I was on a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight yesterday aimlessly flipping through their Mabuhay Magazine, March 2007 issue, when I opened up a page where they recommend three blogs under their article on “site-seeing” and www.marketmanila.com was the first one mentioned! How kilig (thrilled)can you get 34,000 feet up in the air, and totally unexpected? And no one from PAL even sent me an email… Many thanks to PAL for saying that this site was a “must-visit.” Heehee. And coincidentally, a MM reader flying to Seoul the other day just emailed me to tell me he read the same article… now several hundred thousand captive passengers/readers will see this plug in the Mabuhay Magazine this month… Many thanks to PAL. And yes, I continue to have my flights leaving on time 95+% of the time…
My tech consultant has been working hard to get this site transferred to a new host which was completed two weekends ago. I am glad to report that I was somehow instantaneously back up on Google in a big way and the traffic to my site has nearly gone up 100% by simply moving to a better host. Now I am getting over 1,000 NEW visitors a day based on searches for different types of pinoy food. And lots of the regulars are still coming back as they see fit. With nealry 9,000 page views yesterday it never ceases to amaze me that folks around the planet continue to visit Marketmanila to read all this rubbish… :) And yes, 96% still never leave comments…
Finally, little tweaks technologically have been on-going, so if you have been FRUSTRATED by the feature I have to send a post to a friend which has not worked for months, it is now UP AND RUNNING AGAIN. So if you think a post would be of interest to a friend, you can now forward it with this feature. Also, I am told that Marketmanila can now be viewed through your mobile browsers and PDA’s. Egads, I wouldn’t even know how to view my site from my phone… Also, I would appreciate it if you would help us fix any remaining bugs by leaving comments here if you are experiencing “disappearing comments” when you scroll up and down a post (please indicate what browser you are using and version), or if your RSS feeds are not working.
Many thanks for your comments…yes, we try to keep improving…it is ingrained in our nature… :) Oh, and here is the brain teaser of the day if you bothered to read this far, what is the English translation for “gigil”??? Particularly the kind of “gigil” when you play with your nice furry lovable dog. “Gigil” equals… what???
38 Responses
Job well done. You are a Mega Star now in the bloghosphere world! All your best efforts, due diligence, energy and not to mention hard earned resources spent are all appreciated and recognized. Yours stands out as you cite the scientific name of herbs, veggies, and fishes down to their “palengke†names and quoting your resource materials too which in most case a highly publicized textbook. Burdensome and hardship are completely out of your register and instead a significantly beautiful, real looking and out of this world presentation with articulate writing and variety of features. Mabuhay Magazine – only an opener more good reviews are on their way! Gigil, I suppose is “excited” “cloud 9” “high” and “elevated” that’s all I can think of.
Congratulations. Just also to let you know that although I don’t often leave a message in your site, I do read it about three times a day. And thanks for sharing all the foods, markets, and the tidbits that go with it.
i was on PAL flight MArch 2 and saw the write up. I was going to tell u as soon as I went online after that but I thought you knew already. do u know how much ex deals and money we pay Mabuhay to feature the company i used to work for? so much. so much. hehe
Wow, congratulations on a well-deserved accolade!
Am glad that the “send this post to a friend” feature has been fixed as I just had to content myself with sending the website address to friends and family as I couldn’t use that particular feature.
Lastly, after thorough thought, I have concluded that “gigil” defies translation into English. It’s one of those unique words/phrases/sentences in our language that do not have exact or one-word equivalents. Parang ung: “Pang -ilang presidente ng Pilipinas si Presidente Arroyo?” Hehe! It’s great to be Pinoy!!!!
I did sent an email about the PAL Mabuhay Magazine, it must have not gone through? I also sent a mail about the SMS spamming (which we’re trying to stop) you got few weeks ago before you were able to switch to another host.I hope you got it? As for the “gigil” could it be synonymous to shiver/quiver or smother perhaps? Like you get totally engrossed with your pet you tremble in delight or you try to suppress yourself to pinch your pet??? LOL
Congratulations on the Mabuhay feature; you definitely deserve to be listed as a must-see!
I also encounter disappearing commentss when I scroll up and down, for some reason only on the ones with the green background. I never mentioned it because I thought it was a temporary glitch, but it’s been going on for some time now. I use Internet Explorer 7 now (I think? It’s the new one.), but the problem started even when I still had the older version of this browser.
As for “gigil,” I was trying to explain it to an American boyfriend before, and it was difficult! I had to give a long explanation and act it out till he eventually understood. The closest and shortest definition I could come up with is that it’s an overwhelming, uncontrollable feeling — whether of love or anger — which makes one want to manifest it in a physical way, like by pinching, biting, shaking, or even punching. Does that help? ;-)
LOL… GUILTY!!!!
Sorry…I saw it on my flight back to Taipei last Sunday, expecting that I would read about the article on Monday here. I always sleep during flights, I forgot all about it… well… until you mentioned it.
“it never ceases to amaze me that folks around the planet continue to visit Marketmanila to read all this rubbish…” Never rubbish, MM, faaaaar from it! Congratulations! Gigil equals what comes over a mom looking down on her baby who feels a sudden upsurge of so much love she just has to smother the baby with kisses on the softest part of its cheek :)
Very deserving.
