Creativity Is Key to Changing the World

I recently read a book written by Merlee Cruz-Jayme entitled “Everyone Can Be Creative”. In the book, she shares the valuable lessons she learned from being an ex-nun and how it prepared her for her career in advertising. She is currently  the Chairmom and Chief Creative-Officer of a well-known advertising agency.

I had the opportunity to work with the author before since she developed some of the campaigns for the brand that I was managing for a telecommunications company before. I was always impressed with her creativity and her work but I never knew that she was an ex-nun. It was quite interesting to learn more about creativity from her.

Merlee Cruz-Jayme

In the book, Jayme mentioned that there are two types of creative people: (1) the naturally creative and (2) the learning creative. Those who are naturally creative is one who has inherited his/her parents’ creative skills like drawing or storytelling. On the other hand, the learning creative people are those who try to enhance their creativity by taking up classes or lessons. An example is when one is very good in Math but he/she is also interested in painting so he/she takes up a painting class to learn and maybe even copy a famous artist’s work.

The book is an easy read and what is interesting is that the author gives “Creatips” to readers on how they can enhance their creativity and the illustrations in the book are also made by the author. Below are the Creatips shared by the author:

·         Discipline is important

As an ex-nun, she values her experience in the convent where she learned mental and physical discipline. Discipline is about working smart according to the author as she shared that even if she is a busy Advertising executive she still finds time for her family and balances work and family life. She also mentioned that her four daughters are also creative like her.

·         Learn to silence the mind

It is necessary to unplug in order to have clarity of thought.  This means one has to veer away from digital gadgets, laptops and mobile phones and take time to have some personal quiet time to cleanse one’s mind. One can silence his or her mind by spending some quiet time while running, walking in the park, meditating in a quiet place or praying. By silencing our mind, we are able to focus better and we are able to develop a core idea that can be transformed into a great story.

·         Be an obsessive observer

The author also encourages readers to be an obsessive observer. This means that one has to be able to read people by observing people well. One may have a small notebook and take notes of important observations or a writing pad where one can take notes and doodle some ideas. This enables one to understand their market on a whole new level and discover inspiration, ideas and human truths that can move people.

It is cool to know that I myself can relate to the author’s tip on being an obsessive observer. Yes I do like to observe people when I am in a café, restaurant or at an event. I also like doing this when I travel. I remember people watching at Café de Flore in Paris where I enjoyed observing fashionable French people and from simple observation I am able to distinguish the tourists from the locals. I also take note of important observations and learn more about how certain people from a certain generation think and act. In fact, my curiosity even includes observing the type of food that people order in restaurants…ha ha ha. This simply shows my curiosity as a foodie.

·         Never think that limited resources limit your creativity

Jayme mentioned that one has to be resourceful and to continue to strive to survive and make yourself happy. Remember that sometimes our limited resources makes us more creative too since we end up looking for other alternatives to do things.

·         The best stress-buster is Positivity

It is important to have a positive attitude and spend time with positive people so that you can have a feeling of hope, happiness and stay calm when you face challenges or unfavorable circumstances.

source: pinterest website 

·         Be simple and be happy

Another creatip is the importance of being simple and being happy. The author mentioned how successful people tend to dress in uniforms. Mark Zuckerberg always wears gray round neck shirts and Steve Jobs always wears black longsleeve turtleneck shirts in his meetings and presentations.  As she mentioned, simplicity is the gift of an uncluttered mind and it edits out the useless and cares about the useful. This is certainly true. The more simple a message is, the more it is remembered.

Jayme herself admits her usual outfit for work is a combination of Emmanuelle Alt(Vogue Paris' Editor-in -Chief) and Ellen Degeneres' style.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, always wears
gray round neck shirts

source: forbes.com

·         Have an outlet and do something other than work

Jayme mentioned that it is important to have patience and resilience. Her other creatip is to have an outlet and do something other than work. She mentioned that one must be able to deal with failures, mistakes and rejections. By having an outlet like walking, running, watching movies or playing games, one is able to stay sane, deal with disappointments and continue to improve.

·         Make your creative life difficult to perfect your craft

It is important to remember to not do things that are mediocre and to fight for what is difficult. It takes a lot of practice and hours of practice to hone one’s craft and it is important also to be open to learning from others with great minds.

