Pork Chop Bistek Tagalog Style!

I love Pork Chops! My mother taught me this delicious recipe. If you ever had Filipino Style Beef steak or Bistek Tagalog, then you’ll know how good this is..Yummy!

Ingeredients:

1 kilo Pork Chop
1 medium sized White onion (chopped)
1 medium sized Red Onion (chopped)
1/2 C Soy Sauce
Juice of 10 to 15 pcs of Philippine Lemon (Calamansi)*
1 small garlic (minced)
1/4 teaspoon MSG**
1/4 C Cooking oil.
1/2 C Water

Procedure:

1. Combine Soy sauce, lemon juice and MSG, making sure that the saltiness and sourness of both ingredients are balanced.

2. Marinade Pork chops in Soy sauce mixture for at least half-an-hour. Set aside.

3. sauté garlic and onions. When onions are translucent remove from heat and set aside***

4. Fry pork chops until half cooked, then set aside until all chops are cooked.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Combine all ingredients in the oil (Including the marinade) where the chops were cooked, add water then boil for 5 minutes then lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes until meat is tender.

Serve with freshly cooked rice. Enjoy!

*Can be replaced with 1 Lemon

**Optional

***Depends on how crunchy you want your onions

Wikipedia.org: A Researcher’s Angel

I love to read. My day is not complete if haven’t read anything of significance. It may something about sports, politics or movies. Sometimes when I really have no choice I’ll read something about showbiz (but that doesn’t happen very often). But most of the time I would just go to Wikipedia.org and choose any subject that I fancy. For those who doesn’t know anything about wikipedia it is an online encyclopedia which can be edited by anyone, even you! I discovered this website while browsing to another information based site How Stuff Works, they had an article on how Wikipedia works, after reading the article I visit it and got hook instantly. It has lots articles on almost all subjects! They have history, TV, Movies, politics and animation they even have articles concerning adult related subjects like pornography, BDSM and GLBT. All the inforamtion I want right at my finger tips.

When I’m online and go to this website, I can spend as much as 8 hours on it, just reading articles. It was almost a year before I started to write my own articles, and I’m proud to say that one of the articles that I wrote about has been featured already. The best part about it is that just in case you ran out of resources, you can just simply leave the article for awhile, and when you return somebody may have already copy edited it for you, even added more information on the article itself! That’s the beauty of this website. You can collaborate with many people to make sure that your facts are straight. Which really bothered me before. So I usually cross-reference it with other information found on the web.

I remember spending hours in the library during college just to look for the correct material for a paper that I ‘m working on. Imagine having this king of technology when I was in college it could’ve guaranteed a Dean’s listing” for me. But during that time, only dial-up was available, and very slow. I remember the time that I rent a computer for internet access for 1 hour, and It almost took that time just to get your email. But not today. In an hour I can actually get two articles 3 if I read fast. SO information is fast to acquire.

Try it yourself visit the wikipedia website and read to your hearts content. Who knows? You may be tempted to write an article your self.

Fast Food Delays

This often happen to me, specially when I’m in a hurry. I would go to a fast food joint, then order something on their menu. The crew member would then say to my horror “Sir, Are you willing to wait ten minutes?” Of couse not, so I will desperately try to find something in the menu that can be available right away. Usually I can find one, but sometimes it just wasn’t my day. Jollibee inside the Export Bank Plaza in Gil Puyat Ave. is sickly notorious in this. What a bummer!

There also times when I ordered a value meal, an order of a hamburger, a soda and fries. The crew would only give me my fries and drink, then promise to deliver the hamburger in 5 minutes. So I ate my fries slowly, hoping that fries would last until the burger arrive. I ate and ate one piece at a time. After ten or fifteen minutes I would follow up on my order only to find out that the crew who took my order forgot to inform the kitchen about my order, this happened to me three times already in McDonald’s at their branch along the corner of Gil Puyat Ave. and chino Roces Avenue. When this happens I would usually ask for a manager, tell him my situation then ask for a refund. They will just usually refund the price of the burger since; I already ate the fries and drink.

