Thank you and See You Soon!

On the last Friday of April, my brunch buddies and I went out for dinner. Most of them haven’t eaten a Korean dish that was why I suggested a nearby authentic Korean restaurant for us to dine in. This get together was not thought out of nowhere; there was an important reason for us to gather and share a delicious meal. It was my farewell dinner treat.

A month after graduation, I was accepted by a knowledge outsourcing company for an international publishing client. Stepping out of the comfort of school and home, I was nervous how to face the real world. It did not help much to know that I was the youngest in the team I would belong – a fresh graduate.

But my worries ebbed away right after my first day. I was first introduced to my immediate superior, a man in his early thirties named Ron. He possesses such approachable and intellectual personality that I easily liked him. I received a good vibe from him that I knew from the start that we would get along well. And I was correct. As someone fresh out of schoolroom, I never felt incompetent and stupid grasping numerous systems and confusing rules associated with my job as a production editor. Ron was there every time to teach and guide me. He’s knowledgeable in explaining stuff in an easy manner. He’s also very patient answering my questions and if you know me personally, you’ll agree that I am a girl with questions. I am very thankful to him because he gave me such good experiences for my first job. More importantly, he let me realize that co-workers can be like family too, with him as our adoptive father.

Next, I met Jae. Honestly, I was scared to talk to her after receiving a heads-up that she could be moody at times. I didn’t want to have bad relationships at work so I told myself to be more careful when I would be around her. Then for a sudden twist of fate, we wound up together after she saved me from the evil clutches of another co-worker. We were inseparable ever since. She’s there when I had my moments, and I was also there to listen when she had hers. I never imagined we could be that close, but I feel grateful that we did. She’s my older sister from different parents and I am lucky to meet her.

Our team expanded and along with the new journals came Micah. She’s a transfer from a different project. Jae and I had a first impression that we might not get along with this chic, fashionable, i-care-for-nothing kind of girl, but we were wrong. Not only did she prove to be a sweet and caring person, she also became a part of the then Monica-Jae duo. She loves reading and from there, we started to get along. She has a thing for music too, but what impressed me the most is her ability to quote characters from movies! Talents and passions aside, she became one of my few colleagues-turned-friends. A confidante who never fails to make me think of the other side of a situation, she gives both heart and life advices. And oh, fashion, too!

Months came and we grew bigger. Three more people from the project went with us during breaks. Ete is a sunny person who possesses a super creative mind. She can transform thrift finds and old-fashioned garments to those suitable for runways. She’s very kind and cheerful, but no one should dare cross her. We sometimes tease her in expense of her namesake – the child star in the movie The Orphan. Though she never showed us a violent streak, we were careful not to be the next John! Kidding J

My colleagues know that wherever you find Ete, he is always somewhere nearby. When I was new, I didn’t know why he’s called Mayor by others and wondered if he’s bothered with the moniker. Turned out that his fashion sense was the reason why he gained the name of the then floral-inspired city mayor of the Capital. The name stuck and everyone calls him as such. Despite the political address, Mayor is one of the jolliest people I met. He always makes us laugh with his unfailing humor and wit. He was never embarrassed to share his dreams and experiences even though we laughed about them 98% of the time. He’s very loyal and sweet. No wonder girls from the office are comfortable to be his friend. I can’t forget those two Christmas parties I spent with him, but most of all, I will always remember that until now, he has my tumbler. Give it back to me, Mayor! Haha.

Mayor’s immediate superior is She, a tall and skinny lady from their team. I observed that she has a quiet persona but later, I found out that she only reserves her fun and crazy side to friends. Both Ete and Mayor are her friends, so it was inevitable that she would also join our group. She loves to read and has an eclectic taste when it comes to books. Like the rest of us, she likes to eat a lot too, but what annoys us is the fact that she seems not to gain any fat from all those frequent trips to pleasure our stomachs. She’s so sexy!

One Friday morning, all six of us gathered in the second floor of our cafeteria for break, and that’s where the Friday Brunch Buddies were formed. We ate, talked, and joked a lot. There was no room for dead air; we always engaged in interesting conversations. Topics vary from hairstyles, floral prints, causes of UTI, evolution of mobile phones, 90s boybands, etc. All of us loved to keep lively discussions about while eating away our stress from work.

Then a month before I celebrate my second year as being employed, I received a big opportunity for my career. This offer would make me put to use what I have studied in theory in university. Without thinking twice, I tried it out. Much too soon, I was accepted. I won’t disclose here the melodrama I burdened myself and my friends, but I’d like you to know that deciding to stay or go was not an easy task.

On my last day at my company, I invited my Friday Brunch buddies and Ron’s family (his wife Lanie and son KC) for my farewell dinner treat. Since I love Korean food and most of them have yet to try that cuisine, I decided to introduce them to an authentic restaurant near my village. I have featured the restaurant here in my blog once or twice already, but for the benefit of others, the place is called Sam Won Restaurant.

Here are some of our photos taken during dinner.

funny Mayor and Ete in their bright colored shirts

She, Nica, and Micah on cooking samgyupsal

 

dolsot bibimbap!

 

 

 

          

    

They say all good things come to an end, but I beg to differ. All good things don’t end, people do. Now, as I am already a month old in my new company, my former colleagues are still there for me. Nothing has changed. In fact, Ete just sent me a message asking me about our plans for Jae’s wedding later this year. I know we won’t wait for that month to come before we meet again, but I am too excited to see my friend walking down the aisle, plus our hotel/BnB experience as guests!

Enough of my sentimentality. Please don’t forget to join my current giveaway and get a chance to win a $30 clothing coupon with free shipping. Open internationally!

On being Aphrodite: How far can you go to be beautiful?

Few weeks ago, my friend, Micah, invited me to spend time with her after work. She suggested going to our basic hangout place, SM Mall of Asia. Having nothing else to do after, I decided to come along. Apparently, it was on her schedule to go to our local waxing salon to de-hair herself. With enough cajoling from my other colleagues to have my body hair under the mercy of strangers, I settled for “I will try”. And I did try.

Lay Bare Waxing Salon is a waxing service franchise from US. I don’t think a lot of Filipinos are naturally hairy, but it seems my opinion was incorrect based on its growing number of branches in the metro and nearby provinces. In my village alone, there’s a branch exclusive for us!

Micah has been using its service for quite some time now, so I am not 100% scared that something will turn horribly wrong for me. Still, it’s my first time and like any other firsts, I was embarrassingly nervous. I do shave, albeit seldom, since there’s really no need to do so. I am almost completely out of hair. Really. Anyhow, I tried to put on my game face and pretended to be brave about it.

