Don't we all love Teriyaki?
I am always asked by friends on how to make this, so here it is!

What you need:

Chicken thighs

salt

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Japanese wine

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup mirin 

2 tbsp sugar

Cut into preferred size and add just a little bit of salt then set aside

Skin first, put in a pan and wait until skin has become slightly brown, then pour in everything except for mirin and boil for about 15 minutes.

Now add the miring and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add sugar and boil until the sauce becomes sticky.

Serve with chopped lettuce and garnish with Japanese mayonnaise and pepper!

I hate you.

I do not want to hear you anymore.

People who do not know how to listen should be sentenced to die.

Please shut up.

Did I just frustrate you? Or disrupt with what you are doing? I hope not because that was not really the plan. I stumbled upon “trolling” and I was wondering if I will be an effective one.

Initially, I thought trolling is all about those trolls we have when we were still young. Frankly speaking, i do not like how the dolls look. It partly scares me and triggers an idea that it will do something bad to me at midnight. Relating how trolls look like to me, trolling means subjecting someone to frustration or a negative feeling. Since it aims to raise negative feelings, the idea of it is not really good.

Checking on your Facebook newsfeed, you may see some of your friends’ posts showing hatred to someone you do not know (or maybe yes). Sometimes you may also see words of insult which look inappropriate. Indeed, these posts are inappropriate. (I hope you can see some because I see a lot of it from my friends.)

These posts may be considered a form of cyberbullying since it aims to disrupt any online environment. Even if you are not the target of these posts, people who see these words will be disrupted and will be subjected to react in no time.

When I experienced this from some of my friends, I realized how powerful social networking sites can be not just for the good, old times with your friends but for the badass days with your frenemies as well. It may be an avenue for ranting but this should not be the case in the long run. Those rants should not be posted for the world to see, if I may say.

Trolling, as I have mentioned, just not aims to disrupt online discussions but to elicit response from the people involved as well. Since people are vulnerable to reacting to posts especially those which seem a bit off, the troller will take its role as a reacting machine constantly sending offensive posts or messages.

This undermines the role of the online environment as an avenue for strengthening ties among people. However, because we have the freedom to do what we want to and because anonymity in the Internet offers so much, we could just do nothing much about it.

All we can do is to be the most responsible users we can be of the technology we have. Weakening trolling entails patience since we are vulnerable to reacting to something in an instant. Reacting just for the sake of reacting should be minimized to avoid eliciting unnecessary and irrelevant responses from people we know and people we do not know.

Although playing with a person posting non-sense things online may be fun, it will eventually be no fun because it will be all non-sense. Entertaining trolling is another. These people will keep on posting such things when they know that people will be disrupted by their posts and these will further reinforce their actions.

Playing with trolls may be fun when we were still young. But playing with trolls (or trolling) is no fun. It reflects how we are as a person and our thinking towards other people. Eventually, it will also lead us to how we will be in the future.

We started to build our ideals when we were kids. Most of us, I assumed, wanted to be teachers, nurses and doctors. Growing up with my mom and grandmother who both know how to sew clothes, I was partly influenced to be a designer (although I admit I first wanted to be a doctor) and make people’s clothes. I even dreamed of becoming a model until I realized I am stuck with this height. This dream career was hyped up when I entered high school. I gained friends who dress really well and whose sense of fashion I really adore.

This dream of mine did not crash into ashes as I grew older. One of my professors in college and even colleagues would even compliment my sense of fashion. More so, at that point in time, I knew I would not land on that career. Not sooner than I wanted.

“Nothing is impossible when you want to achieve something” holds true to my case. Since we are in a technological age where everything seems impossible, I found ways to practice my passion in fashion.

Websites like http://looklet.com/ and http://lookbook.nu/ provided avenues for wanna-be fashion designers and models to strut off their style without the existence of those paparazzi and catwalk. These sites encouraged people like me to  expose their creativity and meet people with the same preferences.

Social networking sites also provide for this need. There exist such applications like Sorority Girl and Coco Girl which, although a bit childish, allows users to design the clothes of their avatars.

For some people like me, these applications and websites are not just mere games but avenues to vent out fashion prowess. For some, it may be an avenue just to show off all those non-sense things. Whatever it is that people think, this just shows that we are in the age where everything can be one-click away. Knowing how these tools can help us depends on our ability to discern and interpret.

It is a matter of choices and decisions.

And luckily, my passion for passion goes on!

I heard gossips. I participated in some. I have even been part of those talked-about behind-my-back. I know. It is normal. What is the use of these? What will it generate after? Fame? Fun? Or just nothing?

The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen tells us what buzz is, how it came to be in this world of ours and how people can generate more of it for the company’s sake.

Buzz grows like virus. It grows as fast as the length gossips make to reach the people on the other end of the world. Thinking about how it spreads seems easy, doing what to buzz is the difficult part.

Creating the right message to the right audience in the right time is the key to a successful and organically generated buzz. This will ensure that the message will get across people the way you want it and people will share the message because they want it and they find the message either relevant or entertaining. Since people has the natural instinct to just talk about anything at almost anytime, it would be no problem if you have THE MESSAGE.

Companies mostly participate in generating buzz for their success or for the product’s success. It is important to note that customers, when gained positive experience from using the product or service, will most likely buzz about it because they believe in it.

When one believes in something, it will entice other people to do the same thing. The buzz will serve as a magnet that keeps on attracting other people to join, like and share it.

How will we able to sustain the buzz generating?

Do not give it all! Ironic, huh? But that is the key! Generating and sustaining buzz means partly exciting the people by giving them limited amount of those talked-about things.

