Gratitude makes you happy

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Local eatery harnesses social media for marketing specialty dish

ILOILO CITY – A local carenderia in Mandurriao district in Iloilo City called Lars Buko Batchoy and Eatery owned by Larry Abanilla Lao and Primerose Uy is drawing crowds for its unique take on the popular Ilonggo soup the “Batchoy” with a twist and becomes its specialty, the Coconutchoy.

Lars Buko Batchoy and Eatery looks like an ordinary carenderia that you could easily miss but the crowd going to the place urged one’s curiosity.

Unlike the classic batchoy, which uses artificial meat broth as its main base, Lars’ soup is infused with coconut milk.

"We use coconut because it is the tree of life,” said Primrose Uy, the eatery’s chief cook and co-owner. It is alkaline and not oily, so it’s healthier than the traditional batchoy,” she added.

The slightly sweet soup comes with either pork or chicken toppings, garlic, chicharon, spring onions, boiled eggs, noodles like miki, bihon, miswa or sotanghon, and strips of coconut meat.


 Primrose and Lars came up with the recipe after extensive research online on the food business and dishes being served in restaurants. They wanted to create something not offered elsewhere.

“We discovered recipes online, but opted to add our own touch in order to come up with something unique,” said Primrose.

 Lars used to work in a restaurant in Dubai, but quit and came home after suffering a stroke.

 Besides coconutchoy, Lars Buko Batchoy and Eatery also serves healthier yet still flavorful alternatives to popular fare: buko burgers, lumpiang shanghai with buko strips, buko mami, buko pancit and buko batangas lomi,among others.

 All of Lars’ soup dishes are served in coconut shells with coconut meat as one of the main ingredients. “Our soup dishes are best eaten as soon as they are served, because the coconut shell absorbs the heat,” Primrose advised.

 With buko as key ingredient, it is no wonder that the eatery uses an average of 50 coconuts on a regular day, thus helping coconut farmers in the province of Iloilo.

Social media promotions, online orders

 Lars is in-charge with marketing and he is aware that that even with its delicious dishes, the eatery needed something more to sustain its popularity.   Tapping into his Dubai work experience, he harnessed the power of social media to reach out to their customers and expand their clientele.

 “When we set up a Facebook page, more people learned about our establishment and dishes in just a very short period of time,” he said.

 Apart from posting photos of their mouthwatering fare, Lars would take photos of willing diners and post the images on their official Facebook page. He also maintains a good relationship with social media influencers who endorse Lars Buko Batchoy in their blogs and social media accounts, giving the eatery a broader online reach.

 Another valuable online tool is the “Recommendation” feature found in most social media page sites. “Diners would leave their recommendations on Lars Buko Batchoy’s Facebook page, which has more than 300 recos to date,” Lars shared.

Some also leave reviews on Trip Advisor, where even tourists from abroad can check if the eatery is worth the trip, since it is a bit far from Iloilo’s main commercial areas.

 “Our coconutchoy has been dubbed as ‘the best Philippine fusion dish’ and ‘genius creation’ by Trip Advisor users,” Lars proudly mentioned. 

The online presence of Lars Buko Batchoy eventually caught the attention of Choose Philippines, an ABS-CBN TV tourism website.

“On our 10th month of operations, our coconutchoy specialty was given the 2016 Best Fusion Dish award from Choose Philippines,” Primrose said.

News about their once undiscovered eatery spread even more after the recognition.  As their online presence grew, Lars and Primrose decided to accommodate online orders and delivery services.

Customers now would place coconutchoy orders through its Facebook page, Primrose said.  Even Ilonggos based abroad would book orders for loved ones back in Iloilo City, then pay for everything online, she added.

As they mark their third year in the food business, Lars and Primrose attest to how the Internet has been instrumental in the success of Lars Buko Batchoy.

The two restaurateurs said that Smart network’s stronger cellular and data signals allow them to continuously research for more food offerings, promote their dishes and establishment, and conveniently process online orders for both local and international customers. 

Christmas 2018.

Christmas to me is always a random thought. Ever since i was a child, Christmas is Christ's birthday, thanksgiving with families and relatives, gift giving and exchanging gifts, food galore and going to church with ny grandma.
The digital age enhances the celebrations with wine, getting giddy, skypes and videocams with siblings and friends abroad. It is still random in my thoughts!
Through the years, (roughly 33 years now) my Christmasses were not happy celebrations... they reminded me with being alone. I used to spend Christmas with friends' and or siblings' families but my own.
I was given a wonderful chance to have two families of my own with two marriages and Christmasses in those years (1974-1989 & 1996-2013). They were happy, fun and always full of thanksgiving and gratitude for a year that was!
Today, I celebrate Christmas at random. Any time of the year is Christmas and #givingissharing is giving of your #time, #talents, #skills, #money, #fun, #happiness, #peace, life's #abundance, #gratitude.
Make every day a Christmas Day to celebrate that #LifeIsGreat #LoveIsMagical #PeaceIsALifestyle #KindnessMakesYouABeautifulPerson #HappinessIsAPersonalChoice #AbundanceIsMine #GratitudeAttitude #Serendipity.

