Putting Icing On the Cake

September 20 was my younger sister’s 32nd birthday. There was an instant celebrated attended by people closest to her, as in closest by physical distance and geneological distance, which included her husband, my older sister and her husband, nieces and nephew, our helper, my daughter and me. As early as the first week of September, my younger sister had already informed everyone – her co-workers in the hospital, friends, relatives and us – that she will not spend a single peso for her birthday as she is saving much money for other more important expenses. Her past birthdays had bashful celebrations that any one close to her

The Cake Bought From A Nearby Bakeshop! expected another invitation from her.

But to their dismay, a no-party for her

birthday was made as her final

decision.

Since her birthday fell on an off-duty Saturday, she decided to simply hear mass together with her husband, be together at home and watch movies. But when she arrived home after hearing the mass, she was surprised to see her nieces and nephew waiting for her. They greeted her with a birthday song and handed her birthday cards which they each made. My nephew even made a garland – the vanda orchids from her mother’s garden were picked - especially for her. The surprises of her nephew and nieces made her decide to make an instaneous birthday celebrated. She bought a very ordinary looking chocolate cake which was the only available cake in the bakeshop, lechon manok, cooked some spaghetti, marshmallows and some bread. It was actually more of a treat to the kids than a birthday celebration of my sister. To improve the taste of the cake and to give it some appealing look, I made some icing using whatever available ingredients I found inside the refrigerator - butter, evaporated milk and white sugar, and chocolate candies. It was a very funny and exciting thing to do espcially that I had did it all by hand, I had never used an electric beater to beat the butter! Hahaha . . .Look at the result . . . Wait, the "Happy Birthday" was used during my neice's birthday in April and look at the flowers, they're all are real orchids. . . . Anyway, it was fun putting that icing on the cake.

Busy Rat

I was quite busy the past few days that I even had no time to visit this site. I was always on the rush . . . everything were done in haste I suppose. It was a gruelling week last week. . . Oh, at least I have time for myself now. . . My free time is always spent with this blogsite. .This is comfort zone, I love to scribble on anything here. . .

TREATING ME OUT

I am a kind of person who has an enthusiasm to make an extra effort to taste something new. Trying something new go hand in hand with my being adventurous, and it doesn’t bother me even if there is a need to exploit my taste buds – of course, safety precautions are always at the forefront even before my salivary glands start to function, or to have my mental capacity tested and be in great danger of being buried to shameful ground. Everytime a chance of traveling to other places comes my way, be it within the region or somewhere in the hinterlands, what comes first on my itinerary is always to look for dining spots which are totally new and different from the fast-food type restaurants which I usually frequent. I am more smitten to romance with eating places that are ready to offer exotic carte du jour – not erotic menus, and a place which can satisfy my lust for fresh, juicy, and delicious foods. I look for sumptuous dishes as a special treat to my non finicky palate. My search for good food often lead me dine-in at some unpopular restaurants that more often than not serve not satiable and poor tasting foods. My desire to try new tastes usually result in eating poor tasting foods. That’s because, my choice of food is usually relied on those artfully and beautifully presented foods in the menu card which is part of the restaurant’s good marketing strategies – a process that lets the company concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable advantage. A good marketing strategy is supposedly centered on the company’s overarching mission statement, that is, to focus around on key concept of full customer satisfaction. A marketing strategy becomes more effective when it is an integral component of corporate strategy, defining how the company will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena. It is partially derived from broader corporate strategies, corporate missions, and corporate goals. Admittedly, good marketing strategy can me dine at the lousiest restaurant and can make eat the worst tasting food. That’s probably how I directly respond to their various strands of dynamic and interactive marketing strategies – be it advertising, internet marketing, promotions, public relations or direct marketing. It doesn’t mean though that having been lured to waste money for lousy foods in terrible restaurants for one time will make me go back to those places again - that will be plain stupidity on my part perhaps if I will do it for the second or third time. I don’t understand why many restaurant owners focus mainly in good marketing as a way of increasing their revenue and sales when there are other and better ways to attract and lure more customers. Why not they think well of using series of marketing strategies and at the same time offer good products and best services that will surely establish repeat customers, and in the end weaken their market competitors.

My Dream Travel Destination

I don't really understand why I wish to travel to Thailand and why I consider Thailand as my ultimate dream destination. I have long been asking this dream travel from my husband, he being the one to pay for all my travel expenses,yet I always go a "we'll see" answer, an uncertain answer actually. Fortunately, in one of our recent casual conversation about this dream travel, he finally permitted me to go. I was extremely delighted and surprised! One condition was set though, that is, I will go to Thailand early part of next year. My over excitement about this future travel got me to do some research about the place and all other stuffs. Whew, I hope things will push through. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Good luck to me. Doris

My Nokia E90

I am using right now my Nokia E90 communicator and I am just experimenting if I can make a post using a mobile phone. I cannot use my computer now. The Windows program of my laptop went wrong after I uninstalled my Kaspersky Anti Virus. My other laptop broke down too. Gosh, things are not good these days. It makes me very sad.

