Monday, September 29, 2008

Recipe: Sisig Ala Dom


Experiment lang ulit to pero turned out to be masarap naman, atleast for me.

Ingredients:

Pork Ears or head
Chicken Liver
Mayonnaise – about half a cup
Knorr Seasoning – about half a cup
Onion – 1 medium size
Garlic Powder
Pepper
Soy Sauce – 2 tablespoon
Eggs
Kalamansi
Chili – optional

Here’s how:

Wash the pig ears well. Alisin yung mga excess na balahibo. Tapos pakuluan sa tubig kasama yung garlic powder. Habang pinakukuluan yung pork prepare the rest of the ingredients. Chop the onion. Pag medyo malambot na yung pork, ilagay yung chicken liver tapos pakuluan ulit hanggang maluto.

Palamigin yung pork and liver. Pagkatapos hiwain yung pork into desired size. Hiniwa ko ng maliliit yung niluto ko. Tapos chop the chicken liver as well.

Ilagay sa cooking pan yung pork at hayaang mag mantika at lumutong ng konti. Pwedeng alisin yung excess oil. Tapos ilagay yung chicken liver, igisa lang din. Then put the onion and the rest of the ingredients, except the eggs & kalamansi and timplahan according to your taste.Lutuin hanggang mag evaporate yung liquid. After that, serve it sa sizzling plate or kung walang sizzling plate sa ordinary plate na lang tapos ilagay yung eggs sa ibabaw and kalamansi on the side.

Yey!Happy Eating. Masarap din na pulutan with beer!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Moymoy Palaboy and Roadfill!


Aliw talaga ko dito sa magkapatid na to.Iba talaga ang pinoy sa pagpapatawa!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Rejected Hallmark Cards


1. I always wanted to have someone to hold,
someone to love. And now that you've come into my life...

(Inside card) - I've changed my mind.

2. I must admit, you brought religion into my life...

(Inside card) - I never believed in Hell until I met you.

3. As the days go by, I think how lucky I am....

(Inside card) - That you're not here to ruin it for me .

4. Congratulations on your promotion. Before you go....

(Inside card) - Will you take the knife from my back? You'll probably need it again.

5. Happy Birthday! You look great for your age....

(Inside card) - Almost lifelike!

6. When we were together, you said you'd die for me...

(Inside card) - Now we've broken up, I think it's time to keep your promise.

7. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy....

(Inside card) - Did you ever find out who the father was?

8. You are such a good friend. If we were on a sinking ship and there was only one life jacket...

Inside card) - I'd miss you terribly and think of you often .

9. Your friends and I wanted to do something special for your birthday...

(Inside card) - So we're having you put to sleep.

10. Looking back over the years that we have been together, I can't help but wonder.....

(Inside card) - What the hell was I thinking

11. I'm so miserable without you...

(Inside card) - It's almost like you're still here.

12. Thank you for being part of my life.....

(Inside card) - I never knew what evil was until I met you!

13. Congratulations on your wedding day!...

(Inside card) - Too bad no one likes your husband.

14. How can I say this....

(Inside card) - Your cooking kills me

15. Hooray.....

(Inside card) - You're divorced.

16. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened...

(Inside card) - Especially since you survived.

1 7. Congrats on getting married...

(Inside card) - It's not everyday you decide to ruin your life.

18. Someday I hope to marry...

(Inside card) - Someone other than you.

19. We have been friends for a very long time...

(Inside card) - What do you say we stop?

20. Love means never having to say "I'm Sorry"...

(Inside card) - I'm sorry, I don't love you at all.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Cheers to Nanay Socorro!



