Man of Style

A lot of Filipinos in high society work in the industry but have no real expertise to begin with. They say they work in sales and marketing as consultants/advisers. But it is far from the truth given that all they do is bridge people and simply earn from closing a deal (if ever one happens).

Unlike in the US and Europe, chairmans and CEOs of large companies participate in the arts and civic society. They focus their energies into running a company, getting the connections and then get compensated. Here in the Philippines it is the total opposite. Filipinos make connections first, expect to get compensated early on and that’s when they actually do work.

Pathetic.

I attended Dine Asia’s launch of their Holiday 2008 issue at my boss’ behest (she gave my name to the organizers without me knowing). It was a night of really good food and wine. Only hors d’oeuvres were served and though it didn’t make me full, it was like my palate was having a worldwide tour. Notable were the Norwegian salmon, scallops, shrimps, cream cheese, carpaccio, satay barbecue and strawberries. Small pieces of dessert also followed which mainly consisted of mint chocolate and dark chocolate. All were washed down with very good white wine. I met the owner of Mickey’s Delicatessen and his wife as well as the chef/owners of Aubergine. I didn’t know much of the people at the event, but the food and drink definitely made up for it.

I <3 my job. =)

What I like about Client Presentations is that clients let you finish your presentation/demonstration before jumping and asking about all the technicalities. They respect you because they know that you are a master of the product you are selling. They understand that you have an agenda to follow. They rarely interrupt not unless it’s really an itching question that needs to be answered right then and there.

People my age usually go out with their peers on a Friday night. I go out with my bosses on a dinner with Rotary Club members. There’s not doubt I’m savouring this moment. But it makes me wonder whether I will regret this in the future.

My boss invited me to dinner with her Rotary group and I simply couldn’t turn down the offer given that I love Indian food and I get to meet prominent Rotarians.

True enough, the food was great. The kofta and unleavened, buttered bread were really great. But what was more interesting was the diversity of people I met.

I met Sweden’s Trade Minister Attaché to the Philippines. He’s been posted in 8 countries all over the world and we talked about the Philippine economic condition and PGMA’s role. I met a guy who brokers deals between iron ore buyers and sellers. It seems the Chinese are secretly making a cartel so that everyone buys at the same price. I met a business writer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He wanted to quote the former Trade Minister on various economic-political issues.

Fun evening of good food and not so good wine. The “mining guy” and I shared the same view that we prefer good Shiraz wine made in Old World countries (France, Italy and Spain). We had Chilean wine which I believe wasn’t so good.

My bosses and their friends proceeded to Manila Pen but I politely declined saying “I needed to catch up on sleep.” It was old friends catching up so I didn’t want to be the third wheel of sorts. =)

Apple’s introduction of different software (iTunes), business models (iTunes Music Store and App Store) as well as human computer interaction techniques (multi-touch) are little social experiments that make you dependent on their products and totally affect the way you work. They are subtle and is something that we take for granted. But if you look at the bigger picture, they are leading the way in EVERYTHING.

I’m totally dependent on iTunes in managing my music. I couldn’t think of any other music player on the Mac or Windows that I would use to manage my music.

I’m planning on getting an iPhone and most likely I will use the App Store to buy some legit apps from.

And then there’s multi-touch which I frequently use when reading PDF documents. The new Firefox 3.1 beta came out recently for support with multi-touch. Even Apple’s new MacBook and MacBook Pro don’t have buttons on their trackpads in effect forcing users to go multi-touch.

So if you’re using Apple products like me, it makes you wonder if you’ll ever switch to other gadgets and gizmos given that you’re so used to the features they’ve put in (which also makes you hugely dependent on them).

