Happy Fiesta!

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish (Claret) here in QC. We did not really plan to prepare food for the occasion, since me and everyone else in the household are all used to having fiesta celebrations in the province, where there would be a lot of relatives. Feasts back home mean all types of food in every house, street parties, rondallas, processions and of course the Mass. We still attended the Mass especially that it's Sunday and decided to just get ourselves a box of cassava cake! The lady vendor near the church was kind enough to give her last box for P100 only, which is actually P20 less than the regular price. Yummy dessert after our humble dinner. Not bad, after all.

Pasta for dinner

Today, I cooked some pasta for dinner. It wasn't really the best that I ever made. I loved the puttanesca more. This one was so flaky and oily and dry to taste. Won't be using McCormick carbonara powder mix next time. Will try fresh milk and all-purpose cream instead. Anyway, it was still a lovely dinner. Food is always great when shared with the people you love. Tomorrow is supermarket day. I have to make a list before bed. Hmm. What am I cooking next? =)

I want my own fire tree

I wish I can grow my own fire tree. It would be nice to wake up in the morning and have all those orange leaves and flowers scattered in my front yard, me sipping coffee in the front porch and reading the morning paper. It gives me a fresh feeling of freedom, away from all the noise, stress and rigidity of the city. It makes me think of Autumn in other countries. I guess if I lived in a foreign land, that would be my favorite season. It's like a rebirth. To me it's a sign of new beginnings. It makes me hope more for all things nice and beautiful to come.

I wonder how many years it would take for a tree to grow so tall and mighty like this one. B says it's approximately 20 to 30 years. Wow. That's a long time. But definitely worth the wait.

(Photos taken in UP Diliman Campus)

Soft boiled (malasado)

Eggs are probably one of the most popular Pinoy kitchen must-haves. Amazing how many recipes one can make out of eggs. People like them different ways - boiled, fried, poached, baked, etc. I am a fan of omelets. Mushrooms, peppers, onions and tomatoes will never go wrong as fillings! I tried poached eggs once which I learned from Chef Bruce and the movie Julie and Julia and it was good! It was fun! I could almost hear Meryl Streep saying "Bon Appetit!" in her (almost like a shriek) French voice. If fried, I like them scrambled. But usually, a sunny side up is preferred. Most of the time, I want them boiled and I would usually go for malasado (soft boiled). That one I got from my lola. (Now that sounds like KC Concepcion's shampoo ad! I got my smile from my mother. And my eyes from my lola!) Soft boiled eggs are best eaten on their own. They are best without rice. They taste like real eggs more than if you hard boil them. Hard boiled eggs turn pale yellow and they are flaky. They are not my favorite. Malasado eggs are super! They are pretty much just like poached eggs. It's just more Pinoy to call them soft boiled than when you call them poached. Today, I discovered how B prefers to eat malasado. He scoops them out from the shell with a spoon and spreads them on his Gardenias. Then he adds some cheese to taste. Yum! Goes with a cup of steaming hot coffee. How about you? How do you like your eggs?

Molds on my cream cheese!

B bought some Gardenias the other night so I decided to toast some slices brown and crisp. I fried an egg Ho Chi Minh style. God, I already miss traveling! And I was also missing the free hotel breakfasts (if we're lucky, sometimes there were free breakfast buffets). My Legal coffee jar was already half-empty, I wonder how many times B drank coffee lately. You see, the classic Legal has a particular rum aftertaste, which I don't really like. I still prefer Maxwell. Or even Kopiko. Anyway, I boiled some water for my latte and finally nestled by the dining table to eat. Much to my dismay, our cream cheese was already rotting! What happened inside the refrigerator?! Ugh. All those molds reminded me of the National Geographic YouTube clip I saw a few days ago. Enjoyed my toast with butter instead. Sigh.

Crying spells

I woke up this morning at the refreshing sound of the much-missed rain. El Niño has been tormenting and oppressing Manila for the past months. Summer must be almost over. I am taking the rain as a sign. Rainy days are about to begin. Much to everyone's gusto, I suppose. Then came across the horrible memories of Typhoon Ondoy.

