not myself

seoul-searching (part2) - Everland

2011-02-15T08:19:00.000+08:00

Do you remember how you used to dream about waking up one day, getting out of your house and finding yourself in the middle of a street covered with snow? On January 23rd, the dream finally became a reality.

DAY 3

While we were eating the dumpling soup that Jina cooked for breakfast, she told us that we were in luck that day for we will finally be able to experience snow fall. True enough, when we looked out the window, snow was indeed falling! We finished our bowls in no time and got ready for a snow-packed adventure for the day. We were scheduled to go to one of Korea's famous theme parks and snow was definitely welcome in our itinerary!

When we stepped out of the guesthouse, snow wasn't falling anymore. Bummer, right? Nah, because when we got off the subway, it was snowing again! Yes, we looked really silly taking pictures of each other in the middle of a busy street! But who cares?

Yeah it doesn't look that busy in this picture, we had to wait a freakin' long time to be able to capture this "random-person-less" picture because people kept passing by. After a couple of minutes enjoying the moment, we finally boarded a bus to Everland.

We were a bit behind schedule but we could not strike lunch off our list so despite our extreme excitement for the buwis-buhay rides in Everland, we had to sit down for a while and have our dose of Korean bulgogi!

Remember how everyone says that a dish will always taste differently when prepared at the place where it originated? It's true. Somehow, I think that even though bulgogi is available in Manila, the taste of bulgogi is somehow adjusted to suit the taste of the consumer, and thus, the authenticity is sacrificed. But we were lucky enough to try the real deal, and it was great! The beef strips were tender. Every bite reminds you of the harmony of the ingredients in the marinade, you could almost hear the music. You want proof? As soon as the spoon touched our lips, there was silence across our table as if we all wanted to just savor the moment and enjoy the dish. We did, and boy did we clean up those plates pretty quickly! We're ready for Everland now!

Unfortunately, the snow won't stop falling! The buwis-buhay rides we were excited about weren't in operation because of this so we went for the indoor rides! Can you smell the desperation now? The indoor rides were basically for kids, but we didn't mind. Any chance we can get to feel all nice and warm again was very welcome, because snow fell like crazy! We really loved the experience of having snow around but its hard to enjoy the moment when your hands are all stiff and blue! We made the decision to embrace it though since there was nothing left to do but to just savor the moment. So what if Everland theme park was pretty much closed (since most of the fun rides were)? There was just so much snow around that sure is enough for an afternoon of fun!

snowball fight, anyone?

perhaps a snow angel?

and ofcourse, we can't miss the opportunity to do a jumpshot in the snow!

and ofcourse, my favorite shot...

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the snow like kids :)

I know, I should post more group pics, right? Sorry, can't help but show these shots to you :) I'm too happy to keep them to myself! Alright, here are the group pics :D

So as you can see, the buwis-buhay rides would have made that afternoon crazy, but we didn't really need the rides to make an adventure out of the Everland trip. We just needed a whole lotta snow, a camera and each other :)

We had to wait for the bus for about an hour outside Everland and we were freezing like ice pops. To distract ourselves from the idea of being frozen to death, we held a little boxing match between GM's two boxing toys, the Golden Monkey and Kangaroo Jack, and we did a little dancing too. Yes, in public, and no, I am not posting the video. Yes, there is a video! And again, no, I am not posting it -- yet :)

seoul-searching (part1)

2011-02-05T20:52:00.024+08:00

We booked our tickets last year without any idea what we can find in Korea other than, well, snow. Yes, that is the sole reason why among the several international destinations CebuPac traveled to, we chose Incheon, Korea for our first trip for 2011. We wanted to experience winter and see snow!

So armed with our roundtrip tickets, bubble jackets, thermal wears, earmuffs and gloves, we braved the land of Hangul and made our dreams come true!

DAY 1

We were able to book a family room at Namu Guesthouse which is a few minutes away from the subway station by foot. Prior to the trip, I have been exchanging emails with the guesthouse's manager Jina, who has been a big help to us in preparing our itinerary. Namu Guesthouse was like our little home in Korea. We got the family room which had a double bed and a double deck for 90,000 KRW a night.

Namu Guesthouse has comfortable beds, clean shared comfort rooms, fresh towels, 2 desktop computers with internet, unlimited supply of drinking water, coffee and tea, and homemade breakfast! Jina was a welcome sight in the morning; aside from preparing our breakfast everyday, she also made us a traditional Korean dish -- a dumpling soup that reminded us a lot of our local molo soup :)

First on our list was to get a dose of the famous Korean rice wine called Soju. At first, we thought that this was consumed straight from the bottle ala beer/vodka ice so we ordered four bottles. It's a good thing that the waitress did not understand us and gave us one bottle and four shot glasses instead! We don't know how to say Cheers in Korean so just shouted "Kampaiiiii!" every time we took a shot :)

It's a nice way to end a tiring "we got lost looking for the guesthouse because we had the wrong map" day :)

DAY 2

After having breakfast, we headed off to Insadong which is South Korea's art and antiques neighborhood. This is one of Korea's tourist attractions as a stroll along its streets could easily give you a feel of Korea's culture. Stores selling tea sets and teas, traditional toys, handpressed papers, costumes, caligraphy brushes, crafts and ofcourse, food, are all lined up and enjoyed by thousands of tourists daily. We were able to try Hotteok, a korean pancake filled with honey and cinnamon, which tasted like Christmas if it were flat and chewable (this is really how I remember it, no kidding!).

We only bought and shared one, which we deeply regretted later on, after we found out that it was extremely good and unfortunately, kind of hard to find outside the streets of Insadong. While walking along Insadong-gil the Kkultarae boys in white also drew our attention. Kkultarae, a traditional Korean snack made of honey, is something you can enjoy not only during consumption but during creation as well! Watch this video (not ours) to find out why:

We bought a few boxes and continued our food/culture trip along the streets of Insadong. Of course, part of our itinerary was the infamous Starbucks Insadong branch, the only branch whose store sign is not in roman alphabet. Let's just say that Starbucks, a western coffee shop, doesn't quite fit in Insadong, the traditional neighborhood of Korea, so they had to adapt and you get the picture. We just had to see it for ourselves because of two reasons: (1) I had to purchase a tumbler to add to my growing (YEY!) country tumbler collection, and (2) I just had to get my picture taken outside the cafe with the Starbucks sign in Korean characters! An experience too cool to pass up on :) Besides, we were freezing cold already and we had to stop somewhere to make our freezing fingertips and toes all warm again :)

When we were done with our souvenir shopping and food tripping, we headed back to the subway and searched for TripAdvisor's #1 restaurant in Seoul: Tosokchon!

I blame myself for not downloading a better map, at first look it seems so easy to find, but it turns out we had the wrong map (again) and actually passed by the restaurant without us knowing it! The good thing about Korea is that even though some of them don't understand nor speak very good English, they are very willing to help! We bumped into a lady who didn't speak english and didn't really know where Tosokchon was but she helped us find Domino's Pizza which was in the map but really isn't anywhere near Tosokchon (as I have mentioned, we had an unreliable map). The second lady we bumped into also couldn't speak English but she knew where Tosokchon was so she just made a sign for us to follow her and indeed, she led us straight to the restaurant! Have I mentioned how kind koreans are? :)

When we finally found Tosokchon, we sat down and each ordered a bowl of Samgyetang, a ginseng chicken soup which is their specialty.

Tosokchon's Samgyetang, Kkakdugi, Kimchi and Insamju

According to their menu, "It is made by boiling more than 30 medicinal stuffs and food materials such as endemic chicken, ginseng, chestnuts, pine nuts, gingko nuts, pumpkin seeds, garlic, adlay, black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, brown rice, herb seeds, barley, black beans, walnuts with a will." Food preparation sounds complicated and it was justified by the taste! It was like nothing I have tasted before. I liked this dish because it was very rich in taste and texture. The ginseng, along with the 29 other ingredients that make up the extensive list of ingredients, gave it an "oldies would love this dish" factor, and the way they slowly cooked it made sure that the meat would fall off the chicken bone the moment your flat metal chopsticks touched them. It tasted like how a Korean royal dish would taste like, and true enough, even SK's ex-president is a fan! However, not everyone appreciates this kind of dish, so if you are not fond of herbal food you might want to skip this one and order barbeque chicken instead (but that defeats the purpose of dining in Tosokchon so I suggest you give it a try at the very least).

After paying for our meals, we walked a bit and found ourselves at the west gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace -- a closed gate at that, since we got there at around 5:00PM. Yes, we had a late lunch because we started our day late, but that did not stop us from taking pictures outside of the palace.

We later found out that we took pictures of the front gate and not of the palace itself! Haha!

Afterwards we headed over to Cheonggyecheon Stream for more photo ops :)

We were feeling really cold from all the walking so we stopped by a cafe to rest and (no, not to chill but) to warm our chilly feet! Unfortunately, the first cafe that we saw was Kopi Tiam, a Singapore-inspired cafe but served food that tasted nothing like the ones in SG. I honestly wish we saw another cafe, one that would serve coffee Korean style, whatever that may be, so that we would have at least experienced it. After all, Koreans did have little cafes all over the city. The reason why we had to choose that particular Kopi Tiam over other cafes still escapes me, but we did, we got all warm and cozy in it and that should be enough. And no, I am not posting pictures of the Kaya toast and Kopi that we got.

Later on we decided to go to Namdaemun Market, Seoul's 24-hour Divisoria. Since it was already past 12 midnight, the subway was closed and we took a cab. Unfortunately for us, we didn't realize that a 24-hour market does not automatically imply that it has 24-hour stalls, and when we got there, there were about 4 stores that were open and all the rest were closed for the night. It turns out, the market was also closed on Sundays and yes, we were there at 1:00AM, on a Sunday. Lucky us.

That definitely did not dampen our spirits, because after waking up a sleeping bonnet-selling lady only to find out I had my eye on a pricey 60,000 KRW bonnet, we headed off to Dongdaemun Market, again via cab, to quench our thirst for Korean Shopping. But first, a taste of Korean noodles! This time, we wanted it to be as authentic as possible, so we followed some hungry Koreans and ended up in a mini-restaurant (a carinderia of sorts) with a menu in Hangul and some pictures of food. When in Korea, pictures are all you need to be able to order a decent meal. Kinda like our turo-turo, but pointing to a picture instead of real food. Now, if there is one thing that I miss about Korea (aside from the numerous Girls Generation ads posted everywhere), it would be the Rabboki.

It's basically noodles and rice cakes in chili paste, and in this case, with boiled eggs and some vegetables. Among all the Korean dishes, this was by far the best that I had when I was in Seoul.

After dinner, we were ready to shop but apparently, the stores in the market were closed too. It was 2:00AM, we have a camera filled with hundreds of pictures and tummies happily filled with Rabboki. It was time to call it a day.

my 2010 to do list

2011-01-07T10:35:00.004+08:00

Here's the result of my 2010 to do list:

~~have breakfast at Apartment 1B~~
jog at the UP oval
~~join a benefit run~~
~~open a savings account~~
~~go to Legaspi Sunday Market~~
visit a museum
hear mass at Quiapo Church
~~weigh 90 lbs anytime this year~~
~~beach escapade with family~~
~~enjoy Coron~~ - POST
enjoy CDO-Camiguin
~~tour KL~~
~~tour Singapore~~ - POST
~~invest in a good bag~~
~~taste fresh durian~~
~~dine at Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung~~ - POST
~~travel alone~~ - POST
~~prepare kits for kids (para sa HERE sana)~~
~~bake really yummy brownies~~
~~get a new phone~~
~~read (and finish!) a book~~
go to Manila Ocean Park
~~try green tea kitkat~~

i almost completed the list, not bad! :)
see the panel on the left for my 2011 list! :)

you belong in rock and roll

2010-11-09T10:12:00.004+08:00

When I heard that NU107 was going to reformat, I genuinely felt sad. I have to admit, I haven't been listening to NU107 or any radio station for years now. I normally listened to radio on my way to and from school/work, but since I started renting a place near my office, I haven't had the chance to listen to radio.

It's been years since I last tuned in to NU107. They have kept me company for at least 4 hours a day, everyday, for around 10 years. Most scenes of my life had a corresponding soundtrack and NU was responsible for that. The relevant stages of my life, the ones that mattered and made me into who I am now, were all accompanied by rock music. In between farts of Zach, witty remarks of Joey, Kiko's musical insights and the amazing playlist of Myrene, I found my place. Listening to rock music kept me sane through tough times. It kept me awake during long hours of studying. It psyched me up when I almost flunked out of school. It helped me vent out all of the emotions I had during my dark days. I found strength in music and NU107 was my mecca.

Then torrent came around and I resorted to downloading new music instead of listening to radio. It's easier for a music lover to digress given this technology, one could listen to an entire discography of a certain artist without having to put up with commercials and other music not worth listening to. But I have to admit, there's something about radio that makes listening an entirely different experience. You can have the best playlist on your iPod but it will never replace a radio experience. I really can't put a finger on what it is that makes it different -- is it the DJs, the news, the commercials or the "how-the-hell-did-this-band-get-air-time" songs?

Well I never really had the chance to turn on the radio and tune in to NU107 lately even if I missed it so bad. I lost my Sony headset and my iPhone doesn't have radio. Our office blocked almost all sites, radio portals included, so I had all the excuses to stick to my playlist and repress my longing for radio. Until I heard about the bad news.

I tried to listen to NU using my officemate's phone for the last time. Then it came to me, NU107 wasn't just reformatting per se, it was ending. An era of rock music, 23 years of providing quality music was coming to an end. And all the memories of my teenage and yuppy life was going away with it. I think what makes it sad for me is the fact that though I haven't listened to NU for years, knowing that I can turn my radio on and tune in any time to relive those memories and get that feeling of youth and sanity (or insanity) again is enough to get me through. Now that the station is no longer the home of new rock, but a mere senseless, neuron-reducing waste of space, I have lost that feeling of home. It feels like I lost a childhood friend, because somehow, I did.

I check my iPod and now realize that ALL of the artists on my playlist, I first heard on NU. Yes, including Tegan and Sara. So I practically owe NU107 my music knowledge and life. I probably should stop ranting now and just suck it up. The station that was 107.5 made life one hell of a ride, and we should just all be thankful that it happened, right? After all, the music lives on.

banana malcapuya loop

2010-10-10T16:00:00.000+08:00

On the second day of our Coron trip, we decided to visit the "alleged" best beaches of Coron: Banana Island and Malcapuya Island.

Our boatman asked if he can meet us at the Pier earlier than scheduled, so we left the pier at 8:00AM and traveled to our first stop: Malcapuya Island.

The reason behind leaving early is to have more time to enjoy the islands, and boy, are we glad we listened to the boatman! We were the first ones to get to Malcapuya Island that day and we got dibs on the best spot along the shore -- the treehouse which was right smack in the center of the beach shore! Not only did we have the best seat in the house, but the treehouse also had a hammock which was perfect for chillax time! While we were exploring the island and taking pictures, our boatman prepared our lunch: a seafood fest of sorts with our grilled crabs and fish, some fruits and a big bottle of coke. What's not to love about this trip?!

While having lunch, we saw two big spots near the shoreline and got excited with the idea of corals that are close to the shoreline, which meant that we didn't have to swim too far to see the fishes. Right after lunch, we took a dip to check it out and got the surprise of our lives. The big spots weren't corals, they were schools of fish!

One was a school of small fishes and the other was a school of slightly bigger fishes! We had fun playing with the fishes that swam with us.

After enjoying Malcapuya Island, we left for another beautiful island called Banana Island. The boatman said that the island is banana shaped, thus the name. I didn't really notice this when we were there. One thing I noticed, though, is how amazing the island is! The sand is fine and white, the water is very clean and cool and the corals and fishes are very much alive and colorful! I even saw a sting ray here! I was struck with awe upon seeing the sting ray, and when I realized that I wasn't seeing it from an aquarium but that I was actually swimming with it, I panicked and swam away! Alas, GM was not able to take a picture of it, no thanks to me =S sorry! It's just that I recall Steve Irwin being killed by one so I kinda got scared and panicked.

By the way, while we were in Malcapuya Island, there was this one tourist who was walking along the beach with his lifevest and snorkeling gear on. GM and I were making fun of him because it was really funny how scared this guy is of drowning. I mean he was WALKING along the shore with his snorkling gear on, how crazy is that? But then I realized, I had my lifevest on the whole time we were in Banana Island! Who's afraid of drowning now, kiddo? hahaha!

After Banana Island, we headed off to our last stop for the day, Bulog Dos Island. It's a little island not far from Banana, which was also beautiful with its sand bar and rock formations.

We had fun taking pictures of ourselves here. The water looks great but we were already too tired that we just opted to take pictures in crazy poses. Tripods and camera timers rule!

These islands are a little bit farther than most tourist spots in Coron, I guess this is why the beauty of these islands were preserved. It really is worth the time and effort to visit these islands. Perhaps it would be a great experience to be able to stay overnight in Malcapuya or Banana, we didn't have the chance to but I would definitely recommend it.

Next post: day 3 of our coron trip -- calauit safari and concepcion falls :)

coron: inland town tour

2010-08-22T19:47:00.029+08:00

I just got back from a 6-day Coron trip and I am packed with stories! Coron's always been on my list of places I should go to before I die -- well, Palawan is -- and Coron isn't a bad start at all. Other people would automatically think of Puerto Princesa or El Nido when you talk about Palawan, but not me! I've heard of how amazing Coron is, both because of the tourist spots and the people as well, which is why it is on the top of my list.

Coron's around 45 minutes away from Manila by plane. We got our tickets during one of Cebu Pacific's seat sales so each roundtrip ticket cost P297.20 (with 15kg check-in baggage). I originally booked for 10 persons but 7 of them backed out and the other one felt a little dyahe to join GM and I so from 10 persons, we were down to 2. It was supposed to be our first barx out of town via plane getaway! Sayang!

From a barx trip, it became a GM and Toji trip, but we didn't mind. Traveling together is starting to be our thing. We've traveled together to Hongkong, Cebu, Bohol and Singapore. We'll be Malaysia-bound soon and I think we have learned the art of traveling as a duo by now. So armed with a tripod, off lotion and sunblock, we braved the seas and went to Coron.

We arrived at Coron at 11AM and rode a van from Francisco Reyes Busuanga Airport to Coron Town Proper (P150.00 each). After almost an hour, we arrived at the Coron Village Lodge where we stayed for 6 days. We got the standard room at P950.00 per night which has all the things that we needed for a comfortable stay: a queen-size bed, AC, heater, cable TV, fresh towels and an unlimited supply of coffee and tea.

After a few minutes, Judith of DIYCoron went to our room and discussed the final details of our tour. We booked all of our tours with DIYCoron, which I highly recommend because (1) Owen (of DIYCoron) is one of the most accomodating tour agents I've dealt with, (2) the tour guides are very nice and friendly, and (3) the tour packages are very cheap! I'll try to post the details of each tour here.

We scheduled our town tour at 4PM to give us ample time to settle down. We decided to have lunch at our lodge's own restaurant who claims to have the best bulalo in Coron.

A bowl of bulalo is good for three and costs P350.00. We were not able to try bulalo from other restaurants so we can't really say they that have the best bulalo in town, but they do have very good bulalo in Coron Village Lodge.

