Talents behind technobabbles

I pride myself into knowing how to play piano, of fingering keys up to the frivolities of pianissimo and forte, crescendo and decrescendo. But piano is a defeat to my advocacies of mobility. Had I known it, I would have tried my fingers into strumming guitars same way as Cathy(shown in the picture with me perusing songbook and showing KTV remote) did.

But more than having flexible fingers in musical instruments, at the least I can sing. And I can sing adequately better than an average, musically inclined Filipino. Hahaha, call it "brimming a certain degree of fighting spirit." But not only that the people close to me know that I can, I also bagged fair share of modest Sing Along contests during my heydays. Yes, we call it "Sing Along" contest and not the pop-culturally-known singing contest known today. Most of my reportoire were ballads and standards, because those were where my vocal range astutely fits. And during college days, I was branded to be a master balladeer wanna-be who always brings Minus One Tape(there aren't any videoke or KTV sets back then yet) and refuses to relish songs upon the coax of my folks, but ultimately gave in, in the concealed pretenses of an already mastered and memorized song by saying "oh, sige, Side B, naka-rewind na yan ha".

Last Saturday, the G&S Party at Music 21 Timog had been streaming with surprises. I never though one friend named Vic can sing so good, dishing out songs from the renowned pop artist and premiere balladeer Martin Nievera. He rendered the song "How Can I" which is probably one of Ryan Cayabyab's musical virtuouso, but since I'm more into ballads than any music types, I am but a prejudice over Willy Cruz's compositions.  

Sharon(shown in the photo wearing red shirt with a balloon inside) has been irrefutably good at that craft. I used the term "irrefutable" because she can draw and lump the crowd together to stage her own concert, just as how she did it during her birthday at the Conway's Bar, Shangri-La Hotel, Makati. I knew it, I was there too. Running a blood of diva's, her sister Ynna won a certain songfest in HongKong.

Going back, I am categorizing(desparaging) shamelessly that piano is a limpid violation of mobility and I was so glad that Cathy(not only possesses unparelleled level of confidence, hahaha, sorry dear) but also started to play guitar as well, and she does it for a good cause. For their local church chorale purposes, mainly.

Had I grabbed guitar lessons, I would have had my launching ground to be the 'Jose Feliciano protegee' in the making. Hahaha.

I told Sharon that I refused to immerse myself with alcohol by then because I want to preserve my sense of hearing to discover raw talents behind technobabbles.

And yes I did. 

Starbucks Planner 2010: Self-imposed gift for your mobile lifestyle

What is it on every Christmas season that people are bent on spending thrice the amount of frappuccino and twice the three special featured beverage just to get the December's most-sought-after folio, the Starbucks planner. Why has it evolved into an urban lifetsyle habit to grab one everytime the month kicks in the -ber affixation. 

Quite frankly, I am only able to drink the Dark Cherry Mocha during November and December. And yes, not only because I have diabates that I only tend to loose myself a bit when it comes to what is restricted and what is regimental(it is in these season that abundance is apparent in the horizon), but because I also want to race against time to grab a planner that I don't even use the entire year. 

I know I am only partially paperless when it comes to keeping the personal information management intact. But when it comes to contacts, appointments, and task lists, I don't use any Filofax or planners. I don't even jot down meeting minutes on a piece of paper, but rather, highly rely on Notepad installed in my Windows based netbook that I carry almost everytime due to its mobile practicality.

Have you noticed how kids gets discernible excitement whenever Christmas frenzy is in the air, as they expect to be harboring with their coveted toys left and right from their godparents? Well, adults too get that same shivering feeling in the sheer luxury of completing Starbucks stamps. More like a heralding trophy of triumph after a long surge of urgency; the difference is that you can only have this out of your own pocket. 

I asked one of the colleagues why such a behavior among us coffeeshop parasites, as if I am asking a professional opinion from a psychographic point of view. He said it isn't the planner but the thought that a large portion of the proceeds will go to the UNICEF. 

Maybe I too have that same rectitude. And I have just been to Starbucks to get my Nth stamp. 

