kittycaths

#foodtripmanila - dirty ice cream

2012-02-03T08:34:00.001+08:00

romel's ice cream!

missing dirty ice cream!

well, after eating this, hindi ko na namiss. naumay ako sa tamis bwahahaha!

thanks, romel!

mike's place

2012-02-02T19:22:00.046+08:00

still on our december vacation... :) we mostly stayed in mike's house in cavite, and i realized that mike's home is now my home too. i'm no longer a paranaque girl. i'm a cavitenya now!

i just love love this spot. it's a wide window that lets a lot of sunlight in, and there's a trapezoidal bench with cushions. when i was a kid, i've always dreamed of hanging out in an area that's like this - perfect for reading books while drinking coffee. naks. who would have thought i could have access to such a lovely nook? my mum-in-law is an excellent homemaker.

and so... i read this cook book (i didn't have coffee then) at the nook:

it belongs to my MIL. published on 1972. mama cooks great food. maybe if i read this, i could get a few drops of her powers :) it's an interesting book. why? because it even teaches you to do this:

mike and i had lots of downtime because we were pobre and cashless. hahaha! from singapore, we sent our funds to mami. mami is in tarlac, that means we only got our cash when we went to tarlac. it wasn't a bad thing because we were able to rest - a lot - and watch the modern family, like this...

and eat lots of our favorite lucky me, like this...

we also went out for quick drives. we were lucky once, we found one of nature's little, sweet treats like this - 2 rainbows!

and finally at night, we have more treats when we china with keyla like this...

10 years

2012-01-30T08:46:00.001+08:00

it was december, 2001 when i first ventured into the corporate, big, big world outside university. i shared that experience with 8 other hopeful individuals: harbie, donna, maricor, thyra, aileen, cindy, rico, and jimmy.

the company was spi and it's just a tricycle ride away from home. what more could i ask for? more than proximity, it's the good experience with my batch mates that mattered. we were so diverse, with shrieking differences, yet we jived.

i loved the debates of aileen and rico/jimmy. they debated about everything! from heaven/hell to leavig contact numbers.

there was the pabalagbag parking of harbie in sm sucat, and how we became tameme when the guard scolded us (read: harbie hehehe).

and the nihongo class, which thyra and maria aced. all that rico and i could muster, up to now, is a mere "ichi ni san," which means 1, 2, 3. ugh. i will never figure out how to use kore wa, sore wa.

and the gamaling and gayosi of rico and jimmy! enough said.

and there was the laguna impromptu outing with donna, maria, harbs. galore talaga! pati mga nananahimik na bato e nalapastangan! muntik na pati mga batang walang muwang! susme!

the exposure to cmm was also great. it's all about process, steps, almost oc, but the process worked! that's why it was a shock when i moved to another company. no more saving of approval mails, no more everything! but i miss it up to now.

after 10 years, we met again. it was last dec at italianni's at boni high street. harbie, cindy, and i were in manila so it was a perfect time to meet. donna, jimmy, thyra, and aileen didn't make it, sayang!

nothing changed! well, except there's mike, pistoy & alfredo, baby rico coming soon & mak. oherwise, we are still the same crazy bunch. sana next time complete na! :)

#foodtripmanila - lydia's lechon and baclaran day

2012-01-30T08:44:00.004+08:00

before christmas, i "encouraged" mike to accompany me to baclaran to accomplish a couple of important things.

1. visit our lady of perpetual help. as i have mentioned before, i have very fond memories of this church. mama Mary has been so involved in our lives in so many ways. there's always a yearning to be there.

2. buy tela for my slacks na ipapatahi sa suking maxim's tailoring. i have issues with my limpak limpak na pants na nasayang just because i got fat. so i can't use them anymore. sige, i give up. nagpatahi na ako ng bago :) but how hard is it to look for tela?! no tela in sm! plus you have to go through a maze to locate that tela stall in baclaran!

3. buy towels for sendong.

4. buy mama Mary statue for mami's collection. we bought our lady of Salvacion :)

5. look for cactus for tito danny's collection. bigo.

at...

6. kumain sa lydia's lechon!

i've blurred the trivial meals: mechado and kare-kare. what matters most is the lechon and the balat.

i like their rest room. clean and complete from tissue to flush to water to soap to mouthwash! yun lang mahirap gawin ang nasa karatula :p

it was a successful trip. mike wouldn't have gone there if not for love. hahaha! hindi ko sya pinilit. promise! hindi talaga.

ginawa nya ito nang buong puso at walang pagsisimangot :))) at hindi ko rin sya nibribe ng balat ng lechon. hindi.

#foodtripmanila - krispy kreme

2012-01-30T08:44:00.003+08:00

krispy kreme with sola iced tea for midnight snack

krispy kreme with hot coffee for breakfast

i love the glazed ones. simple yet yum!

#foodtripmanila - taho

2012-01-27T19:55:00.001+08:00

i don't think any manila trip would be complete without the good, old, yummy taho.

i know. there's taho here too. this is how you buy it in those fancy soy stalls here, "auntie, one bean curd with pearl, please." tastes like taho, alright... but something's not right. it tastes and sounds so clean! hahaha!

in manila, every morning, you wait for manong's unforgiving wail, "tahoooooo!" and authentic manila taho is bought like this, "manong, taho nga. sampung piso," or if you're really hungry, go for beinte (pronounced bente) pero kalabisan na yun. if you are at home, you give manong your mug. at dito sasandukin ni manong ang mighty taho. pero bago yun, sasandukin muna nya ang seemingly watery substance na namuo sa ibabaw ng taho at itatapon sa lupa. one of life's precious mysteries.

manong would put the pearls and it's at this point when you should say, "manong, padagdag (or bawas) ng arnibal," then manong gives it a quick stir. then it's all yours to enjoy!

at ang pinakamalupit na fact: ang authentic na taho, maaligasgas sa bibig! now, that's taho manila style!

#foodtripmanila - ice scramble

2012-01-27T09:01:00.001+08:00

or skrambol. we bought these from sm cavite. apparently there are a lot of skrambol stalls all over the archipelago! wow! franchise stalls all over town! mike's drink had other bits and pieces of candy sprinkles. i like mine the old fashioned way (pretty much like me), just powdered milk and syrup on top. there are other toppings available, like oreo, gummy candies, etc. di ko masyadong type.

when i was a kid i didn't buy much of this. maybe once or twice lang. dahil na rin siguro sa chismis na ipinakalat ng mga madre at guro na may drugs daw ang mga food and toys na galing sa mga kariton. asus. tuwing tuloy dadaan ang kariton ng skrambol, di kami magkamayaw sa pagtungo. siguro kung sinabi nilang pagtatae or hepa ang pwedeng makuha e di naman kami makikinig :))) daanin sa kwentong drugs at sindikato. effective!

skrambol carts back in the old days were cool! shaved ice flavored with banana essence and pinapula ng red food color is stored securely in a styro container. manong scoops this into tiny pink plastic cups, sprinkles with a generous heap of powdered milk, pearls, and tops it all off with chocolate syrup. meron pa kayang kariton ng skrambol ngayon?

i love that the powdered milk doesn't dissolve completely, and you have to do tiny munches! lasang lasa ang milk! :) love it!

#foodtripmanila / tagaytay - lzm restaurant

2012-01-26T20:13:00.001+08:00

omg. makaarte lang. para in!

omg talaga ang lzm restaurant sa magallanes square, tsagaytsay citeeeeh!

mike and his troop brought me to this heaven last 2010. we were on our way home from tali beach, batangas from the prenup, and they decided to eat lunch here. thank you, guuuys!

after that first encounter, i've been back twice!

and after pink sisters last dec 18, go na to lzm to eat like a... queen na lang. hehehe

super sarap ng:

pic 1: giant bangus
pic 2: bulalow
pic 3: chicharong flowers

omg talaga.

highly recommended! 5 popcorn tubs (wait, that's for a movie)! 5 stars! 5 spoons! yey!

off to the mountains we went

2012-01-26T08:50:00.001+08:00

mountains talaga?

dec 18 was tagaytay day with mike, ate yogi, and manang.

i've always fancied going to tagaytay. after a mere 2 hour drive, you'll find yourself in a cold, nature-y haven. it's like being in a different world! away from the pollution and heat! hello to pineapples and horses and flowers and suka!

fond memories of tagaytay:
- HS and LCG retreats. serene talaga ang place. makes you feel closer to God. at maaalala mo talaga lahat ng kasalanan mo :)))
- family day-outs. sabaw ng bulalo. sebo. we seldom went to tagaytay as a family, so the few times are really special.
- kabayo! once in my life, i experienced riding a horse. we did not bring overnight clothes. and decided. to. stay. for. the. night. with. no. extra clothes. just good company that's riche and liza :) single life and spontaneity at its finest!
- steep parking. no further kwento.
- people's park with mike and his parents and the new car! and how i was pestered with a million pimples and chaotic hair that's pleading for a rebond then.
- prior to our wedding, we went to tagaytay to meet fr. gerbert, the officiating priest. he wanted to meet us. it was touching how he made an effort to talk to us. he wanted inputs for the ceremony :)

pic 1: love it how you could drive with open windows. let the cool wind touch your face. have good conversation. look at the wonderful view, even if it's just grass and trees!

pic 2: at dahil malamig, perfect ang hot coffee! tambay sandali sa starbucks, marvelled at the taal view, kept our bodies warm, posing posing :)

pic 3: pink sisters. i think i've been there thrice. there's an area where you can write your petitions and leave your contact number. mike says they will contact you once they have read and prayed for your petition. nice :)

the places you could go to when you are at home. tagaytay is a perfect getaway. likewise, a perfect hideout. i realized i haven't tried riding a boat to go to the crater. some day i will :) sounds like fun!

ahngel and stan

2012-01-20T09:10:00.001+08:00

dec 17, we attended the ma-chua wedding at sofitel, manila.

i've always called ahngel "little girl", which is inappropriate, because she's taller than me. she doesn't look like a little girl at all, but a pretty lady!

whatevs... she's still "little girl"... and the little girl finally found the happiness that's stan. i'm glad :)

i think everybody deserves to be happy. you just have to find that happiness, decide that you will be happy, work hard for your happiness, decide to remain happy for the rest of your life, and the rest will just be like magic. easy. not. but it's all up to you. :)

i was excited to see ahngel and stan in the most wonderful day of their lives (i know this because our wedding was the most wonderful day of our lives, so says mike [and so i say too])! i was also excited because it was my first time to witness a christian, garden, chinese wedding :)

well, it was supposed to be a garden / bay side wedding, but mother nature had other plans. the set-up was so pretty outside! they had to decide last minute to move the ceremony inside the hotel because of the "mild" downpour. labo. downpour nga e. i almost thought na sayang ang set-up and overall impact ng garden wedding, but the ceremony inside was just as lovely! what mattered most was the serenity (na incidentally hinarana ng serenata. gets?) and intimacy of the event. marami kaming napulot na good points from the pastor. at walang papantay. walang papantay sa kaligayahan nina ahngel and stan that night.

maraming chinese. medyo op hehehe kami lang ang maitim :))) (but it's not about me, fine).

the reception area was lovely. festive, elegant, chochal na chochal. the food was great! the program was very simple and short and sweet. it's a usual, yet unusual wedding.

pastor said:

* it's ok to have a 3rd party in a marriage as long as the 3rd party is God.

* don't compete, compare, complain.

* be playful. don't need details for that.

congrats to the wonderful couple! :)

mani pedi

2012-01-18T09:08:00.001+08:00

mani pedi is such a luxury here. that's what i think. they don't even get down to the pesteng ingrown nails. but i have to commend that the foot scrubs are great and the nail color lasts for quite some time. tools are also sanitary.

i had mani pedi in manila last dec. the price is crazy 150 lang, teh! nakakaaliw! ang galing pa sobra ni ate magtanggal ng ingrown :) no pain!

the cheapest i found was a home service mani pedi at php 50 in aklan! grabe!

God never fails

2012-01-18T08:55:00.001+08:00

"have i ever failed you?"

so says the voice inside my head.

i have always been afraid of tomorrow.
i have always worried.
i have always feared.
if i could only have that tiny drop of faith and trust...
that each day will be beautiful.
it may not be cozy all the time,
but my God will be here,
because He is faithful that way.
why can't i be?

"in God we trust"

so says the sign on a cityland tower in makati.
even an inanimate building has something like this etched on it.
why can't i have it too?

NO. YOU HAVE NEVER FAILED ME, FATHER. THANK YOU.

