The 15-Day Job

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Plans, oh yes I had good ones: replace my dilapidated laptop, give financial support to my family, send my brother to college, pay off my credit card debt, maybe buy me a new phone, get my ass to my dream destinations, and of course save some for the rainy days. These were the goals that made the thought of having a sideline all the more compelling. Thus, I was inspired to get a second job that would be the source of my extra income. Good timing, a friend of mine, Alchris, just got himself a "sideline," I got inspired and asked him to recommend me; he did. So I passed my application, took two examinations online and after two weeks received a job offer to become a homebased editor. The setup is on a virtual environment, no need to go to an office, day off is every Saturday, and I could work on a flexi-time basis. This means I didn't have to give up my day job and I'd have extra earnings per month. I was naturally excited, I mean who wouldn't be? On the 1st of November 2011, I was on board.

In my first week I started getting five files per day, each one about two to three pages long. Every file has a deadline, earliest is 11:00 in the morning, the latest is 11:00 in the evening. There were CVs, recommendation letters, and personal essays. Clients are Asians, majority suffer from poor grasp of the English language. The challenge therefore didn't stop at correcting grammar or improving sentence construction; you also have to try your damnedest to comprehend what the heck the author was trying to express. To make it worse, majority of the documents are too technical, of terms and fields of studies I couldn't friggin' understand.

In the second week I started getting 6 files per day, by the third week I got 7. That's when things began to be extremely chaotic for me. Those fifteen days had been the longest in my life. Until now I'm not certain how I did it, let alone do it for fifteen days. First, I don't own a decent computer. Remember my story about my dilapidated laptop? Well I still have it and it's what I used the whole time. See that picture above? Well that's how the screen looks like, it's pink, it has those black circles that block that texts, and the monitor couldn't hold its own so I had to support its back with a pillow. Using it gave me long bouts of headaches, straining my eyes as well as my back. Add that to fact that I don't have my own internet connection so I had to spend tons of money for internet rental (Php 25 per hour).

For weeks this had been my setup; I download the files from the office and send them to my email (our computers in the office has no USB port), get off from work, go to an internet shop, extract the docs from my email, edit right then and there or take the work back home, sleep at around two or three in the morning, get up at seven, go to an internet shop, email the files to my account, the ones I'd finish the night before, email them to the senior editors, then get my ass to the office and go back to step one. Now imagine doing that for six straight days for three weeks.

You think I rest on my day off? No! On Saturdays I do the files meant for Sunday just so the load will be lighter 'cause hell we're talking about 7 files per day here. To say that I was tired would be an understatement. I was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. I was always staring at the clock, always worrying about the deadlines, and worrying about my day job. As exhaustion got the better of me, my job performance started to decline. I guess it's inevitable 'cause I was all tuckered out, the kind that goes beyond the physical. Even the thought of extra moolah lost its spark. I just couldn't do it anymore.

On the 16th of November, right after getting my hard-earned first salary, I passed my resignation. The resignation, well it didn't turn out the way I wanted. To put it simply, it offended and disappointed many people. I didn't give a three-day notice, my resignation takes effect the moment I submitted the letter. They deemed it harsh, rude, and unprofessional. In fact, Alchris relayed that bad things had been said about me. Not that I can blame them. For what it's worth I truly feel sorry that my leaving caused them trouble. I just didn't have the strength to continue doing it anymore.

The stint, albeit short, taught me the wisdom behind the saying, "No one can serve two masters." My mistake is that I took more than I could handle. I accepted a full-time position despite having a day work. I should have known it was never gonna work. Obviously I had to learn it the hard way.

My plans, well... I guess they just have to wait a little longer. I'll make sure that the next time I get a sideline, it'll just be a sideline.  