Laking National Bookstore ako. One of my cousins work for NBS kaya nakakapag basa ako ng books ng libre. I thank Nanay for allowing us book lovers to enjoy what we like most-reading, at no cost. And did I say Powerbooks is awesome? Thanks Nanay, the world is a better place because of people like you! May the young generation continue to read and learn...
___________________________________________________________________

Socorro Ramos: Nanay, Super Tindera, and everyone’s minister of education

EMOTIONAL WEATHER REPORT

By Jessica Zafra Monday, September 22, 2008


Everybody calls her Nanay. Educators, writers, leaders of industry, the employees, suppliers, and clients of National Book Store, the readers of this paper, in which her column appears every week, and several generations of schoolchildren — the “laking-National” (raised on National). In seven decades of business, Socorro Cancio Ramos, founder and general manager of National Book Store, has won many awards and titles, but “Nanay” (Mother) is the one she likes best. In our matriarchal Filipino society it’s a term of endearment; in the highly competitive business environment it’s an honorific, or even an expression of surrender (Nanay!). It just fits.


At the NBS head office, I only have to say “Nanay” and I am immediately ushered into a small conference room lined with bookshelves. One of the managers asks me what I’d like to drink. It’s a large, bustling office with stacks of books everywhere, but it lacks the air of formal efficiency that most corporate headquarters aspire to. This one has a friendly, homey feel, kind of like a faculty lounge at a grade school: you half-expect small children to come running down the hallways. Books are crammed willy-nilly into the shelves — classics, best sellers, coloring books, art books, coffee-table books.


Five minutes later, Nanay slowly walks into the room with her arm in a sling. “Andito na pala siya, bakit hindi ako tinawag?” (Why didn’t someone call me earlier?) she gently admonishes her staff. Her granddaughter Trina Alindogan hands her a cup of hydrite — Nanay’s stomach has been acting up all day. Most people with a broken arm and a bum stomach would probably take the day off. Here we have a demonstration of one not-so-secret secret of her success: Nothing can stop her from going to work.


“It happened during the typhoon,” she sighs. “I was inspecting the warehouse when I slipped and fell.” Her arm was broken in two places. Doctors said they could surgically repair the bone, but it would take a maximum of two hours to operate, and require nine screws in her arm. She declined; she has better things to do, and the arm will heal in time. For now she signs documents with her other hand. “Pakialamera kasi!” (That’s what happens to busybodies!) she laughs. “Habit na, eh. Pag hindi ko nakita ang bodega, para akong nawawala.” (When I don’t visit the warehouse, I feel lost.)


She nods at her assistant, who presents me with three books the size of coffee tables: a thesaurus, a 2008 almanac, and a Bible Atlas. I am silently skipping with glee. “Ano ba yan?” She indicates the Bible Atlas. “Hindi ko maintindihan, tiningnan ko lang yung pictures.” (I don’t understand it; I only looked at the pictures.) Either Nanay is psychic or somebody did her research, because how could she know that at age 10, my hobbies were reading the Old Testament for accounts of wars and apocalypses, and memorizing the capitals of countries?
Which brings us to another of Nanay’s winning secrets: She makes you feel important. She’s down-to-earth and genuinely curious about people and their interests. And anyone who assumes from her ingenuous air that she’s a softie is in for a tough time. Socorro Ramos is legendary for her skills as a negotiator; she has made captains of industry squeal like little girls. Let’s not forget that the woman built National Book Store from scratch, beginning just before World War II. Today National is the undisputed market leader, with 103 branches all over the country.


Put it another way: There were other bookstores while I was growing up, but today National is the one left standing. By default, we are all “laking-National.” A former competitor, Lory Tan of Bookmark, notes: “Mrs. Ramos is a master of loss-leader pricing, and knew that if you have the scale, you should use it in every way possible — whether it meant obtaining better discounts from publishing houses, more favorable terms of payment, or pricing down (even at a loss) to neutralize competition and eventually gain market dominance for a new book line.”


Or, as Nanay herself puts it: “Magaling lang akong tumawad.” (I’m just good at haggling.) Incidentally, she has been to every one of their 103 branches. Recently she visited the newest store in Marikina, and spoke to the manager about displaying books on tables to make them more appetizing.


