In an aquarium-themed room reviewing a Samsung Smart TV

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I feel bad when I leave my hubby at home whenever I travel. Not that he doesn’t want to travel with me, it is just work sometimes prevent him from being with me. Well, no excuse this time because my next adventure is just around the corner. It feels like an out-of-town trip considering the one hour travel time.

He worries “what if there is a typhoon?” recalling the time Sofitel Hotel got flooded during Typhoon Pedring. I worry too but I have learned to let go, and let God.

So what were we up to?

I normally review gadgets (which I return after a period of a week or two) at my home. This time Samsung thought of inviting us to check in a hotel to review their latest offering: Samsung Smart TV (UA60D8000) and the latest blu ray player (BDD5500). Considering the size of the TV, I think this is a good idea to have the review done in a hotel. I get to focus on the review and have fun at the same time.

While I am enjoying this ultra-slim Smart TV, my husband is mesmerized by the aquarium walls that surround our room .

Our Aqua supreme room at the Hotel H20 in Ocean Park was simply amazing. Our room had no windows except these aquarium walls. Watch this video:

I let him be as I work a bit on my own. We own some Samsung products (we bought all of them in case you are curious…) like kitchen appliances, PC monitors and an LED TV set and I am quite happy with the quality and performance. I knew I will not be disappointed.

It was a bit intimidating at first getting to understand all the controls at the remote. With a bit of knowledge from our own Samsung TV remote, I managed to get the Smart hub. I recalled Jayvee telling me that I can use my iPhone as Samsung remote pad.

For this flat TV segment, connectivity is key. Apart from being able to connect to the Internet and do your standard browsing, you can also use your Android device or iPhone as a remote controller via Bluetooth. If you don’t own any of these, you can also buy a QWERTY remote controller that connects via Bluetooth. That means you can have a QWERTY / smartphone side by side your IrDA remote control.

I will soon find out how to do this.

I have not tested everything yet. I am just getting a feel and if it is easy to set up. My husband wants to nap first before doing anything else. Let me give you just a preview .

I did some tests using Skype calls, ““Social TV” updating my Twitter, and Facebook, web browsing and getting awed with the preview of videos at the Blu Ray DVD.

I called my sister to do a quick skype chat and show off our aquarium themed walls.

Ooops…Time to go (my husband wants to cuddle in bed) …

Butch ended having a nap while I wrote this entry.

A few minutes later, we strolled around the hotel to look for our dinner.

An array of DVD titles were provided but we picked up Resident Evil to try out Samsung’s featherweight 3D glasses converts pictures to 3D in real-time!. For some reason, the 3D image didn’t work so we ended up removing the 3D capability.

I found out there was a switch to turn on right there on the top of the glasses.

Shrek (4th episode) was just so sweet and romantic. I was quite amused at some of the lines uttered by Shrek. It quite reminded me of Butch.

I was about to test more of the Smart hub but the breaking news of Gadhafi’s death was all over the news. Images of a dead or injured Gaddafi seemed larger than life in this 60 inch TV.

There is more to explore in Samsung’s Smart TV like the online interactive media as well as on-demand streaming media. For the kind of online work that I do, a Smart TV makes multi-tasking so much faster. Definitely the TV of the future with the rise of emerging media.

Do you imagine a Smart TV inside your living room?

Read more of my review of the Smart TV in my tech blog , The Samsung Smart TV is beauty and brains indeed.

Finalist at “The One” and/or “The Ballbreaker” & Blog Watch as the Advocate for Globe Tatt Awards

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Set the bar higher. It’s not about lists and numbers, it’s about actions. And popularity does not mean influence, at least not anymore. -Lauren fisher

I am a finalist in two categories. If you think I deserve to win, then please vote for me…via this link http://tattoo.globe.com.ph/tattawards/vote

What can I say? I believe in awards for the recognition because it makes the advocacy easier to reach a wider audience. Last August 10, I found out that I am a finalist as an individual for two categories : The One (the top award) and The Ball breaker. My work speaks for itself. I will continue to do so till my last breath. It is my passion doing what I love best. The prize money will go a long way to fund writing grants to bloggers and other social media users to promote their own advocacy and post it in Blog Watch , a citizen media portal.

