Well, people will now have to think twice before mocking Pinoys' use of the English language.
 
The Philippines was named the world’s best country in business English proficiency, even beating the United States, according to a recent study by GlobalEnglish Corporation.
 
GlobalEnglish has released early this month the results of its annual Business English Index (BEI), the only index that measures business English proficiency in the workplace.
 
For 2012, results showed that from 76 represented countries worldwide, only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, "a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks."
 
“This is particularly interesting because the Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the population of India, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers. Over 400,000 Filipinos are now employed in call centers, roughly 50,000 more than in India,” the study said.
 
The Philippines, which scored 7.11 and the lone country in the intermediate level, were joined by Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19) in the top five.
 
GlobalEnglish noted that a country’s business English capability is an indicator of its economic growth and business success.
 
“It is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway—the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012—are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank,” it added.
 
Meanwhile, struggling economic powers (Japan, Italy and Mexico) and fast-growth emerging markets (Brazil, Columbia and Chile) scored below a 4.0 in business English proficiency, placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace, the study said.
 
It also pointed out that shifts in global talent have put even English-speaking countries at risk. 
 
“Surprisingly the BEI score for global workers in the U.S. declined from 6.9 to 5.09 since the original 2011 BEI benchmark, which is attributed to a majority of test takers being foreign-born engineers and scientists,” the report said.
 
Rest of the world ranked beginner and basic level

Based on a scale of 1-10, the average 2012 BEI score across 108,000 test takers around the world is 4.15 which is lower than last year’s 4.46. 
 
Nearly four out of 10 (38.2 percent) global workers from 76 countries were ranked as business English beginners, meaning that, on average, they can’t understand or communicate basic information during virtual or in-person meetings, read or write professional emails in English or deal with complexity and rapid change in a global business environment, the study said.
 
Meanwhile, the majority of global workers (60.5 percent) from the represented countries scored between a 4.0 and 7.0, below an intermediate level, indicating an inability to take an active role in business discussions or perform relatively complex tasks such as presentation development and customer or partner negotiations, it added.
 
GlobalEnglish stressed that the 2012 BEI which showed a lack of business English proficiency is threatening the productivity of companies, industries and country-specific economies this year.
 
“Poor Business English skills are bad for global businesses and this year’s Business English Index suggests that many companies will be hard-pressed to achieve their desired performance goals during 2012,” said Tom Kahl, GlobalEnglish President. 
 
“Addressing English skills gaps and ensuring that employees can immediately perform at the necessary proficiency level should be viewed as a strategic imperative for multinational businesses, as Enterprise Fluency, the ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate within global organizations, can deliver significant financial upside,” Kahl added.
 
Headquartered in Brisbane, California, GlobalEnglish works with multinational companies – including Cisco, Procter and Gamble, HSBC, Phzer – to support performance in business English across the workforce around the world.

Here's the list of the 10 best and worst countries in the world for business English proficiency based on GlobalEnglish's 2012 BEI:

10 Best Countries:
Philippines
Norway
Serbia
Slovenia
Australia
Malaysia
India
Lithuania
Singapore
Canada

10 Worst Countries:
Armenia
Cote d'Ivoire
Taiwan
Honduras
Columbia
Chile
El Salvador
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Brazil 

flor and i visited carcar due to a friends invitation. well, its a "kirig" event for us actually! hahaha... i wont elaborate on the term "kirig"... its a gay lingo. lol! carcar is known as the shoe capital of cebu. but its not that attraction that led us there. hahaha... its the lechon! hahahaa... to our dismay, we didnt see any lechon since we arrived there at night time. what attracted us is the night market! here's the ganap! :)

yes, there's no lechon BUT there's LECHON PAKSIW! hahahaha... and may gad, naloka ako sa presyo, as in! it ONLY costs, Php 20.00 !!! YES, you heard me right, its twenty pesos only! hahahaa... ay, of course, avail agad ng dalawang orders ang lola mo! hahahaha :)

