Happy Coffins Before You Die » How to Leave this World In Style

Would you fancy to ‘leave this world' in style? Leave this transitory life for the eternal afterworld in a colorful and uber-cool coffin that looks like an art canvass or a gift box?

I have previous posts regarding different fashionable ways to kick in the bucket list – wherein we can choose a non-traditional ways of disposing our body or perhaps a customized tombstone. Accordingly, I was amazed by this news in a broadsheet yesterday about a Singaporean charity which announced the winners of an international art competition to design "happy coffins." The aim is to encourage the elderly and dying to celebrate life, with 3,000 US dollars for the first prize winner.

Actually, when I read about it, I immediately googled it and came across thelifebeforedeath.com. The website features quality of death index, a first ever global study on the quality of death across 20 countries. The site also has a dedicated page for the things you could do and say before you die, a bucket list, last playlist and a legacy galley. It also highlights the winning “happy coffin” designs.

Well, I think these coffins are cool, why not?

The Happy Coffins contest

In July 2010 an international art competition was facilitated by online portal for creativity, Eyeka. A total of 733 entries was received from 37 countries. Artists and designers from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia and Europe enthusiastically responded to the challenge to get creative with the most unusual of canvasses – the Coffin.

Participants had to design a coffin for a family member, close friend or someone who had been an inspiration. Or they could choose to design their own coffin. Each entry had to be accompanied by a written sharing of the thought process leading to the final design.

Professional designers were presented the challenge of creating 3 personalized coffins for residents of the St. Joseph’s Home & Hospice (Singapore) or for a family member, close friend or someone who had been an inspiration. Or they could choose to design their own. Six winning designs out of 733 entries from 37 countries were made into personalized coffins in cooperation with a local funeral home. The awesome entries and winners are compiled at the Underground Gallery.

The project was spearheaded by the local Lien Foundation, which favors non-traditional forms of philanthropy. Under the slogan "My Life, My Coffin" the foundation said it wanted to encourage people to think "out of the box" about taboos surrounding death.

The winning designs

First Prize
"Hello Coffin" by Ines Van Gucht, 27 from Belgium

According to Ines

“This coffin is designed for myself so I wanted it to be personal and real.

I have begun thinking about my life, the future, my death and my funeral. These things raise many questions, like – Who will I be? Will I be happy? Will I be happy with what I made of my life? Will there be regrets?

I cannot answer these questions now.  And once I lie in my coffin, I guess these questions won’t matter. The only certainty then is this coffin. That is why I designed my coffin to be my friend - the one who will take care of me after my death.”

Second Prize
"An Inspiring Force" by Ian Lim Wei Ming, 25 from Singapore

According to Ian:

"This coffin is dedicated to my late Art teacher, Ms Ivy Ho Hwee Ting. She passed away in 2002 from Hepatitis B. The image on the coffin is without facial expression because the essence of Ms. Ho’s smiles cannot be replicated in a painting. But her love of sunflowers is clear.

A devoted mentor, she carried on helping us even after she left teaching for further studies. Her love and enthusiasm inspired me to follow in her footsteps and take up design as a career. This coffin is specially created in appreciation of her"

My Pick among the Merit Prize

My Favorite Things in Life by Martin Matera

R.I.P. (Rest In Pride) from Indonesia

Genesis from Indonesia

The Boatman’s Call from  Singapore

Love is Our Life from China

How about you, what would be the design of your coffin? 

Bohol Tour » Blood Compact Site and Monument, A Bit of Philippine History on Our Leisure Trip

The lazy morning at Tagbilaran was over and we immediately go to our first stop, the Blood Compact site and monument, a particular site made in honor of a very important event in the Philippine history done between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol.

What to expect in the Blood Compact Site

There was nothing there except for some statues overlooking a wonderful view of the sea on the side of the highway. But like many landmarks and statues, there are bits of Philippine history there. I’m not a history buff but sometimes it is nice to know some facts about the places we’ve been – it makes the trip more meaningful.

