GO na...Malapit na!!!

this morning, the business development officer of monterey Foods Corporation assigned to our store dropped by the shop and gave us the tarpaulin posters to be used for the motorcade as well as the brochures to be given away during the Grand Opening (GO) of our store.

yipeeeeeeeeee!!! that means that we just have to pass an audit of the systems and SOP's in the store (to be conducted Monterey people), and then we'll be allowed to proceed with the GO!!! yay!!!

here's the brochure to be given away during the GO, particularly, during the motorcade:

take note.... we're giving away monterey insulated bags (good for picnics, trips to the beach, out of town trips, etc.) to lucky customers for a minimum purcahse of P500.00 of Monterey Timplados (or prepared, ready-to-cook meat dishes).

and look at the mention of our Monterey Meatshop Kapitolyo... complete with the address... i've long dreamed of seeing our shop's name in a wonderfully printed brochure!!!

Mission (Partly) Accomplished....

whew! i have just finished cleaning and putting boyce's "room" here at home in order. it's actually our computer room.... but it comes with a small bamboo bed and its own air condition (not to mention a complete pc with a printer, a scanner, a web cam, and a fax machine)!!!

so, there boyce.... your bedroom is ready and waiting!!! hehehehehe

Cleaning House.....

yesterday, jon didn't come to the office the whole day.... and today, i'm leaving the office early and go home. why? we're cleaning the entire house in preparation for the arrival of a very dear friend from the U.S.

actually, he comes home every year to spend summer vacation (because he teaches at a university in Pennsylvania) here in the Philippines. and whenever he's in Manila, he usually stays with us.

he's a very close friend of mine, in fact he's my best friend... and we've known each other since the 70's when we were at the vet school... first as undergraduate students, then later as faculty members of the college.

his name is boyce.... and we're always very excited to have him back....

welcome home, boyce!!!

A Very Nasty Sight.....

lately, every morning, on my way to the meatshop, i've been seeing this sight.... which never fails to catch my attention. this is a pig carcass that's been left outside the doors of the shop that sells, among other things, pork meat also. obviously, it's delivered very early in the morning (when the shop is not open yet) and is just left there hanging by the shelves touching the ground. sometimes, flies hover around it.... and who knows? maybe even a stray dog comes once in a while near it!!!

this shop is located about a hundred meters from our shop's location.

i wonder what the shop's customers will think if they see this for themselves????

Just Looking Around....

this morning i was able to leave the store early enough to be able to see both the aerobics group and the tai chi group in action in their respective gardens. i didn't join any of them though and instead just did some brisk walking.

the aerobics they were doing is a bit advanced..... with complicated dance steps, while the tai chi is a westernized version complete with a broadway musical score in the background.

until now, i'm still not certain which group to join..... maybe i'll end up not joining any.... or joining both!!! hehehehehehe

by the way, these photos show the compact garden where the tai chi group meet every mondays, wednesdays, and fridays.

A New High....

Stars Glitters

today, the shop hit a new high in it's very short sales history.... it hit double it's average sales so far!!! yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

actually, the putting up of the big signs had a lot to do with it..... 'coz ever since they were installed, daily sales have been growing.... until today's new high.

i wonder how the shop will fare after we've had our grand opening???!!!! hehehehehehe

For Lack of Exercise.....

it's only 7:48 am...and yet i've been in the store for almost 3 hours now!!! i feel a bit bored because i was supposed to be on my newly-found "energy" to exercise daily..... but today is my car-coding day, and so, i wasn't able to do what i started yesterday.

very early in the morning yesterday, i went to the store in my shorts, rubber shoes and exercise shirt. after helping out opening the store, i left and walked around the place. i visited two gardens nearby but it was still early 'coz the outdoor aerobics (in one of the gardens) and the tai-chi (in the other garden) haven't started yet. that left me just doing a brisk walk all over the place discovering new streets, new mini neighborhoods, a big covered amphitheater, and even a parish church. i so enjoyed my walk that i went back to the gardens after more than an hour.... but still the aerobics and the tai chi haven't started yet!!

since it was already a bit late, i decided not to wait anymore.... and went home, took a shower, dressed up, then went back to the store.

i felt so refreshed and energized.... having started exercising again.... i hope i can keep it up and make it a daily routine once more!!!

Signs of Things to Come....

yesterday, the last of the major requirements for our store to have a grand opening was installed. two signs, advertising our shop, were put up just outside.... announcing to one and all that indeed, we are here and we have arrived!!!

one of the signs looked so massive, we all thought it wouldn't hold up..... or rather, the wall to which it was attached wouldn't support it. but we were wrong.... the signs after all were just made of a hollow steel frame covered by a light panaflex (a sort of tarpaulin-like) material with the words written on it.
with these signs put up.... we're ready to take on the world!!!.... or at least your orders!!! hehehehehehe

Eating Out.....Again!!!

with all the fuzz involved in putting up the meatshop and making it finally run, we hardly had time to indulge in one of our favorite pastimes..... going out and eat.... that is, until last night!!!

with the meatshop already open for business, we are now able to enjoy sampling again the metro's finest cuisines.... and last night, we went to crustasia at the power plant mall at rockwell center in makati for dinner. since we were able to go there only after the meatshop has closed, we were only able to invite cora to join us 'coz she's willing and able to stay awake quite late.

cora had the crab maritess, jon the deep fried salt and pepper crab, and i the singapore sweet chili crab. for carbo, we all had the vietnamese paella rice cooked and served in bamboos.

before calling it a night, we passed by ucc coffee.

it felt so good having time for ourselves again!!!

Internet Connection Now Available at the Meatshop!!!

yipeeeeeeeeee!!! this morning, the guys from smartbro connected us (through our office pc at the meatshop) to the internet via their wireless broadband service... that makes us wired again and ready for blogging, surfing, and chatting at the office anytime!!! yipeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

hey guys, we can now resume our weekly saturday morning chats... one that i've missed so very much!!!

earlier this afternoon, jon and i went to the mall to buy a wireless router so we can have our shop a wi-fi zone too. however, we weren't successful in installing the router properly. somehow, our wireless broadband internet access doesn't work when it's connected with the router (or at least that's how it looks!). or maybe the fact that our office pc uses vista as its operating system has something to do about it! anyway, we'll try again tomorrow 'coz we won't rest until we've made the shop wireless... so that we can use our lap tops anywhere in and out of the office!!!

attention all you computer geeks out there.... any suggestions???

today was also the first time i installed our office pc and turned it on... which means it was also my first time to use "vista". i'm reserving my comments for later.... haven't really gotten the hang of using it!!!