An Exciting World Cup 2010 Round of 16

The second day of the Round of 16 has been very exciting. I watched the matches in the first day and saw two teams that I liked knocked out (USA and South Korea). But for the second day, I saw England, the team I was supporting, routed by Germany in a 4-1 win. It was the first time for England to lose by more than a margin of two goals in any FIFA World Cup match.

The look before a strike (from one of our club tournaments)

The second game of the second day was a different story and deserved to be watched in entertainment centers as the team I support won. Tevez shined and made two goals and another one was added by Higuain before Mexico rifled in one of its own to make it 3-1 for Argentina.

I am looking forward to watching other upcoming games (Netherlands vs Slovakia, Brazil vs Chile, Paraguay vs Japan and Spain vs Portugal). I hope Netherlands, Brazil, Japan and Portugal make it to the quarter finals.

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Diamonds in the Rough: New Friends from Kibera

I arrived last week from a trip to Africa. I went to Nairobi, Kenya with a group and was introduced to a place called Kibera. It is the largest slum in Nairobi and the second largest slum in Africa which has a population of up to 1.6 million within its area of one square mile.

Our team went to Kibera New Hope Bible Baptist Church which has a feeding program, a primary school for selected children in Kibera and a scholarship program for those who qualify for high school in their school, all sponsored by Manna Worldwide.



I met some of the eighth grade students from their school when we helped a group of nurses from Texas with their lecture about abstinence and HIV. I committed to pray for 5 boys as they will be taking a high school qualifying exam on November 9, 2010. These boys already have a personal relationship with Christ and I just believe that God has a wonderful plan for each of them and I would personally want to see that unfold.

For many people who come to Africa, they try to look for things like loose diamonds, the safari trip and many other things like that. I honestly looked forward to going on a safari in Nariobi. But what captured my heart were not those things that many try to seek. I was moved by the diamonds in the rough – the boys that God can use for His greater plan as they are blessed with wonderful opportunities that many in Kibera do not have.

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Are you the Philippines Smartest Driver?

A fuel efficient car is one of the factors we looked into when we decided to buy my wife her own car a couple of months back. We were considering this other brand as opposed to the Great Wall car we got her. Both are Euro 4 compliant and fuel efficient. But GW stood out feature-wise, which over all gave us great value for our money.

Two months in and we are satisfied with our purchase. Its 1.3L In-Line 4 cylinder is fuel efficient all right. But truth to tell, although the type of car you drive is a factor, fuel efficiency goes beyond that. Maintenance and how we drive our car are equally important and should not be taken for granted.

No matter how fuel efficient your car is but you keep unnecessary items in your car for days on end when you go on long rides will consume you more gas than you actually need. That is one truth every motorist should remember. Even the littlest of junks in each corner of your car will add up to the amount of weight that will reduce your kilometer per gallon of gas ratio to up to 2 percent. And in a country where gas prices hike by the day, that is a lot!

If you happen to have fuel saving tips and you have a valid Philippine driver's license, you might want to join Pilipinas Shell's search for the Philippines Smartest Drivers in the upcoming Shell Eco-Marathon. All you have to do is record a video sharing how your driving techniques minimize your fuel consumption and close it by completing the catch phrase “Ang Pinoy na matipid sa gasolina, ____________.” Then simply log onto www.topgear.com.ph/shellsmartestdrivers and upload your fuel saving tips video clip. The entry can be as simple or as creative as you want. Submission of entries is from May 20 to June 20.

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