Food trip!!!

i was craving for pasta aglio olio so I whipped a single serve while trying to study my cpa materials. yum yum but kulang sa parsley. =)

steamed tilapia (from Costi's Blacktown) with fried garlic and light soy sauce. good food for lent and healthy too.

Banana bread ala Agie. Taste soooo goood!

Goodbye TFC

I was planning to get TFC for our parents' stay here so they wouldn't feel too homesick and bored at home. Last February, I checked online, called up TFC customer service and enrolled my details. Luckily, they have a contract for 6 months but we need to return the dish at the end of the contract. Sounds good to me since we wouldn't be able to see all shows anyway once our parents are back in the Phils, so we would be cutting the service after the 6th month period.

Since we lived in a townhouse, we still need to get Strata approval for the dish installation. Come March 2, I sent my application form, together with the approval from the Strata Manager. I was told before that the installer will call me within 24-48 hours of receipt of my application. On the same date, our credit card was charged for the first month fee of $39.99.

I waited for the entire week and I never received a call from TFC nor from the installer. I checked my fax transmission again and it was sent successfully. Since they've already charged hubby's card, then they must have received our application. On March 9, I received a call from TFC confirming our application and that I will have to wait for 24-48 hours for the installer to call me. After 3 days of waiting, I gave them a call telling them that I need it to be installed on Saturday, 13th of March, otherwise I'll cancel the service. They gave me the name and number of the installer and they said it was assigned to him a few days ago. I gave the installer a call confirming the day of the installation and he said either Monday or Tuesday but he'll call me to confirm.

Come Tuesday morning, I still didn't received a call so I called him up again asking if he'll install today as promised. He said that he can't but he will try to install before Friday.

At that point I was getting mad. Its been 2 weeks since I applied and until now I can't seem to get a confirmation when the installation's gonna be. With everyday it gets delayed, it shortens the time our parents can see Filipino shows which defeats the purpose of getting the service in the first place. Also, in my 3 years stay here in Australia, I always received prompt services from any supplier, regardless if I paid for the service or not. The most that I had to wait was 2 weeks after the scheduled date and that is understandable because the product has to be ordered overseas. But this one, its only the installation and I cannot understand the delay... well, the installer was saying he doesn't have the equipment now and it will only arrive on Thursday or Friday.

After hearing that, I told hubby that I wouldn't call the installer again for follow-up. But if by Friday, I still won't hear from him, I will call TFC and cancel the service and have the payment reimbursed to us, the reason being, our parents will only have a month left to use TFC. Really no point of having it installed this late.

Friday afternoon, with still no communication from the installer, I called up TFC and explained that it has been 3 weeks since I applied and several follow-ups later, I still don't have my TFC, so now I want to cancel the application. I also informed them that the installer said he is still waiting for the equipment to arrive. After a few minutes of being on hold, the customer service representative told me that they wouldn't be receiving the equipment until the 25th of March so if I can't wait that long, they will just cancel my application and refund the money. March 25th is too far away. By then we will be busy going out on weekends, then its Holy Week so really, we cannot make use of our TFC 24/7! So I decided to just cancel it.

Then, all is well... until I got a call from the installer at 9pm on Friday and our 15-minute conversation goes on like this:

Installer: hi, is this Gracy, this is XXX from TFC.
Me: Hi, How are you?
Installer: this is regarding your application noh. Sorry, kasi natabunan ang email mo eh.
Me: okay na po. napa cancel ko na din sa TFC, naitawag ko na po kanina.
Installer: Hindi, hindi. Bukas, first thing in the morning, pupunta ako sa inyo. I-i-install ko na.
Me: Di bale na po. Napa cancel ko na naman tsaka wala po kami bukas. May pupuntahan po kami.
Installer: Maaga ako pupunta. Sige na, para ma install na natin.
Me: May lakad po kasi kami bukas.
Installer: Tumawag ka na ba sa akin?
Me: Opo. Tumawag po ako last week, sabi nyo po sa Monday or Tuesday ang installation, tapos Tuesday, tumawag po ako, sabi nyo po sa between Wednesday to Friday. Nung di po ako nakareceive ng call nyo kanina, pina cancel ko na. Kasi nga 3 weeks na pending ang application namin tapos na charge na ang credit card namin pero wala pa din.
Installer: Ganito yun Gracy ha, yung next na billing sa inyo, one month after pa ng installation so hindi naman kayo i-bi-bill kaagad.
Me: okay lang po. Kasi yung reason talaga is uuwi na po sa Pilipinas yung mga magulang namin next month so wala nang gagamit ng TFC.
Installer: Naku, pa install mo na. Di ka mag sisisi. Ma eenjoy mo lahat ng shows. Ang ganda ganda ng shows namin. O ano, install na natin sa Sunday.
Me: Ay, hindi na nga po kasi napacancel ko na diba?
Installer: Yung cancellation, yung may last say tayong dalawa naman. Kung sabihin mong i-install na natin, hindi na nila i-ca-cancel yun.
Me: Hindi na nga po kasi nga di na rin sya magagamit. Next time na lang po, pag bibisita ulit dito ang parents ko ng matagal tagal, papakabit ako ng TFC.
Installer: Sige na, libre na kita ng first month. 5 months na lang babayaran mo kasi matagal ka nag antay eh. Para lang makabitan ka na. Ano lang ba yung $40, libre na kita.
Me: Wag na po, kakahiya naman sa inyo. Tsaka uuwi na nga po ang parents ko so wala nang gagamit ng TFC.
Installer: hindi kasi kakahiya naman sayo. Kasalanan ko naman na hindi ko nainstall. Sayang din, at least ikaw, approve na. Matagal ang approval ng installation alam mo ba yun?
Me: Okay lang po. May approval na kami sa Strata. Di naman po kami lilipat ng bahay in the next few years. Di bale, if babalik ang parents namin papakabit na lang kami pero for now po, cancel na po yung application namin.
Installer: Pasensya na talaga ha?
Me: Okay lang po. walang problema. Sige po. Bye.


