Happiness [i vs p]

this is a photo collaboration with Pating, a little photo meme that we started so we can indulge our love for taking photos, even if we’re no pro.

so this is my first entry, for the inspiration word of the week: Happiness.

someday i’d like to live on the beach, have my own beach house, a yacht possibly, and to sail away from the city. i’d be happy then.

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this is my and Patty’s weekly challenge of fun, fun, fun. oh, and photographs too. the rules are, well, there are no rules! we just post something related to our Inspiration Word of the Week. watch out for next week’s: COCKTAIL

in the pink corner….

tomorrow, tuesday. Patty and I will start on this “visual adventure” as she calls it. and because my mind’s dictionary is malfunctioning right now, i’ll let the photo speak for itself.

iris vs patty preview

fun, love, happy!

Sale! [lp]

The Great Singapore Sale 2009, dito lang yan sa Singapore (san pa nga ba?)

lahat halos ng mga establishments na pinuntahan ko sa Sg ay may placard ng sale. kasi panahon ng GSS, hanggang July yata.

excited ako nung una pero nung nanghinayang nakong bilin yung isang pakay ko sa Sg, wala na. hehe. pagod lang kakalakad. pero ilang tips sa mga may balak pumunta anytime soon:

• must try ang cereal shrimps and pepper crab. sa No Signboard Seafood ko lang nakain yan, pero malamang sa ibang restaurants meron din. yaan lang orderin mo at rice, pwede na
• kailangan mo din kumain sa Makansutra or Gluttons Bay sa tabi ng Esplanade Mall. nandun lahat ng streetfood na masarap. must try and carrot cake at chicken wings
• mukhang favorite nila talaga ang chicken wings kasi lahat ng food establishments meron nun sa menu. masarap naman talaga
• IKEA! kailangan mo puntahan yun (bus 33, 64, o 195 depende kung san ka galing)
• bumili ng metro card kung walang tour guide at balak mo mag-ikot. 1 card lang for both train and bus rides. mas madali pagsakay-sakay
• at kailangan mo sakyan yung attraction rides sa Clark Quay

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EOS 400D, cross-process. Sg, Jun2009.

just not in the mood

i was supposed to come up with part 3 of my Sg trip, try and look for something interesting to blog about, and rave a bit about my National Geographic Store spoil, but i’m just not in the mood.

where’s that muse when you need her?

oh, and before i forget…

The Graveyard Book

this just made my day. working with my earphones on just made all the difference even if the rain was raging outside our building, i was hours away from home and i knew that i was going to be stuck in horrible traffic on the way home.

Sg Part 2: all things aquatic

hay P, if you were there, you’d love these too.

an all-Australian exhibit was setup at the Marina Square right beside our hotel, and one of them was Splatter’s. i couldn’t help but smile everytime i passed by their booth because the walls were filled with nice square paintings of comic artwork by Christopher Martin (like the one on the left).

the pop artwork were all so cute, selling for about S$40 – S$100+ per piece (which are also available to order online). if it weren’t so hard to pack them and bring them with me home (had a really small luggage), i’d have bought at least one.

but since i couldn’t, i brought Buster home instead.

(click the photo to find out what’s scaring Buster)

it’s an added bedtime reading for me and Mia. it doesn’t have anything to do with water i know, but it’s still one of those things i love.

the second day was as tiring as the first. went shopping at Vivo City at the bay area, which turns out not to be such a good idea if you’re going to Sentosa afterward. you end up riding the Luge with bags in between your legs and that’s not comfortable.

one thing i realized (no, make that several) going around Sentosa’s Underwater World are:

1. not all animals appreciate being pet. take the sting rays for example. there’s a pool area where you can touch the starfishes and the sting rays, and unlike the starfishes who are good at hiding their disapproval, some fish can actually jump out of the aquarium to tell people how irritating it is to be patted and grabbed and startled all day.
2. some people are just hardheaded as much as they are probably deaf (or blind, whichever applies). i don’t want to be racist but i just cannot for the life of me appreciate how cultural differences are nice when you’re in a looong queue, it’s scorching hot, and someone really smelly pushes their way ahead of you when there’s clearly a line to be followed. darn it. it seems to be not an isolated case since it happened to us twice in separate locations. what happened to the universal rule of order?
3. and then some people have no appreciation of other living things. they go to these attractions to satiate their curiosity and to get bragging rights that they were there. it’s sad how, within a few years, the Night Safari had become a circus and it’s so hard to keep tourists at bay. it’s obviously prohibited to use flash photography in several areas where there are animals, but like i said, there were still people who couldn’t understand.
4. sometimes attractions like the Ocean Park, the Underwater World, the Night Safari, etc. are better off unknown and unpopular. i get that they have to make money, but when it gets trampled on by many people like those described above, it feels like it’s not even worth it. the cages of the animals stink, otherwise carefree species are forced to remain in 4×5ft cells, it’s really just unfair to be prodded at and be made spectacles of sorts. it’s not really in their nature to be made captive.

