Project 2

Seems like a close friend of mine just topped the board.
He and I will be embarking on a new project hopefully by early next year, but we have already started ^.^

This will be project 2 btw (will name it later). It is a project that will take at least 2 years to experiment on and will probably cost me about half a million local bucks. I'll post details soon but till then, I'm wishing myself the best of luck.

Anyway, as they always say. Make mistakes as early as you can, as cheaply as you can afford them :) My clock is ticking, and I have 4 years to go to my retirement.



~This is not a blog. This is a Diary.

Made in China

How do you know what you are? If you are a duck born amongst and raised by chickens, you would most probably think, feel, and act like a chicken. That is ofcourse until you get to be with geese, ostriches, and ducks. By going through those groups then you get to be able to fully decide. To be a chicken forever, or be a duck.

I might not make sense here but point is, how do you know what you are made of and for, until you get to find it? Tip: Find it fast!

Do you have what it takes?

To most, this is just a picture of a creature. But to some Final Fantasy fans out there, this is a trophy of epic proportions. The unique thing about Final Fantasy games is that it provides an avenue for hardcore players to actualize their addiction to insanely extreme challenges.

Meet ruby weapon, a hidden boss in the Final Fantasy 7. You dont have to beat him to finish the game and end the story. But if you like to beat yourself up crazy for excellence in a form of self satisfaction (not just bragging rights) then go ahead. It will take 100x more effort and strategy than just finishing the official final boss of the game.

With excellent preparation, experience, and strategy, you may still even experience dying 10-20-30 times. Expect frustration to haunt you as you spend countless hours of trying, failing, and getting back up. But the feeling after bringing this big guy down, its... priceless.

Do you have what it takes to go against the "weapons" of life?

McAfee Epic Fail?

Talk about virus cleaner epic FAIL. Yesterday, McAfee, known as one of the world's biggest Anti Virus company made an estimated tens of thousands of computers all around the world useless.

Getting Older

My birthday is fast approaching and I'm not getting any younger. My friend Nell gave me a good idea: to run my age. With this, I plan that every year, on the week of my birthday, I should run my age. I wonder if I can run 24kms...

However, this is just a plan (the short term kind) and execution is a whole other thing. Us being human, we plan so many things yet execute so little. So how do we help ourselves?

There are probably a thousand books out there and a million web articles about execution so I shall speak from my personal experience.

1. Realistically Attainable
I was able to run 15km on my last. 24 is not to far from that. Some plans with little time frame are so grandeur that motivation is immediately massacred on Day-zero of execution.

2. Document it
If its a goal, write it down. Your brain is no computer. Even computers are prone to corruption of data, what more your brain (with your diet).

3. Let somebody follow you up
It would help if this is a real person (close to you). Please, an alarm on your iCal or iPhone would help but a real person is something concrete. They respond back. They remember. Are you willing to be remembered by your best friend as an "all-talk-no-walk" kind of person?
Its basically social pressure.

Thats it. So, my 24km plan is realistic, and I wrote it down. Time to message my friend Nell after I click on the Publish Post button below. Ciao!

New Version of iPhone - Lost and Found

There is this article in Gizmodo.com spreading like wild fire on the internet. It tells a story about how a certain Apple Engineer lost an iPhone v4 prototype in a bar at California that eventually landed at the hands of the site runners.

Fabricated story by Apple to make this whole thing more interesting to its Fans? I dont know. It seems very well executed. Which leads me to this week's topic. Execution.

On a sidenote, I can't wait to have this phone though.

Keep

I may not know you name, how you look like, or where in this little world you are right now or then. But when I find you, I wont let you go, no matter what.

When does career end, and Family begin?

Last night I had a slightly more-than-usual difficult time locating the bathroom even though I was in an apartment I lived in for almost 2 years. This was last night in Jakarta. Half asleep as I got up, I saw the room as if I was in the hotel in Kuala Lumpur, 2 days ago.

Its funny, yet scary at the same time, how a joke I and my boss played about waking up and not knowing where one's location is start becoming real. Well, last night was definitely one of them. 48 hours ago I was in Malaysia. 24 hours ago I was in Singapore. As I type this in Jakarta, I cant stop thinking by my Mum who's illness is getting worse. She needs an operation, and I need to be there. 24 hours from Now I will be in Manila. add 12 hours from that and Ill be home.

Frozen Yogurt Bandwagon

Ive always wondered what would happen if we would put up a frozen yogurt in Davao City that is "Pang Masa". By pang masa I mean, easily affordable by Class B and somewhat parts of class C.


Introducing, I SCREAM FRO YO! (Its a work in progress) Its really meant to be Ice Cream For You. Then it evolved to I Scream Fro Yo. Sweet huh? This is a photo of the place 3 weeks ago. As of yesterday, its daily sales have been very inspiring.

