RP'S RICHEST MEN

Henry Ward Beecher
It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
While watching the local news on TV...GMA Channel-7 featured RP's richest men....they are eventually poor as in poor during their times,but their eagerness to reach the acme of life inspired them of what they are like now.
According to Forbes Asia....the listings of the Philippines richest men has continued to earn more and rose high amidst of the crisis in the country and globally.
Below are the riches of the richests of all:
A shopping mall mogul has become the Philippines richest man after amassing 1.4 billion dollars in past year, while his peers were hit by the global financial crisis, it was announced Thursday.
The fortune that Henry Sy made was the "biggest gain in absolute terms" of the country's wealthiest 40 families, who saw their collective wealth plunge 18 percent amid the world credit turmoil, Forbes magazine said in a statement.
In its annual list of the Philippines' richest people, Forbes said the country's stock exchange had dived 35 percent in the past year, making 25 out of 40 tycoons -- including those in banking and real estate -- were poorer.
Forbes said the Sy family was now worth 3.1 billion dollars, vaulting from second place to first.
The low-profile 83-year-old and his family control SM Investments, which owns stakes in a dozen companies including the nation's second largest bank.
Sy started off selling shoes to American GIs in the Philippines in 1958. From one store known as Shoemart, he built a multi-billion dollar empire.
Today he is Asia's biggest shopping mall operator with 30 mega malls throughout the Philippines.
Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family slipped from first to third as their wealth suffered a massive drop of 800 million dollars, to 1.2 billion dollars, Forbes said.
The stock of their conglomerate Ayala Corp. is down 46 percent since last year in part because of the economic slowdown and declining profits in banking and electronics manufacturing units, it said.
Moving up to second position is Lucio Tan and family, with a net worth of 1.5 billion dollars, although this is still down by 100 million dollars from last year.
Tan controls Philippine airlines as well as the country's largest cigarette firm, one of its largest brewers, mining operations and Hong Kong property.
Also hit hard is property tycoon Andrew Gotianun of Filinvest Land, who fell 10 places to 17th after losing 625 million dollars to give him a net worth of 235 million dollars.
Senate President Manuel Villar, the largest shareholder in high-end homebuilder Vista Land, also saw his wealth tumble 55 percent to 425 million dollars to put him in 11th, down from fifth last year.
Another property kingpin, Andrew Tan, saw his net worth plunge 400 million dollars to 700 million dollars.
The 57-year old made much of his wealth as an office developer for the outsourcing industry and is now betting on gaming and tourism.
Of the 40 richest Filipinos this year, 11 tycoons eked out gains but almost all of those increases were because of reporting on new assets or shareholdings or the combination of relatives' stakes, including Sy.
The Philippines had three billionaires this year compared with four last year as Andrew Tan lost this elite status.
Lourdes Montinola seemed to buck the trend as shares of her Far Eastern University increased 38 million dollars to vault her to number 31 with a net worth of 68 million dollars.
There was only one newcomer, Alfredo Ramos of Atlas Consolidated Mining, who debuted at number 23 with a net worth 126 million dollars.
A net worth of 30 million dollars is required to make the Philippines rich list, unchanged from last year. Fourteen tycoons had net worth of less than 100 million dollars and four of last year's members failed to make the cut.
(source:yahoo.com.ph)

WORLD'S LARGEST SWIMMING POOL

I just got these pictures and entry copied from one of my regular readers and link blogger as well...name Aron Wong the World's Largest Swimming Pool ever built......take a deep breath as you look at it and imagine the sizes....

The world’s largest swimming pool are on a mission to spread their technology across the world. Already drawing the crowds in the South American resort of San Alfonso del Mar in Chile.






This artificial lagoon and swimming pool is eight hectares in size and contains an incredible 250,000 cubic metres of water, with self-filtering water from the Pacific ocean, there should be enough swimming room for all the guest. Equivalent in size to an incredible 6,000 standard domestic pools. The revolutionary clear water artificial lagoons, transparent to a depth of 35 metres and unprecedented in design and construction methods, are the brainchild of Crystal Lagoons founder, biochemist and Chilean businessman Fernando






I could not imagine enough to swim such a large swimming pool..that tires you when you reach at the other side of the pool....

