Longganisa on Pizza

This is a typical breakfast in the Philippines and we would call it long-si-log or longganisa (Filipino-style sweet sausage), sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (eggs).  My husband discovered this delicious Filipino-style sweet sausage at a Filipino market in Cerritos.  It is sold in the freezer section and because he loves it so much, we bought a lot of it. A few breakfasts later and it began to take up a permanent residency in our freezer.

It was a recent trip to Costco that saved the longganisa from going bad.  We buy these pre-made pizza dough and sauce, sold in packs of three at Costco.  My husband had developed a fondness for making his own pizzas - after I made him a pizza with eggs and veggetables one time and a four-cheese one another time - he realized that he could put most of his favorite foods on the pizza dough and make it taste great!

One night, my husband assembled a pizza using the longganisa, home-made meatballs, bell peppers and lots of other ingredients.  The longganisa was really a great topping for the pizza though, it blended into the tomato-based sauce quite well.  Its sweetness and spiciness giving the pizza a very unique flavor - delicious!

I think this is how Filipino food can be introduced to the masses here in the US, by re-inventing them and incorporating them into dishes that Westerners know - like pizza.

I am a great fan of a lunch truck called, The Manila Machine (shown in the photo).  Its menu consists of simple adobo and sisig with rice, pan de sal (Filipino-style buns) sliders, egg rolls, breakfast plates and yummy desserts.  They chose to introduce the simpler dishes, the ones that won't send diners running the opposite direction, to the city of Los Angeles.

Filipino food isn't just beef tongue, ox tail, internal organs or balut (duck egg).  We have longganisa (sweet sausage) that go great on pizza; chicken braised in vinegar and soy sauce (adobo) that tastes delicious in sandwiches as well as on rice; and barbecues that would rival any other cuisine.  Filipino food are not just for the eccentrics and the daredevils - Filipino food can be everyday food for anybody, we just have to get it out there - maybe a little tweaked from our traditional recipes - but when done right is sure to be loved!

What Filipino food do you enjoy?  Do you enjoy the traditional way it's prepared or has the dish you enjoy been reinvented?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section :)

Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day

Our first carved pumpkin - a test carve for Halloween 2010

We don't celebrate Halloween in the Philippines - at least not like it's celebrated here.  Back home in my maternal grandmother's province, on the eve of October 31, the family gathers around the cemetery crypt where all our relatives are buried. While the grandkids (us) mold wax from the lit candles into interesting shapes like clay, play different games with the cousins and share ghost stories, the adults clean the crypt and arrange the flowers as they remember the ones who have gone before them.  We were not celebrating Halloween - we celebrated All Saints' and All Souls' Day on November 1 & 2 respectively. There is no family crypt to clean here - not as many cousins and family members to remember relatives who have passed away with.

Here in the OC, my husband and I celebrate Halloween.  We put up a few decorations on Halloween, hoping kids would stop by for candies - which we always have, but we don't get that many trick-or-treaters at our door.  And I end up with too many leftover candy!

My boss advised that we should have a carved pumpkin displayed outside our home so that kids know that we have treats for them - that this was their sign to knock on our door.  So this year, we are carving pumpkins (the photo shows our test pumpkin, which we had up since last week - and unfortunately will not live to see Halloween)!  I also found this plastic cauldron yesterday, which was too big for my single bag of candy - so we got two bags more and filled it passed the halfway point.  Hopefully more kids come - especially since our building seems to now have quite a number of families with young kids - and because I have three bags of candy in my cauldron!

We got everything we needed in advance so that we can pay our respects to my husband's father this coming weekend and not have to worry about Halloween preparations.  Because although I enjoy how we celebrate Halloween here - I still want to celebrate All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day where we remember the lives of those we love who have gone before us...  We will still go to the cemetery to pray and remember - even those loved ones who were not buried here.  We will just have more to celebrate and remember this coming weekend.

Happy Halloween, my friends!  And may you have a solemn All Saints' and All Souls' Day...

The iMovie Distraction

Experiencing Tron from OC Pinay on Vimeo.

