the week that was

we were in indonesia last week for the better air quality (baq) 2006 workshop. it was the culmination of half a year's work, blood and sweat all rolled into one of the biggest parties of air quality and sustainable transport peeps in asia and beyond.

picture this.

four months ago, we started writing at least four country + city synthesis reports on urban air quality in asia. mine were those for hong kong s.a.r., singapore, cambodia and indonesia. we wrote the drafts and had them checked and verified with our local partners in each area. this exercise made us gain new friends and unfortunately, break some old ties. it was also a test of patience and a chance to evaluate our job quality criteria and management skills. all of these were done while....

...preparing the final editing stages for the sustainable urban transport in asia main report. this is officially my first book which was co-authored with cornie, lee, and wei shiuen of cai-asia and embarq. the report was published in time for baq 2006 but a preview of the strategic framework on sustainable urban transport in asia has been presented at the transportation research board last january 2006.

...coordinating the best practices exhibit for baq 2006. in the end the exhibit was composed of at least 50 booths and at least 200 poster exhibits. too bad the weather did not cooperate with us on some of the days of the exhibit but it sure was fun and enlightening to interact with the exhibitors. note to self: the cliche on french guys is just that - a cliche.

...coordinating the bus rapid transit technical working group for metro manila. there was a welcome lag in the latter part of the year but the knowledge and ties we gained from the BAQ events on BRT and NMT would not go to waste. the meetings resume on january.

...keeping abreast of the latest development on AQ and SUT in Asia. as always.

during baq week, we even managed to squeeze in some shopping nights at malioboro, dining with new friends at jogja and jakarta, sing along at the vredeburg fort in jogja, toured the borobudur temples for more shopping, toured Jakarta through our TransJakarta field trip, and go to singapore for more shopping and sightseeing c/o chow kuang, nancy and ninette. we took lots of pictures to document the whole thing.

the hell on earth at jakarta airport where our flight to singapore was delayed for five hours was replaced by the blessings that we got after the ordeal. net's special powers were mightier than someone we know, even getting our friends flights confirmed and getting them booked at one of the finest hotels at orchard road with free meals, hotel-airport transfer, and international calls all at the airline's expense.

more to come.

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i refuse to live in a bubble

last night, i went back to the clinic to get the results of my chest x-ray and complete blood count (CBC) tests. (did i get it right, nursing kids?)

OMG, chest x-ray and cbc?

yup. my hypohondriac self got the better of me when one of my neck lymph nodes started to ache and add this to the fact that i've had persistent coughs and watery eyes for about a week now. the thing is if you added this to the days when i've had the upper respiratory tract infection, i would be coughing for more than 2 weeks now-scary threshold. so there, i told bossing that i might go to the doctor to have them check my aching lymph node.

yippee! i don't have TB! nor emphysema! nor lung cancer!

actually the tests were somehow inconclusive. the x-ray says that i don't have anything extraordinary in any of my lungs. the blood tests do confirm that i have some kind of infection but not in the lungs. yep. not in the lungs.

i did confirm the doc's suspicions that i could be allergic to dust, air pollution and smoke. this meant that basically, i'm allergic to my job.

i also shared with the doc that i've had some strange allergic bouts with alcohol and chocolates, but i'm not that certain because i've yet to take allergy tests.

WTF! i'm allergic to the sweet life too?

so there. if i followed the recommendations to the dot, i might as well live in an antiseptic bubble.

to h*ll with allergies. that's what antihistamines are for.

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and i thought i were supergirl

i hardly get sick. the last time i did was almost 2 years ago in the first quarter of 2005. last monday though, i had to pay a visit to the hospital to have me checked.

relying on an inhaler for 3 whole days didn't seem like a great way to live. it turned out that i had some bacterial infection in my respiratory passages. no surprise, i might say. the green mucus with black streaks said it all.

i skipped work for 2 days in a row as advised by my physician. back in the office, it seemed that i spread the germs and our room was almost deserted yesterday. hence, the team meeting was cancelled.

actually, i'm still not feeling well as there's still a slight pounding on my temples but i have to get back on my feet. work is piling up. there are people to meet and places to go.

time to down my pill.

