PET PEEVE OF THE DAY: DECEIVING COMMERCIALIZED FOOD

NOTE: Sorry for the late post. This was supposed to be for yesterday. Unfortunately, I was not able to post it due to lack of time. I will do my best to post on time next time.

Do not eat dishes that you know how to cook at home outside your home.Why? Because you are just going to expect too much on the dishes and then when they don't taste as good as your cooking, you get disappointed over it. Lesson learned.

ADOBONG PUTI VS. ADOBO WITH TOYO

I didn't bring packed lunch today as I wasn't able to wake up early to prepare it. Unfortunately, I had to resort to buying food at the cafeteria on the ground floor of the building where I worked. The picture looked delectable enough but I guess looks can be deceiving. I cook adobo when I get the chance and it is one of my favorite dishes ever. When my meal was given to me inside the container, I rushed to my office to eat it. It was odd that I wasn't able to smell its pungent smell as adobo always leaves me hungry for more. The smell was enough to make my mouth water but it was odd that this one didn't.

As I opened the container, I was saddened by what I saw. The chicken looked pale and it didn't look like it had soy sauce on it. I sniffed it and the smell wasn't that good. I thought that maybe I should taste it first. When I took my first spoonful, I frowned. It didn't taste like adobo at all. It wasn't salty. It wasn't sour as well. It was bland. It only had a little bit of spice on it but that was it. Seeing as I already spend 60 pesos on it, I decided not to waste my money and just eat it despite its disappointing taste. I promised myself to never buy that dish ever again from the said store.

I am an adobo lover and I am more of an adobo with toyo/soy sauce fan than an adobong puti fan. Adobong puti just looks oily and as I said, bland. I prefer adobo with soy sauce and vinegar with lots of garlic and some boiled eggs on top because of many reasons. One, the smell of it was enough to make me crave for it. Two, soy sauce and vinegar go well with each other. Garlic and pepper enhances the taste. The boiled eggs are just the bonus. Three, as if chicken wasn't enough, pork can be added to the mix as well. The meat should be tender and whenever pierced, its juices mixed with the soy sauce and vinegar should do the trick. Writing about it now just makes me want to cook adobo and eat it.

Anyway, I am complaining today as an unsatisfied customer but as well as a consumer who was deceived. I was deceived by the photo that the canteen has placed as I was expecting that I would be getting the same thing. This is why advertisements should be monitored somehow. False advertisements can only lead to more people who are like me. This is one reason why I never continued to becoming an advertiser. I just don't have the heart to deceive people. Unfortunately, the damage has been done. Like me, there were others who bought the same dish. All of us ended up taking the food somewhere to eat. It would have been nice to see their faces and to know their reactions as well. I bet they were disappointed as well. So, lesson learned, commercialized food is not the same as what you see in their advertisements and they are like the food that you can cook. Expect less. I know I will from now on.

PET PEEVE OF THE DAY: Do Not Interrupt A Hungry Me While Eating

I am usually not an ill-mannered person but I don't know what gets to me whenever somebody interrupts me while eating. This usually happens on busy days at work. Of course, I look forward to taking my hour long break. What irks me is when someone just keeps on telling me what to do while eating or when someone just keeps on talking to me. I am generally a nice person. I just can't  be nice when I'm hungry and somebody is hindering me from savoring my meal.

Hello, trying to eat here?! I have tried not to be snappy. I know I shouldn't be. Good thing that I can still control myself somehow. Sorry for being irate but my break is my break and don't I deserve at least one full hour of it? Of course, there are cases when such a thing can't happen but that I totally understand. What I don't understand is when people deliberately try to sabotage what time I have left for myself. Wouldn't you be pissed if this happened to you as well?

I don't mind being interrupted if what the other person is trying to tell me is something important. I don't mind talking to the person if I really want to talk to that person as well. I just get cranky when I am hungry and I still get bossed around on my break time. It is not like it is a crime to eat peacefully. I am sure everyone is entitled to that. Anyway, I just hope that I won't continuously get disturbed by someone while on my break. Trying to talk to me once is enough, twice is just too much. Sorry, cranky lady with her packed lunch here. Just saying...

