A curious picture of Anahawan Central School

Here is a picture labeled "Grabe V-B 1946-47 Anahawan Central School". If proven authentic, this would probably be the oldest picture taken of Anahawan Central School. I got this picture in 2007 when I was searching for the presence of Anahawnons on the web. I checked the source site but it is no longer active: (http://jobarclix.blog-city.com/surigao_rose.htm).

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How important is "pakikisama" in building a business in the Philippines?

I was navigating through my linkedin network and got interested in one discussion started by someone who is obviously not a user of the Tagalog dialect. Here it is:

"Ano ang iniisip ninyo? Paano mahalaga ay ang pakikisama para sa gusali ng negosyo sa Pilipinas?"

Apparently, this was translated using an online translator - reminds me of Mosley twitting in Tagalog few weeks ago. It is a funny translation but it is understandable that the person who posted this has a good intention of understanding part of the Filipino culture. I decided to post my reaction to it and before I knew it, I was already posting a blog-long reply. So I decided to share my reply here on this blog, with few alterations after making some proofreading on it:

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It is Fiesta Season

The first Fiesta of every year already occurred last month in Brgy. San Vicente, of course, with the Fiesta of San Vicente Ferrer last April 5. That would make this post a bit outdated. Nevertheless, I decided to proceed with this post since 5 out of the 13 barangays of Anahawan celebrate their fiestas during this month, making May as the month with the most number of fiestas celebrated throughout the town.

With the festive activities during fiestas, each barangay instantly becomes an attraction not only to Anahawnons but also to people from neighboring towns. Many Anahawnons who have been away for some time usually schedule their vacations during the fiesta of their dear barangays. See related post here.

Basketball and parlor games are among the popular activities. Of course, sabong (cockfighting) has always been among the top activities in many barangays. In the olden days, amateur singing contest is held for several nights before the fiesta katud-anan. There is no need to mention that no fiesta is complete without the bayle (disco) on the night of bisperas.

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I grew up in the ocean

On a circle island tour around Oahu, my host asked me “So, you grew up in the ocean?”

 “…in the ocean?” I thought.

So I defensively said, “no!” and then I said “yes.”

I was not really able to comprehend what he meant by “in the ocean?” I explained to him that I used to live “near the sea”. I even demonstrated to him that from my house, the beach is just across the street. Being a technical writer that time, there was no space for metaphors or similar figures of speech.

Having been disoriented with the tour, I asked him which side of the island is the Pacific Ocean. He answered that we are in the Pacific Ocean, we are surrounded by it. He then pointed to the west for the direction of the Philippines as opposed to California on the other side. It turned out he is the one who lives “in the ocean,” specifically, in a group of islands within the Pacific Ocean.

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Our Crumbling Lands

Huge chunks of earth has been scraped off from the mountainsides and are now setting along the sides of the Abuyog-Silago Road. Some of these chunks are as huge as ordinary houses – testaments to the relentless heavy rains that took lives in St. Bernard Southern Leyte more than a month ago. Landslides have been tearing our mountains apart, as if they are pieces of cakes.

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Earth Hour Philippines - March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM

Tonight, the world will go dark. Lights, televisions, computers, fans, air conditioners, and other energy consuming equipments will be switched off to send a message to influential people throughout the world, political leaders around countries, big business operators, power producers, don't forget to include your naive neighbors, and most importantly, to ourselves, that we are aware of the world's current energy and environmental crisis and that we are willing to do something about it.

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St. Anthony's High School JS Prom - February 2011

After  more than 10 years (yes, I'm getting old), I was again able to witness a school activity at my Alma Mater. Last Feb. 18, 2011, young boys and girls at Saint Anthony's High School were baptized into becoming full gentlemen and ladies.

Having been educated in this school more than a decade ago, I can not help but compare what I have witnessed to what I have experienced during my time. Whenever I say "during my time", it really makes me feel old, but somehow, it makes me feel better, probably because of the memories it brings. Wow!, "during my time...." (looking up at the ceiling with a smile).