After eating, we walked around town to find a disposable camera because the brilliant duo forgot that Coron is practically an underwater camera territory. After a few minutes, we were lucky enough to find a shop that sells reloadable underwater film camera at P1,500.00! Yey! After getting a camera, we continued walking around town to look for snacks (we're growing children, we need food!) and found Coron's plaza! For those of you who do not know, I grew up not having any province which is why I am very much interested in the provincial life. Being in a town's plaza amazes me like how a toystore amazes a young beggar -- it feels as if something you could have had is right in front of you but you can't really own it, you can just take pictures of it in your memory and try to own it in your mind and heart for as long as you could.

Coron is now one of my favorite provinces in the Philippines -- the place is safe, the food is good, the people are nice and everything in it is just lovely. It's perfect that we got there on a school day and we were able to see the kids run out and about come dismissal time. There's just something about schools in provinces that fascinates me. :)

We went back to our lodge because Kuya Andy, our inland town tour guide, would be picking us up there by 4PM. Owen initially discouraged us from booking a town tour from him because he said that we could easily arrange a town tour from the tricycle drivers plying National Highway (the main road where Coron Village Lodge is located), but I insisted (it's always less hassle to have someone else fix everything for you). In the end, he arranged the tour for us at P350.00 per person. :)

Our ride? Mang Andy's Paradise Promise.

Our first stop was at San Agustin Church. It's walking distance from Coron Village Lodge and we've actually seen it from the outside when we walked around town earlier, but we pretended that we haven't so as not to ruin the tour :P It was our first time there so we got to make a wish! :)

Next stop was at the town's municipal hall, which was right across the town's plaza. Again, we pretended that it was our first time there so as not to ruin the mood. Mang Andy took our picture infront of the town's hall. Hello Coron!

We got an instant workout at our next stop: Mt Tapyas! Imagine, we had to climb more than 700 steps to get to the top! Walang stretching na naganap ha, we didn't realize it would be that stressful to climb it til we were around 100 steps away from reaching the top. My legs were getting wobbly and we really had to pause for some rest. Good thing there was this kid Emil, who accompanied us and offered to take our picture during our rest stop.

Emil sells cold drinks at Mt. Tapyas for a living, so even though we actually brought drinks for the tour, GM and I kept the water in the bag and decided to buy drinks from him instead. While climbing Mt. Tapyas, we found out that he is still studying and just works after school. He's says he also joins dance competitions every year during the town's fiesta. GM thinks he's got an eye for photography too. He says Emil knows how to handle a DSLR correctly. At nagba-balancing act pa!

When we got to the top, we saw the different islands surrounding Mt. Tapyas. We were supposed to wait for the sunset, because they say sunsets at Mt. Tapyas are breathtaking, but the clouds were blocking the sun and it was kind of rainy when we went there. This didn't stop us from picture-taking though :)
Going down was much easier than climbing up Mt. Tapyas, and though I was able to rest a little, my legs were still a little wobbly when we left Mt. Tapyas. I was ready for our next stop, Maquinit Hot Springs, but we had to make a quick stop at Coron Harvest first to get our dose of Coron's famous cashew nuts!

It was just a small store along the road on the way to Maquinit Hot Springs. The lady manning the store let us try their cashews first and we bought bags of toasted cashews for pasalubong. While we were waiting for our orders, we saw one of the old ladies peeling and preparing the cashews. She says it's a very tiring task. I can just imagine how hard it must be, she's doing everything with her bare hands and she's probably more than 80 years old!

A few more minutes and we finally reached Maquinit Hot Springs. Entrance here is P100.00 (it's already included in our tour payment). When we got there, it was still early and we decided to tour around the place first before taking a dip. There's nothing much to see there except for a nice view at the far end of the place. You pass by a bridge surrounded by mangroves...

and end up here

After a little kwentuhan and picture-taking, we were ready to enjoy Maquinit's Hot Springs.

A dip in the Maquinit Hot Springs is a perfect way to end the day. The heat from the "pool" conditions your body for rest and the instant "massage" from the little falls they have in one corner of the "pool" helps you relax. The water is clean but a bit salty, so it kind of dries your hair (like the sea does). There are dressing rooms and comfort rooms but they're not clean. You might have to take the ride home with your swimming clothes on -- good thing the drivers don't mind even if you're still dripping wet when you ride their tric/van.

When we got back to the lodge, we freshened up and looked for a good place to have dinner. We took a tric and headed off to Kawayanan Grill which was on the top of our list.

Coron is known for its fresh seafood, so we ordered for some garlic butter lobsters! It was GM's first time to try lobsters so we ordered salted egg (in case he doesn't like lobsters). He did like the lobsters, but he says he still prefers shrimps.

An order of lobsters costs P350.00. It's already good for 2. The salted egg salad costs P100.00. Rice is sold at P20.00 per cup.

A perya was set up right beside Kawayanan Grill. We wanted to check it out but there were too many people there that we decided to go back to our lodge instead. We didn't mind walking back to our lodge from Kawayanan Grill. We had to burn all those calories anyway. :)

Next post: day 2 of our coron trip -- malcapuya, banana, bulog dos trip :)

the cheap chic-boy

2010-06-18T13:38:00.012+08:00

We're only halfway done with 2010 and yet my savings account is already down to maintaining balance. Where's the moolah, you ask? Well blame the frequent airline promos and really good food finds, because they are on the top of my expense list! I have ~~CDO,~~ Coron, KL, Singapore (round 2) and Boracay trips for the rest of the year, and still a lot of restaurants to try. But with an empty wallet, there's not much choice but to move the expensive restos down the list and go on a cheap food hunt.

Enter Chic-boy! Situated along Jupiter Street (between Legend of India and Strumms) is a fairly young restaurant that offers the famous Cebu lechon manok and liempo at an affordable price. It may be less than 2 months old as of writing, but Chic-boy sure could play the game. The mechanics are simple:

element #1: good food
Chic-boy, short for Chicken- Baboy, refers to their bestsellers: inasal and liempo. But don't discount Chic-boy as a grilled meat kind of place just yet, they do offer other dishes such as sinigang, ginisang kangkong, tinola and ensalada among others. They also have yummy desserts such as halo-halo, ice cream and turon!

Sure, their food may not be Mielle Guide worthy, but it would surely pass as a decent meal. Maybe a little bit higher on the scale even. But it's something worth trying, and maybe for some, something worth coming back to.

Their inasal is different from Bacolod's famous inasal. My teammates Ms. M and Ms. J noticed that their chicken somehow tastes like grilled adobo, to which I nodded with glee. It's exactly how their inasal tasted like, and I was enjoying every bit of it. By every bit, I mean including the unlimited rice part. Have I mentioned that they offer that? UNLIMITED RICE. That's like a welcome banner for a filipino. So not only did Chic-boy make us happy with their big serving of chicken/liempo/sisig, they also made sure you can enjoy the hefty serving with an unlimited supply of your favorite carbo-loaded food to go with it. And plus points for the toasted garlic and chicken oil available on every table which can turn your plain rice to garlic/chicken rice! *burp*

element #2: affordable price
Of course we all know that for you to enjoy good food, you have to be able to afford it. Chic-boy made sure everyone can enjoy their meals by offering them at an affordable price. So how low did they go? Imagine having chicken sisig for 75 pesos, a bowl of sinigang for 45 pesos and bottomless iced tea for 25 pesos!

element #3: fast service
The place is huge and can get packed specially during lunch and dinner time, but with numerous waiters and quick service, Chic-boy handles everything pretty well. Waiters do rounds regularly, offering rice and iced tea for the diners. The cashiers take the orders pretty quickly so don't be turned off by the long line at the counter. I think they prepare the food ahead of time, kind of like fast food but they serve the dishes to you once you get seated and not at the counter. The only downside is, since they prepare the food beforehand, it may not be as hot as expected.

element #4: accessibility (location and parking)
As I said, it's easy to find since it has a big yellow sign outside. There are 7 parking slots outside, but considering that the place could probably accommodate more than 100 persons, I think 7 slots may not be enough. But you don't really need a car to get to this place. It's walking distance from the intersection of Makati Ave and Buendia, so you can easily get here if you are commuting.

element #5: 24 hours
Probably the best part about Chic-boy is the fact that it is ALWAYS open, which means you can enjoy all the four elements above any time of the day.

Indeed, they got the formula right. Just add beer and this could be one of my favorite stops in Makati. Oh wait, they do have beer, and cheap beer at that! At 180 per bucket, Chic-boy just answered the prayers of cost-cutting yuppies like me. And we all say AMEN to that!

Chic-boy
Jupiter Street, Makati City
www.chic-boy.com.ph

Good Bad Stuff: PatPat's Kansi

2010-06-06T16:38:00.008+08:00

(This is part 3 of 3 of my Good Bad Stuff Series. I am featuring three restaurants whose specialties may give the diner a sudden death. Find out how!)

After being mammal-meatless for almost 2 months, I have definitely made my big redmeat comeback -- pork, lamb and beef! You name it, I've had it! In fact, I have taken it up a notch and actually got myself a bone!

PatPat's Kansi, another hole in the wall restaurant in the outskirts of Makati City, originates from Iloilo. Kansi, an Ilonggo dish, is similar to our local bulalo sans the vegetables. It's basically bone marrow with soup, but with a hint of sourness and a bit of color care of achuete. Bone marrow may not be pleasurable for everyone, as it is an acquired taste. But growing up with a mother who made eating bone marrow look so satisfying and enjoyable, having Kansi is definitely a nostalgic experience for me.

Aside from the dish that made PatPat's famous, they also serve other dishes like sizzling seafood and barbeque. Their menu also tells the history of PatPat's Kansi, and addresses of other branches of PatPat's Kansi. Yey for good bad stuff everywhere!

Look at me, salivating over a bone like one happy dog! Who wouldn't be? Just look at that bone, filled with gooey stuff inside and the rubbery meat clinging on the bone screaming take me baby!

You can get a bowl of bulalo for P135 or choose to go boneless with a bowl of meat at P115 instead. The bowl with the bone has meat underneath, so for a little extra, you get everything from meat to bones! Obviously I got the bulalo. A cup of rice costs P18. You might want to order an extra cup beforehand; we all know eating Kansi requires speed, as you might end up with a layer of sebo all over your mouth (and your plate) if you eat slowly or if you pause in between (to order your extra rice). Not that it will take a lot of time to get an extra cup of rice -- after all, the service at PatPat's is quick. I just don't recommend unnecessary pauses as this will disrupt you from enjoying your good bad stuff!

You'll be surprised at how easy and quick it is for people to take their lunch here at PatPat's. There are only 6 slots for parking and though the place is packed, I haven't seen customers waiting in line to be seated. Cars and diners come and go in a blink of an eye. I guess sebo makes people move quick. :)

Though I enjoyed my Kansi very much, I probably won't be back there for a couple of months. I don't want high blood to be on my medical record, and that's exactly what PatPat's is selling: high blood in a very tasty and satisfying bowl. Perhaps if and when I come back, I'll try their sizzling plates. I've had enough of the good bad stuff. It's time to eat healthy again! Do I hear a mammal-meatfree diet take two? We'll see.

PatPat's Kansi
8809 Sampaloc St. San Antonio Village, Makati City
890-6179

Good Bad Stuff: 8065 Bagnet

2010-06-06T12:02:00.015+08:00

(This is part 2 of 3 of my Good Bad Stuff Series. I am featuring three restaurants whose specialties may give the diner a sudden death. Find out how!)

I eat healthy most of the time. I stay away from overly sweet food (also known as dessert) and fatty food. I've even gone mammal-meatless for a while. It's not that I have a boring palate, I've had Claude Tayag's lechon 5 ways and anyone who has tried that could not possibly be a senseless eater! It's just that I have been unconciously trying to preserve my health out of fear of not being free to experience a lot of things in life. I mean, imagine if I had high blood, I won't be able to try this wonderful restaurant we are slowly starting to love!

Situated in Estrella Street, San Antonio Village Makati is a hole in the wall restaurant that serves one of the Philippines' unhealthiest-but-oh-so-damn-good specialties: the bagnet. Outside 8065 Bagnet, it looks like a regular quaint eatery, but it is exactly that unpretentious feel that tells you that you are right where you're supposed to be if you're yearning for a killer dish such as bagnet: a place for the young and carefree. The graffiti wall and the decors inside, despite the vintage feel, screams of yuppie vibe for some reason. Their food does too! Bagnet and beer -- who could ever pull this off? Add to that the regular quiz nights, 8065 could easily be a yuppie's form of escape from the arms of corporate slavery.

So where's this good bad stuff that 8065 Bagnet dares to boast of?

original bagnet | spicy binagoongang bagnet
kare-kareng bagnet | sisig bagnet

Owners of a restaurant such as 8065 Bagnet are either brave or totally-Bagnet crazy to offer only Bagnet dishes on their menu. Sure they have ensaladang talong, but the star of ALL their main dishes is none other than the famous Ilokano specialty. To that, I can only say one thing: if you have mastered the art of turning one ingredient to six different but equally amazing dishes, feel free to follow 8065 Bagnet's owners' footsteps. These people know their Bagnet well. From the crisp to the sauce to the aftertaste -- try it and you'll forget that bagnet is actually bad for your health. It's that good!

8065 Bagnet says that they get their Bagnet straight from Ilocos. I wonder how they manage to keep the bagnet crunchy and tasty? How do they make those perfectly moderate tasting sauces? Why are their prices unbelievably cheap? Why do I keep coming back to 8065 Bagnet despite knowing that eating too much of it is bad for my health? Why does something so bad for my body taste so good?

Alas, we are left with nothing but questions. But as long as I can have my dose of the good bad stuff, I don't mind.

8065 Bagnet
8065 Estrella St. San Antonio Village Makati
508-1807

Good Bad Stuff: Bale Dutung

2010-06-06T09:46:00.020+08:00

(This is part 1 of 3 of my Good Bad Stuff Series. I am featuring three restaurants whose specialties may give the diner a sudden death. Find out how!)

Ever since I saw Anthony Bourdain's episode of No Reservations Philippines, I have been aching to try all the restaurants he's been to, one of which is Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung. I have to admit, I have never heard of his restaurant before. I only knew that there's a famous chef from Pampanga by the name of Claude Tayag, and I often asked my friend L if she was related to or familiar with this Tayag chef in any way, to which she would respond no. So my knowledge of the great Claude would end at that, until Anthony Bourdain featured his restaurant and I watched with glee as I learned more about Claude Tayag and Kapampangan food. On that day, I told myself, one day, I am going to be stuffed silly by Claude Tayag. I'll make sure of it.

Since then, I have been bugging Tita MaryAnn, Claude Tayag's wife, inquiring about reservations. To dine at Bale Dutung, you should form a group of 12 and schedule lunch with Tita MaryAnn ahead of time. But if you can't go there as a group, Tita MaryAnn will gladly contact you every time a slot is available (say, a group of 11 signs up?). The problem is, I don't have the necessary knowledge and means to travel all the way to Bale Dutung on my own, so despite Tita MaryAnn's efforts to accommodate me, alas, my Bale Dutung experience remained a dream.

Fast forward to 2010, lo and behold: someone else did the job for me. Enter Ultimate Philippines! Ultimate Philippines, a group of travel and food bloggers, organized the Ultimate Pampanga Culinary and Heritage Tour, a packaged trip that includes breakfast at Everybody's Cafe, a visit to Bacolor and Betis Church, and what else but the great Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung! Where do I sign up?

So on the 29th of May, GM and I went to Starbucks 6750 and just let Ultimate Philippines make my dreams come true. I won't go through the details of the filling breakfast spread at Everybody's Cafe or how glorious the 2 Pampanga churches are. The title of the post is sudden death, so let's just get acquainted with Claude and his killer dish: the lechon, alright?

Well the meal that we signed up for was Claude Tayag's 5 ways lechon, but Claude and MaryAnn, the gracious hosts that they were, didn't just stuff us with fats right away. We later found out that it was actually a 10-course meal, so there were 5 dishes to be served other than the killer lechon. The 5 dishes, namely Ensaladang Pako, Piniritong Lumpiang Ubod, Inasal na Manok at Talangka Rice, Talangka Sushi and Hito at balobalo Sushi, were healthy yummy dishes but killers in their own way too! As for the 5 ways lechon, I don't really have to say much, except that Claude surely knows how to make bad stuff soooo good! We were actually lucky to try the lechon 6-ways:

pritong balat ng lechon| fried lechon flakes binalot sa tortilla| sinigang na lechon
inihaw na tadyang ng lechon | inasadong pata ng lechon | crispy lechon skin

Due to humidity, the first lechon's skin didn't end up as crispy as it should have been (according to Claude's standards) so he fried it. We all loved the fried lechon skin. It actually wasn't as oily as expected, but it turned out pretty well and I loved how tasty it is. But Claude, wanting us to be able to try the crispy lechon skin, made another lechon. Talk about Pampanga pride! You'll know he's not just in it for the money, he's doing it for the sake of food in all its glory. Aren't we lucky to have a Claude Tayag in our lifetime?

Thanks to the following people who made this food trip possible:
GM =)
Spanky -- http://spankyenriquez.blogspot.com
Ultimate Philippines -- http://ultimatephilippines.com/
Bale Dutung -- for reservations and inquiries, email mquioctayag@yahoo.com

**Pictures c/o GM

SG in JPEG

2010-06-06T00:12:00.003+08:00

Singapore is a tourist-friendly country. There are a lot of tour packages available online for the busy tourist. However, for budget tourists like me who can do away with a tour guide and prefer a flexible schedule, you can always DIY!

HOW TO GET AROUND SINGAPORE

It's easy to travel around Singapore because most of Singapore is connected via buses and trains. Cabs are also available 24/7 (with an additional fee for night trips). Tourist maps are available in some areas and signs are posted everywhere in English, Hindi and Chinese. There's also a very efficient online map of Singapore: www.gothere.sg which contains not only a map but directions (both for commuters and car drivers) and actual images of the street. This makes it very easy for OC tourists like me to prepare for the entire trip experience, as it gives me an idea of how much money and time I am going to spend to get to and from a certain destination. It also lessens the fear of getting lost (as stated in my previous post) since you already have an idea of how a certain street will look like and which exit to take when you get off the train.

Speaking of trains, their Mass Rail Transit (MRT) has 4 lines (red/green/yellow/purple) and there are more than a hundred routes taken by their public buses. Train and bus stops are scheduled at Singapore, so if you miss the bus/train by a few seconds, you just have to wait for a couple of minutes before the next trip arrives. But wherever you are going, there's a way to get there via bus or train for sure! GM got me an EZLink card which can be used on buses and trains. I wish we have the same system here in the Philippines: efficient card scheme, interconnecting trains, well-maintained stations, scheduled spacious bus/train trips and most of all, disciplined commuters. That would be heaven!

