Flight of Ideas

Tea Leaf Reading

2012-02-14T20:22:00.000+08:00

Last week I ordered the bottled TAZO Mango Iced Tea at Starbucks, and underneath the cap:

Being curious as a kitty cat, I did go to tazo.com and check my tea leaf reading. Hahaha. Yes, mostly because it reminded me of Professor Trelawney and Divination class. I wanted to see how wild the predictions could go.

Disappointingly, the predictions were kinda tame. The tea leaf reader did recite his "interpretations" in gibberish, so at least that entertained me for a while.

Tazo Tea Leaf Reading #1:
"You are about to trip.
I mean, take a trip."

I am about to take a trip. Alone. And I am excited about it. :P

Tazo Tea Leaf Reading #2:
"Next March 17th you will pretend to be Irish."

We'll see about that, shall we?

And finally,

Tazo Tea Leaf Reading # 3:
"Someone is planning a party. Act surprised."

HAHAHA. I am not actually believing this stuff, but If someone's planning a party for me, hold off til I pass the boards, 'kay? Don't worry I'm good at acting surprised. :)))

Bloggeroid

2012-02-12T10:34:00.001+08:00

I got my first Android phone last Wednesday. Haha it's a Samsung Galaxy Y but I really can't complain because I just got it from SUN loyalty rewards for my two year old plan 350.
Hrhrhr. :-)

My only real gripe is the camera, it's atrocious! Haha, my phone photos are in my Lightbox Page and they've been heavily edited with pixlr-o-matic and the lightbox app to make them halfway decent.

Anyway since i'm in CDO right now without my laptop (because of my delusions that I can study on vacation), I'm blogging with Bloggeroid which is the lightest Blogger app compatible with my phone. If this works, I'll be blogging more from my phone because Swype is actually easier than typing on my laptop. There was a steep learning curve but now I think it is the bomb! It just has a problem with my imbento words and extra vowels when i'm excited. Lol.

See? I think I just got carried away with my test post. ;-)

posted from Bloggeroid

Weeks Before the Boards, Mostly in Food Photos

2012-02-06T10:50:00.000+08:00

With the medical boards so very very near, last week I decided to pick up my lazy ass and haul myself and my medical reviewers to Manila for some serious studying. There were times I wished I could do a Sheldon-Cooper-Flash-moment -- go to the Grand Canyons, scream my head off, and go back as zen as the Dalai Lama -- because putting on a show of calm and serenity when I'm really a bunch of nerves inside was driving me over the edge, but I'm better now hahaha. Thank you I Wrote This For You for averting a near-psychotic-break. ;)

Anyway, let's move on to happier things, i.e., what I ate last week. Haha.

Monday Snack

Potato Corner's Wasabi Fries
Yes it's a hideous shade of green, that's really how it looks like.

Tuesday Dinner

Army Navy Steak Tacos
Because it's Taco Tuesday!!!

Wednesday Brunch

Beef Brisket Sandwich + Full Leaf Brewed English Breakfast
I actually liked this sandwich :D

Wednesday Post-Dinner

CBTL's Iced Chai Tea Latte
I still think Seattle's Best has the best chai. ;)

Friday Brunch

Turkey and Chicken Ham with Egg White and Emmenthal Cheese
That's not even the full name, that's just what I remember.

Friday Dinner

I went back to Mercato for the first time this year!

My last was during Ultimate Taste Test 7.0 and it feels like eons ago.

Eating on the sidewalk. Because all the chairs were
taken. Even the sidewalk was full! Grabe lang.

Wagyu Paella + Cheesestick Dynamite + My Thighs. Lol.

Day-old chick.
First time to eat these. Haha. Not bad, but not really my thing either.
I don't even eat balut because I can see the form of the chick.

For dessert! HAHAHA.

Papa Roti's Phrata with Condensed Milk
Huge serving of roti, I hope it came with a larger serving of milk. :D

The only photo with my face in it was lomo-fied to give my face a bit of color, people have been telling me I look sick. I am not. Haha I just don't have my time out in the sun, and I don't feel like putting on makeup most of the time, because prettifying for a book feels a bit sad hahaha. :P

Army Navy Taco Tuesdays

2012-02-05T22:54:00.003+08:00

I know where I'm eating this Tuesday: at Army Navy! :)

I fell in love with Army Navy the first time I ate there (in Tagaytay, wassup hahaha)-- loved their burgers and their Freedom Fries and their Libertea! I also liked it that I could have a huge heap of jalapeno peppers added to my burger for only 15 bucks. :D The only downside is that Army Navy food is generally pricey, usually more than 300php for a full meal, and that's just burgers, fries and a drink. I guess Freedom and Liberty come at a high price? ;)

Last Tuesday I discovered that they had Taco Tuesdays! Buy a taco and get a regular sized Libertea for free! Their iced tea is one of my favorite ones, so yay, instant 55php savings! :)

How can you resist a banner like that? Hahaha.

They had chicken, steak and beef tacos. I got the steak.

Army Navy Steak Tacos. Yummers.

At first I had misgivings about the serving size but trust me, it's substantial! And they're really yummy. Our food wasn't served with utensils so we had to eat with our hands. I guess we could have asked for forks and knives, but eating with bare hands is fun! ;) Anyway that explains the lack of photos after this one. Hehehe.

Mission Accomplished? You bet. ;) For this visit anyway. My friend and I had an awful experience on our next visit. Nasty employee, but that's another story, and it's not mine to tell. I'd still go back this Tuesday to have another taco. Har. Unpleasant people generally don't stop me from getting my happy food. :D

This Was Written For Me

2012-02-04T22:17:00.000+08:00

A few years back, I discovered this blog on StumbleUpon. It was called "I Wrote This For You" and every post is a black and white photo with one or several lines that either tug at the heartstrings, or make you say "I feel exactly that way right now/ sometimes!!!"

I also like this message on the blog header:

I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU AND ONLY YOU. EVERYONE ELSE WHO READS IT, DOESN’T GET IT. THEY MAY THINK THEY GET IT, BUT THEY DON’T. THIS IS THE SIGN YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. YOU WERE MEANT TO READ THESE WORDS.

See? I am so special, it was written for ME AND ONLY ME! Hahaha!

I kid, but seriously, I think those words really capture the essence of his blog. And I love how he says "THIS IS THE SIGN YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR" because I think everybody looks for signs, either actively as in "universe please give me a sign nowww!!!" or unconsciously.

I am not really one to look for signs, but today, I felt like I was given one. The past weeks have been crazy and nerve wracking because the boards are looming over me like a dark gray cloud. I have never admitted it before, but I am scared. There. I said it. I've never been afraid of an exam before. I've always known I could do well in anything I wanted but things have happened in the recent years which have led me to second guess myself, and so I am terrified.

And then I saw a post on my reader, which led me to back-read my Tumblr for old IWTFY posts. And I found this. After reading the first line, I knew I was meant to read it.

On this day, you read something that moved you and made you realise there were no more fears to fear.

And when I got to the part where it said:

That everything you want to happen, will happen, if you decide you want it enough.

I cried. Crazy, but I really needed to hear that. Sign or not, those words calmed my soul and put my mind slightly at ease.

To the guy who keeps writing these things, it's too bad that you're married, because I think I'm in love with you. Hahaha. Thank you for your words. :)

I promise this video will give you goosebumps.

---

His 500th post was my favorite post of all time and I think everyone who needs a mood boost, extra confidence or encouragement will gain from reading it.

He is also releasing a book, check it out on thiswaswrittenfor.me :)

What I Learned Today

2012-01-29T23:17:00.001+08:00

Apparently this is where my happy food comes from. Oooh.

Dad came home from Saranggani today and handed me this orange-y wrinkled fruit which I didn't recognize AT ALL. Turns out it's the cacao fruit!

I've called myself a 100% certified chocoholic all these years and I don't even know where my manna comes from. Such travesty! After the boards I'm dedicating a week to the study of chocolate hahaha.

Anyway, that's just one of the new things I learned today. I also learned on TV that wolverines are actual animals, which despite their cute size, are ferocious and can kill bison in one on one combat. Whoaaa.

Impulse Control

2012-01-28T00:34:00.004+08:00

My friends know that I have problems with impulse control, especially when it comes to two things: shopping, and reading. Oh okay, three things -- eating too.

I struggle the most when it comes to book shopping and reading. When I see an interesting book, I'll feel an irresistible urge to buy it; when I buy a book, I'll feel an uncontrollable desire to read it, and when I start reading a book I need to finish it and cannot stop.

The past months, I have consciously avoided going into book stores and buying books because I know I should be studying for the biggest (and longest) exam of my life. But whenever I see a book store, especially a book thriftstore, I am drawn in and I am powerless to resist. For the most part I still can't stop myself from buying books, but so far I have been very good about not reading them. Yay, trust me, it isn't easy!

Today I faced another challenge. While walking along Padre Faura I saw a guy hawking novels on the sidewalk. Oh wow. Haruki Murakami. Chuck Palahniuk. Kazuo Ishiguro. David Sedaris. Looked good as new and for less than two hundred bucks each. I immediately opened my bag to take out my wallet, but the little voice inside my head started muttering things I knew to be true:

If you buy any of those books, you WILL NOT be able to resist taking a peek.
When you take a peek, you WILL NOT be able to put it down.
If you finish one novel, you will start thinking, "oh wow how i missed reading!" and you WILL pick up another book, saying you read fast anyway and it will take you 3 hours max.
Once you get on a roll, you WILL NOT be able to stop and you will end up reading all those 20-ish novels stacked on your desk and you will not be able to study and you will faillllll.

Ooh scary conscience. Good job.

I walked away from cheap Murakamis, which, at any other moment in my life would be unforgivable, but for today I think gets me a clap in the back. :D

I just hope I'll see Mister-Sidewalk-Novel-Hawker again. Next time, ubos paninda nya.

Picnik Fun.

2012-01-24T09:30:00.000+08:00

My favorite free photo tweaking chrome app Picnik, is closing soon.

Although most of the free photo effects are now incorporated in the most recent version of Picasa, and are also available on Google+ Photos, I still feel a little sad about it.

Yesterday I took some old photos and tweaked them with some Picnik magic. As expected, these photos are mostly of (half eaten) food because I go trigger happy with my camera when food is around. :D

Shadows + Contrast

Vibrance

Cross-process

Cinemascope
(Got this ecotools brush set for 399php at PCX. Crazy!)

Cross-process
(This is "my corner" in Starbucks. Nothing to look at but passing cars.)

Spot focus + Lomo

Boost + Curves

And my favorite photo:

Cross-process

Go try it, Picnik Premium (with advanced editing, fancy collage templates etc) is free until it closes in April! I'll try it once I figure out what I want my next project to be. :)

Call Me Doctor

2012-01-24T03:27:00.001+08:00

Call Me Doctor with Rachel Bilson from Rachel Bilson

I love Dr. Zoe Hart on Hart of Dixie! And Rachel Bilson is adorable. :)
Plus she has a point, who says a doctor can't dress pretty? ;)
My favorite part of the video, of course, is the participation of Wilson Bethel. Wade Kinsella you are MINE!

Sweeping the Cobwebs Away

2012-01-23T14:15:00.002+08:00

It has been twenty days since my last blog post. If my blog had a ceiling it would have cobwebs.

Those twenty days in a nutshell: I fried my laptop charger (fixed now), finished several board review books, quit Facebook, and got obsessed with Survivor Philippines and Hell's Kitchen. Plus I think I have stress gastritis from all this boards-induced anxiety. :\

The one good thing that came out of this non-blogging was that I managed to pick up a pen and write in a journal. Yes, DEAR DIARY hahaha!

It actually felt good to write stuff down, uncensored and unfettered! (I've wanted to use that word for ages yay. :P) I promised to keep this blog positive, insightful and rant-free, and I intend to keep it, but sometimes I think it's a pity because I am really eloquent in expressing distaste and annoyance. Now my talent won't have to go to waste. Hahaha.

Anyway, just wanted to break the silence and say hello. I have to go back to studying because I've wasted too much time on Picnik today. :D

LEGO Love

2012-01-03T11:25:00.000+08:00

Last night, I finally figured out what I want to have a collection of: LEGO!

Luke's Landspeeder Set. That's the set that had me going on an online window shopping frenzy! Someone was selling it online for 2300PHP which is cheaper than a lot of the sets of the same size being sold in the Philippines. Plus it had R2D2, C3PO, Luke, Obi Wan and Stormtrooper mini-figures! It's only $25 in the US though so I think I'll just wait for someone to go there and buy it for me instead. Hehehe.

Still, I'd like to get something this month to officially start my currently-nonexistent collection. So maybe something small and cheap first, like this Imperial Speeder Bike

400 php from RedBrickStore

or alternately

Star Wars Clone Walker, 450 php

This Harry Potter set is cool too!

Forbidden Forest, P995 from House of Flair (pre-order)

Which one do you think I should get for January? I plan to buy one small set every month and buy a slightly bigger one for Christmas, like this Hogwarts set:

I am so excited hahaha I feel like a child again! But you can't blame me, LEGO are the awesomest toys on the planet! And Star Wars and Harry Potter are the BEST!

Did you sing it? :) Of course you did! Hahaha!

(Thanks Popi for sending this photo my way!)

Photos from the Holidays

2012-01-01T14:09:00.000+08:00

Aaand I'm back. To my loyal readers (all three of you hahaha) sorry for the absence! I misplaced my camera cable, and the rest of my life wasn't very interesting anyway. I spent most of my time either reviewing, buying/ wrapping presents, eating, sleeping or watching reality TV. (I have been sucked-in by the bobo-tube! I am so addicted to Survivor Philippines, Hell's Kitchen, and Junior Masterchef Australia!)