Please don't tell me you weren't warned...

Why I Miss Blogging For My Personal Blog?

It has been months since I last posted something in my personal blog and somehow after posting an entry before this one, I finally realize how much I miss it. I may not be getting paid for it but thinking about my thoughts, ideas and so many things that I like are enjoyable to me. These days, I write on blogs for other people, articles for other people and stories for other people. Although I get paid for doing work for them and I enjoy doing what I do, I somehow feel like something is lacking. Perhaps I miss how personal my blog posts were. Thank God that I am finally adding a personal touch to my current writing for others. I am blessed to have been given many opportunities to earn some extra cash just by writing. In the past, I merely dreamt about it but now that I am actually experiencing it, I am proud of myself. I really want to become a writer. I just wasn't given enough chances in the past to pursue that dream. But now that I am given more choices than one, I am thankful that God is letting me hone my talent. Hopefully, I will  be able to reach success. For now, I am glad with what I have. I just realized that no matter how busy I become, I will always keep on looking for the joy of blogging for myself. This is why I am now making a promise to myself to keep this blog going for as long as I can. I just hope that I will be able to continuously update this despite my hectic schedule. Look out everyone! More posts coming soon! I can't wait!~

Yes, writing for others to get paid as I try to continue writing for myself. What a challenge!

 

NO to ARROGANCE, HATE, DISCRIMINATION, IGNORANCE and NEGATIVITY!!!

If you have nothing good to say, just shut up and keep it to yourself. For not everybody will be able to understand you. If you do not want to be misunderstood then you better learn your place. It is sad that not everybody knows this. I wish they knew...

Here I go again. I am back from being lost and I have rediscovered my blog once again. It is sad that this is the first post that I have ever done here since forever. Today, I thought I should voice out my current predicament. Yes, I work for a foreign company. I have always worked for one. I have been teaching Koreans English for more than 5 years now. Although sometimes I feel like I am already getting bored with my job, there are still some pretty interesting things that can happen here and there. As of now, I am working for a certain company which I refuse to name. Just sharing my thoughts, opinions and experiences here. That's all. This is the least I can do after my long hiatus. So, today's topic is about foreign bosses...

If you are a foreigner and you talk to me and tell me all the negative things that you think about my country and my countrymen then you will have the audacity to ask me if I am upset then should I tell you I'm pissed? Well, honestly, I wasn't pissed at what he said because some of them were true. I am mostly upset because even if he excluded some Filipinos and some places in the Philippines in the way he said things, I just felt like he was still generalizing everyone. I wanted to ask him many questions. Questions like "If you already have these perceptions about my country and my people then why do you still stay here and do business in the first place?" or something else. However, what he said next threw me off. He said that foreigners have a greater chance of surviving here especially those who have businesses as Filipinos are very easy business competitors. Why? Because Filipinos are quiters. When the going gets tough, Filipinos bail which is why it is easier for foreigners to become richer in the Philippines than in their homelands. I hate the fact that he finds himself all knowing. Maybe this is because nobody has ever stood up against him. He said that Filipinos are cowards and that we are only brave when our opponent is not facing us. As a Filipino, should I be pleased to hear all these? It is sad to hear it from a foreigner, true. The hard part is the taunting in his voice as he said it. Wow! I was speechless. I immediately had to  bail out. I didn't want to hear anymore of his bull crap. Tsk tsk!