#foodtripmanila - balikbayan staples

2012-01-17T21:48:00.058+08:00

sinong balikbayan ang hindi natatakam sa mga fast food / restaurants na 'to? susme!

max's

nothing beats max's chicken. a friend shared the recipe for max's chicken. we tried it... pwede, pero di sing sarap ng manok ni mang max. hehehe. caramel bars, to die for din! we ate at max's on our way to manila from tarlac last dec 26. sa highway :p

mcdo

walang burger mcdo sa sg, but i never got the chance to order burger mcdo in manila. we "settled" for their breakfast meals last jan 1. hamdesal egg was good :) perfect for the christmas mood.

kfc

iba ang alat ng manok at gravy dito sa sg at sa manila. syempre mas maalat at mas masarap ang manila version. at ang pinakapatok: ang kanin! walang kanin dito sa kfc sg :p hello?! kelan kaya nila marealize na bagay yun sa kanin? :) pic taken last dec 16 along ayala avenue.

goldilocks

combo meals and makukulay na juice and chocolate decadence cake. i wanted to get dinuguan, but we had dinuguan overdose in tarlac. redundant naman diba, kung order pa ng dinuguan? this was taken last dec 23 in sm south mall.

sbarro

a few months ago, there was news that sbarro filed for bankruptcy. nag panic si kuya dahil favorite nya ito. magandang balita namang hindi nagsara ang mga store sa manila. in fact, nasa food courts pa nga sya ngayon. servings were reduced to almost half, though. pero masarap pa rin naman. (bonus: potato corner fries). pic taken last dec 26 in cash & carry.

jollibee

no documentation needed. except: jollibee deserves 2 visits... and also, happy v is the closest that we could get to jollibee.

home

2012-01-16T23:03:00.001+08:00

dec 16 - i went with wawin to visit our "home" in paranaque. it was a fun ride at the bus and jeep. more of pollution and dust and traffic frenzy. :p we got there eventually, and i was shocked.

the once cozy home is now rented out to bed spacers, 6 ladies (i think). they are occupying 3 of 4 bedrooms, plus access to the dining room, kitchen, and half of the living room.

the house is a mess. it wasn't a richy rich, martha stewart house before, but it's just in a complete disarray now. the floor is dirty, the sink is beyond words. there are plastic bags hooked everywhere. i don't know what's inside those bags.

i lived there for 27 years. i grew up and grew old in that house. that house was a silent witness to new life on 1980 when i was born, and again on 1986 when wawin was born. it was also a witness to sadness on the death of lola, papa, and lolo. the walls practically heard and absorbed all our laughters and tears. the house met a lot of characters from friendships and past relationships. it survived numerous attacks of earthquake, storm, flood. if it survived the mighty ones, then it's a mighty one!

i once believed that we had a big and pangmayamang house until i visited my HS classmates' houses :p it was a pangmahirap house pala mwehehe. still, it was our home!

i didn't try to take pictures. i didn't have the heart to have that remembrance.

the other half of the living room is now wawin's comp shop. pic below.

we also visited the Sto. Nino chapel. pic below. at least, it's still the same serene chapel :) still feels right. incidentally, it was the feast of Sto. Nino last sunday. mami was in pque for the fiesta. she said she felt sad when she heard mass, remembering times when we were still complete, hearing mass and spending time together at home.

memories!!!!

#foodtripmanila - sari-saring ulam at crazy appetite

2012-01-16T19:12:00.001+08:00

still at wawin's place in makati, there's this eatery called crazy appetite. it's basically a clean turo-turo with nice tables, chairs, and lamps.

they showcase the dishes on nice serving platters too. on pic: corned beef, liver steak, and beef something. again, food is tasty, variety is good too, but i wish wawin would not eat here (read: out) on a daily basis.

#foodtripmanila - cheese burger pizza bar from mini stop

2012-01-16T18:58:00.001+08:00

when i stayed at makati for 2 nights, wawin recommended this pizza bar from mini stop for breakfast. this is just one of the instant meals you could get from mini stop.

i say it's very tasty. wawin has become an expert of instant-meals-scouting. hmmm... that's not a good news, though.

i learned that there are also canned meals available in groceries, and by meals they mean rice and ulam - in a can! sounds like kaning-pig? hehe.

whatever happened to meals lovingly prepared by moms or lolas?

anyway, here's the wrapper. jejejeje.

#foodtripmanila - burger machine roast beef and sans rival

2012-01-16T09:04:00.001+08:00

when we were kids, we would have BM for merienda. papa would always have roast beef and the kids would have bart burger.

i marvelled at how the BM lady would prepare (read: reheat) the roast beef in that tin container on the stove. it looked so yummy. i never asked papa if i could taste the roast beef because all the while, i thought that roast beef burgers are for papas, and not for kids.

i'm not saying that bart burgers are not yummy! in fact, it's a shame they stopped selling this burger! it was the 2nd thing i looked for when we were in that dimly lit BM stall last december. first choice was roast beef!

i heard that BM has just recently put back roast beef into their menu, and it's all good! it was juicy and beefy and delicious.

the sans rival, well, came from the ref. that ref that contains everything they need to operate a BM stall. so buttery, semi-crunchy, not too sweet, so good!

ps: i'm a lousy food critic because every stuff that's edible just tastes good to me. :)

#foodtripmanila

2012-01-16T08:55:00.001+08:00

we were in manila for the december holidays. i took some shots of food that we missed and tagged them as #foodtripmanila in twitter. it was fun! i was never the artistic photographer type. the goal is just to document the yum and the gum (huh).

so here they are, in all their majesty. the following posts will document the food feast. :)

mainit ang dugo

2012-01-13T08:47:00.001+08:00

ca. 1989, we were in baguio with some family friends - papa's friends and their kids. i think there were 4 kids: me, kuya, alvin, and mark.

the slumber during the first night was peaceful. when we woke up, i was covered with insect bites. from. head. to. toe.

alvin was the annoying type. he looked at me, laughed, and said, "yuck may bulutong!"

i remember the evil grin. i remember holding back the tears with all my might while picking up pine cones (that we wanted to bring home to manila. pine cones are cool!).

i don't know what i have in my blood that attracts mosquitoes and other insects that bite. sometimes i don't even see insects, and yet i get bites! why?

it would just be me. all the time. when we were in manila last christmas, it happened again. we slept in mike's room and i got these bites on my legs, tummy, neck. though it wasn't as bad as the bulutong incident, it was still bad and so itchy. plus it comes with the pesteng peklats.

my cousin says i have warm blood. fine. mosquitoes, come and get me!

year 1

2011-12-29T17:30:00.001+08:00

a year has passed.

we have experienced a lot this year.

we are continuously learning each day.

we aim to continue to love, accept, and piss off each other :p

we are thankful for the bountiful meals that we have eah day.

we are thankful for the fruitful talks, and sometimes, the absence of it.

a lot of things are uncertain. unstable. one thing remains constant - we are here to stay, and, as mama says, to always have each other.

portraits and gifts :)

for these and more

2011-11-22T23:45:00.001+08:00

- for the delicious pochero that filled my tummy tonight. the warm soup seemed to have the power to heal me from the inside. replenishing.

- for the steady job that provides for us. we may not have all the luxuries in the world, but in these trying times, as long as we do not get hungry, we are in a better state.

- for the little girl who drives us crazy. she may be learning new things each day, but it's more for my benefit when i watch her learn. for the priceless hugs and kisses that magically melt the worries away. so powerful.

- for the husband and wife that alternately become sponges. a sponge that absorbs tears, anger, frustrations, happiness, craziness, worries, fears, and everything else that's unimaginable. for us who vowed to make it through the good times and bad times.

- for my mother's loving voice. in life's most terrifying moments, all you really need is to hear that magical voice. it's like having warm milk.

- for the warm showers that don't make me jump, because i'm ginawin that way.

- for the tiptop health (so far). no medication, life support needed.

FOR THESE AND MORE, I THANK YOU, FATHER!

gardener

2011-11-04T08:48:00.001+08:00

nakakaaliw ang panlasangpinoy.com. i'd spend saturday mornings just browsing through their youtube videos. parang ang dali dali lang magluto! i love how they demo even the most complicated recipes in less than 10 minutes. not a drag!

i saw this hardinera recipe and tried it out last, last week. it's something new. the name is catchy too :) it's like embutido / morcon / afritada in a lyanera... or in a garden jejeje.

the recipe calls for pork cubes. i used ground pork instead to lessen the cooking time. it also calls for a can of liver spread, but i used some ground fresh liver instead. we don't have the almighty reno in this corner of the universe, it's a luxury (aka bawal). i just popped a big capsicum in the oven as a substitue for canned roasted sweet peppers.

pics:

UL: assembling the sliced hard boiled eggs, capsicum, and raw eggs at the bottom of the lyanera.

UR: mixing the pre-cooked ground pork with all the other tidbits: raisins, bread crumbs, pineapple, hotdogs, cheese, pickles.

LL: dumping 'em all in the lyanera, then steam galore!

LR: as usual, no pic of the finished product. pwede na ang picture ng pangalan ng recipe :p

what didn't go too well:
* the absence of the liver spread. bitin sa linamnam.
* i may have used a bit too much bread crumbs. i could taste some bread in there!
* medyo bitin ata ang raw eggs ko as binder. it came out a bit loose when sliced.

but it's all good. kakaiba sa panlasa at pananaw :)

overheard

2011-10-18T22:27:00.001+08:00

guy 1: you're rude!

guy 2: f#*@! you tell the truth and it's rude?!

muni-muni

2011-10-18T22:21:00.001+08:00

- you can't go wrong with being too much appreciative.

- a little thanks will also do.

- no matter how angry you get, contain it. there are creative and unhurtful ways of releasing.

- yes, you can quit, and you can quit now.

- when you cough, it's great to have a hagod on your back.

- when there's an opportunity, grab it. you don't get it everyday.

- you are not building a sari-sari store. don't hoard.

- share.

- if it's for your own good, you can't be mad (sometimes).

- sometimes "don't settle" just won't work. you really have to settle, and it's just so sad.

- it's disgusting to dahak in public.

sweet treats

2011-10-16T22:45:00.000+08:00

some 15 years ago, mami and i marvelled at watching heny sison bake on tv. she did it all in a breeze - mixing, folding, decorating, ikaw na ang magaling! :)) i just wanted to watch her then. i never thought that i would try baking!

last year, april convinced kuya that we need an oven and an electric mixer. april and i have had an on and off relationship with baking. sometimes tsamba, sometimes it's just a plain disaster. there was a meringue that looked like slime, there was a sponge cake that had lumps of uncooked flour even after baking, there was mamon that tasted like egg whites. so weird! :))

i learned that baked goodies are so bad for you - with all that eggs, flour, butter, sugar. sugar is crazy! sugar is bad, all those ingredients are bad. it would be good if there were healthier substitutes/options simply because i feel good doing it :)

i learned that it's very difficult to substitute ingredients because using the wrong ones will affect the outcome big time, and that's in a bad way. unlike with cooking, you could always use any handy ingredient in your cupboard in the absence of hard-to-find (read: expensive) ingredients.

i learned that it's hard to estimate when you are a newbie. when it calls for 1 cup, it can't be 1.20! and when it calls for sifting, it means YOU HAVE TO SIFT. hindi pwede ang pwede na! :)) hindi pwede ang tamad!

and i still stand by my belief that as long as you can read, you can cook, and you can even bake! it's fun! here are some of my attempts:

upper left: banana chocolate cupcakes, recipe taken from home cooking rocks. please excuse the holes on the cupcakes. i used, ehem, chopsticks instead of toothpicks. we don't keep toothpicks in the house :p

upper right: revel bars (but in cupcake form), recipe taken from somewhere in the internet (can't remember where). it was a wish from mike. he said his, ehem, ex made the best revel bars during HS. revel bars are made of oatmeal-soft-batch-cookie-like stuff. there's a chocolate coating on the top. i like that it's like an energy bar (with all that sugar, who won't be energized?)

lower right: basic vanilla cupcakes, recipe taken from "bake, sell, give" magazine. it tastes a bit like mamon :) kulang na lang ay frosting, which leads me to...

lower left: an imbento recipe for icing that looked like neon pink paint. so annoying! :)) it was sent staight to the bin. sayang!

looking forward to more sweetness in life. ang sweeeeeet namaaaaan!

wiwi

2011-10-16T15:15:00.001+08:00

i had a dream last night... well, make that this early morning. papa and mami were there. we were taking mami to a job interview. somewhere along the way, we had a pit stop (read: wiwi stop) at a posh building. i saw a vacant cubicle, but there was a suspicious looking plastic bag on the floor. so i thought it wouldn't be safe to use this cubicle for wiwi purposes... but i really, really had to go...

then i woke up. poof! and felt the urgency to go to the toilet to wiwi. thank God! i could just imagine what could have happened if i didn't wake up and i made wiwi in my dreams. nasty!

it was 1987. i was in grade 1. my teacher was mrs. dela cruz. i don't know what issues she had back then. when you need to go to the toilet, you'd say, "ms, may i go out?" to which she'll reply with a stern face, "no."

the toilet was just adjacent to our classroom. it was old and smelly. it had 3 cubicles. i can't recall if there was flush but there certainly was running water on the faucet, which was a relief, but still it stunk big time. or was there just a big, blue drum of water that collected water and kiti-kiti? can't recall.

sometimes she'd say yes if you asked if you could go, but on that particular sunny day, she said no quite a lot... and i really, really had to go... and i had no choice but to go back to my seat and hold back like forever.

the unavoidable happened eventually. you see you could only hold back for so long :-S "pssssssssssss," so said my wiwi trickling through my chair and on the floor :-S it was 1987. i was in grade 1.

ang bigo at ang wagi

2011-10-15T21:02:00.001+08:00

last night, mike requested for pancakes for saturday breakfast. "kaya lang wala na tayong pancake mix," he said.

i told him that my lola used to make pancakes from scratch, and that i can do it too! all i have to do is look for a recipe online. the internet will never fail you.

i found this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/good-old-fashioned-pancakes/detail.aspx

it looked promising and super easy. however, i thought it would be wise to use just half of the measurements since it's just for us 2. everything was doing fine with the half-half until i came to the egg. ok, no sweat, i'll try my best to divide a beaten egg into 2.

kwengkwengkweng... it was hard! i ended up using the whole egg. the pancakes somehow ended up looking like a crepe and tasting like a salty crepe. creep!

anyway, i think i could still pull this off. there are still 4 slices of ham and maybe it will taste pwede-na with the crepe a la pancake.

when i started frying the ham, it smelled panis! haha weird how ham could smell that way. ok, that's it. i told mike that we should go to mcdo for breakfast instead.

here's the bigo breakfast meal:

and here's the wagi breakfast meal:

what more could you ask for? :)

vetsin frenzy

2011-10-15T19:32:00.001+08:00

it's a mike-and-me time for two weeks. kuya, april, keyla, and tita are in manila. the house seems so empty without the little girl laughing and shrieking and running around. we thought it would be super sad, but i think it's not that bad. we miss keyla terribly though.

well, it's always dinner for two! last night, we decided to go to chinatown for a dinner out. maiba lang :) we saw some hawker type stalls and we chose this stall that sold local delights. we got the seafood fried rice (that was good for around 4 people - geez), deep fried squid, baby kailan, and chicken/pork satay.

chicken/pork satay was good, it tasted a bit like our pork bbq, but with less flavor. what made it special was the peanut sauce. it's like peanut butter dip! delicious! there was also the rice-like-puto-like stuff that you eat with it. i'm not too fond of it.

the seafood fried rice was super yummy. however, we found a good dose of vetsin at the edge of the plate. it wasn't mixed too well. so that's why it tastes so good! kanin pa lang, ulam na :)

squid was also good! it's crispy and tasted like, well, squid!

the baby kailan also didn't fail. buttery and oyster-saucy and garlicy.

all good!

after dinner, we did a little stroll. i bought a skirt for 10sgd. it was a good date night :)

it's my birthday!

