So Soya

I am a Soya Milk addict, just like eating taho drinking soya milk is one of my most favorite activities. When I was visiting Noel in Singapore I had my OVERDOSE of Soya Milk because they just had abundant supply of Soya Milk in their groceries, you can choose different brands with different range of flavors, there are non fat soya milk and 100% soya milk they even had chocolate flavored ones, and I so envy my husband for having Soya Milk at 1 liter cartons at his disposal.

When I came back home from Singapore, I missed my daily Soya Milk supply, because Filipinos seem to not favor the Soya Milk products as much as Singaporeans do. We can barely find any store that sells Soya Milk even at 250 ml containers. I often find some in mini stop and thats about it. But today must be my lucky day. I went to Pure Gold Jr. to buy some supplies for my daughter - her favorite Lemon Square Cheese Cup Cakes, her favorite Chocolate cupcake, some chewy candies and the strawberry flavored Potchi. I also bought her Nido 3+ milk and some food for the house - bread, hot dogs, vinegar and soy sauce. And as I was browsing through every isle of pure gold jr. and was contemplating on buying nike cartons of Bear Brand Strawberry Milk drink and Chocolait I saw it, they finally have a plain unflavored 1 Liter carton of Soya Milk and I almost jumped from delight. I immediately grabbed 3 cartons, which I hope would last atleast a week, but knowing my love for Soya Milk, it would probably only last a maximum of 3 days.

I chilled 1 carton of Soya Milk as soon as arrived home and watched some of my newly discovered TV Series. And after a few hours remembered I had it and was excited to try. I poured myself a glass of the Soya Milk and was ready for my first gulp.

Heaven! I just love the natural flavor of the soya milk, just like taho only its not chunky, it has a smooth texture that fits well with its light flavor. It definitely met my expectations. I am so happy to finally have a Soya Milk in the market and would definitely be buying more of this delicious and healthy goodness in a box.

Now that I have shared this wonderful new discovery (atleast in the Philippine Market) let me share a few important words that I got from Wikipedia regarding Soya Milk.

Soy milk has about the same amount of protein (though not the same amino acid profile) as cow’s milk. Natural soy milk contains little digestible calcium as it is bound to the bean’s pulp, which is insoluble in humans. To counter this, many manufacturers enrich their products with calcium carbonate available to human digestion. Unlike cow’s milk, it has little saturated fat and no cholesterol. Soy products contain sucrose as the basic disaccharide, which breaks down into glucose and fructose. Since soy doesn’t contain galactose, a product of lactose breakdown, soy-based infant formulas can safely replace breast milk in children with galactosemia.

Soy milk is promoted as a healthy alternative to cow’s milk for reasons including:

• Source of lecithin and vitamin E

• Lacks casein

• It is safe for people with lactose intolerance or milk allergy

• Contains far less saturated fat than cow’s milk.

• Contains isoflavones, organic chemicals that may possibly be beneficial to health.

Read more about Soya Milk in HERE.

And if you are excited about Soya Milk as much as I am, right now I can only recommend going to Pure Gold Jr. to look for the product, I am not sure if they have it in SM Groceries or others but its definitely worth taking a look. Also this brand Soyfresh offers them in a whole range of flavors that you may want to try.

Delicious Bangus

Lately I have discovered two delicious bangus (milkfish) dishes that I have fallen in love with, both are boneless and cooked so much differently from one another, even my daughter loves them both.

my dad introduced me to the deliciously char grilled bangus of Pixie’s sinugba. (I will upload my own pictures the next time I buy one) the cost more or less PHP 190 Pesos for one whole grilled bangus that is perfectly deboned and grilled with tomatoes and onions.

Photo Taken From: ClickTheCity

When you order the Inihaw na Bangus make sure to order the one without the “kaliskis” or Scales so that you will able to eat the dish without problems. And make sure to order the freshly grilled one, if you have to wait, wait, because the freshly cooked ones are the most delicious ones, besides if you order one that has been sitting in the store for a bit, it might not taste as good as it should. Enjoy this whole Bangus with a soysauce with calamansi (small citrus fruit) or patis (fish sauce) with calamsi, and you sure will eat a ton.

The next Bangus dish that I have recently started falling in love with is the Century Bangus Tocino which was introduced to me by my cousin who posted pictures of her daughter enjoying a hefty meal with rice and tomatoes with the fish tocino.

Photo taken from: STYLEBIBLE.PH

I have been so intrigued at how this fish will taste like after it has been made into a tocino. We are all very familiar with Pampanga’s Best’s Pork and Chicken Tocino that we have grown to love over the years, but a fish that is made into a tocino is a new concept. So I tried it and lo and behold loved it.

My daughter also loved the fish most especially with a bowl of sliced tomatoes to go with it, and it wasn’t fishy tasting at all, it tasted like any regular tocino and it was really good. It was not too sweet and it was well balanced in flavor in every way and tastes like what tocino should taste like. Although not all groceries around the metro has this in their freezer, you will have to go to bigger groceries like SM Hypermarket or Pioneer Center or other bigger groceries, because I tried puregold and they don’t carry the product - at around PHP 110 Pesos for 1 pack of 1 Kg Bangus Tocino it is definitely worth the effort.