I signed up for eyebrow threading and underam services. Confession time: I don’t like touching my brows. They are naturally thin and go separate ways – I mean not like McD’s or Mazda eyebrow styles. I think they have only been “touched” less than ten times in my whole existence and those were the times when I really had to doll-up with the assistance of hair and make-up artists.

Anyway, let’s move on with my story. When my name was called to the booth, I walked slowly to my attendant. I explained that I was a newbie for the service and she gave me a smile which was often reserved for kids going to their dental check-up. Then she went on with her job. And I wished she hadn’t.

Never in my life had I thought that a single thread could give so much pain in my person. Imagine my surprise when the first “attack” happened. I was like an earthworm being tortured by naughty kids with rock salt. It was too painful, I cried. Too much for keeping a game face. The staff informed me that the pain will lessen soon, but I wasn’t soothed with that. I felt too much pain that when I complained again, the attendant scolded me of drinking tea on the day of a waxing appointment. According to the rules, drinking something with caffeine before going to a waxing session is a definite no-no. Thankfully, the next session wasn’t that as painful. We breezed through it while she complained that I don’t have any hair to remove in the first place. She went on with “Don’t go back here anytime soon”, “You just wasted money on these services you don’t actually need”, and “Your hair is like that of a baby”.

Why did I go with that “rite of passage”? Why did I even make myself susceptible to that beauty pain? What did I want to achieve? Did I want to prove that I’m already a grown-up and not a sweet, charming teenager? My mind was asking too many questions while I was waiting for my Micah in the lobby. When she finally emerged, she filled me with her stories on how painful it was to go Brazilian. It triggered more questions in my head.

Why do women have to go through a lot just to be called beautiful? And I’m saying physically beautiful. As far as I observe, pain comes along with beauty.

A pretty face has a price. How many of my Korean friends confessed of wanting to have parts of their body changed and some who really did it after? How many actresses and singers do we know have altered beauty? Do you doubt that they went through various kinds of pain just to achieve how they look now?

I personally know someone who had her surgery at the age of 16. She often voices her envy on my huge, ugly, double-lidded eyes. She thinks I am gifted with eyes of an owl and wanted  hers done. In her country, the surgery is quite normal that it is not surprising to meet others who have done the same thing no matter how young.

But will others get contented with just the eyes? In Korea, a perfect face must consist of: big, round, double-lidded eyes; straight perfect nose, and V-shaped face. Gangnam Style.

More alteration, more surgery. Well, at least I hope women who underwent surgeries are happy with the results. They might have gone through a lot of pain during the process, but I hope that they gained more self-confidence and satisfaction with what they got now.

Even though I personally dislike cosmetic surgery for myself, I don’t have anything against those people who went under the knife. They have their personal reasons, and mostly those are sound ones. However, I can’t help but frown at others who seem dissatisfied with life in general. Here are the not-so-common and can be termed “crazy” surgeries I think others do:

1. Dimpleplasty and chin cleft surgeries. Both look good at first, if you think a permanent “scar” as beautiful, but what about 5-10 years after? As we age, so does our skin. Who wants a sagging scar as he/she grows old?
2. Toe shortening. It seems others really find something wrong in their body. Those who do not like that their second toe is longer than the third or the rest of the toes go for this surgery.
3. Ear pointing. Who fancies being as pretty as elves and faeries? This procedure can be done by cutting a portion of the ear and stitching the two sides of the altered part. Result? Pointed ears!
4. Abdominal etching. Who doesn’t want those yummy abs? For men who want to get rid of those belly fat without exercise or any fad diet, they believe this is their answer. This is done by “sculpting” or “drawing” on layers of fat to make that sexy appearance. Again, what will happen when they grow old?
5. Cankle liposuction. Being a stick all my life, I never experienced worrying about my ankles. Call me insensitive, but it’s true. Lately, I read something about a woman fussing about her chubby ankles. Perhaps there’s something sexy and feminine with thin ankles? Whatever her reason maybe, I do not plan to waste $5000-$8000 by removing fats from my ankles.
6. Collagen feet fillers. It is true that wearing high heels boost confidence in women. Makes us feel beautiful, glamorous, and sexy. But wearing those stilettos and cigarette heels usually kill our feet. That is why some people decided to have some protein injected in the balls of their feet to act as cushion and padding while wearing those skyscrapers. Hmm what’s next? Surgery to make your feet like Barbie’s?
7. Pubic hair transplants. Seriously? Yes. I was also surprised when I read this. And to think that according to the article I read, it is common among Asians! WTH. Something to do with fertility. Ugh. No way, highway.

Why do people go through all those kind of surgeries? Is being beautiful and sexy so important that we turn a blind eye on the pain that comes along with each? How about you? Will you have something done for your body? What is your take on cosmetic surgery?

White Day 화이트데이 (3.14.13)

Today, I woke up with several messages waiting in my Kakao Talk. I read three messages from a close friend:

 

Then I remembered. Aha! Today is White Day! Girls Day!

 

I learned about White Day in my Nihongo class in university. Our sensei educated us not only with the language, but also with the culture of the country. According to her, during February 14, Valentine’s Day, Japanese girls show their affection to boys by presenting them with candies and chocolate gifts. Exactly a month after, March 14, White Day (ホワイトデ), the opposite happens. Japanese boys are supposed to return the favor by giving girls presents thrice the amount (三倍返し) of the gift received on Valentine’s Day.

 

White Day is celebrated in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. It started in 1978 by a Japanese confectionary industry as an “answer day” to those girls who showed their feelings during Valentine’s. Now, isn’t that thoughtful? This way, men can reciprocate the gesture.

Here are some photos I grabbed in the Internet for you guys:

 

Now, who wouldn’t want to be like this girl?

 

How about in your country? Do you also have a counterpart for Valentine’s Day? If you are living in Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan, did your significant other gave you the “required” White Day candy? Please feel free to share to us your experience!

Happy White Day everyone~

Related post:

http://gongjumonica.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/post-valentine-gimmick-and-a-canine-gift/

http://gongjumonica.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/my-fictional-valentine-date/

http://gongjumonica.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/happy-pepero-day/

Note: Please join my giveaways!

My first blog anniversary + giveaway

It seems not so long ago when I started creating this blog and was surprised when a WordPress notification congratulated me for celebrating my first year in the platform. Wow. I didn’t imagine that I could maintain a blog for this long and it came as a surprise. I made it to my first year! The feeling is incomparable. This is my first blog ever and I feel very much accomplished to see how far I already am from last year.

