Friday, February 27, 2015

What Course Should You Take in College?

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As early as second year high school, I knew what profession I was going to be in--a seaman. I was excited about life at sea and traveling the world. But then, when I was in fourth year high school, I took a weird interest in Math (of all subjects). So I decided I'd be in the military--either in the navy or army scout rangers. So I prepared myself for the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

My mom, however, didn't like the idea of me being in the military--she knew my temper well and my inordinate love for guns--so she refused to let me go to Baguio. After a few months of deciding other alternative courses, I decided I was going to be an architect. I don't know what would've happened if I pursued my PMA dream--probably I'd be dead by now or I'd be a general of the army or a commander in the navy--but it's quite important that you pursue your dreams.

You should have 3 options. In case your first option isn't possible, you're ready with 2 more alternatives. A lot of times, many people didn't end up with their original dreams for themselves. Some managed to--they graduated in the course they dreamed of. Yet, a lot of them also ended up in jobs other than what they prepared for in college. You should be ready for these sudden eventualities in life so you'd avoid serious frustrations. What future career would you fit in?

If I had not trained myself to be intellectually and emotionally flexible, I would've suffered big frustrations in life. Early on, I've learned to adjust my life to the actual situations that happened. Sometimes you can fight them and maintain your original course. But most times you cannot. You just have to play along. I don't mean you compromise your principles--I never compromise my life principles and this isn't about it. What I mean is--lots of times you just assume the form your life is taking shape in. Be water, my friend, said Bruce Lee once.

Later, I learned that my surrender to what's naturally taking place in my life was really conforming to the will of God as it unfolded. Back then, I didn't realize that this was it. I just thought I was being "taken" to a route I often didn't like. At first, God put the desire to be a soldier in my heart, only to be redirected to Architecture. After 5 years of Architecture (and contracting building some structures), I found myself developing the love for writing and speaking in public.

I so hated pastoring. I never dreamed of being one. I even swore I'd never pastor any church. But then, one thing led to another and now I find myself "called" to pastor. Do you see what happened to me? I took BS Architecture so that now I'm a writer, blogger, and pastor. So, if you dream of being a writer or a pastor, take BS Architecture in college. :D

Here's my tip--make sure what course you enroll in is the course you really want. Have 3 options for this. But then, also prepare yourself for real life. Real life is unpredictable. Just because you finished the course you love with flying colors, doesn't necessarily mean it will be your future career. I know a guy who excelled in his electrical engineering course in a prestigious engineering university, passed the board exams for it so that he got a license--but is now heavily in the siomai restaurant business making great money in it.

I can enumerate a lot more similar situations. There's the medtech graduate who is now in a full-time library supervision job. And how about the guy who studied being chef but is now in the electronics business?

So, as you enter college, enroll with enthusiasm in the course you want and then prepare for real life ahead. If you want to somewhat see ahead what career would suit you well in the future, try taking this career test for FREE.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Why I'm Excited When Summer's Coming!

When February's halfway done, I get so, so excited because summer's coming! Summer's my favorite time of the year because of the adventures and mystery it brings. It's when I and my family are free to venture out to the countryside, find something different to do, and hear interesting stories of rustic mysteries.

Well, as early as this February, my dear wife and I already started our life adventure series when we went to Tagaytay with a couple who were my clients. We were treated to special lunch somewhere overlooking the Taal Lake (we missed finding out the name of the place, but their Kare-Kare and Bulalo were in generous servings and extra delicious as well), and to some delicacies at the new Good Shepherd site.

And even without any trip to the province, I still find summer exciting. Our neighborhood and the entire city, in fact, looks different in summer. Aside from being hotter so that people here often wipe off perspiration from their faces (that happens only in summer), and aside from Maynilad announcements of an impending water shortage (again, only in summer), summer paints the Project 8 afternoons with a unique shade of light jolly yellow (well, I think it's yellow, though you have to understand that I'm color blind), and the dusk lends a deeper touch of mystery in every nook and cranny.

