Posts filed under 'Travel'
Winnipeg, Manitoba — It’s been a while since my last entry and here I am full of expectations for this one. I don’t like Canadians. I have been solid about that for years now. I don’t like them politically, culturally and throw in also economically.
Canadians have been unsubtle about their (except for the Prime Minister I guess) dislike of the United States of America. Canada envelopes the northern part of the US and they are well protected by the US militarily from three directions. Instead of gratitude for this, the Canadians think that what the (US)Americans are doing to keep a civilize world is plain wrong. They are too idealistic for their own good.
Now let’s talk about idealism for Canada. Canada uses two languages — English (British, not [US]American) and French. That means that they are bounded to the British and the French who discovered their neck of the woods. Essentially, Canada has no independence so they should just shut their mouths about the United States and get their shit together first to get away from their monarchs. Trivially, Canada has no president. Instead they have a prime minister because they still recognize the monarchs thousands of miles away in the land called the United Kingdom. If you ask Canadians why they don’t exist as a Republic, they would tell you that they are sentimental about the presence of the monarchy. A stupid thing to say for a could-be-sovereign country.
Culturally, I dislike their attitudes. (US)Americans are liberal, but they at least have manners. Canadians lack courtesy, hospitality and other good manners. Canadians will confirm this. They think they are high up in the food chain to be looking down on people. Here’s a stereotype: if you meet a rude Caucasian in the States, most likely he’s from Canada. One more piece of observation: Canadians look alike. I would like to post pictures, but I won’t. When you visit Canada, pick one face and you’ll find many of them like that…pick the ones with ’stache.
If (US)Americans complain so much about taxes, go to Canada and you’ll wish you can bring your taxes from the States. Generally, they have two taxes: GST (federal) and PST (provincial). Total tax could reach 15% - 20% of your purchase. That’s too much. They even have AST (accommodation) and a GST is also taken from that AST. So if you stay in a hotel, they will charge you two taxes plus an accommodation tax plus another tax off that accommodation tax. What they mean to say is that “pay us double, foo!”
I think that about covers my dislike for Canada and its people. However, I LOVE the music they make. I will also attempt to photographically compare the four provinces I visited when I get back, so watch out for that my dear readers.
June 26th, 2008
I couldn’t deliver a promise to myself that I would write each day of the weekdays. I was too busy at work that I lost so many blogging hours. I am writing this entry aboard a Continental Airline flight. So what thoughts have accumulated this past week?
Firstly, my attempt to move my router failed. I’ll figure it out when I return.
The first Gala Night of Pinoy Idol was held this weekend and I was fortunate to watch the performances. The show has put a limit on the number of text votes per SIM; the maximum is 200 text votes per SIM. My guess was correct because I guessed an average of 100 per SIM.
Eat Bulaga’s first E-Banda Eskuwelahan came into existence this weekend also. Out of four bands, I enjoyed two. It was a good contest.
At work, I ordered tons of computers. I realized that I’m too slow setting them up. When I say setup, it means uninstalling pre-installed software and installing my own software. One PC per hour is quite slow. Alongside that, I was also multi-tasking — programming and other operational work. Joking around has to be there also to take away all the pressure.
June 22nd, 2008
A (pretty much) summary of my technical encounter with Directv technical support specialists. I am a technical support specialist myself and I know the feeling. Sometimes I just give up on problems because it’s difficult talking to someone on the other end when they are doing something different you’re asking them to do. It’s difficult being blind because that’s how you feel when you are supporting someone over the phone.
Continue Reading June 13th, 2008
Before leaving for work, I saw on 24 Oras a report about the couple physicians from Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. Dr. Pearle Tecson Pagunsan and wife Dr. Hazel Chua Pagunsan are serving their community instead of going abroad for better wages. The Pagunsans said that there are opportunities of going abroad promising better life that’s been coming their way, but they chose to stay in Binalbagan and serve their countrymen. These are the models every Filipino should look up to and follow.
Dr. Hazel Pagunsan said that weighing the needs and and love for the work, they both chose the joy in working to help the townspeople of Binalbagan over enslaving themselves overseas for better wages. If every Filipino professional has this mindset, then the Philippines would be one step towards the betterment of the country.
I sound hypocritical given I’m overseas, don’t I? I was fourteen when I migrated to the US. A step that I’ve protested from the beginning. I never wanted to come here, but I had no choice. It was a family choice. Then what am I still doing here now that I’ve grown to have my own decision? I plan to return to the Philippines in the near future. I’m just saving for a fresh start. I don’t exactly have anything if I came back, do I? I’m being patient and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I may not be bright enough to offer something for the nation, but I would be one man back.