I created this blog as an outlet of my feelings, thoughts, and opinions. Honestly, I was nursing a heart ache at that time and blogging seemed like a helpful diversion for me. I know some of you already know about this, but The Impressions of a Princess will not be here if it were not for Gorjaeous of Scatterbrain. She is my colleague, friend, and older sister rolled into one. She’s been blogging for years and decided to go back to WP platform. While busy tweaking her new account, she talked me into creating one for myself. The next thing I knew was I was signing up for a WordPress account!

My first post is ugly that I am shy to share it to you guys. However, since I want you to read my first ever entry, here is a link to “It Started with a Dream, but not Mine”. I have this funny feeling while reading that post a year after. I didn’t have any expectations at that time so I am very overwhelmed by the number of people visiting, reading, liking, commenting, and following me.

Earlier this year, I used WordPress Annual Report to see how far I’ve gone since then. I also created a summary of how 2012 treated me and you can find it here: Looking Back: Year 2012. And now, a year after my first successful attempt in blogging, I am going to relive some of blogging memories I had.

March 3, 2012 – I posted my first post after the required blog intro. It is also my first Korean song posted in the site. Link: Nothing Better

March 26, 2012 – My first Korean inspired food was featured. Link: Spaghetti a la Koreamo: Kimchi Spaghetti

June 20, 2012 – My first Korean restaurant review. Link: Cravings – Bulgogi Garden Experience

August 13, 2012 – It was my first time to receive a blog award. The Liebster Blog Award was given to me by Aneesa and Faraaz. Link: Liebster Blog Award

September 23, 2012 – My first politically inclined post. My other side was showing! Link: Whose Innocence? On Innocence of Muslims

October 3, 2012 – I joined a 30-day Blogging Challenge and I posted my challenge intro on this day. Link: Unblocking Your Mind: Prevent Writers’ Block; 30-day Blogging Challenge link

October 10, 2012 – I attempted to write a short story about inanimate object. Link: As I lay dying: The life story of a cigarette

November 19, 2012 – Hosted my first ever giveaway sponsored by Juanita of Juanita Tortilla Shop. Link: Some things to be thankful for

December 4, 2012 – I written my first ever book review and author’s interview in the blog. Link: The Drought

December 17 – I joined various book blog tours and I posted my first book blog tour stop. Link: His Black Wings

Through all of these, you guys stayed with me. You tolerated my sick jokes and nonsense opinions. You gave opinion on how to improve my blog. You also encouraged me to continue writing and expressing myself. For that, I am eternally grateful. I know I said this several times already, but I won’t grow tired saying it. I owe a lot of things to you guys. You made me a better writer than I was before. Before, I only thought out of the box, but now, I break the box. You made me a whole person. I cannot be like this without you.

Honestly, I am a sentimental person and we could go on like this the entire blog post. However, I don’t want to show that side of me in this site so I will stop boring you with my gratitude. Let’s talk of the future instead. Now, what will be in store for us from this day forward?

Since I love reading, I will still post reading and book related stuff in my site. However, I already stopped signing up for blog tours as they occupied much of my time and space in blogging. Aside from books, I decided to post more about my life and thoughts on anything under the sun. Also, I will try my very best to catch up with you guys. I know that I sound rude for not being able to reply to all of your comments and I feel terribly sorry for that. I will also make time visiting and camping in your sites in the near future!

I didn’t make New Year’s resolutions, but the paragraph above sounded just as much. Anyhow, to celebrate my first blog anniversary, I will be hosting two-three giveaways in the near future. Now, how cool is that?

They say the best way to start is now. So why wait for a few more days? Let’s start the celebration! Sincerely Sweet Boutique lives up to its name by offering one of my readers a chance to get a $30 Gift Certificate to be used in their shop. Sweet? Totally.

Let’s celebrate!

To inspire you on purchasing items from this shop, let me post some of the products they are offering.

To join the giveaway, kindly click on the rafflecopter link below to join. This giveaway is open internationally and will end on March 13. All entries will be checked and a winner will be announced in this blog. The winner will have 48 hours to respond/comment in the blog announcement before another winner will be chosen.

Have fun everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cheers,

Imperial weekend in a Korean setting

Last Sunday, my good friend, Czar, invited me to go out and perhaps to celebrate Cookie’s one week-sary (?) with me. Since he knows I love tea, we agreed to meet in a local tea shop near my home, Tea Talk.

[credits: teambee5.blogspot.com]

Tea Talk is a small tea shop along Aguirre Avenue in BF Homes, Parañaque City. What I love in this particular shop is the comfort they give to their customers. It exudes such a cozy ambiance. There are the ordinary tables and chairs, as well as love seat cushions, but what I like best is their platform area where customers can kick their shoes off and sit on the floor hugging the pillows while sipping their drinks. The shop has a limited selection of drinks which vary from brewed green teas, milk teas, fruit teas, and even Yakult teas. They also have add-ons like tapioca pearls, jelly, egg pudding, and popping boba.

I chose my favorite Lychee Green Tea Yakult Flip and the emperor got his Mango Green Tea with Honey. After paying at the cashier, we went to the shop’s extension and sat in one of the green couches facing the window. Behind us was another raised platform occupied with three Korean girls noisily chatting around while snapping their selcas. The entire time that we’d been there, we never saw a single Filipino soul aside from the staff. Why? Well, it’s one of those favorite hangouts of Korean teenagers because the shop tolerates their PDAs. Ugh.

After we finished drinking our tea and enjoying the free Wifi, we decided to go out and leave those over-expressive Koreans. We walked around a bit as I “toured” him around our village. “Here’s the Korean resto strip, the Church, the stable, bla bla.” Anyway, after we spent our energy strolling in one of the parks, we decided to have dinner. He wanted to go Korean (don’t ask me why) and I had some suggestions to him.

We ended up eating in Sam Won Garden restaurant located along Aguirre, too. In fact, it can take only 3~5 minutes to walk from Tea Talk. It is one of the most popular authentic Korean restaurants in my village and their service is proven by a lot of people going there every day. Too many, in fact, that customer always have a hard time finding a parking place.

It was my second time to eat there and basically, the restaurant doesn’t have any much difference to others that I have been to. Czar only knows samgyupsal (삼겹살 or Korean grilled pork belly)so that automatically added to our order. He also wanted to experience cooking it by ourselves and our waiting staff informed us that we need to get two servings to be able to do just that. Weird. I dined there a month ago with a Korean friend and we cooked ours with only a single order. Anyhow, we got two, plus my favorite noodle tteokbokki (쫄볶이 or spicy rice cake with noodles).

