2 Dead, 2 Injured In Vehicular Accident In Sanafe, Lamut, Ifugao

A teacher and a secretary died while two others were injured on Wednesday night (September 23) when their pickup truck turned over along a portion of the road running through barangay Sanafe in Lamut, Ifugao. Those who perished during the accident were identified as Roselyn Malingan (a 28-year-old instructor at the Ifugao State University in Nayon) and Wrechelle Hoggang Valenciano (a 33-year-old employee at the Mayor's Office in Lamut).

Those injured were Lalaine Canlas Malingan (24 years old, works at the Lamut Rural Health Unit) and Willaine Dango Tayaban (24 years old, also works at the Ifugao State University). The driver of the truck (Esteban Bulahao Bagiw) and a fifth passenger (Pelita Talaro Dango) came out of the accident unscathed.

The driver reportedly came from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya and picked up the five passengers in Poblacion East. He is now under the custody of the Lamut Municipal Police Station.

1 Dead, 5 Injured In Baguio City Building Demolition Accident

A construction worker died while five others were injured when a concrete wall collapsed over them at a building demolition site in Baguio City on Saturday morning (September 26). The workers were reportedly demolishing the old Burnham Hotel along Calderon Street when a concrete wall gave out and crashed over them.

The lone fatality was identified as Ryan Bangsilan (25 years old). Those injured were William Flores (in critical condition), Jimboy De Guzman Paraiso (21), Jordan Francisco (19), Jonel Francisco Aquino (19), and Robert Alviar (49). A backhoe had to be used to break up the fallen concrete wall before rescuers, police operatives, and volunteers were able to get to the pinned workers. They were all rushed to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).

A passenger jeepney and a taxi also incurred damages due to the incident. No driver or passenger were reported to have been hurt. The building being demolished is reportedly owned by Alfonso Lao, a member of the Lao family. The Lao family owns and runs the Tiong San store chain in the city and nearby La Trinidad.

Members of the rescue team going through the rubble. Photo courtesy of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO).

Schedule Of BENECO Power Interruption For September 28 To October 2

The Benguet Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BENECO) has released the following schedule of power interruption for September 28 to October 2. See if your place of residence is going to be affected so that you can prepare.

September 28, Monday, 9 am to 5 pm - Sitio Malasin and Near Baayan in Ucab, Itogon.

September 29, Tuesday, 9 am to 5 pm - Dalicno, Lucbuban, Poblacion, Supang, Twin River, Mambolo, Tinongdan Proper, Dalupirip, Calew, Cabaritan, Balococ, Cashet, Tabu, Bantic, Uling, Lawigen, Camp 5, Virac, and Acupan in Itogon. Caguioa, Teodora Alonzo, North Drive near DSWD, Lourdes Subdivision, Mirador Hill, Dominican Hill, and Hamada Subdivision in Baguio City.

September 30, Wednesday, 9 am to 5 pm - [Montinolla, Kisad, Baguio City], [Km 7, Purok 2, Irisan, Baguio City], [Adabong, Acop, Tublay], [Sitio Paltingan, Ambiong, La Trinidad], [Pacdal near Rotunda and parts of Siapno, Baguio City], [Lucnab, Baguio City], [Parts of Leonard Wood Road near Botanical Garden, NEDA, Navy Base, Baguio City]

October 1, Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm - [Purok 5, Assumption, Crystal Cave, Bakakeng Central], [Pidawan, Loakan Proper, Baguio City], [Balacbac, Lexberville Subdivision, Dontogan, BPI-Dairy Farm, Stone Hill, Foggy Hill, Green Valley Country Club, Adiwang Road, Apugan, Sto. Tomas, Pula, Digdigwayan, Mount Sto. Tomas, Kabuyao, PAGASA, Relay Station]

October 2, Friday, 9 am to 5 pm - [Asinan, Palina, Taloy Sur, Tuba], [Teachers Camp near NAPOLCOM, Baguio City], [Zarate Village, Pinsao Proper, Baguio City], [Purok 8, Pinesville Subdivision, Kias, Baguio City]

