Black Friday night

Last Black Friday night, the night after Thanksgiving Thursday, I was in a company of product distribution experts on a drinking and food eating trip along the strip of Manila Bay at MOA (Mall of Asia) San Miguel by the bay.

Traditionally in the U.S., Thanksgiving has been an institutionalized event where the family recognizes appreciation for the blessings over sumptuous dinner. Our local version is an office gathering with shared billing. One came from the river bank of Rizal, another from Laguna and the rest from Paco in Manila. The prime mover earlier shopped for the fresh "pusit, tahong, tilapia, tuna" at the nearby wet market and had it cooked (paluto) at the selected outlet. Beer was order as much, food almost like "eat all you can" as the prices are affordable to a company of mid managers.

Talk point that evening did not center on giving thanks neither on what's working. Instead it dwelt on what is not working, routines not followed, regulations ignored. At some point, some raised the solution of "ethnic cleansing" to address the root cause. No wonder I said, it was a Black Friday. It turned out to be a ranting session to cope with situation not according to norms, by the group's standards. Talks were on violation, sleeping on the job, conflict of interest, etc. I selectively listened but did not contribute. I savored all the seafood servings but did not drink as much San Mig Pale Pilsen. Discussion extended for hours until way past midnight.

Grabbed from http://manila-photos.blogspot.com/

Did the activity have any value? Yes it has as the food was good. Yes as it was with a pleasant company. At the end of the session, it felt good to have attended a gathering, thankful that that the four of us were still around looking forward to more sessions hopefully with more pleasantries than stories on failed responsibilities.

“Kailan ulit?” Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Enderan book’s Manila’s Best Kept Secret

The Enderan book’s Manila’s Best Kept Secret lists it as of the top 60 restaurants in Metro Manila. It is also included in Manila by Day, a practical guidebook on where to find "premium alternative" services and outlets in the city.

Barcino Gourmet, a Spanish restaurant along Julia Vargas Ortigas featuring Spanish wines is a cut above mainstream restaurants. It specializes in a particular cuisine that is not inihaw.  It is not beer centric.

In the company of friends who wanted to get away from it all, we discovered our linkage to a colonizer. Willingly, it was through the stomach that we surrendered ourselves.

Via email

Two Travel Books

I recently purchased travel related books on the Philippines at the National Bookstore in Cubao. Some were on bargain and two recently launched: Street-Bound Manila on Foot by Josefina Manahan and Connecting Flights edited by Ruel S. De Vera.

First article I immediately read was my English teachers' "New York First Encounter." This is part of the compilation of travel stories in "Connecting Flights Filipinos Write from Elsewhere." Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo writes about how she was enamored by the place which put "its best foot forward" for her and her husband in 1987.

The pleasure of reading the article is the writer’s vivid description of the dynamics in her mind reconciling the attractions embedded in her memory through movies and pictures and the actual sight of the icon. This is how she describes it in her style “The thing about visiting a place one knows only too well – from books and films and TV shows, not to mention other people’s spirited descriptions – is that it seems to offer no surprises. Even the people one meet’s walking down the streets look familiar. But of course that’s all an illusion, just street magic. New York surprised us. Again and again.”

Upon completing the story, I immediately wanted to email the story to friends and relatives who can relate to the magic of the place, the 1st time around.

Manila by Foot is a practical reference on how to go about and appreciate historical and symbolic icons and attractions in Metro Manila. Tips are given by writer and walker Josefina Manahan who has personally visited the places like University of the Philippines in Diliman, Ayala Museum, Binondo, R. Hidalgo streets among others. Maps, classifications and time frame of the walk accompany each article. Book was written 2001 and may need updating particularly on directions going to the locations. LRT 1 and 2 and MRT can be cited as alternative efficient means of transpo in the cities.

Travel articles that I fancy inform, describe and provide insights. They validate if I share the same experience, open possibilities if I missed some attractions. If I drop the book and hop in to a bus, the article moved me.

Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, “New York: First Encounter,” in Connecting Flights, Filipinos Write from Elsewhere ed. Ruel S. De Vera, 131-142. Manila: Anvil, 2010


Josefina P. Manahan, Street-Bound: Manila by Foot. Manila: Anvil, 2001. Reprint, 2009

Reboot

Each time I reboot, a pop up message prompts me after I log in “Preparing to install Realplayer.”
This shows up despite the un-installation done via the software’s program or through the control panel of the same software.

Searching at google, there were only a handful of entries for the query “real player reinstalls every reboot." Not even Real Player technical support has an entry on the incidence.

With this recurring entry (and irritating one),

• I learned to clean my registry using “regedit under run” both on normal and safe mode

• Resolved registry conflicts using ccleaner program
• Totally eliminate remnants of Real Player files using Revo Uninstaller
• Cleaned reboot using selective start up of “msconfig”
• Updated my Anti Virus software (Symantec)
• Scanned the entire system.

