Marilen's Dumpsite

Which fishes are safe to eat

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:32:00 +0000

We know that it’s healthy to eat fish but we’ve heard too that certain kinds of fishes contain high levels of mercury due to polluted waters and thus, can be harmful as well. I came across a list of fishes that were categorized according to their level of mercury content and sharing with you this useful guide:
Low level of mercury – these are the safest to eat and we can eat up to 2 to 3 servings per week (oh no, I am eating more than 3 servings per week!):
Samaral, dilis (anchovies), hito (catfish), galunggong (mackerel), salmon, tilapia, shrimp, squid and crab, bangus (milkfish). Bangus contains the highest level in this group.
Moderate level of mercury – limit eating to 1 or 2 servings per week.
Banak (mullet), maya-maya (snapper), canned light tuna
High level of mercury – at most, we should limit it up to 3 servings per month.
Fresh tuna or sashimi, lapu-lapu (grouper), sea bass
Ultra high level of mercury – not recommended for consumption.
Marlin, tuna (ahi), swordfish and shark
As a general rule, the smaller the fish is (e.g. 12 inches and below), the safer to eat it. This is because small fishes have lived in the ocean for a shorter period, thus limiting their mercury absorption.

Photographing Nature Exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:26:00 +0000

During the Fun Photo Shoot Series at Hidden Valley organized by the Filipinas Heritage Library last month, we were asked to submit our best photos from the session where some will be selected for an upcoming exhibit at The Alcove. I was able to drop by the exhibit yesterday and guess what? One of my photos made it! Not bad considering I only used a (cringe...) point and shoot camera! Haha...

The exhibit has been extended until end of November at the Filipinas Heritage Library along Makati Avenue (across Manila Pen). You can also view the exhibit at The Alcove's online gallery. My classmates' shots are really awesome. Mine was probably just a space filler! Haha...

How Innovators think

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +0000

I read an interesting article on this topic weeks ago where people from the Harvard Business Review and international business school INSEAD tried to explain what makes visionaries like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos tick.

To cut it short, the experts (who have spent 20 years of studying global leaders) said that creative people ...
...can make connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas.
...they ask "what if", "why" and "why not" questions that challenge the status quo.
...closely observe details, particularly of people's behavior.
...experiment.
...are good at networking with smart people who have little in common with them, but from whom they can learn (talk about Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs!).

In one word - inquisitiveness. But the sad story is inquisitiveness wanes as we grow older. One expert cited that when you're 4 years old, you ask all sorts of questions. By the time you are 6 to 7 years old, you usually stop asking questions because you realize that teachers value right answers more than provocative questions. By the time you're a grown up and in the corporate setting, curiosity has already drummed out. In fact, stats show that 80% of executives spend less than 20% of their time discovering new ideas. Tsk...tsk... The moral of the story - we should maintain our childlike curiosity as we grow older and the next time a kid peppers us with questions, encourage his inquisitiveness because we'll never know, he might just be the next Steve Jobs. :)

Fun Shoot Series at Hidden Valley

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:40:00 +0000

My friend and I joined the Fun Shoot Series of the Ayala Foundation held at the Hidden Valley in Laguna yesterday. Purely for fun since I don’t even own an SLR. In fact, it was actually my first time to attend a photography session. When the other participants started talking about polarizer and apertures, I couldn’t understand a thing! Haha… And when they started taking out their SLRs, zoom lenses and other accessories, it was time to take out my point & shoot camera! Haha…

Here are some of the photos that I took (too bad though I don’t have a nice shot of the falls).

And when our teacher asked us to submit at least one photo for the critique session, here’s what I submitted -

and I was so happy when he said that it was a very good shot. The colors are vivid, he said, and the spider gives a scale of how big the flowers are really are. Whew, I survived with my plain point & shoot camera! Haha…

Mama Mary relic in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:05:00 +0000

My mom and I went to visit the Marian Exhibit yesterday at the Mall of Asia (MOA), Pasay City, which features different statues of the Virgin Mary - a lot of which are original and miraculous statues that were flown from various parts of the Philippines. Sorry I didn’t bother to remember the names since though each statue looked different, they all represented Mama Mary and that is what mattered to me. (That, plus I really have a poor memory. Haha...).