PINOYS IN SINGAPORE

Singapore population is composed of Malays, Chinese and Indians, among others. It's a destination for Filipinos too, as tourists and workers. There are good job opportunities for IT consultants in Singapore, which Filipino job seekers enjoy and take advantage of. Because of this, you won't really feel that much away from home when you're in SG. Hawker centers have stalls that sell Filipino food, Tapa King even! And though the jolly orange bee hasn't flown his way to the lion city yet, there's a similar food stall called Happy-V to fill the space in the lion-city residing pinoy's heart. There's also Lucky Plaza, a unique gem in the middle of the mall-infested Orchard Road, famously known to be the Pinoys' mall. This is where you can find Filipino goods (care for a chocnut?) as well as plenty of remittance centers that cater to the working Pinoy. Best of all, most pinoys agree that Lucky Plaza houses the best money changers in Singapore. It truly is a Pinoys' mall!

SEE/SMELL/TASTE SINGAPORE

Enough of the chitchat, everybody knows the real reason why you are reading this blog, so here it is: the sights, scents and tastes of Singapore in JPEG format. Enjoy!

chinatown temple| snake wine,
the famous hainanese chicken | tian tian hawker stall (maxwell food court)

lei store | a street view of little india

makansutra hawker center | kaillang
chicken wings | ex-aub peeps SG chapter

Marina Bay Sands | Fullerton Hotel
Esplanade | Merlion Park

Toast Box Vivo City | Soft boiled eggs
Kaya Toast | Kopi

sentosa wavehouse flowrider | skyride
GM's flowrider shot | luge

I was only given a few days to enjoy Singapore and I surely did. I loved this trip not only because of the beautiful sights of SG but mainly because of two F's, namely food and friends. I was able to visit most of my SG-based friends and try most of the native dishes that were on my list. All of these would not have been possible if not for this one guy who made my SG trip so special: the best friend whom I would be willing to travel a lotta miles for:

You made my Singapore experience truly memorable. I can't thank you enough!
POTONG PASIR! =)

Year of the Tiger

2010-05-18T22:04:00.006+08:00

I'm back! I just striked another one off my to-do list: I toured Singapore! I'm not much of a commuter but I braved the long travel to SG (commuter points!) on my own (plus points!) via Clark (plus more points!)! *applause*

When I found out that Gary was going to be assigned at Singapore, I was always on the lookout for promo fares of different airlines that travel to SG. By the end of April, Tiger Airways had a seat sale wherein roundtrip tickets were sold at US$172 (without check-in baggages). It isn't that cheap if you compare it to other airlines' promo fares, but it was too late for me to be thrifty because I wanted to go to SG ASAP so I booked Tiger Airways anyway. YEY!

*She's got a ticket to ride...and she don't care!*

NOT! Ofcourse I care! To prove that I do, here are a few notes I made for brave souls like me who plan to travel via Clark :)

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HOW TO GO TO CLARK AIRPORT/DMIA:
There is a Philtranco bus terminal at the back of Megamall (facing St. Francis Square, the terminal is in front of the unfinished building in between Podium open parking and St. Francis Square) that travels to Clark Airport everyday. Philtranco's website may not be updated so it's better to send them an email to inquire/reserve. I tried calling them several times at the number posted on their site(851-8077, 851-8078, 632 851-8079) but no one is picking up. Take note that you have to reserve your slot via email (reservation.philtranco@gmail.com); the bus could get filled up quickly as the buses are serving both AirAsia and Tiger Airways travellers. I went there at 6:30AM as a chance passenger, thinking that if I came early for the 7:00AM trip, I could get a seat. I didn't, but I was lucky that they had a second trip arriving at 7:30AM. Apparently, they were supposed to have two buses scheduled to leave for Clark at 7:00AM but Clark Airport informed them that Tiger Airways does not have a flight scheduled on that day so Philtranco only sent off one bus. When they found out that there was indeed a Tiger Airways flight scheduled on that day, they immediately sent another bus, thus the 7:30AM second trip. Bus ride to Clark costs PhP300. You can also reserve your slot for the return trip, just inform the driver of your schedule and name.

WHAT TO DO AT THE CLARK AIRPORT:
1) Once you get inside, an attendant will direct you to the counter where you will pay for airport tax which costs PhP1,620.
2) Proceed to the check-in counter. Take note that the hand carry limit is 7kg while check-in baggages can weigh up to 15kg. The following items are NOT allowed in your handcarry bag: umbrellas, canned goods and liquid items. Liquid items should be placed in 100ml containers and all containers should fit a clear small ziplock bag. Also, total liquid items should not exceed 1 litre.
3) Proceed to Terminal Fee counter (near Immigration) and pay PhP600.
4) Enter the Immigration Area. You only have to present your boarding pass and passport. Immigration Officer may ask you a few questions, but you don't have to worry about anything -- unless you are a bad bad man. :)
5) After immigration, you'll go through the last security check. This is where you take your shoes off and get frisked.

6) After going through the last security check, you enter the departure lounge. This is where you wait until you are ready to board. There are concessionaires all over the departure lounge: The Coffee Experience, Hen Lin, Smokey's and other stalls. There's a food station that serves rice meals at an incredibly high amount, probably prepping you for the moolah-spending spree you are bound to be on when you leave the country. I bought a plate of chicken curry, a cup of rice and a can of coke for PhP260. There is a television set near the boarding gate so you also watch while waiting.

TIGER AIRWAYS PLANE:
The plane can accommodate 180 passengers. The plane is relatively nice, leg room may not be as spacious but it's tolerable. Food is not served on the plane so you may either take your meals before boarding or order from their rather costly menu which consists mostly of instant food such as noodles and 3-in-1 coffee. Right before take-off, the FAs sprayed air freshener probably to mask the scent of the different passengers on the plane. It wasn't much of a problem for me since I transferred to the empty seat near the window anyway.

I have to admit, one of the best things about travelling from Clark is the view when you take off. The fishponds and plantations are really beautiful. At some point, you will also see rivers of ashes due to the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 -- catastrophic but still would give you quite an impression.
The ride was pretty smooth, thanks to the good weather. Flying via Tiger Airways wasn't really as scary as some people say it would be. Only downside was that our flight was delayed for about an hour. According to their site, Tiger Airways was on time 84% of the time on April 2010, perhaps I was just quite unlucky to be on the unfortunate side of the statistic.

SINGAPORE BUDGET TERMINAL:
After 3 hours and 40 minutes, the plane safely landed in Singapore Budget Terminal. This is where Tiger Airways, Cebu Pacific Air and Firefly (Malaysian airline) planes land. After landing, I immediately lined up at the Immigration Area. I have read in some forums that I should avoid a certain Indian woman because she can be quite strict specially with young ladies. But the lines were long and I wasn't able to see the immigration officer when I was lining up and I ended up with an Indian woman. Frankly, I didn't care too much about it because I was going to stay in SG only for a few days and I wasn't going to get into a mess of any sort anyway so why worry? I handed my passport and boarding pass to the IO, and with no questions asked, I was done with immigration in seconds. After passing through Immigration, you may get your check-in baggages. I didn't have any so I proceeded to the exit. Near the exit, I boarded the shuttle that brought passengers from the Budget Terminal to Changi Terminal 2. From the basement of Terminal 2, I just followed the directions to the MRT.
Singapore is known to be a tourist-friendly country because it is very easy for commuters to travel around. Signs are posted everywhere and maps are available in most areas. As a lone traveller, I don't mind getting lost in Singapore. I don't think it's possible!

** Next post: What to do in Singapore!

lumpiang toji

2010-05-11T12:14:00.000+08:00

Lunch is becoming my favorite time of the day these past weeks. My teammates and I have been on a cooking fest of sorts, most of us bringing baon to share with the team. I'm really enjoying this setup, since it gives me a chance to try making new dishes sans the problem of disposing leftovers (I usually cook for myself so I end up with a lot of leftovers).

For my past experiments, I have used chicken and Tilapia/Dory fillets and I think my teammates are getting fed up with them. Since I can't make dishes with mammal-meat, I tried to look for other poultry/fish variants. Tuna came into mind, and I remembered that there's a Tuna Spring Rolls recipe on Yummy's latest ish.

(Get their May 2010 ish, my twitter ID is on it!)

I looked at the ingredients: onions, garlic, carrots, red bell pepper, tuna. CHECK! I love how this recipe's ingredients are pantry staples; it makes my life so much easier not having to scout groceries just to make one dish (Kudos to Yummy!). I don't like raisins so I had to strike that off the list. For tuna, I decided to use the spicy variant because I'm a spicy food lover. Now that all the ingredients are ready, it's time to cook!

It's fairly easy to make. I just sauteed the onions and garlic, then added the red bell peppers and carrots until they were soft. After which I added the tuna, then soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

After a few minutes, I transferred it to another container to allow it to cool. Good thing the evening news are on (I usually cook the night before), I watched it while allowing the tuna filling to cool. I also prepared the spring roll wrapper while watching. When the tuna was cool enough to handle, I began scooping tuna filling into the spring roll wrappers and rolled away!

I think I made around 12 rolls. I deep-fried the rolls for 1-2 minutes just to brown the wrapper since the filling was already cooked. So easy to make, right?

So good too!!! It was definitely love at first bite. In fact, I enjoyed it too much I already consumed three rolls before I remembered to take pictures!

Tuna lovers should definitely try this. If you're tired of eating tuna straight from the can, this should give you an idea of how to enjoy tuna all over again. This could be one of (if not) the best recipes I've tried. I'm so attached to it, I'm calling it Lumpiang Toji (after me of course) =)

Thanks to Yummy for sharing this amazing recipe!

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for YUMMY recipes, visit:
www.yummy.ph
www.twitter.com/yummyph
www.facebook.com/yummymagazine

yummy mothers day

2010-05-09T10:53:00.009+08:00

Though my mother is in the US, my family still celebrates mother's day every year. We usually head out to restaurants for lunch/dinner, then head home right after to chat with my mom. This year, we decided to stay at home, prepare lunch ourselves and actually have lunch with my mom -- online!

So who's in charge of the food prep? Since my sister is banned from the kitchen (self-imposed, just to make it clear. She'd rather stay at the dining area, if you know what I mean), that leaves me and my sister-in-law. She's in charge of dessert, I'll take care of the main course. No biggie since I've been practically living in my kitchen for the past few weeks. Let the challenge begin!

I took out my latest issue of Yummy Magazine (where I found my twitter ID on two of the pages, woah! I know right?) and looked for the most interesting recipe in there. Something I can eat (mammal-meat free since March 23!) and whose ingredients I can find in my kitchen -- that Easy Eggs Ben was a candidate (I have fish bacon, how great is that?) but probably not something I should prepare for lunch (though I would willingly eat eggs ben any time of the day, they're my favorite!). The Crispy Tilapia Tropicale looked very delicious but I don't know how to cut the carrots and red bell pepper properly (poor knife skills + terrible knife = julienned nothing) so that's out. Then I saw it. It's not mammal-meat. It's easy to make. It's healthy. It uses fruit-- one of my favorites even, and it looks oh so good.

Saucy Chicken with Mango it is. So I followed the directions and made the sauce first by mixing cornstarch, water, soy sauce and sugar. That was easy. Next was to cut the ginger into thin strips which was quite hard when you're using a knife as dull as mine. After successfully cutting the ginger, I cooked them with onion for a couple of minutes then added the chicken and the chicken stock. I just followed the rest of the instructions and after 1.5 hours (I can be unbelievably slow in the kitchen. I enjoy food prep too much), tada!

At first, I was quite hesitant to add the mangoes, (1) because I wanted to eat them right away, and (2) because the dish already tasted great even without it. But without the mangoes, it doesn't seem like a very unique dish (which was what I was going for) so I gave in and put the mangoes on the dish. It was then that I realized that I made the right decision. The mangoes added a very welcome sweetness to the flavorful dish. Yummy indeed.

Now it's almost lunch time and I have to get ready. My sister will pick me up in 30 minutes and we're travelling all the way to my brother's house in Taytay for lunch! We're about to have an awesome out of town family lunch for mother's day! Yey!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! :)

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Visit the YUMMY website, they've got tons of great recipes there! www.yummy.ph
Follow them on twitter! www.twitter.com/yummyph
Add them on facebook! www.facebook.com/yummymagazine

25 days, 13 dishes

2010-04-28T12:31:00.002+08:00

I've been singing Hello Saferide's song 25 Days since GM left for Singapore last April 5. The countdown is almost over, GM is coming home on Friday! YAY!

So what have I been up to while GM is away? I've been cooking! You see, I find solace in food, whether it be in its preparation or consumption. But since I am on a self-imposed healthy diet, food preparation easily became my therapy of choice for now.

So for the past days, I have been doing rounds at nearby local groceries, scouting for ingredients and good finds. I have also been on the lookout for interesting recipes that are easy to do and yet full of flavor.

Posted below are end products of my experiments, recipes of which are from different issues of YUMMY as well as from various sites. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Melon Fun-due
I'm personally not a fan of strawberries but I wanted my nephew Aloe to try it so i bought a bag, mixed cream and melted chocolate, and voila! Instant fruit fun-due!

Balsamic Rosemary Chicken
Care to guess what local dish my balsamic rosemary chicken tasted like? Yep, it tasted like our very own adobo!

Herbed Cheesy Corn
corn + melted butter + chopped parsley + parmesan cheese = yumyumyum.

Peppermint Brownies
No, I did not do this from scratch. Aloe was insistent on buying a brownie mix so that we won't take too much time so I got a pack of Betty Crocker brownie mix and added Andes peppermint chips on top. As expected, it was really yummy! It's Betty Crocker, come on, it has to be good!

Chicken and Broccoli with Blue Cheese Sauce on Farfalle

The recipe originally asked for gorgonzola but i was too lazy to walk to Santis so i just used blue cheese instead. It honestly smelled like someone barfed all over our unit when I made this but it was totally worth it!

Creamy Salmon Pasta
I used canned pink salmon which may not be as tasty as fresh salmon but is surprisingly good. I couldn't find dill anywhere but it still came out well.

Tilapia Fillet w/ Kaffir Lime Sauce

Tired of the usual Cream Dory with Lemon Sauce? I am. So I bought tilapia fillets at SM and mixed it with cream, kaffir lime juice, shredded kaffir lime leaves and got this. Would have been great except the flavor reminded me too much of dishwashing liquid that I didn't enjoy it as much.

Roasted Chicken Sandwich
This is, by far, the healthiest out of the 13 dishes I made. Roasted chicken plus lettuce, tomatoes and green apple on mini french baguette FTW.

Summer Tomato Penne
A vegetarian's delight, this pasta is fairly easy to make and very easy to love! It's simply tomatoes, olives and herbs on penne mixed with melted mozzarella cheese.

Tarragon Egg and Pesto Topped Baguettes
Don't be fooled -- that's just bottled pesto! I did make the tarragon egg by myself though. No biggie, it's just egg, sea salt, white pepper and tarragon leaves. Yummy breakfast!

Fish Pesto on Spirals
Powdered pesto mixed with cream, topped with Calamansi-marinated tilapia nuggets. The local lime added a refreshing taste to the dish.

Olive Tomato Tuna Couscous
The box of couscous has been sitting in my kitchen shelf for around 2 months because I had no idea how to use it. I only bought it out of interest, wondering what I could possibly make with such ingredient. Since then, I have been on constant lookout for an easy couscous recipe, and the search ended when I found a 6-ingredient recipe for this dish. Black olives, tomatoes, canned tuna, lemon, chicken broth and couscous. I enjoyed making this dish the most, not only because it was my first time dealing with couscous but mostly because it was really easy to make. Best part was fluffing the couscous. The little grains are just soooo cute!

Spaghetti Ala Rosebowl
My hands reeked of sardines + onions + garlic that for a second, I wanted to saute my hands (seriously!). The capers were a welcome addition, giving this dish an intense flavor. Fairly easy to make and does not cost much, this is definitely something I would make again.

That marks the end of my kitchen experiments. Now I'm hunting for a good shrimp recipe for our dear balikbayan. The parmesan prawns on the yummy site is tempting, but prawns are too expensive! I'm still looking for other recipes that are as easy to make and yet less costly. Let me know if you have one.

i'm free!

2010-04-09T22:00:00.001+08:00

The day after the ultimate chocolate drink taste test, I unwillingly detoxified myself and resorted to taking loperamide to save myself from death by crap. Little did I know that loperamide would put me in a worse situation; it was still gonna kill me through constipation!

It was only a matter of time when I decided to change my diet -- drastically if I may add. I thought of turning vegetarian, but since I could not possibly live without chicken and seafood, I decided to take things a little slowly by refraining from having mammal meat only. So now I can brag that I am pork and beef free since March 23! (don't you just love rhyming?)

So what do you call a mammal-meat-free person exactly? I tried googling it but it turns out there's no term used for semi-vegetarians who eat chicken and seafood. Semi-vegetarians who consume poultry meat (chicken) are pollotarians, while semi-vegetarians who consume seafood are pescatorians. So how come there is no term for us seafood and chicken-loving semi-vegetarians? How about chickseatarians? (fine, corny na...)

So far, it's been easy for me to avoid pork and beef. I order fillet o fish at McDonalds, chicken at Jollibee and KFC and fish everywhere else. It's a good thing that healthy dishes are now on the menu of most restaurants. It's isaw that's making me think twice about this new diet i'm on though. You see, I pass by an isawan every night on my way home from work. And being the isaw addict that I am, it's hard for me to resist a few sticks, specially when they're free! L recently bought isaw for all of us at the condo, my mouth was saying no but the voice inside my head was shouting "go go go!" Well, my will power is stronger and I am proud to say that I am still mammal-meat-free since March 23! YEY!

wish me luck, I really hope I can do this for a long time, if not forever. =)

**updated 05/18/10: the diet only lasted for 1 month, 3 weeks and 3 days. I had bak kut teh so there goes my mammal-meat free diet!

the battle of the chocolate drinks

2010-04-07T19:05:00.002+08:00

Sunday morning. The bell rings and you run out to the door. You find one thing on your doorstep and you smile. It's a bottle. It's the key to heaven. It's the key to home. It is love.

It is the great magnolia chocolate drink. Do you remember it?

Well, some time ago, a crazy dude from Magnolia thought of taking our piece of heaven away from the grocery shelves. Now we are left with wannabes who think they can take Magnolia Chocolate Drink's place in our hearts -- and yes, we are all left with sad tummies.

So who are these impostors who attempt to compete for our deep passion for good chocolate (now that the original Magnolia Chocolate Drink is no more)?

#8: Moby Chocolate Drink - P9.00 / 120ml.
The brand is more popular as a chocolate snack - the chocolate version of Cheese Curlz. I didn't like their chocolate drink as much as I liked their snack. At one point I actually considered if I was drinking spoiled milk.

#7: Anchor Chocolate Milk - P20.50 / 250ml.
It's a brand associated with butter and cow's milk, but the dairy connection doesn't automatically mean great chocolate milk. It wasn't very chocolatey, in fact, it was bland.

#6: Magnolia Chocolait - P18.40 / 250ml.
A few years ago, Magnolia re-released the legendary drink but it is now in tetra pak form. It carries the same name but does not bear the legendary chocolate taste.

#5: Anlene Chocolate - P25.25 / 250ml.
Similar to Anchor, I think Anlene should just stick to providing cow's milk (the plain type). The chocolate taste was very artificial.

