7 Things I Like About the New Mobile Game Epic Paint Adventure

Today, March 20, 2014, Kuyi Mobile launched their new mobile game called Epic Paint Adventure. Honestly, I am not really much of a gamer and there are only a few games that I really like, the reason for which is because I only appreciate the “ideation” of the games. The games on my list include the phenomenal Flappy Bird, Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled. There is something common among these three games and I believe that it is what made them popular.

Today, I am writing about yet another genius work. Allow me to enumerate the 7 things I like about the new mobile game Epic Paint Adventure.

1. Colorful design. Epic Paint Adventure is about painting. The gamer’s task is to help painters get colors so that they can complete their paintings. There is no doing away with colors here and this is one of the things that I like about this new work by Kuyi Mobile. It was impressive the way they visually designed the whole game.

2. Cute chibi characters. I like the cute chibi characters that they created for the game. By the look of it, you will know that Kuyi Mobile really worked hard in designing each and every one of them. The characters are famous painters. There is even one wearing the Philippine National Costume for men, Barong Tagalog, and I am yet to find out who he is. Juan Luna, perhaps? The one who created Spoliarium? Growing up, my favorite games are Mario Brothers (I mean, during my age, who doesn’t?) and Pocket Fighter by Nintendo. These games all used cute chibi characters so when I saw Epic Paint Adventure used chibis too, it was a plus point.

3. Music. Music is important that I did not skip it in this review. I just know that Kuyi Mobile really meticulously chose the right tune for the game and they did not just settle for mediocre sounds just to finish it. Thumbs up to the developers!

4. Challenging task. Okay, the task is really simple. All you have to do is to gather colors for the painters and to do that you have to “assemble” the colors in a playing board that has some obstacles. It might sound simple but it wasn’t that easy, that as of writing I am still stuck at Level 3! And yes, I won’t explain everything here. You really have to try it! It is really fun!

CIM Technologies at WORLDBEX 2014

CIM Technologies participated in WORLDBEX or The Philippine World Building and Construction

(L-R) Yours truly with CIM Technologies officers,
Ms. Leizel Ubalde (Marketing Manager) and
Mr. Mike Munoz (Bus. Dev. Officer)

Exposition last March 12-16, 2014 at the World Trade Center in Manila. WORLDBEX is dubbed as Asia’s most attended construction exposition with a visitor profile of more than 150,000 per year. The event is also known for putting together over 500 exhIbiting companies ranging from building materials equipment services, construction design and development.

CIM Technologies Inc. is in partnership with the world-leading IT companies namely: Autodesk, Siemens, Microsoft, Oracle, 3D Systems, HP and Apple. With its commitment to share the knowledge of technology, CIM conducts a series of events nationwide like campus tours, workshops, seminars and tradeshows to showcase the integrated solutions for design and innovation catered to the architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing industries.

Top 3 Important Discoveries During the CIM Technologies Bloggers Day

Last February 21, 2014 at AIM Conference Center, I was very privileged to become part of the CIM Technologies Bloggers Day. It was organized by CIM Technologies, the country’s pioneer in providing technology solutions for design and innovation. It was also the company that brought to the country the products of 3D Systems Corporation, the market leader in the 3D Printing Industry. Below are my top 3 important discoveries during the event.

A product of 3D Printing exhibited during the event

1. 3D Printing is going to take the country by storm soon.
3D Printing is abuzz nowadays but still, not too many suppliers of such equipment are present in the country. But in the other countries, it was a booming industry. In fact, I got so curious about 3D Printing when I saw a section in my favorite website template portal that is dedicated to it. The portal offers templates for 3D Printing too. What is 3D Printing?

3D Printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is the production of 3-dimensional solid objects directly from a digital plan, where the material is printed layer by layer in variations until it gets form. Materials such as PLA plastics, clays, waxes and wood-based filament nylons are being used in 3D Printing.

I believe that it will take the country by storm soon. In other countries, it was already being used in industries such as aerospace, architecture, toys, fashion, arts, medical, education, automotive, electrical and consumer products.

2. 3D Printing can now be brought home.

3D Printing ongoing. They are printing a toy robot
made of white plastic.

When I heard about 3D Printing, I thought of big machines that are only seen in big companies. I was wrong. Actually, 3D Printing can now be brought home. Thanks to the innovative ideas of 3D Systems Corporation. Architecture and design students may now create their own mock-ups at their comforts of their own homes or classrooms. Regular hobbyists may now be able to create their own toys using their very own designs. Even dads may now be able to manufacture parts of appliances at home that can’t easily be found anywhere.

3D Systems' personal 3D printer brands are named Cube and CubeX. Cube is the one marketed for home use while CubeX is targeted for professionals and educators.

3. We are approaching the age of mass customization.
From mass production, we are now approaching the age of mass customization. As a marketer, I feel the need to become abreast in what’s happening now in the market. I sincerely believe that this phenomenon called “age of mass customization” is already taking place. I saw it the way companies Starbucks, Burger King, Globe Telecom and others customize their products and services for their customers. Though they do not manufacture for only one customer at a time, their products and services may be customized in order to fit the preferences of individuals. I believe 3D Printing is going to be at the forefront of this phenomenon.

40 Day Project

(Feel free to use this Facebook Photo for your own
#40dayproject.)

Days before I lost my 3-month old Samsung Mega, the most reliable object that I have on Earth next to my laptop, I discovered about the #100happydays. I have seen this hashtag being used by my friends on Facebook and Instagram. I got curious so I Googled it. Apparently, it was a campaign to post on social media photos of anything that made the participants happy for 100 straight days. The campaign resulted to many good things as shared by the participants who joined. Some of the benefits include being in a better mood every day, starting receiving more compliments from other people, becoming more optimistic and even falling in love.

I thought it was great. Actually, two things popped into my head, when I saw it. First is The Happiness Project book by Gretchen Book, which I wasn’t able to finish reading. And second, the movie Julie & Julia. The movie is about the young New Yorker Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams, who aspired to cook for 365 days the 524 recipes of Julia Child, played by the awesome Meryl Streep. Julie documented her progress in her blog, which became popular.

These things amazed me. There was something in documenting someone’s progress in a specific measure of time that made me drawn to these materials. As a blogger, I have dreamed of starting a project similar to what Julie had – involves blogging and is time-bound. This is actually one of my motivations in buying The Happiness Project.

But who got time to read a book?