Anyway, we were lucky to have seen a relic of Mama Mary – a tiny piece of Mama Mary’s veil given by the Vatican to Fr. Suarez. The relic is housed inside the cross in the photo below.

One of the statues that I was really delighted to see was Bambi Maria (hope I remembered this right!) – a statue of Mama Mary as a baby which came from Italy and given to the Salesian priests. “Bambina” in Italian means baby girl and it’s only once a year that this statue is exposed for public viewing which happens every September 8 at the Don Bosco Church along Pasay Road, Makati City.

The exhibit runs until October 21, 2009 (Wed) at the Ground Floor of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City (just beside the skating rink). Hope you make time to visit. :)

Life's challenges - blessing or a curse?

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:24:00 +0000

I got a copy of "50 Prosperity Classics", a collection of key messages and excerpts from the classic and best books on prosperity and abundance (a way to save time on reading! Haha...). By prosperity, it's not just about financial abundance but about well-being and giving back. Thus, the book is divided into 4 sections - Attracting Prosperity, Creating it, Managing it and Sharing it.

I just started reading a few pages and came across insightful messages from James Allen's Path to Prosperity. He knew of 2 men who lost their hard-earned savings while still young. The first fell into hopelessness and regret while the other said "worry won't bring it back, but hard work will". The first man continued to mourn his loss and bad luck which snowballed into even worse circumstances. The second one started anew, worked really hard and eventually regained his worth. To one, the loss was a curse. To the other, it was a blessing.

Allen says, "If circumstances had the power to bless or harm, they would bless and harm all men alike, but the fact that the same circumstances will be alike good and bad to different souls proves that good or bad is not in the circumstance, but only in the mind of him that encounters it."

So when faced with life's challenges, just ask yourself - blessing or a curse? Move on or wallow in regret?

What's "dolphin" in Filipino?

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

A friend asked us this question today and we all thought it was a joke. We all blurted out, "Is there really a Filipino term for dolphin?" trying to decipher if there was a punchline to his question. When he said there's really a Tagalog term for it, we guessed dolpin, dolpen... Of course, all our guesses were wrong. Haha...

And the answer is - Dolphin is Lumbang lumbang in Filipino! It's my first time to hear the term. What a shame!

Here are some more to test how good you are with the Filipino language. What are the Filipino translations for -

Bag?

Wallet?

Dike?

Falcon?

Give up? Here are the answers:

Bag - Tampipi

Wallet - Kalupi

Dike - Pilapil

Falcon - Bagwis

Don't worry, I didn't get anything correct either! Tsk...tsk...

Farming and Farmville

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:23:00 +0000

In the past couple of months, I've been hearing friends and acquaintances discussing about harvesting crops and raving about their cows and barns and so out of curiosity, while we were at the San Benito Farm weeks ago, I finally decided to install Farmville in FB (I created a virtual farm while in a real farm! Haha...).

Other than curiosity, I am really also interested in farming. In fact, around that time, I was trying to convince my friend to accompany me in an upcoming organic farming seminar but she wasn't interested.:( She said that I should probably test my farming skills in Farmville first. Haha... Expectedly, since I rarely open my FB account, the initial batches of crops I planted just withered! Then the patches of land that I plowed weren't aligned and had gaps in between! Total chaos! Haha...But I did have some kind of strategy - maximize land utilization. I spent all my money on plowing and planting - down to single digit every time (after all, ROI is always guaranteed). Then I put cows, goats and sheep within the gaps. My farm looked like a mess but I can't complain, the strat worked pretty well in growing it.

It's fun playing Farmville. And if you're like me who's hesitant at first because you rarely check on FB, you can choose crops which you can harvest in 3 to 4 days. My favorites are wheat, artichokes and now, watermelon. :)

This is how my farm looks like now. I just finished organizing it a bit. The patches of land look like nothing is planted because I planted watermelon and it means, I don't need to log in to FB until Monday night! :)

Foodtrip: Flying Pig

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:04:00 +0000

I seldom go in the Eastwood area but recently, we had a going away lunch for a friend who's going on a sabbatical for 6 months to do volunteer work in Africa. We tried Flying Pig in the new Eastwood Mall.

