HATE LATE? — PizzaHut Delivery

Do you hate late deliveries? I know you do just as I hate it. And to win more customers, most fast food companies are bragging about their 30-minute delivery or your order is free.

Well, 30 minutes is a bit tight especially on holidays and special occasions like Valentine’s and the likes. But I never thought that one day, I’ll be a recipient of that service-level agreement.

Just tonight, I ordered pizza and spaghetti in PizzaHut. I placed my order at 7:55pm and I was told that I’ll receive it at around 8:25pm. Fair enough and on my estimate, the pizza will arrive just before the third quarter of the Ginebra-San Miguel Game3 Finals is over. However, the game is already won by Ginebra(series 1-2) and my pizza isn’t delivered yet. Only at around 8:42pm when it finally arrived.

First, I asked the delivery man if he was lost or he was just late and he said that there’s too many deliveries, he was just late. He then asked me to call the hotline again because he told me that my pizza should be free. And so I called the hotline and verified if I was promised a 45-minute delivery or the usual 30. The person on the other line said it was 30 and my pizza should be free. At the end, I just paid for the spaghetti, Pepsi and delivery charge. That saved me more than PHP200.

I know that the best thing on earth is FREE but coming from a service-oriented company where service-level-agreement is at utmost important, I know that somebody will shoulder that penalty be it monetary or otherwise. That’s the reason why I asked the delivery man if the penalty will be deducted from his salary. If he said Yes, I would pay for the whole price. Well, he said no but at the end, I didn’t enjoy much the food that I ordered.

This is also posted at FilipinoPal Blogs

A Robbery at Tutuban Parking

It’s Christmas time and as expected, prices of some goods and services are higher than usual. That’s a given fact but when Tutuban Center raise it’s parking rates, I can’t help but feel being robbed. Just imagine, from the flat rate of P40.00 per entry, they raised it to P50.00 on the first three hours and then additional P20.00 per hour or part hereof. For regular patrons like me, you’ll be surprised when the attendant hands your bill.

That did not stopped there, the flat rate at sidewalk parking is raised from P50.00 to P150.00. That’s a 300% raise! I’m not even sure if that’s legal but they already implemented it. The parking is now, IMHO, is their biggest CASHCOW. The Tutuban management surely looked like a big fat and hungry crocodile just like the potilicians they despised.

Despite the price, the parking tower is jampacked and the number of vehicles parked is definitely well beyond it’s capacity. Every possible space is used for parking including the two ramps on every level. The ramps had vehicles parked on both sides and the space left is barely enough for your car to pass. I was pointed by the guard to one of the free spaces in the ramp(we arrived at 11:00am and they are just filling the ramps then) and didn’t have the choice but follow because the regular parking slots are all taken up to the rooftop level.

We left by 5:20pm so that cost us P130 pesos (P50 for the first 3 hrs and 80 for the addtl 3.3 hours). Whew! That’s more than thrice the usual P40.00 flat rate. But considering that we spent almost 8T on that 6 hours, I think it is still worth it. However, if you only plan to buy a couple of stuffs there, it’s better if you don’t go there at all and just buy whatever stuff that is in the malls. Hopefully SM won’t raise their parking rates this season.

Pinoy Dream Academy: Rosita is out Finally!!!!

Yesterday, the final six was announced while two were expelled. Congratulations to Jay-Ar, Chad, Panky, Irish, Ronnie and the would be eventual winner(IMHO), Yeng. They all deserve to be there and sadly, Yvan wasn’t included. I think Yvan deserves to be there more than Ronnie but the latter has the looks and still single so he got a lot more votes. Yvan made a one hell of a farewell performance last Saturday night. He was just amazing.

