Category: Features Archives

BY QUARREN M. DEL ROSARIO, SHAI LAGARDE AND KHRISTINE ECHEVERIA

“Sharing Love, Spreading Hope, and Celebrating Happiness” is the theme for this year’s Christmas Party, celebrated last December 5, 2014 at Xavier Sports & Country Club Convention Hall.

The Brown Group of Companies’ celebrated another year of thanksgiving as employees came in their cowboy & cowgirl attires. It was a fun-filled night of dance competitions & showcasing of different talents.

Four teams competed for the Cowboy Dance Competition, namely: ABERDI’s Finest (4^th Place Winner), Team Bulabog (3^rd Place Winner), Cowboy’s Treasure (2^nd Place Winner), and Club Maneuvers (1^st Place Winner), each team rocked the dance floor with their cowboy/ cowgirl moves.

Another highlight during the said event was the Mr. & Ms. Rodeo 2014 contest represented by the finest men & women in each team who presented their talents and handpicked their question as a pair. The employees were entertained by the four lovely pairs who displayed poise, confidence, wit and intelligence.

A Cowboy Fashion walk followed, where employees stride along the catwalk and took a pose on their best cowboy/ cowgirl attires.

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Special awards were also given to employees.

The most awaited part of the night where everyone was very excited was the Christmas Raffle. There were 26 winners for the minor and major prizes and among the prizes that were raffled are 24”, 29” and 32” TCL Televisions.

The night ended with dance, music and live band.

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Manila celebrations

The Manila office’s Christmas rodeo may not be as huge, but it was a fun and intimate afternoon.

Held in Rack’s El Pueblo, Ortigas on December 11, plaid and peasant tops were the order of the day for the cowboy theme.

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The party games were judged by Dr. Walter and Mrs. Annabelle Brown, Mr. Roel and Mrs. Jas Castro, and Atty. Rosanne Duavit Santiago.

Ms. Shai Lagarde and Mr. Bok Lamayan presented intermission numbers, a song-and-ukulele and a harmonica performance respectively.

Of course, raffle prizes were at hand at the end of the party. Everyone went home with full tummies, cool gifts and wonderful memories.

Sporty stuff

After the Christmas party, A Brown Manila headed to SM Megamall for a good old game of bowling.

Meanwhile, on the same day in Cagayan de Oro, Brown Group of Companies held its first ever basketball tournament at XSCCI’s indoor and outdoor basketball courts. The said event was participated by 5 teams from all companies.

The program kicked off by the parade of colors accompanied by a drum and bugle corps. All groups presented their team’s Cheer and Chants, and then they got the basketball rolling.

Winners for the Men’s Division:

Champion: Red Stallions
1^st Runner up : Black Cougars
2^nd Runner up: Green Lanterns
3^rd Runner up: Blue Eagles
Male MVP: Juan Paolo Pizarro – Red Stallions

Winners for the Women’s Division:

Champion: Green Lantern
1^st Runner up: Blue Eagles
2^nd Runner up: Black Cougars
3^rd Runner up: Yellow Minions
Female MVP: Rosemay Simbajon – Green Lanterns

If these events are any indication of the fun times and camaraderie up ahead for 2015, then A Brown Company, Inc. and the entire family are in for a wonderful year.

BY SHAI LAGARDE

The Manila office enjoys a white Christmas this year with some frosted adhesive paper, metallic Japanese papers, poster paint, and whiteboard marker.

DIY snowflakes

Snowflakes make for very pretty decorations, and they’re actually very easy to create! Simply follow the photo collage, with steps detailed below.

1. Get frosted adhesive paper (the kind that you use to wrap textbooks) and cut into square pieces.

2. Fold the square diagonally into 1/2 to make a triangle.

3. Fold the triangle into 1/2.

4. Fold that folded triangle further, into a 1/3 triangle. I’m holding it with the left “wing” over the middle portion.

5. Fold the right “wing” over the left “wing” in picture 4. It should look like a letter A.

6. I made three A triangles to cut into three different snowflakes later on.

7. Go crazy with the cutting of patterns. It takes a bit of practice, and it would help if you would search for cutting guides on Goodle.

8. Unfurl the folded triangles and voila!

This is what the frosted adhesive looks like on a glass door or window.

I also made one using silver Japanese paper, with a bigger square to start with. Since Japanese paper is really thin, you can cut even more intricate patterns out of it.

I stuck the Japanese paper on the pantry door as the focal design. Using gold Japanese paper, I cut out tassels to attach to the top of the door, and little stars to surround the snowflake. As for the snowballs, I simply mixed white poster paint with a little bit of water and dabbed into those circles using a small brush! It’s easy to wipe out once Christmas is over.

DIY Snowman

Hello, Olaf! I used the white poster paint for the snowy parts (see how the water drippings actually give it a more icy effect), orange poster paint for the arms and nose, and black whiteboard marker for his clothes.

This is how it looks along with the snowflakes and snowballs.

What do you think? Go ahead and try these merry decor tips!

By Elroy Z. Uta

Getting stuck at our desks can already be draining and monotonous. And the tiniest frustrations at work like pulling out a wrong plug, a cluttered workspace, spilled coffee, tangled cables, lost pens, missing smartphone chargers, can feel like so tedious and chances are we all end our day feeling lost and heavy.

But never fear, luckily our office is filled with things that with a little creativity and a few bents here and of some common office objects can make your working environment fun and easy.

And the internet is full of tips and tricks to help us in copping to this every day torments.

Behold the power of the bulldog clips.

1. Use bulldog clips to help organize your cables and keep them tangle-free.

2. Replace your broken keyboard feet with binder clip arms.

3. Use binder clip arms to make an earphones holder.

4. Organize your things.

Getting lost in cables wires? Use masking tape to label your cables.

Use an old cassette case as a phone holder.

Don’t throw away those toilet paper cardboard tubes. Use it to keep your cords organized.

Don’t throw out those good old scratched and non-functioning CDs. Use as a coaster.

I hope you have enjoyed these lists of tips and tricks. Hopefully this made your work life a bit cooler and easier to navigate. If you have any suggestions or have some tips of your own, I would love to hear from you in the comments. Go and try these simple tricks and don’t forget to share these awesome tips to your co-workers!