I felt stifled today, I don’t know why. Maybe the heavy rains of the past weeks had gotten to me so now I want to be out everyday. But I don’t have the car for a week.
So I walked.
Walking in my village.
I started walking from my apartment at past 5 pm. I didn’t care if I still had a pending edit; I just needed to get out.
The less busy street in my village. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It was nice to be out today. It’s not hot and it’s not wet. Perfect.
No cars on this road! Perfect for ruminating
Disappointing calorie counter.
Look at that, I walked 6km for an hour and I only get to burn 273kcal??? If I use MapMyWalk by Under Armour almost the same distance is around 375 kcal.
This was in February 2022
So in a way I feel cheated because I should have burned more calories…
But the flipside of this is that this means I need to work harder to burn more calories—I would lose weight faster. 😂 So maybe I’ll stick to the Oppo Band health app.
I have enrolled in my insurance firm’s program that tracks all the healthy activities to gain points. I still have to figure out how the points can be redeemed and what would be the rewards. Like, would it lower my premiums? Let’s see if the insurance can recognize my wearable (the smart watch) and the statistics it is going to feed into my insurance.
So this is now the trend in insurtech: integration of all health data into their platform and incentivize the policy holder to live longer. The healthier a policy holder is, the longer the delay in paying the beneficiaries the benefits. Simple.
As I said several blog entries ago, I need to work on myself so I will live beyond 42 years old. I also need to lose my belly because I need to fit into a dress.
I need to reduce my calories, but the incentive to eat MORE has arrived. 😭
Instant Pot bought from Lazada. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
This dang thing is huge. I can cook a whole chicken in this thing. ❤
I’m already planning dishes to cook in this. Tomorrow would be the Filipino menudo for only 10 mins (according to a recipe I found online).
Matabungkay, Batangas.Photo by Matabungkay Beach Hotel.
OK, that’s taken care of. Booked for three days and let’s see if the girls can still attend class online. If not, then so be it. A day’s absence will not hurt. We’ll make the most of this beach trip to Lian, Batangas.
I used to frequent this part of the province as a child. The last time I had been here was when we had an exercise for our Bio 150 and I couldn’t remember what we were doing then. I think it was about biodiversity or something. There was a secluded area of this coast where underwater life was still unspoiled. When my mom was still teaching Bio 150, I used to tag along when I was a kid because I really loved the sea.
While I was doing a loop in UP academic oval this evening, I decided that I probably won’t stay in Anilao for a week. I may just end up holed up here at home or I visit the construction site.
A little sacrifice won’t hurt. By 2023, I would have more financial and physical freedom to travel more frequently as the girls will be nearer extended family who can check on them daily.
If I get to have my ADB conference approved in January, then I will be able to save on airfare for my holiday by extending my stay there. I just need to work my ass off and produce 16 stories again.
If Covid didn’t happen, I would have traveled to Incheon with J in May 2020 (I told him I can bring him as my guest) so he can network with all the big guys there. In Yokohama, I was able to talk to top execs of the big Japanese trading houses like Itochou, Marubeni, Mitsui and was able to get an exclusive story from the president of Hitachi. My Japanese colleagues’ jaws dropped because they said they normally don’t have access to such high profile people, much more have a chat/interview with them. I had been treated to dinner by an executive of JTI. I had chitchats with top bankers in Asia since we sat next to each other during meals.
At the receptions (sponsored by government of Yokohama [dinner 1], ADB [dinner 2] and Japanese government [dinner 3]), I was able to establish ties with some Japanese sources. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to maintain the connections because I became too busy. Nurturing connections like these take a lot of time and effort.
I expect the top execs of the chaebols would be there in Incheon, as well as medium and small enterprises in Korea and some Asian conglomerates. A lot of solid connections for him there since his sector is now one of the top priorities of ADB’s private sector arm.
Well, it’s not meant to be. 🙃 It was good Incheon 2020 meeting didn’t push through because that #$@#$%^&* would still have cheated on me anyway.
