New iPod Touch with Games

I was planning to buy a PSP slim (i know I'm such a loser for not owning one yet! i know!) for quite some time now. I was planning to buy one from my own money and so far according to my calculations, I'd probably get one by next month. I had a dilemma once and it involved being torn between PSP and iPod Touch. I liked iPod Touch solely because of its touchscreen navigation control and decided that PSP would be the better buy since it actually has most iPod features and the fact that I could play PS titles on a very portable gadget. But then, I came across this...

So the dilemma arises once again. Of course PSP would have the better lists of games that I could play but come on we are talking about Apple here. They make techies' wildest dreams come true in a blink of an eye. I'm sure that by next year, more titles would be play-able on the iPod Touch! Right now they have titles like Crash Bandicoot, Need for Speed Undercover and Spore to name a few. And yeah, does anyne know if these games are available now here in the Philippines? Argh! There's so much to save up for. I wanted to shop-wiki for my Mom cause next month she'll be celebrating her birthday. I'm actually thinking of giving her clothes. Then of course, the firs Big Buy! Argh!!! Help me decide on what to get? I still have a month to think about this and I don't want to regret my first ever Big Buy from my hard-earned money.

By Joe with 3 comments

Top 5 Biggest Philippine Malls

Filipinos love for "malling" is fast becoming our way of life. It doesn't matter if we come to malls to splurge on goodies we love or just to sit by the benches and watch people walk by, going to malls has become a Filipino identity. So it is no surprise that some of the biggest malls in the world are found here in our country. And to think we're 3rd world! Oh yeah, I forgot. We were upgraded to 2nd World (read article here).

So here's the list of the Philippines most gargantuan shopping malls...

1. SM Mall of Asia (2006) - All Filipinos know that MOA is the largest mall in the Philippines. Although there have been so many questions if it is indeed the largest mall in Asia...well, no. It is 3rd largest mall both in the world and in Asia because the two largest malls in the world are found in China. So yup, it is the biggest mall in Southeast Asia!!! It has a total floor area of 407,101 sq m. I love MOA simply becuase it is true to SM's slogan "We got it all for you!". I love its clean white interiors and how it is so spacious even at its peak days!

2. SM City North EDSA (1985) - the first ever supermall in the Philippines is also the mall closest to my heart becuase this was where my family and I go to almost everyweek when I was little. I practically know where every shop is at SM North. Tagged as the flagship of SM Malls, it has a total floor area of 351,861 sq m. But wait, if you've been passing along EDSA or North Avenue this past few days, you'd surely notice that it is undergoing renovation. Rumors has it that by the time of its reopening, it will be the biggest mall in the Philippines! Beating the record set by MOA. By its completion, it would have a GFA of 460,000 sq m! Currently though, it is the 6th largest mall in the world.

3. SM Megamall (1991) - located in the busy business district of Ortigas is the Philippines' bronze medalist in the race for the biggest mall... the SM Megamall. I remember it to be the talk of the town when it was completed June of 1991. Above anything, it boasts of the first ever ice skating rink in the country. I remember when I was younger, me & my cousins would always beg our parents to take us to Megamall just to glide in the icy rink (when I say glide that means walking with the support of handrails and slipping every other minute...haha) . With a GFA of 331,679 sq m, it is the 7th largest mall in the world.

4. SM City Cebu (1993) - Queen city of the South would not let their most precious mall be left out of this list. Currently the 11th biggest mall in the world, SM City Cebu was opened Novemeber of 1993. After its redevelopment in 2007, the mall now has a GFA of 268,611 sq m. It was also one of the first Philippine malls to have an IMAX theater. I remember that the first and last time I went to SM Cebu was when I was 7 years old and becuase there was an Ice skating rink inside it, that was what I enjoyed the most about the mall. I was young, what can I say?

5. Robinsons Midtown (1997) - formerly known as Robinsons Place or RP as me & my friends call it, the lone non-SM mall in the list is the 240,00 sq m wonder loacted at Ermita, Manila. It is currently the largest Robinsons Mall in the Philippines after the addition of its Midtown wing. The record of the biggest Robinsons mall was formerly held by Robinsons Galleria at EDSA. The first time I've been here was when I was in college already and I would have never learned about it if not for my friends. I've got to say that its Midtown wing is really nice because it is spacious and I love my space when I'm walking inside a mall. Although, I am open for discussion if somebody would contest that Glorietta is the fifth largest mall in the Philippines. I was not able to get the exact GFA of Glorietta, that's why.



Just in case you would be asking me about Berjaya Times Square in Malaysia (dubbed as the biggest mall in SEA), here's my explanation. BTS is a mall and a residential building in one and if we would compare MOA's GFA to the GFA of the mall in BTS, MOA is much bigger. Berjaya only has 320,000 sq m... not even close...

Figures from Forbes, ECSU and wikipedia

By Joe with 24 comments

How to Add a Favicon

Favicon is a small icon located at the address bar of your browser window and is used for identity and branding of a site. Favicon is short for favorite icon and is recognized by its ".ico" extension. If you're using the later versions of firefox and Explorer, then it would also be displayed on the tabs. Spoon Lagoon has one. It's my picture! Yeay!

