Who Is He?

The silence is deafening and waking up her fear. She scanned the place with her eyes not moving her body as if it got numb because of the darkness. Her mind is drifting to a world of malarkey yet a piece of it is pushing her to think of the world she is in. She made a step, a subtle one, not intending to awaken anyone inside.  She’s reaching for the staircase; an old, wide and beautifully carved staircase. While her feet are busy ascending, she heard footsteps coming from the door. Her heart started to throb thinking her captor was able to follow her.   She stood in silence in the middle of the staircase hoping she won’t be discovered. She wanted to hold her breath as long as she could but she doesn’t want to pass out again.

As the footsteps are getting closer to the staircase, her mind came rushing of an idea what to do. A part of her brain is telling her to run away from the footsteps but another part is telling her to keep still and pretend like a lifeless thing.  She noticed the illuminating ring, the same ring she saw from her captor.  She got ready as if starting a race but as soon as she made her first step, two masculine hands hugged her by the waist. She wanted to scream but nothing came out because of fear. She can hear the stranger’s breath but suddenly noticed his breathing is a gentle one. The warmth of his breath pulled her back from the void. She wanted to feel safe but the ring is making her horrified.

She can feel that the man behind her has a lean body figure, broad shoulders and stone-like muscles. She is envisaging this man can pick her up single-handed. She decided to speak but as soon as she opened her mouth, she heard him say, in a guttural voice.

Keep silent.

*This is a continuation of this story: Who Is He?

App Review: CNNCT

Photo credit: EVG company

Having a place or an app to use when you want to connect to people around the world, learn their culture or simply seeing their environment is just amazing. Personally I use this app to divert my attention from my full time job which is sometimes exhausting for me. There are times I am bored and I am just going online on CNNCT and voila! My boredom has vanished! 

The concept of the app is to travel around the world while you're at home. Users can learn about other culture and many more. 

I had the privilege to chat with Igor Monakhov, a highly successful Russian IT entrepreneur, who founded the new video chat app CNNCT.

Me: Tell me about the people behind CNNCT.

Igor: It's a project very dear to me. I gathered a team of young, ambitious and open-minded people who share my vison.

Me: What inspired you to create CNNCT?

Igor: Well, I faced an interesting problem at a former project of mine. In 2011, the team Fotostrana, a photo sharing and social network website, asked me to deal with the fact that a lot of people were leaving their website. I had a look and realized that a lot of people were leaving because some users made them uncomfortable. You see, users on some website had very different goals. When someone like a married man or woman, or even someone happy in their relationship, is constantly confronted by people using the website as a dating site, they are uncomfortable. They just want to find pen-pals around the world, to discuss anything they feel like.

I felt touched by the issue. That's when I realized I had a solution. I want to create an application where people feel safe to chat and discuss. 

Me: What's the vision and mission of CNNCT?

Igor: The vision I have is of an application where people from around the world chat and discuss, make new friends, share interests and have inspiring and interesting conversation in a safe and cozy environment.

Me: How do you see CNNCT on the long term?

Igor: I believe that everyone has something worthwhile to say and everyone is worth listening to. We all have different areas of expertise and we should all have the opportunity to share our thoughts, our visions, or opinions. On CNNCT, everyone will have that opportunity. 

Kapihan: When Coffee is Life

I consider coffee as one of my vices and something I can never let go of. When I was still living in the city where coffee shops were very accessible, it wasn't difficult for me to indulge in such vice. Having coffee in the middle of the night while my eyes are busy reading the pages of my favorite book was my favorite thing to do. Many people say it's a waste of money but I always rebut, the happiness I get from that can never be replaced by money. Unfortunately, when we moved to the countryside where coffee shops aren't that accessible, mother in-law became my personal barista. It's not as good as the ones we have on Starbucks or Coffee Bean and others but still I can taste the goodness of it. 

Just recently, a coffee shop emerged! Yey! It is located at GM Reyes Building, Rosario Batangas, across from Hypermarket. My husband kept telling me about it but I wasn't that interested at first. Then one day, we just decided to go try it. I was expecting for the usual menu from the famous coffee shops but no. I am a cappuccino and a cafe americano lover and they don't have them so I thought of giving a try with what they have. I ordered a single pour over and from then on my heart was captured. 

There's nothing much special about it but the aroma got into me so I order that every time I go there. And it's just 60 php! I have tried their french press when single pour over was not available and it just brings me back to my morning coffees at hotels when I travel. 

The coffee shop named Kapihan offers not only coffee but varieties of snacks as well. 

cookie ice cream tower

muffin

And there's more! They have books if you like to read, not many choices though but still it can help you kill time and enhance your brain while having coffee. LOL!  They also have board games which you can enjoy with your friends and family. 

teens playing

us playing scrabble

my sisters in-law playing jengga