Reality check: Working Individual vs Inday!

This is circulating online specifically in Facebook. Looking at the comparison table above it made wanna jump unto getting Inday's job. :D Added to fact that house help or Yaya jobs is the most in demand position nowadays even I myself is hiring for someone to help me look after my kiddo. Hiring "Inday's" position is getting harder each day because of so many reasons like; How much is the salary going to be? Is your house complete with appliance (which would make work easier)? Age of kids they would take care. And many other questions that would give Inday an idea what her  life would be working in your house. And if your not lucky some "Inday's" are pain in the neck specially the younger one's because they tend to have lots of issues; elope with boyfriend, poor hygiene, lazy that boss needs to follow every move/work and worst would be a thief. However, don't lose hope because there are still good people who serve their boss with tender-loving-care. This is one of the reasons Filipinos are in-demand domestic helpers in foreign countries. :)
On the other hand, I still prefer to have the job I have now. Working on something which you are passionate about is more fulfilling and fun. Though we cannot avoid struggles, stress and tough responsibilities, but this things makes life challenging and gives color to our life. It's all about passion and perseverance.

Chef Hasset's Baking Workshop Series

Last February 19, 2012 I along with fellow CDObloggers attended the  Culinary Institute in Cagayan de Oro Open House. This is actually my second time to visit CIC because I have also been invited to the All You Want Bars!  Pastry Workshop of Chef Hasset go.

This time around its another pastry workshop which is the favorite cakes cooking demo still with Chef Hasset Go. It started early in the morning and I was even late for the orientation. After that we were toured around there school rooms and facilities. In one of the rooms there was an on going class on international cuisine. Ahhh! I cant wait for April to come so I can start with my International Cuisine 5-Day Workshop. ;)

Finally, the workshop started. We were given the menu of each 4 cakes to be baked; Caramel Custard Cake, Concorde, Purple-Jackfruit Cake and Chocolate Truffle Cake. Since the baking is long we were able to witness the baking demo for Caramel Custard Cake and Chocolate Truffle Cake because the other half resume on the afternoon.

 

Its really fun and interesting learning on how to bake cakes. I myself would love to learn more of it because I want to bake and decorate it according to my taste. However, I opted for the international cuisine workshop this summer because I wanna learn cooking delicious cuisines from different parts of the world first.

That 2 workshops I have attended in CIC, hype up my interest and inspired me to really pursue cooking and baking class. Watching and listening to Chef Hasset Go made it more inspiring because he started young on the pastry industry which dubbed him the youngest pastry chef in the country.  Other than that, because of he knows how to cook different delicious food and he bakes pastries and sweets he found a career and eventually build his own business. And of course not to mention his good-looking features (you guys know what I mean. :D) which every girls weakness is already inspiring because you will be seeing Chef Hasset at CIC as one of the instructors.

Me on Social Media Promotions

I know I've been off the hook in this blog for a month already but anyhow ill post updates soon. For now I just want to invite all who are interested to learn about blogging, web marketing and working from home.
I will be one of the speakers of CDOBloggers 3rd Blogging Workshop. I will be sharing my knowledge on social media promotions. Unlike my previous talks this one I think is more on the serious business talk. I'll share a bit of an overview on my topic...

Social media has different web based technology tools which allow folks to connect quickly online to share reviews and information. Regardless what type of media you will be sharing online, with the click of a button you could already reach local or global audiences. As a matter of fact Youtube is the second largest search engine in the word and in the US, there are 149M active Facebook users, 70% log in once a day. So imagine the impact in using this on web marketing and promotion along with other popular and interactive social media platforms.

To know more on maximizing your social media promotion CDO Bloggers group will be having a 3rd Blogging Workshop on October 22 · 1:00PM - 5:00PM at Loreto's Grill and Restaurant.

Buy tickets now because seats will be limited. Ticket is inclusive with not only the web marketing tips but also with 1 snack and certificate.

And earlier today, I just received a packaged from Miss Aileen Apolo-De Jesus with Google freebies. This freebies will be swags at the workshop. You might be the next one wearing this hot items from Google so buy you're tickets now!

For more details visit: CDOBloggers 3rd Blogging Workshop

Solar Energy for Mindanao

I just attended Cepalco's Solar Power Awareness last Saturday at the Dynasty Court Hotel. The aim of that meeting was to educate us on the current Mindanao capacity shortage problem, how to address the shortage problem and importance as well as benefits of solar energy in Mindanao.

Engineer Celio Sumaoy did pretty will in explaining to us the Solar Photovoltaic 101 without making us nosebleeding on the technical terms. We really did understand solar photovoltaic technology after.
So here is my summary on the conference.

Power demand in Mindanao is continuously increasing that even the power reserves can no longer sustain the demand. Thus when one of the National Power Corporation’s (NPC) stop functioning National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will demand Cepalco for curtailment, meaning some customers will experience block outs anytime. And despite of the heavy rains nowadays, this demand is still in red alert and needs a complement. This is the main reason why Cepalco sort out to renewable energy technology to help address the demand. As of the moment there are renewable energy technologies already tested and utilized in every parts of the country as seen in the image below.

Hydro plants is currently the main source of power here in Mindanao. Iligan and Cagayan de Oro has the biggest plants so far. The biggest power load is in Davao and second is General Santos. Cagayan de Oro's load is actually half of Davao only.

