Day 2 of 9

It felt like Sunday today, because I spent the whole day with my family.

• Had home-cooked lunch (with rice!) on a weekday for the first time in a year.

• Took a leave from work. Had to go to different government offices with Mom, Dad, and Bryant (Chris was no where to be found, perhaps he went to work?) for several immigration requirements. I was surprised at how blatant and rampant the system of "lagay" is in every government office, especially at the Manila Police District (Western, to be exact). "Under-the-table" is not the norm anymore; government employees even expect citizens to "bid" on the rate of paper processing. How appalling!

• Almost got my driver's license today, but didn't make it to LTO Tayuman office on time coz I had to have drug test and medical exams in LTO Malate. There was this really nice medical exam lady that even gave me the master answer-list to the LTO written exams. It was funny how insistent she was, and she sincerely wanted me to ace the test. Thank you, LTO lady!

• My dad got hungry and wanted to have merienda at the nearest possible mall (drum-rolls... SM Manila!!!). He craved for "the tasty burger" he had in Razon's the other day (and I was like really now, may burger sa Razon's!?), and so, we had merienda at Razon's.

My parents initially planned to get sizzling sisig and sizzling bulalo.

The dinugan at Razons was good, but of course, I'd always be a Kanin Club-Krispy Dinuguan-girl

Dad had his er, "tasty burger", which was SO BASIC it didnt even have any of the usual TLC/ketchup/mayo. It looked...dry.

Mom had her usual pancit luglog

No trip to Razon's would be complete without this best seller. The last time I had this was with the Anvaya Gang, Summer of 2010.

• I wanted to try with something I've never had for Day 2. There was a Cafe Ti-amo a few shops away from our merienda place, so I checked out their offerings and found what my chef friend Mitchie posted in her Facebook.

Dark Chocolate gelato. BTS (DM/text/email me what BTS means). MUST TRY. Oh and it was sinfully dark. Not so sweet but. oh. so. good.

And had it with this milk cheese gelato and it tasted so much better. I actually grew up eating the type of cheese that was in the gelato. YUM.

I shared the cup with my mom, who became a gelato convert right away (she's been a loyal fuss-free, old fashioned, normal ice cream fan)

• Went home and got a visit from my mentor, Tito Dick. I bought from him this pretty thing as a birthday present for myself (and would try my hardest not to think about how much it cost me...).

Oh, so pretty: a new diamond quartz crystal to replace the one I broke years ago. Also called Herkimer Diamond, this is believed to amplify energy and create and manifest visions into being.

Wednesday is my new Sunday. Happy day indeed. :)

Day 1 of 9

This month started right in all levels. The first day of a very important celebratory week was awesome.

• Commute to work was smooth: transfers to each mode of transport were quick, no snags encountered. Brought to work by a really nice cab driver today: he was old and grandfatherly and polite and gentle in speech and demeanor (yep, I have an assortment of cab driver stories and this one is by far the best). The only time he talked to me was upon boarding the cab, to ask me where to go, and upon reaching my destination. When we reached the office, he went, "ma'am, ang ganda ganda nyo naman..." in the sweetest, most- hindi-nakakabastos-way possible. there was reverence in it, and I saw in the mirror that his eyes were smiling. And for real, that was the very first time someone said it to me randomly albeit very sincerely; and I honestly admit that its the very first time that I truly felt comfortable about a compliment being said to me--I was in the worst possible state, with the worst pimple breakout I've ever had, unkempt brows and face bloated with too much sodium from yesterday's meal, unmade and lousily dressed, a mixed bag of emotions and a mind muddled with too much pressure resonating critical decisions--being in this state only made me realize that he meant every word he said. I felt so very grateful and so very floored by his comment and I said, "thank you". it made my day.

• It was an uneventful day at the office. My mind was too stunned about a lot of things and I was incapable of working, save for a couple of uploads for the website and very few encounters with my boss. In the middle of a brain-shutdown I decided to make a pot of tea.

tea amongst the last few paper work and the last emails to be sent

• I've been saving the persimmon-rosebud tea from Bel and Jay's trip to Beijing for special occassions. I wanted to celebrate the start of my birthmonth and the first day of nine towards my birthday, and the first day of eleven before the effectivity of my resignation, so I dusted out my pretty china (the only one ive got) and shared a few sips with my officemates.

