Treasure Jar

Increasing employee turnover and decreasing productivity are just two challenges that companies face amidst the fast-paced and highly stressful workplace scenario. Companies expect looking to address these problems need not look far because StrengthsCoach.Ph, a team of Gallup Certified Coaches in the Philippines offers strength-based development program which has been proven to increase profitability by 22% and productivity by 21%.

Back in 2001, the original Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment in the book “Now, Discover Your Strengths” was introduced by Gallup. Selling nearly 2 million copies, the book became a New York Times bestseller. Its author and creator of the Clifton StrengthsFinder, former Gallup chairman Dr. Donald O. Clifton (1924-2003), was named the Father of Strengths-Based Psychology by the American Psychological Association.

Employees and executives of Facebook, Google, Standard Chartered Bank and Ritz-Carlton were among the 13 million people realized the benefit of leading with their strengths.

“The conventional approach to training is to work on fixing weaknesses – to identify improvement areas and develop an improvement plan. While this prevents failure, we believe that strengths building leads to success,” explained StrengthsCoach.Ph Coach Alexander Wollboldt.

Focusing on maximizing strengths to drive employee engagement is what the training is all about.

“A highly engaged workforce means the difference between a company that thrives and one that struggles. When employees are engaged, they are passionate, creative and entrepreneurial, and their enthusiasm fuels growth. These employees are emotionally connected to the mission and purpose of their work,” said StrengthsCoach.Ph Coach Alex Araneta.

To help companies develop a strength-based culture, StrengthsCoach.Ph offers a variety of programs:

• High Performance Culture or HPC Program, a 4-6 month program targeted towards Executives, Management and Work Teams. This program focuses on building high engagement and performance through leadership coaching, team orientation and guidance and the engagement measurement survey to check on progress.
• For executives, managers and employees with high potential, StrengthsCoach.Ph provides the Disciplines of High Performance Leaders (DHPL) program, a 4-6 month training which objective is to drive High Performance Leadership through workshops and one-on-one Leadership Coaching. Companies seeking to improve performance of company leaders can also select the Executive / High Potentials Coaching program.
• Workplaces looking for in-house coaches can also have their employees undergo the Internal Coaches Certification (ICC) Program, a 4-day workshop that will create StrengthsCoach.Ph – Certified Strengths Coaches.

For more information on STRENGTHSCOACH.PH’s programs, visit http://strengthscoach.ph/ .

Tags: Discover Your Strengths, employee productivity, high performance culture, Now, StrengthsCoach.ph

The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center offers the following courses for children, teens, coffee lovers, bakers and chefs:

Maya Kitchen’s Kids Magical Adventure is on May 3-6, Tuesday to Friday, 9am-1pm Themes include ‘Circus,’ ‘Star Wars’ ‘Pixar Party’ and ‘Let It Go.’ Class fee is P6,000.
Young Foodie Hangout features ‘Instagrammables’ for Instagram-worthy recipes and plating; ‘One-Two-Three Kitchen’ for basic kitchen knowledge while “Eat In What You Eat Out” includes recipes inspired by famous fast food joints and restaurants. Class schedules are May 10-13, Tuesday to Friday, 9am-1pm. Fee is P7,000.
Coffee 101 is on May 7, Saturday, 1-5pm. Get an insider’s look at the various techniques in steaming, frothing and foaming of milk. Learn machine techniques in drink making and find out more about freestyle and etching in Coffee Latte Arts. Class fee is P999.
Coffee 102 is on May 14, Saturday, 1-5pm. Create delectable drinks like a professional barista with lectures on Choosing the Right Coffee, Coffee Latte Arts Part 2, Cold Coffee Concoctions, Equipment Maintenance and Creating Your Own Signature Drink. Class fee is P999.
Basic Culinary is on May 17-20, Tuesday to Friday (9am-3pm) and May 31-June 3, Tuesday to Friday (9am-3pm). Learn Cooking Fundamentals and International Standard Techniques of meal preparation from soup, salad, pasta, main courses to desserts for Home and Institutional Scale Kitchens with workshop. Class fee is P8,000.

Basic Baking is on May 24-27, Tuesday to Thursday (9am-2pm). Learn Basic Baking Techniques applicable to small and commercial scale production of recipes and formulations of quick breads, pies, cookies, cakes and other bread varieties with workshop. Class fee is P7,000.
Commercial Breads is on May 28, Saturday (9am-1pm). This hands-on class teaches recipes for Kopi Roti Buns, Ensaymada, Cinnamon Rolls and Oatmeal Bread. Class fee is P1,499.