honestly, hindi ganun kalinis ang place kasi nga market. ako, maarte tlaga ako but when its time and a must na hindi maginarte, i control myself talaga. ang dami kong nirequest na wala dun sa hapag kainan but still kumain ako! hahahaha... they say, we only live once, live life to the fullest ika nga.... hahaha! 1st time kong kumain na may supot ang kutsara, kaloka! hahaha... the plate, deadma na... i wont go to the details! lol :) walang tissue, walang straw for the soda... lahat yun, dineadma ko na lang! hahaha :) ... oh diba, im not maarte?! hahaha :)

if you notice sa pic ni flor sa taas, kita ang plates, yan yung plates namin! lol .. deadma na ses! lol ... the tinderas were looking at us kasi nga ang daming naming hinihingi na wala sila and we frown everytime our request is not available... hahaha... the "puso" (hanging rice) has a different color... i told the tindera, baki brown ito at hindi white? hahaha... sabi ng tindera, "ganun talaga ang "puso" namin dito sir... hahaha... nawindang ako kasi hindi ako sanay na hindi puti ang hanging rice, dyos me! hahaha...well, deadma again... lafurz na lang ng  lafurz.. in fairness, di sumakit ang tiyan ko, worst, ang magka lbm ako during this trip... usually kasi pag hindi malinis ang nakain ko, may i turn on my amoebiasis ako... kaso wala, so malinis "siguro" ang kinain ko dun... hahaha :)

i wont tell na lang the other details of our ganap in carcar... basta ang masasabi ko lang, masaya ang mga tao dun... mas friendly talaga ang mga taga probinsya, in fairness... i had a good time there with new found friends...i just so love the "kirig" event! hahahaha... will be back there soon, for sure! :)

regards,
AC

i've  visited a small business of a long time friend of mine which is still less than a month old. siomai is the main product that they're selling, and a little addition of some instant meals on the menu. Flor, my voluptuous and outspoken friend (hahaha), who works in a callcenter, ventured into this small business with the aim to have additional income. i guess you probably know that one of my ultimate dreams is to own a carinderia. after knowing that Flor has ventured in the food business, i really just have to see it for myself. i must say, this is a very pangmasa kind of business. its not hard to sell coz its very affordable, as in! if you have 20 pesos, you'll already have a decent meal, in fairness! siomai sa tisa is the famous siomai-an here in Cebu, so that's who supplies Flor of their siomai. so, here's our ganap when i went to Flor's siomai-an business. :)

i brought green salad so flor could also taste my salad. oh diba, ganun ako kung magpromote ng pagkain, i let my friends taste it. flor loved my salad! thanks, mang! hahaha... flor and i call each other "mang", short for "mamang"... its a becky term used in mindanao. hehehe :) ... Flor's siomai-an business is located at the back of I.T. Park in Lahug, Cebu. They are open 24 hours, 7 days a week... hindi masyado mukhang pera diba? hahaha... and i must say, the staff were all cute! bagets ang peg, kakaloka! i asked flor, san mo ba ito sila nakuha?!! hhahaha... flor just laughed at me, kaloka! :)

i told flor na this is a good strategy that you hire good looking staff coz maraming bibili na babae at becky sa inyo! hahahahaha... flor shared to me a story that one time a becky was making landi to one of her staff, when that becky bought siomai from them... after the becky left, she told her staff, "Boys, remember that you're selling siomai, and not yourself!" ... of course, she said it in a candid way. kaloka lang ang mga punch line! hahaha :)

dito lang ako nakakita na naghalo ang coke and pepsi products! hahahaha... sabi ko, flor, bakit may pepsi ka? e, coke naman ang nagprovide ng chairs and freezer nyo... flor's answer, "e kasi may naghahanap ng mountain dew (a pepsi product), so may i buy mountain dew to cater to the customer's needs!" pak! tama nga naman... hahahaha... pero hindi talaga pwede yan kasi pag coke ang nagprovide ng mga gamit mo, you should only be exclusive to coke lang talaga... knowing flor, not even coke can make atraka to her ways and reasoning skills! hahahahaa :) by the way, 8 siomai ang naubos ko with 2 puso na rice! hahhaha... patay ang diet ko coz the siomai is really yummy, in fairness! definitely a must try! :)

