Punta Corazon Beach Resort
Mar 24, 2008
JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I want to share this to my fellow bloggers and to my loyal readers about this remote beach resort in Romblon, Romblon. I had the chance to go there together with my cousins just to visit the place believed to be the hidden treasure in the island. The entrance fee costs around P60 for adults and a discount for children. The very location of Punta Corazon is hidden from the main road. Getting there from the town proper requires you to hire/ride a tricycle. The road leading to the entrance of the resort is not passable for vehicles. A 3-4 minute walk is required to reach the main entrance. Labels: Personal, Philippines, Reviews
The place was spectacular. I fell in love with the place while gazing through the almost perfect landscaping of the area. Almost everything you see there is well planned. Although the main entrance is not yet finished as you can see below on the first image. However, it doesn't spoil my excitement as I saw the clear waters and the man made pool which harbors seawater. I couldn't resist taking some shots of the area... even the grass found there. The outside lighting is powered by the sun. One way to lower electricity costs and to contribute eco-awareness. The walkways and stairs are creatively paved with white pebbles and shells. The cottage there is somewhat designed by a professional. I like the cottage in the top-most portion of Punta Corazon which is named "Casita". The green grass is pleasing to the eye. Punta Corazon is like a paradise!
How to get there:
1. From Manila, you can travel by ship from Pier 8 via the MBRS Lines or Superferry which travel to Romblon.
2. Batangas seaport also has shipping vessels going to Romblon via the Montenegro Shipping Lines.
3. You can also book a flight via SeaAir which has scheduled flights to Tugdan Airport in Tablas Island 3 times a week. Upon arriving there, you need to ride a small ferry or a pump boat to take you to Romblon, Romblon.
Pictures of the resort below:
Technorati Tags: Punta Corazon Beach Resort, Romblon
Internet Connection in Odiongan
Mar 13, 2008JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
Staying here in Odiongan, Romblon for more than 2 months now is really a challenge especially for a newcomer like me. As you may recall from my previous posts, I permanently reside here in Romblon to handle our direct selling business. Add to that a photocopying service and soon to be Internet Cafe if all went on budget. Being here is not that different from where I've spent my whole life with. I'm talking about my sweet home San Pedro, Laguna which I spend most of the day connected to the online world. Here is different. I don't have a net connection yet. Labels: Internet, Personal, Philippines
My friends knew me for being frequent when it comes to going online. That is my life since I had my first Internet experience way back 1999. Since then I become an addict. Imagine I don't have an Internet connection even though I have a PC in the shop. I thought I go crazy if I haven't went online at least everyday. That proved me wrong. Today, I don't crave some of the habits I do before even watching television. I go online sometimes by renting PC's on some Internet and PC shops in the area. However, I plan to do this everyday and that could cost me more than 30 pesos a day. I'm a budget concious nowadays now that I'm fully independent. What to do?
There are Internet connection subscriptions available in Odiongan. Wireless connections and via landline (DSL) are the two types of data services offered for both residential and commercial. First, I tried applying for a wireless connection in OWAP but to no avail. I feel they won't let me because some say their network is already congested. Maybe they heard that I was planning to put up an Internet shop and that could rival their own iCafe just around the corner. I dunno. Next, I went to OTELCO, the local telephone operator here in Odiongan. The shop already has a landline connection under OTELCO. This gave me an idea before that the telco is able to offer both voice and data services. However, this kind of service (DSL) is a new service offering starting this year to their current and soon to be OTELCO subscribers. After applying for a subscription, they noted on our application that the process may take a week. The final installation will took several weeks after processing. The necessary equipment to provide DSL signal on telephone wires costs P65000+ and that the company hasn't been able to purchase yet.
And so I wait...and wait...I'm bored...wait again.
March 11, 2008 4 pm, the OTELCO technical guys arrived along with the modem. I was overjoyed. I like the small modem. Picture below:
The subscription plan was 128 kbps for P1500 a month. Expensive right?! Compared to DSL plans offered by Smart/PLDT and Globelines. The problem is the lack of equipment and tools of those aformentioned big players in the country to deploy their services here. OTELCO however is powered by PLDT/Smart but does not offer what PLDT/Smart were able to promote in Mega Manila. We did an application before on SmartBro to be installed in our shop. Our application was rejected, the signal for data services here is too weak to establish an Internet connection. Then how was I able to surf the net with speeds of up to 100kbps on my Smart mobile phone if there's insufficient signal for data services here?