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For more information on this and on other course offerings, log on to www.themayakitchen.com e-mailcontactus@themayakitchen.com or visit The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center every Tuesday to Saturday at 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City or call 8921185 / 892-5011 local 108 / Mobile No. +63929 679 6102. Call and reserve a slot now!

Tags: 2016 Maya Kitchen Cooking Classes, 2016 NCR Cooking classes, Maya Kitchen Kid's Magical Adventure, The Maya Kitchen, The Maya Kitchen Basic Baking, The Maya Kitchen Basic Culinary, The Maya Kitchen Coffee 101, The Maya Kitchen Coffee 102, The Maya Kitchen Commercial Breads, The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center, The Maya Kitchen Young Foodie Hangout

How do we Do More with Less? Here are a few ways:

The holidays are almost gone and with it came wonderful memories that, as a mom, I hope will be cherished in the years to come.

Several years ago, I have started FRUGAL CHRISTMAS and our family has been practicing this ever since.

Here are a few of the Frugal Christmas practices I have done since I started though a lot of it, I have not blogged about:

• Family photo Christmas tree ornaments which started as a project back when we were still homeschooling. These ornaments still adorn the tree and we have added more updated photos.

• Handmade tree decorations. Children and adults as well should try this to foster bonding time, personalize their trees and unleash their creative energies. These hand-made Christmas stockings still hang from our tree this year. This year I added a 3D Christmas tree made of gold tinsel to the Christmas wreath I decorated hanging on our front door. The excess tinsel was used to wrap gifts.

• Japanese paper as gift wrapper. You can choose any color you like depending on the theme of your gifts. This year, I used yellow Japanese paper with gift tags made by one of the children.

• Baked goods wrapped in yellow Japanese paper with personalized gift tags. Since we bake at home, it has been our practice to give baked goodies to friends. (see photo above)
• Personalized gift tags. You can either print these yourself or make from scratch. We always opt for the latter.
• If you love going to bookstores and bookstores that sell bargain books, then you can spend a little time scouring bargain books to give to book-loving people.
• Hand-made gold ribbons hang on our tree every other year. These have seen a lot of Christmases and hang alternately every year with the red ribbons. This year, we are having the red ribbons.

• Hand-made notepads. The last two years had us made notepads to give to the children’s friends. These were made during times when they have “nothing to do”. They also assembled these while watching their favorite videos on their gadgets.
• For this year’s Christmas, everything we served for the Noche Buena were home-cooked or home-prepped:

o Baked ham
o Chicken pasta and chicken fajitas (blog post coming up soon)
o Slow-cooked chicken
o Cheesecake
o Cheese platter

Blueberry cheesecake by the eldest child finally sliced and tasted, a day after Christmas! This is easy to make and you spend less than if you buy commercially baked ones.

For our family reunion Christmas lunch, we brought slow-cooked ribs and the eldest child made brownies. Easy-peasy prep, right?

Photo below is the Electrolux microwave being used to melt chocolates for the brownies.

I know the list is getting longer so I will stop. Finally, yes!

What do all these things mean for “Do More with Less” when it feels like there is so much to do with all the crafts that involve conceptualizing, cutting and pasting and with the baking and cooking tasks?

All these tasks, we do not do year after year. For the tree decorations, since we have plenty of these (and hand-made too!) we alternate what we put up on the tree. Buying Christmas tree decorations every year is not something we do since we already have at home. Baking goodies for family and friends is what we love to do and for the last three years, the children are tasked to do these, making me have more time to do other chores. The personalized gift tags are easy to make because we have been doing this for several years already.

We “Do More with Less” by planning ahead, making lists and following up on schedule to avoid the hustle and bustle of the season.  The gift packs for the village guards and Noche Buena packages for the families of Manang Salve (who helps clean the backyard) and Joey (our occasional DIY guy) have been distributed a day or two before Christmas Eve. Christmas and New Year’s Eves are not main worries because we already have the things that needed on-hand and so we don’t have to join the rush to purchase what was not bought and getting stressed caught up on long supermarket queues and traffic jams.

