Hello Blog!

Hello Blog! Its been awhile since I posted in my blog. Reasons? I can give you a thousand and one. First, I was busy playing "PLANT vs. ZOMBIES" game. I finished the game but was addicted to it for months. Been playing the Adventure mode 4 times, finished the mini games, playing the survival mode over and over again and been visiting my ZEN garden and grew my Tree of wisdom to 70 feet or more.

Second, I was busy with FACEBOOK. Reconnecting with Friends way back in Grade School to College and past colleagues. Also been playing games in FACEBOOK like Restaurant City, Cafe World, Hotel City and a lot more.

Third, been busy with WORK. I was sent to Japan last October for 10 days. I had a lot of paper works, documentations and presentations to finish upon arrival. Very hectic.

In summary, I just didn't have the time. Or I can say, I did not make any time to BLOG.

Well now, I'm back and I wanted to use the Christmas break to write my experiences, my speeches or just talk about anything under the sun. I was inspired with Nica, a Toastmaster friend, and Paolo Coello's blog that I have been following in Facebook.

Just glad to find my blog again!

SpongeBob Mood Badge

SpongeBob Mood Badge: "Put the SpongeBob Mood badge on your page."

Found this on a friend's FB profile.  It's cute and i love watching Spongebobsquarepants, so I adapted it as well.  Hahaha!  Glad to have another looong weekend!

Baby Gaga, Loca Mama!

This is my speech number 6 where I must show vocal varieties in delivering my speech.  Well I thought of sharing the times I have with my baby Trisha, her cute moves and antics that makes me love her more and more each day...

April 28, 2010

 

“Rah rah ah ah ah ah, Roma roma mamaa, Gah gah oh la la, Want your bad romance”, that song is one of the top hits of today’s popular hit maker Lady Gaga.  This is one of the songs that my baby and I fondly sing together in our playtime or bonding moments.  For tonight ladies and gentlemen, I will not be singing all of her popular hits.  I will be sharing with you my baby’s top 3 special abilities that make me go crazy.  Trisha’s special characteristics are having Super Baby Instincts, being a Baby Star and admirable Baby Love.

First the Baby Instincts.  There is what we call the Mother’s instincts, but Trisha has her baby instincts as well.  She knows the time I go home.  When I go home late from work and find her sleeping, she’ll open her eyes and ask for her milk.  Or when I lay down beside her, she’ll place her arms on my shoulder and kiss me on my cheeks.  When I go home early, she’ll be the one to open the door jumping and screaming “Yehey! ‘to na Mommy ko!”.  Then my mom will tell me that she’s been talking about me and waiting by the window 10 minutes before I arrive.  Imagine that.

Another, Baby Star because at a very young age, she loves to sing and dance.  With the creative genes she inherited from me, Trisha is a talented baby. Before I will just sing a part or Lady Gaga’s Poker Face song like this “Ma po-po-poker face, ma po-po-ker face…” then Trisha will continue it by singing “ma ma ma ma.”  Now, when we play, she will either tell me to sing for her an upbeat pop music then she’ll sing along with me and dance.  Sometimes she’ll tell me to clap my hands after she performs.  In addition to that, she knows the campaign jingles of the political candidates. Isn’t that amazing!

Lastly, her unconditional Baby Love, which I will elaborate more compared to the other 2 special abilities.  There was a time when I stayed overnight in a hotel for one of our Sales Events.  I told her beforehand that I won’t be home but will be back the following day.  The next day, I called her up to check on her, when she picked up the phone, she said to me “Gabe ka mommy, ket d k pa uwi.  Dala ka ubong ha!”  To translate what she said, she questioned why I did not go home but demanded for a treat or a gift when I get back.  Another incident, it was one early Saturday morning she woke up early and asked for her milk.  I just said yes but did not get up to make her one. She tried to wake me up but I only nodded asking for few minutes.  You know what she did?  She went up with a deep sigh, took her milk bottle and milk powder container from the table and handed them to me.  Of course, I smiled, laughed at myself and made her bottle of milk.  Last example, there are times when we argue.  I will get mad and start nagging her, she will cry, embrace me and say “Mommy, sorry po!”  She knows when I am mad and she immediately says sorry for it.  And I know that she loves me.