One of my friends and I shared the house's bestseller - Frying Cuchi Frito. I know it's cholesterol-packed but it's super yummy! A quarter serving costs Php785 and it comes with soup and 1 side dish.

French Onion Soup

Frying Cuchi Frito. Deep fried suckling pig served with balsamic liver sauce.

Back to using mind-mappping

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Five or six years ago,I bought a book in Malaysia called Mind-Mapping by Tony Bunzan. It’s basically a technique to organize and/or generate ideas coming from one central theme using colored pens and blank sheets (no lines). I so loved the technique that I used it for meetings and even my task lists. But at that time, only a few knew about mind-mapping and when I used it during meetings, people thought I wasn’t taking them seriously because I looked like I was doodling! Haha… I stopped using it then. :(

About three weeks ago, I was in a meeting and noticed that the person I was meeting with was using mind maps to take notes and I couldn’t help but make a comment. Apparently, that person is behind all the mind-mapping workshops here and I luckily got invited to attend a mind-mapping workshop. How cool can that be?:)

So in the last 2 days, I learned a lot not just about the different applications of mind-mapping but how the mind works. Plus a lot of fun activities to challenge the way we think! Really sometimes, we like to think so complicated that we miss out on the most obvious and simple solutions (which are usually the best).

Anyway, I’m now back to using the mind-mapping technique. At least hopefully now, as more people use it, I wouldn’t be seen like I am just doodling (although ok, sometimes I do! Haha…).

If you want to learn more about mind-mapping, you may visit the Salt & Light Ventures website. They regularly conduct workshops and they also carry Tony Bunzan's books.

Foodtrip: Lusso

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:25:00 +0000

You’ve probably heard about the pricey burger with foie gras at Lusso’s in Greenbelt 5. Foie gras (pronounced as fwa-gra) is French for “fat liver”. It’s basically the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. It’s only now that I’ve actually looked up to learn about foie gras and I found out that to fatten the duck or goose, sometimes force-feeding is done. Uh-oh. Now, I feel guilty. Hey, but some do employ natural feeding.

Anyway, everything we ate was good. Check these out.

Truffle Potato Crisps and Caviar Dip

Lusso demi-pound burger (US Beef foie gras) – with or without foie gras, the burger is really good!

Shepherd’s Pie (Braised lamb) – highly recommended

Lessons from losing a house

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I’m sure everyone has his/her own story to tell about Ondoy. My cousin and I were almost stuck at the Shaw underpass (on our way to Pampanga) but we were lucky to have been able to reverse the car as the water started quickly rising. Had we been just a little earlier, we could have been easily trapped. We were able to take shelter in Megamall and go back to Makati in the evening when the water subsided.

But I could very well relate to the Ondoy victims. About 14 years ago, we lost our ancestral house in Pampanga to lahar. I’ve experienced walking several kilometers in chest-deep and smelly water and lahar (really sticky!), seeing your things destroyed and just floating around, pulling your car out of the flood, riding a dump truck – name it, I’ve been through it! When you undergo such an experience, you realize that material possessions don’t really matter. Yes, it’s good to have nice things but we will survive without them. What’s important is that everyone’s safe and alive. We’ve to remember that material possessions can be replaced (though sometimes, it may really take a long time) but our loved ones or any one’s life for that matter can never be replaced.

P.S. When you lose possessions, more often than not, it’s not the most expensive ones that you really regret losing but things that have sentimental value like your childhood stuff, photos, letters… but even then, we can still get over the loss. Again, these are merely physical possessions. What’s important is we’re still able to cherish the memories:)

Relaxing weekend at San Benito Farm

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Last weekend, my friend and I went to The Farm in Lipa, Batangas (about a 2-hour drive from Manila). Beautiful, rejuvenating and serene best describe the place.

Sharing with you photos and some snippets of our adventure.

On the left is where we were booked – Sulu Terraces. The lower level is the toilet & bath and the upper floor is the bedroom (a bit hassle if you pee at night). My friend though had an asthma attack brought about by the scent of cogon after it rained so the staff kindly moved us to the Palmera Suites (on the right) which is like a small private house with its own veranda and garden.

