What Works: Pre-Packed Baked Goods

In the early 1990s we were wowed by the Whammo’s brand of snack cakes. I believe this is the chocolate version of the American Twinkies. The price was a bit high but we did not care, the delectable chocolate fudge-filled mini cakes went down great and leaves us with a sweet feeling all over. With Whammo’s you can have your cake and you can take it with you anywhere and of course eat it too. Soon enough local companies picked up the beat and started coming out with their own version of the snack cakes. They are sweeter and cheaper and they come in interesting varieties.

Today Rebisco (the leading local biscuit maker) leads the pack in offering a wide range of pre-packed baked goods. Their products are a big hit with all markets. Mothers want them for their kids, teenagers gobble them up to keep energized, adults bring them to work for a little something during their coffee breaks and the elder set are totally sold to these sweet, soft and fluffy mini cakes for snacks or desserts.

These mini-cakes turn up in peculiar places as well. They are served at parties and conferences and they have replaced the biscuits served at wakes. The packaging fares well during all types of weather and can endure the highest temperatures in the country. They compact size makes them very easy to carry along. Packed in bulk they can stay in a cupboard or an office drawer for a long time.

My favorite snack cake brand is the Fudgee Barr, shaped after the Whammo’s and the Twinkies, this cake is great for satisfying pangs of hunger that get us at certain times of the day. The cake tastes really good and they are quite cheap at around PHP6.00 a pop. Flavors are chocolate, vanilla, mocha and milk, plus the popular local flavors of macapuno (soft coconut meat) and buko-pandan (coconut-pandan leaves) as well as the weird smelling durian (jackfruit) flavor. The cake is lined with pastry paper lining making it easy to handle as the mess is kept at a minimum. This snack definitely works for me.

Author: Monie Maunay
email: buddygallagher@gmail.com

What Works: A College Diploma

Like it or not a College Diploma is a really big deal in this land of ours. All those stories of farming families selling their cattle or land just to send their eldest to school seems to have left a real and lasting impression on all Filipino families who can envision a better future. My parents never even had a chance to go to college but all seven of us siblings were given the chance to earn our diplomas.

Even with the advent of careers in call centers that do not require applicants to have a college diploma, those who do have stand a better chance at getting hired. There is no logical explanation linking livelihood with a college degree but I think the college degree becomes less and less important as a person’s wealth grows. Yet a lot of undergraduates, however successful or wealthy or intelligent they are still get defensive when the subject of their education background comes up. As if all the money and wisdom in the world could not make up for the lack of a college degree.

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When it comes down to it, a college degree is just as good as the person possessing it. These days it is not enough that you look good on paper you have to be able to exhibit the ability to deliver results. Today the battle is between those who can think big and those who can actually do big. One may have the most brilliant ideas stored up in their heads but if it stays there then it’s worth absolutely nothing.

Diploma or not a person desires to make a dent in this world. A college degree may give one the illusion of being better than others. It is dangerous though if one gets sucked into the illusion and expect something to come out of their college degree with only a minimum effort on their part. They will be jolted by the reality that the world owes them no favors. They might be surprised that only hard work and equanimity will get them from point A to point B the fastest. But still it cannot hurt to have a college diploma. It is after all an investment that will never depreciate and can never be taken away from you, except perhaps if you got a lobotomy.

Author: Monie Maunay
email: buddygallagher@gmail.com