Pancit/Noodles Palabok, Bihon, Canton

Pancit or Pansit is the term for Noodles in Filipino cuisine. In-fact, in

Philippines youll find Panciterias or shops specializing only in noodles. The
following points are interesting:
There are around 30 variations of Pancit that are available!
Noodles were introduced into the Philippines by the Chinese and have since
been adopted into the Filipino local cuisine. Other Chinese influences in
Filipino cooking isToyo/Soy sauce; Tokwa/tofu; Tawge/Bean sprout
and Patis/Fish sauce as well as the method of stir frying and making thick
soup bases
According to Chinese food lore handed down, noodles should be eaten on
ones birthday. Since noodles represent long life and good health; they must
not be cut short!Chinese restaurants in the Philippines often have birthday
noodles as part of their special menus
Theres no time for eating Pancit or Rice for that matter. It could be had for
breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and even in between
It can be had by mixing only Pancit and Rice together with some left over
dish or simply with dried fish pickle

Pancit Palabok
Pancit Palabok and Pancit Luglug are more or less the same. In the latter
thicker noodles are used than the traditional Palabok (above). This is a very
popular communalcomfort food and why should it not be? When you slurp up
a fork twisting in some thin white Rice vermicelli noodles dripping with meat
sauce and shriek as a few drop of the sauce splatters on your clothes, youll
realise the comfort that surrounds you for sure.
Pancit Palabok is more like the Burmese Khauk sw thohk wheat noodle
salad with dried shrimps, cabbage and carrots, garnished with fried peanut oil,
fish sauce, fried onions, garlic and lime. You are supposed to vary these
everytime you serve yourself and the taste completely varies. The Pancit is
served first then the thick meat sauce or broth and then the various garnishes
fried shrimp, shrimp sauce, fried garlic, boiled pork, hard-boiled egg (sliced
into smaller pieces), fresh green spring onions (chopped),Tinapa (smoked fish

flakes) and Chicharon (crushed pork crackling, shown in the above

left picture). The Chicharon looks like Prawn chips and we have sprinkled
these over for friends who do not eat pork. Not the same smell though!
Squeeze a lot of lime and thePancit Palabok is ready to be slurped up.

Pancit Bihon
Pancit bihon are very thin rice noodles. Its accompanied by fried meat slices,
chopped fresh vegetables, Soy Sauce, Patis/Fish Sauce and definitely
Chinese sausage and cabbage.

Pancit Canton
Pancit Canton are thick flour noodles. This dish closely resembles the
Chinese Chow Mein. But LF sometimes cooks another favourite dish of ours
called Bikol Express (Mixed Seafood Bikol Expresscoming up definitely in a
detailed future post).

Fear of Inadequacy
Jealousy among employees, or a fear of inadequacy, can sometimes cause an attitude
problem with the employee that feels threatened, according to the article titled "How to
Handle Difficult Behavior in the Workplace" published on the Mediate website. An employee
may feel that his skill set is not adequate enough to perform at the same level as his coworkers, and this causes conflict and an attitude problem that can become pervasive. Talk
with the troubled employee and ask if they feel they would benefit from further training. See
if you can arrange to have the employee train with people within the company, and
recommend training material the employee can look into outside of the office.

Personal Problems
When people feel pressured in many different aspects of their life, they sometimes lash out
in non-productive ways, so says the article titled "Approaching Worker Attitude Problems"
published on the HR Tools website. If an employee seems to be having problems
communicating with co-workers, sit the employee down and ask them why they are being
difficult. Try to avoid being confrontational. If you offer the employee a sympathetic ear, you
may find that the problems stem from personal issues that have nothing to do with the
workplace, but because so much time is spent at work the frustration boils over in the form
of a bad attitude. While you do not want to try to get involved in an employee's

personal life, you may be able to help re-arrange some work responsibilities while the
employee attends to their personal matters. You could even suggest some paid time off if
the employee has the vacation time, or unpaid if they do not, to allow the employee time to
work out their issues.

Enforce Rules
According to the article "Important of Ethical Behavior in the Workplace" published by the
Online Ethics Center, the employer could be fostering a bad attitude by not enforcing rules
of conduct evenly throughout the company. If some people are allowed to act a certain way
while others get punished for the same behavior without any explanation, then that situation
can result in a bad attitude from the person that feels they are being mistreated. Sometimes
the attitude problems in the workplace do not originate with the employees, but rather they
originate with the actions of management. When employees complain of an uneven
enforcement of the company rules, it is important for management to listen to that
complaint and make steps to change managerial behavior.

