Fashion Makeover

I don't know what got into me but I immediately obliged when someone asked me if I'm willing to be one of the subjects for a magazine's fashion makeover. I almost chickened out to do such thing as I have always been a fashionista introvert. I asked for a sign that if my sister in law will accompany me to the shoot the moment I ask her to, then it was meant to be. 

Surprisingly, she said yes and so I tried to be an extrovert for a day and went to the studio for the makeover.

My wish list: to look more polished at work.

My dilemma: I tend to dress casually at the office previously but now with the bigger responsibilities that I handle, I feel I need to establish more credibility in terms of how I look relative to my function. 

The solution: office dresses that I absolutely loved! I am planning to buy exactly the same dress that I wore to my first fashion shoot. 

I was glad I took this challenge. I got a few clothing style solutions and tricks for my body type. Not only that, I recently discovered that I look better in a new hairdo: curls.

I'm still contemplating though if I would change my previously straightened hair to a more natural curly look. Maybe in the future, I will go out again of my comfort zone to have a hairstyle makeover. For the meantime, I still need to gather enough courage to do so.

Kaleidoscope World

One of the Philippine music icons died around lunch time today. As the entire country mourns over his death, one of my favorite songs written by him kept on playing on my mind. As a tribute to Master Rapper - Francis M.. 

Here are a few of my favorite lines from his composition - Kaleidoscope world:

every color every hue is represented by me and you

take a slide in the slope,  take a look in the kaleidoscope

spinnin round, make it twirl, in this kaleidoscope world

 

--different voices, different choices

--some are mad, while others laugh

--some live alone with no better half

--some stand out while others blend

--some are friends and some are foes

--some have some, while some have most..

--some are great and some are few

--some can swim while some will sink

--and some will find their minds and think

Thank you Francis for these great lines and for your wonderful music!

Work in Times of Crisis

At times, work brings you challenges.. to make you stronger and better as a professional and as a person. Despite the challenges, I've always been thankful that I have a good paying job in times of crisis where redundancy, lay-offs, closing down of firms are common situations. 

I hear common gripes from others on how they are currently "overworked but underpaid". If only they realize how lucky they are compared to others who are still struggling to find a decent job to feed their family. I've been almost tempted to tell those who complain on their current state and compensation to go ahead and feel free to seek work outside the company but resisted myself to do so as I know it will be difficult to find a better paying job these days. 

Hope everyone would see the other side and appreciate their current job at the same time work hard for them to reap the benefits sooner or later than expected. 

The Need to Choose Wellness

I was shocked to receive a note that one of my fellow retreat attendee died of a heart attack last night. He was survived by his wife and his kid. May eternal rest grant on his soul! I can't even remember his face since I attended the retreat four years ago and have not been active in the community since but the thought of having someone died of a heart attack almost near my age disturbed me.

Lots of people are dying young these days - due to cancer, heart attack, aneurysm mostly due perhaps to poor lifestyle quality. Although there are some physical conditions that may be attributed to genes, a lot are now due to improper lifestyle or eating habits, no exercise, stressful work conditions and polluted environment.

I would definitely not want to be one of them. My kids are still young and I feel I still have a lot to accomplish in life. The sudden news made me think for a while, re-assess my priorities and I've just decided to change a few of my bad lifestyle habits. One of them is working myself of too hard to the point of having no exercise at all.  Tomorrow, I will have to start on hitting the gym or at the very least run within the community. I will have to start on choosing wellness very soon- for myself, for my family and for my children's future. 

The Search for the Next Supermarket

Shopwise Makati is undergoing some renovation these days which makes it inconvenient for shoppers like me.. They've rearranged again their shelves. It's one of their strategies to maximize space for the store - to occupy previously dead spots and encourage shoppers to go through all the aisles/spots as much as possible.

For now, I am in a search for the next supermarket place where I will religiously do my groceries. I passed by Cash and Carry this afternoon after we drove near the area to find a shop who does sofa re-upholstery. I was shocked that parking space for Cash and Carry already have a fee!  I was also shocked to see an almost full parking. I parked near the exit area already. We managed to get a good exercise walking from the parking to the entrance.

Cash and Carry transformed from your neighborhood supermarket to your nearby mall. Inside was bright and I found it manageable to stroll around the mall. I managed to buy an office blouse and found a great bed to our liking since I was also canvassing for a good bed frame for my toddler.

We did our groceries and I realized that there are a lot of choices in Cash and Carry compared to Shopwise. Imported goods where everywhere to be found. Prices were relatively cheaper for most of the products compared to Shopwise although I found the quality of meat in Cash and Carry almost similar to Shopwise's but relatively expensive compared to the latter.

