in love again

This is isn't one of those cheesy write ups about relationships. Oh, but I am happy with my own right now. But what I've found about yesterday is that I can't keep my mind of football again. I woke up this morning trying to comeback to sleep 45min before 8:00 in the morning. I keep tossing and turning my mind is somewhere afloat, on a field trying to picture what went wrong, why weren't able to convert a goal. I was frustrated despite the medal hanging over our necks. I know it was not the prime of the team's capacity. We can do better but only with constant practice only then we can have our game and my game back to how it was used to be.


I love this photo so much, it shows how I have fallen over football. Thanks Alao for your great timing and powerful camera. 

food versions

If I am not out playing, I'm cookin'.. that explains why I have the hardest time maintaining my diet. What I cook is influenced by the places I've been to, TV cooking show I just watched, a movie, a cartoon series, the weather, and what's probably available in the kitchen. 

The banana Q is inspired by "what's available in the kitchen" since I got those bunch from Brgy. Tabunan where we had our tree planting. I like the part after tree planting when everybody is so busy buying vegetable at the market laid down beside the road. They do know that we're coming, so it's nice to buy quality vegetable that you will get in the grocery either wilted or an old stock.

The noodles is inspired by Naruto that Greg and I follow if we get a chance to download the episodes online. Greg was diagnosed last year of having kidney stones, we banned noodles for quite some time but not for me. I love noodles so much I know I just could not let go of it so I make my own soup and get rid of the flavor pack that comes with the package. There was no meat in our fridge so I had to be creative with it, I heard though that in Manila they make corned beef sinigang, so I thought, why not corned beef ramen, right?

The dumplings is one of the recipes that I stumbled online while looking for Singaporean dishes. This one is travel influenced. The recipe of course is a traditional Chinese dish, it's not new to us however that most of the population in Singapore are Chinese. So there you go.. I really did not follow the proportions online since I only have a cup of ground pork stored in the ref. The new ingredient that I bought to complete the dish's recipe is the rice wine. I had trouble looking for the right one though, I go only for the one with english label just to be sure I bought the right one.

What's next? I really don't know but I hear there's going a S&R special this Sep 21, new  stocks and more items coming. I have settled my mind in buying dishwashing & toilet cleaner, diced tomato sauce for my all time favorite pasta in tomato sauce. 

experience worth a gig of memory

The long august holiday falling after weekend days opened a chance for travel-lovers to explore the world and what it has to offer. Singapore was the target destination. Last year and celebrating the same Eidl Fitre holiday, I went to Malaysia. This time I was with Greg and it was his first time to travel. I am so thrilled to see what's in Singapore and see why it draws a lot of Pinoys to their haven.

Despite of the Muslim holiday, most of establishments are open for business because majority of the population is Chinese and are Buddhist by religion.

There are many things I would like to note about the city. I would like to mention on 3 of my likes and dislikes. 

Likes:

Transportation - Buses and trains are most convenient choice during peak hours. Taxis charge extra on a certain schedule and your bill goes up to 150% after 12MN. So make sure you ride a taxi before Cinderella's curfew. The flag down differs if you happen to hail a limo.. which we did one time, the car smells expensive. 

Food - Singaporeans make it to a point to make food junctions available inside the mall. They have plenty choices of different cuisines. You should not miss the famous chicken rice stalls and try out local desserts. Hawkers centers are popular to the locals and tourists. Before heading to the city,  read reviews in the web about the food and the location of the centers. 

Cleanliness - I envy the way they implement the rules on littering. Who can afford paying 1000 SGD? If you are around the city and tempted to throw just a piece of litter, think twice.. although police are not visible around that is mainly because they are in civilian clothes.  

Dislikes:

Discrimination - Blame it to the language gap between chinese, indians, and malays.. or the different religions they believe in. They just don't hang out together. There's some kind of an invisible wall between them that they don't see each other eye to eye. 

