Monday, March 29, 2010

The Season of Lent

It is finally here, the end of the Lenten Season, which is a significant Catholic holiday for people who practice the Catholic faith. In the Philippines, everything slows down to a halt particularly on Good Friday. Both government and private firms allow their workers to take a few days off to be able to observe the final and most holy days of Lent.

Why the end of the Lenten season? The Lenten season actually started on Ash Wednesday and it now ends with one full week of abstinence, fasting, repentance of sins, and constant prayers until Easter Sunday arrives.

Unfortunately, not everyone is steadfast on practicing the old ways of Catholic faith. Some choose to have fun and frolic in the beach instead of staying at home and meditating in intimate prayer. But who am I to judge them? I am only saying this out loud because it is the truth and the harsh reality of life.

I have had my fair share of gimmicks and traipsing around with family and friends but somehow it never occurred to me to have fun during the Holy Week of Lent except on Easter Sunday. Maybe because I grew up in a family that took the role as a devout Catholic seriously.

How does this affect my freelance work? I shall be working until Holy Wednesday (even government and private firms still require their workers to report to work until this day) then anything that is work-related comes to a halt until Easter Sunday has passed. This way I could fulfill both my "earthly" duties and my "religious" duties.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Art Of Forgiveness

     No matter how much we avoid it, we still get into arguments with family, friends, and even our colleagues. It is relatively easy to argue, be mad, and even stay mad but then is it really that easy to ask for forgiveness and to forgive?

     I have had my own fair share of arguments but found out, the hard way, that not everybody is as willing and easy to forgive like I do. There are those that harbor anger and resentment over several years, without even a chance of forgiving the offender. I, on the other hand, simply need to be given some space -- let's say an hour or two at best, and I would be ready to forgive the person in question should my forgiveness be needed. On the other hand, if I was the one who inadvertently offended another person, I do not really know how to go about starting to ask for forgiveness, although it is my intention all along.

     Realistically, people do differ in attitudes and beliefs including the art of forgiving and asking for forgiveness. If you are left in a quandary as to whether you should be forgiving a person, ask yourself this, was the offence really that bad that necessitates days, months, or even years of anger and hate? Isn't it better to be forgiving and be at peace with yourself and others than to live day in and day out with anger and hate? Just think about it.

     

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Graduate

     It's the end of the school year and another set of graduates will be gracing the stage with their presence. What is it about the end of the school year and graduation that makes everyone, particularly mothers, so teary-eyed when we see our sons and daughters going up the stage to accept their diplomas?

     I still remember what a friend once told me about the parents being teary-eyed during graduation. It goes something like this. If the child is graduating from elementary or high school, the parents are teary-eyed because they will be paying for a higher tuition fee in the coming school year. However, when the child is graduating from college, the parents become teary-eyed because finally they don't need to pay for tuition fees!

     My take on this? I know that parents are teary-eyed because they are proud of their children's achievements.

     To all Batch 2010 graduates, CONGRATULATIONS! You deserve it!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Is There Really Something To Be Envious About?

      Thanks to social networking sites, we are now in communication with friends and former colleagues that we have lost touch with over several years. Add that to the photos on display for each profile so you could be sure that the person you are "adding" as a friend really is somebody you know from the past.

     Pictures from vacations abroad or with a luxurious background are posted everywhere, which begs me to think, should we be envious that they get to see other places that we aren't even sure if we will get to visit in our lifetime? 

     Call me hypocritical but when I see my son and husband sleeping beside me, all else seems to pale in comparison. At the current state the economy is in, we might be pinching around the corners a little bit and tightening the belt once-in-a-while but the love and support that we give each other is enough to get us through day-in and day-out.

     Then my mind suddenly goes back to an old saying that God gives you what you need and not what you want. That everything happens for a reason. It might not be the reason that you want to hear but there is a reason nonetheless.

     I then begin to remember about a relative, thrice removed, who is said to be rich, yet when she passed away (God bless her soul), we were really surprised that not one of her children came to give her a proper burial. From the first day that her body was collected from another relative's residence up to the day she was supposed to be buried, her body simply lay in the morgue. Only the funeral parlor employees took care of her and she was buried without even a simple mass to mark her passing. Sad isn't it? 