about 7 years ago, i saw how nice and quiet Sentosa Island was. now, i’m not so sure i’d be saying the same thing. it’s so commercialized, they’re even building resorts and a Universal Studios park there. nothing against development but for a place so small and with such booming tourism… i just don’t know…

speaking of changes, the light and water musical show has really improved a lot. it’s still amazing, but with a lot more effects.

the fireworks are great, and i bet they really spend so much on this considering they show it about twice or thrice at night everyday. anyways, need to get to postprocessing photos now..

Fate [lp]

imposible bang mangyari yung nababasa natin sa mga fairy tale books?

then the prince kissed the girl, they rode towards the sunset, and lived happily ever after...

gusto kong i-share ang isa sa mga short stories na sinulat ko nung 2006 tungkol sa proverbial ‘fate’. sana magustuhan ninyo. pagpasenshahan niyo na, kung madiskubre ninyo kung sino ang tinutukoy ko sa kwento. hehe. a girl can dream, sabi nga.

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the tv fizzed and came to life. blurred images of girls with long hair and long legs filled the screen and made their statement that this is beautiful. I ignored them, quite content with my hair, and my legs, which have never failed me in the boys department so far. There have been misfortunes, but then, nobody’s perfect right? Except those girls on tv. Right. More »

Sg Part 1: death defying acts

i thought i wouldn’t live to tell the story.

it was a smorgasboard of seafoods and fried rice, enough to feed a whole army. and it was a bit expensive (’a bit’ is the understatement of the century). it was our first meal in Sg, and i thought it was going to be  my last.

we were served 6 courses that we had to finish off because yeah, it was that expensive. sayang naman.

but in all fairness to the No Signboard Seafood restaurant, i had a taste of the best cereal shrimp and pepper crab i’ve ever had (like i’ve ever had them before). a must try when in Sg.

and then we went to the IT Show at Suntec, right across our hotel the Marina Mandarin along Raffles Quay (or Boulevard). it was crowded. ‘crowded’ is the second understatement of the century. if i come down with flu anytime within the next 10 days, it’ll be mainly because of that.

it was a logistical nightmare, but who cares, it was the best place for all good IT deals. a section on the 3rd floor was dedicated to all Mac products and accessories. the whole 4th, 5th, and 6th floors were all for brands like Samsung, Canon, Olympus, HP, Nikon, etc. there were also booths selling generic brands and items/accessories.

i survived the shrimps, crabs, flying viruses and the catastrophic sneezing of unmindful people. maybe, maybe not. we’ll know 10 days from now.

Too picky

Picky Toddler Food Jags: Easy Ways to Get Your Child Eating Again

Your toddler may be finicky with his food, but at least you can count on a few fallback foods you know he’ll eat. What do you do, then, when your picky toddler won’t eat his usual favorite foods? Read on.

Uh-oh…you just served your toddler his all-time favorite food. The same food he’s been eating happily for, oh, forever. The food you could always fall back on when he wouldn’t eat anything else so that at least you knew he ate something. And now…horrors! He’s pushing it away with a firm, “Mommy, I don’t like that.” Ah, toddlers. Their ever-changing tastes certainly do keep parents on their toes. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on your picky toddler’s likes and dislikes, he changes his mind. But don’t lose hope. There are tactics you can try when your fallback meal plan falls through.

Don’t panic. Your toddler won’t starve. And making a big fuss about what your tot will or won’t eat sends a signal to your li’l food critic that this is a surefire way to push your buttons and get a reaction. So play it cool and don’t stress.

Seize the opportunity. View this as a golden opportunity to get your child interested in — whoa! — something he hasn’t tried before. Even a food that was vehemently rejected may suddenly find favor with your picky toddler right now. So, jump on this chance (while he’s not stuck in his old food rut) to introduce new foods into your toddler’s repertoire. And remember that it can take up to 15 tries for a child to get used to a new food, so be patient with your tot’s palate. Start by simply putting the new food on his plate or letting him taste a pea-sized portion. Take it one bite at a time. (Read the rest of the article)

15 tries, huh? try a million with Mia. *hay*

i’m desperate. she eats rice without anything on it, pasta/cooked noodles without anything on it, and loves apple pies from McDonalds. and chocolate of course, what child wouldn’t want that?

these are times as well that i wish i was a stay at home mom. at least i could cook for her and try all those “creative ways to get your toddler to eat”.

