I actually wrote this piece the other day at my room at the Legenda Hotel Subic. However, I wasn’t able to complete it as I was limited by a short and very expensive wifi access. So I am posting my experience just now.

We are here to attend a management seminar facilitated by our company. The seminar was great. There were a lot of lessons I took away with me to ponder on and apply in my work when I get back to Manila.

I could not say the same for the hotel. Given that I did not expect five star quality, there were still several areas where the hotel could do to improve on.

The Legenda’s front entrance is elegant. It is comparable to five star hotels that are located in the heart of Metro Manila. I actually found it impressive (of course that’s only me). The lobby provided the same ambience - elegant and luxurious. I was not looking for a Shangri-La or even a  Marriott or a Best Western so this sat fine with me.

I was given a deluxe room. It had a queen size bed, a TV and a tub. I felt I got one of the good rooms as my other colleagues were given just the standard accommodation (one with twin beds). The layout is actually akin to the rooms over at the Manila Peninsula.

That is where my fascination ends. There was no complimentary water, in fact the mini bar was EMPTY. We all know how outrageously priced the mini bar items are but I was hungry and thirsty from my bus ride and I guess I wanted at the least, to be given a choice.

The other thing is that it took a while before they were able to provide me with the TV remote. They mentioned it should have been in my room somewhere but nobody could find it.

The worst though is not the mini bar or the remote. It was that there were no towels in the bathroom! I called housekeeping and was reassured that towels will be provided. I went to dinner and back and still no towels. It was only after I returned from strolling around Subic that I saw them in the bathroom.

We had dinner at the Le Cafe. I could not say if the food served to us was generally what the restaurant had or if it was something they reserved for corporate functions. My thought was for a big client such as our company, they could have at least provided dishes that were tolerable.

Some observations on the dinner served that night: rice tasted and felt old (a.k.a bahaw), the veggies were overcooked to tastelessness and so was the rest of the main course, plus the fruits looked and tasted like the life was sucked out of them. It was so bad that several people went out to the nearby Jollibee.

Tonight’s dinner was at the Museum Chinese Restaurant. The condition of the food was consistent with what we have had in all other meals so it was not surprising. Although they did serve more variety. There was even sushi, maki and tuna sashimi. They must have used the “old rice” in the maki as it tasted so much like it. The tuna sashimi looked like it was pulled right out of the fish instead of precisely cut. The pieces looked like raw pork instead of tuna. Eeew. About the only thing I appreciated was the open bar. It gave me a chance to socialize with my longtime friend Baileys.

Despite the conditions we had to put up with, it wasn’t all bad. The staff, from the doorman to the bellboy to the servers in the restaurants were all very friendly, accommodating and courteous. It was hard to stay irritated with the bad food if all the faces you met were all welcoming and smiling. The closest term I could think of to describe the feeling is warm and homey. And being miles from home, it was something that I appreciated.

Oh! And can I just say that their bathrooms are immaculate! If there is one thing five star at that hotel, it would be the public restrooms. In most cases, that would be enough.

Overall, the hotel was ok. I will not be singing high praises but I could suggest this to a friend or two or even stay here again the next time I visit Subic.

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My husband upgraded all our blogs just the other day to Wordpress 2.3. Finally! I kept bugging him to finish it already otherwise he had to teach me how to do it - which would actually be worse for him.

After the upgrade, it is only now that I have tried to post something. I was saving my first paragraph when poof! I received a white page displaying a wordpress database error. I thought it was because of something I clicked or typed so I hit back and re-saved. I got the same error. Tsk tsk.

I immediately thought that the upgrade was the cause so I asked hubby. But he had not encountered it before. I did some research and discovered that one of my activated plugins was not compatible with Wordpress 2.3. I then deactivated the Google Sitemap plugin.

Sheesh! I really wish I had this wordpress thing down pat. Since I spend a lot of my waking hours on wordpress, I should try to learn right?

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Huwaaat!!??? Trillanes is on his way over here? I said aloud as I read the security advisory that our company has sent out.

Suddenly the floor was abuzz. Something was happening. It happened so fast. Spontaneous was not the term to descibe it. I am inclined to believe it was planned.

It was scary to be trapped in a building so near Manila Peninsula where all the commotion was ongoing. It was hard to tell which was scarier, to stay put and remain at risk in case the situation got worse, or to go out and try to leave the area at the same time exposing yourself to danger.

