Category Archives: food

War

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This government has declared war on UP.

The previous administration has made all state universities and colleges (SUCs) free for all qualified students (which caused the closure of some private colleges due to low tuition/enrollment). This ballooned the student population of SUCs and yet look at what Marcos did to UP…

Just because the university chose not to invite the Marcos Jr to any graduation and did not confer him an honoris causa, which is traditionally given by the national university to a sitting president.

But why would UP even be forced to do that when it didn’t give Duterte any honorary degree during his six-year term?

Meanwhile, Philippine Star has thrown SHADE at Sara Duterte 🤣

I’m all for it, Philstar! 🙌

It’s so hard to work when it’s a bed weather kind of day. The typhoon passing through Luzon has caused class and work suspensions here (floods!) and going north of Metro Manila. The typhoon will exit Isabela province tomorrow morning. I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep. But edits have been calling to me…🥴

Mi goreng with pork nilaga for soup on the side. I suddenly wanted something spicy for today. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

One of the primary reasons why we went home to my mom on a weekday (Friday) was I needed to apply for the UP-wide gate pass sticker. Which I only accomplished yesterday because the UP Police Force handling that closed early on Friday. It was so odd that I needed to leave my license by various UP gates whenever I go home. Like I was a stranger or something. Just because my old sticker expired—hello pandemic!

Anyway, I am finally chipping at my long to-do list.

  • UP gate pass ✔
  • Engine oil change and general car check-up today ✔
  • Emission test for LTO car registration ✔
  • Car insurance renewal – pending. (Haha! I would this online later) ✔
  • Late car registration – scheduled tomorrow

After I have renewed my registration, I can breathe more easily.

I went to my car seat upholsterer this afternoon but his shop was closed. I don’t know if he’s still in business. 😥 I hope he is because it’s hard finding an OK vendor that is a bit cheaper than competitors located on the other side of EDSA (Kamuning St). Let me try tomorrow before or after I finish my business with LTO in Cubao.

I have so many things on my list and it’s so hard for a solo parent like me to to finish all those tasks because I carry the weight of the world i.e. there is no other adult whom I can rely on for small or big errands like this. That’s why a lot of things are delayed, like this car registration 😣 And I found that it’s not unique to me. One of my bffs who is finishing her PhD (and is in Europe now to submit her dissertation and tie loose ends) said her car’s registration has been pushed to the back burner given the bigger stuff that she needed to cross out on her list. She’s a solo parent too (her kids are with her mom in our hometown). There are things that we cannot delegate to other humans because they’re responsibilities another person (who is not your partner) finds annoying or cumbersome and he/she won’t do it for you unless you’re dying.

It’s exhausting to be in my shoes.

Kimchi judging me earlier tonight. 🙃 Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Sushi always looking over my shoulder while I work. Judging me. Looking down on my work. 😂 Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I talked to the travel agency yesterday that is supposed to arrange my S.Korea visa application (because I don’t have the time to do it myself). The agent that I talked to hasn’t come back to me yet. I’m running out of time because I’ll be super busy by next month.

If I can’t have anything concrete by next week, then I’ll just spend my holiday in Palawan—if there’s no typhoon.

Back to chaos

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Dinner before coming back to QC. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Katsu curry. Not happy with this but this is the restaurant nearest my mom’s place. I can do a better version of this. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We decided to have dinner outside before driving back to QC. After the chaos in Metro Manila roads today, I was surprised that it only took me 1.5 hrs to drive from my hometown to our apartment.

My cats were frantically meowing at us by the door when we arrived. It was like Kimchi was scolding us for being away too long. I gave the kitties their treats and I unpacked my stuff in my room with them. They didn’t want me out of their sight.

My Shopee buys also greeted me by the door 😂

Perfect fit! Now my cats can no longer shed on my piano. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My mom also gave me a beautiful Yakan weave table runner that can double as a piano cover. It was a gift to her but she said she doesn’t have any use for it so she passed it down to me.