Cepalco have already established a solar plant in Indahag, Cagayan de Oro in 2004 which was ranked 54 in the worlds most largest solar plant. (Personally, this knowledge was new to me.) A lot of students from all over the country has visited the solar plant already. And this Saturday bloggers will also have its 2nd tour there.

Solar Power Plant in CDO Photo by Rob Bana

Why solar energy for Mindanao is important?

• Solar energy is the most simple technology on renewable energy since it only utilizes the sun to gain electricity. It can come from the suns heat or the suns light. Every 1 megawatt of solar energy can already provide power to 1.5 hectares land.
• It is abundant anywhere in the country.
• Compared to fossil fuels are finite and dwindling.
• Solar can supply the worlds total energy requirement for the next hundred of years.
• It is not a fancy technology.
  The accumulated installed capacity from year 2000 - 2010 is doubled every year, 2010 - 39.6 gigawatts.
• The installed cost is declining.
  However, we must not wait because there is no local supply for the materials and we need to impot. It is also good to start solar energy as early as now to cover financing and gain required experience to lower system cost.
• Consumers pay the Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All)
  The advantage of solar energy Mindanao is that the overall cost is divided throughout the overall Philippines electric consumers, meaning not only the Mindanaoan consumers will paid in the tarriff but also Visayas and Luzon. This is fair enough since I just learn that under the Renewable Energy Law. For more info read it here; Mindanao Solar Capacity Development.
• Feed-in Tariff Allowance (FIT-All) trend is going down over the years.
• Solar panels may last for more than 30 years.
• Solar energy technology is less maintenance and low operating cost.

How Do you Keep Life Together Without Losing it?

I just saw this movie Trailer of "I Don't Know How She Does It" and I cant wait to watch it. Somehow I somewhat relate to the story. The story is a comedy centered on the life of Kate Reddy, a finance executive who is the breadwinner for her husband and two kids. Yeah, definitely like me but I only have 1 kid.

So the movie will be release on September 16, 2011. Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer and directed by Douglas McGrath.

Cityville Addiction

I don't know if this is worth blogging or not but ill blog it anyway. I so regret the day I gave in to friends request on Cityville. Since the day I played Cityville it has been part of my everyday online routines (and I hate it). This game has wasted a lot my time just playing. Boo! I even beat the levels of my friends who started playing this game months earlier. I think Ive been playing almost 2 months yet. However, this game has also been an ultimate recreation when I got bored at work so fair enough. Who knows, this city I created in Cityville will be a dream come true. Lols. Anyways, for those of you who doesn't have any idea on what Im talking about okay ill explained to you what is Cityville.

Cityville is a game in Facebook developed by Zynga last Dcember 2010. This game is played through building houses, businesses, community buildings and land expansions. If you already build houses and businesses you can then start collecting rents and sales respectively but you need energy to do this. The energy is earn every 5 seconds and accumulates every time you level up. There are also completing goals in order to unlock businesses, community buildings and decorations or earn rewards like energy, coins and experience. The experience is a blue star that will be a headcount for you to level up, so each level needs a corresponding number of stars in order for you to succeed to another level. Each level unlocks new houses, business and community buildings.You can buy houses and business at the build menu through your coins or city cash. There are also limited editions house and buildings depends on the theme. The themes can be Greek, French, German and many more.You can also invest business to your neighbors and build headquarters in your city. Every time your new investment is approve by your neighbor your headquarter will go higher also. And in visiting to your neighbors you will earn energy, coins and and experience. Confuse?! You will understand this if you start playing Cityville on Facebook. I started without any idea how to play this game. No worries Sam will teach you on how to build your city. Now who is Sam? Again you will get to know her when you start playing Cityville. :P

Curious about how my city looks like? Here's some snaps I took...

Mom's Phone

I can't help but blog about my moms phone. It's actually just a China-made phone but mind you it has features which I envy and how I wish for my phone to have it too. I specifically bought  and choose this mobile phone for her because of its usability and features. So here's my review...
The phone has QWERTY keypads. I like it coz I could easily teach mom how to text message. The advantage of QWERTY keypads is that she will just press the letter once to create a message.

It has Radio and TV. Well, this is the major purpose I hastely bought her a phone months ago because Justine and mom often fight because of the TV. Justine loves watching cartoons and when mom want to watch certain TV series at a certain time they often fight because Justine dont want to switch off the cartoons his currently watching. So to end wars I bought mom a TV phone. Initial plan was to buy another TV but since its going to be use occasionally I choose a TV phone instead, for more functionality also. Oh! what a coincidence its Sharon Cuneta on TV my moms fave celebrity. :D

Next it has flashlight. Mom always wanted to have a handy flashlight which she can use at night. So its really a plus that the phone has it.

Last loud speaker. My mom kinda having problems on hearing (blame it to the age?! hehehe) so with a loud speaker she could easily hear the phone ring or when using radio and TV. Now its me who's having problem with the volume because its to loud. hehehe And yeah before I forgot, the phones camera is not a high-quality 12MP as it claims to have. I like the funky style on its back cover.

However, no matter how much I love its usability I still prefer my S5233W Samsung phone because its my blogging buddy. The WIFI connectivity and image quality of my Samsung phone is something I can't trade to my mom's phone. :)