Mobile Conveniences

I have just been a Globe Postpaid "return customer" last October. That being said means that I am sporting a new number. That also means that I am putting another set of bills to an already avalanche of bills that my pocket has been bludgeoning with, magazine subscriptions mostly. Not counting other forthcomings like gym membership and all.

The last time I had my Globe line was during 1999, when analog phones rule the world and when Nokia 5110 has its peak of notoriety, a barometer of celebrated stature. 

Back then, I think Globe just started charging the SMS sending. So my entry into the mobile market is a bit late than most technology-assimilated folks. 

What made me return back to Globe Pospaid are reinforced into two reasons:

1) Globe Super Surf is offered with a compelling discount so huge that I didn't have a chance to banter my rebuttals. Thank to my friend who works as a Business Development Officer of Globe(name witheld). 

Though I already have a SmartBro since December of last year, having two broadband internet options is not only a necessary commodity but a convenient flexibility. 

Plus, who would ever say No to the fact that Globe Visibility users will be capped 5GB per monty of usage. Although I am not a Peer-t-Peer freak in the form of download engines like BitTorrent, I am definely a Youtube Baby, and I succumb to most of the Youtube content especially Karen Carpenters music videos to lull me to sleep. 

One classic example of flexibility is being able to juggle business proposal and blog entries while in a bar with some friends and clients. The picture on the left is taken at one of the bars within El Pueblo area in Ortigas.(Sorry, phone camera is a crap but was lucky enough to take this pic when the crowd is still absent to swarm the bar area). 

2) My trip to India will possibly culminate anytime soon as I get all the portfolio of services, business blueprint, and feasibility proposals ready. Yes, I will be going to Bangalore for just a stint of around 3-4days and I badly need roaming services to keep me connected to my company here. This would purely be a business trip that I don't even have a chance to see the Taj Mahal.

I couldn't say much about India except for the fact that it is where most epicenters of technology-driven businesses converge. 

I might just as well cross the bridge when I get there.  

Mobile Cowboy's Cuisine Trek

I am neither a food connoisseur nor a resto virtouso. Heck, I don't even know essentially the difference between a gourmet and a gourmand, much more than deciphering hard-to-pronounce continental cuisines. But I have been into lots of restaurants that I can already rule out which of the entrees serves superb sapidity. The rule of thumb is simple, choose whatever is the house speciality. But usually, such concoctions are priced relatively high than other courses. 

Going into Filipino restaurant always make a safer selection and a quite easier way to savor taste without the need to google encyclopedic food jargons. 

After a long and laborious meeting with our client at the UP Ayala TechnoHub, we went to the place that reminds us with our college days in restrospect. Mang Jimmy has been a haven for students along the Katipunan universities. It accurately defines the very term "home-cooking" since it is situated right at the very shard backyard of the man whose concept made the place needless to introduce. 

Unpretentious and utterly simple, Mang Jimmy is a place for mobile professionals(empie's for short, an evolved term from yuppies) to gratify mouth-watering goodness without violating one's shoe-string budget. Located right smack at the MWSS compound in Balara, just a stretch from the UP Campus, it has earned notoriety for serving good food with bang-for-the-bucks value. In fact, our bill barely hits the Php500 mark and the three of us are already satiated with bloated tummies and grotesque forms. 

The only sinful indulgence that we have repeatedly committed that day was to feast over a huge serving of Crispy Pata smidged with home-made sauce. It will even definitely lure diet-conscious and South Beach advocates. You can never go wrong with their sizzling plates and I bet one will never go home with an empty(or even mid-full) stomach. This is probably what my friend Shy means when she describes their home dishes to be "abundance is food." 

They didn't let us pay for our rice when most of it glided to each of our stomach quite profusely. 

Given our speed to be close to a hundred kph, we arrive at the place 4:00PM, started eating 4:20PM and ended up 6:45PM. It was absolutely room-filling. 

Jetson's wedding of the future

It's wedding time. At least that is what I have felt this season, not so much with the forthcoming yuletide break, since it has been a prevailing cycle when we pave way to the -ber months. 

But it is definitely noteworthy when one felt December to be vicarious alternative to June. Maybe because people are bent on receiving huge lump sum of Christmas bonuses and annual incentives. Or perhaps they just simply would like to start a year long being into each others arms. 

