I was very shocked to read of the breaking news in the Philippines for inquirer.net. Marky Cielo is dead! I was never surprised nor did i react to any celebrity’s death except for him and Rico Yan. For me, I see Marky as a really promising actor and he’s really very talented, handsome, smart, and most of all kind and down-to-earth. Its such a big loss for the Philippine showbiz industry to lose someone like him. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. No official release yet of the cause of his death though it could have been something like that of Rico Yan’s. They both died in their sleep. They’re both young and promising actors. I’m just really sad to hear this bad news. Let’s all pray for him and his family. I know God has a reason for taking him this early. I hope he’ll be happy whereever he is. For more details on thew news, read on here.
This afternoon we went to Alta to ski. They have this promo of Ski for free after 3. However we arrived there already by 4pm and after some discussion and preparation we only had 1 hour left then to ski. Well, at least we had the chance to ski and take some pictures. Its my first time so i was really nervous and always falling down but it was fun though a lil scary since it my first time. Maybe next time i’ll ski better, hehe. Then we had dinner at Jumbo Buffet. Its a chiness restaurant and i was so glad to see lots of crab and shrimps. dishes I’ve been craving for them for 3 weeks now. Some of the food taste bad, really. But some are okay. I only enjoyed eating the spider crab arms but hey, i did ate a lot. haha. Somehow, i missed eating the crab in the Philippines and the shrimps there. They taste better, honestly, in my opinion.
yup, i’m still feeling homesick. maybe because i really miss our food at home ( cooked by my grandparents) and i miss being with the people i love. I love hugging and kissing and saying “i love you” to these people and now i’m here all i can do is say it to them, no more hugs and kissed. I’m thousand miles away and no matter how much i want to come home to them, i just can’t. I can be independent coz i experienced it for 2 years but its different here coz before every weekend or every other weekend i could go home to my family. but here, its quite impossible to that. im here, trying to be independent again, feeling homesick, trying to live each day with officemates on an onshore assignment here like me and other people too in the office here. its nice to be in the US but its better if i’m with my loved ones.
Last friday, we celebrated a Moon Cake Festival at the office, courtesy of the Filipino-Chinese employees in our department. It started off with a free light dinner at around 5:30pm. There’s pork barbeque, lumpiang shanghai, pork siomai, pichi-pichi, pansit malabon, and pansit puti. By 6:15 the dice game started and i’m on table 12. Well, i’m pretty much lucky because from the first turn that i had, i always won a prize from the 4th, 5th, and 6th group consisting of food/snacks. I had a bottle of C2 apple, a box of chocolate mallows, a box of tiny chocolates, 2 gummy worms, a company ballpen, and a box of hello panda. Too bad i wasn’t that lucky enough to win prizes from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd group consisting of gadgets and appliances, hehe. But anyway, at least i enjoyed the night and went home with someone rather than nothing 
Here’s some tidbits about Moon Cakes and the Moon Cake Festival:
Mooncakes are Chinese pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm thick. A thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste is surrounded by a relatively thin (2-3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. Mooncakes are rich, heavy, and dense compared with most Western cakes and pastries. They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiu Jie, is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people and Vietnamese people (even though they celebrate it differently), dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China’s Shang Dynasty. It was first called Zhongqiu Jie (literally “Mid-Autumn Festival”) in the Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around mid or late September in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumn and spring Equinoxes of the solar calendar. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.
The Moon Cake Festival also is a time for friends and family to get together, enjoy sumptuous meals and play the MoonCake Dice Game. All the game requires are six dice and a china bowl. Just throw the dice into the bowl – and the different combination you get stand for different ranks of awards you will win. The game has six ranks of awards, which are named as the winners in ancient imperial examinations, and has 63 different sized mooncakes as prizes. But due to practical reasons, most Chinoys use toys, household items, school supplies, chocolates, chips or money as prizes. The magic number in this game is the number 4 “the red four”. It is believed that the winner will be very lucky in the coming year.
*the prizes i won..
Pharmanex is a company that offers health products from vitamins, food supplements to lotions, body scrubs, etc. They are famously known with their NU Skin line (NuSkin). Basically, its a company that markets itself through networking either thru finding someone that will actively sell their products or just recruit and recruit people under them.
Personally, i have tried some of their products before and i think they’re pretty much okay except that the price is kinda high. As for the company itself, i could say they are just like all other networking companies where you will attend a seminar with a very impressive speaker and a believable presentation. And when you sign up, its either you will sell the product or you’ll recruit people under you to join.
So what makes Pharmanex/Nu Skin different? With all honesty, I am pretty much aware of such companies since i was in elementary if i remember it correctly. My father and my aunts/uncles have been involved in many different networking companies and as a kid tagging along, i’ve learned some lessons in this business and i became familiar with the process – from recruiting up to the seminars conducted. So to say, they’re all just the same. So what i notice that makes Pharmanex/NU skin is the way they recruit people which i now call “false marketing strategy”. At first, i thought it was just the person who first invited me to the seminar who had this fooling tactic. But i lately, i learned it has become the tactic of most members.
