On F-1 Visa

Landed in America last August. Signed in for the fall semester at university. Not much time for blogging. Will catch up.

More Reasons I Love My Job

Another thing I love about my current job is that I always get invited to be a panelist in business presentations for college students. Some of my previous activities included an outdoor cooking contest during the business week. To help me sample about twelve competing groups, I dragged four more people from my team and we had a great hell of a time. Two weeks ago, I attended another business presentation of feasibility studies. It was tough, poring over a number of business plans, head-breaking even. But... there was coffee and food- how can I say no? And unexpectedly, I was handed an envelope full of professional fees. That, plus, a box of meatpie. :)  Can I... can I do this again? I wasn't finished eating my snack and another envelope was handed over to me. Happy, happy. 

(All that bonus money went to my daughter's bank account. I have enough clothes already. :)

Yesterday I was dragged again as a panelist to another presentation. Ah, the fulfilling rewards of it. Fulfilling, because I got rice cakes and one whole coconut for drinks. Slurrp! 

Current Mood, Current Wants

Contemplating on vanity products to use. Burt's Bees? The Body Shop? J/A/S/O/N stuff at Healthy Options?
Better yet, I might try some organic ingredients from my kitchen first. There's olive oil, lemon, oatmeal, eggs, cucumber, coconut... aren't these items mixed on beauty products?

Will Work For Croissants and Coffee*

 During the first months of my daughter's life until about she reached about one year of age, I've stayed at home 80% of the time. That was enough time to organize a household and finish a book. But I realized that I wanted to go back to work, especially when Julienne started walking around. Besides, research says that working moms tend to be more efficient. I have no idea how other moms juggle work and motherhood and being a wife, but as far as I am concerned, I always have three notebooks in my bag. That's a different angle here altogether. So after being a stay-home mom/ wife for more than a year (I left my full-time executive chef job work in 2009), I actually felt refreshed and more energized in this new career. I am new in this company owned by a New-York based bajillionaire, but I have already been enjoying more perks and travels than I expected.

 

 

Ordinary it may sound, but I just enjoyed being sent to those many business gatherings away from town. I love listening to new ideas by people who have been in the industry longer than myself. I prefer to listen, write down important notes, and think of things that I could do to my company when I get back.

  

And, of course. Here is the best part. The food.  Croissants, coffee. What makes business snacks so delicious anyway?

*Yes, I know I've said in an earlier post that I would no longer drink coffee... but... but that is just impossible.

 

 Business trip, all right. It is said that when there is a gathering of business people, we might as well do business. So, I backpacked with me a few copies of my book. For selling, what else? I marched away that day utterly happy. All books sold out.

Caked

Cake-making is part-cooking and part construction work. After you've gone through all that scaling, mixing, and baking and test-for-doneness stuff, you go to part two. The icing part. You whip stiff the eggwhites, pour the sugar syrup (if you're doing the boiled icing method) and beat it until it becomes satiny. Done with a hand-mixer, this process takes time.

Then you spread the icing on the cake - which reminds me of plastering a raw wall with cement. But, ugh... didn't I just say that cake-making is part construction work?

Things At Home

Some things. No idea where they came from.

Brass vases, ram horns, animal bones.

Games They Play

Before, there was the cockfight.

 Now, there's soccer.

I'm wondering if someday, soccer will replace basketball.

When A Hobby Pays Off

Something I learned during a recent business trip: when it's a business gathering, it must mean really doing business. I have been to a national entrepreneurship convention for the past few days. As any convention goes, there was a lot of talking, lots of ideas conceived, and the future looked so promising. But going there, I was bound for something else. I wanted to meet new people, learn something to drive my organization forward- and do business. I backpacked a few copies of my book. Who knew? What if I  got lucky? I would never have the slightest idea if my product would sell to strangers unless I gave it a try. If people believed in my product, so much the better. And if they don't, what is there to lose? Luckily, interested people came pouring in when I announced that there was an available culinary fiction in the room, for anyone interested in food, fairy tales, or simply in reading a love story. And they could get it at a very low price. 

I sold around sixteen copies that day. Not so bad for a three-hour selling :) 

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Writing for me started out just as a hobby. I never meant to be a professional writer. But writing got me into a college scholarship. And writing helped me keep my sanity intact during the most depressing events of life. I write because I love to. I may not be perfect at it, and people may not like or believe in what I write, but I always write from the heart. 

As for selling, well... I've experienced selling cupcakes, make-up, pili candy, yema, stories for reading, a few writing services, tried to open a gypsy booth in a college open house and was surprised to see people lining up outside it. Sold anything. Wrote anything. 

Hobbies are said to be expressions of inner passions, right? So when I was writing my very first book, even with a very tiny child, I had to work it. Not surprising if I dragged Julienne at the National Library when I applied for my copyright. I wanted to get a book done at least once in this little lifetime. 

Lining up at the cashier of the National Library. 

And of course, enjoy everything as I go. :) 

Lunch break. 

How To Live? Without Coffee?

I had been to the dentist last Saturday. While my gums are okay, there are some things that I must dismiss from my diet. I was sniffing mentally as I walked out the clinic- though at the same time rejoicing for having had the most wonderful dental treatment I've had in this life. I said I was sniffing in my mind because I had to cut down on my coffee intake. Because...













Number one, because coffee stains the teeth and lips.
Number two, because coffee tends to flush out calcium from the body.
Number three, in relation to number two, when I had my bone density scanned, I was advised to drink more milk than coffee.

What is going on? During my pregnancy I had to beg my doctor to please allow me to drink coffee at least when my daughter was twelve weeks in utero. The kindly doctor gave me a go signal when I said, I will die if I will not drink coffee...
Now, this. My teeth are showing signs of too much coffee consumption. I had to cut down.

No problem. Now I'm having a new love affair with green tea. So far, I've lost a few pounds since the tea-drinking habit kicked off. I might retain it. For good.

What Day Is It?

What I feel right now is like springing up from an afternoon of sleeping. Sleeping past lunch, waking up, jerking - panicking - losing that basic sense of time. What time is it? It was only... it was only a few hours ago that I had been moving around and about.
The past weeks and months had been full of activities. There were the holidays, and many traveling to and fro Manila for many weeks.  I just moved Julienne Roux from our apartment in the city, back to the house where I grew up. And because she moved, of course I had to follow suit. I changed jobs- from a fast-paced culinary career into a more low-key business teaching and business creation and development coaching for young entrepreneurs. The two are quite far-fetched, but previous experiences seemed to prepare me for that ordeal somehow.
Living in the province feels like the ideal life for me. Friends and former colleagues had been asking if I had any regrets, having established a house in the city, and having lived and studied and worked there for the last sixteen years. I said, no. No regrets at all. While I am not closing doors to what the future could possibly bring, I am enjoying the provincial life to the core. More blogs about that in the future.

Now, getting a grip back to the blogging life, there is a song singing in my head...

I don't remember what day it was
I don't remember what time it was 
All I know is that I fell in love with you 
And if all my dreams come true
I'll be spending time with you! 

I Love You More Today Than Yesterday 

-The Spiral Staircase