#4: Selecta Moo -- P9.60 / 120ml.
This is definitely a kid's drink. The packaging and serving size is targeted for kids. The level of sweetness adds to the kiddie factor of the drink, sweetened the way kids would like their chocolate drink.

#3: Selecta Moo Choco Rocky Road -- P18.70 / 235 ml.
Selecta takes it up a notch by adding flavor to the usual chocolate drink, taking its cue from a popular ice cream flavor! Moo Choco Rocky Road combines the taste of mallows, nuts and ofcourse, chocolate! It's like melted ice cream in a tetrapak! Works wonders for me, not as much for GM though. He thinks it tastes like medicine. Well this is my review and I say it is yummy!

#2: Nestle Milo -- P17.40 / 180ml.
Ice, milk, water and Milo powder. That's how I used to have it when I was young. So now I wonder, why haven't they thought of making a ready to drink Milo before? Sure, they released Milo bars back in highschool and Milo balls (breakfast cereals) some time ago, but what took them so long to make ready to drink Milo? Well enough of the wondering, let me just do my review on it. I was expecting it to have the same or at least similar taste to how I would prepare it when in powdered form, but it didn't. Though different in taste, it passes as a good chocolate drink for me.

The best chocolate drink among 8 drinks in the ultimate chocolate taste test is....

#1: Nestle Chuckie -- P19.30 / 250 ml.
Nestle is doing a pretty good job in making chocolate drinks, bagging the top two spots on this list. Nestle Chuckie was a favorite among the three judges in this taste test, simply because it has the right taste and serving. The sweetness of chocolate and the creaminess of milk was blended perfectly to create a great chocolate milk drink. Though it could never replace the legend that is Magnolia Chocolate Drink, Chuckie may be considered as the best chocolate milk drink for now.

Needless to say, I had an upset tummy the next day (which was a working day, by the way) and underwent an unwelcome detoxification. I had to leave the office early and stayed in the comfort room for the rest of the day. And that's how the battle of the chocolate drinks ended. =)

**all chocolate drinks were bought at Cash and Carry Supermarket on March 21, 2010.

APO virgins no more

2010-04-03T14:20:00.009+08:00

Growing up to APO Hiking Society music, GM and I are big fans, but APO virgins nonetheless, as we both have never had a chance to watch APO perform live -- that is, until the lovely night of February 13.

APO Hiking Society held their last Valentine's concert that night, aptly entitled Last Valentine's NAPO Nila. We weren't lucky enough to snag gold tickets but were still blessed with silver tickets, which weren't that bad considering that the venue was at the SMX Convention Center. It was a very intimate concert, graced by the presence of around 5,000 APO lovers, both young ones and young once.

K Brosas was a great opening act. It sure was weird to have a stand-up comedian open for a legend such as APO, but K made quite an impression to the audience with her witty remarks and powerful voice. Sans the curses and the personal attacks, K gave a refreshing and interesting performance.

As soon as APO stepped on stage, I knew it would be a very special night for love. They started with the song "We're Together," a song I heard for the first time that night, and tears started to build up. For real! I was trying to hold back my tears while listening to the song. The lyrics are simple yet deep, so raw and yet so perfect.

As the night progressed, they sang more familiar tunes which made the audience sing along (with GM and I having the loudest and youngest voices from the Silver area, I think). I knew they couldn't perform all of their hit songs, there are just too many of them. I'm glad they sang most of my favorites, including Paano, Panalangin, Ewan, When I Met You and GM's favorites, Show Me A Smile and Love Is For Singing. They also campaigned for the candidate I am rooting for, Noynoy Aquino, which was great. Well they did say some bad things about the other presidentiables, but it was all for fun and not meant to offend their supporters. Their funny banters, specially the one about Boboy's purok, made the night more fun and memorable.

They ended the night with the song Yakap sa Dilim, with a naughty comment from Danny about ending the concert early in order for lovers to have more time for some valentine action. Then he took it back and said that it was really about them getting old and requiring more rest. It was, after all, a tiring 3-hour concert, and 40 years of songwriting and capturing memories into music. With that, the audience gave APO a standing ovation for giving us the soundtrack of our lives for 40 great years.

I am posting below the lyrics to the song We're Together, my new favorite song from APO Hiking Society. I noticed that the lyrics are not available anywhere on the internet so I'm posting it here. If you get a chance, buy their 27th album entitled "Boboy, Jim and Danny. The APO" where this song can be found.

We're Together

We're together
We laugh, we cry together
We think, we feel, even sleep together
And it's all crazy but I love you.

We are one,
I look at you and we are one
And you kiss me, and we are one
And it's all crazy but I love you.

And I am sure that this loving feeling can endure
Making everything I see so pure
I can see when you look at me

We're inseparable
You're so a part of me and I'm a part of you
I even feel I am me cause you're you
And it's all crazy but I love you.

ok ka ba tyan?

2010-03-15T21:18:00.004+08:00

you know how some officemates are so competitive? they strive to excel in everything, beating each other's record in whatever field and bragging about their monumental victories? well guess what, our team took it up a notch and actually turned simple things into official competitions! first, it was water drinking. it wasn't much of a competition though, as Gary would always beat all of us! exag talaga yun uminom ng tubig. so we decided to take it to another level.. then came a crazy idea.. why not hold a yakult drinking competition?

gary sponsored the event; he bought a total of 7 packs of yakult and even bought a jar of stick-o for the grand prize! adik talaga. so it was all set. the date, the props, the prize, the judge, the contenders. the 23rd of February. lunch time. raiza, mitch, binder, jeff, marj, toj, gary. it's gonna be legendary.

and it really was! 2 seconds into the competition and Jeff was already ~~spitting~~ blowing yakult on our faces! CRAP! haha! while most of us were still gulping down our third bottle, raiza was already ready to finish her last. but wait! jeff blows one more time, and raiza follows his footsteps! yakult drinking competition is now bugahan fest! this gave me more time to finish my bottles and i finally finished all 5! I WON!! OKAY KA BA TYAN?!

binder came in second, followed by marj, mitch, raiza, gary, and finally, jeff. it was KREYSI! i'm telling you. it was one hell of a fight. 5 bottles of yakult consumed in 1 minute and 26 seconds. crazy.

but what came after that was crazier. it was a whole new level of competition...

unahan sa CR. =P

video of the competition withheld by request. pictures c/o garymart.

next stop: whistlestop!

2010-01-27T15:45:00.011+08:00

Lately, our friday lunchouts are getting boring with the usual italian/japanese eats so we decided to try something new. Not long ago, I found out that Whistlestop reopened in Jupiter Street, and since the rest of the team haven't tried their dishes, I giddily suggested we head over to Whistlestop for lunch.

The only instructions we got online was that it was located between Starbucks and Fiamma. With only 1.5 hours for lunch and armed with nothing but hungry tummies, we bravely cruised Jupiter Street in search of a good meal.

Fortunately, we did find Whistlestop right next to Maitre Chocolatier and RJ bar. We were also blessed with a parking space. Yes, the universe conspires!

We wasted no time in ordering; Hainanese Boneless Chicken, Beef Salpicao and Monggo with Chicharon. After placing our orders, we entertained ourselves by looking around and of course, taking a lot of pictures of each other (and yeah, the place too! haha).

Cameras, luggages, news clippings and images of London were placed all around the restaurant, and I felt like a traveler while looking around the place. The only question I had was, where is Whistlestop taking me this time?

A few minutes after, our orders arrived. After how many years, I say hello again to Hainanese Chicken! It was love at first bite all over again! The chicken was tender and the taste was just as I remembered it. Each bite took me back to the days when my friends and family would dine at Whistlestop, Shang and enjoy each other's company over good food. It was like nostalgia in a plate!

The beef salpicao was perfect with the garlic rice and the monggo was great as well. We happily enjoyed our meals and even got a free slice of chocolate cake care of Enjoy! Boy, aren't we lucky?!

Whistlestop
Address: 28 Jupiter Street, Makati City
Telephone: 896-1989

a beginning of something wonderful

2010-01-03T20:44:00.005+08:00

it's the start of the year and the start of the decade. are you feeling optimistic? come on! we all deserve a fresh start and a chance to be hopeful once in a while, and that "once in a while" happens to be every January!

so we all get to list down our new year's resolutions, some stick to the usual: hear mass regularly, quit smoking, get organized, be more patient, and so forth. i stopped making my list a few years ago, when i figured out i have been living my resolution for ages that it has turned into my way of life. remember my eternal new year's resolution? RISK MORE. it's always been that way for me. i always try to push myself a bit harder and encourage myself to be braver. as for concrete new year's resolutions, alas, i have none. so instead, for this year, i am making a to do list. it's quite similar to a list of resolutions, only i don't intend to have a lifestyle change of some sort; just have a list of things that i would like to try or experience; things that i told myself i would do someday but never had the guts, funds or time to do.

i'll post it on the sidebar so that i can update it from time to time. so there it is, my bucket list. for 2010 at least. =)

2010, let's get it on!

onwards as ever,
toj

After Ondoy

2009-10-02T16:18:00.010+08:00

Ondoy -- a name forever etched in every Pinoy's mind and heart; a calamity that left not only a mark or a dent in our lives, but a hole.

It came on a fateful Saturday morning, and after 6 hours of nonstop raining, left a shocked and shattered Manila.

260 lives. Thousands of homes. Millions worth of damages.

Yet, the Filipinos are still full of hope. In supermarkets, you'll find shoppers with carts that are filled with boxes of canned goods, bottled water, crackers and other relief goods. In houses, family members are packing sandwiches, bananas, bread, and other ready-to-eat food. In schools, people are packing food, clothes and blankets. On the streets, trucks loaded with relief goods are roaming. On the internet, you'll see a flood of messages from people volunteering their vehicles, venues, money and services for relief efforts.

The coming of Ondoy may have brought massive loss to the Filipino people, but it could never take hope out of the Filipino. It may have destroyed the capital of the Philippines but the hearts of Filipinos remain intact.

When calamities strike, donations come in from multinational companies and other countries. In this case, you'll feel how different Ondoy's case is by the level of aid we are getting. Donations come not only from companies but straight from pockets of the people -- mid-class even. We don't have much to offer but we still reach out. There was no plea for it, but Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike joined hands and organized several relief operations everywhere. It was more than social responsibility, it was a genuine concern for others that called each one of us to respond.

While most of us extended our help by giving out money, food and clothing, there were some who went the extra mile and gave up their lives in order to save people. There’s the 18-year old construction worker who died after saving 30 people, and then there’s also the 4 military personnel who died during the rescue mission. Every person who is entitled to a safe and dry day but instead chooses to go out and generously offer one’s help in any way is a hero, whether the help comes in a simple bag of relief goods or a life sacrificed.

I am proud to be from the Philippines, the land of survivors and heroes.

first image c/o tikoy tan, taken at lifehomes, pasig city. second and third image c/o iamtoj, taken at whitespace makati city.

how to help Ondoy victims

2009-09-29T09:08:00.004+08:00

LOCATION BREAKDOWN FOR VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF TYPHOON ONDOY.

QUEZON CITY.

- go to ateneo de manila university, katipunan avenue, and proceed to the college covered courts to volunteer. shifts are in three hour cycles. you can go as early as 6AM but it goes on the whole day.

- please bring packed/cooked food to 12 Denmark, Loyola Grand Villas, QC, and help @patriciahizon whose group was the only one helping the victims in tumana today.

- TULONG BAYAN, to volunteer, just go to Balay Expo Center in Cubao, Edsa cor McArthur, 8AM onwards. contact (02) 9137122 and look for Mary, May or Cam

- donations accepted in MIRIAM COLLEGE insa office.

- donations also accepted in UP DILIMAN student council office at vinzons hall.

- for the GMA Kapuso Foundation, you can drop your donations at Samar St. cor GMA Network drive, QC. Behind GMA complex. Beside Malayan Bank. Tel # 9284299, 9289351, 9827777.

- for those who want to volunteer for sagip kapamilya: call 4132667/4160387, or go to #13 examiner st., west triangle, QC

- the other address for sagip kapamilya is sct. bayoran corner tomas morato. look for Girlie Aragon or Jet at 0916-7227806 or 0929-5348176

- this is the REAL SAGIP KAPAMILYA ACCOUNT for your donations: banco de oro #56 300 20111 under abs-cbn foundation. to all those spreading fake accounts, please naman..

MANILA:

- DLSU along taft avenue will be accepting any and all kinds of donations starting 830AM.

- csb alumni also accepting donations at 9/f dls-csb school of design and arts building, along pablo ocampo street, vito cruz.

- UST is also accepting your donations, proceed to the Tan Yan Kee Student Center.

- donations can be dropped off at victory church in malate, call 5221212 or visit the victory website.

PASIG:

- MEGATENT, Meralco Ave, Ortigas beside Renaissance: need more volunteers and donations! Very big space! Open 24 hrs til Friday!

- according to @margaga, poveda school (beside galleria) opens 9AM tomorrow and is open to all volunteers and any kind of donations.

- according to @angel21kawaii, CFC Center in Ortigas is receiving donations in cash or in kind. Call (02)7270682-87 or 09195359036.

- donations can be dropped off at victory church in ortigas, contact 6311212 or visit the victory website.

MANDALUYONG:

- GAWAD KALINGA is accepting volunteers and donations, base is RFM gym in pioneer. Contact Raul Dizon 09178888109 and Felice Caringal 09178888304.

MAKATI:

- White Space in Pasong Tamo ext. / Chino Roces is in need of volunteers to pack goods

- you can drop of your donations at Assumption College, San Lorenzo Village, Makati

- you can drop off your donations at the following stores in rockwell powerplant mall: aranaz, luca, greyone social.

TAGUIG or FORT area:

- donations can be dropped off at victory church in the fort, you can call 8171212 or visit the victory website.

- you can drop off your donations in embassy superclub in the fort.

PASAY:

- @elizabacud shares that Manila Doctors College will also be accepting donations. Bring anything that can help at Speech Lab., Macapagal Blvd, PasayCity

SAN JUAN:

- La Salle Greenhills, Xavier School, and ICA (right beside Xavier) are also accepting donations. Xavier will be accepting goods till 12midnight.

FAIRVIEW area:

- Help needed in Fairview and Novaliches. Please send clothes, food, water, meds & blankets to the Divine Savior Parish in North Fairview.

SOUTH (alabang, las pinas, paranaque):

- drop donations or volunteer at DE LA SALLE ZOBEL. Contact Ms. Angie Brazan at the Social Action Office 0917-8597602

- you can drop donations at the ATC concierge, call 8422782 or 7721860

- san beda alabang in alabang hills village is also accepting donations

- you can help pack donations 10AM at st. james church, ayala alabang village

- you may volunteer at Red Cross Alabang - ATC along Zapote Road fronting National Bookstore call 8097131 for info

- CFC center in Las Pinas City is accepting donations. it is near Verdant and in front of the construction of SM Center Las Pinas. Contact 09174493154 / 8460809

BAGUIO:

- donations can be dropped off at the ABSCBN Baguio Office

- donations are also accepted at the Baguio Convention Center Executive Room from 10am til 4pm starting tomorrow til Friday. Volunteers are urged to come.

- Organizing a soup kitchen. Baguio donating vegetables to arrive via Victory Liner. Contact Dave at 09178396179.

BULACAN:

- RedCross bulacan accepts donations. It is located in Malolos Bulacan, near bulacan capitol :)

CAGAYAN:

- send your donations to the kkp office in xavier university, ATENEO DE CAGAYAN.

CAVITE:

- DLSU-Dasmarinas is also accepting donations, pls proceed to the 2nd floor of SBC Building

BATANGAS:

- DE LA SALLE LIPA is now accepting your donations, drop off point is at the college lobby.

CEBU:

- details on how you can donate are on noelle's blog or the living for a cause blog.

BACOLOD:

- For your donations, drop off center is at the Coliseum in the University of St. La Salle. 435-3857

- CAFE BREIZH wil be a drop off center for donations. text 09193651101 for details.

DAVAO:

- ATENEO DE DAVAO is accepting in kind donations for ondoy. drop off at the samahan office in jacinto campus.

- BANTAY BATA 163 davao located at matina,davao city is also a drop off point for any in-kind donations.

ZAMBOANGA:

- ATENEO DE ZAMBOANGA is accepting donations. You may bring them to the SACSI office. Look for Alma Curesma, 991-0871, loc 2224 or 2225.

for PETS in need of aid:

- @kimmydeleon is announcing that PARC is open for animals. Click this site for info of PAWS for helping from the flood. for the official website of paws, click here

for those in SINGAPORE:

- pinoys are mobilizing and gathering donations, visit this forum for more details.

for those in SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA:

- you can deliver relief goods to 303/5 Stromboli Strait, Homebush Bay 2127. you can also contact through twitter at @allorange if you want to arrange for a pick up in the city

for those in TORONTO, CANADA:

- pinoys in toronto are spearheading efforts to help, visit this website for details.

for anyone in the UNITED STATES:

- visit the abs-cbn foundation website for details.

- you can also call 1-800-5272820

for anyone else ABROAD who wants to help:

- you can donate through the paypal account link on this site.

- the ayala foundation is also accepting your donations through their website.

- you can donate through the kapuso foundation site.

- you can use your credit card to donate via the the abs-cbn foundation.

- donate rice through the UN's World Food Programme through their official website.

OTHER FORMS OF HELP FOR YOU:

PAL IS OFFERING FREE AIRLIFT FOR DONATIONS. for details, click on the pal website.

TO REPORT MISSING LOVED ONES OR AREAS IN NEED OF HELP: call the SAGIP KAPAMILYA HOTLINES at 4110011, 4110012, 4110013.

HOTLINES FOR MISSING PERSONS:
marikina - 09209389914
qc - 09216555262
pasig - 09189356318
cainta - 09175606241.

DATABASE OF ONDOY VICTIMS AND EVACUATION CENTERS: click on the ateneotaskforceondoy website.

FOR CAR TOWING NEEDS: HONDA and NISSAN offer free towing! call 09228504452, 09224452242, and 09228997959.

DONATIONS ON WHEELS!! if you have donations to give but no means to transport, contact 09189791229, 09177974098, 09326991794. don't worry guys, this is not a scam! its by friends of @jiggycruz!

--reposted from superbianca

(20090929 5:47PM)
** If you want to order MEGA SARDINES for the typhoon victims, please contact JEAN TIU at 0917-7161005. They can deliver in bulk and can offer it at a lower price versus supermarkets. Also MEGA sardines are available in DOY PACKS, no need for can opener.

Khao Pad (Formerly UP Thai Canteen)

2009-09-07T19:29:00.007+08:00

Every time Gary and I talk about cheap food finds, he never fails to brag about a humble Thai Canteen in UP that offers, according to him, the best and cheapest Thai food he knows. He says it's just a little canteen wherein students could feel free to come in wearing their comfortable shorts and shirts and expect a generous serving of Tom Yum, Khao Pad and Pad Thai.

Since it closed in 2006, I never got the chance to try their food. That was until I found out in a food blog that it reopened in Ortigas Home Depot in 2008 and prepped Gary for the surprise of his foodie life!

For most UP students, UP Thai Canteen or Khao Pad is where they got their first taste of Thai food. As for me, I already got to taste Thai food way back. I was still excited though, after all, it's my first time to try the famous UP Thai Canteen, and ofcourse, I knew how happy Gary will be when he finds out about my surprise!

