Social Media Day

Photo c/o dekhnews.com

Who isn't on social media nowadays?  According to brandwatch.com as of July 2015 there were 2.3-billion active social media users out of the worldwide population of 7.3-billion.  I'm sure these numbers have increased tremendously, the last two years.

If Facebook was a state with 1.71-billion users, it will outrank China's 1.3-billion and India's 1.2-billion population.  The 4th placer would be YouTube with more than 1-billion users.  The United States of America (3rd rank in world population) with it's 312-million plus population would be no match to Instagram's more than 400-million users.  Such is the power and reach of social media.  Facebook, founded in February 2004, is just 13 years old, while YouTube is 12 years old, and Instagram is only 7 years old.

And I believe that there will be more and better applications coming soon in the near future.

End of June

Photo c/o owlfinancial.com.au

And just like that, we bid goodbye to the month of June.  We're six months into 2017 and a month of wintry weather here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  So much more to be done and time is running faster than my dreams.

The 1st six months of this year have been a hectic and toxic one for me.  I had to make the big move in terms of my career and physical self, to the big city, Auckland.  The 1st quarter was spent commuting from Hamilton to Auckland, weekdays in Auckland and weekends in Hamilton.  Until we finally decided as a family to all be together and made the final big push last weekend of May.

In the process of this big upheaval, most of my plans for 2017 had to be revisited and revised.  And it's only now that I'm beginning to have the time to bring them to life.  I guess some of them will have to be rescheduled to a later date, as in next year.  I'm now working on finalizing the top three priority for the rest of 2017.  I just can't divulge them at the moment but you will all know in time.

National Camera Day

Photo c/o nationaldaycalendar.com

It's National Camera Day today and at the same time it's a glorious and beautiful day too! I took my Supported Learning students to the Auckland CBD via train.  Our first stop was at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.  We were warmly and properly welcomed by staff and had a great time.  It is an awesome place to learn about the history of our country, especially how people traveled from all over the planet via ships, to come and settle here.

Everyone had a great time, of course we took heaps of photos using our mobile phones.  No one even brought a camera.  Our smartphones have replaced them. It was a very practical way to spend this national day.

Q&A: Maynard "Toots" Erece

Photo c/o Maynard's Facebook account

I've known Maynard "Toots" Erece for a couple of years since I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand. The first time I met him was in a basketball court while he was training Filipino youth on the rudiments of basketball.  I noticed how passionate he was about the sport.  And this became evident in one of the championship games in Auckland for a Labour Weekend tournament.  It was quite an intense game, with emotions going sky-high.  It was his sense of sportsmanship and fair play that kept in check his players and supporters from exploding into the basketball court to confront their opponents and supporters.

Toots was a teacher and dean at St. John's College in Hamilton for a number of years.  He was the mentor of the Filipino boys in the school and looked after their pastoral care.  I remember a time when he had to take one of the boys home since he was in an elevated mental state.  I guess it was his fatherly figure that calmed the boy and from then on, until now I've seen this boy grow into a responsible and happy young man.

With a heavy heart, Filipinos in Hamilton had to bid him farewell when he moved a couple of years ago.  As a devoted father, family man, and loving husband to his wife Dr. Joan (pictured above) he had to be with her in her new assignment, Australia.  I recently had a Q&A with him and this is what he shared:

Q: What's on your bucket list?
A: More travel. The world is a very big place. So much to see, so little time we all have in the world.

Q: Give your teenage self some advice.
A: It's OK to do what you want to do until it's time to do what you need to do. It's OK to do what you need to do until it's time to do what you must do.

Q:What motivates you?
A: Family and loved ones well being.

Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: The world's greatest dad!

Q: Name 3 people, living or dead, you'll like to have dinner?
A: 1. Jesus Christ to talk about God and the after life.
2. Mother Mary to seek advice on how to raise up children better and how to trust in God without boundary.
3. Pope Francis to talk about the current issues facing the Catholic church.

Q: Are you a cat or dog person?
A: Both. We have a cat and 2 German shepherd dogs that also came from NZ.

Q: Why are you doing, what you're doing?
A: It's Christ's teaching - the  parable of talents. We have to share our God given talents to the world. We owe it to our creator.

Q: Where in the Philippines is the place that is your sanctuary?
A: My sanctuary is where my family is.  Where the family lay their head, is where our heart lie too.