Here are a few photos from the holidays, mostly of food! Haha. As they say: new year, old habits. :)

That's my Lolo in CDO! :]

The oddest table display I've seen in my lifetime.
New Year's party at my dad's tennis club.

Lechon skin. Hrhrhr.

Dad and my sister at the UPLB Christmas Tree.

SM Mall of Asia. Look at those people. :/
No love for the holiday rush.

Lechon-bread. Awesome.

We still haven't eaten this because no one wanted to
"kill the pig" aww look at that!

Poor girl. She was terrified of the fireworks. :(

Today is the last day of the holidays! After this there are deadlines to catch and schedules to follow. *Sigh*

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! And if you didn't, here's P'shone to make your day merry and bright!

App Love: Tweetitow

2011-12-31T01:46:00.001+08:00

Just discovered Tweetitow and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. I can now tweet and blog through SMS for basically nothing

via @tweetitow

Lipbalm Love: EOS Lip Balm Smooth Sphere

2011-12-21T16:48:00.001+08:00

I've been reading a lot about EOS lipbalms since Ed Westwick was seen using one. Hahaha. Although I couldn't understand how buying one would take a girl closer to her dream of becoming Mrs. Bass, I found them awfully cute. They looked like easter eggs!

They weren't available locally though and most online stores sold them for 250php (or sometimes as high as 300php) which with shipping would come to 320-400 bucks for lipbalm. :\ That's two venti green tea lattes! With soy milk! So, nothankyou, I have my priorities. Heh.

But while window shopping online for possible gifts I came across this online seller selling them for only 220php each, and then found out Multiply was offering shipping through Xend for FREE! I bought two. One for myself and another ~~also for myself~~ as an emergency gift. :D

Sweet Mint and Strawberry Sorbet
Guess which one is mine. :P

My package arrived today, one day earlier than expected! Yay. :) I already opened the Sweet Mint flavored one, it smells like mint gum and tingles a bit on my lips. The strawberry one? I don't feel like giving it away anymore hahaha but I've kept my impulses at bay and haven't torn the plastic packaging yet. So far, my thoughts are:

The good:

It's cute

It's easy to find in my really messy bag.

I love the tingly feeling on my lips!

Feels light, not oily or sticky
It's cute

Easy to put on, even though holding it was awkward at first

It can stand on my dresser
It's paraben-free, phthalate-free and petrolatum-free
It's really cute

The bad:

It's big. Haha. No chances of slipping it into your jeans pocket or into a skinny clutch. But my bags are huge anyway so that's fine.

Still expensive compared to Chapstick and Nivea lipbalms.

The ugly: NONE. Only cuteness.

The EOS lip balm tagline is: "The lipbalm that makes you smile." And it does! It even makes my 21- year old brother smile he keeps pretending to throw it while shouting "Pikachu, I choose you!" Hahaha.

I was surprised at how easy shopping at Multiply was! There are so many things I want to buy ehem, makeup, because I cannot resist all things pretty. But I just got these two amazing sets from Sephora and BareMinerals for my birthday, and I really have no excuse to buy any more makeup. For the meantime. Hehehe.

That's 96 shades of eyeshadow and 84 shades of gloss.

I love everything about this set. Everything.

PS: Another thing I liked about it? It came wrapped in two layers of bubble wrap. Bubble wrap = free happiness. :)

Christmas Update

2011-12-21T14:07:00.002+08:00

It's been a very hectic last few days, between all the last minute Christmas shopping trips and the gift-wrapping that comes after, Christmas parties and get togethers, and um, studying. I've been trying to be more productive lately because board exams are less than two months away (PRC has released the schedule, it's Feb 19, 20, 26 and 27 -- yep you got that right, two Sundays and two Mondays how weird). However I haven't been making progress since Sunday because as Christmas approaches, it's becoming harder and harder to concentrate!

Anyway I'm finally done with my Christmas list, and with wrapping my presents! Hooray. I thought that day would never come.

To my friends in other countries who messaged me on Twitter, Tumblr or my Gmail because they were concerned about my safety, thank you! My family in Cagayan de Oro (my dad's hometown) is safe too. My lolo's and one of my uncles' houses were hit particularly hard and they lost everything they owned but they are safe and unscathed.

Oarhouse Christmas

2011-12-18T20:53:00.001+08:00

I seriously missed this place. This was my go-to place during internship for comfort food, cocktails, a place for catching up or celebrating, for everything! I have quite a number of good memories in this place, and one of the things I miss most about living in Malate is having The Oarhouse Pub just a few minutes away.

My internship block still had some money left from our third place win in the research forum, so we decided to have dinner and drinks before some of my blockmates started residency. I wasn't able to make it to the dinner, because my travel time from Los Banos was a whopping four hours! Holiday traffic is terrible!

My usual order: the spaghetti! Their spaghetti with meatballs (or in this case, ground beef) is one of my favorite spaghettis in this life. Simple fare, but really delicious. Very homey. :)

My community rotation housemates. ♥
Mango Daiquiri - 300php per pitcher; Margarita - 250php per pitcher

Half our block. :)
We're the awesomest community block. Hahaha. Self proclaimed.

And surprise! Sir Ben (who owns Oarhouse) served us a plate of Blue Castello Cheese and crackers. Aaah, delicious. This place never fails to delight. :)

Good food + amazing people + my happy place in Manila = totally worth the four hours on the bus and the hunger pangs and the butt pain. Hahaha. I discovered a picture taken around the same time last year, and I agree with M, this should be a yearly thing too.

The Oarhouse Pub is located along J. Bocobo Street (cor Malvar St.), Malate, Manila. :)

Christmas Traditions.

2011-12-16T22:25:00.005+08:00

When I was younger, I looked forward to the holidays because of two things: gifts, and the Christmas break. Now I look forward to the season for the traditions. (Although I still like gifts, ehem ehem. Hahaha.)

In 2009, a couple of friends and I decided to have Christmas dinner at my friend Anjo's house in Alabang, and then house-hop to Miki's which was nearby. We just had dinner while Christmas songs played in the background, and had a few drinks while playing Cranium. It was a very simple celebration, but it was a wonderful night, and we thought, "Christmases should be like this, all the time." So we did it again last year, and then this year. I hope to do this for many many years more. :)

This is how all Christmases should be. :)

The Supposedly Secret Sisterhood: 7+ years of cheesiness and friendship
Oh, that guy is as straight as a pole. He's an honorary member. Hehe.

We didn't go to A's house this year so we don't have a 2011 version. :(
Look at how our group has grown. :)

Cranium: 2009 edition. :)

Cranium Turbo: 2011 edition

We don't have a 2011 version of this either, because we didn't win this year!
We'll reclaim our title in 2012 I tell ya!

I no longer see these people as much as I used to, or as much as I'd like to, but for one night every year, we come together, and it feels like we were never out of touch. I am thankful for a lot of things in this world, but I am most thankful for the things that have stayed the same through the ever changing times. :)

Photoblog: The Board Review Chronicles

2011-12-15T01:17:00.001+08:00

Because nothing interesting is happening in my life right now, and my brain is too exhausted to come up with anything creative, witty, funny or touching. All I can manage is sarcasm and that has no place in this blog, because I once swore that this would remain a place exclusively for rainbows and unicorns and other glittery sh..things. Lol.

My favorite pen right now. Because it writes well, and just seeing
"Phi Lambda Delta" on my pen makes me feel warm inside. :)

Yesterday's dinner. Turkey and Chicken with Apple Stuffing on
Whole Wheat and Walnut. Not so good.


I was in such a rush to leave the house that I forgot my First Aid! Say hello to my emergency Booksale purchase, 250php. :P

Trips to the bookstore always make me feel better. :)
Almost bought more highlighters and post-its but I already have
a buttload of those and I really don't use them anymore. I also have
too many pens and a new box of Mongol #2s. Hence, an eraser.

Iced Green Tea Latte because I needed a morale boost.
Matcha is love. ♥

Totally unrelated to my studying "adventures"
but these were really pretty. :)

Aah neurons please don't die just yet. Stay with me until February!!! Also please allow me to write in coherent paragraphs soon because I still have to do that magazine article about the health benefits of {guess what activity} hahaha!

A Coffee Shop Story

2011-12-13T23:36:00.000+08:00

I was sitting in Starbucks mulling over a mock-exam question, when I overheard the barista telling someone he only needed one sticker to get a planner, would he like to order another beverage for takeout? He mumbled "no thanks" and went to the bar to wait for his drink. The person next to him in line, also holding a card for the planner, pocketed it and told the barista to give his sticker to the other guy instead.

It was only one sticker, but the guy's face lit up like Christmas morning. And somehow, witnessing that random act of kindness made me happy too.

Everyday, my faith in the goodness of man is restored. :)

Elbi Eats: Mi Bonitos Restaurant

2011-12-12T23:00:00.001+08:00

Because the goal of this blog is really to make all of you hungryyyy. Hahaha. If the photos look familiar, that's because this was my birthday dinner. :D

This is a lazy post, so mostly just photos. In the words of Ayla, this is a Mema Monday: mema-post lang. Hahaha.

Let's get your stomach rumbling, shall we?

Bacon Croquettes
I couldn't really taste the bacon, but it's potato,
and potatoes are looove.

Chili Wings.
My order! Yes, again. I have food loyalty. Haha.

Grilled Squid
I was surprised to find several small pieces of squid instead of a
single huge squid.

Grilled Tenderloin Steak

Everything On It Pizza
Talk about topping overload! It even has eggplant.

Buffalo Wings

Spaghetti with Meatballs
Last minute order, because no birthday dinner is complete
without noodlez. For long life. Except the noodles
were kinda short. Hahahaha!

That is all. Thank you. Bow. Goodbye. :D

For more about Bonitos, refer to my previous post or visit their Facebook page. :)

Not Just a Place for Happy Tummies: Another Soderno Weekend

2011-12-11T14:34:00.000+08:00

I am inlove with Soderno. Primarily because it is so near and I have issues with long distance relationships. Okay, that last line was a lie, because my motto is "will travel for food." (You can make me COMMUTE all the way from Laguna to Taguig just for dinner!) But proximity is a definite plus which brings me back to: I'm in love with Soderno!

Dropped by Soderno Friday night just to see how it looked:

Welcome to Soderno. Night time edition. :P

It was considerably more crowded than the daytime market but there was enough room to walk around without bumping elbows with strangers. (This was at 9PM though, my friend D went there for Manang's chicken at around 11PM and according to him the place was packed.) It was a little smoky in the al fresco dining area but the people didn't seem to mind. We didn't buy food because we were on our way to a dinner/ christmas party, but on our way out we saw this:

If I were Holly Golightly, I wouldn't have gone to a Tiffany's.
I would have gone to an ice cream store. :P

Mio Gelati! It was my UTT favorite and they were offering free tastes of their gelato. The Tequila Rose- flavored gelato tasted so good that I had to order a scoop. I HAD TO. Hello, my name is Alikoy, and I have a very low EQ. Hehehe. The price is a bit steep at 120php per scoop (apparently alcoholic flavors are more expensive), but it's really really yummy, and the serving is quite hefty.

Saturday morning, I went back for brunch with Miki, Dzhot, and her brother Josh. Yay there are seats again. Hahaha.

Last week, Sandwich Boulevard's Bacon and Cream Sandwich blew me away. This time I tried their All Meat Sandwich which had two slices of french toast and a generous heap (yes I say HEAP without exaggeration) of ham, bacon, and pepperoni, topped with maple syrup. It's like pancakes and bacon, with superpowers!

SanBo. All Meat Sandwich, 100php.
Very unassuming on the outside.

Packed with meaty goodness inside! :)

Miki ordered the Shrimp and Aligue Capellini (learning for the day: capellini = angel hair pasta) from Bliss.

Bliss. Shrimp and Aligue Capellini, 120php.

I also ordered an eggplant lasagna from Bliss, which I eventually gave to Josh. I would have preferred it with more cheese, like the eggplant mozzarella they serve at The Oarhouse Pub, but he liked it. :)

Bliss. Eggplant Lasagna, 120php.

Dzhot arrived at the table with this slab of meat. I don't know from which stall and I don't know what it's called so if you recognize this please let me know in the comments. I wasn't able to try it, but she seemed happy.

Slab of Meat with Rice. Hehehe. 155php.

After lunch, we stopped by Theo and Philo to try/ buy more chocolates. Haay I still can't get over how yummy and pretty they are. And in a ditz moment of the day, I blurted out, I'm also getting this one (pointing to the milk chocolate with pili nut and pinipig), because it has horses. What a way to show people how maturely I make my decisions.

Theo and Philo Chocolates. I got two of the milk chocolate with
toffee because there were only two left and I panicked hahaha.
Oh and because they're yummy. And polka dots are cute. :D

But wait there's more! Because Soderno is a lifestyle market, it's not all food. There are also stalls selling clothes, shoes, accessories and other knick-knacks. I was trying to avoid the SuperSale Bazaar because I didn't want to spend anymore but The C Shop was just across Theo and Philo, and we were hypnotized by their pretty tops and dresses and cute accessories! In the end all three of us girls went home with something. Hahaha. Our wallets didn't suffer much though, because the clothes and accessories are very affordable, and haggling is allowed! :D

Loved this. 300 bucks! :P

Adorable Teacup and Teapot Earrings. Got them for 50php.

Yup, Soderno's not just a place for happy tummies. If you live in the south and you haven't visited it yet, well, you should. ;)

For more yummy food finds in Soderno, read last week's blog entry or visit Soderno's Facebook page.

Twenty-four.

2011-12-09T00:11:00.001+08:00

So. I'm twenty-four.