My wife and I often schedule leisurely or brisk walks around the blocks either in the morning or afternoon, or both. Sometimes, the kids would join us and there are occasions when as a big group (including my nephews) we would roam around the plaza or streets as the night deepens and I would tell them stories of mysteries that shrouded certain places when I was a kid.

Another thing I love most is the season of Lent in Project 8 (or when we were out in the provinces), not because I'm religious, but because I love the quietude that envelopes the surroundings, with less people and vehicles in the streets--something that happened only in summer. I might do a lot of entries this blog this summer. I think a lot of excitement is on the way. So, see you..

I was Food Fest Judge Yesterday at Bresee Nazarene School

Yesterday, February 25, 2015, was Bresee Nazarene School Foundation cultural show, food fest, and awarding ceremony at the Parkway Village Clubhouse in Quezon City. They held a week long program of various special school activities and yesterday was the grande finale. I was invited over as a judge for their food fest which featured Philippine regional native food recipes. Mostly were Muslim dances and recipes, though. 

I was looking for Ilocano, Ifugao, Kapampangan and Tagalog recipes but all I found was Vigan Langgonisa. I was also hoping to watch Ifugao and Ilocano dances but didn't see any. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Grade 4  rendition of Mindanao Singkil where a princes,
aide, and a warrior danced amid crisscrossing bamboos.



My son also played had a lot of roles in the program. I actually thought he'd do an arnis-eskrima number--finally developing a taste for sticks martial arts--but then it turned out to be something completely different--stick dance. 

I thought it was an arnis-eskrima move, the one
my son always sees me doing. I was about to shout in excitement.
But then it was part of a cultural dance...
Look at him go!

He did some Tinikling, too!

The food fest was a different experience. I enjoyed my first tastes of Muslim chicken and other recipes plus unique gelatin presentations. I also enjoyed a lot of ref cakes with lots of mangoes!




There! So I guess that kinda signals the onset of summer this year! With BNS foundation over, all that remain are the NAT, March camping, Recognition Day, and Graduation Day. Then it'll be summer finally full swing!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Foods You Think are "Healthy" but are Really Killing You Softly

www.morenovalleydentalnews.com
Almost everything has antioxidants these days, so I won't be surprised if one day even our plastic combs would be antioxidant-rich with Vitamin C! They put some bits of moringa leaves into a product and it becomes "fortified with vitamins and minerals!"

Even products dangerous to your health (and could destroy your kidneys or give you diabetes) are promoted as "healthy" just because they put in a pinch of ascorbic acid and blew in some multivitamin powder. Then, they advertise on TV how your kids should have them each breakfast!

So, what foods flaunted around as "healthy" are really dangerous for you?

Microwave popcorn: These popcorns are sold in bags and all you have to do is place them in your microwave for a healthy fiber-rich snack. Well, they're actually also rich in carcinogenic chemicals, says a medical health article in Vital-C Blog magazine, and the artificial butter flavor also exposes you to harmful chemicals. So, why not just cook popcorn the traditional way or better yet, boil raw corn and eat it?

"Fresh" fruits and vegetables: Your eyes probably almost popped out of their sockets when you saw the next item here--fresh fruits and vegetables. Even those? Nope, especially those. Before I was exposed to marketing fertilizers and pesticides, I thought any fruit or vegetable was good, and being vegetarian was the safest way to go with health. But after learning how fruits and vegetables are often overly bombarded with chemical fertilizers and pesticides--and how even thorough washing and cooking didn't eliminate them--all my hopes and dreams were crushed.

But then, a flicker of hope remained. Nutrition scientists say washing fruits and vegetables with baking soda and water removed pesticides and other chemicals from them. There's something about baking soda that some guys got healed of even stage 4 cancer by just taking it regularly. Hmm.

Canned tomatoes: Didn't they say canned tomatoes were rich in lycopene which is good for the heart? Yeah, but canned tomatoes are also rich in chemicals like the Bisphenol A or BPA in cans that leeches over to the tomato juice, thanks to the acidic nature of tomatoes. It causes cancers and heart problems. So what's the point in getting lycopene from canned tomatoes? Nothing. Instead, just get raw tomatoes and boil them or cook them by steaming. Just top them on rice nearly cooked and you get plenty of lycopene.