Q: How did you face failure?
A: Head on without flinching. Failure is just another way of God saying, there is a better alternative to this, dry your tears, heads up, eyes wide open then go and find it.

Q: The best thing about your age.
A: At this age, we look at most things in retrospect. We have experienced a lot, lived a lot, moved a lot, laughed a lot and cried a lot. We have earned our stripes to say, we made it this far.

Q: How do you chill out?
A: Movies. Lots of movies. It serves as an escape from the business of life.

Q: What's your comfort food?
A: Fruit Juices comfort me.

Q: Something not many people know about you.
A: Despite what many people think, I'm really an introvert.

Q: Which talent would you like to have?
A: At this point in my life, I have accepted enough about myself that I don't really crave too much. Maybe playing the piano.

Q: If you could time travel, where and when would it be?
A: At the start of everything - the big bang, Genesis and at the end of everything.

Q: What superpower do you wish you had?
A: Teleportation and time travel. I guess it's obvious why.

Q: What job would you do other than your own?
A: I love my job. Don't want to do anything else.

Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Retire, travel and go home so I can finally help Gilas Pilipinas hopefully with Jozef.

Free courses from MSL Training

Photo c/o msltraining.co.nz

I'm a Tutor at MSL Training and I teach Foundation and Life Skills (Levels 1 and 2) to youth and adults with learning and intellectual disabilities.  It has been an awesome experience to guide and mentor my students, who are like sponges, ready and willing to absorb knowledge.

We are a New Zealand government endorsed Category 1 education provider.  We have other courses like: hospitality, retail and customer service, event planning, English, youth courses on retail and hospitality, and of course our newest programme on supported learning. Most of our courses, especially the Levels 1 and 2, are free, with small class sizes and competent tutors ready to mentor and guide.  Our main campus is in Manukau and we have two other campuses in Botany and Takapuna.

We have a couple of short-term free courses coming up soon:
Table Setting Inspo Workshop (July 6), Wedding Planner Seminar (July 11), Concert Planning Seminar (July 12), Fundraising Event Seminar (July 13).  The classes will be held in the Manukau campus and it starts at 10:30 a.m. and ends at 12 p.m.  For more information please click on this link.  Many thanks for your time and see you soon!

National Beautician's Day

Photo c/o nationaldaycalendar.com

Mga besh atin ang araw na 'to, National Beautician's Day.  Carry na natin 'to---naalala ko tuloy si Aldrin, at si Manay Fely kumusta na kayo mga ateng?  I also remember Ricky Reyes aka Mother Ricky who was instrumental in educating and inspiring a whole generation of beauticians with his "Isang Gunting, Isang Suklay (IGIS)" programme, plus the pioneering and award-winning TV shows Beauty Secrets (IBC-13) and Beauty School (RPN-9) wherein he was the producer/host.

I've been trying to get some statistics for this post: how many beauticians are there in the planet, what qualifications must they possess, etc.  But so far, I haven't gotten any.  What I do know is that back home, there seems to be a beauty parlor or beauty salon in every barangay, and it doesn't include yet the beautician who does home service.

Thank you everyone for your artistry, thank you for your craftsmanship, thank you for making the planet a beautiful and gay one!

Ramadan 2017

Photo c/o aljazeera.com

There is an estimated 1.8-billion Muslims in the world as of 2015.  This is according to research done by the Pew Research Center.  Muslims have been fasting for a month, it is called Ramadan and today marks the end with a celebration called Eid al-Fitr (the festival of breaking the fast).

In the same research it states that the Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians by 2050. They are the fastest growing religious group in the planet.  And I've personally seen, Muslim friends, acquaintances, and colleagues, how they are very devoted in practicing their faith.

Friends and family from the homeland have shown photos and videos on social media, how they've been celebrating the end of Ramadan with heaps of food and merriment.  I can see from their faces how happy they all are, in-spite of the difficulties and challenges they are facing everyday.  I'm not talking about the basic things like food, clothing and shelter.  But the more challenging ones of being safe from terrorists, fugitives, and racists.

I am happy that I've had only generally pleasant experiences with Muslims during my younger years.  Back in the day, being a Muslim was not a discriminatory factor, in fact they even got funding and resources when it came to education.  Some of my close friends are Muslims and I am, I think 1/5 Muslim in terms of family relations.  During my younger days, whenever I accompanied my mother to the wet market, there were almost always a distant Muslim family relation giving my mom something more an extra fish or two in the basket.

Happy Eid Mubarak!