These are probably 2 of the most popular spots at the Farm. The 200-year old acacia tree (left photo) and the gazebo where wedding proposals are usually made (right).

Everyday, there are activities lined up for guests at The Farm as early as 6am. We were able to join the Silent Meditation, Sunrise Yoga, the Farm Tour and Teatime. But if you don’t want to join in any, there are several facilities you can enjoy too like the spa, the infinity pool, library, gym and a lot of meditation nooks. (We actually tried the trampolines at the gym! Haha...)

Here I am getting ready for silent meditation. 30 minutes straight! I didn’t fall asleep (whew!) but I dozed off a bit during the relaxation portion of the sunrise yoga! Haha…

Here are some beautiful floral arrangements carefully designed by The Farm staff.

And for the best part –the food!:) The Farm has won awards for its innovative vegan cuisine namely, the Asia Spa Baccarat and Spa Asia Crystal Awards. Its food is 85% raw and 15% cooked and 100% organic. Though some of my friends who’ve been to The Farm before didn’t enjoy the food, I love all of it.

Here’s what we had for breakfast:

Tropical fruit salad (left) and Granola with Nut Milk (right).

Banana Pancakes with coco jam (left) and Scrambled Tofu (right).

For lunch, I had the 5-course meal since I was worried that I will starve before dinner time! Haha… Lunch isn’t part of the package and the 5-course meal costs about Php1200++ or Php1,500 net.

Mango Cucumber and Coconut Ceviche (left) and Cream of Roasted Garlic Soup (right).

Daikon Radish rolls with almond butter sauce (left) and Grilled tofu mushroom and eggplant steak with adobo sauce and Stuffed bellpepper with Jicama and corn salad (right). If it seems that the organic rice looks like it’s just a spoonful in the photo, it actually is! Haha…

Halo-halo deluxe

Teatime at 3:30pm. Fresh tarragon, peppermint and pandan tea with macaroons. Usually, you get to pick leaves yourselves from the garden but since it was raining, tea was just served to us.

For dinner, we decided to go ala carte with pasta since we were scared that the main course would only have just a spoonful of rice again. Haha… Each pasta costs about Php620++ or Php800 net.

Soba with stir-fried noodles (left) and Organic Penne (right).

If you plan to go to the Farm, you may visit its website at www.thefarm.com.ph or contact (632)8848074 to 75.

Unhealthy foods (we love to eat)

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:17:00 +0000

I came across an article on unhealthy foods and I was afraid to read it first as I knew some of the foods that I love to eat are in the list (haha...). Sharing the list with you:)

Softdrinks. Each bottle contains about 8 teaspoonfuls of sugar. Diet softdrinks, on the other hand, contain phosphorous which is harmful to the kidneys. (Whew, good thing I don't drink soda.)

French Fries. Oily, fatty and packed with calories. (Shoots, I like fries! But I seldom eat in fastfood so it should be ok.)

Fatty Sauces (e.g. gravy, mayo). Even just a little amount is packed with high calories and fat.

Junk food. Chips contain high salt content. Some are also spiced with MSG which makes them addicting and may cause headaches. (Uh-oh, I've been eating Marty's vegetarian chicharon lately...)

Half-cooked meat. Medium rare meats can cause various parasitic diseases (So much for medium rare steak then. Sigh...). If pork isn't cooked well, you can get infected with pork tapeworms. For those who eat kilawin, there are also fish tapeworms. And eating chicken that still has blood is how you get bird flu.

Organ innards. Liver, kidney, lung, stomach, intestine, heart and brain innards - the stuff sisig or chicharon/chicharon bulaklak is made of. High in cholesterol, fat and uric acid. Some doctors suspect that they may cause bowel cancer. Come to think of it, it's in the intestines where waste is stored! (How can sisig and chicharon taste so yummy????)

The article also mentions that studies have shown that eating fatty foods is an acquired taste. If you abstain from fat for 2 weeks, you will lose your taste and craving for it - which I think it's true. Last year, since I started decreasing my meat consumption, it's very rare that I crave for meat - unless I smell or see the dish! Haha... :)

Shark's fin

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:33:00 +0000

I eat dumplings but I haven’t really put much thought on what they’re made of. One time, a colleague was ordering shark’s fin and out of the blue she asked, “Are they really made of shark’s fin?”. I didn’t know the answer. I never really thought about it until then.