Of course, various banchans (반찬 or side dish) were served first. We had cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi, sweetened potato marbles, vegetable pajeon, spicy Korean coleslaw, spicy onion leeks, and others that I have forgotten. They also gave us a free bottle of brewed tea while waiting for the samgyupsal.

raw pork belly

 

me and my poor editing

 

my favorite 쫄볶이

 

When the raw pork belly arrived, Czar was excited cooking his first samgyupsal. I smiled and tried to remember my first experience in a Korean restaurant. Funny that I couldn’t remember. Anyhow, I taught him the basics up to the “how to properly eat a samgyupsal: the steps.” It was too hilarious. He ate in his own way, which I always teased him of being an ahjussi (아저시 or uncle/old man).

afterwards…

After half an hour or so, I heard him sniffing. Too much spiciness would end up with a cold. I encouraged him to eat more of the tteok, but he barely touched his bowl. Before I even expressed myself, he came up with, “I’m full.” I shared the same feeling, but there were a lot of food remaining in the table. The banchans are too much, and the tteokbokki noodles are just too heavy in my stomach. Add samgyupsal to the mix and I felt my tummy slowly bloating. We still tried eating more though, but not enough. We ended up taking home the remaining of the rice cakes.

That’s basically the highlight of the day. We also went to church to attend the Sunday service. Two hours after arriving home, I still felt the food in my stomach. Oh boy. Few more days like that and my stomach will be the one to replace the samgyupsal (pork belly) dish.

How about you guys? What are your week’s highlights? Any plan for this weekend?

Related posts:

Coffee is not my cup of tea

Kimchi spaghetti

Kimchi Jjigae recipe

Seoul Fusion restaurant review

Bulgogi Brothers review

Bulgogi Garden restaurant review

Sumo Sam review

Some Korean friends

Kimchi Weekend

Post-Valentine Gimmick and a Canine Gift

Yesterday, Czar and I decided to meet in SM Southmall, Las Piñas City. Actually, a coffee shop near my home will be fine, but he insisted going to that particular mall only because I haven’t been there for some time. I met him in the entrance and after some talk, we decided to find a good yogurt house. He mentioned a popular parlor and I agreed since I know they serve those mouth-watering frozen yogurts. Together, we walked towards the parking lot as he was sure that it is located near there.

To our disappointment, it wasn’t there. Most shops were relocated and I comforted him with the assumption that perhaps the shop was moved to another place. Moving forward, we combed the entire floor looking for it. Not finding it in the ground floor, we continued our search until we reached the highest floor. Still no sign of the yogurt shop. Bummer.

I don’t know why he specifically wanted to eat froyo aside from the fact that it was frying hot outside. Still, he influenced me and I found myself craving for the cold, sour taste of yogurt. So I didn’t think twice when I answered his question. With my approval, we went to another mall.

I haven’t been to Alabang Town Center for a couple of months and I admit that the structure confused me yesterday as it did before. Good thing Czar lives in the area so I assumed he knows the way. After deciding which yogurt house to go to, we started looking for it. However, after realizing that we seemed to perpetually walk around the mall without a sign of the aloof yogurt shop, I suggested we use the high-tech kiosk to look for direction. We found one and it is user-friendly. Soon, we were on our way.

We reached the Town Plaza and I was surprised to see a lot of people in there. Whoa. He intruded my observation and pointed to the yogurt house which was across the plaza. We took a few steps when a booming voice caught our attention. Apparently, there’s something going on and for a moment, I thought there’ll be a flash mob dancing in the center of the plaza. Fat chance.

It turned out to be a post-Valentine celebration of the mall. The event was called Helicopter Flower Drop, and soon enough, we heard the sound of an approaching chopper. We looked at each other, smiled, and decided to join the others in the center of the plaza.

The chopper approached and tried to drop the rose petals, but was unsuccessful for its first try. They must be testing the wind. After three tries, they have successfully showered us with those red rose petals.

It was beautiful. ATC is correct; only flowers can rain on my parade. Haha. It was romantic, too. Someone daydreamed of swirling around those slowly falling rose petals while singing for her music video.

I didn’t think of capturing the moment using my crappy smartphone camera and Czar used his only for videos so I couldn’t share something from me. However, I happened to find these beautiful photos taken by another princess, Sol, in her blog.

It was such a fine day, but it seemed that it wasn’t written to end that way. A few hours later, I arrived home with a huge smile on my face.

My siblings squealed with glee when they saw the box I was holding. A tiny head curiously popped up and I swear I could read her face. I answered her question with, “Yes, baby, this will be your new home.”

The emperor gifted me with a puppy. I thought it was a boy so I already had a ready name for him, but when she turned out to be a girl, I found myself in panic. What shall I name her?

Mr. Emperor came up with some funny name suggestions:

Dash, Pinkie, Sparkle, Apple, Rarity, Flutter, Cuddles, Bon Bon, Derpy, Opal, Tank, Winona, Hoot, Lyra… then his sweet tooth came in: Oreo, Cookie, Cupcake, Cinnamon, Fuzzy, Candy, Caramel, Muffin.

I laughed out loud. Surely, my pup will like a beautiful name for her. But I couldn’t think of any. So I decided to choose one from his list. I ended up with Cookie.

Cookie does not look the same as her namesake. She has a brown head with a white/cream body. I would have posted a photo here, but I couldn’t get an opportunity to do so as she constantly sleeps like a baby.

Anyway, so that’s how my day went yesterday – a cute flower drop from a chopper and a new puppy to love. Isn’t it a nice way to start a new week? I wonder what will happen on the next. Ah, right. We’ll watch the International Pyromusical Competition! Yehey!

For more photos of the helicopter flower drop, you may click here.

How about you guys? How did your weekend go?

Related post:

My Fictional Valentine Date

Who wants more Yakult?

Yesterday, I was eating brunch with my colleagues Ete (Esther) and Mayor (he’s not a public official) in the company’s cafeteria when Mayor surprised us with his experiment.

“Do you want to drink more Yakult?” Mayor asked with the confidence of a magician in his show.

“Of course,” Ete and I chorused.

“Then what you need are only two things: Yakult and Smart C+ Lemon,” he replied.

