The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of activity. I presented on behalf of Apple Asia as an “Apple Distinguished Educator” at the Shangri-La to a diverse audience of educators, superintendents, principals, and owners of universities throughout the Philippines. It went very well, and was a fantastic experience for personal growth. I became an ADE in December, 2007 – in the first group in Asia.

What is ADE?

“The Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) program is a relationship program focused on educational excellence and leadership. ADEs are members of a select group of K-12 and Higher Education professionals possessing an identified expertise in educational technology leadership. This group of over 1500 educators spans the globe with membership in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Latin America, and Asia.”

A funny story – a wonderful lady who works at the Shanghai American School also presented (in a different hall) with me. I knew her online via Twitter and her blog, but we’ve never met face to face. It was only after a day of working with her that she figured out that I was “javajive” on Twitter! Apparently she had known “Brandon Hoover”, but didn’t realize that I’m one and the same with my Twitter/Flickr/blog persona. 🙂

On Friday a friend from Singapore (well she lives in KL now) arrived to stay with us for 5 days. A few of you may know her – Adrianna Tan – (aka SkinnyLatte), she runs the always interesting blog - Popagandhi. She’s been spending days exploring all the sites and restaurants that we’ve never had a chance to see. Hopefully she’s catching a glimpse of why I enjoy Manila, and can give ME tips on things I need to see/try/eat.

At the end of next week, we’ll be heading back to Jakarta for a week or so to visit family and friends. It’s not the typical spring break we usually enjoy (Bali!?), but I can’t pry Novita away from her beloved Indonesian food, family, and kota. It’ll good to be ‘home’ for a while.