So we went to Ortigas Home Depot and started hunting for Khao Pad. It was just a few steps away from Starbucks so it wasn't really that hard to find. As I stepped in, it felt like I was walking into a carinderia of some sort. Don't bother looking for a menu, despite its posh location (ok, it's not really posh, but still too grand a location for a canteen of this type), no menu will be handed over to you. Instead, you can feast your eyes on the cooked viands that are displayed in their glass window and images of their popular dishes that are hung on the wall. There's this one dish that wasn't on the "menu" though, making it available only to those who are familiar with it. Lucky for Gary, I did my research and ordered the famous Mixed dish, along with a regular order of Tomyum and Khao Pad.

After ordering and paying for the food, we took the stairs and entered a totally different zone that is the second floor of Khao Pad. Contrary to the interiors of the first floor, the second floor was more cozy. The area was aptly lit, tables and chairs were clean and new, and a TV set was strategically located, giving customers opportunity to dine while enjoying a good local tv show. We were the only customers when we got there, so we basically had the entire floor to ourselves. We took advantage by posing next to the tarp with the Khao Pad logo, a necessary move to capture an essential moment of our foodie lives.

After a while, our orders were ready and so were we! The mixed dish, which the server called "mixed seafoods," had more beef and chicken than seafoods. I'd prefer calling it a mixed dish. It was like meat heaven in a plate! Imagine tasty chunks of beef, chicken, squid, egg and vegetables all in one plate! Gary taught me the proper way of eating Thai food, or at least the way he would eat it -- put a lot (by a lot, he means more meat than rice) of meat on top of your rice, add spoonfuls of the sauce from the plate of mixed meat, and finally mix. One time, I caught Gary happily chewing on a spoonful of his food with his eyes closed, savoring every bite.

Khao Pad or Thai Fried Rice had pieces of meat (maybe pork or chicken, we were too engrossed with eating to notice) and was a dish in itself. It surprisingly went well with Tomyum, which also had a generous serving of seafood. It wasn't warm enough but that didn't stop us from enjoying the sour seafood soup. We happily emptied our plates and bowls in no time.

The taste may not be as authentic as it claims to be, but it's enough for me to start a newfound love for lutong-bahay Thai food. It was a blast from the past for Gary, and a start of a bright future for food lovers like me. :)

mu-anha mi ug cebu

2009-08-27T09:24:00.000+08:00

we don't have an itinerary yet, definitely kasama sa to do list ang sky experience! :)

fro-yo for a cause

2009-08-15T22:48:00.005+08:00

Did you know that fro-yo is not only good for the body but good for the soul as well? That is, if you have a fro-yo at The White Hat, Shangrila Mall this August 30! TWH is having a charity event called THE WHITE HAT - Alodia & Ashley Gosiengfiao Dress Up For Charity! Famous cosplayers Alodia and Ashley will be serving fro-yo lovers in their costumes to raise money for Got Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to empower marginalized Filipinos by helping them become entrepreneurs. 50% of the entire day's sales will be donated to the foundation!

To make it more fun, everyone is invited to come in their own costume as well. There will be special awards for the following 4 categories:
Best Male Cosplayer
Best Female Cosplayer
Best Crossdresser Cosplayer
Best Kid Cosplayer

Each winner, who will be chosen by the celebrity cosplayers Alodia and Ashley, will win a special prize of 2 MONTHS SUPPLY OF FREE YOGURT + a souvenir cap + a souvenir photo with Alodia and Ashley! In addition, a photo wall will be setup for customers to have photo-ops. Sounds fun, eh? :)

It's a one day event only so if you're like me and you get really high from having the yummiest fro-yo while helping someone in need, just visit The White Hat at Shangrila Mall on August 30!

visit The White Hat site for updates!

uaap season 72 2nd round sched

2009-08-12T10:24:00.002+08:00

UAAP Season 72 Basketball
SCHEDULE OF GAMES
MEN'S DIVISION
Second Round

Thursday, 13 August 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
4:00 pm Ateneo vs UE

Sunday, 16 August 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
4:30 pm Ateneo vs DLSU

Sunday, 23 August 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
2:00 pm UST vs Ateneo

Thursday, 27 August 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
4:00 pm NU vs Ateneo

Sunday, 30 August 2009 - San Juan Arena
4:00 pm Ateneo vs AdU

Sunday, 06 September 2009 - San Juan Arena
4:00 pm UP vs Ateneo

Saturday, 12 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
4:00 pm FEU vs Ateneo

Sunday, 13 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Cheering Competition

Thursday, 17 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Playoffs

Sunday, 20 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Final Four

Thursday, 24 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Final Four if necessary

Sunday, 27 September 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Finals

Thursday, 01 October 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Finals

Sunday, 4 October 2009 - Araneta Coliseum
Finals

GO ATENEO! ONE BIG FIGHT!

froyo fun

2009-07-19T00:48:00.005+08:00

One day, I developed an addiction to fro-yo or frozen yogurt. I've been buying cups of Nestle Creamy Yogurt for the longest time and learning that I can now enjoy them frozen (and with yummy toppings too!) made me jump for joy! Yes, I've been a BTIC fan since forever, but frozen yogurt ala soft serve ice cream was out of my vocab before 2009. I don't know why it took me so long to actually try one. 2007 pa ata eh open na yung stores ng mga froyo. Am I that busy? (Don't answer that). Anyway, I asked GM to join me in trying them out. I didn't actually expect GM to like froyos, after all, he is one picky eater. I know he doesn't enjoy yogurt as much as I do (and add to that the fact that he is lactose intolerant) but I asked him to accompany me anyway. So off we went to Megamall to try Red Mango. Lo and behold, GM surprisingly liked it!

We've been fro-yo lovers since then. Here are images of some of our fro-yo adventures...

GM bought this for me. Tunaw because he walked all the way from GB5 to our Java class (sa Paseo Street pa! layo!) just to get me this. really sweet :) I'm not a big fan of yoh-gurt froz though. Their yogurt lacks the kick you expect from a yogurt. Not too generous with the toppings too.

I finally convinced the Java peeps to try out fro-yo! buti na lang, may California Berry (can i call it cali-berry? walalang!) near our class (2nd flr Paseo Center). Unfortunately, we didn't like it. Their yogurt wasn't tangy enough.

GM and I found Green Mango in SM North. their plain yogurt comes with 3 toppings. at PhP78, we thought it was a good buy. that same day, in that very branch, we found out that M&Ms should not be used as fro-yo toppings.

We've been hearing a lot of good feedback on White Hat, and when we finally tried it, we weren't disappointed! This is, by far, the best fro-yo place in Manila. Their frozen yogurt is just heavenly. They have a variety of delectable toppings, my favorite being their homemade cheesecake which never fails to make my fro-yo experience euphoric. Seriously.

Situated at the corner of the topmost floor of Rockwell is a pink themed yogurt store called Lulubelle. Yeah, not my kind of store for three reasons:
1. Rockwell is not my kind of mall - too far and inaccessible via commute (by commute, i mean shuttle -- no one goes to Rockwell by PUJs),
2. Pink is so not my color, and
3. Expensive fro-yo which I later on discovered was hollow on the inside. toppings are costly too.

Here's another Green Mango delight! A bit different from the one previously posted though because this is the sweet and creamy version. Personally, I think the plain one is way better than this version. I wouldn't dare call this one a yogurt product; after all, it doesn't taste like one. It was indeed sweet and creamy and nothing more.
Finally! na-try na rin namin ung green tea yogurt! I've been meaning to try it at Red Mango pero fail lagi dahil nate-tempt to get the plain one which is super yummy! Anyway, at White Hat, you just add PhP5 to your plain yogurt to get the green tea version. It has a light green tea taste and the right amount of tanginess (i feel like i am cursing. haha). I think this goes well with blueberries and granola. yum.

This is what they call the Baker's Hat. Why? That's because the toppings are blueberries, almond clusters and homemade cheesecake. Get it? :)

I don't remember hearing any feedback about Yoswirls so we went to Shangrila Mall to find out why and what's up with Yoswirls. Their yogurt is okay and their toppings are okay. In fact, they have fresh raspberries and cranberries among their variety of toppings. The price is reasonable for the yogurt itself which is 75 for a plain cup while the toppings are quite costly (specially for topping addicts like me who have to shell out either 25 or 35 per topping). So why is there no feedback on Yoswirls if they have an "okay" yogurt and "okay toppings", you ask? The problem is, "okay" yogurt + "okay" toppings = normal. In any case, normal or regular means forgettable. Anything that is neither too good nor too bad to remember is forgettable. There's nothing really terrible about it but there's nothing to rave about as well.

So there. Sorry if the froyo is halfway done in most of the pics.. sometimes we just get a tad too excited, forget to take pictures and dig in right away. We're (fro-yo) crazy like that. :)

UAAP Men's Basketball 1st Round Schedule

2009-07-02T22:59:00.000+08:00

let's get it on!!

July 12, 2009 - Sunday
4 pm - Ateneo vs. FEU
Araneta

July 16, 2009 - Thursday
4 pm - Ateneo vs. UE
Araneta

July 19, 2009 - Sunday
4 pm - Ateneo vs. UST
Philsports

July 25, 2009 - Saturday
4 pm - Ateneo vs. UP
Philsports

July 30, 2009 - Thursday
4 pm - Ateneo vs. Adamson
Philsports

August 9, 2009 - Sunday
12pm - Ateneo vs. DLSU
Araneta

no to conass

2009-06-11T15:47:00.003+08:00

i know blogging may not be the best way to stress a point but it's a start.

kwento

2009-05-16T23:57:00.000+08:00

1. kwento ng name mo?
? Lahat kami sa pamilya, sa letter A nagsisimula ang pangalan. so siguro dun ung Anna. Yung Diana, gusto lang ulitin ng mga magulang ko ung Anna. de, biro lang. ewan ko.

2. anung kwento ng last birthday mo?
? nagleave ako, tumambay sa bahay buong araw, inuman sa bahay nung gabi,tapos kinabukasan kumain sa italiannis. tapos may nakuha akong regalo na at the time eh nagpasaya sa birthday ko. pero void na siya. hindi na siya ung happiest birthday ko.

3. anung kwento ng 1st lovelife mo?
? first lovelife ko ay masaya, matagal na un. gradeschool pa ako. matinding pagmamahal kahit pambata daw. ilang taon din akong humaling, tuliro, high at sabog. pero first love never dies daw. kaya may pagtingin pa rin siya sakin. hihi.

4. anung kwento ng lovelife mo ngayon?
? bwahaha.

5. anung kwento ng buhok mo ngayon.
? nagpapahaba ako ng buhok kasi may bet kami ni Gary na hindi ko raw kayang hindi magpagupit ng isang buong taon. ang kapalit, disneyland at ocean park. nauna na ung bayad. reimburse nalang niya kung sakaling matalo ako. August 9 ang deadline kaya walang magiimbita sakin sa tony and jackey/hairshaft!

6. anung kwento ng cellphone mo?
? binili ko to nung first week of May, 2007. tulad ng lahat ng gadgets na binili ko simula nung magkakilala kami, siya ang pumili nitong w810 na sony. sing-edad nito ang makulay kong buhay :) binili ko to nung nasira ung motorola v200 na bigay ng nanay ko. ayaw na gumana ng screen kaya napilitan bumili.

7. anung kwento ng kwarto mo?
? wala na kong kwarto. share kami ng room ni ate dito sa condo. futon lng higaan ko kc maliit lang space namin dito, pero ayos lng. pangarap ko ngayon magka-kama. hehe.

8. anung kwento mo last christmas?
? wala naman

9. anung kwento mo last valentines day?
? dito sa bahay, may nagluto ng baked fish :)

10 . anung kwento ng chinelas na suot mo?
? nawawala kasi ung green na chinelas ko talaga (ahem) pero ung gamit ko ngayon, bigay ni lenlen sakin. simpleng banana peel lang. wala ko pambili ng havaiannas. hehe.

11. anung kwento nung una mong nakita yung 1st crush mo?
? first crush ko si leah salonga eh. sabi ko sa mama ko, ma, crush ko yan. ayaw niya maniwala. hehehe.

12. anung kwento nung best movie na pinanood mo?
? shucks ang hirap naman nito! wala kasi akong favorite eh, msyado ako maraming gustong movie. pero sige. isa sa mga favorites ko ung dark knight. nanood kami ng aub friends sa gbelt 3. first day of showing! sa sobrang daming tao, sa harap na lang ang available seats.. kaya aun. may stiffneck kami after. hahaha

13. GIVE 3 NAMES IN.. YOUR CELLPHONE INBOX .
? gary, mich, MJ

14. WHAT IS YOUR MAIN RINGTONE?
? i know, i know i know -- tegan and sara! shempre.

15. WHAT DID YOU DO AT 12 LAST NIGHT?
? nagcocomputer pa. hehe.

16. WHO WAS/WERE THE LAST PERSON/S YOU WENT OUT WITH? WHERE?
- kanina, mga AUB friends! shang, watched startrek (go spock! live long and prosper!) and angels and demons

17. WHAT IS THE COLOR OF THE T-SHIRT YOURE WEARING NOW?
? pink!! girly amf

18. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU DID?
? yawn. antok na ko.. nagddownload pa kasi ako ng rukia w810 themes kaya d pa makatulog

19. NAME 8 OF YOUR FAVORITE ITEMS.
? 1. laptop
? 2. w810
? 3. 8gb flashdrive
? 4. my starbucks country tumblers!
? 5. my tegan nolans!
? 6. ateneo jacket
? 7. wallet
? 8. my ref! :)

20. WHAT IS THE COLOR OF YOUR BEDROOM?
? white

tiende music & arts fest

2009-05-13T00:32:00.005+08:00

Artworks by: Jun Alfon, Hoche Briones, Anna Cadiz, Salvador Ching, Jes Evangelista, Denes Basco, Ponj Roco Jr., Eghai Roxas, Lucy Fernando, Elmer Tori, Camille Ver, Anna Vergel, Nick Emockling, Chelony Mercado, Boy Dominguez, Alex Aguilar, Pete Velasquez, Dwight Gaston, Bobby Balingit, Monet Gaston and Cynthia Alexander

Photo Exhibit - musicians, concerts and bar gigs

Booths of musical instruments, cd and band shirts accessories, instrument service shops, street wear and more...

MAY 16 - 2pm onwards
Guitar Clinic - Francis Reyes
Songwriting Workshop - Chickoy Pura
Government Agencies Seminar for musicians and artists, Philhealth and PAGIBIG, will be there.
Performances by: Scarlet, Kalayo (formerly Pinikpikan), Fuseboxx, and Kjwan

MAY 17 - 1:30pm onwards
Drum Circle - Ryan Peralta
Drum Clinic - Wendell Garcia
Bass Clinic - Karel Honasan
Performances by: Yosha, Bughaw Cultural DanceGroup, Bayang Barrios, Sinosikat?, and Pupil

Free entrance.

Phone: 7264486 ; Website: www.tiendesitas.com

maybe i'm amazed

2009-04-29T01:09:00.003+08:00

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time
Hung me on a line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

Baby I'm a man and maybe I'm a lonely man
Who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand
Baby I'm a man and maybe you're the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby wont you help me understand

Baby I'm a man and maybe I'm a lonely man
Who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand
Baby I'm a man and maybe you're the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby wont you help me understand

Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
You right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you

twins

2009-04-24T10:09:00.003+08:00

we found the third quin!
=)

**FYI - left: pam; right: tegan **

happy earth day!

2009-04-22T15:40:00.000+08:00

happy earth day! tara let baget! let's coffee!! =9

Rounding Up March

2009-04-03T11:23:00.012+08:00

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Yummy! Haven't tried anything from this month's ish though.
Cosmopolitan (Marian’s on the cover! *drool*)

What movies/television shows did I watch this month?

Bleach, One Tree Hill, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mentalist, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (I got hooked, as in really hooked. Now I watch everything on the travel & leisure channel)

You Changed my Life – March 3; Watchmen – March 9

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

Dreams can come true! I went to the best concert ever last March 7 with Gary, it was the E-heads final set concert at MOA concert grounds. We had a good view of the stage, thanks to our VIP tickets which were soooo worth it. I was able to shake the hands of ELY BUENDIA! Beat that!

yes, that is my fugly hand. whatever, i touched his hand. haha.

I organized a surprise birthday party for Gary! We had a luau/beach party, I couldn’t quite identify which of the two it is, I guess it was a little bit of both. We ordered in Amici Pizza, Amber Pancit and BBQ, prepared beach cupcakes and had buko juice! We also had games like water balloon throwing and beach relay. Gary’s highschool, AUB and TIM friends joined us in the celebration. We had a blast!
I went to the quatro potograpos’ photoshoot at Roget’s house last March15. Bim and Joyce were the models and I was the manager (nino? Eh di ng photographers at ng isang model!) It was also Marriage Day since Maits was there too.

We celebrated Pappy’s 59th birthday at BigBro’s house in Taytay. A lot of chow and videoke activity there with my sibs and cousin.
Lenlen treated us to dinner as she celebrated her 26th birthday! Yum.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

I got a new coach bag from my mom! Some chocolates too. Yey.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

The FinArch team had our March lunchout at Kulinarya, Powerplant Mall. We were on a foodtrip, and we each had the dessert of our choice after lunch. Ultimate pigout!

I also tried to make baked cheesy chicken for lunch. The idea is originally from Gary, but I twisted it a bit and came up with my own. He claims that his version is better, but of course, I have to disagree. :P
We had dinner at Tokyo Cafe, MOA before the E-heads concert. Their menu is really interesting and I would love to try all of their desserts!
Blame my short term memory if I’m wrong, but I think it was my first time at Cloud 9, Antipolo when I went with the barx last March 14.
I was able to try dining at Sizzling Pepper Steak at Glorietta 5.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I actually went to a mall to shop. Yes, as in one afternoon, I actually felt like going shopping and I did. Ha! But I didn’t buy much. Just shades, a nice top, and some undergarments.
I bought a lot of sweets for someone special. Shopping at convenience stores for sweet surprises is so punk rock.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

I was phlegmatic for most of march but I didn’t get any serious illness.

What were my accomplishments this month?

Work-wise, we were able to finally release the first version of our project. Still full of bugs though, perhaps I should drop by our client’s place and hand them over a can of baygon, just in case, you know…
I also finished paying for my ref, sofabed and closet! yey!

What were my disappointments this month?

My sister almost lost her job, she got it back after less than a week so it’s all good now.
A very good friend wasn’t able to come to Gary’s party, his reasons were valid enough but I just couldn’t keep myself from feeling disappointed. Specially when I found out that his trip was cancelled. Oh well. He’ll make up for it by buying me my Starbucks Country Tumbler anyway so all is well.

A lot of opportunities for travel came and went, ganun lang. Planning for an out of town trip is depressing when all of your friends are either too busy or short of cash (just like me! Ha!). Or maybe they just don’t want to be with me. Blech.
The nosy girl discovered some really incriminating messages on someone’s phone and almost gave up on something really big. Band aids have been placed, wounds are now trying to heal. Here’s to hoping that the wounds remain unscratched so that healing will finally be over.