Yakult is a popular Japanese probiotic drink made by fermented skimmed milk with live Lactobacillus Shirota strain. Benefits of Yakult consumption like maintenance of gut flora, modulation of the immune system, regulation of bowel habits and constipation, and finally effects on some gastrointestinal infections are proven by various scientific studies.  Aside from these advantages, the taste of this milk-like drink is so unique that a lot of people from Japan, Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore, Hong kong, Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Europe, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Americas, Mexico, and Thailand want to drink this almost every day.

Smart C+ Lemon, on one hand, is one of the flavors of Smart C+ drink. Smart C+ is a Philippine ready-to-drink healthy product which has the highest content of Vitamin C in the market. It comes in three flavors: Lemon Squeeze, Orange Crush, and Pomelo Grapefruit.

Mayor’s selling point is that the mixture will have the same Yakult taste and this got our attention. Ete and I were curious. Smart C+ and Yakult? Really?

Mayor bought a 500 mL of Smart C+ and 2 bottles of 80 mL Yakult. He mixed the combined 160 mL of Yakult to half a liter of the lemon juice. Ete and I were like holding our breath when Mayor was performing his magician’s trick. Soon, it was finished. And like any cooking show, it must end with a taste test. Ete went first. Her face transformed from doubt to surprised to amazed.  She then exclaimed, “It is Yakult!”

I didn’t need any invitation after that. I tried the mixture myself. The verdict? It tastes exactly like Yakult!

We were like kids who found a chest full of gold. We animatedly talk throughout brunch while sipping our Yakult.

We do not know the reason behind the result of the experiment though I suggested that perhaps the sour element of Yakult complemented the vitamin C taste of Smart C+. Well, that’s just my hunch.

How about you guys? Do you drink Yakult? Do you like it? Don’t you get frustrated by its small packaging? Have you also tried mixing it with another drink?

Christmas is here!

Nine days before Christmas! Starting today, dawn masses or Misa de Gallo are being held in Catholic churches all over the Philippines.

Filipinos in all ages wake up at an early hour to be able to attend a 4 AM novena mass. This mass will go on from December 16 to 24. For this year, I missed the first day of the mass. I went home around 1 AM already and didn’t have the energy to wake up at 4.

However, I will try to attend the remaining days. Going to church in the morning is nice yet a bit cold. Many people are still sleepy when they arrived in the holy ground, but they become awake when they smell fresh and tasty rice cakes and sweets being sold outside the church. During Christmas season, two of these rice cakes are so popular that they are never absent in any church.

puto bumbong and bibingka

 On another note, last December 8, our company held our annual holiday party at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Many people attended though I think we didn’t reach last year’s 7000 attendance. Roughly around 5000 people were there though.

I went there with my colleague and friend, Micah, and we were extremely surprised when we saw each other! Talk about color coordinated outfits!

It was dark inside the party and I didn’t think of snapping some shots there. However, I managed to steal some and I am sharing you my photos with Micah, Mayor (another colleague) et moi.

Micah and Me

For those who are religiously following my blog and reading my posts, you might have this question in your head – is that Monica’s hair now? The answer is yes. I went to the party without doing anything to my hair. I just let it down – Medusa’s  style.

Sorry for this crappy post everyone as I am running behind my schedule now. My family will go to another mall tonight to do last-minute Christmas shopping again and here I am still typing away! Anyway, please let me know your thoughts on this post. Do you celebrate Christmas/Hanukkah? What are the traditions in your country in celebrating it? 

Don’t forget to enter my ongoing international giveaways! Just go to the right hand menu and look for the latest two book reviews.

Coffee is not my cup of tea

tea leaves
tea loves
loves tea
lives tea
leaves tea?
never.
~Uniek Swain

In my previous posts, I have already given the fact that I am a tea person. In this country, drinking tea is not that popular as to taking your regular Joe. There are so many people who love coffee, but thankfully, I am not one of them.

Even when people my age started to take caffeine from coffee during high school, I declined the trend. I won’t be a hypocrite to say that I haven’t tried coffee before, I just don’t like it. I have tasted different kinds of coffee already – black, decaf, etc., but nothing suited my fancy. My taste buds never agreed. So aside from drinking milk, which my friends teased me as being a baby, I only took fruit shakes.

Then I visited Japan. The land of the rising sun is popular for its traditional tea ceremony. Of course as a foreigner, it is a must-try.

One time, while I was with my homestay family, we went to this traditional tea house. I was wearing kimono as we were to join the festivities of Otabi Matsuri. Inside the tea house, we were served with matcha green tea and sweets. Together with my mom and sister, Nao, (Father was the designated photographer) we participated in this old ceremony of serving and drinking tea.

don’t mind the AH1N1 mask!

For a first-timer of matcha green tea, I admit that I didn’t like it.  I wasn’t prepared for the oh so bitterness of the drink.  Even though the sweetness of mochi somehow disguised the taste of the tea, it didn’t help much. Nonetheless, I smiled to my Japanese family and said, “That was great!”

When I returned to my country, I tried to steer clear from green tea because of that experience. It wasn’t really that bad; just pure green that would make your tongue colored after drinking, and of course, taste bitter. Prior to that experience, I have tried tea (from the bag) before, but deemed it not suitable for me. However, nothing compared to the “almost-repulsive” experience I had in Japan.

But I guess the Filipino saying about one must not close his doors and express final sentiment on a matter is indeed true. After some time, I learned to drink tea. And how I loved it!

I couldn’t actually remember the first time I took a tea after in Nihon. I think I started with those regular “brown” teas from Lipton and from there my passion for the leaves grew. I began trying different brands and flavors, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the teas. If there were coffeeholics, then some called me a teaholic.

I would like to say that drinking tea is an acquired taste. Based from what I have written above, I didn’t like it at first but after few more tries one can get the hang of it and maybe even get addicted to it. When my friends want to get their caffeine boost of the day, of course we’ll go to a nearby coffee shop. As I don’t drink coffee, tea became my reliable friend during those times. Instead of being peer-pressured to drink coffee, I found a convenient and favorite drink to order.

Sadly, only few people share my growing love for tea so there’s limited choices of tea houses to go to if one wants a good cup here in the Philippines. Sure, we can go to brands like Starbucks and CBTL, but the teas offered there are limited compared to coffee. Of course.

So if I’m not in a meeting or out in a mall shopping, I prefer drinking my own choice of tea.

isn’t my mug just cute?

My favorite is pure green tea (Ha! Yeah, the turn of events), but sometimes I try to taste something else for variety. Currently, I love Twinning’s Pure Green Tea. In fact, just a month ago, I asked Dad to buy Twinning’s tea from Dubai for me. Along with Earl Grey Green Tea and English Breakfast, he bought 100 bags of Pure Green [not in the picture]. Yay!

