Opa! After having a sinful, cholesterol-laden, non-stop binging and drinking Friday, I wanted to have a more heart-friendly weekend meal. What better way to do this by going Greek? I’ve always had a soft spot for Meditarrenean food, which is easy on the palate and the tummy – not to mention it’s supposed to be healthier. And so, off I went with my good friend, Miya, to Sophia’s, a relatively new Greek restaurant in Westgate, Alabang.

Sophia's Entrance. Nice balcony.

Opened only in May of this year, Sophia’s offers a wide variety of Greek cuisines. They have the regular offerings of favorites like tzatziki, gyros, mousakka, and various grilled lamb dishes in a bit of a more upscale setting. The resto is the brainchild of Chef Mervyn Whitfield, who apparently is also the owner of Piccolo Mondo, one of the most sought-after Italian restos specializing in pizzas here in the south. I have not been to Piccolo though but I heard it’s really good. Thus I was at ease with trying out what Sophia’s had to offer.

We ordered our favorite moussaka (Php295), pasta con vongole (Php275), and lamb gyros (Php195). Moussaka is similar to a lasagna but instead of the lasagna, eggplants are used. It comes layered with mozzarella cheese and a beef and tomato sauce. The dish is topped off with a white-sauce. The moussaka was yummy though comaring with the one from Mano’s Greek Taverna (Tagaytay) or Tita Ope (Salcedo Market), I’d say Tita Ope’s  tops my list.

Moussaka (Php295)

Pasta con vongole is pasta with clams cooked in either olive oil or tomato sauce. Vongole is Italian for clams. We had the oil-based version of the dish since we already had moussaka which is tomato based. Although it looked enticing when served, it didn’t live up to its looks. The pasta was rubbery instead of al dente, the clams were really small and few, and overall the dish lacked in flavor. Cyma tops my list when it comes to this dish, at an almost similar price, Cyma offers a bigger and more flavorful dish.  

Pasta Con Vongole (Php275)

Often mistaken as a shawarma or a soft taco, gyros is the Greek version of a these two minus the messy fillings. It comes with a variety of meat choices – chicken, beef, or lamb – with some lettuce and green peppers. The sauce is a tzatziki sauce, which is made of yogurt and pureed cucumber. Thus making it a healthier alternative to its counterparts. Sophia’s's version was good, the meat was tender and the pita bread was soft and hot. I would love more of those sauce though.

Lamb Gyros (Php195)

We were full to the brim but it was a good way to be filled, heart friendly, indeed. Contrary to my love for the Greek appetizers, salads, and entrees, I am not fond of their dessert. The baklava and the yogurt with fruits are a bit of an acquired taste, which I have yet to develop a taste for.

The Bar

Interesting chandelier made of gas lamps

Sophia’s Mediterranean Deli is located at Westgate, Alabang. Phone: 771-7717, 782-3517; Restaurant hours: 10AM – 10PM (M-F), 10AM – 11PM (Sat-Sun).

Who would have thought that this little coffee shop in my home-sweet-home BF Paranaque is much, much more than just your typical coffee shop? Well, actually I stand corrected, it’s really not not just your typical coffee shop, it’s THE coffee shop and MORE. What am I referring to? BoNa (Bohemian Nation) Coffee.

BoNa started out in a small nook at the BF compound in Phase 1. At first glance, I thought it was a franchise of an Australian or US brand because of its uncanny advertising materials (imagine they have a poster stating how unhealthy starbucks is compared to their coffee, isn’t this a violation of consumer trade laws? haha! i wonder…), unique blends, and equally unique food. I’ve never seen a coffee shop in Manila that served yogurt with fresh fruits and muesli, lemon-poppy seed muffins, nor healthy, gourmet sandwiches. It’s actuallly in a field of its own, nothing compared to your ordinary starbucks, etc. because on top of the great drinks and food they offer, it has an ambience like no other and great, friendly staff – which adds the personal touch to your BoNa experience…not to mention free – as in FREE Wifi!

It was great to see some of the same staff who we know from the pioneer BF branch got relocated to Alabang. When asked if they were going to close the BF branch, they said they won’t and they were going to use it as a training facility for new personnel. Whew, at least I still have a choice to shuttle between BF and Alabang, depending on my coffee-ing mood.

Earlier this lazy Sunday morning, I was browsing through Clickthecity.com and found a clipcast on BoNa. It was my first time to see who the owners were and apparently, one of the owners is actually Canada’s top young entrepreneurs some years back.

She owned a unique coffe shop there, probably very similar to BoNa. They were explaining that BoNa had a corporate social responsibility side to it and that they start with supporting their staff. They put them through a 3-year management course wherein they learn everything there is to know about running a business and once completed, they get to be a Partner of a new branch with no funding required from them. How’s that for employee development? Furthermore, they source all their beans locally, which helps support the local coffee industry – probably from Amadeo – and donate a substantial amount of their profit to various NGOs who support indigenous tribed such as Mangyans. After knowing all these, I suddenly had a renewed, much higher respect and love for BoNa. My little coffee shop around the corner is, indeed, not your typical coffee shop.

