collapsing barrycade

what lead you to blogging?
my college friends insisted that i should try blogging, but i initially didn't like the idea for fear that i wont be able to sustain it and that i dont have anything interesting to blog about anyway. one crazy afternoon in the office, i was so dog-tired with work that i searched for a distraction that wouldnt look like i wasn't doing my work hehe... Blogging seemed the perfect distraction, and so i tried it. Next thing I knew, i was already becoming the blogger i thought i wont be.

do you plan ahead what to post or you simply post anything that happened to you in a certain occasion?
i do both. there are topics that i plan ahead before writing; some are spur of the moment (say, i'm watching TV and felt strongly about a subject)

you've been blogging for long now and what were the best posts?
i'm not sure which post is the best, but i can tell you which one i enjoyed writing the most.

the most enjoyable i've written so far was my post on Imelda Marcos. it was spur of the moment, but everything i needed (from quotes to photos) simply fell on my lap. i was laughing while i was doing the post and so i enjoyed it tremendously.

i don't have very high traffic in my blog, but among the posts, three have the highest traffic (thanks to Google and other search engines): Pinay makes it to American Idol, body tricks, and road rage under fire..
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if you are planning something on your blog, what would you want to feature in the future?
five things
a. have my own domain
b. come up with my own design
c. blog as often as i can
d. learn photography so i can post better photos
e. create another blog with a specialized, niche topic

how do you think does your blog helps other people?
i don't have any gauge to claim that my blog entertains or inspires people. i'd rather that my readers tell me this time.problem is, i have so many lurkers than readers who take time to comment.hahaha...

what makes a blog post interesting?
I'd like to believe all topics have the potential to be interesting to readers; the writer only needs to package it well. based on my experience, these are the elements that make a post interesting:
a. a catchy title
Sometimes, i will decide whether or not to read the post by simply reading the title; if it's plain and a giveaway, it bores me. i prefer a title that keeps me wanting for more.
b. the writer is passionate about the subject
I know it when i read it. When a writer feels strongly about a subject, his/her personality shines through; reading the post feels like listening to the writer in person. You can almost see the nonverbal cues.
c. writer makes an old subject current or adds a new twist to it
it's always fun to find a few surprises on the subject in the post, something unpredictable, something new that i didn't know about before. a blogger can post about Adam and Eve and still make it interesting.
d. attractive photos that complement the text
i'm a visual person and so i enjoy really good photos that come with nicely written text.
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what is your most unforgettable experience as a person living on a different country or simply when you're traveling?
Some of my travel posts (there's few of them actually) must have made the impression that I have lived or am living in a different country, but no, I have yet to experience living away from 'Pinas. What my brief visits to a couple of countries made me realize is that (gee, I fear I will sound the cheesiest man on the hour for saying this): mas love ko pa rin ang 'Pinas; nothing feels like

donG says>> barry's blog is like a watch-eye to what's happening in the Philippines. from issues to simple experiences of mismanaged systems, heavy traffic and "odd"vertisements. he also shares lessons learned with really good humor and he has a special post on Imelda. check it out.

just click on the photo of barry that will lead you to his blog.

carrot prince

What lead you to blogging?
It was my sister Allana who re-introduced me to blogging. Re-introduced in the sense that I already discovered blogging when I was sophomore high school student but only started to take it a little seriously when I was already on my second year in college. Nung highschool and my freshman year in college, I would start a blog and delete it kung ayaw ko na sa kanya. Wehehehe. Ngayon hindi na.

And another reason why I blog religiously now is because of a crush in college. I'm a regular reader of her blog, tapos naisip ko na, " Pwede rin naman akong mag-blog ah." Ganun po.

Do you plan ahead what to post or you simply post anything that happened to you in a certain occasion?
Generally, I plan ahead for my posts. And the posts are mostly about the things that happen to me. I only talk about shallow stuff in Carrot Prince - because I don't want to reveal much about myself.