It feels weird. I feel old! Hahaha. Maybe I should qualify: I feel old for the FIRST TIME. Because I was in an accelerated medical program, I have always been around people who were older than me. I am the 5th youngest person in our class, so everytime I grew a year older, I still always felt young. But now that I've graduated, it feels like I've lost my eternal youth serum! I spent a good five minutes in front of the mirror staring at the the small crinkles at the corner of my eye. Ownooooowwww.

Anyway. This year's was the most low-key birthday I've had in many years. I woke up, had breakfast, studied, took a one hour break to reply to Facebook greetings, studied again, went to mass, had my celebratory birthday dinner, then went back home to watch TV, answer more greetings on Facebook, and blog about my Intramuros tour. My day was about as exciting as studying flobberworms except for the part where I finally got my birthday package from the US!

Yummy birthday dinner at Bonito's! :) I had the chili wings, but mom made me
eat a few forkfuls of spaghetti for long life. Haha.

Don't get me wrong, unexciting doesn't mean unhappy. I missed my friends, but I loved spending my birthday at home again and having a huge birthday cake with sugar flowers and a happy birthday message piped in icing! And I really appreciated all the birthday greetings, whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, a text message or a phone call! To everyone who remembered, thank you very much! :)

And thank you to all the people who "celebrated my birthday" in my favorite pub! Haha I love you sisses! I love you Oarhouse crew and I love you strangers, whoever you people are, for being part of this photo:

This photo was posted on my Facebook wall with a
birthday greeting. Nice. :D

(Credits to Ben Razon of The Oarhouse Pub of Manila)

If These Walls Could Talk: A Tour of Intramuros and a History Lesson, Carlos Celdran Style

2011-12-07T00:57:00.001+08:00

I love history, especially the version not written in books. It makes for an oftentimes harsh and painful narrative, but I've always believed that knowledge of the past makes for better understanding of the present.

When I heard Carlos Celdran was having a barter tour of Intramuros, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Newly graduated MD = no more student discount, but no money either hahaha! I hopped on a bus to Manila armed with a box of my favorite buko pie (Lety's is the best!!!), comfortable shoes, a fully charged camera, clean ears and an open mind. ;)

Here are a few photos taken during the tour. I'm glad Scarlet (that's my camera if you should know, and yes she has a name) focuses very fast because most of these were taken while moving.

I'd like to go back to Intramuros, sit in one of those benches and read
a book while kalesas clip-clop by.

Hey it's a cannon.

The Entrance to Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago: Destroyed in 1945 by our friends the Americans.

My favorite part of the Jose Rizal exhibit: The Triumph of Death over Science.
He has another sculpture "The Triumph of Science over Death," and it has a
huge replica in the UP College of Medicine. We called her Lady Med. :)

I was just really amused to see his old medical set. :D

Man ought to die for his duty and his convictions. I maintain all the
ideas I have expressed concerning the state and future of my
country and gladly I'll die for her, nay, to obtain justice and
tranquility for you.

Surprise. The Pasig river now. Scent-free and no longer an eyesore.

Walking in Rizal's footsteps.

This was one of our "classrooms" during the tour.

Before World War II, this was Ateneo de Manila University and
the St. Ignatius Cathedral.

It was night time when we got to San Agustin church.

Carlos Celdran was an amazing tour guide. He was a great performer: he sang, danced, spoke dramatically and even changed costumes (or accessories) for every segment of the tour. I felt like I was watching a zarzuela. But it was also evident that he knew his history by heart. More so, you know from the way he talks and how he looks when talking about Manila, that he truly loves this city.

Carlos described his tour as a history class for people with a short attention span and that was a good thing because I have the attention span of a five year old! The tour lasted around three hours, but from start to finish, he had our full attention. Even passers-by and street children would stop to listen.

The free choc-nut, the kalesa (horse-drawn carriage) ride and the halo-halo at the end of the tour were delightful add-ons. And I loved how the kalesa drivers were like mini tour guides too, pointing out places along the way and giving us bits of trivia!

The tour was informative, peppered with stories complimented with visual aids. While it was entertaining, it was also very blunt and unapologetic, and it forced me to rethink the way I looked at a lot of things: the church, our heroes, our colonizers, and most importantly, us Filipinos and this place we call home.

On his website, Carlos Celdran says he is "a man who is trying to change the way you look at Manila - one step at a time." In my case, he was successful. I've always loved Manila, yes, but my appreciation for the city has always been because of its conveniences, and not because of its history. After taking the tour and seeing how beautiful Manila was at the height of its glory, I felt a little sad not to have been able to see that Manila. But I also felt a deep sense of pride for this city I called home for seven years, because against all the odds, Manila has survived. :)

Thank you for the wonderful tour Sir! :)

Information about Carlos Celdran's tours are available here. :)

Let's Give PhilPost Some Credit

2011-12-06T22:25:00.001+08:00

The package from my ninang in the US arrived today! Just in time for my birthday! :)

I was already having my doubts. Hahaha. Last Friday, I tracked the package on the US Postal Service (USPS) website and found out the following:

The package was picked up on November 19
It arrived on Philippine soil and was cleared by customs on November 23
It arrived at pickup point on November 24

What was that even supposed to mean? What pick-up point? I did some research and found out International Express Mail sent through the USPS is sent through PhilPost's Express Mail Service (EMS) once it gets to the Philippines. I tried to track the package on PhilPost's website with no luck. Worse, I found a lot of horror stories on the web about packages sent to the Philippines through the USPS being tampered with or never getting to the recipient! As one blogger put it, everything is well documented until the package reaches the Philippines, where it essentially falls into a black hole. :|

BUT! There's a happy ending to this story!

I searched every page of PhilPost's website until I found an email link to customer service. They were, surprisingly, very efficient and polite and helpful. I sent them a message Friday night (around 10PM) and I got a reply on Monday morning, asking me for my tracking number. This morning, they emailed again saying my package was ready for pick-up at my local post office.

Apparently it has been sitting in the UPLB post office since November 24. They said they sent a notification card to my house which I obviously didn't receive, but never mind that because I got my package unopened (so much tape with USPS stamped all over it!) and in good condition! Now I'm feeling a little guilty about my cynicism!

For those with packages still lost in the system, be pro-active. Don't just wait and complain why it's taking so long. Track your package, inquire, send them an email, call your local post-office. Just don't overdo it because annoying the hell out of everyone is counterproductive. :P

My package was sent through international express mail and that's a lot faster than regular mail especially SURFACE MAIL meaning by land and sea! If your package/ mail was sent through regular mail it really takes a lot longer so be patient. :)

Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates

2011-12-04T15:17:00.001+08:00

I've been antsing to buy these for a few weeks now. Finally got to grab some at Soderno last Saturday!

I found out about these chocolates when they were featured in OurAwesomePlanet after the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell. After that, I looked up their website, and I really fell in love with the concept behind the product.

A week or so ago someone asked for Christmas gift ideas on Twitter and I told him to buy Theo & Philo chocolates even though I haven't even tried them yet hahaha. But hey, all those UTT participants liked it so I took it for a fact that the chocolates were good. ;)

After taste-testing all their available flavors in Soderno (unfortunately they had no Milk Chocolate with Toffee that time), I picked my four favorites -- Dark Chocolate with Siling Labuyo, Dark Chocolate with Calamansi, 70% Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Kapeng Barako -- and bought them for pasalubong for my family and err, myself. :D

At first I didn't want to open them (haha labo) because the wrappings are so pretty! I have a tendency to exaggerate but I think you'll have to agree with me on this one. Except for their 70% dark chocolate which comes in a black and grey box, all the others are wrapped in paper with various designs in red, blue, white, and gold. Like I said, it's very patriotic.

Even the inner wrapping looks very elegant. I think the Theo & Philo sticker in gold foil is a very nice touch. The same sticker is on the free gift bag I got with my chocolates.

Looks really high-end, don't you think? :)

I felt a little sad opening the package but once I started eating, NO REGRETS! Dark chocolate is my favorite kind, and the siling labuyo and calamansi flavors did not compete with and instead complimented the chocolate well. The chili flavor is very subtle, pero may sipa! And the calamansi flavor was mild, except when you nibble on the bits of the calamansi peel, but there's an unmistakable citrus-y taste. I'm not sure if I'm still making sense here, basta it's really good, okay? :P As for the milk chocolate with barako coffee, don't try it if you're looking for the taste of chocolate with a bit of coffee -- it tastes more like chocolate- covered coffee beans (which I love, BTW) more than anything else. It's for hardcore coffee lovers. And the smell is enough to wake you up in the morning!

Is it the best chocolate I've ever tasted? Not really, but it's the best LOCALLY made chocolate I've had. And it's evident from the flavors to the packaging, that a lot of effort was put into it to make it something truly and proudly Filipino. :)

Visit them at theoandphilo.com :)

Another Place for Happy Tummies: Soderno at Molito

2011-12-04T09:35:00.001+08:00

I am a huge fan of both Midnight Mercato and Mercato Centrale. Recently though, as I have been living in Laguna again since August, my trips to Mercato have been huge pains in the bum and in the wallet. (My pamasahe alone costs at least 300php and cumulative travel time is around 5 to 6 hours back and forth!)

I was thrilled when they launched Soderno. It's still not next-door, but at least it's closer to home! Miki, Maits and I chose to go Saturday morning, because we didn't feel like body bumping and competing with everyone for seats.

Welcome to Soderno.

Once inside I immediately dragged them to Theo & Philo, which I read about in OurAwesomePlanet and which I have been recommending to people as "perfect generic Christmas gifts" even before I had tried them myself hahaha.

They had free samples for tasting. Yay. My favorite was (predictably) the dark chocolate with siling labuyo. :D

My favorite. With just the right kick of spicy.

I also liked the dark chocolate with calamansi and the milk chocolate with barako. Ended up buying all three flavors plus a bar of 70% dark. :)

I was pleased when we went inside. There was a good crowd, but the place wasn't packed, I think half the tables were occupied. There were fewer food stalls (similar to Mercato during the daytime) but there's no shortage of good food and there's still a variety of food options. Something for everyone! Pasta, burgers, frankfurters, breakfast food, street food, snacks, traditional rice casseroles, kakanin -- they have it all.

Love their TJB Iced Tea! :)

Chef Resty's. Ah, a familiar stall from Mercato.

Z's. Their sausages are super cheap!

Roasted Calf. Almost got their Chuckwagon Philly Peppers.
Maits got their Cheesy Bacon Mushroom. :)

Jam Foods. Yummy tapa! :)

Isaw and barbecue never go out of style.

I will go back to Soderno for Bliss.

After passing by all the stalls and seeing a dizzying array of food, it was so difficult to choose ONE dish. In the end we decided to buy from different stalls and share. I got mine from Sandwich Boulevard, because I couldn't resist the temptation of bacon, french toast, ice cream and chocolate syrup.

That's my Bacon and Cream Sandwich. Looked cleaner and prettier
on their menu photo, but the real thing looked yummier.

Miki's tapa was lukewarm, but it was very tasty and packed with flavor. Just the right balance of sweet and salty. I only got a bite, but I immediately understood why it became a UTT favorite!

Jam Foods' Angus Beef Tapa.

The bacon mushroom melt from Roasted Calf was really good too! Lots of bacon and melted cheese, and the beef was very tender and easy to chew.

Roasted Calf's Bacon Mushroom Melt.
Looks miniscule here, but it's a decent sized sandwich. :)

Yummers.

My bacon and cream sandwich tasted just as delicious as it looked! It's the perfect bressert. The french toast was yummy and they certainly did not scrimp on the bacon and the ice cream! Perfect for people on a diet... for their cheat days hahaha. Kasi after you'll really feel guilty and satisfied!

SanBo's Bacon and Cream Sandwich.
That's two generous scoops of ice cream! Topped with
maple syrup AND chocolate syrup.

For those who think this might be overindulgent, they have other less-sinful sandwiches too. Do check them out on Facebook!

After lunch, we went to ATC to do some Christmas shopping, then returned 3 hours after just in time for a snack.

It's great that it's so near ATC because it makes Soderno very accessible for us living in the South. You can also shop/ watch a movie in ATC then just drop by Soderno when you're hungry! Perfect thing to do on a weekend! :)

Bottomline: I love Soderno! I hope more people discover it and frequent it because I want it to stay there forever and ever. Hehehe.

Elbi Eats: Faustina's

2011-11-29T18:22:00.001+08:00

Mom took me out for lunch at Faustina's today and fell in love the moment I laid eyes on the menu.

Old love letters on the cover! The formality of speech amused me but it also made me feel a little sad that letters like these are no longer written in this day and age. I also learned that Faustina and Celestino are the parents of my ninong. Not that it meant anything, but I liked having an idea of who these people writing these beautiful letters were.

I loved the place too. Cozy, and sparsely but elegantly decorated.

Hello reflection.

One wall was purple. Like!

I want this clock for my dining room.

The food is a bit expensive relative to other places around UPLB, but not so much compared to Manila prices. The menu had lots of pictures too haha nakakagutom I wanted to get everything! Mom recommended the Silindro Ribs served with pinakurat, steamed rice and buttered vegetables. It didn't disappoint. :)

Silindro Ribs. 175php

Mom ordered the Tomato and White Cheese Pasta because I wanted to try it too. :D Simple fare, but flavorful and delicious. After lunch I texted my dad and asked him to pick up some white cheese because I liked it so much and wanted to replicate it at home!

Tomato and white cheese pasta. Junior - 85php.

For dessert we shared a blueberry cheesecake which was okay, but it was still frozen when served so it was difficult to eat. We had to wait a while for it to become soft enough to eat with a fork.

