"Mother of All Hell Weeks"

I can say, with all confidence, that all of the students taking Public Administration 143 or Program and Project Development and Management under Prof. Dan Saguil, experienced hell or is still experiencing what might be the worst days of their entire college life.



Besides having to submit a feasibility study on a developmental project (which takes a lot of research, hard work, cups and cups and cups of coffee, and days of no sleep), the exams ("which you think you can score high in, but no...") are really fatal.





After about 4 days of minimal or no sleep at all, eating and nearly living in McDonalds Katipunan and Burger King Timog, leaching off wifi connection, trying to beat the paper deadline - we had no time to study for the exam, which we took earlier. Surprisingly, upon entering CPA 301, a hundred students were already in the room (as far as I know, we're just around 40 students from both sections).



The other 50-60 students, are taking removals, not once, not twice, not thrice, but for the fourth time already. Some, who are not in the college anymore, are only taking this removals to graduate. Now, I think you would agree with me that this is the epitome of the word "terror". Godspeed to all of us!




Design of the Barangay Pansol, Kaingin 2, On-site Medium Rise Socialized Housing Development Project drawn by Nico Dumas (thanks so much!) on top of the location map of the place we're doing the project.



Design of the Temporary Housing units, drawn by Marc, to be given to the displaced beneficiaries of the project, when the demolition and clearing of the informal structures and fixtures begin.









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, PA 143, Feasibility Study, Project Management, hellweek

Yorkshire Terrier Puppies

Right now, there are two of the Yorkie pups left. One male, which we're still selling, and one female, for us. ^^ When I look at these puppies everyday, after school, the stress and worries of exams, papers, etc, vanish for a moment. I tell you, they're REALLY ADORABLE! :)



Photos taken using a Sony Ericsson W760i









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Yorkshire Terrier, puppies, Yorkshire Pups,

Senator Mar Roxas with Youth Leaders

As far as I remember, the first time I heard of Mar Roxas aspiring for "THE SEAT", for President, was when Kevin Ray Chua launched and rallied for the Mar Roxas for President in 2010 blog, which is #5 in the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008, where my blog Manila Foodistas also won. This was different from the bloggers "soiree with Mar Roxas", which I was not part of. They intended to utilize the new media, particularly the Blogosphere, in order to advance their campaign during August last year.






Last night, youth leaders from different schools and localities gathered to listen to what Mar Roxas had to say, and get to question him on different issues and concerns of the youth of today. The crowd was made up of mostly UP Students, some of them were from Ateneo, DLSU, UST, and others.






This is my opinion (as objective and positive as possible). Yes, on the outside, Mar Roxas is a presence on stage, he can articulate and give his two cents and explain himself in a manner that you would listen and tend to genuinely believe him. He was fair enough in his speech. He is very knowledgeable about the present situation, political and social aspects of our society, and the context where we are in right now. But sadly, I found the "meet and greet" quite lacking and a bit of a disappointment. For starters, he didn't really elaborate and concretize on "The Role of the Youth in National Development" - the point of us being there.



I think that he should have used that opportunity to "address" the youth of today, and how they would "fall in the scheme of things" and how they could "act" collectively and individually, and tackle the pressing issues and problems of and about the youth, and the tangible and concrete solutions and projects he might think of with and for the youth (case in point, for the college students in attendance) and our country. I would love to hear and engage him for the second time, and hopefully in another forum or other fora.






As an aside, (this is where it manifests that I am a foodie) we were treated to a scrumptious dinner of pasta, BBQ, lumpia and rice. Drink all you can, then the beer (which we didn't drink). We had Dilly Bars right after (for the win)!






Right now, I can't say that I am endorsing Mar Roxas. I want to see all of them first, if possible talk to them, scrutinize their vision, platform and plans, then comes my decision. For now, it's premature for me to do so, given that he's the first one, among those who have "signified intention" for presidency, I met.



