GMA Network App: A New Way of Enjoyment as a Kapuso

Last Thursday, I posted the article "The Phones That I Used Before." In the next days, I am going to post the apps on my phone that I am enjoying to use. Here's the first post. Enjoy!

I am proud to tell to the world that I am a certified “Kapuso.” I am an avid viewer of GMA Network, Inc., a multi- awarded and internationally- renowned TV station in the Philippines. I support all the programs of the company since my childhood days. I am one of those kids/ teens who grew up watching the network’s extravagant drama series such as Mulawin, Majika, Atlantika, Encantadia, Dyesebel, Darna and Kamandag. Our childhood days were also full of verve because of the network’s presentation of animes/ cartoon series such as Doraemon, Voltes V, Daimos, Fushigi Yugi, Ghost Fighter, Dragon Ball Z, Hunter X Hunter, Pokemon, One Piece, etc. Moreover, I used to debate with other people about what network excels best. 

Even that I am now an adult, I am still making sure that I am still updated on the latest happenings in the network by liking/ following its social media accounts, visiting its website and listening on AM/ FM frequencies of the network. Now, my fanboying went to the next level as I downloaded the GMA Network App.

When I was checking the Facebook page of GMA, I found a posted link about GMA App. I immediately clicked the link and found an article describing the features of the app. Due to my excitement, I skimmed  the article and went on Google Play Store to download it. I did not read the article well because I was riding inside the jeepney and we were heading in places where the Internet connectivity is sluggish. So, I acted as fast as I can just to save the app on my phone.

I tapped the install button and thank God, I was able to download it before the connectivity went slow. The app is simply beautiful and it made the following the network faster and more accessible. For example, you have found a link on Facebook about the retelling of Encantadia. If you do not have the app, the link will be opened on the browser of your phone. Sometimes, the browser maybe slow in loading the article and you might not enjoy reading it because you need to adjust the way you view it on your phone. But, through GMA App, you can read the article clearly and comfortably. Just scroll it up or down and you have just solved your curiosity. 

The app will ask you to fill necessary information such as your user name and password. You need also to fill in information on the account part of the app and agree on the terms and conditions about using the app. You need to verify information by clicking the link on your email. After the approval, it will bring you the app and state that your account is now approved and verified.

Once you press the app, this will automatically appear on the screen of your phone:

Then, the app will show this which is Entertainment part:

At the upper part, you can see the company logo of GMA. In the upper left side is the menu tab that contains the following:

Entertainment- contains the hottest, trending news and issues and throwback and feature articles about Kapuso celebrities.

News- this portion serves the latest happenings here and around the globe.

Games- the app caters you Sliding Puzzle and Memory Game. Sliding Puzzle requires you to arrange the picture back in its original state. Meanwhile, Memory Game will test your memory skills by matching the images by tapping tiles. You can earn as much as 100 points and there will be bonus points if you are going to share the result on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Sweeptakes- the points that you’ve earned from playing the games might give you cellphone load. Convert points into raffle entries by joining the Sweeptakes promo. You might be one of the winners of 100- peso cellphone load. 

interacTV- This will allow you to join the online discussion about your favorite Kapuso shows.

Kapuso Points- You want to know your points and standings? Kapuso Points will help you monitor how far you have gone on playing the app. The leaderboard will show you the top ten Kapuso App users and your standing. 

Account – This contains your information such as username, password, complete name, address, birthday and mobile number.

Settings- This part will help you on how you want to use the app. It has two parts: system and linked apps. The system part will let you on or off background music, sound effects and notifications. The linked apps will let you to connect the app with Facebook and Twitter. 

About- This contains the privacy and policy and terms and conditions. Based on the app, the GMA Network App is the one stop portal of GMA Network on smartphones. The app shall provide users the Kapuso experience through its exclusive games, content and features.

Let’s go back to Entertainment section, you can use the search bar to specifically look for topics. Below the search bar occupies the biggest part of the screen which is the different tabs containing articles, galleries and videos. At the bottom is the set of tabs containing photo gallery tab, videos tab and article tab.

On the other hand, news posts are arranged like this:

I really enjoying the different and innovative experience brought by this app. The app is very beneficial and rewarding and I can testify it. Last April 14, while I am doing an article to be posted on this blog, I received a text message telling me that I won in Kapuso Point Panalo Sweeptakes Promo. At first, it was hard to believe it because I only submitted one raffle entry. To confirm it, I called the number and the person who texted me said that I really won 100- peso cellphone load. After a day, I received the load.

Now, my target is to earn more points. Hoping that in the next game, I will have a chance to claim the major prize. Do not have the app? Go now to Play Store and download it using your smartphones. Will I see your username on the leaderboard? 

This app makes me more proud to be Kapuso.

Poem for My Innamorata

Before, I was a cave man
In love with the stalagmites
Contented with the heat of the fire
But when you came into my life
I became like an astronaut who wants
to scrutinize the universe.

