Cup Noodles --

We currently have a box of Curry Cup Noodles that my brother sent home in a balikbayan box.

His friends mentioned that there's even Cheese Curry Cup Noodles and it's actually delicious. O_O

I decided to look online and stumbled upon these very *ahem* interesting flavors:

Milk Seafood Cup Noodles!



Chili Tomato Cup Noodles!



My personal favorite is the plain Cup Noodle or the plain Seafood Cup Noodle. ^_^

I want to make these! --

French Toasted Angel Food Cake

Yummy, yummy cupcakes by Ming Makes Cupcakes

Busy in the kitchen --

Johann and I have been busy trying to fulfill our kitchen dreams -- trying to cook up our versions of favorite restaurant dishes

Last week, we decided to go for it --

I started out with Eggplant Parmesan, which is one of my favorites at Sbarro's -- I knew the basics: eggplants, tomatoes and cheese -- but I never thought to try cooking it until I spotted lovely eggplants being sold at Iloilo Supermart-Atrium.  They had these amazing "Black Beauty" eggplants from Baguio and I bought a couple.





The eggplants turned out really well and even our helpers enjoyed it.  (They suffer try out all the food experiments that I do.) --

Inspired by my success, Johann decided it was time for us (read: me -- with supervision from him) to make French Onion soup.

We didn't have white wine or sherry, which all recipes call for so we went with the basic ingredients: onions and a mix of chicken and beef broth.

We topped it with store-bought garlic bread (baguette) from Tinapayan and drowned the whole thing in mozzarella --





It was really, really yummy!  We made it twice the same day!

Next on my list is carrot cake.  I just want to make carrot cake so I can make a double batch of cream cheese frosting and eat that. =^_^=

Now, to get the mixer, the cake pan, and the rest of the things I need to bake the cake.

I think I want a sewing machine --

I don't know how to sew --

But I would like to get a sewing machine so I could try to learn how to sew --

I want to make fabric book covers so I can read my romance novels in public --

According to Martha Stewart, this is the best one for beginners:


Isn't it cute? ^_^

It's $74.95 on Amazon.

* * *

Other things I think I want --




- Fuji Instax Mini
They used to sell these locally but I guess they stopped selling them because of poor sales.

- A new digital camera.  I really love the advertisement for the new Ixus with the miniaturizing feature.

- More rubber stamps and stamp pads.  I really love the stamps from Kodomo no Kao.  I bought some when I was in Tokyo.

Clash of the Titans: the remake --

I have vague memories of the original -- I know I've watched it twice, at least --

Johann didn't want to watch it, at first because he read reviews that said it was only so-so --

Ah, but the lure of Sam Worthington was too strong to resist and we finally watched it on its third week of showing here in Iloilo.

And, you know what?  It was actually pretty good.  I was entertained for the entire duration of the film.

And Sam Worthington is oh-so yummy ...

There's news of a sequel and I wonder what they're going to do in that one.

Interesting class from Ateneo CCE --

The Ateneo Center for Continuing Education and

the Philippine Wellness and Spa Association (PHILWELL)

invite you to

the High Performance Spa Management Certification Program

Wellness is now considered a booming trillion-dollar industry.  Be equipped with sound business principles that will let you gain an edge against competitors with the High Performance Spa Management Certification Program.  Learn detail-oriented operations, clear-cut financing and top-notch customer service from the country's top industry leaders.  Gain insights from case studies of spas in the Philippines and in Asia, and discover how your business can outdo the rest. 

Successful participants may earn the title Certified Spa Manager.

This course will run from May 24 to June 4, 2010, from 9:00am – 5:00pm at the Ateneo Salcedo Campus.

For additional information, please click www.cce.ateneo.edu

We made Ribs!

I saw a really simply recipe in Yummy but couldn't follow it to the letter because we didn't have the ingredients to make the sauce.

We took the basic principle: boiling the ribs before grilling it to guarantee fall-off-the-bone tenderness and took a bottle of Hunt's Hickory BBQ sauce.

