Our own LJ, who holds the fort at You Had Me at Hello, narrates a brief flirtation. The story is more related to the call center industry than you might think. As you click here to read her story, you’ll find yourself asking: “Was he attracted to her beauty, brains, or both?” You be the judge dear reader!

Festival Mall Incident @ You Had Me at Hello

Check out some of the content fresh from the network:

• Eugene answers a great question, sharing his secrets on how to locate places online
• More good news on the business end, as the Philippines is the National Outsourcing Association’s Off-Shoring Destination of the Year!
• Red can represent passion, the flowing blood of revolutionaries, or a perfect way to beautify your fingers for this Christmas
• Watch out the upcoming KOMIKON 2007: contests abound!
• A Filipino’s perspective of Apple’s brand-new Leopard
• Bacolod will be hosting a Western Visayas Tourism Assembly
• Style Manila announces Beauty & Minerals’ One Year Anniversary

(All links open in a new window/tab. What are you waiting for? Click through ‘em!)

While pithiness can have a lot of impact, and it may leave the reader with an incomplete picture. Just like the The World Factbook’s entry on the Philippines dated October 4, 2007. The facts and figures are very accurate, but the country summary may leave the wrong impression:

The Philippine Government faces threats from three terrorist groups on the US Government’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but in 2006 and 2007 scored some major successes in capturing or killing key wanted terrorists. Decades of Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines have led to a peace accord with one group and an ongoing cease-fire and peace talks with another.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes we’re a tropical country (our good skin comes at a cost of sweating it out in humidity), but constant rain would make any place cold and muddy. Good thing Style Cebu’s Kristine has a list of fifteen fashionable things you can do to stay hot, even if it’s raining cats and dogs. Like keeping a mug handy for those warm drinks meant to melt your innards.

The list is so good that a grown man like me is actually risking coming off like a fashionista. Just remember that item #15 should read “A hot woman” (check) for me, and my manly self will probably pass on some of the feminine cosmetic stuff. Are you still wondering what I’m writing about? Visit the post already!

Photo by Wazari.

Clair writes about efforts to make open source software more widely adopted in the Philippines

Living in Manila and looking for plants?

Visit San Sebastian Church

LJ talks about call center payroll issues

See the Batasang Pambansa (English: National Assembly), where the Philippine House of Representatives hold their sessions

Get a dose of some safe slimming

See some practical questions about ABS-CBN’s digital TV launch

Check out Bag of Beans, where the Band of Bloggers was born

It may be poor punning in action, but Paradizoo seems great for tourists
Do you know who Lyra Garcellano is? She has an ongoing art exhibit

Find out why NBA Live ‘08 is Too Real

Some great outdoor wedding reception locations

Visit the Friendship Tower of Bagac

Beauty and Minerals Day is set for September 22

Learn more about Jackie Climaco and her fashionable posse

A hundred sights that is. Eugene originally put up the concept blog (Filipino-related landmarks as seen from Google Maps) as Tanawing Pinoy. A few months ago, he agreed to let us bring in his wonderful content to the BBN. That’s why we relaunched the blog as Vista Pinas.

Wouldn’t you know it? Time flew so fast that the blog already has 100 locations in its database. So if you’ve blogged about any particular place, Vista Pinas is a great resource for your ramblings or research. You can see where Erap will supposedly spend the rest of his life, for instance.

Check out the celebratory post, read the interesting trivia round-up, congratulate Eugene, and subscribe to Vista Pinas if you haven’t yet. Unless you want to miss out on regular virtual tour guides of interesting Philippine landmarks!

Both Style Manila and Kikay Kits represent some of the best beauty and style content by Filipinos. So it’s no wonder that they’re part of the Splendicity Network, “The destination for splendid style on the Web, Splendicity is a place for fashionista’s to come and learn about the latest in fashion and beauty from a community of fantastic bloggers.” Check out some of Style Manila’s recent Splendicity-related posts:

• Win @ Splendicity: Essie Nail Polish
• Win @ Splendicity: MAC Cosmetics
• Win @ Splendicity: bareMinerals
• Win @ Splendicity: Marine Enzyme Intensive Treatment Masks by Dr. Bragi
• Win @ Splendicity: Allure Magazine Subscription and Sephora GC
• Win @ Splendicity: Alterna TEN Shampoo and Hair Masque
• Win @ Splendicity: Borghese Cosmetics and Glamour Magazine Subscription
• Win @ Splendicity: Benefit Cosmetics
• Win @ Splendicity: 1 Year Subscription to GLAMOUR Magazine and Skin Milk Bath & Body Products

Whether or not they find Joseph Estrada et. al guilty of graft and corruption tomorrow, the former Philippine President is a man of means. Head over to Vista Pinas to see Erap’s vast Tanay rest house, and the infamous Boracay mansion that he supposedly put up for a mistress. All without ever leaving your computer or getting shooed away by strict guards.

It’s no wonder the lawyers argued vehemently over these properties’ ownership in the Sandiganbayan (the Philippine Court of Appeals put up to prosecute corrupt officials) during the trial. Anyone who can have mansions built on a politician’s salary must have other sources of income.

Have you heard what happened to boybastos.com?

What about the new iPod Touch and the death of the Foleo?

Ever visited Roxas City, the hometown of this blogger’s mum?

Glanced upon the visual reminder of the 2nd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards?

Seen Lignon hill from thousands of kilometers above?

Felt the heat of Cebu’s fashion explosion?

Discovered Splendicity’s contests through Style Manila?

Teary-eyed from Sophie’s smoky eye tetralogy?

Tried escaping from the stereotypical mother-in-law?

So many questions, so many answers! Only on The Bayanihan Blog Network.