[Book Review] 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country

This book came out and became quite popular.  I did have a comment on it, and now is the time to speak up.

I think it misses one important thing every Filipino can do to help our country.  But okay, this is one thing I don't do myself very often, or at least not in print or publications and not on the internet...

13. Speak in Filipino to each other.  Preserve our culture.  Respect our traditions.  Write your books for Filipinos in Filipino.  Teach other Filipino dialects in elementary, high school, and college!  Including Tagalog*!  Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have wrong English grammar, it's not our language after all.  Don't laugh at fellow Filipinos who have "wrong" English pronunciations.  They are only "wrong" in the eyes of Americans, etc.  Other English-speaking nations have their own way of pronouncing English: each of the 50 States, the UK, Scotland, Australia, Singapore, Canada, India, Italy, Germany, and so on.  In other words, don't judge fellow Filipinos by other nation's standards!

(*Many do not know a lot of Tagalog words; they call them "very deep" Tagalog words, thus alienating themselves from speaking it more fluently.  And this is the dialect that is the primary basis of the Filipino language.)

Unfortunately because the book with the above title is in English, I don't think its message was brought to all the intended audience.  Or maybe that is the point?  I like the book, and its contents, and its message.  But to reach what I believe is its intended audience, it has to be written in Filipino.  Tagalog, Bisaya, Waray, etc.  In all dialects if possible!

To defend myself, my intended audience for this blog is not just the Filipino people (that's why it's on the net), hence, kindly pardon the English, imperfections aside.  I plan to write one book with the intended audience being Filipinos...  I hope to write it in Filipino.

I said "Speak in Filipino to each other" should be #13, to add to the "12 Little Things."  Personally I think it should be #1.

Oh and...  I do respect traffic officers, policemen, and most specially soldiers.  (#5 on the list.)  But I fear policemen, to tell you the truth.  You could be doing nothing wrong, and then you could just find yourself behind bars, or fined, or abused.  After all, they have guns.  We don't.  I've heard of stories, and I've experienced some of these things first hand.  I think #5 should be changed to, "If you are an authority figure - traffic officer, police, soldier, priest, father, teacher, mayor, president, etc. - practice good leadership,  respect the people under you, and take responsibility for them."  At some point in all of our lives, we each will be in a position of authority.  I think we should do our part well first, before we can ask people to respect us.

By the way, I would vote for Alex "Pinoy" Lacson for senator this May 2010.  He wrote the said book. :-)

[Book Review] How to Mend a Broken Heart (by Nelson Dy)

Not what I thought it would be. I expected something general, something to really heal broken hearts of all sorts. I do know this is a Christian book.

But this thing is targeted at male nerds/dorks who are already at their mid-30s to 40s and yet haven't hooked up yet. Not applicable to me! Sadly? Well, this also applies to young teeners and 20-something guys who are already "looking." In short, this applies to BOYS, not MEN.

By nerds/dorks/boys, I meant those who do not know how to win at least one girl's heart. And that is, a girl he likes. Because low-EQ nerds/dorks could settle for someone they don't really like, and well, problems could come like flash floods in the middle of the dark night (i.e. married life). Hopefully, this book encourages low-EQ people not to be low-EQ. Ha! As if that's not difficult.

The author was broken-hearted because he did not know what to do, and he wasn't yet ready (in terms of personality, spirituality, etc.), and yet he was barking at the wrong tree. That girl wasn't the right person for her but... if he knew what to do and he was the person he should be, i.e. a good Christian man and not just a nice guy, the girl could have fallen head-over-heels for him even though he didn't have as much money as that other guy, and she would've become the best person for her. Oh well.

But, with an open mind, there are some new stuff you could learn here and there. Like the story of David and Jonathan, or Ruth and Naomi and Mara--If you don't already know their story. Or, there's this one advice at the end for guys. The book says that as The Man in the relationship, it is your task to make your partner and future wife (if not yet your current wife) be SSS. That is, Satisfied, Safe, and Spiritual. You will want to be the man she likes. If not, you shouldn't be with her! You want to provide for her. You want her to feel secure. Financially, yes. Emotionally, too. And not only from evil outside elements. Like you don't let her walk down unsafe streets. But you also make her feel safe with YOU. So you should also control your temper. And by doing that, you are leading by example. You should also lead prayers, read scripture, attend mass and go to church at least weekly - and you bring her along on the ride.