Oh man. I just thank God for my Vital C non acidic Vitamin C supplement!

[More on "healthy" foods in a later article...]

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

2014 MMFF Made P854M: Why Filipinos Actually Have Lots of Money to Spare

www.davidbordwell.net
It's incredible. In just 11 days, the 2014 Metro Manila Film Fest made a whopping P854 M, just like that. And before that, the 2013 MMFF made no less than P934 M in 12 days! If 10 movie companies participated and had equal portions of the pie, that's P93, 400,000 each! Well, it took months to shoot the movies, of course, but we all know what qualities most of them have (most, not all). They never change. All they come up with is trash. But they make hundreds of millions, nonetheless.

The point is, Filipinos have money and they buy even trash with their hard-earned cash. Let's help them use money more wisely by providing them quality. This should signal health supplement marketers (those with quality products) to re-educate Pinoys on how to spend money on the right products--what they really need. They can do without trash movies but not without good health.

Pinoys are also not into investments. They do not know that even ordinary folks can now invest on the stock market. Or else, get a pension, life, educational, or retirement plan. Sun Life and Manulife are good ways to invest hard-earned cash instead of seeing nonsense movies.

Can you imagine the cost of being a showbiz fan? Aside from watching their movies during MMFF (these fans often watch 5 or all movies during an MMFF. If the cheapest is P250 and you watched 5 movies, that's an easy P1,250 down the drain!), you buy pictures of your movie idols--which is also so costly--plus give gifts to them during their birthdays. Then you attend their weekly TV programs and spend on that, too! And then you buy the regular issues of magazines about them.

And all the movie idols earn millions from that to build their mansions with and spend on their caprices and escapades--all from the heard-earned money of low-salaried ordinary people who later end up penniless if not wallowing in poverty. You think their showbiz idols would care one bit?

Filipinos actually have lots of money. In a sense we're poor, but not because we lack money but because we don't know what to do with it when we have it. Lack of wisdom, foresight and education--plus desperation and hopelessness--make us turn to the world of fantasy instead and see the fulfillment of our dreams in the roles and lives of our favorite movie idols.

Movie fans celebrate the successes of their movie idols but in the end they suffer the reality of bankruptcy alone. But that shouldn't be the case if only they put their money in the right places.

Marketers should realize their roles in re-educating the masses about where to put their money, especially those in the health, insurance, education, investment, and real estate businesses. By the way, if you're a marketer like I am, do you realize your first duty is to help your clients, not just make money from them?

Just imagine--with quality product and successful re-education of the masses, you help them realize their dreams and earn quite a bit, too, in the process. I believe re-educational products are the best products to sell them, second to health products. Short instructional books and e-books help, especially those who missed getting a college degree. They learn new things from a different approach and get a chance to succeed in life and pursue their dreams.

If you're desperate and have been frustrated in life a lot of times, movies can do you good, but make sure you put most of your money on an investment that can change your life.

Friday, February 13, 2015

How to Cook My Steamed Fish in Oil and Sauce: How About My Sauteed Aubergine?

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I like to cook and believe me I can cook a lot of delicious Pinoy food dishes like sinigang, adobo, mitsado, almon bigas, and tinola, to name a few--and of course, rice. But often, what I cook for lunch or dinner is my expertise--what I call steamed fish in oil and sauce--which sounds complicated but is actually a dish anyone can cook, even folks who hate cooking.

How? You simply open a can of Ligo sardines in oil and tomato sauce and put that on top of your stove. You may want to close the lead a little bit to make it steam. And there you have your steamed fish in oil and sauce. It's delicious but easy to cook and prepare (preparation is simply getting a can opener and open the lead--but wash it first with soap and water).

I like topping it with thinly sliced fresh onion rings and maybe put a teaspoon of soy. This is specially appetizing when you top it on steaming hot rice--steamed fish on steamed rice. Perfect, isn't it? And how do you steam rice? I do it simply--whisk enough water on rice leftovers from last night and put the pot they're in over the stove.