October 2, Friday, 8 am to 12 noon - [Dalicno, Lucbuban, Poblacion, Supang, Twin River, Mambolo, Tinongdan Proper, Dalupirip, Calew, Cabaritan, Balococ, Cashet, Tabu, Bantic, Uling, Lawigen, Batuang, Maligaya, Virac, Midas, Tangki, Upper Lolita, Lower Lolita, Tangtangadan, Ampucao, Philex Road (from Saddle to Philex Proper), Samoyao, Saddle, Hartwell, Gold Stream, , Kias,Bubon, Pinesville, PMA, Atok Trail, Ampucao]

Thanks To Google Street View, You Can Now Climb And Explore Mt. Pulag Without Actually Going There

If I am to tell you that you can explore the majestic slopes and peaks of Mt. Pulag without setting a foot there, you'd think I ain't right in the head. Well, you're wrong and I'm right. Thanks to Google's revolutionary mapping technology, you can experience the grandeur of the famous mountain in the comforts of your home (or office, for that matter). You can sit on your swivel chair, sip on a can of Mountain Dew, and munch on Corn Bits as the grassy slopes and cloud-rich vistas unfold before you.

Of course, it's a million times better to be actually there and hear the grass crunch under your feet or feel the hypothermia-inducing air crawl across your skin. But if trudging over there is off the menu, exploring the place using Google Street View is the next best option. So how do you do it? Easy peasy. Just head over to Google Street View: Mount Pulag or instantstreetview.com and search for Mount Pulag. You can now enjoy 360-degree panoramas created by a Google team who actually went there and took the high-quality shots.

Search giant Google announced this month that the Street View feature will be live on Google Maps in the country. Dozens of well-known tourist destinations in the country now have their own street views which people can easily access online. In Baguio City alone, there are street views for Mines View Park, the Baguio Cathedral, and Burnham Park.

How good is Google's virtual tour of Mt. Pulag? Below is a screenshot. You be the judge.

Image credit: a screenshot from Google Maps Street View

Man Dies During A Stabbing Incident In Bulalacao, Mankayan, Benguet

A man died during a stabbing incident that occurred on Wednesday night (September 23) at barangay Bulalacao in Mankayan, Benguet. The victim was identified as Jonnie Sanchez Bargue of barangay Colalo. The man who stabbed him is Randy Lumas-e Saludares, a 22-year old resident of barangay Bulalacao. Saludares is now under the custody of the Mankayan police.

The Herald Express reported that the stabbing occurred during a drinking session at a house in sitio Manaba. The victim and the suspect, along with several companions, were having a drink when a misunderstanding between the two occurred. Saludares left the place only to return later wielding a knife which he then used to stab Bargue in the stomach several times.

Bargue was immediately rushed to the Lutheran Hospital in Abatan, Buguias but attending physicians declared him dead on arrival.

Image credit: Kim Davies via Flickr.

10 Exotic Foods By The Igorots Of The Cordillera Region. How Many Have You Tried?

Most outsiders know the Igorots of the Cordillera region for their unique culture. To them, the word Igorot usually conjures images of bright and colorful attires, of spears with matching shields, and of rituals where the blood of pigs and chickens soak the earth (or pavement) while an elder utters a prayer to the gods. Of course, the word Igorot also often conjures an amalgam of misconceptions about the tribes. Tails, big feet, dark skin, the usual suspects. These misconceptions are discussed in a previous article published in this blog. [Check it out here.]

Anyway, a lesser known aspect of Igorot culture is its cuisine. In all honesty, we don't have much to offer when it comes to this department given the fact that the sources of food for our ancestors were rather limited. What they ate were basically composed of what they hunted from the woods, what they planted on their farms, and what they fished from the rivers. Our ancestors didn't have much to experiment with. Still, they were able to concoct rare recipes, many of which are still being done today. Let's take a look into some of these exotic foods below. Whether you are a tourist, a non-local, or a Cordilleran who is still unaccustomed to the region's culinary specialties, these delicacies will make for an exciting and challenging culinary adventure. So saddle up, and get your taste buds ready.

