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So I saw this standee at the gas station near my house. I had a chat with the staff of 7-11 and apparently they see a lot of people (both guys and girls) putting their faces there and have their photos taken. It’s also driving sales of their Slurpee.

Wow. Just… wow. As in… wow.

What I found really disturbing though was the last part in the blogger’s narrative. She said:

We met the hotel driver who’s been waiting for us since 11:40PM. We finally went out of the airport at 1:30AM. I thanked the driver for waiting for us. He wasn’t surprised that we were the last to go out. Sabi nya, kapag Pinoy chinecheck daw muna.

Calling the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

To read the full story, check out the blog of Chyng Reyes.

Ding Gagelonia belongs to a rare breed of writers. A veteran journalist, Ding was one of the sharpest and wittiest writers I’ve ever met. As a blogger he was fearless, passionate, and overflowing with conviction and love for our country. I can still remember him doing his photo montages on MS Paint. He was always focused and never hesitated to give 110% in every blog entry he wrote. It’s safe to say that Ding breathed life to every blog post by imparting himself to each article. Every word was carefully chosen and had purpose. Nothing was unintentional or an accident.

Not all intelligent men are wise and as a mentor Ding was both. Despite the age gap we had he would always have an open mind and would listen intently to everything I would say. We would have several debates about politics and issues but he never used the “I’m-older-than-you-so-listen-up-boy” card on me. He would listen to me, hear all my points out, and then agree/disagree in a logical manner. This guy was a thinker.

When a loved one passes away we usually end up wishing that we had more time with that person. I feel the same way for Ding. I never really spent too much time with him but there was always an urge to get to know him more and to just engage him in conversation.

Ding, thank you for everything. We love you and we will miss you.

If you have a lot of things in common with a person the more likely it is for you to trust and learn from them. This was the case with my English teacher in 2nd year (or 3rd year) High School, Mr. Frederick “Erick” Tomas. We loved two things passionately: Judo and… StarCraft.

Teachers should care video

Tale of the Wrong North
There was a time in my life when things weren’t going well. There were a lot of “domestic” issues and they happened mostly during High School. Going to school everyday then was such a hard thing to do because I had so many things on my mind and I wasn’t just in the mood to “learn”. I was your typical rebellious young man who wasn’t going along with his peers and despised his teachers even more, haha.

Enter Mr. Tomas. This guy was a geek. But he wasn’t just a “geek” because he was also the Ateneo High School Judo team coach! Anyway, I eventually decided to join the Judo club and would practice once or twice a week. This guy taught me most of the basics of Judo including how to do a Judo roll. Judo became my outlet for the stress and problems at home. It gave me something to look forward to each week and I really poured my heart and soul into it.

The most memorable thing about him though was a StarCraft game! We organized a Teacher vs Student match in Netopia (an internet cafe across Ateneo). It was a very exciting fight but we obviously won (:P). The best moment in the game was when we were attacking from the north and Mr. Tomas was shouting to his teammates “NORTH NORTH NORTH!” For some weird reason his teammates went SOUTH. He then started shouting “WRONG NORTH! YOUR OTHER NORTH!” LOL.

We all need teachers that we could relate to and trust. They help build our confidence in ourselves and in our abilities. Judo was an integral part of my younger years because it taught me the values of discipline andhard work. I wouldn’t have pushed forward with it if it weren’t for Mr. Tomas and eventually my college coach Ali Sulit. Good teachers point you towards where you’re supposed to go… your true north. Not the wrong one.

Thank you Mr. Tomas and I hope you and your family are doing well! How about a StarCraft 2 rematch? >:)