• Bel, Vic and Ruel dropped me off at Malugay.

• I've been to The Collective a lot of times for B-Side but I never got to see the shops, so I visited each shop and found that I'd be coming back for particular pieces-- two pairs of shoes, a pair of shades, perfumes, sea salt, small hand made stuffed monsters and to-die-for-dresses. So love the place :)

• I planned to get Ramen from Wabi Sabi but because my dear Chuckie wasnt in the mood for vegetarian fare, we shared an Offbeat burger (krispy kreme donut bun+ really thick beef patty+ sunny side up egg+ cheese+ bacon) which was good by my standards-- the sweetness of the donut-buns offsets the saltiness of the patties and bacon. But uh, hello arteries, I need a Drano! (picture to follow)

• We went in a shop which was run by none other than the celebu-hunk Brent Javier. Was kilig to the bones when he errr butted in a conversation about shirts between me and Chuckie (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA), and even proceeded to assist me while I was viewing the selection of eyewear (ONA ONA! HAHAHAHA SIGE SHEENA MAG-YABANG KA HAHAHAHA [ilusyonada goals met tonight]).

• Had buffalo wings and quesadillas at WingMan. Brent and the rest of his friends joined us for second dinner (anong name nung ibang celebu-friends nya, Chuckie?).

not.

• Well, had second dinner at WingMan, where Brent Javier and his celebrity-model friends had a table next to ours (well nauna kami noh), waited for Juno (na hindi nakarating) as Chuckie bantered with Barny through text.

• It rained on my way home and while it felt off at first (March na March, start ng summer tas umulan!) but I thought, the rain is a good omen (the first summer rain, by folk lore, brings luck and healing).

• My mom and dad gifted me with an elliptical trainer-slash-stationary bike for my birthday, which they brought home today. They assembled it by themselves. :) (sobrang touched sa labor of love)

More cardio-addiction

• Today is the first time I saw my dad dance with my mom, too. :) (heartmelting moment for me)

Mom kept bumping Dad off

 This day serves as an omen: the best is yet to come.

the life of this foodie blog hangs by a thread

One of my stylist friends responded to my post-binge plea/tweet of assistance on dieting with the following:

@BernardNio @sheenalogy Tapos food blog ginagawa mo? Tsk tsk tsk...

 And this really called my attention because.... Oo nga noh?

Thus started my crusade for a rigorous diet/fitness program.

but this goes largely in conflict with my food blog. oh, just when found the right direction! 

pano na yung mga naka-pending kong pictures to be uploaded, restaurants scheduled to venture to (yep, my foodie boss and I even marked my calendar for our foodie sched)? 

I thought I should stop writing about food altogether.  

I need to do this for the following reasons:

1. I have what's called as PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which not only makes me metabolically imbalanced almost all the time but also puts me in cancer risk. Simply put, I'D BE OVERWEIGHT IF I DONT CONTROL MYSELF, and its not just cause I eat too much. My OBGYN actually told me I have to really take Metformin to lower my blood sugar levels and to take Oral Contraceptive Pills because they help regulate my periods, but I refused. That means I have to control this through exercise and diet. Yep, this gym/diet program is not for vanity's sake, its for my over-all health. 

2. There's a big, big project I have to do in January. Well, this isn't really for me, but this is for one of my best friends. ;) And there isn't any excuse for this. this is for PROFESSIONAL REASONS. yeah, well. Renee Zellweger did it, Lea Michelle did it, Natalie Portman does it for work. haha.

3. I have a wedding to attend!


4. Aren't those reasons enough?

but I will soooo miss writing. And how am I supposed to survive those holiday-bingefests?

How does Padma Lakshimi eat those plates upon plates of dishes in Top Chef and look and still remain as thin as a Victoria's Secret model?!

 Then there's Giada de Laurentiis. How can it be that cooking Italian food every single effin day looks as if it doesn't add pounds to that frail frame? Her head even looks too big for that really thin body! SO. UN. FAIR.