I once told my coworkers that I would prefer not to work on a Mac and this is why.  I love playing on a Mac!  I put together this home video using Mac's iMovie application, which I explored when Steve Jobs announced the new iLife '11 with a list of new features.  I wanted to evaluate if I should upgrade - my husband's Mac has the '09 version.  

I have never before used my Kodak Playsport video camera so often as I did after I enjoyed playing with iMovie.  I must confess, I have a very expensive video editing suite which was given to me as a gift by one of my favorite aunts - and I tried using it, but it looked so professional and technical that I was intimidated enough to not use it.

iMovie is user friendly.  It reminds me of the Photodex set up where you drag your pictures into your project space, add transitions, add background music, apply the effects and save your slideshow.  iMovie is the same except that you're compiling videos instead of photos and you can edit the audio and the video easily from the same interface.  I absolutely love making home videos with it!  So will I upgrade to iLife '11?  Definitely!

Jaden Smith: Redefining The Karate Kid

I still marvel at the talent of young Jaden Smith as my husband and I enjoyed the DVD of The Karate Kid last weekend.  Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's son can really act!  Working with veteran actor, Jackie Chan, he didn't fade into the sidelines - he shone brightly.

He made us laugh, amazed us with his Kung Fu and impressed us when he shed that single tear.  Jaden has grown to be such a versatile performer.  I think it's safe to say that he will become one of the best actors in his generation if he continues to develop his craft.

The Karate Kid's revised and modernized story line was very interesting.  It had a good mix of family values, motivation, drama and a generous dose of comedy.  All in all a very entertaining movie!  I would recommend it to all my friends.  So if you're looking for something to do this weekend - check out this DVD and watch for yourself.

Law-Abiding Pinay: Zyrene Consults National Historical Institute

Zyrene Parsad

The singing of the Philippine National Anthem by famous celebrities especially in international sporting events that feature a Filipino representative never fails to raise controversy.  Filipino singers tend to exercise a degree of artistic freedom in their rendition of the anthem to display their vocal prowess - possibly imitating how western performers take liberties with their renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner.

In boxing superstar (and Congressman) Manny Pacquiao's upcoming boxing match in Dallas, TX - a young singer, Zyrene Parsad, was chosen to sing the national anthem.  To avoid any controversy with her rendition of the national anthem, she visited the National Historical Institute last October 12 for pointers on how to sing the Lupang Hinirang (translated: Chosen Land) properly.

The Philippines has a law, Republic Act 8491, which states that: "The national anthem, whether played or sung, shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe."  The law also specifies the lyrics of the national anthem.

NHI's Heraldry section chief, Teddy Atienza listened to Zyrene's rendition during the consultation.  He advised her not to change the tune or tempo of the song, which could lead to fines of Php 20,000 to Php 40,000 and a 1-year jail sentence.

I think it is admirable that the young singer chose to consult with the institute - she is indicating that she wants to follow the law.  She wants to sing the Lupang Hinirang correctly.  Zyrene has already taken the first step.  Let us hope she does not get nervous and forget the words - and stays true to the tune and tempo of this beautiful anthem.

I think that every citizen should strive to learn the proper way of singing their national anthem - and should know the lyrics to the song by heart.  It is a tribute to the country you pledge allegiance to and a symbol of your patriotism.

Good luck, Zyrene!  May you represent the Philippines well through your proper rendition of the country's national anthem...

Got MILK? And Cupcakes And Ice Cream And Coffee...

Brunch at MILK : prosciutto and provolone sandwich,
double espresso & cold strawberry milk

Red velvet cupcake from MILK

One of my husband's not so favorite things about me is my tendency to read about something online and want to try it - specifically out of the way restaurants and bakeshops.  Well, he doesn't really mind that - what he does mind is that I get us lost more than half of the time with my lousy navigation skills!  And going to MILK in the Miracle Mile North District was no different.

I read about MILK in one of my favorite food blogs.  I absolutely love milk - and most anything made from milk like cheeses, baked goodies, ice cream and other delicacies specifically designed to increase the waistline.  I read about the ice cream parlor/bakeshop/cafe and knew I had found my heaven on earth!