I hope the government of Romblon pave way for these two big players to enter here so that customers can choose an alternative and initiate a healthy competition.
Technorati Tags: Odiongan, Internet, DSL
Acer Aspire 5315-2142 Laptop
Mar 4, 2008JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
Acer Aspire features a 15.4 WXGA Acer Crystalbrite LCD wide screen laptop monitor. With this size, you can enjoy watching movies in widescreen format and enhance your gameplay and internet surfing. It has an Intel Celeron processor 540 with speeds of up to 1.86 Ghz, 533 Mhz front side bus and a 1MB L2 cache. A 1 GB DDR2 of memory is available right out of the box which can boost those memory intensive applications. The laptop's video card harbors up to 252 MB of memory Mobile Intel Graphic Media Accelerator X3100, enough for the some of the latest mid-sized games in the market today. 120GB of hard drive space which you can use to store lots of data like music files, movies and pictures which you can then later burn on it's DVD-Super Multi DL optical drive. When it comes to connectivity, Acer Aspire 5315-2142 has a built in Wifi which is capable of connecting to other devices and on the internet wirelessly. Windows Vista Home Premium Edition is the OS installed in the laptop. Pictures after the jump. Note: This is not a sponsored post! Labels: Personal, Reviews, Technology
Specifications: 
Technorati Tags: Acer Aspire 5315-2142, Wee Laptop
What's been keeping me busy
Jan 18, 2008JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I've been quiet for the last 2 weeks because of my out-of-town journey to Romblon province. No new updates on my blog prior to the one I posted on the day I left Laguna to Batangas seaport. I already ran out of draft posts because of post Christmas and New Year hangovers. My apologies to my readers both in feed reader and email subscriptions. The trip was quite unplanned as we decide on what day we should leave for Romblon. We don't like traveling while we have numerous amounts of cargo to be delivered on to different islands of Romblon. To ease things up, we delivered the goods first two days before we left. What's left was the new PC and some small cartons filled with groceries for my priest uncle. I also went to the capital of Romblon to join Romblomanon's into celebrating the "Biniray Festival" which spans for several days of festivities. Details of my trip after the jump. Labels: Event, My Life, Personal, Philippines, Stories
January 7, 2008 Monday
The day we left Laguna to Batangas seaport to board M/V Xenia of Montenegro Shipping Lines bound to Odiongan, Romblon. Left the port around 5 p.m. with an ETA of 3 to 4 a.m. the next day.
January 8, 2008 Tuesday
Arrived at the port of Barangay Poctoy, Odiongan, Romblon at around 4:00 a.m. We were accompanied by my mom's two secretaries along with the two tricycles to take us along with our cargoes to the shop. We had a room on our shop complete with basic amenities. Early morning, I assembled the PC and thank God all went well. I test run the PC the whole day and installed the new printer.
January 9, 2008 Wednesday
Went to a health clinic/laboratory to apply for a drug test for my new driver's license. I already had a student permit but I wanted that time to upgrade to a non-professional license. The test took 20 minutes before I acquired the result. All results were negative. I proceeded to the nearest hospital for my medical tests and then to the LTO office for my application. After taking my picture for my driver's license, I successfully finished my application and a 5 month temporary license receipt was handed on to me. I should wait for the ID card to be released as they will deliver my application to Manila. You're wondering why I applied my license in Romblon instead in Laguna. According to the LTO, you can apply your driver's license anywhere as long as there is an LTO office in the area. I decided to apply there because of faster processing and shorter waits. Citizens applying there are just minimal compared to in Manila where the lobby area and the seats are full and congested.