1) Pinikpikan - When it comes to Cordilleran cuisine, this is without a doubt the recipe that is most well-known. If you are an advocate of animal rights, you might find the preparation shocking. The butchering process is basically beating a chicken to death with a stick. Why? To preserve the blood in the chicken's body. To allow the blood to coagulate within the parts of the chicken that are beaten with a stick - mostly the neck and wings. It's surprising that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is yet to stick its nose into the matter.

Cooking genuine pinikpikan is a breeze. All you need is a live chicken, sayote, etag (pork that's been dried or smoked the Igorot way), and any leafy vegetables like pechay or wombok. Use barn chickens or what we call "native" chickens. What does pinikpikan taste like? It's like tinola with a smoky taste courtesy of the etag added into it. If you are in Baguio City, you can have a taste of it either at Cafe Yagam or at the Cafe by the Ruins.

Chicken and etag cooked together as pinikpikan. Photo source: mtholyoke.edu.

2) Etag or kiniing - This is salted meat that's preserved by either drying it under the sun or smoking it. Yes, it's basically ham. Igorots usually don't cook and eat them as is. The meat is mostly used as an added ingredient for pinikpikan. It also tastes great when cooked alongside white or black beans or any other legume. The preservation process is also very efficient that the dried meat can last for months or years if stored properly.

3) Tengba - This is quite commonly prepared in municipalities within Mt. Province. Preparation and serving of tengba is usually associated with life events. For instance, there's a tradition called nilayaan in the town of Besao in Mt. Province wherein the parents of a newborn child invite friends, neighbors, and relatives to a feast/gathering. Tradition dictates that tengba be served for the guests.

Tengba is fermented rice paste and freshwater crab (the Kankana-eys call this crab gaki). The freshwater crabs are salted thoroughly and placed in an earthen jar (gosi). After about 24 hours, pulverized white rice and an ample amount of clean water are mixed with the salted crabs. Yeast (bubod) is then added and mixed with the other ingredients to kick off the fermentation process. The jar is then sealed for at least three weeks. The tengba can be served as is. However, it's usually very salty so it's commonly used as an added ingredient to other recipes like vegetables soups or boiled meat.

4) Tapey (or tapuy, tapuey) - This is the Igorot people's version of the Japanese sake (rice wine). The great thing about tapey is that its taste depends on the amount of time it spent inside the fermentation jar. The older the wine gets, the more bitter it becomes. Tapey that are a few weeks or a few months old have the fresh and sweet taste attributed to rice wine. If the aging time goes beyond a year, the taste drastically changes. The liquid starts tasting like whiskey or brandy.

Adding bubod which is one of the steps in preparing tapey. Photo source: mtholyoke.edu

5) Safeng or sabeng - I am yet to taste this one so I don't know how it tastes or how it's prepared. However, it's described by Dumay Solinggay (a Cordilleran artist/poet) as, "a non-alcoholic fermented drink, like yogurt. This drink has live microorganisms, helpful bacteria that aid our body to recover from deteriorating cells. I suppose it also strengthens our immune system. In the Cordillera region, the base is usually the left over water from boiling sweet potatoes. It is placed in an earthen jar and is consistently added with corn, cooked rice, and herbs."

6) Duom - This is a snack the only ingredient of which are young heads of rice that ain't yet ready for harvesting. The young grains are plucked off their stalks then slightly fried over a pan or vat (silyasi). The grains are then pounded using a wooden pestle and a stone mortar to remove the dry or burnt husks. The grains which have been pounded flat are then separated from the husks using a winnower (bilao). Voila, the thing is now ready to eat. Sprinkle sugar to give it a sweeter taste.

7) Wildlife delicacies - The mountains and hills of the Cordilleras are now rather lacking when it comes to wildlife. Wild boars and deer are probably extinct by now. But that doesn't mean Cordillerans have stopped hunting. There are are still some who do. And among their common targets are monitor lizards (banyas, banias), wild cats (lidaga), and civets (motet, musang). These are usually cooked by roasting them or boiling them in a stew.

8) Dog meat - This speaks for itself. There are eateries in Baguio City that serve this. Men in the region are rather fond of consuming it alongside bottles of gin.