anyways, to my readers, if you have time, please visit and try Flor's siomai at the back of e-block building (JP Morgan), located at IT Park, Lahug, Cebu. the very first tindahan you'll see paglabas nyo ng IT Park sa likod. just remember the set-up of their stall. hehehe :)

tight hugs,
AC

burnz and i had dinner at Neo-Neo last wednesday, april 18. i made a green salad since burnz requested it. we brought and ate it at Neo-Neo! hahaha... well, when i opened the container full of greens, the waiter just looked at it and at us. i thought they were going to charge corkage or something but they didn't. so, the "deadma" in me took over, and burnz and i consumed the greens i've made. and to my surprise, burnz consumed 3/4 of the green salad! my gad, may lahing kambing si burnz! hahaha... in fairness, malalim yung lalagyan ha, imagine! take note of the pic of the salad container below! lol :)

sorry, i forgot to bring my digi cam that time. so, no pic of the place and how the set-up of the resto is. but i assure you, the food was great! :) burnz and i had grilled boneless milk fish wrapped in foil. tig-iisa kami ng buong milk fish! hahaha...the smell of butter in the fish makes you really go hungry, as in! lol... we laso had pansit guisado. it was also good. burnz doesnt like squid, unless its in calamares form. so, i had to consume her squid if she gets one on her plate. hahaha :)

i would really recommend that you try Neo-Neo resto. they offer affordable good food. they also have roasted beef, sea food, and etc. this is more of a grilling resto but they offer a variety of dish. a must try also is their mi goreng. mi goreng is a malay dish which tastes so good as well. its a bit spicy and trully makes you want more! haha :) ... this was supposed to be the dish that we want to eat but during that time, it wasn't available. so, we settled for the dishes mentioned above. :)

hats off to you burnz for being so kambing! hahaha... burnz really loved my green salad that she requested me to make one again today! hahaha... hope you enjoyed the salad i made you today, burnz! :)

tight hugs,
AC

last friday, april 13, i met up with my highschool classmates and had a mini reunion. this mini reunion is the cebu chapter. there is also a davao chapter since we're all from davao. lovely, who is a nurse by profession in the US, who hails from dumaguete, wanted for us to meet and catch up with what's going on with our lives. so, it was joan who made a reservation at Yakiniku Japanese Resto, located at Panagdait, Mabolo, Cebu City. Yakiniku offers an "eat-all-you-can" dinner for Php 500.00 only!!! i was stressed out knowing this because japanese cuisine is my favorite! so, what will happen to my DIET?! hahaha... well, i just told myself that this day will be my cheat day, bihira lang naman ito! chos! hahahaha! so, i feasted on what's on the menu until magsawa ako, kiver! hahaha...here's the ganap at Yakiniku. :)

oh yes, all of us feasted on our favorite dish on the menu. by the way, Yakiniku only serves the eat-all-you-can dish only until 10pm. so the last order would be at 9:30pm. alam mo yung you want to make sulit what you paid for, so order ka ng order kahit busog ka na! hahahahaha... spell gluttony! hahaha... aminin natin, mahal ang jap dish sa pilipinas.. eh dito, Php 500.00 lang, eat-all-you-can-pa... so, mamimihasa ka talaga! chos! hahahaha... so, walang humpay na order ang ganap! hahaha... here are the dishes that we savored. :)

for this salad, i didnt get to try it kasi naloka ako sa kapal ng mayonnaise nya! hahahah... parang sobra2x ang calories, kaloka! hahaha :) lovely tried this and she said it was good daw... :)

this beef strips is one of my favorite! i just forgot the particular name of this beef, its not wagyu beef. ay ewan, basta tinawag ko na lang na beef strip. super malasa ito, i like to cook this medium rare, sarap! :) ... masarap din yung ox tongue, di ko na nakunan ng pic pero a must try din yun. :)