I ask her if she’d ever imagined that the five-square-meter stall she opened in Escolta in 1939 would become this retail giant. She shakes her head. “Mapaaral ko lang ang mga anak ko, at kumain kami ng tatlong beses isang araw, tama na. Noong Japanese time, mabuhay ka lang, okay na.” (It was enough that I could send my children to school and we could have three meals a day. During the war, it was enough to just survive.)
Two years after she opened her little bookshop, World War II broke out in the Pacific and the Japanese invaded the Philippines. All books had to be submitted to Japanese censors, who cut out any mention of America. All their stocks were mutilated. “What will we sell?”


Socorro asked her husband, Jose. The answer: Anything and everything the customers needed. They sold candy, school supplies, cigarettes. She found a maker of tsinelas (rubber slippers), bought six pairs, discovered that the Japanese wanted tsinelas, and was soon selling hundreds of pairs. National Book Store might very well have been National Tsinelas.


She found a supplier of Easterbrook fountain pens and went from door to door in the Japanese bazaars to sell them. She got yelled at a couple of times and burst into tears, but eventually made a sale. “Tell me what you need,” she told her client. He ordered 3,000 reams of typewriting paper for the Japanese military. “Hindi ako nagpahalatang di ko kaya!” (I didn’t let on that I couldn’t handle the order!) she gleefully recalls. Somehow, in the middle of a war and all its restrictions, she found the 3,000 reams of paper. Gas was strictly rationed, so she delivered the stock by karetela (horse-drawn cart).


So we have another cornerstone of Nanay’s business philosophy: Find out exactly what your customers need, and sell it to them. Know your market inside and out. Do your research.


In 1944, the young businesswoman gave birth prematurely to her twin sons, Alfredo and Benjamin. Socorro and Jose were riding home in a karetela when the horse backed up into a creek. The other passengers jumped out, but the pregnant Socorro couldn’t. Jose held on to her, letting go of the basket of “Mickey Mouse” money (hyper-inflated Japanese Occupation currency) they had earned that day. Fortunately neither of them was hurt, and the basket of money was recovered from under the horse’s belly. Soon afterwards Socorro went into labor and was taken to the Philippine General Hospital. “The hospital was full, but they found room for me in the eclampsia room,” Nanay remembers.


The twins, born at seven months, weighed 3.2 pounds each and their chances of survival were slight. She breastfed them and they gradually achieved normal weight. “We had six chickens that we raised in our window box, and the eggs that they laid fed the boys,” Nanay says.


When the Liberation began, she kept a bag of emergency supplies ready in case they had to evacuate. The bag contained baby clothes, a mosquito net, some expired antibiotics, and three cans of expired baby formula.
Just before the Americans returned to the Philippines, one of her clients unloaded an entire warehouse of whiskey. “I knew that when the Americans arrived, they would want whiskey,” she says. She couldn’t afford her client’s asking price, but he didn’t want to lose his stocks to looters. So Nanay ended up with a whole lot of whiskey, which she stored in her mother’s house. During the Liberation, Escolta was destroyed by bombs and fire. Her little bookshop and its stocks were razed to the ground, but her mother’s house was safe.


Jose and Socorro sold the whiskey in a barong-barong (shack) on the corner of Soler and Avenida. The merchandise was laid out on a ping-pong table that also served as a door every night. The American soldiers paid in dollars.That whiskey kept the Ramoses’ business going until the couple could rebuild their bookstore.
The Nanay book of business says: Be alert to opportunity, and grab it.


After the war, National Book Store reopened in a small rented space in Avenue Theatre. In Super Salesgirl, Nick Joaquin’s short biography of Socorro Ramos, he writes that “National opened in time for the first postwar school year: one of the few places in ruined Manila where you could get textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, pencils, and so forth.”


“Then Typhoon Gene struck in 1948, ripped off the roof of our store, and ruined all our stocks,” Nanay says. “We were back to zero.” The Ramoses had to start all over again. Their stratagem for dealing with adversity: Work harder. They slept just three hours a day, and spent all their waking hours at the store.
Nanay’s business rulebook says: Don’t let anything get you down. Work, work, work.