Ang kulit diba? Paulit ulit na lang ang sagot ko! at bakit, biglang pede na i-install kinabukasan??? At sabihan pa akong "ano lang ba ang $40"? Hay naku talaga, I can easily earn that $40 noh. Wala po tayo sa Pilipinas, hindi po pe-pedeng pa petiks petiks ka sa trabaho (ako lang po ang pede maging petiks). Your service sucks, you gave TFC a bad name (kanta yun ah). For you to just keep on postponing the installation without letting me know is not acceptable. Clearly, the equipment is there, you are just too busy to care that someone is actually waiting for you to do your work, and now, when Head Office sends you a letter regarding the cancellation, you panicked. Kainis lang. Di ko tuloy napanood ang ASAP sa Boracay. hmmp.

Anyway, i told my Filo officemate about this and she is also having problems with TFC! She kept on calling them explaining that she needs the dish to be moved from one room to another because her mom needs it in the other room. Until now, nothing has been done. And when she calls their number, she has to explain what she wanted done over and over that it gets really frustrating. I asked her if we had the same installer but she said a different name.

Why is it more difficult dealing with Pinoys than with other nationalities??? Buti na lang, maayos kausap ang Driving Instructor namin, at least natututo na kami mag drive paunti unti...

What do I really want?

I had a long exchange of emails with my girlfriends today, we were talking about blogs and doing something we really want, something that makes us happy, something we always dreamt of but never got the courage to do, and that we need to get out of our comfort zones to realize these dreams.

It got me thinking --- what do I really want?

I want to travel, see the whole world. Kiss infront of the Eiffel Tower, be serenaded by a Gondolier, go inside beautiful castles, see windmills and sand dunes. Eat burritos in Mexico, paella in Spain, pasta and pizza in Italy. Check out the tallest building in Dubai, the grandest falls in Canada, safari in Africa. I can go on and on and on.

I also want to cook. Bake. Eat.

Dance.

But all these I can do only when I have the money. That is the issue. I need money to survive, I need money to do the things I love. Being an accountant pays my bills, so I am happy. But, what if we stretch it out a bit, what do I really want to do besides working as an accountant? Childcare? But I am not good with kids.

Maybe, I am born to be an accountant... or maybe not.

I need to find the answer to this question.
.
.
.
.
o baka naman talaga im meant to be an accountant. kulit! =)

Three years and counting Part II

I can't believe how time flies so quickly these days. This week marks my 3rd year of being employed in THE Bread Co. Looking back at my list of employers, this is the longest I've been in a company. I have my highlights and lowlights while working here.

I love that...
I get free bread everyday which me and my friends enjoyed for the past 3 years;
I can come in early and leave early or come in late and but still leave early, hehe;
Our team is so multi-cultural, almost all race is represented;
Its easy for me to take long (Christmas) holidays when some people cannot take a day off during these times;
I am never stressed with this job, and can count with one hand the times I stayed after 5pm, yes, I considered staying after 4:30pm as overtime.

I hate...
how kurips the company is to the Finance Team (compared to how they treat Sales Team that is);
how the current performance evaluation is just not working! I haven't had my final appraisal for 2009 but I got my bonus and increase already. We're halfway thru the year and I haven't discussed my goals for 2010 yet! I've been receiving my reminder email for the appraisal but nothing is being done;
how sometimes I am really petiks. but at the same time i love being petiks coz I can sneak some studying time in between;
how far I my workplace from Tonggabbie is and the one hour commute to and from work. :(

Many times I thought of leaving this company to look for more challenging roles but Agie always tells me that I have the best job in the world!. No pressure, no overtime and no brainer at times. My officemate who came from P&G also told me to stick with the company because this is the most stress free job she have had that she sometimes forget its already month end! She was reminiscing her P&G days where she needs to come to the office even on a weekend to cope with month end tasks.

