12 Hotels You Need To Add To Your Bucket List

1. Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaandam Zaandam, North Holland Province
2. Crane Hotel Faralda Amsterdam Amsterdam, North Holland Province 
3. Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort Huzhou, Zhejiang 
4. Hotel Jested Liberec, Liberec Region, Bohemia 
5. 9 Hours Capsule Hotel Kyoto Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Kinki 
6. Sun Cruise Resort Donghae, Gangwon-do 
7. Spitbank Fort Portsmouth, Hampshire, England 
8. Free Spirit Spheres Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, British Columbia 
9. The Aurora Express Fairbanks, Alaska 
10. Wigwam Motel Holbrook, Arizona 
11. La Balade des Gnomes Durbuy, Luxembourg Province, The Ardennes, Wallonia 
12. Hotel Costa Verde Manuel Antonio, Province of Puntarenas

References:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/blog/12-hotels-need-see-believe/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=860OXQjf87w

Pieces of my new folding bike

1. I bought this bike last February 27 from a known online shopping site that offers a wide array of items and I paid using my credit card.
2. For convenience sake and to avoid the hassle of choosing from high-priced bicycles in Baguio City, I chose to just buy online and thankfully, I received this folding bike last March 7. It was already half-assembled and folded when I opened it and tried to test it. It was deflated so I still need to buy a bike pump.
3. For fitness reasons, I bought it so that I can use it to practice initially for my goal of joining a duathlon this year.
4. For practicality purposes, I bought it so that I can use it as my ride going to work because the level of traffic which affects the arrival of jeepneys in our area are getting worse. The university near us should not only think of earning but at least, in a way, assist in helping the community by letting some of their school services pick up and drop off college students to town between 7AM and 9AM because most of the passengers are their students.
5. For financial reasons, I bought it because it was within my budget of below 10,000 pesos and it has also a discounted price. It was originally priced at 9,600 pesos and I only paid 5,220.00 for it because of the additional discount of 10% which was the payday promo of the online shopping site. 
6. For romantic persuasion, I bought is so that my Love will be able to learn how to ride a bike.
7. I also consider it not as an expense but an investment physically and financially.
8. For security reasons, it can not be stolen easily because it is compact enough that I can put it inside our office.
9. For environmental-friendliness, I can help promote a Clean and Green environment because there are no carbon dioxides produce when biking.
10. For multimodality, I can bring it during long travels like riding a train in Manila or traveling by airplane for a long vacation.
11. As a DIYer, I am also able to use my open wrench set and Allen keys set for assembly and for maintenance purposes.
12. Mars, which is the name of my bike, is also known as "Mars Kingdom MKFL-20 Freestyle Folding Bike (Black)" and I have not use it entirely and now, three days after, it has broken pieces already due to our Siberian Husky, Ikkyo, wrecking its pedal part. Still, praise Heavens above, because he did not wrecked the whole bike. Also the cost of the bike is cheap and if it was worth 20,000 pesos or above, it will be really hard to accept.

Foldable bikes offer five primary advantages over conventional machines:

• Free and unrestricted carriage on public transport
• Relatively thief proof
• Space-saving at home and elsewhere
• urban multi-modal travel (such as rail/folding bike) is usually cheaper than using a car
• High resale value

References:

http://www.atob.org.uk/folding-bikes/folding-bike-why-choose/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding_bicycle
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/commuting/article/ww-Wise-Words-Folding-Bikes-0

12 Thoughts From An Unexpected Visit

We had an unexpected visit from a missionary today, 18 November 2014, in our office. She was Sister Lilia Gonzales-Pre, a lay missionary who encourages everyone to have a deep devotion to the Divine Mercy.

She did an spiritual talk to us and we did enjoyed, learned and had an spiritual enlightenment and spiritual healing. There are some things I have learned and tried to remembered during her very simple yet profound talk.

YAGIT KA

For most people, yagit means mahirap. To God, most of us are YAGIT. People don't want to be yagit or experience being yagit. People do not want to be in pain, to be hurt or to be poor. Ayaw ng taong maging mahirap o mahirapan.

Then she expounded on these letters. These are included on the 12 things that caught my attention.