Everytime this happen to me I would always tell the manager that you restaurant is really a “fast food” chain. And I say that with as much sarcasm that I can muster. These people have the gall to open up a franchise of a well known fast food restaurant then destroy the image of that company due to lousy service. And the only restaurant that has always satisfy me in terms of service is Tropical Hut Hamburgers. Now this is a model fast food service restaurant. Meal arrives always on time, and always piping hot! I might add. Too bad it’s not as well known to some kids these days, they really need to step up on advertising and promotions.

That’s why my wife and I would usually eat in a regular restaurant when we’re dining together. I would rather talked to my wife and wait for the food, rather than complain to the manager while my wife is sitting and waiting for me to finish my latest barrage of complains to the manager. At least these restaurants would approach you (sometimes) if the meal will be delay.

Fast food restaurants are a dime a dozen these days, But do the owners of Jollibee and McDonald’s know this kind of un-quality service is happening to their branches? I hope not, because if they do and they didn’t do something about it, then these scenarios will become a standard in fast food service in the Philippines.

So You Wanna Work in a Call Center

The graduation rites has been long and boring, but after the ceremony the feeling of accomplishment has grabbed you and you feel giddy about it. a few days after the ceremony you bravely go out to find a job. the question is: “Will you find one?” Anxiety hits you after a few rejections. You don’t want to waste your education and most of all sooner or later your parents will start pressuring you to get a job to help them one way or the other. So what do you do? Since you can’t get a job in your chosen field, you gamely sought to be employed to the one of the most sought after industry in the Philippines – Call centers.

So how do you apply? But before of thinking of applying there many things to consider. One of them is the shift that you will be assigned to. Some call centers like West Contact Services, before you start training they will ask you the shift and rest days that you want. Some doesn’t give you that luxury. Are you ready for the following?:

Work during the nights
Chances of being assigned to the night shift are very high. So if you decide to take it prepare to forget about those late night gimmicks with your friends. If you are used to watch television till the odd hours of the night, then prepare to watch morning shows, to be honest I never had a chance to watch TV whenever I’m in the night shift. I rather sleep. Sleep during the day time. It’s hard during the first few weeks, but when you get used to it you’ll be OK.

Miss your family
I worked in the industry way back before I got married, and there was a time that I never get to see my parents, or siblings normally. I’ll see them in the morning when I got home, sleep. When you wake up you prepare to go to work again. So you will normally see them during your rest days.

Pressure
If you got in a call center that specializes on tele-marketing, then get ready to do your best to reached those daily quotas. So pressure is a way of life here. There are some accounts that requires 10 sales in an 8 hour shift. When you fail to get 1 sale in your first two hours, then it’s crunch time. My tip is to get as many sales in your first hour, to relieved the pressure as your shift passes.

Social adjustment
Working in a call center will expose you to different kinds of people. You’ll meet a variety that you’ll need to adjust on your ways to deal with different types of people. There’s the silent one, rumor mongers etc. But there are really friendly ones as well.

Now that you know what will happen when you work in a call center, and you still want to apply then better prepare the following:

Your Social Security Number or SSS you need that to prepare your future, you may not feel it now, but when you retire you will get at least a pension. If you don’t have one your chosen call center should be able to help you acquire one.

Tax Identification Number, we may not like paying taxes, but the laws, the law. So we really can’t do anything about it. Your company should help you acquire one as well if you don’t have one.

NBI Clearance, you gonna have to do this on your own, if you don’t have one. Go the the NBI head office and prepare to fall in line. Once you got a clearance it’s advisable to renew it every year, whether you need it or not.

You résumé, the document you need to advertise your self to the company that you want to work for.. It should include your education, and job experiences. Don’t put everything on it though. Make sure you leave some so that during the interview so that when the interviewer ask you to tell him something about you, you have a ready answer. Also try practicing to speak in English so that you won’t get tongue tied during the interview

Those are the things that you need to work in a call center. of course it doesn’t mean that you have the job when you passed the interview and exams. You have to pass the training first. Most of the time it’s 2 parts, first part is Accent training, where you learn how to speak English fluently with the right American accent, you’ll also learn about time zones, U.S. capital cities and State Abbreviation. After the Accent training, there’s the product training, here you will learn all there is to know to do your job well. Remember, there are things that you won’t learn in training, some of it you’ll learn on the floor.

