Dad time

When everywhere ... there are messages about fathers
And so I think of Dad, and how each year we would prepare in advance
What to give him on this special day.
To tell him we love him and appreciate him, how great a Dad he was.
Although we of course think of him not only on this day.
All the more now that he is not here with us
But in our hearts he is there
We miss him, always our Daddy!


DaySpring Devotions sent this message:

A Blessing for Fathers
The heart of a father is found in the heart of God
In order for a man to be the kind of father that his children need, a man must understand what kind of father God is to His children.

A good man obtains favor from the Lord. Proverbs 12:2

May the blessing of being a father remind you of how valued and honored you are in the eyes of the Lord.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DAYSPRING ECARD 

Dad's 4th

This day ...

Four years have passed

Even when he is not here with us anymore

We continue to love him

To miss him

Now we can just think of the great and wonderful memories

Of life we had with him

And thank the Lord for that privilege

For giving us a dad like him ...

Ret. Judge Arnulfo Uy Kimpang Nietes, Sr.

25 August 1933-22 April 2009

Lawyer, Senior Provincial Board Member, Judge

Friend, Colleague, Adviser, Uncle, Grandfather

Our Loving Dad!

Weekend in Glasgow

The 2nd weekend of Dec was my first time to leave the comfort zone, so to speak. I went to Glasgow to spend the weekend with my friends, Dely and Raymond. They are a Filipino-Scottish couple who were introduced to me by a mutual friend. Since I arrived in September we had been planning to meet up but it was only until after the first week of December that it finally pushed through.

I took a train from Stirling to Glasgow (Queen Street station). My friends met me there and we proceeded to walk through the Buchanan Galleries and out to the Christmas Market. I took some pictures of the market, where there were interesting stuff from various European countries. I did not buy anything though ...

We also walked through the Walking Street of Glasgow, mingling with the crowd who were there for shopping and sight-seeing. It is nice to walk on streets without bothering about the traffic.

Then we proceeded to Braehead where they have this big mall and entertainment complex called Xscape. The interior was so designed that activities such as mountain (wall) climbing, and all other stuff related to defying gravity and the like could be done inside. We watched some of the children as they play above us. We had our lunch at the Harvester Salad & Grill Restaurant before going up to the cinema area.

We spent some time to discuss what movie to watch. Finally we decided to watch Skyfall. I have never watched a James Bond movie in a cinema before. Just on tv when shown, but also not really seriously watching. I think for me I read a lot about these movies in newspapers and internet, and they are advertised a lot of times on tv, radio and even in cinemas, that I do not have any interest to watch the movies themselves anymore. It was an ok movie, & full of excitement. Daniel Craig is a handsome hunk (is this redundant?)! It also featured Scotland and we are in Scotland so that was quite amazing. There was even a line which says, "Welcome to Scotland!" Just like watching the Bourne Legacy movie coz some of the scenes were shot in the Philippines; I wouldn't have watched it otherwise.

Farewell, Eliosa...

Today I was saddened to receive the news that a friend and classmate, Eliosa Elanga-Sayo, passed away. I felt regretful because the many times I have gone home to our province I have planned to go visit her. But it never happened. And next year I was planning that I should really make an effort to go visit her, coz she lived in another town. But it is too late now. She’s already gone from this life!

I could consider her as my first best friend, way back in Grade 1 at SJA. I remember that we would leave school together, she would come with me in our jeep to send her back to her house after school, even though her house was just near the school, just across the public plaza.  

We were classmates from Grade 1 until 4^th year high school but we sort of drifted away towards the end of grade school and during high school. We remained friends but not that close anymore. I could not remember really whether we met after high school. Probably not as she did not attend any reunions which I attended. But I saw her in pictures during our class reunions when I was not able to attend.

During the past few years I have come into contact with a couple of her relatives and I would always ask about her, requesting them to pass on to her my greetings and best regards. I hope that she received them. I hope that the happy memories of our childhood friendship were able to help her through the difficult moments of her life. 