Imagine that, he wouldn’t have to pay for his airfare (we would have used my miles) and hotel (my work) and I was able to pull some strings so I could cover the Incheon meeting (even though we have a Seoul bureau) so he can have access to all these. That’s how supportive I was of him.
Ah well I was stupid.
I’m not going to be that stupid again.
Today I grilled some ribs because…why not? Since I am limiting our restaurant jaunts for a bit, I will just splurge on home cooked meals.
Chef’s kiss 👌😘 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After that late lunch, I went vegetable and fruit shopping because my body is craving for veggies. I need to limit my red meat consumption and carbs if I want to get in shape for my November conferences. I need to fit into an evening dress. 🥴
Shopping at Enrique’s in UP. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I left the car near that area and did my brisk walking to make just one loop.
Wohoo! I missed this. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Only 200 kcal burned. *sigh* It was already getting dark and I needed to bring the car to Cainta to have the final buffing and polishing.
Need to lose weight and get back in shape.
I am taking advantage of this nicer weather. I hope it won’t rain heavily this coming week.
It looks like it’s going to be clear for the rest of the week (*keeping my fingers crossed* 🤞). It breaks my heart to see this clear satellite view. This would have been the perfect weather to go to Palawan or even Anilao but I can’t go. 😥
Ah well, I’ll just bring my bike to my hometown this weekend when I meet my contractor and then I will go to that secluded place my high school friends posted on IG where they grilled food on their camping stove while waiting for the sun to set over the swamp. ❤
It’s food recycling day. So I made fried rice that Uncle Roger would approve. Cold rice from the refrigerator left overnight ✅ leftovers ✅ Magic Sarap ✅ and cooking the scrambled eggs in the same wok as the rice (and not separately) just like what the ethnic Chinese uncles do ✔.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Meanwhile, mooncake gifts had been trickling in. I received a special Eng Bee Tin mooncake today and I think I would be drowning in mooncakes by the end of this week.
Nice tin box, no? Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It was raining heavily today so I decided to change course when we were already in Xavierville. We were originally going to Tiendesitas to buy cat supplies and shop at SM Hypermarket Pasig but the heavy rain earlier convinced me that traffic would be bad. I instead turned left in Katipunan Ave and went to UP Town Center to do grocery shopping in Merkado, because I want to check out their SKUs. We also had an early dinner at Razon’s because of the halo-halo. What I paid tonight is half of our usual meals outside our home.
I told the girls we need to put a cap now on our weekly dining out because I need to save a bit of money for the house. Although I have everything planned out, I’m just hoping that maybe my scrimping for a few months would allow me not to touch some of my investments to pay for the last few months of the job contract. Stocks are really low right now and I would be selling at a loss. Big, fat, juicy loss.
So I would be issuing a check for the half down payment next week, then it would 20%, 20%, and 10% as we go along.
Good thing I also canceled my Korea trip because I received this notice in my email:
Haha! My May 2020 trip there to cover this event is now pushing through. So I will have my trip paid for by my company. I will just extend my stay there for a week out of my own pocket.
By that time the financial pressure is less because my house is already built.
Let’s see if I can replicate my productivity in Yokohama in 2017 when I produced 16 stories from that event alone. 😏
I think I need to lay off Twitter and Facebook (well I’m not much into it anyway) because they’re causing me so much stress. I’m getting angrier by the day. The troll farms are going on offensive because a lot of people are calling out the government for the economic mess we are in.
It’s draining. No wonder I’ve been too exhausted the past few days.
I’ll just go back to my first love: reading. I have a lot of fantasy books here that I need to finish.
The thing is under the law, confidential funds (that don’t need to be audited by the state auditor) SHOULD only be applied to intelligence funds. There are specific uses for this kind of confidential funds and SHOULD NOT be abused for other purposes, like TRAVEL. WTF are they going to use it for during their travels???
Confidential funds may also be used to pay rewards to informers; uncover or prevent illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to the agency, its personnel and facilities; and others that may be authorized in the General Appropriations Act.
The circular provided that the conduct of confidential activities, as far as practicable, be done in collaboration with law enforcement agencies.Confidential funds may also be used to pay rewards to informers; uncover or prevent illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to the agency, its personnel and facilities; and others that may be authorized in the General Appropriations Act.
