2014: The Year That Was

A lot of things happened in 2014. Here are some of the highlights of the year that was.

Local Travel

From January 18 to 19, we went to Nueva Ecija, Tagaytay, and Manila. Wayne, Celine, Mama Chelle, Amit, Josh, Jona and I went to Nueva Ecija on January 18 for the Nueva Ecija Technologies @ Work (NETWORKS) Student Developers Day event. I did a talk about the basics of Android apps development there. The next day, Celine, Mama Chelle, Amit, Josh, Jona and I travelled to Tagaytay (People's Park in the Sky, Starbucks, Rowena's). After that, we visited the National Museum. It was my first time to visit there and it was a great experience. We then went to Intramuros and had lunch at Coco Bango Cafe. Afterwards, we went to San Agustin Church.

Celine and I went to La Salle University in Ozamiz City for the 5th ICT Youth Convention on February 27. I did a talk about Google Developer Tools and Technologies in the morning and conducted an Android Workshop in the afternoon.

Wayne and I went to Angeles, Pampanga on June 7 for a GBG Angeles-GDG Philippines Developer Meetup there. I was able to try Marco's 3-way Tinapa-flavor pizza and Pacencia a Kapampangan mom's sweet recipe pasta in Historic Camalig Restaurant. During dinner, I was able to try tilapia and chili frog in Apag Marangle, and Kabigting's Halo-Halo in Marquee Mall.

I followed Celine in Cagayan de Oro during their two-week work there and spent the weekend (October 10-12) with her. On October 11, we went to Camiguin Island and visited Katibawasan Falls, Ardent Hot Springs, Old Volcano, Sunken Cemetery, and Guiob Church Ruins, Soda Swimming Pool, and Sto. Niño Cold Spring Resort. In CDO, we went to St. Agustine Cathedral, Gaston Park, MacArthur Memorial Marker, and Capitol Grounds.

We went to Ilocos on December 2-3 for the Google Philippines and Philippine Science High School event. Our technical talks were in the afternoon of the second day so we were able to do a quick side trip to Vigan (and eat authentic Vigan empanada) in the morning.

International Travel

Celine, Mama Chelle, Mitch, Wayne, Jerome, and I went to South Korea from March 21 to 24 for a short vacation. We met with the GDG community managers there for dinner and also had lunch in the Google office. We visited Nami Island, different palaces, temples and other historical/cultural places there.

This year, I was also blessed to receive a US VISA so I was able to go to the United States for the GDG Organizer Summit (June 23-24), Google I/O 2014 (June 25-26), and a short trip to San Francisco, Oakland, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

Personal Apps

Sweldong Pinoy apps were updated based from PhilHealth Circular 27 s.2013 and SSS Circular 2013-010. The tablet-optimized version of the Sweldong Pinoy Android app has also been released. Sweldong Pinoy was updated for Government employees (computing GSIS contributions instead of SSS contributions) and RHQ/ROHQ Employees (computing corresponding tax, deductions, and net pay). Check the Sweldong Pinoy Blog for more details.

I have also developed Thirteenth Month, a tool for Filipinos in computing their 13th-month pays. Thirteenth Month has a website/web app at http://13thmonth.sweldongpinoy.com and Android App.

Gadgets

I bought a Nexus 5 on February to replace the Nexus S that already stopped working. I also received an LG G Watch and a Moto 360 from Google I/O.

Runs

My only run for 2014 was Takbo.ph RunFest 2014 (July 13). On 2015, I am hoping I can do more runs, probably one per quarter. I had already registered for Takbo.PH 20 Miler Run 2015 (10 Miler/16k) and Condura Skyway Marathon 2015 (10k).