Interview

Introduction: this interview is with Ricardo Alvarez (vice president of Asian Terminals).

What did you study in college?
I studied general administration in college.

Where did you study?
In Dominican Republic, Intec.

Did you ever imagine you would end up in the Philippines?
Never, in my wildest dreams would I have thought about something like that. It was a surprise when I heard I was being offered a position here.

What was your first job and how did you manage to decide what to study?
My first job was embarrassing, I worked in a hot dog stand selling hot dogs. This I did with my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife) and we managed to get some money out of it. After a year it started becoming big but I knew that it wasn't the job i wanted for the rest of my life, it was only a job to get me along for the moment. As i managed the hot dog stand I learned I really wanted to know more about business itself so i decided to study general management in college (business administration).

How did you start working for Asian Terminals?
I started working in Asian Terminals when i was still in college just as an assistant of the general manager and I worked myself up to the managerial position.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if you ended up working somewhere else?
Not really, I love my job and i don't really see myself doing anything else.

What do you advise to people studying in the business sector?
Its all about the job experience, try and get part time jobs or small jobs so that you start knowing what is out there and getting yourself exposed to what the market wants.

Is there anything you would have done differently?
Yes absolutely, I think if i would have put more effort in college and worked harder i would have gone a lot higher. I would advise everyone to just put all their effort in college and really giving all they can in everything they do.

Any other thing you would like to add?
I believe that hard work is what gets you to big places, so give everything you have and nothing less than 200% and you'll be big no matter what you do.

Hot Chocolate (drink review)

Monday, September 20^th 2010

It’s the rainy season and what a better way to relax and get a break than to drink a cup of warm delicious chocolate. Chocolate is always the best way to start or end a hard day. But in this city where there are many places you could go and get this delightful drink, how do you know which one to choose?

Starbucks is one of the most popular places in the Philippines for coffee. They offer a variety of options aside from coffee and one of those is hot chocolate. Nevertheless, I found the taste not that appealing since its not creamy enough and lacks some sweetness to it. Its cost doesn’t really call me either since the taste us not satisfying enough. Nevertheless, it is good hot chocolate, just not great.

As I continued my search for the best tasting hot chocolate drink, I came across another known establishment. Seattle’s Best, which offers also a variety of coffee drinks, milkshakes and hot chocolate also. They prepare their hot chocolate with two real bars of dark chocolate that they melt in creamy milk and then add the sugar. This is one of the most amazing hot chocolates I have ever tried and it is sure worth its price.

Coffee bean is another establishment I visited on my search to find the best hot chocolate. They prepare their hot chocolate with the most exquisite chocolate powder, which contains already the sugar and all the ingredients that make this chocolate the best. They put the powdered mixture in hot cream and milk then they add the sugar and some whipped cream. In my opinion this is the best hot chocolate I have ever tried.

Coffee bean uses double the chocolate amount than Starbucks and its chocolate is a lot creamier than Seattle’s best. It is truly delightful! So, when choosing the best hot chocolate drink I would choose Coffee Bean’s double hot chocolate just because it is worth the price since it is not that expensive and it is creamy and delicious. It is also convenient since there are plenty of Coffee Bean branches around Manila.

Mission Accomplished!

Dominican Christmas

 EL REBU! (hahah means something like "disorder") ... Christmas is so much fun back at home!

Christmas is a really special holiday, which everyone expects throughout the year. It’s a time to bond with family and really celebrate the day Jesus was born. But to my family, this time of the year involves getting fat in a couple of days and eating as much as you can!

There is something you should know about Dominican people; they will take one day of holiday and convert it into four days of partying. Therefore my Christmas dinner consists of two Christmas dinners and one lunch the day after. Usually no one can really decide where to make the dinner so we end up with two to three Christmas dinners in ONE night!  Of course usually one involves my grandparents from my mom’s side and the other my grandparents from my dads side. Since we cant miss either, we must cut the night into two and go to both (its not like we have a problem with two dinners!),.