Dining there was a delight both for the eyes and for the tastebuds. I want to eat there everyday and try everything on the menu! :P

Oh. Another photo from today, because kuya waiter looked so serious posing by the doorway hehehe.

PS: Guess what we had for dinner? My own version of the tomato and white cheese pasta, made from scratch. I've been spending a lot of time in front of the stove lately, and I'm having a lot of fun. ;)

Photoblog: Christmas is in the Air

2011-11-28T19:28:00.001+08:00

I love spending Christmas in UPLB, because the campus is very pretty this time of the year.

Presenting some of the first few photos taken with my new Sony Cybershot DSC TX55 which I won in a giveaway/ contest. :D It's in "red rouge" so I'm naming it Scarlet hihihi.

I wanted to take nighttime photos to see the lights better, but I was rushing home. I'll just take another photoset at night. :)

The nativity scene has improved a lot since I was a child.

Every year there's a giant Christmas tree built with different materials. This year it was built with twigs painted yellow and topped with a star with UP at the center. I think it's a very happy looking tree. :)

Our giant Christmas tree flanked by huge gifts and "houses"

No Christmas would be complete without Santa and his reindeers! Haha. I tried using the paint feature of the Cybershot and as evident with my squiggly and shaky lines I need more practice. :D

Panorama view. (Click to enlarge.)

Looks rather nice don't you think? :)

Of Deaths and Funerals

2011-11-27T22:31:00.001+08:00

I just came home from my cousin's funeral. She was 34 years old.

Deaths in the family are never easy, but it is even more difficult when the one who passes away is young. Parents are not meant to bury their children and nothing compares to a parent's grief at the passing of his son or daughter.

Asking the Wrong Questions

2011-11-25T16:02:00.001+08:00

After lunch today I was dozing off to la-la-land while reading Renal Physiology when I was jolted awake by my mom shouting: "OO NGA DIBA! OO NGA EH!"

I sleepily trudged to the living room to find out why she was shouting AT HOME, AT SIESTA TIME. And I found her watching Eat Bulaga where two women were playing Pinoy Henyo.

"Wow, affected much?" I teased my mom and my brother, who at that point had joined in the shouting.

"Because she's so dumb! And she's a doctor!"

As if on cue, the woman on the television spoke up:

Lady on TV: Singer?
Partner: OO! (Yes!)
LonTV: Ogie?
Partner: OO! OO! OO! (Yes! Yes! Fuckin YES!!!!)
LonTV: Singer?
Other lady: Oo!

Predictably, the buzzer sounded before she got the answer. Her facial expression when she saw what she was supposed to guess (OGIE ALCASID) was PRICELESS.

Apparently, they almost got the answer two other times.

1. Kaserola

Kaldero?
OO!
Ginagamit pangluto?
OO!
Kawali?
Hindi!
Kaldero?
OO! OO! OO!

2. Bentilador

Electric fan?
OO!
Pamaypay?
Hindi!
Stand fan?
Pwede!
Electric fan!
OO!

Hahaha. I don't want to be mean, but I can't help but think about how she interviews her patients in the clinic. In med school we are taught that a doctor should know which questions to ask, and how to process the answers logically. Judgy pero kasi!!! I keep imagining a scenario like this:

Dok inuubo po ako.
May plema ka ba?
Opo.
Nilalagnat ka?
Opo.
Hirap ka ba dumumi?
Um, hindi po?
May plema ka ba?

Haha parang first year med student lang na halo-halo ang past medical history at review of systems. At paulit-ulit kasi hindi na alam kung anong next na itatanong. I do hope what she had was just a serious case of mental block secondary to TV exposure. :/

Thanksgiving.

2011-11-24T19:50:00.001+08:00

Someone wrote somewhere, that of all the things we might forget to say, we should never forget to say thanks.

So, today I'm saying merci beaucoup, thank you very much, mahalo, grazie, danke, madaming salamat to everyone who has made this year awesome. I have gone through a lot this year (including a very nasty quarter life crisis) and yet I consider this year one of my best ones! It's true what they say, that it is in the dark that stars shine brightest.

To my family and friends, thank you! I know I'm sarcastic most of the time and can't stop rolling my eyes, but I hope you know that's just how I make lambing and I really love having you in my life (naks). And to the people I barely/ do not know who surprise me with their kindness, I guess you'll never know how deeply you've touched my life, but I hope your kindness is repaid a hundred-fold. Thank you. :)

Oh and to the people who read my blog, thanks for giving me an outlet for my ideas and stories the past months. Having no one to talk to makes me a little loony so I owe my sanity to all of you. Hahaha.

Evidence Based Medicine: Even Modest Alcohol Use Increases Breast Cancer Risk

2011-11-23T10:00:00.000+08:00

Most of my emails from Medscape go into my archive unread, but certain words catch my attention. Like chocolate (which BTW is good for you), and softdrinks (which apparently cause violent behavior in children), and now alcohol, which according to the article increases breast cancer risk!

Oh no. I used to have a history of alcohol binge-ing, and even now that I've sort of outgrown the getting-wasted parties it's still fun getting myself drunk enough to sing Paris Hilton songs on karaoke and dance like crazy person. Oh, okay that's a lie, I do that even when sober but the bottomline is I have a casual love affair with alcohol and apparently even that's bad now. :|

According to the study by Dr. Chen and her colleagues published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), large amounts of alcohol consumption correlated with increased breast cancer risk over the study period (1976-2006), but even alcohol consumption as low as 5.0 - 9.9 g/ day (which equates to roughly 3-6 drinks in a week) was associated with a significant increase in risk! Uh oh.

Drinking an average of 10.0 to 19.9 g of alcohol per day (6 to 12 drinks a week) resulted in a 22% increase in risk (RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.35). At the upper end of the drinking scale, drinking 30 g or more a day resulted in a 51% increased risk (RR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.35 to 1.70), compared with drinking no alcohol at all.

Does that mean all girls should stop drinking? :(

No more margaritas?

Not really. (Yay?) Low levels of average daily alcohol consumption (<4.9g/ day) did not result in a significant increase in breast cancer risk compared to complete non-drinkers. Mind you though, that a standard (12oz) bottle of beer or a shot of tequila has around 14g of pure alcohol. So technically we are allowed one drink every 3-4 days unless we stick with San Mig's flavored beers which are only 3% alcohol.

So the point here ladies, is that we should be smarter about our drinking. These studies look into cumulative lifetime alcohol consumption so a few margaritas during a girls' night out is fine as long as we make up for it by not drinking for a while. Binge drinking (aka more than four drinks in one sitting) is a big NO though. It's an additional risk for breast cancer even after controlling for the cumulative alcohol consumption.

Other study results:

Increase in risk is highest when you drink at BOTH early (18-40yo) and late (>40yo) periods of life
It is still not known whether going cold turkey will diminish the increase in breast CA risk caused by alcohol
The type of alcohol you consume doesn't matter, only the total amount of alcohol you drink
Frequency of drinking is not associated with increased risk after controlling for the cumulative amount

Alcohol isn't totally bad though, remember all those stuff about a little alcohol being good for your heart? They're true too, so it's up to you to weigh the risks against the benefits.

My advice: cut down on the alcohol and get the cardiovascular benefits from chocolate instead! Hrhrhr.

If you have a Medscape account, you can view the CME article here. The original journal article (access to the clinical abstract is free) can be viewed at the JAMA website.

Random Phone Photos

2011-11-22T13:00:00.000+08:00

I like taking photos of things that make me happy. :D

D' Cream Taro Milk Tea with Egg Pudding

Discovered this last June after a board review class. Derishuzz and surprisingly cheap. The large sized beverage is 45php (either original or flavored)and each add-on (pearls, coconut jelly or pudding) is only 10php. When I was in Manila last week I had to get a cup. Yummy. :) I always get the Assam Original with Taro, but it was my first time to add pudding. It was okay but I prefer the nata de coco.

Shoebox & Me Flats
Accompanied two of my friends to the mall to look for comfy shoes for residency, and I was the one who actually went home with a pair. Haha. I love Shoebox + Me flats because their shoes are so comfortable even when I walk around in them all day. They're cheap too, this pair was 649php! Plus they have a lot of colors and carry half sizes which is great because I'm a frikkin 7 AND A HALF.

For some reason I like mustard-colored footwear. I used to have mustard-colored sandals and I wore them until they gave up on me.

Phi Lambda Delta 2012 Planner
It's so pretty and the paper is so smooth! :) I'm halfway towards getting my first Starbucks planner too, and I want a Belle du Jour planner for the coupons so IDK which one I'm actually going to use! I'm thinking of turning one planner into a daily journal because I perpetually have disjoint ideas swimming in my head. Maybe they'll make more sense written down.

Look it even has my name on it. :D

It has a bookmark too. :)

Chef Tony's Popcorn in Dark Chocolate and Honey Roasted Almonds
The yummiest (and most expensive) of my study munchies.

Yummy Magazine
This came free with our UTT 7.0 loot bag and I've been perusing it for the last few days. I always think about getting subscriptions to food magazines but never actually do it because the stingy part of me keeps thinking about how recipes are so freely available in the internetz. :/

Again, random phone photos, so pictures are crappier than usual. Zarrry. But not really hahaha.

---
D' Cream Coffee and Tea is located along Guerrero Street (cor Pedro Gil Street), Malate Manila.
Shoebox & Me has outlets in Robinsons Place Manila (2F Orosa Atrium), Trinoma, and Glorietta

Hello baby brother!

2011-11-21T20:17:00.001+08:00

When my brother was a baby, three year old me adored him. Our old photo albums showed me hugging him and cradling him and reaching to him as he slept in his duyan. As young children he was my closest friend and ally. We liked the same things (I say he idolized me hahaha) and we did everything together, even celebrating our birthdays! (We celebrated our birthdays twice a year. Yay.)

Over the years though, we grew apart and he became the pesky little brother who was always tailing me while I became the mean big sister who kept brushing him off. I fought him over everything: books, TV channels, even toys, because when I was growing up I liked his matchbox cars and tonka trucks too and I thought it was unfair I never received any. Hehehe.

I'm glad that when we both reached high school, we reconnected just like magic! Haha. Right now we like the same things again -- math, physics, books (I started bringing home Terry Pratchett books for him and now he's a Discworld fanatic), TV shows ("Ate, what's a good series to watch?"), weird food, even girls hahaha I'M KIDDING! A few months ago, we settled into a routine of watching Numb3rs (our favorite TV series ever) every night. That was our nightly bonding time. But we've finished that already and I'm thinking about introducing him to Dexter my favorite psychopath.

Okay before this goes on and I just start churning out disturbing and ridiculous things about myself, I just really wrote this to greet my favorite brother (as if I had a choice LOL) a happy happy birthday! Having you for a brother is really cool and awesome and I hope we stay close until we're old and wrinkled and smell like prunes and baby powder. I love you! :)

We have no pictures together on my laptop and I'm too lazy to get up (post-zumba body aches auugh) so I'll just post this picture of him which I took after his incessant nagging. Haha.

Happy birthday! :)

Elbi Eats: Bonitos' Chili Wings and Ristretto's Caramel Macchiato

2011-11-20T23:30:00.001+08:00

I rarely eat out when I'm in Los Baños, because the best dining spot in town is still our kitchen. Hehehe.

Last week though, I was able to eat at Bonitos' for dinner with my three Manila boyzz. We shared a plate of sisig and ordered a combo meal each. I had the chili wings with rice.

Four chicken wings, nicely breaded, with a coat of chili sauce that was just spicy enough to tickle the palate of a hardcore chili fan (aka me) but not so much as to send me gagging and reaching for a glass of water.

I ate three of the wings and gave the last one to A because I was already full. Worth the price at 130 bucks for the combo meal, which already came with a tall glass of lemonade.

I haven't been to Bonitos for some time, so I was happily surprised that the place looked so nice and was already airconditioned! Prices remained the same though. Awesome.

---

Also, yesterday after Zumba class, I tried to do some studying at Ristretto (Vega Center, near UP Gate) and ordered an iced caramel macchiato.

Whoa. Can you believe all that caramel? 0_o

So sinful, but it's one of the best caramel macchiatos I've tried. It costs less than a hundred bucks too, booyah. Too bad they're always filled with noisy college kids during the weekdays so I can't study there.

---

In other news, UPLB is getting ready for Christmas! I think the tree looks pretty even though it's still unfinished. Can't wait for the lights to be set up. Christmases here are very pretty. Photo's a little dark, taken at dusk.

---

I have to do more LB food tripping, because food here is good and cheap! Next week I promise to go to Moonleaf and try that mediterranean restaurant I read about in BeliZone.

If you have food/ restaurant recommendations in the UPLB area, hit me up in the comments! If you are an elbi-based food blogger, drop a link. I'm just getting reacquainted with the gustatory delights my hometown has to offer and I'd love to hear/ read about your favorites. :)

Sorry for the crappy photo quality, I still can't find my camera charger hehehe so I've been using my phone to take snaps.

Happy Birthday Phi!

2011-11-20T22:28:00.001+08:00

I never thought I'd be a sorority girl. Now I can't imagine how my life (both during and after med school) would have been without it.

I have learned so much, and experienced so many things I never would have otherwise. I have met so many wonderful, like-minded people, and have discovered that I could have more in common with unlikely individuals than I dared imagine.

Apart from excellence, leadership, service and sisterhood (the four core values of our sorority), Phi taught me that there can be great reward for taking chances, especially when you take a chance on people.

Happy birthday Phi Lambda Delta, you are the best decision I ever made. And to my batchmates and pseudo-batchmates, I love you, you girls are awesome. :)

Gluttony: Ultimate Taste Test 7.0

2011-11-18T15:25:00.001+08:00

I am was a UTT virgin. Now I can't figure out why I missed out on the fun all those years. ;)

Meet my new boyfriend, San Mig Premium.
San Mig Super Dry you are dumped.

