Everyday Candles by Red Door: Tart Warmer

When our reed diffuser went out of oil, we decided to buy this electric tart warmer from Everyday Candles by Red Door.  Among the many designs available at that time, we got the peacock.  It came with a bar of wax in fresh bamboo scent (you may choose any of the scents there).  According to the personnel in charge during that time, the wax would be good for at least five days.

The peacock tart warmer costs 1500 pesos (roughly 34.88 US dollars).  However, when we bought it, there was an on-going 10% discount so we only paid 1350 pesos (roughly 31.39 US dollars).  The wax is sold separately at 150 pesos (roughly 3.49 US dollars) but we never paid for it because the first bar is for FREE when you buy the warmer.

Everyday Candles by Red Door has branches on Market! Market!, TriNoMa and Alabang Town Center.  We bought at their TriNoMa branch.

The scent was really great.  And the bar of wax was good for more that five days (we are only using it during the night).  We're not just sure how it affected our monthly electric consumption :)

What I Did While Out of the Blogosphere

Friday saw me shopping for yet additional baking materials.  Talk about being serious on baking! :)  Met up with Kiboy after office hours at SM Megamall just in time for dinner. After a hefty dinner, I proceeded to check out the available baking equipment at the department store while Kiboy went on to check the latest toys at Jae's Collectibles (someday, I will be writing about his collections!).  Friday wasn't so great.  I only managed to buy the round baking pans which I will be using for Aya's birthday cake.  Dropping by the supermarket, I was able to buy some baking ingredients. Awesome!

It rained heavily on that night so instead of going to Sitel's office (Kiboy's employer) to claim his company shirt, we headed home - on a bus caught in super heavy traffic.  What was I supposed to expect, we were at EDSA.

We woke up to a cold Saturday morning after snoozing for five more minutes...then another five...then another. :) Saturday was spent mall hopping.  The agenda?

1.  Get a gelatin mold for Leila (the ever supportive engineering assistant)
2.  Get  a chocolate mold for me (ahem!)
3.  Get Rhino for Kiboy
4.  Get that WWF figure Kiboy has always wanted (at least for a couple of weeks or so)

Since we were not able to get his company shirt last night, here's agenda #5: drop by Sitel's and get a company shirt (so important huh!)

Our first stop was at Robinsons Galleria where we bought Rhino.

Next is Sitel.  However, on our way there, the rain had started pouring again and the wind was blowing so hard.  Kiboy wanted to cancel that route but I insisted since we were already there.  Unfortunately, the personnel said claiming is only from 3pm to 12mn Mondays to Fridays.  Wasted time?  I can't tell for sure.

That being said, we headed to our third stop - Jae's Collectibles, SM Megamall.  Arriving at the mall, we immediately proceeded to Jae's.  But upon thorough inspection, Kiboy did not bought the WWF figure.  The reason? - he wasn't satisfied with its packaging (the collector's eye was turned on at the time)

The fourth and last stop was Landmark, Trinoma.  Though I was able to get the gelatin and chocolate molds that I wanted plus some muffin liners and not to mention a bonus silicon spatula, I wasn't so happy.  I felt, I needed more :(

I guess that's all for saturday.

Sunday came so soon.  Nothing much aside from cleaning the house, preparing the office clothes for the coming week, hearing mass and blogging a little.  Little did I know that sunday night is going to be drastically remarkable.

I embarked on a chicken roasting activity for dinner.  I was so excited but to cut the super long and agonizing story, I burnt my hand.  Yes, burnt my hand.

But that was not the worst weekend ending yet.  We didn't like the chicken.  It was a super failure.
Sunday, was a never-to-be-repeated day.  Of course, who wants to be burnt time and again?

The rain poured heavily since Sunday night and we woke up to a flooded highway on Monday.  Oh flood!  I decided to stay home and be safe the whole morning since the major roads that I will take going to the office are flooded.  I never wanted to have a Maring Typhoon experience part 2.

The rain had stopped around noon.  I went to the office because there are a lot of things to do - and I mean A LOT.

Tuesday was not that good too.  I left my keys at home which means I won't be able to open my shoe locker and my office drawers! My morning was saved because my newly issued ESD shoes was under my table and not on my shoe locker.  So I was using a new shoes on TS audit's first day...awesome...but it was not comfortable.  I want my old shoes.

Good thing that I have the spare keys so my day went ahead as usual.
Arriving home during that night was a different story though.  I don't have the keys which means I have to call someone to open the gate and doors for me.  I can't use the doorbell for some reason which I can't tell you.  It's a secret, you know. :)  Other thing is, I can't call father to open the gate because of cellphone signal issues.

