June 2008

My Ten Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008

by Jeric on June 23, 2008

in Blogging

I’ve been meaning to list my Ten Emerging Influential Blogs for quite some time now but I can’t think of ten blogs. Most of the blogs I visit have been in the blogosphere for more than a year now (including mine, hehehe). So anyway, here are my ten emerging and influential blogs for 2008.

  1. Missing Carlo – Isn’t great to see how an older sister cares for her brother who has autism? In Missing Carlo, you’ll see how Mica cares and loves his brother even though they’re both separated from each other. This is the only blog I know (at least in the Philippine Blogosphere) that discusses autism freely without the fear of rejection.
  2. Visit Sagada – Who doesn’t want to travel? I really love traveling but doesn’t have the resources to do so! Visit Sagada provides its visitor with the information and things you should know in visiting Sagada. The people behind Visit Sagada can even help you plan your trip.
  3. Distance Education in the Philippines – Distance Education is quite new for some especially in the Philippines. In this blog, I write my experience as a distance education student in the Philippines. This blog also aims to promote and educate people in the Philippines about the existence of this “new” way of learning.
  4. Filipino Voices – I am dumb about politics and reading Filipino Voices gives me a glimpse on what politics is. Filipino Voices is a collaborative blog focusing on politics, news and social commentary. If you always get confuse on the different issues then Filipino Voices can enlighten you.
  5. Filipina Images – Looking on their site info page, FilipinaImages.com was created last August 8, 2007 meaning Filipina Images is still eligible for this year’s Ten Emerging Influential Blogs. Filipina Images aims to uplift and reshape the image of Filipinas online. The people behind it wanted to create a balance of the word “Filipina” on SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).
  6. Bloggers Da Who – If you are bored and have nothing to do, why not spend your time reading Bloggers Da Who and have a good laugh.
  7. You Got Tech – It is great to see a couple of people joining together to produce a video blog about technology. Aims to capture the non-techies, You Got Tech produces video covering product launches, gadget reviews, techie events and others.
  8. Pass The Sauce – I’m a frustrated food blogger! I don’t know why I haven’t started my own food blog. Well, I don’t eat in expensive restaurants that much. Anyway, if you’re looking for new and good place to eat and hangout, Pass The Sauce got them covered. My favorite post at Pass The Sauce is the one entitled, “Spot the Difference: Pho 24 Manila and HCM city”.
  9. Manila Foodistas – I just love food blogs! Manila Foodistas is a group blog providing its visitors with reviews of restaurants and other places to eat within the Metro. If you are that adventurous when it comes to food, you’ll definitely want to try to restaurants reviewed by the Manila Foodistas.
  10. So Sick of Taxi – A blog that tackles about transportation, motion sickness, taxi stories and a whole lot more. A family of bloggers maintains this blog. By the way, you could contribute a post too!

And that completes the list for my Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2008. Join the writing project too! More information here.

UPDATE: Since Filipina Images cannot be nominated for this year, I’m nominating Work With Ria instead.

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UP @ 100

by Jeric on June 18, 2008

in Thought Cloud

Today, June 18, 2008, officially marks the 100th Foundation Day of the University of the Philippines. A lot of activities were lined up today. One of them is the flag ceremony at the Oblation Plaza. The night before, I decided that I would be attending the flag ceremony at Oblation Plaza around 8am. I even memorized the lyrics of UP Naming Mahal so that I could sing along with everyone. It’s a shame if I don’t know the lines of our Alma Mater Song.

I woke up at 5:30am and was thinking if I would still join the flag ceremony. There are a lot of things running on my mind. How will I go there? Traffic? Who will accompany me throughout the program? And a whole lot more. I even contacted some of my schoolmates hoping that they could accompany me. Unfortunately, I failed to contact them. We are not really close. We just know each other by face. In fact, I’m the only one studying in UP from our school that doesn’t belong to the cream class. After few minutes of contemplating, I decided to just stay at home. I think I’m the most kill joy student of UP who didn’t bother join any of the centennial activities.

I have a 1:00pm class today. So while bumming around the house, I waited for any announcements regarding the suspension of classes. Sad but true, class were not suspended. I normally leave our house at around 11:00am but for today, I left at 11:45am. I’m avoiding the Oblation Run because I know that the vicinity of the campus would be traffic by that time. I arrived in UP Diliman at around 12:45am and waited for a TOKI jeep. After a few minutes, I noticed that there were no TOKI jeeps at all. I found out that the Academic Oval was closed so the jeepney routes were changed. I decided to walk from University Avenue to Vanguard Building to make it to my 1:00pm class.

That was a pretty tiring walk! I went to our classroom and almost all my classmates were there except for my favorite classmate. ? Anyway, I’ve met Crystal a while ago. She is the one whom I discovered to be one of my classmates in PE 1 through Multiply. We didn’t talk that much but at least I gained a friend (or should I say an acquaintance). At around 1:45pm, everyone is already in the classroom except for our professor. A few moments after, one of my classes announced that our professor won’t make it. We all decided to leave the room and go wherever.

As we go out of Vanguard Building, it started drizzling. I waited at the nearby jeepney stop hoping to find a North Edsa jeep. I’m still cluecless at that time that the Academic Oval has been opened to traffic once again. A couple of jeepneys passed by and the rain started to get hard. It’s raining cats and dogs! It’s getting dark too! I thought I’ll be stranded on that jeepney stop forever. I decided to just ride the IKOT jeep. I later found out that the jeepney routes are back to normal. And the rain hasn’t stop!

Anyway, I found my way to University Avenue and waited for a North Edsa jeepney. Luckily, one passed by and had just enough space for me. And then, I finally arrived at SM North Edsa safe. I spent a couple of minutes there and decided to went home.

On my way home, one of my churchmates rode the same jeepney I’m riding. I smiled at her. And then she asked, “classmate ba kita?” And I said, “Hindi churchmate kita, diba?” Upon going down the jeepney, we chit-chat for a few moments while heading home.

That’s all.

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