Goodbye, Lios. Thanks for the friendship. Rest in peace in the loving arms of Jesus.

On Daddy’s Birthday - 25th Aug

Dad and mom during his birthday a few years ago

25 Aug - you would have been 78 here on earth

Alas you left us just short of your 76^th

And yet in spirit you are still with us

In all the memories that we have of you

In the images both in print, electronic, in our minds and in our hearts.

The picture of you as our caring dad

Since we were tiny until adulthood

You were there to provide, teach, encourage

You taught us so many things about life and love.

We really miss you, Daddy – and we wished you are still with us

To tell you about our day, the challenges, the successes

But we know that you are now at rest

And enjoying the presence of the Lord.

We are blessed to have a Daddy like you

We are thankful to have known you as such.

Just a few words today to express how we feel

Lots of words have been said, still many more left unsaid,

Many tears have been shed, still many more to be shed.

But that is life, we still feel the pain and the grief,

Your absence will always be noticed.

And yet you would want us to keep going, living

And so we will, but not forgetting, always remembering

Not only on your birthday, but every day.

We love you, Daddy!

could not help but write about it

I have read about the plagiarism of a blog which is an issue in the Philippines right now.

Read the links below:

Sotto's anti-RH speech copied from US blogger? Sotto doesn't think so (GMA News Network)

On Plagiarism, The Pill, and Presumptuousness (The Healthy Home Economist)

This reminds me of a couple of major events in my research life when this also happened to me.

First was way back in the early 90s, when the results of my experiments were copied by another researcher for his paper. These were the results of part 1 of my trials which he was not at all involved. I did not even know him during this period. But later on during part 2 of my trials, he was involved a bit only. I have already graduated and working for a few months when his draft came out. My boss saw it that he copied my results and put them on a table in his paper. Without citing the source, i.e. my thesis. Maybe he thought since it was not published as a paper then he could use it and claim it as his own. The nerve. I was still a young researcher and so innocent that I was not so adamant about it. But my boss was. He talked to him and told him to either cite the source and give credit to me, or make me as a co-author. I as so gentle that time that I just told him to reference my thesis as his source. He is now a well-known person in his field but oh well ... what can I say?

The second one happened a couple of years ago. Somebody (within the project team based in another country) copied my work for her research paper. As I was reading the draft, the sentences were just so familiar, that I knew it was my own writing. I knew it so I brought attention to it. That person did not even apologise to me directly. And she had some other excuses, as if it was just a light matter. But the fact remained that she copied what I had written and considered it as her own. Maybe she thought she was more superior than I am and my written work was less important than hers, so she could copy it as much as she wanted. Oh well, there was no love lost. I lost my trust in this person. I am not sure now whether her written work is really her own or ...

Yeah, people say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I don't believe that.
We could not spend all the time watching out for those plagiarising our work. That is why there are rules on how to cite and quote articles and make references. We learned that even when we were at school. 

august again

i missed writing in this blog last july...where was i then? i have been so busy with my research. among other things. esp. facebook. it is the bane of my blogging hobby, most of the time. but i will try to maintain some presence in my blog.

during the last week of july i took a couple of days leave coz my sister, her son and friends came to visit bangkok. so i spent most of the time with them in the city. but i had time to do some work as well when i was not with them. we enjoyed the time together but they were here for just a few days so there was not enough time to show them around. probably they will come back to do more sightseeing and shopping.

with my sis at a Japanese resto in Bangkok

with my nephew at Asiatique, Bangkok

after that i had to go to the field for research work. coming back at the end of the week (august already) i felt my body finally gave in to exhaustion. i had to take a rest as i felt quite unwell, due to colds. it is good that we had this long weekend and so i was able to rest some. no need to wake up early, i can sleep in and just relax. sleep when i want to.

tomorrow is 5th aug, my grandfather's 111 years' birthday. whenever i think of my lolo medyong, i think of integrity, honesty, loyalty and hard work, in whatever task you are faced with.