Zamboanga: Yakan people and their weaving

A good friend of mine from my former TV network told me not to use this as a piano cover because my cats would luuuuuuuuurve to get their claws on it. He estimated that this would cost PHP 6,000- PHP 8,000 given the intricate design. He was in Zamboanga covering Leni Robredo’s campaign and while he was there, he bought a Yakan weave but the cheaper ones.

OK, I will just have it framed.

I’ve been gifted a couple of times with ethnic woven fabrics like this but I used them as piano covers, which I shouldn’t have. Over time these table runners/wall hangers get destroyed, especially now that I have cats.

Malong from Zamboanga. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

As I have blogged here before, I was given by my undergrad college a malong from Zamboanga for being their guest speaker earlier this month. Now this feels richer/silkier compared to my Davao malongs so I won’t use this as a beach cover/mat. Because this made of better cloth than my Davao malongs, I can fold this smaller and stash this in my carry-on bag when I travel.

Oh well, back to the usual chaos of Metro Manila. I will need to bring the car tomorrow to the autoshop for the final buffing and polishing.

Hero

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Was Ninoy a hero?

He was a spark.

His assassination was a miscalculation on the Marcoses’ part.

He knew he was going to be killed the moment he steps on Philippine soil. But I guess, it was a carefully calculated move on his part.

Primitivo Mijares knew he will be killed writing that book.

He was a spark.

Everyone who got imprisoned and/or killed were sparks.

And when you have multiple sparks then the gasoline tank tips over… You have hell.

Apparently that hell wasn’t enough to burn the Marcoses. Lucifer kicked them out because he will be without a throne if they lingered more.

So now we have them back.

Today we commemorate the assassination of Ninoy at the Manila International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport). This government wants to change its name back to MIA as part of their historical revisionism. Those who are not poisoned by the Marcoses and their money remember.

At 6:30 am this morning my older sister and I walked to one of the subdivisions outside the university campus to buy food from the pop-up weekend market.

Good thing it didn’t rain. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I guess our eyes were hungrier than our stomachs. We bought a lot. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
We bought some sourdough bread and sourdough pizza. They were pricey but good. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Also bought some green products like handmade soaps, shampoo bars and reusable feminine pads for me and the girls. I started using cloth napkins last year but the shampoo bars was just a new thing for me. After using one of Human Nature’s shampoo bars for two weeks, I noticed that my hairfall was lesser compared to when I was still using the Korean shampoo I regularly bought. I hope that this will solve my thinning hair problem. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

After taking our haul back home (burning around 175 kcal), we walked towards the heart of the campus to buy fresh milk and yoghurt again. I saw these mushroom chips but my goodness, this will make uric acid shoot through the roof.

I love mushrooms but my joints don’t like them. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Unkept front yard. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My mother is quite ambitious. Once upon a time she was on an orchid shopping binge, buying all the orchids she fancied and had them mounted on driftwood to mimic the natural habitat of epiphytes. But then she’s really not a gardener so she just left it to the househelp to maintain it for her. However, gardening is not a priority in this household.

Even though this side of my mom’s property is not included in my future domain, I told my mom I am commandeering this garden because none of her 3 other children are exhibiting any interest in it. No one protested. They can’t even bothered by it. My sisters do not even like having animals to take care of.

I will plant a lot of roses, yellow bells, and other ornamental plants. Edible plants will be planted in between, like herbs and some salad greens.

The garden that will be legally mine will be this:

Cicadas are having a concert
I went to the balcony to sketch while I listened to the cicadas and other forest sounds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
The light was already dying. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I couldn’t finish because mosquitoes were already eating me alive. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The following are part of my photo dump from yesterday:

If you’re late for class, this becomes the walkway of shame if you were an underclassman. The high school seniors’ classrooms were just on the right side of this walkway. Most seniors I knew back then often looked out the windows when bored. Which was often. 🤣 But if you happened to be a high school senior yourself, your classmates/batchmates would clap their hands and rain you with catcalls. 😂😂😂
This, my friends, is the walkway to my home. I was so naive before. Some boys would walk beside me and chat while I was going home…and it would take some time before I realized I was “being walked home” by a boy. Hahahaha! Some would ask if they could go under my umbrella because they didn’t bring any. One day a boy I was crushing on often walked me home, especially after theater rehearsals… He is now a happy gay man. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I knew something was wrong. I had always been a fairy godmother. HOHOHOHOHO! I just don’t know why gay men were/are still attracted to me. LOL.

