Cool Blue Running

"Chalkboard" was a campaign project to raise funds that were used to cover basic essentials for Pawac Elementary School, located in the remote mountain district of Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya. The school is the home of about fifty students from K-1 to K-6. As most of these children come from a family who rely on the farm and livestock, they go to a great lengths just to get elementary education, helping their parents tend their livestock before walking miles of dirt and treacherous trails to reach the school ground. The Road to Pawac Pawac Elementary School Ground In less than a week project "Chalkboard" had managed to raise enough fund to cover basic essentials of Pawac Elementary School. Chalks Pencils Scissors Papers Medical Kits Drawing Sets This campaign was run and managed using crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe.com

With mental business and meetings all morning, I was ready to throw the white towel for the day and so while my colleague were preoccupied toiling with their day to day operation, I quietly walked out, feeling some guilt, the building in my running gear and hit the trail.

For about two years now, I have been using Samsung S Health fitness app which came pre-installed with Samsung S5 mobile phone. What I like about this app, It keeps track of your daily activities and smart enough to know whether you are walking or running. Moreover, It also comes with number of metrics that helps you manage your progress. Finally, it is collaborative and social, and uses game mechanics to motivate you achieve a goal.

Schedule Day 1 Sun Oct 23 Arrive in Taipei around 6:10 PM from Sapporo Stay at Taipe through Airbnb Day 2 Mon Oct 24 Sight seeing around Taipei and neighboring sites Stay at Taipe through Airbnb Day 3 Tues Oct 25 Start from Taipei to Lugang 龍山寺 Tour and lunch in Lugang then continue on to Cingjing Farm Stay at Star Villa Day 4 Wed Oct 26 Spend half a day in Cingjing Farm Check-in at Sun Moon Lake hotel Boat tour or bike around the lake in the afternoon. Day 5 Thur Oct 27 Sun Moon Lake morning boat tour and sight seeing Go to Tainan for lunch, must try breakfast Tainan milkfish salted porridge After lunch, go sight seeing around Tainan or retire at hotel. Stay at Shangri-la Far Eastern Plaza Day 6 Fri Oct 28 Leave Tainan to Kenting in the morning, about 2 hours drive by car. Arrive Kenting Stay at Howard Beach Hotel, Kenting Sight Seeing by Taxi, bike or scooter next morning Day 7 Sat Oct 29 Sight ...

We've been to Japan several times where each visit offered unique experiences. This time we'll be roaming the north part, Hokkaido.  Here is a rough plan of our Hokkaido trip. Day 0, Sun Oct 16 Meet at Bay Area, and fly from SFO together. I'll be flying over the day before from IAD. Day 1, Mon Oct 17 Arrive at  CTS around  1:30 PM. Pick up rental car at Times Car Rental by 3pm Get Hokkaido Expressway Pass Drive to Noboribetsu, about an hour drive from CTS Visit Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Jigokudani (Hell Valley) Sleep at Hotel Mahoroba Day 2, Tue Oct 18 Morning walk to Jigokudani, Hell Valley Drive from Noboribetsu to Hakodate, about 2.5 hour. Visit Onuma-Quasi National Park Night views from Mount Hakodate.  Take Ropeway to Mt Hakodate for top 3 night view in the world. Sleep at Comfort Hotel, Hakodate Day 3, Wed Oct 19 Hakodate Morning Market From Hakodate, tour around town Hakodate to Toyako (2.5 hr) Drive Goryo...

