How to Write A Book Seminar by Dr. Isagani Cruz

MY NOT SO CHEESY TUNA LASAGNA

Before going to the oven

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 tbsps olive oil or butter
• 2 cans of Century Tuna in Vegetable oil (drained)
• 1/2 cup cream of mushroom soup or milk
• 1 pack of McCormick Creamy Garlic and Herb Mix or Carbonara Mix
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 9 lasagna noodles (cooked and drained)
• 1/2 cup grated Quickmelt cheese
• 1/4 chopped bacon
• 1 cup of sliced button mushroom
• 1/4 cup of water ( I used the water from the canned mushroom)
• 1 medium Green Bell Pepper (diced)

• Instructions: 

1. In a large saucepan, saute bacon in olive oil until brown then set aside. 
2. Using the same oil, stir in the tuna, soup, water, salt,  McCormick Creamy Garlic and Herb Mix or Carbonara Mix. The add the bacon, basil and pepper until combined. Make sure to leave some bacon for the toppings.
3. Since I don't have a non-stick baking dish. I put a baking sheet on my aluminum baking dish. 
4. Layer with three noodles (trimming if necessary), coat with tuna mixture, and cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, tuna mixture, bacon and more cheese. 
5. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

It can serve at least 5-6 persons.

Finish Product

NO BAKE OREO CHEESECAKE

What was left of my Oreo Cheesecake.

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups Graham crumbs (from about 20 Oreos)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling

8-oz Philadelphia cream cheese

3 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cups Oreo crumbs (from about 6 Oreos)

5 Oreos, chopped, optional

Instructions

1. Combine Graham and Oreo crumbs (for crust) with melted butter.

2. Press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 8 inch springform pan. Set in refrigerator to firm.

3. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until smooth and well combined.

4. Add haft of the Oreo crumbs and half of the chopped Oreos and gently mix until well combined.

5. Pour filling into crust and smooth the top.

6. Since there was still Graham crumbs left, I added it to the top then the chopped Oreos 

7. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.

How to cook Ramyeon (라면)

I’ve been a fan of Korean ramen since high school. I always asked my Dad to buy me Neoguri ramyeon and I actually thought for some time that it’s a Japanese product. I also tried other types of ramyeon like Shin ramyeon, Samyang ramyeon (This is the brand that Girl’s Generation endorses) etc but Neoguri is still my favorite! The noodle is thicker than other and it’s more flavorful too.

Ramyeon is easy to turn into a satisfying meal with the addition of meat and veggies.

I always cook mine with egg and sometimes I add other ingredients. 

tHiS IS HOW I cook MY RamyEOn (라면)

Shin Ramyeon with egg and green onions.

Ingredients:

1 package ramyeon noodles

1 egg (I separate the egg white from the egg yolk)

2 cups of water

3-4 stems of baby Bok choy or green onion (optional)

1 sliced (optional)

Directions

Boil the water

Add the noodle when the water boils.

Add seasoning package to water.

Stir noodles while slowly pouring eggs white

Add baby bok choy or green onion then turned off the heat.

Pour the noodles into a bowl.

Then add the egg yolk. 

This is how I cook my ramyeon. You can also add other ingredients such as hot dog, ham, etc. I haven't tried adding those since I like the seafood flavor so I just enhance the flavor with either bok choy or green onions.

TAIWAN TRIP with my Itinerary Day 5

Day 5 – December 23, 2012 – Sunday

My roommate from Lithuania and I went to Longshan Temple and Bo Pi Liao. 

9:20 AM - We went at Longshan Temple

As we alighted at Longshan Station, we were greeted by scenes of elderly Taiwanese playing chess, musical instruments, chitchatting. A big contrast to Ximending where the crowd is predominantly youngsters and tourists. We went inside and pray for awhile. It was a Sunday so there were a lot of people praying and there's also a long table with a bunch of food. After wandering inside, we went outside to take a few more pictures.

Me outside the Temple

Me at the courtyard


10:20 AM - We decide to eat first since we haven't eaten breakfast yet before we go back to our hostel. While we were looking for a place to eat, we passed by Bo Pi Liao. I read this place somewhere so I told Alina to check this out. 