Your blog as a student reminds me a lot of the student's typical day, how do you manage your time with blogging (knowing how busy it is to be in college)?
Normally, I write a post on Notepad in the evening and upload it on the blog early in the morning. I think it's a good stress - reliever. Studies come first of course! It's just that blogging has become a favorite past time now. It's good to write your own personal history. I don't blog when I have a lot of things to do, I just reserve them for another day or never even blog about them at all. I treat it as a hobby, something I can spend time doing after a day in school.

You've been blogging for long now and what were the best posts (what was it about)?
I started blogging in Greatest Journal in Harvest Erubinu around June 2007. After three months, I moved all my entries to Blogspot since I could customize the layout better there - that was the start of Highway 53: The Adventures of a Teenage Geographer and later The Prince of Geography Adventures. Because my entries back then were all very personal, some people eventually changed the URL address from highway53 to earvin01 to hide the blog! Wehehehe. Then I did a blog clean-up - I deleted around a hundred entries kasi mahirap ang internet eh, medyo di safe. Kaso, I accidentally deleted some good entries too , as well as some important pieces of personal history! Sayang. Pero OK lang. Sa totoo lang, I consider 2008 as my starting year in blogging, not 2007.

I think I really don't have an outstanding post. They're all practically the same. I really don't write that much since my English is horrible. But I think my best entries are those entries where I chose to be honest - without revealing that much about myself or about me getting in a not-so-bloggable situation. I'm just happy about the thought that I keep a lot of secrets.

If you are planning something on your blog, what would you want to feature in the future (something you never did before)?
I dream of getting my very own domain name in the future. But I think I don't really need it. Wehehehehe. And I'm still looking for that perfect layout for the blog - which I haven't found yet.

How do you think does your blog helps other people (entertaining them, teaching them something, etc.)?
Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question. But I think Carrot Prince makes some people happy, even just a little bit. I believe that bloggers who have good entries for everyone make the world, or at least cyberspace, a better place.

If you had a million to spend for a day, where and how will you spend it (you have to consume it wihtin the day - putting it in a bank/money depot cannot be considered)?
Whoa! A million pesos and I'll only be spending it for one day? That would be awesome! First of all, I'll buy the best SLR cameras for me, my sisters, my parents and my friends! I'll buy a camera for everybody I know. I'll buy five for myself! I really love photography and I'm thinking of studying it formally some time in the future when I already have a stable job. Basta I'll buy a camera! And lots of them. And of course, lots of memory cards since I'll be taking a billion photographs! Bwahahaha.

donG says>>
earvin's blog reminds us of our college days. spending a balance time studying and blogging. blogging for him is a stress-believer. he is a member of KontempoRaryong Gamelan Pilipino or Kontra-Gapi, the resident music and dance ensemble of the University of the Philippines. a future geographer who also likes surfing in Baler, Aurora. photography and anything Japanese is his interest for pastime. his blog is also nominated for the Candy Teen Blog Awards 2008. blog hop now.

lost and found thailand

what lead you to blogging?
Initially I started my blog to let my friends know about what's going on in my life while Im in Thailand. In the start I wrote e-mails here and there, but at some point I realized I was repeating myself - what have I told to whom etc. - couldn't keep track of it all. And thats when I thought of blogging - the perfect solution, really. Nobody is forced to read it, but it's always there if a wish to have a look should arise.

what motivates you to blog about a place so different from the country that you came from?
What motivates me? Exactly the reason that my life here IS so different from everything I used to 'live through' back home. I had this hope that someone might actually find what I write interesting for the same reason :) And as it turns out, several people do - and thats a motivator in itself. To share an experience is a two way process - the readers might learn something new about how different other cultures/people can be (and how it is for a European to integrate here) and as for me - I get the chance to communicate and, in certain moments, get some of the "load" off my shoulders.

