilege. But, as usual, some scheming and greedy profiteers preyed on Philippine culture. Business and marketing executives capitalized on the importance of family among Filipinos and how communicating with loved ones is equally - if not more - important than eating rice.

A few years ago, I was a Smart pre-paid subscriber. You see, the country is haven to a few oligarchs whose influence reaches almost every aspect of society, from business to politics. There are 2 or 3 (sometimes 4 or 5) companies vying for a considerable market share given a certain industry. In the field of mobile communication, we used to have 3: Smart, Globe, and Sun. Now, it's down to two, with Smart's acquisition of Sun from a rich Filipino-Chinese clan.

I decided to shift to Globe after realizing that Smart was "stealing" my pre-paid credits. There's no way to retrieve these text and call credits or to complain about how seriously bad their business practices are, particularly in duping customers of what they are supposed to have after paying for it.