Couple of years back, Cat got wed. Few weeks ago, Pen just got married. Now Sha is about to tie knot too with her dearest inamorato. I mean, most of the pals that I have been hanging out with for so long are in one way or another disintegrated into our singlehood circle... gradually.  And ultimately leaving me alone in the circle. 

And speaking of Pen, let me start my story by asking an apology. You know, there are things that I couldn't do in my solitude just so in the present times that I am still nursing a broken heart. Things that would remind me of her, things that would make me long for her, I have been eluding it. I couldn't even watch a movie all by myself, much less than attending a wedding ceremony. It was plainly bad timing and I'm sorry for not attending, for not being there in the most celebrated moment in your life.  

Going back to the heart of the matter, I am neither a bane to romances nor have I possess expert knowledge in the dissertations of marriage and its grandstanding. But I have more or less an opinion on what I want whenever this technophilia that I am decided to walk down the aisle with my bride. Techno-thematics in its finest.

But Catholic Church is flooded with century old "conservatism" which might oppose the cultivation of new, rising radical ideas. So I will try my best to stand on the amicable ground between what is reasonable and what is reformatory, on what is historical and what is hype. 

Given my affinity to cars, I'd start thinking my quentessential wedding picture on settling what car would be used. Partly reminiscent of the Cinderella pumpkin-inspired carousel, this is enclosed in glass, so that my wife can be seen at all angles. I mean hey, she is the queen of her own, she should have the claim of exposure, the right to royalty. Afterall, the difference between a bride and a debutante is the sealed commitment of her eightenth rose.

If having an iPod that plays church music is already an uncompetitive thought in the Jetson's wedding of the future, maybe a wedding ring that has a playback capability to project videos into a screen would make bells and whistles. Yes, a wedding ring that works much like MP4 players slash microprojectors. Projecting into a screen would be quite an extraordinary idea as devices that should have this feature must comply two essential requirements: 1) light bulb small enough but can project large screen dimensions and 2) a battery pack also small enough but can withstand an hour of playback. 

Next is to think of a place that where all these high tech(albeit farfetched) ideas roll into reality. Maybe a dome stationed in the Earth's orbit? Connected into the ground via elevator with cables a tensile strength of the univserse's strongest alloy? 

Skin sizzlin' your laptop

I started skinning my laptop four years ago via Gmask, whose only laptop skinning outlet is at Greenbelt 1. That was way way back. And way way far from my place of work. Now my Acer Aspire 3620 is collecting dust like magnet, while serving its sole purpose of entertainment, playing dvd to lull me to sleep, or before I sleep. 

But true to the apothegm that you'd go far places to make yourself beautiful, same goes true with laptop. Afterall, one's laptop is an embodiment of your personality. Seen in today's teen with laptop the colors of pink and pastels, with the designs of Hello Kitty and Tweety Bird, laptop has been gradually evolving to be fashion statement other than its main purpose of computing slash surfing. Probably competing fashion spots with cellphone's interchangeable housing wayback its heydays, today's laptop also dresses up according to the myriad of user's personality. 

But skinning your laptop is not an easy task and is mostly done by professionals, and taking an hour to finish(at least that is what Gmask advised customers as the lead time of service). 

Well, gone are those days. Cretouch skins are easy to install and doesn't require sweat producing glands to work. 

Care of Cretouch at cretouch.com, you have plethora of premium skins to choose from, from the wood finish to the leather designs. Short for Creative Touch, Cretouch is your ally in terms of revolutionary make overs on boring laptop lids. My favorite design would be the carbon fiber, maybe drawned by my affinity to cars with carbon fiber hoods. 

My gripe with Gmasking my device is that it doesn't come cheap. I remember having shelled out around 3grand for overall maskable area. 

Now, I'm glad I don't have to spend a dime as my netbook's lid already has a decent design out of the box. See the similarity of the carbon skinned MacBook above with my Toshie NB205?  

How mobile are you

One has to defy the orthodox rule of social lifestyle to be able to answer question like "how mobile are you."

For some, it is measured as to the frequent flight miles they had with their airline loyalty privies, while others think of it as the number of times they are at home versus the lifestyle they lead outside. 