The blood compact site is in front of a public school of Baranggay Bool in Tagbilaran City along the highway, where a montage of figures - a monument to the site where Datu Sikatuna, the native Chieftain inflicted a flesh wound on himself and let his blood flow into the same flesh wound on the arm of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who was representing the King of Spain.

Group camwhoring at the monument

All you can do there is have a quick picture taking – I mean quick - because there are other visitors lining up to take pictures. 

Can I have a drink too?

We are thinking of doing some crazy pictures with the statues but lots of other tourists are waiting their turn so we just took pictures of the nice overlooking view of the sea at the back of the blood compact site.

Vendors at the gate of the  Blood Compact Site

This is also the place where you can buy cheap keepsakes (tarsier keychains, wallets, pearls, etc.) and other anik-anik to bring home. Other locations offer same items but on a very high tourist price, so you better do your bargaining here.         

A nice touch of history on our leisure trip 

Here’s a bit of my research:

This historical event [blood compact], which happened on March 16, 1565, is considered as the first Treaty of Friendship between the two races. This blood compact, an ancient method of sealing brotherhood and friendship, was considered as the first international treaty concluded between a foreign leader and a Filipino chieftain in Philippine history.

In his report to Philip II, Legazpi described the ceremony of the blood compact in the following words:

"It is observed in the following manner: one from each party draws two or three drops of blood from his own arm or breast and mixes them in the same cup, with water or wine. Then the mixture must be divided equally between two cups, and neither person may depart until both cups are alike drained."

The Blood Compact (El Pacto de Sangre), famous painting by Juan Luna

In honor of this Blood Compact ceremony, the former President of the Philippines Elpidio Quirino established the Order of Sikatuna, a presidential decoration conferred upon politicians. Nowadays, the Order of Sikatuna is also a diplomatic merit conferred upon individuals who have rendered exceptional and meritorious services to the Republic of the Philippines. Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao was conferred this award last year. I suggest they develop this blood compact site and include a room where tourist can see Filipinos who are declared as Datu. 

Notes on the Raha Katuna discrepancy. After concluding a peace agreement with leaders of Samar and nearby islands, Legazpi proceeded to Bohol, an island near Cebu. There, he befriended the local chieftains – Katuna (Sikatuna, in Spanish Records) and Gala (Sigala in Spanish documents. The discrepancy lies in the fact that the Spanish chroniclers thought that the Filipino article “Si” was part of the names of these local chieftains.

The Sandugo Festival in honor of the Blood Compact

Re-enactment of the Blood Compact between Sikatuna and Legazpi

Sandugo Festival is Boholano’s very own festival which is a commemoration of this historical event that had transpired in Tagbilaran City, the very heart of Bohol. The festival showcase the re-enactment of the blood compact between Datu Sikatuna and the Spanish king conquistador Captain General Miguel de Legazpi. The festivity commences in the month of March each year. Boholanos that are overseas usually come home and gather together to take part in this event.

Wrong place for the Monument? 

View at back of the monument

But wait, the actual site was recently challenged by the nearby fifth-class municipality of Loay, which has the kind of deep-water harbor that could accommodate Legaspi's fleet. Coastal Tagbilaran back then was supposedly little more than a mangrove swamp. After an investigation by a panel of experts convened by the National Historical Institute, Loay (on the shores of Hinawanan Bay, Barangay Villalimpia) was declared the official site of the Legazpi-Sikatuna "Sandugo".

Yodz Note

A quick stop to this monument serves as a quick refresher of my elementary history class. Some find it boring but it’s a nice touch on our Bohol tour.   

On my next blog post, I’ll feature the amazing old churches of Bohol that we visited.
Till then folks!

