A guide to the best food trucks in Manhattan

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A guide to the best food trucks in Manhattan http://ow.ly/565IS

Notes:

A mentor who decided to build his businesses using his knowledge about European culture (he was born and raised in Italy) once remarked to me that I could very well get into the food truck business here in NYC. The business is dominated mainly by Arabs and of course, the Chinese people. But then he thought I may not really like it, which is truthful. I actually don’t like being in and running the business as I gained very practical experiences on it back in the Philippines – it actually entails so much work than what it seems to most of its customers who think they’re paying so much from the food they decide they like to buy from these food trucks. Some of them would even have the gall to point out that profits are derived from charging 200% from costs, & voila, the owner pockets the money! And seldom you’ll see food trucks owned by people from the Philippines; I think most Filipinos know it better that the business is not at all glamorous as some people may think of it when looking at the surface.

But we have to agree that part of being in NYC is to experience having food from food trucks; they certainly offer the best food you’ll have here in NYC. Coffee, hotdogs, shawarma, ice cream, yogurt, pancakes – name it, you’ll see it offered in one of these food trucks and presented lovingly by the entrepreneur and/or his helpers. I’d even see the mayor having hotdogs with some top ranking officials with their pictures splashed on the tabloids, which can be very amusing. What’s so unusual with that? It’s not because you have much cash in your bank account that you won’t consider having food from food trucks. The issue of ‘cleanliness and hygiene’ can be valid for some, but I can see that most who have issues against buying food from food trucks are merely projecting their own uncleanliness in their personal lives – I can say this because I’ve observed it a lot of times with the people I’ve meet here. They behave as if you look ‘dirty’ but you go take a closer look and you’ll see they’re slobs as well in the privacy of their homes. And I’ve got lots of stories to tell about this, which is all together a different topic.

And going back to the topic of food trucks here in NYC, consider exploring them as there is more to be learned from them other than the food. They’ve been built by great entrepreneurs who actually serve as the backbone of the very strong food industry (and industries further in the business and commerce industries) here in NYC. They’re committed and hardworking, and most of them love what they’re doing, which is something you’ll seldom catch a sight of from countless workers who are employed by small/medium/large sized companies alike in NYC. You’ll see the results with the food they offer as you can get an excellent feeling in your guts of their usual happiness, enthusiasm and thrill over preparing, selling, and making profits from meeting the needs of hungry New Yorkers!

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Tips for running a successful hair salon

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Tips for running a successful hair salon http://ow.ly/50RXU

Notes on this article:

I was a salon owner back in Binan, Laguna, Philippines for at least 4 years. I opened the business mainly to provide an outlet for my parents with extra time in their hands; they had to travel all the way from Trece Martirez, Cavite to Binan practically every time. Did I profit from the business? Not really in the traditional sense. But I did leverage it in putting up other businesses that I put up after the salon business was set-up. It was a strong signal that I sent out to everyone that I’m hell bent in putting up a business and learning from it — and not to  be employed full time by companies that are full of people who are in business to put others whom they think are below them down and out. Thank God, I managed to establish this salon and made a strong point out of it.

I come from a family, some members of which would venture out in entrepreneurship. Some were successful; some were not. I remember we had a small retail store when we were growing up. It’s always worth your time putting up any business as the lessons are simply innumerable – nothing of those lessons you just read on books or even from these pages.

1) Work colleagues, friends and relatives, most of them at least, were noticeably envious and silently annoyed by my having put up a business that’s mainly linked with the gay lifestyle, which to them was rather distasteful. Some dislike the business for some other reasons. I didn’t really bother to listen to their unspoken fears and concerns as most of them were mainly projecting their own inner fears before me.

2) Just like all businesses, it’s really time consuming especially if your heart is not really into it. Or even if you’re into it for something else. A salon business is best for people who have all the time in their hands, and the  strength and courage to promote and market the business. This is one business that needs a lot of marketing, and positioning.

3) A salon business is actually very cheap to establish; you need very minimal capital. You just have to make sure you always have staff who would be doing all the works, and you just pay them on commission basis. You make sure you pay the fixed costs when they’re due.

4) Use it as another step on the ladder toward completing your long term goals. I eventually closed shop after my Father died (from lung cancer) although a staff from the salon spent at least a year in being with my Mom in her house where they run the salon in a different set-up.