1. Y - Yabang | "alisin ang yabang" People who are boastful have this motto: "I know everything and they do nothing."
2. A - Api | "okay lang ang inaapi dahil kakampi mo ang Diyos". Vengeance is God's alone.
3. G - Galit | "alisin ang galit dahil ang galit ang kadalasang pinagmumulang ng sakit"
4. I - Inggit | "huwag maiinggit dahil ito ay nagdudulot ng galit lalo na sa mga gustong maging pangit."
5. T - Tapang | "huwag masyadong matapang dahil maraming namamatay sa sobrang katapangan lalo kung wala sa lugar" "pwede mo ring sabihin kapag hinahamon ka ng ganito:"hindi ako katalo, pero malapit ka na (while pointing your hand to the ground which figuratively means that you are closer to the demon or the devil's act is upon you)
6. T - (another meaning of T) Takaw | "huwag maging matakaw"
7. Ka - Kakuriputan | "huwag pairalin ang kakuriputan at pati ang sarili ay pinagdadamutan pa o pinagkakaitan pa ang sarili"
8. Love your parents. Mahalin mo ang iyong mga magulang.
9. Love your parents-in-law too because without them you will never knew your wife or husband whom you are loving. Isampit mo na rin ang iyong mga biyenan dahil kung hindi dahil sa kanila hindi mo mapapangasawa ang iyong asawa na iyong minamahal. 
10. Give money to your parents. Bigyan mo ng pera ang iyong mga magulang. Do not go home with free hand. Always bring or buy something even small to your parents. 
11. Magpatawad. Kapatawaran. Forgive. Learn to forgive.
12. Bayaran mo (na) ang iyong mga utang. Pay your debts (already). "Eh wala pa naman akong pambayad." If there's a will, there's a way. Kailangang bayaran mo ang mga utang mo dahil ang perang inutang mo ay pinaghirapan din ng taong inutangan mo. Ang taong walang utang, deretso kung maglakad. Ang taong may utang, paliko-liko kung maglakad dahil kapag nakita na ang pinagkaka-utangan sa kanan, iwas sa kaliwa at kapag sa kaliwa naman nakita, iwas naman sa kanan. Mahirap mamatay ng may mga utang. 

Sister Lilia also mentioned that she had a vision two days before a tsunami and earthquake devastated parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other places.

Later, on her closing remarks and after the "healing" part, she told us to always pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary by praying the Rosary every day. We should also pray to the Holy Spirit for spiritual guidance and enlightenment. Also, we need to pray to the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph because he is the patron of the dying.

She also recommended to attend 9 consecutive First Friday Masses starting December 5.

In return for this spiritual talk, I bought a copy of her CD to aid her in her missionary works in my own little way. 

Front of the CD

Back of the CD

Note: For spiritual talk, healing and counseling: Please contact Sis. Lilia Pre

Mobile No. 09198413544

I tried to search for a few references in the internet about her and I only found one.

Song to the Divine Mercy 

For the tsunami and earthquake, the references are:

Why Didn’t the Tsunami Hit Singapore & Australia? 
Tsunami devastates Indian Ocean coast
11 Facts About the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
2004: Thousands die in Asian tsunami

Escape The Room Games - Part 2

This is a continuation of the post yesterday. Personally, I have enjoyed playing "The Crimson Room" which really challenges your  mind to think and find ways on how to escape the room.

The list below are a repost from a 2010 post I have read from another site. Credits to them.

1. Submachine Series http://submachine.blogspot.com/
2. The Crimson & Viridian Rooms http://www.crimson-room.net/
3. Neutral Escape Games http://neutralxe.net/esc/
4. Mystery of Time and Space http://www.albartus.com/motas/
5. The Doors 
1. http://jayisgames.com/games/the-doors/
2. http://newescapegames.info/doors-escape/
3. http://www.bigfishgames.com/online-games/21438/room-escape-doors/index.html
6. The Haunted http://www.gamershood.com/flashgames/8255
7. Ant Hill Trap http://www.123bee.com/play/ant_hill_trap/11744.html
8. Afro-Ninja Escape Series http://afro-ninja.com/games
9. Railway to Heaven http://www.gamershood.com/flashgames/2860
10. Guest House http://terminalhouse.com/guesthouse_en.html
11. Murder Escape http://www.gameshandbook.com/games/933.html
12. No Exit 
1. http://www.escapegames.com/game/no-exit/
2. http://escaperoom.net/play-427-LeoHimura-NO-EXIT.html