Of Death and Blogs

Coy posted this on his Wall last November 12, 2013.
I was encouraged to know that he was reading the Word
a few weeks before his passing.

I never really had so much close encounters with Coy Caballes when I was still in Globe. In fact, I only remember having a short conversation with him during the launching of iPhone 5 in Glorietta. But when I heard about his passing, a wave of mixed shock and sorrow hit me for a moment. I realized, knowing a person only for a short while doesn’t really matter in the face of death. Knowing that you have met the person and was able to talk to him while he was still alive, and then suddenly he was declared lifeless, is actually both saddening and paralyzing.

When I heard about Coy’s passing, I immediately buzzed the people who knew him to tell them about the news. Our reactions are the same. Sad and shocked. Death brings both, I realized. Truly, it was like a thief in the night. You won’t know when it will come.

Death, no matter how certain, is something that not too many people will talk about nor prepare for. It was so sad just thinking about it. But I also believe that thinking about death, as much as life, is brave and wise. Again, death is certain. Knowing that it can strike you anytime, there’s no point not reflecting about it.

Coy’s sudden death brought about too many realizations to me. Through his passing, I was able to think more about death and was also, to my surprise, did not feel uneasy about it anymore, unlike before. I am very thankful that I was able to meet the Savior around 2 years ago and after that, death wasn’t a scary topic anymore. In fact, that day, I decided to look at it closer and observe what will happen while it’s in the air.

There are 3 things that I’d like to write about in this blog post. These are the things that I have observed from the day of Coy’s passing until now.

7 Things the Bible, LOTR and other Books Taught Me About Life, Friendship and Adventure

I woke up tonight, around 6:00pm, seeing visions of some scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies. The visions went along with mixed feelings of deep sorrow for some people who are special to me but I’ve lost along the way, and also a deep feeling of gratitude towards God for the gift of life that is full of adventure. Afterwards, I found myself writing a prayer enumerating the reasons why I am so thankful for this life. My first few words are “mountains to climb” and “seas to cross”. The next second, I was brought to thinking about the book entitled “Wild at Heart” written by John Eldredge, which I read around 3 year ago. In that book, he said that in every man’s heart is a battle to fight, a beauty to rescue and an adventure to live.

The Bible, Tolkien’s works, the movie adaptations of them, Eldredge’s book and Coelho’s The Alchemist are my inspirations in writing this blog post. I really believe that life is a great adventure and I am more than thankful that the God that we have is a God who gave us the freedom to write the chapter of our lives. With His guidance, I hope that we’ll be able to write a great story out of it.

5 Important Lessons in Subtle Marketing and Video Ads

1. Subtle marketing is the way to go.

During the most recent Metro Manila Film Festival 2013, I have seen how a movie was criticized for being a successful product placement rather than a movie. Now, product placements in movies are cute sometimes. But if product placements already found their ways to the movie reviews, then that’s a different story. When it was supposed to be a subtle form of marketing, it had successfully defeated itself by getting the “marketing” noticed. What’s supposed to be a smart and tasteful advertising done within a movie turned out to be blatant and offensive. Companies won’t want that for their brands.

But I commend the makers of the new Samsung S4 ad featuring the Broadridge Education Centre in Thailand built by Trisha Silvers. She built the school in memory of her husband who died during the tsunami that devastated Thailand in 2004. When I saw the ad, I was just looking for some live Ed Sheeran videos on YouTube, but when the ad played, I did not skip the ad (one thing I normally do by the way).

I was caught by its good sounds, good cinematography, good narration and good subject. The product placement waited very very patiently until the end and it was done very very tastefully. 

I wasn’t offended at all. 

In fact, I did love it and that’s why I am writing this blog review right now, out of the blue, this one hot afternoon, without anyone, not even a sponsor, telling me to do so.

2. Even from miles away, people can already detect if you will be selling to them. There’s absolutely no need to push your ads down their throats.

The problem with some companies is that when they want to create ads, all they think about is making money. They have forgotten that the people who they want to talk to, before seeing their ads, had already been preoccupied by the thousands of ads they have heard over the radio when they woke up, seen on TV while having their breakfasts, passed by posted on billboards on the way to work and stumbled upon while playing with their favorite mobile app. Now, if you are the advertiser, what made you think that your let’s-make-more-money ad will stand out from the many ads that your target audience had already seen past yours?

The truth is, people are smarter nowadays. They can already smell, even from miles away, if someone wants to sell something to them. But being smart doesn’t mean being snob. People did not necessarily become more snobbish by becoming smarter. They will still want to listen to you, talk to you and ask you questions. But you have to be worth their very very limited time and attention. You have to be credible, creative and authentic. Remember that three.

This may be the reason why I watched the Samsung S4 ad from start to finish. The story wasn’t about the phone, with which I won’t be able to relate to, not yet, not right away. But I will be able to relate to Trisha Silvers. Her story wasn’t so different from the stories of my fellow Filipinos who survived the devastation brought about by the super typhoon Yolanda, also known as Haiyan.

Some of my important lessons in online video marketing, I learned through this Samsung S4 ad, and are hereby encapsulated by the three statements below.

• Share a story that your target audience will be able to relate to.
• Focus on that story, not on your product.
• Patiently wait for the time when you shall reveal your product. Do not overexpose.

3. Too much marketing (like in all other things) is bad marketing.

A new day has come. 

Finally, subtle marketing is taking over the other traditional ways to advertise a brand. Also, a new breed of ad-sensitive but still the same story-loving people is here to stay. Will this give birth to better advertisers too?

That will depend on how sensitive advertisers will want to be in the coming days. Will they listen solely to their annual profitability goals or will they listen to their audience? Or will they find a way to do both?

In my humble opinion, advertisers should be great storytellers, first and foremost. And great storytellers should have a deep sense of what’s enough for the story and what’s overdoing it. For video ads that involve subtle product placements, please listen to the storytellers and not the Chief Financial Officer. The former will most likely know the way.


4. If people like it, they will search for it. If they are not yet looking for it, create a demand by targeting the emotions in an almost invisible way.

Okay, I really like the Samsung S4 Trisha Silvers video ad. Hands down. But there’s a loophole in the campaign. When the ad ended, I wanted to see the ad again. However, YouTube has no replay ad button. So I Googled the ad. The result? Nada. I tried the website. And then? Disappointing. I tried Facebook. Well, it wasn’t easy but I found it eventually. But let me say that it took me ages. But I still took the hassle of looking it up because I was truly impressed by the ad that I want to write about it. But what if I am just a regular guy who still want to replay the ad but doesn’t have the time or wasn’t persistent enough?