In 1955 they acquired a prime piece of property on Soler Street, the future site of their nine-story building. The bookstore was doing well, thanks to Nanay’s brilliant idea: they started producing greeting cards and postcards with Philippine views. By then, their youngest child, Cecilia, had been born and the twins were enrolled at the Ateneo. “As I tutored my boys, they would often correct my pronunciation and were eventually teaching me many things I did not know. So I felt we were all attending the Ateneo together,” Nanay said when she accepted her honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the Ateneo de Manila in 2006.
National Book Store expanded steadily from the 1970s onwards. We all know the rest — who doesn’t have that red-and-white plastic bag in the house? (Incidentally, National now encourages shoppers to carry their reusable cloth bags instead of plastic.)


“Mrs. Ramos is the perfect entrepreneur — hands-on, steadily focused on the business, always alert for opportunities, unfailingly sensitive to market needs,” writes banker, former Minister of Education, and former chair of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, Jaime Laya. “She is conservative, opting for slow and steady expansion financed by earnings reinvestment. This allowed her to manage the company personally while her children were growing up. As soon as the children were able to play a greater role, then National began opening more branches, adding to its product line.”


Nanay’s achievements as an entrepreneur have been recognized by institutions such as the Ateneo and SGV & Co, which named her Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. The award is “bestowed to an individual that best embodies entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, strategic direction, community/global impact, innovation, and personal integrity/influence.” The honorary degree was given by the Ateneo “in recognition of her outstanding contribution to building literacy among the Filipinos and her total commitment to helping make education affordable, especially to those who have little in life.”


“I was born to a poor family and only completed high school,” Nanay said in her brief acceptance speech. “Unable to attend college, I only had one dream in my life, an impossible dream, to finish school and get my degree.” Although she succeeded in business without the benefit of a college degree, she always stresses the importance of education. “I want Filipinos to remember that National Book Store has always been there and will always be there to provide them books and supplies at low prices,” she told Laya. “I understand their plight and know how difficult it can be because once upon a time, I was in their shoes. Books are sources of wisdom, knowledge and truth and should be priced so that persons with average and below-average income s can afford to buy.


“Gusto kong makasilbi sa mga estudyante (I want to serve the students),” she says. She remembers attending Soler Elementary School, then Arellano High School, with no baon, no money for snacks or school supplies. To save up for notebooks, she would work in a factory every summer, where she earned 50 centavos a day. “At the time, a kilo of pork cost 45 centavos, so you could actually feed a small family on that.” There isn’t a smidgen of bitterness or regret when she talks about the difficult times she and her husband (he died in 1992) went through — the scrimping, saving, and hard labor. On the contrary, she looks back with fondness on those tough times.


“The advantage of starting small,” she declares, “is that you know all the problems that can arise. You can deal with them one by one.”


I suspect that she looks forward to facing the little day-to-day crises and solving them. Beneath the child-like curiosity and sense of wonder is a steely businesswoman, a tough negotiator, a survivor. Nanay has worked every day of her life since she was five. You think she’ll let up just because the going is great?

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Happy Dad's Birthday!

The greatest gift I ever had
Came from God; I call him Dad!
~Author Unknown


Happy Birthday Dad!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Chef, someday!

Malapit ko ng I launch ang career ko bilang chef. Huwaaat? Kamusta naman yun? Bawal kumontra kasi libreng mangarap.

Wala akong formal cooking training albeit I’d love to have one in the near future. I need a scholarship grant from Heny Sison. Self learned lang ako minsan by experimenting. Mostly, I learned from mom. Minsan recipes ng mga kaibigan na binigyan ko ng twists. Mahilig talaga akong mag experimento kaya I’m sure magiging magaling akong scientist kung pipiliin kong maging scientist.Hehe.Another alternative career.

Anyway, marami na rin akong natanggap na good reviews sa mga niluto ko. Syempre ang avid na taga tikim is my brother Leroy. He liked quite a few of my recipes that he even bring some to his office pag may tira. Tas after office tinatanong nya ako kung saan ko nakuha yung recipe dahil gusto daw ng officemate nya or his girlfriend yung recipe. Sagot ko lagi secret kahit wala pang 5 minuto ang nakakalipas sasabihin ko na rin.