2011-08-20T14:51:00.001+08:00

august 17, 2011 - i am 31.

what changed since my last birthday?

my pants don't fit me anymore

i am more health (and weight) conscious now

i am now married

i have graduated from the LDR sector

my teeth are becoming sungki - wisdom teeth extraction side-effects (yata)

wrinkles

home address

and what things were unchanged?

my height

oh, i still don't have white hair!

employer

my passport - which i should renew this year

my surname - which i should legally change soonish

there there! so the birthday started with the traditional midnight bulahaw cake. i knew there was a cake. i saw a red cake box in the ref haha! but who would mind being bombarded at midnight if the bombarders will bring something like this:

kuya, april, and keyla gave me a perfume! it's been ages since i last bought one. love it!

my mike gave me this wristlet. we gave the same but black color to tita during her birthday and i liked it then. "di mo na gagamitin yung luma at marumi mong purse" awww

that plus a lunch treat in our favorite chinese resto, din tai fung. you are looking at the yummiest food in the world!

jan and frank gave these dr. seuss books! i didn't know who dr. seuss was until i got these wonderful books:

then last thursday, i got this:

it contained this much messages from friends and family! so good to receive messages from people all over the world! hehehe. each card was intricately crafted by the loving hands of good friends (and a drunk man, apparently. hahaha) needless to say, naiyak ako.

too much love in the world! makes me thankful i'm alive!

dear Lord, thank you for another year. thank you for another day. thank you for the overflowing love. thank you for all the blessings.

ps:
mike and i believe in this song...
Even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with ya honey

but not in this...
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive

how? how? how?

happy birthday!!!

quasi tourists

2011-08-09T15:21:00.001+08:00

for the 46th national day celebration, there's an electronics fair at suntec. we heard that 1) they are selling items for $46. items = washing machine, tv, camera, etc. 2) people started queueing since friday night for the opening at 11am on saturday. really, the things people do for a sale :) i would do the same if i had all the time in the world :)

so sunday, we decided to make uzi at the fair. some facts: 1) atm, we don't really need something electronic hehe. 2) no funds to buy something electronic hehe.

the day started bad like this:

because sundays are meant to be SUNdays and it made us really late for mass.

after lunch, the sun came out and we decided to go to the fair. just outside our block, a bird decided to poop on my arm. tita said it's malas. 3 friends said it's lucky. dun tayo maniwala sa majority at sa kaaya-aya :)) i changed clothes and we went to the fair after all.

as with all IT fairs, the crowd was incredible. as with all IT fairs, we go home empty-handed.

well, not really. we were able to watch a kung fu show. so cool! like i'm watching kung fu panda, only these are real people:

this is my favorite character. he seems so young! yet his bod's so developed, so are his skills! galing galing!

the kung fu show was the highlight of our date. we also bought goggles, swimming cap, combos, micro fiber towel. oh, and we got nice, free, sturdy plastic bags that could serve as trash bags. electronics fair ba yun?!

on our way home, we turned our tourist mode on and took pictures of these:

view from the memorial park:

the business district:

the suntec convention center:

i've always wantes to take pics of those. dyahe lang kasi ang daming tao lagi hekhekhek. happy birthday, singapore!

swim like a whale, eat like a whale

2011-08-07T23:49:00.001+08:00

in an effort to trim down our tummies, we are on our 3rd week of jogging and we have been faithful to our program c/o the 5k runner app. highly recommended. not that our tummies have already toned down, but the app showcases interval training and kuya says it's an effective program. maganda raw na ginugulat ang bady mo at hindi yung consistent run lang. run-walk-run-walk ang drama. i also noticed that my knees hurt kung todo run lang. you know, old age.

we run 3x a week.
venue: there lang sa side side
time: after office hours

and we swim 2x a week.
venue: pasir ris sports and recreation center
time: after office hours

ang chochal ng new sports and recreation center at pasir ris. ong gondo!

there's a dipping pool, a kiddie pool, slides too! there's even a giant pail that spills when it's full. patok sa mga bata! apparently keyla didn't find it appealing. natakot daw. pero if i were a kid, i'll lavit!

an olympic sized pool. i love super! i'm not a fast swimmer. i feel nasusuya na nga ang mga lifeguard sa kabagalan kong lumangoy. hahaha! weh bakit? ehersisyo lang mga kuya!

nice ceiling lights. fancy them!

mistulang bromance. hehe joke lang powhz!

view from outside. there's a gym, tennis court, badminton court, at iba pang court na 'di ko na maalala.

and nice trees that i also fancy :)

yey! swim swim swim!

the problem with swimming is you get really hungry after a swim. then you tend to eat a lot, which kind of defeats the purpose of exercising (and dieting).

kebs. chos.

OLOPS

2011-08-03T19:00:00.001+08:00

i like having vivid dreams. when i wake up, i'm reminded of good things. sometimes good, sometimes bad, but it's always good to be reminded. a few nights ago, i had a dream about this:

the dream was: i found my HS teacher praying the novena. it was very vivid - she was holding the blue novena booklet and i interrupted her prayer to discuss about the thesis.

and the memories that rushed through when i woke up were incredible...

my first commuting-all-by-myself experience was when mami asked me to meet her at the baclaran church so we could pray the novena on a wednesday. i was about 10. a jeepney ride from sto. nino to baclaran was a great milestone for me. it was also my first novena.

our novena attendance wasn't constant throughout the years but we tried to brave the crowds whenever we can. the feeling is different if you pray the novena alone and you pray it with thousands of devoted people. the latter gives you an unexplainable feeling of being closer to Mama Mary.

at the entrance of the church, there's a statue of Mama Mary that's enclosed in glass. the people knock at the glass, as if asking Mama Mary to give them just a tiny bit of attention and to listen to their prayers. they also wipe on the glass with small towels. so overwhelming.

people walk on a kneeling position from the entrance to the altar while praying the rosary. it's quite a long, difficult "walk". makes me think that whatever they are praying for is something grave. that, or they are simply devoted.

throughout the novena, your voice will drown in the voices of others. people are praying and singing at the top of their lungs. maybe, just maybe, they feel that there is a higher chance of God hearing their pleas if they pray louder. again, overwhelming devotion.

i remember seeing all sorts of people. you see a difference in the way people look - rich, poor, young, old, man, woman, burdened, contented, happy, sad. you could see a thousand varieties but there's no difference in the way they express their devotion.

there's a sermonette section where the priest will read a letter from someone whose wish has been granted - sort of a testimony. deliverance from sickness, poverty, finding a spouse... the stories are endless.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help has a special spot in my heart. the novena is also a bonding moment for mami and me. it made me feel that you will never be alone in the darker phases of life, that somebody saves, that something out of your comprehension will help you. put comprehension aside, belief is all that matters.

here in SG, she is known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

when we visited italy last 2008, we found ourselves in front of the original image of the Perpetual Help. it wasn't planned and we just found it by accident. we met one filipino redemptorist priest who was there for an event. i felt so blessed.

this is my favorite line from one of the songs... "when the voyage is o'er, o
stand on the shore, and show him at last to me"

a day at the park

2011-08-01T09:16:00.001+08:00

we went to the pasir ris park today.

the plan:

stroll as one big happy family - kuya, april, keyla, tita, mike, me. naks!

keyla to play on the playground.

caths and mike to do 30 min walk/run.

pasir ris park is a hidden gem. it's not that crowded like east coast park is. the place is clean and big. children could play, the whole family or barkada could do ihaw ihaw. lovers could stroll. others even go fishing, camping, biking. the park is this big:

interesting finds:

fishing. at times you get the big ones, at times the tiny ones, at times nothing at all. life goes on anyway. try again another day.

lush. i wish mother earth will always be abundant like this... that she may last a million years... that my children's children's children will be nurtured the same way.

pathways. and sunsets. all sunsets are beautiful.

bridges and water and plants.

run. running used to be a burden for me. now i find it therapeutic, just like mopping floors and walking alone.

sturdy. my God is as sturdy as this tree is. rain, lightning, scorching sun? nothing will harm me as long as my God is here. i admit i am frightened at times, but my God sustains and protects! amen!

lovers. yihee. i wish everybody finds his/her soulmate!

friendship. you know you are friends if you could sit all day and talk about everything and anything - and you don't get bored!

family. so heartwarming to see a family gathered together. i always look forward to weekends with family!

silver lining. there will always be one! always!

and more beautiful sunsets.

simplicity. a child's life is so simple. sleep when tired, cry when hungry, play when awake. makes me want to go back to
childhood but that is not the proper order of life! :p

solitude. inner and outer.

and the opposite of solitude, chaos. the chaos that is my hair. and pimple outbreak. argh.

and love! heard at rx today: a vampire will never go into your house/life unless you invite him. maybe love is like a vampire. let's always welcome love then! it will never come uninvited :)

ps:
muntik na
kaming
masagasaan
ng motor
dahil
sa cheesy
pose na ito
bow

scented

2011-07-31T17:29:00.001+08:00

it's a wonderful feeling coming home to a house that smells nice. it's a challenge for our house though as the windows are always open -it's hard to contain and maintain the scents.

the room odor's a bit easier to conquer! we used to ~~hoard~~ keep a number of bottles of scented oil from body shop. these are the types you dilute with water and use in a burner. smells good, really. we liked strawberry, pomegranate. i found lavender and tea tree scents in a small stall in suntec and these are good as well. relaxing.

jan introduced reed diffusers to me. these are reed sticks that you stick into bottles with scented oil. at first, i wasn't too keen in trying because i thought that the scents might be too weak. i could never grasp the idea as to how sticks could help spread the scent in the room.

one day, i went to jan's place and noticed the very good smell of the house. i asked and she said it was the reed diffuser. so nice! then she gave me a bottle of reed diffuser oil so i could try. it's powder scent and i lily, lily, like it.

i bought 3 cute bottles but i think they're a bit too shorf. tsk tsk. i think the room smells nice anyway! so nice! we're switching to reed diffusers!

rektikano

2011-07-31T15:23:00.001+08:00

i am married to a man who's very highspirited when it comes to basketball. during the nba games, he requested that we subscribe to the sports channel. he looked for basketball playmates here so he could shoot some hoops. luckily, there's a bb court near our block. there's a filipino community (a big one) and they share the same passion in basketball. all good :) i love seeing the glow on his face everytime he goes home from a game. sweaty, yes. happy, super yes.

if he's in manila now, he would probably be watching the live uaap games with his friends. but since he's here, the best that he could do is watch the games via online streaming. something like this:

i wish i had some of that spirit in me. that's the dlsu animo squad in the pic. i didn't even know our team was called that. sheesh. at least i know the chants and cheers! yay!

back to my husband... yesterday, he was so animated while watching the game in our room! shouting everytime his team, ust, shoots or misses. they were leading all the time. tabla sa bandang huli but they ended up losing the game after an almost-buzzer-beater-3-pt-shot from the kalaban, feu. then he became like a madman. he threw the pillow on the wall and shouted and shouted and shouted. i was a bit scared. in my mind i was thinking, "lumabas muna kaya ako baka masuntok ako?"

i mustered a, "o tama na baka atakihin ka."

hahaha i wasn't hurt, neither was he. he calmed down after a few minutes. he just so loves the game that way.

this morning, i saw his fb post from yesterday:

susmaryosep si kuya oo! hmmm, that's my laptop he wants to destroy! bwahahaha! i commented:

i now pray for the safety of my laptop when there's a game. ipag-adya sana sya dahil i have no plans of replacing it soon. bwahahaha! susme! :))

peranakan museum

2011-07-30T15:49:00.001+08:00

last, last friday, i took a day off from work to accompany mike in the submission of the formalities of his long term pass. we were done by around 10am so we decided to go to the peranakan museum.

but before we went to the museum, we feasted on the pinakamasarap na pancit sa balat ng lupa. the stall is located at the suntec foodcourt and good to see there's a kuya pinoy staff at the store. he may have added a few strands of pancit on our plate. divine! this is breakfast number 2. the first one was maggi chicken noodles at home. you can't blame me. i got traumatized with long queues and no breakfast. :p

on our way to the mrt, i saw these ceiling lamps. nice!