While I was outside the house, a vehicle had stopped directly in front of me.  Opened the window to the passenger side but never said a word.  I was tempted to ask if he needs anything but decided not to.  I thought, if he needed anything or wanted to know something, he should have asked and not just stopped in front of me.  He was looking at me as if he wants to talk to me.  The friendliest in me thought that he was a jerk, a kidnapper, a rapist?, a killer?  I'm not sure.  But the point is, no one in the right frame of mind will actually stop directly in front of a private residence if he/she doesn't need anything from that residence.

I was reminded of Kae Davantes' case.  She was grabbed when she was about to enter the gates of her house, robbed and killed thereafter.  I immediately took refuge at a nearby internet shop.  After about five minutes, the vehicle left without saying a word - just in time so father won't catch him staying in front of our house for no reason.  Good for him!

Wednesday is Aya's birthday and the second day of our TS audit.  Remember the birthday cakes I told you about? I was not able to bake them.  I was just so tired, sleepy, tired, sleepy  Had I mentioned, tired?  They were supposed to look like this:

I don't have much to do with the audit on its first day and second day.  Except that, I was expected to stay and wait for any thing that might be needed from me.  And you know what?  That's the hardest and the most tiring of all activities.

Thursday is my audit day.  I was on the production line for most of the day.  Sat with the Malaysian auditor (he's not the lead auditor by the way) for the MSA (measurement systems analysis) audit, stayed doing nothing from 6pm to 10pm except for the document review, data monitoring and line checking (and I call that nothing). And oh, waiting again for the graveyard shift audit that should start promptly at 10pm.  We went home at 11:45pm

I arrived home at 1:30am.
Hey! It's already Friday.

The audit result released on Friday afternoon wasn't really bad but it wasn't good either.
I went home early.

Met up with Kiboy again at SM Megamall (because he works nearby).

Saturday, I was supposed to be blogging but I needed to clean the clutter in the house.  Kiboy was sick so I accompanied him to the clinic with the weirdest doctor in town :)

So here, I'm blogging on a super early Sunday morning (early based on my Sunday waking up habit) and catching up on the latest and hottest blogosphere happenings while waiting for the mall opening hours.  Yikes!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Weekender: Footprints in the Sand

Sharing with you this wonderful poem on trust and faith.

May we always find strength and refuge in the arms of our Lord.

Happy weekend!

Of Running and Being Fit

I so miss running.
Or should I say, walking.
But I think, it is worth noting that I finished all of them in less than an hour!

34th National Milo Marathon - July 2010
A run shared with Kiboy (now my husband) and Sis Beng (my youngest sister)

What's with the bracelet?
That indicates you've finished the race. No, not exactly. But that is a souvenir given after the race.
10-10-10 Run for Pasig River
Run shared with Sis Beng

 /That picture above is oh so great if not for that man who ruined it./

Hyundai Run for a Cause - April 2011
Run shared with Sis Beng

 I hope to run again and run some more in the coming days.

Thank you for dropping by.
Enjoy reading!

The Wonders of Umbrella

Until the sun comes out again for you, my umbrella is big enough for two.

-Unknown

You have to carry one every single day of your life (I think so! or so I thought!).

It will protect you against the scorching heat of the sun

and your friends will ask 'What's with the payong (umbrella)? :)

It will protect you against the rain (pouring like crazy or not)
/sorry Kat, I stole your profile picture. And thank you, too!/

You may use it as a cane

You may also use it as a weapon.  In fact, that's the only weapon (aside from alcohol and pepper spray?) that will be allowed inside the LRT/MRT (subway) without any question (at least in my opinion).

Aside from its daily purpose, you may also use it for pictorial – pre-nuptial, wedding, etc.

 Or an accessory during a costume party!

And take home the Best in Costume Award! :)

So what are you waiting for?
Own one today!


Thank you Google images for the cane, weapon and wedding pictures!

Sweets for My Girls

Welcome to Baking Goodness series!

Since my first batch of brownies was a hit, I decided to bake some for my girls too!
I initially thought of baking a chocolate cake for them but I was not able to get all the ingredients in the supermarket, so I ended up with these:

/in other news, the Glad Cook n' Bake non-stick paper was really a help/

This uses the same recipe minus the marshmallows that I have stubbornly added last night.  Also, I added more nuts!

So here, packed and ready to go.

Note: I have read earlier that there is really such a thing as fudge brownies with marshmallows. :)

Fudge Brownies

Welcome to Baking Goodness series!

As this is my first post and my first ever attempt at baking since high school, I'm pretty nervous that I might burn the house. Also, I opted to use the fudge brownie mix available at the grocery store instead of preparing my own mix (I'll try to create my own mix next time *wink*).