However, this post is not about them or their performance but rather about Rosita. I’d like to thank my fellow viewers in finally ejecting Rosita frp, the academy. She must have been expelled earlier on but being connected with the ‘masa’, she managed to stay longer in the race. Of course, there were times where she was saved by the teachers that kept her afloat. (just thinking aloud, aren’t the teachers influenced to save Rosita because of the supposed popularity with the masa? For TV ratings, of course!). At any rate, Rosita must be thankful that she reached the last expulsion night and stayed longer than Eman and RJ (both are terrific performers and songwriters).

But what exactly happened is the opposite. Rosita, in national television, cried hestirically at the concert hall. Apparently, she can’t accept the fact that she was expelled from the academy. My gulay!!!! What does she think about herself? Does she think she deserves to be there? Call me what you want but I think she is a misfit in that academy along with other contestants that thankfully were ejected early in the contest.

Her self-pity is just too annoying already I want to turn-off the TV whenever I see her. She made big issues out of small things that affected her relationship with other scholars. But I think being able to stay in the academy longer than expected made her think that she really deserved it and that she has the voice and talent to be there. Though it is undeniable that she can sometimes sing, it is not her talent that made her stay there. Or maybe she knows that she doesn’t have the talent and she feels that there’s no future for her outside the academy. Well, she may be correct in that sense but knowing ABS-CBN, her ‘connection’ with the masa will be definitely used. I would say that it is not appropriate for her to dream of staying long in the music business as of yet but I think she’ll have her time in the entertainment business. I’ll bet she’ll do some guestings in ASAP and other ABS shows as well as PDA Mall tours that will run for some time. And with that, she must be thankful with all the people who helped her. She must be grateful with all the viewers who voted her. More importantly, she must accept that she’s already expelled and that she simply doesn’t have the right to be included in the Final Six.

And one more thing, she must be thankful of having that Brit to be his boyfriend. Though it doesn’t surprise me to see that tall caucasian to be in-loved with a tsimay looking Filipina, it still surprised me to see Rosita snatching that man. Ei, Rosita’s bf reminds me of Spike from the movie Notting Hill. Very funny!

What if Noah is a Filipino?

I got this from a forwarded email. Funny
———————————————-
Ganito ang mangyayari sa barko. Read along … …… … … … … … ..

Taong 2005 at isang ordinaryong middle class pinoy si Noah. Nagpakita
sa kanya ang Diyos at sinabing “Pagkataposng isang taon ay bubuhos ang
ulan Thunder at babahain ang buong kapuluan ng Pilipinas. Gusto kong
gumawa ka ng isang malaking arko Cruisingat isakay mo rito ang pares-pares
na mga Dog 3 Cat 4 Elephant Bunny hayop at mga mag-asawang pilipino sa iba’t ibang
kapuluan.”

Ibinigay kay Noah ang specs ng Arko at taos puso nitong tinanggap ang responsibilidad na sagipin ang sambayanang Pilipino sa napipintong pagbaha.

Lumipas ang 1 taon, muling nagpakita ang Diyos kay Noah. Walang arkong
nagawa si Noah at galit na galit siyang tinanong ng Diyos,

“Nasaan ang arko na ipinagawa ko sa iyo?” Tumugon si Noah, “Patawarin po ninyo ako kung di po natupad ang utos ninyo! Nagkaroon po ng malaking problema sa plano po ninyo.”

At inilahad ni Noah ang mga sagabal na nakaharap niya sa pag-gawa ng arko.

Humingi siya ng Mayor’s permit Paper Work pero papayag lang daw si Mayor kung ang gagawa ng arko ay ang construction firm ng kanyang pamangkin. Tumungo siya sa Congressman pero papayag lang daw si Congressman kung may matatanggap siyang 30% commission. Nagtayo ng unyon ang mga kinuha niyang manggagawa at nag-strike.

Natunugan ng mga left-leaning groups ang kanyang balak at ang mga ito ay nag-rally dahil daw sa hindi Crazymakatarungang pagpili ng mga taong sasakay sa arko (mga taong naniniwala lang sa Diyos ang pwedeng sumakay). Nakisali sa rally ang mga bakla at tomboy dahil bias daw na normal na mag-asawa lang ang pwedeng sumakay.

