Category: Lifestyle

Metro Rail Transit crisis gripping Manila a result of long-term failure in thinking

April 11, 2014March 24, 2022 benign0 16 Comments

The “increase in population” that has been made the excuse du jour of Malacanang to wash its hands off the appalling mass transport crisis paralysing Metro Manila today is something that the government cannot absolve itself of any responsibility for. Facing mounting calls for the head of Al Vitangcol General Manager of the Metro Rail…

Crime, Development, Government, Lifestyle, Politics, Society

Towards a more ethical regard for consumption

April 8, 2014 benign0 6 Comments

What we as ordinary people can contribute to the effort to combat climate change lies in some personal behaviours of ours that we have direct control over — our consumption habits. We just need to pause and take the time to think and reflect upon what motivates us to buy and consume the way we…

Civics, Economy, Environment, Lifestyle

Top-notch command of the English language opens doors

April 7, 2014 benign0 57 Comments

We’d like to believe that we deserve a society that treats people fairly regardless of how well they speak and write English and regardless of whether they speak it with a regional accent or not. We think, if we continue stomping our feet enough in a loud appeal to nationalist sentiment, that we could one…

Culture, Education, Lifestyle, Society

A collective outcome rather than the majority will: Why Filipinos fail at common decency

April 4, 2014 benign0 10 Comments

At the coffee shop where I routinely get my morning fix, customers mill around the counter in a way that often makes it difficult to distinguish those who are (a) in the process of ordering and paying, or (2) waiting for a concluded order to be served. So it is a normal and routine courtesy…

Civics, Culture, Lifestyle, Society

Skyway roadkill: Cats seemingly dropping from the sky onto Manila elevated highway

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 benign0 6 Comments

Motorists who use the Philippines’ Skyway, an elevated express tollway linking Manila’s southern suburbs to the central business district of Makati City have for some time observed flattened carcasses of cats littering the pavement. The baffling roadkill has raised the question of how the animals had somehow made their way onto the elevated structure. A…

Civics, Lifestyle, Tech Talk

Will Heart Evangelista make a good First Lady to Chiz?

March 31, 2014 Kate Natividad 5 Comments

Why would Heart Evangelista be “bad” for possible future Philippine President Chiz Escudero? Personally, I think it’s about time the Philippines had a glamorous First Lady again. So you go girl! Good to read that you don’t care about all this crap talk about you possibly weakening Chiz’s bid for the top job! I mean,…

Culture, Education, Glitz and Glamour, Lifestyle, Media, Politics, Society

Microsoft Office now on iPad: Bozo-authored Power Point slides just got a boost

March 28, 2014 Kate Natividad 30 Comments

So Microsoft Office is now available on the iPad. Should we care? I believe the more fundamental question to ask is this: Do people really do important stuff on a tablet device? I have serious doubts. Tablets and other touch-screen devices have long been pitched as toys. Get on Google and search for the “top…

Lifestyle, Tech Talk

Love in a time of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Oculus

March 27, 2014 Kate Natividad 4 Comments

The other day I was waiting for a friend of mine — let’s call him David — who was arriving from a quick trip overseas to ping me on WhatsApp (as we had agreed in our last conversation) as soon as he fired up his mobile phone at the airport. Aba, it was already two…

Lifestyle, Tech Talk