We actually took a lot of shortcuts -- we had to boil our ribs because we didn't have a pressure cooker (which the recipe suggests) --

Am glad our ribs turned out nicely. ^_^







We actually made it twice -- the first one, we boiled the ribs in water.  The second time, we boiled it in a combination of pineapple juice, barbecue sauce and water.

The second version smelled so, so good. ^_^

R.I.P., Fr. Galdon --

Not in a silver casket cool with pearls
Or rich with red corundum or with blue,
Locked, and the key withheld, as other girls
Have given their loves, I give my love to you;
Not in a lovers'-knot, not in a ring
Worked in such fashion, and the legend plain-
Semper fidelis, where a secret spring
Kennels a drop of mischief for the brain:
Love in the open hand, no thing but that,
Ungemmed, unhidden, wishing not to hurt,
As one should bring you cowslips in a hat
Swung from the hand, or apples in her skirt,
I bring you, calling out as children do:
"Look what I have!--And these are all for you."
- Edna St. Vincent Millay


At the start of every PDC, (Prayer Days for Coeds), Fr. Galdon gives a talk and ends it with this lovely poem.  I remember sitting there across from him, and he opened his hands palm up as he said the last lines of the poem. 


And it was then that I understood what love was.  And it made me cry.  (I still cry every time I read this poem.)


I took his courses, Great Books 1 & 2 in my junior and senior year -- and I loved his class.  He inspired me to teach the way I did -- and to think the way I do.  


"It Pedends!" he would exclaim playfully.  (It Depends.) -- reminding us that everything was about having a point of view and challenging us to HAVE a point of view.


He will be remembered always and he will be missed always.

Blog Post # 801: A good day in the kitchen --

I love shopping for meat.

I love going to the supermarkets and pretending to know what I'm doing when I tell the guys behind the counter that I would like that particular piece of meat and not the one beside it.

Last week, Johann and I found ourselves in the meat section of SM City and we found a really cute pork loin all ready to be marinated and cooked in the oven.

Never mind that we have never roasted a pork loin before.

Never mind that we don't even have a good marinade recipe.

We went ahead and bought it.

I started looking for some nice (read: easy) roast pork recipes and I was drawn to this one:

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin on AllRecipes.com

What was most appealing was that it only needed 4 ingredients -- one of which was the pork.

The cook and I (mostly our cook, but I was working hard directing her) made the marinade and poured it over our pork loin and left it to marinade overnight.

I was planning to have it for dinner the next day (yesterday, Sunday) so we preheated our oven at 4pm and left it at gas mark 6 for 10 minutes to get it nice and hot.

We sliced some onions and potatoes (by we, I mean the cook) and placed them on the bottom of our pan.

Then we placed our pork loin on top, reduced our oven temp to gas mark 4 (which is about 350 degrees)
 and set our timers for 30 minutes.

Total cooking time was 1 hour but we checked in every 30 minutes just to see if we were going to have a really good dinner or a really bad one.

At 1 hour, I stuck a knife in the middle (I saw this trick on Martha) to test the temperature of the meat -- I wasn't sure what the right temperature felt like but I knew that our meat could stand a bit more cooking.  We let it go for 20 minutes more.

We actually let it rest for about 20 minutes.

At exactly 6 o'clock, we sliced into the meat and nearly wept at how lovely it turned out.





We piled the onions and potatoes in with the sliced pork and served it like that.  It was a big pile of yummy fat, tender meat and extras. ^_^





We will definitely try roasting pork again -- maybe with a different marinade.  (We're thinking of making it Chinese style and marinading it in Char Siu sauce.) ^_^

The cutest thing! (As of 6:56 this morning) XD

I don't know what I was doing browsing through Amazon Japan --

But I stumbled upon the "Hobby Kitchen" line of Bandai and found myself entertained by all the cute gadgets Bandai has made for kids 6 and up.

I found this especially teeth-achingly cute.  (It's not yet 7 in the morning.  Forgive the modifier.)



It's a mini ice-cream maker.  From the looks of it, it's the size of a single mug serving of ice cream.

I can imagine my two kids sitting at the table grinding the top -- trying to make ice cream for their beloved mother.

