"I thought you were Indonesian" and other snippets

I went to an international conference last weekend. I was told thrice that they thought I was an Indonesian. First by a Filipino at the registration table, next by a Malaysian participant (she said all the Filipinos she knew look Chinese) and last by a Japanese presenter.

I am definitely buying a flag pin.

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Former NEDA Director-General Felipe Medalla said that even with the global economic storm, the Philippine ship will not sink... because it has never left the port.

However, he warned that the port might burn down with the ship.

He cited two scenarios that may spark the fire: 1) GMA clinging to the presidency after 2010; and 2) Filipinos moving their money out of the country.

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I got a tip from a very witty and verbose professor on how to comment on a difficult paper. Just ask "What is the second-order condition?"

Since I really don't have any idea what "second order condition" is, I won't be using that tip any time soon.

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After introducing myself as a researcher in a real estate website, most people asked me where the Philippine real estate market is going. If you tell them that the market is holding up, they will ask for an explanation and a long discussion will ensue.

When I confirm their perception that that the real estate market is going down, they shook their heads and leave me.

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I met a lot of good and intelligent people in the conference... and I am forever indebted to them.

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I read two interesting blog articles today:

1. When did "Married without children become gauche?" by Rachel Shukert of the Daily Beast

"But most of all, I find hardest to take the pervasive sense that a marriage isn’t really consummated until the arrival of a blessed event—that everything from “I do” until the snipping of the umbilical cord is a prelude to real life..." read more here

2. "Clarification on why I write this blog" by Prof. Willme Buiter of the London School of Economics, published by the Financial Times.

"I write this blog for me, not for my readers.  Writing things down is the only way for me to communicate effectively with myself about complex issues... There are minor vanity/ego rents to having people read what I write... But all that is secondary to my need to write.  I don’t know something unless I have written it down..." read more here.

(The second article was forwarded by my boss.)

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Happy Monday!