·         Be relentless, strive for greatness and think with your heart

Jayme shared that by sharing our time, talent, and energy selflessly to others, it naturally softens our hearts. She also emphasized that we also need to help make a difference in this world.  I would say that this advice really resonated with me.

I am able to relate to it since I find that by mentoring underprivileged kids every weekend through a foundation, I am able to use the talent and skills that God has blessed me with and I am able to help them by inspiring them to learn about the importance of entrepreneurship and instill good values that will help them become successful future entrepreneurs and responsible citizens, which is what the world needs today.

Using creativity for a greater cause, spreading kindness and helping others are key to making this world a better place . Cheers!

source: gde-fon site 

Ma’ Rosa Depicts Social Realities and Imparts A Valuable Life Lesson

Brillante Mendoza’s latest film, “Ma’ Rosa”, has garnered a best actress award for Jaclyn Jose in this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

Ma' Rosa  movie poster

source: imdb.com

The film also has brought a great achievement for the Philippines since Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious film events in  the world and for a Philippine film to be included in the Cannes it is indeed something to celebrate and be proud of.

Ma' Rosa film cast at the Cannes film festival  with
Director Brillante Mendoza (fourth from the left)

source: imdb.com

The movie revolves around the life of Rosa Reyes, a mother trying to make ends meet to provide for her family. She runs a sari-sari store(a term used for a small neighborhood store in the Philippines) in their home located at a shanty town in Metro Manila. To earn more money, she sells “ice” (a type of crystal meth drug) using their sari-sari store as a front for her illegal sideline business.

Jaclyn Jose played the lead role in Ma' Rosa

source: imdb.com

The film depicts the harsh reality of how poverty pushes some people to get into doing illegal business in order to survive. Below is the official movie trailer sourced from youtube.com:

The movie reveals how drugs and corruption affects the lives of families. In Rosa’s case, when she and her husband were held in the custody of the police after a raid on the eve of her husband’s birthday at their home, her children ended up getting the tough task of raising funds needed to pay off the cops in order for their parents to be set free. The film also shows that during troubled and desperate times, family members sacrifice and become resourceful in order to find ways to help out their parents.

The story shows real scenes that show the unfortunate circumstances that families living in poverty are exposed to. The scenes showing haggling of several characters in the story shows that it is a common thing done for survival and the corruption of the cops that subjects the characters into a state of pressure and desparation shows that there is a deeper issue that needs to resolved by the government to stop the drug issue in our country.

It was revealed in one of the media interviews with Director Brillante Mendoza that the inspiration for the film was based on a true to life story of an individual that he met before who shared her story on how she peddled drugs in order to provide for her family. Thus, the scenes and characters in the film were based on the sad realities experienced by typical families struggling due to poverty.

Jaclyn Jose’s portrayal of Rosa shows her impressive ability as an actress to truly be in character all throughout the film. Her facial expressions and her lines in the movie communicated to the viewers that she is not the type of mother who gives up when faced with unfavorable circumstances in life. She is determined to stay strong and find ways to help her family.

In the final scene, Ma’ Rosa, shows that sometimes sad realizations come after going through a major family crisis. To some film viewers it may seem that the ending scene was left hanging.  I actually heard some people reacting that it seems it was not a proper ending when I watched it at the cinema.

For me, the final scene in Ma’ Rosa is a scene that gives viewers a time to see and think about what are in Rosa’s thoughts as tears flow on her face as she eats a street food snack and sees a simple family who amidst poverty have chosen to make an honest living and support each other through their pedicab style mobile  store.

The film also certainly shows the humanity and imperfection of the main character since even if Ma’ Rosa is into an illegal drug business she still is a mother who merely wants to provide for and help her family.

After viewing Ma’ Rosa, one will be able to see the evident problems on corruption and drugs, which are also key issues that are relevant today in the Philippines’ current political situation. Furthermore, it also imparts a valuable life lesson that at the end of the day it is important to choose to do good and have the right values and integrity no matter what social economic class one belongs to since choosing to do evil leads to unfortunate events that can affect our loved ones.

Must Try Burgers in the Philippines

If like Bourdain, you want to have a good burger every now and then or if you are like model Gigi Hadid who stays sane by having a thick, juicy burger with some pickled jalapenos then you will be happy to know that there are more places that you can go to for really good burgers in the Philippines. 