Pick Up and Deliver

I was taking a bath when I remembered there are Gift Certificates that I need to claim from Working Mom Magazine - which is located at Quezon City, A territory that I am not very much familiar with. Then I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be so much easier if I can have a person Pick it up for me and deliver it to my doorstep?

Then I started wondering that I should put up a small business that will do just that. Start small like around the Metro Manila Area and then expand to National coverage and eventually International. It will be just like our common courier service like XEND, AIR21, 2GO, DHL, JRS EXPRESS, but the difference will be that my service will specialize in Picking-Up items for customers and delivering it back to them.

Then I plotted the business process. There would be like a website where you can Process the Request, there will be a form having the following Fields:

Full Name:
Customer Address:
E-mail Address:
Contact Number:
Pick-Up Person:
Pick-Up Address:
Mode of Payment: (Bank Deposit, Paypal, Credit Card, Etc.)
Mode of Service: (Same Day or Regular)
Special Requirements: (Upload Files Here)
Other Comments:

So breaking down the Form:

• Full Name, Email Address and Contact Number is pretty self explanatory.

• Customer Address is where the package will be delivered once it has been picked up from wherever the package will be originating.

• Pick-Up Person will be the person the messenger / courier will be looking for when he arrives at the address where the package will be originating.

• Pick-Up Address will be the location where the package is.

• Mode of Payment needs to be done online since there needs to be a guarantee that it is an actual transaction and since the customer will be the last person the courier will be meeting with.

• Mode of Service will be Same Day Pick-Up and Delivery where the package will be picked up from the originating address and delivered to the Customer Address on the same day, this will mean extra charge, or Regular which can take 1-2 days for Metro Manila Pick Ups and Deliveries and 2-5 days for National and maybe longer for International Pick Ups and Deliveries.

• Special Requirements Field is a place where the UPLOAD button will be placed, where the Customer can Upload Scanned Authorization Letters and Photocopy of ID’s with a note indicating what the ID should be used for, and other materials needed for the courier to be able to claim or pick up the package.

• Other Comments field will be a place to add special requests that are not covered in the form.

Once the form is submitted, there will be a variety of actions, if the Mode of Payment states:

• Credit Card, then it will be redirected to the Credit Card Payment Page.

• PayPal then it will be redirected to a PayPal Secure Payment Page.

• Bank Deposit A confirmation Email will be sent to the Email address of the Customer, there will be where the invoice will be which will have the total amount that needs to be paid via the banks that can be used to deposit the payment and a link will be shown that the customer can click and redirected to a webpage where the customer can upload a copy of the confirmation slip once the payment is done.

And regardless of the mode of payment once the transaction is completed - meaning paid for, they will receive an email confirmation of their tracking number so that the customer will know the progress of the Pick Up and Deliver Service.

Isn’t my idea very detailed and nice and convenient? If only I can make this Idea a reality then picking up packages and prizes would be so much easier for everyone! :)

Photo Taken from: NWCPRINT

The Chillax Kind

Photo taken from Deviantart by: suzinxlyn

Some time last week, my good and old friend Gretchell (when I say old, I don’t mean aged, I meant we go way back) and I were discussing about friendships, bestfriends and friend relationship altogether. This topic was brought about by her asking my why I wrote my other article Goodbye My Friend. So I told her about this one friend that I had for 20 years and suddenly realized I lost just this year. I told her all the story behind it, all the reasons why the friendship ended and talked more about the person behind the story. Then she told me she had a friend whom I actually know that is somewhat like the person I was talking about, so she told me stories about her friend and how disappointing the situation seems at times. And we went on and on telling each other stories about friendships and relationships.

Then during the whole conversation the words “Chillax Friendship” appeared. This is how we described our friendship. We are not the closest friends, we are not the type who tell each other every detail of our lives and our days, we are not the type of friends who tell each other our deepest darkest secrets on a regular basis, but we are close, in a way that as distant friends can be. We know about each others lives, we know some of each others secrets, we chat with each other WHEN we feel like chatting, we rant to each other about the misfortunes of life and we chat about any random things that we can think about, but unlike other types of friendships which needs constant rekindling and communication, we never felt the need to constantly nudge each other, or buzz each other. We may see the other online and not say Hi and we know that we are still friends. This is the type of friendship that has no expectations and no disappointments, A chilled and relaxed type of friendship.

I am happy to say that this is probably the best type of friendship there is, knowing that when you need that person he or she can be there to listen, but you know that you don’t need to constantly take care of the friendship. You know that the friendship is and will always be there, no matter how long you have last spoken and no matter where you guys left off.

Most of my friendships are somewhat like this, My Best Friend Kate and I do not need to constantly be together, we often talk when there is need to talk, although we make it a point to see each other once in a while, so I could say Kate is My Best Semi-Chillax Friend. And if you are going to ask me right now whom I consider is the epitome of my Chillax Friendship, I’d tell you without hesitation its Gretchell.