Big companies are just banking on their name to hire people but at times, they really have a crappy work environment. You'll never know it unless you're inside the organization. Which led me to believe that the grass is never greener at the other side of the fence. When I hear stories about friends getting good job with good pay, I get jealous. But when I hear them complain and work doubly hard, I feel blessed. I'm being paid good money here, don't get me wrong. I have had 5 increases over my 3 year stay here, nevermind that the two ones were just over 1% of my annual salary. But sometimes, I feel that there is so much more I can offer, so much more I can do. Its like I am an untapped talent waiting to be ignited. Its happening slowly, but being an impatient ME, I want it now (or probably not, hahaha).

This the perfect place for me now. I am happy to stay here for a year or two, but if there's a government job somewhere in the West, I would definitely jump ships!!! =)

Perla, isdatchu???

I was sooo busy reading all the tweets on my phone that i didn't notice the train was approaching Pendle Hill and not Toongabbie. I was surprised to see that the carriage I am on missed the stairs by a few meters but I got off anyway. I walked up, together with so many people, and realize its a different station! Damn, it's still Pendle Hill!!!

Perla, ikaw ba yan??? After always laughing at Perla for getting off the wrong station (train terminated without her realizing and she had to be escorted out of the train in Wollstonecraft; travelled to Hornsby, then Strathfield from Chatswood then to Meadowbank for over an hour when she could have boarded a direct train to Meadowbank; and getting off at Hornsby--- when she needs to get off at Epping and the train was empty by that time!!!), I could not believe it happened to me too?

Good thing it was still 'peak hour' and trains come every 15 minutes...and Agie was waiting for me in Toongabbie.

My Monday ended well, still. =)

Hope you had a fruitful one.

BBQ

I haven't cooked deep fried fish and dried fish since we moved because the smell of fish is so 'anghit' and difficult to remove. No amount of candles can get rid of the smell stuck to the blinds. And now, being lent, its doubly hard not to think of frying fish!!!

I've been meaning to buy a BBQ with side burner not only to solve the frying problem but also for us to have an authentic Aussie Backyard BBQ. We made a trip to Bunnings once but the ones we saw don't have side burners so we gave it a miss. Last week, my friend posted a shout out in FB looking for someone interested in buying her 3 month old, 4 burner BBQ with cylinder. She's selling it because someone gave them a 5 burner one (she's soo lucky to have rich friends, hehehehe). So after a few messages exchanged, I am now waiting for the BBQ to be delivered on Saturday.

She said it looks like this but with a side burner too...

I can't wait for Saturday!!!

Friends, let's have a barbie!!!

Gubot ang Ulo

What would you do if work becomes too tedious, overwhelming and your boss is overbearing?
What would you do if you think too much and can't seem to get the answer?
What would you do if you suddenly make a mountain out of a molehill --- little things are blown up???

You Stop.
You take a deep breath.

You Pray.
You surrender.

Have faith.
For He will make a way.

Don't sweat the small stuff. They are not worth it.

Sing and be merry.
Smile and be happy.

From Don Moen:
God will make a way,
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way

From Mangie:
Be patient. God knows what He's doing. God knows what's best for you. He can see the end result. You can't. All those problems, heartaches, difficulties and delays -- all the things that make you ask "why" -- one day it will all be clear in the light of God's love.

But for now, we're learning to trust God.

~~~
You'll be fine Bebe. =)

(not so) successful cheescake

So I made my Cadbury cheesecake last night, but because i made so much adjustment to the recipe, it didn't quiet turn out the way I wanted it to be.

First, I couldn't find crushed graham crackers, so instead I bought Arnotts and pulverized it using my blender.

from this

to this

Then, I wanted it to be less fattening, so I used light cream cheese instead of the regular one.

Then, thinking that the cake is too thick, i halved the cream cheese mixture to fill two pans.

cheesecake cooling inside the oven



yummy cheesecake but its not nice looking, hahahaha

Verdict:

Taste - Very good

Presentation - needs improvement!

Biscuit base - needs to be freezed overnight (not one hour!!!)

I will make another one in a few days, and this time, I will follow the recipe to the letter. Then, I will make my adjustments when I am satisfied with the finish product.

Baking 101

will resume tonight. I will try to replicate my friend's version of Toblerone cheesecake. But Woolies doesn't stock white toblerone so I ended up getting Cadbury white chocolate. This will definitely alter the taste but will try it just the same...

Good luck to me!

Andito na si Nanay

Yep, the plane landed safely at around 7:45 am. Thank God for friends na sumundo kina Nanay. Right now, andun sya nagpapahinga sa Chatswood. I'll be picking her up after ofc hours. Then a looooooong train ride to Toongabbie! Tapos sa 24, si mommy at daddy naman ang pupunta dito! Yahoo. Finally, makikita na nila kung ano ang Australia... sana lang di sila ma bore. =)