Along with power interruption, the internet service also got disrupted in the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane).

When your business is dependent on internet service, a day without it is problematic. Two days without it gets to be “near critical”. Where does one get an internet connection when the whole city has no power?

Go to the nearest Starbucks or coffee shop with generator power and wireless internet

Not just any coffee shop. Earlier in the day, I went to Figaro branch at Salcedo Village to go online. After 3 hours, my battery was dying. Looking around the corners, I was disappointed to see power outlets taped over with a sign “do not plug in here”. Grr, I was willing to pay for the charge. Without electricity, how can I get online? A coffee shop must be generous enough to allow me to charge my macbook and avail internet wi-fi connection. I found a friendly Starbucks Coffee shop at the Walter Mart branch. Apparently, Makati residents also thought of the same idea as I did. The place was crowded. All 4 power outlets were occupied with cellphone and laptop charging. It took me 30 minutes to get a seat near a vacant power outlet. Great! The free Globequest internet wi-fi access (given to me by Globe-Innove last month) came in really handy as I got a fast internet connection.

My daughter and I took turns working on our sites while my patient husband read a book. It usually takes me 2 to 4 hours to work on my sites but I didn’t plan to stay that long. See, a lot of laptop users were eager to go online too and I didn’t want to hog even one precious power outlet. Look at these people huddled in the corner working feverishly on their laptops.

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Note: View My PHOTO GALLERY of Typhoon Milenyo (international codename Typhoon Xangsane)

At 8:30 am EDSA, on the way to pick up my daughters

(Enlarge) The heavy rains woke me up and my thoughts turned to my daughters holed up in their dorm in Quezon City. Butch and I quickly turned on our TV sets and heard that “typhoon Milenyo” would be the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years. The typhoon was expected to arrive at 12 noon. It was 6:00 AM and the perfect time pick to them up in Quezon City. Feeling worried over their safety, my main concern was to bring them over to our home in Makati City knowing they would be safe with us. On the way to my daughters’ dorm in Katipunan Avenue, the empty trusses along EDSA is a rare sight to behold. I thought, “good thing. it’ll prevent accidents“. On the way home, we passed along C-5. Ah, it’s an amazing treat to see the landscape devoid of the tarpaulins click here.

At 11:00 AM, at our house in Makati City just before Typhoon Milenyo

(Enlarge) A few leaves are strewn all over the front lawn. We prepared for the inevitable wrath of Typhoon Milenyo and shut all the doors and windows. The electricity had already been cut at 9:00 AM. Shortly after 12:00 noon, I heard metal screeching and crunching somewhere. I thought “uh-oh there goes my roof!” I expected a gush of water to pour down our ceiling. Looking out of the window, a gigantic branch from the tree outside suddenly looms outside our living room window. The branch broke from the tree outside , landed on the fence, broke it and ended up on the lawn.

The fallen tree branch in our front lawn

(Enlarge ) It was a relief that it wasn’t our roof that got blown away. What could we do now? I knew there were more damage and injuries outside our village. We were grateful to God for the safety of our family, a strongly built home, ample food, fuel and water. The only other inconvenience was water dripping on L’s room. The strong winds blasted all the rain water towards the upper balcony, creating a pool of water which overflowed to L’s ceiling through a crack on the second floor balcony. Removing the flooded waters in the balcony was futile as the strong gust of wind literally blew us away to the wall. We ended up placing cardboards on the balcony floor so we could elevate the flood waters. I haven’t felt these strong winds in years. Although we had no power, we still had a gas range that would enable us to cook for a candle-lit dinner.

The aftermath at around 2:00 PM
The good old reliable radio was our only source of information and link to the outside world. No power. No internet. No TV. We heard that the southwest part of Metro Manila had a direct hit and sustained more damages. Makati City, our place of residence is one of these places. I immediately took photos of the typhoon Milenyo aftermath.

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Technorati Tags: Typhoon Xangsane, typhoon Milenyo, Typhoon

I grew up in a family surrounded by music. Every morning, mom played her Bach or Chopin concert pieces to our delight. We often danced like awkward ballerinas or sat beside her, mesmerized by the melody of her piano pieces. Naturally, she wanted us to learn the piano. With 7 siblings taking up piano, organ and guitar lessons, our parents imposed nightly concerts after dinner. We actually had fun showing off our pieces. As we entered college, our passion for music diminished. Only a brother and a sister continued to hone their musical talent.

Then I got married and had 2 girls and a boy. In 1989, my dad surprised me with a piano . “It’s my Christmas gift to your girls. They should be playing the piano.”

I was so touched by his generosity. My father at that time was disabled and unable to work but he had significant savings to tide him over. He mumbled “One of your girls might have your mom’s music genes”. I remembered that my sister, B started piano lessons at the age of 4. Maybe L, my four year old daughter might be interested to study the piano.

I was amazed at L’s chubby fingers as she nimbly played complicated piano pieces at the age 4. Maybe she will be a concert pianist one day, the stage mother in me mused. She continued playing the piano and cultivating her other artistic talents during her growing up years. Then on her sixteenth year, she asked for an electric guitar.

My husband coughed ” I imagine you wearing a beautiful gown sitting on a stool while you play the cello”

My daughter laughed “That will not happen dad. I want to be a “rock star”“.

My concert pianist wants to be a rock star. I grimaced. Pooof, she’s not going to be a concert pianist after all. As a mother , it’s natural to have dreams for our children but I would never impose my own unfulfilled dreams on them. I decided I’d be supportive.