it was raining. but so what?

then we got to the peranakan museum:

"Who are the Peranakans? For centuries, the riches of Southeast Asia have brought foreign traders to the region. While many returned to their homelands, some remained behind, marrying local women."

hybrid! mixed culture!

this cat welcomes the visitors. i'm not so fond of cats, but i'm caths. gets?

a peranakan family in telok kurau area. so formal! look at the 2 girls holding on to the plant stands. what's up? :)

this granny looks like lola felicing - our neighbor in sto. nino and my lola's best friend. kailangan talaga may haplos?!

i love the background! apparently, butterflies were popular motifs for the peranakans as these signify good luck. cheers to the best of luck!

the museum showcased stuff from the old peranakan families. this is our reflection on one of the antique cabinets.

and another one. they look an awful lot like our cabinets from the philippines. the ones you find in the buena familias chochaleras houses. i bet kuya will not be too keen in owning one. think about spirits living in cabinets. boo!

and another one of those buena familias dresser tables. chochal!

benches by the main doors were also popular for the old peranakan houses. here's mike relaxing on one of the wooden benches. my lola has a special bangko back at home. it was her favorite siesta spot.

an old phone, ca 1930s. if you lift the earpiece, you could hear a recorded conversation. cool! rpg!

here's a latter model. i remember having a similar unit in our house. yesteryears! that was our first phone!

this girl looks like my cousin irish! so posh! look at the dress and the bag and the overall impact hihihi.

at the dining table. how much platos and platitos could one household use? i have a dream... someday, i'll be a housewife and i'll prepare all the meals for my family... and we'll eat together happily... all the days of our lives! ariba!

and a typical kitchen. i like it!

and more of the intricate plates and serving dishes. nakakahinayang gamitin, ang ganda kasi hihi. i'm reminded of a tansan. i wonder why.

here are some beaded bags. so intricate! i learned that the manner of beading is somewhat similar to cross stitching. the patterns are the same, the ones with the grids and you follow the color per cell.

while daoism and buddhism dominated, catholicism somehow seeped through. here's an interesting item - an altar with the image of the holy family.

and another nice background.

at the end of the day, we were this happy!

lunch was tapa king at lau pa sat. what a lovely day! what a lovely life!

Post Created Jul 19, 2011 8:37:53 AM

2011-07-19T08:28:00.001+08:00

a few nights ago, mike was showing me this phone application about math tricks. interesting, i thought. for one who ~~hates~~ doesn't like math, i could use all the tricks in the market that i could get.

so we looked at a certain trick that's something like this:

and i got more confused. and i felt proud. and thankful to mrs. jose, my grade 6 math teacher, who terrorized us to death until we memorized the multiplication table.

mrs. jose is a stout woman. she wore high heels and the fats in her feet are escaping madly from her shoes. that didn't make her less of a person though. in fact, reflecting now, i think she may have been one of the few teachers who left the biggest and most useful lesson to me (and the class).

this was her system:

1. at the beginning of the period, we all stand for the prayer (we start and end each subject with a prayer). i guess this is the point when you also say a little prayer for yourself for what lies ahead of you during the math class.

2. nobody sits after the prayer.

3. she signals for the class to start the recitation of the multiplication table, starting at 6. as in, "6x1 = 6, 6x2 = 12, ... up to 9x9 = 81).

4. you have to be honest. if you make a mistake, you have to sit down.

5. at the end of the number chant, all who are standing will sit down, and all who are seated will stand up. stand up until the end of the math period - yes, amidst lectures and taking down notes and all!

she was scary, yes, but effective to the maximum level. give me a complex problem about derivatives and i will perspire - with blood! but ask me what's 7x8 is and i'll answer in a breeze. :) it matters, i think! in a complex world like what we have now, it sometimes pays that you know simple things by heart. i know my multiplication table and i'm proud. thanks to mrs. jose, we know that some 300 students a year are memorizing their multiplication table too. i wonder where she is now? :)

mighty clouds

2011-07-18T08:51:00.001+08:00

such a lovely view.
it rained.
then the sun came out.
then the clouds became amazing like this.
then i cooked lucky me instant pancit canton.
wanted to eat it with rice.
but there was none.
so i settled with banana walnut bread.
was just as lovely.

life's little pleasures :)

ka choleng

2011-07-18T08:40:00.001+08:00

when i was a kid, we had a trusted labandera / plantsadora. her name is ka choleng. she would wash clothes one day and come back on another day to press the clothes. i'm not sure how many years she provided this service but she had to stop one day because she had to take care of her apos.

i don't know why there is this certain story that i can't forget about her. she said that she wanted to have a customized bracelet out of a "special" spoon. she said she would bring the spoon to an alahero, the alahero will then transform the spoon into a bangle probably.

i didn't see the spoon. neither did i see the bracelet. but i remember having a strong desire to own a bracelet that's made out of a spoon too! hahaha! inspired by ka choleng :p

now i realize that you couldn't always have what you want. i don't know about ka choleng but i never had that bracelet.

hehehe anong drama ito? all i really want to say is: i now realize that ka choleng was/is a gem. we got the luxury of having fresh, ironed clothes - no sweat.

these days, we do everything on our own. mike does most of the laundry and he is doing a very good job! our clothes smell so good! don't worry though, he has not turned into a domestic god. washing is as easy as dumping the clothes in the washer and coming back after 50 mins to hang the clothes. no sweat.

ironing? if i had a choice, i wouldn't do it hehe. but i have to. maybe not so much now but when mike gets his work then i'll have to iron big time like ka choleng did.

oh dear! what big clothes you have, mike! hahaha!

where does your heart belong?

2011-07-18T08:22:00.001+08:00

i quote from bbc news:

"The heart of the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, has been buried in central Hungary.

The funeral of the last crown prince took place on Saturday in the Austrian capital Vienna, where his body was buried alongside those of his ancestors in the Imperial crypt.

His heart was buried separately in accordance with Habsburg tradition."

my condolences.

such an interesting tradition.

i wonder, if i have to go through the same, where will i have my body buried? probably i would like to rest my body in peace with mike.

and where will my heart rest? probably in my
hometown, paranaque. papa, lolo, lola are there.

chos!

aldwin and marenila

2011-07-14T08:38:00.001+08:00

july is the birthday month of two wonderful people: kuya aldwin and tita marenila :)

tita's midnight birthday cake on the 8th:

dear tita, i wish you good health. we, especially keyla, can't thank you enough. a home is just a semi home if a mom figure is not around.

kuya's midnight birthday cake on the 13th:

dear kuya, i wish you more strength and wisdom as you continue to face fatherhood each day. you are the best!

the feast last weekend - chili crabs, baby kailan with oyster sauce, cereal prawns, mantau bread, peaches and cream, courtesy of chef aldwin and chef april. superb! finger licking good! who needs jumbo when we have jangbow? hehehe! pwedeng pwede! ;)

happy, happy birthday!!!

refuge

2011-07-13T23:24:00.001+08:00

i was 6 or 7. mami woke me up at around 4 am. i got confused but woke up anyway. a few hours later, we were in mindoro, in my lola ading's house. i can't remember the details of how we got there, but we got there. mami was home, in her refuge.

lola was surprised, more of happy, to see us. she hugged us. we sat at the living room then it was there where mami started the ordeal of telling lola why we were there. i heard every word and saw every tear. it was something about papa and some bad things that papa was doing, but i couldn't grasp everything.

"alam mo na kung bakit tayo andito?" mami asked. i shrugged. i didn't fully understand.

we stayed there for the night. i could remember eating sardines for dinner - the best sardines i ever tasted, sharing a toothbrush with mami, seeing a giant spider on our kulambo, and going back home to manila the next day... because summer was ending i had to go to school.

that night, when papa got home, he carried me and brought me to the garage to tricyle-view and to mildly interrogate me.

"san kayo nagpunta ni mami kahapon?" he asked gently.

"sa mindoro," i replied.

"tsk. natututo ka nang magsinungaling ha?"

and i got more confused. why? what did i do? :))

catherine michelle

2011-07-12T08:48:00.001+08:00

... is my full name. quite long. people never call me michelle. family members call me cath, my friends call me caths, my grannies in mindoro call me karen. i've always just used "catherine camacho" in exam papers. so what's in a second name? hehe. i think it's just pampahaba! i like the name michelle. just don't call me michelle 'cause i don't feel it's me. jejeje.

so the beckhams call their new baby girl harper seven. having seven for a second/middle name may sound, hmm, unique, but check this out. found the clip on bbc news, sort of an analysis on names...

"There can be more than one. British musician Brian Eno is actually Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, while Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland."

woah! how much space and time do they need in filling out forms??? :)) it's a good read. i'm happy with catherine michelle. thanks!

ang lapad

2011-07-08T08:54:00.001+08:00

bakit ba ang lapad ng pics na ina upload ko? nakakasuya! :)))

spell gluttony

2011-07-08T08:53:00.001+08:00

so... twister fries is back. that's what donna said on her fb status. so what?! so what? waaah i have to get it!

ininggit ako ni aldwin kagabi sa pamamagitan ng pagpost ng twister fries pic sa beluga. so what? e tamang tama gumawa ako ng planong mag midnight snack kami ni mike kagabi. nagkataon lang naman. ano kayang masarap kainin? hmmm. alam ko na! ang bright ng idea :)

twister fries!!!! hot fudge!!!!

dinner at home at 8:45 midnight snack at 10. what?! i felt bad at some point. there we were eating like there's no tomorrow and some people in ethiopia are dying of hunger. i'm sorry.

15th

2011-07-08T08:34:00.001+08:00

i am a late bloomer - as always. the morning rush with chico and delamar is celebrating their 15th anniversary today. where was i during those 15 wonderful years?

i started listening only this year and i'm hooked. i tune in daily at 8am on my way to work and aim to finish the show up to 10am. they are so hilarious. everything from the top 10 anythings, to the witty commentaries, to the green side kwentos, to the perfect tandem - i like them all!

i have this app radio philippines. everything's good. i listen happily until i get this annoying thing:

buffering!!!!! palagi na lang buffering! waaah! i thought it's because of my phone topak but it seems it's because of problems with the station's streaming services. i think... :( days like this, i feel so bitin. aww.

learnings from great men

2011-07-08T08:21:00.001+08:00

i came to know two great men. i'm lucky. when you are compassionate, i'm certain you'll leave a mark on the people you meet. some things i learned:

1. some 4 years ago, we were on our getting-to-know dinner. this fact was imparted to us: it's almost always safe in this country. if you end up being a victim of a pickpocket in the mrt, then you probably have a very, very bad luck that day.
2. on my birthday card, something like this is written: never fail to give each day the chance to be the best day of your life. sapol! this is now my favorite quote.
3. on a farewell note, something like this is written: "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor”
4. and while searching for number 3, i stumbled upon this lovely quote: "a ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for" this is my 2nd fave :)
5. you can still function at your best at work, complete your duties, and still get along with everybody. it's a beautiful life.

again, thank you to burger king and to crimson cheeks! hats off to two beautiful persons. i'm lousy with byebyes. i may have been too dramatic when i said goodbye. :(

518A tales

2011-07-06T08:18:00.001+08:00

when we moved to the new house, i stopped riding the mrt to work because by the time i get to the mrt station, i'm like a carpenter who just finished work for the day. pawisang mama.

i found comfort in riding 518A because it takes me from the bus stop near our block to the convention center in ~ 1 hour. sitting pretty. prenteng prente. i could read the news, read blogs, tweet (but i'm now in a 1 month LOA from twitter), and sometimes just close my eyes. it's almost therapeutic when you sit silently for an hour.

i have my regular bus mates.

running man - he's almost always running everyday to catch the bus. he doesn't make it sometimes but i think he sure does fight a good fight.

cutting auntie - she's the rude old lady who cut me once at the bus stop just when the bus was arriving. rude.

sonic lady - she's the groovie girl with a hair so stylish it reminds me of sonic the hedgehog. she's so cute!

sleeping headset - he's always sitting near the tap out machine and he's always wearing his headset while wandering to his slumber paradise. so peaceful :)

you can't miss 518A. there' just one bus. why? i don't know. so if you miss it, you have to take the mrt (and be a carpenter, see above) or you have to take 518 (and be doomed, see below).

yesterday, i made the biggest mistake of riding 518 because 518A was not operating. not sure why... but my bus mates were as dumbfounded and bored (too) as i was in the 1 hr 20 min ride. 518 doesn't take the expressway that's why. and i'll never take that bus again. i'd rather take the mrt, thank you.

if running man is the gold medalist, i think i'm the silver medalist! ako na! i didn't make it once or twice but i learned since then. i learned that if i run fast enough, i'll make it - even if the bus is 3 just mins away. even if it's arriving! bring it on!

i love bus 518A!

how to personify winnie the pooh

2011-07-05T19:03:00.001+08:00

1. wear tight pants/shorts to make your tummy big(ger). the pressure on the waist will evacuate all the tummy fat in one central bulge.
2. wear a tight, short blouse.
3. when you sit, allow your big(ger) tummy to be exposed (remember, blouse is short). yes, show some skin (aka fat).
4. magpacute.
5. get a jar with honey.

et voila! you are now winnie!

no pic, sorry.