I still want to try how it is to do groceries in nearby supermarkets such as Puregold, Waltermart, Landmark and SM. Until I find the next supermarket where I can comfortably do my groceries. 

29 Things to do in 2009!

Happy New Year! Better late than never.. Albeit late, it's time to draft my 2009 New Year's Resolution:

1. Go back to yoga class to combat stress and disturbance around me.
2. Hit the gym at least 3x a week. I can only do 1 so far!!! Hope work doesn't get into my way of going to the gym. 
3. Visit at least 2 places that I've never been to this year. I'm hoping to visit a local and international destination. Places in mind are Dumaguete and Macau!
4. Have more time for my children.. Implement again the 1x a month exclusive date with my kids.
5. Call my parents at least 1x a week and ask how they've been. 
6. Pray the rosary everyday.
7. Have a hearty lunch with my friends at least 1x month.
8. Chat every so often whenever I get a chance to have a friend who is online.
9. Stop buying pirated DVDs until I've seen all the remaining DVDs here at home.
10. Eat less of bad foods - oily ones, fried ones..
11. Have a "me" day at least 1x month either for massage, hot oil, spa, pedicure or window shopping!
12. Go home to Davao at least 1x a quarter.
13. Continue my guitar lessons.
14. Take voice lessons after I finish my guitar lessons.
15. Learn how to run. Join ARETE challenge!
16. Visit new places to eat around the Metro!
17. Explore Makati by foot during weekends.
18. Shop for clothes worth P1000 up only when they are on sale! This is my personal challenge.
19. Leave the office before 8 pm. If I happen to leave past 8, I need to deposit P1K for my kids' savings account.
20. Stop calling others Boss, Mr X.. Will start calling them by their first names!
21. Go to the derma at least 1x quarter.
22. Clean the entire house and get rid of things not used for 6 months!
23. Do 5S in the workplace.
24. Visit my relatives here in Metro Manila!
25. Get SSS and Philhealth for yaya since she has been a good yaya for my daughter.
26. Sing a song everyday.
27. Sleep before 11pm.
28. Give 10% of my salary to charity.
29. Finish reading a good book at least 1x a month.

Rice Saver

There are plenty of hungry people in the world thus it always make me consider not to waste any food most especially rice.

Few years ago, I got a simple but useful tip on how to maintain freshness of cooked rice: wipe out moisture in the rice cooker! When I tried this trick, the extra cooked rice lasted for the next 2-3 meals! depending on how much extra rice we've got! Another practice that we've gotten used to when we have extra rice after dinner is to place it in a container and put it in the refrigerator. We use this when we cook breakfast as our main ingredient for fried rice!

AHA Moments

We had a day away to do maintenance check amongst the team members. New year, new team, new challenges..Had a great session with our core generating demand team today. Lots of AHA Moments emerged within the team which allowed us to understand each other fully. 

Teambuilding activities provided by Convergent Team our HR Consultant was so apt given our unique team dynamics. They showed great examples through videos, wonderful team exercises which in effect translated to positive reactions amongst team members. I was glad that the team members were so open, accepted and gave necessary feedback. I am confident that this will gradually translate on how we work and run the business as a team.

We are ready to face as one team the business challenges that will come our way. We are all set to make a difference sooner or later within the team, within the business unit, within the company and hopefully within the nation.

Tikoy Festival Recipe

As Chinese New Year draws near, I received lots of Tikoy (Glutinous Rice Cake) from my Chinese friends for good fortune.

My favorite is the one from Salazar - brown and heavy!=) I'm the only one in the household who is a Tikoy fanatic. My husband doesn't eat it, my daughter ate a few and found it too sticky for her taste. Yaya takes a few bite every so often.

 

The first time I received Tikoy was about 7 years ago and I thought it was eaten raw as it is. I found it too hard and gummy then. I was told the following day that it was supposed to be fried in cooking oil, with an option to dip it in scrambled egg before frying. 

I received a fabulous tip lately from a Chinese colleague that it can be wrapped with lumpia wrapper before frying it.

I tried the recipe the minute I got home and I instantly loved it! Tastes like Turon in fact! Yaya also tried it and liked Tikoy in lumpia wraps. My daughter who rejected Tikoy not cooked this way considered trying Tikoy once more since she found it crispy to the bite.

Crispy! Sticky! Lovely! Yummy! Looking forward to my next Tikoy fest!

Questions for Moms

Do you really know how much of the important nutrients your child gets from his milk?