BoNa Coffee is located at the following: BoNa BF Homes Branch – Unit-E PSCOR Bldg., Elizalde St. BF Homes, Parañaque; BoNa Alabang – Westgate Compound, Alabang Zapote Road, Alabang, Muntinlupa.

Lucky for me our cable provider is airing my favorite channel, Discovery Travel and Living, for the whole of August. I have long envied those extremely lucky hosts of Globe Trekker (previously known as Lonely Planet), who have had the chance to travel the world and tell everyone about it. Although I do get lonely on long trips, especially when you’re stuck in a hotel room all by yourself, it gets bearable or make that exciting when you travel with a purpose…a mission. Reflecting on my previous travels, I noticed that I’m the type of traveller who wants to do a lot of stuff when on a trip. I always have an itinerary prepared and seldom do I travel unprepared or just go off to bum around. I want to be active on trips and be able to maximize the time I spend at a certain place. Most of all, I want to immortalize the whole adventure through my photos and blog.

With that said, I have a good feeling that I am in the write er make that right direction. I want to write and I am writing. This is starting my dream and I do hope against hope that this dream will fly.

Fly

Of course, a soldier must come prepared for battle. So come Friday morning (yes, I was late for office…gosh, that’s strike 2!) I turned on my notebook as I normally do once I settle down at my cozy chair and started Google-ing for top selections.  My default web page when looking for great books is none other than Oprah’s book club. It started way back in college for me when I came to know about White Oleander from one of her shows. Then came other wonderful books, most recently is ANE. This time though, I didn’t see something that made me jump out of my seat and head straight to the book store. Thus, I was on to my next search. Since I was going to Fully Booked, why not checkout their website and see what I could find there? Kaching – it was one of those “aha” moments. I didn’t have that much time, I knew I had to make decisions fast else, my trip would have gone to waste. Browsing, browsing and then another kaching – make that 3 kachings! I found 3 books that caught my interest immediately – “Brida” by Paulo Coehlo, “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert, and “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. I was quite familiar with Coehlo’s work thus I knew I won’t go wrong with that choice. Gilbert doesn’t ring a bell at all to me as an author but I’ve seen her book displayed at various stores’ best seller racks. As for Pausch, the title did sound interesting, it’s one of the top sellers also, caught my attention but I needed to do a little more research to validate my hunch. This is clearly becoming a PDSA (plan-do-study-act) cycle for me. My Q&A was – how will this book affect me in the short and the long-term, will it have an effect at all? My prediction was – it’s going to change my life. I had high hopes and I felt good about it. So off I went armed with my list of great books to conquer, written on a small note pad, my wallet, and mobile in hand… since this was supposed to be just a “lunch break”, I didn’t want to catch my officemate’s attention by bringing my whole stuff with me, though I was really tempted to, but nah.

Upon arriving at Boni High, our tummies were already grumbling so we decided to have a quick bite, cautious of the time though since we still had 4 floors of book shopping to do. When we got to Fully Booked, I was getting all excited (though of course it wasn’t so apparent, I’m not really good at expressing feelings haha). My eyes were browsing racks and stacks of books. I immediately saw Brida but much to my dismay it only came in hardbound. Though there was a 20% discount, which brought down the price of it to about Php750, I thought it wasn’t that enticing. I crossed-off Brida out of my list and went on to search for the other 2 books. Being the logical and quite structured person I was, I was doing a sequential search of the books in order of how I wrote them on my notepad. Book number 2 was “Eat, Pray, Love”. I thought this must be a pretty famous book so they should have it on shelf. I searched through the new titles, recommended titles, best sellers, but it wasn’t there. Finally, I had the bright idea to check with customer service. So I lined up, there were a couple of guys ahead of me so I waited a bit, and finally was able to ask the guy at the counter if they had it and where I could find it. Unfortunately, it’s out of stock – at this point, my excitement level was really going down the drain. So I let out a big sigh, shrugged my shoulders and went to go look for Mona. I found here at the sale section, where the books with some typo-errors or torn papers were displayed and tagged at really low prices – 80 to 90% discount – the prices were negligible. So I told her the bad news and went off looking around to see what else I could find.

I went to the magazine section and got the latest copy of Digital Photographer Philippines – great issue by the way and hit the right spot for me since it featured seascapes. For the past year or so, I’ve been browsing their website and viewing all the picturesque photos taken by various travel photographers and I was always in awe and wished I could have a chance to take the same photos or even better! Then I saw the latest issue of National Geographic which featured some wild animals. As much as I would love to get it also, I found it a bit pricey but I’m sure to get it when back issues are offered (cheapskate!). I recently saw a feature on NatGeo about one of their top photographers, Joel Satore, and he is an inspiration. Being a contributor to NatGeo has then become one of the top items in my wish list.