January 10, 2008 Thursday
Filed my first business clearance in Odiongan, Romblon along with my cedula. Went to the municipal to issue my Mayor's/Business permit of our shop under my name. This is my first time to file a business permit. Good thing I had with me our secretary that time to accompany me. The process usually takes a few hours and all needed was the correct form to fill-up along with the correct detalied information about your business. Next, several signatures of government officials need to be completed before we go to the treasury to pay for my permit. We went up and down the building, went out to find the municipal health office to get a signature. All went well until we end up into the treasury to pay. It cost me more than a thousand pesos just for the application. We then proceeded to the filing office to submit my 1x1 picture and all the necessary documents so that they will process it. I had to wait until Monday to get my new business permit.
January 11, 2008 Friday
Left Odiongan, Romblon for St. Joseph Cathedral in Romblon, Romblon aboard the M/V Xenia around 4 a.m. all by myself. I want to join my cousins there in celebrating the "Biniray Festival" which starts that day. My place of stay was beside the cathedral in a convent where my uncle priest resides. The balcony oversees the plaza and all the events are just a glance away. Even the guest room where I'm at has this big old sliding window where you can see the basketball court, the plaza and the road leading to the church. I had the chance to see my dear cousins again. Later that night, I couldn't resist to join my relatives and other aquaintances to a booze fest (Gran Matador, Emperador and San Mig Light).
January 12, 2008 Saturday
Joined Romblomanons into celebrating the "Biniray Festivities" held in the Romblon plaza and in the cathedral. Witnessed different tribes compete for the first prize of P50000 on their tribal costumes and music (drum beats). Saw the "Viva Senior Santo Nino" carried out from the Romblon cathedral and then whisked away by loyal followers and patrons around the Romblon bay area aboard M/V Querubin. They circle the bay area 7 times. I had a booze session with my uncle (Tanduay) before we went to the performing band that night. I was amazed on how many fireworks lit up that time that lasted for 15 minutes. Courtesy of some gold sponsors like San Miguel Beer Brewery and Coca-Cola Philippines.
January 13, 2008 Sunday
Went to Gargantos Beach Resort (I believe this is the Marble beach resort if I'm not mistaken) to cool off and for me to experience the salty waters again. I enjoyed jumping from a man made plank made of wood and immersed myself into this deep water for me to dive. Later that day, I suffered a mild sunburn. I didn't noticed I went dark until I got home. Yikes!
January 14, 2008 Monday
Learned the ingredients and the method on how to cook "Nilagpang". It is a grilled milk fish with grilled tomatoes. Ingredients include onions, ginger root, chives, garlic and pepper. Mixed with water and grilled milk fish and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add an egg and tada, Rapsa!
January 15, 2008 Tuesday
Readied myself to leave Romblon for Batangas. I ran out of bed already early that morning. I forgot to reserve a ticket bed the day before I left. My only option that time is to aboard the ship early so I can reserve a seat in the canteen area. Most passengers who ran out of bed/seat stay on the canteen to spend the night. The ship was full that time. It was difficult to sleep in sitting position and your forehead lie on a table. At least I managed to use my clothes as my pillow to take a rest for a few hours.
I had so much fun in Romblon. The only regret is that I don't have a digital camera with me. That's a lesson for me. I missed a lot of good shots for that week. But the most important is the experience, you're there to witness the event. Oh well, just bring the camera next time. :D
Technorati Tags: Biniray Festival, Romblon
2007 In Review: Eagleman's Top Three
Dec 30, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I feel like joining this "Year Ender Post" thingie which most blogs around the world are doing through this holiday season. Two days remaining and 2007 will be over and to welcome the new year, I decided to create my top three on my blog. I thought of making this post a week ago as soon as possible but weren't unable to do so. I'm fully occupied with the holiday vacation until Christmas Day. This is my first ever year ender post for my blog. Nothing much to brag about. :P. Here are my top three's this 2007...