NYFD Premiere

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Normally I take popcorn as my choice of munchies when I go to cinemas but last time I'd been so curious about NYFD Premiere that I decided to give it a try. It's what my friends and I had when we watched two movies in the Italian Film Festival at the Greenbelt cinema two weeks ago. Oh yeah about that, we watched Suspiria, a 1977 horror flick and a period drama, Vincere, free of charge, yay!

Now back to the story we ordered, giant fries (Php 140) with three dips; bacon onion tomato, lemon herb, and cheese. Out of the three, I liked bacon onion tomato.

Good news, the fries taste good, not too greasy, neither too hard nor too soft, and cut in thick slices. I just think it's too expensive for comfort but it's so good we finished the whole tumbler even before the movie began. 

giant fries

the dips

I realized that fries are ideal for watching movies, but only if you don't have to share it. Popcorn is better for a group of people. I'm sure Rhoda and Alchris would agree, the NYFD Premiere fries had us wanting more, we were all so bitin! Lesson learned, next time we should each have our own tumbler.

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NYFD Premiere

4th Level Greenbelt 3

Ayala Center, Makati

Stick House

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I favor eating ice cream from a cup with a spoon over licking it from a cone. But I'd take a cone anytime than having it on a stick, which I find to be needlessly complex. This is why I have never been fond of popsicles, they look cute alright but when you eat them you really have to be quick because it melts easily and when it does it breaks apart, and you know what comes next; you realize you are not as agile as you thought you were while looking at the frozen treat, melting on the floor... or your shirt for that matter.

So when my friend Rhoda suggested we try the gelato-on-stick offered by Stick House I wasn't too keen about it (but of course I tried my best to mask it). But what the hey, might as well give it a try. 

So we did. They got gelato, fruit sorbet, and stick merenda.  I tried the pistachio with chocolate dip. It's Php 80 per stick, you add another 20 bucks if you want it with dip, you add a few more if you want it with toppings.

It is served on a small paper tray, which I think is genius 'cause at least if the gelato melts it won't be dripping on my shirt or end up on the floor.

pistachio gelato

toppings

It is so good too, 'cause hey what do you expect, it's gelato baby! And surprise surprise it doesn't melt easy. Also, it is not hard to bite down to, which means it is frozen but not so much that would induce tooth-edge pain or what we call in Filipino as "ngilo." And this is coming from a person born with sensitive teeth.

I don't remember enjoying a cold treat on a stick until now. So whatever Stick House did with their products, I am all for it. Learn more about Stick House by clicking the link of their website below.

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Stick House
Cinema Level, Trinoma Mall
North Ave., Cor, EDSA
Quezon City
Monday - Thursday 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. / Friday - Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
http://www.stickhousesrl.com/en/stickhouse.htm

Latte Love: A Latte Art Workshop

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The invite from Krups

Hi adiks! I'm back! And this time, like it or not, you'll be hearing more from me. Now I got all the time in the world to update my blog as well as perform other things that I love like reading a book, chatting and meeting with friends, watching TV, sleeping 8 hours a day, basically all the things I had to give up when I had that second job. Yes, the word is "had," because the job I mentioned to you about in my A quick hiatus post, didn't work out the way I planned. I thought I could do it til December, things got more difficult I gave it until the end of November, but no... fifteen days is all it took for me; it proved to be more than I could handle so I had to quit it. I'm not saying no to money, but I had to say no to the fact that it was killing me.

I'll tell you more about it next time, for now let me just talk about this one event that I attended with my friend, Rhoda on the 5th of November 2011. I learned about it through an email invite from Krups Marketing.  This is the first time I'd been invited to an event as a blogger so I was naturally ecstatic, that and the fact that it's about my favorite drink, coffee.

The event dubbed as, Latte Love; A Latte Art Workshop was held inside Landmark Trinoma. The main sponsor was Krups and we realized it was open to the public; no fee. The chairs were set up in a semi-circular angle, facing this humongous Christmas tree. Just beside this Christmas tree were three long tables covered with white linens. Outside the conference area were some stalls where you can get free taste of the products from the other sponsors such as Tim Tam, Jif, Smuckers, Folgers, and Meadow fresh milk.