     Being rich may mean that you get and do almost everything in life but it doesn't necessarily buy you happiness.

     Which brings me back to the question -- should I be really envious of the status of friends and former colleagues? In a way YES but in a huge part NO. How about you? 

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Fight That Never Was

     The 14th of March 2010 was the most anticipated day of the month for boxing enthusiasts in the Philippines --  Manny Pacquiao was scheduled to defend his title from Joshua Clottey at Arlington, Texas. Just like previous Pacquiao fights, pay-per-view was offered in cinemas, the internet, and even via the local cable.

     Unlike previous Pacquiao fights, I decided to gift my husband with a ticket to view the fight live at the SM Mall of Asia as his advance birthday present. At first he was hesitant to go alone because he wanted both me and my son to join him. After a very brief discussion, he realized that it was better for him to enjoy this gift alone (our 3-year-old would never sit still throughout the entire event) and that we would follow him later in the day to watch the last of the Pyromusical Competition presentation, which was scheduled to begin at around 7 in the evening.

     So there was my husband queuing for the ticket (I was only given a "reservation") when he was handed a baseball cap with a Team Pacquiao logo from Motolite and a small package containing a 200 ml Head and Shoulders Shampoo for Men, a family sized Safeguard soap, and a few sachets of Head and Shoulders Menthol Shampoo -- not bad!

     As always Pacquiao won the fight by unanimous decision but spectators claim (I am really not fond of watching any boxing match) that it really was not much of a fight after all, rather it was as if they were only sparring with each other in the boxing ring. 

     For my part? I didn't really care who won, but I did care that I made my husband's day. Add this to the fact that the Pyromusical presentation was dazzling and fun to watch. My son had a blast, what with all the colors and styles being presented. 

     Overall, this was one day that everybody did have fun.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

A Brief Respite From The Heat

Two days ago we started to experience cloudy weather. Yesterday we had a slight drizzle from morning until noon. Now we experienced a hot semi-windy day. I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow and the day after.

The Philippines is currently experiencing mild to severe drought (depending on where you are located) due to the El Nino phenomenon. Farm fields have begun to crack and everybody (particularly farmers) is worried that this will wreak havoc on the country's food supply in the near future.

Religious leaders have started to call on their respective congregation to pray to the Almighty so that rain would come. The government has begun cloud seeding operations to simulate rain, unfortunately it is not always successful. Both water and electricity are being rationed because of the dry spell.

I remember an old college professor (may his soul rest in peace) who taught about climate change and everything related to the Earth. He said that the time will come when countries who now experience tropical climatic conditions will soon turn into dry desert lands while those dry desert lands will be blessed with tropical climatic conditions.

Have you heard or read the news lately? There have been instances in the Middle East where heavy downpour is experienced -- so much so that flood does occur in several areas. They never experience too much rainfall that made them realize they needed to put in large canals or drainage systems, but now.....

Climate change is real, it is happening NOW. We might not be able to reverse the entire process that caused these climatic changes or greenhouse effect but we can prevent it from developing into something that will wreak havoc in our lives.

We've started to change, how about you?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Wait That Bore Fruit

My day started out as far from my ordinary routine as can be.  I woke as early as 4 in the morning because I had to be at the Social Security Systems (SSS) office in Bacoor, Cavite, as early as possible if I wanted to beat the cut-off quota for ID applicants for the day.

Everything was going well -- my husband even offered to drive me en route to his office.  We reached the SSS office at approximately 6:30 in the morning (there were quite a handful of early birds already waiting in line).  After I accomplished the necessary forms and handed them to the guard on duty, we were advised (after the papers were verified) to patiently wait for our respective numbers to be called for the ID station.

As I said everything WAS going great for the better half of the morning. As soon as everyone resumed their positions in line after the requisite lunch break, an announcement was given through the PA system telling us that the system went offline and that they had to wait for the technician to arrive and fix it. The bad news was they weren't sure if it would take 1 or 2 hours to fix the problem.