Staying focused, positive and lean on your wins.

Even though we are such a young company, I can still certainly see a
great many things happening. I think that is very important to lean on
your wins and focus on the positive events that have become important
building blocks along the way. An example of this reminds me of when
we hired our first account exec.
We brought him on because Jake and I had realized that we were
wearing too many hats and needed help going after state agency
business. After a few weeks of training, he closed his first deal on his
own. The order was for one vertical mouse (a what?) and at terrible
margin. In fact, the deal was so great, that it barely had enough profit to
buy something off the dollar menu at a fast foot restaurant. What a
success!
Now it may sound like I am being facetious and to some degree I am,
considering that the specific opportunity wins the award for "Best in
Company for Vertical Mouse Sales". In fact, I really am very happy at

the outcome. Look at what we had accomplished. Jake and I had been
working our butts off establishing internal processes based on 21st
century software and practices. We had our distribution lines established
and leads that had began to turn out opportunities. Plus all the mentoring
and training on these new processes, we had ourselves an account rep
that had a basic idea on how to move product, using the processes and
systems we had put into place. To top it off, we were in the black for the
specific deal. All of this is a part of one incredibly important building
block.
Staying positive enables you to fail forward
Every business has failed along the way. In fact, perhaps my previous
experiences as a sales rep helps me understand that there is no business
that is batting a thousand. Some ideas and opportunities are winners
while countless others are not. These losses are so important in building
a company because it is what you do with those losses that sets the stage
for success. I have learned that even when you don't win an opportunity,
you can learn from the the loss.
By viewing all outcomes in a positive light, I have enabled myself to
focus on what needs to be done next based off of previous results. If the
results are good, do it again. If the results could be better, do it
differently. If you are not sure if the results are conclusive, do it again
until you have your answer, then you can make a decision.
Adversity is not reserved for daytime soap operas and reality TV shows. Even
the most fortunate have experienced adversity of some type: loss of job,
health problems, failed relationships, disappointments at work, financial
difficulties, death of loved ones, etc. I intentionally used the word move here

because adversity has an uncanny knack of paralyzing you. Therefore, it is

critical to keep moving through it. Otherwise, you will be stalled in the grip of
your adversity.
As you build anything worthwhile, barriers will certainly appear. The key is to
turn those stumbling blocks into stepping stones and move through adversity.
Here are three steps you can take:
1. Take inventory. When you experience a significant setback, you tend to
think that all is lost, but this is rarely the case. Once you have rationally and
objectively assessed the negative ramifications of the situation, search for the
positives and express your gratitude for them. An attitude of gratitude creates
happier, more resilient people. In fact, more and more studies are showing
that gratitude is the most common characteristic among the happiest people.
2. Convert turning points into learning points. Use your adversity as a time to
pinpoint opportunities to improve, learn, grow, rebuild, or test your own
character or faith. The road to victory is rarely smooth. There will be detours
and barriers along the way. Winning leaders and teams choose to grow past
their challenges rather than use them as excuses to stop or to lower their
sights.
3. Plan for the future, but live for the present. Don't obsess about yesterday
and don't be seduced by the promise that tomorrow all will be better. When
you are in the midst of adversity, it's easy to say, "Once I get through this, then
I will get back to my plan." With that mentality, you mortgage away your future
by waiting until problems blow over and things get back to "normal." My
favorite poem says it best:
Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift,

That's why we call it the Present.

Those who have survived life's adversities will tell you that a survival
experience is an invaluable gift, because in adversity, you get to know who
you really are. There is a Tibetan saying, "Tragedy should be utilized as a
source of strength."
Sooner or later, you will face some form of adversity. Prepare your plan, your
mind, and your team now for any challenges that might come in the future.
Then, when adversity strikes, follow the three steps, keep moving, and write
your victory story.