Its a soft serve frozen yogurt stall similar to the likes of Red Mango, Sour Sally, White Hat but with prices about 50% cheaper. You can easily mix and match frozen yogurt combinations for as cheap as PhP 60.00. What a steal! And the best part is, I SCREAM FRO YOU actually uses Australian yogurt premix. ;) you gotta taste it to believe me.

Check these blogs out by Partyphile. He's a DJ in one of Davao's top radio stations.
Blog 1
Blog 2

Yea, i know the site needs some massive upgrading. But hey, you gotta hand it to my mom. ;)
Love you ma! Ill be home soon...

My Valkyrie

When things get tough, really realy bloody tough, it helps to find the kid in you again. Drawing out the powers of fantasy to bring about uncanny hope, inhuman strength, and heavenly inspiration. Im not exaggerating.

Whenever I am stressed, tired, and just down, I play a game- a fantasy. I imagine that I am a warrior in an epic clash of massive armies that have lasted for days without end. A bloodied fighter soaked in crimson red and gore, facing an infinite pool of enemies with barely any strength left. Equipped with limited weaponry and strength, no retreat, and with only my heart fueling my fight I await for my Valkyrie to come and deliver me to Valhalla, and turn me into an Einherjar for the Final Battle of the gods.

The valkyrie is said to be a female figure who descends from heaven (Valhalla) to bring home exceptional warriors who can be used to aid the Aesir in Ragnarok, the Final Battle. I consider "Ragnarok" to be life, as it is, which I have yet to live. And I know that as things could only get harder and harder, at that point where I feel giving up the most, My Valkyrie will come and save me.

My 2010 part 1

Quoting my job post of about a year ago:

***

These are my goals for 2009:

1. Start a new business (the one i have been planning and saving up for the past few months)
2. Acquire at least PhP 200,000 worth of income generating Assets
3. Maintain my monthly personal expenses (no doodads for me this year)
4. Generate at least PhP 300,000 pesos of Net Income by Dec 1, 2009

***

Results:

1. I was able to start the business. Its a soft ice cream business.
2. The value Ive put in is somewhere above the targeted but due to a lot of cirumstances, asset value is a little bit below my target.
3. I failed on this one. Back 2008 my only doodad was Sponsoring Angelica through WorldVision. Now, it has increased with the following:

• Monthly Payment for my iPhone
  
• Electricity (I now pay for my Family's Bill in Davao which averages 4k Pesos)
• Parking Space Rent in Manila

4. I ended the year with less than the targetted but i didnt end up with a loss, so its ok.


All in all, it wasnt so bad. But still, I fell way short. Now i have to do some catching up. I also realized that my objectives are too thin...

Poof Idea 2: Job Matching Real Estate Venture

It saddens me to see people moving in to the city with the dream of helping their familes back in their faraway hometowns only to face the reality that there are none.

I dont have any business model to back this up but I could be working on it sooner or later. But here are general points to what Im thinking:

1. Small but cozy apartments for the low-income class hardworkers
2. Rent to own scheme
3. Applicants will be given nearby job/career opportunities (with salaries capable of supporting the rent+ daily expenses)
4. Very accessible locations (relative to the work place)

Strategy
1. Coordinate with local leaders (Barangay Officials, Mayor, etc...) with long term projects (infra structure or whatever, as long as long term)
2. Identify available jobs for low-income household earners.
3. Purchase foreclosed houses or NPA's at best rates and with additional shields/incentives as help from the Officials (LGU's).
4. Market followed by collecting, and screening applicants. (start with squater areas most probably or government lists of to-be-relocated people)
5. Calculation of dp, monthly mortage, and settling of contract.
6. Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly seminars on money management and stuff (periodicity depends on feasibility)
6. Pray, pray, and pray that everything goes well.

Its not really designed as a Non-profit. It is still a real estate venture, just with a purpose (aside from earning income).

Make a List

Make a list, and cross them one by one.

For today,
For this week,
For this month,
For this year,
For this Decade
For this Lifetime.

I promise you, you will get MORE done. Write it down. :)

Poof Idea 1

Poof Idea 1:
Ad-Powered Traditional Moving FoodStalls


We see them everyday in the streets of Philippines. Whether you are in Davao, Cebu, or Makati, its highly probably that you will come across at least one.

What if we put up a group that produces these kariton frames, allow them to be rented at nearly break even (accounting maintenance and stuff of course) something similar to a mini-franchise with products that can be variable (fishball, isaw, kwe-kwek, etc...).
The profit: Ads. Instead of promoting your franchise/company, leave all space for the ads. Side, front, top, everything. I really hate adds but imagine, the ads helping this biz become more affordable for the poor who wants to start a business.