I stretched out my arms and legs to welcome the day. It occurred to me that I have been missing work for the past 9 days straight. I have not returned since the recent national elections. I was supposed to be enjoying my long vacation, except that this is not really a vacation. I am forced to rest after my surgery and occasionally flex my right hand to speed up the healing process. Simple things that used to be easy like tying up my hair in a bun, holding the water-filled bathroom dipper to wash myself after peeing and pooping, opening a wine bottle, tearing apart those silver antibiotic capsule cases, holding a spoon or fork to eat, turning the sink tap to brush my teeth, even gripping a pen to write - all these are now too painful for me to do - the thought brought me to tears.

I was not sure anymore if it was just the rain. Or my period. Or the fact that I have been skipping work. Or the feeling of helplessness. Or the mere physical pain. But it all brought me serious crying spells.

Dual citizenship

Today, I greeted my favorite aunt-ninang a happy birthday! She replied by sending this text message: "Punta kayo dito amin, let us celebrate life at pagkakaroon ko ng dual citizenship." I have always known my aunt as a beautiful and fabulous woman. I have always perceived her as powerful, mayaman, mataray-and-suplada-but sweet-to-her-husband, echosera, galit sa panget and always prim and proper. So to me, her having a dual citizenship is not to be taken lightly as a joke. To me, it's a given - something she is very capable of having! I see my aunt as a go-getter anyway. So I replied to her message with this: "Wow. Fil-Am? Sosyalan!" To which she replied, "No. Not American. Senior. Dual. Filipino-Senior citizen!" Now, there's an additional adjective to describe her - nuts! So funny. Haha! I wish I could also live to be 60!

Stationeries, scrapbooks and all those trinkets

I love stationeries. Journals. Notepads. Pens. Fragrant paper. All kinds of stationeries. When I hang out in bookstores, I always find myself checking out these items. I would touch the intricate designs and colorful pictures and cartoons that add charm to their cover. Some have plain colors, while the others are inspired by Nature. I would often fail to resist the urge to take off their protective plastic covers. I love the sound of the snap of the journals' garter belts when I play with them. I leaf through the pages and see whether they have particular flowery scents or not.

I am also fond of scrapbook materials. All those nice little trinkets that come along with the packages are just so nice. Sometimes there would be stickers and metal charms or rubber flowers that you can paste on your scrapbook. They come in different interesting themes! The last time I made a scrapbook was in 2005, when me and my friends Deo and Tin2 went to Cebu and Bohol for a quick summer break. After a few months, the photos and the trinkets caught moist and formed all those amag. That's when I stopped making them. Plus of course, blogs and social networking sites came about. But still, the internet did not keep me from buying them! I am still a fan. In fact, I have a number of unused scented papers and nice little envelopes to match. I should really start sending letters to friends again! =)

Postcards and journals

I love the vintage cover design of my new journal. It reminds me of the postcards that B and I sent out to our family and friends during our recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City. The ones we sent from Malaysia were just those free ones from the hotel, though. Except the select few which we bought from the airport. I remember sending postcards with Rafflesia flower designs as well as those with Proboscis monkey images. We even sent postcards to ourselves! It sounds silly but it really is fun getting them from the places we just visited a few days or weeks ago! It confirms one's existence. It confirms that snail mails are still working! It confirms that we really were there - oh those fun and culturally different, interesting places. I wonder when and where B and I will have a vacation again. I like the idea of a quick Macau tour, although the photos I've seen online and from friends' posts and blogs did not show a lot of local and traditional things that can be seen or done in the city. I also think that Bangkok would be nice, except that the news has been warning people of the political violence going on there right now. Hmmm. Or maybe, who knows, if something silly or exciting or surprising comes up, then I guess there will be no trips for us this year. I don't know. I'm just loving my journal now. Why am I blabbering about vacations?

Surgery - healing period

Today, I went back to my doctor exactly a week after a ganglion cyst surgery on my right hand. Writing things down is still a struggle, as well as picking up and holding small things. Especially the small things. But I cannot afford not to try. Otherwise, I won't be able to do so, forever. It's still very painful. The stitches outside are well and good already. But I know the wound and scarred bones and tendons inside are still fresh, still healing. Doctor says I need to exercise my fist by regularly opening it wide and closing it tight. It's scary. To think that I won't be able to write (using pen and paper) anymore if I do not exercise my hand scares me. I have always wanted to write down my thoughts and feelings. That is something I am not and won't ever be ready to give up. I think I need to get one of those stress balls.