Favicons are usually the logo of the company who owns the site but most bloggers don't have a logo, just like me! So what I used as a favicon is my picture. It is really up to you to decide what picture to use but I suggest soemthing simple because favicons are just 16x16 small. So let's start with generating your own favicon. There is a good number of site that generates afavicon for free but the one I used is by IconJ. They make it very easy to make a favicon.

1. Click BROWSE. Import the photo from your computer.
2. Since favicons are small, you might wanna sharpen it by clicking the drop down box SHARPEN LEVEL.
3. Click UPLOAD IT! to generate your icon. You will then see the actual favicon you'll be seeing next to your site's URL.
4. There would be two option to display your favicon but the easier way is by direct link. Copy the code generated from your favicon.
5. In blogger, go to your dashboard. Click LAYOUT then EDIT HTML. Be careful not to mess with anything in your code. Better back it up or be sorry. Tick the Expand Widget Templates check box and look for "<head>". A much faster way to do this is by typing CTRL F and type the code .
6. Just above it, paste the code you've generated through IconJ.
7. Click Save.

And there you go! You now have a favicon for your site. If you're having problems please tell me and I'll try to help you with your favicon.

By Joe with 13 comments

You Need to Vote!

After the announcement of The New Seven Wonders of the World last year, another campaign is going on: The New Seven Wonders of Nature. The campaign is aimed to create awareness and spread the importance of caring for mother nature. Yeah, go green! People are asked to nominate a nature site and convince people to vote for it to become a wonder of nature.

If you think the Philippines has an entry in this campaign you're wrong. Kidding! It has four!!! Well, four that I know of, actually. There could be more. And they are doing pretty well on the site's live ranking. Bravo Filipinos around the globe!

So what's the deal with this campaign? Well, by the end of the year, the site would be narrowing down the nominations to a short list of finalists. Note that there could only be one entry per country so three of the four nominees would say bye bye to their bid for the title. And from there, the final stretch of voting will begin. Soon they will be announcing the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

Oh yeah , I forgot to tell you which nature site from the Philippines were included. The highest ranking of them all (as of Aug. 30) is Mayon Volcano ranked 8th overall. Next in line is the Puerto Princessa Subterranean River ranked 12th. The other two Philippine entries are the Chocolate Hills (15th) and Tubbataha reef (17th). Funny thing is I've never been to any of these nature sites. The one I'd like to visit most is the underground river in Palawan. Nature lover ako eh. It has been said a lot of times that Palawan is the Philippine's last frontier so before I die, I would like to see it for myself. Sure it looks really nice on photos but I want my own eyes to see the wonder that is Palawan.

Although to tell youthe truth, I don't like Palawan to be the Philippines' entry. Becuse when it happens, I am sure that people around the world would want to go for themselves too. And I don't want it messed up by foreigners! I want it to remain as virgin as possible. Bohol's Chocolate Hills should be the Philippines' entry since it is an established tourist attraction anyway. So go Choco Hills!!! Support this Philippine natural sites now. Click on the Image below to vote.

By Joe with 6 comments

First World Philippines

In the 1960s, the Philippines was the 2nd richest country in Asia (next only to Japan). It was on its way to being a WORLD SUPERPOWER! Imagine that! But where do we stand now? No thanks to Marcos, we are lagging behind our neighbors in Southeast Asia. We were almost there...

The weird thing is I've been reading a lot of researches done by various experts and almost every one of them is saying the same thing...in 2020, the Philippines would be a 1st world country. Whadda?!? Is this true? It has to be a joke, right? I mean look at the Philippines now: food crisis, graft & corruption, GAS PRICE and all!?! They've all probably miscalculated somewhere...

From what I've read on articles, the Philippine economy is the fastest growing in SEA and is comparative to that of India. And guess what? We're not a 3rd world country anymore. They categorize our country as a Newly Industrialized Country...yeah, whatever that means.

PriceWaterHouseCoopers estimated that by 2020, Metro Manila would be one of the richest cities in the world; 30th richest city to be exact. By 2020, Metro Manila would be richer than Sidney, Barcelona and Singapore! Whoah! Metro Manila will be the richest SE Asian city by 2020, richer than Jakarta(33rd), Singapore (40th), Bangkok (46th) and Ho Chi Min (78th). If that's really going to happen, Manila would belong in to a league with Miami, Toronto, Moscow, Madrid & Seattle. Sweet!

Foreign Direct Investment cited three Philippine cities as members of the Top Asian Cities of the Future. Quezon City, Cebu City and Davao City made the list. The magazine also said that Quezon city has the 5th best economic potential and 3rd most cost effective city. Cebu was recognized as the 4th most cost effective city while Davao was cited to have 5th best human resources. Bravo!

And lastly, the Philippines is among the NEXT ELEVEN by Goldman Sachs. The firm previously announced that Brazil, Russia, India & China (collectively known as BRIC), would be the future superpowers of the world. Then just a year after, they released their thesis on the Next Eleven saying that these countries have the highest potential of having the world's largest economy next to the BRIC. By 2025, Goldman Sachs estimated the Philippines to have the 19th largest economy in the world!
Wow! Well, I'm no expert on economics but these are three independent studies which all point to one thing: economist around the world are on crack. Kidding! They all agree that the Philippines has a really good potential of making it first world. Let's keep our fingers corssed 'til 2020!!!!

By Joe with 15 comments