Yesterday, I got a copy of the latest issue of Healthy Options’ healthy digest and the cover was a Shark’s fin dumpling. To answer my colleague’s question, yes, they are really made of shark’s fin. However, I also learned that when one de-fins a shark and is thrown back to the ocean, the shark either bleeds to death, or drowns, because sharks can’t swim without fins, and they need to go forward to get oxygen. In some places, divers have discovered hundreds of dead finless sharks at the bottom of ocean.

And as know, when you disrupt the ecosystem, some kind of imbalance occurs. For instance, it has been discovered that the removal of tiger sharks from a tropical ecosystem resulted in the decline of the tuna population (since there are no sharks to hunt tuna predators).

Sharks may not be my favorite animals but hey, they’re still part of our ecosystem. After watching the Planet Earth DVD series, I have appreciation for both predator and prey. I guess I have to pass up eating shark's fin dumplings and soup then. :(

Pizza delivery on the beach?

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Have you ever wished for food delivery while in the beach or some open public space? Here’s a smart idea from Domino’s Pizza in Netherlands. They’ve put up white doors in parks and the beach as delivery points. Cool...:)

The Q Drum Charity Project

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:21:00 +0000

As I was reading a back issue of Spirituality and Health magazine, this photo of 2 kids caught my attention. I ended up reading the article.

The United Nations World Health Organization estimates that 1 Billion people globally don't have access to safe drinking water. The lack of water and the consequential poor hygiene accounts for 2.2 Million deaths per year, 90% of those children under age 5. (Such alarming and sad statistics...)

The donut shaped cylinder being pulled by the 2 kids in the photo is called the Q Drum. It can hold up to 13 gallons of water and helps ease the burden of these people (especially kids) to obtain clean water. Instead of carrying and balancing containers on their heads and shoulders and walking long distances to and from a water source, they can now easily transport water with Q Drum.

I emailed the organization to inquire on how to donate and if you wish to donate too, just click here. Each Q drum costs about USD50 including transportation (but you can donate any amount even less than USD50). Most of the beneficiaries are communities in Africa.

It's disheartening to know that a billion people don't have access to needs as basic as water and more so to know that some kids never get to enjoy life beyond 5 years. Hope you can spare a little - going coffee-less on some days won't surely hurt. Just think about the communities who will be able to enjoy clean water with your donation. :)

Realizations from UP

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:45:00 +0000

I’ve been meaning to write about the movie UP but I always forget. I’m not even sure it if it’s still showing by this time. Haha… Anyway, if it still is, hope you can watch it. For me, it’s one of the best cartoon movies. Though Shrek has been my all-time favorite animated movie, UP tops my list as the most moving (but equally entertaining) cartoon movie.

The first 20 minutes of the movie is just WHOA. As one of the reviews I read said, no dry eyes inside the cinema in the first 20 minutes. It shows the life of Carl (the old man in the movie trailer) and his wife as kids, dreaming of big things like traveling and exploring the world. They grow up, get married and end up working in a theme park – Carl selling balloons and the wife selling popcorn if I remember it right (OMG, I can’t even recall anymore! Haha…). During their married life, they hold on to their dreams and save for travel funds, but every now and then, the funds get spent on unforeseen household expenses. They never have kids, they grow old, the wife gets sick and they never get the chance to travel. The wife passes away, leaving Carl alone. Sob…

A lifetime in a span of 20 minutes with scenes that could be any one’s life. When I was talking to my friends about UP, there were varied reactions. My friends who are married with kids said that they have to start revisiting the dreams they’ve set aside since they got married. My friends who are married with no kids said that they have to have kids soon. For us single peeps, we realized that we’ve been able to tick off a lot from our bucket lists already except that we aren’t married yet! Haha… Talk about life’s trade-offs! Getting married and having a family is actually in my bucket list except that I don’t really go out. How can I and my “the one” possibly meet if I’m home and he’s probably home too? Haha…

Hope you can still catch UP. If not, make sure to watch it when the DVD is out.:)

Life, logic & bouncing the ball

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:05:00 +0000

I was skimming through a book called "Awake at Work" by Michael Carroll and was struck by one of his anecdotes.

