Bay Landing Hotel at the Bayshore Area in San Francisco exudes comfort more than what meets the eye. In my last trip to San Francisco, around mid-December, I was expecting the hotel prices to sky rocket due to the holiday season craze. San Francisco is one of the U.S. busiest cities — tourists and locals flock the metropolis for its shopping centers and favorably warm weather. The busier the city is, the pricier the hotels become.

But not with Bay Landing Hotel. The price of the room per night was only $69, without the necessary tax. While most of the hotels I searched online were priced at more than $100 a night, Bay Landing Hotel was listed as one of the cheapest hotels near the airport and close to the downtown area.

What was CNN National correspondent, Susan Candiotti, thinking today while reporting live at the protest in NY by 9/11 families who are against terrorist trials?

I was watching CNN around 11 A.M. central time, Saturday, when the news segment about the protest came. Susan Candiotti was with the protesters, covering the event on the field. When Candiotti went live on TV, it was the U.S. National Anthem that was played on the background with protesters around her standing still. What the news reporter, Candiotti, did next was totally beyond incomprehensible. She tapped one of the protesters (later named Geraldine Davie) on the shoulder and then began saying she was sorry for disrupting her in the middle of the anthem. WTF!

While the anthem was played, and while everyone surrounding her was showing the level of respect the National Anthem deserves, Susan Candiotti acted disrespectfully by starting the interview right then. The anthem that’s supposed to represent the United States of America was disrespected by a veteran reporter!

Yes, the Philippines has been manually counting election ballots all this time! But this coming 2010 national elections, the Filipinos will be introduced to the Automated Election Machine. For years, automating the election has been the topic of debates among lawmakers. There were many concerns thrown at each side, like questioning the reliability of the counting machines.

After many heated arguments, a bill was passed — Senate Bill No. 2231 (13th Congress) entitled:

Have you encountered the same problem as mine when you access your Verizon Samsung Trance wireless phone? There seems to be a bug on the Samsung Trance phone units after Verizon updated the software.

Last night, I received a note from Verizon to update the software on my phone. It says that while it is updating, I won’t be able to send messages or make or receive calls. Fine with me. It took only few minutes to update and the phone was back to its normal screen.

Only after I received a message from a friend early today that I noticed I could not access my inbox anymore. Clicking inbox automatically switched the screen to what seemed like a “start screen”. It automatically reboot and then returned to the homepage. Powering the Samsung Trance phone off and back on did not help at all.

There are few TV hosts who I find either annoying or unpleasant to the eye on TV. They may be knowledgeable and good at what they do, but their facial expressions and sometimes actions they perform while hosting their shows just do not fit my taste.

Tony Harris, CNN News Anchor – He frowns all the time. He makes unnecessary grins during interviews with his guests.

The recent Maguindanao Massacre in the Philippines claimed 30 people from the media alone. These men were brutally killed last Monday November 23, while doing their jobs as active journalists on the field.

I salute these men and women and my heart goes to the families left behind.

1. Adolfo, Benjie, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City

2. Araneta, Henry, Radio DZRH, General Santos City

3. Arriola, Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac,” UNTV, General Santos City

This is related to my previous post about Efren Peñaflorida, the CNN Hero of the Year. The event was televised last night and I was on my seat at home, so inspired and proud while watching Efren Peñaflorida receive the major award with teary eyes. He gave a short yet uplifting message, that is to find our heroes within us.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Step aside Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Sen. Manuel Villar, former President Joseph Estrada, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, and any other known presidential aspirants for the May 2010 Elections. We need to know the other presidential hopefuls whose aspiration is to become famous, I mean, to become the 15th president of the Philippines.

Who among them will succeed Pres. Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? Check out the list below, as these people have already filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs). From a masseuse, to a taxi driver, to a computer programmer — who says the highest position of the land is only for the rich and famous?