As everyone else tends to spend their summer weekend on the beach, we left our apartment early Saturday morning for Dewey Beach, a three hour drive from Washington Metropolitan Area. Around 10:00 AM, we reached the main artery that leads to the three famous beach destination in Delaware, Bethany, Rehoboth, and Dewey beach. With everyone else on the road, the last four mile stretch to our weekend destination was a bottle neck. About half an hour later, we arrived at the hotel lobby to check-in. Our room was not ready, so we decided to have lunch at nearby restaurant before spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach. Beach at Cape Henlopen State Park, about 20 minutes drive away from Dewey Beach Cheese and Wine at Atlantic View Hotel

Knowing the culture and language can lead to a more pleasant and memorable travel experiences. Here are some minutes worth remembering when travelling to regions such as Morocco, Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. It is not necessary to bring or give gifts when invited to someones home. However, if you decide to bring gifts, sweets or liquor(only in liberal regions such as Dubai) are acceptable. No flowers as this are ornaments for funeral occasion only.  It is very rude to not accept gifts and opening gifts in front of a person is also considered rude.  The concept of time does not exist, being late half an hour to a meeting is quite normal. It is also not necessary to setup an appoint when visiting someone. Start with small talk before diving in to business. When you want something done, a small gifts sometime will do the trick otherwise you hear the word "inshallah", which means God willing. Avoid talking about personal issues.  Never take "No" for an ans...

This was a trip that required minimal effort to plan it, using "share" services such as Uber for transportation and Airbnb for accommodation, creating a laid-back and enjoyable trip in the island of Puerto Rico. In terms of transportation we were left with limited option, upon arrival at San Juan International Airport we picked up a Hertz rental car to go around the island. Not far from the airport is Isla Verde, where where we stayed for three nights at a beach side condo through Airbnb. This part of town is the up and coming tourist destination, away from the crowd of old San Juan. Isla Verde is a local hangout where you find great food at affordable price. The beach on the weekend is full of beach activities- boogie boarding, family picnics, beach volley balls, cultural events and lively  music. An hour drive from Isla Verde is Ponce- an old historic and colorful town where kids wear uniform to school. Ponce Historic Downtown Nearby Isla Verde are th...

This was a flat pancake run around Manassas Regional Airport runway where thousand of runners of all ages and skill levels had participated on this fun event on a beautiful Sunday morning.  The 10K run started at 7:30 AM and followed by the 5K run. From  start, I tried to keep up with a pack of runner until I realized I can no longer hold on to the pace. Around mile two, I slowly drop back to my comfort zone, a ten minute per mile pace and steadily hold on until the finish line. I was surprised to finish the course a little bit over an hour, a faster pace than I expected. Manassas Runway 10K Run

Cherry Blossom Kite Festival

Today, I got a chance to reflect on things or projects that I wanted to accomplish for the year and the means to achieve them. The idea is to have a relax and achievable goals where you get to have fun along the process, using SMART which I learned from work as guiding principle, I came up with the following: Learn Thai language. Thailand is a place that we both can agree on to live as a second home in the near future. It is short hop to Burma and has many centers where you can spend long retreat to practice meditation. The standard of  living is quite affordable and healthcare has improved over the years. So staying in Thailand for two to three months this year will be a fun way to pick up basic commands and learn the language. Food Vendor, Bangkok Thailand Street Vendor, Bangkok Thailand Stay active year round through community involvement, sport activities and charity work. This include training for a marathon which usually takes three to four months of prepa...

After our unforgettable stay in beautiful Santorini, Michelle and I boarded the Blue Star ferry to Naxos. About  four hours later, we arrived at Naxos port, where our host Mama Sophia, who owns and run ILion Hotel, a bed and breakfast accommodation near a family friendly beach, Saint George, was already waiting. She greeted us in her local dialect with a warm smile and drove us in her classic Mercedes car around the city center to get acclimated with the surroundings. It was a very warm welcome greeting. The next day, we decided to rent a  quad ATV that has a  box storage for personal belongings  at the back of the vehicle  and was  available for twenty euro / day which include  two helmets, a lock for the storage and free instruction.  After signing the agreement papers and free lesson on how to operate the vehicle, we were off to the nearest gas station to fill up an almost empty gas tank. It took a few tries before I finally got...