:/

and then there was rain

i was fighting sleepiness while driving in horrible traffic (what’s new) in SLEX, northbound today. my eyes were really getting heeeyveee… and any time i could really doze off because we were just inching forward, sometimes not at all for a full minute.

i’ve turned up the volume on my radio, sang to it (even if i didn’t know most of the lyrics, so what if i looked stupid nodding and tapping away on the wheel), and even attempted to dance. nothing worked, i was still sleeeepy.

and did i mention it was scorching hot outside? i just came from calamba because of work and it was unbelievable that only a couple of hours before, it was pouring. the heat did not help at all.

i already had some brilliant ideas to keep myself awake, which i’d say, aren’t as brilliant really, but i had nothing else. i considered calling an ex but thought that was a bad idea even if he was the one who came to me first (and i said no excuses, what the hell was i thinking?) and was already contemplating on scrolling down to the-one-that-got-away’s number, when i prayed out loud, “Lord pleeeease. don’t let me get sleepier.”

and then there was rain. hard-pouring, pounding, visibility-up-to-50-meters-only kind of rain and i literally had to keep my eyes open to watch out for any road object (which include cars without their hazard lights on). i got home and immediately fell asleep as soon as i hit the bed.

talk about sense of humor. if there’s anyone who knew just how to amuse me just when i need it the most, it could only be Him.

Misyon [lp]

anong misyon mo sa buhay?

may ibang mga tao, ang gusto ma-conquer ang mundo.

may iba naman, kuntento nalang sa pagiging pawn or yung sunud-sunuran nalang sa agos ng panahon, ng tao, ng kahit ano. may mga tao lang talaga na walang ambisyon sa buhay.

but if there’s one thing i don’t like about a person, it’s when he/she decides to quit and then complains about it.

so ikaw, naisip mo na bang talaga ang misyon mo sa buhay?

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Disclaimer: naipost ko na yata ito dati, pero hindi naman main feature, so pwede na siguro

Tema ngayong linggo sa Litratong Pinoy: Misyon

Canon EOS 400D. Dec 2008. Bul.

all for the love of the Italian

in the guise of work-related supermarket-hopping, i began the search for that elusive spinach dip. (well i really really needed to do a trade check anyway so what other way to excite myself; besides, i love going around supermarkets )

i’ve been craving for Pasto’s crostini served with spinach artichoke dip and the only way i could get my hands on them is if i go to one of their branches which are usually out of my way. and besides, i wanted to stock up for the day when world war III happens. :p

and then we ate at Galileo Enoteca and Deli in Mandaluyong. this is why i looove Italian food. though i’m not a wine drinker and wine is a huge part of the cuisine, you’d still appreciate the Italian taste and their reverence for their food. they just know how to please the taste buds and just how much to savor it.

we ordered spaghetti with 3 different sauces, one aglia-olio (or just olive oil), one with shrimp scampi in olive oil, and one with tomato sauce. heaven. (click here to see their menu).

ok, back to the treasure hunt. i just had to find the spinach dip. and then someone brilliantly suggests that Bravo! actually made them. (why hadn’t i thought of that?) i started looking in Rustans Gateway, but the products did not have a barcode and it took forever before they could fix it, and besides the single spinach and artichoke dip left expires on June 19 so wth, so i left hoping to find it anyway in Shopwise.

so near yet so far. Shopwise Cubao did not have them either. but a lead — a helpful store supervisor said Robinsons had them and even had island displays of Bravo! — took me to Rustans Terrazas along T. Morato Ave. still hoping they have fresher stocks there. alas, i was to be disappointed.

and then i drove to Robinsons Timog Ave. where they were supposed to be. when i laid eyes on the free-standing unit of Bravo! products the moment i stepped into the brightly lit grocery, i could hear angels sing. there they were, all fresh and waiting to be bought.

and this is why i’d love to go to Italy and live there someday, where pesto sauces and spaghettis and crostinis and spinach dips and cappuccinos and arrabiatas and gelatto and antipastis (oh great i’m murdering the language already) are in every corner.

One of those ads again

you can tell this is going to be a quick ad-bashing post again.

ever seen the new Bench billboard ad towering above the Buendia flyover when you’re coming from The Fort? it’s Jay-R, posing in tidy whities and a nice big smile.

WTH. that was a good wake-me-up sight. or not really. i mean, who poses for an ad wearing white briefs and smiling? has ‘awkward’ written all over it.

and the worse thing about it is that it was a back-to-school ad.

(who has been directing these Bench photoshoots!??)