Okay, my point is, the “way back” to the ad must not be that difficult to find. You place a really good ad for a few seconds on YouTube, you make sure people will be able to find it again easily. Samsung S4 can make use of their current website or maybe even create a separate microsite for this. I did not find the Trisha Silvers ad easily on their website that’s why I got a bit disappointed. But one thing I learned is that, in looking for something, especially when I already know what brand I am looking for, my initial instinct is to look at the website, and then Facebook. Sadly, the ad wasn’t on the website. I found it on Facebook, which loads slowly by the way, and the resolution of the video, smaller.

On its Facebook page, I found out that Trisha Silver’s story is just one of stories under the campaign entitled, “Companion Stories”. There is one story by Grandma Mary and the other by Richy Carrasco. I will check them out later.

To summarize my whole point, I just want to say that this Companion Stories campaign must be easily searchable by fans like me. Without a good and sustainable call to action or follow through, the life of a video ad (just like any other online ad) stops.

By the way, I remember posting about 2014 being the year of storytellers. When I saw this campaign by Samsung S4, I got the chills.

Post by Mark Delgado.

5. Your ads shall target the emotion. Your website and social media pages will feed the mind afterwards.

The emotions, the irrational ones, the feelings. These are the initial targets. When you got your audience curious, you lead them to your website and social media pages to feed their convictions, their rational sides, their minds. This is why product features and benefits must only be revealed detail by detail in the website, not in the video ads. It’s all about using all these online touchpoints smartly and strategically.

Again, kudos to the team behind the Companion Stories campaign. If you guys decide to send me an S4 to my doorsteps, I will never decline it. Haha! :)) Thank you for sharing the story of Trisha Silvers and for this beautiful campaign. May my inputs be of help.

Of course, you may want to check out the video that made me write all these things above. The video that started it all. So here you go guys, click play!


For more Companion Stories, please visit https://apps.facebook.com/companionstories/. Samsung will love it.

Why BidIt.ph is the Next Big Thing in the Philippines?

2014 is just around the corner and I believe it’s time for us to do some tweaking on our reliable online shops list in the Philippines. I love digital stuff and it is something that would make my day difficult to get by without them. More and more people are engaging to different social media platforms every single day for the purpose of self-expression, networking and mere communicating with their loved ones. And with this kind of lifestyle, we need compact, accessible and updated gadgets to maximize our daily social media engagements. How do we really keep up “digitally” without breaking our piggy banks? I have an answer to that:

JUST BID IT!



BIDIT Philippines is the newest craze in the country when it comes to online shopping with a twist. I have listed the reasons why people are raving about BidIt.ph:

1. Economical

Cheap is the not word. It’s economical. True to BidIt.ph’s promise, every gizmo found on their site is under P100. Photos of previous winners have its own portion on the site together with their bidding experience testimonials. One winner won an audio system with a bid of P0.32! Another winner just used her free bids to get her very own Canon Power Shot digital camera. A shopper can definitely have a gadget on his wish list for a tiny fraction of the actual retail price. Here are more testimonials from some of the winners.

5 Amazing Things I Discovered About Myself Through My Fingerprints

Holding my Encycligent report at their booth in World Trade Center
 last December 14, 2013

A few weeks back, I took the most unique personality test that I have ever taken. It never asked a single
question from me, unlike any other personality test. It only asked for my fingerprint scans.

Yes, you heard it right. Just my fingerprint scans.

So it is possible to analyze someone’s personality through his/her fingerprint scans?

In fact, it is.

Encycligent is the company that brought the Dermatoglyphics Mutiple Intelligence Test (DMIT) to the Philippines. DMIT is a patented personality test based on the research of Professor Lin Ruei Bin from Taiwan. It uses fingerprint scans to analyze the personality of a person as there is a direct relationship between our fingerprint patterns and personalities. His discovery is highly inspired by Dr. Howard Gardner’s study of Multiple Intelligences and Dr. Roger Sperry’s Dual Brain Theory.

Below are some of the things that I discovered about myself through the report generated from the DMIT.

1. Why I never liked exercise that much

Ever since I was a child, I never liked moving around that much. I’d rather stay in a corner and read my book. My dad thought I was lazy. But I used to disagree with him. I love reading. And reading is an activity that many kids of my age find themselves too lazy to do. So, I never accepted I was lazy. I was just different.

When I grew up, I tried liking sports, but to no avail. Physical activity takes too much effort so I did not bother to try so hard. I tried to excel in academics as I saw others excelled in sports. There is enough room for everybody.

My Encycligent report showed that Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (60%) is not one of my inborn strengths. I was both surprised and unsurprised at this.

How can a test like this that only took my fingerprint scans turned out to be true? How can it tell so much things about myself without even asking me a single question about my personality?

It was amazing.

I am thankful to Encycligent. I thought that if parents will only be able to know about the inborn strengths of their children, it will save them not only theirs but also their children’s time and energy from investing in activities that are not aligned with the latters’ unique strengths. It will also save both of them from unnecessary emotional pains that usually result from the parents’ insistence of what they want their children to do.

I believe that it is every parents’ and individual’s business to find out their children’s and their own inborn strengths. Encycligent offers help to people who are taking this business seriously.

My 5 Best Moments During The SYKES Year-End Celebration 2013

Interviewing Mr. Dean Van Ormer -- VP for Philippine
Operations of SYKES

I am very fortunate to be invited yesterday as a blogger to cover what could have been the most anticipated annual gathering of SYKES employees -- the SYKES Year-End Celebration. It was fun. Full of music. Food was great. And the vibe of the SYKES people is remarkable. Below are some of the best moments that I gathered yesterday during the event.

1. My quick chat with Rica. Rica is a PR Office of SYKES. She was very warm and hospitable the entire night that we were there. When I got a chance to chat with her, she told me something that became one of the biggest surprises for me during the event.

I know about SYKES for quite some time but I never knew that they were serving Fortune 500 clients, until Rica told me. 

I wasn’t able to get over that revelation for a while. First, I became proud of myself as a Filipino -- for I know that thousands of my people are actually being outsourced to serve some of the biggest corporations abroad. It wasn’t just a small feat and SYKES, definitely, isn’t just any other BPO company. 

