Places, Polls, Puzzles & Quizzes

The Rabbit, the Cat and the Cabbage

1,095 Comments

Up to the early 70s, there were no television and daily newspapers in Padada- my hometown. Our main form of information and  entertainment during those years was radio. So we listened to radio dramas, to the radio commentaries, and to songs played over the radio. Radio announcers were celebrities, and radio characters were our heroes.

If we don’t like the radio program(s) and for lack of anything else to do before bedtime, we spent our time telling stories; or more accurately, the adults telling the stories and us the younger ones listening to them.  On some of these occasions, they played games of wits – the most popular of which are challenging the other people in the crowd if they can solve a puzzle. The dynamics of the puzzle game was amusing. As one person gave his solution, the other people in the group retorts back why the solution is wrong.

Here is one of the puzzles I remember being discussed in one of those. Lets see if you can solve it!

The Rabbit, the Cat, and the Cabbage

A farmer is returning from the farm. With him is his cat, a rabbit and cabbage. On the way home he must cross a river. His boat is small one, allowing him to take only one of the three things. He can’t keep the rabbit and the cabbage together (because the rabbit would eat it), nor the rabbit with the cat (because the cat would eat the rabbit).

How shall the farmer get everything on the other side (without any harm)?

 

And for my kababayans, the original version  is as follows:

Ang Rabbit, ang Iring, ug ang Repolyo

Ang magbabaol pauli na gikan sa iyang umahan. Duna siya dala nga iring, rabbit ug repolyo.  Bag-o sya mo-abot sa iya nga balay, kinahanglan nga molabang siya sa usa ka sapa. Pero gamay ra ang iya nga baruto mao nga usa ra sa tulo nya ka dala ang pwede nya nga makarga sa baruto. Dili nya pwede unahon ug dala ang iring unya  biyaan  ang rabbit ug ang repolyo kay kaunon man sa rabbit ang repolyo. Dili pod nya pwede nga biyaan ang iring ug ang rabbit kay kaunon man sa iring ang rabbit.

Unsaon man iyang himoon aron malabang nya ang  rabbit,  ang  iring ug ang repolyo sa tabok sa sapa nga walay mahitabo sa bisan usa sa tulo?

 

 

Money, Career & Entrepreneurship, People

Lessons from John Gokongwei

364 Comments

The first time I heard about Mr. John’s “batel” adventures, was from my former boss and research mentor, Ms Rosie Chew. Rosie was Mr. John’s kababayan and she referred to Mr. John as Robinson. This was probably the name she used to call him when they were still growing up in Cebu. The other times I heard about him was via anecdotes shared to us by his niece and his executives during my stint as a sales and marketing  executive of a major network.

I was amazed by the riches to rags, rags to riches story of the man.  I was awed by how a “probinsyano”  became a major player not only here in the country but also in the Asian region.

About four years ago, Mr John delivered a speech to marketing and advertising practitioners at the 20th Ad Congress in Subic.  I am sharing this here because of the inspiration this story brings to me, and the key points I picked up from his speech:

  • When I wanted something, the best person to depend on was myself.
  • One must teach people to take over a business at any time
  • I succeeded because I overcame my fear, and tried.
  • Sticking to our philosophy of “low-cost, great value.”
  • Think bigger.
  • Create world-class brands.

This is the   speech by John Gokongwei at the 20th Ad Congress last November 21, 2007. I hope you will enjoy this and learn from it as I do.

Polls, Puzzles & Quizzes

How to Choose a Hair Cutter

56 Comments

The Haircut Puzzle

You are a stranger in a small town and desperately needs to get a haircut. There are only two hair cutters in town – located on opposite sides of a street. On one side is Pedro’s Barber Shop and on the other side is Renee’s Hair Salon.

Pedro’s Barber Shop is a mess, and Pedro, the owner of the shop has the worst haircut you have ever seen.

Renee’s Hair Salon on the other hand is neat and clean, and Renee, the owner of the shop has a haircut that looks as good as a movie star’s.

Which hair cutter would you go to for your haircut, and why?

Litteratura, Money, Career & Entrepreneurship

Limpya Bota Series 2: The Shoe Shine Box

433 Comments


The Shoe Shine Box

I got my shoe shine box from a cousin during the summer months of 1970. He knew I wanted to have one. I told him that there is an opportunity to earn money shining other people’s shoes. He promised that one day, he will give me a shoe shine box. And on that summer, he did!