I myself measured it by how I easily adhere working lifestyle with personal ones, while maintaining the ever shifting landscapes. 

You see, I had been always on the perpetual move since I started marketing role wayback God-knows-when. Probably since the time I had my social security ID and TIN number. 

Remember the PocketBell days? When pagers used to be the primary means of contact for mobile professionals? I am one of those donning EasyCall pager on my left waist while Philips Fizz cellphone(analog) on my right. 

Then comes the revolutionary age of the PDA, those electronic brick that poses to be the handy computer via inception of wifi. With my immersion to wwireless technology, I was even featured in a magazine that speaks about mobile sphere in the Filipino culture. 

And now, with netbooks came into fruition, plus the advent of 3G, a promise of mobile lifestyle has even sharpened in massive scale. One can now juggle work at the time of pleasure. An unhealthy combination but considerably convenient. The hussles and bustles in getting confined at the four cornered office is now replaced with cozy and sleazy coffee shops where you can just bring your laptop and cellphone, and viola, the mobile office is with you. Unplug and play is the name of the game. 

One can enjoy the atmosphere of his favorite hang out circuit while not missing business documents and deadlines. 

But as to how far has this reached us is best measured by the laptop shipments in a year. Atom processor doubled sales figure in just a short span of time, cannibalizing the other conventional CPU market. 

It used to be the dictum of the OLPC brainchild to have widespread distribution of portable computers, hence the abbreviation "One Laptop Per Child."

And so it is. Today's Filipino household possessed at least one laptop. Some even has one laptop per family member. 

And the coffee shops' primary amenity don't limit to the variety of palatables and drinkables. In house, store sponsored wifi are already part of the offerings. The doors are not only gracing with menus to choose from but with wifi logo to stay connected, a come-on feature. 

In fact, I am writing this blog in a smoothie cafe while securing my needed break from a Mitsubishi event I was part of, showned by my red Mitsubishi T-shirt and the picture of the exhibit venue. (And it's one of those rarest, priceless moments that I wore rubber shoes on an occasion). A classic example of lifestyle/paradigm shift while traversing different landscapes. Speaking of which, do watch out for the next leg of Montero Sport Challenge by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines. 

Until here, I will be back to the event.  

Emergency Mobile Must-Have's

The past typhoon Ondoy ultimately gives us a stern lesson, whether on our way of coping tragedies, or our wherwithal to rise above distress, or even our workin plan in preparing such disasters.

The Ondoy which swept the entire into total darkness, literally and metaphorically, is a distinct mark at how adept and equipped are we in the face of turbulence.

With the city almost in total darkness after several languishing hours of power outage, one could almost account as what would have we prepped in the cases of long hours of brown out.

Not mentioning the flood, since it can only be coped at a massive scale and socio-political level, let's dichotomize this disaster into the nucleus of individual importance.

Had it not been with my Toshiba netbook, I would been gnawed in total darkness too. This is probably thing working in the entire neighborhood(not mentioning some PSP's of my younger kins), which professes to endure 9hours of continuous computing. My phone rendered useless as Globe's signal were a matter of futility, latter known that some communication tower near the flooded area conks out and can hardly be repaired because roads are impassable.

In my modest contemplation, I listed down the things I could have brought and bought as an emergency must-have's:

1) Battery Geek Portable Power Station: With over 30 + tips along with a travel case and a pouch to carry just the battery and cord, this is probably the must have gadget in cases of emergency. This claimed to power up your device up until 18 to 20hours. Imagine if you have a netbook that can last around 7 to 9hours, plus this portable wonder, then you'd be alive and online for close to 30hours.

2) OXO Candela Luau Portable Lamp: While many of us has different versions of what a portable lamp comes to mind, be it a hybrid radio/ lamp/flash light or a mere table top lamp, one should have at least this device to endure in lengthy hours of power interval. One thing that comes close to mind is the Oxooutdoor lantern that can light up your life up to 10hours, depending on the brightness setting. If your TV's out and DVD marathon's not possible, then better grab this portable lamp and just commune with good books.