So heres to all the Chillax Friendships out there, may we all continue having more and more great Chillax Friends! :)

Korean Beef Stew

I Promised myself last week that this week I will cook Korean beef Stew and Today I did. It took me three hours to stew the beef to become soft and tender but I am loving it!

Ingredients to make a pot of Korean Beef Stew:

Beef
1 Cup Soy Sauce / kikkoman
3/4 Cups Sugar
1 Whole Bell Pepper
1 Whole Onion
1 Whole Garlic
1 Chunk of Ginger - Skinned
1 Bay Leaf
Leeks
Sesame Seeds 

Start Boiling the beef in low heat into a pot filled with water, once its boiling (make sure to scoop out the blood that is formed during the cooking process) add the soy sauce and sugar and allow to boil. Once the mixture is boiling add the whole bell pepper, onion, garlic, ginger and bay leaf, and let the mixture boil until the stew is ready.

The Sesame seeds and chopped leeks will be added as garnish and color to the dish once its cooked. Make sure to fry the sesame seeds until its golden brown, and the leeks should be washed and chopped in fine pieces

The sesame seed does not just make the dish look pretty it also add it own unique flavor to the dish, so I think it is really important to have the sesame seeds when cooking a pot of Korean beef stew. Same goes for the leek. :)

Now that I shared my delicious dinner, Bon Apetit!

Quick Fix: Healthy Dinner

Repolyo Guisado - Sauteed Cabbage

Ingredients:
A clove of Garlic - Skinned and finely chopped
2 Small Red Onions - Skinned and finely chopped
1 cabbage - Chopped into smaller pieces
3 Tomatoes - diced
1/8 kilo of ground pork
1 cup pork buillion / 1 know pork cube 

Fry the garlic, onion and tomato on a hot pan with cooking oil. Once the mix is cooked add the ground pork and continue frying until the pork is cooked. Add the 1 cup pork buillion and let boil. Once boiling add the cut cabbage and continue cooking in low heat until the cabbage is cooked to your liking. Serve.

This is an easy to do, budget friendly, healthy meal that can be served at dinner or lunch, I love the “guisado” taste and like I said its healthy both for me and my daughter.

Muchas Gracias Mary Grace

Yesterday my college friends and I decided to meet for a movie date. I met becky at around 1 PM at Red Ribbon near their house, then went on our way to Alabang Town Center. We got our Salt Tickets for the screening at 3:15 PM and decided to eat something while waiting for our other friend (Cess) to arrive. Becky said, do you like cakes? Of course I liked cakes LOL :) who doesn’t right? She said she can’t wait to show me a slice of heaven.

We walked from the Movie Ticket Concierge to the front of the Alabang Town Center. I asked her if we were eating the slice of heaven in starbucks, she said no. As we were around the starbucks area, instead of going right to starbucks we turned left and entered a wonderfully decorated and charming restaurant called Mary Grace.

We were seated at a cozy table just beside the side window and browsed the Menu, Becky already knew what she wanted to make me try, so I said we should order something else like a pasta or a sandwich just to have variety on our pallets. Then I decided on ordering the Seafood Pasta (PHP 244 per plate) - A medley of fresh clams, shrimp, squid, mussels, and cream dory which lend their flavors to a tomato based sauce which is enhanced by herbs, olives. and mushrooms. Sounds delectable right? It truly is, I only forgot to take a picture of the wonderful dish, because I got excited to eat it as soon as the plate was set on our table. The pasta is really good and the noodles is really very well prepared, my only problem with the dish is that I hoped there would be two pieces of shrimp. I guess they weren’t telling alie when they said in the description - A medley of clams, SHRIMP, SQUID, mussels, etc. It really only had one shrimp and 1 slice of squid. But the dish is really good, Becky and I were able to finish the whole dish.

After eating the plateful of pasta, Becky and I dove in to her slice of heaven that is called Chocolate Truffle Cake (PHP 194 per slice). When it was first set on the table I thought it looked like any ordinary cake. I tried a piece and it was really heaven. The Cake was served to us initially before the pasta arrived, which made a bit of sense because cake takes a shorter amount of time to slice than to prepare the whole pasta dish. We set it aside for a while to eat the pasta, so the cake was sitting on our table for a bit before we finally devoured it. But to my surprise at first bite of the cake, the slice always seemed cool on my mouth, and every bite you take will make you appreciate the goodness of the cake because it melts in your mouth. The cake is very moist and very balanced in a way that the chocolate flavor doesn’t over power the truffles and the truffles doesn’t over power the chocolate, and the sweetness of the cake is just right - not too sweet not too bland.

This is a real treat for me, being able to spend a fabulous day with my college friends, and experiencing a new and exciting restaurant that I would surely love to visit again.

Photo taken from Mary Grace Cafe Facebook Fan Page

Fightful Dream

Why is it that when I dream about my husband, I always dream about him and me fighting. Out of all the dreams I had of him, when he was still living with me and now that he isn’t, I always dream of him and me fighting over something, its very rare for me to dream about him and me happy, it only happened twice or thrice in the whole 5 years that we have been together / known each other.