9) Binungor - This is also a dish that I'm yet to try. So I'll leave it to a fellow Baguio City blogger to describe what it is and how it tastes like. Writing for the blog Eats In Baguio, Krish says, "binungor is a Kalinga dish that is served as an appetizer or side dish and not a viand. It is made of various vegetables found around a Kalinga household along with tenga ng daga and other wild mushrooms, and ot-an, that spiral shaped shell-fish you suck to get the meat inside. The Binungor had slight hints of sweetness and spiciness to it. I tried sucking on a couple of the ot-an but I wasn’t successful. Oh well. The vegetables tasted fresh and were deliciously chewy. I kind of understand why it’s served as a side dish because of it’s consistency."

10) Sigtim or sinigtiman (meat, fish, or freshwater snails cooked with tapey) - Tapey is not only consumed as a beverage, it's also eaten (the rice grains, that is). A lot of Cordillerans take out the fermented rice grains from the earthen jars and use these as additional ingredients for cooking. They can be added to meat-based or fish-based dishes. A favorite among Cordillerans is a tapey-freshwater snail tandem. We call these snails ket-an in the local dialect. The fermented grains can also be added for kuhol-based dishes.

These are just the Igorot dishes that I'm familiar with. I'm sure there are others. If you have anything to add to our list, feel free to leave your comments and suggestions in the comments section below. Thanks.

For detailed steps and procedures on how to prepare or cook some of the items discussed above, visit this Igorot Exotic Food resource by a guy named Daoey. So far, it's the best resource I've found on the topic.

Related Articles:

1. Iyaman Farm in Bila, Bauko, Mountain Province

2 Suspects Accused Of Scamming Away 140 Million Pesos From Cordillerans Arrested In Baguio City

Two people who allegedly carted away over 140 million pesos from Cordillerans through a Ponzi investment scheme were arrested last Thursday (September 17) in Baguio City by detectives belonging to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group - North Central Luzon (CIDG-NCL). The two suspects were identified as Villamor Balawag and Genevieve Gantas. Prior to his arrest, Balawag was the 5th most wanted person in the whole province of Benguet.

Balawag was reportedly the manager of PC Wellness, a company with an office that used to be located at the Pettersen Building along Kilometer 4 in La Trinidad, Benguet. Gantas was an employee of the company. CIDG operatives swooped in to take the two into custody after Judge Danilo Camacho issued warrants of arrest for syndicated estafa against the two suspects.

Balawag's investment scheme reportedly divested over 140 million pesos from 130 Cordillerans. Balawag allegedly promised the investors at least 35% interest on the money they push into his company. The company closed in March of this year, just six months after it was established.

For people who aren't familiar with the way a Ponzi scheme works, here's a short overview courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:
"A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Ponzi scheme organizers often solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. In many Ponzi schemes, the fraudsters focus on attracting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage investors to create the false appearance that investors are profiting from a legitimate business."

Schedule Of BENECO Power Interruption For September 21 To September 24

September 21, Monday, 9 am to 5 pm - Agpaoa Drive, Sarok and Sarok BWD, Camp 7, Petersville Subdivision, Amparo Heights and parts of Lexber Subdivision, Engineers Hill, parts of Marcoville

September 22, Tuesday, 9 am to 5 pm - San Carlos Heights, NPC Subdivision and parts of Irisan, Dagsian, parts of Anteg-in in Loacan, Itogon

September 23, Wednesday, 9 am to 5 pm - Bineng, Sitio Liwliw, Sitio Ud Udan, KIAS, Pinesville Subdivision, PMA, Atok Trail, Bubon

September 24, Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm - Quirino Hill, Dizon Subdivision, Upper/Lower Pinget, Dreamland Subdivision, Baguio Gold in Tuding, Itogon

Thousands Of Cupcakes Worth Over 1 Million Pesos To Be Served Free In Baguio City This Sunday

Got a thing for cupcakes? Yes? Then make sure that you are present at the SM City Atrium this coming Sunday (September 20) when the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) unveils around 15,000 cupcakes for public consumption. Hey, the cupcakes are free. The event is part of the launching activities for the 12th Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Weekend which will run until October 17. For five weekends, local residents and tourists will be treated to events that include culinary/hospitality competitions, talent showdowns, and a beauty pageant. This year's festivities carry the theme B2B or Back to Basics.