Yung iba mas nakakatawa, gusto nilang maki share sa akin para mag catering business daw kami. Ganun na ba ako kasarap magluto? Hindi siguro, I still need to learn a lot. Dami ko pa rin palpak na recipe na dapat tumama.

Nag experiment ulit ako the other night by cooking sisig. First attempt ko to cook sisig (recipe to follow). Masarap naman. Nagustuhan ko din. Cairo, my son also liked it. Mom and Dad also tasted it good kahit medyo hindi para sa kanila yung recipe na yun since ma cholesterol because of the fats.

Leroy brought the tira as usual to his office. One of his officemates liked it so much that she asked if I can cook it once more, she’ll pay me. I laughed really hard and kidded Leroy “Hindi masyadong patay gutom yung mga officemates mo no? Lahat na lang ng luto ko gusto nila.”. The officemate even asked for my number, wala pang tumatawag until now.Hehehe, expecting.

The conversation went on.

Me: Sabihin mo 500 per order ng sisig.
Leroy: Overpricing, grabe ka naman.
Me: Ganun talaga. Effort pa lang hindi na nya mababayaran. Mas mahal kaya if they hire me to cook. Php 1,000 per hour ako.
Leroy: Hahaha.Gago!

But seriously, naisip ko kung mag aral kaya ako to be professional since nandun naman yung desire and strong passion for cooking. I just don’t cook. I love cooking as much as I love my son.

Bakit kasi walang Culinary Arts sa UP. Sana yun na lang kinuha ko kung meron kesa nagpakahirap ako pag aralan yung mga Math and ES subjects na yun.

Sana nga magkatotoo. Pero for the mean time, as non professional cook, mag accept siguro ako occasionally ng mga orders lalo na malapit na mag holiday season. Order kayo, mura lang presyong kaibigan. Made to order lang. Delivery charges not included. My specialties include Carbonara, Traditional Spaghetti with a twist, Hickory Barbequed Spareribs, Hot Chicken Salad, Sisig, Twice Dipped Buttermilk Chicken with Mayo Garlic Dip, Coffee Jelly and a lot more.

Hehehe. Dream on.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Its 100 days to go before Christmas!


Prepare to meet Santa Claus....

Planuhin na ang mga gifts, include mine please...

Noche Buena

Caroling

Simbang Gabi

Puto bumbong at bibingka, yum!

Aginaldo, for both receiver and giver


and make sure to thank Jesus Christ, it's His special day afterall.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Body Talk


A pretty fun and fascinating collection of body trivia.
This collection of human body facts will leave you wondering why we were designed the way we were. Got this as a forwarded mail from one of the witty professors I know in UP.


1. Scientists say the higher your I.Q., the more you dream.
2. The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.
3. You use 200 muscles to take one step.
4. The average woman is 5 inches shorter than the average man.
5. Your big toes have two bones each while the rest have three.
6. A pair of human feet contains 250,000 sweat glands.
7. A full bladder is roughly the size of a softball.
8. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades.
9. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica.
10. It takes the food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
11. The average human dream lasts 23 seconds.
12. Men without hair on their chests are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair.
13. At the moment of conception, you spent about half an hour as a single cell.
14. There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.
15. Your body gives off enough heat in 3020 minutes to bring half a gallon of water to a boil.
16. The enamel in your teeth is the hardest substance in your body.
17. Your teeth start growing 6 months before you are born.
18. When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate, and they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate.
19. Your thumb is the same length of your nose.
20. At this very moment I know full well you are putting this last fact to the test...

Now remove your thumb from your nose and pass this on to the friends you think might be interested in comparing their thumbs to their noses as well!

(Or don't, I don't push people to forward emails, but you totally measured your thumb next to your nose!!!! Don't deny it!)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

ako nAPO muna


On September 20, the APO Hiking Society will be onstage at the Araneta Coliseum to celebrate 39 years of friendship and music.



