An Extraordinary Facebook Friendship with the Young Sand Artist

"There are people who had 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 up to 2000 friends in Facebook. But I wonder: How many among your Facebook friends will understand when you have a problem? Who among these friends will share with your happy moments and comfort you in times of trouble."

Since 2009, I created my Facebook account for communication purposes with my family, relatives and friends. As a matter of fact, I met a lot of people which I considered as my friends, although I didn't know them personally. I get to know them through chat and only few of them will respond plus I already get their contact numbers which signifies that our friendship will getting stronger. 

One of my friends that I met in Facebook is Mark Kenneth Dolom, the young sand artist from Puerto Princesa City. He joined in the second season of Pilipinas Got Talent with his sand art performance in the tune of "Heal The World." He is still very young to do this kind of art but he has the potential. I added him in my Facebook account and I gave him a personal message which means that I appreciate his work. He responded by saying thank you plus I also included him in my review because his act was truly unique.

Mark Kenneth Dolom with his audition in the second season of Pilipinas Got Talent. Continue to keep up the good work in achieving your dream to become a successful young sand artist. The second picture shows a phoenix in his sand art piece which shows his skill.

As the days passed by, we were able to chat with each other and exchanging some sort of stories in Facebook and we exchange our contact numbers. There is also a time when we had a  simple misunderstanding but we solved that problem. But the most unforgettable experience with him is when he approached me to ask for help in making a concept in his sand art about history. I shared a lot of ideas with him about history plus I also research music or song choice for his sand art plus we had a brainstorming session where we combine our ideas to form a sand art.

I can describe Kenneth as a person who is friendly, accommodating, understanding and a very humble person. He accept the fact that he is just a beginner and he is keep on working hard to perfect his craft. He also knows how to appreciate other people who helped and supported him. (Maintain that kind of attitude!) Although other people think of him as a boastful person, but he is not that kind of person. Anyway, Kenneth keep on reaching to your dreams to become the master sand artist. Good luck and God Bless! 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNETH! I watched your current sand art video in the tune of "Go The Distance" you improved a lot and more practice to go and you will make it to the top! Never forget the people who supported you, refrain from negative vibes in your environment (don't get influenced by negative forces like vices and bad attitude), be humble and always be thankful and close to God. Kudos!

When the Young Blogger Meets the Youngest Presidentiable

JC Delos Reyes, the youngest presidential candidate of 2010 elections.

John Carlos “JC” Delos Reyes is a 2010 presidential candidate from Olongapo City. He is the standard-bearer of Ang Kapatiran Party last elections and the youngest among the presidential contenders. He is also the nephew of Richard Gordon.

I added him in my Facebook account because of his sincerity to run as a president and his passion to help our country towards progress and change. He approved my friend request and one day I was able to have a chat with him, telling that although he make it as the last place and did not win the elections , try to run again in the 2013 Senatorial Elections because of his sincerity and credibility in the politics. After that, he is able to like my essays on online abuse and priorities on ICT in the Aquino administration in my Facebook account. Because of that I send him a message by giving an appreciation on liking my notes (essays) in Facebook. Then after that, he responded by saying that “he was flattered in my note and ICT should be one of the priorities for the new administration.” In my next article about the impacts of issues on violence like the Maguindanao Massacre and the recent Manila Bus Hostage, he also likes my article and he gave a comment about it. Then, when I saw his mobile phone number in his Facebook account, I try to dial it and then he answer by telling that I am the one who create some essays about national issues and exchange of “thank you” for liking my essay and calling him within 2 minutes.

I can say to him that he is a young and soft-spoken person with sincerity and conviction on what he believes in a particular issue. He is a credible politician with a positive thought about changes in the current mainstream in Philippine politics and he believes that we should fight corruption in the government. He is also a nice and humble person, a politician who believes that God is the center of politics and public service and he helps other people toward progress. There are two things that I learned from Sir JC: to stand on my own viewpoint which I am going to side in the particular issue and to have conviction in myself. Although I did not voted for him and he is my third favorite presidentiable among the ten candidates, I really appreciate him more after the elections and I encourage more to write articles and essays about national issues. Hopefully our communication still continues and someday, I will meet him in person.

THANKS SIR J.C.! GOD BLESS =D

A Chat with Wanlu: The Ventriloquist Hall of Famer in Talentadong Pinoy

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2010, 8:00 - 9:00 PM 

I experienced an unexpected chat in facebook with Wanlu, the famous puppeteer and Hall of Famer in Talentadong Pinoy. First, I said to him that he and his puppets are great in terms of entertainment. He responded by saying “thanks :)” It followed by asking him a question about the importance of humility as a secret of success and he replied that it is important but he asked me a question “what is humility?” and when I replied he said that he was only joking and he knew the meaning of it but the most important thing in success is putting God in all the things we do and being humble comes from the heart not in appearance. Suddenly, I shared my experience on the wrong impression that I am boastful (I’m just only sharing my knowledge and experience on my success) and the dream of becoming a successful gameshow contestant at my young age. Then he said that “God knows that I am not boastful and he will keep an eye for me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”

I learned a lot of things on this experience such as put God in our hearts and in everything we do and humility is important in different aspects of life. Thanks for this wonderful experience.

 jonathan =)

Fun Moments with the Hilarious Ventriloquist and His Puppet

Ruther Urquia and his puppet Titoy.