I also like the story at the end - the story about a nice, Christian couple, who had a big fight over parking... There's a moral to that story. I am not sharing the whole story so that you have some reason to buy the book for.

Nonetheless, I do not recommend this book if you're looking to mend a broken heart. Instead, if you want to pick up a few Christian teachings or two, you could get it from this book. Or, if you are a male nerd/dork (God bless you more if you are humble enough to admit that) or a young boy at heart, whether you're 13 or 30 or already dirty, buy this book. Perhaps this is something I could have used maybe 6 to 10 years back. Because although I was already 25, I didn't know better yet, and I put myself at a huge risk of getting a broken heart. And so I became broken-hearted. I was still a nerd/dork; a "little boy" who had false illusions about love brought about by varying environmental factors. Although all the while, I knew I wasn't yet good enough. I wasn't yet the man that I should have been. After then, I started reading, and those helped.

What then is better reading for male adults (i.e. 25 and older for Filipinos)? These three books are better than HTMABH by Nelson Dy:

1. Wild At Heart by John Eldredge
2. For Men Only by Shaunti Feldhahn and Jeff Feldhahn
3. The Bible by GOD

[Book Review] On Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad

This will sound negative, but I lay it down on the table here on my blog, hoping to generate some reactions and discussions. Oh but I've forgotten if I've said this before. But I wanted it "written down," so here it is.

During the first time I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I felt the same way I felt when I attended this network marketing seminar. The one similar thought that came to mind during each of those two experiences was: what if everyone was doing the same thing because the book or the network marketing company was 100% successful - everyone selling the same product, and so on. Who would buy? That's the problem, at least with some network marketing companies - they're almost nothing more than a membership shopping club.

In the stock market, those who know how to "play" it break some but make more. The rest, they base their decisions on emotions, "tips," the bandwagon, etc. Most of them do not earn from the market, or earn as much as they could. But, what if everyone knows how to play the market? It won't ever move, or it might move up or down so fast - emotions will start to set in again. Feelings of excitement, greed, hope come in.

So really, the question to ask ourselves is: which side of the market are you on? Is what I'm into really what it is? How do things really work around here?

Kiyosaki, as some might say, is not a personal finance guru at all. But certainly, Kiyosaki has been a spark plug in good and maybe also in bad. People love him or hate him. Me, these are the things he has caused me to think. I know now how to play the market. Now, I just have to do it, and learn to control my emotions. Yep, Kiyosaki has caused me to think that.

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[Book Review] [Blog Review] More on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, there is this review of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (Site #4) that I really like, compared to another one (Site #1) which was so biased and full of hate.

Anyway, I was the first to comment on that review (Site #4), and here is what I had to say. This essentially provides my review of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but mostly, it is building on top of the review in Site #4. So go read Site #4 first.

---

Hi Trent. I would say, you wrote a great review. I like that you pointed out the good, the bad, and the ugly. I agree with everything you said.

Sometimes one person might be the holiest person in the world, but if he does one wrong thing, he gets all the crap in the world. The thing is, I did find “the good” in Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad (and in his other books and even games), but I would like to think there is no perfect book or any other product. Rich Dad Poor Dad has its many flaws, and considering that not everyone can see them as flaws (some may see them as inspiration), I guess that’s the really ugly thing about it. To me, I just take the good lessons, and leave out the bad.

Now if I may add something… The first time I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, I also got inspired. But at the same time, I felt like I was in an MLM (multi-level marketing) seminar all over again, where some guys who only held high school diplomas told us college and master’s degree holders, “You don’t need a college degree to get rich. Look at us!”, almost implying we’re stupid to even study in college. And in that same MLM group, there was also this one guy with a Lamborghini saying “I got this car after just a year working for this MLM company!”, implying that we’re stupid to be working for some other company, and not their MLM company. And did I mention, we were “fooled” by a friend who told us that seminar was just going to take an hour, and it took three hours?

Anyway, I guess that part of the book that made me feel like that, is that part you refer to as “the ugly” part.