Your voice serves as my lighthouse
Delivering me in a safe haven
After being adrift, stuck in the
violent, turbulent, formidable waves;
enchanting me towards dreamland,
waking me beside you in reality.

I hope this poem can draw
a smile on your lovely face

The Phones That I Used Before

Hello, memory hoarders!

Let’s play guessing game. What is this thing that has screen and keypad and allows you to converse with other people wherever you are? I know what you are thinking. Yes, you are correct. It’s cellular phone or cellphone.

For the past years, cellphones have fascinated us and made our lives simpler and comfortable. As the years passed by, these mobile devices have evolved and upgraded from a simple communication kit to a phone showcasing beautiful apps that entertain and keep us abreast on the latest happenings around the world. The more the phone is sophisticated, the more we enjoy using it.

Mobile phone is now an indispensable device that if we forget it to bring in our getaways, it seems like our systems are weakened. The device has taken a part of us that this serves our channel to show who we are. 

When was the first time you used a cellphone? What did you do with it? 

I still remember when I used a cellular phone for the first time. I was a grade one student and it was Nokia 5210 phone of my aunt and I was amazed on how that device caters different things especially games. During that time, you are called techy if you own a phone like what my aunt owns. As a child, I was not particular on the other components of the phone except the games it contain. 

When they are visiting us, I always ask my aunt to hand her phone to play Snake. I was excited and thrilled in eating dots and avoiding it to bump the walls. Aside from playing games, I explored the ringtone settings of the phone. I was very amazed that that device can produce sounds. My favorite tone that I usually play was William Tell. When I was playing it, I felt like I am a novice jockey who is enthusiastic in finishing the horse racing victoriously. I was attached on that phone that when my aunt and uncle set themselves to go home, I feel sad because I need to wait for how many days to use the phone.

 

Anyway, my father bought a Sony Ericsson phone during that time. He initiated a protective treatment to that phone that I wasn’t able to check the stuff or even hold it. As far as I remember, my father covers his phone using a mobile case and he uses it carefully. Every time he uses his phone, I felt that he feels he is one of the richest people of our barangay. Well, owning a phone during that period is an indicator that you are above from the rest. His laughter while conversing with his friend was like the laughter of affluent man. However, he encountered mobile signal problem. It was a tough challenge for a cellphone owner to find a steady mobile signal. My father used to hang the phone in a plant just to gather signal. Some barangay mates used to go to the vacant lots to have a great mobile experience. This situation lasted until the advent of cellsite in 2005. People during that time can use their phone intensively because of better and steady mobile signal. 

When I was in Grade 3, that was the time that I have used my father’s phone. My father purchased Nokia 3310, the rampant unit in the locality. The Snake game that I loved to play became more interesting as it became Snake II. I almost spent an hour in playing Space Impact. I felt that I was a space warrior every time I fire missiles in different levels of the game. My skill in creating game plan was honed by the Bantumi game. Bantumi is like the local game Sungka that is you need to play with the phone in getting high number at the end of the game by distributing numbers on holes and to your own hole. The phone did not last because it was overused when playing games. I was crestfallen that time because my father returned his mandate which is not to hold his phone. 

My knowledge on phones advanced when my father a foldable Nokia phone when I was third year high school. That phone can capture images and videos that it brought wonders for all of us who have seen it. When I was using that phone, I felt like I am a rich guy. Imagine you have a device that can use to talk and capture important moments in form of pictures. But, there was only limited seconds of fame when I need to return it to my father. 

After long years of waiting, I had my first phone when I was a college freshman. That time, I was using a dual SIM Nokia phone. It was the beginning of my own milestone in owning a phone. Then, I had my first touchscreen phone when I was a second year college student. It was a MyPhone unit. It enabled me to use YouTube and Facebook during that time but the applications were limited.

In the next year, I had MyPhone A181i unit which is more colorful than the previous phone. It was my phone that I became interested on Twitter. I was able to know the trending topics and interact with other users. It is my buddy for four years. Unfortunately, I lost it after I attended the Moving Up Ceremony of Tondol Learning Ceremony last month. There was forlornly because aside from losing the contact numbers of my friends, workmates, and teachers, I lost a material which has a high sentimental value.

For the past years, I really patronize MyPhone products. This mobile brand has phones that I can say that they are high quality and easy to use. Now, I am using MY27 phone. I am enjoying it because it is now my blogging companion. It has a good camera that I use to take photos. Some of the photos you can see here on my blog are taken using it. 

As of now, we are now using smartphones in dealing with life. Well, I admit that I am a dependent of mobile phone. Who am I to reject the good things that a phone caters? If it can help me especially in my work, I will definitely use it. Cellphones are our friends, handle these carefully. Let us give importance to these and use these properly. 