We “Do More with Less” investing in reliable appliances like Electrolux that make chores easier so we don’t see housework as burdens. Our Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner is something the kids use by themselves. This is the youngest child’s task: cleaning the area where the puppy stays.

We “Do More with Less” by giving more importance to tasks that foster spending time with our loved ones.

Aside from not spending too much money, the family also tends to give importance in having more time bonding because we are all working together to make wonderful Christmas memories that we will look back with fondess, joy and love.

“Do More with Less” everyday, it is good for the mind, body and spirit.

Tags: Do More with Less, Frugal Christmas

ASUS Philippines teams up with world-renowned industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue, bloggers David Guison and Arisse de Santos, for a regional competition offering Filipinos a one-of-a-kind chance to be the designer of their own ZenFone 2 case.

How exciting!

For the #ZenLooks competition, designs showcasing the diverse beauty of our local culture along with a unique design will be chosen.

Internationally acclaimed and multi-awarded industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue and style authorities David Guison and Arisse de Santos will help amplify the call for their fellow Filipinos to join in by creating their own designs for this competition by submitting an original case design for the ZenFone 2 inspired by the Philippines’ national colors.

Cobonpue focuses his attention on the shades and shapes of nature as his design inspirations for #ZenLooks.

On partnering with ASUS Philippines for the competition, he says, “I feel humbled to be a part of a global movement that allows Filipinos to express their creative identities through a personal must-have that accompanies them in their day to day. Our mobile phones, and what we do with them, say a lot about who we are and what we love.”

Admitting his personal affinity for the ZenFone 2, he declares, “It’s the perfect phone for this campaign. As a designer, the ZenFone 2 allows me to express my personal aesthetic. It’s very important that a device latches on to its owner’s views. And as for its performance, I like that it doesn’t compromise speed and promises such a rich photography experience for anyone who appreciates style.”

He concludes, “#ZenLooks is consistent with my personal advocacy of creating original and unique designs while promoting local culture. It’s a collaborative effort between the ASUS team and aspiring artists to produce an art piece inspired by the Philippine’s iconic elements.” Continue Reading »

Tags: #ZenLooks, ASUS ZenFone 2, ASUS ZenFone 2 Case Design Contest

If you want to have a Noche Buena ala Chef Sau del Rosario, head over to the Maya Kitchen this Saturday, 9am – 1pm on December 5, 2015.

Chef Sau will demonstrate and cook the following scrumptious recipes that are just perfect for a unique Noche Buena for your family and friends:

• Tamales, rice flour simmered with coconut, annatto and shrimp stock topped with peanuts, chicken and quail eggs;
• Chicken Galantina, ground chicken, chorizo, Vienna sausage, capers, raisins, eggs, ham and bacon;
• Salt-Baked Salmon, salmon covered then cooked with egg whites and salt served with orange and rosemary beurre blanc sauce;
•  Brazo de Mais, infused with corn and molded to look like a real corn. It is stuffed with pastry cream and layered with egg whites.

Chef Sau del Rosario credits his culinary talent to his Kapampangan roots. He studied at the University of the Philippines for a bachelor’s degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration and obtained culinary education in Paris, France.

He has worked in Michelin restaurants in Nice, Paris, Shanghai, Bangkok and in Raffles Singapore. After moving back to Manila 8 years ago, Chef Sau opened the restaurants Chelsea, M Café and Le Bistro Vert to mention some.

Today, Chef Sau is the Culinary Director for Center for Culinary Arts Manila (CCA). He is also a recipient of Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awards for Culture (MOKA) and a few months ago, he added author to his many accomplishments by publishing his own cookbook, 20 Years of Love + Cooking.
The ever creative and energetic chef will soon open 2 restaurants, ‘Lola’s Boy’ in Angeles City set to welcome diners on December 15 and ‘93 North’ along H.V. dela Costa Street, Salcedo Vilage, Makati which is set to open in February 2016.

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For more information on this and on other course offerings, log on to www.themayakitchen.com e-mailcontactus@themayakitchen.com or visit The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center every Tuesday to Saturday at 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City or call 8921185 / 892-5011 local 108 / Mobile No. +63929 679 6102. Call and reserve a slot now!

Tags: Chef Sau at the Maya Kitchen, Cooking lessons, cooking lessons The Maya Kitchen, Noche Buena with Chef Sau at the Maya Kitchen