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References [Retrieved 27 September 2010] by yodz
» Bohol Blood Compact Site
» The Sandugo (Blood Compact) Wikipedia Article
» Zaide, Gregorio F. 1949. “The LEGAZPI-KATUNA Blood Compact – 1565”  Philippine Political and Cultural History Vol. 1
» Blood Compact Marker at the Blood Compact Shrine, Bool District, Tagbilaran City
» SANDUGO FESTIVAL – treaty of friendship as manifested in a blood compact
» Best of Cebu and Bohol – Interesting places to go in Bohol – Blood Compact Site PDP Digital Inc., 2002 Cebu City.
» Duka, Cecilo D. 2008. “Legazpi and Raha Katuna – Blood Compact” Struggle for Freedom, A textbook in Philippine History. Manila:Rex Bookstore Inc. 
» Arroyo confers Order of Sikatuna to boxing champ Pacquiao – Inquirer.net
» Severino, Howie “Much Ado About An Old Blood Compact”
» Loay vows grander celebration of Blood Compact’s 444th year – Bohol News Daily
[edit: links removed due to link farming Google policy]
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Lazy Morning at the City of Friendship » Tagbilaran City, Island Paradise Province of Bohol

Most people, if asked will not remember what they ate for breakfast. Maybe because it was unremarkable and routine - but I remembered this one, a simple carinderia breakfast by the Tagbilaran City Wharf.

We are on a tight budget so we always hunt the cheapest restaurant or carinderia. We asked our friendly driver to bring  us  to a place where we can have a cheap breakfast. There are fastfoods, but of course, we want something different. For backpackers like us, the hunt always adds excitement and fun to our travel experience and it always never fail us.


This is the first breakfast we had during our trip to the island paradise province of Bohol.

Chorizo, the Tagbilaran-style longganisa

We had pandesal, scrambled eggs, batchoy and cute little chorizos.

The picturesque Tagbilaran City Wharf

Group Emo at the Tagbilaran City Wharf

Before taking our breakfast, the picturesque city wharf caught our attention and decided doing some quick early morning camwhoring.

Awesome view of the City Wharf - yes this is still the Philippines

The wharf - a nice place to spend lazy mornings

The beautiful setting of the Tagbilaran City Wharf serves as the major insular port of entry in the Province of Bohol which mainly connects Bohol Island to Cebu City. Travelers from Cebu City can reach Tagbilaran City Wharf through fast crafts within an hour and a half only.

The backpackers, just landed

We arrived at the Tagbilaran Airport at around 7 a.m. and decided to take a peek at the city while waiting for our travel buddies on a separate 10:00 am flight.

Abby, Chuck and Anjho at the Souvenir Shop

Peanut Kisses, the most famous pasalubong from Bohol

The City is also famous for sweet Kalamay

Tarsier keychains, handicrafts and a lot more for pasalubong

Since we didn't have anything to do that early in the morning, we decided to take a quick morning city tour and do some pasalubong shopping, buy some stuff we need for the day and of course, city camwhoring after breakfast.

Quick Facts about Tagbilaran City, The City of Friendship

Welcome to the City of Friendship!

"Welcome to the City of Friendship," this is what will greet you on the welcome arc at the airport upon arrival. I only met a few people in Bohol, our driver cum tour guide, and a bunch of other tour guides and locals on our different destinations. I must say, yes,they are generally friendly. 

Tagbilaran is considered by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia as one of the eight (8) Philippine Dream Cities, along with Samal, San Fernando, La Union, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Marikina, Naga, Calbayog City and Surigao City. It was also recognized as one of the (20) "Most Competitive Cities in the Philippines" and "Pinoy Cities on the Rise" in 2005 and 2007, and First in the Quality of Life Category for the same 2 years, awarded by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center. 

With its strategic geographic location, Tagbilaran City is the gateway of the booming tourism industry of Bohol province.Tagbilaran City is one of the most promising tourist destinations in the Philippines and is a jump off point to our main destinations like Panglao Island, Chocolate Hills, and the Loboc River.

Awesome place to have a lazy breakfast and start our Bohol tour! 

