Help me Become the Wok-A-Holic Kitchen Star!

I joined the electrolux cooking contest where one of the prizes is a scholarship to CCA. I really really really want to win this! There is a people's choice category on Facebook. Can you please vote for me? And can you tell your friends too! Hehe!

1 - Click this link https://www.facebook.com/thelittlewhitebook/app_252989634798473
2 - LIKE the page
3 - Scroll down to Rigette Osoteo, then click LIKE. 
4 - New page will appear, click GO TO APP

All voters can also win prizes from electrolux!! Please vote for me!!! 

SALAMAT!!! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

Pinoy Pride and Idiocy

After the American War in the Philippines, 1/6 of our population died. Along with them our culture and our balls. Some of those who died were idealists who still believed in liberty, some were just victims standing in harm's way or chased by it. But there were people who fought hard to reclaim or even remember who we are as a nation. Who were we before we became the Spaniard’s Filipino? I guess the people who asked this question all died in that war.

Before this war we were little brown cockroaches the Spanish stepped on, then we incarnated to become the "little brown brothers" who worship the fountain of milk chocolate, scrubbing our skins thin to be as white as theirs, blurting out idioms not even knowing what they mean. And we got stuck. So comfortably stuck that we do not even know we are.

"We believe that if indolence exists, it exists only as the offspring of ignorance and not as an essential quality that they attribute to the country and to her climate…” -Dr. Jose Rizal

in·do·lent [in-dl-uhnt] having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful: an indolent person.

Dr. Jose Rizal addressed the indolence that is prevalent in our nation. We refuse to stand up from our butts, we refuse to take action when people step on us, we refuse learning and progress, we refuse real freedom. Why? Ignorance. Ignorance from what? Ignorant that we are far from free, that we are a nation of noble people. We walk around, sipping our frappuccinos, patting each other's backs and being a cool "PINOY AND PROUD" advocate (Not much to be proud of really in the past 100 years). But as Rizal puts it, we are not just innately indolent. So there is hope.

“Teach us, educate us, and enlighten us, and indifference, apathy, and indolence will disappear. The blind man who has seen light cannot help but love it." -Dr. Jose Rizal

So let's just accept it. Acceptance is the first step. Accepting that we are not free, and that is of our liking. Accepting that we are ignorant, and have been for around 500 years. Accepting the responsibility that no one else could free us but us.

No flag waving would set us free. No international proclamation will. No other people will. It’s only us. We have to set our minds free. We have to fight our ignorance. After each of the 95 million Filipinos are enlightened, then we can say we are free.

Someday, our nation might experience having the mud taken off our eyes. If not, there's always the resurrection. The 1/6 of the population that died in the war could teach us how it really is to be Filipino.

Till then, ok, let’s wave the flag in Bulacan or Cavite every year hoping that it will wake somebody up.

When I grow up, I want to be like Sara Blakely!

TV-less, these are the stories I get to follow. 

When I grow up, I want to be like Sara Blakely! :D

I want to...

1. Have a kick ass innovative product that is heaven sent to people's problems

2. Have creative strategies and ideas in getting your brand out

3. Recognize opportunities even before they knock

4. Have the determination to stick through challenges

5. Have the balls to just do it and play the "big "man's" game

6. Look gorgeous doing it

Forbes Feature on Spanx Woman Sara Blakely

Learning How to Ride a Bike Speech

Remember how it felt like riding a bike for the first time?

The energy of this boy will make you remember!

Rock on little man!

"Everybody, I know you can believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike. If you don’t, you just keep practicing. You will get the hang of it, I know it. If you keep practicing, you will get the hang of it, and then you can get better and better at it if you do it.”

“Thumbs up everbody, for Rock ‘n’ Roll!”

Life Lessons from The Sims Free Play

My job in Research allows me to play A LOT of games (yay!). I play free flash games that could sometimes get crappy, I play virtual worlds, mobile games, facebook games, etcetera, etcetera. But there is one game that I have learned to love the most, I even sneak just to play it - The Sims!

I love the entire series! SimCity, Sims 3, Sims Social, and their latest game on the iPad, The Sims Free Play.