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feelin' bob

BOB MARLEY lyrics - "Waiting In Vain"


www.OldieLyrics.com



1, 2, 3:

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love.
From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, girl,
My heart says follow t'rough.
But I know, now, that I'm way down on your line,
But the waitin' feel is fine:
So don't treat me like a puppet on a string,
'Cause I know I have to do my thing.
Don't talk to me as if you think I'm dumb;
I wanna know when you're gonna come - soon.
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love,
'Cause if summer is here,
I'm still waiting there;
Winter is here,
And I'm still waiting there.
---
[Guitar solo]
---
Like I said:
It's been three years since I'm knockin' on your door,
And I still can knock some more:
Ooh girl, ooh girl, is it feasible?
I wanna know now, for I to knock some more.
Ya see, in life I know there's lots of grief,
But your love is my relief:
Tears in my eyes burn - tears in my eyes burn
While I'm waiting - while I'm waiting for my turn,
See!

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love;
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love, oh!
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna wait in vain.
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna wait in vain.
No, I don't wanna (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
No I - no I (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't
wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
No, no-no, I, no, I (I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain) -
It's your love that I'm waiting on (I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain);
It's me love that you're running from.
It's Jah love that I'm waiting on (I don't wanna - I don't wanna -
I don't wanna - I don't wanna - I don't wanna wait in vain);
It's me love that you're running from.

---

i've always loved this song. it's easy on the ears and i love singing it but i don't want this to be my song. dang...

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please hold while i transfer your call...

enter the world of call centers

http://www.callcentermovie.com/movie/movie2.html

/laughs like a maniac...

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random mumblings

from wheresmycow

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag three people.

Karin Schelzig, ADB. 2005. Poverty in the Philippines: Income, Assets, and Access

"There have often been considerable leakages to unintended benificiaries as a result of a lack of clear criteria for the screening of prospective benificiaries. Elite capture has been another problem, especially in one program, which sought to target the 100 poorest families in every local government unit. The selection process became highly politicized."

TAG: If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

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"piso fare" trip to visayas and mindanao - a prologue

i just came home from our "piso fare" trip to the visayas and mindanao. agatha, bert, niza, mike, and i spent 4 days (bert, niza, and mike stayed for another day) touring bohol, cagayan de oro and camiguin island. may and ninette were supposed to join us as well but had to back out at the last moment. mike joined us at the last minute and had to pay 3x as much for the plane ticket. the trip went ok except for aga's and my trip back to manila that felt like being in the "amazing race." more on that later.

march 2006
cebu pacific came out with their piso fare promo where the airfare costs just Php1.00 without the taxes and everything. may told the group that there is a fast-track ferry ride of about 2 hours from tagbilaran, bohol to cagayan de oro, so we decided to take the roundtrip flight first from manila to tagbilaran and cagayan de oro to manila to maximize the trip. it was only after we had purchased the air tickets that we found out that they have stopped that said ferry service and the only available ride was a 12-, actually, 13-hour ferry from tagbilaran, bohol to cagayan de oro. fine.

fyi
the trip was planned by our office team/ barkada/ drinking buddies but solely for recreational purposes. we scheduled the trip on the dates that we knew our boss would also be on leave. *wink *wink

june 2006
it was near the end of june and our boss was aware of our trip/summary vacation leave. it turned out that there were several missions he had to go before going on leave as well so we had to prepare several presentations at super speed. he was hinting of postponing our trip but since the tickets were restricted, re-scheduling was out of the question. oh yeah, our boss did not come with us. eheheheh

3-5 july 2006
in 3 days we were able to (1) sit through a well-publicized, well-attended, but awfully bad lecture; (2) attend 9 meetings ranging from 10 minutes to 3 hours; prepare a briefing note on a 'project' that lasted for almost a year; and of course (3) prepare 2 presentations with a preliminary draft in 3 hours. all these and i still had no backpack to place my things nor have i at least prepared what to bring on the following day. after having dinner with our bosses, aga and i went to the mall to buy stuff for the trip. we went back to the office to finish the two presentations and got out at around 10.30 pm. i dropped by my amy and che's pad to borrow the bag and snorkeling gear, pick up my bikinis (yes, i have a pair of bikinis and change of undies at their place for spur-of-the-moment swimming trips) and had some updated chitchat. i had a quick shower at their place and left their pad at 12midnight. i hailed a cab just as i stepped on the street, had a small chat with the cab driver, picked up a complement or two (manong said i could well be featured on FHM. heheheh. charos!), and got home at around 12.30 am. vis-min here we come.

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