And then in this book, Kiyosaki also suggests to go into MLM. Overall, while I was inspired by this book to do something, I had some questions that lingered in my mind. I did think I was definitely still not going into MLM, after all that insult I got from them.

If I may say something about MLM, it is also flawed in a way. It’s about selling, and expanding the network, the larger your network, the better your sales and commissions. But what if everyone became part of that MLM network, who will buy and who will sell? And who will become rich? The answer to that last question might be, the one who produces the product. So again, there’s the lesson that you also pointed out. Create a product or profit from your intellectual property.

But fine, I forgot if it’s in Rich Dad Poor Dad or in his other books, Kiyosaki somehow says that if there’s one good thing about MLMs is that, they could teach you how to sell. And I agree with him that business is all about selling, whether it’s your product, your service, your self, the business itself, and so on. And if there’s one thing that I am not good at, it’s at selling.

And fine, I might consider entering into an MLM just so I could learn how to sell (as opposed to, say, working for a company like Xerox). So I guess that’s his main selling point for joining these MLM companies.

In Kiyosaki’s last part, as you mentioned, he suggests to do some further reading and education. And then he somewhat recommends his other books, and his Cashflow games. His other books cost twice as much as Rich Dad Poor Dad (back when I first read it), and his Cashflow 101 game costs US$200 (US$300 here in my country)! Back then I thought, “This is a scam!” But I also admired the fact that it was such a great marketing tactic for his company, for himself, and for his other products. Rich Dad Poor Dad was written somewhat to appeal to many (who were not one of them “hamsters”), and it was also written to sell his other more expensive products. He indeed was a “bestselling” author, not a “best-writing” author.

Now I re-read Rich Dad Poor Dad just recently, and only because I’ve met actual people who are now earning significant passive income, courtesy of them getting inspiration from Kiyosaki’s book. But it was not without problems or risks, and without help from experienced friends and lawyer- and accountant-friends.

In fact, these guys are now doing something with practically no-money-down deals on real estate via this one technique that Kiyosaki himself has never mentioned (as far as I know). One of these people is someone who is a famous spiritual/Christian leader, and together they’re professing that God wants to bless us abundantly, that God wants us to be rich and to be able to handle being rich, and that God wants us to be rich so that we could have more to give away to those who need it more. This spiritual leader I’m talking about has goals of giving away up to 90% of what he’s earning to the poor.

So anyway, that’s them. The thing is, there are some people who are now earning more in passive income thanks to inspiration from Kiyosaki’s book. And they’re teaching and inspiring others also, they’re expanding their own network also. They have dreams of helping make 1 million millionaires in our country by 2020.

They took the good from Kiyosaki’s book, and made it even better. They did not anymore look at the bad or the ugly side; they must have just tossed it aside.

And that’s how I look at Kiyosaki’s book. And I guess thanks to this review of yours - and again I think it’s a great review - I don’t have to re-read Kiyosaki’s book all over again (except if I want to re-read his “parable”), plus I could easily see which is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because for me, I just take the good, and leave out the bad, and the ugly.

Again, thanks to this review of yours!

[sub-labels: CPC blogs, CPC books]

[Book Review] [Blog Review] All About Robert Kiyosaki, and his book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

I've recently read three blogs/articles talking about Robert Kiyosaki. In the order in which I read them are:

1. John T. Reed's analysis of Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad
2. Thinking About Money - commentary on Kiyosaki
3. The Simple Dollar - deconstructing Robert Kiyosaki
4. The Simple Dollar - review on Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Site #2 (Thinking About Money) actually provides a free download of an e-article which contains his review of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He sells the e-article for $1.99, but you can download it for free.

Anyway, I recommend reading Site #1 (J.T. Reed's site) with an open mind or hopefully it can open your mind. By the way, it's a very long article.

But I really recommend Site #2, and I agree with their review of Kiyosaki's book.

I like Sites #3 and #4 (from the same author) because it is a much shorter read than Site #1, but also because it presents both the good, and the bad, plus also the ugly.

I wrote a comment on Site #3 which follows.

---

What this site has done - is sell - using controversy! Okay, somebody just made that point a few comments earlier.

