An excuse to do something stupid
Monday, July 21, 2008
For Immediate Hiring: Math Teacher - PSHS Diliman Campus
FOR IMMEDIATE HIRING
Philippine Science High School
is looking for a MATH TEACHER for SY 2008-2009
Please look for Mrs. Herminigilda Salac
Contact Number 9240661 (CISD Office)
Submit resume, letter of application, and transcript of records.
Philippine Science High School
is looking for a MATH TEACHER for SY 2008-2009
Please look for Mrs. Herminigilda Salac
Contact Number 9240661 (CISD Office)
Submit resume, letter of application, and transcript of records.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Digital Electronics Camp
While technically I'm still jobless this summer, I was able to get a couple of lecturing gigs this summer. This recently concluded one was for the joint SEI-PSHS project "Digital Electronics Design Summer Camp 2008". I took over the opening lectures for the second batch of schools attending the weeklong camp covering basic electric and electronic theory, combinational logic, and adders. They will be continuing on under the supervision of facilitators from the IRC laboratory of the EEE department of UP Diliman.
I was called in to take over the second week as the original lecturer (Jason) was unavailable on certain dates during the camp. I did have a good time as the participants were receptive and seemed to have enjoyed the challenges of the lab activities. Some participants (both teachers and students) were nice enough to tell me that they appreciated the topics, so it did have its (non-monetary) rewards.
I was hoping to attend the IRC-facilitated second phase of the activities, as I have had minimal experience with microcontrollers in college, but important banal things like having the car fixed and registered, and cleaning up the house took higher priorities for the next few days.
Here's the press release from the SEI website:
I was called in to take over the second week as the original lecturer (Jason) was unavailable on certain dates during the camp. I did have a good time as the participants were receptive and seemed to have enjoyed the challenges of the lab activities. Some participants (both teachers and students) were nice enough to tell me that they appreciated the topics, so it did have its (non-monetary) rewards.
I was hoping to attend the IRC-facilitated second phase of the activities, as I have had minimal experience with microcontrollers in college, but important banal things like having the car fixed and registered, and cleaning up the house took higher priorities for the next few days.
Here's the press release from the SEI website:
Continuing education despite the summer vacation, a total of 90 high school teachers and students from all over the Philippines will undergo a two-week training on electronics at the Philippine Science High School (PSHS)– Diliman Campus.
Dubbed “Digital Electronics Design Summer Camp” or “DED Camp 2008,” which started last April 24, the training aims to introduce students to real-life electronics applications leading to competencies in many fields including product design, programming and embedded systems.
DED Camp 2008 is a joint project of the PSHS System, the Science Education Institute (SEI) and the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), both from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Dr. Ester B. Ogena, Director of DOST-SEI, said the training would also empower teachers in assisting students’ research projects and update school curricula.
“We also foresee that this training will be a great chance for our teachers and students to interact and share ideas for the projects,” she said.
The training would involve one teacher and two students who could either be incoming juniors or seniors for school year 2008-2009 per school.
Ogena said participants will be exposed to digital electronics and microcontrollers in a blended learning environment that focuses on project/problem-based situations.
She said the curriculum combines video lessons and demonstrations, on-line curricula, quizzes and exams, and real time environment in an e-learning environment.
Ogena noted that the DED Camp 2008 would also provide guided experiments for teachers to enable them to teach difficult concepts such as electronics to third and fourth year high school students.
“Since some of the concepts are very challenging, and usually taught at the University level, the introduction of these concepts in the curriculum needs innovative teaching-learning activities both for the teachers and for students,” she said.
Ogena pointed out that with the advances in the fields of information, communication and technology and their pervasive application in our daily lives, digital electronics is an area where continuous enhancement and enrichment should be done.
She said that the use of digital electronics has become diverse and its practical applications, like robotics and embedded systems, are growing areas of interest among students.
“An integration of digital electronics into the high school curriculum will provide a stimulating environment for the science-inclined students as well as to keep pace with the current developments in science and technology,” she stressed.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
April 26 to 28, 2008
What was supposedly an 8-person trip suddenly trimmed to just a 3-person jaunt to the extreme north of the Luzon mainland. Dawn, Pau, and I pushed on with the trip to the town of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. It was a great trip, especially with Pau around. Despite my heritage, I still can't speak the dialect, and fortunately Pau was there communicate with the locals in their native dialect, hopefully making for a few more charisma points from our group to the locals.
Getting There
Florida and RCJ Bus Transit has buses going to Pagudpud daily. We took the lone Florida bus to Pagudpud, which leaves Manila at 9:30 pm. The Florida and RCJ bus stations are located along Espana avenue in Sampaloc, Manila, just across the street from the Lacson (Gov Forbes) side of UST. The bus tickets have to be bought a day before, and are not sold earlier. Florida contact number is (02) 7314473.