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Bohol Tour » Chocolate Hills and the Nine Choco Wizards

I’m back! I’ve been away from the blogosphere for a few days to enjoy our weekend stress-reduction trip to the famous Philippine destination – Bohol! We availed the Philippine Airline’s promo fare a few months ago and booked a package tour to Bohol in the Central Visayas.

One of our major destinations - the Chocolate Hills, an unusual geological formation found in Bohol, in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. These cone shaped hills are the most famous tourist attraction in Bohol and were featured in the Philippine Department of Tourism’s top list of Philippine tourist destinations. It has been declared as the country's 3rd National Geological Monument on June 18, 1988 in recognition of its scientific value and geomorphic uniqueness. Isn’t that cool?

The Chocolate Hills Viewing Deck

We immediately climbed the 214 steps – err no, we took the “for disabled” steep, flat and winding route going up the Chocolate Hills Observation Deck inside the complex where all visitors go to admire the excellent view. Although it was raining, the view was still awesome! 

Hmmm! It looks like women’s breasts 

The hills look like giant bahay ng nuno sa punso (mole hills), or for the green-minded like us, we say it look like virgin women's breasts. I observed that the Chocolate Hills are consistent in their cone shape. According to the official website of the Province of Bohol, the number of hills reaches at least 1,260 but may be as many as 1,776. The Chocolate Hills encompasses a 20 square mile (50 sq km) area creating a sea or rolling terrain of these amazing hills. The height of the hills varies from 98 to 160 feet (30 to 50 m) with the largest hill reaching a peak of 390 feet (120 m).

The unusual thing about these hills is that, it is a natural phenomena - some think it is man-made. Geologists believe that the hills were formed from marine limestone on top of a clay layer. 

The Green Chocolate 

Cloudy day at the Chocolate Hills - quick shot before the heavy rains

The Chocolate Hills are actually grass-covered limestone. Therefore, depending on the season, the Chocolate Hills changes its color, varying from green to chocolate brown. September is a rainy season, so what we saw are sea of green hills and not the choco-colored hills we are expecting.

Chocolate Hills Camwhoring

If you really want to see the choco-colred hills visit the Chocolate Hills during summer because the grass dries up, turning brown which is where the name Chocolate Hills was derived. The dried up brown hills will look like a sea of “chocolate kisses.” Great for souvenir photos.

The Two Gay Giants – The Chocolate Hills Myth (according to the choco wizards)

The official myth narrates that one day there came two contesting giants. The giants fight a mortal combat and throw mud balls at each other. The fight continued and of course, like all other Alamat (Filipino myth), you know what happened next.

Another legend says that the hills are enormous tears wept by a heartbroken giant.

But wait, here’s our version of the story:

Two gay giants, lazily eating hill-sized Hershey’s chocolate kisses saw a hunk-good-looking giant. They fight over the hunk and throw the hill-sized Hershey’s chocolate kisses at each other. Then that’s it! Over the years, the chocolate kisses became the Chocolate Hills! LOL!

Were the Chocolate Hills worth the trip?

The Nine Choco Wizards riding a broomstick
The Wizards - Yodz, Bar, Aldan, Chuck, Anjho, Sarena, Grace, Abby and Weng

When we arrived at the viewing complex, there were other tourists, mostly Koreans stepping out of buses and tourist vans. Wherever we went, there were other tourists roaming around. I tried not to think about them and just enjoy the awesome view.

Definitely yes! The Chocolate Hills are really worth the long trip. It’s different when you are there, admiring the nature’s natural wonders rather than just looking at it on postcards. However, it would be more amazing if the viewing deck is not that crowded.

Yodz Notes: More of our Bohol Tour

This is only one of the major destinations/activities on our Bohol tour. In separate posts, I’ll feature other minor Bohol destinations such as the tarsier viewing, Bayoyoy the dwarfman, old churches, man-made forest, hanging bridge, historical places (blood compact site), Hinagdanan cave, Bohol Bee farm and Python viewing.

Also part of our Bohol tour, that deserve a special blog post is the Loboc River Cruise Buffet Lunch and our awesome Panglao Tour (snorkeling, dolphin watching and island hopping.)

