I’d summarize the past 10 years as my growing up years. The time where I was brave enough to experiment and take risks. I traveled a lot and realized how much I wanted to see the world and not just my neighboring location. Where I’ve known different kinds of people (some difficult and yet most are amazing). Where I have done a lot of projects which shaped my interests. More importantly, I realized who I really wanted to be and the things I really wanted to do in my life.

I’m turning 30 this year and it feels like being fresh out of college (though I skipped that part of my life). It’s the time where I want to seriously be good at the career of my choice. Put into action the things I have learned and the skills I have acquired. Go out there and make a difference and maybe even change the world (cliche I know.. duh).

I can’t wait! I’m too excited and I’m taking that as a good sign for things to come..

As always, this has been my mantra in life..

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. Oprah

The CDOBloggers will be there for the Grand Opening of Fil Me Up and I can’t wait to share my experience and of course blog about the food they will serve us.

Don’t forget to Like Thai Me Up’s FB Page for more Updates:
https://www.facebook.com/cdo.thaimeup

Visit Thai Me Up:
Capistrano-Mabini Sts. Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Crunchy and Chewy Brownies

Last night I made some brownies because I miss the smell of sugar. Brownies are easy to make.. and I simply want them crunchy and chewy.

Anyway, I’m  excited to say that I’m going to start a new blog soon. A food blog where I can do a lot of baking and perhaps chronicle my  adventures when I start Culinary School later this year. I will announce it soon here!

The 2012 CDOBloggers Officers

So today the board members and the new officers of CDOBloggers had a very productive meeting at Missy Bon Bon. I had to talk them through their position and even encouraged them to share their ideas on how they can help improve running the ORG.

Sure, it can be a very daunting task for this new set of officers however, I’d like them to focus more on the opportunity being given to them. Ever since I started this org, it has been a learning process for me. Admittedly, there were a lot of difficult challenges I had to face. It’s hard to run an org and deal with different personalities. You get to see the best and worst in people.

Brainstorming Time!

I must say though that there are more happy times and more rewarding experiences that have kept the passion burning for the ORG as a whole. To be able to make a difference in the society and getting to do the things you love with people who share your interests. CDOBloggers have been existing for three years now and we are looking forward to a brighter and better future.

To the NEW SET OF OFFICERS: Vic, Venus, Rox, Eleanor, Bang and Robs.. congratulations and have fun!

Starbucks Planner 2012 Poplar and Oak

Also, I need to mention that last December 2, 2011 – Starbucks Cagayan de Oro invited me to a night of music, food and drinks for their loyal customers and I had a blast. I’m loyal alright. I wish I had copies of the pics we took at the event so I can share it here (I forgot my camera that time, sorry!).

Starbucks Poplar Wood Design and Oak Wood Design

So anyway, back to the planners. Starbucks 2012 Planners are available in 5 wood designs: Bamboo, Cherry, Spruce, Poplar and Oak. I chose the last 2 designs.. Poplar (right) and Oak (left). A nice addition to their planners are the free sleeves. The old 2011 Starbucks Planner that I have is now a little dirty so I can make sure that even at the end of the year, my planners will remain as nifty as it looks now.

Starbucks Planner 2012 Poplar with Sleeves

I do like the string bookmark with mug logo from the 2011 planner coz the new one seems like something I’d easily lose.  The over all look is really clean and is so much lighter and smaller than the old one. The planners are also made from recycled paper. The wood cover is a genius!

There's a bookmark!! Nice graphics too!

The left side are for your daily tasks while notes (without lines) should go to the right. Coupons are also included for free upsize and add-ons valid for specific months in 2012. It also feels good to know that for every planner redeemed, a donation will be made to Spark Hope, a program for early childhood care and development in partnership with UNICEF. I personally advocate UNICEF and is a donor for their Champion for Kids program.

Coupons + What's inside the planner

This will definitely be an awesome year for me. I love planners and I am that type of person who would rather plan than be spontaneous. I will be using Poplar for Work and the Oak one for my personal life. Though I will miss my favorite Holiday Drinks – Toffeenut Frap and Peppermint Mocha,  I have my old favorites at Starbucks- Limketkai to keep me company during my “ME-time”. Lastly, I’d like to say Cheers to the Starbucks Limketkai Cagayan de Oro staff, they are wonderful people. Getting inside starbucks and having them greet, “Hiiii ChiQ!” always brings a smile to my face. When I’m at the counter, they’d ask me how my day was and I’ve always found them friendly and sincere. I’m always definitely at home at Starbucks ?.

This year will mostly be about me and improving myself. I’m starting it off with eating healthier foods and eventually go on a diet so I can shed off some pounds. I also want to wear more dresses and sandals than the lazy jeans, shirt & slippers get-up.

Sometimes I wish I get feisty bone in me. So when other people say bad things about me I can defend myself better. If that never happens in my lifetime, I will just work on a stronger heart and a better understanding for people who are too quick to judge.

I will also be more POSITIVE than ever. Since I learned about the Law of Attraction, to say my life has been sooooo much fun and exciting is an understatement.