Pagudpud Town
We arrived at Pagudpud at around 8:30 am. From the bus stop we took a tricycle to Polaris resort where we had reservations. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to check-in until 1pm, so we left our packs behind the counter and headed back to the town to look for someplace to eat and basically kill time. The only place recommended by the locals was Papa Nards' canteen, where we had a breakfast of papaitan, dinakdakan, and squid. The food was nothing special, and the waiting time was long.
We strolled over to the town hall next door, where we met a certain Mr. Morata who was friendly and helpful, although he was apologetic that their town had run out of flyers containing information on places to visit. We got a referral for a tricycle driver to tour us around the town, although he said that all the drivers there are DOT accredited to take tourists on tours.
From the town hall we crossed the street to watch schoolchildren practice their dances for the barangay festivities later that day. We arrived at the tail-end of their fiesta season, and the children had a competition preceding the coronation of the local Ms. Pagudpud. Pausing to buy a container of drinking water, we headed back to Polaris to check out the beach and have lunch, while waiting for our check-in time.
Polaris Resort
The waiting time for our lunch was an interminable 60 minutes, where we tried to ignore our hunger by playing cards and waiting for the food or the room to become available, whichever comes first. The food was good though, and we headed to our room to unload our stuff.
The room was simple, as promised by the person I contacted through text. The floor was bare concrete, and there were no cabinets, only a table and a small bench in addition to the two beds. The bathroom was pretty ok though. We napped for a couple of hours before heading to the beach for some soaking up before the sunset.
We got the room at a slightly more elevated rate because of the season. Rates probably peak during Holy Week where they get their most number of visitors.
Contact for Polaris: +639193078803
Saud Beach
This is a long stretch of white beach, and the Bangui windmills were easily visible to the southwest. I'd say the beach there is comparable to PG, although Boracay and Panglao still had the better beaches, Panglao especially. Polaris is right beside the public municipal beach, although surprisingly it is our side of the beach that is more quiet. Walking southwards along the stretch of the beach, we arrived at a more peopled and a more active part of Saud beach. The atmosphere here is almost comparable to PG, with small bars and active nightlife. As it started to get dark we headed back to our resort to wash up and prepare for dinner.
Manang Thelma Dalumay's Eatery
Before heading off to the beach that afternoon, we stopped by this nearby eatery which advertised lobsters for sale. We ordered a kilo (8 small lobsters), and had them prepare four of the lobsters for dinner as sinigang, and the other four steamed for lunch the next day. We also added an order of sweet and sour parrot fish, half of which we had for dinner, and the other half saved up for lunch the next day. As the meal was very good, we contracted had her prepare breakfast for us for the next two days.
Unfortunately they did not have a grill, and so were unable to prepare grilled fish or squid. Looking at other Pagudpud notes on the internet, one recommendation was buying fresh fish and having it grilled someplace. We were not able to enjoy having our fish grilled, but the food was still delicious so it was ok.
Tricycle Tour
We contacted a tricycle driver recommended by Mr. Morata at the townhall, and arranged to be toured around town. He was very punctual, and arrived even before we finished our breakfast. We started off on the tour around 7:30am, and hit the following places in the given order:
1. The Bangui Windmills - being here was the best experience of the whole trip. The white giants standing there by the beach were awe-inspiring, and the rotation of the blades, serene and relaxing at a distance, was loud and creaky and scary up close. The winds were really strong and the waves were breaking, and it didn't look like that part of the beach was good for swimming. The creaking sounds generated by the windmill unnerved me so that I had to force myself to stand beside one, and even then I couldn't look up. Then I scampered away after taking a picture. I'm such a wuss.
2. Kabigan Falls - eight kilometers back north and we arrived back at Pagupud town before heading towards the trailhead for the waterfalls. From there we had to take a guide (required) and pay entrance fees before taking the 30-minute trek towards the falls. The trek was easy, no uphill stretches, but will make a few crossings on the stream. The waterfall itself was pretty, but not very impressive. We took a dip at the waterfall basin before heading back. Lucky for us we were there early, as going back we encountered a group of around twenty on their way to the falls.
3. Agua Grande Resort - just past the Patapat viaduct on the highway to Cagayan. Nothing exciting or new here, just some okay photo opportunities near a beach of huge rocks. No entrance fees since we only went there for pics and not to swim at the pools, but we were asked to give a donation.