I’ll establish and run a hair salon if I have the time now; I’ll even expand it to include spa services. But these days, I’m pursuing other businesses. Praise God for all these learning experiences.

 

A Guided First Meditation http://ow.ly/4

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Annual events in New York: Dance Parade

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Stapleton in Staten Island, among Daily News’ Best Places to Live in NY

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Stapleton in Staten Island, among Daily News‘ Best Places to Live in NY http://ow.ly/4VOlH

Notes on the link above:

Stapleton is an old neighborhood in Staten Island, which happened to be in a borough most NYC people would rather not consider visiting for one reason or another. But I know they’re missing a lot – I used to have the same attitude until I got the opportunity to live here. I would have chosen to live in St. George, which is the closest neighborhood to the ferry terminal that’s a 30-minute ride away from Downtown Manhattan, but Stapleton beckoned. This neighborhood’s the second stop of the Staten Island Railway (our subway here, which is still a solitary line until perhaps NYC government decides to open the line along the north shore that faces New Jersey).

I’ve since then learned a lot about this neighborhood that even has a book written on it {Images of America: Stapleton}, which I bought even it’s over $20 as I felt so proud of living in this neighborhood. It’s fascinating to check and discover a lot of the houses pictured in the book that are still standing. As the Daily News has reported on it, Stapleton is where prospective real estate buyers may get to purchase their next properties if they know what they’re doing.

It’s an interesting neighborhood that deserves a look-see trip from all curious and adventurous visitors of NYC. Part of it is called ‘Stapleton Heights‘, which I think is a way to differentiate it from the housing projects that have been built in the same neighborhood in the 60s and which some residents have been giving it a bad name. They don’t know that they ought to be proud to have well-maintained, nice looking really old houses here that are lived in by single or dual families. But should I even be bothered by all these pettiness? I know a lot of NYC’s neighborhoods, even in Manhattan’s highly desirable neighborhoods (e.g. East Village, Upper East Side), that have lots of housing projects, too (and I’m talking from experience as I personally know people who live in these so-called housing projects). For now, I’m happy I’m here and able to lead an interesting life of a creative person who owns and runs his small business here; I live in a century old house where my bedroom’s at least 4 times bigger than the last room I had in Chinatown‘s East Broadway. Of course, amenities are not comparable with those found in most NYC’s neighborhood but just the same, the quality of my life here is better. I’ve been here for 2 winters now and I plan to stay as long as I am able to do so.

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The legacy of Boudicca’s revolt

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The legacy of Boudicca‘s revolt http://ow.ly/4TlTh

Notes on the link:

I never heard about Boudicca before I came up with this article so I had to do some researching about her. I found her name quite intriguing, which prompted me to research about her. Her story would have been forgotten had people didn’t get fascinated with ancient stories during the Renaissance period. Along the way, I found out a lot of information on her being a femme fatale, a warrior queen of superior strength and courage. Of course, the sources about her life were romanticized versions of what really took place when the Romans were still colonizing Great Britain (or what was still to become Great Britain eventually). Most of the sources were written from the perspective of the winners and not by those who lost in the war. Some movies were even made about sketchy details about the wars she fought with her people and those who believed and trusted her forceful sense of leadership.

Her story’s a very disturbing narrative that includes details on killings, rapes, humiliation, whipping, hand-to-hand combat, other forms of subjugation, among other similar activities that nowadays happen in the movies and on video games. Her story’s unusual and something worth really knowing about especially in the ongoing context of various forms of domination being pursued these days by the powerful over those whom they think are among the weak. And for all these narratives that leave a lot of things still hanging and questionable, Boudicca soon  became a symbol of something more positive: freedom from oppression.

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The importance of using plain English in business, commerce and industry

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The importance of using plain English in business, commerce and industry http://ow.ly/4SHOD

Notes to the link above:

Before finding time to read this, you may want first to click on the link above to read the article that’s lodged in my Helium.com account, where you can also find many other articles I’ve written on numerous topics. On this article, I’ll point out right away that language is a powerful tool, such that most people would even use it to dominate others, which has been happening since mankind started writing down history. The English language, per se, is not the main culprit but those interesting characters we meet all the time in our lives and who think of themselves as superior, one way or another, just because they happen to be speaking in a language that’s used in business, commerce and industry. Well, it could have been Chinese Mandarin, Tagalog, Nihongo, Espanol, or some other languages you may fancy about. In our case, we try to keep using plain (or some would say ‘basic’ or ‘simple’) English whenever we make transactions.

