I have bad news for European visitors and Filipinos who travel to and from Europe and the Philippines.  We have lost our last direct flight service to Europe: the  Manila Amsterdam KLM direct flight will end by April, 2012.

The main reason for KLM’s decision is the high taxes and exorbitant fees imposed on them to operate in the Philippines.  Among these are the 2.5 percent common carriers tax (CCT) and 3 percent gross Philippine billings (GBP), which is being charged on all foreign airlines.

This is definitely not going to help boost our tourism.  Our kababayans from Europe who go back to the Philippines for a vacation certainly need to find a new airline.  I am pretty sure this would mean paying higher prices for tickets.

So what would be our options now? The top 3 choices in my quick search revealed the following carriers: Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines with option of using our local carriers PAL and Cebu Pacific to go to the hub cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

There have been some  unpleasant experiences I’ve had with flying KLM but still we continue using it all the time because of their unbeatable prices and a 12 hour flight is still better than having a stop over, inspite of the bad food, dirty toilets and brusque flight attendants we occasionally have to endure with KLM.  I just hope KLM will reconsider their decision. Nothing beats the convenience of a direct flight of only 12 hours to Europe.

Regards,
Mixxy

Food and Drinks Asia 2010

14th International Exposition on Specialty Foods, Delicatessen, Confectionery, Beverages, Beers Wines and Spirits

in conjunction with

Food Franchising Asia 2010

14th International Exposition on Food Franchising and Business Systems Exposition on September 2 – 5, 2010 at the World Trade Center

and

AsiaFood Expo (AFEX)

the 19th International Exposition on Food Processing, Packaging and Handling Machinery, Equipment and Technology

in conjunction with

FoodServe Asia 2009, The 10th International Exposition on Foodservice, Catering Systems, Supplies, Equipment and Technology.

on September 8 – 11, 2010 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

Earlier this week, we have gathered new ideas from MrC’s colleague. He said that one option we also have is not to really start a new company at all but to just hire companies that are already doing offshoring or individual freelancers and lower the risk and headaches that go with this direction. This also means that we don’t have to struggle thinking about who owns the new company, taxes, paperwork and matters like that. We can easily change our mind and not have to run into legal issues if we had employees. And also this way, if we decide to startup our own outsourcing or offshoring company we also would learn from our vendors. Basically, we plan to contact various offshoring companies and propose a setup where both of us would be physically there to manage the hired programmer(s). OK, it sounds like I am in it again and now of course it looks like it that I will be part of this after all but at least we don’t have to worry about who owns which and how much and such. At least that’s how it would be at the beginning. That also relieves us from having to find and recruit people ourselves.

But anyways, now, I am actually quite happy upon resigning and I do not feel as if I did it to escape something. I have a bit of sadness because I will be leaving nice colleagues, but in the long run it is not so bad. I always have this strange pattern that after I leave a company scary changes suddenly take place like people getting fired, or my boss getting fired or worse some kind of suing takes place in the company. Believe me strange things happen most of the time after I resign. Don’t ask me why. But anyways, I am leaving the Netherlands (and it feels great to say it). It is after all something that is bound to happen naturally. At least I see it was done in a good way. I still have to write my resignation letter still.

We’re very excited and nervous about it.   MrC’s client is definitely going to go for it with the new big project they are starting nowadays and he is spending some time to get the know them closely and get a feel of how they work.  So it looks like everything is going as planned still.  He is also scheduled to meet with some tax consultants to know more about how to deal with the legalities.  I, on the other hand have told my employer exactly how we are seeing this trip and that I will let them know the results of our investigation when we come back.   If the plans push through we are looking into finally moving at the end of this year.

Fortunately, I have exported all my posts and comments successfully and now the posts are arranged in Categories. I have also installed several plugins such as:

• WordPress related posts plugin
• All in One SEO Pack
• Adman
• aLinks
• NextGen Gallery

Coming from Blogger, it was a bit of learning curve for me. After several hours of downloading and configuring plugins, searching and choosing from dozens of themes and editing php templates I have finally come up with a “look and feel” that I am very happy with. WordPress is indeed a serious tool for bloggers. Once you dive in there’s no turning back! But kidding aside, I do suggest the following must read sites if you are starting a WordPress blog (I still have a LOT to learn myself):

WordPress Lessons

Problogger: Which WordPress Plugins to Use

Virtual Earner: aLinks

Yugatech: A Guide to an SE Optimized WordPress setup