Post Created Jul 5, 2011 6:58:21 PM

2011-07-05T18:48:00.001+08:00

and just like that, people let you go.

bye bye burger king.

bye bye crimson cheeks.

until we meet again.

you both deserve a big round of applause.

greasy but lovelove

2011-07-05T09:18:00.001+08:00

i first heard of this nice product from maria. if i remember correctly, she said she uses it on her face at night and her skin's sooo soft when she wakes up.

when i was still in manila, i tried it too but it didn't work for me. i thought it was greasy and messy so i gave up on it.

i gave it another shot now and i think it's just great! yes, it's still greasy but i learned that if i apply it in a certain manner, it's all good! i use it on the face and body at night. yes, i think it clogs my facial pores at times, but i use it anyway. super moisturizer!

mahaba-habang sabado

2011-07-05T09:05:00.001+08:00

11th of june. our 6th month of being married. our 6th month of being apart/together. cool!

it was also a very eventful day. it was when we took our chances and applied for mike's pr. weeks before, we prepared all the requirements and, in good faith, we now await for 4 - 6 weeks for the result.

we started the day early. after around 3 hours, we completed the application. yay! then there was the IT show. we didn't have the chance to look around when we got the free tv 2 nights before because all we ever did was queue up.

but prior to the IT fair, i brought mike to the office to show him where i work. elev shot!

then it was chow time! this, i think, is the best part for me. we didn't have breakfast and we just came from a mega pila galore big time.

lunch: hokien mee and dimsum. purfect!

oh and i love these lamps!

the IT fair? it was crowded. period. end of story. bow. thanks.

jogging mania

2011-06-30T08:44:00.001+08:00

for the past 6 months, i've been ranting at how fast my tummy has bulged - and i'm not even pregnant! we're talking about around 8 soon-to-be-retired pairs of pants if i don't do something about it. early retirement. i love those pants. pinatahi ko'ng mga yun sa maxim's tailoring sa paranaque!

i'm not alone in the eliminate-the-bulge issue. sige go go jog na kami ni mike! 30 minute lakad-takbo. that's what we planned to do. here was our first jog ever, pawis and hingal and all.

i bought 1 nike running shirt. kuya insisted that i buy nike shirts, nothing less, so i could have that f na f na get-up. dagdag to the gana factor daw. ikaw na ang fashion consultant!

hindi ko maatim. na bumili ng sangkatutak na 30+ sgd na shirts na papawisan ko lang sa araw-araw. mike and i got these instead from carrefour (a la sm) at 10 sgd each! kuya couldn't take the sight and smell of cheapness. ikaw na ang sosyal! bwahahaha.

progress was good. the runkeeper app is a good motivation tool. you get to keep a record of each run: how far, how long, number of calories. here's mine and i feel good every time i look at it :)

so far, i've got:
- a sprained ankle
- strained knees
- the bulge STILL
- sapilitang pag zip ng pants ko STILL

hehe. bakit hindi? i've been in rest mode for the past 3 weeks? promise, i'll just let my knees heal and i'll run again. maybe i'll take it easier. hey, i love my knees too! kuya sent me some stretching tips and he swears there's no pain after a jog if you stretch properly. ikaw na ang fitness instructor! :) stretch it is!

ang tanong: magamit ko kaya ulit nang maluwalhati ang mga pants ko? :p

flooded

2011-06-24T08:45:00.001+08:00

manila was flooded again last night. i called my mom. she asked me to call back, "cat, mamaya na lang. nasa baha kami" ok, i was a bit alarmed, but i know my mom has been through the worst "floods" in her life. a little drizzle like this is probably just sisiw to her.

apparently, they just had to walk through a few meters of knee-deep flood before coming home. that's fine. it could have been worse.

this morning, i saw a tweet from recio and he was describing his worst flood experience during college.

here's mine, and i think it's an infant compared to the bad, bad experiences of others.

it was 1997, i think. it was raining hard in manila and the streets got flooded. mauie and les (my bus mates) and i opted to still board a bus routed to the south despite the flood and the dead traffic. wrong move. it took us about an hour from gokongwei to the university mall! that's like a few 200 steps!

we decided to head back to the school campus because we didn't think traffic will improve. the consequences: wet shoes, wet legs, wet pants, wet feet. not bad, but the thing is, my shoes were blue. and it bled when it got wet. so i had wet - and blue - feet. yay! in fairness royal blue ang shade! :)

we ended up being stranded in the school. i can't remember how and what we ate. i do remember that we initially stayed at the tambayan area and ended up sleeping in one of the classrooms. the next morning, there were still no buses but we eventually got home around noon. sheesh!

the valenzuela flood with liza is another story... and it IS the story! wait lang. nahihilo na ako sa bus. later na lang. bye!

sunset

2011-06-17T08:32:00.001+08:00

why is the sun so fascinating?

i got home early one day and i was at the bus stop when i witnessed the sun setting by the ummm buildings and kalsada. and road construction machines. hehehe. that's the best sunset i could see these days. yes, the sun still sets beautifully and gloriously in the midst of life's hustles and (not so) occasional glitches.

tangkilikin natin ang freebies - OMG

2011-06-10T08:47:00.001+08:00

at talagang napa OMG ako sa mga pangyayari kagabi. hindi ko maipaliwanag kung paanong ang plano kong ipahinga ang na injure kong paa ay nauwi sa matinding parusa at pagtityagang pumila sa IT fair. OMG talaga. para sa libreng tv!

so it all started when i decided to work from home after having a bad foot after jogging. the plan was to complete some pr forms and sleep early. heto na si general aldwin tumawag... may free na tv raw ang starhub cable kapag new subscription. since our current subscription is under april's name, we have to terminate it and get a new plan under my name. sounds like a witty plan, but here are the glitches:

1. we had to go to suntec because that's where the roadshow is. seriously - masakit ang paa ko!
2. we had to go last night because baka maubos daw ang tvs kung ngayon pa. seriously - 7pm na!
3. seriously - bakit ba seriously ako nang seriously? makaarte lang :p

so we got there at 8:30 pm. we queued, the staff warned us that the processing will take about 2 to 3 hours. seriously?! pero since kailangan namin ng tv sa kwarto. sige tyagaan na itong matindi. we waited for our turn. 120+ customers lang naman ang nakapila. 120+! heto pa:

1. hindi pa kami nagdidinner
2. hindi ka na makakalabas para bumili ng food dahil di ka na makakapasok ulit
3. may katabi kaming annoying, noisy, big (sorry, i just have to say) girl

but we survived! for the love of freebies! what did we get?

1. a new and better channel set
2. a new tv, to be collected after july 11
3. $40 robinsons voucher
4. a disney tumbler for keyla
5. free water. i super appreciate this. this sustained us!

11:30 and it's a done deal. ang isa pang matinding pagkakamali - nag bus 518 kami. at nakarating sa bahay after an hour. dinner was served at 1:00 am - maggi chicken noodles.

susme! anong pangyayari ito sa buhay namin? :)))

cheese sticks :)

2011-06-08T18:49:00.001+08:00

meryenda last sunday = cheese sticks love

pros:
- super yumyum
- cheese overload

cons:
- hard to prepare
- hindi nakakabusog

i had more than 5 sticks but these didn't sustain me hahaha!

kung po 3d

2011-06-08T08:42:00.001+08:00

watched kung fu panda 2 in 3d last friday. loved it! hilarious! we watched it in golden village in tampines. kuya said cathay cinemas are better so we'll try it next time :)

we were sitting next to 2 girls who were around 9 - 10 yrs old. it was fun because i got to watch a kiddie movie plus witness children's reactions in the purest forms! lulutong ng tawa ang saya! hihihi!

hey, this is our 2nd sg movie date! :) the first one was source code. so this is how it goes when you are together! go go go!

stealth mode

2011-06-07T23:40:00.001+08:00

two buildings trying to hide behind some trees. life's like that sometimes. no matter how hard you try to hide, "they" just keep on finding you.

ps: wala akong pinaghuhugutan. i just like the scene, that's all. :)

sharing my room

2011-05-28T14:53:00.117+08:00

next tuesday will be a legendary day. my husband is coming here - FOR GOOD. i know it isn't easy for him to leave his room, his house, his friends, his car, his family. it isn't easy taking away your comfort zone. likewise, it isn't easy taking you away from your comfort zone. but honey, we have to build our own comfort zone together. it isn't easy for me too because this is the first time i'm sharing a room (and my life) with a "stranger", you know :) and we both have to adjust and we can't get there unless we start now.

some 5 months ago, we got married, signed that piece of paper, and lived our separate lives just the same. now where's the marriage there? i could say i've had enough of long distance affairs and i'm feeling i'm getting too old for it, life is too short! let's live our life to the fullest -- being TOGETHER.

here are a few preparations, as you requested:

a mat at the entrance of the door

and a matching one beside the bed so we could wipe off the dust before getting on the bed. see that bin? this is where we'll put your socks, as you requested too :)

on this site will rise (hehe) our tv. it's a tv rack, alright, but it acts as a vanity drawer for now. tv coming soon, i hope. now we have to get a new kikay corner. ps: keyla got all the stuff into a big mess! it's not me!

a bedside table. i was hesitant to buy the drawer i found in ikea. it's a bit small so the table will do for now (batas militar, i know).

a computer/study table. this one's all for you. i could do without one, but as you requested, i got you one :) i know the chair's not ergonomically built and we already get backaches just by looking at it. one by one, we'll get there.

a bench at the foot of the bed. you said you wanted to have one, so here it is :) i'm thinking of transferring it to the other side of the bed so we could sit on it when watching tv... let's see.

and the sacred resting place, the bed :) oh, remember the quilt cover that mama gave us? the one that's apparently a king size and wouldn't fit our quilt because we have a queen size? i already altered it and now it fits perfectly! :)

and something to remind us of the happiest day of our lives. that's an everlasting flower on the background. got it from the bouquet you gave me the last time you were here.

i know you are sad for now, saying goodbye to your friends and family, saying goodbye to your single life, but beyond that "death" is a new life that we'll build together. i will forever thank you for the sacrifice. let's seal it all with a prayer that things will continue to be better. after all, the best is yet to come. God makes ALL things beautiful in His time :)

are you ready? brace yourself! let's be A W E S O M E together, sweetheart!

byebye, baby tee!

2011-05-17T11:16:00.003+08:00

i am such a sentimental freak. some 6 years ago, i was sent to ohio for a one-month training. those days were sweet. weekends were spent visiting other filipino communities or going places or going shopping. i don't really love shopping. i rarely shop and i just buy clothes when i need them. sometimes i need them and i still feel lazy to shop. yahoo!

but since i was there and shops were everywhere, ok, i got a few items. and by few, i really mean few! i could even count the items i bought and i think of them more as souvenirs of good times.

there's this gap baby yellow tee for, ehem, kids - size 10. i loved this shirt! i know ate maj also bought one. i was thinking i should have bought a dozen. why didn't i? it's very cute and comfy and fits me perfectly! i wore it a lot when i went out.

after a few years, my favorite shirt became so losyang because of wear and tear. she became so losyang that she was embarrassed to be seen in public and just wanted to stay home. thus, she became a pambahay.

and now... i made a very hard decision... i am about to clean the house and i have no basahan. baby gap is a very sound candidate because she is the oldest in the bunch. she even has stretch marks! poor baby tee. she will now have a different purpose in life, and that is to make other things squeaky clean.

here is baby tee in her less glorious form. sniff sniff.

iced green tea

2011-05-17T10:46:00.049+08:00

when i was a kid, tang was the known brand for panghimagas orange juice and then came eight o 'clock. and of course there was nestea iced lemon tea! everything comes in powder and in tetra packs! hehe. nestea iced tea was a wonderful treat at home.

one hot, summer day, we ran out of nestea (not that it was a staple at home. as mentioned, it was just a treat.) papa boiled some water, dumped in a few liption yellow tea bags, some sugar, calamansi, and tons of ice. and it dawned on my childhood brain that iced tea is simply just "iced" tea! yes, it was obvious, but i didn't know it was one and the same! haha ang labo ko. i was surprised at how it tasted so similar to nestea, and even better! so there goes the history of how i came to know how iced tea is made. :) well, the powdered iced tea is another story.

a few weeks ago, we didn't have juice on a hot day. i used the same ingredients that my papa did, but as we don't have yellow tea, i used green tea.

verdict: hmmm... hindi masarap. toinks!

let's just stick to yellow tea, pokka even! :p

life's little surprises

2011-05-17T01:26:00.001+08:00

2 weeks ago, we were not at our best.

you were there, i was here.

you think this way, i think otherwise.

you do the most "normal" things, i get upset.

every little thing is foul.

every little thing is magnified.

then i told myself a good movie with good friends is a good thing to do on a good, long weekend. fine, do your stuff and i'll do mine (plus, i'm really excited over this movie... why not, it's thor!) when was the last time i watched a movie? all done, tickets were booked courtesy of elzie. she even sent us the confirmation number.

then one of the most bizarre things happened. elzie told us that due to "technical issues", our movie tickets were not booked. ergo, movie date is cancelled. fine. "what about the confirmation number?" i thought. being the gullible person that i am, i believed. no doubt, no questions asked.

then came sunday. i had to go to church alone. kuya, april, and keyla went to a baby shower party. i was feeling a little sad hearing mass alone, but i realized a me-time isn't that bad, and in fact it was very good. i felt very peaceful, very one with my God. after mass, i roamed around pasir ris west mall and looked for anything interesting i could find.

then i got a phone call from tita. she was asking me where i was and what time i would be home. odd, i thought. tita never calls me, never asks where i am and what time i'll be home. i told her i'm about 10 minutes away from home.

then i arrived home, the wonderful baby girl greeted me with cheerful shrieks and laughter. i carried her and we went to my room.

then i found flowers on my bed. who could be sending me flowers? i asked tita but she didn't answer. fine. maybe those are from kuya.

then i found you at the door, with the biggest smile on your face, the warmest hug in the world, and one of the most priceless moments that halted time.

then i remembered again how you seldom give surprises but the ones that you execute are just the cutest and the sweetest.

then i'm reminded once again that i'm spending the rest of my life with you. bati na tayo. fine.

