Rotterdam

     I had a global marketing meeting once before in Rotterdam, and to make our experience unforgettable, it was held by in a ship anchored in Rotterdam and ran like a hotel. Our global marketing boss opted for this for the experience. It was an experience unmatched in normal hotels.

The ship docked at Rotterdam port permanently 

     A friend who is in the US told me he used to be seafaring in this cruise ship when it was still cruising between Netherlands and America which was then called Holland America Line. It's now called SS Rotterdam, a hotel ship moored in Rotterdam port.

     We spent three days in this hotel ship, we had our meeting inside as well as the meals, ran like a normal hotel inland.

Paris

    Eleven years ago today, I was in Paris for a quick trip prior to my global marketing meeting and training in Belgium. It was my one and only solo trip abroad. It was a learning experience for me too. I took a train from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands which took almost four hours if I remember it right. Arriving at the train station early in the morning, I took some time to walk around as my hotel would open only at twelve noon. What happened outside the train station was an eye opener for me. A black girl snatched the iPhone of a Korean tourist who just came out of the station like me. He frantically shouted trying to chase the girl luggage in tow. The police was able to nab the girl, a teenager, and returned the phone to the Korean tourist. An efficient police, I thought.

     For two days I roamed around Paris, traversing famous street such as Rue La Fayette, one mentioned in many novels I've read. I visited famous landmarks such as the the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Notre Dame among others. I searched for Hard Rocke Cafe Paris to buy caps for my American friend who is into collecting HRC caps.

     I did a trip, it was longer out of the city center, to the Louvre Museum, something I only see in movies or read in books. I won't forget this trip.

At the Louvre

     After my Paris sojourn, I had to go to Antwerp, Belgium for our global marketing meeting cum training. Finally, I had to go to Louvain-la-Neuve to our global laboratory for technical training.

Productivity is The Key

     The Filipinos are very poor in world's standard, they don't have enough food to eat, many are unemployed, the countryside is dirt poor. Yet the government is doing nothing to alleviate their misery. Election come and go, and they pass inutile laws that have no significant effect in improving the lives of the common people.

     It's election time next year, and today is last day of filing of candidacy. Looking at the number and the potential candidates, it is utterly discouraging. What the current government has been spearheading is giving out monetary assistance. Palliative it is but it does not uproot the real cause of their poverty and does not aim to alleviate them from the misery. Instead, it teaches them to be dependent on the government and no initiative to work to be able to sustain their life.

Manny Piñol is right

     There is no drive to increase productivity that the masses won't wait for the government anymore. This country is managed by political idiots who kept the masses poor so that they can spoonfeed them with some cash every now and then to be manipulated during election time without them knowing it.

Increase productivity

     The archipelago is huge with a lot of unproductive areas. If the masses are harnessed properly, they can become independent financially leading them to be independent in their thinking. The country needs a messiah to uproot the evils of the wealthy oligarch which control the power everywhere. If all the idle lands are cultivated, developed and planted, the productivity will boost the country's economy. There's plenty to develop in agriculture and tourism alone.