Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Matured me visiting Osaka, Japan



Why did I mentioned ‘matured’ to describe a guest from an underdeveloped (I was about to use ‘third world’ to describe my country. But after I researched, I found out that there are people considering Philippines as not a third world, maybe a level higher than that. But I will not discuss about that here) country to one of the most established country in Asia? 

I first landed my feet in Japan way back 2004; I was still in High School. My mom used to do this surprise trips for herself when she was younger, well actually it was me and my dad who were being surprised at that time. We got there through Philippine Airlines, it was my first time to ride a plane and so I did funny things like pressing a lot of buttons I see there. It was a very memorable moment, first time I’ve been to Disney Land (though I was having a bad day because of migraine), first time I went to Ochanomizu, Tokyo; I almost drooled literally because of the music shops around. The food and people were great. If there’s one thing I don’t like about Japan that would be the scary feeling that all this Asian mostly Japanese horror films are almost real because I was right there living in a house same with the movies. Haha. And so, I really hoped that I would go back there someday, until my current company gave incentives to the whole office and planned an international trip. The original plan was to go to China but then during the planning there was flu spreading or at least there was news that there is indeed flu in China so my company decided to change it to Singapore. But most of my office mates had already gone there and so Japan became the theme and everyone was so excited! I am shocked because when it was still China I decided not to come, and yes, Japan is my deal breaker that time.
I literally had no sleep before our 7am flight. The only time I get to rest my eyes was during our fly. 4 hours is travel time, but I had to stretch and stretch my legs so I napped for roughly 2 hours. 


Itinerary:
Day 1:    Arrival at Kansas Airport,
              Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
              Osaka Castle
              Lunch and Dinner at Dotonbori
Day 2:    Universal Studios
              Lunch at Universal
  Shinsaibashi shopping
              Dinner around New Otani Hotel
Day 3:    Kiyomizudera, Kyoto
  Tōdai-ji, Nara
  Lunch at The Buffet Style Sara, Kyoto
  Dinner at Ramen house in Dotonbori
  Free time-shopping
Day 4:    Free time- bike around
              Departure

We stayed at New Otani Hotel



I thought I will not enjoy this trip as much as I enjoyed going to Tokyo 9 years ago. I actually felt like not going back, it’s some place you can feel more than home (without your loved ones). I feel safe, comfortable, even if I’m just reminiscing I still feel like dashing through clouds while sipping cold drinks.
If ever given the chance, I would live there.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Wordpress: How to Manually Add Users in wp_user

What you need:
-phpMyAdmin access
-Wordpress Database Name
-Wordpress Database Username
-Wordpress Database Password

If you don't know your wordpress website's DB info, you can locate them in your wp-config.php file (located at the root folder). Although from what I experienced, I did not use the DB login details but still, if ever there will be cases you'll be needing it, it's safer you already know where to find them.

There are 2 tables to edit. First would be wp_users, we will ad a new user profile in this table. Then wp_usermeta, where we will put permissions and privileges.

Adding a user on wp_user:

Click on the wp_user table and then click Insert tab.
Table fields:
By default, this is incremental so leave this blank
This will be your username for Wordpress access
This will be your password for Wordpress access (note: use the functionMD5 - this will make your password encyrpted)
This will be you name displayed on front end pages. This is different with username
This is your own email address for reference and future password retrieval
This is your own URL. this is not required
Date when you registered
leave this blank
leave this set to 0 (zero)
Same as nicename

If you entered all the necessary details needed, click Go at the bottom of the page.
If there are no errors with the SQL commands then you can proceed to the wp_usermeta table.
(If there are errors, please repeat the insertion of details and double check every word)

Adding user permission on the wp_usermeta:

After adding a user on the wp_user table, we will set administrative permissions to that user by adding wp_capabiilties and wp_user_level on the wp_usermeta table. Before inserting any data here, you must first check and get the ID  that was auto-generated to the ID field from the wp_user table.
Click on the wp_usermeta table, click Insert tab.
Table fields:

Insert data for wp_capabilities


This is Incremental so leave this blank
Enter the User ID that was auto-generated a while ago from the recent wp_user addition
Enter here wp_capabilities
Enter here a:1:{s:13:"administrator";b:1;} 
Insert new data for wp_user_level



This is Incremental so leave this blank
Enter the User ID that was auto-generated a while ago from the recent wp_user addition
Enter here wp_user_level
Enter here 10
Double check everything and then click Go to insert the rows.

After you follow these steps you would now be able to login using your new user account details. You can update you profile information once you enter the admin page.


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Perspective: How people see every photo

Any picture can be viewed differently depending on how the taker wants the subject to look like.

We can add drama to a simple cup.

A close-up shot matched with a notebook. People might think you're a deep person with lots of thoughts inside you.

Or someone who wants others to know what you're up to, that most of that 'others' really don't care about.

Or maybe, make use of everything around you and just capture the great yet simple place you're at.