The end product of this website/webpage is a virtual forum on Kiyosaki. That John T Reed guy won’t even post everyone’s comments on his main Kiyosaki-is-Evil page. He just selectively picks comments that would support his arguments.

So before I talk about that other website (johntreed.com) again, I should say that this site or this page I guess has done something good, although I doubt that it was its primary purpose.

So now I’ll talk about another website. I like how the website looks at Kiyosaki’s books. I agree with the website owner. Like the website owner, I don’t care about Kiyosaki, or whether Rich Dad is fiction or non-fiction - the thing is, what did I get from reading his books? What could I use and not use? So visit that website and compare to the post here (thinkingaboutmoney.com).

And finally, what about those people who failed miserably after reading Kiyosaki’s advice? There are three things (I think).

First, they MAY have not understood all of Kiyosaki’s (few) points.

Second, they possibly just jumped into business without getting really prepared right after reading Kiyosaki’s book/s, and related to the first point, did not really get that part about Kiyosaki’s message.

Third, Kiyosaki says you make THAT decision to go into business, you don’t expect to (as in my second point) just throw a pair of dice and get double sixes right away. You could get lucky on the first shot, but if you don’t, you should eventually get your double sixes. The thing now is, considering the odds of getting the double-sixes, the best (or “educated” or “smart”) thing to do I think is to determine first how much money are you willing to lose, do your best within the budget you’ve set, hope for the best, and expect the worst - and manage through the worst. It’s all about management. If a business fails, it’s not the fault of the business (it doesn’t make the decisions) or external factors (duh, did you really think the world will conspire to help you out?). It’s the fault of the manager. If a car can’t bring you from point A to point B, it’s because the driver may have overlooked something, or overdid something.

Anyway, can someone really lose so much after reading Kiyosaki? He’s also told us about practically making money without using any money! I know someone who has made money - a steady monthly cashflow of close to $400 (here in my Asian country) with no money down! It just took efforts, guts, preparation, psyching up, SELLING skills, and listening to a mentor who has succeeded herself.

Well, what could you do, it is a fact of life that some people fail and they blame others for their failure. The thing is, for anything we should do, we should be prepared to do them!

So I guess I should answer the big misconception about Kiyosaki’s books: can Kiyosaki help you prepare for business? No! Kiyosaki himself professes getting more financial education, or business education, he says buy his next book or buy his game - fine you learn a few things. But really, it takes more than one book. It takes more than Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And no, the second book doesn’t have to be Cashflow Quadrant, and the third doesn’t have to be Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing. Ask a friend-slash-business-expert for advice, or ask him what books to read. Of course, experience is the number one way to learn. If you failed real bad, and got nothing left, give some thinking to what you could next to actually profit this time, and get a job (or keep your job) to keep putting food on the table.

I’ve said too much!

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[Book Review] Deception Point [Dan Brown] & The Pilgrimage [Paulo Coelho]

After The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, I read Dan Brown's, I think 2nd or 3rd novel, Deception Point.

Most people liked Da Vinci and Angels because, most people are Catholics, and even more people are Christians. They could relate.

Deception Point---well, it's not about religion, it's not talking about any famous paintings. It's talking about--if I could put it this way--science and politics. Let me correct myself: science and American politics.

For someone like me who has been somehow exposed to American culture and society, I didn't feel too unfamiliar with it. And science--well, I do some research work, and research work is, in general, a science in itself.

So in short, take out the religion and the "charming" Robert Langdon, put in the very alluring Rachel Sexton... What a last name, I should say!

Put in that "old" Dan Brown formula... I still love it.

People tend to complain that Deception Point, Digital Fortress, and even, Angels & Demons, have all the same plot/formula/twists/endings as The Da Vinci Code.

I don't quite agree. Or well, if it's true, I don't mind.

Actually, that is not true at all. The Da Vinci Code has the same formula as the first three novels! So if people think that because the three novels are the same formula as Da Vinci, then they are wrong! The Da Vinci Code was Brown's last novel! Da Vince Code sucks then, if the logic of these know-nothing-but-complain people are valid!

Hehe. I hope I am right in the "facts" I stated.

Coach Potato strikes again. ;-)

P.S.