4. Patapat viaduct - We passed here on the way to Agua Grande, but we stopped here on our way back to take pictures. This is just part of the highway to Cagayan, but with one side next to a cliff wall and the other side looking down at the sea, it was a pretty cool place for pictures. Here we encountered some bikers who seemed to be on their way around Luzon and were headed to Kalinga and Cagayan.
5. Blue Lagoon beach - Entrance fees here again, and they were charging for the rental of the tables there. We had to rent one for lunch, and we ate our lobsters and parrot fish first before heading down to the beach. The waves here are very strong, and there were people surfing on one end of the beach. I don't know how to surf, so after resting a bit after lunch, we went down to the beach and waited for the waves to hit us. The waves there were as strong as the waves in PG when we were there after the typhoon. After ripping the pocket off my shorts on the strong waves, we headed back to wash before leaving the place. On the way out we stopped by a cove accessible from the road, and this was also a good place for pictures. Unfortunately my camera batteries gave out during this time, so I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures of the place.
After that we headed back to the resort, and arrived there at around 3pm. We arranged for dinner again with Manang Thelma, then headed back to the resort to rest before going back to Saud beach.
The Ilocos Towns
Laoag: We left Pagudpud early the next day and took a minibus to Laoag. It was still morning and the air was cool, so the ride was ok even without airconditioning. It was two hours to Laoag, and we visited the provincial capitol, the Museo Ilocos Norte, the Laoag cathedral and the nearby ancient bell tower, before looking for a place to eat for lunch. After having lunch at the Chicken Ati-atihan place, we headed off to Batac on a very hot minibus.
Batac: The home of great leaders, as declared in the Plaza. We disembarked right at the front of the Marcos ancestal home, where Marcos' corpse lies enclosed in a glass tomb inside an airconditioned room accompanied with freaky chanting music. He did look as if he was made of wax, but he's been dead for almost 20 years. It could be an inch of make-up directly on bone. It was freaky. No cameras were allowed there, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the dictator.
The house also contained several memorabilia of the former president's personal effects. Looking at the newspaper clippings, the edited speeches, the list of accomplishments, and impressive personal history, I realized that if I lived during that time as he was rising to power, I would probably be awestruck too, and wouldn't hesitate to vote for him as president. He was really good and one can't help but be impressed. (In all probability, I'm probably related to him. I mean, I'm related to Fabian Ver and Chavit Singson, and these guys were Marcos' cousins.)
Paoay: From there we crossed the street to check out Batac's church. From Batac church we took a tricycle ride to the nearby Paoay church. Paoay church is a UNESCO world heritage site, although you wouldn't know it from the way the church bells were vandalized, probably by the local youths.
From the outside, the church is quite impressive. It had a regal and ancient look to it, and huge buttresses jutted out to the sides, supposedly designed to keep the building impervious to earthquakes. True enough, it's still standing a hundred years after the end of the Spanish period. The rocks that made up the structure were interesting, as upon close inspection, they appeared to be rocks taken from the sea, as evidenced by coral markings on the surface.
Vigan
Our last stop, we arrived in Vigan at around 5:30pm. With no more time for a full tour of the city, we headed right over to Calle Crisologo so Pau can take pictures of the cobblestone street. After shopping for shirts and cornik, we sampled the Ilocos empanada being sold by the plaza. Supposedly a must-try while in Vigan, it's really just like eating a lumpiang toge from a UP vendor, and soaking the lumpia in vinegar. That's not enough for me, so we went to the nearby Chowking to complete my dinner.
From there, it was a tricycle ride to the Partas bus station. I was planning to sleep right away on the bus to Manila, but I sat up and watched the stupid movie "the hills have eyes".
We arrived in QC at around 4:00 am the next morning.
Notes
Pagudpud is a pretty place, and it was great that we visited it this summer. However, the stuff there (resort rooms, food) was a bit pricey, although not to the point that they are prohibitive. It was great also that we had Pau with us, as she knew how to speak Ilocano, and we were all flexible as regards to the schedule, so we weren't in any rush to get home.
April 26 to 28, 2008
What was supposedly an 8-person trip suddenly trimmed to just a 3-person jaunt to the extreme north of the Luzon mainland. Dawn, Pau, and I pushed on with the trip to the town of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte. It was a great trip, especially with Pau around. Despite my heritage, I still can't speak the dialect, and fortunately Pau was there communicate with the locals in their native dialect, hopefully making for a few more charisma points from our group to the locals.
Getting There
Florida and RCJ Bus Transit has buses going to Pagudpud daily. We took the lone Florida bus to Pagudpud, which leaves Manila at 9:30 pm. The Florida and RCJ bus stations are located along Espana avenue in Sampaloc, Manila, just across the street from the Lacson (Gov Forbes) side of UST. The bus tickets have to be bought a day before, and are not sold earlier. Florida contact number is (02) 7314473.
