Accenture: FY15 Core Milestone School

Last FY14, I was privileged to be able to attend the Core Milestone School for new hires and newly promoted Specialists and Associate Managers.  See more of it in my Core Milestone Story.

 

This FY15, I was again privileged to attend another Core Milestone School.  This time not as an attendee but as one of the speakers for "First Year Stories". When I was tapped to do the 20 minutes speaking engagement, I just can't explain the emotions but I eagerly took the opportunity to share my personal story on real-life engagement.  As I always believed that a real life engagement stories will go a long way when shared to an engaged group! 

True enough, the group was very enthusiastic to know about our (mine and Maj's) first year stories and personally their participation made me even more engaged and encouraged to share what I learned along the way and how the people from Accenture helped me achieve my success story.
 

Even if I was not an attendee, having the opportunity to attend such event is truly an inspiring moment for me. It's a testament of how Accenture would like their employees to grow professionally and personally.  A confirmation that engagement and support are key to success! 

I will always be here to learn and to share what I have learned.
Yean to Learn always!

Xoxo

Baguio Foodies: Chef's Home

Still not too late to go to Baguio to beat the heaty summer in the metro. 

When we had our Team Building last week of March, our first lunch in Baguio was a bomb! 

With the help of Tine we discovered this simple food haven in Baguio.  With our stomachs crumbling this is just the right place to satisfy our hunger! 

We went to Chef's Home -- it is just at 13 Outlook Drive, Baguio City. 

On the outside, you can already see that it's not that spacious but you can be assured that your cravings will be satisfied.

On the inside, it can only accommodate up to 40pax, so if you want to be seated then you have to make reservations or be there early.   You can call them at 0916 444 5756.

See, we occupied almost the entire half of the place :p 

Lucky for us, we arrived at around 11am so there were got seated immediately. This was the menu.

We decided to get the following (of course all with rice).

Bokchoy:

Boneless Chicken:

Tilapia with Tamarind Sauce:

Black Pepper Pork:

It will never be complete without a drink! Yes, we have Ms Tine to model it out! Nice smile there pretty little sister!

Then we ended the meal with this must try dessert.
Roti Chef's Home with Coffee Sauce and Banana.
There were no banana at that time so we were given peaches instead! 
It was really triple goodness in one dessert!

I will definitely go back to this wonderful place -- I want Sweets to taste the goodness!

This is the entire group with Chef Ricky.  He is the Filipino Chef that Chef Alvin trained! Thumbs up for the great food experience!

Xoxo

A Glimpse of our 3D2N Baguio Adventure!

We initially planned our Baguio trip way back last Christmas (2014) because the weather during Christmas season was great!  However, it didn't pushed through because of the some conflicting schedules.  

Finally! After several attempts of arranging this Baguio trip, we were able to come up with a common schedule and there we were! This is the famous landmark of the Summer Capital of the Philippines! 

It looked like we were alone, yes we were that lucky! 
Normally many tourists stop over this site to take their pictures! 

Our first stop in Baguio was lunch!
With the help of our trusty Tine, we experienced great food for our first stop.  We headed to Chef's Home - another blog post shall be posted specific for this restaurant. :)

This is us with Chef Ricky! While we were preparing for this photo opp, Chef was asking us how was the food and gave us some tips on how to cook the Tamarind Tilapia (it was a winner!)

Let me share with you where we stayed. 

This was our neighbor.. He he.. They call it 'Big House' and yes I super agree that it was indeed a big house!! 

This is where we stayed, they call it 'Small House' -- yes that's how they call it. ^_^

On our last night in Baguio, we had the opportunity to play ball.
Bowling it is and we all did a great job!! 

Let the games begin!

We were also given the opportunity to dine at Baguio Country Club - burp with the salad and lamb!  After dinner we had a small (very small program) to thank everyone for their participation and most especially for the support of our manager, Ms My!

We had a little fun in guessing the descriptions of everyone! Here we are with our personalized simple notebooks! 

Then we had some 'lakas maka Madam' shots! 
Here are just some of them! 

Watch out for more posts!
Enjoyed this moment with the team!
Thanks again everyone!

How we welcomed Summer !!

The first week of March was gone just like that! 
With this hectic schedule I didn't even had the chance to write about our Panagbenga experience and so before I totally forget -- here it goes! 

Everyone knows that Baguio is the Summer Capital of the Philippines simply because of its cold weather!  One good time to go to Baguio is during the Panagbenga Festival (Flower Festival) and this year the culminating parade was last March 1, 2015.

We (Sweets and I) planned to visit Baguio for that festival this year because we haven't attended that festival before and we traveled together with Mama Lena and Papa Nestor. 

We left Angono at 8pm and we arrived Baguio at 1am.  It was via NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX and Kennon Road and Sweets was our only driver.  Lucky for us it was not raining and thus the travel going up was smooth, we only stopped when we needed to pee.  We decided to left that night because we anticipated that traffic will be very heavy, specially because it was Panagbenga Festival!

When we arrived at 1am, it was 18 degrees cold and I can feel it in my bones!  We had no plans to visit any tourist spot in Baguio because we really visited because of the Panagbenga Festival parade and thus our Saturday was plain simple: 

- we had our breakfast at Mountain Lodge
- we watched the Dance Parade in Session Road
- we had lunch at Jollibee (Yes, di na kami nag isip!)
- went back to Mountain Lodge to rest
- went to Good Shepherd to buy their finest spreads and sweets
- went to Mines View's carenderia to eat merienda
- went back to Mountain Lodge
- dinner at Zoi's Pizzeria! Burp!
- went back to Mountain Lodge to sleep! 