So there you have it. all you needed to know and prepare if you want to work in a call center. It worked for me and I’m sure it’ll work for you.

You may also want to read Callcentergal’s Survival Pack for more on call centers.

Service that You Want to Forget

My wife and I love to eat. Every time we see a new restaurant we do our best to save up some extra cash and eat at the newly discovered place. Of course, TV shows helps us a lot in our decision making on what restaurant should we tried next.

If you watch QTV 11’s “The Beat”, then your familiar with Tonypet Gaba. He’s the show’s restaurants connoisseur and try out their mouth watering dishes. As loyal fans of the show, we try to visit each restaurant he visits and try the very same dishes he had tried. The only ones failed to visit are the ones that way too pricey for my comfort. But that rarely happens, most of the time the restaurants he visited has very affordable prices. Take “Kalye ni Juan” for example. The dishes were really good, and prices are really affordable. I think we spend less than a thousand for three people.

But of course there are places where the food is good, the ambiance is nice with very bad service. That’s where Mann Hann restaurant fits in. I’m talking about the one located in SM: Mall of Asia. Service was so lousy that I was tempted to ask the manager to remove the service charge form our bill. If my son didn’t ask me to accompany him outside I would have done it. Here’s what happen. We entered the restaurant and there are only three tables occupied. We took a booth and a waiter approached us. He wants to move the baby carriage to the side because there was no more space for people to walk through. Now I’m a very reasonable guy, and I would have given to his request with out hesitation but the problem is the place is practically empty and the space between our table and the next one is a good 3 feet away, so even if the baby carriage was there there’s enough space to walk through. I pointed this out and he gave me a look that he wants to fillet me. I stater him down and got on to business. I raised my hand to call the waiter as they were about 5 feet in front of me. Nobody approached us. So my wife waved her hand to get their attention,which is really unnessary as 2 waiters and their manager were looking at us. Still no one came. I was forced to raised my voice and said: “Wala bang lalapit sa amin?” That made them move. The incident was easily forgotten as our orders arrived. Every thing we ordered came out perfect. But the drinks hasn’t been bought yet. I asked the nearest waitress to follow up on our drinks. Which she promptly brought. While she was serving us our drinks she accidentally dropped a can of soda on our table. She picked it up and right it then moved on the next table. No “sorry”, no nothing. Wow! I was really beginning to lose it. It’s a good thing my son was with us and I don’t want him to see me go violent.

There are many restaurants that deserve to be patronized, but there are some who needs to be avoided. Unfortunately Mann Hann in Mall of Asia is included in the latter.

Reminiscing: The Eraserheads

The Eraserheads

“They try to tell us we’re to young….to young to really be in love..Bahay namin maliit lamang…..” I was in my first (and last) semester in UST when I first heard that song. I remember saying “Iba dating nito a.” I never had the stomach for filipino rock during that time. I was into sentimental songs. But never Rock. It was too noisy for me. Then these guys came along: Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Marcus Adoro better known as “The Eraserheads”! The one of the most successful, critically-acclaimed, and significant bands in the history of Original Pinoy Music. I remember “Pare ko” with the controversial phrase “Tang-ina” in it’s lyrics. How the attempt of Philippine Association of the Record Industry to censor the song without success. These guys put pinoy rock on the globe when they won a Viewer’s Choice Award for Asia in 1997. The Eraserheads as thought me to live it up! If you have watched the James Bond flick “The World in Not Enough” the villain’s motto was “There’s no point in living; If you can’t feel alive.” I used that as my personal motto after I watched the film, because the Eheads taught me to lighten up a bit. Listening to the Eheads makes my day comfortable, it always seems to speed up the time. I remember using all my savings just to watch these guys live. I remember hanging out the parking lot of “Club Dread” so that I can hear them perform. The song “With a Smile” has become somewhat of an official theme song for my son and me, as I will always sing it to him everytime I lull him to sleep when he was a baby, and when I sing it to him today, he would stop what he’s doing and look at me. I know somehow in the back of his mind he knows that song. I remember lauging out loud the after hearing “Kailan”. Fans of the band were shocked when Ely Buendia quit the band in 2002. He was replaced by Kris Gorra-Dancel, but it was never the same again. up to now, fans has been waiting for a reunion concert. They almost got heir wish last February 28, 2007, during the book launching of “Tikman Ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads”. The original band members were there with the exception of Buendia, because he has a meeting with the surgeon and manufacturer of the stents in his heart.