So there I was waiting patiently and praying silently that they would get the system fixed before 5 p.m., otherwise we would need to go back the next day for another appointment.  As I read and re-read the newspaper at least 5 times, lo and behold the system came back online.  The next dilemma was if I would be included in the list of people who get to have their picture taken.  You don't know how relieved and thankful I was that I got my picture taken.

Total waiting time? 9-1/2 hours
Total time for the picture taking process? 10 minutes MAX!
Lesson learned? Be prepared for anything when you have to go to a government office (a good novel should do the trick).

Sunday, March 7, 2010

How to save on your electricity bills.

By now everybody must've noticed how the sweltering heat makes you just want to stay inside an air-conditioned room. This is one reason why I only love to do household chores early in the day -- even if it means that I have to wake up at 5 in the morning just to wash clothes, water the plants, and even cook the food for the day.

It has become our daily routine to have lunch at 12 noon and immediately seek haven in my mom's room where we run the air-conditioner until the evening comes. Believe me, if it were up to us, we would've placed the entire house under a centralized air-conditioning system.

I now what you are thinking -- that we have a huge electricity bill to pay! This is actually the farthest from the truth. Over the years we have developed a system to conserve energy. Want to know our secret?


  1. Replace all incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Not only do they emit cooler light but they also use up a lower amount of electricity.
  2. Do your ironing only once or twice-a-week (once-a-week is the best). I found out that ironing on Sundays is the best because all the uniforms and other clothes that need ironing have already been washed and dried.
  3. Set a time limit for your ironing. This prevents you from dilly-dallying while ironing plus you get to finish your ironing chores pretty fast. Try finishing your ironing in 2 hours or less.
  4. Set the thermostat of your air-conditioner at a low temperature (in some air-conditioners this is called low cool). To keep the room cold turn on an electric fan at the lowest setting) - this way you'll feel cool but with less the electric consumption.
  5. At bedtime, set the timer of your air-conditioner for at least 5 hours. We just need to feel cool so we can drift off to dreamland as soon as possible. A 5-hour run of the air-conditioner would suffice to cool the room and the electric fan will retain the cold at least until the morning sunshine comes. Don't have an air-condition unit with a timer? Set up an alarm so you can manually turn it off.
  6. Turn off and unplug an appliance when it is not being used. The stand-by mode is actually an electricity vampire -- you are fooled into thinking that it is not consuming any electricity but it actually is.
  7. Do you have a 110V outlet? If yes, then double check all your appliances to see if they can be plugged into the 110V outlet. If not, you can try considering getting a step-down transformer. This may be a bit pricey at first but think of just how much you'll be saving in your electricity bill.
  8. Defrost your fridge at least once every 2 weeks. The less ice present in the freezer the more efficient the fridge is plus you get to check for the fridge's contents.
And these are the ways we keep our electricity bills down. With the current rise in prices, including the electricity bills, isn't it about time that we enjoy the fruits of our labor without having to sweat too much?


Saturday, March 6, 2010

A Visit To PIFBEX 2010

We (my mom, aunt and me) were able to attend the Philippine International Food and Beverage Expo at the World Trade Center earlier today. We were surprised that unlike the other Food Expo's that we attended, this started out later in the day (11 a.m. to be exact).

There were a good number of exhibitors present but I was more interested in those that offered any form of cake decorating and baking supplies. I was a bit disappointed that there were only a handful of exhibitors that offered supplies for cake decorating and baking (and more on the equipment to boot).

There was one good thing that happened to me today though -- I was able to purchase a book entitled "The Cake Decorator's Motif Bible".  This was really a steal because it was being sold at PhP 645 but a 10% discount was also being offered hence I only paid PhP 580.  What's more, it is choc-full of ideas that any beginner or even expert at cake decorating will find fascinating and really helpful. Since I just started my homebaking business this will really be a big help. I can't wait to try out these designs as soon as possible.