PS: i missed thor. it's a connivance. a pleasant connivance :) life is wonderful.

the saddest place

2011-04-16T18:16:00.033+08:00

this is changi mrt station and i think this is the saddest place in singapore. i only go here when i send someone to the airport. i started to associate it with sadness because i go and bring a loved one to the airport and i go through the ordeal of taking the mrt all by myself.

the last time was last monday when i had to bring my husband to the airport and, again, i had to be in this place alone when it was time for me to go home. surprisingly, i wasn't madrama that time. maybe because sending him away means i am welcoming him soon after 1.5 months - this time for good! come to momma!

this place isn't so sad after all :)

parang nagbabasa lang ako ng magazine

2011-04-16T18:16:00.012+08:00

and linaw linaw mo

para lang akong ano

nagbabasa ba ng magazine

gusto kong ika'y maging akin

yuck ang corny.

pero 'di nga. nagulat kami ang mura na lang nito. i think mga 1300 to 1400 na lang sya. super linaw!

the little girl turns one, the mommy turns 31

2011-04-16T18:14:00.142+08:00

april 9 - araw ng kagitingan

april 9 - kaarawan ni april

april 9 - kaarawan ni keyla

wow! 3 wonderful events happening on the same day every year! how cool!

last year, april's due date fell on the 1st/2nd week of april. they had a very brilliant idea of inducing her labor on april's birthday. because of this, the hospital gave them a present: a cake! and they get to have the pleasure of celebrating their birthdays on the same day, year after year after year after year. :)

i heard some of april's pregnant friends are now considering of inducing labor if the birth month falls on a significant month too. wow trendsetter! :)

so the little one turns 1. but wait, there's more! the mommy turns 31 too!

next year, the little one will turn 2 and the mommy turns 32! how poetic. hehehe. i love it!

here is keyla's lovely dress and balloons, i was in charge of carrying these. if i let go of the balloons, the balloons will go to heaven, we also say goodbye to the dress. hihi. dead ako.

feelingera mode: on
nakikibirthday mode. woohoo!

tito mike celebrating with us. we just had to have a picture with the balloons!

and the hats too

thanks to donna for allowing us to celebrate at their place. here's everybody busy - pumping more balloons and adorning the place. bhernz and kaloy were the first ones to arrive to help in the preparations. very helpful :)

keyla's birthday cake! the baker is a pinay. a very good pinay. it wasn't just lovely, it was yummy as well. i think it tastes like goldilocks choco cake, only it's heavier.

here are the loot bags - not only for kiddies but also for the adults. chocos inside :)

here's the background of the "stage". they painstakingly went through thousands and thousands of keyla's pictures to come up with the cutest set. i wouldn't agree with the last sentence though. any picture with keyla in it is cute (stage auntie, but hey everybody would agree) :) they printed these on photo paper and the effect was perfect.

pens from divisoria as prizes for the games. such cute pens!

and hats for everybody!

the little one, probably still unaware of how special this day is, and how special she is, and how special her mother is too.

april is lucky to have good friends who host our parties and organize the games. donna, roanne, bhernz, noemi, neri are the best and they're always game and alive na alive during parteh partehs.
there were games for kids:

and games for adults too.
easy on the balloons, big boy! :)

easy on the kendeng, papa! :)

here are the ubs people after having a full tank. :p burp. wow! ang galing ko naman magtago ng billbill. nakakagigill.

and finally, the birthday song and the candle blowing. a few days before the birthday, we trained keyla to blow her candles. the best she could muster though was a faint "ha". pure voice and no air. haha. no pressure, little girl! mommy can blow it for both of you :)

PS: it isn't so obvious here but my tummy is just so yucky and so big! tita, an ever appreciative mother, said, "hindi naman, mahigpit lang ang damit mo nang konti siguro." awww! i love mothers!

the version 2 of the camacho family

PS: i love keyla's shoes! where can i find one for myself?

a dramatic birthday letter to april and keyla:

ever dearest april and keyla,

april, when you came into kuya's life a few years ago, i was so happy to finally see my kuya happy again. i think i've seen just the surface of him at his lowest point and it was a devastating sight. i could not gauge how happy he is (and me too) when you finally came around. i know it's wrong to say that somebody came to fill the missing piece, but you did just that - and more. i was simply thankful that someone as patient and understanding as you came. couldn't ask for more.

kuya did not just have a partner, i came to have a sister as well. i grew up being the only girl in the family but it wasn't even a challenge living with a new girl around. it was even a blessing and a privilege. it wasn't hard and it will never be hard to accept you in the family :) you are the best!

keyla, when you came into our lives, you couldn't imagine how happy we were. i know i love kids but i couldn't imagine how much i will love you. when you were born, my first glimpse of you was from your dad's camera. i cried. you were so tiny yet i could see a lot of kuya and april in you. i could even see a tiny part of me in you. you were a miracle. you are a special girl. your first cries were merely kitten meows. now you are a tiger. sheesh.

living with you is a blessing. everyday, i get to see how you learn new things. i get to see how you grow up to be a playful (that's a subtler way of saying maldita mwehehehe) little girl. every morning, i get awakened by your babbles (and baby tv) and i know it's time to wake up and play with keyla! i'm not your mother but i am excited to go home everyday because i know you are there. i swear i could play with you all day. i could play with you all my life.

april and keyla, i love you both.

nagmamahal,

ate charo

ps: thanks to kuya's cam, mike's cam, and my phone for the pics.

off to chinatown we went

2011-04-13T22:40:00.288+08:00

on mike's 2nd day, we went to chinatown so he could see what's there and take some pictures. i've been there before to shop for our prenup dresses. :) it's pretty much the same as all the other chinatowns - hehe i've only seen manila and NY - but it's worth visiting :)

i went there wearing this lovely pair of comfy shoes, given by my mother-in-law from the shopping haven, divisoria. it's hot pink, as you could see, and i got a lot of stares wearing it (maybe i'm just paranoid), but i really, really, really love it!

first things that caught my attention were these oriental-inspired slippers. we started this slippers/shoes-off scheme at the house and i'm loving it. kuya isn't. so to compromise, he will keep all shoes off the floor but he's looking for a nice pambahay tsinelas. i sent them the pic and asked if he liked it. he didn't. k fine. thanks.

next stop was the chinatown heritage center. it was rather funny how we bumped into this museum. we were just looking around when a man approached us and asked if we wanted to go and see the museum for 10SGD. napakadali naming kausap. we said yes and went in :p it was time well spent anyway. we were able to see a slice of the history of singapore.

the following are pictures taken from the museum. pretty interesting :)

we learned that by the 1920s, opium was sold OTC. wow! here's an old man who seemed so lulong. goosebumps! when i was living in the humble barangay of sto. nino, everybody knew drugs were rampant but i never saw someone actually doing it. might be a scary sight.

not only drugs but brothels were also rampant and there was a time when stds were so widespread! here is a how a typical brothel looked like. goosebumps ulit!

i think this is my favorite quote in the museum. this was one of the early migrant workers. i think we're talking about early 1900s here. the caption says, "When we first came here, we thought about making some money and going home. Then, after some time here, we wanted to work a little longer and a little longer after that. We forgot about going home altogether." i feel a lot of the filipinos here could relate.

here is a board showcasing the origin of the chinese family names. when you turn the blocks, it shows some more information about the family name. hihihi they look an awful lot like mahjong to me. :)

i love these windows that also doubled as blinds. i think i wouldn't want something like this when i get my own home as it doesn't let too much sunlight in but it's just a fascinating thing, the way you can peep without actually opening the windows. i played with it for a while.

i call this my reverse version. when you stand at the bottom of the stairs, you could see a timeline of the history of singapore. there's a chronological order of years and what happened on that particular year. well, i wasn't that much interested on the year ekek so i just took a picture from the top of the stairs :) what did i attain? nothing. hihihi.

ah, this one's nice too. this is how hawkers looked back then! if i remember correctly, the first hawkers were a wide array of street food on wheels which were rather unhygienic and for the less privileged classes. now, when i hear hawker, i think of inexpensive, yummy, authentic foodie! think of lau pa sat!

spell yummy! hawker food!

dragon dance! it was funny how this dragon "mechanically" danced. it was so stiff and as in literal na may mga kanto ang damoves nya!

hmm, operas were also sikat back then. when i saw this part, i remember HS: ibong adarna, florante at laura, and how we were so gaga over earl ignacio. sheesh. where is he now?

nice structure :)

and this is my 2nd favorite quote. the migrant workers lived in shophouses, which were shops where they get their means of living and at the same time their homes too. imagine crammed rooms with work areas and sleeping areas. there were common toilets. and toilets = buckets. what do you do when a bucket gets full? you empty it. i wouldn't want to be a bucket collector. please, no. thought bubble... if a bucket collector spilled the pupu and the wiwi on the floor of the house, who would clean the mess and how long will the stench remain? :-S

the common kitchen of a shophouse. i wasn't shocked. we could see similar scenes in manila. :(

and this is a sample of the crammed shophouse. this is a typical setup during the dark years of sg. sad to say, we still have this same setup back home.

probably one of the bigger shops. this is a tailor house. aha, only the rich can afford to have tailor-made suits back then. sosyal ka kung nagpapatahi ka ng damit! now, it's the other way around. you find a style that you like and you go to your suking mananahi to have your dress cloned.

an old school sewing machine. awww. we have this in our paranaque house! lola, i miss you!

i realize i don't have a picture of the diorama of a shophouse. it was so realistic! sayang.

so that's it for the heritage center. we went out and explored the other streets of chinatown.

here's the hindu temple:

and what's inside:

and what you have to leave behind before you go in:

we wanted to go in but we were wearing shorts and we weren't sure if you are allowed to go in if you're in shorts. we didn't ask.

yet another temple, the chinese temple. i was able to see what's inside during the time mami and wawin visited us a few months ago. quite interesting.

there's a time to walk.

and a time to eat.

chow time at maxwell hawker center!

crispy noodles yum

chicken rice semi-yum because it's fried. i like the roasted or steamed style better.

pineapple juice was a little bit weird but yum just the same. mikey liked it too. he said the juice base was sugarcane and they just put pineapple tidbits. i can't recognize the sugarcane taste though.

that concludes the chinatown adventure.

dear mikey,

i'm so looking forward to spending more and more days of going here and there with you. let's visit every nook and corner! we'll go places as long as our feet can carry us. and if the time comes that my feet can't, carry me, will you? haha donya?!

love,

the tagpuan and the midnight snack

2011-04-11T23:36:00.078+08:00

mike arrived from manila on the 7th of april. he went here for the birthday party of keyla and april on the 9th. i originally wanted to fetch him at the airport but i had to go to work that day (sheesh, i had to change holiday dates thrice!) so we just decided to meet at tanah merah at 7pm. tagpuang malupit ito!

and there he was, sitting on one of the marble seats on the train platform. he had a backpack, a luggage with wheels, and a paper bag. i looked inside the bag as he said it was his gift for keyla. i found the most adorable thing: a talking dog named violet. sure it was wonderful. the thing is, keyla has this same dog. i gave it to her last christmas. AND mike was with me when i bought this same pup in manila. hahaha! he totally forgot about it. men and memory. tsk. hehehe. here's violet, pic taken from amazon.com

NOTE: on keyla's birthday, she received yet another violet talking dog :)) now she has triplets! hahaha. but mike took his violet pup home and replaced the gift with another one.

we headed home, had a quick dinner, and went to the new home. the owner wanted to meet us so she could take away all the stuff that we won't need. we were supposed to meet kuya and april at the new place but i'm such an expert in directions - we had to do a back-and-forth-cha-cha thing. hays. we didn't make it on time so mike wasn't able to see the house.

when we got home, we decided to have a midnight snack at the kapit-hawker area. we had prata! mike's was with onions and egg, mine was with cheese. the curry was great! for panghimagas, we had iced milo. ang surrrap! hihihi.

imported corned beef

2011-04-11T23:36:00.015+08:00

as an effect of kuya's health consciousness efforts, i have been deprived of anything that's beef based. beef steak, tapa, ground beef, nilagang beef. beef isn't part of our groceries list. period. yes, even corned beef! who doesn't like or eat corned beef?!

mike was here last week (he went home today huhu). before he went here, he asked me if i wanted any food pasalubong. corned beef! i didn't think twice. now we have purefoods chunky corned beef. i think there's also argentina. but what's special is this palm corned beef. ate a boasted of how yummy this brand is so i requested for palm as well. hay heaven nga naman ang palm!

breakfast last thursday: palm corned beef garlic flavor, fried rice, coffee mixed with choco. ANG SARAP! please excuse the madungis na placemat. ehem.

ang sarap ng imported corned beef from the philippine islands!

project 365 - FAILURE :p

2011-04-11T22:55:00.002+08:00

hehe. ok, i'm putting this project 365 thing into a full stop :p can't do it.

i will be my usual self now. the project was fun! but... not easy for me. thanks! bye! hehe.

chokies from sweecherland

2011-04-02T00:49:00.014+08:00

lolo was in town last week. he's one sweet lolo. he came bearing wonderful choco presents from sweecherland. the chocolates came from our inay and lolo.

such sweet colleagues! such sweet chocos! :)

abstain

2011-04-02T00:49:00.012+08:00

last, last friday, we were at plaza singapura for dinner. while april, tita, and keyla went to meet some friends for dinner, kuya and i dined at the food court.

in observance of abstinence, we had saba fish and fried tofu. now, i really feel that abstinence is not achieved because naman! i love saba fish! and the fried tofu is just as yummy! for dessert (at talagang may dessert pa!), he had iced kacang and i had this sumptuous choco ice cream! love it! it's so cheap ha! pero it's perfect! where's abstinence?!

i can't say i will abstain from some other good stuff because i haven't been abstaining from anything. hay.

project 365 - day 28 - marie marie marie

2011-04-02T00:49:00.008+08:00

weee! marie biscuits! :) i have very fond memories of this delectable treat :) when i was a kid, i used to buy marie biscuits from ka perlita's sari-sari store. there was a small size (50 cents) and a big one (piso). oh, the wonderful things you could buy with a peso back then!

