Surviving and helping, not competition

Recently I started a pizza business, but I will delve into that in a different post. What I want to share right now was a short conversation that I had with a customer.

Like with all my customers, I ask for a feedback about their order. Customer mentions that I liked my pizza, then he gave a suggestion.

Little background about my pizza, it takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to make our pizza since we make it from scratch and we bake it in a wood-fired oven.

The customer’s suggestion was that I have frozen pizza (so we can just pop it in the oven, less wait time) since there is a market for that.

I told him: “There are those who are already selling frozen pizza in our barangay and that is their market. Our market is really freshly made pizza... Though, thank you for your suggestion... Might I suggest you also try the pizza of our fellow ka-barangays?”

Was I being a goody-two shoes by suggesting that he try other pizzas? No I was not. 

I did not want to join the already abundant frozen pizza business in our area. Yes, they are cheaper compared to my produce and they obviously have more customers. But thinking they are competition in the midst of this pandemic will simply add more stress and burden to me. I have a lot on my plate right now, so why add more stress right? For me, if I am able to sell a pizza, Thank you. If not, that’s fine. When they tell me “your pizza is expensive” I give them suggestions where to buy cheaper pizza, and they get surprised. Why? Because “who in their right mind would suggest their competition’s food?” They are not my competition, they are my neighbors, who like everyone else in our country right now, is highly affected by the pandemic.

We need to survive. Competition is not my priority right now, it’s surviving. Helping each other is my mindset. I have mentioned before that I am one of the lucky ones who is able live “comfortably” despite the situation of our country, but I know that my resources will eventually be scarce. I too am struggling financially but I still keep in mind that if I have the opportunity to help, go for it, specially when helping is  free and is as easy as sharing, and posting about their product on your page.

Why are people more surprised when other people actually help in their business? 🤔🤔🤔

time for love

"Make every heartbeat count." -Nutschell Anne Windsor

Time is ticking. Take every opportunity to LOVE MORE

abra trip - holy week

minna~

finally! here is the entry about our one week stay at our province, Abra.

during our stay in the province,

we didn't go out of our house much.

the space in our garden and the treehouse was enough for us to keep ourselves entertained.

add to that, even though we have known and have been living in a gallery,

me and my siblings always saw something interesting in our house/gallery.

(~_~)

add to that,

the mango trees in the garden was bearing fruit,

so we literally got our own food from around us. (~_~)

we went our for a walk around the small town on our first day,

just so we can say hi to those we know.

i'm not bragging or anything,

but our family is very known in our province.

despite that,

we try to be discreet and that is why people are amazed when we introduce ourselves.

anyways, during our short walk,

rei and i visited our church and the Holy Ghost School.

the Holy Ghost School was the first of the Holy Spirit Schools here in the Philippines.

rei and i studied in one of the Holy Spirit Schools here in manila.

moving on...

the other reasons for us to go out of our house was for a procession or when we needed to buy something.

holy tuesday,

we joined the Stations of the Cross procession our plaza.

maundy thursday,

we were already preparing the Santo Inchero (the dead Jesus Christ) for the friday evening procession.

on the evening of thursday,

we also joined a procession.

during such processions,

there is this structure they call "abong-abong" which we pass through along the way.

this structure is made of bamboo and coconut leaves.

it is decorated with fruits, cloth, paintings or other materials.

inside it is a tableau depicting scenes from the gospels,

specifically scenes during the last supper until the death of Jesus.

good friday,

everyone was busy preparing the Santo Inchero.

preparing the food to be served for the musikeros,

for those who will prayed,

for those who helped pull the Santo Inchero

and for those who visited the Santo Inchero at our house.

this day was also the Kissing of the Feet of Jesus.

it is during this time that it is said that Jesus has died.

after the Kissing of the Feet was the evening procession with the Santo Inchero.

for the whole evening,

there were prayers until dawn of black saturday.

black saturday,

we visited the grave of my grandmother in Villa Padua.

Villa Padua is a family property in the mountains of Abra.

this villa is dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.

during our visit,

we went up the Stairway to Heaven in our villa.

there is supposed to be 100 steps to the top of the mountain.

this was conceptualize by my grandfather.

later that afternoon,

we went to a different part of our province for a cool swim at a natural spring.

it was a really cooling way to beat the heat.

easter sunday,

rei and i woke up early to watch the "sabet",

it is a reenactment of the meeting between mother and son,

Mother Mary and her risen son Jesus Christ.

after that was the easter mass.

we rushed for breakfast because we were scheduled to leave for manila after the mass.

the trip was very warm and windy,

tiring and exhausting,

but that itself is part of the whole trip.

i am very thankful for the one week we had in Abra,

and for the safety of our trip to and fro Abra.

(~_~)

pictures:

abra trip

holy week
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during my stay in the province,

there were times wherein i had an experience that i thought i should have their separate entry.

the over-all title for these four entries is

"agsao ti rabii" (the evening speaks)

• cold summer nights
• the help
• faith
• Georgina

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COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS!

whatta day!

this day started a bit sad for me.

i thought i lost my cellular phone and the atm card of my father.

i was so distraught.

as i was randomly looking around the house.

i saw a yellow can.

i had a feeling that i placed something there yesterday.

when i opened it, to my great surprise, i saw the things that i thought i lost.

i was so relieved. (~_~)

after realizing that i was already out of trouble,

i rushed to the indoor pool in the condominium near our house.

my siblings were already there*.

i swam for about three hours! (~_~)

my eyes were a little red after the swim. (~_^)

close-up.

the day ended fairly well.

(~_~)

thank you Lord. +
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COUNTDOWN: 28 DAYS!

kamay

Kamay (Hand)

the song's message refers to a "helping hand"

you might need to have a facebook account to hear it.

i'll ask my cousin if i can post it in youtube.

this is an original composition by the band Ambermoon.

the lead vocalist is my cousin.

i would really want to help. to lend a helping hand.

this may be what i want to do but all i can share for now, my helping hand, are prayers.
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prayers for everyone.

amen.

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