Win or lose, I will continue what I love doing best.

What is “The One”?

The Globe Tatt Awards site describe it this way:

The most influential trendsetter that shaped opinion, moved people, and ultimately starting fire in Philippine internet. This person is ahead of the pack in terms of online popularity and content. S/he may come from any background and engages on any platform. S/he can have one channel of engagement or an ecosystem of social media channels that you handle under your brand or name.

And what is the Ballbreaker?

For the opinion that launched tons of comments or retweets, from the person with so much balls to make that legendary post in the first place. S/he should be a blogger or a Twitter user who started a debate or revolution of opinions with just one (1) hard-hitting post. Everyone linked to it, posted a comment, shared it on their walls and retweeted the person’s thoughts because of an idea that’s meant to trend and spread like virus. It sparked a series of conversations in the Philippine social media space that will be remembered for a very long time.

Oh and Blog Watch is also a finalist in “The Advocate”

This award goes to a person or a group of individuals who worked to improve the state of a societal cause in the Philippines through social media. This person or group invested time and effort (and sometimes even money) for the betterment of other people’s lives. The nominees can have a photo/video/audio channel, a blog, a Facebook page/app or a Twitter account on environmental, political, educational and other relevant advocacies.

If you think I should win, here is what you can do from August 10 till August 24.

1. Visit http://tattoo.globe.com.ph/tattawards/vote. 10% of the scores will be coming from your votes so …

2. Vote for me (Noemi Lardizabal-Dado) in The One category.
3. Vote for me (Noemi Lardizabal-Dado) in The Ballbreaker category.
4. Go to The Advocate category and vote for Blog Watch. (This is the work that Blog Watch has been doing the past two years.

You will need a Facebook account to vote.

Your vote will go a long way to promote bloggers advocacy and citizen media.

Thank you.

You are what you tweet

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“Most bloggers who rise above the clutter are quite often prolific . They work hard, not just writing content but networking, engaging in Social Media and more.” Darren Rowse, problogger.net

Let’s face it . Social Media is pretty much a part of our lives. Whether one is young or prime time like me, those social media tools catch up on us. Don’t you find yourselves speaking social media lingo without even knowing it at times? After a photo shoot, you can hear your friend say “tag me in facebook, okay?”. Soon it will be “google plus” me later.

There is nothing like bringing one’s online community offline. This is what we did for Blog Watch , our citizen journalism community. Social Media day was last June 30 and we completely forgot to make plans for the day. Well, it is never too late to celebrate it and make plans for the future.

Blog Watch has been around since September 2009, almost two years now . We are slowly making our mark in digital activism and it is about time to expand our coverage and reach out to more netizens .

I barely write about it in this blog since the time my presidential candidate lost. You will recall Blog Watch introduced live streaming in its citizen media coverage . We were the first to use curation tools such as storify.net to gather news from different social media sources.

  1. Interviewed seven (7) presidential candidates in the May 10, 2010 elections
  2. Interviewed some senatorial candidates, congressional candidates and a few local candidates
  3. Covered the first Inaugural of President Aquino, first media coverage of the Aquino administration
  4. Stories that traditional media picked up from our twitter timeline and that first broke off in Twitter

There are many lessons and quotes in social media I learned in the last two years especially in Twitter. Starting out with only 500 followers in September 2009, I now have 7100 plus followers because they wanted to hear about news not found in tri-media. Compared to big media networks and celebrities, the number is a drop in the bucket. The numbers do not matter. Let me tell you how it is.

1. Influence is not about popularity.

2. It is not the number of followers or fans that matters. Think about what to achieve with and through the community who cares about your goals.