More of Bohol this week. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Have you been to Bohol already? Please share your travel experience  or any thoughts on the comments section.

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References (for mentioned facts and figures):[all Retrieved 22 September 2010] by yodz

» Seven Natural Wonders of Asia “Chocolate Hills”
» Wikipedia Article “Chocolate Hills”

» Chocolate Hills Natural Monument – UNESCO World Heritage Center

» Bohol - Philippine Department of Tourism Featured Destination
» Woods, Michael and Woods Mary B. 2009.  “The Chocolate Hills” Seven Natural Wonders of Asia and the Middle East. Minneapolis:  Twenty-First Century Books, p. 64
» Dominique Grele, Lily Yousry-Jouve 2004. “Bohol” 100 resorts in the Philippines:
places with a heart. Mandaluyong City: Asiatype, Inc.

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16 Funny Things To Ponder About Living in the 21st Century

 1.  The one thing that unites all human beings on the internet, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside we ALL hope that our friends/network will click that "Like" button on our Facebook status.. 

2. There is a very fine line between “Facebook,” "Twitter" and “mental illness.” 

3. The most powerful force in the internet and the whole universe, is gossip. 

4. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one Filipino policeman who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that policeman is crazy. 

5. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she’s gaining weight. 

6. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why your company has not achieved, and never will achieve, its goals, targets or implement plans for salary increase, that word would be “meetings.” 

7. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests and rallies is to annoy people who are not in them. 

8. If God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will NOT use, as His messenger, that guy on IBC 13, wearing red suit with fake smile who wants to be Philippine President. 

9. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. 

10. You should not confuse your LIFE with career and money. 

11. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the fastfood waiters and salesladies, is not a nice person. 

12. Your friends love you, don't doubt that. 

13. Friends come and go, that's normal. If your enemies is accumulating - that's abnormal

14. Nobody cares if you can’t sing well in a videoke bar. Just get up and sing.. 

15. The battle of the sexes ended a few decades ago, too many already betrayed their own and joined the other side. 

16. A man usually feels better after a few winks, especially if she winks back.

Comments, Thoughts? Any additional points to ponder you might want to add?

Blogroll Makeover » What do you do to improve the quality of your blogroll?

When was the last time you do a blogroll makeover? Ok, when was the last time you checked your blogroll for dead links and abandoned blogs?

As bloggers, we know that a blogroll is supposed to be a collection of links to other blogs that we recommend to our readers. Therefore, the usual expectation is that, if you have a niche blog, your blogroll will link to bloggers that cover topics related to your blog, not just any random blog you happen to find cute. However, in my case I don’t consider this blog as a niche blog yet, yodisphere.com is a whatever-is-interesting Pinoy lifestyle blog, so you will find the links in my blogroll are kindda random. Those are the blogs I often visit - bloggers I met, groups I support and blogs that keep me entertained and updated.


Blogroll linking errors and etiquette

When I am on a blog-hopping mode, I find too many blogrolls became link exchanges to the point of being obnoxious. Zombie blogs usually have an annoying note on their sidebar headline saying “Link to me and I will link to you.” Of course, it is an unwritten rule in the blogosphere that if a blogger puts a link to your blog in his or her blogroll, you should reciprocate and add that blog's link in your own blogroll. Since it is unwritten, I often violate it. And I do link blogs even if they didn’t link mine: no hurt feelings. 

Bloggers who are using these link-listing strategy usually has five-page long scroll-down blogrolls – making the page cluttered and messy. I find such lists intimidating rather than inviting, and I usually ignore it – not click on the list.

I committed that link-exchange error during my early blogging years – until I happen to find my link listed beside a gay porno blog. WTF! SEO gurus say it is good for SEO. Yes, blogrolls equate to publicity and exposure across the blogosphere, but I don’t want my blog to become a copy-paste-SEO-zombie listed beside porno sites.