My love story in a letter

December 8, 2018

Dear John,

Today five years ago you died in my arms despite my whispers of love and begged you to hang on tight as we waited for the ambulance to take you to the hospital.

You refused to breathe more as you gave me that last look of kindness, love, peace, gratitude.

I couldn’t understand then how could you surrender to death so quickly!

We talked about defying death. We agreed to hold hands and face death together.

How come you went ahead?

Then i also recalled one special conversation that continues to tug at my heart even until now:

John: “I pray to God that I go first, because if you go ahead of me, I wouldn’t know what to do with my life. I’d be a wreck, I’d die everyday without you. But you, you are stronger emotionally, I know you’ll be okay without me.”

You also had aversions about hospitals.
Again, I remember our conversation when you were in the hospital for nearly three months because of multiple fracture on your left knee from a fall from our verandah...

John: “Mine, please no more hospitals for me even if i’m near death. I don’t want to die anywhere else, but home. If you insist, I will will myself to die.”

When you had that massive cardiac arrest on December 8, 2013 I whispered to you to hang on because I was gonna take you to the hospital.

You vehemently moved your head to a big “NO” and I cuddled you until your last breath... but I still took you to the hospital!

On the road inside the ambulance amid heavy traffic i felt your cold soul all over me. You hugged me for a good one minute or so... i couldn’t cry! I just closed my eyes and whispered “I know you love me, but please... live!”

I watched the caretakers at the crematorium washed your beautiful body. I covered you with your favourite clothes and swatch shoes and tucked your dentures into your mouth (even if you didn’t like it)... and for the very last time I whispered, “Thank you for a blissful, loving and wonderful life with you. I love you but my heart bleeds right now.”

Viewing your remains for 10 minutes before you were cremated was probably the most loving yet painful experience in my lifetime!

I stood rigid, frigid, cold, lifeless. My gaze fixed on you. It was eternity. Acceptance was hard and difficult.

Holding and bringing home that white square box with your ashes in it made me think about death, about love, about pain, about life some more...up close and personal.

What I felt through all these years was of profound awakening and expanded consciousness;

- You are ENOUGH and perfect. Nothing and no one exist in your life but yourself. The people you love, the family you have, the experiences and milestones in your life are reasons, seasons, lessons and ephemeral tools to guide your journey to self-evolution into the next dimension of your being.

- Life is the grandest meditation with LOVE as the constant, unconditional guide, the highest, most powerful energy frequency to connect us to the highest source of our being.

- We need to evolve every single day because life is not measured in time nor numbers... anything, everything and even nothing are “for our highest good!”

- NOW and HERE is the best time and place to live, to love, to forgive, to be kind, to be happy, to be at peace with yourself, to be grateful...because Eternity is within the blink of an eye, even less than a sec...

So, today I write an seal this letter for you to continue your evolutionary journey in parallel with my own evolution here and now.

I wish though that somewhere along those parallel lines today, you would pause... i need that tight bear hug as we always whisper, “I love you like I love my life!”

Goodbye, John! I know what happiness is now because i knew what pain and sadness were!

With all my love,

Mine

ALS gives hope to out-of-school youth

ALS gives hope to out-of-school youth, adults
MINERVA BC NEWMAN

 
CEBU CITY – Shaihana Bonso from Concepcion, Iloilo City married and became a mother at 17 and had to forego further studies to take care of her child.  At that early age, Shaihana and her husband, a motorcycle driver knew the challenges they would face to raise a child. 

Now at 19, she believed though that completing her studies would be her ticket to get employed to augment the family income and to provide their child a brighter future.

“Going back to school today is close to impossible. With the advancement in technology, almost all our output is done using a computer and I can’t afford to pay for school fees,” she shared.

In December 2017, with the help of a friend, she enlisted for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Alternative Learning System (ALS).

Shaihana was pleasantly surprised to know that there is such an alternative schooling for people like her and those young adults who are out-of-school and just looking for chances to go back to study at their own specific qualifications and pace.

According to DepEd-7 regional information officer Amaryllis Villarmia ALS has helped 59,009 out-of-school youths and adults’ enrollees in Central Visayas.  ALS has opened numerous opportunities to people like Shaihana who have limited or no access to formal basic education.

Villarmia said ALS teachers are called learning facilitators or mobile teachers including volunteers.  They bring literacy, basic education and useful knowledge to the deprived and underprivileged Filipinos at the grassroots level who were not given the opportunity to join formal education.

“We are always grateful to individuals and institutions that donate equipment, materials and services specifically for the use of the ALS because these are more “personalized” kind of teaching and learning,” Villarmia added.

