Archives for May, 2007
I want to tag myself, as I want to know what my readers (YOU!), want to know more about or read in my blog, so here:
ASK anything you want by commenting below.
And once this reaches 5 questions, Ill answer in a post, let’s do this until I get tired of answering 
How important is market research in company that sells products? Very very important. For example, take the case of the importance of market research for TV stations revamping their primetime programs. They need to know which shows people really watch. They need to know which type of programs people want, what age group commands the most television audience and which type of show does the audience want and look for. Doing some research even with the simplest situation can do wonders. I always do some research on my own before making any big decisions.
I have been an avid reader (and closet fan ) of Toni’s blog for quite some time. So when I read the Lasang Pinoy 18: Oh My Gulay!, I knew I had an interesting topic to share about my love for Pinoy veggies.
You might be suprised that my favorite vegetable of all time (yes, Im overreacting, but it’s true!) is the ampalaya (bitter gourd) 
. Yep, you read that right. I love eating ampalaya. My love affair with this veggie dated back as far as my memory can take me. When I was five years old, my Dad had this rule during meal times – we should have one serving (one takal as he calls it) of each prepared vegetable every meal. If we didnt finish it within 10-15 minutes into the meal, he would add another serving (or takal). Those days, the vegetables we always see on our table were: mongo, ginataang kalabasa and sitaw, string beans, the usual potatoes and carrots seen in tomato-based meals, and ampalaya. My brother absolutely hated it! I was then a kid who was afraid of getting punished so I just finished off my meals – a task which was not really hard for me 
.
But then, I grew to love to eat it. Most especially if the ampalaya is sliced really thin and cooked with scrambled eggs. Pair it off with a daing na bangus and I might never finish eating. I notice there are lot of variations of cooking ampalaya, but my Mom has taught me how to cook it so that it wont be so bitter tasting. I think the secret it to scrub the veggie first with salt before slicing it really thin. And as what my Dad has always said, “Ang pagluluto, naguumpisa sa masarap na ginisa. Dapat di sunog ang bawang and ang sibuyas madami!”.
There you have it, my favorite Pinoy vegetable! I wish I can share a recipe but alas, Im not a really good cook!
It’s official – my sister will leave for the US this year. It is definite and decided already by the family and my sister cant be anymore happier. She is eager to start anew and be independent, and it helps that her boyfriend is based in San Francisco as well. The next plan for the family would be for my older brother to go there – to work or study. It doesnt matter as long as he goes there. My uncle has advised him to Contact Collins College or look at their site to know more about studying from home or studying while working. He has offered and is willing to take him under his wing if ever and when ever the plans to move will take place.
Such a bad combination, isnt it?
I believe this post is going to be like that, a mish mosh of things I want to say and things have happened the past weekend.
Health wise:
Im still sick. It’s manageable during the day, but it becomes a nightmare at night. I literally become a whooping barking dog every 30 seconds. It’s really dry cough – and I know drinking lots and lots of liquids will help. I think we need to replace the bed mattress though – I notice I only get wheezes when I lay down at night.
The kids are OK. Mom tells me the kids are eating every hour and having fun, despite the TV being broken a day after they arrived. There are a lot of greens, bugs and open spaces to keep them occupied. Matthew, TV freak that he is, didnt even want to go home.
The Weekend:
I had to work on Saturday so Sunday, I went to Amadeo to visit the kids and bring some groceries (turns out Mom bought groceries for them as well). Mom cooked for us – baked macaroni, inihaw na isda, liempo – yum, yum – and I slept. LOL. It feels good to sleep on a naturally cool and breezy environment, I tell you. The kids are looking good! Matthew’s puffy eyes are gone (due to rhinitis and allergies) and Martha is a wee bit taba, still a long way to go, but her milk appetite is back (I might add Pediasure to her milk diet on top of Gain Plus though. I read in the N@W group that it helps babies gain weight, not that she is underweight, I just want her back to her old chubba siksik self). I bought the SLR but did not take pictures because I got a massage..woot..and get this, for only 200 bucks. Woot some more, LOL. It felt.so.good. Im going to do it again this week when we go back plus a foot scrub. We had a great time with the grandparents.
AND, they have found an apartment – a gated, 2 story-level, with garage apartment. The apartment has two small rooms, nice spacious living room and dining room, cooking area at the back of the house (I really want this so my house doesnt smell like cooked food all the time), and a garage for the kids to play. There are cable, phone and internet lines available. And the rent is only 2,500 pesos. Not bad. But we were aiming for a house to rent. We will be looking at it this weekend. If we like it, we will get it so that we can slowly make the place livable come our transfer by Feb or March next year. Im actually pretty excited because we are making progress . Im actually planning what major furnitures we need (or ask for) and making mental notes on how to save for all of these. I just hope my blogging job stays strong (more on that later) and Edil gets regularized at work.
Money Matters:
Remember the money diet challenge I posted for you guys last week? Well, I kept all my expensed listed and I was ashamed of myself, LOL.
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Before I drown you all with my dozen posts , Ill just do my assignment and get all the tagging done . I was tagged by Mai and Mich regarding the Alexa train. If you are like me who is into paid blogging, having a nice Alexa rank will let you command higher pay. If you notice my Alexa score at the bottom left sidebar on my blog, it is currently at 176,010. Last February, it was still around 690,00+++. In just two months, it has gone down to 75% already and continues to go down .
If you would like to jump in on the train, please do. Id also like to recommend that you do the Do-Follow list too. If you have a Blogger, there are instructions on how to get rid of the no-follow code here.
I actually am not assigned a cubicle at work. QA Analysts are assigned their own personal workstation (no sharing) and from there, we can make it our own. Our office furniture involved our own computer, a good computer chair good for the back, headphones for listening to agent calls, some office supplies and bookends for manuals and endless supply of coffee. I actually am just three months into my newly promoted position and I am loving it so far. I get to be in control of my time and I just love weekends off now. I havent had a weekend off in three years so this is welcome break for me .
I was bored, because I had to report for work on a Saturday so me and Edil talked over YM and browsed possible ideas for bookcase designs and a laptop. So we “assembled” that one that you see. With the decline of the dollar, it makes things cheaper. I hope by the end of the year, I can buy one. I plan to buy it in full – CASH – since I dont want to be burdened with payments. Soon, I hope, soon. Blogging money will give that to me!
Here are the specs (for the geeks):
Intel® Core™ DUO T2350 (1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB), FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory
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