Bo Pi Liao Old Street  

As we were walking, I saw old painted movie posters that I remember the story behind this place. It was the filming location of the movie “Monga“. It is a Taiwanese gangster film set in 1980s. Wanhua district where Longshan Temple is located used to be a gangster area.

Bo Pi Liao

There's also a museum where you can see the history of the place and it's free. We weren't able to go into the museums because of the time crunch. So we to look for a place to eat. We found a shop and we ordered food. Most of the local food shops that I went it to have English menu including this one.

Taiwanese Style Fried Noodles

10:40 AM - I told Alina that we should get back. I was planning to take the MRT but since it's only a station away from our hostel. We both agreed to walk. It turned out it wasn't such a good idea since especially if you have a limited time. We got lost while a couple times and even passed by Huaxi Night Market and another night market that I forgot the name.

11:20 AM - We wandered around the area for an hour until we finally saw Ximending. I should have been at the airport by now if we didn't walk from Longshan to Ximending. If you have time, it's actually walkable but if you don't then don't. I arrived at the hostel and packed my other stuff. I went to the hostel's reception which is a couple of blocks away to surrender my keys and the gave gave me the 200NTD deposit. 

12:00 AM -They say that there are Airport buses in Ximending I didn't take the risk and wait.  I took taxi to Taipei Main Station. 

From there, I got lost because you have to go inside the station the to the mall. When I saw an information desk, I asked them and turned out I was at the wrong Airport bus terminal. I want to go in circles again so I just went outside and took a cab to the airport because it's already 45 minutes passed 12 and my flight leaves at 2:15PM. 


1:30 PM - I paid around the taxi around 1000NTD and I used my credit card. How cool is that! I was able to checked in and got my boarding pass. 

The plane left a few minutes late but we arrived in Manila 10 minute before the scheduled arrival.

This concludes my Taiwan 2012 Trip. It was the most memorable and budget friendly trip I had so far. It it were for the visa fee, Taiwan will be the next Hong Kong. The food in Taiwan is AWESOME. I love everything I ate here. My next destination..... SOUTH KOREA... Hopefully, it will push through!

Clark International Airport

Clark International Airport formerly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport located within the Clark Freeport Zone serving the general area of Angeles City, Philippines. It is serves a number of airlines like AirAsia Philippines, Airphil Express, Cebu Pacific, Asiana, JejuAir, JinAir and TigerAiways. Clark is an hour and a half north of Metro Manila if you’re coming from Quezon City.

How to go to Clark from Quezon City

Get to EDSA-Cubao via MRT, LRT, or the many buses that pass by. From Commonwealth, you get buses going to Ayala, Alabang, etc. Alight onto one of the several bus terminals in the area, such as  Dagupan Bus, Victory Liner, and Five Star. Take a bus to Dau in Mabalacat, Pampanga which cost Php. 135. I usually take Five Star hotel when I visit my relatives in Angeles City because it's cheaper and the buses leave every 15- 20 minutes with or without passengers. But for this trip I decided to take the Dagupan Bus since I won't have to cross the footbridge with my luggage. It was definitely a wrong call! My flight was at 12:15 PM and I arrived at the bus terminal at 7:40 AM but the bus left at 8:30 AM. Argh!

Anyway, from the DAU bus terminal and walk towards the nearby intersection. Take a jeepney to Clark Main Gate, and alight at Bayanihan Terminal near SM City Clark. From there, take  jeepney going inside the Clark Special Economic Zone, and ask the driver to drop you off at “terminal”. I think it cost around Php. 12-15. However, the driver will wait until all seats are filled. So if you are running late, you can ask the other passengers to just split the fee. Since I already arrived around 10:20 AM, I agreed to the old lady when she asked me if we can just share so the jeep would leave ASAP. 

I didn’t have to look aimlessly around when I arrived at the departure area because the facility is a bit small for an airport serving international flights.

This was my first AirAsia flight. Though they have a mobile check-in I opted for the counter check-in since I have a check-in luggage.  If I remember it right, they have 3 kiosk at the side for those mobile check-in.

For those of you plan to do the mobile check-in, you will still need to go to AirAsia counter. They will weigh your carry-on luggage to see if it is under 7 pounds (the maximum you can bring on-board). Some people say that they strictly impose the 7 pounds. Apart from your 7 lbs max carry-on you can also have a laptop bag or smaller bag/purse.