I shared by baby’s special abilities because I am glad to see these from her at an early age.  It’s true when they say that all the toxicity you had from work paves off when you get a kiss and a hug from an excited child waiting for you to come home.  She’s currently 2 years and 8 months of age and she expresses her feelings openly.  With her as an additional member of our family, there was never a lull moment and we never had a clean house with her toys filling up the rooms.  My message for all is to spend quality time with your loved ones.  No matter how busy your life is.  You work to live not live to work. 

To end my speech, let me share few lines of one of the songs we sing together “I love you baby, and if its quite alright, I need you baby, to warm my lonely night.  I love you baby, trust in me when I say…I need you baby don’t bring me down I pray I need you baby and now I found you stay and let me love you baby, let me love you…”  Good Evening.

 

 

 

The Traffic Sign

This is my 2nd speech entitled THE TRAFFIC SIGN, delivered last November 10, 2009. The Lenten break is really a good time to reflect and organize, that I am able to post the speeches I had from our Toastmasters...


A sign comes in different colors, shapes and sizes. A sign with symbols in round, square or triangular shape has their own meaning. For everybody’s appreciation, I will talk about a very common sign that we get to see in our day-to-day life, a sign that puts order on the roads we go through, and that is the Traffic Sign. I will not be a traffic officer or a reporter that will give points on how to avoid a terrible traffic. My speech for tonight will give you a different perspective for a traffic sign.
Let me start by envisioning yourself in a car you are to drive. You start your engine and travel to a certain destination. Upon reaching the main road out from your house, you came to an intersection together with the other vehicles trying to get on their way. There you see this traffic sign in a corner. Now, what colors do you see in a sign? There’s green, orange and red. These colors have their own meanings. In a traffic light, green means go, orange means pause and red means stop. Otherwise, without these traffic signs, the roads will be chaotic.
Let me correlate the importance of traffic signs to the ride of life we have. Most of the time, we would always want to be on the go, the green light. We are always rushing, trying to beat deadlines, grab opportunities, speak yourself up, be on the right track and be the first to reach your goal. We do not want to be interrupted with pauses, the orange light, because for us, we know this causes delay in what we are doing. Yet, we have to realize the importance of the other two signs, the orange and red light.
The orange light, means pause, yes it is a pause and not to speed up your car for the red light is about to appear. I used to do that from time to time. A pause is very important in our lives, for it gives us time to think. It is a way to re-align your goals to where you are really heading to. Orange light or a pause does not cause delay for it only gives us time to better decide on which path to go. An example is when you are confused before coming up with a decision. Try to take a break, a pause which the orange light reminds us, take a breather. This helps us to clear our mind and weigh the circumstances accordingly.
Finally, the red light which means to stop. Why do we have to stop? In a road, a stop gives way for others to go. For in an open intersection and all vehicles coming from opposite directions goes for the green light, all of them will definitely crash, paying for their lives. Same as in a relationship, you have to stop to give way for the other, and know when to stop if it is no longer right.
I hope this little sharing of my perspective gave you some things to ponder. We should always notice the signs around us to better appreciate and live the life we have. We may be going through our own hustles and bustles when we go for the green light but always remember when we have to pause for the orange light and when to stop for the red light.

BIGGEST LOOSER

Sharing with you my 5th speech for our Toastmasters session last March 17, 2010 entitled The Biggest Looser...

What do this sign mean to you? For kids, they’ll say it’s a gun. For politicians, they’ll say it’s a sign of Cory Aquino. For others, this is a sign of Looser, especially if they place it on top of their foreheads. Yes, I want to be a Looser, a looser in a way that I will no longer have flabby thighs, bulging belly, double chin and other problematic body parts. I want to loose weight. Why is this important to me? Because I love myself and I am vain of my looks. Being part of the sales team, it’s a must to be pleasant and presentable. Otherwise, clients will not entertain you and give you projects. Another reason is for me to fit in any clothes I wished to wear. And lastly, for healthy reasons, I don’t want to die due to fat related problems.

This has been a goal long time ago and ever since I did not loose weight. This frustration, made me decide to enroll myself to the gym last December 2008. They say that in few months time with the proper diet and exercise, you will definitely see results in 2 months. The first few months are okay because I have been diligent on my diet and exercise. But in the middle of the year, I missed my gym sessions and with the holidays approaching, I lost track of my diet.

To continue with this frustration, last week, the gym’s account manager called me and asked when am I going back? With my goal in mind to loose weight, I went back last Saturday and found out that I gained 7lbs from the first time I started going to the gym. From 127lbs I am now 135lbs. I am 5’2 in height and my ideal weight is only 110lbs. Imagine that I need to loose 25lbs. That’s a big number for me. Now, I am back to start and have not reached the finished line of the weight lost track.