Anything else noteworthy to include?

My growing addiction to Starbucks Country Tumbler is making me worried. Too much spending, no space in my house for the tumblers, and constant nagging of friends overseas is a big no-no. uh-oh.

music to my ears

2009-04-02T15:57:00.008+08:00

Have you heard anything about or by Chris Cornell lately? The man has gone insane as he gave up his kick-ass talent and collaborated with TI, coming up with a new album aptly called "Scream" -- his album did make me want to do exactly that upon hearing the first track. What the freaking frack? The guy sang She Can't Change Me for Pete's sake, that song being one of the ultimate moving songs for me, then he comes up with Scream. Makes me want to take any hint of him out of my memories of Audioslave and Soundgarden. OH DEAR.

On the other hand, Blue October, who also came out with a new album this year, did a fantastic job! The 12 track album entitled Approaching Normal is anything but that. Justin Furstenfeld gave me the chills with his vocals on My Never. I loved the lyrics and beat of Jump Rope and Picking Up Pieces. Though I found The End and Weight of the World a bit Eminem-ish with a touch of Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, they gave me a few laughs. Think psycho-with-a-pen type of songwriting. The other tracks like Been Down and Should Be Loved went straight through my heart. This album reaches out from one end to the other as the tracks shifted from loaded to calm tunes. Listen to Blue Does right after the two Eminem songs and you'll know what I'm talking about. But overall, I loved how diverse their music is in this album, all the emotions are raw and maybe that's exactly what we all need.

U2 recently came out with No Line On The Horizon, and Bono says "If this isn’t our best album, we’re irrelevant." We all know they never will be. The fact that U2 is legend has long been established and no longer needs justification. But Bono didn't really have to put the name of their band at stake. I think if people took this seriously, U2's toast. No Line On The Horizon isn't exactly favorite album material, but it's U2, so what's not to like? Magnificent is my favorite track on the album. Frankly speaking, it's the only track that sounds different in the album, all the rest sound close to their previous songs (maybe it's in the arrangement, I don't know). Oh wait, it does sound a bit familiar...I got it.. yeah, Magnificent does sound like Where The Streets Have No Name. Oh well. It's just good to hear U2 again, even if their songs are just pseudo-fresh.

One of my favorite local bands, Hedgezero, is having their EP launch on Friday, 03-April-2009 9PM, at 6UG, Ortigas. It's right across UA&P. Kudos to AJ, Paulo, Mike and Noel. If you are into seriously good local music, give them a shot. Drop by and be awed.

sizzling pepper steak, G5

2009-03-25T11:02:00.007+08:00

Gary and I were on a hunt for good food last night and we decided to try Sizzling Pepper Steak which was on the third floor of the recently opened Glorietta 5.

It would have been nice to dine al fresco and have a good view of the cars dropping off and picking up shoppers from the nearby malls, but the smoke from the diners at Guilly's which was right next to SPS made us decide to transfer to a table inside instead. The place is quite cramped, the seats inside did not have back support, and the tables are inappropriately small. It's pretty obvious that sizzling plates take up a lot of space so bigger tables are definitely a must. They did, however, make up for these no-no's by having attentive and courteous waiters. *thumbs up*

The waiter recommended their Beef Pepper Rice and US Yakiniku Steak. I decided to go for the US Yakiniku Steak while Gary had Seafood Pepper Rice. I was not able to take a picture of his food, gutom na eh! But I think that the rice was not proportional to the amount of seafood on the plate, and there were more red and green bell peppers than seafood! Tsktsk. On the other hand, my US Yakiniku Steak was just the right amount of serving, had the right kind of kind of taste and the right kind of tenderness. It just sucks that it didn't come with rice and I had to order pa. Anyway, I liked their pepper rice which was cooked with butter, corn and pepper ofcourse! It was perfect with my yakiniku steak. Overall, we liked our food but there was nothing really special about it. I still prefer Pepper Lunch over this one.

Next time we go to G5, I hope Gary is in the mood for some soup. I miss soup kitchen soooo much. *nuninuninuuu*

blue plate

2009-03-17T17:05:00.005+08:00

i don't have a car but i am drooling over these ateneo car plates..

ADMU Sesquicentennial Commemorative Car Plate
these babies are worth 3,500 each

Valid starting 30 November 2008 until December 31, 2009

For inquiries/reservation contact:
Mimi D. Agbay
Project Coordinator - Ateneo Sesquicentennial

Office of University Development and Alumni Relations
Ateneo de Manila University
Alingal Hall, Loyola Heights Campus (near Cervini dorm)
Quezon City

Phone: 4266081 to 82
Email: 150@ateneo.edu

get one and make me crazy jealous! :9

10 confessions/useless trivia

2009-03-12T22:37:00.001+08:00

1. i have weird allergies. i'm allergic to cheese but only the powder-y kind. i'm also allergic to bean sprouts. i used to be allergic to chlorine but i'm still convincing myself that i am no longer allergic to it so that i can swim in the pool. i used to be allergic to eight o clock orange juice too. hindi sa tang, sa eight o clock lang.

2. when i was young (as in gradeschool), i told my mom that i wanted to go to highschool in st paul, take up a math related course in ateneo, and work in ADB after i graduate. i got to do the first two plans. the last plan was scratched out of my list when i found out about the mining activities being funded by ADB when i was in college. I ended up working for AUB instead. haha.

3. i don't know my first love's middle name (and why we broke up).

4. i don't mind tearing up a whole page and rewriting everything if i find one simple mistake in my notes. i want my notes to be clean and perfect. :)

5. i look up song meanings on the net. medyo slow ako eh. hehe.

6. when i see letters on plate numbers, bills, road signs, I associate them with people i know. kahit anong group of letters, feeling ko acronym. hahaha

7. my ultimate comfort food: soup. comfort drink: coffee.

8. i want to go to japan and antartica.

9. i'm extremely selosa. AS IN. haha.

10. guilty pleasure: working overtime. ahaha. ewan ko ba, workaholic ako eh :P

countdown!

2009-02-17T13:45:00.001+08:00

love & macarons

2009-02-17T13:32:00.001+08:00

just a little offer from delifrance. if you happen to drop by, would you mind getting me a box of those cute li'l macs?

you changed my life

2009-02-11T22:07:00.005+08:00

may part two ang a very special love ni papa john lloyd cruz and sarah geronimo! hindi ako fan ni sarah pero super fan ako ni john lloyd kaya baka manood ako sa sinehan nito. sino gusto sumama?

sa office (king's court) nga pala ang "office" ng mga Montenegro.. kaya nakita namin sila nagsho-shoot nung monday at tuesday. sa Feb 25 na daw ang showing, pero hindi pa rin sila tapos magshoot? hayuz. ANG GWAPO NI PAPA JOHN LLOYD!!!

a BIGby food trip

2009-02-10T12:07:00.009+08:00

Right beside Amici di Mega is a cafe and restaurant by the name of Bigby's. I've never heard of the resto before, so I googled it and found out that it started in Cebu and made it really big that it finally opened here in Manila! Good news for us, right?

So when I heard that my ex-officemate Trish is having a despedida dinner (she's leaving for Singapore this Thursday), I grabbed the chance and suggested to have the D.D. at Bigby's. A big group with a big appetite -- that would be us -- would fit perfectly well in this resto, after all, they aren't called Bigby's for nothing! Bigby's is said to have big servings, and I couldn't agree more. The moment we saw our dishes, we were sure we were definitely at the right place!

They have a great selection of dishes and we couldn't figure out which ones to try. It's a good thing we were a big group so we were able to order different dishes and sample the ones that we found interesting.

Chix Ahoy (PhP 295)

We loved the food! Ken, Gary, Binder and I had the Chix Ahoy and the Grilled Rodeo Chops, both of which came with a cup of rice and some veggies. The chicken was crispy and very tasty, all four of us agreed that it was good.

Grilled Rodeo Chops (Php 255)

The grilled chops were OK, i found them a bit bland, so I tried them with the cranberry sauce but it didn't quite blend in well with the chops so I didn't find it that good. I loved their mashed potato though, which was ordered as a side dish by Jeff but eaten by the rest of us (haha, thanks Jeff) :9

tuscan fish melt (PhP249), rack-a-bye-baby (PhP365), pescado al fresco (PhP265)

My friends had the rack-a-bye-baby which was simply baby back ribs, pescado al fresco or fish with pesto and chips, and tuscan fish melt. They finished it in no time so I'm guessing it was good. I also loved their hot calamansi juice which was served in a very cute mug and with just the right amount of sourness and temperature!

hot calamansi juice (PhP 40)

The service is not that good though. How poor was it, you might ask. Let's just say they served our drinks in time for dessert, and the waiters felt very much free to leave while you are placing your order. In fairness to them, they greeted us courteously when we got there and handed over the menu right away. I just didn't like it that much that we had to follow up our drinks around 5 times before they were served, and that we had to ask them for complete utensils as well as water.

Anyway, though I didn't love the service that much, I will definitely be back to try the other dishes. Take a food trip with me!

short pants award

2009-01-19T20:48:00.005+08:00

we had our company kick off meeting this morning and i had one of the craziest moments ever. we were kidding around about the company awards and making fun of each other. for this one award, the intro practically spelled out our boss's name and we were already raising our glasses to give a toast to our boss and her monumental win. imagine the horror of hearing my name instead -- on the first day that i wore my office uniform: my short uniform pants to be exact. the renaissance hotel's ballroom suddenly turned into a torture booth of some sort. i wanted earth to swallow me whole right then and there, or maybe just be blessed with an angel armed with a little more inches of cloth for my very short pants. of course, these are impossible and so in a matter of minutes, i was up there, shaking hands with the company president and the other big bosses and looking at strange and smirking faces in the audience. nothing like public mockery to beat the sense out of you. i wanted to take the trophy and hit in the head the stupid seamstress who went scissors-loco on my short pants, or maybe hit myself instead to create a fuss and keep their eyes away from my very short pants even for a while. a lot of things were going through my mind and before i knew it, i was holding the mic and giving the acceptance speech. SHIT. "i would like to thank my teammates, all my officemates and the admin." SHIT. why the hell did i say that crap? tupperware, mehn. tupperware.

(pic courtesy of gary)

anyway, congrats to gary too for winning the Outstanding Performance Award! woot woot! i'm so proud of you!!!

surprise!

2009-01-10T19:14:00.008+08:00

i got a pleasant surprise today!

hindi halata sa packaging, kaya hulaan niyo kung ano ang laman!
CLUE: may part 2 sa march 7, 2009!

=) thanks for the surprise! =)

2009 Philippine Holidays

2009-01-08T15:07:00.000+08:00

REGULAR HOLIDAYS:

Maundy Thursday April 9
Good Friday April 10
Araw ng Kagitingan April 6 (Monday nearest April 9)
Labor Day May 1 (Friday)
Independence Day June 12 (Friday)
National Heroes Day August 31 (last Monday of August)
Bonifacio Day November 30 (Monday)
Christmas Day December 25 (Friday)
Rizal Day December 30 (Wednesday)

SPECIAL NON-WORKING DAYS:

Ninoy Aquino Day August 21 (Friday)
All Saints Day November 1 (Sunday)
Additional special non-working day: November 2 (Monday)
Additional special non-working day: December 24 (Thursday)
Last Day of the Year December 31 (Thursday)

time to file your leaves! =)

major GRRR to SM!!!!

2009-01-08T10:40:00.003+08:00

I bought my ref from SM Appliance Center Megamall last December and had it delivered to our unit at the start of the year. They delivered the ref on the afternoon of Day 1 and we found out that it was defective on Day 3 since total prep time for the ref to function properly was 5 hours unplugged, 12 hours on normal temp and 24 hours on cool. I reported it to them on Day 3, it took me hours to get through their line. When I finally got through (Day 3 PM), their personnel told me that they will check their technician's schedule first and promised to get back to me within the same day for the sched. I never got the call and I had to follow up with them the next day (Day 4), after which the technician finally called me up and scheduled to check the unit the day after that (Day 5).

WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THE TECHNICIAN CHECKING THE DEFECTIVE UNIT? obviously, the unit is not working. that's why i called them up. and there's the 7-day replacement warranty right? why don't they just freaking replace the unit? if the technician finds out that the unit is indeed for replacement (which it obviously is, what the freaking frack?!) can he replace it right away? why don't he just bring the replacement with him when he checks the unit?

anyway, when he checks the unit tom (Day 5), customer service said the technician is yet to send the feedback to their office, who will then process the papers for replacement. customer service said that it will take one day to send the feedback to them. i told the CS, what era are you in exactly? ang dami dami nang means of communication ngayon, bakit one day pa? email daw. takte, segundo lang ang email ah! i told her, he'll call you right away after checking the unit. then process the papers and have the ref delivered on Day 6. Bahala na daw, if their admin is there daw to sign tom (day 5), they'll process it right away. I told her, bakit, asan ang admin niyo? naka-leave ba siya bukas? hindi ba scheduled ang leave niyo? wala bang papalit sa kanya pag wala siya? I told her to do sdomething about it.

WHAT KIND OF SERVICE ARE THEY PROVIDING US? we've got it all for you, except good service. bwiset.

------------
Updates!
Day 5: Nagpunta yung technician and told my sister that the ref is indeed for replacement, itatawag na lang daw niya sa office nila para ma-process na yung papers. So I called up Concepcion Durables to follow up the processing, at ang sabi nila, lowbatt na daw ung technician at hindi nila macontact. perfect! After a few minutes, tumawag ang SM sa akin, apparently, my dad called them up and demanded that my ref be replaced the soonest else we are going to return the ref and demand a refund. so idedeliver na raw nila ang ref ko on day 6!
Day 6: Nagtext ang SM sa dad ko and informed him that the ref will arrive between 1-5PM. I waited and the delivery men arrived at exactly 5PM! hehe. ayos na rin.
my new "new" ref is working, fyi. yey!

remembering pio

2009-01-06T10:04:00.003+08:00

how could i forget? we were practically members of the Pio fans club back in HS. everyone in the batch were members, actually :) we were required to see this play by dulaang sibol and Pio was the lead actor, playing Jose Rizal. his gentle voice and the way he pronounced words with the letter R is so cute he got us hooked in no time. i don't want to spill on the extent of our fanaticism anymore, let's just say we were really REALLY devoted. haha.

he went to college in ateneo for 2 years (i think) then transferred to UP where he took up Fine Arts. after which he left the country and i never got to see him again.. so being the google addict that i am, i tried to find out what happened to him. turns out he went to UK and things have been going really well for him there.

click here for news on him on GMANEWS

congrats pio! =)

my 2008

2008-12-31T23:44:00.006+08:00

medyo bullet form lang, tinatamad talaga ako! haha. says a lot about the year ahead or the year that was? whatev. basta, goodbye and thank you 2008! hello 2009! high five!

--------------

JANUARY
- lipat apartment!

FEBRUARY
- ilocos tour
- training with wouter

MARCH
- gary's birthday! cyma! surprise goodies! =)
- maroon 5 concert
- incubus concert

APRIL
- potipot

MAY
- fuego
- last muffsampler day

JUNE
- binestfriend ko si hombre. araw araw kami nagtutuos...

JULY
- puerto

AUGUST
- panaderia pantoja opening, ate leaves for the US
- last haircut for the year
- eheads concert

SEPTEMBER
- birthday month! the best birthday ever sana, pero considered null and void na! don't ask.
- homebaker of the week
- ateneo bonfire

OCTOBER
- the shittiest month ever
- anniv sa TIM

NOVEMBER
- rihanna and chris brown concert
- bora trip (first time to reefwalk and parasail!)

DECEMBER
- math_tenista xmas picnic
- here outreach 4 and eugene xmas party

--------------

2008 ang pinakama-action, ma-drama, at masayang taon ng buhay ko. again, don't ask. pero seryoso, memorable itong taon na to.

MARAMING SALAMAT SA LAHAT NG NAKASAMA KO SA TAONG ITO.. NEXT YEAR ULIT! =)

focaccino and chocolat

2008-12-27T20:08:00.015+08:00

Gary and I were looking for a dinner place yesterday at MOA. We were practically lost in the middle of one of the biggest shopping malls in the Philippines, and thanks to the numerous patrons of SM, all the dining places were full. We wanted to dine in a place where we both haven't been to, which was difficult, considering that we both love eating out. Exhausted from all the walking and hunting for cheap iced tea, we finally found this interesting resto "in the outskirts of the mall," as Gary would put it.

Focaccino Ristorante and Bar looked more like a cafe than a restaurant bar to me. The hanging lamps, the wooden tables and seats, the music and the ambiance in general spelled C-O-Z-Y, I felt like I was home from the moment I stepped in. The waitresses were very courteous and accommodating, even the manager personally came to our table to check if we had everything we needed.

Their menu was a little confusing though, One of the categories read "Soups, Salads and Entrees" and we were expecting set menu under this category, but apparently, it just meant that the page contained soups, salads and their entrees, in no particular grouping or classification.

Anyway, we opted for the classic pizza and pasta combo, the seafood pizza and fettucine alfredo. The pasta was good for sharing, but a regular sized guy (or a lady with a big appetite -- say, Binder, for instance?) can definitely finish one without a problem. Our seafood pizza was supposed to contain calamares, shrimp and smoked salmon but they ran out of salmon and asked us if they could just add more of either calamares or shrimp to make up for the salmon. We opted for more shrimp. They also gave us an option if we wanted the pizza to have a thick or thin crust and we opted for the latter. Another option was to have focaccia dough or the regular pizza dough. The choice is of course focaccia, after all, we were at Focaccino!

The pizza came in a little after the pasta and we could tell that it was really freshly baked. They conveniently sliced it into 6 (maybe they were convinced each of us could finish three slices of the 10-inch pizza plus the pasta in one sitting). The pizza and the pasta were both great and we loved how the waitresses were very attentive to our needs and refilled our glasses without having to ask them to. Their iced tea, which I loved, was the brewed type and not the commercial iced tea available in most fast food chains. The only thing I could probably recommend to this place is to make more spices available to the customers (ala Sbarro). Not that the pizza or pasta lacks taste by itself, but spice lovers like me (and Reg) prefer their food with a little more kick. Apart from that, I give this place an 8.5 out of 10.

To cap the night off, we had dessert at Chocolat, our favorite MOA dessert place, and ordered their bestsellers: the Kahlua cake and their spanish hot chocolate. Nothing like a sweet finish to a wonderful day. =)

have a break

2008-12-25T10:56:00.002+08:00

Filipino employees will have a long break this season! Thanks to the holidays, we'll be enjoying an 11-day break!

