LOL! WTF?

“The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach”, an overused line that caught the heart of many. The 16 years of successful marriage of my parents can prove it. My father, Leopoldo Sevillano, would like to share his experiences in cooking and how his passion helped him on what he had become right now.

How long have you been cooking?  

                I started cooking in 2008 for a small business I ran in Kamuning. It was my first time cooking and serving other people so it was a bit exciting yet heart-pounding not knowing whether customers would like it or not. Our business ended in 2010 due to some location problems. Because of my burning passion at cooking, my boss and I decided to put up a business. We first had a store at Claret School last 2011 and then branched out at Merriam College, now we also have a new put up store at Ateneo University.

Is it your choice or just merely a need?

                Yes, it’s my choice to do cooking as a business but partly because it is also a need. At first, it was just my sideline, for me to earn extra income but eventually I enjoyed it.

What brings you in this kind of career?

                Instinct? Experience? Instinct in a way that even though my line of work is different from cooking, there’s a part of me which pushes me to cook. There’s something that tells me I can succeed in this career. And since I have experience in cooking, I thought that I could use my passion as a business.

How does it feel when people patronize your dishes?

                Masaya, exciting, and encouraging at the same time. Especially kung binabalik-balikan, haha. Their smiling faces and satisfaction is a better reward (than the profits) for what I worked for.

What do you usually cook?

                Beef Salticao, Buttered Chicken, Chicken Fillet, Tapa and Pork Delight. Those were the dishes we usually serve at school canteens.

 What is your specialty?

                Beef salticao, it is our best seller. Gawa sa sariling timpla. It is strips of beef sauted with our secret ingredients. High school students usually order this and sometimes even if there’s no left, they look more.

What is your personal favourite?

                Crispy pata, sinigang, tinola, basta more on Filipino dishes.

So far, what is your most memorable experience in cooking?

                                Haha, should I really answer this? Well, it was the day when I caught the heart of my ever loving wife. I cooked her a Karekare which happened to be her favourite. Pumasa naman sa panlasa nya, so ayun!

What/who inspires you to cook?

                Of course my family. Sila naman yung dahilan kung bakit ako nagtatrabaho eh. So every dish I cook tastes good because it came from the heart. <3

For you, what is cooking?

                Personal enjoyment and fulfilment. J

One of the most trending jobs in the Philippines today is the Call Center Agency. Philippines still holds the first choice of BPO companies as their destination because of its less expensive work force as well as having highly skilled force in American-style language on top of that are above IT repair skills of the Filipinos.

I’ve known for so long that in the future I will meet some call center agents in my life but not myself! I was once a call center agent in SPI Global in Sampaloc Manila and Pasig City, my experience on the whole month was fun but very tiring yeah, that feeling was what we called “sabaw feeling” this days. Why? It is because Filipino time frame is extremely in contrast to the American time frame so it’s like morning in the Philippines but in USA it’s the night time. I joined in the American flower shop account named 1800flowers.com and then and there I experienced extreme happy and romantic customers but it is not new to this career to encounter also extremely stressful scenarios. My experience for me may have been too much but how much more to the call center agents who have been in this industry for a year or even more?

Meet  Melon, a call center agent in Teleperformance, she does not deny the fact that being in this field is sometimes stressful but what her company does is to innovate them to perform well in their job and that what makes her job more enjoyable than being “sabaw”. In her case, her maximum sleep is 5 hours in day time here in the Philippines but being a single mom for his 2 sons, her maximum sleep was a segmenting 3 hours. So, the company where she belongs held a raffle draw to excelling agents and there she won a trip to Boracay for 3 days inclusive of lodging, food and airfare plus Php 2,000 pocket money.

There she stayed in La Carmella Boracay and ate so many foods. She said that the food in Boracay doesn’t differ in Manila but in Boracay, seafood are less expensive.  She and her team had different adventurous activities like walking in the seabed of Boracay encountering different kinds of fishes wearing 25 kilos of helmet that made walking there possible. They also rode ac motors and sailed the stormy sea (literally stormy sea because on the time that they sailed in the middle of the sea, typhoon Julian cross the Visayas region affecting directly the Islands of Boracay) using banana boat.

After their adventure, they are back again in their zombie schedule, answering every phone call that their avaya (name of the phone they are using) receives. Back to real life, back to work, well at least they had the time to relax and forget all the stress that is caused not only by their callers but also the factors that contribute to it. What’a day with the zombies! Oooppps, I mean agents! :3 Thank you so much for letting me post your pictures in my blog Melon! Hope you are doing fine and good luck!