3) Candles: But if you don't have $199 to boot for a portable lamp, then better get candles but you've got to be careful since it is one of the fireman's hot list on the most common causes of fire. The most nifty design I have come across with is this beer-inspired candle. Now, if you're thinking of pleasuring your alcohol-drenched friends with Christmas presence, this might be the IT thing.

4) Emergency Light: Known to be as common office must-have's as with fire extinguisher, this is also handy at home. Renowned as the industrial illuminator which automatically light up when AC outlet is not supplying power, it is probably the most seen and required building item.

5) Dynamo Torch with mobile phone charger: One of the most dressed-to-advantage devices is this flash light cum torch cum all other name-it-functionalities, including mobile phone charging and AM/FM transmitter. It can withstand up to 8hours of superb illumination. When TV's out, and books are all consummed to mind, maybe it's time to return to your humble auditory roots when radio drama and corny FM DJ's stormed the airwaves.

Post Mortem:

In the light of these, may I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our neighbor Noel who has a Christian congregation that took the initiative of carrying three sacks of slightly stressed clothings of mine to the site, when I am world-weary and could not mobilize for having hailed from work.

And just as the spirit of helping hand reaches, I ask a friend of mine too to donate some of her used clothings to the poor flood indigents. Just as I hoped, she said yes. She is a staunch believer of retail therapy and has an uncanny shopping habits like no tomorrow, with clothes piling up more than she could ever wear.

While some groups of friends in the industry participated in the photo exhibit at Badminton Galaxy, 2F Auto Galaxy Bulding, Sapphire Road, Ortigas Center. The exhibit featured photographs capturing the hope, love and heroism amidst typhoon Ondoy. "Capture the light" is all about the art and craft of capturing emotion, strength and bayanihan in action using whatever camera one have(yes even a cellphone). Proceeds of this exhibit was given to the destituted few of this flood.

Ghosts of my Gadgets' Past

I am always a staunch believer that every natural phenomenon is a fruition of stimulus. Even as simple as terrestrial rains are caused by transitory condensation. A catalyst instigator of some sort, the one that causes the "cause" of the "effect."

Even my affinity to gadgets is triggered by some precursors of this uncontrollable passion, forming like a billowing clouds of smoke, awaiting for the fire to appear in its blaze of glory. 

Who would have thought that my fondness to PDA is because of Mrs. Lily Ong's(fondly known to us as "Mader", our collective respect to her stature... and tenure) new retail merchandise, the Franklin Ebookman. I vaguely had any knowledge on it at first until it was presented to us during one of our routine meetings(Ops meeting). 

To most of you, you don't even know that such a product exists. To my colleagues in the Marketing Department of Avid Sales, it may already have resided in the cobwebs of your memory, and to the branch heads who either ignored it or don't know what it is and how it is used for, this was the foundation of today's technological marvel. The wizardry of yesterday is now the basic component of our new digital lifestyle. 

The Franklin is an ebook reader that works much like the current crops of ebook devices like Sony eBook Reader. But during those times, devices like this costs real estate. And I thought I would pass of the desire since my salary grade couldn't compensate my buying frenzy. 

Or so I though, but one day, Roch Dalino, our then-brand assistant, went to our office with a dysfunctional Compaq Ipaq 3970. It was the time that I relish temporary ownership of the product, fiddling every nooks and corners of the display to figure out what's wrong with it. And it was probably my first baptism to the fires of touch technology.

The Franklin was already crossing its way to become a PDA, with similar PIM functions to boot aside from Franklin Reader and Viewer. 

Now, so many years had passed by. I became a senior member of two most renowned PDA user organizations in the Philippines, the Mapalad.org(Palm users group) and a PinoyWindows Mobile(PocketPC users group). I also share coffee moments of Marvin Emata, formerly of Computer Devices Corporation, to talk about his Sharp Zaurus, a Linux based PDA. 

I have guzzled every science of these gizmos. I already have owned several of them in my lifetime, and if only I get to keep all of them, I probably have a gadget relic slash library named after me. 

But to date, these were the only ones that survived the ocassional losses and the daily wear and tear.  The Motorola Q 8 Windows Mobile Smartphone, Sony TJ37 PDA, Handspring Visor Prism, Nokia 6260, and a Motorola handset whose model name I couldn't remember. On top of it were cable tangles of CDR King Mice(would we call it mouses if we're referring to the plural form of computer mouse?) and MPIO FY200 256 MB MP3 player.  On topmost is the  retail box of my newly acquired iPhone  3G. 