During his senior high school year, he had a German priest for a professor in Logic Reasoning. The priest taught the class deductive and inductive reasoning, Socratic method, etc. But towards the end of the school year, rather than questioning definition of terms and asking for concise analysis, the teacher started throwing questions like "why do people laugh?" and "why does a mother love her child?".

On the last day of the school year, the teacher gave a speech in class which went something like:

"When we started off the year, many of you felt that learning to think was rather silly. Some said to me - "we all think, so what's there to learn?". But now, after a year, you see that thinking properly is demanding. To think properly is to be responsible and honest. To think properly is to be disciplined and to listen well. To think properly, in the end, is to be logical.

Yet, I leave you with one last lesson. Life is not logical. While you may work hard, thorough and correct, your lives will not follow such rules. And if you try to understand your fellow human beings by logic alone, you will be doing yourselves and others a great disservice. There's actually something much more basic and important that is at the heart of every human being."

The teacher then gave each one a sheet of paper facedown on their desks. Then he continued:

"So I leave you today with one final puzzle that I hope you keep for the rest of your lives. Contemplate it, remember it, let its meaning unfold. I believe that what I am handing to you will be helpful in understanding what we all really want as human beings."

The bell just rang then and no one had time to ask any questions. When the students flipped over the sheet, it was a photo of a boy with a basketball under one arm and locked out from an empty basketball court on a sunny day. It had a caption which says - Everybody just wants to bounce their ball.

The author found the photo silly and had questions like "Who was the young boy? Why was he locked out from the court? Why was the court empty on a sunny day?". The photo continued to haunt the author for a long time and it was only after 15 years when he was finally able to understand what it meant.

"Don't take yourselves seriously, for if you do, you will miss what it means to be human. Your logic and correctness, your rationality and thoroughness, can actually blind you, lock you out of the game, prevent you from becoming who you most deeply want to be.

Everybody just wants to bounce the ball reminds us to respect the gentle enthusiasm that everyone brings to life. Everyone wants to have a chance to contribute something, to do one's best and if in the quest to succeed, we forget that everyone just wants to bounce their ball, we most likely find ourselves standing outside, imprisoned by the fence of our logic and correctness, unable to live our lives properly, unable to bounce our ball."

Foodtrip: The White Hat & Marta's Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:41:00 +0000

If you're looking for a dessert place, check out The White Hat and Marta's Cupcakes at the Kidz Station, 3rd Level, Greenbelt 5. Yummy!:)

Clown Hat from The White Hat. Frozen Yoghurt with M&M's, marshmallows and Sprinkles. Php120

Top Hat from The White Hat. Frozen Yoghurt with kiwi, almonds and granola.

Assorted colorful and yummy goodies at Marta's Cupcakes. Php30 & up.

The Anatomy of Buzz

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:56:00 +0000

I finished reading “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited” by Emmanuel Rosen over the weekend. It takes a look into the world of word-of-mouth marketing and tries to explain how and why it works. There are several interesting business cases but let me share one that really fascinated me.

There’s a hotel in New York called Benjamin Hotel. When it opened in 2001, out of the 95 employees, only 5 had hotel experience. Surprisingly on its first customer satisfaction review, it generally got high remarks because as clients wrote, though staff members made mistakes, they were sincerely apologetic about them. This was a manifestation of the staff’s core values, something which the property manager was able to test during hiring as he asked all candidates what he calls the “spa question” which goes -

“Suppose you’re vacuuming in the hallway and the guest asks you where the spa is. What do you do?”
Some candidates said that they will direct the person to the house phone.
Some said that they would tell the person that the spa was on the second floor.
Some said they would stop what they were doing and take the guest to the spa personally. (And these were the people the property manager hired).

But other than Benjamin Hotel’s friendly staff, its evolving unique services are what keep people buzzing.

- Guests are given personalized business cards (with their name as Guest in Residence and reflecting their room telephone and fax number) which they can give away to correspondences while in New York.