3 marie biscuits were contained in a clear, thin cellophane with red "marie" prints. papa would give me some coins before he went to his office and afternoons were extra special because of marie merienda :)

marie tastes like graham crackers. but during my childhood days,since i didn't know what graham crackers were, marie was simply marie hihihi.

some time last week, sunshine bought marie biscuits - chocolate flavor. what??? they come in chocolate flavor now? sweet! marie marie marie. i like :)

ang hangganan ng pag-ibig

2011-03-31T00:01:00.003+08:00

*** warning: this is a semi-cheesy post ***

ang pag-iibigan namin ni mike ay may hangganan. opo. ngayon pa lang, alam na namin ang mga hangganan ng pagtitinginan namin.

bilang magkalayo ang pag-iibigan namin, minsan nag-uutuan kami sa webcam para mas sumaya ang usapan. kung sino ang unang mang-uto, dapat magpauto at magparaya ang isa. bawal ang hindi magpauto. example: ipapamonstra ko kay mike ang mga kissing scene sa pelikula - yung tipong nakanguso ka at nagmo-move sideways left and right yung ulo mo. kapag ginawa nya yun, panalo! tawang-tawa ako at naka score ako sa pang-uuto!

kapag pinagawa nya sakin 'to, gagawin ko rin naman. at matutuwa naman syang nauto ako. ganyan kababaw ang trip namin. :))

one time, gusto kong mang-uto, "mike, kiss mo ko parang sa pelikula." ay, ayaw ni kuya. tumanggi! ayaw raw nya magpauto nung araw na yun. e corny ang hindi nagpapauto. with all my might, halos pasigaw na nga, sinabi kong, "AYOKO NA SAYO! MAY HANGGANAN ANG PAG-IBIG MO SAKIN!"

nag-iba ang muka ni kuya na parang na constipate na natatawa, sabay sabing, "naririnig ka nila!" hahaha nakabukas pala ang pinto at narinig ni ate (pinsan), manang (kasambahay), at charles (doggy) ang pag-iinarte ko. siguro sabi nila, ang weird ko. weno? :))

yan ang hangganan ng pag-ibig nya sakin.

ang hangganan naman ng pag-ibig ko sa kanya ay american idol. ipinagpapalit ko ang chat time namin sa american idol. tipong naiirita pa ako pag kinukulit nya ako at marami pa syang sinasabi at magsisimula na ang show. hahaha! weno? sorry naman, sumusubaybay ako e! sa mga pagkakataong palabas ang american idol, ang drama ni kuya ay, "sige, manood ka na. may hangganan ang pag-ibig mo sakin. hanggang 10:00 lang ang pag-ibig mo kasi american idol na."

yan. yan ang alamat ng mga hangganan nag pag-iibigan nina mike at caths. bow.

project 365 - day 27 - my sako bag

2011-03-30T22:48:00.003+08:00

this is my favorite sako bag. when april was assigned in japan about 2 years ago, she asked me if i wanted to buy a bag. i said yes, trusted her judgment to pick one for me, and my favorite bag was born. good choice, april!

i love it because: 1) it's big and matibay, 2) it's white and goes with any saplot color, 3) it's simple.

whenever i fly back to manila, i bring this as my carry-on bag. what does it hold? my laptop, among other stuff that didn't fit in my check-in luggage. it's one tough bag, huh? one time, on my flight back to singapore, just before takeoff, i put the bag under the chair in front of me. there was a baby on board and he was sitting right in front of me. the baby vomited... a lot... and the vomit reached my bag. :( the good news is: it was mostly milk stuff so it wasn't too obvious. hahaha! poor baby, poor bag.

i also use it as an almost-everyday bag simply because i lili lili like it!

i somehow regret using it as a sako because it's really getting old and worn out. asus, i've never been a careful person when it comes to bags (or to any other personal possession). now i'm wishing i cared for it more. how do i clean it? dry clean? how do i make the body less lanta? almerol?

you are awesome!

2011-03-30T00:29:00.002+08:00

can i just boast of another proof that my God is an awesome God? i could not count the times when i am in dire need of something, and when i haven't even started asking yet, God readily provides. i do not know what i had done in my past life (if i had one), or what i have consciously or unconsciously done in my younger years, that made me deserve the blessings i have now.

i always find myself buying toto tickets, hoping for the luck lightning to hit me just once. then i dream of all the wonderful things my family and i could have. i never win.

today, my Father told me why. it's because He will provide. it's as simple as that. i always have this birthday wish for friends: "may God shower you with just the right amount of blessings. not too much and not too little." and i'm having just that.

the wedding last year + a number of emergencies at home + contributions left me anticipating for paydays. earlier last year, i would never ask, "may sweldo na ba?" i could buy what i want and still have some more left. i never worried. and with the 2-year house contract that will start this april, we are obliged to cough out a huge amount for the deposit. we haven't anticipated a 2-year contract and i haven't recovered yet from the cash-outs from last year. where do i get my share for this cash-out?

i haven't even asked God for help (i'm a bit shy) and after lunch, an unbelievable news came :) problem solved. what's amazing is: the timing and the figures are perfect!

ps: i miss the days when i don't look forward to paydays but as long as God catches me, i'm fine. i thank you.

my God is an awesome God!!! :)

"but the one who boasts must boast in the Lord."

project 365 - day 26 - bahaghari!

2011-03-27T23:40:00.001+08:00

for the sake of the beauty of the rainbow in this picture, i'm pretending i'm in a good mood at this moment.

we were off to another house viewing earlier today when we spotted this beautiful rainbow. it was drizzling and we were walking near pasir ris mrt when we saw it. the last time i saw a rainbow was around a year ago. so rarely does a rainbow appear that i sometimes think it's a mythical thing :) whenever i see one, i still imagine that there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. and i imagine rainbow brite riding a pony and finding the pot of gold. only, the pot of gold is a cartoon too. it follows since rainbow brite is a cartoon hehehe.

btw, the house viewing didn't go well. getting tired of the house-hunting routine. hope we find a good place soon.

there goes my balat-kayo happy post. i hope i did a good job. good night.

project 365 - day 25 - earth hour (not)

2011-03-27T00:43:00.004+08:00

there's no earth hour on this nook of the earth :( look at all those lights!

we were very eager to participate in the earth hour. 8pm -> we had dinner at home. 8:30 -> we turned off all the lights and headed to the pool area. and this is what we saw :( all lights were ablaze! there were a number of units with no lights but we're not sure if they participated or if the owners were just away from home.

i love how manila participates so dramatically for this event. i remember seeing a lot of videos from last year where the filipinos creatively showed their support! mall parking lots were lined with candles - so nice! today, i saw a friend's tweet saying there were fire dancers inside SM southmall to entertain the people in the darkness! how lovely!

i wish people here have that eagerness too. i wish we "celebrate" a weekly or even a daily earth hour! imagine all the quiet hours you could spend with your loved ones! well, our hour wasn't wisely spent today because we didn't really talk. kuya was playing with keyla. april, tita, and i were having quality time with our cellphones. blah.

in the following little gestures, maybe i somehow ease mommy nature's pain:

as much as i can, i try to avoid using straw in drinking. i learned this trick from daphne osena and i agree. we don't really need straw :)
say no to plastic bags when purchasing small items. i have eco bags but i haven't been faithful in bringing and using them. overall, i am still dependent on plastic bags but i try to decline whenever possible.
reuse resealable plastic bags

omg, that's it! just 3? aww. i'm still guilty of not being very vigilant and conservative in terms of energy and water consumption. :(

PS: this could pass for an earth hour picture. :)

project 365 - day 24 - pakikay

2011-03-25T22:43:00.002+08:00

this pic was taken last night while we were watching american idol. keyla's so funny. if she sees you wearing her clip, she'll snatch it from you. if she sees you wearing her shades, she'll take it from you. she ended up wearing everthing!

she's learning so many things now! she can stand for about half a minute, she can walk 2 steps so far. then she realizes she's not holding on to anything, gets scared, and sits down. oh, and that pa-bubbles-gamit-laway thing is so kadiri but because it's keyla, it's the cutest thing hahaha!

you rock, keyla!

project 365 - day 23 - ewness

2011-03-23T23:19:00.008+08:00

ok, so i'm cheating on my project 365. i'm not posting on some days and i'm double posting today. hehe.

but i really, really have to show this one 'cause it's so kadiri. i found tons of dirt inside my keyboard at the office. i always see some dirt inside but i never knew there was this much dirt! and it's not even all of it! i frantically shook my keyboard and all the dirt and hair started to fall. i stopped shaking after a few minutes because i looked too weird doing it.

where did all the dirt come from? i doubt those strands of hair are mine because the last time i checked, my hair length > 6 inches. hehehe. there are food stuff, dust, and who knows what in there! yak. maybe tomorrow i'll do the shake thing again. good luck to me! goodbye to the dirt!

project 365 - day 22 - amber, purple, and blue

2011-03-23T23:19:00.006+08:00

on our way to our house viewing earlier today:

the sky was captivating!

the photo didn't give justice to the majestic scene

the way i see it...

amber - like a glowing fire, the sun mightily displays its last moments of splendor

purple - somewhere in between of day and night, not loud, not serene

blue - the night finally winning the battle, not exactly dark, more of peaceful

so much drama in one spot!

amazing to think that despite the chaos all over the world

there are still moments when you can hold your breath and be still

so the world is ending as others negatively see it

forget about everything and just marvel at life's little miracles

live life to the fullest everyday! (talking to self)

who knows, the pessimists are right, but you can't go wrong if you appreciate the tiniest wonders everyday

xox love love xox

project 365 - day 21 - a love worth giving

2011-03-23T23:18:00.003+08:00

jan is one of the most generous persons i know. she's currently reading "a love worth giving" by max lucado. she raves about it everyday. since she likes it so much, she bought another copy and gave it to me. awww. i haven't started reading it yet but i'm excited!

at the back of the book, it says: "loving people isn't easy" -- indeed! i could think of a couple of acquaintances now and i could say that i don't love them. i may even hate them at times. :)) or let's just say i find it difficult to like them. they may feel the same way about me, for all i know! hahaha! it's more of an "internal" dislike because i usually try my best to not show it.

oh, the hubby thing is another issue. i am still guilty of sleeping with unresolved grudges. while mike forgives so easily, i feel i need x number of hours before i feel ok and say, "ok, we're ok." until then, don't talk to me, i won't talk to you, i will keep on insisting that nothing is wrong even if you ask - which is bad. i know. but i find it really hard. as in. i'm not saying it's right. i just find it hard to be ok when i'm not ok. i'll learn the art of fixing-what-needs-to-be-fixed-before-the-day-ends. i promise i'll practice.

reading the book soon! thanks to jan for the gift of good vibes! i'm a bad girl and i want to be a better person. hahaha!

project 365 - day 20 - move it

2011-03-20T22:32:00.001+08:00

ok, it's not a magic wand. it's kuya's new toy and nakiki-toy ako. :) it's ps move and it does make you move! on the tv reflection, kuya's holding the pink wand i'm holding the blue one. i'm not a fan of gaming gadgets but i've tried wii once or twice and it's great! turns out, ps move is ps's wii. haha. labo.

we tried the table tennis game and it's hilarious, fun, and lively! i know we looked like fools because we have a glass wall and people outside could actually see us and all our damoves. but who cares?! it's 100% fun and 100% workout plus ipit sa ugat and punit sa maskels na bonus! san ka pa?

kuya also tried the archery game. ok, hindi ko kakayanin itong game na 'to. kakaiba sya hahaha. you hold 2 wands and monstra monstra ang moves ng archery. yes, even when you pick up the arrows from your backpack, i-mo-move mo. too funny!

we agreed to play every night :) let's see how long this gaga-ness will last. hahaha.

project 365 - day 19 - now what?

2011-03-19T01:42:00.002+08:00

ok, so i now have my exercise mat. interested in trying yoga.

ok, so i now have a book about making earrings. borrowed it from the library. and sunshine taught me where to buy the epektos.

ok, so i also really, really want to try knitting. and sunshine also taught me where to buy the knitting stuff.

now what?

project 365 - day 18 - slumber!