It usually was about him being or flirting with other girls. But its irritating that every time I get the chance to be with him, even just in my dreams, we are never intimate or just happy. But tonight my dream is especially irritating because I dreamt that he already came home for vacation from Singapore. It started out great, no girls, I dreamt about him, Nike and myself. But all of a sudden everything turned sour. He got mad at me for being a Bad Mother and a Bad wife because I wasn’t spending time with him and our daughter. While most of the time in that dream I have been running around looking for them. I can never seem to catch them. And the only time I was able to catch up with them was when he was already very upset and want nothing to do with me.

Why is it that I always end up crying or hurt when I dream about my husband? Is it my fear of losing him? Or is it because our relationship is so perfect that my brain is creating these stories just to spice things up, not that our marriage is not spicy because it definitely is. What is it with Noel in my dreams?

Who's Joey Pepperoni?

Image from: Joey Pepperoni Facebook Fan Page

Today I spent the day with my daughter. We went to SM Southmall just so Nike could enjoy a full day of fun, rides and slides. I initially took her to SM Storyland, and contemplated on just buying her two tickets for two rides for PHP 80 or buying her a ride all you can ticket for PHP 250. You can guess what I chose, ofcourse I wanted my daughter to enjoy the day so I bought her the unlimited pass. When she got tired of riding the rides at Storyland I took her to Kids Village (a play and slide place) at the 3rd level of SM Southmall its like a small play gym with a wooden children’s play house a wooden slide and ball pool and a few toys and rockers. I also bought her the unlimited pass that she used to spend 2 hours full of sliding and playing, she even got bullied by a little boy who kicked her back, and threw toys at her, but Nike remained calm and composed, she just ignored the mean boy, she didn’t cry and she just continued playing.

So after a tiresome afternoon both Nike and I were HUNGRY and thirsty. While walking I saw this advertisement of Joey Pepperoni indicating that they had these 99 peso meal with drinks and a buy 1 take 1 pizza for 250 pesos so I got intrigued and the picture looked really yummy. So Nike and I made our way to Joey Pepperoni.

Nike pointed to the first thing that she saw that has rice, The Chicken Strips with Rice and it looked yummy enough so I ordered it and I ordered an 8-inch The works Pizza - It is called the works because it had mushrooms, pepporoni, olives, bacon and all the works. We were asked to wait for 20 minutes for our order, probably because thats how long it usually takes them to cook a meal to order so I agreed, I told them it was okay.

After the 20 minutes was up, we received our orders, and wow, was I disappointed. Not only was the Chicken Strips Dry-Looking it was overcooked, dry and it was not presented well. I forgot to take a picture of the food after it was delivered to us, because Nike was already hungry. But it was an ultimate disappointment. Even the rice was dry, it felt like it was heated from the microwave, it had an unnatural hotness to it. To top off the disappointing look of the dish, the garlic that was meant to be part of the chicken strips was BURNT, it wasn’t the crunchy golden brown garlic that you would expect from a restaurant. It was really burnt, giving the dish a burnt taste to it.

Image of the burnt garlic

Thats what I can say about their 99-Peso Chicken Strips with Rice meal. I do not recommend it at all. But the pizza was okay, it wasn’t the best pizza I have tasted but when you’re hungry it would be a good enough pizza to eat. It tasted normal and it was not burnt. Of course I wasn’t able to take a picture of the whole thing when it was delivered because I was really hungry, but I was able to take a picture of a slice.

The whole pizza was good enough to finish, although it wasn’t something that I would go out of my way of to buy.

We were able to quench our thirst and hunger, but it was not an experience that we are happy about, I probably would not be eating in Joey’s Pepperoni again soon, but I will definitely try them again, someday - because I remember I already ate there before probably around 2 years ago, and the experience was not as bad as this one, but their food is just average tasting. 

14 Day Commitment Challenge: Mystery Shampoo

Today I received the package from the I Commit To Change Team and it consisted of 2 Mystery Shampoos and 2 Mystery Conditioners. I have accepted their 14 Day Challenge to use the Mystery Shampoo and see and feel the transformation of my hair.

I promised myself that to be able to truly see the result of this challenge, I will not tie my hair, so that it would show how much change my hair will actually have. Because when you tie your hair it causes friction that damages the hair strands and then the result of the challenge will be tampered. So for 14 Days I will not tie my hair to see if the Mystery Shampoo and Conditioner will really give me a better crown.

My hair before the challenge is frizzy, it is straight (because of Rebonding) but around the top of my head, there usually are a lot of small unmanageable hair that sticks to the left, right and everywhere. It has gotten a bit dry, because I have not been back to the Salon for almost 8 months now, and the last treatment I got was Rebonding, no hot oil or hair spa whatsoever. So this will really test the Mystery Shampoos powers.

The Questions that are coming to my mind right now are:

1. Will the shampoo make my hair silkier and smoother (no longer dry)?
2. Will it stop the Frizziness?
3. Will it tame the hair on top of my head?
4. Will it affect the previous rebond treatment that was done to my hair?