3. “Facebook is for people you used to know. Twitter is for people you want to know.” Author Unknown

4. Find the key issues that concern your audience and this will easily get them to be engaged with you. “You are what you tweet.” – Alex Tew

5. Credibility is all you’ve got. Be consistent and fair.
Nils Montan says “ATA be AUTHENCTIC, be TRANSPARENT, be ALTRUISTIC, and you will find enough success in Social Media to have a satisfying career and experience.”

6. “Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.” Jay Baer
Be conversational, engaged and true to yourself.

7. “Build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay”. Seth Godin

It is great to be in a community composed of people with diverse interests yet share a love of country , and trying to make President Aquino’s administration succeed. Social media is just a tool we use to achieve this.

“Live to Love and Love to Live! Relationship is everything in the Social Media world”

Celebrating the Rizal in me

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“It’s a useless life that is not concentrated to a great ideal. It’s like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice.” Jose Rizal

I braved the rains and drove all the way to Fort Santiago in my period costume to celebrate Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday. Celebrating Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary is not just a one day affair or even a year-long sesquicentennial festivities.

The organizers decided to call this celebration ““MY RIZAL” as it “engages all of us to be a part of what JOSE RIZAL stood for. It invites us to internalize a version of RIZAL in our own personal lives. It inspires us to feel the hero in each one of us, and to follow RIZAL’s footsteps in his true love for country.”

I look at the Rizal in me. Just like some of the bloggers and social media users that joined me in Fort Santiago, each of us have our own advocacy and ideals.

In my role as a blogger and editor of Blog Watch, I call out the societal evils such as environmental destruction and child abuse. I hold President Aquino accountable for his campaign promises. I believe in the promise and unwavering passion of the youth. I am sure Jose Rizal will also fight for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill).

Most of all, love of country is what I am fighting for. Who wouldn’t want a good future for their children, and children’s children. I still cannot understand why corrupt officials exist. Why do they think only of themselves? It is a long and difficult road to fighting corruption and poverty. But if we call upon ourselves to check our government and talk about it, we have gained something.

Rizal’s ideals, as exemplified by his life, his works and his heroism, are universal. They live in each one of us in many ways.

We can live Rizal now.

“Filipinos don’t realize that victory is the child of struggle, that joy blossoms from suffering, and redemption is a product of sacrifice.”- Jose Rizal

LGBT kids and teens: Tomorrow Will Be Better

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We are all different, but we must embrace and respect our differences. We must come together through the very emotion that makes us human: love. US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.at at the LGBT Pride Month Reception

What a long but productive day. I treated my family for lunch in celebration of my 54th birthday because I wanted to attend the dinner reception of US Ambassador Henry K. Thomas Jr. in honor of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month in the USA. President Barrack Obama proclaimed June 2011 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. It is about time our country also take initiative to stop the hate and homophobic attitude. Last year, I was shocked and saddened by the suicides by young American kids who were bullied for being gay. I often wonder the extent of our Filipino LGBT kids who suffer bullying. Is our school system supportive? Is our society even supportive?

The US administration is taking steps to engage with LGBT communities even outside the USA. The Philippines can certainly learn a thing or two here.

The message is important. The Ambassador started off his speech with “I am gay.

I am gay.

I am gay.

Three little words.

Six letters.

Three syllables.

It is not a phrase that trips the tongue. It is not a phrase that should take lifetimes to utter.”

One need not be ashamed to say if one is gay, or lesbian . There is no need for condemnation. There has been so much discrimination on the basis of gender identity and bullying on young LGBT kids. President Obama adds that ” No one should be harmed because of who they are or who they love, and my Administration has mobilized unprecedented public commitments from countries around the world to join in the fight against hate and homophobia.”

I cannot imagine how many LGBT kids and teens hide their sexuality for fear of bullying. “Without other openly gay adults and mentors in their lives, they can’t imagine what their future may hold. In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves.”

I approached the ambassador for a photo op after the reception. After all, I gave up dinner celebration to attend his reception at his Makati residence. Ambassador Thomas laughed at my request and thought I should have given a dinner blowout instead of him.