Starting a business is a lot of work. Anyone who tells you it's not is either lying or has never actually started one
themselves. The hours are long, sacrifices are great and you are assulted with new problems and challenges every
day with seemingly no end. If you don't have the constitution to weather these things, your business could implode
on you faster than it started.
Clearly, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But how do you know whether its for you? You should start by asking
yourself what it takes to be a leader because, for the most part, you'll be doing a lot of the work up front by yourself.
If you can't lead yourself through startup, chances are you won't likely be able to lead your business and future
employees through growth and on to success.
If you enjoy only a few actual hours of real work per day, the rest of the time spent either looking busy or hanging out
at the water cooler to catch up on TV talk, a modest but steady paycheck and benefits and are okay with routine dayin and day-out, stop reading here and go back to your cushy desk job.
If you seek a challenge wrought with risk but with tremendous potential reward both financially and morally, read on
friend, for you have something of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Successful entrepreneurs, from Henry Ford to Steve Jobs, share similar qualities with one another. To see how you
rank against these distinguished entrepreneurs, do you share at least half of these qualities?
1. Strong leadership qualities
Leaders are born, not made. Do you find yourself being the go-to person most of the time? Do you find people asking
your opinion or to help guide or make decisions for them? Have you been in management roles throughout your
career? A leader is someone who values the goal over any unpleasantness the work it takes to get there may bring.
But a leader is more than just tenacious. A leader has strong communication skills and the ability to amass a team of

people toward a common goal in a way that the entire team is motivated and works effectively to get there as a team.
A leader earns the trust and respect of his team by demonstrating postive work qualities and confidence, then
fostering an environment that proliferates these values throught the team. A leader who nobody will follow is not a
leader of anything at all.
2. Highly self-motivated
You probably know from knowing even a little bit about some of the most famous business entrepreneurs in history
that leaders are typically pretty intense personalities. Nobody makes progress by sitting back and waiting for it to find
them. Successful people go out into the world and invoke change throught their actions. Typically, leaders enjoy
challenges and will work tirelessly to solve problems that confront them. They adapt well to changing situations
without unraveling and are typically expert of helping their teams change with them by motivating them toward new
goals and opportunities. Often you will learn that successful entrepreneurs are driven by a more complete vision or
goal than simply the task at hand and able to think on a more universal level in that regard. They are also often very
passionate about their ideas that drive toward these ultimate goals and are notoriously difficult to steer off the course.
3. Strong sense of basic ethics and integrity
Business is sustainable because there is a common, understood code of ethics universally that underpins the very
fabric upon which commerce is conducted. While cheaters and thieves may win in the short term, they invariably lose
out in the long run. You will find that successful, sustainable business people maintain the highest standards of
integrity becauase, at the end of the day, if you cannot prove yourself a credible business person and nobody will do
business with you, you are out of business. With importance in working with clients or leading a team, effective
leaders admit to any error made and offer solutions to correct rather than lie about, blame others for, or dwell on the
problem itself.
4. Willingness to fail
Successful entrepreneurs are risk takers who have all gotten over one very significant hurdle: they are not afraid of
failure. That's not to say that they rush in with reckless abandon. In fact, entrepreneurs are often successful because
they are calculating and able to make the best decisions in even the worst of cases. However, they also accept that,
even if they make the best decision possible, things don't always go according to plan and may fail anyhow. If you've
heard the old adage, "nothing ventured, nothing gained," that's exactly what it's saying: do not be afraid to fail, put it
out there and give it your best shot. Again, there's not one successful entrepreneur out there sitting on his couch
asking, "what if?"
5. Serial innovators
Entrepreneurs are almost defined by their drive to constantly develop new ideas and improve on existing processes.
In fact, that's how most of them got into business in the first place. Successful people welcome change and often
depend on it to improve their effectiveness as leaders and ultimately the success of their businesses as many
business concepts rely on improving products, services and processes in order to win business.
6. Know what you don't know
While successful entrepreneurs are typically strong personalities overall, the best have learned that there's always a
lesson to be learned. They are rarely afraid to ask questions when it means the answers will provide them insight
they can then leverage to effect. Successful entrepreneurs are confident, but not egotistical to the point that their bull-

headedness is a weakness that continually prohibits them from seeing a bigger picture and ultimately making the best
decisions for the business.
7. Competitive spirit
Entrepreneurs enjoy a challenge and they like to win. They would have to since starting a business is pretty much
one of the biggest challenges a person can take on in their lifetime. In business it's a constant war with competition to
win business and grow market share. It's also a personal challenge to use all of this to focus inward and grow a
business from nothing into a powerhouse that either makes a lot of money or is so effective that it is sold or acquired
for a profit as well.
8. Understand the value of a strong peer network
In almost every case, entrepreneurs never get to success alone. The best understand it takes a network of contacts,
business partners, financial partners, peers and resources to succeed. Effective people nurture these relationships
and surround themselves with people who can help make them more effective. Any good leader is only as good as
those who support him.