Aling Banang Pansit Halo-halo Tapsilog Atbp.

If you grew up in the heart of San Juan you must know Aling Banang's eatery. It started out as a carinderia in the old public market. They had a branch under the old mango tree beside Rizal's monument in what is now the parking lot/town plaza. Back in the '70's, before the fastfood chains, Aling Banang catered to the San Juan student population and the market goers. Its main menu consisted of noodles (all varieties - bihon, canton, palabok, mami, etc.) sprinkled with bits of crunchy lechon kawali; and the halo-halo. An interesting variation of their halo-halo is the halo-halo icecream, where instead of shaved ice, three scoops of homemade icecream are used. It is enough to give you sugar rush for a day. Of course, they also had regular and special halo-halo (halo-halo with icecream).

The core of its student base in the '70s and '80s have all now grown up but most still yearn for the crunchy lechon kawali bits. It is not actually the traditional lechon kawali since they use the pig's nape and not the belly. It is just as mouth watering and equally cholestrol laden, but what the heck. It is a gustatorial treat.

The original Aling Banang's has since moved out of the public market after the fire that gutted the whole of Agora. Many branches have sprouted all over San Juan. One was spotted in Quezon City in front of St. Luke's Hospital. Another one was reportedly seen in Cainta. Apparently Aling Banang's children/ grandchildren are operating the different branches. If you knew Aling Banang and her daughters, you will notice their chinny resemblance to those currently operating/manning the new stores.

The different branches still offer the same basic menu. They added tapsilogs and more to the list. The pricing seems to be uniform but the taste and food presentation varies. The best tasting fare still comes from the original store now located in a building just outside of the new public market.

Here are some photos of the Aling Banang stores within San Juan.

The difference between leader and manager

Abraham Zaleznik wrote in an article from the Harvard Business Review in 1977:
"The difference between managers and leaders, he wrote, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in the psyches, of chaos and order. Managers embrace process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly - sometimes before they fully understand a problem’s significance. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully in this way, Zalenznik argued, business leaders have much more in common with artists, scientists and other creative thinkers than they do with managers. Organizations need both managers and leaders to succeed, but developing both requires a reduced focus on logic and strategic exercises in favour of an environment where creativity and imagination are permitted to flourish."

Warren Bennis, in his book "On Becoming a Leader", writes what he considers the differences between managers and leaders:

-The manager administers; the leader innovates.
-The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.
-The manager maintains; the leader develops.
-The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.
-The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.
-The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it.
-The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
-The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
-The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates.
-The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.
-The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.
-The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.

I showed my friend an article on Bennis' book and we both agree that work involving developmental, creative processes need leaders; while work that go by set standard procedures require more management. My friend is now a bit enlightened though he still wonders how their management can steer their projects full steam ahead from their drifting position.

Management leadership

I have a friend who has resolved not to call the attention of his boss on anything because it always either meets inaction or worse he gets blamed for it. He thinks his bosses are too concerned with processes and control, (purposely or unwittingly) failing to provide project directions. That's why, my friend concludes, their projects never go far from the planning stages. To my mind, my friend's managers fail as a leader. Clearly there's a difference between leading and managing.

Gen. Colin Powell, in a leadership primer, said that "The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." Here's the primer.

Quotations from Chairman Powell: A Leadership Primer

1. Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
2. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
3. Don't be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.
4. Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
5. Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
6. You don't know what you can get away with until you try.
7. Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.
8. Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.
9. Organization charts and hence titles count for next to nothing.
10. Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.
11. Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.
12. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
13. Powell's Rules for Picking People" - Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.
14. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.
15. Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired." Part II: "Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.
16. The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
17. Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it. Spend time with your families. Corollary: Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.
18. Command is lonely.

Past my prime, six more years until my next prime

I'm now officially past my prime. I do not mean past the time of maturity when power and vigor are greatest or past the age of ideal physical perfection and intellectual vigor. I believe I'm still on the top of my game. Though I peaked a long time ago, my peak is a long wide plateau.

I mean I just turned to an age that is not a prime number. Curiously, my wife and two sons will be at their primes this year. I will be again in my prime in six years. Since there are an infinite number of primes, we will always get back to our prime no matter how we age.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia:

Pacman gobbles up the Hitman

Manny Pacquiao's KO over Ricky Hatton is so quick that Pac's mother did not have time for her fainting spell. You see, Aling Dionisia usually have fainting spells over his son's bouts. Nauna pang mahimatay si Hitman. Another thing, Aling Dionisia have not finished praying the Rosary when the fight ended. It was that quick.
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Martin Nievera's version of the National Anthem is too pretentious. Why can't he sing it as it was originally intended? Sir Tom Jones' simple rendition of God Save the Queen is simple yet classy, easily upstaging Martin's pa-artsy rendition. Martin's camp even had the gall to flash the logo of the National Historical Commission, implying that it has official blessing. The NHI blasted Martin's version and deplored the use of its logo. Kyla's version is still the best to date.
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Manny Pacquiao suffered a bit of public outcry over his malintended plan to transfer to ABS-CBN2. But given the way GMA7 handled the telecast, the public wouldn't have minded at all. There were too many commercials. It looked as if viewers were watching a show of commercials, with the actual fight as the commercial. Even the introduction of the fighters was split so more commercials can be inserted. The fight lasted a just total of six minutes but the telecast lasted up to 3pm. Go figure how many commercials were there.
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Manny is now introduced as coming from Saranggani. He cannot beat the Antoninos-Custodios in General Santos City so for political expediency he moved to his wife's hometown where he will run for congressman unopposed. Pretty wife, gifted athlete, unimaginable fortune, shoo-in for congress. Some guys have all the luck.
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Pacman's last four fights were held in four different weight classes. Early last year, he earned a hard fought win over Juan Manuel Marquez at 130 lbs. In the middle of the year, he wrested David Diaz's lightweight (135 lbs) belt. Then late last year, he jumped to 147 lbs to retire Oscar dela Hoya. His KO win over the Hitman is fought at 140 lbs. Bob Arum, a Harvard-educated lawyer turned boxing promoter, lost no time in declaring Pacman as the greatest fighter ever. Self-fulfilling prophecy?