Not in the picture were the Palm M105 and Sony Clie SJ30, which were already serving new masters. 

Arsenals of Mobility

I have long been itching to write(or more appropriately, "publicize") what I have been donning everytime I turned mobile.

I fancy light travel and if only I can incorporate technology into my human bile system, I would probably have done it before. Has anybody from MIT developed nanotechnology cellphones that can text and dial at the volition of my thought?

If none yet, I don't have a choice but to square of some considerable weights whenever I'm on the road, for a meeting, symposium, and business travel.

Although Siemens didn't offer much travel privileges, I have my offshore endeavor that showered me with such concessions.

You heard it right, part of being a writer-in both literary and journalistic capacity, is to reap the benefit of travel here and abroad. And I have always been ecstatic whenever an oportune time comes, except for some minor repulse on humidity I always experience when I travel locally. But hey, we are a tropical country and in one way or another, my body will soon acclimatize.

Yes, so far, I have been to Cebu and CDO to cover local festivities, and whenever I pack things up, I only have my check-in luggage and my laptop bag, which is also where my other gadgets reside.

Luggage for my functional clothes. I don't bring clothes that I don't use or reserve for a chance that I might use it. If I run out of clothes anyway, I just rush into malls to get one. I have never been out into the Amazonesque type of remote regions not to find any decent clothing shop to drop by.

And of course, my laptop bag sans gadget container has these to boot.

1) Europack Messenger slash Body Bag(depends on how you carry it): It has pockets that contains my credit cards, cellphone units and chargers, passport, and my netbook plus AC Adapter. What's so charming with it is that it is not bulky, unlike other laptop gear bags. It is as it it is tailor-made for my Toshie nettie.

2) Toshiba NB205-310: Enthralled by its sleek look and awesome design philosophy, I bought this nettie out of sheer luck. I never thought reviews proved right that it has a monster battery. It can endure 9hours of straight computing and surfing marathon. Enough for me to either chat with boss, clients, and freinds while being able to churn out impressive knockdown powerful articles. I have spent almost the entire day at Starbucks but power dissipates only half of battery meter.

3) iPhone 3G: Who says infopreneurs like me don't know how to have fun. Well, you're wrong. In fact, as mundane as talking to flight attendants(noh, I'm not flirting) can be fun for us. But what more when my iPhone serves its entertainment purpose by letting watch my favorite TV series(Burn Notice, Leverage, Fringe, and 24) while I'm away, or at least playing some cool, smooth jazz to reinvigorate my wearsome itineraries. And finally, it served as a competent replavcement of my first MP3 player wayback 2003, the MPIO FY200 256MB(c/o Jason Teh) which only uses triple A battery to juice it up. But really, this iPhone acquisition is due to a man named Redford Larredo. Damn you Epoy! After a night of chat, he was able to gregariously lure my heart into buying this device that morning after.

4) Samsung i780: Thumboard-implemented PDAPhone which is also a touchscreen wonder when you don't want to use the mouse-like feature of the phone. Yes, it literally does wonders, and those were the reason why I grab this phone instead of the Blackberry 8520. I'd say that this is everything a businessman need. Great messenging application for both email and SMS, Opera Mini is a breeze, and a GPS to triangulate possible easy way points. I was never wrong to choose this instead of HP Ipaq Business Navigator after a week of use. Although the novelty of having a scroll wheel in the function of HP, much like an iPod wheel, I just couldn't bear the thought of doing mutiple presses to spawn letters when texting. I am such a classic typist. "One press, one letter" kind of person.

5) Samsung J600: I only use this if I know that someone out there who uses Sun cellular is about to call me. Most of which are personal related calls. But this is handy enough to be the third mohican in my pocket.

6) Smartbro USB Stick: Consider it the ammunition of my arsenals. Afterall what good is it for my devices without the ticket to the world wide web. Given as a gift from my brother, this has served me with the purpose of providing the pocket broadband, whenever wherever. Although I am planning to hit on Sun USB stick soon for another option.