Busy-ness --

On my bedside right now is a magazine that my brother brought home from Japan -- it's called Minna no Techou (Everybody's Journal <-- ?) --



It's a lovely magazine that features diaries and how people use them.





I cannot read Japanese so I just looked at (and enjoyed the pictures) --

It's really amazing how dedicated some diary users can be -- they have different-colored pens and even stickers to mark out special events/important notes.



I told my brother how lovely it was and he showed me his diary --

He travels around a bit and meets with different people -- and his diary was a mix of Japanese and English.

And it had cute dot stickers!

I was so aliw that I went to National Bookstore and bought a set of small dot stickers for my diary as well.



I didn't get a moleskine journal this year -- when I went to Tokyo, my brother pointed out all the cute "other" journals and encouraged me to get something unique.

Since my little girl is all pink and cute, I chose the Cath Kidston one with strawberry prints.


<-- that's a folded up menu from the Peanut Butter & Co in New York, which C sent over together with the lovely jars of PB

I carry my diary in my bag -- and I have a pen with me.  My diary doesn't really have a lot of important events or appointments (except my kids' doctor's appointments) because I really don't do much here -- but it does carry important notes and ideas.

I love diaries -- and I'm glad I've consistently kept one for the past x years.  It gives me an idea of the state of my life and the people around me --

I've been reflecting while reading the magazine -- the idea of "busy-ness" --

Long before business was associated with commerce and the making of money, it was used to describe occupation (yet another word that had nothing to do with money...) --

I like the idea that life shouldn't just be about work and money -- but that there are other things out there that are just as worthwhile.

Which is why I am impressed and inspired by people who have decided to take a different path in their career and have succeeded.  (<-- another tricky concept.  An old professor would smile and ask, "What is one's definition of success?")

And I look at my life -- and my blank pages and I wonder if I am being "busy" -- 

If I really am busy when I tell my son that I can't play with him because I'm too busy.

And it worries me sometimes that I haven't done anything of merit (to myself or to my family) --

So I have promised myself (a belated resolution) that I will try to do something -- one thing -- a day.

And it starts today with this blog post and this reflection. ^_^  

Books, books, and more books! --

For lovers of romance novels and chicklit, please check out Starry Night Books on Multiply and my Ebay listings.

For lovers of Science Fiction and Fantasy, visit Critical Hit Books on Multiply.  Hubby has an amazing set of Uncle John's Bathroom Readers and The Mammoth Book of ...

Sunny mornings --

It's been dreary and cold these past few days -- the wind's howling and the day is gray.

But I'm surprisingly chipper --

Maybe it's because of these:

I have a long-standing love affair with peanut butter -- (and Nutella) -- I used to have "peanut butter" Wednesdays which (d)evolved into "peanut butter" everdays.

I love it on pandesal or on toast ... or on a spoon.

These two jars of PB are from The Peanut Butter & Co in New York.  A friend went there recently and was so wonderful and got these for me.  (Thankies thankies, C!)

I usually have two or three different peanut butters open at any one time ... but these are too precious so I started with the Dark Chocolate Dreams ...

I'm nearly done with it.  (I don't want to be!)  So I'll be enjoying the White Chocolate Wonderful next.

Oh, and my favorite mix?  Peanut Butter on the bottom half of the bread and Nutella on top. ^_^

For some strange reason, while I was writing this blog entry, this was the song in my head:

Smile a sunny morning

Sunny all the way
Something new is dawning
Bet it's called today

Smile a sunny morning
Sunny is the style
Even if you're yawning
You can yawn a smile

Come on and smile bees and bunnies
Wake up birds and trees
You'll find if you're sunny
Your morning is a breeze!

Life can be so berry
Berry, berry grand
Mornings can be merry
Give the sun a hand

Smile a sunny morning
Sunny all the way
Something new is dawning
Bet it's called today

Something new is dawning
Bet it's called today!
<-- it's from Strawberry Shortcake!

32 --

In a few hours, I will be 32 years old.  (At around 9am)

I read back to old blog entries to see what has changed in my life in the past 7 years that I've kept this blog.