I went back to the thread mill and jogged for 30 minutes. I used the machines carried the dumbbells. But the most difficult part here is the floor exercise, the crunches. For me, doing this will require a lot of will power and determination to have a 6 pack abs. So imagine me in the floor, taking a deep breath as you pull yourself up and exhale as you lie down. I have to do variations of crunches for 360 repetitions. After a stress busting work out, I felt quite different. I felt more energetic with my adrenalins at high but the following day, all my body muscles are aching, that I can hardly take a step. Despite of the body ache, I thought that this is a good sign because it means that my work out is taking effect. I went back the following day and the other day with my motivation in mind that I will succeed in loosing weight. I just have to make time for it even if you have a hectic schedule. I conditioned myself to be in the in the gym every Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tuesdays for the Hip Hop Aero dance, Thursdays for the Belly dancing, and Saturdays and Sundays for the machines. Of course diet is part of the routine, drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, a complete and nutritious meal with a lot of fruits and vegetables, small servings of meat and a cup of rice twice a day only. I also moderated my cravings for sweet foods, instead of having it after every meal I only have it once a day either breakfast or lunch.

With all these activities done, there is no doubt that I can be a biggest looser in due time. I agree with the saying “No Pain, No Gain!” and “No Guts, No Glory!” I really have to dedicate time, effort and the will power to achieve this. I have to be consistent, diligent and most of all determined to be totally fit. And hopefully someday, I will be one of the biggest looser around.

Food for the Thoughts

Food is the most primitive form comfort.  If you remember, we have 3 basic needs, food, clothing & shelter.  And the biggest need that we have is food.  My speech for tonight will not be about inspiring quotes, as the title goes Food for the Thoughts.  Instead, I will talk about one of my secrets to be happy in this fast phased environment that we live in, my comfort foods.  I am not a cook but I know what tastes good.  I can share with you all of my favorite foods but I only picked the top 3 munchies I usually crave for specially at times when I don’t feel good.  These are the times when I feel overworked, tired, emotionally high or simply about to have my monthly period.

To begin with, for my appetizer, I love to have Kuchay Dumplings.  Kuchay Dumplings is a foul flavorful food I tasted in Causeway, one of the Chinese restaurants that serve this kind of dimsum.  Kuchay in English is the Chinese Garlic chives.  It is similar to a grass with buds at the edge.  It is chopped and wrapped in a dimsum wrapper.  Most Chinese restaurants add pork balls and shrimp to make if tastier. What I like in Causeway’s Kuchay dumplings is its purely kutchay, no other ingredients, and since it’s a vegetable dish, I don’t worry for my diet.  I can eat 9-12 pieces in one meal.

For my Main Course, I go for a bowl of a steaming hot Goto paired with Pork & Tofu.  Others don’t like it because they only take Goto when they are sick. Congee is their Chinese version of Goto.  I like the savory smell of garlic bits, onion chives, Chicharon bits, ox tripe and the egg.  My Goto meal will not be complete without the pork and tofu.  The pork and tofu may be a simple dish since this is only fried but what makes it special is the mixture of condiments.  The sauce is made of suka, toyo, diced onions and a pinch of sugar.  This meal great specially when served hot and its raining.

Before I give my finale, I have seen this quote from a pastry shop in Mall of Asia.  And it says, Stressed when spelled backwards is Desserts.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I guess, whenever we are stressed and we get a delectable dessert, the high sugar intake from the chocolates and other ingredients triggers the happy hormones, making us hyper active.  For Desserts, I go for a slice of Torta delos Reyes cake from Aristocrat.    My friend and I will really go to any Aristocrat bakeshop just to have a taste of this cake.  It is a very rich chocolate-coated cake with the insides similar to a Silvanas and it melts in your mouth like M&M chocolates.  Whenever I have a bite of this cake, I really close my eyes and feel its rich and sweet taste.  For me, this is one of the best tasting cakes I had.

Well I hope I gave you delight with this simple sharing that I have with a few of my favorite things - The Kuchay Dumplings, Goto with Tokwa’t Baboy and Torta Delos Reyes.  It never fails me to feel better and go home with a smile in my face.  With that let me leave you a quote from The Barefoot  Contessa’s Cookbook, “Food is not about impressing people.  It’s about making them feel comfortable”.  Good Evening.