Facebook Ethics 101

I have a love and hate relationship with Facebook.



No. Not only because they constantly change layout, but because it's become a hub of annoying, pretentious, goody-two-shoes people. Huh! Like I don't know you guys!

So what the fuck am I still doing there?

That's the love and hate story I'm talking about. Sometimes I'd really want to deactivate my account. And then I'd shove that thought aside. Sometimes I'd tell myself "no facebook for the next 30 days". Deep inside I was asking "Am I sure?". Coz really after a week I'll end up peeking at my profile.

There are certain things I about facebook...

And I have one million reasons to counter it. Here are some of those :

1. Getting friend requests from people you don't know.
Don't you have something better to do? This is not a contest of having 1000 friends on your friend list so why bother?

2. Posting your photos- close up, lifesize, portrait - at every angle!!!!
Come on! I'm pretty much interested on your background view rather than memorizing your face. I even get constipated looking at Kim Kardashian's photos (OMG, they're everywhere), how much more.... yours???

3. Photos of sensitive type.
Yes, you CAN DO anything you want coz it's your account, right? You can upload as many photos as you'd like (i just wish your browser would hang up). But please... I'm begging, think of your 'friends' who will see these photos. Do you think it's appropriate to post photos of mutilated bodies in a social network? I.DON'T.THINK.SO. I'm browsing facebook because I want some nosy information about my friends. I'm not looking for something that would make my stomach turn. Next time, if you're really a fetish of gross photos - make your own website!

4. The tell-all-status.
What's on your mind? And clearly some people have abused that question. It is alright to share your random thoughts (at least your friends would know what's going up with you, dude!), if you feel like ranting, or if you wanna post something just to let people know you still know how to use facebook. But pleaseeee...(again) do we really have to know what time you woke up? What you had for breakfast? Your itinerary for the day? That the lady in the bus has hair full of lice??? Dude. You should have been a reporter. I mean, for you to be keen on details? You have the potential.

5. The "making-us-envy" status
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know how sweet your boyfriend is, and how lucky he is to have you because you are sexy, pretty, smart (talk about narcissism) and... wait, did you just say pretty and smart? Ah... okay.

6. Filling your status with quotes.
The reason why they call it 'What's on your mind' because you have to SAY what's on your mind. So you mean you're also thinking what Albert Einstein was thinking and all the other famous authors?

7. Proposing on Facebook.
Last night I saw one who proposed. He took a picture of the ring. Posted it on his wall. Tagged his girlfriend and 21 others while saying - "(name of the girl), will you marry me?"

Awwww.... was that sweet? Nope. To me it was disgusting. Why propose on facebook? Unless you want to invite us all on the big day!

8. Using your status to attack your enemies, officemates who can't get their job done, or your boyfriend's other girl.
My god, this has become rampant. People, if you have personal issues, deal with them upfront. Ranting on FB does make you look even more coward.

9. Liking your own status.
I've said this before and I'm saying this again : "Liking your own status in FB is like high-fiving yourself in public." PATHETIC! The reason why you wrote it is because you LIKE it in the first place. So why the hell click LIKE?

10. Facebook is FACEBOOK. Not YouTube, alright?
Please... I can already make a playlist out of your video posts.

Those were few of the reasons why I want to UNFRIEND facebook sometimes.

What about you? Any similar issues?

The "So" fad that is soooooooo annoying

I'm not gonna beat around the bush... Here's the case:

I have this classmate in MBA who constantly, abusively, excessively, overly and extremely uses the word "so". Like every sentence that comes out from his friggin' mouth should / has to start with : "So, ................."

I noticed it at the start of the semester when we had our individual reporting. And then I noticed there are actually two of them who have this chronic, annoying... can I call it behavior? I mean, I can't come up with a better word. "Impediment" would be too harsh.

Really guys. We should trade places. Try sitting on my chair while I stand in front and do your "so" behavior. Let's see if your ears won't bleed.

Come on! It's not like you can't use that word EVER, coz I use it too when (1) I'm trying to emphasize something, (2) what I'm about to say next is very important that you have to hang on to my every word, (3) when it's necessary.

But for you to use it EVERY.FUCKING.SENTENCE.IS.TOO.MUCH.FOR.A.HEADACHE.