Ang civil society group ay nakisali na rin sa gulo dahil napag-alaman daw nila na ang pondong gagamitin sa paggawa ng arko ay galing sa donasyon ng mga gambling lords at katas ng weteng.

Sa kaguluhang ito ay napilitang magpatawag ng hearing ang senado “in aid of legislation”. Sinubukan ni Noah na gamitin ang EO 464 para makaiwas sa hearing pero dahil hindi sya executive official, napilitan siyang tumestigo.

Nang malaman ng senado na utos ng Diyos ang pagpapagawa ng arko, dineklara nila itong unconstitutional dahil hindi raw nito iginalang ang separation ng church at state Nakialam na rin ang NBI at PNP at sinabi nilang meron silang impormasyon na ang barko raw na ito ay gagamitin ni Erap sa kanyang pagtakas. Sinabi naman ng ISAFP at DOJ na ito raw ay gagamitin ng grupong Magdalo sa binabalak nilang coup laban kay Arroyo. Nilapitan ni Noah si Mike Defensor para makipag-usap kay GMA. Payag daw si GMA na ituloy ang arko kung ipapaskil daw sa arko ang malaking mukha ni Arroyo na may slogan “Towards a Strong Republic”.

“Hindi po ako pumayag kaya hanggang ngayon po ay may TRO ang pag-gawa ng arko.

Sa palagay ko po kailangan ko pa ng 10 taon para matapos ang inyong proyekto.” Ang huling wika ni Noah. Napa-iling ang Diyos at sinabing, “Di ko na kailangang wasakin pa ang bansang ito. Hayaan ko na lang kayong sumira nito.”

—————————————-
This spam actually circulated years ago and was modified several times to fit the situation of the country (i.e, EO 464, GMA, Erap, etc). And with the current move for Constitutional Assembly for Charter Change, the small economical success achieved by the Arroyo administration is about to go the drain and pull the country into much harder life.

Loans : Good or Bad?

Since I passed-up the first time I was offered to invest, I made sure that it won’t happen again the next time. Christmas is just around the corner and for sure, I need funds for the season. I applied for a small personal loan that I’ll invest when the opportunity comes.

According to Mr. Colayco of the Colayco Foundation, borrowing money is not bad. Actually, it empowers the borrower. It creates opportunity. It is the mindset of the people that’s not good which put some people in huge debt. The mindset common to many Filipinos is that the borrowed money is considered theirs when in fact, it is not. Loans are loans. You have to pay them and make good use of the money.

And what’s the best way to use that money but invest and invest I did. It will return on the first week of December. It’s not a big investment but is good enough to earn something extra. The proceeds of this deal will already cover the whole year interest of the loan with some excess. That means all the proceeds on the subsequent deals will already be considered profits. If given a chance, I can use the loan six times in one year and if the average profit is 16% per deal, that will almost double my money in a year.

The prospect is very promising indeed. I’m just hoping that I’ll be given more chances like this.

Elections and Christmas

Christmas is coming and this season, it would be different. Wanna know why? There’s another election next year and our beloved politicians are already trying hard to show themselves to our voters. You can’t blame them, that’s their bread and butter. Oh yes, the country’s coffers is their source of living. Haha! Damn right, it is!!!!

And to get back to our topic, election and Christmas, trapos(that’s Traditional Politicians) are already scrambling to prepare their own gimmicks. That’s the reason why you can now see a lot of streamers with greetings to their constitutients. They are the type of banners wherein the face of the candidate covers 80% of the printed area while 5% is for the greeting itself. The 15% remaining is for the white space. If you think about it, who will throw away at least 300K worth of banners into our thoroughfares for nothing? Well, except the politicians of course!