The 15,000 cupcakes will be unveiled right after the short opening program on Sunday which will commence at 10:00 am. The cupcakes are the product of a collaboration among bakers from Baguio Country Club, Le Chef, Villa Cordillera, Swiss Baker, Hill Station, Apple Blossom and Mario’s. The ingredients alone cost over one million pesos. These include 600 kilograms of muffin mix, 1900 eggs, and 200 kilograms of sugar. The cupcakes were also baked with several flavors namely chocolate, apple, mocha, vanilla, banana, cherry, and blueberry.

Wikimedia Commons

The event which the organizers dubbed as It's More Cupcakes In The Philippines also aims to instill a sense of nationalism to locals and visitors by spray-painting the cupcakes blue, red, and yellow and having them displayed on a 24 feet by 32 feet table that's been designed to look like a map of the Philippines.

2 Igorot Fighters Return To The Ring For One Championship: Tigers Of Asia

Two Cordilleran mixed martial arts fighters will be flying next month to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to fight in the undercard of Tigers of Asia, the latest fight event organized by the Singapore-based MMA promotion company One Championship. The event which is scheduled for October 9 will be a major crossroad for both fighters. First to enter the cage come fight night is Eric Kelly who is making a comeback after fourteen months of inactivity. Kelly is in a very interesting position due to the fact that he was once considered to fight for One Championship's featherweight belt last year. Due to injuries and other issues, his chance to get the belt crumbled and here he is now facing Hiroshige Tanaka of Japan.

Tanaka has a more than decent record of 10 wins and 2 losses. His second loss was during his debut for One Championship in August of last year. Kelly, on the other hand, has only one loss - one that came in the hands of Honorio Banario, the other Cordilleran fighter set to compete in Tigers of Asia. On paper, the Kelly-Tanaka match-up is a classic case of striker versus grappler. Of Kelly's 11 wins, 9 were by submission and 1 by knockout. For his part, Tanaka won 6 by knockout and 4 by decision. So the match-up boils down to two possible scenarios - either Kelly submits Tanaka or Tanaka knocks Kelly out cold. For sure, whoever wins this match will make a huge step towards the featherweight belt which is currently held by Jadamba Narantungalag of Mongolia.

Next to enter the cage is Honorio Banario who at one time held the One Championship's featherweight championship belt. However, he lost his first defense of the title and has been winless ever since. He lost his last four fights. Needless to say, Banario is in a must-win situation when he faces off against Malaysia's Ev Ting on October 9. Although he lost his last fight, Ting still has skills both on his feet and on the ground that can give Banario serious problems. Ting will likely enter the cage as a favorite, not to mention the fact that he's fighting in his hometown.

Eric Kelly celebrates after choking out Rob Lisita of Australia in his last fight. Image credit: One Championship.

Also fighting in the card are two Filipinos. Eugene Toquero will face off against Asuka Mikami while Ruel Catalan will slug it out with Almiro Barros. The main event will be a middleweight championship battle between titleholder Igor Svirid and challenger Vitaly Bigdash. Fight fans can watch the bouts on FOX and Star Sports.

Most Wanted Person From The Ilocos Region Arrested In Baguio City

The law finally caught up with a wanted man who has successfully evaded the authorities for more than 15 years. Prudencio Pantaleon was arrested on September 14, 2015 by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at an undisclosed location in Baguio City. Pantaleon is wanted for the crime of murder. He fatally shot his aunt Marie Zuniga on July 17, 2000.

According to the police, Pantaleon fled aboard a motorcycle after committing the crime in Panacol, Aguilar, Pangasinan. Found at the crime scene were three empty shells and a bullet slug. The authorities dangled a reward money worth 140,000 pesos to anyone who can provide information that will lead to his arrest. Prior to his arrest, Pantaleon is one of the Ilocos Region's most wanted men.

Image credit: sierragoddess via Flickr.