Well! Gossiping can be a way to generate buzz if the message is something relevant. It can help a company generate a buzz for itself. It can, however, create bad publicity if not used correctly.

So buzz right, and you will see!

When I was born twenty three years ago, the world witnessed the birth of one of the OrCommunicologists . I was not prepared to land on where I am now but I am happy because I have been part of a revolution where I play as the soldier with communication as my weapon.

I witnessed how technology rapidly changed the way society works. I saw the shift in power from the use of beepers to mobile phones and then to the wonderfully-crafted Internet. It may seemed old school but the changes happened so fast that it made me wonder what will happen a few years from now.

The advent of technology crafted the way people communicate with one another. It changed our way of living and it changed how we behave. Certainly, the changes directly affects the interaction of people with its surrounding.

Being knowledgeable about these things, I realized the changes pose responsibilities to me as a citizen of this world. 

The age of the Internet gave me a bird’s eye view of the dynamism of communication and behavior of people. It does not necessarily imposes people to use it, but the innate attraction gives people the urge to use it for whatever purposes it can give them.

As an OrCommunicologist, playing in this realm makes it more understandable to me why people make a fuzz out of something. It gives me the fuller view of how people behave, of how organizations behave and how these two interact. It is a world way different from the offline world. The Internet gave people the almost impossible world that we imagined way back, when there was still the existence of beepers and “ancient” gadgets.

And as much as we could do to the Internet, people should note that they are still who they are even if the Internet gives them all the power to conceal their identity. Being responsible creatures of this world, whatever there is that the world offers we should accept and take as a promising world to live at.

Did I say I love mustard?

Well this one is another one of my staples using mustard. 

I think this is the dish that made me love mustard, actually.

Here's what you need:

500g spareribs

2-3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp vinegar

3 tbsp mustard

1/3 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup maple syrup

Put the garlic, spareribs, vinegar, soy sauce and water on pan then cover and boil for about 20 minutes.

Add the maple syrup and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the mustard then simmer for additional 5 minutes.

Who wants gravy for their fried chicken?

Try to make one the next time its fried chicken for dinner.

Here's what you need:

Used oil in the pan from frying a chicken

1-2 tbsp flour

1-2 cups water

1 cup milk

chicken broth cube or powder

salt or soy sauce to taste

Add the flour on pan until it becomes a bit bubbly

Then add water and milk then add broth and salt to taste, 

Wait until it thickens

To all girls out there, I know the difficulty you experienced in acing that winged eyeliner! I have been able to do mine when I was in college using a Youtube tutorial. Below is the best image to illustrate how it's done.

When one dreams, anything is possible. Reality bites whenever I realize that I was not able to fulfill one of my dreams, my frustration of being a ramp model.

However, I didn't let myself stop from that. I read articles about fashion and beauty. I always make sure that I read to equip myself with the right knowledge. I try to apply things that I read. It's funny that I even learned how to apply basic makeup from Youtube tutorials. Tips about fashion? I read it too.

And given this height, who would have thought that I could still do something about this frustration? What I love most is the chance to model for some of my friends' online shops. Yes! I feel like a model whenever I do that. I join go sees whenever I can. The recent one I joined was for Cotton On when they were about to open here in the Philippines. My cute face ( as Laureen Uy commented) wasn't enough though. I also joined Belle de Jour's fashion show before for the petite section.

When I was in college, one of the most memorable frustrations-turned-aspirations moments was for the test shots I had for the batch graduation photos. I was fortunate to be one of the models of our batch. Here I share with you some of the results of it. 

I still remember one of the owners of these photo studios saying that I can't be a ramp model but I can be a commercial model. That looked like a compliment for me!

So if there's anyone out there who have the same experience as mine, don't let yourself feel bad. There's still a lot you can do to flaunt that beauty!

I didn't mention that I now work for a hotel in Alabang. Just this Thrusday, we went for our team building activity with co-employees. It's just new that we had to stay for a day only because I used  to have it overnight in my previous company.

We went to Aquaria Beach Resort in Calatagan, Batangas. We left Alabang at 6am and arrived there at almost 9am. Pretty fast, right? I think the Management there is still developing their land because there's not much of sight aside from the resorts.

The place was white with brown accents from the wood. It was a clean sight for me. The simplicity of the place complemented the scorching weather. 

We headed out to the tent at the shore for the short program the HR prepared. Few games were made. I decided not to join any but regretted that I did not join the beer-drinking contest! I think I would make a good contestant of that.

Beers were overflowing during the day. My teammates and I decided to purchase a bottle of hard liquor for fun since some of us (including me) won't go swimming. I just found it hard to stay and mingle with everyone with just a tent to share with. It would be better if we had our own rooms.

At around 3pm, we decided to get cleaned and stay in the bus. We waited for others until it was time for us to leave.

It was all fun (except the heat). And it made me a bit closer to the people I work with everyday.

Who says you can't make Paella on your normal frying pan or electric skillet? 

I like making this dish because it's easy yet it feel could make the day feel special. 

Here's what you need:

Tomatoes

Onions

Garlic

Olive oil

Asparagus

Paprika

2 cups uncooked rice

4 cups of hot consommé broth

Seafood mix

Prepare broth on a different pan.

Saute seafood mix together with the tomatoes, etc.

Put in uncooked rice and sauté for about 10 minutes or until rice becomes clear in color.

Pour in broth and boil for about 10 minutes in high to medium heat while mixing.

Put in cut asparagus, cover the skillet and simmer in medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add paprika and cover the skillet to steam in low heat for about 5-10 minutes.