There will be more meetings with Mar, so I hope he'll redeem himself. Don't get me wrong, so far, I can see him as one of the best (slash) most probably candidate that would be rallied upon by people, but he has to really step up and shape up to get our vote. One thing's for sure, you must be critical, hear all sides, and you must have standards in "searching for our voice in 2010" :)









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Mar Roxas, 2010 Elections, Philippine Elections, Role of the Youth in National Development, UP Students, Cubao Expo Centro, political forum, Philippine Politics, Youth Leaders, Senator Mar Roxas

A Lamborghini Gallardo steals the road

An orange Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder "steals" Katipunan-Whiteplains as it parks in F1 Auto Sales. The crowd and motorists literally "stopped and took a look" at this REALLY luxurious beauty.





Photos taken using a Sony Ericsson W760i









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Philippines Best, Lamborghini, Gallardo, Lamborghini Gallardo, Spyder, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, luxury car, F1 Auto Sales, Whiteplains, Katipunan

Youth Vote Philippines goes to UP Diliman

Yesterday, Youth Vote Philippines gathered various student organizations from UP and around the Philippines for one of many in the series of voters registration and education campaign to involve and engage the youth to act now for our country by taking the first step to go register and make others register as well.



By making the youth aware of the situation, questioning and acting upon it, and sharing it with others, then we can make a STATEMENT and an impact in the development of our country. Atom Araullo and Juana Change's message to the youth.












Launched last September 2008, Youth Vote Philippines is an alliance of various youth and reform-minded organizations for 2010 and beyond — Young Public Servants - INCITEGov (YPS) with Akbayan Youth, Ayala Young Leaders, TAYO, FTV, Reform Coalition, Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, WhyNotForum, Youth Alliance Philippines, and Movement for Good Governance. Their objective is to create online and offline collaboration for voter’s education and increased voter registration.





"Laugh, dance, vote" is one of the messages of Youth Vote Philippines. Jaime Garchitorena, one of the great minds behind this campaign, said that "laughing and dancing are crucial to youth experiences." In the forum he said, “Laugh when you have to laugh, dance when it is time to dance, and come May 2010, vote when you have to vote,” he said.



"He believes this message, which will be promoted through the Internet, on tarpaulins and shirts, would encourage the youth to be more proactive in the May 2010 elections," according to the ABS-CBN online news report.





Visit Youth Vote Philippines' website, and make it known! :)









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Voters Registration, Voters Information, 2010 Philippine Elections, Youth Vote Philippines, Youth Vote, University of the Philippines, Juana Change, Jaime Garchitorena, Philippine Elections, Politics

UP CSA Cleans-UP

Last Saturday UP Chinese Student Association conducted a clean-UP around the campus. We went around our assigned routes and took out trash from the waiting sheds, posts and sidewalks.












Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Chinese Student Association, UPCSA, cleanUP, Community Service, Service Activity, Chinese Students, UP, University of the Philippines, UP Diliman, org

FlapJacks' Shrimp Skewers

I recently had lunch with my uncle Martin in FlapJacks. As I already ate here before, I was quite hesitant to do a repeat because I didn't liked it that much before. But this time, I was surprised that their menu had a better design with inviting and mouth-watering photos of their dishes. Their food choices became wider and better (in my opinion).








We were given a complimentary salad (which I forgot to ask the name of). I shall leave this dish without a review because it was just given for free. Moving on, we ordered a newly added dish to the menu, the Shrimp Skewers with rice and veggies. The herbed rice complimented the shrimp skewers. The sauce that came with it was deliciously powerful; but thankfully it didn't overpower the whole dish.



Photos taken using a Sony Ericsson W760i









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Philippines Best, philippine restaurants, restaurants in asia, Pinoy Food, manila restaurant, philippine food, asian food, philippines best, best in asia, FlapJacks, FlapJacks Techno Hub, TechnoHub

UP Football Team Champions UAAP Men's Football

The Ateneo field roared with the Maroons as U.P. clenched the championship last Tuesday against the FEU Tamaraws. 1-0 was the final score. The game was intense; players from both teams played really well, while the crowd cheered hard for U.P.



Kriska "KKK", Beng, START AIT and I (so as other UP students and alumni) were there to watch and support the team as they battled for the point, and defended the goal to the very end, to victory! :) Congratulations!