I can't say that it was a fun filled day -- it felt like we went to Baguio just to eat at Jollibee!! Haha!!  

Let me share more information on our day 2 in Baguio in another blog post! ^_^

Xoxo

Happy Birthday: My all around girl!

Today is a milestone!
Today is a very special day for me and my family!
Today is when the angels sings and dance their wings!
Today is when friends are delighted to have a friend like her!
Today is when a husband is most proud!
Today is when the sons are blessed to have a special mom!
Today is Ate Ytche's special day!

This woman is not just like any other woman.
Let me describe her because even; 
(1) Webster cannot describe her; even 
(2) Google cannot search her

Maricel: a person, powerful and brilliant!
              a daughter, accomplished and will do anything for her parents!
              a sister, reliable and precious!
              a cousin, acts like a sister and all around friend!
              a friend, a family that you can choose and choose to keep!
              a boss, superb and a encouraging!
              a colleague, fun and helpful!
              a wife, a true angel to her husband!
              a mother, a blessing to her sons!

I can describe her in all the words that I can think of but to make it simple.
Maricel is the best cousin of them all, a best friend that i could never have, a mentor that help me strive and a supporter that all i can have!

Love you ate! Alam mo yan!

Xoxo

              

How do you want to be remembered?

two weekends ago I was talking to my Ninang and we were talking about my classmates - because she was my HS Principal and one of my professors in Psychology, specifically Thesis.

As I reflect back to my college days, I was just thinking about the things that I did and having a hard time thinking about what i really did and what my friends / classmates did (yes sometimes my memory is bad).  As I was slowly recalling the events and stating names of my friends from college, Ninang would think differently, she recalled the study that I made for my thesis, she would recall the thesis of my friends and I was just in awe to listen to that.  I can't even recall my own study back in the days!  How can it be?

As I reflect and thought of my own answers - I thought that I might not be so focused with my own study (thesis) and that my intent was just to finish it and graduate.  Is this really the way to go? I think not and I was totally wrong!  You see, as I mature with experience (yes I suppose so) I believe that the only thing to make us remember things is to give utmost attention and focus to it.  Whether it is at school, at work or at home.

I'm good with dates (well not perfectly good) but I know the important dates of my life and my family.  I know every detail of my first meet up with Sweets (only if it was just less than 15 min) from the last detail that he was wearing a pink Accenture shirt.   I can easily recall because its engraved in my heart and because that event was important to me.  Now how do I relate this to memory? 

People will be there and we will interact with them, we will talk to them, we will share ideas, we will even disagree with each other, in short its a never ending discussions of good and bad things.  When we interact, we will create the first impression and we will build a relationship -- it's now up to us on how to make those first impressions last and make those relationships work, so that down the line when we talk about 10 years after -- these people who became our friends, our chosen families, will remember something good (or bad) about us.  

Memories, to make it simple, is black and white, never gray.  It's just good or bad and not in the middle.  My suggestion would always be, to create good memories with our families and friends -- memories that they can remember even if we are far apart, memories that will make them want to be with us again and catch up, memories that will last a lifetime.

Have you thought of someone who made that impact in your life that it will be hard to forget?  Be that person to someone and you will live a life that is worth living!! 

Xoxo

Basketball: a lot like LIFE

I have been telling you guys that I am not a sporty person. I didn't play any serious sports back in the days because I am afraid -- maybe because I was wearing glasses and I don't want to break my glasses because of any ball hitting my face.

Now on to today, I still don't play any sport but I am now a fan of a Basketball, only because of my husband. Yes I was encouraged to watch even if I know my heart will be beating so fast because I want the team to win.  As I was watching the games, whether live or via TV, I was slowly internalizing that really, this ball game is all about life.  Let me share with you what I thought! 

1. We can be a star - in any ballgame there is always a star player, someone who just can't help but score whether on the inside or the outside.  In life, we can also be a star - be good in what we do and be successful in what we want to be -- but like in any ballgame - you will not be a star player without the help of your team.  In life, we will not be successful without the help of our family and support system.

2. We have limited Air Time - in any ballgame, player rotations happen every now and then, substitution will always be there -- not because the players are not playing well but because the coach believes that the players need to re energize. In life -- we will not always be in the lime light, people will replace us for whatever reason, so when we have the Air Time - let's make it worth it! 

3. Help the other player to shine - self recognition is important, most especially if you are a star player.  In this ballgame it is not always the case. The players need to play with the team and make others shine as well.  They are all playing FOR the team and WITH a team! In life, we also need to give a support system to others, we need to help other people to be successful. Once we do then we are also successful.

4. The coach is there for a reason - no matter how great the players are, if they don't know how to listen to their coach then what's the use of having one!  Coach is there to strategize a game plan to help achieve the end goal (which is to win) and the players need to trust their coach.  In life, I'm looking at our parents as the ultimate coaches in our lives. They will never give us a play that will ruin our lives and thus it is always good to listen and trust our parents! 

5. Bilog ang bola - no matter where the ballgame takes us, whether we win or lose, at the end of the game, learnings will emerge and the players will know how to play harder. In life, we are not always on top of our games, we can be at the bottom and that's not bad.  Life is a continuous journey that we need to travel in whether good or bad, what's important is that we are able to learn from these journey and the learnings will lead us to success! 

How about you? How do you relate this ballgame into your life?

Xoxo