You can get your tickets at Ticket.net at all SM stores (phone no. 911-5555), You can also call 426-5301 or 426-0103 for more details or visit http://apohikingsociety.org.

Monday, September 8, 2008

UP Pep Squad declared 2008 UAAP champions


Panis na panis na naman! Mabuhay ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas!

________________________________________________________

QUEZON CITY, Philippines -- The University of the Philippines Pep Squad was declared champions in the 2008 UAAP Cheerdance competition Sunday afternoon at the Araneta Coliseum.

The UP Pep Squad bagged P195,000 and Samsung MP3 players, while the UST Salinggawi dance troupe came after them with P120,000 and the Far Eastern University cheering squad went home with P80,000.

An audience of more than 20,000 cheered for their universities at the Araneta Coliseum.

Source:
Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Oktoberfest na!!!!!


San Miguel Oktoberfest
Raise your mugs this is the best
Tara na mag party na
Oktoberfest na


San Miguel Oktoberfest
Grab a beer and join the rest
Sali na mag fiesta ka
Oktoberfest na

Drink Moderately!





Yep, it’s San Miguel Oktoberfest once more, yun nga lang mas pina aga at mas pinasaya! Imagine 120 days of beerfest which started last September 5 and will end on December 5. Ansaya nito. Pinas will go crazy once again for 120 days.

I can imagine the hang over and the stuffs associated with drinking but anyway, who cares. Its time to party hard(er). So bring those yummy pulutan and raise your mugs!!!!

This is what we call drunkard moment!

Thanks to my ever loyal drinking buddies, the lasalista boys and 5(minus one) for life!

Potek! Beeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!



Checkout other details from the net: http://www.pep.ph/guide/2519/Third-Eye-Blind-graces-3-month-long-Oktoberfest-2008


San Miguel Oktoberfest
Raise your mugs this is the best
Todo buhos ang saya, Oktoberfest na….
(repeat 120 times or till you’re absolutely drunk!)




PS: Pustahan may maiinnggit dyan kasi wala sila sa Pinas! Belat!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Puyat


Di ako nakatulog kagabi.

Nahiga ako mga 12 MN na, mga 3 AM na ata ako nakatulog. Ewan ko kung bakit.

Pero sabi nila pag hindi ka daw makatulog, may nag iisip sa iyo.

Hmmmmmm…

Sino kaya yun? At bakit nya ako iniisip (assuming may nag iisip nga, hehehe)

Feeling ko si UP instructor.Hahahaha.Pantasya!

Ang sakit ng mata ko at yung katawan ko hinihila ng kama.

Ang hirap mapuyat!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Supalpal 101


Nasupalpal ako ng former love of my life way back UP days. There were two actually. She's the instructor.


I e-mailed group of friends including her to inform them of my balik bayan. I wasn't expecting a reply from her because I know she's busy but I still hope.


She did reply, only to make supalpal me.I kinda hope to meet her again to catch up on things about her. Friends lang. Baka strict pa rin parents nya e.Hehehe.



Here's my mail:


Hi Guys,

I'd be finally home on (date of arrival).

Alam ko miss na miss nyo na ko. So this is it! Hehehe

Para sa mga gusto ako ma meet. Drop me a message.

Pag walang booking sorry na lang. I'd be on a tight schedule. Unless ikaw yung love of my life ko way back college days.Hahaha.Potek!

Hanggang (date of departure) lang ako sa Pinas.

See you soon!


Her reply:


wow, that's great. hope ako ang love of your life, hehehe. im getting m------ this november.


Love hurts! Ouch!

Ber Months na!


Wow! Ber months na. Ang bilis ng panahon. Parang kelan lang nag celebrate ako ng 29th bday ko. Mag 30 na pala ako.Yikes!

Since “ber” months na let me be the first to greet you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance.

I always anticipate this season. Dami kasing significant events na nangyayari within the “ber months”.

Birthdays, weddings and lots of get together.

Basta it’ll be fun.

Be with me and be my guest.