I went straight to their dessert display.  I was overwhelmed by how delicious everything looked!  Cupcakes, moompies, tres leches cake, every type of cookie and brownie you can think of, 3x chocolate cake (I think they named it that to warn you of the size you will wear if you indulge too much!) - you get the picture, right?

I struggled to choose only one - and I chose this delectable red velvet cupcake. I have these cupcake cravings several times a month and am still grieving for the Cupcake Store that closed in Downtown Disney.  I think my husband keeps the location of cupcake stores in Orange from me on purpose - for my own good, of course!

Ok, back to the red velvet cupcake - to be honest, I loved the frosting on top more than the cupcake - it tasted like the exclamation point of why they called this shop MILK, the sweet creaminess of the frosting was unlike anything I ever tasted before.  I was going to take just one bite and wait for my brunch, but I took one bite and could not put the fork down!

And from the number of customers who came in and ordered desserts with their breakfast - I'm sure I'm not the only one enamored with this place!  Two servers noticed I had my dessert before they even brought out our brunch and both looked amused, but not surprised.  Yes, I came here for your desserts - the refreshing cold strawberry milk was just a bonus!

Live deliciously, my friends!  Seize the day!

A Random Act of Kindness

The sun is finally out after raining for days here in Southern California.  What a beautiful morning it was going to work! The rainy days had reminded me of why I enjoy working for our company along with a lot of amazing people.

It had began to pour just as I was going out for lunch last Tuesday.  It wasn't raining when I came in so I didn't even think of bringing an umbrella.  I was going to wait for my husband to fetch me with an umbrella, but as I stepped out the door one of my coworkers ducked out of the rain with her umbrella in hand.

"Do you have an umbrella?" she asked and I said that I didn't, but someone was going to fetch me.  Without another thought she handed me her umbrella and said, "Take mine, just return it to me when you get back from lunch."  I didn't even know this coworker very well, we say hello when we pass each other in the hallways and that was the extent of our relationship.  Yet she cared enough to be kind to me when I needed it.

And she walked into our building as though she didn't do anything out of the ordinary - it was a random act of kindness.  It was such a simple gesture, yet it made such a huge impact on my day.  Thank you, my dear coworker - for reminding me that it doesn't take great deeds to help others. Just filling a simple need - like lending an umbrella to someone who's going out in the rain - is a blessing to that someone.

Be kind every day.  Reach out to someone in need - no matter how small the need may seem to be.  Be a positive impact on humanity today!

Marmaduke: Great Dane Moves to the OC

I watched this funny film about a dog this weekend.  The movie just came out on DVD and is called Marmaduke.  It was hilarious!

It was narrated by this humorous Great Dane called Marmaduke.  He and his family moved to the OC from Kansas.  He was excited to start over and find new friends - that he never had in Kansas.

His owner worked for an organic pet food manufacturer and took him to work on his first day because the CEO wanted to meet him at the dog park.  The dog park was like a high school for dogs, there were several packs like the jocks, the mushroom heads, the drama queens, the mutts and the most coveted pedigrees.  Marmaduke wanted to fit into the pedigrees because he was attracted to Jezebel (the CEO's dog) and girlfriend to top dog, Bosco. It was a typical underdog wants to be cool and succeeds story - the only difference was the hero was really a dog - and therefore, more fun to watch!

The other part of the movie was about Marmaduke's human family - how in chasing Marmaduke owner, Phil's, dreams - he chases away his family.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie was when his wife - after he had sent Marmaduke to sleep in the yard under the rain - declared that, "The dog has the yard, you have the couch."  This initiated Phil's great realization in this movie - with a little help from Marmaduke - he realized that he hadn't "listened" to what his family needed since they moved to California because all he had cared about was his job. Phil then realizes that family is more important than being a slave to his boss.

He goes on a great water rescue to save Marmaduke instead of delivering his pitch to get their organic dog food into Petco and gets fired in the process.  But he had already learned his lesson, family first - his loved ones are what really matters.