Ruther Urquia is a ventriloquist from Las Pinas City and one of the grand finalists in the first season of Pilipinas Got Talent. He always perform with his puppets and two of these are famous to the viewers namely Titoy, who is the funny puppet who regularly performs with Ruther in some of his shows and Lolo Teddy, the grandfather of Titoy. I can say that they are entertaining and fun to be with. Ruther is the best friend of Alakim, a grand finalist and a butterfly magician. He is one of my favorite finalists in PGT because of the entertainment value in his performances.

What can I say about Ruther? Aside from watching him on TV, I met him in Facebook as one of my friends in my personal account and I can describe him as sincere, warm-hearted, humble, jolly, friendly, supportive and godly. I cannot believe that he add me as one of his friends after he read my review about the first semi-finals performance in the Pilipinas Got Talent fan page in Facebook. I commented about his entertaining, funny, impressive and a child-friendly performance during the show. That is why I gave him a perfect 10 along with Jovit Baldovino’s rocking performance.

Suddenly, aside from adding me as one of his friends, I received a personal message from him by giving appreciation about my review on his performance. Since then, I always support him on some of his activities like his grand finals performance and his judging stint on Showtime. I gave him an advice that don’t be too nervous and enjoy performing and he did it! =)

I was never expected the next encounter with him, when he read one of my essays in Facebook about Filipino food during summer which he gave comments on my work. He said that I deserve to have a portion in a broad sheet and I have a talent in writing. I really appreciate it the most, because a famous ventriloquist in a talent search gave a comment in my essay. (It’s really a humbling experience and I encourage pursuing my writing career next to teaching)

I am thankful to Kuya Ruther because he is one of the best persons I met in Facebook. There are things that I learned from him like being friendly to the supporters, being humble and thankful to all the blessings that God gave to us. Hopefully, we will still continue our online communication and I met him in person along with his puppets. (In addition, I will hope that I will give this essay to him!)

THANKS KUYA RUTHER AND TITOY!

This blog entry is a repost from my first blog "Iskrats Porpolyo" and I would like to congratulate Mr. Ruther Urquia for his continuous success like having stints in ABS-CBN, mall shows, and being featured in Philippine Daily Inquirer June 18, 2011 issue. Thanks for greeting me in my birthday last July 13, 2011 in my Facebook account. 

A Friendly Encounter with Mr. Suplado

Stanley Chi (source: http://www.wikipedia.org)

Have you experienced to have an encounter with a "suplado" person?

"Suplado" is a Tagalog word for snobbish. And that person I'm referring to is the Filipino-Chinese writer, stand-up comedian and cartoonist Stanley Chi. He is the author of comic book series in Manila Bulletin "Chopsticks" and his latest book entitled "Suplado Tips."

I decided to add him in my Facebook for some unknown reasons. Maybe, because he's in Mike and Stanley which is a former segment in The Good Night Show with Jojo A (my favorite late night show). Then, when they made their own show entitled Front Act on SolarTV / RPN9, it was funnier than ever. When he approved my friend request, I started to send messages about his great job in delivering funny punchlines in his show and he responded.

I appreciate him more on his "Suplado Tips" which actually began as shoutout or status messages in Facebook. Because of likes and popularity, it was the best option for him to publish it as a book. I bought this book, he invited me to the book launch but I replied "Maybe" because I didn't attend due to location and money. However, when I read this book within two hours, it proves that Stanley is one of the best writers in field of humor and observational comedy. Definitely, I learned a lot from this book because it is related in real-life situations and he knows how to connect with the readers.

Therefore, Mr. Stanley Chi is not a "suplado" in Facebook. He is friendly and he is such an inspiration to aspiring writers like me. I learned two tips from him: Write the topic that I love to cover and try to do other genre after I get published. Thanks Mr. Stanley Chi for these advices which are helpful and relevant in achieving my dream as a writer. Definitely, I will look forward for his next book and I will attend his next book launch. Good luck Sir Stanley and kudos to your suplado appeal!


This blog entry is a repost from the blog "Iskrats Porpolyo" about my encounter with Stanley Chi. I would like to congratulate him for the success of his book Suplado Tips and definitely looking forward for the sequel of that book. I would like to say thanks for having one of the people in Facebook who greeted me in my birthday as well as I got the 10th place for the Suplado Blogging Contest.

The reactions given in this blog entry.