1) Keep in mind that many people (so many, actually!) outside of the USA, Canada, some Caribbean countries, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand who know and understand English. But the kind of English they know may sound different from what you may be using now. This does not give you license to make fun of people who speak your English differently from you – mainly because these people most probably will be speaking other languages than English. That in itself means they’re more superior to you intellectually if you’re just speaking one language, which in this case is English. So, try to keep your English plain whenever you deal with people outside of the countries you believe have these ridiculous claims about being able to speak in the language as a ‘native speaker.’ You’ll find it more tactical whenever you deal with others who probably use other languages.

2) Plain English allows for space to negotiate, which is a very important tool in conducting daily affairs in business. Be deliberately simple whenever you use English whenever you talk with others who speak languages other than English. You’ll certainly be more appreciated, and they will consider you more respectful (and will probably give you the business if you impress them as reasonable).

3) English is constantly being mixed with other languages in other countries. Keep in mind that there are other versions of English that are spoken freely with other languages, like Taglish, Singlish, Indian English, etc. These languages continue to evolve to-date. Avoid confusing yourself more; use plain, unaffected English with others who speak languages other than English.

4) Also, try to always remember that others actually read and hear better in English than when they speak it. These skills involve different faculties, as your teachers may have taught you in grade school. These skills accounts for notable differences why vocabularies being used by those you conduct business with sound so far from the usual idiomatic expressions you use daily in life. There will always be a gap among the usages of English in written, spoken and sound formats (and now in digital format, too!).

I remember that when I wrote this article on Helium.com, I received a note from some un-named editor who thought the article was ‘badly written.’ I can only guess that this article must have been just using English most of his / her writing life. But fortunately, the article remain in my inventory of articles on Helium.com. I can also that editors of articles written English need to posses that international outlook, and must be at least able to speak competently in 2 or more other languages. They will have a better sense of doing their work, especially when reading works done by writers who speak, read, and write in languages other than English. There you go!

 

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My Manhattan Pied-A-Terre

My Manhattan Pied-A-Terre 

Notes on the link above:

You may have been trying to open a dead link previously, so I edited this posting now, which I hope will be helpful in your reading experience. The original posting is found in my blogger.com account, which I still keep for practical purposes. The posting’s about my tiny space that I kept in Chinatown along East Broadway that’s a few steps away from the East Broadway stop of the ‘F’ train before it crosses to Brooklyn. It’s in a tenement of an existence that you must have read or heard about in old movies or pictures depicting the East Side of Manhattan as ridden with squatters.

Honestly, I’m not bothered at all with the idea of having lived in such environmental conditions – I’ve seen worst conditions in many more places (in terms of material wealth and/or the lack of spiritual wealth in posh-looking surroundings) and I don’t take it against anyone who will think otherwise.

My pied-a-terre‘s a private one where I had my own tiny room in a converted space made to accommodate at least 5 people, with at least 2 of them working full time stay-in-jobs in other parts of the city. Most days, I’d be left by myself with another boarder who would be doing part-time service oriented jobs. She was from Malaysia and who’s ethnically Chinese. It’s a strange experience, so to speak, sharing all these common-sounding immigrant experiences with other Asians who were helpful to and curious about me, too. I got the space mainly on the strength of recommendation of another friend who’s Malaysian himself. The space’s very convenient to public transportation and very close to hip places in the East Village, West Village, Alphabet City, Soho,  and practically downtown Manhattan. Food’s abundant and very affordable but my living quarters were chaotic yet fun looking. You gotta have to be possessed with more than enough confidence to endure living in these types of quarters. But then again, you will soon realize there are always others who live in worst conditions than what you have.

Anything you may want me to share and discuss here about this place? Give some feedback and I may just go about sharing more. I’ve read some recent articles on how people go about their living quarters in this side of Chinatown in Manhattan from the New York Times – and I could only just reminisce. I’m always surprised as to how certain writers (or journalists) tend to focus and highlight on what’s obvious – I think most of them don’t dig that deep enough to know more about the many facets of truths on how it is to make a meaningful living here in Manhattan. In any case, ‘Thanks a lot!’

my book review on Patricia O’Conner’s “Woe Is I”

Cover via Amazon

my book review on Patricia O’Conner’s ‘Woe Is I‘ http://ow.ly/4LEMx

*will be back shortly to blog on this; thank you!