2011-03-18T00:32:00.002+08:00

the baby girl in deep sleep! i love it how she sleeps this way. dapa kung dapa! pati muka nakadapa susme. pano na ang ilong? :p

sleep peacefully, dear baby! mwah!

project 365 - day 17 - yours and mine

2011-03-16T22:16:00.000+08:00

this is how my towel rack will look like in a few more weeks.

naks.

parang pang may-asawa na a.

thanks to ate a for the gift. i just washed them :)

for now, balik cabinet muna kayo, dear towels.

babush.

meme na.

project 365 - day 16 - tweets to @God

2011-03-14T23:08:00.003+08:00

dear God,

please be advised that i created you a twitter account #manual_nga_lang

your timeline is the fancy glass bowl #candle_holder_from_ikea

last night, i sent you 5 tweets #pls_see_inside_bowl

wow! you have 4 new tweets! #pls_see_outside_bowl

love,

project 365 - day 15 - hanggang sa muli, donya guada

2011-03-13T23:05:00.004+08:00

i've been working overseas for almost 4 years now. i don't know why we still cry each time we say goodbye. mike said that the setting in their house is very different when somebody has to leave. it's very casual, like they'll see each other again after a few hours. for the camachos, it's drama rama sa hapon.

donya guada stayed here for 2 months to take care of the baby girl. the original plan was wawin and donya guada will be here for only a month and somebody will replace them in taking care of keyla. as nobody else could go here by the time they had to go, donya guada had to extend her stay for another month. wawin went home just in time for his birthday. donya guada and i sent him off and we both cried like we won't see each other again.

our days are extra crazy when donya guada is around. we talk about everything grand and silly. her laughter is contagious. we gossip. we look at FB posts. she cooks very well - and she recycles food so good it doesn't even taste like tira-tira. she has the best diskarte in town. when we get home, she tells us her yaya tales in an oh-so-animated manner. she is the best.

this is a picture of us in our last hawker lunch today. see her hair is all white now. she said she won't dye her hair anymore so people would stop commenting, "para mo lang anak si keyla" on her FB. hehehe.

sa paglisan ni donya guada, bumaha na naman ang mga luha. 'di ko na alam kung bakit ganun pa rin kami ka-emotional. si kuya man, lumuha rin daw sa airport. kaya nga ba't hindi na ako sumama sa airport. magmumuka lang akong batang inagawan ng lobo :(

at upang hindi ko masyadong maramdaman ang lungkot paglisan nila, inalagaan ko si keyla, naglinis ako ng bahay nang bonggang bongga. nagluto ako ng paksiw. nagluto ako ng pesang isda. nagluto ako ng manok na pang chicken sandwich. nakalimutan kong malungkot ako. nakatulong.

ngayong bago ako matulog, humupa na ang adrenaline. napagod ako. masakit na ang likod ko kakatrabaho. naalala ko na namang malungkot ako dahil umuwi na si donya guada. minessage ko sya sa FB. sinabi kong regret kong hindi ko sya hinug ng mas matagal dahil matagal na naman kaming hindi magkikita. hay. ang tahimik ng bahay. umuwi na si donya guada.

project 365 - day 14 - one little candle

2011-03-12T23:19:00.002+08:00

lighting a little candle for the earth... if earth is our mother, she would be a battered, abused, torn, old woman. she has cared for all the races throughout the ages and we just go on pretending that she can sustain us forever.

lighting a little candle for all the victims in japan: dead or alive. those who survived need a great deal of strength to start over again. those who died are probably still lost souls. i wouldn't know for certain though.

project 365 - day 13 - pambayad

2011-03-11T00:11:00.003+08:00

during our honeymoon in boracay, mike borrowed his papa's digicam - a sony w370. i could tell my father-in-law (sometimes it still feels weird to say that i have a father-in-law and a mother-in-law now) fancies the cam so much as it has a panorama shot, and a high pixel pixel chuva.

so the unthinkable happens during the honeymoon - we broke the camera! wow! how do you break a camera during your honeymoon? simple: take it by the poolside, don't bring a tripod. instead, put it carelessly on a beach table, set the timer, run, and pose like crazy. voila! the camera will fall lens first. it's like suicide and you fall head first. no escaping death that way. we both stared in shock and the first image that flashed in my mind was papa's face and how happy he is when moments are captured by THAT camera. i am a firm believer of miracles and so we still tried to turn it on. uh oh. lens won't retract.

ok, miracles are out of the question. maybe we could try luck? yup, we resorted to luck and looked for a camera repair shop in boracay. luck leaned on our side as we saw a shop and they guaranteed that they can make it work. it was a mere taste test of luck because when we got back the next day, they told us the bad news that they can't fix it.

with heavy hearts, we tried to delay the revelation of the bad news. christmas passed and we were using my own digicam to take pictures. papa wasn't suspicious so all was well. we were the most unfortunate newly weds, i should say. even the sony service center can't help that much. the lens will have to be replaced and the cost is almost the same when you buy a new unit.

we finally had to break the news on the eve of new year. we can't keep on carrying this burden forever. we chose to tell mama. mike said we could leave the pacifying-papa part to mama. mama is ever gracious and took the news well. no questions asked, no scolding, just love :)

up to this day, we never asked mama how she told papa. we just left her with the promise of replacing the camera as soon as we can. and today is the historical day of the IT show. the moment i've been waiting for :) sweet.

i bought a different model, w510. i really, really think that it's a good deal at 199 SGD. freebies include 2 mem sticks, a mini tripod, a cam case, an extra battery. what more can we ask for? life is sweet. dear papa, your camera is coming soon. with the panorama and the high pixel pixel chuva. yay! oh, and sorry for the broken cam... it broke during our honeymoon.

project 365 - day 12 - just like good old zurich days

2011-03-10T00:26:00.001+08:00

i had a lunch date with 2 wonderful people today. jan and shine. jan sprained her ankle and had to stay home for 3 days. shine and i visited her during lunch break today. we had salmon pepper rice, which isn't really abstinence material 'cause it's so sarap. well, not as sarap as april's salmon dish but ok na rin.

some 2 years ago, i was in zurich with these lovely girls. those are some of the best days in my life! life was simple: go to work, go home, cook dinner for 3, chika, laugh, shop at bahnhofstrasse if you can go home early enough, go to beautiful places, try new things, drink on thursdays, get crazy at work, go to church with other filipinos, grocery - este - panic grocery, laptop videoke... hmmm it wasn't simple after all but sure was super great! :)

and so was lunch today! lovely!

project 365 - day 11 - 17th

2011-03-09T00:01:00.002+08:00

view from the pantry on the 17th floor. i don't know what's in that pantry that makes me feel gloomy. must be the tinted glass walls... must be the heights... must be the far-far-away and up-up-there aura. must be the anap people na naninitsit kapag nagkakatuwaan at nagkakatawanan kayo sa pantry.

we heard some news last week that we'll be deported back to the 6th floor. something to look forward to! :) i can't wait!

project 365 - day 10 - my mood today

2011-03-08T00:39:00.001+08:00

project 365 - day 9 - pampabyowti ng balat

2011-03-06T22:53:00.005+08:00

today is gala day with the mommy, with the brother, with the sis-in-law, and with the baby. it's time to say goodbye to the mommy next week so we bought some pasalubongs. isama na rin natin ang pagbili ng mga pansariling pangkolorete.

i labeled the pic for easier illustration. may ganyan?!

sa larangan ng makeup, i'm a loser. hahaha! i'm not sure why, but when i've had a few attempts of applying eye makeup, my brothers said i looked like an aswang. totally absurd. i follow the online tutorials as best as i can, i swear! but i still end up looking like an egyptian. lipstick? they make my lips makunat and i end up having dark and cracked lips.

so i end up applying only the following: face powder, cheek blusher, and lip balm (sometimes). at bago pa man ako makasakay ng bus, most likely e nabura ko na ng panyo ko because i always feel i have too much makeup on.

oh well. halos mag-iisang taon na ang luma kong mekup. old powder is maybelline - i think the shade is too light for my skin color. old blush is revlon - i think the shade is too pinkish for my skin color. but i use them anyway... sayang naman. hetonga't malapit nang maubos. goodie :)

the new powder is... ehem, pigeon baby powder hahaha. i know, i know... but i just love the cute powder case :) the new blush is some shade from body shop. wow ang specific :))) i tried them on when we got home. e ano bang masasabi ko? parang ok naman hahaha ewan ko lang sa paningin ng iba.

bonus treat: kodomo lotion powder. kakaintriga what this is so we bought it. when i tried it tonight, it felt so right. naks. lotion sya pero once it dried, it felt like you applied baby powder on your skin! love it! i love the powder scent too!

notice how i say pampabyowti ng balat (lang). all of these are superficial. it can only temporarily improve the appearance somehow. i wish there are internal beautifiers too! wouldn't it be nice? :)

project 365 - day 8 - baby babble

2011-03-06T00:37:00.004+08:00

the little girl watches her baby babble video. her parents borrowed the dvd from the library yesterday. i could tell she loves it. she's very attentive but she doesn't make attempts to repeat the babbles that she hears. not yet. take your time, little girl. :) she also smiles shyly when she sees something she likes.

she's a big girl now. take your time, little girl. i love you! :)

project 365 - day 7 - sunshine

2011-03-04T21:40:00.002+08:00

friday is lunch out day! we went to lau pa sat today and i got me this yummy corned beef meal at tapa king. i had an interesting learning today.

auntie: how you want egg ah? sunshine? well done?

me: huh? yes, auntie sunshine well done.

auntie: so how? sunshine? well done?

me: yes.

wow! kung masasandok lang siguro ako ni auntie ng sandok nya, sinandok na nya ako. fine. she pointed at sunny-side-up egg.

auntie: like this ah?

me: aaah! yes yes! sunshine!

so sunshine = sunny-side up!

so well-done = sunny-side up na ini-scramble ang yolk!

we learn new things everyday. sometimes you learn it the easy way, sometimes being hit by a sandok is the price. learning isn't cheap.

here it is, my corned beef meal with my sunshine egg :) love it!

project 365 - day 6 - blurry

2011-03-04T00:15:00.002+08:00

last night, i had that dream again.

the one that has been recurring and haunting me for more than 5 years now.

in my dreams, i am tasked to read a reading from the Bible.

the usual setting is in the church during mass.

or sometimes during a gathering, like the scene last night.

there i am, all poised to read and excited to proclaim,

and feeling all honored to be chosen to tell the world of His words.

and all of a sudden, the pages become blurry.

and i force myself to read aloud just the same because i have to.

only i look like an idiot because i stutter and pause like i'm crazy.

at times, i'm guessing or inventing the words.

the pages suddenly appear to be blotted with ink, or torn, or it gets dark, or blurry, or my eyes are simply failing me.

and still i push myself to finish reading.

i always fail to relay the message.

and i wake up feeling sad, tired, frustrated, and questioning why such dreams.

why?

day 6. why do the words get blurry in my dreams? :-S

project 365 - day 5 - din tai fung

2011-03-02T22:47:00.004+08:00

i had dinner with the dominic girls today: ate josh and jess. we were supposed to have a birthday dinner for jess last week but migraine attacked me. bad migraine.

i love these din tai fung pork chops. so tender! so tasty! it comes with fried rice that's oh so yummy too! we also ordered 2 shomai products but i can't recall the name. i just remember that they're very, very good :))

some things i found odd:

they are now serving tea in styro cups
if you request for spoon and fork, they can't understand you unless you say "fork and spoon"
and when they give you the spoon and fork, they give you plastic ones

points 1 and 3 are upsetting - it's bad for the environment. point 2 is simply bizarre.

some remarkable conversations:

josh: alam mo kung anong problema ni x? she posted a sad FB status.

caths: (got her phone, searched for the status, found it, read it aloud) tonight you made me come... yun ba? (didn't complete reading the sentence, just wanted to get confirmation she's reading the right status)

josh and jess: ang bastos!

jess: aah! parang si shella, wala pa rin sya dito sa SG.

caths: aah! andito na ba sya?!?! (excited mode)

toinks.

at the end of the night, we opted to skip coffee as we had an intoxicating dose of hot tea during dinner :)) fun night

project 365 - day 4 - counting the days

2011-03-01T23:06:00.003+08:00

this is the view from one of the bedrooms of what has been home for us for the past year. beyond the palm trees lies a busy highway - busy even at night but it's not that evident in the picture. i love the color of the street lights! i love the palm trees!

by end of april, our contract ends and we won't renew for the following reasons: 1. the place is far from our work, 2. the rent is expensive, 3. we heard the owner is selling the unit.

once again, we will go through the process of viewing and the more exhausting part is the moving itself. i've been here in SG for almost 4 years and i/we have stayed in 5 different units. NPA?! so tiring to move places. so far away, doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?

counting the days - roughly 60 days to go and this tranquil yet chaotic view will no longer be ours.

project 365 - day 3 - perfect fit (not)

2011-02-28T20:02:00.004+08:00

i've always ranted at how no shoes ever fit my feet perfectly.

i tried those cute flat, ballet shoes - the ones that look so comfortable because they're just made of textile! -- FAIL!

i tried the flat, casual pig skin insole types, the ones that are supposed to be so soft at the soles and perfect for long walks. -- FAIL!

about 2 weeks ago, my mom and i found these really comfortable, black, pig skin insole shoes. it has about 1.5 inch heels and it felt very promising. she requested for a pair and i was tempted to buy one for myself. she stopped me and suggested that we buy just one pair first, i wear them for a whole day, and if it has the "it" factor, i could go back and buy my own pair. -- FAIL!

hay.

my day 3 pic, my ouchy black shoes. i love this pair. not because it's comfortable but because i like the way it looks on my feet. tiis ganda ever! see the polka dots insoles? they're from watson's and i love them! today is one of the bad days. there were no seats at the mrt this morning. stand galore for the whole 45 minute trip. same scenario this evening on my way home. by the time i reached home, i was in excruciating toe pain.

hay.

no shoes ever fit. i give up.