One curious thing was an IQ Test that I took in 2004.  I decided to retake the test --

And the result is:

Word Warrior

Your IQ Score is: 135
You are equipped with a verbal arsenal that enables you to understand complex issues and communicate on a particularly high level. These talents make you a Word Warrior.

Whether or not you recognize it, your vocabulary is your strongest suit—use it whenever you can. Since your command of words is so great, you are also a terrific communicator — able to articulate big ideas to just about anyone. 

Your wordsmithing prowess will also help in artistic and creative pursuits. The power of words translates to fresh ideas off paper too. 

Since you have so many words at your disposal, you are in a unique position to describe things in an original way, as well as see the future in your mind's eye. In short, your strengths allow you to be a visionary — able to extrapolate and come up with a multitude of fresh ideas. And you are in good company — bask in the brilliance of Word Warriors who have walked before you. 

William Shakespeare let loose the power of his pen. His ability to articulate the most subtle nuances of human nature and to create colorful characters are why his stories still have a major impact — even 400 years after he first wrote them. Whether you put pen to paper or use your understanding of the words around you to come up with creative approaches to problems, your potential as a Word Warrior is terrific. 

I was a bit worried at the start because I know I've probably lost brain cells in the past year or two ... so now I'm a bit relieved that I can still think properly when the situation calls for it. ^_^

Plans for 2010! --

It's the beginning of a new decade!

And I'm turning 32 soon! >_<

Here are some things I'd like to do this year:
1.  Learn how to "lechon" a pig
<-- our driver and I have had lengthy discussions about this and I am determined to learn how to do this properly before December.  I wonder how people get the mix of flavors and spices right.  How does one practice?

2.  Learn how to sew
<-- the better title would be "Buy a sewing machine"

3.  Organize my bookshelf (and Johann's)

4.  Organize my closet.  Believe it or not, I don't have a lot of clothes and I only have 1 pair of shoes (Pink Prima).  I think this is the year to update my closet.

5.  Buy a new pair of shoes
<-- I'll probably do this in Singapore.

6.  Buy a new pair of glasses and update my prescription
<-- At our family's Christmas party, I couldn't read the name off the raffle ticket because it was blurry.

7.  Blog/write more
<-- F, a friend in Cebu, and I were texting our one-line reviews of some of the romance novels we've read and it was amusing.  She asked me if I've ever written a review and I told her, no -- perhaps this year I can write one. ^_^

8.  Re-connect with friends
<-- I hope you are still my friends!!! >_<


My sister and I are also looking forward to our annual trip and, this year, we are going to Singapore at the end of January.  (It's a post-birthday trip for me and a pre-birthday trip for her.)  And we are taking Seth with us!  (Still undecided whether this is a good idea or not. O_O)

I'm also planning my little girl's 1st birthday party and baptism.  It's a bit tricky because her birthday is on March 27, which is the last weekend before Holy Week -- am certain most people will be away by then so we are moving up the celebration to the week before (March 20) -- but now we are competing against schools booking venues for their graduation balls.

I have a theme in mind already -- now I just have to think of what I want to happen.  (More on this in our other blog.)

Also plan for Seth's birthday in June.  Maybe something smaller.  Maybe just in school.  Not sure. ^_^

Conversation at lunch today --

Maybe it's because we've been eating leftover spaghetti since December 30. 

Or maybe it's because there was a fire 2 blocks away from us last night and we had to rush home from a dinner with our uncle and his family who spent New Year in Iloilo. 

Or maybe it's because we slept at 11 because we had to air out the house from all the smoke.

Or maybe it's because we woke up this morning to a house littered with ash and we spent the morning vacuuming.

Anyhoo, the conversation:

Me: (After taking a bite of baguette) I never did understand baguettes.  Even when we were touring in France.  I always found them too difficult to bite into.

Johann:  It's the combination of textures.  Crunchy outside.  Soft and chewy inside.

Me:  Yeah, di ba they talk about that in Gourmet Rhapsody?  How bread contains many textures -- first, hard crust and then soft inside.  And when you keep chewing, it becomes sticky.  I still don't understand french bread.  Especially in sandwiches.

My sister:  It's because we aren't French.  I can't imagine the French rhapsodizing about our Kong Kee Siopao and Love & Kisses pizza. 