2. Blog some more..

So I haven’t logged in to facebook for almost 3 weeks now. I feel unwired from the world and without a care, as if I put everyone/everything else on the backburner. What a great feeling! But that is not the point, I realized that FB is the reason why I didn’t feel like updating my personal blog. When I want to say something, I post an FB status. When I want to share where I’ve been to or what food I ate, I upload pics on my FB with caption. Since I haven’t done any of that.. I’m blogging about it. Issue resolved. Lol.

3. Spend more time in the Kitchen

This year, I am going to create my very own Food Blog. Since graduating from Monster Kitchen, I miss baking. I’d like to put my skills to good use.. bake and blog!

4. Be more Productive

This is work related. I’d like to design more WordPress Themes and create more blogs. 2011 was such a busy year for me and I was always traveling too. Don’t get me wrong.. I enjoyed every bit of it but it has also kept me away from my Home Office. I’ll try not to go out as much this year so I can have more time creating awesome projects.

5. Enjoy Life!!

I will continue doing things that make me happy. Explore and learn new things. Laugh often. Read some good books. Simply put, I will keep the passion for living an awesome life burning.

I cannot wait for things that are about to happen this year. I will finally enroll myself in Culinary School. That alone is crazy-fun and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that!

I wish you all adventures in your life that will drive you insane.. in a good way of course. Happy New Year!!! 

#HELPCDO Paypal Donations now accepted. Send to Paypal: francis.siason@gmail.com through Cagayan De Oro Bloggers. Proceeds will be donated and delivered to Xavier University Cagayan de Oro where the members of CDOBloggers are planning to volunteer. Thank you and God Bless!

For those who would like to donate using their Credit/Debit Cards. Click below.

Cagayan de Oro City has been declared as in the State of Calamity. Philippine Red Cross reports 521 dead so far, 370 missing. Almost 35,000 people remained huddled in evacuation centers after the storm, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. #HELPCDO

Seriously, I have been scouting for a good Culinary School the past few months. A professional Chef program would require 12 months to complete. Although the passion and interest to pursue this goal is rather unwavering there is still this hesitation because I have never liked going to school.So I thought about getting my feet wet first and just try and get a grasp of the Culinary World.

So I learned about this Fundamentals in Baking and Pastry Arts program offered by Monster Kitchen. It is equivalent to a 9 months program and since we meet a couple times a week, it has been trimmed down to 3 months. Not bad right?

So how was it? Nothing but just AWESOMENESS! The class is fun no matter how tiring it is. Tiring because we hardly take breaks. We’re just too focused trying to finish our task at hand and lunch becomes “working lunch”. But hey, the fun part is the company of classmates who shares your passion. The sweet smell of the kitchen and the sugar high we get from eating everything we’ve baked. Sugar brings us happiness. No matter how tired we are, we manage to run around, laugh a lot, be creative and happy. At the end of the day, we take pride at what we have created and nothing beats the satisfaction you get from that.

Early on in life, I wanted to be a doctor. I would’ve been an awesome one if only that happened. But I don’t regret anything at all, it wasn’t meant to be. I have my dream job anyway. A job that doesn’t even feel like one. I run my own show and I make things happen.

I design and I create things and it’s a bonus cause people like it. I make websites and Templates and when I see my WordPress Themes being used by others. I feel happy.

I like other things too. Mostly related to Designing or Technology. I’d like to be good at Photography & Typography. I want to learn more on editing Videos, Animation and jQuery Scripts. I’d someday want to dabble in Culinary Arts. These are the things that excite me. I own my time and for that I am thankful that I could explore at will, that I could revel in, lose myself in as I please, but not things i have to do to earn my keep.

There are people who knew who they wanted to be right from the start. I’m happy for them. As for me, it might have taken me a while to know myself and find my own place in this world. But I have. I have found that passion that drives me insane everyday because I am enjoying every minute and every little bit of what I create.

Not merely hoping or desiring perfection but simply content with the fact that I am happily chasing all my dreams.

For now I’m more than ready to fall into this blogging madness once again. There’s so much to write about and so much to tell. I’ve been to a lot of places, met a lot of awesome people and learned a whole lot in living life.

These are the reasons why I love to Blog and why I am Proud to be a Blogger.

1. Blogging is my way of documenting my life not only in words but using pictures as well.
2. Blogging helps me improve my professional and tangible skills which has helped me a lot being a Freelancer.
3. Blogging makes me knowledgeable because I intend to provide valuable information to my readers thus I am always on a lookout for opportunities in gaining insights on things I want to discuss or write an entry about.
4. Blogging lets me help other people because I get to share what I know to them. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping others.
5. Blogging brought about wonderful people to meet and friends to keep who are equally as geeky and just downright fun to be with. We take loads of pictures when our food is served. Yes, even when we’re so hungry, we’re still thinking of content for our blog. Lol. We also like to travel and be informed of what’s new and hip so we can share it across our social networking accounts.

Anyway, so there goes my reasons and probably this blog post also serves as my commitment to blog as often as possible.