It all started early last year when i received a phone call from a girl who told me that i was referred by Berna (who happened to be someone i met at the office). She asked if i am interested in trying the job opportunity she’s offering. She said she’s from a company (i forgot the name) and told me they needed 2-3 people to fill in the slots. Then thinking it was something to try just for the sake of trying, i agreed and she told me to meet her at 26F Trafalgar Tower in Makati and bring my resume. I went and was shocked to find out i have been fooled. It was actually a seminar for Pharmanex/Nu Skin. I was really mad at her that time and i wanted to tell her how mad i am and i didn’t like it that she tricked me. But since i have tried the products already and i’m already there, i sat down and just listened. Besides, i have nothing to lose. But then i realized i am listening to the very same type of seminar my father and aunts/uncle went to before. The speaker sounds very promising and fun – well they’re all like that anyway. But in the end, they never convinced me. Besides, i’m not into selling especially those type of expensive products and i’m not into recruiting people either.
Anyway, i brought up this topic so that it can help anyone who might be searching about it too. I have been a victim of false marketing, recruitment strategy or misrepresentation of jobs. Yesterday, a close friend of mine was fooled into attending them. He invited me to come with him for business project a friend of his invited him to. But since i’m not available, i wasn’t able to come. Then early this day, i realized that the trafalgar tower sounds familiar to me. So i googled it and there i found out that its the office of Pharmanex/Nu Skin. And worse, i found out many has been victimized by false marketing strategies or misrepresentation in jobs. I realized it wasn’t just the tactic of the girl who first invited me but it seems to be a common tactic of the company members.
Honestly, i don’t have anything against the company and the products and i’m not saying they are a scam nor every member uses this strategy. My point here is that the strategy that some used is not good. I mean, i for myself don’t like to be fooled so why would i fool others? and i don’t think its good to start a business relationship with someone that started with a lie. That girl could have honestly told me about the company and the product so that if i attended, it would be of pure interest and not because i was expecting something else. They mislead people and fool/trick people just for the sake of having them attend their seminar. Yes they don’t oblige you to sign up but you were forced to attend the seminar indirectly. So for me, if ever i would sign up or join such businesses, i would prefer to register under someone who told me the truth and invited me rather that someone who told me a lie. So i hope the best for those “honest” members and i hope the worst for those “liars”. White lies or recruitment strategy, a lie is still a lie. And nothing good will happen especially in business if it starts with a lie.
A lot have been victimized already by their strategy. Don’t believe me? Well google it and see for yourself….otherwise, check out this posts i’ve seen and read!
How to Detect Misrepresentation in JOBS
i almost fell for that one – NUskin
New Recruitment Strategies By Companies?
Recruitment Strategy? Beware and Be Aware!
The Networking Rant
15F Octagon Building
Add-on: For the sake of my close friend (who was very active recruiting people with this company), he basically agreed that my opinion and everything i said here in my post is true. He just wants to point out that the reason he’s into this company so much is because he was lucky enough to be part of a group that helps each other recruit people. That’s all they do is help each other recruit people under them to earn. They never had to sell. Besides, the referral fee is good compared if you do the same with other networking company and they pay. So in short, it doesnt really matter what networking company you join as long as they pay good and pay you coz you’ll just be doing the same thing – sell their product or recruit people to join. And if you’re in the recruiting people to join to earn, you should either have lotsa friend or good people skills to convice others to join or be lucky enough to be part of a group that helps you have people under you. And these my friends, will do earn you money and is true to any networking company.
September 07, 2008 Sunday is the National GrandParents Day as celebrated here in the Philippines. It’s the day to let our Grandparents (our Lolo and Lola) know that we value their existence and we are thankful to have them. And though we can always show them our love and care, this day should be extra special.
Mommy and Daddy are more than just the normal grandparents to me. Since the day i was born, they are the ones who took care of me (except for the time that i was taken away by my mother) and i grew up under their care. They helped me gain my second life after the tragic experience my mother gave me that almost killed me slowly as a little kid. They took care of me, showed me love, and guided me all the way up to now that i’m already working.
I love them because they not only became grandparents to me but they were also like real parents. They are always at my side and helped me through a lot of things from problems in school, taking care of me when i’m sick, going to graduations, sending me to school early in the mornings for my field trips, fixing my driver’s license and passport, lending me money when i’m short in budget, etc.
Sometimes I do admit that I get irritated with them but it was never about anything against them. Its just because of my short patience at times or my moody attitude. Like during the times when Mommy would be talking about something for the Nth time that i could say her next words silently in my mind. I understand grandparents are like this already and I don’t blame them. Instead I always look interested whenever I listen to them. And besides, when its about life lessons, I know they just want to keep on reminding us about those things to keep us on track. And then when Daddy is a little drunk, he will keep on talking about us like we’re already old and we should learn to cook for ourselves and stuffs like that but then the next morning, he would still wake up early and prepare my breakfast and packed lunch. Yes, he always does that even if I didn’t ask him to. Another is when they always call us to eat and they would get mad if we don’t come asap when they call us, even if i’m still full, i had no choice but to eat. But then I know they just want us to eat on time and I should be thankful we have food and well i do get happy anyway whenever i see them happy when they see us eating well. When Mommy became weak that she couldn’t cook much anymore, Daddy became our house chef. He always make good and delicious meals. I appreciate it when he wakes up early to prepare our breakfast and my packed lunch, when he always let me have my favorite shrimp and crabs every time he can, when he always think of what i will have for lunch the next day, when Mommy buys me my favorite fruits whenever they go to the market, when they always make sure we have something to eat even for merienda.