But my eldest son insists that, since he's learned to  appreciate simple living, he can live with steamed Ligo sardines daily as long as they are partnered with at least 3 thick pieces of grilled pork chops--plus Coke.

How do you make my steamed fish in oil and sauce really healthy? Try partnering it with my sauteed aubergine (the last word pronounced as o-be-gzine). Again, it just sounds complicated with a French term inserted in it, but it's actually nothing but sauteed eggplant. You boil the eggplant until it gets tender enough to easily peel and then saute it in chopped tomatoes and onions. Or just plain boil and peel off its skin.

Now, the real question is, where do you think I learned these recipes? From chefs or cooks? From my grandma or mom who were experts in culinary arts?

Nope--I learned them from carpenters who loved to bake..

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Do You Know How to Make an Effective Business Presentation?

The first time I did a sales presentation in 1992 it was more a blunder than a presentation. I attended a sales and marketing seminar sponsored by a big-time real estate company in Greenhills, but I guess it wasn't enough. So I practiced. I believed in the saying that practice makes perfect.

Then I applied as an advertising sales executive with a top outdoor advertising company. The manager asked me to do a sales presentation to him on the spot (I didn't see it coming) so I did my best to sell him real estate. I noticed that what he checked on was my product knowledge and how I closed the sale. He asked me questions in those areas and played hard to get during the closing.

But I did manage to close the sale. He bought! I mean, he hired me. "Okay, report on Monday! Congratulations!" he said.

What did I say during the closing? I simply said, "So, how would you want the payment, sir? Cash or check?" I guess he liked the aggressive but polite closing that I did. And that's how you should present your sales or business talk with a prospect--with finesse and politeness but aggressively. "But I'm not that kind of a person," You may say. Well, when you're in business, you have to change a bit to that direction. Or else, your business stays dormant.

Anyway, here's what should help you. This e-book, "How to Present Your Business to Prospects Effectively," helps you glide smoothly through the basics of business presentation, from opening the presentation, to handling questions and objections, to closing the sale. It's a must for beginners and those with little experience and want to achieve more in sales. It also deals with how to prepare yourself to meet a client and how to improve your image as a sales or business person.

You need the e-book if you are into sales, if you have a business, if you are into network marketing especially, or even if you're a teacher, a professional who needs to make talks, or a minister. To buy, choose the options below. If you opt for Paypal, you will be re-directed to my Expert Builder Blog where you find a link to download your PDF copy of the e-book.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Why I Can't Forget that Cavite Trip in 1993 [3]

indangbeauty.wordpress.com
"You see the church?" he asked pointing to the roof of the old Catholic church which was partly visible in the dark. "Old folks say there's a tunnel there built by priests to escape from the Japanese army."

Carlo confirmed it. "Yes, and in fact, I've seen the entry to the tunnel. Some of my friends told me they tried going down there and saw how it led to the river!"

I suggested we check it out, and Eddie said yes, one day when we re-visit Indang and have more free time.

Then Eddie and Carlo told me that sometimes, at 12 midnight, the ghost of a lady in all white appeared at the foot of the stairs of their ancestral home, right below the veranda. Eddie pointed to the exact spot. "They say the mysterious white lady is guarding a buried treasure at the foot of this stairs, buried there by the some folks in the 1600s," Eddie said.

Carlo agreed. "Grampa had been telling that story when I was a kid!"

After some more stories and laughter, we called it a day. We each occupied a room to sleep in. 

At around 12 midnight, I woke up feeling an urgent call of nature--I had to urinate asap! Again, the flapping sound came just outside my window as it did during our first trip in January, and Eddie was again snoring terribly. But I had to ignore it all. The flapping sound was probably a big bat, too. When I got out of bed, I felt the terrible cold breeze, more so when I got out to the sala and veranda. I paused there and stared at the dark recesses at the foot of the stairs where the white lady was supposed to appear at 12 midnight.