Before the horde of people arrived. Empty chairs!!!

My Ultimate Taste Test Favorites:

Dessert: Mio Gelati

Superb. My taste buds totally fell in love. My friends and I got (and shared) different flavors and we loved them all. Gelato was smooth, creamy and yummy! It was the mochi gelato that got us all gushy though. I had the peppermint candy (no surprise there haha) which had peppermint choco ice cream and bits of peppermint candy. It tasted like Christmas in my mouth!

Mio Gelati
Look at all those flavors! :)

Peppermint Candy Mochi ♥

Red Velvet Gelato

I also liked the salted caramel mochi gelato. The banana nutella was okay, but I don't like bananas very much. :D

Main Course: Dulcelin Gourmet Specialties

Their shrimp and uni (sea urchin) pasta was exquisite! Also I loved how their dish was unique-- not something I can get just anywhere else! I immediately checked their prices, not bad at 1900php for a tray that feeds 10 people. It's a pity though that I can't order a plate just for myself. Hmm. The opportunity will arise, eventually. :D

Sadly, I don't have pictures because I passed by their stall during the "peak hours" of the UTT. Lines were long, and it was body bumping all around!

More Food I Liked
aka food I will actually buy/ come back for:

♥ Wagyu steak - K our food expert said it's not pure wagyu, just processed beef, but I still liked how the meat seemed to melt in my mouth. :P
♥ Fish and Chips from Blue Bucket - Dips were good and you can't go wrong with cream dory. Not their chapchae though. It was dry and tasted like bihon. Chapchae in Bon Chon is so much better and only for 75 bucks.
♥ Tacos from Tacoholic because I happen to like tacos, and they were good as far as tacos go. :) Nothing really special though.
♥ Merry Moo's Quezo de Bola and Ham Ice Cream. Surprisingly liked this more than the peppermint choco ice cream. Reminds me of days when i would sit on our dining table and snack on leftover queso de bola and fiesta ham because that's just how the ice cream tastes like! :)
♥ Happy Tummy Chocolate Musubi. My tastebuds are partial to the taste of chocolate on anything salty. (Like Royce's chocolate covered potato chips oh wow.)
♥ Japanese Lechon from the Specialty Kitchen. Their black sambo was okay too. :D
♥ Swiss Gourmet's Hungarian Sausage I think I returned to their booth three times to get more hahaha they're really good. Good thing they don't stamp the passports so it was like a hungarian sausage buffet.
♥ Sassy Sisig Now my third favorite sisig after Aling Lucing's sisig in Pampanga and the sisig at Bahay Marikit in Batangas. :)

Weirdest thing I tried:

My friends and I made a pact to taste everything no matter how weird or unappetizing they look, which is the only reason I tried the banana-kamote (sweet potato)-mango concoction from one of the booths. Tasted innocuous enough (like banana actually, no hint of mango or kamote), but when you work in a hospital, a yellow-green frothy blend reminds you of sputum and that's not a very good thing to associate with food. :/

More Food Pictures

Sorry for the quality, taken with a point and shoot while balancing a plate with one hand and holding my camera with the other. Hehe.

Black Sambo from the Specialty Kitchen.

Cassava Cake with Parmesan from Joan and Jane's Bites.
A little dry, didn't like it very much.
But their beef pot pie was promising.

Katsu Maki from Katsu House.
They had 3 diff. kinds - teriyaki, tonkatsu and tofu. I was unable to
distinguish among the three, neither by sight nor taste. :/

Arizona Peach Tea Samplers.

Jack Daniel's Brownies from Blackinese.
Pwede na. Good texture, but I like my fudge brownies a
little (or a lot) more chocolatey.

Roti Canai from Papa Roti
I'm a fan of roti but not really of curry. Maybe another flavor
for next time?

Soyami Soya Chips

Heart Melting Chocolate Cupcake from Joanie's Cupcakes
Tasted good, but my sampler was too gooey :|

Cupcake de Mercedes from Joanie's Cupcakes
This one I kinda liked.

Stuffed Tomatoes from Green Pig

I went home super full and feeling like a glutton because halfway through, I was no longer hungry, just eating my way through because the food was there! Next time, I'm going to starve myself the whole day in preparation! Hahaha. Grabe. Although not everything we sampled was great, we definitely got our money's worth. Can't wait for UTT 8.0! :)

Boys' Night Out

2011-11-17T23:49:00.001+08:00

I have always been one of they boys as long as I can remember.

Which isn't exactly good for the lovelife (instant friend zone!) but meant a lot of really good times. I swear, I have fun with my girlfriends watching chick flicks and having sleepovers, but with the boys I can be rowdy and crude and no one's going to tell me to please behave and that's the bomb.

Last night I had a boys night out with three of my guy friends from med school, and our activity was, tadaaaa... talking about deep and serious shit while having a few drinks and relaxing in a hot spring pool. Did I mention the pool was INSIDE our room?:P

The water felt great. I never really appreciated hot spring pools before, even though they are EVERYWHERE in Los Baños, because fun getaways usually meant out of town trips. Good thing that for these three Manila boys, Los Baños is out of town! Hometown appreciation just increased by 10 points. And I liked it that we didn't have to leave the room or share the pool with anyone else! Haha no more pictures because they are shy daw but we had our share of fun (and an equal share of serious moments hell-o we are growing up!). Seeing them was great too; I'd never admit it to them hahaha but I missed the ribbing and teasing. Gets kinda lonely in LB without my friends, and the familiarity is reassuring. :)

To those wondering, no I don't have issues about sharing a room (and a hot tub hahaha) with these guys. I have lived with male room mates for years and I would trust these people with my life!

On Hoping.

2011-11-15T23:18:00.001+08:00

Hope is a beautiful thing. It is hope that allows us to be patient. It is hope that gives us reason to continue when the odds are against us.

Hope is also wonderful feeling, because sometimes the mere possibility of happiness is enough to mimic the feeling of happiness itself.

But hope also makes us vulnerable, breaks down our walls and exposes our deepest, darkest wishes, the ones we hide even from ourselves.

There is nothing more cruel than to allow a person a sliver of light in the darkness, and then extinguish that light again. The darkness he returns to is the same darkness he was once in, but somehow more unbearable than before.

---

Because I was too affected by last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother (S07E10).

Oh Barney. :(

Random Acts of Kindness

2011-11-14T22:31:00.001+08:00

The small acts of kindness are the ones I appreciate the most.

A five-peso cupcake after a disappointing exam, a cup of coffee on a particularly tiring night, a belgian waffle after my phone got stolen, a friend hiding me in his room when I had to cry after a heartbreak, a supportive text message while going through a quarter life crisis -- those small things are the reasons I love my friends to bits.

But receiving a random act of kindness from a stranger is doubly touching.

After living in Manila for seven years, I have had a lot of experiences which almost made me lose trust and faith in people. My phone was once pickpocketed by an old lady in Starbucks, I've had my wallet stolen by a patient in the clinic. I've had patients who were mauled, raped, or abandoned. But my faith in man is restored by acts of kindness from strangers.

A security guard walking me home with an umbrella, because it rained suddenly and I was stranded in the middle of the road with no place to take shelter from the rain.

Or even as simple as a random guy giving up his seat on the train.

And today:

A jeepney driver offering me a free ride because it was a hot day for walking, and we were going the same direction anyway.

A Norwegian missionary couple buying me a cookie at Starbucks for no reason other than "I was a good girl" for studying. Hehe.

I am very blessed with a supportive family and wonderful friends. Even more so, to be surrounded by people who stand to gain nothing from me, but show me kindness anyway. :)

Today's events make me want to pay it forward, and do random nice things for strangers too. I just fear some people might think I'm creepy. Hahaha.

Memories

2011-11-14T00:26:00.001+08:00

When I commute to Manila or to the nearest Starbucks from home (half an hour away) I just let my mind wander during the long bus and jeepney rides. When I am in a contemplative mood, my thoughts would be along the lines of: should I finally get my hair colored? A tablet or a smartphone? I wonder what happened to Cappie and Casey when they got to Washington. Will Zoe Hart and Wade Kinsella eventually end together? Shit why do I keep rooting for the happy go lucky loser-ish guys instead of the likes of Evan Chambers and George Tucker? Hahaha. Welcome to my brain.

Last week though I've been thinking about something else: my childhood. It probably started with that accidental mini-reunion with grade school classmates last weekend AND I JUST CAN'T STOP! It's like I've been going through microfilms of my early memories.

Frankly a lot of them are hazy, but you know how some bit of a memory just sticks and you can't remember all the details of what happened but you remember that one single part very very well as if it's a scene from a movie you watched or a line you memorized from a book?

My top ten most vivid memories (and not necessarily the fondest haha):

Sitting on my lolo's lap and playing with a mirror while I'm wearing a furry headband with bunny ears
Running after a jeepney because my younger brother had just gotten on it and then it started to move away
Stomping on a pink flower my kindergarten classmate Martin gave to me because I was embarassed hehehe
My evil classmate E holding my hands behind my back while my other evil classmate D tried to kiss me (also in kindergarten!) I remember how my dad arrived and scared the hell out of them. Creeps.
Riding a jeepney alone when I was in grade II and having this strange woman hold my knee protectively (The circumstances of this I remember rather well: I ran away from my yaya because she wouldn't take me to school and I wanted to play with my classmates hehe)
Crying that we didn't have a charcoal iron during a power blackout because I didn't want to go to school with gusot (creased) uniforms (Funny, because when I got to medschool I hardly ever ironed my uniforms. They get creased by lunchtime anyway hehehe)
Running away from home (and hiding behind a huge tree in our driveway) because my mom wanted me to wear a dress to church and I didn't want to.
Losing in a spelling contest because I misspelled RENOWNED.
Studying the bird embryo using balut and realizing for the first time it had feathers and a beak. Traumatic.
Being carried by my dad with his arms above his head while I spread my arms out and pretended to fly. I can even remember the feeling.

I have more, but these stand out the most. I can see them in my head OVER AND OVER.

What are your most vivid memories as children? :)

My Birthday/ Christmas Wishlist

2011-11-12T12:49:00.001+08:00

Read Suyen's wishlist this morning and I was compelled to come up with my own. Hehe.

I'm really very easy to please haha give me chocolates and I'll be happy; give me a 75-peso book from Booksale or anything Star Wars and I'll be ecstatic!

But these are the top five things I would like to get for my birthday and for Christmas. If you give me any of them I will be OVER THE MOON and I will love you forever and ever.

1. ~~A Carlos Celdran tour of Intramuros or his Imelda Tour.~~

Done thanks to a barter tour! See my review.

GRANTED!!!

I have long wanted to go on these tours because I really like Philippine history. Kaya lang when I was in med school I couldn't find time, and now I can't seem to find the money. I'm in post-grad limbo when I can no longer avail student discounts whilst stuck on a student budget. So please. If there is only one thing on this list I can get, I would choose this one. :D

2. Any book from this list.

Except for the Pratchett book because I already have that one!

3. A short culinary course.

Preferrably for desserts. Or a cake decorating course! Because, in my dream life, I am a Stepford wife. I promise to feed you after. Hahaha.

4. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus or the ASUS EeePC Transformer Prime

(Hello parents, I'd be happy if you even just agree to pay half!)

I still can't figure out which one I like better. The Transformer Prime sounds really awesome, and I am a big ASUS fan. I have always wanted a 7-inch tablet though because the size is great for reading e-books. Priorities.

5. A Swatch New Gent

Because I'm really a one watch type of person. I like all the colors, but my favorites are Sea Rebel, Rose Rebel and Turquoise Rebel.

This list took me too long to complete! At some point I contemplated whittling my list to three. Hahaha. And yes, this list is arranged in order. Someone please give me that tour already!!!

11-11-11

2011-11-12T00:30:00.001+08:00

Banchetto's lantern event got cancelled, but we still celebrated 11-11-11. I know it's just a date, but you have to take every opportunity to celebrate! :)

After picking-up my friend Rom from UP Diliman, failing to get isaw (chicken/ pig intestines) and settling for fishballs and kikiam instead, we headed to Tomas Morato for more comfort food.

I ♥ Nomnomnom Happy Food!

I love their fried ravioli and the V.S.T. (Very Succulent Tomatoes) which are tomatoes stuffed with kangkong (their favorite vegetable apparently hahaha), mushrooms, mozarella and blue cheese served on balsamic vinegar with bread. NOMNOMNOM!

Fried Ravioli with kangkong, mushroom and cheese served with
salsa and sour cream.

V.S.T. = Very Succulent Tomatoes

A new favorite: the "Malinomnom" pizza log which was topped with salted egg, tinapa (smoked fish), tomatoes and onions. Unique, delicious, filling and cheap. :D

Malinomnom Pizza Log

I have wanted to take pictures of the place since my first visit because the place is really so cute and cozy! So please bear with my feeling-artsy photos. Hahaha.

The shadows are pretty!

Tried out the "sunset mode" of my camera. Hahaha looks like hell!
Maybe the red tones make sunset photos more vibrant.

After dinner, we went to Dezato Cafe which was a few minutes walk away for some dessert mochi. It was my first time there and wow it was so HIDDEN. Nomnomnom and Dezato are two places you will NEVER find unless you know where they are.

Mochi on display

They have cakes too.

Anjo's comment: "this is a very expensive hole in the wall."

Bite sized mochi were sold at 220php for a dozen (which you can eat in 5 minutes) and the green tea cheese cake was 195php per slice!

The green tea cheesecake was not matcha enough for me. And the white things at the top (were those mochi balls?!) were very weird.