References:

The 12 Of The Best Escape The Room Games
TAKEN- Escape Baguio 
Escape Baguio

Escape The Room Games - Part 1

1. Escape the room, also known as room escape or escape game, is a subgenre of point-and-click adventure game which requires a player to escape from imprisonment by exploiting their surroundings. 
2. They are usually created as a freeware browser game for the Adobe Flash platform, but similar game mechanics have been identified in PC and console games. 
3. The room usually consists of a locked door, several objects to manipulate as well as hidden clues or secret compartments. 
4. The player must use the objects to interact with other items in the room to reveal a way to escape.
5. The basic gameplay mechanism of having the player trapped in a single location dates back at least to John Wilson's 1988 text adventure Behind Closed Doors, in which the player is trapped inside a toilet. 
6. The term originated in 2001 from the MOTAS game, though there are many older examples of the point-and-click variation, such as Noctropolis, and even earlier examples from the text adventure canon. 
7. "CRIMSON ROOM", "VIRIDIAN ROOM", "BLUE CHAMBER" and "WHITE CHAMBER" are the pioneers of "Room Escape Games".
   The genre was further popularized in 2004 by the Japanese "Crimson Room" game by Toshimitsu Takagi, which has spread throughout the internet and can be seen on many gaming websites.
8. While a single-location game may not be set inside a room, and while the player's goal may not necessarily be escape, in 2002 the interactive fiction community first hosted a One Room Game Competition (attracting six entries, all in Italian), and in 2006 Riff Conner wrote Another Goddamn Escape the Locked Room Game, indicating that the genre is well known in the contemporary interactive fiction hobbyist community.
9. Most escape-the-room games play from a first-person perspective, where the player must click on objects to interact with them. 
10. Most room escape games offer only token plots, usually a short cut scene consisting only of text to establish how the player got there, and sometimes another when the game is finished.
11. Room escapes usually have a minimalistic interface, ambient soundtrack, and no non-player characters; elements which can enhance the gamer's sense of isolation.
12. Most escape-the-room games include at least one puzzle, such as a sliding-block puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle (or a similar type in which a note is pieced together), a colour puzzle or a word or number puzzle.

References:


Escape the room 
The 12 Of The Best Escape The Room Games

The 12 Best Escape Games You Might Not Have Played
TAKEN- Escape Baguio 
Escape Baguio

Administrative Officer Exam of DOH

I took the Administrative Officer exam at DOH and these are some of the items I remembered during the untimed exam. I only remembered keywords and I believe you are either a former Administrative Officer with sufficient development trainings or an "insider" who knows the ins and outs of the agency in order to pass with flying colors.

I do not have any idea if these are the same set of questions given before for previous applicants but this is an essay-type of written exam with 18 items of different points for a total of 100 points as perfect score.

• Part I

1. Vision and Mission
2. What is "Kalusugan Pangkalahatan" and its goals
3. What can you contribute for the thrust, goals and objectives
4. Government employees' values adopted by Department of Health
5. How can you apply customer focus as an Administrative Officer IV?
6. Value of professionalism
7. E-government and examples
8. Matching type, 5 items but I only remembered RA 7305 and RA 6713

• Part II

1. What is Office Administration? What is an Administrative Officer? Functions of Administrative Officer IV? Customers of Administrative Officer IV in the Department of Health?
2. Explain PDCA Cycle of Management and Management Tools for planning, implementation & monitoring. No Gantt Chart to be use.
3. Examples of grave offenses and less grave offenses
4. Processes of Management Support Division

Pre-Qualifying Exam of DILG

This is not a post that shows sample tests about the DILG Pre-Qualifying Exam but rather a post of my experiences when I took the exam and twelve things to know about the DILG PQE.