In case you are interested in this book, the sales representative says that it is available in National Bookstore branches nationwide.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Kid Fights - Should We or Shouldn't We

Just this morning I allowed my 3-year-old son to go out and play with some of the kids from the neighborhood.  He's second to the youngest among the set and 1 of the 3 boys that comprise the entire set of kids from our block. Everybody was having a good time and I was happily dabbling in the kitchen with my mom when all of a sudden the air was filled with a loud cry from my son. Concerned as I was, I immediately went out to him only to be faced with his complaint of another boy who suddenly joined in their games and hit him without any reason.

I asked my mom to go out and talk with the kid's mom because I was too highly strung from my kid's tale that I might not be able to stop myself from babbling vehemently. My mom did go out and had a talk with the other kid's mom, reiterating all the while that her son was a lot older than my son. In the end, everything got sorted out. The "bully" was made to go home because of his actions and my son continued to play with the other kids for another hour or so before it was time for him to come home and have his lunch.

Ever since the incident happened I kept thinking about it and what I would have done had my mom not been there to intervene on my behalf. This is why I also kept thinking if it is proper for parents to intervene in kid fights or not.

At the end of the day I decided that had my son been much older to defend himself then maybe, just maybe, I would have allowed him to deal with the situation on his own. But I also remembered that he asked for my help. He came home crying, "Mommy, help me!" In this day and age where kids as young as my son tend to become independent, his asking for my help really tugged at my heart, which is why I made a decision that whatever happens I would always be there to help him out whenever he needs me.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

That Elated Feeling

I've finally received the invitation to join Filipina Home Bakers Online in the Multiply network.

Why should I feel elated? They readily help other home bakers like me who are just starting or have already started to build their home baking business. This is one arena where everybody helps everybody else. They believe in good karma, which is why they never hesitate to give out suggestions, ideas and advice to anybody who really needs it. You'd even see that they proudly advertise other home bakers as alternatives especially if they have a busy schedule. Rivalry is a word that doesn't exist in this organization.

A good example was when I received a thread regarding the Philippine Food Expo that is currently being held at the World Trade Center from March 4-6.  Normally, you would wonder if it really is worth the visit. Thanks to some early bird members, we were informed that it really is worth something to visit. Now I have something to look forward to this coming weekend.

I guess the question now is, can I really wait until this Saturday?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Home Business Without Too Much Capital Needed

With the rising costs and expenses, families often try to find ways to increase their income.  Here in the Philippines, Filipinos have a way of being entrepreneurs without having to spend too much.  Here are a few suggestions to help you get started without the need to spend too much capital and even looking out for a business space. You simply need to post a sign on your gate with regards to the items you are selling.

1. Ice candy - your freezer isn't full yet you can't afford to turn off the fridge because you do have more than a few perishables.  You can allot a mere 100-200 pesos for an entire batch.  Once the ice candies have solidified, put a few of these into a cooler or styrofoam container so you won't have to open the freezer every now and then.  These sell anywhere from 5 to 8 pesos depending on the ingredients you use.

2. Ice - the hot summer season will definitely make everybody want for cold drinks.  If you live in an area where most of the residents are renters, this is another good idea because there is a high probability that they do not have a fridge at home. You only have to shell out a few pesos for the ice plastic bags. Sold at 2.50 to 3 pesos each.

3. Baked goodies - if you love baking then you can turn that hobby into a business. You can even enlist the help of your friends to look for potential customers. Word of mouth is the best advertisement ever.

4. Halo-halo - low capital but high income. This is normally the best seller especially during the sumer months.

5. Barbecue - this is also a Pinoy favorite. The best time to sell these is after 5 pm, when people are beginning to arrive home from work -- this is when they only want to buy ready made food and eat it at home. A capital of 500 pesos would be more than enough to get you started on this one.

6. Fishball, squidball, kikiam, etc. - all brands taste the same, the selling factor here is the dipping sauce.  Try to find a recipe for a good dipping sauce. A 500-peso capital is good for this particular business.

Whichever type of business you do come up with for an additional income remember that the trick to keeping the business afloat is to strictly use the capital ONLY for the business (a "revolving capital" as others may call it) and nothing else. Start small and as your market increases then increase the volume of your production little by little.