All for free, too.
about time mabuhay magazeins showed up, hmp! kidding aside, i think the time is ripe for this blog to be featured there (there, i re-worked that first statement nicely, didn’t i?).
funny you should mention “gigil” and refer to a nice furry lovable dog as the object of it, because that is exactly what we have been doing with our super-cute bichon frise’ – everybody just melts and goes gaga over her, and she loves being carried and hugged and “gigil”ed over all the time. sometimes she gets all squiched and squashed from all that gigil, but she never complains. i guess the english are too reserved and fomal to ever need to have a word such as “gigil”. ;-)
congratulations!! am sure most of the passengers that time are already familiar with the site or have visited your site.. even my sister in vegas visits your site for recipes she can’t seem to find in her cookbooks.. i hope you won’t cease to share your treasure-finds in the kitchen!!
i also experience the “missing comments” like katrina does, and it’s so hard to read the ones with the green background since you have to slowly scroll using the scrollbar instead of the wheel on your mouse but i painstakingly do it since i red your posts and comments everyday!! lots of helpful tips available for free which you can’t get anywhere from the internet.. am using the latest version of IE and am running on xp..
you made me wonder on the word gigil and it made me think hard!! hehehe! i can’t seem to find any one-word translation though.. all i can think of is excitement, exhiliration, pleasure, enjoyment, delight and elation which are all synonymous.. “kakagigil talaga ang mga dogs!!” i’ve been trying to translate that eversince this morning… hahahaha!!!
congrats again marketman! ….gigil, i’ve been trying to explain that myself to our son after i pinched him on the cheeks ‘coz i was so gigil….and he was like “you pinched me!” ……hahahahahahah…….
Well done, Marketman! You deserve all the accolades and publicity for your Pinoy blog. As an overseas Pinay am proud that you tackle not only the diversities of Philippine food but also the way of being a Pinoy and non-Pinoyin general. It’s a comforting and disconcerting feeling at the same time.
Btw, I have to thank you for bringing up the Saveur magazine, which I now subscribe to digitally. I love this form of subscription. For me. it’s the perfect way to read a magazine, as I only choose to print what I want to read and also get rid of the unnecessary ads, which almost takes half of the printed magazine’s weight. It’s quick and so accesible.
Gigil in English? How about…. thrilled to the bones?
woot congratulations…i read yr post everywhere… i was over 3 hrs at zurich airport and between my mails i read yr site ;-)
Gigil? How about being giddy about something? But of course if you say you’re “nanggigil sa galit”, then it’s another round of translation there :–)
Way to go MM! Congratulations! Your site is really worth coming back to again and again and again :-) I am actually hooked since day one. Readers get a dose of camera whoring food, wonderful writing, great tips on decorating and food presentation and all sorts of information. I know you put a lot of effort and resources maintaining this site and so I thank you for sharing this to us all. Keep writing! – Teresa from new Jersey
Gigil = that fuzzy shivery feeling you get when you’re really excited about something in a good way? (Cue: start shaking uncontrollably from side to side, with your arms bent at the elbows, and your hands in fists close to your shoulders).
Kudos on the Mabuhay Magazine mention! And good job on the site move! =)
I get the disappearing comments too when I use the latest version of IE, but was fine before i got a software update. No problems with Firefox on my PC and Safari or Camino on my Mac.
Gigil- I don’t think there is a direct translation at all.
Good Show, Marketman. Congratulations! As for “gigil”, I’m stumped!
Gigil=cute overload
Congratulations, Mr MM! And thank you for dropping by my blog. It’s like an Internet god visiting a humble mortal’s abode!
I spent almost half of the day yesterday asking officemates the translation of gigil…to no avail. It’s one of those nuances of the our language that really makes it interesting and unique. I figured that if Filipino/Tagalog is not my first language, I’d have a hard time learning it.
Semikel, you visit CO too?
tsk, tsk, tsk has already been translated in English, so someday “gigil” will find it’s way ;-)
oh wow! wootwoot mm! bravo! so who were the other two? lol!
ces, duh, I should have mentioned them as well… the second one was http://www.provenciana.blogspot.com – a Filipina in Provence, France and the third one was http://www.couchsurfing.com
Congratulations MM!!!
MM, if you really want to know how you got on the list… It was my fault :)
I was having breakfast with the writer and she was writing her article that day. I worked in travel and I recommended three sites to her: marketmanila.com, couchsurfing.com and nytimes.com/travel… Guess the provenciana bumped off The NY Times, lol :) Im so thrilled I played a part in getting you the attention you deserve!
Im still mulling over “gigil”…
Myra, gosh, no “FAULT” at all, I am thrilled. Thanks for the plug…I was wondering how they got their material…
Gigil encompases the physical (the trembling, the goosebumps, the adrenaline rush) and emotional (it could be from feeling really happy, excited, annoyed or mad). What a great word that doesn’t have an exact translation yet fits so well when we need to describe how we feel.
Oh, Provenciana was in Mabuhay? The blog’s writer is a friend of mine! I should tell her; I don’t think she knows. I enjoy her blog very much. Very different in content from yours, of course.
Congrats! You deserve it!
gigil – how about ecstatic, overjoyed, overwhelmed, overwhelmingly excited or going gaga. ahhh…. not enough. gigil has always been, to me anyway, biting babies’ and toddlers’ big toes…mmm…kakagigil!
oh congratulations! well-deserved…well-deserved!
Congratulations MM to a successful blog career! :)
Fyi only – I just read about you & Wysgal of Pilgrims’ Pots & Pans ( another successful blogger ) in the latest March issue of Filipinas magazine in the Web watch section – the article “Behold, the Blogsphere” was written by Yvette Tan.
Congrats MM. You deserve it.
I think the Internet Explorer version 7.0.5730.11 is the culprit in the disappearing comments when scrolling up/down. This only happens when i use my daughter’s laptop with the above version, and NEVER when i use my own using V6.
I love your site! I wish I could reproduce your recipes. Are you getting together people sometime in July? I would like to join your get-togethers.
Congratulations, Marketman! Well deserved!
Laura, Wysgal is from Rants and Raves while Karen is from Pots and Pans. Which is it?
oops you’re right mia…i stand corrected, the Filipinas mag article mentioned wysgal of rants & raves…sorry for the confusion!