The game is part fantasy, part reality. You get a sim, your character, and let it "live" in a house that is within a small town. You play god and choose your sim's physical appearance, character and fashion sense. Your sim gets to do the boring stuff you do in real life like pee, do chores, work in a fire station or talk to other sims you don't like. On the other (and better) hand you get to do cool stuff like work in an art gallery, have a gorgeous house complete with a lawn & a dog and woohoo in the middle of a crowd.

After playing the game for a couple of weeks, I saw parallels between the Sims Free Play and real life.

It takes time and effort to build great friendship. Sims start off as strangers, then acquaintances, then friends, until they get to the point when they become best friends. The road from strangers to Best friends require a lot of action. You make two sims talk, be funny or nice to each other, chest bump, complain to each other. These actions take time and energy, just like in real life. If we want to make and keep friends, we must give them our time and energy.

 

Wealth is gained one Peso, Dollar, Rupee, Simoleon at a time. I had a task in the game where I need to build a business. When I checked the requirements, I needed to have $10,000 Simoleons. I only had around $2,000 Simoleons. I thought to myself "Oh no, game design flaw, an impossible task" and "They are limiting the free players and want us to purchase power ups! Evil, evil capitalist!" But I continued playing - planting seeds and baking cakes that later on gave Simoleons for profit, waiting for the dog to dig up treasures. I earned anywhere from $1 to $50 foe each action. I didn't even notice, I already have $15,000 Simoleons! More than what I needed! I just had to be patient. I just had to do my part by planting or baking. I just had to be open to opportunities and blessings when the dog digs up treasures. I just had to control myself not to buy the "special item" of the day, and be frugal. Slowly but surely, wealth grows.

 

God is loving, want us to excel, gives us everything we need and wants only the best for us. When I fail to play the game for some time, of course no one takes care of my sims. They become depressed, uninspired and weak because their basic needs are not met. When I don't play they do not eat, sleep, talk to each other, work, dance or watch tv. I hate it! I do not like it when the mood meter of my sim is red and almost empty. I make them do actions that would fill them up and make the mood meter green again. When the mood meter if filled to overflow, the sims become inspired. I love it when my sims are inspired because they glow when they are and they earn more for me.

If I feel like this towards non existent virtual drawings, then God who IS love probably feels over a billion times one million times more towards us. God more than wants to meet our needs, God wants us to overflow. God wants us to glow. God want us to be and do more.

 

After I realized these parallels, I stopped playing The Sims Free Play. I realized that I should stop playing god and be the sim and let God be my master.

A Carnivore's Paradise - Jake's Steaks - Shoot Some Juice | Juice.ph

A Carnivore???s Paradise - Jake's Steaks - Shoot Some Juice | Juice.ph

 

If you're looking for a quiet date with great ambiance, you've got it here at Jake's. There are no people but us! 

 

A carnivore's paradise - Jake's Steaks in WackWack Road, Mandaluyong 

 

One of the tastiest steaks I've tried! The mashed potatoes feels like butter in your mouth, and the vegetables, mmm, just the right crunch! 

Catch Your Fish & Eat It Too @ San Pablo - Shoot Some Juice | Juice.ph

Catch Your Fish & Eat It Too @ San Pablo - Shoot Some Juice | Juice.ph

 

Sampaloc Lake in San Pablo, Laguna is known as a killer lake, mysteriously taking at least one person each year 

 

San Pablo fishermen doing their thing with the marvelous lake and mountains as backdrop 

 

For P30 per person, one can go round the Sampaloc Lake, Laguna and get great juicy trivia from the local boatmen 

 

Catch a fish and eat it too! Rent the fishing rod, catch as many fish as you can, weigh it in, and they'll cook it for you anyway you want! 

 

If catching fish is out of your animal rights conscience, buy fish food and just feed the tilapias around the lake 

Truly Rich Club: What I'm Learning So Far

TrulyRichClub.com - Do You Want to Gain Financial Wealth and Spiritual Abundance at the Same Time?

Last month I signed up for Bo Sanchez' Truly Rich club. I'm still no millionaire but what I'm learning is teaching me the steps on how to be one, preparing me to be responsible for when the time that I am one, and giving me Godly truths on money, life, and everything in between.

Everyday, I get nuggets of inspiration. This may not seem very huge, but it is easy to forget who we are in God's eyes. In my inbox, I get messages like "You rock! -God" or "I want you to be happy! -God".  These short messages help me align my thoughts with God's.