Pagudpud Town
We arrived at Pagudpud at around 8:30 am. From the bus stop we took a tricycle to Polaris resort where we had reservations. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to check-in until 1pm, so we left our packs behind the counter and headed back to the town to look for someplace to eat and basically kill time. The only place recommended by the locals was Papa Nards' canteen, where we had a breakfast of papaitan, dinakdakan, and squid. The food was nothing special, and the waiting time was long.
We strolled over to the town hall next door, where we met a certain Mr. Morata who was friendly and helpful, although he was apologetic that their town had run out of flyers containing information on places to visit. We got a referral for a tricycle driver to tour us around the town, although he said that all the drivers there are DOT accredited to take tourists on tours.
From the town hall we crossed the street to watch schoolchildren practice their dances for the barangay festivities later that day. We arrived at the tail-end of their fiesta season, and the children had a competition preceding the coronation of the local Ms. Pagudpud. Pausing to buy a container of drinking water, we headed back to Polaris to check out the beach and have lunch, while waiting for our check-in time.
Polaris Resort
The waiting time for our lunch was an interminable 60 minutes, where we tried to ignore our hunger by playing cards and waiting for the food or the room to become available, whichever comes first. The food was good though, and we headed to our room to unload our stuff.
The room was simple, as promised by the person I contacted through text. The floor was bare concrete, and there were no cabinets, only a table and a small bench in addition to the two beds. The bathroom was pretty ok though. We napped for a couple of hours before heading to the beach for some soaking up before the sunset.
We got the room at a slightly more elevated rate because of the season. Rates probably peak during Holy Week where they get their most number of visitors.
Contact for Polaris: +639193078803
Saud Beach
This is a long stretch of white beach, and the Bangui windmills were easily visible to the southwest. I'd say the beach there is comparable to PG, although Boracay and Panglao still had the better beaches, Panglao especially. Polaris is right beside the public municipal beach, although surprisingly it is our side of the beach that is more quiet. Walking southwards along the stretch of the beach, we arrived at a more peopled and a more active part of Saud beach. The atmosphere here is almost comparable to PG, with small bars and active nightlife. As it started to get dark we headed back to our resort to wash up and prepare for dinner.
Manang Thelma Dalumay's Eatery
Before heading off to the beach that afternoon, we stopped by this nearby eatery which advertised lobsters for sale. We ordered a kilo (8 small lobsters), and had them prepare four of the lobsters for dinner as sinigang, and the other four steamed for lunch the next day. We also added an order of sweet and sour parrot fish, half of which we had for dinner, and the other half saved up for lunch the next day. As the meal was very good, we contracted had her prepare breakfast for us for the next two days.
Unfortunately they did not have a grill, and so were unable to prepare grilled fish or squid. Looking at other Pagudpud notes on the internet, one recommendation was buying fresh fish and having it grilled someplace. We were not able to enjoy having our fish grilled, but the food was still delicious so it was ok.
Tricycle Tour
We contacted a tricycle driver recommended by Mr. Morata at the townhall, and arranged to be toured around town. He was very punctual, and arrived even before we finished our breakfast. We started off on the tour around 7:30am, and hit the following places in the given order:
1. The Bangui Windmills - being here was the best experience of the whole trip. The white giants standing there by the beach were awe-inspiring, and the rotation of the blades, serene and relaxing at a distance, was loud and creaky and scary up close. The winds were really strong and the waves were breaking, and it didn't look like that part of the beach was good for swimming. The creaking sounds generated by the windmill unnerved me so that I had to force myself to stand beside one, and even then I couldn't look up. Then I scampered away after taking a picture. I'm such a wuss.
2. Kabigan Falls - eight kilometers back north and we arrived back at Pagupud town before heading towards the trailhead for the waterfalls. From there we had to take a guide (required) and pay entrance fees before taking the 30-minute trek towards the falls. The trek was easy, no uphill stretches, but will make a few crossings on the stream. The waterfall itself was pretty, but not very impressive. We took a dip at the waterfall basin before heading back. Lucky for us we were there early, as going back we encountered a group of around twenty on their way to the falls.
3. Agua Grande Resort - just past the Patapat viaduct on the highway to Cagayan. Nothing exciting or new here, just some okay photo opportunities near a beach of huge rocks. No entrance fees since we only went there for pics and not to swim at the pools, but we were asked to give a donation.
