last working day for 2011

reality is quite difficult to accept... working on a holiday, when it's supposed to be a day with your family, has become a routine especially when i came back to my field. yeah, i need to tell my mind to sink in the fact that holidays (and double pays) are only designed to regular employees and other service-oriented jobs. it puzzles me though why we're not paid double on a regular holiday and why are our bonuses taxed?

looking at the brighter side, we're scheduled to do some last minute shopping for our media noche. i'm looking at some liempo cuts to be grilled tomorrow night and can full of fruit cocktail for our fruit salad. i'm thinking if we can also prepare macaroni salad. uhm, yeah... i just love salads on new years eve. and perhaps some sweets given by people around us.

i honestly don't know what's in store for us the coming year. but definitely for this passing year, my positive mind-setting has helped me go through all the hard times that were encountered in all aspects of my life. and i'm always thankful for my family who keeps me going come what may.

some things to look forward to next year:
> Disney on Ice family date on the first day of 2012
> 60th (surprise) birthday party for my father-in-law
> our first attempt to bring our little girl in the movie house
> additional (?) work contract
> medical insurance for the family
> new place (?)

hmm... perhaps there'll be more surprises next year. i just have a short list of what to expect for 2012. environmentalists say that mother nature will be more fierce next year so humans should be prepared for the wrath of nature. if only mankind learned to love mother nature earlier, she would have been kind to us all even at this time. but yeah, things are bound to happen--- unexpected things.

we just need to hope for the best of everything tomorrow.
>

buhay sa persworld (ikalawang bahagi)

taliwas sa unang punta ko sa first world (country) isang taon ang nakalipas, ang pagbabalik ko roon ay punung-puno ng determinasyon. yep. desedido na akong mag-ayos ng papel para mag immigrate.

at dahil positibo ang mind set, dun ko na-appreciate ang ganda ng paligid ko. marami akong ginawa na hindi ko ginawa noong unang punta ko dun...

> TUMUPAD ng tungkulin bilang mang-aawit
> tumanggap ng "blue-collar" jobs
> mag-rake ng mga nalagas na dahon, MAGHAPON
> tumikim ng snow!
> mag-DRIVE (ng walang otorisadong lisensya)
> pumunta ng public library para lang maka-access sa internet
> magbabad sa Barnes & Noble at mamangha sa coffee shop na nasa loob ng bookstore
> mamangha sa pabigla-biglang pagpapalit ng presyo ng gasolina (minuto lang ang pagitan)
> patuloy na mamangha sa sistema ng mga gasolinahan doon (self-service kase, ikaw ang tatao sa pump)
> maaliw sa "road sweeper" na maaga pa lang ay rumoronda na sa neighborhood
> madulas sa frozen street
> maging parang baliw nang makaranas maulanan ng hail sa una (at huli yata) na pagkakataon
> makatawag ng pansin sa may-ari ng kumpanya nang aksidenteng mabuksan ko ang uma-alarm (at hindi dapat buksan) na pintuan sa isang warehouse
> manood ng NBA LIVE!
> makipag-date sa Canadian citizen(s)
> sumakay sa subway
> magkamali ng sakay ng bus
> magpa-encash ng cheke
> magbukas ng account sa banko
> magligpit ng pinagkainan sa fastfood at iba pang food establishment
> tumabi sa kanang bahagi ng escalator kung hindi rin lang nagmamadali (ang left side ay para sa mga tao na nagmamadali)
> makapag-drive ng "picker" (kahit bawal ako gumamit nun)
> mag-apple-picking!
> umakyat sa CN Tower
> mag-cruise sa baybayin ng Toronto
...at marami pang iba!

apple picking with good buddies Noriel & Charlie

na-deny na ang aplikasyon ko after four long years of waiting. since then, iniisip-isip ko pa rin kung kailan ako makakabalik doon. pero sa pagkakataong ito, kasama ko na ang mag-ina ko. :|

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ang blog entry na ito ay karugtong ng unang pagbabahagi ko ng buhay (ko) sa persworld at suporta na rin sa patimpalak ng blogger friend ko na si gasul ("The Gasoline Dude’s Blogversary Writing Contest")

on leave: HAPPY HOLIDAYS! :)

yep.. i get to enjoy a three-day leave from work. as i always say, "hindi natutulog ang balita'" which is why i won't be able to come to Ilocos with the family in celebration of the new year, BUT i took the days off in time for my sister's arrival from TO. her last visit was three years ago during my wedding. and this time, she's coming home alone so she's gonna be spending more time with us, her core family.

today's schedule:
- buy a replacement hose for our gas stove
- attend Bong's wedding (where my little girl's wearing gown and hopefully walk down the aisle as a little flower girl, and uhmm.. yeah, the groom asked me to sign the marriage certificate in behalf of one godfather who will not be able to attend. yep, you heard it right--- GODFATHER. ugh. if not for friendship) :/
- wait for dad and fetch my sister at NAIA...

there goes my monday.
need to prepare now.. ciao!

simple wish list for 20-12

1. pocket calendar
2. 2012 planner
3. more vacation (with pay)
4. ...