Top Three Most Commented Post
1. Show Me Your Desktop tied with The Chosen Blogs
2. EntrePinoy and Photo Manipulations
3. First Blogniversary Post and the New Domain Launch
Top Three Most Visited Post
1. Kami nAPO Muna Ulit Finale Tribute Album
2. Nina Does Barry Manilow
3. Christian Bautista's Just A Love Song Live Album
Top Three Traffic Sources (Search Engines)
1. Google
2. Direct
3. Yahoo
Top Three Referring Sites
1. Blogger.com
2. MyBloglog
3. Philippine Blog Awards 2007
Top Three Browsers used to access my blog
1. Firefox
2. Internet Explorer
3. Opera
Top Three of My Most Unforgettable Post (Personal)
1. Checkpoint Incident and My First Airplane Experience
2. Two to Six Meter Waves
3. Graduate Na Me tied with Blogger's Got A Taste of Taste Asia Last Night
Top Three Keywords that made traffic to my blog
1. Club MYX CD
2. Christian Bautista Live Album
3. MYMP New Horizon Album
Happy New Year 2008 to all!
Technorati Tags: Year Ender Review, 2008
EntrePinoy
Dec 17, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I mentioned before on one of my post that I'll be going to spend a week in Romblon. I did go to Romblon last Wednesday but stayed just for one day. I left home with my mom together with my dad who drove us to Batangas pier that day. It was late when we started our journey to the port from 1:30 pm instead of 12:30 pm. Our departure time was 5 pm and we arrived at the port area 30 minutes before departure. We already had tickets for the both of us, thanks to my mom who has a lot of connections in the ticketing area. Labels: Internet, Personal, PhilippinesMy mom started traveling back and forth to and from Romblon for the past 5 years. She had known several individuals in the ticketing area and some crew and officers of the different vessels (en route to Romblon) in the Montenegro Shipping Lines. Just one call and my mom is given automatically one ticket and reserved a bed either in the air con room or in the economy.
Exactly 5 pm, the ship MV Maria Isabel left the port of Batangas and arrived at Odiongan, Romblon at 4 am. We then took a rented tricycle to take us to one of the house of my mom's secretary. We rested there for 3 hours then proceeded to my mom's boutique located on the new rented location in front of the Romblon State College. We went to DTI office (a few walk from our location) afterwards to register the new business under my name.We decided to put my name as the registered property owner of "JKL Shoppe". We need to plan the floor area of the boutique and the soon to be added internet cafe starting with 5 pc's (will add soon as the need arises). So, my mom owns the boutique and within it is a small space just for the 5 PC's in which I manage.
The processing was quick and I received the DTI permit number that afternoon. My mom was hesitant if we should stay for a week in Romblon. Orders are already piling up in Laguna that my mom need to process. We can't rely to our family members to do bank transactions in behalf of me because my dad had work and my two siblings go to school.It is very difficult when I'm not at home. I usually do the bank transactions whenever my mom is in Romblon.
We decided to leave that same day we arrived and planned to go back on the 20th of December. The ship will leave Odiongan port at exactly 5 pm, already reserved tickets and arrived at Batangas port at 4:15 am the next day.
I took some images inside and outside the shop and also included some pictures aboard the vessel.
Technorati Tags: Romblon, Balikan
Mistaken
Dec 12, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
"I feel bad last night. I wish I never said that to her. I think I insulted her. Thanks to my big mouth. I really thought there's no one there". Those were the words that is still reverberating in my mind unto this very moment. What am I talking about? Labels: Personal
Yesterday, I left around 5:15 from the Christmas party on a resort in Alabang. I had to go to Glorietta to meet my two friends (Prex). I'm 30 minutes late when I arrived at Wendy's in G4, our meeting place. The plan was to watch a movie but was postponed because my soon-to-be GF (Haha, peace!) lost her appetite to watch. Instead, we stroll around the stalls to look for gift items for their Christmas party. We went to Tokyo Tokyo to eat dinner then continued our journey towards the stalls on G1. Since they are the ones leading to our destination, most of the locations ended up in boutiques. They bought some stilettos? (haha) shoes from Chesca then went to SM to look for some blush on. In the make-up area as what I call it, there is this mini stall right on the corner with a white chair beside it. I sat on it while talking about something to my friend. Unknown to me, there is this pink wearing saleslady who is just standing right next to me. While having our conversation, I had this blurred view of a human figure thing that is right beside me. My brain tells me that it maybe one of those life-sized cutout poster because it wasn't moving for a minute there. Even if my eye is focused straight to my friend at that time, there is this partial vision to your left and right (viewing angle) on both eyes. I took a glimpse on my right side, a mere 1 second look, back then look at the same direction again. To my surprise, the believed-to-be poster moved. "Oh sh*t, I thought you were a poster!". Kaboom! Bad remark. My friend laughed. I quickly offered my sincere apologies to her. Call me a pathetic dumb ass but I really thought that time that the she was a cutout poster. I don't know what's with me that time. It is the first incident of that kind ever happened to me. As we left, my friend told me that I shouldn't have said that or spoken a single word to her. I know and if I could turn back time, I would but it already happened. I feel bad that time. I don't usually spill out words whenever I was surprised. Unfortunately, it happened that time. I think it's time for me to wear eye glasses again. Haay! Nakakahiya talaga! Waah!