Ms. Armi Mallare of Up Dharma Down

Second, it speaks of the qualifications of the SYKES employees. Rica told me that SYKES employees are highly qualified. They should be, I thought to myself. If not, they might not be able to cope to the requirements of serving the clients of the Fortune 500 companies that they are connected with.

To top our conversation off, Rica told me that the year-end celebration is truly the most anticipated event by SYKES employees for the entire year. This is the company’s way of giving back to the employees who are the real drivers of their growth and operations. When she said, that I knew that I will have really great time that night.

2. The huddle with Mr. Van Ormer. Mr. Dean Van Ormer is the Vice President for Philippine Operations of SYKES. He had been living in the Philippines for more than 10 years. I really appreciated it when he said, “What I love about SYKESers is your passion. You have always shown great passion in and out of work. That is why we had such a great 2013. This year, we have shown the industry why we are the pioneer in the call center industry.”

My Top 10 Lessons From The 2013 ADB International Skills Development Forum

Getting ready for the morning session on Day 2

I am more than grateful to God to be invited to the 2013 ADB International Skills Development Forum. It was unplanned and was certainly a “last minute” decision. But when I was there for two days, the whole conference astounded me. Prior to joining the forum, I was just a regular young professional weaving dreams for himself, for his family and for the people around him. I said to myself, “I’d like to create my own e-learning program or a website that shall promote work-at-home opportunities.” And then I was invited to the forum. And the forum pushes for ICT-based solutions (I am a digital marketing professional.).

Boom! For me, it was more than just hitting the jackpot.



I came to the forum as a dreamer. I went out as a changed man. All the more my fervor for pushing for e-learning, e-commerce and online job opportunities became stronger. Suddenly, I progressed from being a mere dreamer to a man filled with purpose. Suddenly, my decision to leave a comfortable job in a big telco company in the Philippines made sense. Suddenly, all those sleepless nights I spent just to attend classes and finish my projects from my first e-learning certification program on digital marketing paid off. Suddenly, it’s magic. (Is that a song?)



Seriously, I’d like to thank all the people behind the 2013 ADB International Skills Development Forum including my awesome co-delegates from the Philippines and abroad. (Woot! Woot!) I have already written my 5 best takeaways from the first day of the forum but still those weren’t enough. Below are some of the few more things that I’d like to add on the list.







1. The promise of emerging industries.



I jolted at the mention of 3D printing during the forum. How can that be mentioned there? Oh yes, it’s one of the emerging trends in the industry right now, I know. But what are the chances? A week before the forum, I was just talking to an IT company that needs a Digital Marketing Consultant to promote their personal and industrial 3D printers. I thought to myself that this can be the toughest project I will ever take in my entire career. Who wants a 3D printer inside their homes? But when the Business Development Manager started to brief me, I became excited. There is a huge market for 3D printers for architects, designers, hobbyists, homemakers students and others.



What’s the catch?

Booth of the youth delegates at #ADBSkillsDevForum

Just when you thought that you already know a lot of things about the world where you live, you are already wrong. There is so much to discover and know about the world around us especially on those emerging industries that pose a huge promise of more job opportunities for more people. 

My challenge for my fellow youth delegates is to stay open to possibilities and stop limiting themselves. Let us always be on a lookout for those emerging industries that give hope to more people in the areas of jobs and training. Change is constant. If you intend to stay in the same place forever, you pose a danger to yourself. But if you stay awake and hopeful for the promise of the future, you will win.



2. The burden of the ICT guy.



Being the only participant who is not directly attached with any NGO somehow made me an accidental participant. But it also made all the difference.



I represented the community that I started around 2-3 years ago called Bloggers 4 Change Network. It is a community of bloggers who are passionate about using social media for social responsibility.



Being pro-ICT, I carried the burden of sharing my experiences as a Digital Marketing Consultant. I always say that I am a product of e-learning and online jobs. I recently resigned from my corporate job as a Senior Community Manager for Globe Telecom because I see more opportunities online. And not just more opportunities, but better opportunities. The ocean is blue and the grasses are green on that side of the world.



This is what I had been rallying about since Day 1. Honestly, my jaw dropped a bit when only 2 people ticked “Digital Jobs/Apps” from among the many issues that we want to tackle as a group. But I can totally understand this as I may be the only one directly involved in the ICT industry. 

I can look at it in 2 perspectives. One side is saying that ICT is not one of the biggest concerns of my co-delegates. On the other hand, that there are still lots of opportunities to educate them about it. I am so glad that I am not the only voice who is pushing for ICT-based solutions. From the real-time poll tallying to the discussions among the adult delegates from other nations, the words “digital”, “ICT”, “social media” and “virtual” were never missed. My only sincere hope is that may there be a concrete action plan that will highly involve ICT-based solutions as an enabler towards achieving the goal of providing more training and job opportunities for the youth.



3. On starting somewhere, starting small and starting soon.



A few days back, I tweeted that the year 2013 was the year for startups and that the year 2014 will be the year for storytellers. I haven't changed my mind about it yet.

This year, I’ve met the most number of startup founders in my entire life. One is involved in online advertising, the others are in digital marketing and the other one is in wire transfer of payments. Next year, they will be celebrating their first years (hopefully they make it 365 days in the Philippines) and then they shall be telling their stories -- especially for other aspiring startupreneurs' consumption.



I believe in starting somewhere, starting small and starting really soon. I believe that the increase in number of startups being built in the Philippines and in the world is mostly ICT-driven. Internet created more opportunities for entrepreneurs and professionals. It also made starting a business a lot easier. Hopefully more and more people will be enticed to explore the potential of the Internet to become a source of development and livelihood to many.

4. On guiding the young ones.



I admire the youth delegates from Vietnam and the Philippines -- Quy and Luigi. Quy talked about the need for properly guiding the youth on what career to pursue. Luigi mentioned about the time when people of our age threw themselves to pursuing nursing just because it was “in-demand” during that time.



I have been longing to ask these burning questions.

Ms. Nash Tysmans looks ready in her cheongsam

Is the being in-demand of a job enough reason for you to take it? Are we not supposed to take jobs based on our strengths and interests? Who should give the youth career guidance? What can we do in order to resolve these problems?



You might be interested to know that from the poll conducted during the 2nd day of the forum, the delegates are more concerned with “the youth not being able to get the job that they want” than “the youth not getting any jobs at all”.