Jon's "Mix-Mix" Recipes

This particular post must be inspired by blogger chef dads who tirelessly share their yummy recipes online. While cooking or food preparation isn't really my forte, I do prepare our food occasionally. And my "recipes" aren't really that hard to do. They just use the basic "mix-mix" principle. Here are three of them:

First recipe

The first time I've tasted this was in the canteen of the company where i work. I was amazed since two of my favorite food were mixed together--- canned tuna and whole kernel corn. So here's my recipe:

1 tuna in can (I prefer flakes in vegetable oil)
1 small can of whole kernel corn
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 medium (or big) onion
a pinch of Magic Sarap

heat the frying pan while mincing the onion into very small pieces. put the cooking oil, and when ready, saute the onion in oil.
pour the tuna in the pan, include its oil. saute up to your desired time for as long as it doesn't burn in the pan. pour a pinch of Magic Sarap for added flavor. and finally, pour a canful of whole kernel corn. mix-mix it until ready to serve.

[caption id="attachment_2383" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Jon's "Corned Tuna""][/caption]

Second recipe

This probably is the dish I can live with everyday, anytime of the day. My own version of cooking, of course...

1 kilo pork, cut
gabi
kangkong
sitaw
okra
tomato
onion
calamansi
pang-asim powder
pork cubes

(tagalugin natin kasi puro tagalog yung ingredients eh) :D
hugasan ang baboy at pakuluan ito. habang hinihintay itong lumambot, hiwain na ang sibuyas, kamatis, gabi, sitaw, okra (hinihiwa ko ito para mas madaling kainin), at piliin na ang pinakamagandang parte ng kangkong na pwedeng isama sa sinigang. magpiga na rin ng kalamansi sa isang lalagyan at salain na ang buto (para hindi na sumama sa sabaw)

pagkakulo ng baboy at natiyak na malambot na, itapon ang pinagkuluan. hugasan ang baboy at salinan ng tubig pansabaw (karaniwang ginagamit kong pansabaw ay yung tubig ng sinaing, pangalawang hugas ng bigas)

ilagay ang sibuyas, kamatis at gabi. pakuluan. lagyan ng pang-asim powder. pakuluan. sunod na ilagay ang sitaw at okra, panghuli ang kangkong. lagyan ng dagdag pang-asim at pork cubes para lumasa pa ang sabaw. ibuhos ang katas ng kalamansi. tama... mix-mix lang ang gawin. pakuluin hanggang ito'y maging ready to serve! :D

[caption id="attachment_2384" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Jon's Pork Sinigang"][/caption]

Third recipe

this is one of my favorite for all season! Jon's fruit salad. very easy to prepare. just mix-mix the following ingredients:

1 big can of tropical fruit cocktail
1 can of whole kernel corn
2 red delicious apples (make sure they are crispy)
2 cans of condensed milk (take note, not condensed creamer)
2 cans of all-purpose cream (i prefer the branded Nestle cream)
and oh yeah, 1 BIG bowl

so after mixing them all in the bowl, it's ready to eat! best tasting when chilled (not frozen).

[caption id="attachment_2385" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Jon's All-time Favorite Fruit Salad"][/caption]

so there. my share of recipes for all my loyal readers. i don't know when will my next "recipe" post will be but i still need to learn more recipes to be able to make another post like this one.

happy eating! *burp* :P

reason behind the ranting (a re-post)

a busy day in the office such as this and a person getting on your nerve simply makes the bad day worse. anyway, after counting 10,000 sheep and getting my deadlines done, i now can relate why there's such a rant in my preceding entry. here's the story:

Roger* (*not his real name), our maintenance boy (he looks like a high school student) was told by yours truly to deliver an important report to our principal in Ortigas within the day. As i await the time of his dispatch (since our accounting department was preparing checks for delivery to our principal also) i keep on reminding him about the report he's going to take with him there. he kept on responding "ok".

after lunch, i told one of our accounting colleague to dispatch Roger already as our principal still needs to upload the sub-distributors report which Roger was to deliver to them. in short, the accounting department prepared all the necessary accounting documents to be handed to Roger. right then, i had to attend to our van salesman in the stockroom. upon returning to the office, Roger was gone. my blood rose to the heavens when i saw the reports still bundled up on my table. Roger left them! GRRR!!! my colleagues attested that they reminded him to report to me prior to his leaving but nonetheless, he left without remembering that he still needed to check on other things to bring to our principal. knowing that we don't have any other messengers, i was really furious since the other person from our principal kept on following-up about the said reports. and i still have to finish my deadlines so i can not go there myself to deliver the reports! GRRR!!!

i called the person from the other office and instructed them to tell Roger to come back to our office and then return there for the important documents that he left. i know it was mean to do that to him but it's a way for him to learn. most of the time, he doesn't listen to the instructions. if he ever did, he doesn't do everything he's asked of.

