Happy New Year! 2006 was a great year for me, a lot of events happened that made me the person I am right now. Lessons learned, experiences gained, hardships and trials faced, happy and sad moments has brought. New Year's resolution? To fulfill my past New Year's resolutions before making another one. I'm very positive for 2007, that this year things would be different and more exciting. Cheers for the New Year!
Top 3 Events of 2006
Typhoon Xangsane - experienced the most unforgettable two-week power interruption in my entire life. Milenyo was a super typhoon that caused major havoc not only in Metro Manila but also in major provinces.
Design Project - from May to December 2006, I was on the works on my Design Project that took me more than the usual. Hope patience really pays off.
Blog Redesign - I redesigned my blog last September, from the colors to the various contents. September is also the month with my most number of blog posts.
Other notable events of 2006:
January 2006: Russia cuts natural gas supply to Ukraine
February 2006: Foiled coup attempt in the Philippines, Arroyo declares state of emergency, 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, ULTRA Stampede
March 2006: Crash wins Oscars' Best Picture, 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
April 2006: Ariel Sharon removed from office
May 2006: SM Mall of Asia Opens, 6.3 magnitude quake hits Java Indonesia, Leo Oracion becomes first Filipino to reach Mt. Everest summit
June 2006: Montenegro declares independence, FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, Al-Qaeda's al-Zarqawi killed in Iraq
July 2006: North Korea missile test, Fidel Castro relinquishes power
August 2006: Pluto demoted as a "dwarf planet"
September 2006: Thailand coup ousts PM Thaksin, Shinzo Abe becomes Japanese PM, Typhoon Milenyo
October 2006: Mindoro Earthquake, Counterfeit Peso Coins, Google Buys YouTube, Microsoft releases IE7
November 2006: US Midterm Elections, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 Launch, Typhoon Reming
December 2006: 15th Asian Games in Doha, Execution of Saddam Hussein
How's everyone? Christmas is over, but nothing to stop the coming New Year! I've spent my Christmas with my family and received some gifts from my relatives (need to save 'em.) Today is the feast of Holy Innocents, which was supposed to be like April Fools' Day, so better watch out for pranks! My cable internet connection is significantly slower than usual, caused by the powerful earthquakes that hit Taiwan Wednesday.
Here's what I recently discovered: the Philippines actually added two new provinces this year, both from Mindanao (from Wikipedia) Last October 30, 2006, the people of the 1st district of Maguindanao approved the creation of the new province, Shariff Kabunsuan in a plebescite officiated by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
Just recently, last December 2, 2006, the people of Surigao del Norte approved the creation the new province of Dinagat Islands through a plebescite after the Philippine Congress approved the law creating the said province.
Music albums currently listening: Michael V.'s "The Bubble G. Anthology", Take That's"Beautiful World", and Sugarfree's "Tala-Arawan". Here's the video of Sugarfree's debut single from Tala-Arawan, "Kung Ayaw Mo Na Sa Akin"
My PC crashed twice last week, every time my sister prepares to use it. The first time it happened my system tells me that "some Windows files are missing and/or corrupted" and needs to be repaired. I had no other choice but to reformat my hard disk. Good thing (thanks to my intuition) I have my backup files with me before it happened (though I can't recover some of them.) After the clean install, another problem hit me. Again my PC crashed and Windows doesn't start. I believe it was the Automatic Updates that caused it. So it's back from scratch once again. Now looks like there's no more problem, updating my applications and having some caution.
LEA SALONGA "Triumph of the One"
Four golds, six silvers and nine bronzes. Not bad at all for Team Philippines who fininshed 18th in the medal standings of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Watched the closing ceremonies last night, seeing Lea Salonga sing in the final part makes me proud of being a Pinoy. Next sporting events to watch out for are the 24th SEA Games in Thailand and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Few days to go, exams are over, time to rest a bit, on to my birthday, then Christmas and New Year. So little time (and resources, that is) to prepare, not to mention the traditional "Christmas rush." Midnight mass (Simbang Gabi) has actually started. Children carolers are also in the streets singing in your doorstep. Though it's been trying times, I hope my celebration of the Holiday Season would be fine, simple yet meaningful.
Well, how life's been treating me right now? So far so good, I guess. With Christmas just weeks away, there's a lot of things to ponder. All I need is peace of mind and heart, relax a bit and soothe the tiredness within.
It's kinda ironic. Sometimes when you get mad, do you have to let it all out or just keep it to yourself and time will tell when to stand where you left off? Sometimes the person you hate may be the one you can depend on the most, and vice versa? Sometimes complaining can cause you trouble rather than having a solution. Right now to me it seems like a hot, humid summer in a chilly December. I remembered this song from French pop singer Jenifer, which reminds me of summer.
RP court finds US marine guilty in rape of Filipina at Subic Bay
A Philippine regional trial court on Monday meted out a guilty verdict against American serviceman Lance Corporal Daniel Smith but acquitted his three co-accused marines in the celebrated Subic rape case filed by a 23-year-old Filipina known to the public only by the pseudonym "Nicole."
Judge Benjamin Pozon of the Makati RTC-Branch 139, after asking for an extra week to review voluminous documents and testimonies, failed to find probable cause to indict Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Keith Silkwood and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier.
The court ruled that Smith should be brought to the Makati city jail, but an hour later, he was taken instead to a police station at the financial district of Makati City.
As soon as the court clerk finished reading the verdict, Smith's lawyer promptly filed an appeal for the judge to reconsider his decision to send the soldier to the Makati City Jail.
The judge as swiftly denied the appeal, even as Smith's lawyer reportedly plans to raise the matter to the Philippine Supreme Court, so the US could retain custody of Smith.
The verdict was read in front of the complainant, and her family members and supporters from militant women's groups, as well as the four accused and representatives from the US Embassy and the Philippine Foreign Affairs department.
In his review of the witnesses' testimonies, the judge said the three co-accused could not be considered as accomplices in the case, even as Smith was "fully aware of the intoxication of the complainant."
Last Saturday I watched the live opening ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar on television. The event was truly spectacular, from the extravagant and lengthy performances to the lighting of the Asian Games torch.
I'll be posting my "Best of 2006" feature next time. What has been the year in music, gaming, media, and tech.
Here's the latest video from Nelly Furtado, All Good Things (Come to an End)
NELLY FURTADO All Good Things (Come to an End)
Loose