This can be the reason why Quy and Luigi brought up the issue of acquiring proper career guidance in career, more than acquiring a job itself. I believe that this calls for a more responsible media reporting, parenting and teaching for the young ones.



5. Don’t forget the kids!



On Day 2, we were outnumbered by the adult delegates and stayed only in one corner of the ADB Auditorium. But this did not stop us from being heard. Quy and Luigi talked in front of the stage and “refused to concede that the youth cannot make a dent in the world”. We blogged, Facebook-ed, Instagram-ed and tweeted our viewpoints. We seated with the adult delegates during lunch and break times. Basically, we did everything for our voices to be heard by them and never allowed that chance to pass us by.



One of the panelists encouraged participation from the youth during the onset of the program. They wanted us to speak up and ask questions more. When he said that, I knew that something wonderful is about to happen on the 2nd day.



6. Becoming The Apprentice.



The first grand winner of The Apprentice Asia is from the Philippines. I am so proud of Jonathan Yabut. How did he bested the participants from other Asian countries? It was amazing and inspiring.



I envy him. During my college years, I never had the chance to become an intern in a company. Right after college, I never thought how unprepared I was for the corporate world.



I wonder how many young people like me had experienced the same. Do they still have good chances of getting good jobs even without internship opportunities? Even if they do, are they prepared enough to survive and become regularized?



I may be very blessed because of the many training I had undergone that somehow augmented to my lack of internship experience in a company. I still believe though that real-world training outside school is very important.



I hope that in the coming days, this issue may be touched and be provided for an action plan to provide more internship opportunities for students to become more prepared in the real world.



7. Majority thinks. 

Quy (left) from Vietnman and me

During the forum, we conducted a poll from among the participants. The results might interest you. Here is the summary.

• Majority thinks that the youth are not getting the jobs they aspire for.


• Majority thinks that the training are not relevant to the jobs.


• Majority thinks that there are enough internship programs available.


• Majority thinks that mobile is the most common mode of accessing the Internet.


• Majority thinks we are ready for the kind of environment that uses the Internet for education/employment.


• Majority thinks that young people use social media to look for jobs.


• Majority thinks that using a combination of online and offline methods in teaching is the best option to choose. 


• Majority thinks there are very little entrepreneurship training available. 

8. The great mismatch.



I have been hearing the word “skills mismatch” a lot during the forum -- from my fellow youth delegates to the adult ones. They said that the available skills of the youth today are not anymore relevant to the needs of the industry. This made me think somehow that the problem is not really the scarcity of jobs, but the scarcity of required skills.



Even in my own world, the online world, the problem is not the lack of jobs. There are lots of jobs. But are there enough people who have the skills needed to do the job? Also, is there enough information dissemination about these available online jobs?



No. There are not enough people who have the skills needed to do online jobs such as digital marketing, graphics designing, website designing and etc. These skills are highly specialized and not too many schools offer these courses.



No. There are also not enough promotion and support for online jobs. Not too many of my peers have accounts on Elance, Freelancer and Odesk yet. Not too many of my peers too aspire to become an online professional like me. Most of them still want to stick to the traditional jobs offline. Most of the adult ones may be all the more unaware of these kind of opportunities online since the young ones are more active than them online. What we need is more support in promoting these online opportunities to more people.



Indonesia and the Philippines are among the top 10 users of social media in the world. This speaks a lot about the Internet usage of many Asians. I believe that promoting these online opportunities would not be very difficult to achieve.



9. The intriguing relationship of tourism and employment.



I remember the slogan of the former Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines. He said, “Kapag may turismo, may trabaho.” English: “If there’s tourism, there are jobs.”



Yesterday, a representative from the Department of Tourism spoke to us about their current initiatives in training and developing the Filipinos for jobs created through tourism.



This made me realize how much we should be supporting our country’s tourism as it seems to have a direct relationship with job creation. Travel and leisure must not be underestimated. For a less developed country like the Philippines, we may not boast of our modern infrastructures and technology that much. But we can definitely boast of our natural beauty and tourist spots that more developed countries look for.



It’s all about focusing on one’s strengths. In recognizing a country’s competitive advantage over the others, I believe that’s where opportunities begin.



10. Completing the ecosystem.

Mr. Luigi De Vera to represent the Philippine delegation on Day 2

In the challenge of creating jobs and developing the skills of the youth, the participation of everybody is highly needed. 

This is not just the fight of the government nor the academe. Definitely, the youth cannot just do this on their own. I believe that the participation of the private sector, civil society and NGOs are needed more than ever. 

I thank the Asian Development Bank for creating this platform where a meaningful dialogue from among the stakeholders may be started and concrete action plans may be implemented towards developing the skills of the youth and providing jobs for them.



The 2013 ADB International Skills Development Forum runs from December 9 to 12, 2013 at ADB Headquarters in Manila. To participate online, please use the hashtags #ADBSkillsForDevForum #AsianYouth #Skills4Youth.

My 5 Best Takeaways From ADB #Skills4Youth Forum - Day 1

1. The important role of the Internet. From the brainstorming sessions to the real-time polling, I have been hearing the words such as “digital apps”, “digital jobs”, “e-commerce”, “e-learning”, “ICT”, “online jobs”, “social media” and the like. As an online professional, it’s good to know that my peers all over the region are now more open to ICT-based initiatives as solutions to problems such as youth unemployment. I myself am a product of ICT-based initiatives. Not only that I am an online professional, I also completed my certification as a blog and social media entrepreneur through an e-learning-led program designed by Ateneo de Manila University and DigitalFilipino.com. Deep inside me, there is a burning passion to tell the whole world that digital is the way to go and that in my world, there are so many available jobs for the Asian youth. Also, what I don’t understand is that the Philippines and Indonesia are among the top 10 users of social media in the whole world. Are we really not aware of these online jobs? Is this an issue of a mismatch between the available jobs and the available skills of the Asian youth? Is this an issue found along the lines of formal and informal jobs?



I am parking these questions for now. I know that these will somehow be answered in the next few days of the forum. But one thing’s sure for me -- if we want something new, let’s do something new. Exploring the many possibilities that the online world can offer as an enabler is a good action point to start with.