In other news, I won 5 thousand pesoses from a raffle. I accompanied my mom earlier that day on their Christmas Party because there is this one ticket left. Sayang naman pati yung food. Haha. Thinking that I may be her lucky charm again this time, I joined her. And it did. My mom won P3,000 and a gift prize award. On the attendance raffle, my mom was picked and won a basket full of groceries. The program scheduled to end at 4 but because it was delayed at first, 5:15 pm and still the raffle hasn't started yet. So I decided to leave early for Makati. While on a bus, my mom called me on the phone informing me that I won in the raffle. So there it is. Yesterday was indeed blessed. And oh, I'll be leaving this afternoon to Romblon and be back soon maybe Thursday next week or Monday.
UPDATE: I'm back again here in Laguna, December 14, 2007 Friday. I only spent a day on Romblon. Long story. I'll be back again on the 20th of this month. I don't like unplanned trips. Haay.
Technorati Tags: Personal, Cutout Poster
Gone for a Week
Dec 6, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I am scheduled to leave for Odiongan, Romblon on the Labels: Personal8th 12th of December 2007. I'll be checking out the new rented place (spacious floor area 4x6 meters) for our business (along with the merchandising and soon-to-include iCafe). The said establishment is located in front of the Romblon State University. Complete with a comfy bed, bathroom and a kitchen, this will be my second home to stay for a few days. I may travel from one place to another like to Looc, Romblon (another branch) and to the capital of Romblon (where my uncle priest resides there) for example. It may be one of the not-so remote provinces in the country but data connections like Internet and mobile networks are readily available. I had to spend some dime on renting a PC on Internet cafe's there. The last time I did was back in the summer of 2005 and the connection speed was like worse than dialup. If that's the case even the day I arrived there, I'll have to rely on my mom's N92 to check out email and reply to comments. Besides, even without 3G connection in that area, GPRS (Smart) still dominates the data connections for mobile devices. A little bit slower though than 3G.
I already plotted my destination on an embedded Google Maps that you see below complete with a place mark and descriptions. I may add some as I go to other places aside from the ones indicated on the map.
View Larger Map
UPDATE: It should be "Gone for 2 days" not "Gone for a Week". Wahehe. I need to go back gain after I went to Romblon last Wednesday. Imagine you left for Romblon at 5 pm last Wednesday and arrived 4:00 am Thursday. Then the same day, you left Romblon at 5 pm to Batangas. It was tiring, really. Long story. I'll be back there again on the 20th.
Technorati Tags: Personal, Romblon
The Three Things I'm Addicted To
Dec 4, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
Kuya Dom tagged me with this meme. This time, I had to write my 3 things I'm addicted to on a piece of paper, take a photo of it and place it within this post. Thinking of the everyday things that I normally do, I came up with these three things that needs to be fulfilled. Unable to do so will cause panic and chaos, enough to eradicate the world as we know it! Wahaha. Kidding aside. Simply my day is not complete without fulfilling three of my everyday addictions. What are they? See picture below. Labels: Personal
Since I had my first ever experience to connect and go online from the year 1999 on dial up, my interest on the triple "W" started. At the young age of 15 (the days when I was an innocent uber yummy handsome boy), I was able to surf on cyberspace, created my first email account on MSN and Yahoo, able to download an mp3 file (took me an hour just for a 1 MB of song; a song from NSYNC I remember. Haha.) and use it as a source of reliable information. It revolutionized the way I think about information and the way I live. I've been one of the million witnesses on how the Internet evolved and how it was made to be a part of our human civilization. When we subscribed to DSL back in November 2004, my addiction level skyrocketed. The Internet is what I spend most of my time in front of the computer. From reading stuffs on my favorite techie websites to some adult sites sprawling in the net (hehe), the need to quench my thirst for information (and entertainment) is an everyday habit. Imagine if for one day no access to Internet. Wahh! I think I'll die.
