My orchids: Dendrobium and Phalaenopsis

Image via WikipediaI have finally settled for 2 orchids: dendrobium and phalaenopsis.

Dendrobium, I would call it freely this way, is like the 'grass' in the orchid genera: hardy, easy to grow, and almost always flowering. That doesn't say it cannot die. But it is to say that if you are a beginner trying your hand on orchids, dendrobium should be a good choice.

I'm not a beginner when it comes to orchids, having taken care of many plants and trees before, for leaves and fruits, and also orchids. I actually don't find the vanda that I had before back in the Philippines. Just fortunate that I had a picture of it when it bloomed with at least 5 flowers.

And I don't have ample space now so I settled with a dendro and a phal. Actually my dear wife already cautioned me not to be over indulging on these lovely creation. Not that she doesn't like them. She just knows how I can get lost in it, especially the financial side. Of course, that would upset so many things in the family. Doesn't that prove again that our best half are our greatest blessing?

She did say that each month, get one. A plant for its leaf. Another for its scent. The next month, for its flowers, and so on. If that is not wisdom in order, what would you call it?

Enough of being philosophical!

I picked a very simple dendrobium so I don't have to be so meticulous (once again) with my plants. I already have pots lining up our balcony side and at the entrance side: cyclamen, begonia, mosaic, palm, hibiscus, corn plant, poor man's orchid, ferns, flaming katy, euphorbia, and some spices: short chili, long chili and capsicum. There is also the pineapple - too bad for this one - some kids at our block like this very much, and go on to picking out the growing leaves at the center when we're not around! Last night I just planted some seeds of balsam plants, for the flowers. And this is not the first time that I attempt to grow from seeds. Some grew, some didn't. Mind you the chilis and capsicums are grown from seeds, and they're quite cooperative somehow, a shoot, a green stem, and now a couple of leaves, with each day trying to show off by enlarging those leaves while extending the stems up.

And the phalaenopsis I picked, again, is not a complex one. I'm not that expert when it comes to phalaenopsis, but as far as I have read from many articles over the web, both the dendro and the phal are moisture-loving plants. I did come across one article that hit the point right at home. How can you remember just how much watering should you be doing for this and that orchid, aside from all the other intricacies required by each and every kind of an orchid, even though they belong to the same kind, different only by some characteristic due to its hybridization? Then I read that pseudobulbs are for storing water, just like a camel's humps. And so it goes this way: an orchids having pseudobulbs can store water, and therefore - should not be water as much as one that doesn't sport pseudobulbs! Dendros and Phals don't have pseudobulbs, so you should water them more. They like moisture. Their natural habitat in the rainforests (and jungles; I should say, 'the wild') are usually wet with rain and moist afterwards, be it the sun evaporating the water, or the moon cooling the air. But don't water the flower! That is killing the flowers that you've waiter for so long to come. Did you ever hear of the story of the fireman team that saved an old lady's cat from her burning apartment, and she threw a tea party, wherein when they're done and leaving, they run over the it? The cat, not the old lady! It's like that. You do everything conceivable just to make the plants flower, and when the flowers are coming, you nip them at the bud. So don't do that by watering the flowers. It's simple as this. You water the plant to make it flower. You don't expect the flower to flower by watering them, do you?

So I'm down with a dendrobium and a phalaenopsis. I should say, I'm starting with a dendrobium and a phalaenopsis. Hopefully the balsams give me the expected flowers (if they ever grow). My wife is already suggesting that I repot the begonias and cyclamens - they seem to be growing bigger that they will overgrow their current pot size. I'm hesitating because they are at their flowering peak. I'll wait and see. I hope to make good with my present collection, and make good at future additions.

Tilll then. Enjoy!

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It Was Simpler Then; Now Employers Have To Undergo Course As Well

MAIDS, EMPLOYERS IN MALAYSIA MUST ATTEND COURSE

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KUALA LUMPUR - From next month, all new foreign maids in Malaysia and their employers must attend a half-day course aimed at improving working relations between them, reported The New Straits Times.

The course that is being organised by the Human Resource Ministry is also aimed at reducing the number of runaway maids and physical abuse by employers. The maids and their employers must attend the course within six months of employment.

Human Resource Minister Dr S Subramaniam said the ministry found most employers to be responsible and supportive but "there is this 1 per cent who tarnish the country's image".

Speaking after launching a 30-page booklet on foreign maids on Saturday, he said the ministry also hopes maid employment agencies can do more: "We want them to act as a middle person and look into the management of the employer and the maid. They should also be able to counsel both the parties."