2. The power of brevity. I had been to many local and international forums, especially in leadership and marketing. I can say that people generally love to express themselves through words. But talking does not necessarily mean productivity. This is what I appreciate the most in #Skills4Youth forum. Having only a few hours in a day, we know we cannot just talk. We need to arrive at action points. This led us to agreeing on a specific framework to follow and then crowdsource our responses to it through online. My peers in #Skills4Youth forum appreciate simplicity, speed and technology – some of the things often neglected before as people tend to focus more on making the discussions more “complete” and “participative”. But efficiency is also a measure of success and time is a very important element. I am very glad that we started it out right on Day 1.



3. The 5W Proposal. I have discovered a new proposal framework during the #Skills4Youth forum. Let’s take a look at the 5 Ws one by one.

• Why? – Rationale or the issues you want resolved


• What? – Action points


• Who? – Partners, stakeholders, supporters


• When? - Timeline


• What does success look like? - Outcome

The framework may look very simple as it only has 5 questions -- a far cry from your college thesis, yes, but I believe that this is what also made it very powerful. At this day and age, where innovation is almost made equivalent to simplifying things, making things complicated had become obsolete. We are now entering the age of Twitter (cutting your shoutouts to 149 chars.) and iPhone (having just 1 or 2 buttons on your phone).



Undeniably, the 5W Proposal is a breath of fresh air. When it was laid down to the group during the brainstorming session, there was a sudden gush excitement and thrill within the group. We know that by having a direction (and having a simple one) will allow us to accomplish more.



4. On starting small and becoming solution-oriented. I appreciated it when John Trew encouraged us to become solution-oriented and to start small. One of the fears that I have when attending big forums such as the #Skills4Youth is that we may get trapped in creating motherhood statements after long discourses of what the problem is all about, without much forward movement. I am very glad that we are focusing more on the solutions rather than on the status quo. I believe this is the reason why the forum was created on the first place -- to create action points. In business, we often use The Business Model Canvas by Business Model Generation when we create plans. Perhaps, it will help us immensely if we can adapt the canvas and transform it into something that can be used by NGOs. To download The Business Model Canvas, please visit http://businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas.



5. Genuine concern of the youth. I appreciate all of my co-delegates especially the ones from our neighboring countries in Asia. We have one delegate from China who experienced being a farmer and had a hard time acquiring education in her country. This is despite China being an economic superpower today. Another one is from Vietnam who used to work from 7am to 10pm every single day. I was astonished by their stories. I never realized how blessed I am with the opportunities that I have right now until I met them. I know that I can never work in a farm nor work 15 hours a day. But these are the stories that they brought from their countries to the ADB #Skills4Youth forum.



Through them I was able to see the genuine concern of the youth for their fellow youth who are unemployed/uneducated. It's because they had experienced the brunt of it themselves. My prayer is that their stories be heard by more people in the world, especially by my fellow Filipino youth, and realize how serious the repercussions are of being unemployed/uneducated. The premise is simple. If you are unemployed/uneducated, you are hungry. If you are hungry, you become more vulnerable to much more serious problems such as crimes, drug addiction, prostitution and etc.



We are done with Day 1 and we are now moving on to Day 2. Changing the world, I know, is not an easy task but I am grateful because something is being done. I am very glad that as a youth, being at the forefront of the world, I am at season of my life where I can see the problems more clearly and at the same time, have the strength to work with my fellow youth towards finding solutions and creating action points.



Below are some of the interesting keywords that I have picked out from the youth delegation in ADB #Skills4Youth forum.

• Enterprise


• Skills mismatch


• Informal and formal


• Rural and urban


• Mentorship


• Lack of institutional support


• Surplus of professionals


• Skills development


• Education system


• Rural opportunities


• Incapacitated education system


• Education opportunities


• Indigenous people


• Top social media users


• Skills


• Supply and demand of labor


• Lack of policies


• Inadequate financial and technical support


• E-commerce


• Online jobs


• Agriculture


• ICT 


• Market-driven opportunities


• Education


• Entrepreneur


• Micro-financing


• Friendlier government processes


• Loans


• Support from government and private sector


• Incentive for entrepreneurs


• Internship programs


• Train the trainer program


• E-learning


• Parent training


• Sensitivity awareness to gender, differently-abled and etc.


• Financial management skills


• Research


• Green skills


• Green jobs


• Training through government and private sector


• Employment framework plan


• Youth reintegration program


• Competency based training for out of school youth


• Mobile school

Why Men Love To Wear Plain White Shirts?

My favorite outfit is composed of jeans, boat
shoes, dog tag and just a plain white shirt.

Let me get this blog post across plain and simple. I love plain white shirts. Every man does, I think. And here are the probable reasons why.

1. Simplicity is (really) beauty. 

I, myself, am a big fan of simplicity. It goes from the way I do things all the way down to the things that I wear. There was a time when I took a project to become a marketing assistant for a male fashion brand that I really like. Being exposed to many patterns and colors of the clothes that I market every day, I decided to just wear a plain white shirt at the office. It worked out just fine. Until this day, I still keep a set of plain white shirts inside my cabinet.

2. It’s (supposedly) more affordable.

Unless you’re unnecessarily sporting for some big brands, buying plain white shirts shouldn’t be burning your cash. Since these items are very basic, they’re supposedly more available and more affordable.

3. It’s very practical. Plain white shirts are great by themselves or as undershirts. I wear them for sleeping too. Whenever I run out of ideas of what to wear on any casual day, I just go for a plain white shirt, jeans, boat shoes and dog tag for accessories. It works all the time for me.

Notes on e-FPS Webinar by Ms. Elizabeth Costales of itPhilippines.net

Below are some of my notes taken during the e-FPS Webinar conducted by Ms. Elizabeth Costales of itPhilippines.net.

• e-FPS is an offshoot of the passage of Republic Act 8792 or E-Commerce Law of the Philippines where BIR aligned themselves with e-Governance or e-Gov. The goal of e-Gov is to improve the delivery of services of the government to citizens (G2C), government to businesses (G2B) and government to government (G2G).

• From 2000 up to the present time, BIR had designed several e-Services to taxpayers to be aligned with e-Gov. These e-Services are enumerated below as described one by one by Ms. Costales.

o e-Reg – For self-employed and professionals who are new in taxation
o e-DST - For banks and businesses that issue doc stamps
o PAYBIR - For payments requiring SMS (e.g. GCash)
o e-Broad – A service that notifies taxpayers that payments had already been received
o e-Complaint – Where complaints to BIR can be lodged
o e-Submission – Where attachments are being sent alongside your other tax documents
o e-Accreg – Where you accredit your POS machine
o e-Sales – Where you submit the output of your POS machine to BIR for further processing
o e-ReportCard – Open to CEOs for tax performance tracking
o e-ORB – For excise tax ypayers
o TRCMS – Tax Ruling and Case Management System, where tax payers seek tax rulings

• Electronic Filing and Payment System or e-FPS is especially designed to cater to the needs of entrepreneurs, professionals, self-employed individuals and mixed income earners for a more convenient and cost-efficient way of filing and paying their taxes.