Some of the burger joints offer customized type burgers and a wide variety of topping options while some opt to keep their menu simple.

Below are some of the must try burgers in the Philippines:

8         Cuts

8 Cuts is the burger restaurant from Moments Group. It offers different burgers and also gives customers the freedom to be the boss and customize their burger. One can choose the type of meat cut, type of bun and toppings for their burgers.

They also offer fries, onion rings, salads, sodas, beer and milk shakes.

One good choice is to get the steak cut burger for your beef cut and just customize your own burger by adding toppings of your choice.

8 cuts cheeseburger (with steak cut meat)

Truffle parmesan fries

Sweet Ecstasy

A small burger joint located along Jupiter Street in Makati City, Sweet Ecstasy offers burgers, fries, onion rings, chicken wings and milk shakes.

Their menu offers hamburger, cheeseburger and double patty burgers. If you prefer to have a different type of burger, you can opt to try their off-menu Sweet Ecstasy Steamed Burger which includes their signature beef patty, onions and bun.

Sweet ecstasy also serves Stanford and Shaw ginger ale which pairs well with burgers.

Sweet Ecstasy offers burgers, fries, onion rings wings and milk shakes

source : Photo from CNN Philippines' feature on Sweet Ecstasy
(cnnphilippines.com website)

The Beef

The Beef is a burger-focused food stall found in Hole in the Wall food hall at Century Mall in Makati City.

They have a simple menu and offers no frills or uncluttered burgers.  You can either get a hamburger or a cheeseburger. You can also have the option to have some fries with your burger.

The Beef makes use of thick and fresh ground beef patties that are cooked to perfection. The Beef guarantees perfect burgers  so in case you are not happy with what you bought then they will replace your burger with a newly cooked one.

The Beef cheeseburger and fries

source: Photo from pepper.ph site feature on The Beef

  

Pound by Todd English

Pound is the burger restaurant from Todd English that is located at Bonifacio High Street mall in BGC. Upon entering the restaurant, one gets to see the open type kitchen.

Pound's open type kitchen 

The restaurant is different from its sister restaurant Todd English in SM Aura since it is burger-focused and the interiors of the restaurant has a different look and feel. The walls make use of distressed white bricks and furniture include marble tables and black chairs. One will certainly notice the brass mugs that they use for drinks.

The atmosphere is quite cozy and their menu offers burgers, salads, and fries. Their burger buns are also nicely marked with pound signs.

T..E. burger sliders 
Two juicy mini burgers with crispy onion rings, mustard, tomato
slices and lettuce

T.E. burger sliders, parmesan fries and
Stanford and Shaw ginger ale

Pound also offers a posh burger with foie gras.

Pound Burger with Foie gras

source: Todd English Manila facebook page

Shangri-la Hotel Burger

Shangri-la hotel in the Philippines makes good burgers. They make use of high quality  1/3 pounder Australian Grain fed beef and the portion is quite generous. It is also served with crispy onion rings, chili chutney and crispy fries.

If you like truffle, you may request for the the fries to be changed to truffle parmesan fries ,which they usually serve with the Club House sandwich, for your burger meal.

Shangri-la hotel burger

Antonio’s Breakfast Tagaytay

A nice place for brunch in Tagaytay City is Antonio’s Breakfast.  The place gives customers a nice view of the Taal Volcano and the casual dining restaurant offers a wide variety of breakfast and brunch choices.

Antonio's Breakfast facade

source : Antonio's restaurant website

Since the restaurant is also under Antonio's group of restaurants which is managed by Chef Tony Boy Escalante, the restaurant’s dishes are all served using high quality ingredients and portions are quite generous. 

For their house burger, Antonio’s gives the customer the freedom to add toppings such as bacon, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese or fried egg.  You can also upgrade your fries to truffle fries. Plus, they also serve the burger with a side of their very own Antonio’s curry ketchup and they serve good quality French Dijon mustard that blends well with the burger.

Antonio's mayura house burger with cheddar cheese and
truffle fries

For the must try burger places above, it would be best to budget around PHP500 to PHP1,000(around USD11 to USD21) per person since the price varies with the add-ons, drinks and side dishes that you opt to include in your meal.