Isn’t that lovely? It’s too many for me to consume only at home, so I bring some bags to my office, too. Almost everyday I sip the delicious taste of my drink and I even influenced some of my colleagues to convert to tea! Aha, vote me for president! Kidding aside, I was glad to see that some of my previous coffee drinker friends are now trying to take a new drink which has 50% less caffeine to offer.

Then recently, just last week, a Korean friend gave me a present from Korea. He took his Chuseok vacation and when he came back, he gave this wonderful gift to me!

현미 녹차 (Hyeonmi nukcha)

also know as Japanese Genmaicha tea

100 bags divided into two boxes!

inside

It is a Korean green tea mixed with brown rice. It’s not that strong as other Western teas and does not need, I think, of a “tea tongue”. In fact, it tastes similar to corn or barley tea; it’s almost water. It also reminds me of Solomon’s seal tea – just a light drink which I can take for maybe five times a day. Haha!

 I didn’t expect that I would love tea this much though I am grateful that I do. I won’t forget that fateful day when I first tasted the rich and strong blend of green tea.

Have you tried drinking tea? Did you like it? What’s your favorite brand and flavor?

M & M in MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Yesterday, Micah and I decided to go to SM Mall of Asia to buy hand wraps for our MMA lessons on Friday. It will be our second class and we are looking forward to it. Friday seems more interesting than before!

Last September 7, we had our very first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) lessons partially subsidized by the company. At 2:30, Micah and I went to the fifth level of our building wearing fancy [laughs] tights and cotton shirts, no shoes. 아자, 아자, 화이팅! (Aja, aja, hwaiting!)

We were greeted by a hot (seriously) room with men in MMA outfit (?). As expected, more men signed up for this activity and I think we were only six girls in there. Anyway, the room wasn’t really well ventilated at first and Micah even joked that one way to lose weight is this dry sauna. Haha! Few minutes passed then the trainers arrived. Oh my. This is it!

We had a ten-minute streeeeeetching (I even stretched the word for you just to emphasized how “extended” I felt after that) followed by a 30-minute cardio exercise. Something expected happened after that, but I think it can be a topic of a future post.

After that, we had our water break and started our MMA lessons. For those who aren’t familiar with Mixed Martial Arts, I have asked Wikipedia dude for you:

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of other combat sports.

Most ‘traditional’ martial arts have a specific focus and these arts may be trained to improve in that area. Popular disciplines of each type include:

Stand-up: Various forms of Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, TaeKwonDo, and Karate are trained to improve footwork, elbowing, kicking, kneeing and punching.

Clinch: Freestyle, Greco-Roman wrestling, Sambo and Judo are trained to improve clinching, takedowns and throws, while Muay Thai is trained to improve the striking aspect of the clinch.

Ground: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Submission Wrestling, shoot wrestling, catch wrestling, Judo and Sambo are trained to improve ground control and position, as well as to achieve submission holds, and defend against them.

So we continued in our lessons. Micah and I had studied fighting stance, different footwork, punching and kicking. It was a bit frustrating at first if we can’t follow what “master” told us to do. Example: forward, jab, straight. Forward, left hook. Backward, jab, straight, hook, hook. Or: push kick, side kick, back kick, thigh kick, roundhouse kick!

It was fun and stress-relieving at the same time. You can release your anger and frustration in those exercises I have mentioned below. Then at the end of the session, before the cool down, we had 500 counts of abs exercise. Argh~~ We all know the benefits that we can get for these, but it was really hard and painful as hell. T.T

So back to yesterday. We wanted to buy hand wraps for our classes. The last time we only borrowed ours and we feel it is unhygienic not to have your own pair. Since the nearest mall doesn’t have this protective gear available, we went to Mall of Asia and searched the sports shops there.

For your curiosity, I googled hand wraps for you:

A hand wrap or a wrist wrap is a strip of cloth used by boxers (and participants in other combat sports) to protect the hand and wrist against injuries induced by punching. It is usually worn before the gloves.

Anyway, so we hunted down different sports centers in the mall. As far as I know, there are ten shops that we can go to look for hand wraps. The shopping establishment is big, and we have to walk a lot. So while at it, I snapped some photos bearing our ugly and tired faces. Haha!

Maix and Me

selca. My hair was naturally curled, haha!

We went to three or four shops until we settled in Sportshouse. We bought our hand wraps only for P250 per pair! Cheap find

I preferred mine red while Maix likes black

What’s next? Of course, for Micah and me a girl date won’t be completed without a trip to our favorite Book Sale. The branch in Mall of Asia is bigger and more spacious so customers can move around freely, unlike in others where you will occasionally bump into someone whenever you reach or duck for those bookshelves.

We weren’t sure, but I think we spent more than an hour in there. I was disappointed because I couldn’t find any book that I haven’t read which could be worth my money, so Micah encouraged me to sit down with her and ransacked (exaggeration here) the shelves! We parked ourselves there on the cold tiled floor of the shop while laughing at some absurd titles of the books. I’m sorry, I am a bookworm/book lover but sometimes some books give me this crazy feeling whenever I read their titles or see their book covers. (I know, I know, don’t judge the book by its cover).

Moving forward, I bought only one book – an Oxford Classics of Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady while Maix had Anne Perry’s Traitor’s Gate and Caleb Carr’s The Angels of Darkness.

Hungry! That’s what we were feeling after we paid for our goods. But of course, we spent more than 20 minutes looking for a good restaurant to dine in until we decided to go to World of Chicken.

I ordered grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and Asian noodles, while Maix had grilled chicken with gravy and Japanese rice.

grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and Asian noodles

ugly~~~

nom-nom-nom

Chowtime!

Then we stopped for ice cream at McD’s and went home. It was a perfect date – it ended up in ice cream! Let’s do it again, girl!

Eating like a Sumo: Sumo-sam experience

Paul was hungry. He said so while we were seating in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

“I’m hungry. Aren’t you?”

Honestly, I was full after eating 떡볶이 (tteokbokki) for lunch. So I tipped my head to the left and answered, “So-so.”

He smiled a bit shyly and claimed, “Well, I’m on a diet.”

Then he laughed. I followed. It was so funny.

“We can go and find something to eat,” I offered. He stood up and replied, “Let me go to restroom first.” Of course, I nodded my assent.

When he went back, we focused ourselves to one of the most difficult tasks in the world – choosing which restaurant to dine in.