Molested green tea cheesecake with mothballs, er, I mean
mochi balls on top. Hehehe.

The mochi ice cream balls were yummy and worth the price though. They're sold for 40 bucks a pop, or 220 bucks for 6 ice cream balls. We bought a dozen in assorted flavors so we could try them all. I liked the strawberry and green tea flavors best.

Had a nice night even though our original plans fell apart at the seams. I love how spontaneous and kaladkarin my friends are. :)

Starbucks Smores and Other Failures

2011-11-10T19:02:00.001+08:00

My friend R told me to be careful of calories now that I'm always at Starbucks again. So today I decided to get iced tea instead of the peppermint mocha which is essentially one shot of espresso plus milk and sugar and whipped cream. Hehehe.

But the line was long so I found myself standing a long time in front of the pastry display.

For some reason I came to the conclusion that I was entitled to a pastry since the tea was only 95 bucks (versus a grande mocha which was 165 pesos). So I got their smores which looked more like a tart than well, smores, because I am a girl and the gold stars got to me. Darn you hormones! Hehehe. Total bill: 165!

It was only when I got to my table that I realized my reason for not getting a mocha was not really the price but the calories HAHAHA and now I have a pastry greaaaaat.

Apparently, gold stars are the key to my heart. Maybe I didn't get
enough gold stars when I was in kindergarten hahaha.

These two cost just as much as a grande red cup! I tell ya the
red cup beverages are gold!

I still say it was a TART not smores. It wasn't even that good too. Nakakaumay. (How do you say that in english?) I'd only buy that again if there were four or five of us sharing, because I can only handle one bite. :/

Anyway, operation expensive coffee was a failure today (maybe because I didn't actually buy coffee LOL). I had to leave early due to um, bathroom needs. Hahaha. And my laptop is back from repair (the hinge broke) so I don't know how I'm supposed to study now. I can't stop rewatching Hart of Dixie episodes because Rachel Bilson is a sweetheart even if she dresses all wrong for a medical practice and Wilson Bethel as a hot hot hot bad boy with a sensitive streak is irresistible. :D

Sorry if I'm blogging about Starbucks and TV shows again, there is simply nothing else going on in my life right now. What a sad sad life hahaha. Tomorrow I'll be in Banchetto for that thing with the lanterns maybe something interesting will happen then. Like I make a wish "please give me a hot guy" and then a hot guy actually comes up to me to say hello! HAHAHA, I really feel ditzy at the moment I am so sorreh.

Small Victories

2011-11-09T20:55:00.001+08:00

Sleeping pattern back to normal. I get sleepy around midnight and wake up at 7! Exhaustion is the solution to insomnia pala hehehe. Last night I was woken up by a dream at 4AM though. Pft.
Steady progress studying. I think it's the expensive coffee effect kicking in. HAHAHA.
My planner-i-do-not-actually-want progress, 2/17
In the self-control department, I can actually pass by the mall without buying anything now. YES. I can say no to clothes, books and food. Achievement! And, savingggs! (The coffees don't count, they're subsidized by the parents because they're for studying. Hahaha.)
My pants fit again. (They no longer did a few months after graduation. Which is why I've been wearing shorts and dresses only for the past few months LOL.)
Managed to reserve tickets for the Ultimate Taste Test 7.0 for myself and my friends yahoo patay gutom mode!
I apparently have excellent form and graceful moves in zumba. Yehes. Thank you Phi (my med sorority) for teaching me how to dance hahaha!

Lists are the laziest. And this list looks like it's written by a crazy person haha. I'm really tired tonight! Mentally and physically!

But I'm the happy kind of tired. These small victories are the things that keep me going. :)

Motivation

2011-11-08T20:23:00.000+08:00

It is so hard to study alone. Bow.

Seriously, in my 7 years of Intarmed (a medicine program straight from high school in UP) I have never studied alone. This is a challenge for me, and one with very serious consequences!

So I went to Starbucks, because I have come to realize that my productivity is directly proportional to the price of my coffee. LOL. It's like my subconscious is pushing me to read more pages to get my money's worth. Bwahaha.

It didn't hurt that the red cups are back. I love peppermint mocha! Enough not to think about the 165 pesos I spent for a grande cup. Hahaha it's like drinking GOLD!

Peppermint mocha.
I missed you so. <3

Anyhoo, studying in Starbucks Calamba (aka Jejebucks) was pleasant enough. Noisier than Starbucks Adri/ UN Av/ Valero where the usual crowd is law + med students, but a lot quieter than my favorite local coffee shop which unfortunately for me, is also the favorite hangout of college kids from UPLB (wow I really feel old, I call college students KIDS hahaha).

My Starbucks days have started again, and I think getting that planner will be a breeze this year. SEVENTEEN ONLY? Hahaha! Too bad I've got my eyes set on another planner, maybe I'll just give it away as a gift. :D

Today I also learned going to a coffee shop alone = boys. Hehehe. Kaya lang, COLLEGE DUDES. Mga tsong, may gatas pa kayo sa labi! But fine, better than the old foreigners in Figaro. HAHAHA.

Reunion Weekend

2011-11-07T15:06:00.001+08:00

This weekend has been about reconnecting with old friends.

Saturday night was a benefit concert for my gradeschool classmate/ childhood friend Ian who recently had brain surgery for an AVM (i.e. a tangled mess of blood vessels) which as expected, was packed with friends from gradeschool. It was good to be greeted by a sea of familiar faces, now all grown up, and to see how everyone has been doing. It was also a sea of AWK-WARD, because gradeschool connections were something I didn't take particularly good care of (something I regret now), and while all of them continued in the same high school and stayed together throughout college, I went off into the sunset and never really looked back until recently. They were old friends, but they were also strangers. Funny how that happens. That night I found truth in the saying it's easier to make new friends than reacquaint with old friends.

Sunday night was high school night which was less awkward for three reasons:

Most of them were close friends I stayed in touch with during med school.
It was easier to reminisce about highschool, which I enjoyed, than elem, which I despised. (I was a dork who was bullied for knowing all the answers. I hate gradeschool I soweaaar.)
We had tequila. Hehehe.

Top: 4 out of 9 of my HS barkada + the requisite photobomb from Kups
(yes, as in "kupal" hahaha); Bottom: Our favorite boyzzz

The point is, I know that people come and go, and that some people stay while some just pass by, and though it's sad to lose people you really can't do anything about it because that's just how life rolls. I just realized I don't want to be the kind who just stays awhile to have a good time and then proceeds to the next big adventure leaving everyone else behind.

Last Saturday I also saw two of my really good gradeschool friends, with whom conversing turned out to be really easy even after more than a decade. We exchanged numbers and made promises to stay in touch and get together soon, and it's a promise I intend to keep. I think it speaks of how old I am (hahaha I really feel old at twenty-three) that I've begun to put more effort in maintaining the relationships I have instead of moving through them like I used to do when I was younger. Yay to (ehem) maturity! Hahaha! :D

With Joanna, my best friend in Grade I and Grade II,
and Jeff, one of my childhood friends.

Sorry for the sudden volley of pa-deep posts! I may be ovulating HAHAHA.

Uprooted

2011-11-06T00:39:00.000+08:00

Ever felt like you no longer belong somewhere you used to fit in so well?

This is my home and I love it, but lately I've been feeling more and more out of place, like a fish that suddenly lost its fins and grew a pair of legs overnight.

It's bizaare. I'm an alien in my own hometown.

The perils of leaving and meeting new people. The people you once knew are pushed farther and farther to the periphery until they're already too far removed from you.

AAAAAAAH!

2011-11-04T22:34:00.000+08:00

I swear I will never lose weight while living in this house no matter how many times I go to Zumba class. There's just way too much food. Too much TEMPTING food!

Especially now that we just got back from Cagayan de Oro (and my dad went on succeeding trips to Iloilo and Davao before that) we have too many delicacies either given by relatives or bought for pasalubong but ended up on our table anyway! Hahaha.

On our table, at this very moment, we have mango biscocho made by Trappists (monks) in Guimaras which I swear are super yummy, piaya, otap, pastel, digestives with milk chocolate from Marks and Spencer, chocolate slices from red ribbon, muffins from Goldilocks and cookies from my aunt. All of them are open and tempting me to eat them!!! In our fridge we have mint kitkats and chocolate mint patties, a fact I am ALWAYS aware of even if I can't see them. Earlier today we also had a plateful of ham from Cagayan de Oro which I tell you tastes like bacon, crabs and jumbo prawns, all of which are gone now. Hahaha.

I KNOW RIGHT! Intense. I have to lock myself in my room so I won't eat hahaha FML.

Anyway just a short crazy post because all this controlling my urges to eat is driving me nuts! Nakakainis my dad's entire family is super thin even when they eat like there's no tomorrow all the time, and I happened to get my mom's genes when it comes to metabolism. If you place me side by side with my cousins from my dad's side I am fat, when you place me side by side with my cousins on my mom's side HAHAHA I am sexayyyy!

View of Panagatan Restaurant and Other Seascapes

2011-11-03T17:10:00.002+08:00

I love taking pictures of the sea, because they always come out pretty even with a crappy camera.

On our fifth day in Cagayan de Oro we went to a beach in Opol (about a half-hour drive from the city) for a Sunday afternoon swim and picnic. Apple Tree Beach Resort is the popular beach destination for tourists, but since we weren't staying for the night and there were around fifty of us, we just went to the next-door Marvilla Beach Resort, where the entrance fee was a meager 20php per person, half of which was consumable! We got there late in the afternoon so we only had a few minutes to take pictures.

Not my favorite shots because the lighting was poor and the skies were gray. :/ (My point and shoot doesn't take the best photos so it needs all the help it can get from Mother Nature!)

Gray skies. It rained after sundown.

Kids. :)

My brother.

The following day, my uncle took us to Panagatan (a seafood restaurant, also in Opol) for lunch. It overlooked the same sea, and under a bright and clear sky, it was gorgeous. The restaurant extended far into the water and had no walls, which assured a good view of the sea on all sides. And even though it was a very hot day, the sea breeze made it very presko. I forgot to take pictures of the food because I was too busy either taking pictures of the view or gorging on the scrumptious fare of seafood, sisig and crispy pata. Rawr.

There's a viewdeck, but it was too hot!

If you find yourself in Cagayan de Oro, you should go the extra mile and visit this place for lunch. The cab ride from the city proper cost around 160 pesos, and the food was cheap and good! You'll have a great backround for your photos too, something we clearly took advantage of.

Hrhrhr.

Vacation Diary, Mostly in Photos: Cagayan de Oro

2011-11-02T16:14:00.000+08:00

Kapoy! (Tired!)

It was a busy week, with Lolo's and my cousin C's birthday celebration, visits to Lola's grave, and a flurry of family lunches and dinners and karaoke parties and bonding sessions with my cousins, I wasn't even able to go white water rafting!

Day 1

Departure from Manila to Cagayan de Oro
I hate traveling during the peak season! The lines are awful, even at the web check-in counter. Oh and WHAT LINES? Pinoys are horrible when it comes to falling in line and waiting for their turn. Even paying for the terminal fee and falling in line to board the plane felt like hustling for the MRT! :/ Ano ba, the plane won't leave you!!! I don't get it, it's not like the last one to get on the plane will have to travel standing up. People, chill.

Our flight was delayed too. Apparently the plane had to turn around twice before landing because of the runway traffic. We had time to take pictures at the cut-out photo wall and shop haha. And when we had boarded, we had to sit there and wait for more than half an hour for takeoff. I finished my Smile magazine even before the plane left the airport! We were supposed to land at 4:25PM but we got there a little past 6. Sunset on the plane was gorgeous though. :)

Top: line at the web check-in counter, more lines at the
terminal fee booth, flipflops we bought while killing time, photo wall.
Bottom: finally boarding the plane, my Smile magazine,
and my gorgeous view of the sunset (except for the plane wing haha)

Day 2

Lolo's Birthday Party
It was Lolo's 85th, and my cousin's 25th birthday, so it was a grand grand affair complete with lechon from Cebu! :) (BTW, thanks to Picasa 3 for the instant tarpaulins. I love you to death Google!)

Day 3

Trip to Divine Mercy Shrine in El Salvador City

All those stairs were tiring! But the place was really beautiful and quiet. It's a really good place for prayer and meditation. Or in my case, for enjoying the scenery and taking pretty pictures.

Picnic at lola's grave
Hello 'La. I hope you were watching us. :)

Day 4

Zipline at Dahilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon
Adrenaline ruuuuuush! Dahilayan Adventure Park purportedly had Asia's longest dual zipline which was 840m long. According to my Smile magazine, it starts at 4000m above sea level and swoops down to end at around 100m ASL. Whoa, intense! And it really felt like flying! I was terrified at first, buti na lang there were also 320m and 150m ziplines which were like trial runs. :)

It felt so good, I did all three rides twice because I couldn't get enough of the feeling you get when you're swooping in the air above the trees!

I was less scared on my second round, so on the 320m ride I was able to hold my camera with one hand while holding on to the ropes with the other.

Cousins' night out

Our first night out without the parents! :D Don't judge us, we live miles apart hahaha. We had dinner at Mooon Cafe, a quaint Mexican-ish restaurant which serves cheap but yummy food, and watched Praybeyt Benjamin which was funny not exactly good. Hehehe. Oh well, it's the company that counts!

Day 5

Xavier University

English mass at the chapel, then watched our cousin L play frisbee

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"
-St. Francis Xavier

Beach Trip

Because no family outing is complete without a trip to the beach.

Post-dinner entertainment
My cousin O and my nephew AJ ham it up for an audience. :)

Day 6

Lunch at Panagatan
The food was yummy, but it was overshadowed by the view. Awesome. If you find yourself in the vicinity, you should eat there because I can't think of a better place to eat seafood.