• e-FPS is a system developed and maintained by the Bureau of Internal Revenu or BIR.

• e-FPS makes the filing and paying of taxes online. This means taxpayers may file and pay their taxes online using a computer with an internet connection.

• e-FPS has two systems.

o e-Filing – Data-capture facility that uses BIR-supplied validation of computation rules to efficiently check tax payers’ inputs. It is based on the hard copy of the tax returns.
o e-Payment – Online payment confirmation process between the BIR e-FPS and the participating banks through an Internet-enabled banking system.

• Below are some of e-FPS’ features and strengths as discussed by Ms. Costales.

o Fast – Some portions of the form had already been filled
o Automatic calculation – The system automatically computes some figures using the given amounts you inputted
o Instant filing confirmation – Right after filing and paying, a notification from the BIR shall automatically be sent to you
o Convenient – Available 24/7 in the BIR website; file anywhere, anytime
o Secure – Uses multi-layer security systems
o Free – No enrolment fee, no usage fee, no postage and courier expenses
o Easy – Has online guides and FAQs

To know more about eFPS, please join the eFPS Coaching with Ms. Elizabeth Costales on November 13, 2013 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at BancNet Training Room located at 19/F Equitable Bank Tower, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.

To register, please click the following link - www.facebook.com/events/552701331465446.

STEPS to a Super Business by Dean Pax Lapid

What: STEPS to a Super Business. This seminar is about creating your super business or boosting your existing business one step at a time.

Who will speak: This seminar is to be lead by Dean Pax Lapid, a Go Negosyo Mentor, a business consultant at AIM and a bestselling author of the book 21 Steps on How to Start Your Own Business published by Go Negosyo.

When: November 19, 2013 (Tuesday) from 1pm to 5pm.

Where: Businessmaker Training Lounge at 1203A West Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange (Tektite) Bldg., Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

How to join: Please contact Bennette at 0916-672-5070. You may also email her at mentors@lead-more.com

ASH International Language Tutorial Center

What: ASH International Language Tutorial Center is offering high quality language courses in Chinese, English, French and Japanese for only PhP1,999. The duration of each language course is 40 hours. The regular price for this is PhP6,000.

Who are the teachers: At ASH, we boast of our language teachers who are native speakers of the languages that they teach. We can guarantee that you'll never complete a 40-hour language course without getting the maximum learning that you can get from a native language speaker who teaches the language that you want to learn.

Who are our students: Our students are mostly composed of students and young professionals who want to achieve mastery of the language programs they are enrolled to for school, work or hobby.

Where: ASH has 2 branches. One is in Greenhills. The other one is in Makati.

Greenhills - Unit 1405 Atlanta Center, Annapolis St., Greenhills San Juan
Makati - Rm. 904 Rufino Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati City

When: You can enroll anytime and we'll let you choose your preferred schedule. To know more about the schedule of classes, please see the contact information below.

How to contact: You may contact us via 945-7595 from 10am to 7pm, Mondays to Fridays. You may also send us a message via our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ASH.INTERNATIONAL or email at ash_ilc@yahoo.com.

Cha-Ching: More Than Just A Cartoon Program

My earliest experience in handling money started when I was in high school. I lived in Manila away from my parents to stay in my grandparents’ house. That’s when I started to realize how I love my freedom and independence so much, even as a young child. As much as there are enjoyments, there are also responsibilities and one of them is handling my own finances.

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me hardworking and responsible parents. I couldn’t remember a time that I was in lack. I believe that the first experience of every child in handling their own finances start when they discover how their parents or elders handle their own. The way the latter handle money provides a kind of blueprint to the children until the time that they’ll do it on their own. My knowledge of my parents being hard workers and responsible managers of money became some sort of an invisible guide that became my source of help whenever I need to make financial decisions.

Though I don’t consider myself a real spendthrift, I wasn’t also a saver. This, I believe, is what’s brilliant about Cha-Ching. It laid out everything that happens to money, which can be understood by an ordinary child. Earn. Save. Spend. Donate. When I was a child, I only know about receiving and spending. I didn’t know that saving must be in between that. I didn’t know that I can actually set a goal and stick to it so that I’ll be able to have extra cash whenever I need it. I also didn’t realize that even as a child, I can earn too and contribute to my disposable income. Also, I didn’t realize that I can reduce my spending so that I will have more savings. All of these concepts are explained wonderfully through Cha-Ching. What’s more beautiful about the program is that it encourages the children to think about others. One’s money doesn’t just go to one’s self. This is why “Donate” is also part of the four things that happen to money.

Honestly, I can definitely relate to all the characters in Cha-Ching. I have become a meticulous money manager like Prudence. I have become careless spender like Bobby. I am now a young entrepreneur like Justin. I know the value of giving too like Charity. I have experienced working hard and saving a lot like Zul. I have become a spendthrift too like Pepper. But in my life right now, I think that I am more of Prudence, Zul and Charity by choice. I chose to become a combination of a meticulous money manager like Prudence, young entrepreneur like Justin and generous Charity. I actually have a special spot for Prudence inside me. I used to keep an Excel file in my computer that helps me allocate my income for all the expenses that I have so when payday comes, I already know what to do. I love the detailed work of allocating and computing and saving that Prudence teaches kids to do.

5 Admirable Things About Pru Life UK's New Campaign

1. The insurance company who listens.

When I saw Pru Life UK’s new video on YouTube as well as its brand credo, I was caught by the company’s consistency and commitment to “listening” to their customers. Hearing it straight from the agents shown in the video, it is very apparent that the company is striving not to become a run-of-the-mill insurance company. They want to become the "insurance company who listens". In the video, one of the agents said something like “We don’t just talk about insurance. We want to become a source of hope.” These words stayed with me for a little while.

