The DJ who's not a DeeJay

Wasn't able to catch the partial solar eclipse the other week but did get to see a sun covered by gloomy clouds surrounding Marina Bay Sands.   Here's a quick timelapse and a photo of the majestic structure.

Feel free to scroll down (or click here) if you want to go straight to the guide. Otherwise, here's how I got into a traffic violation.

It was a Thursday morning which my car falls under the number coding scheme, meaning vehicles with plate numbers ending in 7 or 8 are prohibited from the roads starting 7:00am.  I left at 6:15am hoping to be parked at my destination before 7:00am.  By a stroke of unluck, I encountered some buses that took 2 lanes, a couple of stalled vehicles, and undecided cars that changed lanes every 5 seconds

I was 10 minutes away from my destination when the stoplight at the Quirino-Taft intersection in Manila turned red.  While stopped, I looked at my watch and saw the time was 7:05am.   Glancing from my watch back to the road, I saw a female MMDA traffic officer walking towards my car.  I was hoping she was just going to cross the road.  She did cross one lane, then stopped right in front of my car and made a hand gesture to her wrist.  I knew immediately what she meant.

I politely said good morning and immediately in defense, said that I left early but traffic delayed my trip.  She told me it's 7:05am and coding scheme has started.  I said I'm aware but asked for some leeway due to the unavoidable circumstances.  In addition, I told her my destination is near and hoping she won't need to issue me a violation.   She hurried me to surrender my driver's license.  I said, I'll pull the car over to the side first to avoid causing traffic.  I guess enforcers get that often and get duped when drivers drive on and never look back.  So I gave my driver's license and then parked at the curb across the intersection and waited for her to approach me.

She had her huge ticket violation booklet with her.  At this point, there was no point in reasoning, so I just said sorry.  Being my first time to be pulled over for a traffic violation in Manila, I immediately asked the officer how soon I could get my license back.  She said to claim it at Manila City Hall within 5 days and said Monday is the latest.  Her explanation didn't sum up since 5 days equated to Tuesday plus I asked if weekends are counted.  She just stuck with her original answer and decided not to argue over specifics.  I did say that I want to get my license back as soon as possible and said I'll go to City Hall in the afternoon.  She said it won't be available then cause she'll be going back to City Hall around 2pm and will just start to encode all the traffic violations made for that morning.

After issuing me a ticket, she said I don't need to rush anymore since I was already caught.  If that was supposed to make me feel any better, it didn't.  Her last piece of advice was to be careful not to make any other traffic violations outside Manila cause the ticket she gave me served as a temporary license only for Manila.  So if I get caught in Makati, I'll be issued another ticket but with a heavier penalty for driving without a license.

I said thank you to the officer and half-heartedly greeted "have a nice day," cause I already knew that wouldn't apply to my morning.  I didn't want this to dampen my whole day so I decided not to think about it and just get it the next day.

The next day, I went early to Manila City Hall (and turned right at the street before the one I got caught so I wouldn't have to see her face again).  I know where City Hall is but never had any business there so I didn't know where to park.  Thanks to Waze, you could select "Manila City Hall parking lot" and it will lead you to the parking lot near YMCA and near SM City Manila (along Antonio Villegas St.)

Cross the street and walk to the right.  Take the nearest entrance to City Hall and walk straight till you reach the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau "Ordinance Violation Receipt" Redemption Center.  You'll notice that nobody wants to be here so don't expect any happy faces or smiles.

Step 2: Pay fine to cashier.

Claiming your driver's license is a 3-step process.  First step is to go to the Statement of Account windows (to the right) to submit your traffic violation ticket.  You'll be issued a number which you'll be called.  They open at 8am but issue numbers before they open.  I was 10th in line so it didn't take long.

Step 1: Statement of Account

They'll call your number and give you a printout with your violation details and conveniently lists your name as "Violator"  The fine for violating vehicular reduction scheme (their term for coding) is P500.  They'll issue you a receipt after payment.

The last step is to proceed to Room 353 (Releasing of License) on the 3rd floor.
Give your Statement of Account printout (from Step 1) and wait for your number to be called.  This was the longest waiting time of the 3 steps, which took around 20 minutes.   It's hot at the 3rd floor so bring a fan.  While waiting, be sure to go to the nearest window and take time to admire the Manila City Hall clock tower.  You can also compare notes with other "violators" (like new prisonmates asking what you're in for).

Step 3: Releasing of License

When called, you'll be shown your driver's license.  As soon as you see your name and face, give them a thumbs up or nod (cause there's thick glass separating you from them).  You'll be asked to sign the Statement of Account, which they'll retain and that's it!  You can start smiling while taking the stairs 3 floors down.

The whole process for me took only 30 minutes.  For reference, there were 10 "violators" ahead of me during the entire process.  I suggest to be there before 8:00am.