It made a pretty good background for photo-ops too. :D

Vigil at Lola's grave
AKA another picnic. In the spirit of halloween, we brought masks and bought matching devil horns. Hrhrhr.

Day 7

Last Minute Shopping, Departure to Manila :(
Sad sad day. I didn't want to leave yet! If I didn't have the boards to study for I would have asked to be left behind.

On the plane I was seated beside the window AGAIN. Boohoo, and the Manila skyline was so pretty, too bad I couldn't take decent pictures.

It's the best vacation I've had ever. I love how big our extended family is and I loved being surrounded by so many uncles and cousins and nephews and nieces! I really wish I had gone home more often before, my cousins make the best company. Of all the things we did, I enjoyed our nightly bonding sessions over alcohol and karaoke/ movies the most.

I already miss the noise and the endless kulitan.

Photoblog: Divine Mercy Shrine

2011-11-02T00:00:00.001+08:00

Still photoblogging because I'm too lazy to write about what I actually did on vacation. Anyway, a picture paints a thousand words. Haha!

The view was awesome. And I wasn't even at the top yet.

This was closed off so we weren't able to climb to the
top of the shrine.

Short pants and leggings were not allowed, so we
were given these wrap-around skirts. My sister
hated it, she will kill me for posting this. :D

The gardens were pretty too. And I like the shadows in the photo.

I lost count of the steps, but there were a lot.

And because we're naughty like that. SORRY.

The Divine Mercy Shrine is located in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental. :)

Photoblog: Sunset on a Plane

2011-10-30T09:45:00.002+08:00

Our flight was delayed. Traffic at the runway was apparently so horrible that our plane couldn't land and had to turn around twice, and then couldn't take-off after boarding until almost an hour later. A literal pain in the ass.

My bestfriends on this flight.
I was so hungry by the time they started serving snacks!

We were supposed to arrive at Cagayan de Oro's Lumbia Airport at 4:25PM but by the time we landed it was almost 6!

The only good thing was seeing the sun set from my airplane window. Too bad I was seated next to the wing.

Photobombed by the plane wing. The plane suddenly tilted
while I was taking this shot.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Sunset was awesome. :)

PACKED!

2011-10-25T22:58:00.000+08:00

(The sequel to BOOKED!)

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go!

Hehe. Finally done packing! I weighed my check-in luggage and it's a measly 5kg (let's say 6 after I add the laptop.) What a waste of 15kg baggage allowance. It makes me wonder if I should pack more stuff, or if I forgot to pack something!

I usually roll my clothes to save on space, but no
need for that on this trip. :D

I'm a very light packer. I'm used to traveling on lite fares with very little to no baggage allowance for check-in, all hand carry! So my usual baggage is really 5kg. Hahaha. And by the end of the trip I still have one or two extra clothes. :D

But even though I pack light, there are things I'll never travel without:

Novels - I almost always have one in my bag, even when I'm not travelling. For this trip, two novels I still haven't finished: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde and From Square One by Dean Olsher.
Blowdryer - that's my favorite blow dryer made by Imarflex (the same one that makes your rice cookers, uhuh) and it comes with brush attachments for hassle free blow-drying. I've had it for 7 years and I love it to bits. My brods (from our brother fraternity in med school) say it looks like a giant dildo. Hahaha.
A notebook/ journal
Music player - packed with upbeat tracks to keep me awake, and my rainy day playlist which always lulls me to sleep.
Make-up kit - which is not really a "make-up kit" because it contains all kinds of stuff like tissue and pimple remover and nailcutters and hairpins.
Puzzle Book - Usually a crossword book but I can't seem to find my Posh Crosswords book anywhere. :( When I went to Boracay this summer I packed a Physiology book instead of a puzzle book. I read two pages in five days. So back to puzzle books for dull moments.

I'm also bringing my camera but I can't say I never travel without it because I didn't actually own one for many years. :D

Photoblog: October 25

2011-10-25T19:16:00.003+08:00

Desaturated

Zumba-ing

2011-10-24T20:27:00.000+08:00

After months of non-exercising, I finally managed to drag my lazy ass to a Zumba class today.

It was exhausting. I read in a Babysitters Club book once that women glow, men perspire, and horses sweat, but 15 minutes into the class I was sure I wasn't glowing!!! I was a horse hahaha, but that's fine, for the first time in a long time, I felt as energetic as a horse too. :D

Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s.

Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Squats and lunges are also included.

The backstory was one day he forgot to bring the music for his aerobics class and improvised with the music available in his car, and his students enjoyed it!

I understand why, because it's the most fun I've had exercising ever. I've been reading articles on the internet, and they're right, it's like one big latin dance party. And the hour passed by so quickly I was surprised when our instructor said the class was over! My body was thankful though hehehe, my ankles and knees were already feeling weak and my body was hurting everywhere!

This activity makes me happy because I think it's one I can stick with. It doesn't require equipment nor waking up early in the morning, it's fun, and our instructor did it in short routines in succession it was actually like playing Just Dance on the Wii for an hour straight. And the endorphin high, grabe! I've been out of exercise for such a long time I had forgotten how it felt like. Why did I ever let go of it it's such a nice feeling!

Bonus nalang if I lose weight, because I still eat a lot. (Hello, just take a glance at my blog entries!) I'll have to work on eating healthier and better food, but baby steps muna. I'm not ready to give up chocolates and chicken wings and pizza just yet!

2011-10-24T01:19:00.001+08:00

Everything is changing.

Today I realized I had a problem with goodbyes. I should have realized it sooner, because everytime my favorite TV shows end I become borderline crazy. Tears are included, and sleepless nights, and rewatching my favorite episodes with ice cream!!!

I graduated from medical school five months ago, you'd think by now I'm used to the idea that everyone is going different paths. Alas, I am not! It is only now that my friends who are part of the Doctor to the Barrios program are about to be deployed to their respective municipalities that it's finally sinking in.

Tomorrow, several of my friends will be going to far flung places, most of them I have never even heard of. In six weeks, most will be starting residency. I have always known it will happen, but I still find myself struggling to cope. For the past seven years I have always been surrounded by friends, and it's difficult to imagine living without them.

I never actually belonged anywhere in grade school. I was the fat girl who knew all the answers and I was bullied and hated for that. Saying goodbye to that was easy, because I couldn't wait to leave! In high school I fared a little better. I made more friends, although I was wary, and I only considered a few to be close friends. Med school was the first place where I felt like I truly belonged, and my world has since been filled with so many wonderful people.

For the first time in my life, I find myself afraid to be alone. And it's scary in an altogether different way, because I've always considered myself a "walk alone" type of person and I never imagined myself being this dependent on others for happiness.

Feelingera, parang ako yung aalis at pupunta mag-isa sa malayo! Eh sorry, affected talaga. :D

Ms Eggplant Chronicles and Paisley Blog Giveaway

2011-10-24T01:00:00.000+08:00

I am joining another giveaway:

Because I'm a fan of giveaways now after winning Thriftshop Girl and House of Flair's blog giveaway after 23 years of non-winning raffles and contests. Hahaha.

And, because Ms Eggplant and Paisley are not only giving away a really cute shopper bag, but also chocolates and a pair of shoes!

BAG

SHOES

CHOCOLATES

Awesome. If by some queer chance I win this too, my mom can have the shopper, I'll take the sandals and hoard the chocolates hrhrhr.

You can join too, visit fashioneggplant.blogspot.com. :)

Old Photos: The SSS Webcam Series

2011-10-23T15:01:00.000+08:00

I've been opening my Multiply again because of House of Flair. Wow, I had a lot of photos there! I was thrilled to see these pictures again.

2008

This photo, not so much:

2006

Photoblog: Chocolate Explosion at Max Brenner

2011-10-22T21:56:00.004+08:00

My friend KM is leaving on Monday to become a municipal health officer somewhere in Northern Samar, so it was mandatory that we do something this weekend to catch up before she goes to the land of erratic phone and broadband signals.

She hadn't tried Max Brenner yet, so we went there after lunch at Conti's to have dessert. No complaints from me, because I am a chocolate monsturrr, and because chocolate is good for you!

Deep Dark Truffle Cake

Mint Chocolate

Splenda- based Chocolate Souffle

I was a little put off because some of the menu items (a.k.a everything we initially ordered) were not available. It's one of my pet peeves, because most of the time I go to restaurants already with something specific in mind. (Like today at Conti's, "was it okay if my fish and chips had rice instead of fries?" Fish and CHIPS nga eh. Annoying.)

Good thing we were having chocolate, because it's hard to stay annoyed when you're being pumped with serotonins (the happy hormones). :D

The deep dark truffle cake was rich and very chocolatey but not really special. Personally, I liked Chocolat's deep dark chocolate cake better. The mint chocolate drink was good though, very minty without tasting like toothpaste. Hahaha.

My personal favorite: the splenda based chocolate souffle! We had to wait almost half an hour for it, but it was worth every minute and every peso! Dark, and very rich, the souffle actually tasted a little like tablea, but not as bitter. I'm not good at describing food, but I tell you, this was the bomb!

So yeah, even though they didn't have the churros or the pralines or the mud max cake, overall I was pleased. :D

All photos taken with the crappy 2MP camera of my Nokia phone. Edited with Picnik because the originals were ugly and unrepairable by Picasa. Hehe. I played around a little and used the 1960s effects because it's like looking at the photos through rose-tinted glasses. :)

Photoblog/ Review: MARU

2011-10-21T14:31:00.000+08:00

Dinner: MARU!

It was love at first bite.

My empty plate waiting to be filled.

They served us nine free appetizers in small plates which our server deftly arranged into two rows.

I am a stranger to Korean food (it's my first time to try a Korean restaurant EVER) so I really can't identify them, but I'm sure one of them was kimchi. Hehe.

I tried googling "Maru Korean Restaurant" and found out the appetizers varied from one visit to the other. They serve it differently in every branch too. Personally, I think the one we went to (Robinson's Midtown) wins the award for best presentation! The matching ceramic bowls were pretty.

My favorite appetizers:

Rom, Kevin and I ordered ahead while waiting for two other friends. I had pork and squid sauteed in spicy sauce (350php), sorry I forgot what it's called. It was very spicy and really derishus. :D

Served very HOT.
If you look at the picture closely, you'll see the wisps of smoke.
And see how red that is? Spiciness = happiness. :)

Rom had the Dolsot Bibimbap (beef and veggies with rice topped with egg). Apparently bibimbap is a bestseller in Korean restaurants. It was also yummy, but not really amazeballs.

Dolsot Bibimpap 300php

Kevin had the grilled mackerel which was huge! Nonetheless it was the first dish to evaporate from our table. Hahaha. It was so good kasi! There are no pictures because the dish arrived while we were already eating, and handling steel chopsticks was difficult and required concentration!

Dessert: Caffeina

Which was chosen neither for food/ coffee quality nor price. Rom had to work and it had WiFi. :D

Chocolate Paradise. Looked wow, tasted blah.

Deonne's Dinner 280php

---

QUICK REVIEW

MARU 1F Midtown Wing, Robinson's Place Manila

Ambiance: The restaurant was well lit, and really looked nice. I never entered the restaurant during med school because it looked expensive! For an authentic korean dining experience you can choose the floor seats, but there were regular tables and booths too. :)

Taste: 4/5

Everything was yummy, from the free appetizers to the entrees! (I can't really say authentic because I have no authority to say that. Hehe.)

Service: 5/5

Each table had a call button, so no need to make papansin. Yay! Service was quick and efficient, and everyone was courteous.

Bang for the Buck: Good! All our orders came to a less than 1000php, split between four people. There's no service charge too, but leave a tip, they deserve it.

I will definitely go back again and try their other dishes. I'm no fan of Korean food, but Maru just might convert me!

Obsession for the Week

2011-10-20T20:00:00.000+08:00

Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ristretto, 1F Vega Center

Make that two weeks. Tee-hee.

This baby is yummy and goes well with coffee.

45 pesos at Ristretto, a small local coffeeshop which is my new Starbucks Adriatico, only better. (It has free WiFi.)

S.W.A.L.K.

2011-10-19T20:20:00.002+08:00

It would thrill me to no end, it someone were to send me an old-fashioned letter or a postcard. Not an email, or a printed typewritten one, but an genuine old-school letter painstakingly written on nice paper, complete with ink smudges and crumpled edges; or a postcard thoughtfully picked out from another part of the world. Is that too much to ask? Hahaha. There is just something about carefully-penned thoughts on ink that tickles me inside.

I remember getting my first Griffin and Sabine book and how I loved every page. I scrutinized every postcard, devoured every word they wrote to one another, carefully extracted letters from their envelopes, and took care not crumple any of the pages. It's a serious sign of deference, because all my other books are dog-eared and chocolate stained! It just seemed so personal, reading the correspondence unfold between Griffin and Sabine, from when they were strangers to one another, until their letters became increasingly intimate, revealing more and more about themselves.

Paano kaya if that had unfolded in emails or text messaging? Ick, that would be really creepy, a stranger who seems to know what you do everyday! Or even if it wasn't creepy, it would still be less romantic. :D

A sample spread of a Griffin and Sabine book.
10bestthings.com

Several weeks ago, I moved all my things from my Manila apartment back to the old bedroom I share with my sister. It was like fitting all my things into a suitcase -- everything I accumulated in my 7 year stint in the city, such a limited space! I ended up throwing or giving away or packing up everything in my old room except for the books and furniture, and a box filled with letters.