My friends and I all want to explore different cuisines to experience cultural immersion even just by eating out. May it be Italian, French, Greek, Persian, or Thai, we can form some conclusions as to how people in that country or nation live. Just by the selection of spices included in their common dishes will give us a glimpse of their culinary styles.

So my usual question to a friend would be: “What cuisine would you like to try today? What food would you like to eat now?” Usually, we can base our search from our answers to those questions. There are many restaurants in a big shopping mall, so it would be better if we know what we are looking for.

So that day I asked my friend those questions. He responded with an excited gleam in his eyes, “I want shishig!”

“Shishig?” I repeated. “Hmm. What kind? There are pork, chicken, tuna, crab [shishig]. Which would you like?” I continued asking.

“Anything will be fine,” he answered.

So on we walked. “I hope we can find good Filipino restaurant here,” I murmured. We combed three floors of Greenbelt 3 until I exclaimed, “Aha! Seafood Island!”

We found our way near the big menu stand in front of the restaurant. I eagerly searched for the “shishig”, while I heard him saying, “There isn’t any shishig here.”

“No, there are shishig here. Just wait,” I insisted. I browsed over the boodle fight courses, passed the grilled and stuffed squids, then I found it. “Ah, here! Crispy sisig, tuna sisig, crab sisig, calamari sisig…”

“No, no, no. They are not shishig.”

“What???” I asked, a bit exasperated. “You told me you specifically want some shishig.”

“This is not shishig. I want shishi and sashimi,” he explained.

“Aha! You mean SUSHI, not suh-shig! Argh~~~~” I finally said.

He looked at me like I grown two heads for arriving at that obvious fact. “Yes, yes!”

Okaaay, guys. ‘Fessing time. Actually, I have lots of Korean friends and sometimes when we go out and they want to eat Filipino local food, they usually order for sisig, a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers.

When I heard him say “shishi”, I assumed he was referring to sisig. I didn’t think he might acquire a different accent. LOL

So after that shishig fiasco, we went to hunt for Japanese restaurants. Near the cinema, we found Sumo sam.

When I first saw the restaurant, the first thing that came to me was, “Isn’t it supposed to be Sumo-san?”

One of the waiting staff approached us, and with an easy smile invited us to have a look inside. When Paul agreed and followed her, I guess this is the place where he decided to eat his “shishi” [laughs].

The restaurant is not so big inside, but I guess that’s the reason that they have extended it in the mall’s veranda. The décor is simple, with black and red as the main theme. Rectangular paper lanterns were hung in the restaurant’s ceiling, making the atmosphere fancy yet oriental.

At first, we were seated near the entrance, but after I complained of being uncomfortable with my back facing the door, we were transferred to a private table at the back.

Our waitress gave us huge menus for us to order. As usual, it took me a long time to choose. Thankfully, he had many in mind, so I just sent my acquiescence to him and added one in his list of rolls then we’re done.

He was very hungry and we had to wait for more than ten minutes before the first meal was served. Something like sushi rock and roll was given first, and we had finished it in record time, way before I snapped a photo using my phone. One word – ravenous!

After that, the sushi platter was next. We enjoyed everything that was given to us, and I usually took sips of my green iced tea which was always full (it was later that I noticed it was in bottomless).

delectable!

Here are some of the shots taken at Sumo-sam using my camera phone.

eating smoked salmon something…

putting some lemon…

The food was so filling we left there bloated. Really, I didn’t plan to pig out for that night. The taste of the meals was not as authentic, but not so bad either. I just don’t like my green iced tea, which I assumed as iced green tea at first. LOL.

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Star-crossed lovers: the origin?

Yesterday, August 22, a Chinese friend greeted me with “Happy Valentine’s Day, Monica!” I was like, “What? It’s not even February.” My friend explained to me that tomorrow, August 23, Chinese will be celebrating their own Valentine’s Day – six months after our Western Hearts Day.

August 23 – Be my Valentine?

My friend explained to me that tomorrow is Qi Xi Festival or 七夕节for them. It is commonly known as Chinese Valentine’s Day (情人節), but literally means Night of the Sevens. It is also known as Magpie Festival, the reason of which will be explained later. Other names for the celebration include:

• The Festival to Plead for Skills (Chinese: 乞巧节; pinyin: qǐ qiǎo jié)
• The Seventh Sister’s Birthday, especially in Cantonese (Chinese: 七姊誕; Mandarin Pinyin: qī zǐ dàn’)

The story

A young cowherd, hence Niulang (Chinese: 牛郎; pinyin: niú láng; literally “[the] cowherd”), came across a beautiful girl–Zhinü (Chinese: 织女; pinyin: zhī nǚ; literally “[the] weavergirl”), the seventh daughter of the Goddess, who just had escaped from boring heaven to look for fun. Zhinü soon fell in love with Niulang, and they got married without the knowledge of the Goddess. Zhinü proved to be a wonderful wife, and Niulang to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children.

But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhinü’s mother) found out that Zhinü, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhinü to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.)

On Earth, Niulang was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife.

Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.

Zhinü must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Niulang watches her from afar while taking care of their two children (his flanking stars β and γ Aquilae or by their Chinese names Hè Gu 1 and Hè Gu 3).

But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鹊桥, “the bridge of magpies”, Que Qiao) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.

The star-crossed lovers in different cultures

Qi Xi Jie Festival inspired other countries to believe in the romantic story of Zhinü and Niulang while gazing at the summer night sky where the stars Vega and Altair were visible.

Chinese Qi Xi Jie Festival

With their own version of Valentine’s Day, the event is usually filled with the normal romantic stuff for couples. Traditionally, though, young girls show-off their domestic skills, especially melon carving.

Ladies exhibit their craftwork for Qi Xi Jie

Another is a test to showcase their embroidery skills. A girl will throw a single sewing needle in a bowl filled with water. If the needle stays afloat on top of the water and does not sink, it’s a sign that she is skilled in the art of embroidery.

Also on this day, single women make wishes for a good husband while newly married women pray to become pregnant quickly.

newlyweds performing the matrimonial custom of locking the Same Heart Lock

Japanese Tanabata

Tanabata (七夕) is a Japanese festival derived from Qi Xi (七夕), “the Night of Sevens”. It was imported to Japan during the Heian period.

The story is the same, but with different character names – Orihime the weaver and Hikoboshi the cowherd (Zhinü and Niulang respectively in Chinese).

Japanese celebrate this festival in grand scale – there are many places and prefectures in Japan which are decorated with large colorful streamers. Shopping malls, streets, and even Tokyo Disneyland join the festivities.