Despite the quick turnaround processing, it's still a hassle to get your license confiscated and go to City Hall to claim it.  So be safe and avoid violating traffic rules as much as possible.

I never thought that I would see
A tweet longer than 140.
RT then send a DM to me,
So you can say more in intimacy.

What am I talking about?  This.
Removing the 140-character limit from Direct Messages

Rowdy he is, Piper he be
He's the wrestler everyone wants to see
Checkered kilt he dress
Hot Rod's always ready to mess
Thank you for all the years of being your best.

- Tribute to WWE's Hall of Famer Roddy Piper. 
Rest in Peace.

• Christmas Sale
• Easter Sale
• New Year Sale
• Chinese New Year Sale
• Anniversary Sale

U.S. President Barack Obama finally gets his own Twitter account, and that's @POTUS.  What does that stand for?  President Of The United States!

President Obama. In the Oval Office. Tweeting. #WelcomeToTwitter, @POTUS! http://t.co/SzWXltjNK0 pic.twitter.com/ce4DurwYXj

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 18, 2015

The account though is not new as the handle Twitter handle @POTUS was created in June 2013, almost 2 years before it ever got used.
  @POTUS replies and tries to be witty too asking if anyone is interested in the @FLOTUS account which stands for First Lady of the United States.

• Whitehouse.gov - Introducing @POTUS: President Obama's Twitter Account
• cnet.com - @POTUS: President Obama gets exclusive Twitter account
• thenextweb.com - President Obama joins Twitter for real

Our family went on a road trip in Tagaytay last week to visit Caleruega Church as one of our Visita Iglesia churches for the year.   Since there was a lot of people going to the popular church on a hill, it took us a while to get there and get back on the road back to Tagaytay.

The entrance. Seats are one floor below with door leading to the garden facing Taal.

We were hoping to stop by somewhere for a break and we already had lunch at Bag of Beans so we were looking for somewhere else to stop over.  Then suddenly, we found a cozy new place which had only one establishment open, Starbucks!   This is the 4th Starbucks branch I know of in Tagaytay, but what sets this branch apart from the others is the astonishing view and very wide veranda area one floor down with a spectacular view of Taal.   The interiors of this branch are elegant and classy.  It doesn't look like your typical Starbucks branch.

While you're in line, this is what you'll see.

breath-taking view of Taal from Starbucks

And to confirm how impressed I was with the location, interior of this Starbucks branch, I find out that ABS-CBN posted an article considers this branch to be the Most Beautiful Starbucks Branch in the Philippines.

My family and I have been joining the world in celebrating the annual Earth Hour initiative.  Earth hour is celebrated all over the globe by turning off your lights for a hour in your local time.  Despite the different timezones, each country will have dedicated an hour of their time to this cause.   If I had a satellite view of the earth, I would visualize as if the earth were a bunch or orange slices and one slice at a time would have their light turned off.

So how did I spend Earth Hour?

Of course, I started with turning off all appliances and lights.  I also unplugged any charging devices and turned off my phones.  For me, it's not just a matter of turning off light, but also non-use of power. And any stored energy  like charged batteries in laptops and phones and power storage devices like powerbanks and generators should also be turned off.  I also moved the curtains to the side and opened the windows to get some light and ventilation in.

I was also pleased that there was an Earth Hour celebration somewhere nearby cause I heard drums being played.  Just before 8:30pm, I also heard someone using a megaphone urging people to turn off their lights.  I did take a look at some neighboring houses and unfortunately, they had lights on.  It's either they are unaware about Earth Hour or aware but just don't choose to observe it.

For the last 30 minutes, I sat at the balcony, watching the stars and pondered on Earth Hour and how can I make a difference aside from just being one of many with their lights turned off.

One hour is really not that big a deal to sacrifice.  There are things like being stuck in traffic, or falling in line at a bank or watching a movie that easily can take up more than an hour a these are things that we can bear and endure because either we have to or we want to.

Meralco won't purposely shutdown our power to observe Earth Hour.  It's purely voluntary.  But the will, effort and mindset in each of us should be there to make a conscious decision to refrain from using power for at least this one hour every year.  If each of us give up that one hour for a good cause, what more can the entire 100 million Philippine population can do.  And what a great impact if all 7 billion of Earth's residents do the same too.

Quoted from Earth Hour's YouTube Channel: "In 2014, Earth Hour broke all records of mass participation by mobilizing hundreds of millions of people to become everyday super heroes for the planet and was celebrated in 162 countries and territories and over 7000 cities and towns. More than just a lights off event, over 60 local Earth Hour campaigns achieved remarkable environmental outcomes all across the world."

This year's theme is Climate Change.  What struck me from the official Earth Hour video is U.S. President Barack Obama's remarks saying that "We are the 1st generation to feel the effects of Climate Change and the last generation that can do something about it."  That's a scary thought.  Give Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) for example:  We've felt the effects of this super typhoon.  Now we need to do something about it so we won't encounter something as dreadful as this again.