I remembered that Butch’ family had a 1960 red vintage Eko guitar stashed away somewhere that belonged to his grandmother. She bought it from a garage sale of an American leaving the Philippines and used it to attract crowds during her husband’s campaign for Congressman in the sixties. With a few repairs from a Raon st. shop, the guitar sprang back to “life” as L strummed the night away in her sound-proofed bedroom.

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I am an early bird at the First Philippine Blogcon 2006 here at the National Sports Grill, Greenbelt 3 Makati. The reason I am early is because I have to fix my powerpoint for my talk “Content is King”.

5:20 P.M.- The Globe-Innove Group, our gracious sponsors for this event are here busy fixing the place. As you register, they hand out out 100 pesos worth of Globequest internet wifi access. It looks like they are giving out other prizes in their game portion.

6:54 P.M.- Abe and Jayvee are busy fixing their visual presentation. Abe Olandres will talk on “History of Blogging in the Philippines & Professional Blogging” , Jayvee Fernandez on Blogging as New Media vis-a-vis MSM

And Marc Macalua on “SEO and Blog Make-Over”. I had to end my live blogging when dinner started. Just View the Photo Gallery for the highlights of the event.

At the meet, I met new and old faces like:

Abe Olandres; J Angelo Racoma; Marc Macalua; Kevin Codamon ; Jayvee Fernandez; Rico Mossesgeld; Jennifer Velasco (Globe Innove) ; Mike Abundo ; Bimbo Isidro ; Gail de La Cruz; Marc Villanueva; Gloria Gamat; Annalyn Jusay; Markku Seguerra; Jun Asis; Dominique Cimafranca; Ade Magnaye. Sorry if I missed out on anyone. My memory fails me nowadays. Hehe, blame it on old age.

The photos show the events as it unfolded ( I still have to label them soon). Since I took these photos, I am not in the gallery but thanks to Annalyn, here is a photo with both of us posing. Another photo here, thanks to Mimi and Karl and from Eugene.

All I can say about the meet is that it was so much fun. Being the oldest among the bloggers made me feel younger and completely at home. I thought I’d feel out-of-place but no…it shows that the internet knows no “age” boundaries. Maybe we can continue this meet on a regular basis? Now what does Globe Innove think about this?

Other Bloggers who wrote about this event

and Blog-o-rama mention.

More links at the Blogcon wiki

“uh , where’s the radiator cap?” my husband’s irritated eyes glared at me.

I followed him to the car. “Look you have been driving the car without a radiator cap.”

Ugh, I was dumbstruck and felt stupid. I normally let the service guys over at Shell Station check my radiator and the usual engine fluids. I hate soiling my hands with black soot or yet breaking a nail whenever I have to check under the car hood. The guy must have forgotten to put it back or just placed it loosely on the radiator. Maybe he was multi-tasking and had totally forgotten he was checking my car. It pays to carefully watch these guys as they fiddle with your car parts.

Now how was my husband going to Baguio without the cap? It was 7:00 on a sunday morning.

A quick look at my gas receipt showed that the last time I had loaded gas was on September 13. Imagine for 11 days, I was driving to and fro Quezon City without a radiator cap?

By this time, my husband was livid with rage. I went about ignoring his dark mood knowing it was completely my fault.

Where in the world will I get a radiator cap at this time of the morning? He yelled.

What can I say? In my mind “I don’t know. How should I know?” I know better than to be a smart ass in time like this.

My husband left in a huff. Thirty minutes later, I heard him arrive but still I avoided him .

He was in a better mood when I showed up in the garage a few minutes later. What do you know? He found a surplus radiator cap in Evangelista St.

A car junk shop saved the day.

I believe that customer service and satisfaction is critical in my webhosting business. In fact, I offer money-back guarantee and refunds for unused months. That’s how confident I am with my services. Happy customers are loyal and even refer you to potential customers. Word of mouth referrals is a more effective advertising medium in the initial stages of business growth. I make sure that valid customer complaints are addressed to immediately. But we in the service industry are just human. What if the customer is rude and cursing at you?

You people must be stupid. I have had nothing but problems with you idiots. I have asked for information on this account. can’t get it. I tell you I need to pay for the year. Cant’t get it. and you keep turning my shit off. Who do I FUCKING talk to in person to settle this.

Ugh, receiving an email like that makes me want to combust spontaneously. This is an actual query from an irate customer in another business. He’s not from the Philippines. I can’t imagine a local talking like that. So far , Filipino customers are patient and whenever they have a complaint, it’s in a polite tone. When I received the above email, I thought about replying “Um, I’m sorry I can’t help you”. However, I placed myself in his shoes. What did he really mean to say if he wasn’t so angry? Most likely this customer was ignorant and impatient with the steps to take in filing a support request. He didn’t even submit a helpdesk ticket (the standard method of support) and got frustrated when he didn’t receive any reply through emails. I chose the peaceful manner of settling this issue and released an invoice of $100.00. If he wasn’t happy with my service , he can choose to ignore the invoice. What do you know? He paid it. He hasn’t bothered me in months. In fact , he ordered another plan.

Can you imagine if I spoke to this person? Pity the poor call center workers who have to deal with irate customer complaints. It’s alright if the customer is angry but cursing and name calling is a no-no. And then one can be more rude in emails since there is no direct confrontation. That’s so much better than dealing with their ire over the phone.

Is a customer still king? Customer is king as long as they don’t curse and call you idiots.