Aromatics - If you have taken a fully packed bus or train ride, you know what I mean. The smells take you to another dimension, to a memory when my grandma was applying her dragon balm and the curry that I ate the other day. I also learned that even insiks are not fond of taking morning baths. Filipinos are quite unique.. in the morning, if you see somebody whose hair is moist with water not because of rain, that one is Pinoy. 

Pass - I dislike the fact that it is difficult to be eligible in any of the working passes Singapore is offering. Not unless you earn an equivalent of a manager's payroll then you'll have a shot of acquiring a pass. 

It seems that I am displaying my intention of working abroad. I do not close my door to opportunity as such. Why not? Maybe I will take my travelling to another level just like Lotte if I start earning dollars and not just speak in dollars... ;(

the coast is clear

dozing off in the office will give me more than just a headache. it is not a good idea to even try it. i've finished coffee after lunch but it's not quite helping me. i thought i have a meeting to attend by 2pm then i realized it's not really a meeting but just a deadline to handover my report. the real meeting is on monday at the same time. ok then i have 1 hour spared from my not-so-busy schedule this friday. when it is friday, it seems the day is lagging. you want to end the day as soon as you see the tangerine sky. oh, i hope this writing will help me get through the extra hour. but i am writing with my mind just typing what i want to say. it is like talking to an old friend, spontaneous, not really minding wvhat topic to babble, just scribble, pause, think, babble, and babble. though my mouth is shut when i am doing this, head slightly tilted, hearing very well tuned in to the conversation around and most of all my eyes are always in a spy mode with a little help from my side mirror, a very good tool to see whose entering our laboratory turned into office - the coast is clear. hayy.. 

Short notes

today I read some blog from a friend. the one's that really make me think and although it is short the meaning keeps flooding in. it is mysterious, poetic and sometimes can be mocking... when you don't know exactly what the person's message is trying to convey. i should read a lot of books and study contexts. 

-isn't this a short blog? haha...

Seafood lunch

One lazy Saturday, I decided to add a viand to my fried bangus for lunch. I read a lot of recipes, cooking tips and this right here is copied from the video that I watched. Well not really copied, I tend to make changes to adapt to what is available in my kitchen. First off, I do not have a griller but I have skewers, pepper, salt, paprika, lemon, butter, olive oil, and a pan! And that is all I need to make me a very good pan grilled skewered prawns. I love it!

LOL

Wishbone

Where can I get a dog like this?

I remember Wishbone's TV series in my early years. I liked his adventures and the costumes that he wear. This brings my memory back in the old days. I've always prefer dogs among other domestic animals. We had 1-3 dogs when I was young at a certain time, all in all, I think we've manage to raise 10 of them but not at the same time.

When I was in college, I can't remember if we still had a dog. When I graduated in college my parents had given up raising any and when my niece came, it would have been a miracle if they entertained just the thought of having a dog in our home.

I am still fascinated with dogs but the feeling is not enough to take the leap of getting me a pet. Breed dogs comes with a high price tag throughout its life. I would prefer an askal, the local and always available breed in town. This is just me wishful thinking. I know I won't have time to do all dog-master bonding like when I was a kid. I had all the time back then, but now it is comes down to work, sleep, and some side activities that I could not trade with a dog. Someday I will have my own and I want a Jack Russel Terrier, not too big and not to small.

Just another victim

I am a victim of an attack that happened four (4) times to date since 2010. I hate the memory of it, it gives me the creeps.

The first time it happened, I felt it was normal, the second was the worst. I was in the land they coined from a root crop. I had sleepless nights after acquiring the unspeakable thing. The third time, I was ready that it could happen again, it never missed but it was nothing like the 2nd. Today, I am suffering from its fourth attack and I had to endure many days again. The culprit of these wild and viral attacks are the jelly creatures, some unseen, while I was snorkeling. 