* December 25, Christmas Day (regular holiday)

* December 26 (special non-working holiday)

* December 27 and 28 (weekends)

* December 29 (special non-working holiday)

* December 30, Jose Rizal Day (regular holiday)

* December 31 (special non-working holiday)

* January 1 (regular holiday)

* January 2 (special non-working holiday)

* January 3 and 4 (weekends)

hoping this break will be a start of something good for 2009! have a well rested break!
Merry Christmas!

claw daddy

2008-12-18T11:10:00.016+08:00

I still don't get why when we were younger, most of my classmates liked Jubilee among all the xmen characters. I mean, duh, Jubilee is like the lamest character EVER! That energy she has is just too boring. I used to like Morph, but when he decided to betray the X-Men, I kinda lost interest and shifted my attention to another interesting character: one with claws that can send you to heaven (now I get why Marvel made the character a man... if that character were a woman, she would have been gay -- and of course, would still be sending people to heaven. dirty. Back to my X-Men.) Among the X-Men characters, I like Wolverine the most. He's strong, witty, short tempered and really flawed in a lot of ways -- very much like me? HAHA. And if you aren't living beneath a rock for the last few months, you probably have heard that X-Men will be coming out with a movie on Wolverine's story! Here's the trailer:

The movie looks so grand and overwhelming that I almost burst into tears with just the trailer. I'm glad Hugh Jackman did this. I read somewhere that Keanu Reeves and Russell Crowe were initially casted as Wolverine but Crowe backed out and Keanu, well, I don't know what happened with him, but I'm thankful for whatever his reason is.

It will be out on theaters on April 29, 2009 here in Manila (reference). Yep, it has been done. It is already marked on my calendar with red ink. I wouldn't miss it for the world. :D

PS: X-Men will be coming out with one for Magneto's story as well. Oh, life is good! :)

working christmas

2008-12-16T08:56:00.003+08:00

Christmas is just around the corner and yet I am here, stuck in the office, doing stuff I do not enjoy doing but do anyway (woe is me). I did a little Christmas shopping last week and yesterday -- started with the gifts for the young ones, after all, this season is really for them. The kids enjoy this season the most because they get all the goodies and most adults resent it because it's the season when we get to hold a little money for a while (13th month and bonus!) and lose everything faster than you can say "Merry Christmas!" But it's all good, I get the kicks out of giving stuff away anyway although sometimes it makes me think i'm sick or something. Hello?! I'm not rich and I really can't afford this kind of lifestyle! I like buying lots of things for other people without checking my budget that I usually end up with an empty pocket and a big fat credit card bill. Fool everyone with your extravagant gifts and richie rich facade and suffer the consequences afterwards. Consumerism at its best. At least my friends get what I want them to have, that's more than enough for me to make my Christmas happy. :)
---
Joy asked me yesterday about really serious stuff, like what makes me happy, etc. I told her that I'm not that hard to please and that simple things make me happy (aside from buying a lot of gifts, of course), like knowing that the people that I care about are healthy and safe, being able to make people happy, long walks, holding hands, chocnut, kisses on the forehead, muffins, surprises, little notes secretly stuck on my stuff. HUGS. I'm a big fan of hugs. :)
---
I'm not fond of wish lists so I won't be posting one here. If you think we're close enough to merit some gift giving this season (with me on the receiving end), then you should know what I would love to have. As I have said, I'm not really that hard to please. Just don't ask me what I want to get! Make an intelligent guess! :) And if I am not on your list this year, it's all good. Just give me a nice hug the next time we bump into each other. :)

bora break

2008-12-03T22:43:00.002+08:00

i just got back from a 4 day vacation trip (and 1 day rest) and i want to make a detailed blog entry about my bora trip.. the thing is, im in dire need of sleep now because i got a really early yet much welcome surprise from my sister today :) ill be posting the blog entry tomorrow and will just post a pic for now. it's my fave among all the pics because i look so girly here! hahaha! oh yes, im the great pretender. woohoowooohoo. anyway, off to snooze-land.

flower power

2008-11-21T20:14:00.000+08:00

i was never really fond of flowers. i like to look at them, but i don't want people picking them and giving them away as gifts.

but ever since i was young, i've had this intense interest in rafflesia. i find it so amazing that a flower could grow as big and smell as bad as it does. i mean, flowers are supposed to look good and smell nice, so what the hell happened with this one? as usual, my innate love for the weird and deviant found its way to make me love flowers -- rafflesia in particular. and what better news than finding out that we have it here in the philippines!

i haven't seen one with my own eyes though. i merely take sneak peaks at books (now online!) to view this crazy beauty.

and i just found out that recently, another species was discovered right here in the philippines! so what's new with this baby? they say that the rafflesia leonardi is the only one with a diaphragm -- this kind of confuses me.. i thought that the middle part of rafflesias were diaphragms, so if this new species was the only one with a diaphragm, what do they call the middle part of the other species?

anyway, just google for pics and articles. i just wanted to post something about it to amuse myself for a while.

such a tease

2008-11-19T12:47:00.000+08:00

timeout

2008-11-18T16:19:00.002+08:00

so we're currently on a timeout and we recently had a timeout from being on a timeout. gets? haha. anyway, the timeout from the timeout was much welcome. spending time with you was really refreshing and fun. i missed you. i still do, and i missed you more when i felt how fun it is to be with you again. but the (original) timeout is long overdue and really needed so i understand. i just wanted you to know that i had a great time during the timeout from the timeout and i still miss you.

looking forward to the day when the timeout is over. but now, it's time to go back to space! :)

2008-11-12T09:41:00.001+08:00

"I think eventually we learn to define happiness for ourselves on our own terms in spite of the pain that people have caused us."

- Haley James Scott (One Tree Hill S06E10)

it's kenot's birthday!

2008-11-05T10:13:00.004+08:00

^ i think ito na yung oldest pic naming dalawa na meron ako. ^
@ t-boy, megamall. august 2005.

happy birthday best bud!

anniversary

2008-10-30T09:10:00.004+08:00

it's been one year since Gary and I were awarded by Canon for winning the canon smile photo contest.. :)

it's also the anniversary of our first training! can't believe it's been a year since we met Gerard and Priyoko.. haha. funny mems.

for some weird reason, I keep finding old pictures.. which is bad since I get distracted and end up with a lot of overdue work.. ayan tuloy, panay ang OT! like now! haiz.

and the winner is...

2008-10-24T20:52:00.004+08:00

i won alright.
blah.

sabi niya

2008-10-23T11:37:00.001+08:00

"if you cant win over the battle. then fight a different fight
you dont always have to win
we dont always get what we want.
or you can try wanting what you dont want. that removes the struggle
sometimes for some people, yung formula madali lang at alam na natin

parang light at the end of the tunnel. tatawid ka lang naman ng tunnel e
e kaso gusto mo bang tumawid..

kung gusto mo magpadausdus ka na lang at pumikit..
baka mas matagal ka nga lang makarating o magalusan
pwede ring mas mabilis malay mo"

aia

2008-10-14T09:01:00.002+08:00

a pic of aia and my friends at teriyaki boy, eastwood! corner-in ba daw papuntang CR? haha. long overdue, i know :P

the ateneo bonfire

2008-10-05T17:59:00.008+08:00

every blue eagle talked about it since game 1. we knew we were gonna have one this year, and we were right.

the last bonfire was in 2002. i didn't bring my camera back then, which was unfortunate since now that i think about it, it was the best party that i went to in college. even without the free beer, free food and live bands playing, it really was a blast. it was drizzling back then but people were up for anything, including partying under the rain. tables were set up right smack in the middle of the field (around the bonfire, of course) and the bonfire was literally and figuratively on fire. it symbolized every atenean's heart back then: sizzling, fiery, powerful and full spirited. every single soul on that field was there for one reason, to celebrate the victory that is the ateneo blue eagles. but really, it wasn't just about the basketball team: it was about celebrating the victory that is the Ateneo. the team's win was the school's win. The celebration was not only for the team that made the shots but also for the crowd that supported the team when they made the shots and when they didn't, it was for the crowd that believed, it was for the whole of Ateneo.

then there's this year's bonfire -- 2008. it was well plugged, hyped up, and very much awaited for by ateneans and non ateneans alike. it was gonna be a party ateneans would make sure everyone would remember. and then we failed.

sure, it's almost the same as 2002's; it was muddy, the bonfire was still right smack in the middle of the field, bands played, people had booze, and traffic was still heavy. unfortunately, there was no free beer nor free food. booths sold Ateneo merchandise like hotcakes and by the time i got to the bonfire, they didn't have my size (so yeah, i didn't get to buy my 2008 championship shirt which was my only goal for the night, aside from meeting up with some friends, of course). as for the people who went, i can categorize them into three groups:
(1) chris tiu fan girls
(2) fanatics and loyalistas (which is comprised mostly of alumni -- that means i would be under this category)
(3) those who went just so they can tell their grandkids that they were part of the great party that was the 2008 Ateneo bonfire -- which would include crazy school girls and boys who hung out at the Gesu (which looked like a venue for a soiree at the time due to these kids)

it didn't feel like people were there to celebrate. it felt like i was in metrowalk or some gimmick place where people get drunk, listened to bands and showed their stuff off (say, expensive clothes and/or car). for some, it was just like a date place or some random place -- there was no festive mood whatsoever.

add to that the crazy idea of this certain atenean who wrote the names of the dlsu players' names on the wood that was used for the bonfire that embarrassed every atenean in front of the whole world. so yeah, maybe technically, victory means the loss of the opponent, but when we celebrate victory, we're celebrating our win and not the loss of the other team. i don't think i need to expound on this since it's supposed to be common knowledge, especially to the supposedly smart ones that we ateneans claim to be.

all in all, i couldn't feel the fire, not only because the bonfire was as small as what our gas range would probably look like if i turned it on, but also because it didn't feel like an Ateneo bonfire. fine, i only have one bonfire to compare it with. but it was an experience of intensity, of greatness, of hope, of passion. 2008's bonfire had none of these, and that makes 2008's bonfire nothing next to 2002's.

and so here's what i can tell my grandkids someday: i went to the Ateneo blue eagles victory bonfire in 2008, but i never got there. it didn't happen.

ang sarap maging atenista

2008-09-27T15:51:00.003+08:00

CONGRATS ATENEO!

ONE BIG FIGHT!

image from tats quiblat's multiply site

VISIT THIS SITE TO RELIVE 2002 MEMS

so much fun!

2008-09-22T15:08:00.004+08:00

oct 1 is declared a regular holiday by Malacanang.. hurrah for the end of ramadan!

2 days to go, birthday ko na! :) wee!! can't wait to get (or hear.. hehe) my birthday gift! :D

giddy giddy giddy!!

looks like things are going well.. ateneo won game 1 of the finals.. and i can feel that there's gonna be another bonfire this year! yay! i can still remember 2002's championship bonfire.. free flowing drinks, free barbeque... wee! it's definitely fun to party with the ones on top :D

our project is almost done (well at least, on our end, it is).. partying comes next :) and we have a lot of gimmicks na, too bad we had to erase our list on our blogboard cos our tieup's gonna use the conference room.. but we'll push through with the gimmicks nonetheless.. hello dumaguete!! and i'll be having good yakitori from nanbantei c/o MJ! wee!! :)

homebaker of the week

2008-09-16T08:50:00.002+08:00

i am this week's featured filipina homebaker! weee!

http://filipinahomebakers.multiply.com/journal/item/43

feeling sikat! haha. thanks FHO! :)

2008 UAAP Cheering Scores

2008-09-08T09:59:00.003+08:00

Congrats to the UP Pep Squad for winning the 2008 UAAP Cheering Competition!

here are the official scores:

UP 93.30
UST 85.27
FEU 83.96
ADMU 83.81
ADU 81.04
UE 72.89
DLSU 70.07
NU 68.30

Scores taken from wikipedia :)

babala

2008-09-05T15:46:00.002+08:00

sa isang kapehan malapit sa aming opisina... may babala...

aaaaaay caramba.

a few hours is better than never

2008-09-01T09:28:00.002+08:00

one hour and 10 minutes to be exact.

watching the eraserheads reunion concert last saturday was a dream come true. i never imagined i could see and hear them play live together again after how many years. believe it (because you probably do and you know it!) when i say that they still have it!!

15 songs, 30,000 fans, 1 nostalgic experience.

alapaap
ligaya
sembreak
hey jay
harana
fruitcake
toyang
kamasupra
kailan
wag kang matakot
kaliwete
with a smile
shake yer head
wag mo nang itanong
light years

bitin, but as ely puts it.. a few hours is better than never.
salamat ely, marcus, raimund and buddy!
sa uulitin!

H, C, N-S-L Y weekend

2008-08-26T09:50:00.010+08:00

work is eating up most of my time, but good friends and food make it easy for me to go through the stress and all that crap :P

started the weekend by satisfying binder's tapa craving by having dinner with jimson, dave and binds at the nearest tapa king! :) treat ni pareng dave ang dinner dahil inlababo siya :P then tuloy ang celeb sa THX pagdating ni Gary, then 2 buckets of beer, 5 orders of pulutan and 10 songs later (umawit pa ako ng Always ni Bon Jovi - para sayo un, kenot!), uwian na! salamat kay Glenn dahil pinaunlakan niya ang imbitasyon ko, hinatid pa niya kami sa Galleria where we took a cab home. *inhale, exhale* this is the part where i lost my phone.. wasak kasi patulog tulog sa cab, ayan tuloy nawala sa isip ko na hawak ko lang ang phone ko.. nalaglag tuloy.

SAT AM: early to rise! had to go to work.. dami pa reports to do, super.. so overtime kami sa office. treat ng office ang lunch so we ordered in some inasal from Bacolod Chicken Inasal.. yummy!! I don't usually enjoy meals there pag dine in because their service is relatively slow (maraming tao, i get it, pero sobrang tagal dumating ng orders, exag!) but I commend their delivery service, mabilis and the packaging is nice, complete pa ang sauce, sili and utensils! bravo!

then after work, we went to trinoma for the HERE meeting. got my sun sim replacement, then had dinner at Heaven and Eggs! First time ni kid, so we ordered something na sure na yummy.. we enjoyed our orders very much though medyo pricey nga lang talaga ang meals nila.

LEFT: Roastbeef with Veggies, RIGHT: Manila Spareribs

SUNDAY PM: I've been labeled as a jinx by my UAAP-fanatic friends, pano kasi, everytime I watch the game live, natatalo kami (except for that one time na sumama si kenneth, nanalo kami haha). I wanted to prove them wrong, tapos sakto that Gary hasn't watched a single basketball game na live, tapos sakto rin that there's a UP-ADMU game, so we watched na :) since I lost my phone, I didn't have my contacts sa new phone ko. I had to call Joy for Abs or Sam's number para may kasama ako manood while waiting for Gary (who went to Ryan's birthday party, happy birthday Ryan!), pero dahil jinx nga ako, nagdalawang isip pa if ibibigay niya sakin ang number ni Abs! so much for friendship!!! anyway, she still gave me the number, so nakapasok na ako.. lumamang pa ang UP at one point and Abs wanted to throw me out of Araneta.. but the team was able to gain enough points and when Gary finally got to the coliseum by the third qtr, lamang na ulit kami. and yes, we won!

para icelebrate ang non-existent kamalasan ko (na-refute ko na ang theory niyo!! weee!), we had a snack at Butter Diner.. surprisingly, it didn't take too much effort for me to finish 5 pcs of toast (without asking for help from Gary! as in takawww!) given the yummy butter flavors of Butter Diner! My order was supposed to have 3 flavors only but since they got one of the flavors wrong, they just gave me the correct flavor for free! hurray for freebies! :) Gary got the bacon and egg combo with toast (addict kami sa toast! haha) which he also enjoyed very much (pero di siya tulad ko na sa sobrang enjoy eh hindi namigay, hahaha!). so much for pagtitipid sa gastos sa pagkain!!!!

TOP LEFT: my butter and toast, di napigilan at nakagatan na bago pa ma-picture-an
TOP RIGHT: not so crunchy bacon but yummy nonetheless!
LOWER LEFT: butter diner deco, radio or toast? it wasn't working anyway. pero cute!
LOWER RIGHT: Gary's order -- bacon, egg, toast and fruit salad

Balik office ako by Monday, but no gastos this time because we've spent a lot na the past weeks! so I had lunch at home lang and resorted to my ever reliable egg bread from Panaderia Pantoja for my hunger pangs in the afternoon. get your bread from there na rin!!! :)

there goes my happy, costly, not-so-long yummy weekend!

bowling and timezone!

2008-08-21T11:34:00.007+08:00

Last night, Gary and I went to MOA for the opening ceremony of TIM's Bowling Tournament where Gary was invited to take pictures. Since I was just dragged to the event, I pretended to be a little useful to the event organizers and took a few videos. I mostly hung out with the HR peeps who manned the registration table. I assisted Gary a bit (if you can call pagbuntot "assisting," haha!) then looked for Gary's ex boss who was also playing that night.

top: Holding the rose for Ms. Mina who, according to Gary, looked like our good friend Cat in this picture

middle: Sir Walvine and Gary: the ex - AUB IOA team
bottom: Sir Walvine and Toj

After the awarding, we had dinner then quickly searched for what else but our favorite stop at the mall -- timezone! since it was our first time to play at MOA, we were so excited to load up and see the games in their branch.. only to find out that their basketball game is soooo baduy! expensive pa! we only played 3 rounds.. then looked around.. ang liit ng branch nila sa MOA! we decided to try out this shooting game where Gary beat me twice! damn. my shooting skills must be down. tsktsk. afterwhich, we finally found an available videoke room -- yayness! time to hit some notes!

i really enjoy going through pages of songlists, but i specially enjoyed reading MOA's because of the incorrect artists and titles on the list.. check this out:

that should read SYSTEM OF A DOWN and TOXICITY!

back to timezone kwento. the other night, Gary and I were shooting some hoops back at Timezone Mega and Gary finally beat my highscore of 394 (after how many months?).

yep, that's 480! grabe! certified hoops addict right there! :D kudos kid!

indulge your senses

2008-08-08T15:48:00.002+08:00

FAQs:
1) Is there a minimum number of boxes per order for muffsamplers?
Unlike regular orders, each muffin muncher can order at least one box of the muffsampler. But who would want to limit one's self to just one box? Give in to that irresistible temptation, get more and make sure that you don't run out of muffins!

2) When will the muffins be baked?
All muffins will be freshly baked on muffsampler day.

3) Can we choose the flavors per box?
No, all flavors are pre-selected. I left the decision to muffin munchers for this particular muffsampler (in my previous blog entry) and as in every democratic country, majority wins, so let's just enjoy the selected flavors!

4) How do we get the muffins?
Muffsamplers will be available for pickup at the ground floor of King's Court II Building, Pasong Tamo (Don Chino Roces), Makati City, from 8AM - 6PM.

5) Do you do deliveries? shipping? meet-ups?
No, I don't do deliveries. Unfortunately, couriers won't allow me to have the muffins shipped too. Since this is a weekday, I also could NOT do meet-ups in other places.

6) Can I get the muffins elsewhere and/or on another date/time?
If you can't make it on the 15th at King's Court II Building, you may get the muffsampler on the 16th at SM Megamall from 11AM-12NN. However, please be advised that all muffins will be baked on the 15th only. For those who can't make it on the 15th and 16th, sorry but you'll have to wait for the next muffsampler day. :(

7) How long will the muffins last?
It only lasts a few minutes here in our house, but here's what I can tell you:
Muffins are best munched on the date of purchase, but at room temperature, it can last for as long as 3 days. When refrigerated, it can last for 5 days, and when carefully ziplocked and frozen, can last for months!

8) Why August 15?
It's Relaxation Day (it's official! i'm not making this one up! visit www.holidayinsights.com) and the day before the long weekend so it's the perfect time to give yourself a treat!