I will be keeping a daily journal, Video, Photo or just a write up of my 14 day commitment so I could keep track of the progress of my hair.

Day 1: (July 28, 2010)

The Shampoo smelled a little bit like a shampoo that I have been using for a long time, but I cannot quite put my finger on what it was. It gave a fruity aroma that is just relaxing and not intoxicating. It was rich in texture and you will only need a small amount to wash your hair with.

The Conditioner smelled a bit like a normal conditioner, sort of a generic smell which disappointed me a bit, I was expecting the same fruity aroma, but it wasn’t there. The texture of the Conditioner though was very fulfilling, it was very rich and creamy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/QoxLaQWfkIo]

Sorry for the mess in the background, I just wanted to get the video over with. So like I said. After using the Shampoo and the Conditioner in day 1, I expected not to see a lot of difference in my hair. Usually after bath, I would take a bit of time brushing my hair, because it gets a bit tangled, but using the Mystery Shampoo and Conditioner made it easier to comb and to brush. The smell of the Shampoo after washing stayed on my hair giving my hair a fruity aroma.

That’s as far as I can mention about Day 1.

Day 2: July 29, 2010

I used the Mystery Shampoo and Conditioner today - 2nd Day! after bath I brushed my hair with a fine hairbrush and it was very easy to brush yet again. The real test for my hair today was how it could remain light and straight the whole day, it was a very humid day and usually when I use my old shampoo my hair become sticky and frizzy, but today my hair seemed fresh through out the day.

A Picture of me and my hair after a long day of humidity, playing and sweating

Day 3: July 30, 2010

I haven’t been able to pay so much attention to my hair today because of the busy schedule. I had to attend a free pictorial today that I wasn’t able to examine my hair.

Day 4: July 31, 2010

Today while taking a bath, I realized that when I shampooed my hair with the mystery shampoo there seems to be less falling hair, usually when I shampoo my hair seems to break and fall, and I could grab a handful (around 20-30 pcs) of hair during bath, but today it seemed less, I noticed only around 4-6 pcs of hair which is really amazing for me. And while taking a bath, I noticed that when I wet my hair it wasn’t all tangled even though I haven’t brushed my hair before taking a bath. And I also received a compliment for my hair when my friend asked me if I had it recently rebonded. I guess the changes are slowly showing! :)

Me and my healthier hair

Day 8: August 4, 2010

I haven’t been able to update the last three days due to a hectic schedule, but I made sure to stick to my commitment in using the Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner on a daily basis. And the last three days I really have been noticing a lot of difference in my hair. I noticed during bath that my hair fall has really decreased to 90%, I often get scared of my hair falling off one day because I often get a lot of falling hair while taking a bath, but since I started using Pantene, the hair fall has really decreased to a noticeable amount. Also, after my hair dries its not frizzy anymore, usually the top of my head is filled with short hair that sticks all over the place, but now it is tamed and my hair seemed softer and more manageable. I am really loving the difference I am experiencing.

Remembering Vanilla Suites

I remember around December 2007 (almost 3 years ago) Noel and I decided to take our 1 year old daughter (who is now 3.5 years old) to our first ever family vacation. We were supposed to go to a different hotel but ended up not wanting to drive so far away from the restaurants that we decided to scout for a different hotel that would be pretty and relaxing enough and will be just a few minutes away from the restaurants.

We left the house really early because we wanted to enjoy the day in Tagaytay, we ended up scouting for a place to stay for and hour or so, we found good enough places that almost tickled our fancy but when we saw Vanilla Suites - we fell in love. It was so gorgeously serene and green and peaceful that we just had to stay there.


The People who attended to us were very friendly and followed our every whim. Well, we were very easy people to please, they gave us complimentary drinks while we were waiting for the room that we were going to stay in. The picture above is the view from the second floor of their very homey and comfortable restaurant.



And this picture is the view of the ground floor area that is overlooking a vast green land and Taal, where small intimate gatherings could be hosted.

After just a short wait, our room was ready for us, and when we stepped in it was immaculately clean and beautiful, the king sized bed was big enough for my husband, my daughter and myself to sleep comfortably in. The Bathroom was big and glorious and spotless, with hot and cold shower and the toilet was sparkling clean and brand new. And the view outside the window was spectacular. There also is a television, dvd player, airconditioning and a small coffee table that you can use if you wish to order room service.




And just outside our bedroom / cottage, there is a staircase going down a huge space with a great view where my daughter, my husband and I spent the afternoons just playing around, and taking in the beauty of Tagaytay.



The Breakfast they serve is really sumptuous as well. They give really big serving and the plateful of breakfast is more than enough to keep you satisfied. I remember getting 4 pieces of sausages, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit slices and my choice of coffee or juice. Everything was fresh, delicious and cooked to order. I just loved this heavenly place and the lush greens that we were able to experience. This place is really great to get you rejuvenated and to keep you relaxed.