Women and children usually wear yukata during this star festival. A summer celebration, people go out on the streets and enjoy common matsuri (festival) outdoor stalls which sell food, provide carnival games, etc.

outdoor stalls in the festival

children in their lovely yukata

The highlight of the festival is when people write their wishes on tanzaku paper and tie them on decorated bamboo sticks. To know more about Tanabata, you may click here and see Sendai’s celebration of the Star Festival.

There’s even a Tanabata song. I think I have studied this in my Nihongo class.

Nihongo:

Sasa no ha sara-sara

Nokiba ni yureru

Ohoshi-sama kira-kira

Kingin sunago

Goshiki no tanzaku

watashi ga kaita

Ohoshi-sama kirakira

sora kara miteiru

Translation:

The bamboo leaves rustle,

shaking away in the eaves.

The stars twinkle

on the gold and silver grains of sand.

The five-colour paper strips

I have already written.

The stars twinkle,

they watch us from heaven.

Korean Chilseok

Koreans derived their story from QiXi and made their own version:

According to the well-known story, the heavenly king had a daughter called Jiknyeo (직녀성), who was very good at weaving beautiful clothes. One day, when she looked out of the window while weaving, she saw a handsome boy, a herder called Gyeonwu (견우성), just across the Milky Way. She fell in love with him. Finally the heavenly father allowed the two to get married. Afterward, Jiknyeo did not want to weave clothes, and Gyeonwu did not take good care of the cows and sheep. The heavenly king grew angry, and ordered the couple to live apart from each other, allowing them to meet only once a year. On the seventh day of the seventh month of each year, they were excited to meet each other, but they could not cross the Milky Way. However, crows and magpies worked together to form a bridge across the Milky Way for the couple. After a while, their sadness returned because they were forced to wait another year before meeting again. It is said that crows and magpies have no feathers on their heads because of the couple stepping on their heads. If it rains on that night, it is said to be the couple’s tears.

Chilseok (칠석) is a period where the heat starts to pass away and the monsoon season begins. The rain that falls during this period is called Chilseok water. As pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons start to flourish during this period, people traditionally offered fried pumpkin to the Great Dipper.

It is traditional for Koreans to eat wheat flour noodles and grilled wheat cake. Chilseok is known as the last chance to enjoy wheat based foods, since the cold winds after Chilseok ruin the good scent of wheat, making these dishes a must have for the dinner table. People also used to eat wheat pancake called milijeonbyeong (밀전병), and sirutteok, which is a steamed rice cake covered with azuki beans.

wheat-flour noodles 밀국수

grilled wheat cake 밀전병

I have Chinese, Japanese and Korean friends and I have asked them about this particular festival. For Chinese, it seems that this day is really special for them – a day for couples. As for Japanese, the Star Festival is welcomed with a cheerful celebration whereas Koreans, nowadays, treat it as a regular day.

As for me, I am fascinated by the way Chinese thought of a romantic story out of two stars in the summer night sky. It might be just a lame legend to others, but for a hopeless romantic like me, star-crossed lovers sound interesting.

Friday ice cream

August 17, Friday

Everyone seems so energized today. Not only because it is the last day of the week, but more importantly because there is a long weekend ahead for us. Both Monday and Tuesday next week are declared holidays in celebration of Eid-al-fitr and Ninoy Aquino Day, respectively.

This morning, our Friday brunch buddies were gathered in the first level of the canteen, happily eating our meal while inserting jokes between bites. The show in the first floor’s TV was Black Swan, and we tried to watch it albeit the low volume and microscopic subs.

Anyhow, after the “main course”, some.of us had coffee and tea, while Micah and I planned to have some ice cream. And oh, not just ordinary ice cream. Korean ice cream! Yay!

Micah bought Ench0 bar, a product from 빙그레 (Binggrae). I haven’t tasted it, but it looked delightfully yummy. Dark chocolate filling layered with vanilla ice cream? Yep, that’s Encho.

And what did I have?

Samancho ice cream! Fish shaped waffle with vanilla ice cream and red bean paste.

붕어 싸만코

진짜 맛있어!

My fish eating Encho bar

Just sharing.

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Joining the Olympics: London 2012 Slalom Canoe

I hope the title didn’t mislead you. I did play canoe slalom today. It requires lots of concentration and healthy body in order to win the gold. I practiced a lot for this event, and only got a silver medal – with my humble 29.3 seconds to navigate the rapids to finish line.

Okay, okay. I gotcha. I actually played Google Doodle Slalom Canoe, the 14^th Olympic doodle of Google’s tradition. The rule is simple: navigate your way in the rapids and steer clear from those rocks and frogs along the way. Ensure that you pass through all the green poles and reach the finish line in record time.

Here are some screenshots of my game. I only got two gold coins:

How about you? Try it!

 

 

 

Philippines: a Waterworld

The country has been experiencing continuous rain since last week with Typhoon Gener (international name Saola). It has been reported that more than half of the rain expected for the month of August has already fallen in Manila, the country’s capital, for the last 24 hours.

The entire National Capital Region and neighboring provinces are being hit by torrential rains which cause extreme flooding in the areas. Most roads are impassable – from ankle to chest-deep of flood, contributing to lots of people stranded outside.

Filipinos braving the waist-deep flood to get home

man using plastic water jugs as floaters in neck-deep flood

Not only that, rivers like Marikina and Tullahan got swollen and made bordering cities submerged in waist to neck-deep floods. Some areas were even worse – two-storey houses in villages get underwater.

houses submerged in water

However, it was worth noting that all these happened even though there’s no typhoon in the Philippines. Incessant downpour has been caused by a strengthened monsoon. The capital and nine surrounding provinces have been waterlogged due to bad drainage system and the fact that neighboring dams had overflowed and released water to maintain its level capacity.

la mesa dam spilling  excess water

As a result, hundreds of families have been evacuated.

The Philippine army, along with the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Council (NDRRC), helped rescue the victims of floods and mudslides spawned by the seasonal monsoon. Concern citizens also extended help to their countrymen.

brave rescuers

a helping hand

helping in his own way

Despite all this, Filipinos are still able to smile and wipe off the stress brought by Nature. Being an optimistic nation, people still believe that the country will be able to surpass this calamity. Here are some of funny photos found over the Internet showing how people can still laugh in the situation they’re in.

lying lazily in the mattress

 

children frolicking in the flood waters

flood mermaid???

Indeed, Filipinos can still see the bright side of what happened. This proves how strong and faithful to God the people are in desperate times.

*to follow: my August 6 flood experience.