- It offers a Pillow Menu! You can choose from 11 different pillows such as satin beauty pillow, water pillow, feather pillow and it latest addition - a pillow that connects to an ipod. In fact, the pillow menu has evolved into a Sleep Concierge where you can get advice not just on the best choice of pillow, but also on sleep-inducing food, aromatherapy, etc.

- It has a Pet program where you can select from a choice of beds for your dog, a bathrobe and everything else a pampered pet may need to travel in high style.

And just when I thought that was so cool, yesterday as I was reading the Sunday paper, I read about another buzz-worthy hotel and it's right here in Asia - the Quincy Hotel in Singapore. Free breakfast, lunch and dinner! Free mini-bar (and it gets replenished daily)! Free coffee, tea and fresh fruits at the lobby cafe the whole day! If I were booked in this hotel, I would probably stay the whole day! Haha...

Choosing Pinas over a life in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Around this time last year, I was given a job offer in Italy with a choice between Rome and Milan and I didn’t accept it (it was something I didn't even apply for). You probably think I’m crazy because most people dream of working overseas. But let me explain first. The reason why I said no is because I love living in the Philippines. Ok now, you probably think I’m really insane. Haha… Yes, I do love to travel, only for vacation though. But to live? Seriously, I think the Philippines is the best place to live in (minus the politics, reckless PUV drivers, etc.). Here are my top reasons why:

You can call on family and friends anytime to meet up. In some countries like Australia, you can’t just drop by your friend’s house unannounced. You’ve to schedule an appointment.

Cost of living is affordable. Food is cheap. And there are lots of nice, good quality stuff available locally. (Although nothing beats the outlet stores in the US! Haha…)

The malls are open until late evening. In some countries, malls close at 5pm. Let’s admit it, there’s something about going to the mall that is revitalizing. I’m happy just browsing titles when I am in bookstores. Haha…

Filipinos are generally friendly and have a good sense of humor. People find reason to smile even during the most difficult times. Just watch news footages after a typhoon, kids have fun playing in the flood and people whose houses are submerged in water still manage to smile and wave at the camera!

Getting househelp is affordable. Even cleaning, laundry and ironing services are affordable. When living overseas where househelp is expensive, you’ve to do everything all by yourself, no matter how tired you are from work. And sometimes, even on weekends, you end up doing household chores. Not that I don’t do any of them now (I actually do since I’m living on my own) but at least I get spared from doing the laundry and ironing, and get to rest and do whatever I want to do on weekends.

But the most important reason is - I couldn’t imagine myself living so far away from my family and friends. For me, life is about spending it with the people you love and pursuing the things that you want to do. I once read somewhere that it’s wonderful to succeed and have some money and get somewhere in life but only if you keep your family and friends, have satisfying relationships, have a real home and feel comfortable with yourself. So when I visualized myself in Italy working on weekdays, doing laundry and cleaning on weekends, and not seeing family and friends, there was nothing to consider - even if I was told we can easily go to signature outlet stores in Milan. Definitely a Prada-less me enjoying weekends in the Philippines over a Prada-ful me doing laundry on weekends in Italy! Haha…

Looking back now, I am so happy with my decision. If I did accept the offer, I would have missed a year’s worth of happy memories with family and friends already. Whew!:)

The Secrets behind Magic Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Everytime I chance upon "Magic Secrets Finally Revealed" or “Breaking the Magician’s Code” on AXN, I couldn’t help but watch in full concentration. Like one time, when a friend called me while I was watching, I had to cut the call because I didn’t want to miss out on the secrets! Haha…

Anyway, after watching several episodes, the general secrets lie in any one or a combination of the following:
-camera angle
-ordinary-looking items used by the magician actually have special contraptions/trapdoors-items e.g. cage, containers, boxes used by the magician look smaller than what they actually are, an illusion created by lines along an object’s frame
-the use of doubles/twin
-the use of contortionists
-the use of transparent objects
Here are the secrets behind some popular magic tricks:

Magician walking on water – The magician walks on water from one end of the pool to the other, while swimmers gasp in awe. The secret: Swimmers in the pool are actually alibis and the magician is actually walking on wide plexiglass platforms tha

t aren't visible from the camera angle. The platforms are arranged in a straight line but leaving enough space in between where swimmers can pass through and swim under to show that there’s nothing solid along the path of the magician.