A Picture of myself and my daughter walking in their pathway on the way to the restaurant. My husband taking the picture from the second floor of the restaurant.

My Super Daughter

The best part of my life is my daughter. She gives me strength and motivates me to do better everyday. She wakes me up every morning with her amazing smile that gives me the courage to face the challenges of life everyday. She makes me a better person and pushes me to be a better mother and a better individual altogether.

I have never known I could care about anyone or anything in this world more than I care about myself. She is the super girl in my life because her smile can melt my heart and I never want to see her in pain, and that gives me the feeling that I need to be a Super person so I can protect her and give her everything that she needs.

Whenever I am crying and she sees me crying, she tells me “Its ok mommy, don’t cry”. She kisses me in the sweetest way that makes me feel like she’s kissing all my troubles away. She is everything in my life, and everything in my life is happening because of her. She is my super hero, as much of a cliche as that may sound, but she is. I know tomorrow everything will be ok, because she’s here.

I would like to think that I am the one teaching her about life, but she has taught me about life and unconditional love more than anyone has ever taught me, and that makes her the most important part of my life.

This is her, my super girl.



And this is me and My Super Daughter just enjoying an afternoon together



Make your Super One Popular by Entering the Super One Contest Courtesy of Globe - Super One Feature

Extreme Sadness and Anger

I was on the second floor of some building, waiting for Noel, just patiently waiting. It was like a video that I’m watching. I saw him arrive on a van with my mom. My Mom stepped off the van, and Noel, who was driving the van did too. He took of his windbreaker and he jumped back in the car, but this time he sat on the front passenger seat. Kharen, an old highschool friend, sat in the drivers seat. That’s when it all happened. I felt uncomfortable and uneasy, and then, the car started at such speed that I knew that it was going to crash. And after a blink of an eye the van was ransacked and Noel was inside. I couldn’t move, all I could do was stare, I was so afraid of what I would find out. I stayed glued to the floor, waiting, patiently waiting for Noel to emerge from the wreckage.

(PHOTO FROM: orankutanki - DEVIANTART.COM)

Suddenly a movement, I saw a hand reach out from under the cars debris. Then the worst news arrived, my sister, shocked from all the events, and panting from running up a flight of stairs told me, “He is dead, he didn’t survive, Noel is dead”. My world crumbled like I’ve never felt it crumble before. I was filled with so much sadness and so much anger that I just needed, I wanted to kill someone.

I ran, I ran as fast as I could towards the wreck, not to see my husband but to run toward Kharen, the person responsible for my husbands death. I ran towards her and I wanted to kill her, I will kill her, I will choke her to death when I reach her. She saw me coming and ran, she ran for her life. I keep running and running towards her and just when she was within my reach she got away. I stopped running and cried.

I was inside a car, on the way to a vacation house with my sister, my family and my high school friends. I can control the weather, I envisioned small whirlwinds forming right next to my friends’ car and there they were. I will have my revenge. I formed 5 small whirlwinds that followed the car to wherever we were going. I had it hide somewhere a bit, before I destroy Kharen.

(PHOTO FROM: kibasuki)

We got to our destination and Nike was there climbing the stairs, I hurried toward her, held her hand and I cried. I thought of Noel. I missed him, I was ballistic and extremely sad. I came closer to Kharen and with all the hate in the world I told her “I HATE YOU.” Then I woke up. It was all a dream, a very bad dream.

Usually our dreams are our ways of expressing our pent up emotions and the small things you see through out the day that you take for granted. For example, I dreamt about Kharen because I know I saw her picture yesterday in facebook, and that image was pushed farther back from my consciousness, Noel was there, well, because I always miss him and I try to push that emotion back so that I would not feel sad. The emotions anger and sadness are usually hand in hand. I got a bit sad yesterday because of a particular event that I have been hoping for that did not happen. So when I fell asleep my brain created this whole story that incorporated the emotions and things that I saw that I try to set aside. Its my body’s way of releasing what is killing me inside.

all in all I am glad that it was just a dream, it felt good to wake up and see my daughters smiling face. But what will I dream about tomorrow? 

Taking Action - WD

Western Digital Philippines - Facebook Fan Page

I am a firm believer of the idea that IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO HAPPEN, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. This goes to the thought that if you want to see results you have to look for ways to get the results.

I have been a little bothered by the Western Digital Philippines - Facebook Fan Page, because the administrators seem to have vanished into thin air. They do not update the page anymore, they do not answer inquiries, and they left a contest hanging without any winner announcements.

All of its fans have been patient with waiting for the result which should have been announced on July 15, 2010 or even before that, we have patiently inquired and re-inquired about the winners but no one seems to be reading our messages because no one is answering. I am concerned NOT because I think I won, but because they made a commitment to their fans that they will give away prizes to a contest that they held, and we as the contestants trusted that they will deliver. But until today, No response.

So I took my own actions, I did not know what else to do:

(Open the Image in new tab to read the whole text)

I hope this will be able to help all of us who have been waiting to get the results we wanted from Western Digital Philippines Facebook Fan Page.