But guess what? I celebrated with Melo Esguerra whose birthday is also June 14 and Harold Geronimo who celebrated a day before.

Now lying in bed, I read through the message of President Obama and searched for more information on US support of LGBT. What struck me most is the “It gets better project”. While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves the, “It Gets Better Project” was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years.

Maybe one day, a similar initiative can be organized to help our LGBT kids and remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.

The ocean is a mighty harmonist

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““I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.” –Anonymous

I grew up in Cebu, surrounded by blue skies, sunny smiles and the deep blue sea. The beach was always a family activity every weekend. No ritzy mall or entertainment centers during my childhood days circa early 1960 to distract me. The picnic by the sea is what I called fun. Mom prepared a picnic basket containing our lunch of roasted chicken and apple pie and it was off to the most popular beach destination, Talisay just 20 minutes away.

There was just something magical at the beach. Time doesn’t move hour to hour but mood to moment. It is as if I live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun. The beach is probably the only place children actually entertain themselves without parents having to think of million ways to distract them.

Perhaps my dad noticed these frequent trips and decided to buy a small property near the beach in Talisay and in Mactan Island. How we loved the bahay kubo nestled under the coconut tree.

College years brought me further away from Cebu. Being based in Manila, the beach was just too far away to travel even once a month. I miss the memories of joy in a summer breeze and sinking my toes in the sand.

I often tell my children these stories ..how as college students, we would just get to the car and travel to the beach. The pretty little fishes swimming by the sea shore. How fascinating it was to spot the sea horse or sand dollar during low tides.

Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles. Robert Henri asks himself, ““Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”

Each one of us looks at the sea differently. For me, the sea represents my roots. Appreciating its beauty, breadth and power is appreciating my existence, who I am and why I am here. Like the ocean, all of us are connected and interdependent yet each person is significant in its existence. Even John F. Kennedy felt tied to the ocean. “And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came… ”

““Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.”
–Albert Schweitzer

““We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
–Mother Teresa


Photo of El Nido by Anna Oposa

““Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”
–Anonymous

Let us all act now to save our seas, what’s left of our coral reefs and to protect our marine life so those beautiful and important natural resources are preserved for our children and future generations to enjoy.

Join Blog Action Day on June 8. Details here.
Save the Philippine Seas!
The ocean is a mighty harmonist… (William Wordsworth)

Priest the 3D Movie, a struggle between good and evil

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Spoiler Alert ….

Most weekends, my husband and I watch the movies. Today, he felt like watching “Priest” and he says it is a movie about a priest who is for the RH Bill.

I knew he was kidding “Aww really?” I quickly searched for a synopsis.

Apparently, the movie is an adaptation of a Tokyopop graphic novel, Bettany’s Priest with a cross emblazoned on his forehead. The priest tries to rescue his kidnapped niece with the help of her boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), a warrior priestess (Maggie Q, ““Nikita”) and a sheriff (Stephen Moyer, ““True Blood”).

I love thriller movies but I wasn’t sure if I wanted the horror part of the movie- the vampires. Still, we went to watch it in 3D at Eastwood Cinema 6.

As the movie unfolded with my eyes closed at times, I thought my husband was probably right when he kidded me that the movie is about a priest who is pro-RH bill.

Though the Catholic Church does not say this quote , “To go against the church is to go against God” , I feel sometimes it is implied when the RH Bill is being debated.

In the movie, the protagonist is a good and tough priest and a warrior in an alternative universe. The priest is a metaphor for the fight between good and evil. Even good guys can be corrupted or destroyed by the dark side like Black Hat, the head of the vampires (who used to be a priest).

The good versus evil is also seen in the institution such as the Church in the movie.

The Church was initially good. The Church unleashes ““the Priests,” humans with super-human-like reflexes, who drive the vampires into exile. They protected them from the vampires but later on, got corrupted by their own power by invoking their infallibility, “To go against the church is to go against God” .

The head of the church (in the movie) insisted there were no more vampires but the priest didn’t think so. The Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her niece, Lucy before they turn her into one of the vampires. I will leave it at that so there are no more spoilers.