At present, agencies are obliged to replace a maid if the employer finds the helper unsuitable or if the maid runs away.

The course, which will be held during weekends, will also look into the contract's terms and conditions for salaries, working conditions, tips and how to end a contract.

Those attending the course will receive a book with hotline numbers, government addresses and phone numbers.

Asked if the ministry agrees with the recent call by Indonesia for a minimum payment of RM800 ($331.50) a month for an Indonesian maid, Dr Subramaniam said the ministry has rejected the demand.

"We will allow the market to decide on the pay because if we allow one country to decide on the pay, we will also have to entertain others," he said.

There are about 216,000 foreign maids in Malaysia with some 2,000 new maids entering the country every month.

Most are from Indonesia, followed by maids from the Philippines, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar. Agencies

From TODAY, Monday, 22-Feb-2010

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Number of Filipino drug mules increasing

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV

06/26/2009 | 07:39 PM

DONKEY WORK. Despite the name, a drug mule is actually a person who smuggles something with him or her across a national border in exchange for money.
AP photo

MANILA, Philippines - Just as the world celebrated the United Nation's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Vice President Noli De Castro on Friday revealed that the number of Filipino drug "mules" is increasing.

Citing a report from Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Sonia Brady, De Castro said that a total of 158 Filipinos – most of whom were women – have been arrested for drug trafficking in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau as of June 7.

Drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of highly dangerous drugs like heroin is punishable by death in China and its territories.

But the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier reported that in 2008 alone, 111 Filipinos were arrested for drug-related offenses in the same Chinese territories.

This, the DFA said, was a 594-percent increase from the 16 arrested in 2007.

Of those arrested in 2007 and 2008, 22 are facing death sentence, 12 have gotten life, while 11 have been made to serve 15-16 years prison terms.

De Castro said that all the arrests had stemmed from narcotic drugs being found in the suspects' luggage supposedly given to them by people they met in a transit country – usually Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Laos, and Vietnam.

He said that members of foreign drug rings give Filipino mules tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong or to mainland China and promise to pay the carriers upon delivery of the drugs to their destination.

The vice president therefore appealed to the public to warn their relatives and friends not to accept any parcel or bag from people they do not know in exchange for money.

"Think twice before you allow yourself to be used as drug couriers as you become an instrument to destroying lives of others. At the same time, you expose yourself to certain criminal prosecution," said De Castro.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has said that it is working on a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to help prevent Filipinos from being used as drug couriers. - GMANews.TV

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

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Storm strands passengers in central Philippines

I used to wade on the waters… a fishpond, a river, the sea, and the streets… back then the water is clear and unpolluted…

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Posted: 24 June 2009 0508 hrs

Pedestrians walk through flood water on a street in the financial district of Manila, Philippines.

MANILA: Vessels were on Tuesday told not to leave the central Philippine islands as tropical storm Nangka hit the region packing maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometres an hour, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as the strengthening storm struck Samar island in mid-afternoon.

The coastguard issued an advisory banning all maritime traffic around 14 central islands and the southeastern tip of the main island of Luzon - the expected immediate path of the storm.

Ferries and cargo ships weighing 1,000 tonnes or less were also restricted to port in Manila and along the nearby coast of Luzon or ordered to seek shelter if they were already at sea.

The local weather service said the storm was moving northwest and due to pass just south of Manila on its way to the South China Sea on Wednesday afternoon.

Local television in Samar said hundreds of people who rely on small ferries to commute between central islands were stranded at major ports in the area. - AFP/de

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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November fight may be the last for politics-bound Pacquiao

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

06/22/2009 | 10:53 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao appears bent on entering the political ring that he is seriously contemplating leaving the boxing ring for good.

The reigning pound-for-pound king declared he is good for one last fight, his projected November 14 gig at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas intended to be his swan song.

"Siguro last fight ko na ito para magserbisyo naman ako sa mga tao," Pacquiao said in an interview on 24 Oras.

"Ang mama ko nga ayaw na niya akong lumaban pero sabi ko, kaya ko pa naman, isa pa," added the two-time Fighter of the Year, whose camp is currently in negotiations with WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto for a possible showdown.

Pacquiao is eyeing a congressional post in Saranggani Province in next year's elections and he has already set the wheels in motion for this bid by forming his own local party, the People's Champ Movement, and setting residence in the province.