You might have noticed that I got so caught up with the fact that the first two books that I planned to get were unavailable and then resorted to diverting my attention to the magazines. Funny thing was, I didn’t intentionally do that and I just completely forgot about my third agenda. After browsing a whole lot of magazines, I went up to the second floor which I did not find inviting since this was the kids’ section. Fairy tales, adventures, pirates, magic, and dinosaurs weren’t my thing that day. My two all-time favorite books are Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter but the fiction land is not my thing nowadays, I’m in for the real-world stuff! Back to reality, I went up to the third floor, not expecting to find anything spectacular, and from my right peripheral vision, I saw something familiar, something that caught my attention. It was “The Last Lecture”, a whole stack of them, neatly wrapped in plastic covers and piled on four or five columns. It was Kaching number 5 (or is it 6? I lost count already). I got my copy, the one in the most pristine condition amongst all the books in the piles, I hoped, and proceeded to find Mona, looked around some more, saw another feel-good (upon Mona’s recommendation) book at great discount – “The Friday Night Knitting Club” by Kate Jacobs – at Php84.00 only. Two books, one magazine, and 2 hours of walking around, I was pretty much contented – my quest for the day was done.

On the way back to the office, while sitting in the car, I was telling Mona about the author, Randy Pausch. He was a professor of Computer Science at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and famous for being one of the experts on Virtual Reality. The book is based on the last lecture he did as a professor at CMU, wherein all resigning faculties are supposed to give one last hurrah before saying goodbye to their academic profession. What makes his last lecture unique was that he’s not only leaving the university but is soon leaving the world. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year before and given the nature of this cancer, it’s known to be one with the highest mortality rate after diagnosis. So in short, he had only a few months to live, had to give a final speech, more so to leave a legacy for his kids – as he said, he had to compress decades worth of life lessons he should be teaching his kids in the flesh into an hour’s worth of lecture. Now how can I not be interested to read what he had to say?

I could not stop reading the book. It was one of those rare books that you just have to finish as soon as possible. It was very, very engaging. Last night, I was browsing the internet for the actual speech that he did at CMU, which was uploaded in Youtube. I spent an hour and fifteen minutes watching it at midnight and it deeply moved me, seeing him actually delivering the lecture – the very last he will be doing. His enthusiasm was undeniable, given the state he was in, just knowing the day before that his cancer has metastasized, it was puzzling to see him so full of energy, with a beaming smile, and even doing a couple of push-ups. I saw in him a picture of a content person, ready to take in anything, to be faced by anything, even if it means having to die so young and not be able to see his kids grow up. He was ready.

I mentioned earlier that I do believe things happen for a reason, nothing is accidental, to add on to that, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. I planned to get a book last Friday, I google-d and found a couple to my liking. I listed the books in the order of when I found them, the first two books were unavailable, and only the last one was. I didn’t know much about it then but I had a strong urging to buy it and had a prediction that it would change my life. That was the first day I knew about its existence, the first day I knew about the author, Randy Pausch, and to my surprise, this was apparently his homecoming day. He passed away earlier that morning of July 25^th.

If I had the chance to meet him, I’d definitely tell him about this absurd story of mine. I’m sure he’d laugh and say “I hope it does leave an imprint on your life and that you pay it forward”. Today is now Sunday afternoon, July 27^th, and I’ve just finished reading the book. True to my prediction, it left me in awe and on a new mission – to remember my childhood dreams and live it. I have been struggling for the past couple of hours, trying to remember what those dreams were. I really could not, I think I need a psychic to hypnotize me and perform a regression. What I do know is that I have a couple of dreams, not childhood ones perhaps but I’ve been holding on to them long enough for me to remember them. Surprisingly, some of them I have already achieved without consciously knowing it. One of them is to work for a big multinational company, hopefully in the central business district, and be in a managerial position. I am currently living that dream, that wish I had back in college, and it just landed on my lap. Another dream is for me to be an inspiration to others and help them achieve their full potential. Last year, around August, I was so restless and wanted to have an outlet for this anxiety I had. So I got myself into three things – photography, an online course on entrepreneurship, and teaching part-time back at my university.

Photography was also a dream for me, by the way. I have always thought that I was a creative person but I didn’t pursue a degree in arts for fear that I would lack ideas and hit an artist’s block. More so, I’m not the competitive type, I just wanted to be creative for the sake of being creative and not for the profits. Over the years, I got busy with studies and then work that I completely forgot about my creative side. So it hit me last year that I needed a creative outlet and what better media to choose but photography. I can’t say that I’m an expert but I do know I have shown some of my good photos to others and that started them to also get into it. And what joy is it to hear from them that they got their own cameras already and are so excited to shoot. I may not be able to give them the technical expertise but I’m already satisfied to be a sort of catalyst for them to get into this great hobby.