And there’s another not-so-subtle technique, a TV-commercial. Woohoo!!! This is the winner as of now! I don’t know if you already got a chance to see the latest LuckyMe commercial. Senator Kiko Pangilinan is there together with MegaStar Sharon Cuneta! Damn, I didn’t expect that from him, really! I respect the man but I didn’t expect something like that from him. Whether he like it or not, it sure did tarnished his reputation as fas as I’m concerned. He’s not the first one to do that, though. You have Sen. Lacson who did the same for Napoleon VSOP and Sen. Jamby Madrigal for another product I forgot what. And of course, there are others who did the same but didn’t win. In fact, one of my bets in the 2001 senatorial elections, Mareng Winnie (Monsod), didn’t win even with the help of a detergent back then.

In the next coming days, you’ll see more of these. Personally when I see them myself, the feeling is like..”There goes my withholding tax again!”. Whew!!! For a person who pays almost a third of his salary, you can’t blame me if I feel that way especially when you know that your goverment and the legislative department does not do what they need to do. And what’s more painful about it is the fact that you see a lot of misfits in the government. Paying a third of my paycheck for tax and be treated indifferently in our government institutions like Airports(BI), Seaports(PPA), SSS, LTO, City Halls and others does not add up well. It does not feel good to see unqualified and self-serving persons running our government from local to national. And they will come to you in the next coming months to solicit your vote. But actually, your vote will not matter since they’ll buy it from somewhere else, anyways.

So, until then. Let’s just hope that you receive a present from these parasites so that you’ll get something back from your taxes.

Money Matters for Rich and Poor

It is an undeniable fact that the rich will continue to make more money while the poor will continue to struggle just to survive another day. Though it is true that there are rags-to-riches true stories, they are very rare.

What’s really interesting is that it never occured to me that a realization will happen to me. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was offered to invest in a trading transaction. It’s a huge investment that naturally will give a large profit. It’s a very rare opportunity that was only offered because the trader didn’t have enough funds for her business because of a sudden surge of purchase orders. Afraid to lose clients, she offered the deal to me. It’s a sure deal and there’s just one problem — I don’t have the money to invest. It could have been a great help for us to experience a time when there’s something extra…. something left to save and for our guilty pleasures(even for just a time). But I’m not a rich man and clearly, this opportunity is not for me.

For a well-to-do family, coughing-up 300T will not be a problem. Even if they don’t have the money in cash or in bank, these people can easily borrow either from banks or any lending companies that would be more than happy to loan them the needed funds. They have the capacity to pay, banks wouldn’t have a second-thought of approving their loans. It’s that easy. And after 2 months, they would get their investment together with their profit which could go from the lowest of 20% to as high as 100% or even more.

That’s the sad reality and if we don’t help ourselves and take advantage of every opportunity that knocks our doors, the struggle will continue.

Bullied by MMDA Personnel

I got apprehended yesterday by the MMDA at the corner of Aurora Blvd and EDSA. I came from E. Rodriguez Ave then to Aurora Blvd and wanted to turn right to EDSA going back to Makati. I don’t exactly know why I got apprehended yesterday because I’ve been using that route for so long. I was told that I can only turn right in that area if I came from Aurora Blvd but since I came from E. Rod, I violated the lane .
WTF!!!!!! You can’t even see the worn-out lanes in that area! The harebrained MMDA ‘traffic enforcer’ advised me that I should have crossed EDSA then turned right to Araneta Center and the right again to P. Tuazon and finally left to EDSA. Wow!!! What a damn bright idea, huh?!?! That would have caused me another 30 minutes in Cubao and at least a liter of gasoline! I just can’t believe it!
But since I’m already starving to death at that time since I haven’t had a breakfast, I was forced to bribe the MMDA bastard. And what’s more?!? I think I’m too hungry already that I forgot that I have a callling card of a Malacanang officer(at the office of the Executive Secretary) which could have saved my bribe money! Aaarrgh!
I think that was the second time I wasn’t able to use connections. I’m just not used to using other person’s name to my personal advantage. Oh yeah, I should have not bribed that lunatic but hey, he’ll get my license and how then can I drive?
Now, feeling duped, I called MMDA hotline to check whether there really is a lane violation rule in that area. Damn!!!! I should have not called because I wast told that it’s completely legal to turn right in that area! I just then told the customer service that I was just apprehended by some morons in the corner of Aurora blvd and EDSA. Now, I really felt fooled! Hmnnn… let’s see. I’ll email Bayani Fernando about this. I already received a lot of bad stories about those corrupt enforcers. I just hope BF kick their butt out!