TOP 500 UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD

Was absent for awhile and failed to post anything in here.Well,I took this article from another blog because it sounds so very interesting,I guess, specially Philippines 5 Top Universities included in the lists.Too bad, my school didn't come out on the list.

Top 500 Universities in the World

Four schools in the Philippines are among the Top 500 Universities in the World.
The research and study was undertaken by Times Higher Education Supplement-
Quacquarelli Symonds (THES-QS) World University Rankings.

The top 500 universities were chosen from among 15,000 educational institutions
worldwide. To be part of this elite list of universities, the institution has to meet
several stringent criteria, including faculty-to-student ratios and ratings given by
more than 3,000 academicians & 700 leading international employment recruiters.
The University of the Philippines (UP) was the highest ranked local
school with a global ranking of 299 and 47th among Asian universities. Behind
UP in the list are three private universities:

De La Salle (392nd),
Ateneo de Manila (484th), and the
University of Santo Tomas at 500th.

Meanwhile, the top 20 leading universities in the world are the following:
Harvard (1st), Cambridge (2nd), Oxford (3rd), Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and Yale (tying for 4th), Stanford (6th), California Institute of
Technology (7th), University of California in Berkeley (8th), Imperial
College London (9th), Princeton (10th), University of Chicago (11th),
Columbia (12th), Duke (13th), Beijing University (14th), Cornell (15th),
Australian National University (16th), London School of Economics (17th),
Ecole Normale Superieure (18th), National University of Singapore and
Tokyo University (tying for 19th).

Many of the top universities are American and British, but there are
sprinkles of representation from Australia, France, China, Singapore
and Japan. Most of the leading American universities are private; in
fact, on that top 20 list, the University of California Berkeley is the only
American public institution.

Among the leading Asia-Pacific universities on the THES-QS list of the
world's 500 leading universities, 90 are from Asia. Japan leads with 28,
followed by China (including Hong Kong) with 16, Taiwan with 8, South
Korea and Thailand with 7 each, Malaysia, Indonesia & the Philippines
with 4 each, Australia with 3, Singapore with 2 and Bangladesh with one.

Entry copied at: http://jude24.multiply.com/

WOW PHILIPPINES

I would like to share this video performed by various top singers of the country promoting Wow Philippines religiously inviting everyone, which I strongly believed that somehow Filipinos would definitively take their time to visit the forgotten tourist destinations of our country.Sad to say that,some Filipinos prefer to visit other countries squanderedly spending much of their money,instead of patronizing our very own.


BYAHE TAYO
Ikaw ba'y nalulungkot
Naiinip, nababagot?
Ikaw ba'y napapagod
Araw gabi'y puro kayod?


Buhay mo ba'y walang saysay
Walang sigla, walang kulay?
Bawa't araw ba'y pareho
Parang walang pagbabago?


Tara na, biyahe tayo
Kasama ang pamilya
Barkada at buong grupo
Para mag-enjoy nang todo.


Halika, biyahe tayo,
Nang ating makita
Ang ganda ng Pilipinas
Ang galing ng Pilipino.


Napasyal ka na ba
Sa Intramuros at Luneta
Palawan, Vigan at Batanes
Subic, Baguio at Rice Terraces?






Namasdan mo na ba
Ang mga vinta ng Zamboanga
Bulkang Taal, Bulkang Mayon
Beach ng Boracay at La Union?




Tara na, biyahe tayo
Mula Basco hanggang Jolo
Nang makilala ng husto
Ang ating kapwa-Pilipino.


Halika, biyahe tayo,
Nang ating makita
Ang ganda ng Pilipinas
Ang galing ng Pilipino.


From city to city,
Seven thousand and a hundred plus islas
Sa mahal kong Pilipinas
Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao ating puntahan.
Huwag maging dayuhan sa sariling bayan!



Nasubukan mo na bang
Mag-rapids sa Pagsanjan
Mag-diving sa Anilao
Mag-surfing sa Siargao?



Natikman mo na ba
Ang sisig ng Pampanga
Duriang Davao, Bangus Dagupan
Bicol Express at Lechong Balayan?






Tara na, biyahe tayo,
Nang makatulong kahit pano
Sa pag-unlad ng kabuhayan
Ng ating mga kababayan.