i dont know the title for this shrimp dish kasi di naman din ako mahilig sa shrimp... so, dineadma ko sya but i took a pic for blog purposes... hahaha... i dont know ha, while some are nanggigigil at nasasarapan ng shrimp, for me its just "ok"... i dont like peeling off its soft shell kasi nakakatagal ng kain! hahaha... that's the reason why im not fond of shrimp, and that goes the same with crabs. lol :)

i like nagirizushi but my fave topping is the salmon but here in yakiniku, hindi pwede na puro salmon ang nagirizushi mo, dapat variety. so, eto yun. i must give it to them, mahal kasi ang salmon... so wag magambisyon na sa Php 500.00 eh puro na salmon ang maoorder mo! hahaha :)

i dont like this ramen! with conviction yan na pagkasabi ha! hahaha... why? coz they just use fresh noodles for this dish, nakakaloka! di ko ini-expect per totoo, may ka-cheapang nagaganap dito! hahahaha :).. basta, di ko ito bet, yun lang! :)

the pics below will show you the interior design of Yakiniku. click on the pics to have a bigger view. :)

one of my dreams is to become a chef. so, may i practice my cooking skills here! oh diba? hahaha... super aliw ako sa vent na ito na himihigop ng usok, parang canyon ang setting nya! hahahaha... click on the pics to have a bigger view. :)

so, after we ordered non-stop and loaded ourselves with tons of food, we called it a night! hahaha... we used the back door for our exit and to my surprise, ito ang tumambad sa amin! hahahaha... sana di gawing sampayan ang lugar... ang dumi, eeeewwww! its obviously a clutter of different things, kaloka! hope the management will do something about this coz its really an eye sore! :(

anyways, from a scale of 1-10, i'll rate this jap resto a 7. customer service is mabagal, you have to shout  for the waitress to hear you... hahaha... malinis naman sa loob, in fairness... dapat lang na kung gaano kalinis sa loob eh ganun din kalinis sa labas, naman! lol :) ... i would still recommend that you try this resto. kunga malakas kau kumain, try nyo dito, as in! :) .. for reservations, just call the number you see on the pic below. :)

tight hugs,
AC

i just have to write about this because i'm at awe with Pink's performance at the Grammy's two years ago! her "buwis buhay" production number is really just so amazing! no artist has ever done this before. most artists have pretty much done everything but this one is really so unique, just really the best by far. even lady gaga and beyonce's performance on any show can't level up to this kind! this performance spread like wild fire around the world and was featured in oprah, ellen degeneres, and etc... aside from being featured, she was invited as guests to these shows as well! :) ... watch and be in awe of how great a performer Pink is! :) 

coupled with a soulful voice and skill such as this, u have my utmost admiration, Pink! ikaw na! :)

tight hugs,
AC

my landlord lives in St. Bernadette subdivision in mactan, lapu-lapu city. that is why their subdivision yearly celebrates the feast of St. Bernadette. so, when there's feast, there's food! for this week that just passed, i must admit, it was a fattening week. meal invitations are in abundance! hahaha... though i only got two invitations but the places i've been to just offers "eat all you can" meals! hahaha... you'll know in the days to come as i post the places where i ate with friends. so, here's what i feasted on yesterday! lol

since its a fiesta, of course, there will always be programs... while the performers haven't arrived yet, it was the children who were dancing on stage to the music played... its so cute to see children displaying their dancing skills. here's the ganap! haha

and when the performers arrived, its their time to shine. beckys ang mga performers nila, kaloka! its good to know that they have adjusted their scripts to be not so vulgar since most of their audience are children, thank God! hahaha... there were three becky performers, and they opened the program with a 'dream girls' number. it was NICE coz of their glittery outfits! :)

since im so busog, the pig in me already wants to sleep! hahahaha.... i didnt get to finish the performing beckys as my eyes are due to shut in no time...hahaha... then, i said my thank you and bid everybody goodbye. :)

i am so blessed to have known my landlord because they dont treat me as their boarder but they treat me as kapamilya. they have been so nice to me ever since i've known them, as in! words could not express how thankful i am to these couple. they are simply the BEST! :)

Thank you ate leizel and kuya ryan for the invitation. until next year! chos! hahaha :) 

to know more about St. Bernadette,  click here.

tight hugs,
AC