We have been considering a number of hotels and resorts but what made us finally decide on picking Dao Diamond Hotel over the others was the knowledge that they help and hire deaf Boholanos. It was nice that while we are out vacationing, we are helping out deaf children and an institution with a noble cause.

Dao Diamond Hotel Owners

I was not very impressed when I looked at the pictures of the hotel online, so I was not expecting much when we arrived. However the venue was a lot more nicer in person than the pictures gave it credit for. Here is a picture that I took of its lounge:

Dao Diamond Hotel Lounge

Dao Diamond’s room and everything else exceeded my expectations. There was a also a nice swimming pool in which we took a leisurely swim during our first day of stay. Here are more pictures:

Dao Diamond Room

Dao Diamond Pool

With the staff being deaf, the hotel was very silent and conducive to relaxation and sleep. In fact we never had a problem sleeping, even our two boys slept well.

All the deaf staff were polite and very accommodating, however some of the non-deaf staff are the ones that give a negative vibe, they seem to be unattached and uncaring. There was even an instance where a non-deaf female staff did not address our concern properly, and as I understand it, it is a problem with her character and not the hotel.

The only thing that I think the hotel should improve on is their food. We were not too impressed with what we’ve been served. There was even an awkward incident where we ordered for Mami, and we were served with a bowl of soup without noodles. And when we asked the non-deaf female staff for assistance, she just brushed us off saying she does not know. This is the same non-deaf female staff that we had problems with the other day. To make the long story short, a male staff was nice enough to realize the mistake and after a few minutes later gave us the Mami bowl with noodles.

Another problem we encountered was their Wi-Fi connection, which did not work for a few days, but then again this could be a problem with their ISP.

Other than the above mentioned, everything went smoothly. The place was clean, the beds were soft, the sheets were great, the aircon is working and not noisy, hot water works fine and the place simply looks and feels great. If you are looking for a hotel that is conveniently located near a mall and the airport – I highly recommend that you check Dao Diamond Hotel out. We will surely be staying there again when we visit Bohol again in the future. Even with our little probles, I will still give Dao Diamond Hotel a 5 out of 5.

It shows a few OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) that have been staying for years abroad and were given the opportunity to return home for free by the famous softdrinks company. Working abroad is a popular “goal” for Filipinos, lured by the promise of better pay – aspirants would apply for IT jobs, ERP Jobs, Medical care jobs and any job that would give them better pay.

Sadly, I felt that the video was an obvious ploy to use real life emotions to promote an unhealthy product. I would call it a semi-reality TV commercial which just like the product it endorses, hides the ugly inconvenient truth.

What the video did not show is how many OFW families are being broken everyday just for the sake of that imaginary financial stability. The video also failed to show the children who are growing up without the much needed guidance from their parents.

What use is the house that they are paying for if they don’t live under one roof? How many of these unguided children will grow up to be good productive citizens?

The video also seem to neglect the many opportunities within the country that intelligent Filipinos could have been cultivating instead of going the easy route of working “abroad”.

My definition of true “family” love is staying with your family and trying to make ends meet without sacrificing your time together. A family should stay together, but sadly in this modern “relativistic” times – even the definition of family can change to whatever is more convenient. It was heart warming to see the reunions, but it is heart wrenching to think that these OFW had to wait many years for a silly softdrink product to give them free tickets when they can, if they REALLY wanted, to go back home with their own money.

It would have made a big difference if the OFWs on the video were given business or job opportunities within the country so that they can stay “happy” with their families. Unfortunately, the happiness that is promoted in the video is much like what Coca cola gives us, temporary and unhealthy happiness, which eventually turns into disease.

In fairness, the video was well made and have left many in tears, but sadly the video didn’t change anything, it didn’t even change the minds of the OFWs about leaving their country and families in the first place.

I waited for my excitement to die down before I attempted to write an objective review of Jason Mraz concert in Manila last October. Looking back, we truly enjoyed the concert, fan or no fan, you will simply be amazed at Jason Mraz’s sheer vocal prowess and musical talent. Jason and Toca confidently confronted thousands of screaming fans that filled the gigantic Araneta Colliseum.

Jason and Toca sang their hearts out, they sang all of my favorites including Butterfly and Dynamo of volition from Jason’s latest album. The concert was a major success, save for a few minor qualms. Most of my complaints will fall under technical difficulties or venue related problems.

