early morning monologues

lahat ng items garantisadong oa. some lines that i want to say to someone, or lines that others would probably want to tell me:

- hindi mo ako alepores. wag mo akong utusan. please lang. kung gusto mo edi ikaw ang mag-ayos. :(

- move on na. ang daming bagay na kailangang gawin. hindi ito isa sa mga yun. try to save the world kaya? :(

- para kang anchor. heavygat sa kalooban. hindi lang sayo umiikot ang mundo. privilege nating lahat na ikutan ng mundo. :( at hindi nga pala umiikot ang mundo sa tao dahil kasama tayo sa pag-ikot nito :))

- life is like halloween. you get a good scare from time to time. don't worry. they're just manmade skeletons. :)

- you kept me in the dark for 5 years. now shake off all the dust and move it move it! :)

- i thought i like barbie and cars. cars na lang pala. :))

- hanggang ngayon ganun pa rin? hello! 2012 na. patapos na nga ang 2012 e. nagbago na ang status ng lahat ng bagay. :-/

- i used to be a bee. then things happened.

o diba oa? ganun talaga :))

dependence

the telephone is such a marvelous invention :)  my first encounters with it involved calls of only "important matters".  we didn't have a phone in the 80s.  if we wanted to relay important messages to our parents, who were working at their offices, we had to go to the neighbor's house to make calls.  that was the only use of the telephone until we had our own phone line.  papa went a bit crazy and had extension lines installed - in all the 3 bedrooms!

my first telebabad-mate was my cousin, irish.  that was some time around the early 90s.  they were living in bf and our house was in sto. nino.  we talked about the most wonderful things in the world.  what we'll do when we next see each other, are we going to ride the bike, or make snow out of styrofoam, are we going to the roof to sprinkle snow.  these were the best things in life! :)

then came high school.  there was a perfect balance in life.  there was a time for school, a time for doing assignments, and a time for telebabad.  topics included assignments, crushes, laugh trip.  i remember that we even had a codename for i-can't-talk-right-now-someone-could-hear-me!  the codename is "malamok" hahaha!  it's funny because it really was (and is still) malamok in our house.  we even did impersonations of romy diaz over the phone.  crazy days.  my lola would just give me stares of disapproval.

college was also a telebabad era, but it was more of kwentuhan galore instead of school work.  the topics were less crazy, more of pangdalagang stories.  and we were not contented with 2 people talking at a time.  we would have conference calls - so we could all talk together as a group!  as if we didn't have enough time together at school!  i talked with my girl friends, boy friends, and my ex boyfriend.  yihee.  ala-ala ng telebabad.  there was a lot of laughter.  there were buckets of tears.  aba'y kung makakareklamo nga lang siguro ang telepono.

the telephone was the most important means of communication until the mobile phones came.  in the sinaunang days, when you wanted to meet with someone, you call them up, arrange a meeting place and time, and just show up.  life was too simple.  people just magically show up at the meeting place.  now, meetings are arranged - and cancelled - at the very last minute.  "text text na lang," is everybody's favorite phrase.  i think it somehow gave the people an extra option to not show up.

during the early life of mobile phones in the philippines, call time was reduced big time because calls were too expensive.  the telebabad was transformed to a karera.  pabilisang masabi ang kailangan mong masabi!  if you could do it in less than a minute then it's perfect!  these days, libre na ulit ang magtelebabad sa mobile phones, but i got used to the notion that mobile phone calls are luxury calls.  do people still do telebabad?

aside from calls, i now have a complete dependence on my mobile phone.  recipes, calculator, dictionary, sms, radio, research, edit docs, emails, photos, directions.  lahat na!  what used to be available in libraries are now readily available on your fingertips with just a few finger taps.  it's good.  it's bad.  i love that you no longer have an excuse for being ignorant.  you won't get lost, you will always have answers.  that's good.  i hate that i am not forced to think too hard now that i could always verify online.  my brain is not working overtime because it knows that it doesn't have to store too much information now.  the magic phone could do it for you.  that's bad.

i feel lucky.  i am a witness to the magical transition of communication means. 

• no landline
• landline
• mobile phone free SMS
• mobile phone P1 per SMS
• dial-up internet
• WAP on mobile phones
• wifi internet
• smart phones that give you everything that's good and bad

if this is not transition, then i don't know what is.  shucks.  i feel old :))))

for donna and leny

1 batch for leny, 1 batch for donna and caloy

every cupcake batch has a story :)

this is a late present.  i have all the time in the world now!  i can bake, i can blog, i can walk again! 

belated happy birthday to donna & caloy and leny.

scribbles made of purple, orange, red colored cream cheese frosting.

originally, i wanted to make paisley designs.  pero dahil hindi ko alam ang tawag sa paisley kanina, i didn't know what to google.  in my head, i know it's the design we find in scarves, but i don't remember what they're called.  i thought it sounds like prairie, so i googled prairie.  kaso lang aso pala yun.  hahaha.  it's a good thing i didn't remember "paisley" kasi ang hirap palang gawin.  hahaha so sige scribbles na lang ulit.

next time, i'll try pastel colors... and paisleys! :)

for ahngel

for _____ ahngel

every cupcake batch has a story :)

i ran out of chocolate chips.  so colored frosting na lang.  

designs:

• checked
• swirly flowers
• time-space-warp-looking substance.  if design attempts go wrong, ang tanging remedyo na lang ay gulu-guluhin na lang ang design :)))

happy birthday, ahngel.  this batch is memorable.  there was a barter of cupcakes and good news. :)

for maria and ate a

1 batch for ate a, 1 batch for maria
happy birthday, girls!

every cupcake batch has a story :)

i told maria that i have a birthday gift for her, and that i wanted to give it to her.  we met during lunch break and i handed it to her.  she seemed happy :) i told her that because i am poor, all that i could afford to give is my effort.  sniff sniff.  pang famas.  hehehe.

red velvet, cream cheese frosting, pink and white sprinkles, melted chocolates for the scribbles.  i don't know what i was trying to do with the things at the top and bottom of "happy".  ginulo-gulo ko na lang tuloy.  hehehe.

for aldwin

kuya's midnight birthday cupcakes (for last july 13)

every cupcake batch has a story :)

kuya loves chocolates.

this is the 2nd time i baked this recipe.  first time was practice - a week before this occasion hehe.

chocolate cupcake, chocolate filling, chocolate ganache.  oa naman siguro kung white chocolate pa ang pang lettering?  so i made a tiny bit of buttercream.  i am aiming at light purple, but it turned out to be an awkward shade of white.

i also can't explain why i made a flower design for the piece that holds the candle.  witty ba?  pang boy?  hehehe

random thoughts

* it's a lazy sunday afternoon.

* feelings: liberated! excited! anxious! hopeful! scared! happy!

* if you can do it, why can't i? yes, i'll do it too!

* i can hear birds chirping. i feel so at
peace.

* convincing myself that...

* i'm happy with my new vegetable diet. this time, meat becomes the side dish and vegetables take the center stage.

* elmo's done = almost done (keyla lingo)

* i had a good walk last friday. it's a tranquil walk.

* i was born to cram.

* i thought i was immature. then i met you. i'm not immature after all :)

mike's august visit

late, late post :(

mike visited me on my birthday.  this was his first visit after he went home.  all good :)  too bad he didn't make it in time for my birthday dinner.  food was great, courtesy of chef aldwin :)

on my way to the airport, i saw these candles.  they celebrate the hungry ghost festival here.  candles abound :)

the next day, we went to ICA for mike's long term visit pass renewal.  it went by so smoothly.  he got his ID that same day.

so we had the whole day to do whatever we wanted to do!

here is mike enjoying his hokien mee.  our fave!

 

at the bonsai garden while thinking of somewhere we could go to:

we finally decided to go to the asian civilisations museum.  here are some good finds:

a model of a mosque

"women are a ray of divine light," it says

the sarimanok from the philippines!

the quran

i like the background!

 

keep on searching for the light!

it was a fun day!

gratitude

more than a month after my 32nd birthday.  i guess it's never too late to say thank you for being blessed.  they say you should not be sad for what you do not have, instead you should be happy for what you do have. :)

gestures, effort, material gifts from friends and family - for all of these, i am grateful.  i feel loved.  i feel special.  above all, i am thankful for the gift of 32 years of good health and good life.  a song comes to mind - something about life being borrowed from God, about you and me being presents, about not ever wanting to be born, but nevertheless being grateful that we are gifted with life.

dear jan,
thank you for the books.  i haven't started reading them yet.  soon i will!  i had a good laugh when i saw the excel bible.  hahaha!  very fitting for us who excel in excel (thus the need for a guide hehe).  i especially loved the greeting card/artwork!  i'm 100% sure it won't fade or get crumpled.  it's laminated!  ikaw na ang pinakabonggang gumawa ng greeting cards!  i love it!  thank you for the generosity.  i will forever be thankful for the gift of friendship.

dear april,

thank you for my midnight birthday cake, despite having a hectic life juggling motherhood and livelihood (naks).  i loved the frosting.  it tastes so sinful.  i believe that sinful = good in terms of baking.  hehehe.  special mention to keyla for putting the freckles (aka sprinkles).  cheers to more years of baking!

here's the sugod gang on the eve of my birthday.  they came bearing good cake.  keyla did the honors of blowing the candle. 

dear chef aldzwen,

thank you for the sumptuous dinner!  you never fail!  you should start building a restaurant!  menu was taco salad and chicken quesadillas.  ariba!  thanks for the mexican dinner.  i loved it!  i know there's a beef ban in this house, but because it's my birthday, beef galore :) food was great!

mike arrived on the evening of the 17th.  he brought birthday presents and a mountain of imported goods from the philippines.  his suitcase could pass for a sari-sari caravan :p

dear mike,

thank you for celebrating my birthday with me.  thank you for the watch.  i love the color.  one day, we'll buy the "his" version of this "hers" watch :) thank you for the pasalubongs.  century tuna, purefoods corned beef, tj hotdog, chiz whiz, boy bawang, bangus belly, tang, magic sarap, etc.  ang dami! yehey! 

dear ate yogi,
thank you for the pearl earrings.  i love the simplicity of little pearls.  they don't sparkle like gold or diamonds, but they look elegant and simple.

dear mama,
thank you for the blouses.  you are very good in size estimation :)  i have new blouses and dresses! yey!

dear UBS teammates,

thank you very much for this cake :) thank you for the video that you prepared. thank you for sharing 5 years of my work life :)

dear Father,

for all of these, and more, thank you! thank you for always giving me the promise of a better tomorrow.  i am looking forward to more years of love and life. help me to fulfill your plans. 

love,

your daughter