Life is boring without music. It is an integral part of our lives. Everyday I play some tunes on Winamp, playing all my favorite music both legitimate and those downloaded from peer-to-peer file sharing applications and websites. Music genre is not an issue as long as I can appreciate it and considered ear-friendly. Haha. I like to plug my headphones on both my ears and set my mobile player to shuffle mode to enjoy music randomly. Enough to brighten up my day especially during tense situations or when problems downed me.
Blogging is considered an everyday hobby. Being a "Problogger" is not yet an option for me. Maybe ten years from now. Ahehe. I love what I'm doing with my blog. It doesn't matter if only few readers are subscribed to my blog. As long as Google spiders index my posts and provide much of the traffic juice to my blog. I'm a shallow person, just a single visit to my blog will make my world go round. Ahehe. I like to read blogs of interest and do my ritual of bloghopping at least 3-4 times a week.
Now, the tagging part. I'll tag Abegail, Kuya Ambo, Yatot and Makoy. If you want to be tagged, just leave a comment. Enjoy! Added to the list, Lalon.
Technorati Tags: Personal
Package From My Astig Kuya
Nov 22, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
Yesterday noon, my mom called me to sign some papers from the mailman. She said that I have a package delivered from the US. As soon as I heard that, I assume immediately that it was from my blogger friend Dom Lawrence of Tales from a Cenobite. Upon receiving the paper and signing it afterwards, the mailman handed me over a medium sized box with my name and home address in it. It is really from Kuya Dom. I'm so thrilled and anxious to see what's inside. This is by far the biggest package I've ever received from abroad. The surprising thing was that the package was sent and delivered to me straight to our house instead of handing me a note or a "claim stub". I usually receive claim stubs before when I ordered free Ubuntu CD's from the Netherlands. I would normally go to Pacita Complex where our local post office is located whenever I receive packages from abroad. It happened that Mr. mailman knew my father and somehow recognized my surname and the address. I was thankful enough that I never had to spend that time a fare on a tricycle and a jeepney just to claim the package. Labels: Personal
I opened the box and unloaded all the crumpled paper that used to cushion the goodies inside. The crumpled papers turned out to be printed pictures of Kuya Dom taken last year. Kuya Dom never fails to be in a "pa-cute mode" on every photos I've seen on the crumpled paper. Hehe.
Inside a package was a wooden cross, a pen holder and 2 DVD Winter and Autumn reflections of their monastery. The goods comes with a scent that I thought came from the store from where Kuya Dom had bought it. Or maybe from the box itself. Nevertheless, I like the smell that came out of it. The cross was purely made from crafted wood. No segments of wood are glued into the making of this cross. I like the pen holder and made it as a special item on my desk. The DVD videos let me see the insides and the outsides of the monastery. It's like you're there touring the area. I like the tranquil atmosphere they had in the monastery.
My mom asked me about the sender and what was my relation to him. I told her that he is one of my astig blogger friends. I explained to her that he's a Filipino monk who resides in a monastery in New Mexico. It happened that our path crossed from a previous comment in my blog regarding my cat that spurred the start of our friendship. "Wow, lucky for you to have a friend like him", my mom replied. "I was." Read that Kuya Dom? Wahehe. I seldom receive gifts from someone I haven't seen in the flesh. When Kuya Dom brought this up more than a week ago, I said "anything you would like to send me". I was kinda hesitant, shy at first to let him but later agreed and gave him my postal address. I'm really thankful that someone would do that to me. This is my first time that a blogger friend sent me a package. I really appreciate the friendship he's giving me. That's why he is one of my Astig Kuya's in the online world. Yeah!