A girl is divided into 3 parts. A girl is put inside one big container, the magician closes it and divides it into 3 compartments containing supposedly the head, the body and the legs. The magician slides the bottom box (legs) to one side, then removes the box that contains the head and puts it on top of the box containing legs. Logically, the 2 boxes make up the girl's head and legs but no body. When the magician opens the box, you’ll see the girl smiling and waving in one box and the toes moving in the other box. How could it be when she doesn’t have a body? The secret: The girl is actually a contortionist and could fit in 1 box. She stays in the bottom box (which explains the moving toes) all the time and when the magician puts another box on top of it, she merely extends her head to the other box (through secret flaps) and waves.

A girl is cut by sharp blades. A girl is put inside a container, the magician closes it and inserts 2 sharp blades. Logically, the girl has been sliced into 3 but when the magician removes the blades and opens the container, the girl remains whole. The secret: As soon as the door is closed, the girl bends to occupy 2/3 of the space. The blade inserted on top (which is supposed to cut her head) is real but since she’s on her knees, her head doesn't get cut off. The second blade inserted is actually flexible. As the magician inserts it, the girl carefully bends it on 1 side so she doesn’t get sliced.

Magic milk. The magician has 4 cups of ascending sizes with the smallest cup containing milk. The magician pours the milk from 1 cup to another - smallest to biggest - but each time, he is able to fill the cup to the brim. How can that be possible? The secret: The cups are no ordinary cups. Though different in sizes, they have been designed with cylinders at the center, so each one actually has the same capacity as the other.

As for the photo above where the girl is impaled, the girl is actually wearing a belt that has a magnet and which attaches to a sharp pole with retractable tip. Hidden inside her dress is a sharp tip that is made to stick out at the right time to make it appear she was pierced. And how does she stay in such steady position with no structure supporting her head and legs? Pure muscle control. Whoa..

But even after knowing all of these, I am still amazed by magic. The speed, orchestration, dexterity, angle, timing – it’s no ordinary talent!:)

Suprising Stats from Google analytics

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:23:00 +0000

A little over a month ago, I was able to finally install Google analytics in my blogsite. I was surprised to find out that there are people (more than what I actually thought there were) who regularly visit my site. Hundreds of regular visitors coming from 27 countries! Over 300 from the Philippines, 100+ from the US, then some from Singapore, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Vietnam, UK, Middle East… Since I've been getting feedback mostly from friends and via SMS, all the while I really thought there were only a handful! Anyway, thanks for visiting. I do hope you’re picking up something good from the site. Please feel free to post comments or drop me a note at marilent@yahoo.com sometime so it's not as if I'm having a soliloquy here. Haha...

P.S. If you have a site and haven't installed Google analytics yet, you may want to try installing too. I haven't fully tinkered with it but offhand, you'll know your site's basic stats - total pageviews, total visits, ave time per visit, total unique visitors, new vs returning visitors, geographic distribution of visitors, etc.

Do you dread celebrating your birthday?

noreply@blogger.com (marilen) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:11:00 +0000

People usually have varied feelings when celebrating birthdays. Some people get excited over it (usually when you're young) ... and some dread it (usually as you get older! Haha...). In my case, I feel neither. I'm just thankful for making it another year. But nope, it isn't my birthday yet - it's still months away. I'm just trying to make a segue for an inspiring story! Haha... So here you go - a story that would make you look at celebrating birthdays and growing older in a different light.

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The Best Time Of My Life by Joe Kemp

It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning thirty. I was insecure about entering a new decade of my life and feared that my best years were now behind me.

My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy-nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on this particular day, he noticed I wasn't full of my usual vitality and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on my life once I reached Nicholas's age, so I asked him, "What was the best time of your life?"

Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, "Well, Joe, this is my philosophical answer to your philosophical question:

"When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents, that was the best time of my life.

"When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.

"When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, that was the best time of my life.

"When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.

"The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for North America, that was the best time of my life.

"When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.

"When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.

"And now, Joe, I am seventy-nine years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life."

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The moral of the story - Life just simply gets better as we grow older...er, wiser. :)