A Weird Dream

I woke up around 30 minutes ago, Nike and I slept a bit late last night. Anyway I wanted to write this very weird dream while its still fresh in my mind, it was probably the weirdest most realistic dream I felt in along time.

The setting was a mixture of some other persons old house and our house in Pasig. We were all rushing to take a bath because we will be late for school (weird yeah?!) So I just finished taking a bath and was fixing myself, beautifying and all that — you need to take note that I’m doing all these in somebody else’s house, then the doorbell rang and someone called me telling me that Allan was waiting for me downstairs (Allan Garcia was my crush when I was in grade 6 - he was in grade 5 but we were the same age) I remember hurrying up to get dressed and I wanted to put make up on but there was no time, so I dabbed my Maybelline pressed powder on my face and I wanted to put lipstick on but my lipstick slipped through my fingers and fell on the ground, I hurried down the stairs and went on the front door. Now the setting of this part of my dream has transformed to my parents house in Pasig. So Allan was standing outside the gate, and I asked him to come inside. The reason he came over was to borrow my books and notes for Chemistry and 1 more subject that I couldn’t recall. I remember telling him that my notes wouldn’t be much use to him because the teaching styles of both our teachers are much too different. Then like in every dream, that scene vanished. 

The next thing I remember was I was walking up the stairs, I’m hearing voices through the window, its like a phone conversation between Noel and another girl (weird thing is I can hear the voice of the girl from the other line, while Noel was talking to her over the phone) So I got curious and went inside the room where Noel was, he had his back from the door and when I came inside he barely noticed, so I can hear giggling, I can even hear them talking about TUNA, LOL. Anyway I came closer and Noel noticed me and immediately unhooked the phone. Then I asked him who that was, I was jealous this time, and he got angry, he said he was tired of me, he feels like he is on a chain and something like that and wants to be free, he kept yelling at me, I felt so awful, jealous and broken hearted and I stepped out of the room feeling defeated.

The next scene of my dream probably was a few months after because I was with a new guy - I don’t know who this guy was, but he was tall, and he looked sort of like a Hollywood actor. Anyway we were walking around somewhere and he had me on piggy back and he said — This is it, I guess I should ask here Will you __ Me — In my dream the words “Marry” seemed taboo, it was forbidden to be mentioned. Anyway, in my dream, when the actor dude asked me to Marry him my thought suddenly jolted back to Noel because I still loved him, and suddenly he was watching us (the Hollywood Actor dude and me) and listening on our conversation. The actor dude asked me again, this time he put me down from the piggy back and kneeled down in front of me flashing me with a ring that I don’t remember what it looked like and said again “Will you __ Me”, I remember feeling torn and surprised and I said Yes, and I saw Noels face fall.

The next scene I remember I was kissing this actors mouth and I felt it, I remember feeling the kiss so vividly, like it was real. We were kissing for a long time when someone called me because there was someone calling on the phone for me. It was Cherry — Noel’s sister. She was telling me that Noel really didn’t mean to break up with me, and that all these is just a big mistake, and that Noel still loves me and is heartbroken that I accepted the actor dudes proposal, she was also telling me that Noel said that he wanted to break free a little because he felt like he was being smothered but he didn’t want to break up, blah blah blah, and I just kept on listening to Cherry and when I was to answer her back, I suddenly woke up.

LOL, it was the weirdest dream ever, because I don’t usually dream about guys that I don’t know, and the situation on the dream seemed so weird, but it felt so real, every touch and every word seemed real. And it was weird because usually when I dream about Noel, its usually like he has another girl on the side and I just end up feeling upset and I cry my eyes out in my dream.

Anyway, thats it. I have a really creative mind, did you know I have a dream everytime I sleep and I often remember them when I wake up and just forget them as I go about my daily activities. So I have an idea. Starting today I will document every dream I have, everyday, that way I will have something to write about on a day to day basis, besides my private thoughts and feelings you will now be able to read about my private dreams.

Join BC Bloggers 4

Are you new to blogging and is finding it hard to gain links to your blog?
Are you tired of exchanging links one blog at a time?
Are you looking for friends in the blogosphere?

If you said yes to all of the above then you have come to the right place. BC Bloggers will help your blog gain those precious inbound links in an easy and systematic way. It is also a cool way to meet friends in the blogosphere.



Click on the image above to know more about how to join the BC Bloggers 4 :)

Good Bye My Friend

(Photo From: a-handy-stock)

Lost Friend. We were once close, we shared life stories and love stories and all sort of stories that you can ever think of. We used to share a life together, one that I once thought would never be broken. But one think in life you have to learn is that friendship is also a relationship, and you can break up, fall out, and fall apart, for whatever reason.

It is not in my philosophy to hate friends that I used to love, or to be the enemy of my old friend, but when I lose one, I just start feeling indifferent, unaffected to whatever life may take them. I do not want to say that I don’t care about them, but eventually like everything else, you learn not to care about that person you used to care about your whole life. Suddenly they will no longer exist. You don’t hate them, you just don’t care, they just don’t matter anymore.