Inside the shoe shine box was a shoe brush and a can with a little shoe polish left on it. I bought additional items to complete my shoe shine kit:  a shoe brush, two packs of shoe dye or dyobos –one black, one red. I mixed these with water and put the solution in an empty medicine bottle. I also got a fresh can of shoe polish, two used toothbrushes and an old white cotton T-shirt.

I practiced with the shoes at home; first with the old ones, and later, with the relatively newer pairs.  I simulated various types of grime or dirt a pair of shoes could have, and made sure I ended up with a clean and shiny pair of shoes. Only when I was very confident with my skill did I declare myself ready.

On my first two days as shine boy, I tagged along with Sammy – a neighbor who has plied the trade for more than a year.  Sammy was my on the job trainer. He gave me pointers on how to approach customers and emphasized that I should converse with the customer while shining their shoes.  I also learned from him how to set the price of  shoe shine services by pricing levels based on a pre-agreed quality of polish :  one application of shoe polish was 25 centavos; two to three applications would cost 50 centavos; and a charol (a wet-look finish) was at least one peso. We also charged a premium depending on how dirty the shoes and/or how bad the customer’s foot or socks smell!

As “payment” for his efforts at showing me some tricks of the trade, Sammy made me swear on the following: I will not poach on his regular customers, I will maintain the pricing levels of the shoe shine services; he can borrow shoe shine materials from me during emergencies; and, he can tell people that he taught me how to shine shoes.

For the next four years, I was a shoe shine boy during weekends and holidays! I was charging from a low of 25 centavos to a high of one peso per pair of shoes.  I had my stable of regular customers.  Some of them told me their life’s stories; a few shared to me their fears; and, quite a number talked about their dreams. Normally, I just listened. But when they asked for my opinion, I did not give them straight answers. I normally give my opinion by asking them what-if questions. Or, I share with them anecdotes of what another person did under similar circumstances. I was not the best shoe shine boy in the market, but a lot of customers looked for me when they want their shoes cleaned.

I also introduced my younger brothers to the ins-and-out of making money in the public market.   Rey also braved the alleys of the market as a shoe shine boy for more than two years. But when the fuel crisis erupted, he shifted to selling kerosene on retail. Alan did not want to shine shoes. Instead, he sold fruits and other food products to passengers in the town’s bus terminal.

As a shoe shine boy I stayed in the public market during weekends. In doing so, I met and dealt with various types of people. By observing the actions and listening to the stories of the store owners and the commodity traders, I got a very good idea of how they manage their business:  where they source their goods, their source of financial capital, and the margins they made.

From shining shoes, I earned around ten pesos on Saturdays; and fifty percent more during Sundays. That was a lot considering that in the early 70s, we could buy a bottle of soft drink plus a big piece of bread or a stick of banana cue for 25 centavos. To be sure, I earned more money from selling and attaching spikes to shoes, and from commodities and livestock trading.  In the early seventies, the money I earned on weekends not only covered my day-to-day allowances and other needs, I was also able to share these earnings with my family and my siblings.

I still relish the opportunities that the shoe shine box has opened to me.  In the years after my stint in the public market of my hometown, my playing field has expanded several folds. But the set of skills I learned during my shoe shine box days were all put to good use during my professional and business career.

How Tos, Litteratura

Limpya Bota Series 1: How to Shine Shoes

52 Comments

How to Shine Shoes

Limpya Bota is how we call the chore of shining shoes in our dialect.  It is a tedious job, and you get your hands dirty while doing it. If you are not lucky, you may even have to endure the nasty smell of any or all the following: the customer’s shoes, his socks, or his feet.

I am an expert at shining shoes. After all, I spent four years of my life doing this for a living, albeit only during weekends, school breaks and on holidays.

The first step is to remove accumulated dirt and grime from the shoes. More often, you do this with a brush. But for dirtier jobs, you first use a toothbrush and water to remove the accumulated mud, soil or whatever dirt is stuck in the leather, the soles or any other part of the shoe. You use your cotton rug to wipe the shoe dry. But if it is still wet,  you set it out under the sun to dry.

The second step is to apply “dyobos” on the shoes. Dyobos is a mixture of a shoe dye and water. It brings back the color of the shoes.  You have to apply the right color of the dye to the shoes. And with only two colors available in the market – black and red, one has to get the proper combination of black and red to get to the correct shade of brown needed for a particular shoe.