Earth Hour 2015 is about getting the crowd to use #YourPower to change climate change.
I'm using my power as a blogger and social media influencer to reach out to others and make aware of the good that Earth Hour brings and what we all can do united in goal to contribute and save our Earth.  

Lights come back on after Earth Hour but let us continue to light the path towards helping change climate change.

Going to the supermarket is one of the things that gives good use to a calculator, a pen and paper.  But with the advent of technology, there are so many things that can make your grocery experience more convenient.  Here are 5 supermarket and grocery apps and gadgets we'd like to see:

1. Shopping Cart Scale - The shopping cart is a scale on wheels.  Every time you put something in, it adds it to the total weight of your groceries and displays it on an LED display at the cart's handle.  This is especially useful if you're going to carry all the groceries yourself after paying.  Additional features include a real-time calculation of how many bags will your groceries consume. Options to input paper or plastic bag will recalculate and consider bag's maximum breaking point which is lower for paper bags.  Level of difficulty also appears in the calculation.  Carrying 6 paper bags without any handles to hold on to is considered "difficulty level high."

2.  Mobile Shopping Scanner and Grocery inventory app - Each cart or basket comes with a bluetooth scanner which connects to your grocery inventory app.  Current contents of ref and cabinets are all stored in a database in the app. A running total of the prices also appear. No need to find which aisle that supermarket scanner was located at.

Each time you place an item in your grocery cart, it informs you if you already have it at home.  Click on "yes" to include in the case that you need more or want extra stock.   App also notifies you of expiring items at home so it would be easier to decide to buy or not.  Extra feature of the grocery app is that it adds expiration dates to a Google calendar and auto alerts you of expiring perishables.  Now, you'll be notified when your cheese is about to expire and you can either buy a new pack or finish the one at home before it expires.

3.  Price Comparison app - Automatically checks price of scanned item and shows the price of the same item from different supermarkets.  A lot of online sites already do this but only compare online prices from other websites.  This one does that for groceries and also includes quantity available from each supermarket.  Is that wine cheaper in the other supermarket but there's only one left?  Then may be it's worth buying the one in your hand than risking going to the other supermarket but got beaten by someone else.  Bonus feature is the app will tell you what time the supermarket with the cheaper price closes and how long it would take you to get there from the current supermarket you're in.

4.  Waze for Supermarkets - In case there's a huge number of people at the supermarket, this app will show (and tell) you the fastest way to the item you're looking for.  Don't know where the milk shelf is?  Use the voice activated feature and say "go to softdrinks" and the app will show you a map with directions.  Voice commands will provide guides like "at the 3rd aisle, turn left" or "in 10 steps, look at the 3rd shelf to yur right.  You have reached your destination."   This is especially useful for those 1st timers in a supermarket  It is also PWD friendly with voice commands.  Crowd sourcing data is also available.  So you can receive updates like "Spilled milk ahead. Proceed with caution."

5. Nutrition Calculator - Familiar with the MyFitness app?  It tells you how much calories you've consumed in a day based on what you ate.  It also shows breakdowns like sodium, cholesterol, vitamins and other nutrients.  The Nutrition Calculator app auto computes the same thing only for the groceries you buy.  If you see all your groceries total 10,000 calories, you may want to put back some items.  The app will also rank items based on calories and show in red the top 5 items that highly contribute to your calorie total.   The app also awards you with points every time you buy groceries under a defined maximum threshold for calories.

Some existing apps may already have some of these features but it would be nice to have these apps and gadgets all integrated.  Hopefully some developers or supermarket owners read these suggestions and come up with new apps which would benefit just about anybody who goes to the supermarket.
What supermarket app features do you want?

In commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Philippines, the U.S. Embassy is holding a search for the most creative photos or drawings using the new five peso commemorative coin (70th Anniversary of Leyte Landing) that best interprets the theme “Valuing the Past, Present and Future.”

To join, go the U.S. Embassy Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/manila.usembassy , upload an original drawing or photo including the new five peso commemorative coin, depicting the theme ““Valuing the Past, Present and Future,” on the Embassy’s Facebook event page entitled “70th Liberation Coin Photo Challenge.”

Any Philippine resident age 13 and above may upload their photo and include a photo title and short caption. Deadline for submission of entries is at 11:59pm February 22, 2015.

All qualified entries will be reposted in a Facebook photo gallery, wherein the Top 10 photos with the most number of “likes” will win a 70th Liberation Gift Bag which includes an exclusive 70th Liberation Shirt, and Embassy merchandise. Voting starts from February 23 12:00pm to February 26, 12pm. U.S. Embassy will shoulder shipping of prizes to all winners.

The five peso limited edition commemorative coin features the Leyte Landing, which was a turning point for the liberation of the Philippines during World War II, started its circulation last December 22, 2014.