Before I could decide, security personnel informed us we were not allowed to leave the premises. There. They decided for me, it was safer for us to be inside than outside.

With no radio and no tv and a firewalled network, all of us inside were clueless to the chaos happening around us. But I was persistent, I leaned out a conference room window and managed to take pictures of Ayala Ave (yeah yeah - not as exciting as Makati Ave).

After all the excitement, it was really disappointing how Trillanes surrendered JUST - LIKE - THAT. He said it was because they wanted to avoid hurting innocent civilians.

We’re going out for the sake of the safety of everybody, for your sake because we cannot live with our conscience if some of you get hurt or get killed in the crossfire,” said Trillanes, addressing the media.

H-e-l-l-o-w!!! You should have thought of that in the first place.

The PNP was right to have implemented such “ruthlessness” against this group of soldiers. It forced Trillanes true color - which is that of a coward. He professes to be the voice of the people and yet act to endanger the same people who he claims to protect and at the height of it all - surrenders. Where is the conviction he claims to have to the cause he is fighting for? I am no fan of Gloria but Trillanes is no saint or hero. He has made a mockery of the people’s cause and hid behind the bodies of media people probably crossing his fingers that because of the media, the administration will give in to their demands.

So what is it really that Trillanes is fighting for? Is it only for Gloria to step down? In all the hullabaloo that is all the message he managed to say out loud. Or is it that he wants so badly to attend the Senate sessions? What did he expect? He is being tried for his oakwood mutiny for pete’s sake!

If there is one thing I heard someone say that I agree with is that the media should be applauded. Yes, they should be because regardless of the threat to their lives, they were there side by side doing their best to bring the events to people’s eyes and ears. Truth be told, it was Trillanes and his group who endangered the lives of these people and everyone else in and around the area.

So what now Antonio Trillanes? Do you go break down the Makati Shangrila next? Tsk tsk.

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I have been driving for almost 10 years now. In all those years, I have only been in a bumper to bumper accident only once. And that was the fault of the driver behind me who was tailgating.

It seems I am fortunate to only encounter different car issues once each.

I had a bumper to bumper only once.

I encountered radiator issues and car overheating once.

I encountered a dead car battery only once.

I got my car flooded all the way inside causing me to have to push the car to move it to the side of the road. Of course it helped that I had a friend with me and the flood waters actually helped us as the car sort of floated across the street. That happened only once.

In fact I have never had to fix a flat tire. Until tonight.

I left the office parking at around 7pm. The first few minutes when the car made its way to the parking booth, it was already obvious there was something wrong. Stupid me for not checking before I left the parking lot but I did not have lunch and was desperate to get home to grab dinner.

Even with the weird feeling I had, I drove on. I reached Buendia and decided to push my way to the Petron gas station in Makati Avenue. Good thing I did as my tire was flat. So flat.

I asked assistance from the station’s attendants who happliy changed my tire for me. Yeah, yeah I know what you’re thinking. I am such a girl for not knowing how to change my own tires. So what? Even if I do know how, I do not have the body for it. So I will not even attempt to pretend otherwise. The 2 attendants who helped me ended up sweating and panting like crazy after what they did.

So how do I change a flat tire? Go figure. :roll:

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“for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.”

“As you sow so shall you reap”

“What goes around comes around”

In our family, we never talked about Karma. I grew up never having to worry about it. But taking Karma out of its Hinduism origins, it really just tells you that if you do your best do good, then people will remember the goodness and in most cases, they also remember to do good for you too. It also works the other way around.

But does being a saint guarantee good Karma?

It did not matter that I did not practice Hinduism or if I believed in their philosophies or if I was afraid that what I did was going to hit me back, I was always somehow aware that I needed to follow what was right for myself and for everyone around me.

I practically cemented my fate with all the rules I followed, all the teachings I absorbed. I was wrong.

I look around me and I see a world full of evil people who purposely wreak havoc to the world and yet they breeze through life without so much as a scratch. While I… I… lets just say, the journey was not easy.

And in times like these, I comfort myself by thinking that soon, this too shall pass. But soon has already passed and yet, the wounds are still fresh. And as I try to bring myself up from recent blows, someone comes along and kicks me back down further into the abyss where I am already at. Sucks doesn’t it?

So yeah, I don’t believe in Karma.

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