(Nevermind Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart, though)


So I thought of a way to go about the food-tasting and stuff: 

Limit myself to just 3 BITES of each dish. yes, 3 BITES. That should be enough to judge the taste/quality of the food, right? first bite, first impressions, second bite, what happens when I taste more. Third bite to satiate me. This plan is based on the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, something I learned out of high school Economics class:

This is the premise on which buffet-style restaurants operate. They entice you with "all you can eat," all the while knowing each additional plate of food provides less utility than the one before. And despite their enticement, most people will eat only until the utility they derive from additional food is slightly lower than the original.

For example, say you go to a buffet and the first plate of food you eat is very good. On a scale of ten you would give it a ten. Now your hunger has been somewhat tamed, but you get another full plate of food. Since you're not as hungry, your enjoyment rates at a seven at best. Most people would stop before their utility drops even more, but say you go back to eat a third full plate of food and your utility drops even more to a three. If you kept eating, you would eventually reach a point at which your eating makes you sick, providing dissatisfaction, or 'dis-utility'.

Yep. 3 bites.

So.


This foodie blog will still roll. :)

deviating from the "foodie" blog plan and letting fashion take over. for now, at least.

well, my excuse is, I have a wedding to attend, and I'd be the bridesmaid of my childhood friend Aileen. this wedding is big deal, not only because Aileen has been one of the closest people to me but also coz this is the first wedding amongst my grade school circle of friends.

so, I took to Polyvore.com and created a few sets. yep, I spent days looking for the styles of dresses and spent my whole Saturday picking out the top two. i want something I can still use as cocktail dress for other events. yep, versatility is the name of the game, thats why I got these designs.

the theme is teal and Aileen has already given us the fabrics for the dresses. Can you help me decide which look is best?

Aileen's Wedding by sheenalogy featuring christian louboutin pumps

Badgley Mischka Platinum Label teal pleated georgette strapless dress
$264 - bluefly.com
Short evening dresses »

VERY-PRIVE-120 - PATENT PEEP TOE PUMP FOOTWEAR
$795 - footcandyshoes.com
Christian louboutin pumps »

Nadri Tiered Chandelier Earrings
$138 - nordstrom.com
Chandelier earrings »

Kate Hudson - Golden Globes 2010 Red Carpet | kate hudson golden...
justjared.buzznet.com

rafe+clutch.jpg (JPEG Image, 500x375 pixels)
sbeulah.onsugar.com

Aileen's Wedding by sheenalogy featuring slip on shoes

Powder Beige Soft Matte
$650 - mulberry.com
Slip on shoes »

Piaget Limelight Cocktail Rings (Photos) - Luxist
luxist.com
Cocktail ring »

Alice + Olivia > All Alice+Olivia > Alice + Olivia Cleo Strapless...
singer22.com

Recommended Links
paulineforster.com

this blog is being pushed as a food blog by many friends

however, I lack the right tools to transform this space into something pretty.

people get bored by words. it doesnt take almost a year of experience in the field of Communications to actually understand that readers love VISUALS.

so what entries do I owe you?

1. whatever happened to the search for Metro Manila's best five-star hotel cappuccino ?
2. the search for the perfect office desk accessory 
3. the art of drinking tea (as per officemates' request to rename this blog as "Ang Tea Bag at Ako")
4. my cubicle-mates' quest to taste each of the 25 desserts dubbed as Philippine's finest by Philippine Daily Inquirer.
5. the Yakimix/Ongpin adventure pics.
6. I also owe my high school bff the honor to chocolate-trip around Makati one time.

Yep.

Now that I laid down my lofty plans, I can see what form my blog is shaping--indeed, a food blog.

Comfort food

Cheese pasta

I'm not a chef nor a foodie and I'm a newbie cook, but I try to cook whatever (kahit pritong itlog or hotdog!) whenever strong emotions take hold of me. I find the repetitive strokes performed when cooking (stirring, flipping stuff, kneading, etc) extremely comforting. To my dismay, I came home to an empty fridge, empty cupboard and empty pots and pans. Well, everyone at home's been busy, and people have been taking their meals outside.

But I simply had to make something. Anything that would take my mind off a lot of things.