When the shoe is already dry, you brush it again, after which you start applying the show polish. We either use our fingers or the soft cotton cloth to put on the polish.  You apply polish to the shoe in a small circular movement. The key is not to put too much polish on the shoe–but to build the polish and shine up in thin layers.  You also have to make sure that polish reaches the inside of the creases on the shoe if they have any.

Next let the polish “go off” on the shoe (preferably in the sun, or somewhere warm for 2 to 3 minutes. This will help the leather absorb the polish and help thin layer of polish melt across the shoe.  Then we polish the shoe dry with the same bristle brush, or another one if you prefer.

The customer has two choices on the type of shoe shine finish he wants: pagakpak or charol.

Pagakpak is the most popular type of shine. One applies  the shoe polish as many times as you want (once or twice depending on how much the customer pays) brushing if off and then, finishing the run by rubbing a cotton cloth on the shoes. But there is an art to doing this. You fold the cotton cloth into a rectangle of approximately 24 inches by 4 inches. After that you place it on top of the shoes and move your hands from side to side. As you do this you make sure that you produce a certain sound that goes like this: tsak–tsalak-tsak–tsalak-tsak.   Once you are through, you tap your shoeshine box with your brush as a signal to the customer that job is done.

Charol is what we call the shine that results in a mirror like finish for the shoes. We wrap the cotton cloth on our forefinger and middle finger. Then, we add a bit of dyobos to the cotton cloth, put polish and spread it to the shoes. We repeat the process until we have coated all the leather parts with the shoe polish. Then we begin the process of gently massaging the shoe with the damp cloth fixed in our two fingers, doing it in a circular manner. We do this evenly and repeat the process until we shall get a mirror like shine of the shoes.  Be sure to be gentle and patient, otherwise, you will never get the polish that deserves to be called a charol.

How Tos, Litteratura, People

How to encourage a young child to do well in school

409 Comments

The Bike Story

The boy was six years old and the following day would be his first day in school.  He was watching his father clean the bike — the bike his father rides when he goes to work.  He imagined the places he can go if he will learn how to ride one.  He will go to the barrio and race with his cousins; to the sea to swim and to watch the ships and the boats pass by;  to the market to see what new goods the vendors from the city are selling.  The bike will bring him to so many places.

He asked his father, “When can we buy another bike?”

The father looked at him and said ” Not immediately. Probably after we shall have paid for the sewing machine your mama got on installment ”

That was not the answer the boy wanted to hear. So, he went straight to the point , ” Is there a way I could own a bike?”

To which his father immediately retorted: “Oh yes, there is. But that is something you will have to work on.”

The boy got excited, looked at his father and asked: ” How?

And this was  the father’s answer:

“Tomorrow is your first day in school. All you have to do is to study well, listen to your teachers, and do your homework. If you are able to do this, then you will most likely be the top student in your class.  And you know what? Every year that you will get the first honors ribbon you will earn as prize a certain part of the bike.

For  grade 1, you will earn  the complete  frame including all its components: the top tube, the down tube, the seat tube, the seat stay and the chain stay;

For grade 2, you will get the saddle area comprising the saddle and the saddle posts;

For grade 3, you will get the front set –which includes the handle bar grip, the head tube and the fork;

For grade 4 , you will get the pedal, the crank arm, the chain and the chain rings;

For grade 5, you will get the front wheel — spokes, hub, rim, tire and valve;

And by grade 6: you will get the back wheel — spokes, hub, rim, tire and valve.

So, if you will be first honors from grade 1 to grade 6, you will have earned all the parts needed  to assemble a  bike! “

Every year, the boy reminded his father about the bike parts he has earned. And every year,  the father  told him how many more parts he  has to earn to complete the bike. There are days when they passed by a bike store or watched other people’s bike and talked about how better the boy’s bike will be, when fully assembled.

Every year from grade 1 to grade 6  the boy got  the first honors of his class.   He graduated valedictorian from elementary. But he never got the bike he wanted. His father met an accident and was bedridden for the next 3 years. In fact, he had to work after school hours to help earn money for the family.

But by this time, the boy had already learned the proper study habits.  The bike was no longer his motivation for topping his class. Rather, it was to maintain an academic scholarship  in order to finish his  studies. He graduated valedictorian in high school.  He got a full college scholarship with board and lodging allowance and eventually, graduated valedictorian in college.

He got a good job and could have bought for himself  the best bike his money can buy. But he did not.  Instead, he bought his father a good bike, and a pick-up.