We approach this with our own blogging goals in mind. Sometimes I may not like a blog that links to me through its blogroll and there are many reasons why I may decide not to reciprocate a blogroll link. But as a good blogging etiquette, at least I review each blog that links to me to determine if I’d like to add that blog on my own blogroll or not.

My blogroll makeover

I lost my blogroll links during my blog transition and currently I’m looking for those blog links again. I consider my blogroll not only as reader recommendation but also as my personal weekly-sites-to-visit.

Here’s the makeover I did on my blogroll:

• Remove the long list on my sidebar (it’s like crazy long laundry list already) and transfer it on a dedicated page

• Retain a short list on sidebar (Yodisphere’s Radar) which serves as my “recommendations”

• Now, my blogroll page (via blogger pages) serves as my personal blog link list and blogs-to-visit, which could also serve as link reference for blog-hoppers.

To monitor who’s updating their blog on my blogroll and monitor abandoned blogs, I’ve added a few RSS code tweaks to show their latest post-with date and time under the blog title (you can automatically do that on sidebars via Blogger's Blog List gadget, but not on separate blogger page.) I’m thinking of doing a separate post for that trick.

Alright, that’s all for now folks! Should this blog got a space in your blogroll, let me know. 

Any blogrolling experience you might want to share? Thoughts… comments?
Do you really click on blogrolls?

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External Related Links

» What is a Blogroll and How Bloggers Use Blogrolls to Boost Traffic to Their Blogs

» It’s Blogroll Cleaning Time

» The Importance of a Blogroll

» What Type of Blog Hopper are You?

Book Notes: Sepharad by Antonio Munoz Molina

Image Source: Concentration Camp by Aspius

"Generalizations are harmful, I should know, but the real problem is our species, We’re aggressive primates much more dangerous than gorillas or chimpanzees; we carry cruelty and the will to dominate in our brains, and we get the oldest part of the brain from our reptile ancestors. I know the story that’s going around, that in the evolution of the species the instinct for cooperation has served us better than the law of the survival of the fittest. Except that some primates cooperate to wipe others out."

-from Sepharad - p. 316

Antonio Munoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden
Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishing Co. Florida

I do not know what attracted me to Nazi literature eversince I read Viktor Frankl's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning which chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and described his everyday struggles of finding reasons to live despite the horrors of the death camp. That book teaches us how to find meaning in the midst of extreme suffering. Frankl also concludes that there are only two races of men, decent men and indecent. Therefore, no country is free of either of them, and thus there were "decent" Filipino policemen and "indecent" HongKong employers. So, let us not hate each other. (I was thinking of writing a commentary about that Manila hostage crisis but I’m sure at this time, nothing was left unsaid – so let us move on.)

I already watched many movies relating to Hitler, the war and the concentration camps and the Jews, such as The Boy in  Striped Pajamas, Valkyrie, Stalingrad and a lot more. Therefore, when I came across this book in BookSale SM Megamall (yes, I usually buy second hand books), I immediately bought it.

  
However, it took me a month to finish reading this book, because this is not an ordinary novel, and not an easy read. It is like cross-stitching which requires hardwork to form an amazing piece. In this novel, Antonio Munoz Molina tells 17 different stories about the Holocaust, Stalin’s purges, the Death Camps and the local Sephardic diaspora. He writes about the way memories overlap and interconnect, thread by thread. A sense of salvaging memory. Lives that deserves to be told – fade from memory as if they never existed. The novel is like a dark eulogy to the “disappeared.” Molina artfully incorporates the narratives of those who suffered through the Nazi or Soviet terrors or both – part fiction part history.

This novel also reflects some old truths that are present even in our modern world. We meet people everyday, our officemates, friends and thousands of strangers in the street. If we commit something wrong or just being wrongly accused, will they hide us when the authorities come or will they betray us? This novel tells us that we can never be sure of them, or of ourselves. 