Another experience that I had with him last time was when I was asked whether I could speak Japanese. Of course, I didn't say no for I did know how to speak some words and phrases. Knowing that I work for a Korean company and that the Japanese did piss of the Koreans in the past just like they did with the Filipinos, I am fully aware of their history together. I was asked why I liked Japan and I simply said that I like their language and culture. He looked aghast when I said that and he asked me about the history of my country and Japan. It was like I was being condemned for liking Japan. If I lived in WWII, I would have been called "makapili" but we live in the modern age now. The things that Japan did to us might have been unforgivable especially to those who really experienced it and to those families that were affected but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't move on from it. He said the Japanese were crazy and that they were war hungry. He was generalizing once again and that is one of the things that I hate in this world. Not everybody is the same. I wish he would see that. After saying that comment, he even asked if I knew someone from Japan or if I had relatives there. I decided to say no only because I was getting tired of all the hate. Wow! Negativity is truly bad for my health.

I have nothing against foreign people. I adore them and I never discriminate them. I treat them with respect however if they already start showing their true colors then that is the only time that I feel like lashing back. There are so many differences in opinions and in perspectives when it comes to many things. I understand that we are all entitled to our own opinions however, before sharing them, I suggest that we guarantee that your opinions are good ones first before doing so. If they are purely negative and you know that they can only do nothing but hurt others then what is the point of sharing them? I am merely ranting now because I know I cannot voice this out to anyone else and I am getting frustrated. How I wish people would stop spreading ignorance, hate and arrogance. This is a lesson some people are yet to learn it seems.

What Is Success To You?

What is the true measure of a man's success?  Is it the money that he owns? The property he ends up claiming as his own? The expensive material things that he owns? Is it the distance that he has traveled? The number of goals he has achieved? Honestly, I do not know either. I can say though that sometimes I am envious of other people's success in their lives. Sometimes I feel bad that I have not traveled so much, I do not have a job that I 100 percent enjoy, I am not rich and I do not earn much. You know those kinds of things. Probably because I am insecure about such things but I know it is not right to envy others and what they have.


I know what I have to do. I know that instead of envying them, I should strive harder to get better at something but then again, it is easier said than done.  I want more than this. I want more than that. Will I ever be sated? Perhaps not but aren’t we all insatiable in a way? I cannot say that I am miserable right now because of the life I live and the very few successes I have had in my living years but then again, there is always that longing feeling inside me that sometimes can be overwhelming. Why am I not as successful as the others? Simple. It was not because of magic or because of purely luck alone. It was because they worked hard for it and they earned it. Sure, some of them probably just got lucky but the percentage of people who do are rather small compared to those who really worked hard to become successful.


The question is still unanswered though. What truly makes someone successful? I guess it depends on a person’s perception in things. If to others, a rich man is already successful, maybe to him, he still isn’t. We all do not have the same concept and understanding of things and certainly not the same idea of success. To me, being successful means being happy with all the things that you have accomplished and to be proud of all those achievements. I am not yet there. That I know of. But I know surely someday it will happen to me. What I do now is crucial because I know it can help me become successful in this future that I have in my head but somehow I feel so many things holding me back. I have doubts, fears, insecurities, problems and most of all, I second guess myself. Will I ever find the success that I long for if I continue being this way?  Perhaps not.

If I am to give a motivational speech right now, I would tell everyone to chase after what they think will make them successful until the end of their days for only when they have actually tried to do so and be able to reach it, will they know and perhaps finally grasp the true meaning of success. I am moving steadily, if not, slowly to it right now but I know that I will get there somehow. Hopefully sooner but haste makes waste. Patience is a virtue that I have and will use. Hopefully when the right time comes, success will come to me.
  

Perhaps I need to overcome so many challenges first before I reach this so called success...

Perhaps I need to want it more than anyone and have the passion and drive to get it...

This is perhaps the best advice I can give myself and to others as well. Never doubt yourself. You are better than what you think. Perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on myself at times. Maybe that will help me reach success...

Remembering First Loves...

 If there is one thing that lingers with you until you grow old and wrinkly, it is that part of your life when you had your first love or so some believe. Just like the lyrics of the song that goes:  "First Love Never Dies" but does it really? I have asked several people the same question over and over again and most of them have said that they do not believe in the said saying. Growing up I believed in this. I didn't exactly have an exciting puberty stage. Let's say while some teenagers were busy finding love, I was busy nurturing my talents but even if so, I cannot say that I did not find time to have love. Even if now, I consider it as puppy love, back then, it meant like it was the only most important thing to me or so I believed.