Over the weekend, he graced the celebrations for the founding anniversary of the district of Malapatan, where he publicly expressed his intention to serve them as congressman.

"Itong mga kamao ko na ginamit ko pang-knockout sa mga kalaban sa boxing, gagamitin ko para makatulong sa inyo," he told his highly-appreciative "constituents."

To show his seriousness to help the townsfolk, Pacquiao, one of the highest-paid athletes in the world according to Forbes magazine and one of the most influential people based on a list by Time magazine, donated an ambulance and fire-truck for the district's use.

This would be the Pacman's second attempt at a House seat after getting knocked out in 2007 by incumbent Rep. Darlene Custodio over in South Cotabato district.

But before Pacquiao could train his 100 percent attention to politics, he has to take care of one more business in the ring first.

Currently, his promoter is in talks with fellow Top Rank fighter Cotto for his "lash hurrah."

The Filipino ring icon himself had greenlit the negotiations with Cotto after personally seeing the Puerto Rican fight and escape with a split decision win over challenger Joshua Clottey in New York last June 13.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum had expressed confidence he would get Pacquiao and Cotto to sign on soon for what he described as a terrific fight. Among the issues still to be ironed out are the purse split and possible catch weight. – GMANews.Tv

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

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Film star sex video scandal grips Philippines

And some things that aren't supposed to be discussed with young people at home, suddenly gets a prime time slot on national airtime… Kids will ask questions after questions… it is hard being a parent. And what more if you are the parent of the man, or the woman, in this scandal? The father of the guy I knew had a heart attack, who was the first doctor in the family himself…

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Posted: 01 June 2009 2218 hrs

Philippines film actress Katrina Halili

MANILA - Steamy sex videos of a cosmetic surgeon and his celebrity patients indulging in more than the standard nip and tuck have gripped the devoutly Roman Catholic Philippines.

Home movies showing Hayden Kho going beyond the usual doctor-patient boundaries with a rising film star and commercial model are spreading around the Internet, as hawkers on Manila's street corners sell DVDs of their trysts.

The videos and the manner in which they came into the public domain have fascinated and repulsed this deeply religious country.

One of the unwitting stars of the films is up-and-coming actress Katrina Halili, 23, who has now filed a criminal complaint.

Halili is the only woman who has identified herself as one of four appearing separately with Kho in the videos.

"I fully gave my heart and soul to a man who was doing his own movie," she said.

"In our culture, this will stigmatise me for life."

She now has what many young actresses aspire to -- instant name recognition -- but for all the wrong reasons.

In a country that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stanley Karnow once described as "300 years in a Catholic convent and 50 years in Hollywood" this fame is working against her.

This week workers began pulling down from Manila's main avenue a large billboard of Halili endorsing a popular local brand of lingerie.

The young actress later confirmed she had lost an endorsement contract and that film and modelling offers had also dried up since the tapes went public.

Kho, 29, has issued a public apology and suspended his medical practice as calls increase for him to have his licence revoked -- all the while insisting he was not the one who made the recordings public.

Now suspicion has shifted to the cuckolded boyfriends or girlfriends -- or their associates -- of some of the personalities in the videos.

Fifty-something Vicki Belo, another cosmetic surgeon to Filipino movie stars and one-time lover of Kho, said she learnt of her estranged boyfriend's activities with other women from video files stored on her clinic's computer.

But despite saying in a sworn statement that she was aware Kho had made a similar recording of their own lovemaking, Belo has denied spreading the videotapes of Kho having sex with the younger women.

Recording the videos and making them public without the women's consent "is a form of violence," said Sylvia Claudio of the University of the Philippines Centre for Women's Studies.

"We're seeing that even with this new technology, it still tends to go along the lines of old problems. Women's status is low in society, so we see this new technology where a lot of women are being hurt," she said in a television forum on the controversy.

Halili is now appealing for the public to stop watching the recordings, saying: "You also have daughters, sisters, girlfriends, wives."

But so far, her appeal has fallen on deaf ears. A middle-aged street vendor who would identify himself only by his first name, Jose, openly hawked a "Katrina-Hayden Scandal" video disc outside Manila's largest shopping mall, alongside his usual fare of pirated copies of Hollywood films.

"It's all over the Internet now, so sales are not that brisk as last week. But people still come here to buy them," Jose said.

A blue-collar worker who called himself "Joe" said he bought a copy because he had no Internet access.

"Every red-blooded Filipino male dreams of being in bed with Katrina Halili," he said. - AFP/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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