City Savings Bank (CSB) is one institution whose advocacy had seen the gaps in ALS implementation among its mobile teachers and some volunteers and for the ALS students too.  The bank has donated IT equipment to the various DepEd divisions nationwide. 

CSB Reputation Management Head, Paula Ruelan told Manila Bulletin that the bank’s advocacy started in 2016 when ALS teachers were included in the rooster of “Outstanding Educators” recognized by CSB during its 50th year anniversary.

Ruelan said their stories were heartwarming.  “They often brave rough roads, hike mountains or cross rivers to reach far-flung communities where they teach. They dedicate their time to fulfill their mission and help their students achieve their dreams in life,” Ruelan shared.

Ruelan said that since 2016, City Savings Bank had donated P10.6 million worth of IT equipment composed of 259 laptops and 243 LCD projectors to 128 DepEd division from regions 1 to 13 excluding NCR.

 In 2017, Ruelan bared that CSB donated laptops and projectors for the use of 900 ALS mobile teachers in the Mindanao area and in 2018, it gave 5 laptops and 5 LCD projectors each for Cebu and Dumaguete areas.

The tools hope to provide assistance to over 4,500 mobile teachers and their students across the Philippines.  The donations are given to DepEd at the division level because ALS mobile teachers don’t have schools, they only have classes wherever there are out-of-school youth and adults in communities, Ruelan noted.

“On its third year of advocating for literacy, the bank has moved past inspiration into actively helping build communities where every child, parent, out of school youth has access to opportunities to elevate their lives and fulfill their dreams through education,” Ruelan added.

Shajhana is now thrilled more than ever to visit their local ALS center to learn more. She has set her mind towards getting her diploma soon and most importantly become a good role model for her child and her family.

Her story is just one of the several stories of hope and City Savings Bank continues to focus on driving change for a better world through education as its corporate social responsibility (CSR) advocacy to benefit the less privileged lot in the communities nationwide, Ruelan said. (Minerva BC Newman)

 

 

Inhale 2018. Exhale 2017!

Thank you 2017! You were great with me. You took good care of me and provided me with the necessary resources i needed for my travels, my hospital bills and for my overhead expenses and more.
It was indeed a more balanced year. I have a new job that pays well, a lovely house, perfect health, far and wide true friends and a happier "Me"!

#GratitudeAttitude #FoodForThoughts:

1. I'm slowly healing from my grief from my husband's death because i no longer cry when i think of him. Death is a beautiful ending of a life well lived and a new start for your spiritual evolution.
2. Retirement is reinventing yourself. Renew and rediscover your talents, skills and relearn the things you want to do and make time for your life's list, to do's, and always create a room full of kindness.
3. Listening is a wonderful skill. Listen to your body more everyday. Listen to its changes, aches & pains. Listen to your heartbeat...even & uneven. Listen to your thoughts & to your intuition more. These guide you to decide well and to receive truth & guide your directions to where your destiny/destination is prepared for you.
4. Live, love, be kind, be grateful NOW! A day is more than enough for all of these! Living is easy & effortlessly happy when you have love, kindness, peace, gratitude attitude!
5. Where you are now is the best place & time you deserved...to find the reason, to enjoy the season, to learn the lessons only you can unfold!
6. Create, recreate & build relationships with family, siblings, friends, soulmates, plants, animals & everything on Earth & in the Universe. They reflect who you are from the beginning to Now...
7. Contribute positively for the growth & development of people, ideas, change, thinking, language, mores & good values.
8. Realize that you are connected to yourself first, to others outside of yourself & to the stars, lights, sounds & movements of time ad infinitum.

Indeed! You and i are special. We belong to a generation truly our own. How we manage our timeline is dust in the sands of time, of eternity!

Be always happy and joyful. That is the intention of living. To deviate from there, is your choice!

Inhale 2018! Deeply. Exhale 2017 peacefully!

Karma begins & ends with love

The 12 Little Known Laws of Karma

1: Law of Neutrality

Everything in the universe is neutral.

2: Law of Agreement

We all previously agreed to come to Earth and to experience all that has, is and will be.

3: Law of Lessons

We reincarnate to learn what is and is not like love. 

4: Law of Cause and Effect

What you have done unto others decides your karmic future. 

5: Law of Balance

“What you bring hate to, you reincarnate to”.

6: Law of Attraction

What you truly believe manifests your desires into reality.

7: Law of Connection

You connect with the events necessary to manifest your desires.

8: Law of Expansion

Change is inevitable because energy in the universe is always expanding.

9: Law of Unfoldment

The gradual learning of life lessons.

10: Law of Empowerment

If you “let whatever happens be ok”, you are accepting the laws.

11: Law of Possibilities

All the power to get what you want comes from you

12: Law of Love

Karma begins and ends with love.