All these were unsuccessful in stopping the activity until I came across an entry suggesting it could be a Trojan worm. I tried a recently launched Microsoft Security Essentials program. True enough, it detected a Virtool: win32/VBInject.gen!GB. Microsoft Security Essentials contained and removed it to my relief.

Finally, there is no more recurring install of RealPlayer every start up. I lost my trackers and predictive entries which I can reconstruct. On the bright side, I did not lose my files and need not reinstall an OS and learned all other options. Thanks to Ronald and Arvil, technicials of open pinoy who helped diagnose and acted on solving.

How does success feel like? Triumphant especially for a difficult case as this one.

JV's Car Wash

Several months ago this 2010, a fellow climber sent me an email message inquiring about the status of geocities’ delisted tropics shores domain with a leading query“What happened to our Majayjay article and photos at the PALMC site?”

Months ago, I received a text message stating,“I set up the front lawn of our house in Don Antonio into a car wash with a request, "will you be able to help me with an electric cooler?”

A week ago, a FB friend flags in his home page, water and floods everywhere due to the storm and heavy rain fall, “JV Duque: Raining hard . . . Water rising! Please pray rain stops.”

My visit at 27 Holy Spirit Drive along Don Antonio Heights in Commonwealth Avenue Quezon City turned out to be a discussion on all including a reason why motorist should consider JV’s car wash if one resides near the vicinity.

JV has several passions: sports like badminton, cycling and climbing, design and photography, showbiz talents and training and cars and maintenance.  While looking for a sideline to augment his income, he was considering any one of his interests.

His set up of the car wash project in July 2006 was an “invention of necessity” borne out of his shift in career. It was also a result of an accident when a parking attendant in ABS-CBN who JV acknowledged as meticulous in detailing and car washing reminded him several months after their encounter when he is setting up his own business. When work was taking a toll on his health, he was in search for a practical solution for pay for operating expenses. From his several passions, he finally decided to go into car detailing.

Even since, JV has stringent standards when it comes to car care. He would look under the hood and car, inside the car, under the seats, in the overlooked corners when he had his car cleaned. It frustrates him whenever he surrenders his car to a professional, he would end up teaching the staff how to wash and yet still pay.

His decision to start a car wash project aside from the fact that it entailed a relatively low capital expense was his desire to share the expertise of quality cleaning. It was not really for the revenue but for the extended service.

Starting his operations at the garage, his first few days with the ABS-CBN attendant did not draw any customer. It was only on the 2nd week when a paying customer tried him out and was satisfied. His 1st customer though turned out to be his sister. From then on, car owners from BF Homes, Don Enrique and Don Antonio Heights started patronizing the shop.

They valued the attention to details under the hood and inside the car, the quality work and the dedication of the car wash staff and the use of premium cleaning equipment. Never mind if the extended garage did not have a comfortable seating area nor the slots limited to only 6 at time. The limitations did not matter for as long as the dedicated and engaged staff would transform their vehicle to a spotless exhibit in over 20 minutes.

Car owners, trusting their staff would leave the cars, go out for a walk then come back to collect them hours later.  He is proud that his staff shared the same passion for a clean and good job in cleaning and detailing cars which JV claimed is modeled after the top detailing shops in Ortigas but priced right for a cottage neighborhood shop. Materials and thorough cleaning are not compromised. 

Their added value of a neighborhood store is the homey atmosphere as it is Mommy who minds the business. Having come from the Talent Center, JV uses his service orientation when dealing with difficult customers.

How does success look like for JVD car wash in the future?

• Constrained by the frequent flooding, the worst experienced in September 2009 when Ondoy dumped record breaking rains in a short span of time, he sees the car wash operating even during the rainy season.
• He looks forward to a better roofing facility to expand more slots.
• For the idle waiting time, he in envisioning a coffee shop where car owners can go online, or listen to his colorful showbiz stories or merely wander around.
• He expects his satisfied customers promoting his car wash not because it offers good value for money but because they are good at car washing and detailing that rivals the more professional shops in Makati, Ortigas or Banaue.
• He is still not convinced to earn money from this advocacy.

In his multiply account, JV defines his mission. JVD Car Wash Services came to life in July 2006. Our goal is to provide car lovers and owners in the community with the best quality services we could offer. We aim to give our customers the comfort of having their cars pampered at the most reasonable yet competitive prices. We use Meguiar's Professional detailing products in all our detailing services.

Hearing his stories for over an hour, I wonder if it needed updating to level up to the next phase.

Related story on writing a Vision Mission

Bakers with a natural passion to create
Majayjay

"Follow what you are genuinely passionate about and let that guide you to your destination." -Diane Sawyer