Do you really know what's in your child's milk?

Do you know how much you are really paying for?

Do you check the label?

Some intriguing questions I've been meaning to ask all of my mommy friends.. Answers would most likely be a "yes" or "no" or "I think so". 

For moms, who answers either of the last 2, it's time to check the label!  

Comfort Food

Food for the Soul list:

• Ice Cream - Yum! Yum! There's a new product from Nestle - Heaven's ice cream that enables me to indulge some more! My Old Time favorite is Nestle's Double Dutch flavor.
• Chocolate Cake - always put a smile on my face regardless of the source - may it be the one in our office canteen, at Red Ribbon, Starbucks, Pepper Lunch or homemade.
  
• Mr Chips - I'm not much fond of junk food but I cannot resist Mr Chips whenever wherever I see a bag of it!
• Green Mango with bagoong - If bagoong is not available, soy sauce with sugar will do.
• Yogurt - There's something about yogurt especially the Strawberry variant made by Nestle that simply relaxes me. For the past 10 years now, I've added yogurt as one of my comfort food.

List of food above always give me a certain high whenever I have a chance to savor them!

Davao's Best Dining Places

During the holidays we were able to go around Davao and discovered a few great dining places mostly with families..Some are quaint while most of them are ideal for families.. Here are a few of my favorite dining places in random order:

• Paparazzi - A great pizza place near Mabini St. I loved Papa's Pizza! I was disappointed when they closed down their Ilustre branch but was ultimately pleased when I found out that makers of Paparazzi pizzas are one and the same of Papa's Pizza. I loved their Prego Pizza so much!
• Sugarmunch - A great dessert place tucked in Marfori Subdivision. You won't miss the gold and white stripes beside Gigz party shop. Most coffee shops in the city serve Sugarmunch delicacies. I would recommend to try their Dark Moist Chocolate Cake. Its super delicious and easy on the pocket!
• Papa Ching's - If you loved Molave's Chicken recipe, then you would definitely love Papa Ching's greaseless chicken. I couldn't believe I finished an order of half-sized chicken by myself!
• Aseya - A door away Humberto's place, one would love their own version of fusion dining of Thai, Indian and Malay cuisine. Check out their Aseya salad and their version of spring rolls and Pad Thai. Their chocolate cake is a must try in which my lovely guess would come from Sugarmunch.
• Hola Espana - Finally, an authentic Spanish cuisine in Davao City! One should try their Paella dishes and steak! Be prepared to shell out some money though.
• Tadakuma - It used to be situated at the back of Chowking Bajada. I loved how fresh their makis and sashimis are! I frequent their place near Central Bank. I recently learned that they opened a site in Damosa.
  
• Harana - a nostalgic place for me! We used to spend our childhood playing in their big playground. Now, its our children's turn to play. We never got tired of playing that we dined out here twice during the holidays.
  
• Sarung Banggi - we normally have dinner at this place to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. This time around we had lunch here during my birthday. I loved all their steaks - Pepper Steak, A la Pobre, Porterhouse are a few of my favorites.
• Banoks - We are Colasa's lovers but when I observed that Banoks almost became ubiquitous in the city, I got curious and tried out their Chicken Barbecue. We dined in their Torres branch. Loved the chicken (but not as much as Colasa's) and downed it with fresh buko juice. I got extra curious with Allegro' s ice cream freezer standing nearby and tried out the Durian Ice Cream. Yummy for a non-durian lover like me.

There are still a lot of great places to dine out in Davao. The list will continue hopefully in my next visit!

Prenuptial Checklist

I've been married for more than 3 years now. I'm blessed to have married a man who is God-fearing, patient and always tries to be a better man for the family. What he might lack in a few things is more than compensated on how he takes good care of our kids, cooks well in the household and tries to look for ways to earn better financially. I am thankful that he is secure with himself and never gives up. He continues to do more despite the trying times we've encountered especially in the financial aspect of marriage.