Halika, biyahe tayo,
Nang ating makita
Ang ganda ng Pilipinas
Ang galing ng Pilipino.


Nakisaya ka na ba
Sa Pahiyas at Masskara
Moriones at Ati-Atihan
Sinulog at Kadayawan?






Namiesta ka na ba
Sa Penafrancia sa Naga
Umakyat sa Antipolo
Nagsayaw sa Obando?




Tara na, biyahe tayo
Upang ating matamo
Ligaya at pagkakaibigan
Kaunlaran, kapayapaan.


Halika, biyahe tayo,
Nang ating makita
Ang ganda ng Pilipinas
Ang galing ng Pilipino.


Tara na, biyahe tayo
Upang ating matamo
Ligaya at pagkakaibigan
Kaunlaran, kapayapaan.


Halika, biyahe tayo
Nang ating makita
Ang ganda ng Pilipinas
Ang galing ng Pilipino.


Halika, biyahe tayo...
WOW Philippines...

ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Just found this lines from another blog...and I feel like posting them here because of it's possible reality happens only in the Philippines.
I would like to give acknowledge to the person who originally posted this..Mr. Xavier


50. Where the most happening places are not where the party is. Instead it is where gang wars happen or where the people overthrow a president.

49. Where even doctors, lawyers and engineers are unemployed.

48. Where everyone has his personal ghost story and superstition

47. Where mountains like Makiling and Banahaw are considered holy places.

46. Where everything can be forged.

45. Where school is considered the second home and the mall considered the third.

44. Where Starbucks coffee is more expensive than gas.

43. Where every street has a basketball court and every town only has one public school.

42. Where all kinds of animals are edible.

41. Where people speak all kinds of languages, and still call it Tagalog and where it is fast becoming unfashionable to speak English.

40. Where students pay more money than they will earn after graduation.

39. Where telemarketer and call-center employees earn more money than teachers and nurses.

38. Where driving 4 kms in the capital city can take as much as four hours.

37. Where flyovers bring you from the freeway to the side streets.

36. Where the tourist spots are where Filipinos can not or do not go to.

35. Where the personal computer is mainly used for games, chatting and friendster.

34. Where 13-year-olds are alcoholic.

33. Where colonial mentality is dishonestly denied.

32. Where the squatters have more to complain (even if they do not pay their tax) ---- than those employed and have their tax automatically deducted from their salaries.

31. Where people can pay to defy the law.

30. Where everything and everyone is spoofed.

29. Where even the poorest of the poor have television sets and air conditioning but do not have food on the table and can not send their kids to school.

28. Where the honking of car horns is a way of life.

27. Where being called a bum is acceptable and never offensive.

26. Where floodwaters take up more than 90 percent of the streets during the rainy season.

25. Where everyone has a relative abroad who keeps them alive.

24. Where crossing the street involves running for your dear life.

23. Where you can get killed if your singing sucks at a karaoke bar.

22. Where billiards is a sport, darts is a bar game and where boxing is almost becoming the national sport.

21. Where even the poverty-stricken have the latest cell phones (that are stolen from those who can afford.)

20. Where insurance does not work.

19. Where water can only be classified as tap and dirty - clean water is for sale (35 pesos per gallon).

18. Where the church governs the people and where the government makes the people pray for miracles.

17. Where University of the Philippines is where all the weird people go. Ateneo is where all the nerds go. La Salle is where all the Chinese go. College of Saint Benilde is where all the dumb La Sallians go.

16. Where fast food is a diet meal.

15. Where traffic signs are merely suggestions, not regulations.

14. Where mostly people with influence and power can make it big in showbiz. No talent required.

13. Where being held up is normal. It happens to everyone.

12. Where kids dream of becoming pilots, doctors and basketball players but never get to live it.

11. Where rodents and cockroaches are normal house pets.

10. Where the definition of traffic is the "non-movement" of vehicles.

9. Where the fighter planes of the 1940s are used for military engagements, and the new fighter planes are displayed in museums.

8. Where Nora Aunor is an acclaimed actress, Boy Abunda is the best talk show host and Manny Pacquiao is a hero... Where the population knows more their showbiz stars better than their national heroes and past presidents, knows more of showbiz gossips than their national history and current events. And where candidates for senator and president use celebrities to win the national elections.