Then I went down--not caring about the white lady because my bladder was about to explode. As I urinated by a coconut tree, I kept looking back to the foot of the stairs. I felt as if the white lade was just behind me, waiting for me to turn around. But nothing happened. Zero. I tried to control my imagination, and claimed my relationship with Jesus Christ as a son of God. I prayed.

And I prayed especially when I was about to go up the stairs and pass by the foot of the stairs again. Will she appear and climb the stairs with me, making her hair fly and touch my face? But I claimed, "Greater is HE (Jesus) who is in me than he who is in the world!"

I went back to bed. Eddie was still snoring terribly. Everything was peaceful.

The next day, after breakfast, I asked permission to use the toilet in the master bedroom at the other side of the ancestral house. There, while seated on the throne, I discovered a stack of old Filipino comics and started reading. I love good old comics like that, reading about Ang Kambal (Ping at Pong), Max and Jess, Smaolbateribols, and the love stories and adventures also found there.

After about 3 comic booklets, I was done with the throne and went down to the kitchen to help Eddie cook our lunch--Nilagang Baka! After cooking and the rice, we proceeded to the property. We had some fresh sweet pineapple at the house of a farmer who would guide us though the property. He warned us about the huge and violent bees in most forests in Indang which stung trespassers and the sting could cause high fever. he also warned us of big snakes.

So, when we were in the forested property, I and Carlo carried knives (to protect ourselves from snakes) and sticks (to protect us from bees). Eddie had a stick and the farmer had a bolo and also a stick. The farmer led the team. As we went deeper into the forest (and our surroundings got a bit dark), the farmer pointed to where the beehives were and the holes in the ground where snakes possibly hid. Then we started measuring the property. Carlo and the farmer had to take the lead and take the tip of the line and measuring tape with them, while Eddie and I recorded the bearings and measurements. We even had to cross a small dried up river. Eddie's makeshift surveying instrument told us what direction to take to make out the shape of each lot that we subdivided.

After some hours, we finally finished everything and rested at a clearing in the middle of the forest. We were glad no bees or snakes showed up to go after us. Then Eddie fetched lunch while I, Carlo and the farmer waited at the clearing. Eddie heated the rice and Nilagang Baka and brought them all to the site using his old red Volkaswagen. We had a hearty lunch! The stewed beef was tasty and tender and the vegetables crunchy!

After some more rest, we left for the ancestral house. Later, a friend of Eddie's who passed by the property and the clearing where we had eaten lunch and rested said that right after we had left, two huge and deadly snakes passed through it and slept there!

The afternoon went by peacefully, with each of us doing what pleased us--and as usual, I preferred reading my books on mysteries and wrote on my diary (I still hadn't any blog then). We had a pleasant dinner and chats in the evening and early the next day, we left for Manila.

You see now why this trip is unforgettable to me? Can you guess what about it struck me the most? The white lady? The old church? The ancestral house? The forested property? The deadly bees and snakes? Eddie's Nilagang Baka? The pretty young girls in Indang?

Nope, none of the above. It was the old stack of comics while seated on the throne...

For more mystery stories in e-book form, visit my friend's MTrackers Blog through this link!

Why I Can't Forget that Cavite Trip in 1993 [2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indang,_Cavite
In February 1993, we were back to Indang, Cavite. This time we were armed with the makeshift surveying equipment Eddie, the engineer, made using a compass and chart of angles and degrees on an illustration board plus a long line and measuring tape in meters. We hoped it'd work and we were all excited to find out.

We left Project 8 early in the morning with Carlo, Eddie's nephew, and arrived there at almost lunch time. But we had stopped by barangay Talaba in Bacoor to buy some talaba (oysters) and tahong (shells). In the afternoon, we mixed some cement and sand to make our own mortar markers or muhon to mark boundaries with as we subdivide the property. Carlo and I did this the whole afternoon with Eddie as supervisor. Of course, with a lot of laughter.

About late in the afternoon, Eddie and I visited the community market where fresh fish and beef were sold, as well as a lot of farming implements, like bolos. I sampled some of the bolos and sickles and pondered about buying some. I love bladed things. Later, we bought choice beef and vegetables for our Nilagang Baka lunch for the next day. Eddie promised me the best Nilagang Baka I've ever tasted! We planned to have a picnic at the coconut plantation.