Graduate Of A Baguio-Based University Tops The 2015 Medical Technologist Licensure Examination

A graduate of a university in Baguio City has topped the Medical Technologist Licensure Examination which was given by the Board of Medical Technology in September of this year. Brylle Domerson Mendoza Turalba of Saint Louis University shared the number one spot with two other examinees - El Marie Tuazon Salunga of Angeles University Foundation and Jonan Michael Tan Soriano of Far Eastern University - Manila. All three graduates earned a rating of 90.70 in the examinations.

Saint Louis University is also among the top ten performing schools in the examinations. All of the 243 graduates from the school who took the exam passed. For the full list of board passers, visit the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) website here.

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book Stories Come Alive In Live-Action Movie Adaptation By Disney

"Are you alone out here? What are you doing so deep in the jungle? Don't you know what you are? I know what you are. I know where you came from. Poor sweet little cub. I'll keep you close. Let go of your fear now. And trust in me."

Such is the voice-over for the first full trailer for The Jungle Book, a live-action movie adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic story collection of the same name. The humidity-coated voice belongs to Scarlett Johansson who plays the character Kaa in the film. Kaa is described in Kipling's stories as an exceptionally long and yellowish Indian rock python.

The trailer also showed glimpses of major scenes in the film as well as the main characters like Mowgli (the jungle boy), Baloo the bear, Bagheera the black panther, Shere Khan the tiger, and King Louie the orangutan. Directed by Jon Favreau - the man behind Iron Man and Iron Man 2 - The Jungle Book is scheduled to be released on April 15 next year. Playing the titular character in the movie is Neel Sethi. Also in the cast are Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idirs Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken, and Giancarlo Esposito (that poker-faced villain from Breaking Bad).

This is the second time that Disney has created a motion picture based on Kipling's stories. Their first foray in bringing the stories to the big screen was in 1967 when they released the now-classic animated film The Jungle Book.

Watch the trailer for Jon Favreau's adaptation below:

Warner Bros. Pictures is also working on a live-action film based on the stories called Jungle Book: Origins. Andy Serkis is directing as well as starring in the film which is penciled for a 2017 release. The main cast for the movie is currently composed of Rohan Chand, Matthew Rhys, Freida Pinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Jack Reynor, and Tom Hollander.

Parties In Confrontation Between A Businessman And Customer In Baguio City Speak Out

Last Wednesday afternoon (September 9), a shopper at a department store located along Mabini Street in Baguio City caught on video the owner of the store, Henry Lao, berating, cursing, and shoving a female customer who allegedly tried to steal fabric from the establishment. When the video was uploaded on Facebook, it quickly went viral. As of this writing, the video has been shared more than 14,000 times and has accumulated over 7,000 comments. These numbers don't include those generated by mirror copies of the video that has been re-uploaded by other Facebook pages.

Now, the businessman and the customer have spoken to air their sides on the issue. In a segment for ABS-CBN Northern Luzon, reporter Ada Marie Sibayan personally talked to Lao. The businessman reportedly stated that he was aware of the customer's modus. "Kaya ang alam ko din, okay siya. Siempre, nakikita mo siya halos every other day na bumibili rito, hindi mo naman inaasahan na ganyan ang mangyayari," Lao said.

Sibayan also dug up Lao's police record and based on the records of the municipal trial court in Baguio City, several cases of oral defamation and physical injuries had been filed against Lao in the past. According to the ABS-CBN report, three of the cases had been dismissed, one is pending, and one led to Lao's conviction for slight physical injuries.

On the other hand, the customer in the video aired her side on the local radio station, Bombo Radyo. She maintained her claim to innocence. According to her, she went back to the department store right after the incident to talk to Lao and explain that she wasn't stealing from his store. The meeting reportedly didn't go well.

Bombo Radyo also took Lao's side. The businessman said that he only did what was right. He added that it's up to the courts to decide on the issue should the customer decide to file a case against him.

Bill Nye Is 'Unstoppable' In A New Book About Harnessing Science To Change The World

In November of last year, science educator Bill Nye released a book called Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation. The book was inspired by Nye's controversial debate with Ken Ham in February of the same year. Ham is a Christian evangelist most well-known for his being a young earth creationist. Young earth creationism (YEC) is the belief that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that dinosaurs used to live alongside mankind. In said book, Nye tackled topics that are often the cause of heated arguments between believers of evolution and believers of Biblical creation. If you haven't read the book, a look into the book's Table of Contents should give you an idea as to its content. Chapters have titles like Creation and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, Fossil Records and Explosions, Antibiotic Drug Resistance - Evolution Strikes Back, and Life's Cosmic Imperative. It's a really good book. Anyone who claims to love science should have a copy on his/her book shelf (or Kindle).

