お久しぶり！

21 more days. Davao here i come! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! cant wait!

以上、よろしく

Flash of Genius?

Something amazing happened today.

I was talking to my wife a while ago (thru Skype) when she went to the bathroom for a while. My 2-year old son then took over the laptop and sent me an mp3 file while muttering "thats how u know, daddy". That's how u know is the title of this song from the movie "Enchanted" that he sings time and again.

I am really surprised to this moment that my son, a toddler, knew how to send a file thru Skype (with all the File browsing, attachment and everything).

I am currently receiving the file right now.

Back then, my son also discovered things in some of the applications on my wife's iPod touch that even I haven't discovered yet. He also knows how to launch and operate applications in the PC and play DVDs. I shrugged it off back then thinking it was nothing special. But what happened a while ago was something else.

Was it a flash of genius? As his dad, I would like to think so ;)

Oceanus M800 and M7000 Review (My new M7000)

As an anniversary gift to myself, having worked for Brother Industries Japan for just over a year now after being transferred from our Yokohama Office, I thought I'd buy myself a new watch. Sure I love my old watch (Tag F1) but its my anniversary which means I have a reason to splurge on something :) Besides, my birthday is also coming up in a month.

The watches I have been eyeing are the Oceanus M800 and Oceanus M7000. These watches are under the Elite Line among Casio watches. Of course in the U.S., the Casio Oceanus is called just Oceanus. This is because Casio has been tagged as a "geek" watch due to the numerous cheap, digital watches the Japanese watch maker produces. The Oceanus of course is different. Having a status way up there with other Elite Watches.

I actually almost bought the Oceanus M800, my second choice which was at $700 (P34,000). Fortunately, with a little bit of patience, I found the Oceanus m7000 on sale at another store a week later. The Oceanus M700 price drop was at a whopping $850 to $400 (P41,000 to P19,000). Good deal huh!

Anyway, the reason I chose the Oceanus is that I was looking for a Japanese Brand watch this time for the obvious reason that I am working here in Japan. And unknown to some, Japanese watches actually give some of the best features watches have to offer.

I will be discussing these features here, specifically the features of the Oceanus.

1. Tough Solar
2. Atomic (5-Band 6-Band)
3. Titanium
4. Sapphire Glass
5. Perpetual Calendar
6. 10-Bar Waterproof
7. World Time and Timer Modes

Both the Oceanus M800 and the M7000 have these common features.

Tough Solar. The Oceanus is a great watch because it recharges through Solar Energy. The face of the watch itself is a Solar Cell which is housed by a Titanium Casing, making it "tough".

Atomic (5-Band 6-Band). The Oceanus is the World's first Atomic wristwatch. Being Atomic means that the watch receives Radio Wave signals that automatically updates the time thus ensuring timekeeping accuracy. The watch also has a featrure that lets the owner know whether the watch has successfully updated the time or not.

Titanium Case and Strap. The Oceanus is housed by a strong, scratch-proof Titanium alloy making it suitable for active people like me. And because it is Titanium, it is so much lighter than other watches out there, weighing just around 100 grams.

Sapphire Glass. The glass that covers the face of the Oceanus is Sapphire, which is also scratch-proof like its Titanium Casing. The Sapphire glass also reflects light less than other glass. However, in the case of my Oceanus M7000, the Sapphire glass actually reflects just as much light as my other watch which is a little drawback for me.

Perpetual Calendar. The Oceanus calendar is Perpetual up to the year 2099.

10-Bar Waterproof. For swimmers like me, this is an important feature. 10-bar is the right spec for me because I swim, but I do not scuba dive.

World Time and Timer Modes. The World Time Mode is a useful feature for people who travel from time to time. In my case, I am one of them. The World Time Mode lets the owner keep track of Two Time Zones: The current time set by the owner and another time which can be set specifically for another Timezone (ex. Tokyo, New York, Paris, etc.). The Timer Mode is used when timing a specific interval like when swimming or running.