This movie couldn't possibly end badly - so enter social media to save the day!  The friends of Phil's son, Brian, films his heroic rescue and uploads it to YouTube.  He gets 680,000+ hits, Petco who has met him and Marmaduke (and was impressed by the surfing Great Dane) sees the video, their company gets the account.  His boss rescinds his resignation and begins to respect his need for quality time with his family.

Funny, filled with good moral values, and definitely entertaining - I will make sure to purchase a copy of this so I can watch it with my future kids!

The Social Network: What Makes Facebook Tick

You may have 500 million friends,  you may be worth 25 billion dollars, and everyone in the world may know your name - but that doesn't mean you are happy.  That doesn't get you the girl.  That doesn't save your relationship with your best friend.  This seemed to be the moral story of the movie, The Social Network.  The end (money, fame, and coolness) does not justify the means - who would have compared Mark Zuckerberg to Machiavelli before this movie?

The movie started out like a network security lecture, I can barely catch up with how he was hacking the different houses in Harvard, but I caught intrusion detection and a few other technical terms that I understood.  I also remember him passing up on a house website that was written in PHP - does that mean PHP is more secure?  I certainly hope so - especially since he chose to write Facebook on PHP - bootstrapping it with Linux OS and Apache web servers!

When Facebook came out, it wasn't a totally new concept to me.  But why it just exploded as it did, more than any of the other social networks - was a mystery to me until I watched this movie.  Contrary to the fact that the characters of Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker keep pointing out - it's not just because it's cool!

So why has more than 500 million people use Facebook?

1. Exclusivity.  You can choose whose friend request you accept.  As a lot of my coworkers tell me, they don't want everyone to see all their information on Facebook and that is why they don't use it.  Well, you can actually choose the friends you interact with on Facebook - and if you choose your privacy settings right, you can choose what information you show everyone and what you keep private.
2. Popularity.  If Facebook has more than 500 million users, what are the chances that you know a few of those 500 million people?  The reason people keep coming back to Facebook is because they find people they know - their classmates, friends, and even family members - there.
3. Staying Updated aka Stalking. One part of the movie had Mark's classmate asking him if he knew if a girl in his class was single.  This gave him the idea of  the Relationship Status.  What do you want to know about your friends?  Chances are the details are on Facebook.  You don't even need to ask them anymore - you meet after five years or longer and you ask them about their husband who they married two years ago, the baby they just had last year, or how they like their hometown where they moved to a few months back.  As they also showed in the movie, instant updates - people share about what they are watching immediately so people don't have to be in the actual event to know what happened.
4. Bringing the Party Online.  Moms like showing off their babies/kids.  College students like showing off the parties they go to.  People, in general, love showing off the places they've been to, the cool things they've done and what they've accomplished.  With the advent of digital cameras, HD camcorders and Facebook - they've found a platform to do just that.  Statistics released by Comscore last Thursday stated that Facebook is second only to Google (who owns YouTube) in online video viewing.  A website that is not a dedicated online video site is more popular than all the others, why?  Because it has more than 500 million friends who share and watch videos in their respective social network.
5. Available 24/7. When Facebook went down a week or so ago - it was big news.  Why?  Because Facebook never crashes - and you can see how Mark Zuckerberg fought to make sure of that in the movie when Saverin froze their bank account.  It was a priority for him to never crash - and I think this is a good priority for any web application.
6. Mark is Cool.  One of the things he intended to accomplish was being cool.  And he did.  As I was walking into the theatre, as I was walking out, and throughout the movie - I would hear people exclaim, "This guy is amazing, nothing can stop this guy!" - referring to Mark Zuckerberg.  Who doesn't look up to someone who becomes a billionaire before turning 30 years old, right?  Plus, as we see in the movie - he was adamant about reputation management/control - you cannot be an embarrassment to Facebook.  He does not want negative publicity or notoriety to taint his company's image.  So as a company, Facebook is self-conscious and never wants to be seen in a negative light.