Argh! This will not stop me from seeing beautiful life under water though. I just have to give intervals to this activity. And be sure to be ready of the consequences.

The doctor gave me medications already and gave a strict diet to avoid foods like shrimp, crabs, chicken, eggs, and eggplant. I feel uncomfortable I can’t play badminton, jog or just be subjected to stress because I could get irritable. The trade off though is that I get to shower early in the evening, limit my mobility inside the house by just laying in bed, wearing baggy clothing, and sleep early and get a max of 7-8 hours of snooze.

1/30 lunch

It was the first lunch that the four of us (me, greg, dadat, & joep) had together since moving in few weeks ago. It was sure fun to prepare food for all. I wasn't prepared to cook for four people, in fact, I have not considered it not until when we were grilling the pork bbq skewers on our little "pogon" outisde our place. Without any other viand planned, I decided to prepare tortang talong. Joep on the other hand is not fond of eating vegetable, so the eggplant dish had to be palatable on his first try. I try to prepare vegetable on Sunday also to encourage them to eat healthy choices aside from all-protien and fatty diet. The pork bbq was an experiment. We borrowed the recipe from Greg's brother. I used the measuring cups I got from last Christmas, this is to make sure that I have my own marinade proportions for future reference, in case I have to make adjustment on the flavor. After saying our graces, the moment came when the experimental dish was put to the test - it taste a little closer to the LCC pork bbq that is very popular back in my hometown. Yes! I feel that the marinade had to be adjusted though to improve the taste and I can't wait for the next weekend that I would have to try it out again. This time, I would have to make the slices bigger. Hehe.. The way the pork was tied up into the sticks didn't seem too appealing, so the EC must be implemented on the next production. 

Xenon AX 100 2.1

My new fad this January is the new set of speakers that I bought for a very conservative price, a peso short to make it a 4-dig. Anyway, I am not very particular of the technical specs. I just listened to how it sounds when watching a movie or simply plugging in to an mp3 player. Yeah, it sounds goood. The first product I tried was pretty shakey after turning the volume full. The second one on display that I liked was was the last stock, so after hearing that from the salesman, I did not hesitate and lined up instantly to pay for it. I could not wait to go home after that. If I can only apparate like the witches do I would, hehe.. The first song I played was Michelle Branch & Santana's I'm Feeling You.. I was feeling everything right there and then, danced like nobody's watching. My roommate joined to celebrate that moment and Greg was busy fixing the connections for the LPG burner. He was determined to use the burner that night, so it was okay that he did not care to join. :D

Heavy rain

A 30-minute heavy rain hit the city this morning. It delayed my plan to come in arouind 8:30 AM. Timing in 15 min before the tardy mark isn't bad considering the conditions from outside. Some of my colloeagues were not able to make it. We took the longest route coming from home to the office. The popular route that we always take had knee-high water gush. Our neighbors were very kind to us and gave us advise which path to take where water was conquerable. They really know their place well. I thank them for their good deeds. With the heavy rain, we couldn't just wear our office foot wear instead we had to wear slippers all the way, eww! It is a better idea though than soaking your shoes as well. So when we finally got to our floor, we rushed to the comfort room and washed clean our foot on the sink. The scene was funny to look at but it's better clean than sorry.

Salty and sour

Fish cooked in vinegar, salt and some spices, paired up with cold rice or what we call "bahaw", hmm.. this is what I had for lunch. We have a stove at home but I did not bother to heat it up. I wanted to eat it like the old days. I always enjoy eating such viand when I get home at the end of the day. Today was different. I forgot to bring my lunch with me so I have to go home. I copied the recipe the way Cebuano cook their version of "pinaksiw na isda", known as "inun-unan" in Cebu. Negrenses cook it with toyo to put color on the dish. But I kinda liked how vinegar and salt taste now. It is something new to my mouth buds and I love it. 