^_^

* * *

Excerpt from Gourmet Rhapsody --

You storm it through an initial encounter  with the barrier of crust, then yield to wonder the moment you are through, as the fresh soft interior consents...

... chewing bread, unlike pastry, or event sweet breakfast rolls, leads to a surprising result, to a ... sticky result.  As you chew and chew upon the soft interior, a sticky mass is formed, which no air can penetrate: the bread adheres -- yes, like glue.  If you have never dared to take a mass of soft dough between your teeth and tongue and palate and cheeks, you have never thrilled to the feeling of jubilant ardor that viscosity can convey.

* * *

The fire --

We were about to leave anyway, because it was 8 o'clock and I had to be home by 8:30 to put Anya to sleep.  Our driver knocked at the glass behind us and kept signaling to me.  I thought he was asking me if I wanted him to bring the car around to the front and I kept signaling back that he should wait for us.

Then he pulled out his cellphone and pointed to it.  I checked my phone and my heart stopped when I read the message:

"Grabe ang smoke diri.  Damo na bombero."  (The smoke is unbelievable.  A lot of firemen/firetrucks are here."

The message was from Anya's yaya who was at home watching Anya.

I called home immediately.  The only question I asked was, "Is it our house?"  and the yaya answered, no -- but the fire was near our house.

We rushed through our goodbyes and sped home.

We were about 3 blocks away and the smoke was so thick that our driver had to turn on the hazard lights because the visibility was so, so poor.

When we arrived home, I went to get Anya and the two yayas and brought them to the car.  My parents brought them and the two kids to the Christmas light display at Angelicum School.

My sister and I stayed home and turned on every fan we had in every room to clear the smoke.

Thank goodness it was a windy night and the air helped to clear the smoke faster.

This morning, we looked out our window and saw the black patch of grass and trees where the fire was.  It was a grass fire -- thankfully, no houses were affected by the fire.

We are now dealing with the soot, ash and burnt debris that keeps blowing our way because of the wind.

So now my sister and I are thinking of our emergency protocol -- what does one do when there is a fire nearby? 

The yayas said the initial smoke was so black and so thick that they couldn't see across the street.

I am grateful that my kids' yayas are calm and level-headed.  They kept Anya in our bedroom upstairs with all the windows closed and a fan running.  Seth's yaya closed all the other windows in our house.

Sayonara 2009! --

It's the last day of 2009!

5 Favorite Movies of the Year
1. Up
2. Star Trek
3. District 9 <-- I was determined not to like this movie and I didn't, at first, but it has a way of drawing you in and captivating you
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
5. Julie and Julia

This week, we received a package from my brother and he gave us a R2 copy of Nausicaa so my sister and I watched that and we also watched and re-watched Howl's Moving Castle (so, so beautiful!) and watched Ged's War Chronicle (Tales from Earthsea) and I just unearthed Neko no ongaeshi (The Cat's Return) and we're planning to watch that tonight. Notice a trend? ;-P

5 Movies I'm looking forward to
1. Sherlock Holmes
2. Iron Man 2
3. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
5. Toy Story 3

5 Favorite TV Shows
1. Glee
2. Top Chef
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Amazing Race
5. True Confections on QTV

... also Entourage, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Gallactica

5 Favorite Magazines
1. Yummy
2. Real Simple
3. Domino/Blueprint <-- too bad these are discontinued
4. Romantic Times
5. Dwell <-- though I don't buy this anymore

5 Favorite Books
1. Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barberry
2. Anna Godbersen's Luxe series (4 books: Luxe, Rumors, Envy, Splendor)
3. Nigella Lawson books (How to Be A Domestic Goddess, How to Eat, etc.)
4. A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore <-- romance novel. Her debut work.
5. Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh <-- another romance novel. Made me cry. Made me stay up late.

<-- also Real Simple: Celebrations and Domino: The Art of Decorating ... and all of Anne Stuart's historical romances

5 Best Purchases for 2009
1. An iPod Touch (for my sister)
2. My Reisenthel Allrounder <-- a German brand which I discovered in Tokyo
3. Our Tokyo plane tickets (thank you to Philippine Airlines for the insanely affordable promo fare.)
4. Our Wii (Whee~)
5. 400-thread count beddings <-- My mom got them when she was in the US and I'm glad she did. Amazing! Now I'm spoiled...