The Pagunsans are selfless, why would someone like me who is selfish appreciate the act. To me though selfishness boils down to oneself, it does have a layer. Here, I am speaking of national selfishness where the layer is the choice of group. I’m being selfish for the group I belong to. I’m inherently contained in the group and I’m being selfish to achieve my own goals by making sure the group is successful.
What troubles me, though, is that the Pagunsans are also nurses. They took and finished nursing recently. That means they thought or still have thoughts of living the country and nursing foreigners abroad. We’ll see.
June 6th, 2008
Things are done differently in different places and this is always the problem I have when I’m traveling. Fortunately, I haven’t been to a right-hand driving country yet, so I’ll spare my time from talking about that. I usually travel alone (because I enjoy it — no hassle) so I can’t concur with someone regarding these things.
The first habit that troubles me when traveling is eating at a fast food restaurant. I don’t know if I should leave my litters on the table or I should throw them in the garbage myself. One might say that if in doubt, throw them in the garbage. That can’t be done because if you do that, they’d apprehend you because they have their own way of trashing. I’m used here in the US where we throw our own trash after eating. What I usually do is eat slowly and observe others then I follow.
Since I’m the topic of food, when I go back home to our province where most households have helpers (a third-world nation can really progress through slavery of their kind), after eating I’m used to bring my plate to the sink and throw my leftovers. I’m often reprimanded because I must leave the pate on the table and wait for the helper to clean the mess. Basically, we have a waiter in our dining room. Very progressive.
When driving, I’m always troubled whether I should turn right after stopping on a red light. In New York City, we are used not to do this 98% of the time — the 2% have signs permitting you to do this. It’s a serious situation because if you stop on a red light and you have your right blinkers on with a car on your tail, you’d get some honkin’. I hate being honked.
Lastly, I have the currency to worry about. I usually use larger bills so that I don’t have to waste my time and the cashier’s time by trying to figure out what coin I have. I had this trouble recently at UAE. The coins didn’t have numerals, so I always used the bills and that means I had tons of coins in my pocket. I hate carrying coins because they make so much noise when I’m walking.
June 3rd, 2008
Yesterday I went to the festival with four colleagues. We arrived at the expo center a little after 1. There weren’t too many people. When we entered the expo, we were greeted by WU exhibitors. So fun begins. We did everything so that we each get a souvenir from WU. Then we roamed around the expo and found the MG booth. We again asked for souvenirs. The result is the photo below. These two companies are the competitors of the company we work for — that’s why it’s fun. Needless to say, we also acquired a few souvenirs from X (another competitor) later that day.
The entrance was fun, now to the show. Firstly, since it was a Filipino event, the Filipino time has to play a role. The show started an hour late, so that means we have to leave an hour late. Papa Sam (Milby) is the last performer which is at 9:30 (adjusted due to Filipino time). MYMP is to perform before him, that means we have to wait at least until 9:30 before leaving. We sat down to watch the show an hour before the bandfest which we were counting on.
The bandfest bored us to death. I almost fell asleep. Only one band got me excited and only for one song out of three that they performed. The band is called The Grudge and the song is incidentally called Hoy! Gising! Only two bands sang Filipino songs and they were the bands that didn’t advance to the finals. Judges of the contest didn’t know what they were doing. I think they weren’t so broadminded judging the talents. I confess, The Grudge didn’t know how to perform on stage, but the bands who advanced were the same and I couldn’t even make out their lyrics because their vocals are so bad. All bands weren’t original with their music that’s probably why I got bored. They will always remain in the local scene.
The festival showcased a couple of comic act. They were funny, but were rated-R. A few performances that led to MYMP were terrible because they simply are not my type.
MYMP — Make Your Mama Proud — should only perform in cafés because that is the only environment their genre can handle. I will not intentionally go to an MYMP gig again unless I’m in a restaurant having dinner and they’re playing. I’ll just listen to them on the radio because it’s better to listen than to watch them play. The performance has no life and is to be expected because again of the genre of their music. The voice of Juris is there, but I’m supposed to be watching a gig, not listening to my iPod.
In conclusion, the festival was dismal. The journey to and fro the center was fun though — tiresome for me because I was driving. We had a good chat in the car, but what happened with Papa Sam stays with Papa Sam.
May 18th, 2008
I went to New Jersey today to install a POS system for an agent. I spent the whole day there. I had lunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant and had a fortune cookie. The fortune said:
You form passionate relationships without compromising your independence.
That’s so shocking for me because it is so true. Maybe I should start believing in fortune cookies? And my lucky numbers are: 11, 17, 19, 33, 36, 38. The wife loves numbers as much as I do, so in her behalf, I’ll venture a meaning for these numbers… I give up :) The pattern is terrible. The distribution is bad that it can’t win a lottery.
May 15th, 2008
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