Tha Oceanus actually has other features like the Tide Graph and other features that are common to other watches like Alarm, DST, Day of the Week.

My New Blogs

Since I started this blog, all thanks primarily to Kathy Dacanay and her Kat's Corner Downtown blog http://katfdax.blogspot.com, I have been passively writing articles of personal musing on the web. And long since the birth of this blog, I have started to author other blogs. These blogs are all about my personal interests and information that may be helpful to others.

Listed below are my new blogs and their descriptions.

http://fighthype.blogspot.com <- Boxing Blog (My new interest)
http://fighthype.co.nr <- My Boxing Blog redirected
http://fighthype.co.cc <-The new Home of My Boxing Blog

http://jobsjapan.blogspot.com <- Well I have been living here in Japan for almost 2 years now.. and this blog is primarily for those who are interested to work and live in Japan.

http://weirdnewsjapan.blogspot.com <- Contains articles about the weirdest happenings in Japan.

http://chisantos.co.cc <- My newly-setup Photoblog which has yet to be finished.

And please do drop by my multiply site http://chisantos.multiply.com
You'll have to be a member though to be able to access my site and see my latest photos.

Jaa, Mata ne.

2009 (Taken September 2008) Philippine Bar Exam results and list of passers (September 2008) Philippine Bar Exam results and list of passers

The results of the 2009 (Taken September 2008) Philippine Bar Exam are finally here.

Judy Lardizabal, a law graduate from the San Sebastian College, topped the 2008 Bar Examination where a total of 1,310 passed out of a record 6,364 examinees.

This year’s passing rate is 20.58%, lower than last year’s 22.91%.

List of Top 10 Bar Exam Passers - 2008


1 - Judy Lardizabal, San Sebastian College, 85.70%
2 - Mylene Amerol-Macumbal, Mindanao State University, 85.65%
3 - Oliver Baclay Jr. , Ateneo de Manila University, 85.60%
4 - Majesty Eve Jala, Ateneo, 85.50%
5 - Ma. Elizabeth Liceralde, University of the Philippines Diliman, 85.40%
6 - Michael Macapagal, UP Diliman, 84.15%
7 - Denise Dy, Ateneo, 84.00%
April Love Regis, Ateneo, 84.00%
8 - Christine Joy Tan, Ateneo, 83.30%
9 - Shirley Velasquez, UP Diliman, 83.75%
Jihan Jacob, San Beda, 83.75%
10 - Vanessa Raymundo, San Beda, 83.70%
- Vivian S. Tan, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 80.90


List of Top 10 Bar Exam Passers - 2007

1 - Mercedita L. Ona, Ateneo De Manila University, 83.55
2 - Jennifer Ong, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 83.35
3 - Yvanna BL Maalat, Ateneo, 82.75
4 - Jennie C. Aclan, University of San Carlos, 82.10
5 - John Michael F. Galauran, University of Nueva Caceres, 81.60
6 - Karen S. Canullas, San Sebastian College, 81.40
7 - Cecille L. Mejia, Ateneo De Manila University, 81.35
Sheryl Ann D. Tizon, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 81.35
8 - Marforth T. Fua, San Beda College, 81.20
9 - Ruby M. Luy, Ateneo De Davao University, 81.15
10 - Christian B. Llido, University of Cebu, 80.90
- Vivian S. Tan, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 80.90

Trends:

* 2008 - 20.58% (1,310 passers of 6,364 examinees)
* 2007 - 22.91% (1,289 of 5,626)
* 2006 - 30.60% (1,893 of 6,187)
* 2005 - 27.22% (1,526 of 5,607)
* 2004 - 31.61% (1,659 of 5,249)
* 2003 - 20.71% (1,108 of 5,349)
* 2002 - 19.68% (917 of 4,659)
* 2001 - 32.89% (1,266 of 3,849)
* 2000 - 20.84% (979 of 6,187)