5 Favorite Places in Iloilo
1. Booksale
2. Tinapayan at Atrium
3. Kopi Roti in Smallville
4. Iloilo Supermart at Atrium
5. Daily Buns <-- such a great place to buy bread

5 Discoveries for 2009
1. The Crispy Pata at Cafe Laguna
2. Having only two friends here in Iloilo (and always loving the lunches/dinners/conversation with them)
3. The Kopi Trio at Kopi Roti
4. Cebu <-- I was there twice this year and I love, love, love the place. I want to go back! >_<
5. The Korean Hair Salon inside Ledesco Village

<-- also Anne Stuart, the historical romance writer who is now writing mostly romantic suspense

5 Things that Made Me Go "Wow
1. San Miguel Brewery stock hitting 9.6 this month (when it was 8.9 at the start of the month)
2. Anna Godbersen's conclusion to the Luxe series (Splendor was amazing)
3. Tokyo and takoyaki
4. Uratex Senso-memory mattresses
5. The presidential candidates for 2010 (some were "wow" in a good way and others ...)

Happy Thoughts for 2009
1. My romance novel business <-- and hitting Power Seller status this month
2. Cebu and Tokyo <-- Tokyo deserves a blog entry of its own ... and I'm working on it
3. My children (and my entire family: parents, siblings and husband)
4. Two jars of peanut butter from The Peanut Butter & Co <-- thank you, thank you to Char who got them for me. Makes my mornings oh-so-bright and peanut-buttery wonderful ^_^
5. Life and all it's possibilities!!!

My thoughts exactly --

A noiseless patient spider,
I marked where on a promontory it stood isolated,
Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be formed, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
- Walt Whitman

Am feeling a bit bleh this evening -- and this poem sums up what's going through my mind right now. (I hope I understand this poem correctly ...)

I'm so glad I had to chance to study lit in university and then getting to study it again for my (unfinished) M.A. --

I don't get to touch poetry much these days, but it is comforting to know that it is there ... and in its simplicity of form, it expresses in loudly and clearly the complexities of the human condition.

Thank you, thank you to Eric Torres for sharing Whitman with me.
Thank you, thank you to D.M. Reyes for Possession, which I will dig up tomorrow and will read and finish before the New Year.

A great find! (Or, when you're in Iloilo...) --

We discovered a lovely Korean Hair & Beauty Salon in a nearby subdivision!

My sister had her hair cut there yesterday and it looks amazing! (And very affordable! 250 for a haircut!)

My sister was a bit worried because she hates trying out new things and hates (even more) trying out a new salon -- her hair is a bit tricky to cut because it is sooo thick --

When we saw the Korean stylist make the first few cuts (she calls them "slice"), we knew my sister was in good hands.

The shop doesn't have a name but it's located along the main road of Ledesco Village and is a straight line from the entrance to the subdivision.

Store hours are from 10am to 9pm and, for appointments, call 3006559 or 3290602.

I'm planning to get my perm re-done there this January. Am excited! =^_^=

Where is this year's wishlist? --

For the past how many years, I've published my Christmas wishlist earlier and earlier --

This year, I'm a bit surprised that I haven't posted one yet and even more surprised that I really don't have much on my list.

1. New pair of glasses <-- this is on my list every year. And I go to the optical shop every year but I could never find a pair that would convince me to give up my old pair of glasses.

2. The following Anne Stuart books: <-- yes, yes. Historical romances.
- Lady Fortune
- Prince of Magic
- Lord of Danger
- Shadow Dance
- A Rose at Midnight

3. Time to read books. ^_^

4. A new pair of shoes/Crocs <-- I really love my pink Primas but they are old and they are my only going-out shoes.

5. An afternoon at the newly-opened Dulcinea in SM City-Iloilo <-- but I'm getting this one early. We're meeting friends for dinner and then having dessert there. Yay for Churros and cream puffs!