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Smartbro Internet in Anahawan, Southern Leyte

When I visited Anahawan in June 2010, my Smartbro Wireless Modem has been completely useless, without the slightest hint of internet signal. This is at least in our area at Lower Tagup-on. They say Smartbro performs well in other areas in Anahawan and in some days.

I was hoping things would improve this time and, yes, it did. From zero bar signals 8 months ago, it now has about 4 or 5 bars. The biggest setback, however, is that it is only limited to 2G, with not the slightest hint that 3G even exists. With only 2G signal available, download speed is painfully slow that loading the facebook homepage would take 10 to 15 minutes – 10 years as we would punningly describe the amount of waiting time.

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The season to visit Anahawan

If you are an Anahawnon who has been away from Anahawan for quite some time, you probably are looking forward to seeing our beautiful home town any time soon. For many Anahawnons, one of the most anticipated dates is June 13, that is, the Fiesta of San Antonio de Padua.

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News Feed in the Sand

Took some walk along the Anahawnon shores and found something interesting and funny, something that I could not help but compare to the commenting features of the number one networking site of today.

After the high tide, the sea would normally recede backwards to reveal a beautiful canvass of nicely flattened wet sand. The sand canvass would then invite a lot of people to express themselves by writing or drawing anything on the sand. Some would even build some structures up. Others would then walk along, find these drawings or expressions and then.... leave some comments.

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Bus explodes along EDSA Buendia, Makati

The day started with news of suicide bombing in a Moscow Airport that killed 35. I do not want to read or hear bad news anymore. There is already too much bad news at home: carnapping, murder, clashes among rebels and government soldiers, floods, landslides, and so on.

Then at around 3PM this afternoon, I got a call. A bus exploded somewhere near Ayala, where I work. I searched google right away, hoping that it was not really serious, no injuries, and above all, no casualties, please. The headlines opposed everything I prayed for:

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How to be effective at work even with facebook

Unless you are living in cave (which is unlikely because if you are, you will not be able to read this post at all), you know very well that facebook has already been contributing so much to the human race in terms of connecting with each other. On the other hand, facebook has already been impacting the workplace that so much work hours has been lost by people who are helplessly indulging into it. The word “discipline”, though relatively long, is so much easier to spell than put into action. So here are some tips on how to improve productivity at work even with the most advanced distraction known to the working world.

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A Gathering of Relatives and Fellow Anahawnons

The Invitation

Sunday is usually a day when I would indulge in so much sleep for as long as I can. Oftentimes I would sleep throughout most of the morning. But this time there was a good reason to wake up earlier than usual, that is, if you think 7AM is early enough. We got an invitation from a cousin, about 3 weeks earlier, to the Christening of her daughter. The venue in Sto. Rosario, Pasig sounded familiar to us but we haven't been there before so we have to allot some time just in case we won't be lucky enough to directly hit the shortest commute route.

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Are you a facebook addict?

You come to the office excited, not because of an exciting task that has just been assigned to you by your boss but simply because you are expecting comments on those photos that you have just uploaded yesterday. You are a good employee who understands his job well and know that the reason you are at work is that people are expecting your contribution to the company. Then you think that peeking at your facebook account wont hurt. Anyway, it is only going to take 2 minutes and you still have 7 hours and 58 minutes left for work. Afterall, you are only going to check out those little red numbers at the upper left corner of your screen when opening your facebook account.

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Landslide Hit St. Bernard, Southern Leyte

I was just admiring the very fine weather here in Manila this afternoon. When I called my mother in Anahawan, Southern Leyte I learned that they have been experiencing heavy rains, "bunok-bunok jud" as she described it. I was not giving it much thought until I overheard on TV earlier this evening the words "St. Bernard", "Guinsaugon"', and the feared "landslide". At first I thought that it was just GMA7's review of past events as many TV stations would do during new year seasons. When my wife said that it was a flash news, I decided to check google to get some details.

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Legend of the Guardians – Sabong up in the Air

When I first saw the movie’s billboard, it gave me the impression that it is a cutie fairy tale movie just for kids. I always consider owls as creepy creatures. The ones in the billboard looked cute so never did I imagine that it is something that would feature fighting scenes among birds brutally killing each other. If you love sabong (cockfighting), you will love this movie.

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