                                                                           -Jillian Patrixia Manlangit
                                                                                       BCR 3-1

                Stress reliever. That is how she describes travelling. Reina Ishikawa is a 19 years old half Filipina half Japanese, a 3^rd year student taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management from San Beda College of Recoletos. She was born in Japan, she also stayed and studied there before. She traveled in Japan many times. But staying here in the Philippines makes her happy and complete.

                When I said that I will ask her some questions about the most meaningful and beautiful place for her, I saw the excitement on her face and I’m surprised when she said that here in the Philippines is her most memorable place.

                I asked her a few questions about her travels and experience and both of us were excited doing this =)

What is the most beautiful place for you and why?

                You know what, I’ve been in many places not only in Japan but here in the Philippines. But the most beautiful and the one that catch my emotion were in Palawan. Going there was incredible, it was peaceful and for me I saw a different world. I am a typical teenager and a student but that time I feel that I am a different person. Specifically I went to Puerto Prinsesa for a tour in HRM Department.

What about the place?

                It was the best. Palawan Underground River was the best! Stress reliever, you will forget all the problems that you have, no words can express the place because it was amazing. I appreciate everything there, that time I said that it is so wonderful how our world was created.

                You will see there the different stalactite, it was unique, and there were Mama Mary figures, Jesus, mushrooms, the three kings and many for me to mention the different figures inside the underground river. Inside it was cold and fresh, we are all in the serious mode that time. It was funny because there were a lot of poops of bat =). It was dark inside, we only have flashlight and we’ve there for 40 minutes.

What about your travel? How was it?

                It’s only one to two hours from Manila, it was fun to be with my friends and classmates, it was memorable. 

Give some tips for those people who want to go for a travel

                Just enjoy it, live your problem in your house, do whatever you want, appreciate the place because maybe that will be your last chance to be there. If you’re just alone, it will be your chance to look for yourself because nobody knows you. Enjoy it =)

                A lot of thing you will learn in traveling, you will be aware in the world that you have and you will know different worlds aside from yours. It is important that you give yourself a break because each and of us deserves it. =)

Lea Galman Balmaceda

BCR3-1D

               

Dimasalang Park to Sumulong Park. In the time that the said park changes its name it is also the time where a lot of changes and progressions happened to our City. I grew up going to this place after church. Before, it was like any usual plaza but when the Antipolo became a city and Victory mall needs to build in that place, it also changed its name and its place.  It is actually easy to locate because it is only in front of three known place, Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Church, Victory Mall Antipolo and Municipal hall. It is not like any of the park that everybody knows, it is not that huge because in my own vision it was build in front of the church for people to find its relaxation after going to the peace place.

A lot of things to remember specially when I was in high school, after going to school, we always had a time to went there because it is also one of our way to our house.  You can stay there and eat because there’s a variety of food that you can choose beside of the park. If you also want to be relaxed, you can also have your massage where visually impaired people will serve you. It is pleasant to feel that you have your massage at the same time you have also the time to help those people.

There are months that people are so excited to go to Sumulong Park. Every Ber months the municipal of Antipolo do something to make the Sumulong Park more attractive. When the Christmas gets nearer, a lot of decorations like giant Christmas tree and giant gifts are there. They also put life size Santa Clause where a lot of tourists take their pictures. The whole month of May also, people go to the park to be involve or to watch different activities for the reason of SUMAKAH Festival. SUman MAngga, KAsoy at Hamaka Festival, it shows what makes Antipoleños be proud of their City. Every Sunday of May, a lot of performers are there to entertain the people.

Maybe it is not like other park that can you go around, but Sumulong Park made for the citizen of the Antipolo and for the other to remind the development and happiness of the said City.

Photos from Google

   LEA G. BALMACEDA
  BCR 3-1D

Food and shoes... these are only some of the notable things the city possesses. But what it is really known for is CLEANLINESS. Marikina differs to other cities in the Philippines, where cleanliness are maintained only to those places  most visited. I am able to say this because the city is awarded Hall of Fame as Greenest and Cleanest City in the Philippines. It is the only place in the Philippines where sidewalks are available even in its most isolated part, where people can actually walk hazard-free.

One proof of this cleanliness I'm talking about is the maintenance of the Marikina River, a place for lovers, tourists, gatherings and the like. During my elementary and highschool days, my  friends and I used to hang out in this place. The very ambiance of the CLEAN river is relaxing. No foul stenches, I must say.

This river park used to be a squatters area but with the extensive effort of then City Mayor Bayani Fernando, the depressed area became a haven for Marikeños and tourists.

   

Marikina River Park Walkbridge