Next is paying the travel tax. The travel tax counters are located at the far right of the airline counters.  You can’t miss it. At the processing counter,submit your passport and your ticket.  The personnel there will do some checking and you pay at the counter next to it.  As of this posting it costs Php. 1,620.00 for international travelers.  

Then proceed to the terminal fee counter. You can’t miss this because it’s in the way before you proceed to immigration. The terminal fee is Php. 450.00. It's a hundred peso cheaper than the terminal fee in NAIA. 

It was definitely a surprise when I entered their boarding area. I think they only have 3 boarding gates. Boarding gate 1 was shared by 6 flights. Two from Cebu Pacific, One from TigerAirways, One from SEAAir, Two from Airphil Express, and One from AirAsia Philippines. It was a very long queue. The public toilet is not very clean too. The only good thing is that they  have small food kiosk that sells food and souvenirs for a very cheap price (airport establishment standard) so if you get hungry while waiting, it wouldn't cost your budget that much.

When it’s time for boarding don’t expect aerotunnels. During boarding, people queue to enter a tunnel made of shipping containers (awesome) to walk onto the tarmac outside.

11 Tips for Feeling Happier at Work

If you feel the Monday Blues every day at work. Here are some tips for you to feel happier.  Since you are not paid during lunch hours, do not eat and work at the same time!

11. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday

A famous inspiring saying, so be inspired by it. Procrastination is never a good thing, typically so when you are handed a piece of undesirable work – such as calling back a difficult client. In such cases, it’s always better to tackle them quickly or they might never get done.

10. Know your lunch time

There are times when you are overloaded with work and it becomes practically impossible to go for lunch, but it doesn’t benefit you in terms of concentration and workrate either, by starving yourself. Make sure you have some cookies or sandwiches stored up in dire times like these. You can always eat and do work at the same time, during lunch time.

9. Take short breaks

CEO or Pantry Staff? Doesn’t matter, everybody needs a break. In fact, we need more than one, as studies show that taking a short break of 5-10 minutes every 60-90 minutes can help in improving overall work performance. Just don’t get caught talking to your spouse over the phone.

8. Have lunch with someone other than your colleagues

As much as you love your colleagues, it can be bothersome and incredibly mundane to see them all the time, even during lunch. Try to arrange for a lunch date with a friend once a week. Make sure you don’t lunch too near, so you can gossip to your heart’s content.

7. Post pictures of family

If your cubicle and workspace allows, feel free to pin up family photos or pictures with your loved ones. Taking a nice glimpse or simply getting reminded of them can recharge you in wondrous ways.

6. Don’t be too accommodating

It’s a fact; rejection is a tough task, even more so for Singaporeans. When politely asked by colleagues to help out at a task, it’s hard to say no. Well then, don’t say no. An equally polite “I’ll check back with you” or “Let me get back to you once I’m done with on-hand tasks” works much better because you’re not rejecting anyone… nor are you promising anything. Whether you actually get back, is your prerogative.

5. Have snacks or drinks lying around

Not the wisest of choice for those who are overly concerned with their weight or dietary intake, but for most of us, a little “distraction” can help to sooth our mood. Having snacks around also help in productive use of breaks. Just ensure you don’t end up eating more than you should.

4. Clear your workspace once in awhile

Ever had that feeling where you feel refreshed and recharged after a maternity leave or holiday? Well it could really be the holiday, or it could be your clean and tidy workspace that you bothered to clear up before your leave. Regardless, cleaning up your workspace occasionally brings about a comfort and satisfaction that usually translates to good work and consequently, better work performance.

3. Have breakfast with your colleagues

If you the type to arrive at work early, why not take the time to have breakfast with your fellow early birds? Doing so gives you a great opportunity to interact and relax at your own pace before starting work, and that can set the mood for the whole day.

2. Knock off on time

Self-explanatory. It would be a little frightening if you don’t actually enjoy doing this. Technically, this makes you feel happier after work, and not less so during it, but knowing you can knock off on time is a great boost for the day, whenever you think about it.

1. Be ignorant of things that don’t concern you

If it doesn’t concern you, the less you know the better. Doing so keeps your mind focused on what is important, and free yourself of unnecessary considerations or accommodations.

Article courtesy of Yahoo! Philippines: http://ph.yahoo.matchmovegames.com/news/article/happy-at-work