I don't know if it's the novel, or it's because I've read and loved the four Dan Brown novels, but The Pilgrimage, to me, didn't sound like a great Coelho masterpiece. Any violent reactions from the crowd? ;-)

[sub-labels: CPC books]

[Book Review] Angels & Demons [Dan Brown]

Not as fantabuluous (a term i hear from my mom) as TDVC (read the previous post), but great nonetheless. A must-read, if you ask me. You will learn a lot (as you would have with TDVC).

By the way, Angels & Demons is a prequel to TDVC, so if you read TDVC after A&D, you'll see some references to A&D. But, that is just a miniscule matter to the real deal.

If there was one thing with A&D (and perhaps TDVC also) that made me do, it was to post on my blog!

I read A&D within a span of probably... under 24 hours. I started reading it around Saturday midnight, slept at 5am, did my usual Sunday thangs, got back at it at around 10pm, slept at around 3am, and finished the thing for about an hour before work (I got to the office early) and within lunch time. I just can't put it down. (I heard myself say that for TDVC also, which I also finished just as fast.)

In a way, the implications of the point-of-conflict in A&D was as huge as that in Day After Tomorrow (2004 motion picture), I almost cried... Imagine that.

Anyhow, there were a few things worth mentioning from A&D.

First, the simpler of the two: "Sometimes our minds see what the heart wishes to be true." (or something like that) That struck me like lightning.

Second, there was this person asking me a question that goes something like "If God was a truly good, kind, and loving God, why does he let wars, sufferings, and the like happen to us and to the world?" Dan Brown had an answer to that. And it was similar to my answer to that person. Unfortunately, Dan Brown published A&D in 2000 , if I'm not mistaken, and I thought of that just last year. My answer, very similar to Dan Brown's, is this: "If you had a child (a son or daughter), would you make him stay at home so that he won't risk getting hurt or making mistakes? I will let him go out into the real world to make mistakes, and to learn, and to grow."

Hmmmm... That thought just made me think. (A thought that makes you think?) I would let my kid out into the real world for all of that, because I want him to experience the same things I have experienced in my life. And to me, those experiences are wonderful experiences! Could that mean, by analogy, that God himself have (or at least know very well) these experiences? I always say, experience is always better than book-based knowledge. Before getting into one commitment, I used to think that it would be all this and that, all easy-enough to handle. When I got into one, I learned a lot, and most of those I learned during that experience disproved many things I learned from books, stories, and words-of-mouth.

Now imagine this, I wrote all this (and I could write more) because of Angels & Demons, and The Da Vinci Code. Read them. I recommend TDVC first (because it's more interesting from the beginning pa lang). Meanwhile, I am still a Catholic. God bless, everyone!

-- ronjie ;-)

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[Book Reviews] The Da Vinci Code [Dan Brown]

Damn it! JUST READ IT!

Since I have my own rules and I follow them, I have set 5 as a maximum, so I rate this 5 out of 5. I could well rate it above 5. I had a midterm exam but after reading one chapter, I am lead to read the next. And here I am cramming. It's too good. I'll be reading another Dan Brown novel in the near future.

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[Book Review] Once Minutos [Paulo Coelho]

Here's one chocolate chip in the latest cookie by Paulo Coelho:

"You see that glass of anisette (wine/cocktail) before you?" he went on. "Now, you just see the anisette. I, on the other hand, because I need to be inside everything I do, see the plant it came from, the storms the plant endured, the hand that picked the grain, the voyage by ship from another land, the smells and colors with which the plant allowed itself to be imbued before it was placed in the alcohol. I I were to paint this scene, I would paint all those things, even though, when you saw the painting, you would think you were looking at a simple glass of anisette."

The person speaking was an artist. The person who created the artist is Coelho. And God created Coelho.

Overall, everyone's said it... It's a "daring" new book. To me, it's a Coelho classic. If you've read about Santiago, Veronika, Fatima, and Elijah, you don't want to miss Maria. Grab a copy now. Mine is for sale for $24.95. Hehe, I was absolutely kidding.