Well appointed

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By accident, I came across Kirby Allison as I was searching for a solution to my bags that had been scratched by my cats, among other things. I’m mourning the lost immaculate look of my leather laptop bag so I went to search for some solution or bag restorer to do it. I’m not exactly sure if Blackwing would be able to do it although they posted on Instragram they will be launching bespoke leather bags for women (yey!).

So anyway, while I was searching for some answers, Kirby Allison popped up in my search and I watched his video of how to restore his Italian leather portfolio bag (which is essentially an overnight bag) and got sucked into his world of being a well-appointed gentleman. Reminds of the movie Kingsman, but just the well-dressed part.

Now I am no longer skimping on the important stuff because I see that I spend more if I buy the cheaper brand (hello, American Tourister!). If I can afford it, I will have most of my things custom-made or local so I can have them repaired so they last for decades. My black leather Our Tribe is still going strong even after 8 years and I just had the hardware repaired for minimal cost. Their HQ/factory is just 300m away from my apartment. It’s not showing any signs that it’s about to give up on me and I think it will outlive me.

My pleather binder/Filofax is custom in the sense I chose the color and the hardware and the style. Made in Mandaluyong. Going strong and it still looks new. I’m so happy with it that I want to buy this item for family and friends for Christmas. I want to buy their real leather notebooks and binders next but one thing at a time…

So this afternoon my girls and I went to SM Marikina to buy them sports shoes because the ones we bought from Decathlon no longer fit. Yes. No longer fit. I should have gotten them pairs that are one size bigger. Oh well.

We also bought other stuff in preparation for the face-to-face school comeback, which will happen next month. So they have been completely online since last month and then they will transition to hybrid next month. By November, everybody should be physically in school.

Back-to-school shopping. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I also bought my nephew (my youngest sister’s son) a new backpack because I saw that National Geographic backpacks are 50% off. It’s lightweight, waterproof, and has good padding on the straps and the back—essential for students carrying heavy school books. This isn’t technically a school bag but rather it’s a travel bag for roughing it. But there’s no difference between the kind of abuse school bags and travel bags of backpackers receive when in use.

New spill-proof luncboxes ✅ for the girls and new bedsheets. ✅

Then we had dinner at Calle Reyes again because 1) I don’t want to cook anymore; 2) that’s the restaurant that’s not crowded.

My girls are already ladies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Reyes Barbecue. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Buko pandan for dessert. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I gave Twin I my new red Himawari backpack that I used as my hand-carried luggage for my trip to Singapore. I realized I can no longer use backpacks for traveling because my back nearly killed me on my way back to Manila. The entire time I was walking around Changi, I just pushed my backpack on a trolley, which defeats the purpose of using a backpack. LOL! So for future travel, either I just carry my light-weight laptop bag or bring my Rimowa cabin-sized four-wheeled luggage so I will not be lugging my heavy laptop around.

Or buy this.

Here we go again Part 2

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When will zoonosis stop? Perhaps never. It’s nature’s way of flashing the dirty finger at humanity.

Can we just keep them within their borders??? I mean none of their citizens can leave the country now since their passports are held or are no longer renewed (Zero-Covid policy of China). This ought to stop the spread of this new zoonotic disease, methinks.

Time check: It’s 10:45 pm and I’m still working. Replying to emails, uploading stories, picking up stories to edit first thing in the morning…OMG why am I doing regular OT? I am burning myself out.

On the side, I’m having an exchange with a former presidential spokesperson regarding nuclear power on Twitter…

I need a life. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Have paper bag, have cat. And another cat. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My life now revolves around my children–the twins and the cats.

I should probably take time off…drive to Zambales with gay extraordinaire K and dance on the beach and have drinks by the bonfire. He messaged me today to check up on me. I said I may go to S.Korea in October while he said he has no travel plans yet. I said maybe we should go on a roadtrip. Then he suggested we go to Zambales by the end of this month…Will have to check my calendar as I have to bring the girls to my hometown on the 19th to prepare them for the simulation entrance exam to be conducted by their review school. It is yet to be decided if this would be conducted F2F but I have to prepare just in case.