One day the band will held a reunion. It may not be tomorrow, or next month or next year. But it will happen. The bands way to legendary not to.

With A Smile Lyrics

lift your head
baby don’t be scared
of the things that could go wrong
along the way
you’ll get by with a smile
u can’t win at everything but u can try
and baby u don’t have to worry
coz there ain’t no need to hurry
no one ever said that there’s no easy way
and when they’re closing all their doors
and they don’t want u anymore
this sounds funny but i’ll say it anyway
girl i’ll stay
through the bad times
even if i have to fetch u everyday
you’ll get by with a smile
u can never be too happy in this life
coz in a world where everybody hates
a happy ending story
it’s a wonder love can make the world go round
but don’t let it bring u down
and turn ur face into a frown
you’ll get along with a little prayer and a song
lift your head
baby don’t be scared
of the things that could go wrong along the way
you’ll get by with a smile
now it’s time to kiss away
those tears goodbye

Values and Morality: A Decline

I was driving home with my family last night when my wife tuned in to Magic 89.9. It’s was around 10pm and my son has already fallen asleep in my wife’s arms so it was safe to listen to Slick Rick, Toni toni and Sam YG they are the host of Magic 89.9’s late show “Boys Night out! I remember this caller last night a girl who just came home from “The land down Under” (That’s Australia to you!), who has a problem about her friend. She’s been in love with this friend of hers for a long, long time. She moved to Australia a few years back and stayed there awhile. When she returned she hooked up with this friend of hers and pretty much something “happened” to them. The problem is she doesn’t know if the guy loves her, and here’s the kicker She said and I quote “I’ll continue to do it with him, if it means seeing him.” OH my God! That girl just told that guy on air that she’s willing to do it with him, any time as long as the guy will continue to see her. Question: If you were the guy she’s talking about, and you happen to be listening to the same radio program at the same time she’s on air. What will you think about? It’s impossible not to recognized the girl’s voice, specially when she keeps giving clues about her identity like, she just came back from another country, they last did “it” last Saturday..etc, I bet if that guy is listening he’d be doing his own version of Tom Cruise’s “couch incident”. I feel bad for the girl, specially when she said that she’s not sure it the guy has feelings for her. I agree on the boys’ advice to her. Talk to guy, lay down your cards and ask him to take it slow. I say good advice. If I were giving the girl advice I would tell her to ask the guy point blank if he loves her. If he said “No”, Slap his face with the force to crack marble and stay away from him…ever! If he said “Yes”. Ask him to prove it. try not to engage in something erotic for about a month and try to get to know each other more and let faith run its course.

“Sigh” I’m not a holy rolly person, but sometimes hearing about this kind of problem from a woman, make me want to take the woman and slap some sense into her. Are young people that desperate to have sex these days, that they’re willing to give up their dignity to someone who are not sure if they even have feelings for each other? I’m sorry if I sound like a priest here, but sometimes it’s just too much. If it’s a “one night stand” I’ll understand, if it’s a fling…….maybe. But saying that you’ll continue to sleep with someone just so because it’s the only way for that person to give you his/her attention has got to be the most idiotic thing to say. Sex is not, and never will be the answer to a relationship’s success, not unless your married then, sex is a part of it, but married couples sex lives is part of the marriage, but women, nor men should be forced to do it. But in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship sex should never be a factor, It really shouldn’t. But at today’s time and age, premarital sex is a factor. It’s sad really, morals and values are being thrown out the window and most of the time it leads to broken hearts, unwanted pregnancies and sometimes……….suicidal tendencies. I hope the girl can talk to guy and try to straighten their relationship out. Otherwise it’s just better for her not to see him anymore.