Schedule Day 1 Sat, May 16 Walk around ,Gülhane Park Orientation of the Old City, Sultanahmet. Day 2 Sun, May 17 Topkapi Palace( It is a must, closed on Tuesday) Hagia Sophia Museum / Church, Ayasofya  (It is a must, closed on Monday) Basilica Cistern  (It is a must) Basilica Cistern Blue Mosque, Sultan Ahmet Camii (It is a must) Turkish Bath (Optional) Day 3 Mon, May 18 Grand Bazaar, Kapali Carsi (It is a must, closed on Sunday) Egyptian Bazaar, (It is a must) Suleymaniye Mosque (You should do this) Suleymaniye Mosque Galata Tower (You should do this) Galata Tower Dolmabahce Palace (If time allows) Istiklal Street (If time allows) Day 4 Tue, May 19 Bosphorus Cruise Hotel Basileus Hotel

These were the last days of summer, where my nephews and niece stayed with us for the weekend before the beginning of school season.  No parents, no rules, no boundaries - kids played all day long, ate until they puke, stayed up late playing games until morning.

In my twenty years career in technology,  I was fortunate to have worked for a corporations that foster innovation, a group consisting of great talent and diversity and who share common interest in exploring trending technologies such as Big Data, Mobile, Cloud and Distributed Computing, Internet of Things, Advanced Analytic and Wearable devices including smart watch and Google Glass. Outside of work, I got a chance to play with these cool devices. These were photos I took, hand free with Google Glass while running with my colleague during lunch time around the company campus.

Madrid, a perfect first day destination to get acquainted with the rich history and culture of Spain- the Spanish Inquisition, Civil War, Queen Isabel, the origin of tapas, the greatest football rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona and the unpublish duel between Antonio Luna and Jose Rizal over a women and to brush up basic command of Spanish language before heading to other remarkable places: Segovia to the North, Toledo, Granada, Marbella, Nejar, Ronda and Sevilla to the South and to the East is Barcelona. Marbella, a place situated in the southern part of Spain and where city dwellers flock to unwind and break the monotony of life, charging and reconnecting every neurons  of the brain circuitry with the soothing sound of the ocean wave along a stretch of fine grain sand beach where tourist bare it all to mother nature which in turn radiate all contours and curves of the human body into perfection. Oolala. Nearby, are stalls of café and bar restaurants servin...

In the Andes, the weather can changed abruptly without any warning. As flight TACA 009 about to land, a sudden outburst of dark cloud blanketed the valley of Cusco, the mecca of backpackers to the Inca temples and deep jungle, causing flight TACA to divert back to Lima International Airport where travelers from various part of the world waited anxiously from the tarmac for a second chance to takeoff. As darkness set in, that second chance vanished into thin air sending passengers in disappointment and backpackers scrambling for space,  marking their territory with their belongings in Lima International Airport. It was a long night. The next day, we boarded the first flight out of Lima to Cusco. It was sardine packed, mostly passengers from previous cancelled flights. On standby once again at the tarmac, waiting for weather condition report out from Cusco Airport, passengers waited tensely for takeoff. Ultimately, flight TACA 007 was once again cancelled, sending passenge...

After a delightful experience in Bali, we flew to Sorong regional airport and meetup with other six divers.  From the airport, a relation guest from Sorido Bay Diving Resort sorted our luggages into a taxi that took us to a dock where we boarded an eight passenger boat for about an hour ride to Kri Island. What followed were seven days of world class scuba diving, two in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. Logistics From Bali it is not possible to get to Sorong in one day on Sunday, an overnight stay on Saturday in Makassar is required. There are two flights from Denpasar to Makassar Saturday, Denpasar to Ujung Pandang (Makassar), Lion Air, ETD 18.50pm: ETA 20.05pm @ € 75.00 p/p Saturday, Denpasar to Ujung Pandang (Makassar), Garuda Air, ETD 08.55am: ETA 10.10am @ € 85.00 p/p There are three flights from Makasar to Sorong Sunday, Ujung Pandang to Sorong, Batavia Air Air, ETD 04.00am: ETA 07.00am @ € 125.00 p/p Sunday, Ujung Pandang to Sor...