The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

The news about the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was quite unexpected and while I was watching the news about his announcement, I was trying to recall my first visit to Rome 2 years ago. I could remember the day when our cruise ship docked in Civitavecchia, I was feeling giddy about the thought of going to Rome for the first time. It was a Wednesday and I know for a fact that every Wednesday is Papal Audience day in the Vatican. Together with some friends, we took a train to Rome. Ticket to Rome Traveling to Rome My friend almost tipped this signage over trying to make a point that she has arrived in Rome With my Spanish and Filipina friends posing outside the walls of St. Peter's More Friends inside the St. Peter's Square Swiss Guard on post waiting for the Pope to emerge out of St. Peter's Basillica Pope Benedict XVI passing by on his popemobile blessing the crowd. This was the closest I could get to a Pope. At St. Peter'...

Step aside Psy. There is a new dance step in town that's going viral. And you don't even have to memorize the steps. It is so easy, Gangnam Style looks like doing Calculus. It's the Harlem Shake. If you haven't seen a Harlem Shake video yet, take a look at this: The Harlem Shake began just recently and was started by 5 teenagers from Queensland, Australia. The videos last 31 seconds and feature an excerpt from the song "Harlem Shake" by electronic musician Baauer. Since then, many uploaded their own versions of Harlem Shake. You can also do your own Harlem Shake. The Harlem Shake video usually begins with a person wearing a helmet or mask dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or unaware of the dancing individual. The second half of the video then cuts to the entire crowd doing crazy stuff, making their own convulsive dance steps for the next 15 seconds. Usually they would be wearing funny cost...

A few hours after we went back to Manila from Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, I found myself boarding the plane en route to Ivisan, Capiz. I was heading there upon the invitation of the Mayor himself who personally requested for a "team building" session for his RHU staff. The desire was to make a cohesive team so that they could be able to perform in their work better thus enabling them to produce better health outcomes for the entire Ivisanons. How do we build a team anyway? I think the formula is easy, although the actual formation can be challenging. The formation of a team, first and foremost, finds it foundation in getting to know one's members.  After all, a team is an amalgamation of unique individuals who have their own set of motivations, values, beliefs and behavior. What we did in Ivisan was a basic simple introduction of one's self and to tell the story behind their names. For many, it was revealing. They were then asked to recall the many highs and lows in ...

It was my first road trip to Northern Luzon. It took us around 10 hours to travel from Manila to Cervantes, a municipality in the mountains of Ilocos Sur. By the time we reached Ilocos Sur, it was already dark. Since it was also our first time to go up the winding road through the historic Bessang Pass all the way up the mountains, we were driving quite slowly and cautiously. We were heading for Cervantes upon the invitation of the Mayor to conduct a leadership retreat for his department heads. Cervantes is an economically 4th class municipality and is also dubbed as the Summer Capital of Ilocos Sur. It is typically a mountainous area and has a cooler climate compared to other towns in Ilocos Sur. We stayed at Villa Maria, a lodging house at the Concepcion area of the town. It has a nice view of the mountains of Ilocos Sur especially in the morning. Villa Maria is also the venue for the training that we conducted for the municipal employees of Cervantes. ...

While we were on our way to Ilocos Sur last week, we were able to pass by Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union, said to be the Surfing Capital of the North in the Philippines. We stopped over for dinner at Sebay Surf Resort. It was an accidental find. We never expected that we will be passing this route. There were a handle of foreign tourists in the place, surfers from other parts of the world who would spend time in the Philippines enjoying the sport they love the most. It was already evening so we couldn't really appreciate the beauty of the beach so we decided to make sure that we would drop by the place when we get back to Manila. And we did and we did not regret doing it. When we arrived in Sebay Surf Resort on our way back to Manila, it was late in the afternoon, but the sandy beach was still littered with tourists playing frisbee or just catching the late afternoon sun. There were also surfers, both professionals and amateurs, enjoying the wav...

Our road trip to Cervantes, Ilocos Sur a few days ago was highlighted by a side trip to the historical place of Bessang Pass. We were in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur to conduct a Bridging Leadership retreat to the Department Heads of the municipality as requested by the Mayor himself. Mayor Maggay is one of the many mayors under our Leadership Development Program at the Zuellig Family Foundation. He was so impressed by what he experienced during their own leadership retreat with us at Tagaytay a few months ago that he decided that his own fellow government employees should undergo them as well. For those who may have already forgotten, Bessang Pass was the last stronghold of the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II. It was here that General Tomoyuki Yamashita surrendered to the U.S. and Philippine forces. As cited by Wikipedia, " The initial fighting started in February 1945 around the town of Cervantes. At the same time, the 121st Infantry was driving out the Japanese in T...