The circular provided that the conduct of confidential activities, as far as practicable, be done in collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
And because there is zero checks and balances in this government because everyone else is under the Marcos machinery (The House Speaker is Marcos Jr’s uncle, the deputy speaker is his son, the brainless Sandro Marcos, and Senate is basically a Duterte-Marcos upper chamber), what can you expect? Budgets are hardly deliberated on.
Good morning, Philippines! LIZA ARANETA MARCOS has a huge wardrobe budget.
And this is another thing that happened today:
For USD earners like me (but don’t give a fuck), this is good on a myopic level because you get more pesos on your dollar.
But for those who think about the bigger picture like me, this means that all goods and services are going to be a lot more expensive. We are a net importer of oil = transportation costs will be much higher. As it is, Grab is more expensive here now compared to Singapore or just about the same.
Double whammy! OMG!
This redounds to cost of food because our goods are transported by trucks, not trains. We are an archipelago so goods are either flown or shipped by vessels fed by oil, not LNG. We also import rice, flour, and other basic commodities. Even onion and garlic! And salt! It’s quite ironic the we are surrounded by millions of km of coastlines and yet we are importing salt!
Cost of power is also climbing because our base load power plants are fed by imported coal and diesel. As it is, gasoline is cheaper than diesel nowadays. And the Filipinos pay electricity through our noses because we pay market rate. Our power is not subsidized, unlike our neighbors. That’s why Indonesia’s inflation rate is artificial in the sense the true cost of goods and are not reflected in the prices that they pay for because its government is shouldering a good part of their expenses (from power to medicines) through state-owned enterprises that own own almost everything. How can you even have three state-owned pharmaceutical companies? Their train fares are subsidized. Just about everything is subsidized.
Anyway, I digress. The point here is, the peso is weakening at a faster rate than expected because it could not shadow the actions of the US Fed. The gap between the USTr and our own benchmark rates has widened, thus, hot money from emerging markets have fled faster. We couldn’t shadow the latest actions (and future actions of FOMC given their latest hawkish stance) because any sizeable rate hikes (like a 75-100-basis-point hike) would kill our very fragile economy now. The BSP has to prioritize the economy before tempering the sinking peso.
This faster fall of the peso will kill our exports as well. Why? Half of our exports is comprised of electronics and semiconductors. Traditionally, these exporters order raw materials (because we don’t process our own minerals like silicon, silver, gold, nickel, and copper) abroad around third quarter in preparation for the orders for Christmas (hello iPhones and iPads). With the way things are, the raw materials have become more expensive now. Then this makes the cost of manufacturing semicon and electronics more expensive = costlier exports.
So I will punch any Marcos apologist right smack on their face if they say that this is good for the economy and that Marcos is making us richer by making us earn more pesos to the dollar. 🙄 Spare me this stupidity. A former reporter (who is now a lawyer) messaged me about this forex thing and she told me that an uncle of her brother-in-law said that this is great and in any case Marcos will make things better because the Marcoses will bring out their gold stash (a.k.a. the mythical Tallano Gold) to help the Philippines. And the sad part here is he was being serious about it, my friend said. Then multiply that to the 31 million who voted for Marcos. This is the level of stupidity reigning over the country today.
Social media has made Filipinos more stupid.
AND THE FUCKTARD MARCOSES ARE ROBBING US RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES! Legalized stealing.
OMG 🤬
How can I even…
I need a drink.
On the brighter side of life, my 10-hour nilaga is stupendous!
Lots of veggies and peppercorns. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The soup is 👌 *chef’s kiss*
I’m keeping the broth again for future dishes like pho or some egg noodle dish? Ramen? Soba? I can’t wait for my Instant Pot so I can experiment with new dishes I can cook with it.