Exactly a year after Undeniable's publication in November 4, 2014, another book of Nye's is going to be published this coming 10th of November. It's called Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World. Not much is known about the contents of the new book but based on its title and blurb, it's going to be about making the world a better place for man and nature through applied science. The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon. It will also be available on Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Indiebound, Walmart, and iBooks.

The cover art for Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World:

Confrontation Between A Store Owner And A Customer In Baguio City Goes Viral

A branch of a well-known department store chain in Baguio City is once again dragged into a hot seat after a video showing an argument between its owner and a customer went viral online. As of this writing, the video has been shared over 5,000 times. The video was uploaded on Facebook by a user named Kitz just yesterday (September 9).

In the 5-minute video, Henry Lao (one of the owners of the Tiong San store chain), can be seen standing near the counter and asking questions from a lady customer and from his employees. With the suspicion that the customer was trying to steal from his store, he raised his voice and - for lack of a better phrase - all hell broke lose.

The customer tried to defend herself but Lao wasn't buying it. "Sanay na kami sa mga nagnanakaw ng tela eh. Ay naku, huwag kang ganyan. Akala mo, nakalusot ka!," the businessman shouted. The argument then led to questions of how many yards the customer ordered and if she removed the tag or not. At one point, the businessman angrily asked an employee, "Ano ba ang nilagay mo, 23 o 15? Ikaw ang tatanggalan ng trabaho!"

The businessman also threatened to take the customer to the Baguio City police. At one point, he held the customer by the arm and shoved her to the side. The video didn't show if the parties involved resolved the issue or if they went to the police.

The video has already garnered nearly three thousand comments and responses. Some of those who left comments shared that they've experienced seeing first-hand the temper of the store owner in some of the instances that they shopped in the department store. Some of the comments supported Lao, stating that the businessman has the right to be angry at the customer for allegedly trying to steal from his establishment.

Below is the video of the incident.

Bahala na po kayung mag husga.Tiongsan Super Saiyan! :DGanito po un...Nasa likod kami nung babae at maga babayad na....Nung nasa cashier na kmi, tinanong ng sales lady kung ilang yards ang kinuha nya. Ang sagot nya is "15".Then ang sabi ng sales lady na ipa-sukat ulit.After mga 5 mins, sabi nung babae na "23" pala ung sukat. :DThen the story begins....Kawawa naman, sana kahit quinarantine nalang...Kayo na mang husga :D :D------------Mga boss, Sa video na ito, Hindi po ako nagsalita.Sa akin lang, sana maka tulong to na makita kung anu ang maliwanag. Para sa akin lang, Silang tatlo, sa buong insidente at nangyare before and after the video, apat ang may kasalanan....Problem solved man or hinde.
Posted by Kitz on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Baguio City Folks Cover Session Road With Chalk Drawings To Celebrate Charter Day

The iconic stretch of Session Road in Baguio City that runs from the intersection in front of the Maharlika Livelihood Center to the Post Office Loop just below the SM shopping center was turned into an art canvas today (September 1) by residents and tourists. People from all walks of life - kids as young as two years old, teenagers, college students, and even senior citizens - clutched at colored chalk sticks as they made their marks on the dry pavement.

Walking down the street, you'll get to see their handiwork. Names written using 2D letters. Monsters with crazy grins. Women with flowing golden hair. Anime characters. I saw one bespectacled girl scribbling Albert Einstein's famous equation E=mc2.

The chalk drawing exercise is part of the celebrations commemorating the city's Charter Day Anniversary. Baguio was declared a chartered city on September 1, 1909. This year's commemoration carried the theme "Nurturing the culture of caring and sharing towards competitiveness." A civic parade and a program were held during the day. The day was capped off by a fireworks display at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds. Below are some of the photos we took at Session Road earlier this afternoon.