~ ~ ~

to make up for this unfunny incident, i am now forced to post his boo-boos which can fall in the category of this PinoyExchange thread:

# 1 boo-boo: All of us in the office craved for some Go Nuts Donuts and since we're lucky enough to have an outlet nearby our office, we asked Roger to buy us two dozens. first, we were all contesting if we should have it delivered instead but decided in the end to just have Roger buy it for us since it is just located inside Eastwood City.

an hour passed and we were all joking that Roger might have gone lost. next thing we knew, one of the office phone rang:

guy on the phone: good afternoon, pwede po kay jun?
me: si JON ito. sino po sila?
guy: ahm... may pinapabili po ba kayo dito na Roger ang pangalan?
me: ha? saan po ito?
guy: sa MC DONALDS po.
me: (silence for a few seconds... then covered the mouthpiece and couldn't help laughing) ay naku sir, pasensya na po. sa GO NUTS DONUT namin pinapabili ng donut yan..
guy: (laughed)
me: paki-turo na lang po sa kanya kung saan pupunta.
guy: ok, sir ako na po ang bahala.. thank you.. (laughing on the other line)

-------

# 2 boo-boo: three of my officemates asked Roger to buy them Jolly Hotdog, Regular Yum and Fries. Roger was standing beside them when they were choosing from the Jollibee Delivery Menu and pointed on the menu flyer the orders they were asking him to buy. many minutes passed after he left, he was bringing a chicken barbecue burger and a regular crispy fries from KFC. Then speaking to my two other officemates, he said: "Walang Jolly Hotdog eh." the two obviously burst into laughter (i know its mean but who wouldn't) and told Roger why he didn't find Jolly Hotdog in KFC.

-------

# 3 boo-boo: (this really knocked me out) Ate Chona, coming from a long trip from her residence in Cavite to the office has asked Roger to buy her a breakfast meal upon arrival in the office. this time she made sure what meal he would order and made sure that he goes to Jollibee. ok. a few minutes after, he's back. he went straight to the pantry and gave Ate Chona her change in her desk. Ate Chona then asked: "Ok na ba yung breakfast meal ko?" Roger replied, "nandun na sa pantry"
i was timely making my coffee in the pantry when Ate Chona began looking for her hot chocolate. guess where Roger put it? IN THE REFRIGERATOR! buwahahahahahahahahaha!!!

sorry. this is the end of my day's ranting. happy weekend everyone!

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this blog entry was originally posted in May 18, 2007.
this was re-posted for the love to win a jacket thru Gillboard's 6th year blog anniversary contest.

December 1

kakapagod. kakatapos ko lang magpabalik-balik sa editing bays para sa pagsubaybay sa mga takes at ayun, medyo chop seuy na naman ang line-up. pero hindi naman ganun kasama dahil umabot naman lahat ng dapat na mai-ere.

anyway, unang araw ng huling buwan ng taong kinunsidera ko bilang "2011 positivity." parang andaming dapat balik-tanawin. maraming nangyari sa lipunan, hindi lang sa personal kong buhay. hindi ko lang alam kung maiisa-isa ko ang lahat pero ang sigurado, lahat ng sa tingin ko ay mahalaga sa akin sa taong ito, mailalagay ko sa year-ender post ko. ang year-ender post ang isa sa mga pinakagusto kong ginagawa at pino-post sa blog. dito kase ay punung-puno ng kwento at napagkakasya ang istorya ng buong isang taon.

[caption id="attachment_2377" align="alignright" width="150" caption="December 2007"][/caption] nakapag-email na ko ng mga araw na wala ako sa trabaho. sa kabuuan, apat na araw lang ako dapat mawala ngayong disyembre. uulitin ko: mahirap kase ang no work, no pay. isa sa pinakasasabikan kong okasyon ngayong buwan ay ang pag-uwi ni ate B mula sa Canada. ang bilis ng panahon. natatandaan ko nung pi-nost ko ito noong January dito sa blog ko at ngayon, heto na. alam kong kaunti lang ang magiging bonding time namin kase nakatakda silang pumunta ng Ilocos at doon magbagong taon. hindi naman kami (ng mag-ina ko) makasama dahil guess what...? may pasok ako.:\

ok, let's take this one day at a time. next year, ibang yugto na naman (marahil) ang tatahakin ko. let's see...