85 Business Ideas For Practical Housewives and SAHM

All might agree that becoming a housewife or a stay-at-home-mom may be personally fulfilling but not at all financially rewarding. Seeking for some financial independence is sometimes difficult and may even lead to marital problems. Here are some great business ideas – most of it are home-based businesses – that in one way or another will give some extra penny to those housewives and SAHM who wish to make a living even without leaving their children. Having one or two of these small scale businesses will really help you earn an extra amount which you can call as your own income. SELL AT HOME: 1. Handcrafted toys, gift items, etc. 2. Baked goodies like tarts, macaroons, cookies, etc. 3. Tocino and other cold cuts 4. Pastillas 5. Popcorn 6. Hotcakes, waffle 7. Cakes, breads, brownies, and other pastries 8. Chocolate lollipops 9. Empanada 10. Chicharon 11. Kikiam, fishballs, meatballs, 12. Gummy candies 13. Banana cue, camote cue, toron, etc. 14. Ice Candy, Ice Water, Ice and Ice Bars 15. Softdrinks, cold drinks and beers 16. Balloons 17. Christmas decors and ornaments 18. Beaded shoes and slippers 19. Necklace, bracelets, bangle, etc. 20. Bottled sardines 21. Pickled Fruits and Vegetables. 22. Halo-halo. 23. Beauty and Bath Soaps 24. Cellular Phone Loads 25. Avon, Natasha, Marikina Shoe Exchange SELL : 26. Ornamental Plants. Sell to plant shops and plant collectors. 27. Vegetables and fruits. If you have a vacant space, plant vegetables and fruits. You can save money and even earn money. 28. Old yet usable clothing. Sell it to ukay-ukay sellers or second hand clothes seller. 29. Plastics, tin cans, bottles, etc. Junk shops buy recyclable trash. 30. Breed dogs, cats and other animals. Sell to pet shops and pet lovers. 31. Novels and books. Offer it to second hand book stores. 32. Kakanin, suman, bibingka, etc. Offer these to canteens, restaurants, eateries and stores. You may consign it to them. 33. Wedding and Party Giveaways. Offer it to friends, relatives, and other people. 34. Native bags, home decors and other native items. Contact a local manufacturer or maker of these native products and sell it to departments stores. 35. Home, furniture and car cleaning agents and chemicals. Buy a gallon of it and repack it to smaller packages and put your own label. You can sell it to janitorial service offices, car wash operators, hotels, restaurants and offices. SERVICES: 36. Tutorial services (English, math, Science or any subject which you are good at) 37. Home Cleaning Services 38. Pedicure, manicure, foot spa, etc. 39. Laundry Services 40. Window Cleaning Services 41. Computer Repair Service 42. Food Catering Services 43. Car Cleaning, Washing and Detailing 44. Pet cleaning and Grooming Services 45. Events Organizing 46. Party Hosting 47. Bank Loans and Other Financial Institution Loans Agent 48. Mortuary Agent 49. Health Insurance Agent 50. Appliance Agent 51. Credit Card Agent 52. Local Tourist Guide 53. Swimming and Diving Instructor 54. Driving Instructor 55. Flower Arrangement and Decoration Services 56. Babysitting 57. Computer Typing and Encoding Services 58. Thesis, Reaction Paper, Research Paper Writing 59. Landscaping and Garden Setting 60. Cellphone Repair Services 61. Appliance Repair Services ONLINE: 62. Join pay per click, and other PTCs. 63. Write an article 64. Review products, companies, services, etc. 65. Be a Paid blogger 66. Web Designing 67. Ghost Article Writer 68. Online Retailer RENTAL: 69. Car/van/truck Rental 70. Motorcycle/pedicab Rental 71. Computer Rental 72. Videoke Machine Rental 73. Room/Bedspace Rental 74. House Rental 75. Tables, chairs and table cloth rental BIGGER CAPITAL: 76. Pawnshop 77. Lending and Financing 78. Beauty parlor 79. Eatery/Restaurant or Fastfood 80. Car Wash 81. Car Parts and Accessories 82. Flower Shop 83. School Van/Jeep Service Operation 84. Digital/Cellular Photo Printing 85. Hobbyist Shop

Bargain Hunting

I was supposed to go to the market yesterday for my weekly marketing. The weather wasn’t fine and the marketplace was flooding that I decided to go the department store. Instead of going straight to the grocery store, I decided to window shop for awhile especially that there was an on-going sale. I found this five-meter long curtain lace which was being sold for P30.00 only! I couldn't believe it at first. A month ago, I bought a curtain lace in that same store and I bought it at a price of 25.00 per meter.

Well, I need to buy some curtains so I can use my lace. I hope to buy cheaper or discounted curtains.

GO GREEN, LEAFY AND VEGGY

Green leafy vegetables are good for one’s body. That’s what I learned from my elementary school science teacher who also required us to write down on our weekly meal chart the vegetables we eat. Whether or not she read all the entries in the said chart, the point of the matter was, we were forced to eat vegetables and our parents were forced also to prepare vegetables in our table. Back then, our backyard had an abundance of different varieties of vegetables planted personally by all of us in the family, although some vegetables just sprouted from seeds thrown. There was no need for the family to buy vegetables in the market. Now that I am living in the city with my own family where space is very limited, there is no space for vegetation.

doris

I'm Back

My three-day Manila visit is over and I'm glad to be home safe and sound. The trip wasn't as good as I have expected. In fact, it was the worst travel so far, compared to all my previous travels. With very limited time, most of it were put to waste waiting for unimportant people who wanted and felt very important. It was a totally disappointing travel. My daughter never had the chance to see her favorite toys and rides. It was just a waste of time and money.