First complaint is the lousy sound system. There was too much echo and there was not enough power to fill the stadium. Although as a fan, I am familiar with his lyrics, but newbies will probably have a hard time understanding what Jason was singing about. Next complaint is the decision to do an acoustic set at a giant venue like Araneta. Jason should have gotten himself a full band to back him up complete with sax and wind instruments – it would have been much more fun.

Still acoustic sets have that feeling of intimacy which die hard fans probably preferred, sadly these die hard fans only know Jason’s popular songs like You and I both, I’m yours and Lucky. Overall it was a great concert experience and was well worth the dread of traffic and the hard time we had parking our car.

So when I got the chance to watch it again with my son, I was more than excited. We watched 2 episodes: “The Amazing Trumpets” and “Pitchers of Fire”. My son was just as excited as myself when he saw the wall of Jericho fall down. He asked a few questions which I gladly answered, but I was relieved because I didn’t have to answer questions like – can Joshua take down crown metal buildings?

SuperBook is highly recommended. I read somewhere that there is a 3D remake of SuperBook and I am currently looking for information about it and where I can buy it. The cartoon series gets a 5 out of 5 – goes without saying.

And honestly I was a bit surprised because there was no mention in the news that Steve’s condition was already that bad. Just a few days after the announcement of iPhone 4s, Apple Macintosh again took the world by storm with the news of its leader’s demise.

The peculiar thing is, when I read the news, somehow I felt sad, and the reaction was virtually the same through out my social networking range. Its like everyone paused for a bit to think about this man, some were probably taking care of their ach payments, feeding their kids, driving to work, eating lunch etc… But I am quite sure that most of us dropped what we were doing when we heard the news and spent a bit of time thinking about Steve Jobs, his life contributions and comparing it to our own puny contributions.

Everyone took the time to remember this great achiever’s life. And to me that is already a great honor in itself for all of Steve Jobs accomplishments.

Still what’s done is done and people will move on. The news and the interwebs will be talking about useless things again in just a few days. I just hope and pray that Steve’s family is coping well and that Apple will continue to produce great innovative and quality products.

And I also hope that I learn something from the life of this man that successfully changed the way the world thinks.

I’ve had my iPad2 for almost a month now, but it’s only today that I had the chance to write a review for this popular gadget. So without further ado, I’ll get on with the juicy details.  My iPad2 specs: White, WiFi+3G and 16GB.

Reason for purchase: The WiFi version is way cheaper, so you may be asking why I got the 3G, my response is that I plan to use this iPad2 as my primary mobile internet device. And knowing how much of a hassle and how dangerous public WiFi’s are, I need the 3G feature to make sure that my iPad2 will have internet connection whenever and wherever I carry it. Some of you might ask why I chose the smallest available hard drive space (16GB)?

It was my intention to stay within the acceptable range of my budget, and I don’t need that much space on the iPad anyway, because my workhorse laptop has 650GB that I don’t even dream of filling up.

Discount: When I got my iPad2, I was able to negotiate my way into getting a free D-Link Router worth P2000, so in a way, I got a P2000 discount compared to it’s street price.

Package Includes: The iPad2 main box was neatly and safely covered within an outer box.  What I got from the cute white Apple iPad2 box were the white iPad2 unit, a manual, a USB cable and the included charger. I was disappointed that it didn’t even have a basic earphone set included.  Upon unboxing, just like other Apple devices (I used to have an iPod Touch 4th Gen), the first thing to do is to connect the iPad2 to a computer with iTunes installed for basic registration and start up.  Only after the registration will you be able to test and use the iPad2, which means that if you are buying one, you can’t test it at the store.

First Impression My first impression was that it was a just a big screen version of my iPod touch 4th Gen. However within just a few minutes of using it I can’t help but be impressed by the craftsmanship, sturdiness and overall aesthetics of the iPad2. With it’s smooth touch screen, browsing through websites, e-mails and social media was a breeze. Trying out some games also allowed the iPad2′s graphics to shine, I enjoyed some of it’s 3D games, and also played an MMORPGs for iOS devices -Pocket Legends. My initial impression was that the iPad2 was OK, however when I tried out some music apps, and how genuine and well made some are, I realized that I wasn’t just contented, I was happy that I got it.

iPad2 good points::
- No waiting time for boot ups
- Intuitive and fast interface
- High quality graphics
- Can be used for high quality video calls (Skype etc)
- Stable internet connection
- Portable and Sturdy
- Multitude of apps that will cater to most needs
- Great battery life
- Flexible, can be used for work, gaming, social networking, browsing, etc…

iPad2 bad points::
- A lot of basic functionality are unavailable, you will have to pay for apps…
- You need a lot of expensive accessories to do the basic things like printing, connecting to a TV etc…
- You need a lot of money to completely enjoy the device
- The pictures taken by iPad 2 are hideous, they have the same quality as a 7 year old vga camera phone (videos look better though).