Moving out, Coming in

Two bedrooms, one bathroom, big kitchen and dining area & a living room - this will be our new home on the 20th. Me and my housemates (Greg, Dadat, and Jeoff) got a good deal from our landlord/ lady to rent their ex-flat on the 2nd floor of the same building for a conseravative price. The deal was unexpected to think that they are not considering the place for a  lower price of 10K. They know us as good tennants, very sensible ones and particularly keen about cleanliness. The reason that prompted us of transferring is our frustration towards our boardmates. Every day is a constant adjustment when it comes to cleanliness maintenance & the unauthorized use of our stuff that is placed outside of our rooms. First of all, you don't use the things that are not yours w/o permission. Second, you are suppose to help clean the common area because you contribute to entropy generated outside your room. We are very much excited to move out of 3Fand to enjoy the serenity that is waiting in our new home.

siesta stories

going for my 2nd cup
my headache has been going on for 2 days already. this happened after my swimming activity in abellana last saturday. it's been heavy since i got off the pool, took the shower and blah blah. the point is, i've not recovered from being dizzy yet. i never gone more than one cup a day for more than a month already and now i'm back with 2 dose of caffeine per day. i hope this does not continue for the whole week. but i still plan to go swim on saturday, i feeel that it'll wash the heavy feeling away i have now. as if i am not too excited to do my laps again, i bought swim cap and cheap goggles that will keep my eyes comfortable the whole time for this weekend. 


wgc post xmas party 
this friday, i'm meeting up with some of WGC members. we never got the chance to have the xmas party before everybody went home for the holidays. it's just reasonable to have the event at the early week of january and it is important that it has to be payday week. as for my part, it's not 13-28 anymore.. so i had to do with the leave conversion that i had left for 2010. 


novena at sto.nino
last year was memorable because it was my first time. this year will be different, we hope to be ready for the rain, for the long walks, stands, for the near-stampede situation, for the hair-raising praising, the waving, balloons, nature calls, hunger, thirst, and anything that is there if you are going to join the novena and the mass in honor of the Child Jesus. 


street dancing parade
in my 5 years in cebu, i missed only one year of taking the street from ayala to mango. it was exhausting at the end of the day. the day should not end until you watched the fireworks in the sports complex or in ayala. i have always preferred to witness the one in ayala, it was much easier to ride your way back to mactan (when I was still renting there) and now it is much more convenient for me because I rent just around the bush.

Bad cat

Monday is always a difficult day to get up in the morning. I woke up from the rumbling keys that opened our room. It was Greg and his usual routine getting food from the fridge and cook for his breakfast. He asked me where I placed the fish paksiw because he could not find it. The casserole where I cooked the fish was outside, empty. I was still caught between my forgotten dream and the fish that I prepared the day before. I know I cooked it of course but I could not seem to remember transferring it into a food container. When I checked the casserole, it had 1 pc of sliced tomato and 1 fish bone. Then we thought "bad cat" and bad me for dismissing the thought that we have little friends all over the place, climbing the roof, messing up the other room's trash can if they put food waste in it. It was a waste and I felt bad that I could not go back to sleep anymore at 6:45AM.  Still I laid back in my bed, waited for my alarm clock until 7:30 but still was thinking about the fish and the bad cat. It will be something I will learn from. Revenge would be nice but then - it was just one hungry cat.

4th day of the year 2011

Hi! Today is the 4th day of 2011 and I am making this blog my first for this year. 2010 did not hand me this year that easy by giving me a fever to carry on the new year's eve! Thank you very much. What do I have lined up to do for this year? First off, Palawan on February, my niece's birthday on April, see my sister back from UAE on May... possible trip to Leyte on December or early January of 2012 to attend a wedding, yey! No plans for the other months I've not mentioned  but I am really trying to cut off my travel for this year, you'll never know when rainy days come, or worse, stormy days, haha.. This was a good year for me I can say that. I hope it was for you too. 

-ooops! I was suppose to post this on my estoryah blog, not on WGC's...