Biggest Blogger Event Ever: Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards

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Irrespective of who wins, I believe the biggest winner tonight is the blogging culture in the Asia Pacific itself– Ming and Tim, Founders of Nuffnang.com

It’s 1:42 AM and I have just uploaded the photos of the biggest blogger event I have ever attended. I loved it. The event was well organized, food was great, and meeting bloggers from 3 other countries is something different from other blogger events attended so far. The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards gathered over 400 bloggers from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. Around 31 Pinoy bloggers flew all the way to Singapore.

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Photo via Ada Lajara. Glamorous Filipina bloggers gather at the Link Hotel before proceeding to the Pan Pacific Hotel for the Awards Ceremony

After 2 years of community building, Nuffnang.com presented the first ever Asia-Pacific Blog Awards at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

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with Nuffnang co-founder Tim

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Bangon Pinoy: Our Home After Ondoy Flood Damage

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“I don’t consider myself a survivor; that’s someone who has gone through something terrible.” Geraldine Ferraro

Of course, you know our home suffered the Ondoy Flood Damage. My husband is traumatized about it already that he obsesses on the weather report. Friends ask me how it has been. I feel guilty that we didn’t really suffer that much damage, I mean comparing our situation to the Ondoy victims in Marikina and the Pepeng victims of Northern Luzon. I have to give credit to my husband who took a week’s leave of absence to clean our house. All I did was call insurance companies, service centers, and internet providers. My husband had to live in our flood damaged home for a week while me and my two daughters had it good in my sister’s home in Quezon City.

A week after Ondoy, we finally returned to our Pasig home. Internet connection was back. As a fussy homemaker, let me share you some tips I learned from the damage.

BEFORE before the floodwaters reached waist deep. My husband and two househelp try to save as much as they can to the second floor
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Blog Action Day 2009: My Stand on Climate Change

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3992612044_5a154d68a2It is Blog Action Day today. Filipino bloggers will speak out and take a stand now on climate change.

Filipinos in Metro Manila witnessed the effects of climate change never seen before in my entire lifetime of 52 years. Sure, I have seen floods but not in such wide scale proportions. My family survived the Ondoy floods. I feel blessed and at the same time guilty that not much was lost. Material possessions can easily be bought but lives, precious lives have been lost in other families.

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Blog is Mightier than the Sword

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I think it is because you live and you live well — this is why you can blog. Someday it will be said that blogging is merely the record of ‘lives well-lived. by Gang Badoy, One Blogging Nation

Hear ye, you should watch this entertaining video by Vince Golangco from wheninmanila.com which was part of the 3rd Philippine Blog Awards.

Philippine Blog Awards intro “Silent Film” Jose & Andres are Bloggers

It is my third year to attend the Philippine Blog Awards. It is only this year that I am not actively involved in the organizing committee except being a judge for the Personal and Family & Living category and Presentor for two categories. Last year, I was the President of the 2nd Philippine Blog Awards. Before that , I was in charge for food and venue. This year I took a break. I applaud the current officers of the Philippine Blog Awards for the theme of “One Blogging Nation”. I know how difficult it is to organize such a huge event and solicit sponsors. Trust me, it is not easy so please give them a big round of applause.
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With Ferdz Decena as Presentors for the Winners of Family & Living, Advocacy, Travel, Food

This year’s blog awards is unique because it encompasses three regions of the Philippines thus making the theme “One Blogging Nation”. The keynote speaker, Gang Badoy says it all so let me share you her speech:
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How Gossip Hurts Friendships

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““It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one, behind one’s back, that are absolutely and entirely true.” Oscar Wilde

gossipJust recently, I received an email from a friend (let’s call Delta) straightening the facts of a gossip in a recent reunion. The email was directed to the alleged gossiper (let’s call Alpha) and another friend (let’s call Beta). Take note that this is communication among “best” friends.

It was supposed to be a clarification of the “gossip” but instead the communication was totally ignored and made public by Alpha and Beta. The point of the email was to clarify. Direct , clean conversation clears the air and paves the way for good feelings about ourselves and our relationship with others.

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Eulogy to a Friend

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(Berthram (Nonoy) Tan, Best Friends Forever UP Cebu 74-78 died on September 27 due to Myocardial Infarction. He came to Cebu and pretended to invite Robert, fellow classmate to dinner at Laguna Garden. Unknowingly,he was part of the game plan of Robert’s children to give a special surprise silver anniversary party. They had grand time that night and parted ways wee hours of the morning.

The next day , Nonoy woke up to get ready to depart for manila and had breakfast. He wasn’t able to reach back to his room and fell unconscious.He was DOA when he reached Cebu Doctor’s Hospital.)

This is my eulogy which I read last night during the necrological services.

Dear family, relatives and friends and Best Friends Forever,

I am not a stranger to death. I lost my mother, father, my two brothers and most painful of all my beloved son. 5 deaths in the family.
Still, the loss of a friend hits me hard. Even if my house in Manila is
undergoing a clean up operation due to Ondoy flood damage, I knew I
just had to come here to Cebu and pay my last respect to a friend.

I only met Nonoy in 2006 when Joan invited me for his birthday
celebration. I was like ” who is nonoy tan?”. But see, we shared
mutual friends from our group, Best Friends Forever . I had no idea who he was. Meeting him for the first time, we hit it off right away. It helped that he knew my dad .We could relate to stories of our common classmates and both had health issues with our heart.
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Surviving and Recovering from Ondoy Flood Damage

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Of course, I never imagined the wrath of Ondoy as it poured rain in Manila. I arrived in Singapore that saturday noon and saw a twitter message from my daughter.

“Oh no, the flood is entering the house. and mom is not here”.

No matter, the age of your child, they still look for good old mom. Their dad was around to help out move things to the second floor. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect the floods to reach neck deep in the house. Our former residence in Magallanes got flooded once and it was just ankle deep so the kids were pretty much exposed to floodwaters in the house. This time it was far more serious.

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Our 3 cars submerged. Only 2 cars had insurance coverage for “Acts of God”.

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Apl.de. Ap “Take Me to the Philippines”

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It didn’t feel right being in Singapore, holed up in a fancy hotel, and eating gourmet dishes while my two girls and husband remained stranded in the second floor of our house. I couldn’t really concentrate on my media coverage of the Black Eyed Peas Concert yesterday because my mind revolved on the neck deep waters in the first floor. Our 3 cars are submerged in water. Our furniture, refrigerator and stove are also under water. Property damage alone is probably 3 million pesos if we include the cars. So that’s how my day has been today.

I went online to make sure my family got food, looked around for rubber boats. Media with me like Tim Yap did relief goods coordination in Eastwood but there was no boat to reach home. I begged around for small boats to reach our neighborhood and finally by 4:00 PM, there were helicopters for food drops and 37 rubber boats. My family finally got food by 4:30 PM. That lifted my spirits up because I felt that going to a party with Apl.de.Ap just didn’t seem right if I am not assured that my family is safe.

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Black Eyed Peas Concert in Singapore

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I am right now in Singapore for the Philippine Department Tourism (DOT) “” Take Me to the Philippines Campaign ” , a Collaboration between DOT and Black Eyed Peas Filipino Member Apl.de.ap The rains were already strong at 5:00 AM on my way to the airport. Upon arriving in Singapore, I heard my home’s first floor had flood waters slowly creeping inside. I panicked.

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Secretary Ace Durano Fascinated by the dual LCD of the new Samsung ST550
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