PACMAN vs CHOLOLO : Gentlemen of the Ring

The Filipino community has something to be proud of again with the win of Manny Pacquiao over Oscar Larios this morning. Add to that are the three undercards won by fellow Filipinos Gerry Peñalosa, Jimrex Jaca and Czar Amonsot.

The main bout was highly controlled by Manny in all twelve rounds but third when he was hurt by Larios. Had Chololo been a better fighter, Manny may have been knocked-out in that round. It was really obvious that he got hurt there and he acknowledged it in an interview after the fight. Though he said it wasn’t serious, I think he was almost knocked-out there. But we have to credit the man for great moves there and being able to get out of that situation before anything untoward happen.

As always, PacMan has shown us his wits and power in the ring. He was fast and powerful. I was actually surprised that Chololo stood there up to the end of the bout. PacMan on the otherhand, did what he do best. He has thrown punches as he liked and landed them very well. Obviously, the speed and power of Manny is just too much for Oscar. Punches from Pacquiao is coming from everywhere. There was even a hook punch that landed directly on Lario’s face.

But I didn’t see the Manny I watched fighting Morales. The intensity isn’t there all the time. It may be a strategy since he is controlling the fight, anyways. It was a defensive tactic so that a lucky punch from Larios will not hit him. If you look at it, it was a show of respect on part of Manny for Larios. It was an admission that Larios is also a good fighter.

Chololo earned the respect of many Filipinos, including me. Thanks to ABS-CBN Sports on their coverage, we were able to have a glimpse of his personal life. A family man and coming from a poor family, his fate is almost the same as that of Manny. It was the biggest fight of his life and I hope his career doesn’t end here. He has proven something on this fight and I firmly believe that had he got a better trainer on his side, he’ll reach stardom. And I wish him luck, really.

Overall, it was a good fight. Not that great but it’s nevertheless good. The two men showed respect to each other. They were really sport and they fought well. The bad side is that many politicians are now starting to ride again with the win of Manny. Well, that’s Philippine politics. (But it sometimes hurt when you know that a third of your salary goes to them–taxes, baby!)

I just hope Manny will be in better shape when he steps the ring on his rubber match with Erik Morales. It will be yet another great brawl between two well-behaved and scientific boxers.

Victim or a Lucky Bastard?

I saw a news item in http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11943967/ regarding a female teacher who had sex with a 14-year-old male student. Well, that’s a crime in the U.S. and here in the Philippines and the boy is the considered ‘victim’. Or is he?

If you haven’t read the news yet, the case has apparently been dropped to protect the welfare of the victim who had already suffered from unwanted media attention. I fully understand why it’s illegal to have sex with young girls on the grounds of morality and conscience. The penalty for the crime is quite severe and it’s much worse if the perpetrator is somebody who is on an authority. That’s called qualified seduction or if he is not lucky enough, he can even get death sentence for statutory rape if the ‘victim’ deny their affair.

But this case is different. The victim must have even reached the 7th heaven numerous times (they apparently did it in school, in her home and SUV) and you call him a victim? For grown-up men, have you ever come to think how lucky this bastard was? How many professors have you had a crush on during your college days? Forget about your high-school days, please, as you’re too young then.

I know 14 years old is too damn young for a Filipino to think about sex but if you are an American (with their built) and you are approached by a hot 25-year-old blond, would you turn down that blessing? I advise you to check the news item in case it would help you on your decision.