Crushes? Yes, I had tons but that was common. I was a teenager with raging hormones, consistent mood swings and often undergoing physical changes that I still cannot comprehend. Flings? Hmm...How am I supposed to put this? Well, I'll be honest. I did have them but I am no slut. It was all attraction, I swear.  Suitors?  I only had a few. As I have said, I wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school or even the prettiest one. Do I remember my first relationship? Of course, I do. Honestly, I do not remember exactly how long we were together. All I remember is that I was happy then. Was he my first love you ask? Of course, he was! Do I have regrets about it now? I would be a hypocrite to say that I do not have regrets about my past but choosing him to be my first love was not a mistake so I wouldn't go about saying I regret it. To make things simple, we were both young and in love then. We might have done things that were thought to be bad by the people around us especially our parents but we did them out of love. I am sure everybody has done such things when they were young and in love as well.

Would I have done the same things I have did with my first love if I had to relive the past all over again?  Perhaps not.  Sure, I said I did not regret having him as my first love but that doesn't mean that I do not regret some of the decisions and choices that I have done back then. Now, I wonder. If I never made those decisions and choices in the past, would my life be the same as it is now?  Only God can answer that for sure but there is always wishful thinking. Regardless of what had happened to me and my first love, despite the falling out that I feel bad for, I know that somehow that experience made me a better if not a stronger person now. I can say that I am thankful to him for probably being a catalyst to the change in me but then again, I do not know if he feels the same way about me. Do I regret ever having broken up with him? That's a tough one to answer. I loved him then but not anymore. We were  really good friends before we ever got into a relationship and what hurts me the most is that after all has been said and done, we both just couldn't be friends anymore. Our common friends who got caught up in the situation had to choose between me and him. It was a mess! Now, I miss those friendships. I wish they never got in the way of that broken relationship.

First loves are often exciting for people who have had them but when you say that someone is your first love, it does not necessarily mean that he or she is your first lover. It can be the first person that you really felt a strong connection with or perhaps the strongest attraction too and yet you both never managed to be together in the end. Now that I am older, I know that young people have a different perception of love. They often think that love is easy and all relationships are perfect. I cannot call young people delusional but I can call them inexperienced. Only when they finally learn through experience will they realize that love is never as easy as it seems and that relationships are stressful and hard to keep. When I was younger, I believed in happy endings and prince charmings. I thought that one day, one will come for me. It was figuratively speaking of course but still thinking of the same idea now seems to farfetched to me.

What did I learn from having a first love? I can say a lot! Experience truly is a good teacher. Although I never really came out perfect after that whole first love incident, at least I have tried but it did take me a couple more years to get my life sorted. But the overall experience taught me to be cautious of love and to be careful with my heart. After all, I did not want to get involved with so many men in my life and end up marrying none of them. Love is a battlefield. That is true and I learned that the hard way. Teenage love is so complicated. I guess I never thought about it thoroughly before getting myself into it. The whole concept might be problematic but I don't see other teenagers veering away from it. I am not discouraging or encouraging teenagers to find their first loves. All I am saying is that sometimes it is inevitable. It just happens and sometimes when it does, it takes you for a ride. Sometimes all you can do is enjoy it while it lasts and brace yourself for the worse that's to come. I did the same thing. I became happy with it but got hurt as well, experienced tons of problems and consequences along the way but came out of it strong and whole. I am still here now and I am proud to say that I survived the rollercoaster ride. First loves, what are we to do without them? Do you remember yours? I do and I think I will remember for the rest of my life so why bother trying to forget about him? When I know that I won't but that doesn't mean I love him still. It is all but a memory now...

True or not, you decide.

I  couldn't  agree more.

Perhaps but still  you certainly should not regret having had it. Remember it did make you happy  once  so why feel bad about it now?