FB Memories reminded me today of this special photo. They looked so goofy here. Photo by CallMeCreation.comPre-teens now, at their hypergrowth stage. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
As a mother, I can say that the hypergrowth stages of children are when they’re 6 mos old, 2-3 years old, 6-7 years old, and (*now*) when they’re 11-12 years—the time when they have their first period. My observation jives with the parenting literature I had read before). Since I had to buy Twin I again new sets of underwear yesterday because she has outgrown again the ones I bought her 6 mos ago. All the bottoms I bought for her in December can no longer fit her. *sigh* Good thing her twin is there to get all those clothes.
The whole weekend is about food. As usual.
Made three personal pizzas made of mozzarella, soft white cheese (queso puti Laguna), and cheddar, ham, and canned tomatoes. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It’s a hot mess but it’s lovely. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I was craving for spicy wings so we had several of those at SM Marikina after buying Twin I’s stuff. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Nilagang baka/beef stew, double boiled, cooking for 10 hours. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Now the pièce de résistance in my home cooking this weekend is this nilagang baka using the beef I bought from DTRI in my hometown and, double boiling it (first boiling is to get rid of the scum and impurities, dump and second boiling with new water for a clearer broth) and then I did not stop there—I used the bulalo broth (with the solidified fat skimmed off) that I froze two weeks ago as base broth and added the root veggies for a richer taste.
Let’s see how this will turn out tomorrow. I want some melt-in-your mouth beef with all the green, leafy veggies I can chuck in it.
NOW that the bad weather has eased up a bit, we’re thinking of going again to the beach at the end of the month. Hopefully, there’s no typhoon or else… sigh.
Calayo Green Terraces, Nasugbu, Batangas
I want to try paddle boarding. Calayo Green Terraces, Nasugbu, Batangas.
I should shoehorn again these mini breaks before I leave for either Korea or Japan (yey! they’re allowing individual tourists again) in October. But…it’s kinda hard to schedule things now because before All Saints/Souls’ Day weekend 1) Ate C is leaving for Leyte for the death anniv of their father; 2) the girls are leaving with their dad to go to Shangri-la Mactan, Cebu for their grandpa’s 90th birthday. That means I cannot leave the house because no one will be left with the cats.
I must arrange all travel concerns this week before the prices of hotel rooms and plane tickets jump.
Then in November I will be back in Singapore for 10 days. Werk.
At KitchenAid, Ayala Vertis North. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The girls and I went to Ayala Vertis North so our grocery shopping would be a little different. We did this late in the afternoon since the girls had their mock entrance exam the entire morning while I grilled herbed pork steak outside the apartment.
We dropped by KitchenAid to check out Instant Pot so I can see for myself how big it is. It is selling for around PHP 7,000 (the 7-in-1, 6 quart variant). I was tempted to buy this after doing the grocery shopping but I checked the prices first on Lazada.
Lo and behold! It’s 1k cheaper on Lazada and it comes with a free ceramic inner pot for slow cooking.
I pulled the trigger when I got home and paid for the reservation. It is done.
I primarily wanted this for making yogurt. My girls consume a lot of Greek yogurt, or any type of yogurt for that matter, so it turns out it’s more expensive than eating ice cream.
The pressure cooker and slow cooker functions are just bonuses for me since I already own a Crockpot (which is on its last legs). Let’s see how I can make beef pho soup and tonkotsu ramen broth with this. The classic Japanese tonkotsu requires more than 12 hours of slow cooking pig trotters and chicken carcass so that the collagen will be drawn out.
Photo from Seriouseats.com
Ever since I read that article from Serious Eats, the slow-cooked tonkotsu broth never went out of my mind. I said to myself, one day I will just devote an entire 24 hours just making ramen broth. That’s a mark of a serious home cook 😂
I miss Japan. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The thought of making tonkotsu broth in an Instant pot and/or Crockpot made me crave for ramen so Twin A and I had ramen while Twin A had some rice meal set.
Dinner before doing grocery shopping at Merkado.
Ramen at Jaoan Fudo Street. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Once I learn how to make the right tonkotsu broth (kinda like what Ramen Nagi serves), I don’t think I will tolerate anymore the flavored water excuse of a ramen some shops offer.
In a totally unrelated development/event…
My cats looking out the window. They were looking at the birds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