My Pet Peeves

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that can instill great frustration in an individual.

there are some things that a person can do that can greatly annoy the person or next to him. But the thing is, the same action that can be annoying to some, can be ok to the next person, Here’s a list of my pet peeves, things that can really blew me through the roof:

Price tags – I hate price tags that the stores use to stick on their products. Specially on new books. I hate readung books with the price tags on, so I try to scrapped at until it’s all gone, it will leave a stickey residue so I make sure I wipe it all off before continuing with my reading.

Big bites – You’re eating a sandwich, and a friend of yours will ask you “Pakagat naman.” (“can I have a bite?”) Of course as filipinos we would offer it to them as if everything is fine, which is! But what’s really bugging me is the size of their bites. I have a schoolmate who would ask for a bite of my sandwhich, every day and he would take an enormous bite into my sandwich as if his mother hasn’t fed him in years and leave with you with a small portion. Related to this is when your in a restaurant and you order one thing and your friend orders another thing. The food arrives and you start eating then your companion, would pierce a piece of something from your plate then say “Patikim ha” (MAy I try it?) Breeding is not only for dogs people.

Jeepney Drivers with one way hearing – You may have experience this yourselves. Your riding a jeepney and you hand your fare to the driver. everythings going all right, the trips is ok. Then you ask for your change and the driver will ignore you, ask again and still nothing. You shout on the top your lungs and then that’s the time he’ll hand you your change. This can also happen when you’re trying to get off the jeepney. Same mechanics here.

Nosy Neihgbor – There’s always a person in your neighborhood that really annoys you. The one that will ask the Fed ex guy what’s in the box he’s delivering to you. I mean if murder is not punishable by l;aw. I could’ve killed someone.

Lazy office mates – I worked in a call center and there are times that the queue is to high that you can’t even have a break. There’s always this one person who will go to the restroom very frequently, sometimes after each and every call. So instead of diminishing the queue, it will just worsen. Why don’t he/she go home, and let us do our jobs.

Mother’s who spank their kids when they trip – I seen this numerous times. You;ll see a mother with a kid in tow. And for no reason the kid would trip, the mother istead of comforting the child would spank the kid, and shout something like “Ang lampa mo namang, lechce ka!” (You clumsy fool) for good measure. Why bring the kid along if you can’t stand him tripping all the time.

Noisy People in movie theaters – Your in the middle of the movie’s climax and then you’ll hear someone whisper “He’s gonna get killed here.” or a cellphone would ring and instead of turning off the the phone that person will answer it, talk to person on the line talking in a very low voice, but you still hear them. Why don’t you go out for awhile, you knumnuts!

People who can’t afford motels – still there are couples would enter the cinema then go to the last row and make out. Kissing, hugging and all, the worst that I seen is there’s no place at the back row, sit beside or in front of you, then make out like there’s no tomorrow. Some people may enjoy this, but I find it distracting. Hey! you can’t help looking at them. Human nature!

Listening music on their IPod’s with the volume at high levels – DO I really have to describe it?

Actors/Actresses singing on T.V. – This applies to an actor or actress, who can’t carry a tune, can’t hum then try to sing on T.V. because it’s their birth day or something, Example: Alma Moreno and German Moreno both are guilty.

There’s many more but, I think this is enough. It just goes to show us, that’s our world and it’s inhabitants are not perfect.