Cheese Pasta

1/2 kilo spaghetti noodles
half a stick of butter
a big bar of Quickmelt cheese
an egg
chili powder
salt
1 tbsp olive oil

I cooked the noodles as per package instructions. I saved a cup of the noodle broth. In the same pot, I put in olive oil and stirred in the noodles. I let the butter melt in, and I stirred in the cheese. Then I put in the noodle broth. Then I stirred in the egg. I let the egg coat strands and strands of the noodles. I watched the strands thicken with cheese, broth, and egg. I seasoned it with chili powder and salt.

I served it to my family just in time for midnight snack.

It was superb. I read a recipe of this in Smitten Kitchen, but that one calls for parmesan, and I dont have that at home right now. But this was hearty, nonetheless.

I had a bowl. It was comforting.

I just hope it is enough to get me through this night. This time to give comfort to others :)

Yes, my job is to Facebook, but I also have things to do aside from that.

My office desk. THE HALF OF IT.

The reason why this blog is not regularly updated.

what got me anaphylactic

well, almost.

i belong to a sub-minority of the world population: seafood allergics, and i am specifically allergic to crustaceans.

but today was the day that several house-help of ours came back from a long vacation--that alone is reason to celebrate, because, as previously mentioned, the turn-over of house-employees here is very, very fast.

they brought home LOBSTERS.

I simply had to take a bite. My dad insisted on cracking them lobsters open for me. I helped him and my fingers got pricked by antlers.

Lobster shells. ARGH. SO. @!$#%$ ITCHY. MY. HANDS ARE. COZ OF THESE THINGS.

And because I wanted to entertain myself (because lots of things have been happening and I needed to do something "creative"), I threw the lobsters in a pan, sauteed it with minced garlic, spanish paprika, chili flakes and butter.

I had three tiny pieces. oh. that creamy, buttery, fiery-spicy goodness.

that does not look appetizing at all, but believe me, it was HEAVEN. at least for someone who doesn't eat crustaceans often (well, I do, when my parents aren't around)

 
after which, my hands and face swelled. my torso was blotched with red marks. i was scratching my whole body. my tongue felt thick. my heart was racing, and i was starting to feel light-headed and hot. so i washed my hands and everything that had contact with lobster.

then coz she was really scared and really panicky, my mom reached into the freezer and fed me:

yes, a tub. and tons and tons and tons of water.

ah. my allergies have now subsided. well, hello, diabetes. nice to meet you! :P

i therefore recommend the following:

• I am no chef, but say yes to this little something i whipped in a whirl: lobster+garlic+butter/olive oil+spanish paprika+chili flakes= Langosta al ajillo. I was craving for gambas al ajillo but since what we had in the kitchen was lobster......well, kinda like gambas, but gambas is "prawns" in spanish. "langosta" is lobster. :) 
• Say yes to eating anything you're allergic to, complain to your mom/husband/wife/bf/gf that you're short of breath, then tell them you need something sweet (how cruel, how manipulative!); chances are they'd give you tons of yummy sweet stuff. (not that I asked for THE TUB, but Mom insisted).
• Second bullet's a joke :) Stay away from your known allergens!! Carry with you your prescribed antihistamines/epinephrine pen shots at all times.
• Sweets aren't an antidote for allergies. I don't know what the hell happened but I was ok after the ice cream and the water. Or, maybe tonight, its the H2O, but i'm not sure. It has always been like that: mom feeds me with spoonfuls of sugar/candies whenever I accidentally ingest things I'm allergic to.

i'm currently down to 1/4 of the ice cream. hey, I'm not complaining. I am just. so. umay.

because taxi drivers were refusing to take me home

...I had to kill time, till it was past rush hour. I had to make them desperate to get passengers, to the point where they'd stop and ask if I want to ride or not (which often happens when you aren't in a hurry to go somewhere, or when you aren't in the mood to take a cab, or when you don't  have enough money to ride in one anyways).


Opposite my cab-hailing spot was Teriyaki Boy, better known as oh-the-Japanese-fast-food-chain-a-notch-higher-than-Tokyo-Tokyo. It was post-work out and I know I was gonna ruin my diet, but I was in the mood to splurge on ANYTHING given the fact that I haven't entertained myself in weeks and I thought I deserve to have a little treat, so I went inside and ordered Teriyaki Boy Chicken Ju. 

3 chopstick-bites later, I got tired of my chicken and saw something curious:

I needed something different. It came in the form of this thing.