Some of my friends are married and a lot are thinking of getting married soon. Getting married is a major decision in one's life and I would like to share my own random list of things to know or do before getting hitched:

• Try to get to know better your husband-to-be. Join a discovery weekend the soonest you plan to be with each other forever. Discovery weekend is a reaffirmation of your initial decision.
• Silently ask yourself if you've seen him in good and trying times. How was he during these times? Have you seen him both at his best and at his worst?
• How does he handle your arguments? Did he hurt you so much physically or verbally before? If you answered yes to any of these, it might be best to rethink your decision of marrying the person.
• Have you seen him get angry with a stranger? with a relative or family? with friends? with you? Assess if you will be able to stand with his behavior on challenging times.
• Have you met his closest friends? Observe how he is with them. This will tell you a lot about him.
• Have you met his mother? How is he with her? This will tell you a lot about how he will treat you in the future. 
• Know at least a few (in case there is) of his past relationships. Especially on the reason why they broke up. Ask nicely if he was not been able to open up with you on his previous relationships. Do not be overly persistent though. Let him volunteer information as much as he wants depending on questions you will ask. (Friendly Tip: Engage in a game of truth and consequence with only the 2 of you as game participants. Ask questions that you've been dying to ask him)
• Have you met his family? Do you agree or do you see yourself imbibing their "culture"? Are you willing to give up a few of the family traditions you've been accustomed to the new ones your in-laws have grown with?
• How is he with his work? This will tell you a lot about how he will pursue in the future to make your family ends meet.
• Discuss and open up the topic of money. Ask how much your husband to be currently earns. How much is his savings? Investments? And other valuable assets one can think of. This would help you initially assess if it is indeed enough to raise the family. Do not be offended if he will ask the same of you as well. Get into a mutual agreement on what to do with accumulated assets prior to your engagement/wedding. 

It is such a wonderful feeling to have a partner you've committed to spend the rest of your life with. There might be challenges along the way but it is part of the marital commitment you've made in the entire Church community.

The Secret on Christmas Party

Did you ever believe that whatever it is that you think of would likely happen? My mantra has always been to keep on thinking positive thoughts, keep on dreaming and keep on believing!

I just practiced The Secret during our Christmas party earlier. Few hours ago, while attending the Christmas party, I was joking with my colleagues that I will win a prize in tonight's Christmas Party raffle. They initially laughed at my idea but also supported me on it. We had an agreement that we will not go home until all winners of the Christmas party raffle have been announced. 

True enough, I wasn't able to contain my excitement when my name was announced as one of the major prize winners. I got so happy that I won as I've originally thought! 

Iloilo Breakthrough

We went to Iloilo for  a business trip. It was my second time to visit the place. The first time was about 6 years ago enroute to Boracay from Davao City. I never had a chance to visit the place since then. 

I used to remember that Iloilo's airport was near the sea. I was quite surprised that we were about to land in an airport amidst green fields. The airport was relatively new - clean and sleek. It reminded me of a junior version of the Davao City International Airport. 

The city was a few minutes away from the airport. We were billeted at the Westown Hotel in Smallville area(I hope I got the names correct). My colleagues and I decided to be adventurous then as it was mostly our second time to go to Iloilo but we never had a chance to tour the place during our first visit. Included in our list of things to do list in Iloilo was to try their Batchoy, eat in a great local restaurant and try out Chicken Inasal as well as fulfill our business duties of going on trade checks, cascade to the Iloilo team our plans for next year and attend the provincial Christmas party. 

After checking in, we decided to go out for lunch. Unfortunately, most of the establishments near the hotel are only open from 5pm onwards as the area was known to be a gimmick place. We asked the taxi driver on where it would be great to eat for lunch and we were led to Breakthrough - a seafood lover's delight. The place was quite far from the city proper but the long trip was all worth it after savoring their version of Aligue rice, fried and grilled version of hito, Halaan soup, sisig na lechon among others. We even had a refreshing Buko Juice! We loved everything that we ordered. Moreso, we were shocked to see that our bill was only half of what we've expected it to cost. We had a hard time looking for a taxi back to the city but we cared less as we were fully satisfied during lunch time.

Afterwards, we did our trade check at SM, bought a few pasalubong from BongBong's stall and proceeded with our cascade to field sales in the afternoon. At night, we attended the area's Christmas Party held at Nelly's Garden. I was relatively impressed with the set-up that I would like to commend the organizers for putting up a great show. Since we were not able to eat Batchoy and Chicken Inasal for lunch, after the Christmas party we decided to try La Paz Batchoy at Deco's and had to give up trying Chicken Inasal since we were already full.

In my next Iloilo business or personal trip, I would definitely try out Chicken Inasal and hopefully visit the famous Miag-ao Church which is a few miles away from the city. 

Please Save Up

In trying times everybody needs to save.. This is a request I always tell myself and always pray that my husband will finally learn how to do ....

With marriage, one's money is in a way the other's money.. One's success is the family's success, debt by one is also carried by everyone.

For a family of four with house mortgage, bills and monthly dues to pay, children to feed and needs that should be taken cared of at a given fee, every peso counts.