I  think it is weekly when I get PDF newsletters on how and where to invest in the stock market, discussions on how money works, and a lot of different technical skills related to building wealth. For a novice in finance, this is an eye opener. I know understand the basic jargon of money, how the intricacy of financial trends is not a guessing game but a deep analysis of the entire economy. I am yet to invest, but if Bo Sanchez' maids have done it, I think I also can!

One month into the Truly Rich Club and the most important lesson that I've learned is that one of the best investments is investing on yourself. Before investing in stocks, funds, and other investment vehicles you should first invest in your learning, in improving yourself. If you fail to invest in yourself, if you fail to educate yourself, then you will fail in everything else. It is like a domino effect.

I am now in the season of cocooning, turning my caterpillar existence into that of a beautiful butterfly. And I am thankful that I found people who have gone trough the same cocoon who I can gain wisdom from.

7 Great Free Sites on How To Know Your Passion

In my quest for discovering my personal passions, I looked for different tools to jump start my introspective search. I have tried them and I now have a better understanding of what vision God has given me, I am still working through some cracks and holes, but in no time, I'm sure I will fully come out of my shell.

These sites are very helpful because they not only give a list of tick boxes, but they inspire people to aim for the peak ans settle for nothing but the best. These very generous individuals who poured in their time to help people are to be admired. The basic tests and methods are free, which is great. But if you want further study or coaching, some would charge a fee, for others it is just totally free.

Here are the sites:

How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes

This method of self discovery was developed by Steve Pavlina. This is the simplest of all the sites I visited, and most organic I think. You only need paper, pen, and some time alone to be quiet (and to be put to tears). His site is full of articles and podcasts that is extremely helpful.

Personal Strengths Profile - Discover What Drives You

The Personal Strengths Profile is available through Tony Robbins site. This method is like an IQ test for self awareness. You will be given a series of IQ test like activities which will then be evaluated and scored. I love this test! Reading through my results is like looking in a mirror. It feels great to see forgotten facets of my self again.

 

What's Your Genius?

Jay Niblick is the one who developed the DISC profile in Tony Robbins' site. What's Your Genius? is an in depth analysis of the DISC profile, there are also other tools available in his site for self awareness. His 4-part video series has very creative graphics and a narrative style that is very calm and great to listen to.

Live Your Passion Video Information Series

This is a video series by Chuck Goetschel that will guide you not only in unearthing your buried passions but will also guide you through making your passion a source of income. The video series is accompanied with text and free ebooks. Personally, the ebook is what helped me most from Chuck Goetschel's personal discovery method.

The Passion Test

I first saw the passion test in its book form a few years ago. This IQ test like method is created by Chris & Janet Attwood. After taking the test, there is follow up through their newsletter becasue people easily forget.

Power of Personal Achievement

Brian Tracy is one of the biggest names in personal development training worldwide, and I now understand why he keeps giving away free videos and ebooks - he found his passion. This 3 part video series touches on finding one's personal passion and guiding your passions towards success through goals. 

The Bible

This is the last but probably the best resource to find out one's personal passion and characteristics. The bible tells us that we are loved, we have the authority, that our thoughts shape our lives, that we have the power to move mountains with just less than an ounce of faith.

These resources are just guides that probably worked for the person who developed it. Another tried and it worked, then another, then another, then another. Then there are also those who tried the methods that did not work. We are all created different, wired uniquely. It is our responsibility to find out how our creator wired us and then set ourselves aflame!

The Prerequisite

After being woken up by Zig Ziglar's goal setting videos, I created a list of different goals. Goals ranging from the biggest, having financial independence, to the smallest, as buying facial moisturizer. I listed all these things and found out that I haven't looked inside for quite some time. I was surprised! I haven't been living, as in really living! I have just been going through the motions of everyday, sometimes enjoying sometimes suffering, but not deeply and meaningfully living.

Knowing that I have the power to create the life I want, and that goals will line the path, I set myself out to search within. How did my creator wire me? What are the innate gifts that I have. These gifts and inner wiring may have been buried in the "should haves" just showing up in spurts.

So after writing down all the different goals, I narrowed it down, and narrowed it down, and narrowed it down further until i reached my first and most important goal. After this all the rest will smoothly follow.

"Know Thyself"

My first goal is to deeply know who I am created to be, what God's plans are for my life, what will make Him smile when I am. This is the prerequisite to a life fully lived.