And I got to thinking, I broke up with boyfriends in the past but eventually I was able to rekindle the friendship I had with them, we are still able to maintain a healthy distant friendship. We can talk one day and talk like it was just yesterday when we last saw each other, but what happens when a friendship ends? I guess the path to take is to pretend like you never even knew each other, and sooner or later that friend who is no longer your friend will cease to exist.

You will erase them in your life, like they never have been part of it at all. You will lead separate lives and lose touch and never talk again.

If and when you lose a friend, it is sad, definitely for the first two days it will make you feel sad because of all those memories you shared with them, and the wasted years you spent loving them. But you will move on, you will realize there are a lot of other friends, deserving friends that you can now concentrate and focus on. One that will not waste your efforts and your love.

Friendship like all relationships is a two way street, it requires work, patience, understanding and trust. It might even be the hardest relationships to break, the toughest to rekindle and impossible to get back once lost. So if you have a friend that bid you goodbye, say goodbye with an open heart, let them leave and let other people in. Because a friend that gives up on you is not a friend worth having. This new path that life will take you will allow you to meet new and everlasting friends that will treasure what you (photo from: plectrude)                                         have to offer, no buts, no ifs, no whens.

So bid your lost friend goodbye, be bitter for a while and be sad, but tomorrow feel better because it is another opportunity to make life long friends.

Evolution of I commit to change

I commit to change is a Fan Page in Facebook that I discovered the day after it was founded. The page is so unique from the other fan pages in Facebook because they encouraged people like myself to commit to change to become better people. It didn’t matter what your commitment was, they encouraged and supported their fans to post their own personal commitments to change and to keep them updated with their fans progress. They even gave daily prizes to those they feel had the most unique commitments and they also offered a huge prize to commitment stories and blogs submitted to their page.

At first I thought this page was too good to be true, but I was hooked, addicted to check their page everyday and check on my fellow fans commitments. I have seen a lot of inspiring commitments (2nd page) and some are hugely unique. I even submitted my own daily commitments and submitted my own life long commitment story. And I stuck to their page like glue, I kept them updated with my progress and I kept reading others commitments on a daily basis.

But before I got hooked, I thought to myself, who would start such a cause-conscious fan page and give this outrageous prizes. It made me wonder, but I felt good whenever I was in their page that it didn’t really matter. They helped me reach a point in my life where my daughter and myself have been able to rekindle our love for each other and we are in a good place because of the encouragement of the people of I commit to change and my fellow fans.

Now that their daily commitment promotion is almost over, I thought, what would be next? Would people stop supporting the page because they will no longer be giving out freebies, I felt sad for a short while, because I honestly did not want the fan page to die, it is like a second home to me. But lo and behold they introduce a new tab in their fan page called the 14 Day Commitment, which had this slogan:



And I thought, wow! I’m glad the fan page is continually evolving and that it is now introducing new concepts to us, and most, if not all of the page fans and supporters is getting more and more excited about what the page has in store for us.

Now we are seeing a lot more growth in the page as they introduce the Mystery Shampoo 14-Day Commitment Challenge, and I am more excited than ever. I can’t wait to be part of this amazing uncovering, and everyone can be a part of the pages’ growth too, just join us and let’s experience the growth together.

Besides joining the I commit to change fan page, we can also join the unveiling of the Mystery Shampoo, not only can we be part of something amazing, but we can also get the chance to win cool prizes by joining the movement and referring friends.

Here are the list of prizes:

• 1 Winner of Blackberry Bold


• 2 Winners of 5,000 Ayala EGC


• 2 Winners of IPod Shuffle


• 3 Winners of The Spa Gift Certificate


• 3 Winners of Enjoy Philippines Card


• 3 Winners of Moleskine

There will be a total of 14 winners after this promotion is over, and not only will you be able to win things, at the I Commit To Change Fan Page you can and will meet tons of friends that will help you become a better person and support you with your personal commitment to change, they have the done the same for me.

Hunger Buster

This Afternoon I am feeling really good, maybe its the vitamins that I started taking or maybe its because I was able to wake up at 7 AM this morning :) But I decided to Bust my Hunger with a 5 minute quick fix meal that is oh so delicious! Nike and I prepared a meal to share :)

My Buttered Pan Grilled Cheese

The Ingredients:



2 Slices of Walterbread Weight Control Sliced Bread
3 Slices of Eden Melt Sarap Cheese / 2 Eden Cheese Singles
1 Teaspoon butter

The Process:



Melt the butter in low heat and place the 2 slices of bread to toast and absorb the melted butter. Flip and turn to have an even toast on both side of the bread.



Once toasted place the cheese on top of one of the sliced bread.



and cover it with the other bread to form a SANDWICH! :) Continue toasting the bread for a few seconds, to melt the cheese. Once perfectly toasted.



Slice the Buttered Pan Grilled Cheese into half or cut them into small animal shapes or fun shapes using a cookie cutter.

And then serve with Ice-Cold MILO! :)

Yumminess!



Doesn’t that just make you want to eat? :)