Teaching was something that I did not seriously consider getting into. I was contented being the student, being the follower. I did not think I had it in me to lead a class, impart knowledge, check papers, attendance, etc. I had my fair share of checking papers back in college when I was a research assistant for some of our faculties in the Industrial Engineering department, and boy, did I not enjoy it. I wonder what got into me back then. Anyway, so for lack of better things to do, I got into part-time teaching. My first and only subject that term was Human Behavior in Organization or HUBEHOR. It was a fun subject to teach because it dealt with the different personalities of people, the types of organizations and quality management, which was what my day job partly entailed. Little did I know that I was really getting to enjoy it, I would come up with various activities for my class to do, and the one that I really enjoyed was our “Visualization and Personal Mission Statement” activity. I had my class sit comfortably in their chairs, one seat apart, and with a pen and paper ready. I would ask them various questions on what they were good at, what they enjoyed doing, what motivates them, what do they need to work on, etc. The final question was for them to create their own vision and mission statement. Take note, I was handling an all boys class, I was not pretty optimistic about getting them serious about this activity but to my surprise, they did. As I read their visions and missions, I had a sense of fulfillment for being able to impart to them what little knowledge I had on the importance of clearly knowing what you want in life and how it will dictate your future. So the term ended in December, it was a great Christmas present for myself, knowing that my students had a better understanding of the subject and to top it off, I received high ratings from them also based on the faculty assessment they did.

However, the rating did not really matter to me, what really struck me was after 2 months, I received an email from a former student, Dominic. I remember him from the previous term since he consulted me on a dilemma he had. He was a graduating Electronics and Communications Engineering student and had two open applications – one for Intel and the other for Hewlett-Packard, where I’m currently working. Both had provided him with offers already and he was trying to discern which to go for. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time, having been with both companies, I was the logical choice for him to consult. My piece of advice was simple, if he is after the salary HP clearly is the better company. If however, he is after being able to apply what he had learned from college and more importantly, learning the fundamentals of work such as discipline, critical thinking, and the importance of being in a good organization, then Intel is by far my best recommendation. I didn’t hear from him after we had that talk until he sent me a thank you email. I was glad he made the right choice and he knew he did. I know he will go places from then on. Here is his email:

Date: Feb 16, 2008 10:56 PM
Subject: Hello Miss!
To: mbbandera@gmail.com

This is Dominic, your former student in Hubehor last term (2nd term 07-08). I just would like to thank you for your advice on choosing Intel as the company to work for. I’m working for Intel since 1st week of Jan. I really like the company. it suits my personality, and the job that I have is the one that I had in mind. kaya thanks po talaga sa advice nyo miss (Thus, thanks very much for your advice, Miss). I never thought that it was a big deal to work for that company. I just realized when I came in that it was really an opportunity to be a part of the company. tsaka nagagamit ko po yung  mga tinuro nyo sa hubehor. hehe.. timing lang yung pagkuha ko ng hubehor class last term dahil naeencounter ko na agad yung mga concepts na naturo (And I am able to apply the lessons you taught us in HUBEHOR. It was good timing that I took HUBEHOR in my last term because I am able to apply the concepts immediately in my new work). sige po, have a nice day!

So, although I am not able to recall my deepest, wildest childhood dreams, I am happy that so far I am able to achieve whatever I put my mind into – with lots and lots of prayers to accompany that. I am happy that although I do not love my job entirely, that it gave me the opportunity to achieve my other dreams. I took the P&G Global reasoning exam yesterday, which I already passed before but since it’s a new format I had to retake again. Unfortunately, that dream hit a brick wall – I did not pass. But as Randy Paush put it, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” Rethinking my motivations for taking the exam and asking myself if I really did want that job – as sales – the answer is a resounding no. I had better things in mind:

1. Being a photographer of National Geographic
2. Being a professional travel journalist – I dream of going to see the rest of the Philippines, Brazil, Russia, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, China, Eastern Europe, Greece, Spain, and the list goes on…
3. Being based in Sydney or wherever that would offer a mandatory 1 month paid leave a year benefit, support for my future kids, my future husband, and myself.
4. Retire in the Philippines, particularly in Tagaytay and own a café which would provide jobs for people in the community and support local agriculture.
5. Being a teacher – particularly focusing on helping kids define their potentials and what they want to achieve. Pre-school would be a great start but even better is starting with my own kids.
6. …And ending up with the man of my dreams, someone who shares the same passion for the values and principles I hold dear to me.

They say that nothing in this world is free, there’s no such thing anymore as free lunch but I beg to differ. We’re all free to dream and when you do, dream BIG! You’ll never know what you’ll get until you dream it.