Then, for supper, we grilled the tahong and talaba. Being a February (and because Indang was near Tagaytay), the night was very cold and the grilled seafoods we were enjoying were just perfect--as well as the fire we grilled it on. We had lots of fun stories and laughter as the night deepened, and later at 9 pm, we decided to go up the veranda or lanai on the second floor to view the street vicinity. In Indang, at that time we were there, 9 pm looked like 12 midnight because the streets were dark, quiet and deserted. The silence was deafening, so we shared lots more stories and laughter to break the silence.

I thought the night was lovely, with plenty of stars in the sky!

Eddie and Carlo remembered the good old days when they had enjoyed leisure times at the veranda or balcony with old relatives, especially Eddie's parents--Carlo's grandparents. Carlo remembered how they would watch town parades from the veranda and how often he was picked to be among the participants in the Sagala or prosisyon (religious parade of the town's princes and princesses).

Then, suddenly, a huge bat flew overhead and swiftly glided past houses. "Is that a bat or a manananggal?" I asked, joking. "It seems as big as a human." Eddie and Carlo agreed. Later, the bat flew under a roof eave just a few meters from us and disappeared quickly. It was amazing how a giant bat like that could quickly disappear into a small hole in the roof's ceiling. That was when Eddie started telling us about the mystery of the old church in Indang...

[To be continued here]

To enjoy more mysteries in e-book forms, visit my friend's MTrackers Blog through this link!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

How to Make God's Promises Work for You

Face it--a lot of times God's promises don't seem to work for you when you claim it in prayer. Be honest--how many times have you prayed to God and got nothing from it? Compare that from how many times you got answered prayers. Can you honestly say it's 100-100, or 100 requests to 100 answered prayers?

Often, we justify our powerless prayers by saying God answers prayers in 3 ways:
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Later
Well, does he? How often do we get "no" and how often do we get "yes"? Most times we get "later" almost a hundred percent of the time--or we'd like to think so. We think the times God is silent with our prayers means we'd get the answer later. And later eventually becomes forgotten to oblivion. Are you comfortable with that? 

But if we go back to the bible, we see something different altogether. When Jesus prayed, he didn't get "no" or "later" for an answer. It was always a "yes" with him. And he got them right on the spot, too! The same with the apostles in Acts. Then Jesus told us, "Anyone who has faith in me will do the same things I'm doing, and greater things shall he do!" [John 14.12]. 

The tendency of our human theology is to justify our powerless faith (or lack of it) and say Jesus didn't mean that literally, or something to that effect. Or accuse radical faith that believes John 14.12 as being out of context, or else say that miracles are already obsolete in our modern world--and other garbage like that. We don't want to admit that there's something terribly wrong with our faith today.

But God's promises stay powerful and useful regardless of our modern times or how we interpret them. In fact, Paul said that all of God's promises are "yes" in Christ [2 Corinthians 1.20]. If I were you, I won't believe the "no" or "later" answers that are supposed to come from God. They're man's lame excuses for his powerless prayers. According to your faith it will be done to you.

God's promises can work for you today in powerful ways--if you know the relevant principles found in the bible and know how to apply them. The e-book, "When God's Promises Don't Seem to Work for You--Tips to Make Them Work," is a powerful material written by Expert Builder Ebooks (EBEB) to help you find your way back to New Testament faith--in fact, to bible-times faith. It discusses on why the modern church has powerless faith and what it should do to regain it's real spiritual stature in Christ Jesus--being able to make things happen on earth as it is in heaven through the power of God and His Word.

Then, it gives practical tips on how to make God's promises work for you!

To buy, pay through Paypal below. After paying, Paypal will immediately take you to the webpage where you click on the download link to get your PDF copy of the e-book right away!


11 Sites for Virtual Appointment Setter Jobs

What do you need to be a work-from-home (WFH) virtual appointment setter (VAS)? Nothing but imagination, guts and a doer spirit. High school...