Quotable Quote From the Book: (Quote about Travel)

"I don’t believe it’s true what they say, that as you travel you become a different person. What happens is that you grow lighter, you shed your obligations and your obligations and your past, just as you reduce everything you possess to the few items you need for your luggage. The most burdensome aspect of our identity is based on what others know or think about us. They look at us and they know what they know, and in silence they force us to be what they expect us to be, to act according to a certain habits our previous behavior has established, or according to suspicions that we weren’t aware we have awakened."  --p. 22, Sepharad: character musings--

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Book Review/Resources for Sepharad, Antonio Muñoz Molina 

[compiled by: Yodz de Veas Insigne]

• I'm A Stranger Here Myself :  New York Times review by Michael Pye
• Weary from tyranny's repeated blows Anonymity the only refuge: San Francisco Chronicle review by Theodore Roszak
• Exile and loss resonate in 'Sepharad':  Deseret Morning News review by Kason Swensen
• What is Sepharad:  Wikipedia Article
• Antonio Muñoz Molina: Official Homepage
• Comprehensive Articles: Antonio Muñoz Molina

September 10 » Officially Declared as Non Working Holiday in the Philippines

Wow, another long weekend again. I will have enough time writing articles again. 

Here's the official news:

Malacañang has declared September 10 a non-working holiday to give way for the celebration for the end of the Muslims' holy month of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn until sunset.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has signed Proclamation 26, declaring September 10 as a non-working holiday as Muslims celebrate the "Eid ul-Fitr," or the festivities for the end of Ramadan.



"Eid" is an Arabic word meaning "festivity" while "Fitr" means "to purify." The holiday is thus a symbol of purification after completing the fasting month. Muslims are commanded by the Qur'an to complete their fast on the last day of Ramadan and then recite the Takbir all throughout the period of Eid

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The Ramadan began on August 11 this year and will end on September 10. — LBG/VVP, GMAnews.TV

Source: Yahoo Philippines  |  GMA News | Proclamation No. 26 DECLARING FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 AS A REGULAR HOLIDAY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY IN OBSERVANCE OF EID’L FITR (FEAST OF RAMADHAN)
dited by Yodz Insigne

How to Control Your Gmail Inbox » Get through your email faster with Gmail Priority Inbox

Do you have an effective way to process and read your priority email so that you can deal with the important matters of the day? As blogger, I always receive lots of email in my Gmail Inbox, and I always want to read first those important emails rather than checking out those chain mails from friends.

Sometimes, I've opened an email and thought, "Hmmmmm, not sure what to do with this. Damn!  I will deal with it later!"—and promptly closed the message or drag it to some folder. I thought if I do this over and over again, it doesn't take long to end up with hundreds—or even thousand messages in my Inbox.


It is a good thing Gmail developed a new approach to process our Gmail Inbox to help us gain more control, improve our response time, productivity and keep up with important matters and due dates.

I received this note from Gmail, which covers key factors of the Priority Inbox that can help us process our Gmail more efficiently:

Priority Inbox^Beta

Priority Inbox atomatically separate our most important messages, making it easy for us to read and respond to the messages that matter.

 

Getting through your email faster

Try reading and replying to the messages in the "Important and Unread" section first. Mark anything that requires follow-up with a star, then go through the "Everything Else" section. If you leave Priority Inbox, you can return to it by clicking the link next to Inbox on the side navigation of Gmail.   How it works Gmail's servers look at several types of information to identify the email that's important to you, including who you email and chat with most, how often you email with these people, and which keywords appear frequently in the emails you read.

 

Train Priority Inbox

If Priority Inbox makes a mistake, you can use the buttons to correctly mark a conversation as important or not important, and Priority Inbox will quickly learn what you care about most.