[sub-labels: CPC books]

[Book Review] Veronika Decides to Die [Paulo Coelho]

RATING: 5 out of 5

Can you imagine that? It has been just over a month since my last post, and I have already finished a book that I haven't even planned yet on reading a month ago. Well it took me a while to read this book. Usually, for Coelho novels, I can finish them in one afternoon.

Veronika Decides to Die.....

You know how some people intentionally put you to misery, leave you in agony, increase your anxiety, and all that... And then in the end, you find out, it was all a twist; a modus operandi, maybe a prank. You are actually richer than you are, and you have 15 billion pesos in the bank, left by your great grandmother who intentionally wrote in her will that her first great grandson (or granddaughter) shall inherit all her riches, no one else.

And so, can you imagine how you feel this very moment?

I loved Veronika Decides to Die because I met some people with very interesting character and very interesting lives, although I never had that interest because it is easy to judge a book by its cover... And secondly, because Paulo Coelho is just simply smart. He got me again in this novel.

Coelho is one author who writes novels which I want to finish. You cannot predict at all (or maybe you could but... you could get so much into the story!) the ending or what will happen next, you'll meet fascinating people... It helps that Coelho novels are short. Haha.

While By the River Piedra was a little more predictable... And The Five People You Meet In Heaven was very predictable (not even halfway through the book) except for a few details and well, yeah, it's got a message, but its characters were less interesting... Hey, it's hard to write a novel after all!

Veronika Decides to Die is a story you should read. It's one hell of a ride. It's a great story. Not your usual bacon & eggs, but it is cooked to perfection. The scenes and the characters are very vivid, as By the River Piedra and most other Coelho novels offer. Or, I might not have read that much yet. Did I tell you that I have something to say about Paulo Coelho in thoughts?

Next in Line (for reading): Eleven Minutes (latest novel by Paulo Coelho)

[sub-labels: CPC books]

[Book Review] Simplify and Create Abundance [Bo Sanchez]

Alright! I now have two reviews and counting! For my review (more like a "reaction paper") of Bo Sanchez' latest book, I actually wrote him a letter. It follows. By the way, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it's a must-read I think as it is a good reminder for us all. Oh and it's cheap. Bo Sanchez is a simple and great guy. I wrote a little short something about him in the RONJBLOG, thoughts.

------------------ Book Review: Simplify and Create Abundance [Bo Sanchez] ------------------

Dear Bo,

I would just like to say that I am a big fan of yours, specifically your books. I have bought all five of your books (the P150 ones; I haven't bought "Embraced" yet. I do have "The Way of the Cross" also. I hope I got the titles right...): Thank God He's Boss, You Have The Power to Create Love, You Can Make Your Life Beautiful, Simplify and Live the Good Life, and, I am in the middle of reading "Simplify and Create Abundance."

I can't help but react to your book. It is the message that many Filipinos need to hear, I think. I just recently read the chapter/section about poor Leny and Manager (and former house helper) "Helen." I think those two are two stories many Filipinos need to hear. If I would write a reaction paper on that chapter/section, I would say this...

Christianity and the Bible tell us that we should learn to accept, and to be thankful to God for whatever we have, for wherever we are, for whatever situation or condition we are in, and for who we are. "Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God." Et cetera. We know that envy and self-pity are our enemies... On the other hand, the Bible does not tell us that we should stop there. There was this one parable about... the talents? Or basically the one wherein the master gave his slaves some money and left for a while; he came back to find out that some of his slaves made more than the others out of those he left for them. In fact, the Bible is telling us that for whatever we have, we should make something out of it, make it grow. If it's money, we should make it earn. If we are indeed, say, financially deficient, we should accept that fact, be thankful for the littlest thing we have, but the thing is, we still have something. If we have hands and feet, we could use them in many ways to earn---to get to work, to use at work, etc. We have brains that we should not waste at all; by just internally brainstorming, we could come up with lots of ideas to be able to provide for our personal needs, and for the needs of others, including our families and loved ones. If we are not deaf, we could ask others to help us in our quest, and humbly give back in gratitude for their help. Even if we are blind, we know that even blind people could be productive. If we are still alive, let us not waste a minute of it doing nothing to make things better for ourselves and for others. If we have time, we could take a rest from all the work. The thing is, there are a lot of these "little" things that we forget we have that we could use so that we may not end up poor. Like Helen, she had free time in the evening, and she used them to take classes and finish school. She had feet to walk to her job interviews, a voice to communicate with her interviewers, a mind to help guide her to give her best answers, hands to fill up the application form, etc. Haha, and this is just one very simple example. There's this one person I know who thinks more like Leny; he thinks that "Mahirap maging mayaman..." And there's this other person I know who thinks that simplicity means being poor. On the other hand, I think we can be simple and have an abundant supply of whatever we need! Bo's message is truly something that all Filipinos should hear, and apply in their lives.