7) CDR King 16GB USB Drive: CDR King has been the potpourri of accessories to compliment our gadget and mobile lifestyle. It has served as a commissary for literally almost all IT related products. And to have a USB drive is a basic staple. And as of this writing, the highest capacity avaiable in the mainstream market is the 16GB.

Of course, given all those arsenals of mobility requires healthy mind and body. And to keep myself rev'ed up into the demands of my travel, I bring in some regimens for a sensible lifestyle. Not a gadget by category but they aid me in the elaborate capitalization of my hardware. Yes, I control my hardware, not the other way around. And how else for me to be able to do it than with these:

1) Kyusoku Bihaku Glutathione Activator: I don't want to tattle you with classes on biochemistry but with the onslaught of glutathione products getting commercialized, you must have known the positive effects it can do to our body. KB, as what is commonly termed by beauty top brass, contains 480++mg of glutathione, the highest content so far, hence explains its effectivity in detoxifying our body through glutathione streams. KB combines free-components of gluta for better absorption and retention. It comes with Rosehips Vit C, especially formulated to aid in amino acid synthesis.

2) Metformin Hcl: The shuriken is for the Ninja, while the metformin for diabetics. Having had a diabetes mellitus since God knows when, this is also a must have pill I have to bring in my luggage. Contains molecular formula freely soluble in water to effectively lower down blood sugar. Spare me from discussing with you the dual hydriphuclic polymer matrix properties of it. What you need to know is, this is a diabetes drug.

3) Shisheido Whisis: It's an L-cysteine folks. It is not a glutathione but a potent one in whitening process. Three to five times more potent than glutathione. It works to suppress effects of melanin formation to elimninate dark areas of your skin like scars, acne, freckles, uneven skin tone, and sunburn. So if you're out in the sun even for just a minute, makes sure you have three tablets of this aside from your sunblock.

4) Cosmo Skin Grape Seed Extract: Before the glutathione came into hype and spririted trend, the most common sources of anti oxidants were Vit C. E, and beta-carotene. However these sources were not inexpugnable enough to combat free radicals and are excreted in the body within a short time of ingestion. Grape seed extract has been known to remain in the body for as long as three days, making this twenty times more potent than Vit C and fifty times stronger than Vit E. It is taken along with the glutathione regimen.

5) MAC Studio Fix: Don't get me wrong, I am neither gay nor have the tendency to be one. I am never bent to effy(short for effeminate). I only use press powder during special ocassions like cocktail evenst and product launchings. It's the most versatile press powder around, with great seemingly coverage. In fact, you might not even need a foundation already if you have this. It has the most excellent texture, and the MAC sales lady told me that the reason for being is that it went through the reifniery process three times, that is why the fine "granules" stayed into your skin astuteley, with an almost matte to dewey feel to it, and you need not retouch even after getting sweaty.

6) Nars Lip Gloss Harlow: Probably the most common lip products around, Nars Lip Gloss provides the gloss that naturally glides into your supple lips. Not so heavy, enough weight, and stays into your skin for as long as it can. It's a universally flattering shimmering goodness.

7) Bvlgari Omnia Amethyst in special atomizer bottle: Because Omnia product lines are housed in a ring designed bottles, lugging it around in your small laptop bag is a bit cumbersome. I put it inside the special bottle that I can easily slip into the bag pockets, preserving precious space that it requires. Its iridescenece amethyst fragrance is best for evening ocassions. Of course, you have to lightly apply it, you don't want your male colleagues smell that you're spraying female perfume, much worse to think that you're incurable womanizer that a women's smell sticks into your body all day long.

8) Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme: When The One was phased out by D&G, I thought it was the end of my world. Little did I know that it was just the beginning for my even awesome existence. You might ask, why do I wear women's perfume when I profess myself to be a man at every inch. It is because I am super sensitive to smell that brusque fragrance triggers my sinusitis. Light Blue is citrusy at first but when it evaporates in seconds it provides a Jasmine floral tinge which is gorgeously light and essentially effluvious.

Ok, I'm a bit vain. But let me remind you of that KC Concepcion commercial to always look at your best, because you never know who you ran into. Very true, for us journalists.