Conclusion: I have been enjoying  my iPad2, and up to the time of this post, I feel the purchase was worth it, and I would recommend this device to anyone who needs a mobile internet device, most specially if you are a musician.

We found that they have the model that we are looking for so we went back the following day and purchased the laptop trusting the salesman that this is a good laptop with no defects. And so began our nightmare experience with Premium PC Depot and Asus 1215B!

When we got home the same day we purchased it, the touch pad was functioning intermittently, it will only work when my wife would put the netboook on standby. At first I thought that a driver update would fix it so I just let it be and went to work for the next day. But what we didn’t know was that this is a VERY COMMON PROBLEM with the particular model! So when I found out that it is still having problems after driver updates, I went back to the Premium PC Depot store in Gilmore for a replacement.

It’s just been 2 days since the purchase. Since it was new, and probably the store did not know of the issue, I was being nice to the technicians and was hoping they can quickly replace the laptop because I still have a lot to do. However they would not honor their 7 day replacement policy claiming they found an opening on the front sides of the laptop claiming it was physical damage. So what they did was they told me I had to wait for 7 days as they will send it to Asus. They told me that the laptop was not in good condition – I told them that it was not in good condition when I bought it!!!

I was really trying my best to keep my cool because I realized that these people don’t understand customer service, and Premium PC Depot Management do not check how their technicians deal with customers, they do not check the quality of the products they sell, they do not stand by the warranty and do not give a single damn about their customers. To think I was planning to upgrade the RAM and buy another laptop that same day from them if they had replaced it as the warranty said!

Sadly up to now, it’s been more than 7 days – we’ve paid the money but we don’t even have what we paid for! We are still being told to wait – and at a rather snobbish tone by their male technician. Maybe they feel that I’m just one customer that is being hassled out of their many others. What they do not understand is that every customer they let down is a big blow to their business.

Right now all I am thinking of is getting my money back and to never purchase anything from Premium PC Depot ever again. I am also writing this article to make sure that any one who wants to make computer purchases are saved from the same hassles as we have experienced. I’ve bought a number of PCs, laptops and gadgets in my life, but this has got to be the WORST experience of them all. Sadly there is no ZERO stars for the scoring that is the only reason they got a 0.5 …

When I saw this D&D or DnD Acoustic Electric Guitar hanging at a mall guitar store, I had a gut feeling that we would click! It was a beauty for it’s price, everything was well made and attention to detail was good. Although of course I have minor qualms – like some fret wires need to be flattened, some design imperfections, and they don’t have solid top models – still I know that for the price it was a taker. I loved the slim profile, and the overall workmanship is at par with mid priced acoustics. Although it doesn’t sing as well as Martina, I can carry it around and play forever without hurting a hair on my back!

So I tested the sound – first unplugged, the sound was weak and high pitched as expected from it’s slim profile. However on the model I tested – it did resonate and sustain very well. I was immediately impressed. But the real killer was when plugged in. I would call the sound “Pristine”, which I consequently named the guitar after! It’s the simple, raw and clear acoustic sound that I was looking for! When plugged in, the sound is fuller and warm, but the draw back is you do lose some of it’s resonance and sustain. The EQ was very basic, but it does the job well.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. The guitar also included a gig bag with a D&D logo and good padding. It’s been a few months now and we are still very happy with the D&D Acoustic Electric Guitar, and it has been working a lot – even Martina is jealous. I even used it on some of my personal gigs. The only after sales downside I could think of was the cheap looking input jack, and that it ONLY works with mono cables (single stripe), which was sadly not properly explained to me, making me have to buy a mono cable right before an important event.

In summary, for it’s price – this would be a perfect beginner to intermediate guitar, and perfect for church settings. I’m not guaranteeing that every D&D guitar on the store is as good as mine, I may have just picked the blessed one, so do make sure to extensively test out the guitar before any purchase, as I would say with any guitar. I’ll be posting better pictures of the guitar soon. In the future – I will probably get the Nylon version – to get that Jason Mraz vibe, and to see how it blends and works out!

Note: Next to the learning experience and eating beside mainstream artists – you will definitely love the FOOD!!!!