Define: love

(Warning: long post ahead. I love "love" after all lolol)

I know, I know. First happiness, now love. What's next? Crush? Most embarrassing moment?

Vigan, Ilocos Sur is a quaint city that boasts of culture, history and nostalgia. About some 2 years ago, I visited the town of Melaka in Malaysia, a place known for its history, old houses and heritage museums. Being in Vigan a few weeks ago brought (or as Finn of Glee says, brung) back memories of walking trips, invading other people's old houses and marvelling at the antiques they've amassed and kept intact through the years.

Before you do anything in Vigan, I suggest heading first to the Village Heritage Admin Office in Calle Crisologo. They give out free, unused maps of the city, and tips on kalesa and tricycle fares (P150/hr and P30-50/trip, respectively). They can also shuttle you free of charge using the city's e-jeepney, if you're heading to the River Cruise dock (P100/person). The office may only be open during office hours, though, I think. So, if you arrive wee in the morning, or super late night, depending on your bus schedule (check Partas Bus Transit), of course it's best to secure accommodations first. Try Grandpa's Inn. They have both types of accommodations: suites and air conditioned brick-walled rooms for the I-need-a-place-to-relax-in type of tourist, and simple fan rooms with common toilets and bath for the I-need-a-place-to-crash-in types. Our trip being uber-impromptu, and not very long, we opted for the latter. It was comfy, clean and just right for a simple, restful sleep.

Mode of transportation, aside from tricycles and private motorbikes

I liked Vigan for 2 things: the calmness, and the food. We spent 2 days walking around the city, some hours walking back and forth Calle Crisologo, the famous street of old houses and cobblestone steps, watched a local beauty pageant, and visited the public market. In all these times, no one was rushing. I purposefully had to slow down my walking pace. People seemed relax. Store and restaurant staff provided attentive service, without being overly zealous and customer-service-y. No one was running, except for a game of patintero on the street. The only speeding we saw were from bikes participating in a bike race on Sunday afternoon, to which we gamely cheered on, along with residents who waited outside their houses to watch the bikers go by.

Calle Crisologo

The food was something altogether. It's simply not a place for people on a diet. Vigan has lots of local dishes to choose from, six meals in two days were just not enough to sample them all. So, naturally, we resorted to eating two orders of whatever we liked (Irene's Empanada), and ordering main dishes for dessert (bagnet as main in Cafe Leona, then their Napolitan pizza for dessert), finally culminating in hoarding Vigan longanisa in the public market. Of course, there was the last-minute sampling of sinanglaoan soup right before we boarded our bus going back to Manila.

Vigan longanisa, bagnet and sukang Iloko

Irene's Empanada, best eaten when hot and crispy, not for take-out

In every trip, there is a moment that defines the best memory of the city. For me, it was our visit to the Syquia Mansion, the famous mansion-turned museum of the Syquia-Quirino family, and house of former President Elpidio Quirino. Ferdinand, the city-appointed tourist guide, closed the museum doors at the time of our visit, so he can give us a private tour of the place. Later on, we found out that it's common practice among tourist spots here to provide each tourist group with their own private tour guide, whether it's one of the old houses, or up the Bantayan Bell Tower.

Ferdinand knew his history, knew the house, and knew his city. His last bit of information for us: do you not wonder how the city's architecture survived war and destruction that left other cities in ruins? He's right. That is something to wonder about, given that Vigan does not have the usual fort that can be seen surrounding old cities (think Intramuros and Cebu's Fort San Pedro).

These houses are aging gracefully.

Near the end of the Japanese invasion, the Japanese were ordered to burn and destroy all the places they occupied before leaving. Captain Fujiro Takahashi, the Military Commander in Vigan then, asked the help of a priest to take care of his Filipino wife, Adela, and their children. Fr. Kleikamp agreed with the condition that Takahashi and his men leave quietly. The following morning, the Japanese were gone, and Vigan was spared.

Legendary love is everywhere. Helen of Troy, Mark and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Rose. To die for the person you love, or to die together, has always been the popular storyline that became a popular definition of what love is. Perhaps this is why Vigan's love story is not that well-known. While our love stories end in destruction, tragedy and tears (it ain't good drama without tears), Adela's and Takahashi's saves a whole city. That's the real stuff legends are made of.

Happy Valentines Day! :D

Kuya Ferdinand did not have time to tell us the complete story, so if you'd like to know more, this article might help.

Define: biology, part 1 - the Scientific Method

While I work in training, my educational background is in Biology. Yes, once upon a time, I was a dedicated scientist who knew how to dissect organisms, identify parasites under the microscope, name corals while walking at the beach, and lure wasps into a test tube while feeding it with honey-water.

Biology is one huge never-ending practice of the Scientific Method. We're constantly in the lab doing whatever kind of experiment of the moment. While it may have the reputation for being a method you can only use in science-related experimentation (I can't be sure, but it may be because of the words "method" and "science" used in the same breath), it's actually grounded on simple tasks of problem-solving, that can be adapted in any and most situations.

For instance, it can act as a guide or workflow when you need to create a new training material.

• Identify the problem. Why is there a need for training? What gaps can be addressed by training?
• Formulate the hypothesis/es. Find out what causes the gaps to understand how to address them.
• Formulate the test predictions. Write the learning outcomes you predict will happen after learners complete the training.
• Review the related literature. What existing materials, references and resources are out there? Sift through these to see what else needs to be developed.
• Design the methodology. Outline the lessons, activities and materials that need to be developed in order for the learning outcomes to be met. Then start crackin' at development.
• Test. As with any system that is born out of design, a course needs to be tested for errors in functionality and accuracy of content. It undergoes rigorous feedback and back and forth testing to make sure it's sound for use.
• Analyse the results. Once the training goes live, and even before it does, constant evaluation is important to make sure it addresses the learning outcomes.
• Make your conclusion. Of course, after everything, you need to conclude something. The difference in scientific experimentation is that after testing, you get to conclude if your hypothesis and predictions are correct or not. In training, the conclusion should be the positive, that the training was able to address the problem. Because if it didn't, maybe you identified the wrong problem in the first place, or maybe it was something that training is not needed for.

So, what does Biology have to do with training? or with office work, for that matter? I get asked that question often, and my answer is always the same: a lot. There's so much that Biology taught me that is beyond memorization of terms, computation of energy and cutting up organisms.

Learning is never really wasted. The secret is recognizing the underlying principles and adapting them to daily life.

This site gives good info on how we used to decide on things without experimentation.