Now I wonder how I would fit the buffing and polishing of my car into my schedule.

Tonight I made cold soba with zaru soba sauce and flaked roasted chicken. We’re laying off red meat for a while after that high blood-inducing, 10-hr bulalo that tasted heavenly but deadly. I still have the bulalo broth that I can use for pho, which I plan on making this week as well.

Zaru soba. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My girls like the cold soba and the ready-made sauce that I bought from SM Hypermarket in Marikina. Since it is a hypermarket, it has more imported food items like Japanese sauces and noodles.

I wonder what I would serve for lunch and dinner tomorrow…

Ah the men in my life didn’t know they had it good with me because I can cook. Idiots.

Newly improved chicken rice

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I have to say that today’s lunch (and extended to dinner) was the best Hainanese chicken rice I’ve done so far. I know now the secret to the yummiest rice—I bought the secret from Fairprice 🤣 For years I struggled with cooking the rice that matches the the the taste of the rice served by the various vendors I patronize in Singapore. It turns out it can be achieved through a packet. OMG, I have wracked my brain for years…

Perfected by trial and error. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

But the chicken itself is a different story. I experimented for years and it was a lot of trial and error. The best technique for me is not to cook a whole chicken if I won’t do it in a huge stock pot and hang the chicken on poultry hooks while it is being poached in liquid with aromatics and its own chicken fat. If I didn’t do it this way, I always end up with a bloody chicken or an overcooked chicken. I instead chop the chicken into manageable sizes, season as usual, then poach it. This way I end up with perfectly cooked skin and inside.

After poaching, I put the chicken in an ice bath to arrest the cooking process so the skin will still remain tight. Then I rubbed sesame oil on the skin. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The soup is lovely. My girls and Ate C enjoyed the dish that 1) Ate C had to cook rice again; 2) Twin I went for seconds or thirds even. The ginger sauce/paste I bought from Monterey Community Market and Lee Kum Kee Hoisin sauce completed the dish. *chef’s kiss*

Tomorrow I want to make Nasi Goreng and Nasi Lemak. I need to do a big vegetable shop and I can buy from the veggie shop in UP the lemongrass and pandan that enhance the flavors of Nasi Lemak.

I’m not yet that brave when it comes to cooking Laksa. Rendang I can manage but it does require slow cooking.

Another option for tomorrow is kolo mee, which is basically pancit canton for us in the Philippines. Mee or Mi is the Hokkien/Minnan/Fookien/Fujian word for “noodles”. The Filipino Chinese here call noodle soup mami, which became a generic term but it is actually Ma-Mi, which is a noodle soup dish popularized by a Chinese migrant whose last name is Ma. If I’m not mistaken, he was the founder of Ma Mon Luk in various Chinese enclaves here in Metro Manila.

In Batangas, where my family comes from, we have lomi, which are bigger noodles with thicker soup compared to mami.

The word pancit came from the Fookien words biang shi/biang sik, which refers to food that can be eaten with the hand/flat food. Traditionally, we have dry noodles that were served on banana leaves and we eat it by shoving the noodles into our mouth through a folded banana leaf, kinda like what you do with nan bread or tacos–only you don’t eat the banana leaf. I had this kind of pancit habhab in Quezon province when I went there during one Pahiyas Festival. I remember buying big packs of pancit habhab to bring home because the one I tasted in Lucban, Quezon was delicious.

My daughter, Twin I, said, mommy, why do you know such things??? I told her I am a walking encyclopedia of useless facts. I love reading and researching such things and for some reason I retain them.

That’s also the reason why I can recall deals and so many facts about the companies in the Philippines, their history, who is not in good terms with whom…the tension between the Chinese Filipino tycoons and the old guard Spanish families and that’s why we had two stock exchanges before (Manila Ex and the Makati Ex), which was stupid, really.

I’m the trivia girl. It serves me very well in my job right now.