So here's what you'll need:
> 1 tablespoon water
> 1/4 cup oil
> 1 medium size egg
> 1/4 cup peanuts (or any nut)
> 230 grams Maya Fudge Brownie Mix

 But the stubborn me decided to add this:

I was thinking that the resulting fudge brownies will be colorful.  I forgot (totally!) that marshmallows would melt at that temperature!

Okay, here's the procedure.

1.  Grease a 9 x 5 x 1 baking pan.

2.  Preheat the oven at 190C

3.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth

4.  Transfer the batter into the baking pan

5.  Bake for 15 minutes or until done
*done means - insert a toothpick and it should come out clean
6.  Cut into squares
7.  Serve, share and enjoy!

So, what happened with the marshmallows?
Well, as expected they melted.
The advantage is, the brownies became creamier.
The disadvantage?  The top is not picture-perfect so I have to serve (and take a photo of it) upside down.
*just imagine how the top looks like based on the side view photo

The verdict:  WONDERFUL!
*but add more nuts

It was a hit by the way!

Weekender: The Box for the Lord

Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.

-Steve Maraboli

Problem - a difficulty that has to be solved or dealt with. 

- Dictionary.com

A problem is like a package knocking furiously on your doorstep.

And while you are not yet done checking its contents, another one comes along.

and still another one.

and so on.

So you end up with

Well, you are not alone.
Yes, you are not alone.

Everybody has a problem.  Some big, some small.  Some are trivial while some are not.  Oftentimes, even the smallest problems for some would seem unbearable for others.

Remember the quote "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"?  In the same manner I would say, "The size and gravity of a problem are in the eyes of the beholder".  It is basically because how we handle our problem is directly affected by our emotional state and psychological state at the time (should I include financial there?).

While we can solve some of them, others are just too heavy to be borne.  At that point, we would need to transfer them.

For He said "cast your burdens upon me".

And yes indeed, we need to do that.
Have an unsinkable faith.

PRAY.

Remember:

Just
Always
Pray
At
Night (and Day, too!)

Thank you for dropping by.

Happy weekend!

Thanks to Google for the images.
Sorry for the lousy text on the images.
I made them on Powerpoint. Imagine :)

Baking Goodness

Challenge Your Mind Challenge: How Many Squares?

Found this while sorting my training stuffs.

Let me know how many squares you've counted.

Happy counting! :)

Mr. T's Inasal: A Major No No

Don't ask me who Mr. T is. I do not know.
What I know is, it is a restaurant along Mac Arthur highway in Valenzuela and that I am very disappointed with their service.

Do they have any other branch?  Who cares!
Nonetheless, this post is only about the restaurant in Valenzuela.

I was caught in super heavy traffic.  By that I mean, twice as much travel time going home.  So instead of cooking dinner, I decided to check Mr. T's out.

The scene when I went inside:

One table was occupied by a lady busy with her phone while waiting for her order.
One table was occupied by a group (if I remembered it right, there were five of them) about to finish their meal.
One man was seated in front (near the counter) waiting for his order as well.
There were about eight tables inside.
I occupied one table and ordered Pinakbet and Bangus belly for take-out.
Outside, I saw two groups having beer.

Five minutes later, the group paid their bill and went out.
Another five minutes later, the lady's order was served.  From what I saw, it is a noodle soup.
Then came the man's order...3 orders of rice for take-out.

I was left waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

After what seems like forever (that's 30 minutes), my order was not available yet.
Hello?
I just ordered Pinakbet and Bangus belly!

I made a follow up and the woman who took my order went inside the kitchen.
Never said a word.

After another ten minutes.

I was still waiting.

I stood up and saw that the woman who took my order was arguing with the cook asking for my order.

What? my order?
Does that mean, my orders are not available yet?
That's already 40 minutes, my dear!

It's going to be okay if there were other customers.
But, it's just me.

I left without saying a word.

Training 101

A couple of days ago, I attended the worst training session I can ever think of.
Yes, the worst.

That moment when you'd like to write "He is everything a trainer is not supposed to be." on the comment section of the evaluation form that says "Do not leave this blank.".  But of course, I did not do that.  I'm so nice to do that, you know.  Instead, I wrote the specific items that made him everything a trainer is not supposed to be.  Sorry.

I will not rant though.
What? I just did?
Uh oh!

Okay, although I am not a perfect trainer (who is by the way?) I will be sharing to you the things I have learned since I started training people - from co-employees coming from different levels of our organization to suppliers who would barely listen and ask again...then again.

So here goes:

1.  Come on time.
Although your participants or trainees will wait for you (as if they have a choice), you have to respect their schedule.  They have other stuffs to do - maybe not in the office since they have already allotted that day for you but consider the things they need to do back home.  They also have a life, you know.