Just SO you know, it's NOT a LINKING VERB. Why the heck you use it like this? :

"So I was on my way to school when I passed a bunch of bummers. So I stared at them trying to tell them hey what are you gonna do with your lives? But I know it's not a good idea So I forced my way to school. So when I get to the school building the class is about to start so I entered the room and sat on my chair. It was my turn to do the report so I stood up, gathered my report materials and made my way to the front. So I start to discuss my topic and I can't help say So, So, So at the start of every sentence. Maybe I'm not aware of that so forgive me.

So I didn't know that my classmate janjan is jotting down how many times I uttered the word so. So this girl is really a bitch. So who the hell she think she is? She's not perfect either!

So for every 10 minutes, I use the word so in my sentences 55 times. So??? Does that bother you? If it does, then don't listen to my report. Let's see if you will pass the subject...

So normally, in a masteral class, a single report can last up to 30 minutes. That's maximum already. For one reporter. So imagine if I talk 30 minutes straight. So that's 3 X 55, because on average, I use "so" 55X every 10 minutes, so that's roughly 165X. Wow!!!! So, can you do that? Huh? Huhhhhh????? "

Now guys, I'm sure you can feel what I feel.

So?

Britania

As early as 4AM we took off and headed our way to San Agustin, a municipal town in Surigao del Sur. It was a 3-hour drive from my hometown. Seated comfortably in the car, I could see the quite road and the lush trees sleeping in the morning mist. It was a long drive and at some point I could feel the eerie silence. Well, must be my imagination, it's gonna be Halloween in a couple of days.

Speaking of Halloween, I realized it's becoming a tradition, my personal tradition every Halloween that is, to take some time off and indulge myself in beautiful places. This year, I've decided to go to Britania, a place composed of 25 islands and islets.

With my camera and wandering feet ready, here's a glimpse of Britania.

view of the islets from afar


passed by this rocky dome on our way to Hagonoy Island


first stop : Hagonoy island


the fine sand of Hagonoy....


next stop : Naked island. Naked because its pure sprawling sandbar. Not a single tree. Even grass.


view of Hagonoy island from Naked island.


3rd stop : Hiyor-hiyoran island. It started to rain when we get there. Good thing there are trees around so I didn't get soaking wet. While my companions were busy dipping in cool waters, I had the opportunity to roam around and take many pictures.


4th stop : Buslon island. It was crowded when we get there coz most hoppers usually take their lunch here.

I took a lot of pictures and I was so mesmerized by the cupcake-shaped islands nearby.

this is a small opening beneath the rocks. It's like a cave but not sure what it's called.



Lovely place isn't it?

I had a wonderful time in Britania and the good thing was that I didn't spend much unlike in my previous travels.

This is what I do when I'm BORED

Aside from food tripping, movie marathon and net surfing - this is what I do when I'm bored. And I mean reaaalllyyy bored!

NAIL ART.

Gotcha! What were you thinking, huh?

This was my first attempt - flowers.


Sorry for the blurry pic. I took this using my camera phone. I was trying to do the checkered design but because the angle is so bad, you can't actually see that it's a checkered. But yes, trust me, IT'S CHECKERED!


This is not a nail art though. I just like you to know that sometimes I can't decide on what color to use so I paint them all.

And it's because I'm a big Kung Fu Panda fan. :)

The Newspaper. It looks difficult but this is actually the easiest.


Redefining french tip...

One thing I like about nail art is that it tests my patience. And improves creativity too.

But sometimes it can be frustrating when you're trying to come up with a design and it turns out to be something else.

The Coron Experience: Day 2 - Island Loop Tour

Our second day in Coron was the most exciting. We toured the island and there were lots of activities in stored for us.

The boat was ready by 8AM. We were joined by 3 more passengers, so that makes 7 of us. Refreshments were served as we head our way to our first destination - siete pecados.

Siete Pecados or seven sins is a cluster of seven islets. The boatman switched off the motorboat engine right at the midst of the islets, lowered down the anchor and immediately we grabbed our snorkel gears and down we go.

After feeding the fish and saying "hello" to them we moved to our next stop - Kayangan Lake.

Kayangan Lake is said to be the cleanest lake in the country. We climbed a rough and rocky terrain and when we got to the top we could only feast our eyes on the magnificent view. It was uberly AMAZING!!!