So, what my mom’s family really does is that all guests have to bring at least one dish of food. Since we have been doing these dinners for years we already know who brings what. The salad and best dressing are provided by my aunt (from my moms side) just because she can’t really cook; the last time she did we spent Christmas in the hospital. Its like everyone knows what not to eat or what to put in their napkin when no one is looking from the pile o food.

There is something from this dinner that makes us all come in the first place and that is my grandmother’s turkey. She does the best turkey ever! And I have to say that is probably 90% of the reason people still go to that dinner. She marinates the turkey two whole days before so that all the flavors are concentrated and the filling is the best part! She marinates it with salt, pepper, turkey stock and herbs and lets it all just come together in the fridge for two days. The filling is made out of raisins and the puree of sun dried tomatoes and other hers such as basil. She then fills the turkey with the mixture three hours before guests arrive and bakes it all for three hours in really low heat. The meat is soft and tender and it even attracts the neighbors into coming to say Merry Christmas just to see if they can get lucky with a piece. She makes three turkeys since my family exaggeration with food is always a tradition. There are about only thirty people in this dinner (and there are three turkeys) and there is chicken, lots of rice, paella (seafood rice), and pork. So, every year we decide what dinner to go to first by what we did the year before.

Now, when speaking of my dad’s side its something different. My grandmother cooks all the food for the family, which in total is about fifty people. But if you thought that because she is cooking everything that she would be more discrete about the amount, you were wrong! She cooks for like two hundred people and ends up with left over food for a week! The one thing we all expect is her special “moro de habichuelas”, which translates into rice and beans mixed together. This is a typical food for Dominicans but no one gets how hers is so special. Well. I know the secret! She makes the white rice first (no need to explain how she does that) and then she does the beans by adding lots of garlic, onion, and spices. She lets the beans boil with all the veggies and spices for five hours in low heat. She then adds the rice and mixes it all together, and finally adds a touch of hot chili pepper to make it a bit spicy. It’s delightful! The smell is amazing and you can perceive the wonderful aroma from far away.

So, when going to these two dinners, we all fast for like two days in order to git all the food in our stomach! Both of my grandmothers always want us to repeat and eat more. I have always wondered if it is because they forget about us serving ourselves the first time. But oh well, after such a meal there is only one thing to expect and that is the lunch of the next day. We call it “calentado”, which means the heating of all the left over food from both dinners, which is usually a lot). One thing is for sure, after being n my family dinner you are going to need two months of workout in the gym!

Grab a burger at TGIF!

Thursday, August 26^th 2010

Craving a big burger? Are you tired of ordering a burger based on the picture and getting let down when you find out its four times smaller than what you thought it was? Well, TGI Fridays bacon cheeseburger is no miniature, that’s for sure! If you are up for an explosive big flavor experience then this burger is just right for you!

TGI Fridays is a restaurant that is known for their mouthwatering quality big burgers. TGIF can be found in Highstreet, right across Serendra. Parking is about thirty five pesos, and yes it is outside parking so its hot during the day! When you walk inside the restaurant you get a feel of happiness all around you, not only I the music modern and great but also the service is very good. It is fully air conditioned with an option of smoking or non- smoking area. Fridays has also a bar area with a great variety of alcoholic drinks available.

The burgers are made from 100% beef, which are seasoned with simply salt and pepper. Expect something huge! The bacon is cooked till crispy and a variety of toppings are offered (lettuce, pickles, tomato, onion). The cheese is American Cheddar and its completely melted and delicious (and yes you can ask for extra cheese if you like!). This is the kind of burger, which you get and you sit there trying to figure out how you are going to manage to open your mouth as big to take a first bite. It’s brought with crispy French fries in order to give a complete burger experience. Good luck trying to finish the burger AND the fries.

The price is around 300 pesos, but this burger is all worth it! If you really want a nice dinning experience, were you can have a talk with your friends, listen to music and have great food then Fridays is the place to be. Where it is guaranteed that you will have a quality standard burger and I leave you with the promise that you will be satisfied with choosing TGIF.