• Customize Priority Inbox: You can change what type of email you see in each section (like switching the "Important and Unread" section to just "Important"). Just click on the section headers or visit the Priority Inbox tab under Settings and choose to "customize inbox groups."
• Use filters to guarantee importance: If you want to be absolutely sure that some messages are always marked as important (like email from your boss), you can set up a filter and choose "Always mark it as important."
• Search by importance: If you want to see all the messages that have been marked as important, both read and unread, do a Gmail search for "is:important."
• Switching back to your old inbox: If Priority Inbox isn't for you, you can easily switch back to your normal inbox by clicking "Inbox" on the left or hide Priority Inbox altogether from Gmail Settings.

To learn more about managing your email with Priority Inbox, check out the Gmail Help Center.

Have a cool Friday!

The Shortest Movie Review » The Twilight Saga

Image Source: Worth.com

"The Lord of the Rings is about friendship and supporting others during life’s trials, Harry Potter is about inner strength, facing adversity and confronting fears, The Twilight Saga is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."

--yodz insigne--

Grab A Bowl of Mami for FREE! Sagot ka ni Henlin Promo

Image Source: Surreal Art

I receive this via PhilStar.com newsletter. Just want to share this to you guys. Try it! Joining is really easy -  you might win a Free bowl of Mami or cash (For Philippine residents only.) I didn't won a bowl of mami today, I'll try again tomorrow. Let me know if you won. Good-luck! 

LIBRE NA, PANALO PA! 
"Sagot ka ni Henlin"






Grab A Bowl of Mami for FREE!
Plus, get e-raffle coupons for a chance to win P25,000!
Promo Period is from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, 2010

PROMO MECHANICS

GAMES :

Ad Source: Hen Lin website

1) The promo is open to all interested participants in the Philippines only from September 1 to October 31, 2010.

2) To join, go to www.philstar.com website

3) Click-on to Hen Lin skyscraper promo ad that will be running on the homepage of the site.

4) A pop-up page will appear on screen which will reflect the following : a. Read mechanics page and click on I ACCEPT and AGREE check box. Click NEXT button to move to next page. b. Fill up log-in details : first name, surname, age, home address, email, mobile number. Click NEXT button to move to next page. c. Answer poll questions. Once completed, click NEXT button to move to next page. d. Once done answering poll questions, an automated notification will be displayed saying either of the two : - “You’ve just won a bowl of Mami and this entitles you to a raffle entry with a chance to win Php 25,000”. - “Thank you for joining! This entitles you with a raffle entry and get a chance to win Php25,000.

5) Winning participant of a bowl of mami will be notified (within 1-3 days) through mobile text. NOTE : Mobile number is unique and exclusive to philstar.com. Hence, notification message cannot be duplicated or passed on to another mobile.

6) Participant will be allowed to join once daily.

7) The text message contains notification of winner with the unique code for the day which will serve as control measure for redemption.

8) Claiming of bowl of Mami can be redeemed for a maximum 60 days from end of promo period.

9) On claiming of prize, winner should present the mobile notification with unique code for the day and 1 valid I.D.

RAFFLE :

1) Daily participants and winners will be eligible to one entry for a chance to win in the Php25,000 grand raffle draw.

2) Manual raffle draw for the Php25,000 cash prize will be on November 8, 2010 at the M&H office under supervision of a DTI representative. The winner will be notified via mobile phone, email and snail mail.

3) Claiming of prizes for the PHP 25,000 can be claimed for maximum 60 days after receipt of notification.

4) The Raffle draw of the PHP 25,000 will be held M&H office (M&H Food Corp. Dona Irenea Ave. Ireneville Subdivision, Sucat Paranaque)

5) Participant should present 1 valid I.D., email, mobile or snail mail notification shall serve as claim stub.

6) Any incurring tax that will arise from winning the prize should be shouldered by the winner.

7) Philstar.com, The Philippine Star, Stratpoint and Hen Lin/M&H employees and their relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity are disqualified from joining the contest. Per DTI NCR Permit No. 5898 Series of 2010

For more info about the contest, click here or log on to www.philstar.com Henlin Mechanics.
Also visit Hen Lin website

This e-newsletter is brought to you by Philstar Global Corp., the online presence of the STAR Group of Publications (Manila, Philippines). Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.