We swam in the lake for like eternity. But technically speaking, I wasn't swimming - I'm floating in my lifejacket (that's what people do when they don't know how to swim so please don't judge).


We took our sumptuous lunch in a secluded beach. When I say sumptuous, I meant seafood galore!

Sampaloc Beach and it's white, fine sand

We snorkel, played with the waves and explored other spots such as Barracuda Lake, Diwata Lagoon, Twin Lagoon to name a few. The most interesting was the ship wreck. It was my first time to see a ship wreck and I could feel the goosebumps all over me. Bad thing? I don't have an underwater cam. Damn!



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UPDATE : I thought of posting my expenses for the sake of those who are planning to visit Coron. This will give you a ballpark figure of how much to spend.

My expenses (in Philippine Peso) :

Tour package (3D2N) - 2,500/person (inclusive of accommodation, breakfast, buffet lunch during the island tour, airport transfers, boat, tour guide)
Airfare (cebu-manila-cebu) - 2,020
Terminal fees (airport) - 500
Airfare (manila-busuanga-manila) - 1,784
Entrance fees :
maquinit hotspring - 100
Siete pecados - 100
Kayangan lake - 200
Sampaloc beach - 100
barracuda lake - 100
twin lagoon - 100
Diwata lagoon - free
ship wreck - 100
snorkeling gear - 150
souvenir shirt (yeah i collect stuff) - 560 (Php280 x 2)
Other expenses (food, cab, etc...) - 1,000+++


Coron is quite expensive. If you like to travel Palawan on a low budget, I suggest you visit Puerto Princessa. I had a very nice time at Puerto and I must agree it's the cleanest city I've been to.

The CORON Experience: Day 1 - Mt. Tapyas Trekking

This is probably the best place I've been to this year.

To say it's beautiful and scenic is totally an understatement. I've never been this nature-struck (hell yeah, that's corresponding to starstruck hehe...), leaving me awed and gaping for what seemed to be perfectly sculpted limestone cliffs and rocks, rolling hills, turquoise-clear lakes and white sand shores.

Coron is the top tourist destination in northern Palawan and is part of the Calamianes group of islands. Though it's my second time to set foot in Palawan, I couldn't contain the excitement as I boarded the plane. From Cebu, I took an hour flight to Manila, and another 45-minute flight from Manila to Busuanga, Palawan.

aerial view of Coron island


we passed through a herd of Brahman cows as we exited from the airport. The airport is about 10-12 kilometers from the town proper. And for the first 6 kilometers? You can't see anything but the vast land, cows, mountains, trees, grasses and the cemented road. No houses. Not a single soul.

that's my famous jump shot.

looking at Coron island. >>>> Me thinking : "That's where I will be... tomorrow."


we started our trek to Mt. Tapyas in the afternoon. This is the place to go if you want to have an overlooking view of the island, and of course - the sunset! But the catch is, you have to stride out the 720 steps!

Just think of the 720 steps as a warm up. Once you get to the top, you would never want to go down.



After that, we went to Maquinit hotspring to invigorate our tired feet and cramping muscles. It was a long day, but the truth is, we've just get started.

I'm not ever gonna give up on writing

"Hello stranger!"

Oh that's me sayin' to myself. :)

It's been two months since I've written a post and I've barely written a good one. I'm not gonna point my fingers at my growing-busy-day-everyday-at-work ( I know. Confusing right there.), but somehow life over the past days had been one hella ride. It needed me to think, rethink, assess every situation. And for that, I've unknowingly shoved blogging aside.

It's kinda frustrating too. You know when there are lot of things going on with your life and you wanna write about it but you just can't find the time and you can hardly squeeze your brain to come up with the right things to say, it gets you down and you get the feeling of being detached from the very own world that made you comfortable.

Aryt, that was a 63-word sentence right there. Good sign. Must be my writing mode kicking in.

Anyhow, nothing has changed much, except that I had my hair permanently curled (for the lack of something worthwhile to do hehehe). I've also knocked one item down on my travel list (more on that later), the heavy days at work, and the usual random experiences which I think are worth sharing.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to be back (back from the grave haha!) And oh, this is my birth month. Don't yah think this post is kinda significant?

Just sayin'... :)