Our technology is progressing every year. Let us just enjoy our latest phones before going to the next units. Surely, these phones will give us beautiful memories to hoard.

How about you? What phones have you used before? Tell me about it by commenting below.

Two Lonely Stars on Earth

Let be the stars our roof for tonight

As we comfort ourselves after sharing each plight

Savoring the ephemeral union, complicated state

Just like the stars, we are sharing the same fate

Cassiopeia has seen a gloomy vision

The Big Bear will cause our hearts destruction

Be courageous, here I am, your Orion

I’ll protect you whatever the situation

This world is ruthless and often unfair

It inflicts our affair, it provokes despair

Please trust and hold my hand tightly

Let’s fly to the moon and stay there happily

Where You Can Find Love?

I cannot bring you to the Eiffel Tower

And can’t be a superhero with power

Let this be this simple bunch of flowers

Show my admiration beyond thousands of hours

It’s nice to ride in classic gondola of Venice

Propose there, give you ring and necklace

Hope my words, kisses and warm embraces

Stand as proofs like receipts of purchases

Even that we can’t behold Mount Fujiyama

I will be true to you; no reservation, no drama

My love is different from displayed dioramas

More precious than the framed diplomas

No need to travel to many tourist attractions

They only give you joy that last like potions

If you still not have the satisfaction

Here in my arms you’ll have jubilation

Whimsical Wednesday

When was the last time you take a long distance to jog or run? When was the last time you exerted effort and disciplined yourself to attain the figure that you always imagine? 

Me? I had that activity when I was a fourth year high school (now Grade 10) student. Every Intramural of our school, we need to join the fun run activity. The race starts at the rice mill in Imbo, a barangay in our municipality, near the Iglesia Filipina Independiente Cemetery located in the said barangay. For a fun run enthusiast, he can finish the race for ten to fifteen minutes. But for me, it takes me thirty minutes to reach the school where the race ends. This implies that I am not proactive in sports and fitness. This behavior continued to my college days. I am just spectator of those people who reign well in the game fields, with my pen and paper. I was just a campus journalist delivering the news about the players of my school. 

I was not very concerned on my physique during my teenage days because I was not fat. I downgraded the benefits of exercises. Until one day, I observed that I have added number on my waist. As I look on the mirror, it reflects a guy who is now stout, struggling to make his belly not to be noticeable.  

Last Tuesday, I said to my younger brother that I will join him in his jogging in the next morning. He found it ridiculous and feigned.

“I think you’re joking. You like to eat food than to jog,” he replied with a little grin on his face.

“I’m serious. I am going to jog tomorrow,” I answered with confidence.

“Five o’clock in the morning. You need to wake up early,” he emphasized.

When I am challenged by someone, I often try my best to respond and not to back off to prove him/ her wrong. So, I slept early and prepared for the fitness activity. In the next day, I woke up 4: 30 in the morning (It’s not obvious that I am excited). While waiting for my jogging buddy to wake up, I do some warm- up exercises. I also tried to make fifty curl- ups and fifty push- ups. But, I only attained fifty percent of my goal. I perspired a little but it was not enough to burn fats. 

When I could wait for him, I went to his room to wake him up. We tried to move fast and left our house 5: 10 in the morning. We walked fast going toward the salt making area of our barangay called “panayunan.” The place is now suitable to jog. The concrete road there makes the joggers comfortable.

When we reached the place, I and my brother started to race. Finally, I had the time to exercise my legs and feet in a long distance. The cool breeze there helped me to feel energize. The panoramic fields in the area are nice to see while moving. It seems that the environment and I communed making my activity less burden.

There was still the feeling of timidity while staying there every time we meet fellow joggers. Even that I am a teacher, who is expected to be always socially connected, I still feel shy every time I meet new people and even people that I have known before. My shyness level was added as I saw them wearing proper and complete apparel. I and my brother’s attire was like we are tasked by mother to buy vinegar in the store. It was a moment of chagrin for both of us. I hope that they did not have the time to look and poke fun at us. 

I did not take any selfie instead I took pictures of my brother how he jogged and ran. I was cheery while he ran like he really struggled to win for an Olympic gold medal in marathon.

We did not stay there for long time because my brother needed to prepare himself because he is an assistant teacher in Vacation Church School of our church. We reached our home at 6: 30 in the morning. I enjoyed doing it and I will try my best to do it frequently. I am hoping that that whimsical Wednesday will be maintained in longer time. 

My Realization

Exercise is very important in having a healthy lifestyle. We should take care of ourselves and have time for our betterment. If we have a lot of time in our work, we should also allot time to work out our muscles. Our fitness activities should be incessantly and tenaciously done. So, when we grow old, we can be proud to tell to everybody and reminisce the times that once in a lifetime, we have healthy youthful days.

Also, if there is a whim running in your head, try to do it so that there will be no regret in a lifetime. We don’t know that that whim is a decision that can help you to be a better person.