Sudoku Loco

While waiting for our meeting to start this morning, I scanned yesterday's newspapers. I was reading through the Entertainment section when the unsolved sudoku puzzle caught my attention. When was the last time I solved one? I'm not really into mind-boggling games. That's why I don't get eager to learn chess and similar games. But it was different with sudoku. 

I was visiting my balikbayan aunt two years ago in the then Oakwood Hotel in Makati when I saw my niece solving a puzzle. I thought it was a crossword but when I got near her, it was a sudoku puzzle. I became intrigued by it. Never had the chance though to ask her how it is solved because we became engrossed with our kwentuhan and kainan. Later, I learned that there are no mathematical operations required but pure logic. Since then, I've become a fan of sudoku. I always look for it when I get hold of a newspaper. I've been tempted to buy those puzzles displayed in bookstore shelves but my sister introduced me to web sudoku. Sometimes, she brought home printouts of the puzzle for me to solve. At one point, I even prepared ready-made grids and just copied the supplied numbers from the web to save on printer ink. Each puzzle solved brings me a certain "high" that challenges me to solve another... And then the semesters passed by. The work never ended. And now I discovered it has been a long while since my affair with sudoku. When I retire, solving sudoku puzzles will surely fill my time.

Francis Kong and his Inspiring Excellence

I came to know and read the works of Francis Kong through a friend who is also a fan of his. Francis Kong is a popular motivational speaker and author of several books. In one of the seminars I attended on the quality management systems, the speaker recommended Kong's book "The Early Bird Catches the Worm, But the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese". I immediately borrowed my friend's copy of the book and began to like the way he writes. I find his articles in businessmatters.org and the Philippine Star inspirational. I always search for his books whenever I have the chance to visit the bookstore. If you want to start your day on a positive note, his book "One Day at a Time" is highly recommended. It is supposed to be a daily dose of inspiring stories and anecdotes for one quarter of the year but I finished the whole book in just a few days. He is truly gifted in motivating people. By the way, we cannot give something that we don't have. Francis Kong inspires because he himself is full of inspiration. Inspiring excellence indeed!

Magalang, Pampanga

"Home of the sweetest tamarind in the Republic." Indeed, their tamarind is naturally sweet. The Aglibut sweet tamarind is propagated at the Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) in Magalang, Pampanga. Unfortunately, we did not have enough fruits to taste because of the rains that came before our visit to PAC on March 9-12. The mature unharvested tamarind gets moldy when wetted according to the experts. I was with more than 20 accreditors from various state colleges and universities (SCUs) in Luzon for the accreditation survey visit. I joined the team which evaluated the BS Agricultural Engineering program on its second survey visit. Like other survey visits, there was just a short time to visit the campus, particularly the areas related to my assignment: Faculty and Research. It was my second visit to PAC since October 2003 and I'm glad to note the improvements in the College. PAC has been existing for 33 years and looking forward to being granted agricultural university status soon.

Best Travel Blog

Oops! Don't get me wrong. I'm not referring to this blog. Read on. Bobby discovered Ivan About Town while searching for some photos for his research work. He immediately forwarded the link to me with his positive comments about the site. Best Travel Blog at the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards. Wow! I scanned the posts and truly, he deserved the award. His blog is so informative. His writing style is simple that I always feel and visualize the many places he had been to. As if I was there too. And I admire the photos. He has captured the moments and sights very well. And what makes his blog extra special? It is not just about his personal travels but his heritage advocacy.

Back in Cebu City... after 16 years

Cebu City, Queen City of the South. After 16 years, the city has become more crowded and highly urbanized.

I was back in Cebu City when I attended the Joint RACO-RMIS Coordinators' Meeting on February 5-6, 2009. Doc Teddy and I, RACO and RMIS coordinators of STARRDEC, respectively, flew in the day before the meeting started. After resting for a few hours in our respective rooms at the Cebu Business Hotel, we walked to the site of Magellan's Cross. The landmark is just a few blocks away from our hotel which is located on the oldest street in the Philippines, Colon Street. The historical site is where the original cross, now encased in tindalo wood, was planted by Ferdinand Magellan on April 21, 1521. After the short visit, we walked another few blocks to a market to look for danggit and other dried fish. We might be on the wrong side for we didn't find any so we traced our steps back to where we originally came from... the hotel.

We all agreed to have a taste of what Cebu has to offer so for our first dinner, we all trooped to the City Grill, which is noted for its Sutokil (sugba, tola and kilawin), and ordered our sinugbang seafood. Our group of four savored seaweed salad, grilled talakitok, squids and shrimps, and tasted Doc Teddy's order of grilled liempo and longganisa. Burrp!

The first day was so busy with plenary sessions, workshops, and the simultaneous breakout sessions that we finally ended at past 11 pm. The following day, we had to wake up early and leave at 5:30 am for our walk to the market... danggit bay and all the other stuff Cebu is famous for.

After the closing program, our group rushed to SM Cebu (as if it's different from the other SM malls or maybe, just for some photo ops) then on our way to Magellan's Cross we passed by another landmark so we got off our taxi (again for more photo ops). The Heritage of Cebu Monument, built by renowned artist Eduardo Castrillo, features some of Cebu's important heritage sites and events. The artist is a relative of CvSU's Laya at Diwa creator, Jonnel Castrillo.

Unfortunately, we had no time to explore the other historical landmarks and must-see destinations in Cebu City. Next time?