Being a marketer who advocates “listening” in this day and age where nearly everyone wanted to become the best and the loudest “talker”, my admiration goes to Pru Life UK. They are very consistent and committed to their own brand credo that goes “Always Listening. Always Understanding.” In that aspect, they had become a good communicator. And good communication is very important in any business, especially for them, who need to understand perfectly the needs and wants of their customers.

Because of this campaign, I was able to understand Pru Life UK more. In my mind, they have taken the spot of the “insurance company who listens”. If they stay consistent and committed to their brand credo, they'll draw people to themselves - for a quick chat.

2. Smart move to use social media.

Being a company who listens, using social media, the “media of the people”, is a very very smart move for Pru Life UK. Social media, as I see it, is a "listening" medium, more than an advertising medium. It’s different from all other communication channels such as TV, radio and print, which are all focused on talking about brands. In social media, you can’t just do that. In social media, you must learn how to listen or understand what the people in social media want. And if you were able to produce a message that they like, prepare for stardom. If they don’t, you have successfully wasted your advertising budget.

Life is like that in social media. Why? Because it’s about the people, not your brand. But when you learn how to listen and find out what people want, you’ll be greatly rewarded. It all boils down to good listening and understanding of your consumers.

For a brand that wants to take the positioning of the “insurance company who listens”, I highly recommend to materialize this brand credo over the “media of the people”. Pru Life UK’s bold attempt to do their campaign in social media, I believe, is strategically aligned to the very DNA of their brand.

3. Short video that focuses on the emotions.

Pru Life UK is an insurance company. Imagine if they focused on explaining their products and services in their videos and websites. Clearly, the company knows that no one will be interested to hear about their products and services and how these things work, no matter how good and beneficial these things are. It will be very boring. Thus, they focused on the benefits.

In the 33-second video of Pru Life UK, they focused on dreams, aspirations and feelings. The video made me feel good and made me want to know more about the company, which is why I searched for them over the Internet, which then led me to their good-looking website.

When an ad leads a person to be curious about a company that the latter searched for the company over the Internet, the ad did its job.

Watch the new video of Pru Life UK here and see for yourself.

4. Simple campaign page filled with eye-catching memes.

The key to creating good websites is simplicity. Yes, I know. You want to say a lot of things about your company and how good it is. But remember, you must be able to make your visitors care about it first.

When I saw the new campaign page created for Pru Life UK named “Life’s Little Secrets”, I saw colors and pictures and inspiring messages. It made me want to click them. And when I did, it allowed me to share them with my friends.

Again, the “insurance company who listens”. To think, these memes and quotable quotes are not directly about Pru Life UK’s products and services. But it’s about their customers and what they stand for. Their customers are dreamers. People who want to achieve things. People who, in way or another, need the help of insurance companies like Pru Life UK.

Life’s Little Secrets website may not be directly talking about Pru Life UK’s products and services, but in my mind, it is the kind of company that wants to do more than just that. It’s a step further towards winning the hearts of the people who want to win.

To check out their new campaign page, please click here.

5. The insurance company with a heart.

Insurance agents who have built strong relationships with their clients, a brand credo that speaks of the importance of listening, and a campaign strategy that is consistent with the brand’s positioning. As a marketer, I can’t help but admire Pru Life UK. Being a dreamer and a potential client myself, I appreciated the company all the more.

Because of the five things enumerated above, I have come to understood Pru Life UK more, from both standpoints of a marketer and a potential client. A lot of companies should learn from Pru Life UK.

A Special Day

I spent almost half of my previous year in China learning how to speak Mandarin Chinese. I was one of the scholars of a foundation in the Philippines chosen to undergo a five-month training to learn about the language, culture and history of China. Every day, I will walk for more than twenty minutes from my dormitory to the teaching building in Fudan University. It was a long walk but I have no complaints as long as I get to eat my favorite Chinese bun every morning. After classes, I’ll have lunch with my classmates and then go back straight to the dormitory for my homework. During weekends, we’ll go to the church and then visit the must-see places in Shanghai. During my first few months, this has become my routine. It’s almost exactly the same every single day- until one day.

“Why don’t we organize a Filipino event?,” one of my fellow Filipino scholars suggested during a lunch time. “We are thirty-seven here. It is possible. We have artists, dancers and singers among us. I’m sure we can come up with something special to introduce the Philippines to everyone.”

Few months earlier than that, my classmates witnessed a presentation from the students from Mexico inside one of the buildings. Aside from some pictures, my roommate took home with him an overly sized hat that the Mexicans used as a prop during a dance. A few months passed, the Swedish had their turn. This time, they taught the crowd a dance for couples that the Swedish perform during festivities. It was a wonderful opportunity to experience the culture of other nations through those presentations. The amount of efforts they exerted fueled our passion to create our own "special day" for all of them.

A few weeks later, the Filipino Day was born.

A Date With God

This is the most "anti-religious" blog post I have ever written.

If you consider yourself anti-religious, I thank God that you have stumbled upon this place. I am an anti-religious too. A couple of months ago, I decided to drop religion and pursue a relationship with God. I believe in God and I know that He doesn't need my religious rituals and repetitive prayers. What He wants is my heart and after everything that happened in my life, I decided to give it to Him. From that day on, my life changed forever.

Don't get me wrong. I belong to a church because I also believe in building relationships with other people. I do not want to believe in a kind of god that doesn't want me to care for other people. This is why I believe in Jesus.

But I don't consider this a religion. Early Christians didn't. They even used to gather in their own houses and serve each other willingly and without compulsion. This, for me, is relationship. Relationship is not about obligation. Religion is.

In my pursuit of having a relationship with God, I believe He had led me to the people who had helped me a lot and also to some verses in the Bible that gave me a glimpse of His own heart. I hope that you will also give yourself a chance to experience what I have experienced. If you will only allow God, I believe He will lead you too to whichever will be able to help you.

Below are some of the things that some people do with God. These are not enumerated to be done as a ritual. The key is not in the act itself but it in your heart's desire to be in His presence. The key is in practising His presence. Then let everything flow from there.

I hope this list will be able to give you an idea in your mind on what you can do. Again, the key is in practising His presence. It's the beginning of everything.

1. Think of Him in the morning.

A lot of revelations are given to me by God during my dreams and whenever I wake up. Sometimes, I receive verses from the Bible and one time, there had been an instruction for me to check a particular verse. When I found it, it happened to be a very relevant verse that I needed to read during that time. When you wake up in the morning, practise His presence and He will lead you to many wonderful revelations that will amaze you.