7. Where cigarettes and alcohol are a necessity, and where the lottery is a commodity.

6. Where soap operas tell the realities of life and where the news provides the drama.

5. Where actors make the rules and where politicians provide the entertainment.

4. Where finding a deer on the road will be a phenomenon. A dog? It's normal.

3. Where people can get away with stealing trillions of pesos, but not for a thousand.

2. Where being an hour late is still considered punctual.

1. And finally... where everybody wants to leave the country!!!






These following pictures courtesy of Tahanan Books

SM MALL OF ASIA - 3rd WORLD LARGEST MALL

Wow....as in Mabuhay to all of us Filipinos, because our very own shopping mall is the third of the 10 largest malls in the world.Well, those first and second is in main China, still partly Asia.
what happened to USA,Europe and other industrialized countries who officially claimed to be ahead of us?
This is greatly to prove to the world that Filipinos are mall rats,and I'm one of those who just love to chill out in malls.According to statistic, our malls here are bigger than those in US of A...sounds intriguing isn't it? Eight of the 10 largest malls is here in Asia early 2006 up to the present.
Meaning Philippines is not considered to be the third world country, aren't we? We have big shopping malls.The Asian shopping malls boom as in we are competing to the richer one.
I just wanna give you some updates people..this is according to American Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University Shopping Mall Studies

"World's Largest Shopping Malls Compared"

This table is compiled from data reported by various mall management companies on official web pages and in press releases. Data may not be consistent or entirely reliable. This is esepcially true of claimed gross leasable area (GLA), the criterion upon which the ranking is based. For further discussion, see The Largest Malls on this site.

1.Shopping Mall Year
Opened GLA*
Square feet
(Square meters)
Total Area Square feet
(Square meters) Stores Comments
South China Mall Dongguan, China
2005
7.1-million
(660,000)
9.6-million
(892,000)
1,500
The world's largest shopping mall in early 2006, but it may soon be eclipsed by at least two other Chinese malls.
Official site.

2.Jin Yuan
(Golden Resources Shopping Mall)
Beijing, China
2004
6.0-million
(560,000)
7.3-million
(680,000) 1,000+ Also known as the "Great Mall of China," this mega-mall has 6 floors and is located near the Fourth Ring Road, west of Beijing.

3.SM Mall of Asia
Pasay City, Philippines
2006
4.2-million
(386,000)

600
GLA uncertain. Official site.

4.West Edmonton Mall
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1981 3.8-million
(350,000)
5.3-million
(570,000)
800 Largest shopping mall in North America; includes indoor wave pool, amusement areas, hotel, restaurants; 20,000 parking spaces. Official site.

4.SM Megamall
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
1991
3.6-million
(332,000)

550
5.GLA uncertain. Official site.
Berjaya Times Square
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

3.4-million
(320,000)
7.5-million
(700,,000)
1,000+
Includes 45 restaurants, a theme park, and 3D Digi IMAX theater. Official site.

6.Beijing Mall
Beijing, China
2005
3.4-million
(320,000)
4.7-million
(440,000)
600 Has 4 levels of shopping with interior residences; located near Fifth Ring Road, southeast of Beijing.

7.Zhengjia Plaza
(Grandview Mall)
Guangzhou, China
2005
3.0-million
(280,000)
4.5-million
(420,000)

Enclosed in a complex that includes a 48-story hotel and 30-story office building. Official site seems to have been removed in mid-September 2006.

8.SM City North Edsa
Quezon City, Philippines
1985
3.0-million
(275,000)


GLA uncertain. Official site.

9.King of Prussia Mall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 1962 2,800,000
(260,000)

Created by connecting together three adjacent malls, managed by a single company. Official site.

10.South Coast Plaza
Costa Mesa, California, USA
1967
2.7-million
(250,000)


I could hardly believe it but its true.Statistic proved that we Asian are mall lovers.....especially the Filipinos.Eat your heart out if you aren't convince..or just browse the internet...kudos to us that's all I can say.




Golden Resources Shopping Mall, Beijing, currently the largest mall in the world. It opened in the fall of 2004.