Okay, well that's that. But Bo, if I may make a suggestion. One thing I have observed is that, while many Filipinos understand English, like say when the LRT makes an announcement like "Next station is Araneta Center, Cubao", Filipinos can easily understand that; it's just one sentence. Most Filipinos know what "Stop" means, or "One Way", "Yes", "No", or "No Left Turn"... But I think not a lot of Filipinos really understand "Turn right anytime with care"... Haha, I might be being too judgmental of my fellow Pinoys now. Anyway, to explain my point better... I was an instructor for one semester at one of these universities and I made all of my students submit an index card with their full name, identification numbers, contact numbers, and I asked them to answer the question "What do you expect to learn in this class?" When I got the index cards, all their answers had all-English words, but I got frustrated because it's not even close to 50% who gave grammatically correct English sentences. My point is, though Filipinos are proud because we're probably the third largest English speaking nation in the world, it is still not our first language. It is not our natural language. Maybe only a few of us really may have had very good grades in our English classes back in Elementary or High School...

My point, Bo, is I think your books, your message should reach more Filipinos. Your books are not just for us who understand English. I appreciate it that your books are affordable (to me at least) at P150 each. I think it would be great if you would have your books translated into the natural language for most of us. Maybe you could have at least a Tagalog or Filipino version, or a Bisaya version... What do you think?

Nway, keep up the Good work, Bo. By the way, I did listen to one of your tapes already, "Loving difficult people." Hehehe.

That's it for now. God bless!

Ronjie Aquino

[sub-labels: CPC books]

[Book Review] the compulsary first review: T5PYMIH

well, i am compelled to write one review... AFTER THAT LENGTHY SPEECH IN THAT PREVIOUS POST!

hmmmm... now, let's see...

the last two movies i saw (on the big screen) were Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.

who's michael buble?

and who won the super bowl?

i guess you get the idea by now. what am i going to review? ahhh, yes, the books. i've been reading!

well, the last book i read was... The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

i have one word for T5PYMIH: CREEPY!

imagine dead people talking to each other! recounting some incidents while they were alive!

my advice: DON'T READ THE BOOK AT NIGHT!!!! or you'll end up like me, still wide awake at 2:24 in the morning!

i had to skip "part three" and "part four" of the book. i learned that, it was just a story as simple as a sandwich!

all you need to make a sandwich are two buns and something in between. in the case of T5PYMIH, the buns were as plain and simple as white bread, but in between, there's something like tuna with a whole lotta pickles and tomatoes. in other words, a lot of vitamins, and a lot of healthy stuff!

and yeah, as with all specially made sandwiches, you know, the type your mom prepares in front of you, there's always a story to tell that goes beyond the sandwich. while your momma's making your hamburger, she's probably telling you stories about how she used to cannot afford to eat burgers!

so that's about it. i could try to make a sandwich of my own, because the formula's pretty obvious, but wether it will be as good a sandwich as mitch albom's... bah, i'll just buy sandwich. why punish myself with making one?

so... all reviewers have some sort of rating system. others have five stars for really good stuff, others just either give a thumbs up or down sign, others---well they just want to always say the really bad thing about the book. pessimists. i'd rather be calling them pestimists!

anyhowsers, i give this book, a rating of five. because it has the number five in its title! harhar. that wasn't funny. but i'm serious. for the five bucks or so you pay for this mother, it's worth it.

GO BUY THIS SANDWICH! it's good for the bones!

yahoo! i'm done with my first review!

p.s. and have i mentioned that part of the story takes place in the philippines? but soldier is not "sundalong", mr. albom. unless that kid is under three years old.