I used to struggle to make ends meet. With the recent salary increase I'm glad I've managed to keep the family finance afloat...For now, I hope and pray that my husband will try to manage his finances better as I know he has started to be conscious of his spending.. 

Spend less is the priority for now..Save up and invest if can be done simultaneously or a choice between the two. I know in time and in the very near future we ( I mentioned "we" as his expenditure is also in a way our spending as a family, my savings and investment will also be his investment and the entire family's) will be able to spend less, save some more, invest wisely or be able to look for decent ways to augment income for the family.

Learnings from Work

I've never been conscious about positions, salary compensation and compared myself relative to others. Despite having many encounters, it still came a shock to me how others put high importance on titles and how they place a high regard of themselves relative to others. I've always thought that everyone should be treated with the same respect as a person and not purely base it on positions and salary compensations.

Good performance never fails to be rewarded.. It might not come at times when you want or expected it to be but the company or others always have a better way of making it up to give what one truly deserves. 

Friends may they be in your workplace or somewhere else are there to strengthen you, to guide you.. They are also there to help you and teach a thing or two which can be valuable in life.

Different Folks, Different Strokes

In our daily lives, we meet different types of people.. I tried to do my own classification. Within the categories, there are varying degrees... Here are some types of people most of us meet and deal with in our lives. They may be found in your community, office, at the restaurants, malls, church, schools..

• Friend - you can feel in an instant their genuine concern for your welfare. They are those whom you can trust,a shoulder to cry on, a confidant. Some wrongly categorized as "friend" can fall in the other descriptors as well.
• Relatives - bound by affinity or consanguinity.. Sometimes, you are left with no choice but to meet and interact with your relatives. They can also be your friend or any other type of person as well.
• Colleagues - Normally you work towards a common goal in any given situation. This allows room to choose who your colleagues are.. Rare is the occasion that your friend or relative is a colleague unless you are managing a family business. Colleagues can be any of the following below as well.
• Protector - you always feel secure when you're with them as if nothing wrong is going to happen.
• User - They might initially be friendly to you but in the end you'll realize that they want something from you
• Plastic - Fake Ones. Best in acting out. You might never know how they truly feel. They appear to be good initially but sooner or later, you'll see their true color. It might be difficult to distinguish plastic ones from friendly ones. With this, you have to go with your instinct.
• Trying Hard - They always try hard to blend in the crowd, try hard to impress somebody or everybody.. 
• Safe - the not so obvious version of trying hard.. they try not to take any stand/side.. if in case they need to, they go not necessarily where it is the right one to go but where it is safe for them to do so.
• Toxic - they are the type of people you want to run or stay away from as they sometimes can be a burden to you or drains your energy in a way.. Somehow when you're with them you feel that you are just compelled to be with them but you wish that you'd do something else instead. It's your duty to be with them rather than your want.
• Bully - They love to power trip. They love to brag a lot and belittle most of the time hurt verbally or physically others.
• Kisser - no they don't kiss your lips but they kiss your ass instead. This is a very common experience for people in the senior management position.
• Lover - Normally we only have one at a given time but for others, it might be an exception and they might have 2 or more at any given time.
• Loved - We are entitled to have as much as we want with these types of people.. they can also be our friends, they can even be relatives or colleagues.

For a Child's Better Health

I hope my son will be in better health.. have a stronger immune system and will not require any surgery from hereon..

Let's all pray for my son's better physical health..

"O most beloved Saint Gerard, who like the Savior,

loved children and by your prayers freed many from disease 

and even death, listen to us who are pleading for our sick child.

We thank God for the great gift of our son/daughter and ask God to restore

our child to health if such be the holy will.  This favor we beg of you through your 

love for all the children and mothers."

Amen

Wake Up Routine

I have a few morning habits that I have been accustomed to. Sharing some of them in random and wishing to continue these habits until I grow older:

• Pray. Give thanks to the Lord for giving us another day to live.
• Urinate. I used to urinate in the middle of the night but nowadays, the first thing I do upon waking up is to go to the bathroom to pee. Sometimes I feel the need to pee few minutes than my usual wake up time. I don't mind though as it cleanses my body from toxins.
• Drink a glass of water. I always feel thirsty in the morning when I wake up and so I drink a glass of water to quench my thirst. I've learned that drinking a glass of water upon waking up is a good practice as it replenishes the moisture lost in our body the night before.
• Give your loved ones a hug and/or a kiss whichever comes first. This habit always makes me feel good once done.

I then proceed to eat a healthy breakfast and start doing things that I need to do for the day!