“A pending US bill, the Call Center Consumer’s Right to Know Act, plans to require anyone answering or initiating a call at a center used by a US business to disclose location at the beginning of the call. The person at the call center would have to start out by saying something like “My name is so-and-so, and I’m in the Philippines.”” (via Cocktales)

When you have people like a Presidential Adviser, an ex Commodore for the Philippine Navy and a bunch of bankers & insurers present. This job is as hectic and as fun as it should be. LOL

This week is the most hectic week of my life to date. I’m now sitting in Krispy Kreme Jaka (along Ayala Ave.) having a cup of coffee and two Original Glazed doughnuts. It’s hell trying to relax and then rush to the next meeting. What’s especially difficult is that you’re always at meetings and you know you have work to do but just can’t get it done. I have had 5 meetings and another one today at 9am.

Don’t you just wonder what keeps me going these days.

I just finished paying 50% of the MacBook Pro I bought back in June and already I’m drooling at the specs of the upcoming refresh of the product line.

It’s rumoured to have an Nvidia 9400M GPU (integrated with the new Nvidia chipset) and a second 9600M GT GPU (dedicated) ! The typical SLI configuration has two dedicated GPUs. That gives the upcoming MacBook Pro a hybrid SLI configuration! That’s way better than having a desktop gaming machine if you ask me. And it will get even better as Apple will introduce OpenCL in next year’s release of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Damn you Apple. You make me want to sell my MBP.

This was a business trip I had with my bosses and I expected it to be a really boring one. We were going to Zambales which was approximately 4 hours from Manila making it one hell of a trip for a potential client. To be honest, it was a complete turnaround when I arrived there.

The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy boasts of the most modern training facilities in the whole world - and rightfully so. There are no blackboards at all in the whole institution. Each classroom is equipped with a computer and an LCD projector. There are training/simulation rooms for the engine room, the bridge, cargo loading/unloading and everything else you can think of on board a ship that needs to be managed. The equipment they have costs in the hundreds of millions of pesos and I almost forgot that this is a government run school.

We visited the bridge and boy, was it the best simulation ever. I got to control a shipping vessel in the Manila Bay running at around 60-80 knots. What was great was that the entire simuated bridge looked like a real bridge onboard a ship. You had complete audio-visual effects ranging from the waves, other vessels, buoys, helicopters, rain and even snow. I even tried ramming the ship into another vessel and true enough, there was even a loud crash.

This type of simulation could really get high school students to explore a career in the maritime industry. Maybe I could get my bosses to meet with a flight school next time. =)

It was 12:30pm and my bosses asked where I was having lunch. I didn’t know where. Then they asked me to come along with them to eat at the Fort at Tatami in Serendra. It was their treat and the food was pretty good.

We then went to Sonja’s to grab some dessert and I picked up one of their Black and White Cookies. It is a delightfully good cookie which is made of real chocolate and a little white chocolate mixed in. I’d compare it to Chips Ahoy’s Chewy chocolate chip cookie only without the chocolate chips and much more chocolately. In other words, made with less flour which made it nice and soft. To top it off, I grabbed an Iced Latte at Starbucks and it compliemented the cookie well but much less the weather today.

Left at 1pm and got back at 3pm. I’m glad I work here. =)

This morning I had a meeting with Oliver Malabanan, our thesis adviser and now head of the IT Department at De La Salle University College of Computer Studies. My boss wanted to partner with the school to teach Business Intelligence, hence the meeting. By the end of our meeting we had agreed on teaching an elective course starting January 2009. My boss is still thinking about teaching Business Intelligence at the Graduate School of Business. He has an MBA, studied under the “father of BI” back in Sweden, extensive experience in the finance industry and took up law as well. I believe it will be very fitting that he teach at DLSU’s GSB.

Most likely I’ll be the one teaching the undegrads. I just can’t imagine myself teaching so soon (only 2 months after graduating). Also, the thought of my former teachers sitting-in class to listen to my lectures on Business Intelligence feels weird. Hahahaha…!

Nonetheless a career in the academe broadens my network both in government (Commission on Information and Communications Technology [CICT], Philippine National Police) and non-governmental (USAID, European Commission) organizations who are known as big spenders in IT. It also improves the look of my resumé as I look forward to taking my MBA or a Masters in IT some 3-4 years after.