I had to smile and even chuckle a little while rereading the carefully written (in pencil or crayon!) handmade cards from my diaper friends decorated with stickers or leaves and petals which have all sadly disintegrated; letters written in scented stationery (which surprisingly still have some of their scent after more than a decade) from grade school friends with things like JAPAN (Just Always Pray at Night) and ITALY (I Trust and Love You); and a lot of notes and letters from my highschool barkada. We used to have Christmas lunch every year in Batangas, where we'd exchange not gifts, but long letters to each other. I didn't keep a diary in high school, but my life is well chronicled in those letters, as they progressed from "Makipagbati ka na kay {blank}" to "Yihee, do you like {blank}!" to "He doesn't deserve you" hahaha, highschool was yucky. There were also letters from my first ex, from a couple of younger girls with whom I became close, and from my highschool bestfriend who gave me a letter before I left for Manila, which essentially said DON'T GET YOURSELF KNOCKED UP. Hehehe.

It was really nice to read them again. On the other hand if I wanted to go sentimental and reminisce my med school years I'd have to swim through the 20,000 emails in my Gmail archive and a few hundred Facebook PMs/ chats. And somehow I don't think it will feel the same, much like the difference between ebooks and actual books. I like ebooks too, but it doesn't give me the same satisfaction as actually feeling and smelling the paper and turning the pages with my fingertips.

Last week my brother and I watched the TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel Going Postal about a con-man asked to choose between death or reviving the Post Office, which the people had foregone in favor of the Clacks (which was similar in principle to a telegram). In his speech at the reopening of the Post Office he said,

... can you write S.W.A.L.K. on a clacks? Can you seal it with a loving kiss? Can you cry tears on to a clacks, can you smell it, can you enclose a pressed flower? A letter is more than just a message. [...] A letter is real.

Replace clacks with email or text message and it becomes an argument fit for our world. :)

Bye, Kuya JD

2011-10-19T19:43:00.000+08:00

Today I learned that someone I knew was killed in Basilan in an encounter with the MILF.

Surreal.

We weren't exactly friends. But he was a senior when I was a freshman in highschool, and he has always been one of our favorite upperclassmen, because he was nice, funny, and had an easy laugh.

We weren't friends, but I knew him, and he was killed by his own countrymen in an ugly war that should have ended a long time ago.

That somehow makes his death difficult to accept, and I can only imagine how his parents, his brother (who's also in the army), and his friends are feeling.

Bye Kuya JD, I didn't know you that well, but I do know that wherever you are now, you're making everyone around you laugh. Rest in peace.

Thriftshop Girl and House of Flair Blog Giveaway

2011-10-17T22:02:00.001+08:00

I seldom join blog giveaways, mostly out of laziness, but also because of disinterest. This one is different because this involves makeup -- something I love, but not something I usually spend on, because makeup is expensive and before I manage to save enough for it, I use the money to buy more immediate needs, like novels and coffee hehehe.

I'm glad I came across this, not just because it's an awesome loot, but also because this is the first time I came across House of Flair, which is a one-stop shop for ordering anything in US online stores. Great!

If you want to read more about the giveaway, visit Thriftshop Girl on Multiply.

I will now go back to window (or tab) shopping. :D

Excited About Star Wars.

2011-10-16T22:51:00.002+08:00

My current project is a Star Wars-themed party and movie marathon for my friends after they finish their surgery pre-residency. But this is a totally selfish project because I am a closet geek and a Star Wars lover and I don't really understand my friends who say it's overrated. Blasphemy! When I have a son I will name him Luke and the greatest disappointment of my life will be not being able to say "Luke I am your faaatherrr." Sucks.

Currently I'm figuring out how to make R2D2 cupcakes. R2D2 was the reason I wanted to be a computer engineer then, and since that didn't turn out like planned, I'm just going to create a baked R2D2. Hehehe.

Might have to give up on that idea too, because I suck at artsy stuff. Baka magmukhang basurahan lang si R2D2. I'll just do something in chocolate and pretend that's the back of Darth Vader's helmet.

But I swear I'll figure out how to make those cupcakes. I'll serve them as snacks in my future Star Wars themed entertainment room-- where the adults play with the Star Wars Xbox Kinect and the kids play with Star Wars Lego. I AM NOT CRAZY.

C3PO + R2D2!!!
How can you resist this?

100 Books for 2011: Progress Post

2011-10-15T23:01:00.000+08:00

Soulmates

2011-10-14T14:14:00.000+08:00

The idea of soul mates actually originated with Plato.

His theory was that humans originally consisted of four arms, four legs and two faces. Zeus was threatened by their power and split them all in half, condemning us all to spend our lives trying to complete ourselves.

Tempe Brennan, Bones S05E15
---

I wonder how this didn't catch my attention before. I searched for Plato and his soul mate theory, and after some research (ehem Wikipedia), I found out that it was part of a series of speeches he wrote examining the nature of love, titled Symposium.

The scriptwriters of Bones actually summed it up well enough, except for one part:

In this myth about soul mates, there were three kinds of humans, male, female and of both sexes. After the split, humans naturally yearned for their other half, so creatures who were only male sought another male, and so forth.

So while discussing about love and soul mates, Plato also touched the matters of homosexuality.

Do I believe in myths? No, but I find it interesting how people come up with explanations for natural phenomena, and I think this particular explanation for love and homosexuality is rather nice.

Do you believe in soulmates? :)

Image from Cybercauldron.

New Book Wishlist

2011-10-13T20:44:00.002+08:00

The bookworm in me is super stoked for the month of October.

When I get my remaining 3K from my previous encoding job, the first place I'll be going to is Powerbooks! I think any fan of the sci-fic/ fantasy genre would want to do the same: Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card, and Douglas Adams are all releasing new novels this month! As for other favorites, Haruki Murakami and Chuck Palahniuk also have new books, and the sixth book in Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series is here! O.O

New additions to my book wishlist:

Snuff by Terry Pratchett
The 39th book in the Discworld series starring no less than my favorite Discworld character ever Samuel Vimes! (My number two is Lord Vetinari, he's awesome.) Vimes goes on a holiday and finds dead bodies, etc. but he could decide to become a stripper or something and it would hardly matter. What I feel for Sammy Vimes is true love.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
I like the way Murakami plays with words. I have a huge crush on his novels hihihi.

Formic Wars: Burning Earth by Orson Scott Card
The prequel to Ender's Game! The only drawback is, since it's a prequel, there is no Ender or Bean in this novel.

The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams & John Lloyd

In life and, indeed, in liff, there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist. This text uses place names to describe some of these meanings.

Interesting. Plus it's Douglas Adams.

Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
I had my first encounter with Dexter only a few months ago and he is now my favorite psychopath. I finished all the other Dexter books in a week! I still haven't watched the TV series, but I'm working on that.

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk is one of those writers for whom I don't really have a definite opinion of. At times I think he's brilliant, but at times I also feel he's just a really weird guy with a twisted sense of humor. But this book is about "an eleven year old girl who finds herself in Hell, unsure of why she will be there for all eternity, but tries to make the best of it" -- sounds promising.

Nicholas Sparks also has a new book out but the romance genre has never really interested me, and I find his novels depressing because SOMEONE ALWAYS DIES. My friend P says I just have a very masculine taste in reading material hahaha.

I also browsed through the non-fic books because that's my thing now haha but I didn't find anything I liked in the new releases. I'm still sifting through my other Goodreads recommendations.

Oh, and my birthday's on the seventh of December. Just putting it out there. :D

On Zippers of Time and Alternate Universes

2011-10-12T21:14:00.000+08:00

Click to enlarge photo.

My favorite theory of physics (not that I know much, but I really wish I did) is the M-theory, or the theory of multiverses, also known as the many-worlds-theory or multiple-worlds-theory or the theory of alternate/parallel universes. It dummy-speak, it says the universe we inhabit is but a small pocket in a much greater universe, and every possible outcome happens in a universe parallel to our own.

I first encountered this in the Terry Pratchett book that got me hooked on his Discworld novels: "Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch" where he and his co-writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen discussed this at length, and I mean there were entire paragraphs not part of the story line explaining string theory and parallel universes and a lot of other stuff I skipped because they gave me a headache.

If this theory were true, everything occurs, as long as we can conceive it. All our choices happen simultaneously but in another, parallel universe. Multiverses = infinite possibilities.

I don't know yet if this is a theory I actually subscribe to, I tried studying it but I found the discussion of the movement of photons etc too daunting. :/ I just find it a comforting thought, that when we make mistakes in this universe, there exists another universe where our doppelgängers got it right. Everyone gets his/ her happy ending somewhere in the vastness of the multiverse. :)

What can you buy with a hundred bucks?

2011-10-11T21:29:00.000+08:00

Not much, probably.

But in a second-hand bookstore in a small town, it's worth a few interesting finds. :)

I unabashedly admit that I'm a bookworm. I have a universal love for all bookstores, and I am captivated the smell of new paper and fresh ink. But bookstores always make me feel wistful too, because it is the one place where I acutely feel that I am alas, poor. I remember going to Bibliarch (in Glorietta) to kill time a few weeks ago and feeling a little depressed afterwards because I liked so many books yet couldn't afford to buy any of them. (Well I could, but when I think of book prices in terms of numbers of meals, the books seem like too much of an indulgence.) I've always considered Booksale as God's gift to me hehe. I used to go to Booksale in Rob every preduty day, after clinics, and stay there for hours, looking for one book to buy every three days. At 75php to 115php per book, pwede na.

Just imagine my glee to find that the Booksale in our town sells books for way way lower than that. Maybe because it wasn't in a mall, maybe because the demand is lower, but the usual 75-peso books sold for ten and the usual 115-peso books sold for 20 to 45!

Today's haul:

The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis
A historical novel about Brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte, pirates-slash-heroes turned Spanish spies. Non-fiction. 20php.

Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman by Pamela Aidan

A book that chronicles the life of Fitzwilliam Darcy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Fiction. 10php

The Dying Crapshooter's Blues by David Fullmer

A mystery set in 1920s New Orleans revolving around a gambler and professional thief, a pimp and crapshooter, and a power-hungry police officer. 45php.

Positively Fifth Street by James Mc Manus

A bestselling novel written by a reporter sent to cover the World Series of Poker and investigate the controversial death of the event host, who gets lured by the tables and plays the World Series. Non-fiction. P20.

The History of Danish Dreams by Peter Hoeg

A novel about a Danish count in 1512 who believes he has found the center of the universe on his estate, and, finding himself ridiculed by luminaries of his age, walls off his mansion and stops all the clocks. A few moments pass and the count's secretary emerges to find himself four centuries later, where all sixteenth century values are seemingly turned upside down. 10php.

Three fiction, two non-fiction. Of the fiction books, one set in the 1920s (I like novels set in a different time, because the culture and lifestyle interest me), one fantasy with an interesting though not entirely unique premise (and written by the author of Smillas Sense of Snow!), and one spinoff from the one Jane Austen book I liked. I've been making an effort to read more non-fic lately. The real world is infinitely more interesting than fiction. With the possible exception of Harry Potter because wow how I'd want those books to be real. Unless I turn out to be a muggle, boo.

---
Want to borrow any of my books? Just let me know. :)

The Oxford Comma

2011-10-09T12:54:00.000+08:00

Vampire Weekend has been one of my favorite bands since they launched their first album. I swear, they're not just on my cool playlist. If this was the age of LPs, their records would be super gasgas (scratched and overused) by now because everytime I open iTunes I invariably play their songs.

It was from VW that I first heard the term Oxford comma. They have a song which asks:

"Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?"

And I didn't get it! Even after I had played their album a hundred times, I didn't try to figure out what an oxford comma was. I just found it cool that they used the words lama and dharamsala in a song. Haha. I KNOW, I was in advanced english class in high school, I should have learned that, do not judge! (I should have also learned not to use a noun as a verb, or start my sentences with a preposition, or write terribly run on sentences, but still I do, bite me.) I only had reason to research it when I found this comic on Tumblr:

To people oblivious to the great debates about the oxford comma, the oxford comma is in simpler terms, a serial comma.

Like this:

I like books, coffee, and Star Wars.

Some people would argue the last comma is unnecessary and the sentence should simply be: I like books, coffee and Starwars.

Even the Oxford University seems to have given up on the Oxford comma, to the uproar of many academic types and writers who are fans of the Oxford comma.

I had no idea what the Oxford comma was a week ago, but I realize using it has been my writing rule for years. It gives my sentences more symmetry. The comma also dictates my how I read my sentences, and I like having it to break the cadence of my words. And I personally think having Oxford commas around makes for less confusing sentences.

I like the Weasley twins, Ron and Hermione.
Without the oxford comma it sounds like Ron and Hermione were the Weasley twins.

I like the Weasley twins, Ron, and Hermione.
Less confusing right? (Yes, Harry, I like you too don't be a pansy.)

Who gives a f*ck about the Oxford comma? I do. Since yesterday. Haha.

TV Woes

2011-10-09T11:17:00.001+08:00

People are too affected by what's happening on TV.

I open my Twitter and Dimples Romana and Ryan Bang are trending topics (read about the controversy here). Everyone has an opinion about it! Why is the network allowing it to happen, what she did was admirable, why did he have to cry on television etc.

Ryan Bang. I just met him today courtesy of Twitter.

The network wars seem to extend to the fan bases. My blockmates once had intense debate about Kapuso (GMA 7) vs Kapamilya (ABS-CBN). Yes, this happens even in the top medical school in the country.

A usual dinner topic for my mom and dad is primetime TV and how this character is so naive, how this plot dragging on too long, why everyone gets amnesia or catatonia! I used to participate in these discussions until I realized I had a better solution. I stopped watching.

So come on people, get a life.

Says the girl who cried when Numb3rs had their finale. And who still watches Casey-Cappie videos on YouTube! Haha.