Below are the snapshots of the package:
I decided to keep the crumpled paper inside the box. Sayang eh. Hehe.
Technorati Tags: Kuya Dom, Personal
1Mbps DSL Speed Experience
Sep 19, 2007JP aka Elmo
Eagleman Blog
Blogger
I'm thrilled to see my DSL modem speed indicators shows that our Internet connection now streams data of up to a megabyte downstream and 512 kbps upstream. It was an unexpected event although earlier we planned to upgrade our land line as soon as possible. I never thought that the upgrade will include the increase in DSL speeds until I found out later on during the course of the negotiations. Labels: Internet, Personal, Philippines, Technology
It was more than two years ago since we took the offer of some house to house salesmen of having a DSL connection at home. They're good in sales talk and been able to convince my parents to acquire one. The plan includes a telephone line which uses a prepaid card to make outgoing calls and a DSL connection with speeds of up to 128kbps downstream and 6kbps upstream. We took the offer and after 3 weeks, we have a new land line and a DSL. The speed was at that time considered fast for me compared to the dial up speeds which reaches speeds of up to 6kbps only. Month's later they upgraded our downstream and upstream speeds to 128/96 kbps at no extra cost. The connection stayed for a year and a half until this September. My mom grew tired of dialing numerous numbers and pin codes just to make an outgoing call. We decided then to request an upgrade from our telephone provider.
My mom requested that our land line be upgraded from using a phone card to a direct dial. A plan was negotiated between her and the tel co officer. It was then agreed that the line will be fully upgraded within a couple of days based on the contract of agreement. The DSL speed therefore will be upgraded to a higher speed as well. The cost of the upgrade plus the new monthly bill will not be disclosed as of this writing. One day, tada!... we have a new land line number and a new DSL speed upgrade.
As some of you may know, the speed 1Mbps indicated by perhaps all companies that offer broadband is not consistent. This explains that plans of 1Mbps download speed or more is not necessarily mean that you can experience that speed consistently all day long. The broadband providers clearly states that your DSL connection speed will reach only up to a maximum dedicated speed indicated on your plan. In my experiences for the past week, I'm able to see download speeds of up to 800-850kbps downstream during peak hours and 900-1Mbps download speed during off peak hours. Based on my observations, as the number of subscribers using the Internet declines (during off peak hours and depends on the area), the chances for others (who are online at that time) to experience their maximum download speed increases, and vice versa. Then again, it depends on which area are you located. These are only my observations and these may contain inaccuracies. Please let me know. :D
Going back to my 1Mbps experience, having this connection 4 times faster than the previous speed is I think too much for me. Compared to my everyday living, I only use the PC mostly for Internet surfing. I only use the Internet to surf, do blogging, download music and files and watching some YouTube videos. That's it. Having this speed is like using a rented PC in a computer shop in Glorietta which costs P150 per hour. But how fast the current Internet connection speed will be?
In the Philippines nowadays, 2Mbps is now offered to residential communities both wired and wireless broadband with a fixed monthly plan. It doesn't end there as the penetration of DSL and wireless broadband and their speed as well increases. Based on Speedtest.net global stats, the country which has the fastest Internet download speeds was Japan with 10.443 Mbps (Huwaw!). Followed by Singapore and HongKong. For more of the Internet data speed statistics, head on to Speedtest Global Stats.
Having a 1Mbps or more download speed let's you do more than your usual common broadband speeds.
1. Watch lots and lots of Video clips from YouTube and P*rnTube ^_^
2. Download pirated movies and large files at the least amount of time
3. Upload music and movies
4. Watch live streaming TV in high resolution on your PC
5. Setup your own Internet radio station
6. Host your own live show on the web using your webcam. Lol!
7. Use it to make outgoing and incoming calls via VOIP
8. Watch Hi-resolution movie trailers on Apple's website
9. Play online games
10. and many more (I ran out of ideas already).
For now, I'm still figuring out the best way to utilize the fast broadband speed. I'm watching podcasts now instead of streaming them on audio. I'm thinking of hosting my own radio station which I want to do a few months ago. Hmm... What do you think?
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