It says in the caption,

Macha Ice Cream: A classic Japanese ice cream with our own twist. Premium green tea ice cream with crunchy tempura flakes on the side. P78.

As you may well know, I am a tea addict. Specifically, green-tea addict. There was a time I went temporarily blind for...an hour, because of too much tea (aka too much stimulation/BP elevation/blockage of the arteries in the eyes). So this was something very interesting, given the fact that well,

• it had tempura flakes
• its green tea ice cream, something not available in my nearby Mini-Stop
• it is from Teriyaki Boy, which is very commercial, and now they're offering something...different. and healthy. 

And so I ordered.

Pretty: like a green jade ball nestled on a bed of crushed pearl.

It looks like an avocado ice cream, yes? Since my office cam phone was too low-tech to capture that pretty verdant decadence, I should now tell you that it looked leafy green.

So I had my first spoonful.

• I tasted that certain leafy-ness typical of green tea minus the overt bitterness, but it was most subtle. And it was pleasing that way.

• Its sweetness was not overpowering, light in texture and taste. Its texture borders that of Gelatissimo's offerings and classic sorbet. This is perfect for people who get "umay" easily; also for people who'd rather take their green tea in morphed forms (green tea frappe-lovers, ganyan).

It tasted like EBI TEMPURA at first, so it was quite a shock when it actually turned out to be palatable when combined with the ice cream. If Teriyaki Boy would continue to sell this, they should fry separately the tempura flakes for their green tea ice cream.

But what the ice cream lacks in fat (given that its "green tea" daw), it makes up for in the oily tempura flakes.

• However, the crunch of tempura flakes goes well with the creaminess of the concoction. It was quite surprising, actually: usually, the crunch of a cold sweet treat, such as ice cream--comes from nuts, or for frozen yogurt--cereals. With this one, from tempura flakes--batter-y, salty, crunchy. Eaten together, it is like eating fried bread with cream ala-North Park, albeit cold. Like a cold, creamy donut. :)

Light.

This might not get liked instantly by many, but it is one of those treats which you acquire a taste for.

Ano beh P78 na nga lang eh! Plus its Arce Dairy. I asked ate waitress if it was exclusively made for Teriyaki Boy. She said the ice cream is available in the market, and they just tied-up with Arce Dairy.

Those pictures are taken by moi, thanks to my hand-me-down low-tech 2.0 megapixel cam-phone.

you cannot deny what you need when you find yourself googling this at 2:08 in the morning

No, I am not sad. I am just really tired.

• No, I am not about to post my repertoire of misery. That would be losing the point of making this into an interesting blog (interesing is equal to not spilling the contents of your emotional grocery bag in public: life's lemons, sour-grapes, apples-of-ones'-blind-eyes [might be an exception], salty tears, blood, sweat). 
• A lot of things have been going on lately and I haven't found the time nor that spark of creativity plug, so its been quiet here. 
• And I need a real human hug, it has been so long (I've let at least 2 months pass by without a tight hug, OH MY GOODNESS that is so not right) and since there's no human in sight (well, within 10 meter radius, at least), I had the craziest idea to find myself  a HUG MACHINE. Or build myself one. Yes. At TWO IN THE MORNING.

So I typed that thing there in Google and I found this.

No, that is not something from FunnyorDie.com nor from any of those joke sites. There, my friend, is the LEGIT THING: it is from Carnegie Mellon University. Yes, the Ivy League.

Apparently, this is the thing that I've only heard from my NCLEX reviews (yes back when I still had dreams of pursuing Psychiatric Nursing full-time [oh, you didn't know? Yep, I'm an RN. UST Nursing '07 but I'm in PR now]). This is for people with Autism. Helps calm them down, this Hug Machine does.

I got a whole lot of blog topics lined up. A shame I dont have much pics to go with them [EHEM CAMERA DONATIONS. EHEM.] Will write about them soon.

To drive my point home further (about my intense need for a hug [greater than the desire to open the fridge mid-dawn]), I even typed it into YouTube:

Oh, me and my intense fascination with the Windows 7 Sniping Tool made this possible.

And got this funny video:



Yes, even if I do not qualify as a "man", I'd take this any given day. Heck, I'd take any kind of hugs today. (Yes, ANY).