Photos taken using a Sony Ericsson W760i









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, UAAP Men's Football, UP Football Team, championship game, UP Fighting Maroons, Ateneo Football Field, FEU Tamaraws, START AIT, KAISA, UP Football, Bida Difference

A Million Thanks!

Happy Birthday to my birthday-mates Clea, Merry, Ted, Ella! :)



To those who texted, emailed, ym-ed, plurked, multiplied, facebooked, greeted me last night during the victory party (di ko na kayo iisa-isahin dahil ang dami dami dami n'yo, overwhelmingly!); to my family, wonderful slatemates (Titus, Lee, Jose, Barbie, Sheena, KKK, John, Anika, Gabby, Rinno, Laura, BJ, Austin, Dhadi, Ching, Jan, Gino, Angela and Raymund), CSA, KAISA, Absolute Cousins, APB, Bloggers/ Online friends, ISA, LEAD, Manila Foodistas, MATTER, PALS, PDA, PRIME, START, UP friends, Xavier friends, at sa mga posibleng nakalimutan ko [sorry])



Malugod na pagpapasalamat, sincerest gratitude to everyone, 謝謝你們！Sa walang sawang pagtiwala, pagsuporta't pagtulong. I have been really blessed with great friends and acquaintances. I really treasure you all! *sniff* hehe :D



P.S. Being 21 is no different from being 20, or 18... What matters is how you live your life, and what will be your legacy. (magiging 21 din kayo! bleh! haha) Carpe Diem!


P.P.S. A bit of trivia for all...today's Square Root Day. Fun! haha









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, birthday

Super Sunday

We went to The Arena in San Juan to root for our UP Men's Volleyball in their best of 3 Finals game against UST. It's really unfortunate that there were only more or less a handful of student who went out of their way to cheer for our awesome team. While UST or FEU or DLSU had a multitude to their side, UP had the drums, but so little of the manpower to cheer. This is something we must fix next year.






In any case, we didn't sit down anymore, instead, we went to the cheering squad for reinforcement. It was fun being with the cheering squad, shouting our lungs out with the drums.






After the game, we went to Victory Greenhills to attend service. Pastor Steve Murell, founder of our church was the one who preached. He talked about the legacy we should leave, in our one life to live. It was very powerful, striking and moving.






Side-tripped afterward to shop for stuff for tomorrow, and dinner at Soms. :) See'ya guys!









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, Philippines Best, philippine restaurants, men's volleyball, San Juan The Arena, Volleyball, Men's Volleyball Game, asian food, Soms, Soms Thai Cuisine, SNR, Victory Greenhills, Victory

Post-elections Hang-over

First of all congratulations to all those who won in the USC elections! Secondly, congratulations and good luck to the Executive Committee-elect of UP Chinese Student Association. I know you'll be able to do great things next year.






USC Elections is over. As for me, I am very thankful for all the people who have been there to support, guide, train, and nourish my desire to become a better student-leader.



More than a party, KAISA has been a family to me. Looking back, I am amazed with what we've all gone through, what we've all sacrificed and what we've all learned throughout this experience. This is a new chapter that would soon be written with more wonderful lines and stories that matter.






They say that what I am having right now is the expected withdrawal symptoms from the elections. Truly, I miss being with my slatemates every night, trainings upon trainings, sleeping late and waking up really early, going room-to-room expecting the unexpected, and a lot more.






Elections pushed each and everyone of us to work and perform more. It only proved that "yes, we can." Deep inside we all knew we could do it, but all the while, I could ask, "why weren't we able to do this before the campaign started?" Sometimes, it just takes some push or even a tap for one to be able to go that extra mile. That for me is what we all want; that for me is what counts.



After all of this, yes, it's hard to go back to "normal student life." Though hard and tiring, I miss everything. Now, it's time to perform, to walk the talk. I hope that all of you would still be there. :)



*Edit* P.S. Unsolicited Advice to all: Remember, if student service is really your passion, you can still achieve that noble goal even if you're not "in power".









Technorati Tags: bong, superbong, brian ong, The Philippines and Beyond, Philippines, KAISA, Titus Tan, BongOng, UP Elections, university of the philippines