Free coffee 

At 2:36 p.m. (damn right I checked the time) the show started rolling. It was hosted by a guy named Anton De Gracia. Not sure who he is so I googled him and what do you know, he's a radio D.J.! No wonder he speaks well. Anyway, the latte art workshop, as they called it, was headed by Chef Michael Ross Canlas, a barista instructor at the Philippine Barista & Coffee Academy (PBCA). He was assisted by two baristas, Adhler Miko Simangan and Kevin Israel Fortu who are by the way the champions in the Barista category of the Manila Food and Beverage Expo (MAFBEX) 2011. And may I add that they are my school mates as I am also a product of Lyceum of the Philippines University (just saying!)

(L-R) Chef Michael, Kevin, and Adhler

There were other bloggers invited to the event and they were wise enough to pick seats that had better view of the presentation. Rhoda and I on the other hand weren't so lucky. We were on the front row alright but we were so far from the long table where Chef Michael did the workshop that I couldn't get a decent shot. That and the fact that I was only carrying a camera phone unlike the other bloggers who had digicams. It was one of those moments when I just wanted to curl up in a ball and wait for the world to end.  Yeah I know, I need to invest on a good camera.

Anyway, the heart of the workshop is coffee art, my first exposure of such was in a Korean series, "Coffee Prince." Coffee art was popularized in the US by David Schomer from Seattle. It is the art of making designs on the coffee using milk, "In coffee art, your canvass is coffee and the ink is the milk," said Chef Michael. To do it you need a coffee with good crema (made from coffee's natural oil) and textured milk micro. Somewhere in the middle of his speech he asked the audience if they know the difference between latte and cappuccino. There were a few who shared their ideas but nobody guessed it right. So Chef Michael explained: "Latte is served in 10 ounce cup and has more milk while cappuccino is served in 6 ounce cup."

Free pouring

Now there are two types of latte art; free pouring and etching. Free pouring is when you tilt the cup while pouring the milk. The design forms (usually a rosetta) by wiggling the pitcher from side to side. It's a bit tricky and you need to do it quickly to achieve the desired effect. Etching on the other hand is a lot easier (well at least based on what I'd observed from some members of the audience who tried their hands on it)  but you need two more materials, a stirrer and chocolate syrup.

Chef Michael did different designs like butterfly, snowman, swan, bear, strings of hearts, etc. Again sorry for the poor quality of the picture.

Latte art

As mentioned above, Anton called some people from the audience for a chance to try latte art. Some arts were pretty good despite the fact they'd been made by first timers while some looked like they'd been made by pre-schoolers (hee hee... sorry! just saying!)

Audience participation

After the latte art, Chef Michael shared some cold coffee recipes such as Irish Cream Latte, Banana Nut Mocha, Iced  Haze Nut Latte, Peanut Butter Mocha, and Cookies and Cream. 

They also had a raffle where they gave away gift packs from their sponsors, unfortunately, Rhoda and I weren't lucky to be picked.

The event was simple but it was really fun. Too bad Rhoda and I weren't called to participate in the latte art, it would have been fun if I had a chance to try it, just to know if I have a potential or if I should just totally forget about it. Oh well, maybe next time. We no longer stayed til the end of the show as we had to respond to our grumbling stomachs. When we left, another raffle was up and we still had our raffle stubs. Whether we were called or not, that's the question. I guess we'll never know.

My raffle stub

    

Wee Nam Kee

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I’m not certain if I mentioned this before but I am not too keen on authentic Chinese cuisine. If however the food has been cooked Filipino style then I make an exception. This pretty much explains why by and large, my blog rarely touches Chinese food. Note that I’ve done Italian, French, Indian, and Filipino restaurants on my food and restaurant reviews but never Chinese. Well not until now.