9) When is the next muffsampler day?
I have not yet made plans for the next muffsampler day, but do keep visiting this site for updates!

10) Are you still giving away a free box of muffins to a lucky muffin muncher?
Yes, I will be keeping my promise and will be giving away a free box of muffins (not necessarily the same flavors as above -- may even include new flavors not available on my list!) to a lucky muffin muncher! How will I choose the lucky muffin muncher? I will be doing it the old school way, which is by writing down the names of all the muffin munchers who will be ordering and placing these papers in a bowl. Then comes the exciting part! I will be drawing 2 names from the bowl. No one will know who these two muffin munchers are. Why will I be drawing 2 names? Because between the two names that I will be drawing, the first one to actually pick up the muffsampler gets the free box of muffins! But all is not lost for the other one, for there is a surprise for you as well! Remember, no one knows who these two lucky muffin munchers are, so you'll just have to pick up your orders early!

NOW ENOUGH OF THE QUESTIONS AND GET READY TO DO SOME MUFFIN MUNCHING! ORDER UP! :)

surprise!

2008-08-07T10:54:00.004+08:00

part 1 was orange cardamom, part 2 is ghirardelli dark choco muffins :)

been experimenting a bit (again! i know i promised na next project ko ang sugarfree muffins pero i just had to make these, sorry, may preferential option ako haha) with new flavors.. dahil merong may gusto ng orange at dark chocolate :)

my orange cardamom muffins weren't that good.. kakaiba ung texture nya, soft on top with a toasted-type hard bottom. the orange feel wasnt that prevalent.. siguro i used the wrong kind of orange. hinanap ko kasi sa grocery ung nakalagay na orange lang, walang specific type. hahaha.

the ghirardelli dark chocolate muffins were great! siguro kasi dark chocolate lover ako, kaya sobrang na-enjoy ko ung muffins.. and the recipient loved it too! yey. un lang ang kailangan ko marinig. solve na ako :)

better together

2008-08-04T07:44:00.002+08:00

thank you! :)

2008-07-25T07:09:00.005+08:00

if i stay with you all throughout the night
will you still want me in the morning?

hurrah for surprises!

2008-07-23T15:23:00.006+08:00

A few months ago, a certain food blogger (who i seriously, extremely adore) expressed interest in the muffins that I make. Fear and excitement consumed me for a night when she sent me an email that she will be calling me to discuss the details of her order. I didn't give out my cellphone number to clients then, because I wanted to keep my mobile number strictly for personal calls only (I don't answer calls from anonymous numbers anyway), so I responded to her email and discussed the possibility of a transaction with her without sending my contact numbers. If she was really interested, she'll respond and settle with dealing with me through email. I never got a reply from her so I figured that she might have lost interest. I didn't want to do a follow up because I don't believe in forcing clients to purchase goodies -- if a client is interested, he or she will contact you. If you force them into ordering, they might not show up during pick up day due to lack of interest in the first place.

I did add her to my multiply contact list, but until this morning, she did not accept this invitation. So this morning, I decided to revoke the invitation as well, I didn't want to push myself further. But how twisted can life get? When I opened my account right after I took my lunch, I found this:

yep, i accepted her invitation. let's see if she will finally place her order and give me a review on her food blog. cross your fingers!

----------------
(you may visit her food blog here: www.dessertcomesfirst.com)

so damn lucky

2008-07-22T15:00:00.005+08:00

since it seems like i'll be in a DMB mood for the whole week, can i just say that i'm feeling so damn lucky?! i have so many blessings to be thankful for :)

my mom giving me permission to get away for the weekend
having a great friend (expat! haha) who is very generous and has a REALLY nice condo where i stayed for a while :)
the great weather
having fun at the beach
seeing beauty in nature through the fishes, starfishes, sea snakes (!), corals, the trees, the beach!
my business name being officially registered with DTI
getting good feedback from clients
knowing that all my loved ones are safe and healthy (yey!)
being with people that i love.

and i can hear Him say, "There's more to come."
yay for happiness!

para sa iba -- na naman

2008-07-14T13:32:00.003+08:00

man and woman for others (ako un pareho).

turo samin sa ateneo, nilikha tayo para sa iba. magsilbi. magbigay. magpaubaya. magpalaya.

pag meron ka, ibigay mo. kung kaya mo, gawin mo. pinapahiram sayo ang isang bagay o talino o talento para ibahagi, hindi para angkinin.

nagbibigay ako. sinusubukan na sa bawat pagbibigay, bukal sa puso, at kahit nahihirapan, sinusubukan ding wag dumaing ng kahit kaunti.

hindi ako madamot. pero minsan, gusto ko rin naman na mabigyan. hindi ako kinukulang, pero gusto ko ring maabutan.

pwede naman akong humingi kahit minsan diba? o kung minsan, pwede bang magtabi ng kahit kaunti lang, para sa sarili naman? hindi sa takot akong maubusan, pero kasi, gusto ko rin naman maging masaya. gusto ko ring maramdaman na pwede kong angkinin ang binahagi Niya sa akin. madamot ba un? kaunti lang naman. kahit minsan lang.

with you

2008-07-11T11:25:00.000+08:00

i see possibilities.

amidst your dark outlook, i sense hope.

light keeps me focused, you are my peace.

sometimes the road seems to be too dark..too bumpy.. too long.

but i hold your hand and i know that everything will be ok.

will we ever get there? get where?

can i take you there? will you let me?

2008-07-07T10:32:00.002+08:00

movie maiden

2008-07-03T11:31:00.003+08:00

i was going to type movie man, but then i thought it won't sound quite nice and girly (haha nagpapanggap hahaha) so i opted for maiden instead.

i have a list of movies i want to watch this year in my multiply account. so far, dami na rin ata ako na-strike out of the list, thanks to my movie buds binder and gary! i miss my saturdates too (wag na kayo mag-emote, namimiss ko rin naman kayo, busy-busyhan kasi tayo kaya di tayo magkita kita!) who used to be my constant movie dates. next time sana sabay sabay na tayo manood, pati sina yvette isama na rin natin hehe.

im not that much of a movie addict, despite the fact that i saw 3 movies just last week alone. well compared to kerwin naman kasi na wala na atang mas aaddict pa, di naman ako ganun ka-addict. hehehe. one thing i love about watching movies is..... *tsaraaan* the popcorn. yep. pagkain! hahaha. addict naman kasi tlga ako sa popcorn. lalo na pag madaming butter and salt :9 yum. pero minsan masakit din sa ulo ung butter kaya di na rin naman ako nakakaubos ng isang tumbler, di tulad dati.. huhu im getting old na i guess. isa pang sobrang gusto ko sa sinehan, trailers!! sobrang mahilig ako manood ng trailers, ung feeling na uy parang ang ganda ng movie na to.. papanoorin ko to.. sino kaya kasama ko.. hahaha! ganyan kabilis tumakbo utak ko sa sinehan..advanced hahaha. at ikatlo.. well akin na lang un. hehe.

naisip ko lang magpajama blog about movies bigla.. kasi hancock na mamaya! wee!! will smith!!! :) un lang. haha walang kwenta, sorry! hahaha

cheesemax! yihah!

2008-07-01T08:39:00.002+08:00

i told you before and i will tell you a thousand times more if i have to,
i'm staying. i'm not gonna leave you.

there's no forever, but i'd like to stay and try to get as close to forever as i can get.

what are you waiting for?

2008-06-27T09:56:00.003+08:00

may right timing daw for everything, i think that's true. i think that it won't be given to you til the perfect time comes -- maybe you can't handle it yet..maybe you're not ready yet.. there are valid reasons, definitely.

i believe that if something is bound to happen, everything will eventually fall into place at the right time.

and so we wait.

note to self

2008-06-24T16:37:00.005+08:00

idea mo na dapat may something to look forward to para malibang at maging masaya
pero nakakainis kapag ung nilolookforward to nya eh hindi ka kasama.

hindi pwedeng sumama ang loob kung hindi siya looking forward to something that you will be doing together
kasi ang purpose mo in doing all these is tulungan siya ayusin ang sarili niya..
que parte ka o hindi sa pagaayos niya, walang kaso. basta may pagkakabalahan siya at malilibang siya, dapat ayos na un sayo.

so hindi ka pwede magtampo. bow.

i'm a DR

2008-06-24T12:59:00.001+08:00

♥

2008-06-19T17:15:00.017+08:00

my pseudo-boss (who is deployed in Alabang) came by the office and was supposed to stay just for the morning (for a meeting) but she decided to stay for the whole day instead. She was too kilig over her "monthsary" that she just decided to stay here and chat with us (yep, in the office, during office hours, right infront of our computers, haha).

lovestruck like a highschool girl -- that's pretty much who she is right now. kind of the opposite to *ahem* you know who. haha. anyway, she kept on asking about my love life and the usual me just smiled back in reply. What every sane friend of mine knows is that one could never have a decent conversation with me when it comes to MY love life. May it be the lack or the oddness of it that causes me to be temporarily dysfunctional when the topic is the L word, I do not know. The insanity just kind of comes naturally. haha.

Anyway, let's just say that my pseudo-boss isn't the type to give up that easily. She insisted that I tell her something -- anything -- about my love life. I half-wished Gary answered that I had one but that I intend to keep it to myself instead of saying that I did not have any love life at all when my pseudo-boss asked him about me; maybe then she wouldn't cook up ideas about me like maybe I am just making myself available for a certain someone -- that someone, being a good friend *blechh* who happens to have an unhappy love life at the moment. It's a fairy tale in the making and running amok in a lot of acquaintances' minds (and apparently in my pseudo-boss's mind as well). It did cross my mind a few times but it's quite far-fetched if you were to ask me.

Got no time to think about these things.. I haven't finished mastering the third (and last! hurrah!) muffin flavor set to come out this June, translation: (1) I have no free time and moolah because I'm hooked up with A LOTTA baking, (2) I might have to move my deadline to July, AND (3) I am yet to schedule another Muffsampler day (any suggestions? message me). If it is not that obvious, let me reiterate that as of today, my heart and mind will and can only accommodate one thing, and I have decided that muffin shall be it. AMEN.

demand it!

2008-06-18T10:11:00.001+08:00

sneaky hobbit!

2008-06-13T16:15:00.012+08:00

after two months, i finally got my own pair of blowfish hobbit sneakers! yipee!i asked my mom to buy them for me since they are not available here in Manila.
I got the grey flannel shoes instead of the black canvas sneaks
that tegan and sara (and misty!) have =P

super love them to infinity power!! super comfy and cute! :)

so in chronological order (or maybe in some order that makes sense to me),
i would like to thank:
misty, tegan and sara, delia*s, my mom, kuya joel and my sister!
yey!

aja?

2008-06-09T13:22:00.003+08:00

sa totoo lang, mahal kita. bestfriend kita diba? hindi naman siguro natin maipagkakailang mahalaga tayo sa isa't-isa. sabihin na nating hindi naman talaga normal na magkaibigan ang turingan natin sa isa't-isa, totoo naman yun. para na tayong kambal. alam na natin lahat ng kaartehan at kalokohan natin, kabisado ang takbo ng isip at minsan, sabay pa ata ang tibok ng puso. *emo*

isa ka sa pinakamahalagang tao sa buhay ko. hindi ako nagf-feeling pero alam kong mahalaga rin ako sayo. kaya sana, makabalik nga tayo sa dati. ung dati na walang alinlangan kung lalabas tayong dalawa lang, o kung mag-usap tayo hanggang mamaga ang tenga natin, o kung magkita tayo ng dis-oras ng gabi. kung anuman yung pinagdaanan natin, sana di natin makalimutan na higit sa lahat, matalik tayong magkaibigan. walang dahilan para hindi natin kayanin 'to.

aja? aja.

2008-05-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

i want a Nakatsu.

when love begins

2008-04-11T16:15:00.006+08:00

there are movies that i could not possibly miss watching, simply because the actors and actresses in the movie are too amazing. take for example, movies of John Lloyd Cruz, Piolo Pascual, Toni Gonzaga and Aga Muhlach.. sa local lang yan shempre :)

Yes, I've seen ALL of his movies. i love aga! and i just found out that he has a new movie!

When Love Begins

I don't think it's a good idea to pair him up with Anne Curtis. I have nothing against her, but I think the age gap is a little too obvious (and objectionable). Well, it was tolerable with Aga and Angelica Panganiban in A Love Story, maybe I can tolerate this one too. I love Aga that much :)

The movie opens on the 30th of April. can't wait. :)

see trailer here!

have a MUFFSAMPLER!

2008-04-08T11:28:00.003+08:00

hey dear muffin muncher! labor day is fast approaching! that means most of us are gonna get our much deserved break! YEY!

BUT WAIT! what's a nice chillax day without goodies by your side?

Worry not! To make sure your tummies get filled with only the best,
TheMuffinMuncher will be accepting orders for MUFFSAMPLERS
for Labor Day! =)

yep, you will have the opportunity to try ALL 9 FLAVORS IN ONE BOX!

Apple Walnut Muffin
Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffin
Banana Crumble Muffin
Cappuccino Choco Chip Muffin
Carrot Raisin Muffin
Choco Cherry Muffin
Chocolate Chip Muffin with Streusel
Chocolate Treasure Brownie Muffin
Oatmeal-Banana Muffin with Chocolate Chips

MUFFSAMPLERS WILL BE AVAILABLE
ON LABOR DAY ONLY!
(or whatever date GMA declares as a holiday in lieu of Labor Day)
for only PHP 275!

TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, YOU MAY:
send an email to themuffinmuncher@yahoo.com
or reply to this post >> TheMuffinMuncher's Multiply Post: Have a MUFFSAMPLER

PICKUP POINTS
MAKATI: Glorietta
ORTIGAS: SM Megamall
QC: Gateway

HAPPY MUFFIN MUNCHING!

bleaching ken

2008-04-06T18:40:00.004+08:00

went to mega yesterday for late lunch. pig out at sbarro day! had pizza and salmon steak which was soooooo yummy. as in yuuuuummy. :9

anyway, after lunch, went to see ken who was checking out the lineage II/cosplay thing at mega. goodness! andaming cosplayers!! bwahaha. some of them, ken knew professionally (na-shoot niya na or na-meet niya sa photoshoots) so paminsan minsan habang naglalakad kenneth would stop to take pictures or talk to the cosplayers. kinda felt weird cos (1) im not into anime so i dont know the characters, and (2) ayoko kasi ng maraming tao.. kahit araw araw ako sa mrt eh di tlga ko comfortable sa maraming tao.. nagiinarte! hahaha

so may mga bleach characters pala dun. i have only seen two episodes (care of gary, salamat dude! next time pasimulan mo naman sakin, ending agad tuloy napanood ko hahaha) and mukhang ok nga siya. anyway so d ko naman sila masyado kilala kasi nga di pa ko nakanood, pero ang ganda ng costume nung nag cosplay ng bleach kahapon sa mega, and balita ko hinahabol habol nga raw sila ng mga tao. wow! siguro kung super into cosplays talaga ako or bleach eh makikihabol ako..... NAH. di siguro. pero wow ha, akalain mo.. may mga ganun pala ka-passionate when it comes to anime. to the point na pupunta sila ng mall na nakacostume. or maghahabol sila ng taong naka-costume. hmm..

wala lang. actually wala naman tlga kwenta tong post na to. pano di ako makarelate.. kasi anime.. kasi di ako mahilig sa anime.. ang napanood ko lang naman eh cooking master boy.. at kung pwede iconsider ang dragon ball at astroboy, dagdag na rin un. hahaha.

wala talaga point tong post na to. gusto ko lang iblog na sikat pala si ken, kasi nasa bleach siya. CLICK HERE! hahaha. yun lang!

dream on, dream away

2008-04-04T15:08:00.006+08:00

lumabas na raw ung canon 450d sa hidalgo. kit is worth 36k.

installment sa JTPhotoworld for 6 months 0% interest is 41k.

12.2 megapixel, 3" LCD (liveview), DIGIC III image sensor.

not bad.. kaya lang wala ko pambili!

when the time is right, God will find a way and make my dreams come true.
sa ngayon, mangarap lang muna.. abang abang. :)

on a hiatus no more

2008-03-29T13:25:00.003+08:00

as none of you may have noticed, i have gone on a hiatus when it comes to my baking. muffins are fun to make, but it came to a point when i wanted to do something else. no, i did not go from themuffinmuncher to thecakeconsumer or thepiepecker (although that's not a bad idea at all - thePiePecker! yeah!). i did make cupcakes with my nephew though. but i am not resigning as themuffinmuncher just yet. i just wanted to experiment a little. try new flavors. go wild with the muffins. but the short break from muffin making wasn't as successful i wanted it to be, primarily because i did not have the time, moolah and effort to make it that. i did come up with a new flavor (YEY!), but the root of this new flavor isn't that inspiring and motivating -- you'll know what i mean if you know me well enough.

anyway i just wanted to share that with you guys this hot saturday afternoon. time to take a bath!

people ALWAYS leave

2008-03-23T00:12:00.005+08:00

“I should be stronger than this, you know, I should and I don't want to be a person that needs help, but I... feel all alone.”

-Peyton Sawyer

“I love you, Luke! I think I have since the day we met. But today it struck me that the greatest act of love is sacrifice. That's what Keith did for your mom. He denied his feelings for her all those years so that he could be a good friend to her. And as much as it's gonna suck, I'm willing to do that for you. If that will make you truly happy then I'll do it, because I want you to be happy more than anything in the world.”

-Peyton Sawyer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhoIim8Uquk

quiz sunday

2008-03-16T18:53:00.002+08:00

What emotion are you?

You are fear.
You cautious and safe and likely afraid of anything that can cause you pain. You may be slightly paranoid and have trouble trusting people. You are predictable and don't like being faced with a challenge.
Take this quiz!
Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

What Word Describes You?

Spontaneous-A great word for you is "Spontaneous". You love to live life to its fullest and you hate to do the same thing all the time. You crave adventure and excitement and both can usually be found wherever you are. You think labels are a waste of time because labels can't be put on people like you; you're into so many things. Being spontaneous is a great thing, but don't forget that if you have responsibilities, they should be taken care of before setting off on your next big adventure.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

that may be all i need

2008-03-06T09:51:00.009+08:00

maroon 5 live in manila
march 5, 2008. 8PM (but the show started at around 9PM)
show lasted for about 1.5 hours

not falling apart, if i never see your face again, harder to breathe,
makes me wonder, the sun, can't stop, secret,
shiver, wake up call, sunday morning, wont go home without you, this love,
little of your time, she will be loved, sweetest goodbye

lights crew did a fantastic job, audio was remarkable, the crowd was amazing and maroon 5's performance was simply mind-blowing. got teary-eyed in most parts of the concert.. seeing and hearing adam cry his heart out.. watching the drummer do a fantastic job with the encore.. and the guitar riffs... wooooow! really. as in wooooow.

as tatot puts it: "Maroon 5 is the new Beatles." i couldn't agree more.

they said that last night was their best concert ever and that we were the best audience they have ever had.. guess that means they'll be back soon! let's cross our fingers :)

P.S.
i can still picture adam's face when he paused while singing she will be loved...
*sigh*
oh adam, let me be your eve!