4. Patapat viaduct - We passed here on the way to Agua Grande, but we stopped here on our way back to take pictures. This is just part of the highway to Cagayan, but with one side next to a cliff wall and the other side looking down at the sea, it was a pretty cool place for pictures. Here we encountered some bikers who seemed to be on their way around Luzon and were headed to Kalinga and Cagayan.
5. Blue Lagoon beach - Entrance fees here again, and they were charging for the rental of the tables there. We had to rent one for lunch, and we ate our lobsters and parrot fish first before heading down to the beach. The waves here are very strong, and there were people surfing on one end of the beach. I don't know how to surf, so after resting a bit after lunch, we went down to the beach and waited for the waves to hit us. The waves there were as strong as the waves in PG when we were there after the typhoon. After ripping the pocket off my shorts on the strong waves, we headed back to wash before leaving the place. On the way out we stopped by a cove accessible from the road, and this was also a good place for pictures. Unfortunately my camera batteries gave out during this time, so I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures of the place.
After that we headed back to the resort, and arrived there at around 3pm. We arranged for dinner again with Manang Thelma, then headed back to the resort to rest before going back to Saud beach.
The Ilocos Towns
Laoag: We left Pagudpud early the next day and took a minibus to Laoag. It was still morning and the air was cool, so the ride was ok even without airconditioning. It was two hours to Laoag, and we visited the provincial capitol, the Museo Ilocos Norte, the Laoag cathedral and the nearby ancient bell tower, before looking for a place to eat for lunch. After having lunch at the Chicken Ati-atihan place, we headed off to Batac on a very hot minibus.
Batac: The home of great leaders, as declared in the Plaza. We disembarked right at the front of the Marcos ancestal home, where Marcos' corpse lies enclosed in a glass tomb inside an airconditioned room accompanied with freaky chanting music. He did look as if he was made of wax, but he's been dead for almost 20 years. It could be an inch of make-up directly on bone. It was freaky. No cameras were allowed there, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the dictator.
The house also contained several memorabilia of the former president's personal effects. Looking at the newspaper clippings, the edited speeches, the list of accomplishments, and impressive personal history, I realized that if I lived during that time as he was rising to power, I would probably be awestruck too, and wouldn't hesitate to vote for him as president. He was really good and one can't help but be impressed. (In all probability, I'm probably related to him. I mean, I'm related to Fabian Ver and Chavit Singson, and these guys were Marcos' cousins.)
Paoay: From there we crossed the street to check out Batac's church. From Batac church we took a tricycle ride to the nearby Paoay church. Paoay church is a UNESCO world heritage site, although you wouldn't know it from the way the church bells were vandalized, probably by the local youths.
From the outside, the church is quite impressive. It had a regal and ancient look to it, and huge buttresses jutted out to the sides, supposedly designed to keep the building impervious to earthquakes. True enough, it's still standing a hundred years after the end of the Spanish period. The rocks that made up the structure were interesting, as upon close inspection, they appeared to be rocks taken from the sea, as evidenced by coral markings on the surface.
Vigan
Our last stop, we arrived in Vigan at around 5:30pm. With no more time for a full tour of the city, we headed right over to Calle Crisologo so Pau can take pictures of the cobblestone street. After shopping for shirts and cornik, we sampled the Ilocos empanada being sold by the plaza. Supposedly a must-try while in Vigan, it's really just like eating a lumpiang toge from a UP vendor, and soaking the lumpia in vinegar. That's not enough for me, so we went to the nearby Chowking to complete my dinner.
From there, it was a tricycle ride to the Partas bus station. I was planning to sleep right away on the bus to Manila, but I sat up and watched the stupid movie "the hills have eyes".
We arrived in QC at around 4:00 am the next morning.
Notes
Pagudpud is a pretty place, and it was great that we visited it this summer. However, the stuff there (resort rooms, food) was a bit pricey, although not to the point that they are prohibitive. It was great also that we had Pau with us, as she knew how to speak Ilocano, and we were all flexible as regards to the schedule, so we weren't in any rush to get home.
Labels: bangui, batac, beach, churches, dawn, ilocos, ilocos norte, ilocos sur, laoag, pagudpud, paoay, pauline, travel, vigan, windmills
Iron Man
This has to belong to the top of a list Marvel-based movies, along with the Spider-Man movies and way above the X-Men movie series. Robert Downey Jr. is a great fit for the title role of the troubled and alcoholic Tony Stark, with the not-so-subtle link that Robert Downey Jr was also an alcoholic. This might be a great year for superhero movies, with the Edward Norton Hulk movie and the new Batman movie coming up.
Be sure to wait after the credits to see Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury recruiting Stark for the Avengers.
Be sure to wait after the credits to see Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury recruiting Stark for the Avengers.