TV and family values

Thursday, August 19^th 2010 

Today we happen to live in a world consumed by technology and progress. Television has taken a part of or lives up to the point where most people own a TV at home. The exposure to our parents or to what we see in our early years affects one’s behavior. O, couldn’t it be said that such a big exposure to anything in particular (especially something that we find appealing) could in fact shape our values? Could the change in family values be a result of the great increase in the exposure to certain material provided by TV?

When we look at a particular family or just at the word family as a term we think of a mother, father, and kids. TV today has changed this term, where most of the members of the family are not present. Lets take for example “Dora the Explorer”, which ahs been a huge hit in children television show today. If one notices closely, you can see that this child is viewed as “the most intelligent” in the show and there are no parents around whatsoever. Right there we can see how since as early as three to four years of age children are exposed to cartoons, which show little or no family life at all. This can be confusing to a child because the girl happens to be as small as them but she can actually do whatever she wants without having parental supervision or consent. So, in terms this affects the way a child perceives the importance of family itself in his or her life, lowering the importance of family unity and their values.

Parents are also known as being stupid or absent. For example in “the fairy Godparents”, shows how a small boy has imaginary Godparents as a result of neglecting parents. This again, showing young kids how parents are and giving them a stereotype of what parents are all about. The parents are also shown to be a lot less intelligent that their son, which once again confuses the child when determining where to go for guidance. These being an example of what children are exposed to and how it may affect their views and family values.

Children happen to carry the key to the passing on of family values to the next generation. Therefore the exposure to such shows pushes them away from family unity and confuses them when it comes to understanding what family unity is all about. They learn, through the exposure of TV, that parents are stupid and untrustworthy. So how could children trust what their parents tell them if they are shown that they are smarter than their parents? Is TV a major contributor to the decrease in family values? Absolutely; it shows children a wrong image of family, decreasing the quality time with their parents. Can we really trust all we see? These shows look innocent but the exposure to its contents can lead to misinterpretation and as a result the family values as we know them are dissolved. 

Coca-Cola (beverage)

Monday, July 12^th 2010

Ever since one can remember. Coca-cola has been a part of our lives. The media has been able to create a good image of Coca-cola by promoting it on the basis of family and friendship. By pairing it with these two elements, they create a fun and happy image to the brand and their other products.

When speaking of media we talk about TV, ads and usually anything that really shows the product to the consumer. In TV commercials Coca-Cola is shown as being fresh, cool and bringing happiness. These things appeal to the customer and help on developing Coca-cola’s image.

Ads usually show the bottle of coke being enjoyed by a group of people, either friends or family and really make the consumer relate to the situations being portrayed. By doing this, the consumer relates the scene or situation to the product, making an image for the product once again. This image is that of enjoying and sharing something special with those we love, in this case that “something is Coca-cola.

So, in conclusion the media shows the consumer what he or she can relate to in order to create an image for the product being sold. In this way, the consumer can somewhat relate to the product being sold and can be attracted to it. Coca-cola, throughout the years, has been successful at portraying a good and happy image and that explains their success. Consumers have embraced Coca-cola into a part of their lives, making Coca-cola a part of the family.

Colgate commercial

Monday, July 5^th 2010

In this Colgate commercial, CSI protagonist is used in order to advertise the Colgate toothpaste. She is advertising “max fresh”; this is appealing to the viewer not only because it’s a person that is known to the public and is famous but also because of her outstanding beauty. It appeals as if she was analyzing the crystals in the toothpaste; as she spoke about this making the viewer think about the actual TV series. So, in fact she is not only advertising Colgate but also herself in the show that made her a star. Therefore, this commercial is successful when appealing to the customer since it pulls the viewer I while making him/her feel part of what they are viewing. Its memorable because the actress used is known to the viewer already and its easy to think about it. Whenever one sees Colgate, one will think of her and vise versa.