One thing I like about them is that at their old age, they seem to be like young sweethearts. They are still very sweet and loving to each other that one would really admire the love they have for each other. From having a fairytale-movie-like love story of a rich guy not inheriting any wealth for marrying a poor girl and choosing to live with her, their courtship up to married life ups and downs, to being the sweetest old couple to date. They made me believe that true love is indeed true and we can only have the perfect partner if we ask God for it.
I love Mommy and Daddy. I wouldn’t be who I am andwhere I am today if not for them. Their guidance, care, and love are priceless. I thank them for everything they did for me. And I thank God that even if i have a broken family and a not-so-good life, I am still lucky to have grandparents like them who makes each day special and worthwhile.
To my Mommy and Daddy and to all the good Grandparents in the world, HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!!!
Educating Las Piñeros is one of the main projects of the Aguilar family being in politics for several years in a row. Previously, the Mr. and Mrs. Aguilar, who both became Mayors of the city already, have reconstructed the old public schools and have created new schools for the people of Las Piñas City. And of all the schools in the city, it is the Las Piñas TESDA and Don FC Aguilar College whose been the highlight of the project. For what i know, the Las Piñas TESDA is a free learning institute with technical and vocational courses offered to Las Piñeros of all ages. While the Don FC Aguilar College offers free college scholarships to poor but exceptional graduates of the city’s public high school. Through these years, a lot of smart students and eligible residents of the city benefit from this project.
However, the Aguilars didn’t neglect the poor and average students of the city. “Those smart kids are already assured of a future. But those whose grades range fom the 70s and below are not. I want to make their dream of going to school a reality” Mayor Aguilar said in an article about the free IT school in Inquirer. …continue reading
Looks like the 100 years celebration of the University of the Philippines is really a big one. I don’t bother much about it really since i’m not a UP graduate and i only shared a post about a free jeepney ride in UP Diliman by my company just for the sake of sharing it to UP students who might read about it. Days ago, i happen to get two P100 bills that has the logo of UP commemorating their 100th year this 2008. Guess i would be keeping these simply because it amazes me to actually have two of these special edition P100 bills unexpectedly
Ever since Sun Cellular came into the market, i’ve been an avid user already though from the start i’ve been a prepaid user. Sun is very helpful and “sulit” that many users opt to have it especially couples and barkadas. The unlimited service for call and text is very affordable and useful and if you’re using the regular rate its just Php .50 per text sun-to-sun. Most Globe and Smart users do have an extra phone and that’s for their sun sims. As for me, I do have my sun sim as my backup/extra phone with my primary Globe sim. There’s only thing not so good about Sun which i got used to already is the signal/network coverage. Well, i guess they don’t have that much cell sites as Globe and Smart and the worse thing during evenings it really hard to make a sun-to-sun call. I hated Sun because of it coz its been like that ever since. But one thing i found out – if you’re on postpaid, its not that hard to make a sun-to-sun call anytime especially during evenings and the time limit is not limited to 15 minutes! honest! I’m on Sun postpaid already and i’ve proven this scenario! Plus its more “sulit” than the prepaid. (well i guess that’s the advantage of being a postpaid subscriber, i’ve proven this also with my Globe line).
So what do i like with my sun postpaid versus my old sun prepaid? Number 1 on my list would be the signal. I don’t have a problem making sun-to-sun calls anymore anytime of the day. Number 2 would be the rates. Postpaid users gets the 30days unlimited call and text rate at Php350 versus the available Php450 for prepaid users. Number 3 is the free text. Since i’m on plan 600, i use the 350 for my unlimited call and text and have the remaining 250 as a consumable amount plus i have 350 free text to other networks. (I also had one for my sister – the plan 350 which has 250 free text to other network and as for the 350 amount you can either use it for the 30 days unlimited call and text feature or just use it as a consumable amount) Cool isn’t it? But of course i still love my primary account – my Globe postpaid at plan 800 with Php 800 consumable amount plus 200 free text to other networks. Besides, the signal, rates, and services of Globe are really the best and far better than Smart and Sun. hehe
1 – First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz.
I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I
read the last one:
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman
several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I
know her name?
I handed in my paper, leavingthe last question blank. Just before
class ended, one student asked ifthe last question would count toward our
quiz grade.
“Absolutely,” said the professor.
“In your careers,you will meet many people. All are significant.
Theydeserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say
“hello.”
I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was
Dorothy.