Typhoon “Frank” the Scourge of Malabon

Last Sunday, I got off work at exactly 3 pm and hurriedly went home to my family. Typhoon “Frank” is blasting the country and I live in the “Flood Capital of the Philippines” – Malabon. I was glad that the trains on the LRT’s running because its operation was suspended early that morning because it was an elevated train and they operators were afraid that the train would roll over because of the high winds, and being on an elevated track has added risk factor. So when I stepped in the train to take me to Monumento I said a prayer of thanks, I’m anxious to get home because electricity was turned off at 5 am that morning and hasn’t been restored yet by that time. My wife texted me a grocery list because flood waters has already reached our patio. So when I reached Monumento I was stunned to see the Mall connected to it close. I never saw that place closed at 4 pm so it was a real surprise for me. As I walk on, I started formulating plans on where to go next just in case I don’t see the any open stores in that area. then I saw a group of people walking through the side entrance of the mall. “What’s this?” I asked myself. I approached the door and asked the security guard if the grocery was open. I breath a sigh of relief to find out that the mall is closed but the grocery is open for business. Thank God! I hurriedly got the items and pay for them. then ran out of the store crosses the road for a jeepney ride to Malabon. I felt at ease at least the situation’s not so bad, otherwise I won’t get a ride home. Unfortunately the driver has other plans. The driver stopped at a point were it would take me 20 minutes to walk home in sunny weather. So I complained and he told me that the roads going to our place is flooded already up to the waist line, and they just can’t go on otherwise his jeepney will be damaged. So I get off I really can’t blame him. At least I’m closer to home. I rolled up my pants and decided to wade in the water, because I will be Damned if I pay 75 pesos for a human powered tricycle to reached home. Then I saw it! I thought it was a monster, it was a military amphibian vehicle and they are giving free rides to my area. Hallelujah I ‘m saved! The vehicle was massive. it’s height is at least 20 feet (I may be wrong, I didn’t have tape measure) and its tires were huge! “No flood, can stop that.” I thought.

So I climbed the ladder and got on board, there were no seats available so I was forced to stand and get wet (Are we not men?) As the vehicle move I saw for my self the devastation the typhoon ha brought. floods as high as the waist line, and some people who lived in that area have their belongings wrapped in plastic bags and tried to walk to the end of town because the waters are much lower there. The fish ponds are no longer fishponds, the dividing markers between the pond and the roads have been swept away, and the waters claimed the pond. Free fish for those who can catch it! And even though there was a calamity I can see some people waving at us on the amphibian, some are waivng to the camera as GMA 7 was also on board and shooting off reports. You really can’t break the Filipino spirit that easily. I reached my town and get off the vehicle. I flagged down an tricycle (foot powered, mind you) and tried to guess how high the floods near my house. There were no floods! the roads turned into a river. the water was about knee deep and I swear I saw fishes swimming (remember the fish ponds?) It’s a good thing that I took off my shoes as soon as I got on the pedicab and rolled my pants because there’s just no way for me to go home without going home, not unless I’m Captain Marvel and fly. I was tired, wet and hungry as I reached home.

The first thing I heard was my son, waiting for me. “Dad!” I smiled he was sitting by the window, looking at me with a hugh smile. I don’t feel tired anymore, who could be with that kind of reception. My wife was there, terribly relieved I got home. Dinner was waiting. As I sat down to eat I gave a short prayer of thanks. There’s hope after all.

Trying to Survive

It’s been a long time since I last looked at my resume. As I was updating it this morning I can’t help but reminisce about the last four years with West Contact Services Inc. I was informed last Tuesday the the company’s client the one I’m associated with is requesting a cut down the number of employees connected to them. Unfortunately I was included in the list of agents being downsized meaning after July 20, 2008. I will be separated from the company. to read more about this read “The Worst Day of My Life!” which I posted last Friday. Anyway so I have decided not to pursue another account in the company but accept the severance pay that they offered instead. Every time I tried to replay that particular episode in my life I can’t help but think of my family. My wife is employed in a bank, but her salary is really not that big and me being unemployed is unacceptable. My son is three years old and will start going to school next year. So there’s one more reason for me to seek employment as soon as possible. Apart from that I feel like I’m a total loser! I feel like I did something so wrong that the company has chosen me. One of the few oldest member to the company, one of the few who stayed and swallow every stupid regulation they can think of. Last night I took my son and place him on my lap. I try to appear happy, to pretend that nothing is wrong. Every time would pick one of his books and ask me to teach him to read. I can’t help let my tears fall down. My wife thinks I already lost hope. I told her “No”. I just feel bad about it. But thank God my wife is understanding. I really won’t know what to do if she’s not there with me. I bought a newspaper today and gamely look at the want ads. I hope I can get a generous job offer or at least something to what I’m earning now. With God’s help I can find a job before July 29th and resume a normal life. I really wish it’s my last day already, being with your co workers trying to appear normal is very unbearable. But I least they support in their own way. I just wish things were different. But that’s life.