I took the Pre-Qualifying Exam (PQE) today at the Baguio City National High School Library. I counted a total of 61 examinees, including me, who bravely took it unaware of its contents.

I only remembered the number of items and corresponding minutes and not a specific question of the exam inasmuch as I wanted to remember.
 
What is the Pre-Qualifying Exam or the DILG PQE?

1. It was (and is) a gruelling exam that will really exhausts you, the applicant/examinee.
2. It was (and is) a time-pressured exam which will rattle you once the proctor announce the remaining time during the examination.
3. It is the national qualifying exam of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
4. It is a battery of tests aimed for applicants who wants to join and become part of DILG.
5. It is a continuous exam with a duration of two to three hours.
6. It consists of four parts, namely:
• Logical Reasoning Tests -
• 55 minutes for 100 items.
• Language Tests - 
• 3 parts. 
• Part 1, PD (Paragraph Development), 7 minutes for 10 items; 
• Part 2, RC (Reading Comprehension), 13 minutes for 22 items; and
• Part 3, LT (Language Test), 10 minutes for 20 items.
• Verbal Tests - 
• 3 parts. 
• Part 1, (Analogy), 6 minutes for 20 items; 
• Part 2, (Analogy, requires 2 answers), 6 minutes for 20 items; and 
• Part 3, (Mathematical Test, no choices, input your answer after solving using provided scratch paper), 10 minutes for 20 items.
• Non-Verbal Tests - 
• 3 parts.
• Abstract part.
• Part 1, 3 minutes for 16 items; 
• Part 2, 3 minutes for 16 items; and 
• Part 3, 4 minutes for 18 items.
7. It is usually administered every last Friday of the month in the DILG Central Office located in Quezon City but in our case, it was scheduled in Baguio City and a representative from DILG Central Office officiated the examination.
8. In the case of my application, I had to write a request for endorsement to take the PQE and also indicating that it is a prerequisite for non-DILG applicants.
9. Passing the exam does not mean you are hired already. According to the DILG employee, there may be another exam to be taken depending on the position applied for. It also depends on the assessment of the regional or district office.
10. You must be prepared to read fast and analyze quickly for the logical reasoning test.
11. Mathematics is still a part of this exam and you need to know how to compute because guessing will definitely not help you on this part of the exam because you need to write an answer and there are no choices to select from.
12. Common sense and stock knowledge will help you plus lots of prayers to survive this challenging examination.

Pray. It helps.

Memories of Basilan

Kill nothing but time, leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but pictures, Keep nothing but memories.

Not everybody has a chance to travel and visit the province of Basilan in the southern coast of Zamboanga.

These are just some of the collection of memories in Basilan from the selection of many kept photos of 2009.

• After a short ride from Zamboanga airport then straight to the Island of Basilan via speedboat - an exhilarating start of an adventure.

our mode of transportation

• Military checkpoints are prevalent in the area, an oft sight in our travels... so are the warm and generous smiles from the locals! 

overloaded jeepney passing through a checkpoint

• One of the many brave men defending the country. Our gratitude to all the heroes in this island.

welcome to Basilan, sir

• Amidst the chaos in this land is the simple array of nature, a reminder of peace and harmony. 

even the trees fall in line

• A hidden beauty... the feel of flowing water washes all the worries 

what's down there?

• It took us a long bumpy ride and a boat ride to get here... IT WAS WORTH IT!

beautiful, lovely n

• For a moment I forgot the alarming news and how terrifying the island is. What is there to be terrified about?

there's something out there

• This is nothing compared to Boracay - this is more and not too many people get to experience the beauty of Basilan.

afternoon beachview

• If only everywhere in this island is this peaceful and serene, then everyone can enjoy this amazing beach.

sunrise or sunset ???

• Almost time to leave, another stroll just to savor the beauty of the place. 

time to go...

• At that time, this fastfood chain was new in this area. Same logo, same name... yet something is different!

yes, there is Jollibee in Basilan

• In Zamboanga...pondering of when I'll get the chance to visit the Island of Basilan again. The memories are made sweeter by the wonderful people who made it possible. Thanks... to all of you and hoping to see you all again!

serenity

Basilan