There are probably a lot more factors that contribute to the success of Facebook, but these are the major points I saw in The Social Network movie.  Do you use Facebook?  Did you see the movie?  I have friends who absolutely refuse to use Facebook, but are still seeing the movie.  So are all 500 million friends going to see the movie?  Time will tell - as of this morning, I read that it has earned $23 million - and today is Sunday so more people may see it still.

Knobs: Small Yet Beautiful

World Market is one of my favorite stores for browsing and getting decorating ideas from.  Before the movie, Eat Pray Love, opened they had an Eat Pray Love section of their store which contained products inspired by the movie like prayer shawls, hats, jewelry and other accessories.

At the end of this section they had a shelving unit that contained these beautiful knobs.  I like clean lines in my furntiture.  I like them to be solid-looking and usually step clear of intricate wood carvings.  So I knew that though the knobs were pretty, I probably would not use them - until I bought this charging station that had this tiny hole pre-drilled for a knob.

I wasn't going to add the knob at first, but the design of the charging station made the drawer very difficult to open without it.  My husband found this simple knob in clear resin with a simple gold circle in the center.  I put it on the charging station and thought it made the simple black piece more interesting.  It added an artistic dimension to the functional piece.

I was never faced with so many colorful choices of knobs before.  It is amazing how something so small can make such an impact on cabinets, drawers and even furniture pieces.  And it is so inexpensive to add!  With colorful selections you can even use it to add touches of color to your decor.  A touch of beauty to your everyday life!

Nomnom: Food Truck Inspiration

Everyone who has tasted my husband's cooking has suggested we launch a food truck.  It's the current craze that has hit the nation.  So when we stumbled on the show, The Great Food Truck Race, we immediately became a fan - specifically of the Nomnom Truck.  I think I was a little biased when I picked them as my favorite because they were women-owned (girl power!), Asians (a minority/the seeming underdog), and they served Asian food (are not ashamed of their heritage) - three characteristics I truly admire!

Although they did not win the race, I learned from them the most.  And here are a few of the lessons I took away from this very entertaining duo:

• Keep it simple - Banh Mi is a vietnamese sandwich.  It is simple to assemble, but that doesn't mean they did not spend hours perfecting their recipe!  It is also simple to understand - even if you're not Vietnamese, everyone knows what a sandwich is.
• Location, location, location - You have to know where to find your customers.  The concept of a food truck is to go where your customers are so location is very important.  You also have to know with what food your product goes with and pick a frozen yogurt shop, coffee shop or a complementary food truck to park beside.
• Spread the Word - Especially for mobile food trucks that can't really give out a permanent address for their fans to go to, you must be a very creative marketer.  Press releases on local newspapers, getting yourself featured in food blogs, and the extensive use of social media (blogs, Facebook and Twitter) to get the word out is a big plus.  They had great marketing strategies like talking to restaurant/food truck owners into telling customers that they will give discounts for customers who buy from them after purchasing from the other food place. They are able to come up with ways to get people to their order window and that is why they outsold their competitors in all the cities they competed in.  The strategic marketing skills of the Nomnom Truck owners helped them win a lot of the challenges in a big way!
• You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar - Even when things aren't going your way, you have to greet your customers with a smile.  Instead of trying to pull your competition down, work harder - do not use underhanded tactics to win.  Your popularity is based on your like-ability - if people do not like your business - they will not buy your product.
• Have fun - A business you do not enjoy is not worth all your sweat and tears!  You must love what you're doing and have fun doing it.  At the end of a long, hard day - you will not quit, but plan to do better tomorrow.

Screenshot of the Nomnom Truck website.

Their competitors always claim that Misa and Jen are not street smart, but I think they held their own pretty well - they sold Banh Mi across the country and people welcomed their bright green truck everywhere they went.  People enjoyed their food while I enjoyed their spirit!  It is obvious that these young food truck gurus/amazing entrepreneurs will go far - and build a very successful business empire together.

Thanks for the inspiration, Misa and Jen!  I hope many people learned from you and take what they learned to venture out into the business world.