your blog is very personal which makes it very interesting, how much do you spend posting?
How much time? Hmm, sort of hard to estimate. I write fast, so one I've gotten myself in the "groove", I get things written down at a great speed :) Also, it of course depends if anything interesting has happened - sometimes a a day or two can go by without me writing anything. Lets just say half an hour per post or something (picture upload takes a very long time) :)

how important to you is traveling?
Always loved traveling - that also is one of the reasons I was so thrilled I got this opportunity to come to Thailand. I never understood some peoples ability to be content with not seeing and experiencing the world around us. So yes, I would say traveling is important - it is re-energizing, helps to broaden one's views and i guess it also teaches one tolerance.

what makes every travel special?
Well, it's not always happening that way, but no matter where the "road" leads, a trip will always be special if it can be shared with someone. If traveling alone, then the journey has a slightly different aura to it - not less special or anything, but you would have to engage more with the people encountered on the way. More generally speaking - every trip is special no matter what happens during it - because it will be a memory, and as we all know, memories cannot be relived again.

what common aspect or characteristic do you have in common with the Thais?
What is common between me and Thai people? :) Oh man, thats a tough question to answer. Hmmm... let me see. I really don't know - I can come up with some general ideas, but those would be applicable to all nations - you know, people here seem to celebrate beauty of all things existing - and I would say we all look for some beauty in out lives to keep us going. I really don't know what to say this, hehe - I might come up with something later.

oh, I just as Thai people am crazy about their fantastic cuisine!

what's a dream place to travel do you have in mind right now?
My dream place - well, I have been thinking a lot about the Philippines lately (thanks to your blog!); also - I have always wanted to go to Cambodia.

donG says>>
Laura's blog is like a personal journal describing her new working environment, which is extremely different from where she came from, she take notes of her travel within Thailand and even her sidetrips outside this country. she talks about the Thai culture and her travels and what she finds unusual. this is one of the blogs that i first visited when i blog hop and it remains to be a very interesting blog.

click the picture to lead you to her blog.

lagal[og]

what lead you to blogging?
I’ve had this affinity for writing journals since I was a kid. It was just a natural thing to follow that path when blogging started. When I started over 4 years ago, my blog was just words. But I mixed in pictures here and there over the years.

when did you consider photography as a hobby?
I always had the inclinations for photography but is just 2 to 3 years ago when I had the means to indulge in it. Now, It’s a cross between a hobby and a quasi-career. I work in advertising and working with professional photographers, I may have picked up techniques here and there so plunging into photography came a bit easily.

your pictures was featured in the Outdoor
Photographer magazine, what are the most important
lessons that you learned in
photography?
Connect with the subject whether it’s another person or an awesome landscape. One can be technically flawless but if one doesn’t connect with the subject, the image can be a faultless but emotionally detached.

you visited many places in the Philippines, what
places do you consider the best in terms of nice views
and interesting culture?
This is a very difficult question to answer since each place is different; each culture is vibrant in its own way. Although I always have an affinity for Mindanao since it is less commercialized. Also faraway places like Batanes or off the beaten path like Biliran and Siquijor. I have a predilection for exploring places less visited by tourist.

what makes every trip special?
The great unknown. You can only research so much but your actual experience would be different from what the internet or the books may tell you. Either way, you come out richer for the experience.

i noticed that your blog also promotes good
spirituality, how important is that to you?
My writing and photography are symbiotically-connected to my spirituality. When I first went into serious photography, I get a lot of comments that there’s an intense emotional feeling viewers get from the images. My only explanation for that is because I immerse myself in God’s creations. I believe that when you connect to the universe, it will open itself up to you.

Also, I got into landscape photography to share my awe of God’s creation. Nothing like standing on a mountaintop to feel there’s a power far greater than the biggest ego.

what profession would you accept even without pay?
Being a guide to the Philippines. When I started my blog, it was just to put my happenings on a journal but I had an epiphany one day and realized that it could be put to good use. So I re-skewed my directions to show that this country, no matter how dreary the news may get, is still a beautiful place to be.

the donG says>>>
this bl[og] has its own culture of [og]ventures, [og]vocacies, phot[og]raphy and the donG personally [og]mires all his shots. a balance of phot[og]raphy and spirituality makes this bl[og] a hit!