Think about this:  they left their home earlier than usual just to arrive on time for your training. Who knows what they had given up? Nobody. Then, there YOU are, coming two hours late.

2. Wear something appropriate but make sure it is comfortable.
Remember, you are the trainer.  With that in mind, you should know that you will be standing in front most of the time.  You can go to the side, walk across the aisle or even walk around the hall/room but most of the time, you will be standing in front.  All eyes will be on you except those sleepy eyes and those that aren't interested at all.  Added to that is the fact that your participants will be sitting (at least most of the time) which will make you stand out in the room.  Eyes will really be on you.

Think about this: you are wearing a long sleeved polo topped with a coat (and a black pants of course! - silly you!) or a sleeveless dress (for women) then as soon as you arrive, you would start complaining about the temperature.  That's just very distracting! Not just for you but more so for your participants.

Or

You might have opted to wear something because it looks good on you or maybe because it looks good but unfortunately, comfort isn't guaranteed.  So you'll end up either rolling the sleeves up and down while training (standing in front), pulling something here and there and the likes.  That is not just distracting but more of DISGUSTING.

3. Begin in a friendly way.
How you begin the training session will set the tone of the entire training.  Beginning in a friendly way doesn't mean giving your participants chocolates or stuffs (that's bribing! *wink*).  It is as simple as a Hi, a Hello or a greeting such as good morning, good afternoon or good evening whichever is applicable.

You are there to train and not to declare martial law. Right?
So smile.

4. Be prepared.
Nothing beats a prepared trainer.  Bring all the materials needed for the training.  Organize your files - powerpoint presentations, sample documents etc.  Make sure you know how to navigate through your files.  Know where that zoom button or slide show button is located, where to click this and that. As simple as that.

In case for some reason, you were not able to finish your materials, never say: "This presentation is not yet done." or "I wasn't able to finish my presentation for today."

Nobody will know unless you tell them.  Honesty is the best policy, that's true.  But you are not lying. Nobody is asking whether you have finished your presentation or not, anyway.  However, you still have to be prepared to explain the other topics that are part of the training. Yes, even without your cheat notes.

Well I guess, that's all for today.

Thank you for dropping by.
Until next time. :)

Notice 9/6/13

I am currently updating the general look of this blog.
You may still enjoy reading its contents but please bear with its changing look.

Thank you.

Rona's Greatest Masterpiece. YET.

I so wanted to blog about my tips for commuters especially for those who ride the PUJs and the LRT but unfortunately, I don’t know how to explain my tips so you could clearly visualize them.

I also cannot take a photo during my jeepney ride (snatchers are so everywhere. I can’t risk, you know.).  Same goes during my LRT ride.
So I decided to just draw the scenario so you could visualize my tips.
Yes, I’m that thoughtful.
You're welcome.

--------------------------
Earlier today, I got bored.  Ooooops! Don't get me wrong.  I have a long list of To Do's. I was busy (honestly!).  But boredom overtook me. :(

Since I am a GREAT artist when I'm bored, I drew this:

Awesome, right?
Thank you.

Though I enjoyed it, I'm still bored.
/since it only took me one minute to draw that. boastful huh!/

But aside from being a GREAT artist, I'm also a GREAT thinker when I'm bored.  Taaaadaaaah!

That is when I decided to take the time and draw my commuting Tip#1.
See? Even in boredom, I can be productive!

So here goes my Commuting Tip#1:

When you are the last passenger to ride that jeepney, and the others are not making any effort to give you some space to sit on, here's what you have to do:

See that shaded area in the picture above? Yes, that area where the red arrow is pointing at.  That is the space where you should sit.

And see that green arrow? That is where your back should rest.  Make sure that your back touches that side of the jeep.

Doing so will make your 'seatmates' annoyed to say the least.  That is because, you'll be sitting/hitting their hips or thighs which is really very annoying!

But remember, sit comfortably.
I repeat, comfortably.

Never mind how they would look at you for the next five seconds or so.
That is going to be worth it.  Chances are (and I mean, it is almost a sure thing) they will move sideways (away from you! - was it the right description?) and taaaadaaaah! you'll have enough space and you'll realize that there is enough space for everyone.

Commuting Tip#2:
If you are that 'seatmate', be considerate enough.
Move!

I shall be posting more tips when the mood strikes again :)

--------------------------
In other news, I've shown my girls my drawings and they were so happy about it (or so I thought!).So I offered to draw them too to which they got over excited! *wink*

So here, meet my Girls...at the Time In area :)

Oh! Let me explain the last drawing.  I got tired.  That's just it.  It is an unfinished drawing. Seriously! Peace Kat!

/I was not able to get the permission of the morning Girls so no drawing for them/