Archive for 2008

Dec 27

Fireworks Shopping

Firecrackers

Yesterday, we went to Bocaue to buy fireworks. It’s like this… my BIL and nephew always go there secretly before new year’s day. They don’t tell anyone and they usually leave early in the morning. Well, this time I told my nephew to wake me up if they’re going and to tell his dad to let me tag along. I wanted to go because I want to take pictures. They did let me tag along but I wasn’t able to take pictures because we left late afternoon and it was already getting dark and there were too many people and the stores weren’t as I imagined it, it wasn’t inviting and the pile of fireworks didn’t look pretty. So, yeah no pictures. And I didn’t get off the car either, I just stayed there with my sister and the kids. Besides, they went from one store to another and they crossed the street a lot! I’m scared to cross a street when there’s no traffic light or overpass… and I’m telling you, crossing streets here in the Philippines can be a real challenge. Anyways, the stores didn’t look inviting and the place was crowded with people and cars.

The place did remind me of a lot of memories though, too much I guess. When I was in college, a couple of my peers were from Bocaue and we went there A LOT. The place hadn’t changed much except for the new flyover and we didn’t go as far as my friends’ places so I couldn’t tell how much it changed. They’re not there anymore anyways for they both migrated to the US.

Fireworks are more like a tradition here in the Philippines. We adapted it from the Chinese culture where the sound of the firecrackers is thought to scare away evil spirits. My BIL didn’t buy too much noisy firecrackers. He did buy a light of sparklers though. He bought about P5000 (about $100) worth of fireworks and we already tested a couple. Mind you, I haven’t touched a single one for a looooooooooooooong time now (I can’t even remember when the last time was) and I don’t think I will this coming new year, I’ll just be a spectator and enjoy the sight. One of the sparklers was really pretty… you have to throw it on the ground after lighting it and it spins, creating a beautiful moving circle of light. I’ll be taking pictures of each on new year’s day and maybe some videos IF I already have my new phone by that time.

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Dec 25

Christmas

Merry Christmas

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Dec 23

Not-So-Serious Cooking

My nephew and I decided to help prepare a couple of dishes for Christmas. We’ve decided on Blueberry Cheesecake (yeah, we love cheesecake) and Char Kway Teow (fried flat noodles). We searched the net for recipes that looks good and easy to follow and we did our not-so-serious cooking the other day. We didn’t garnish both dishes anymore because we just want see if it tastes good, so the noodles had no shrimp and the cheesecake had no blueberries. Haha!

About the noodles, we weren’t able to find any peanut oil in the 2 supermarkets that we went to, so, if by Christmas we still don’t have it, I’ll just probably use peanut butter. When we were eating the noodles, I tried to put a little peanut butter on mine and it tasted better. Weird huh?And we also used egg noodles instead of fresh rice noodles. Again it was not available. And we didn’t put chili paste yet. It’s really no good! Nah! Just kidding. It still tasted good even the lack of everything. Haha!

About the cheesecake, we finally found what’s missing from the previous cheesecakes that we made. Yay! You want to know what it was? None other than… sour cream! It really made a lot of difference.

Anyway, I will not be posting the recipes yet because it still needs a little fine tuning. Here’s just a little teaser, a photo of the kulang-kulang na noodles:

Char Kway Teow

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Dec 18

Part-Time

Don’t you just love it when you’re waiting for a perfect opportunity to knock on your door and it would? I do! Well, I do hope it really did knock and not just passed by my door! Haha!

Last week, an online friend asked who’s interested to apply as part-time tour coordinator and I was like OMG! This is just perfect for me! Imagine being paid to travel! And I don’t really care about the pay, it’s like an icing to the icing, kwim?

So, I sent my resume, I didn’t even care if what’s written there didn’t have anything to do with traveling. And I received an email telling me that they’ll schedule the interview this week. I was stoked! But I still haven’t heard from them again, yet, but I’m still hoping it’ll push through.

I’ve waited so long for an opportunity like this. You see, I’m hibernating from my friends and I have no way to go on trips, except to go alone. And I’m still preparing myself for that. Haha!

I really hope this will push through and I promise to keep all my other promises and start being a good girl! As in, really good! :D

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Nov 28

Mico’s Birthday

October 2 was my kumpare’s (Mico) birthday party at his house in Sta. Ana. I think I’ve only been there twice and this was the first time that I went there by myself. I was planning on leaving early but it didn’t happen because I waited for my Holga to be delivered because I was excited to use it. I just took a cab and I was pretty lucky because the cab driver where it was and he knew how to avoid the traffic. I even freaked out because we took the road where there were lots of motels and the cad driver was signaling left to one of them. So, I asked why we’re entering and he said it was a short cut to avoid the traffic. Haha! Apparently lots of cars take that road to avoid having to turn at the end of the street.

When I got to Mico’s place, he immediately mixed me my drink which was whisky and soda. Haha! People kept asking me where Armin was maybe because they were expecting we’d go there together. Even Armin’s bro asked me where his kuya was. I just shrugged my shoulders and told Mico that he didn’t want to go there early so he wouldn’t get drunk. But after a few minutes, he arrived already and the fun started.

It was a night filled with talks about basketball, UAAP and NCAA in particular, boxing, casino, and a night of kulitan. Armin and I moved to the table where Chino, Mico’s bro, and his friends were seated. I got to know Chino more and he is a very bolero kid, I’m telling you. He said I looked younger than my age… I looked more like a 26-year rather than what my real age is. Haha!

Now, everybody there refers to Armin as idol. I asked him why and he said probably because they couldn’t remember his name, which wasn’t the case of course. But after hearing about my countless drunk tales, Chino told Armin that from thereon he’ll be calling me idol instead and he now calls Armin idolize. Haha! Chino is about 11 years younger than us and I think we’ve been together twice only. Nakakatuwa siya, and he’s also so makulet like his bro. And he’s the one who served us beer all night and would even apologize if he didn’t notice we already finished our drinks. Haha!

Of course, Mico’s cousin, PJ, was also there and he said he missed me and Armin! Haha! Namiss niya ko asarin kamo! Whenever he sees me, he tells this story that I threw up in my godson’s christening party, which I didn’t. Promise! Armin said nangungulet lang daw si PJ. But he wouldn’t leave me alone everytime! Kulet talaga! I told him that one time I’m gonna throw up at him so he would shut up! Haha!

It wasn’t all about me that night, I wasn’t the only on a hot seat. There’s Ping, Chino’s friend, whom we now call “Damot.” Haha! Mico asked someone to borrow a poker table but there was a miscommunication and Ping wasn’t able to bring it. Everytime Mico went to our table he would ask Ping “Pare, ba’t naman ganon?” Haha! And the topic just wouldn’t die until we already went home.

I didn’t get drunk that night… well, only a little, but I wasn’t wrecked. But I still crashed Armin’s room because I didn’t want him to drive me all the way to my house anymore. It was already late and I didn’t want to worry about him going home drunk.

We just bummed in his room the next day, sleeping and watching TV, and I went home around 3pm. It was fun and I’m glad I came to the party. :)

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