Today I place the spotlight on a Chinese resto called Wee Nam Kee, the subject of my most recent food trip with some friends. It is, by the by, one of the food spots in Ayala Triangle, Makati. Yes, I know, we’re back in the triangle, that is because I ain’t done with the place yet.

This happened last October 15. It was a some sort of a forced celebration, the kind you get on with your closest chums, for an accomplishment of a friend, in this case Alchris. He just got his first paycheck from our "sideline" and we bullied him into treating us; it worked!

Okay let's breeze through this 'cause I'm in an internet shop and the clock is ticking.

Ambiance wise, it's good; soft yellowish lighting, color combination is red, brown, black, and a touch of gold  for their walls, decors, and furniture.

We chose chicken rice (Php 40) over the regular one and it was a good call. The rice is moist and tasty, reminds me of the famous green rice of Paotsin. It's what you would remark as "kanin pa lang ulam na." It tastes so good, you can do away with viand. 

It doesn't mean though that we didn't order viands, of course we did. First on our list, roast pork (Php 220) good for two persons. It's a given, roast pork is delicious, I wouldn't say though that there was a little something special with this one. It's just your regular crispy pata, didn't taste like it has been marinated in spices prior to frying. I could be wrong though, all I'm saying is it wasn't exactly outstanding. 

This one was a real surprise, fookien noodles (Php 205). One of the dishes that I don't like cooked in a Chinese way is noodles. There is something about the way they tasted that I couldn't get myself to appreciate. That's why I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It has bits of chicken, shrimps, and vegetables. Totally delish and savory. We all loved it. 

By the way, while we were waiting for our order we were served by this soup. It was warm, a little bit spicy, and sour, really nice.

Oh yeah, how could I forget the scrumptious small quarter chicken (Php 248). It is ultra moist, tender, and tasteful. It is both sweet and salty and we couldn't get enough of it.

It's lime juice for our drinks (Php 55). It is not as strong or as sour as the ones I had before (thank god!). It  has just the right amount of sweetness.  

Oh yeah, each table has these three canisters of condiments.

Hurrah! I got to post a review despite being ultra busy nowadays (hell yeah it's an accomplishment). Okay I don't want to make this abrupt but I gotta leave now. Will see you again next time!

A quick hiatus

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God dang I thought I'd pull off an Alchris and never lay eyes on my blog again! I tell ya I'm looking at my dashboard like a woman in love. Yeah, pathetic, but I don't effing care! I sooo missed this!

So what sent me in this frenzy? Well, I'd taken a second job 'cause I figured I got so much time to burn anyway plus I could use some extra cash especially now that we're 49 days away from Christmas. So I asked my friend, Alchris to recommend me to people behind the source of his extra moolah, this despite noticing he hasn't been taking breaks, hasn't been eating on time, and hasn't been smiling the way he used to due to so much stress. Not sure why in spite of the visual evidence -- him looking a lot like the undead beings in The Walking Dead -- I didn't believe him when he said that he's beyond exhausted. I guess I just took his words with a grain of salt. It's one of my weirdest nature, I take some things as a lie unless proven otherwise.

Hate to admit it but I "have proven otherwise." To cut the story short, I got accepted and now I'd been getting five documents per day and they have to submitted before the day ends. That's five editing jobs that require three P's -- patience, patience, and patience. It's mentally and physically draining, taking most of my time, and taking away my social life, my petiks time, and probably my sanity. And I'm saying this after just five days of doing this. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how long will I be able to rock this. This will enable me to earn more alright, but it is also killing my spark.

But I'll stick it out and see what happens. I've yet to take my first pay check. Maybe when I get the money I'd stop being overly dramatic. I don't know, let's hope for the best.

Sorry I got no review to share today. I promise to post one as soon as I can. Oh yeah, the picture, that's me with Me Gusta the troll. I couldn't think of a good picture to post so I used that one, LOL. I'll see you soon!