The movie got me thinking that there are probably many Catholics that are conflicted and/or have left their faith because of disagreement with certain teachings such as Humanae Vitae (Latin “Of Human Life”) , an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and re-affirms the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding married love, responsible parenthood, and lawful and unlawful ways of regulating birth.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines are still in denial when it comes to the need for the RH Bill. It has always been referred to as “evil” during the homily by some priests.

Priest , the movie just struck me as having so many similarities with the way some bishops of the Philippine Catholic Church particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are exerting authority over its faithful.

Let me give you just one example out of many. Last April 27, San Pablo (Laguna) Vicar General Msgr. Melchor Barcenas said RH bill advocates are using “tactics of Satan.”

“In this fight against RH Bill, our true enemies are not the people (who proposed it) but Satan. It is the evil that is manipulating the minds of all (pro RH Bill Congressmen) or those higher ups in the world. This is the reason why it is difficult to fight this enemy,” he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site last April.

There goes Satan again.

Just watch the movie.

The global perception of the Filipina

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Now I know what it feels to be an actress. Yesterday, a UK Travel documentary group came over to my house to film a 3 minute segment for the 45 minutes Philippines series in “It’s a Woman’s World” with a potential 60 million viewers . I think we finished close to 3 hours. The interview revolved around cooking Adobo and the FilipinaImages.com advocacy. I let Dine prepare the Green Mango Salad as Camilla asked questions. There were probably 5 questions that focused on the Filipina, They concentrated on me cooking adobo and Dine with the salad while asking questions about The Filipina, What is a Filipina, the international perception and our online work . The action type of interview went quite well.

You know I am used to only one filming angle done during an interview but the videographer took 3 angles. Now this is one film I should see.

They concentrated on me cooking adobo and Dine with the green mango salad while asking Camilla asked questions about The Filipina. It was an action and interview story. Some of the questions asked :

  • What is a Filipina
  • How would you describe the typical Filipina?
  • Why did you start your website/blog?
  • Why do you think Filipina’s have the international perception they do, especially online?
  • Do you want to change this perception and if so how are you doing this?

You will just have to hear our answers when the documentary comes out on October. But let me just tell you, after almost four years, The Filipina Images project has been successful in at least creating balance in the search engine results. When we first started, almost 9/10 search engine results in the first page was dating sites. Not that these girls are Filipinas but there are more Filipinas that need to be showcased. The word “Filipina” is used by these sites.

Since then, search engine results on the first page for keyword “Filipina” has other sites that are not connected to dating services.

What image pops up in your head when you say or hear the word ““Filipina?” is a question my sister Lorna asked four years ago.

A smile.
A mother breastfeeding her child.
An excellent homemaker.
A powerful leader and mentor in her chosen business, profession or vocation.
Another smile, inviting you to meet her family and firends.
A friend who’s there for you, no matter what.
Ah, I’ve never met a Filipina — but I’d like to.
An influential, affluent decision maker.
A woman, confident and willing to go an extra mile to get things done.
A woman I can trust to take care of my kids.
A sexy woman.
A mystery?
A girl, shy and innocent.
A fun-loving woman.
A beautiful person, inside and out.
Endless, timeless images of a Filipina.

I am glad that the Travel documentary series of “It’s a Woman’s World” communicated with us to be part of this filming project. There is no one exclusive category of Filipino women who has the better right to claim that it is more representative of the Filipina than the others The Filipina campaign should not only be limited online.

Television viewers need to see that we , the Filipina of the Future deserves a more empowered, diverse image online and offline.

Multiple, complex, and whole.


Left to right: Camilla Andersen, me , Julia Cornes and Dine Racoma

The documentary series will be viewed on October 2011. It’s a Woman’s World will introduce and immerse viewers into the lives of interesting and inspiring local women they meet. So many travel experiences these days are mocked up for tourism, It’s a Woman’s World wants to avoid these and get the inside perspective on each culture they are discovering.