The peso fought back to close higher today but the stock market continued to slide and we are now in bear market territory. The next support level now is at 5,700, which spells disaster for me. I should pray for the market to fight back next week (with some good news that UK economy registered growth in 2Q22) because I need to withdraw some investments in the next two to three weeks. While I have cash so I can issue a check to my contractor by next week, I need to decide soon if I should draw down one fund now (with the outlook that it will not get any better until December) or wait for the corporate Christmas window-dressing. Or before the corporate earnings season around Nov 15.
Meanwhile, the social media universe has exploded when Shopee revealed that its new endorser is Toni Gonzaga, the hypocritical, Bible-quoting actress who blatantly endorsed lies and enabled the Marcoses and Duterte. To make matters worse, the announcement came on the heels of the news that Shopee axed a lot of jobs because it is losing money. People pushing back said, if they’re losing money, why are they even hiring an endorser who is known to charge millions upon millions of pesos at the expense of employees.
So people began uninstalling their Shopee app and deleting their accounts. The noise and the loss of accounts might have been a lot since Shopee started an impromptu survey about endorsers then they started issuing press statements. Then came the dummy accounts that claimed they were former Shopee employees, saying they were well taken care of by Shopee because they got a bonus pay—And we started pushing back against the crisis PR by saying under the law, Shopee is obligated to give retrenched employees separation pay and THOSE ARE NOT BONUSES. Caught their bullshit.
I’ve been calling out the other BS that the crisis PR team had been coming out with. Because I know how PR works and only a few here in the Philippines specialize in that. I’m friends with one crisis PR guy who is on the speed dial of many conglomerates in the Philippines and he has been telling me some tricks of the trade. One of these days I should have drinks with him again.
I should really finish packing now because I would be driving early morning tomorrow—about 5:30-ish???—to go to the beach. I hope it doesn’t rain much this weekend. ❤
L and M looking at tattoo designs. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Among the things that we talked about last night (for 5 hours) was getting a tattoo. I told them the only thing that kept me from getting one is the comic strip Pugad Baboy. I told them that I read one strip where the father, Mang Dagul, told Tiny, his daughter, about how ridiculous Tweety Bird would look on her wrinkly arm when she hits 80 years old.
So M had been showing me cat designs that I can try. I said no. Then he showed me a photo of the makkuro kuroske characters from Chihiro no Sen (Spirited Away) that he would want for his tattoo.
Then I said, yeah, just think how it would look like when you’re 80. Then he quipped, “if I get to live that long.”
I posted this photo on IG stories and another friend of ours, A, commented there that we should all get tattoos at the same time since she also wanted one. 😂
So it seems like we would all be getting tattoos since we’re all in our rebellious phase.
I want to get No Face (Kaonashi)
With a life-size No Face at Donguri Republic in Taiwan. I asked a stranger to take this photo since I was traveling alone.
Another option is to have a tattoo based on indigenous prints/designs like the Kalinga tattoos done by Apo Whang-Od. The problem is, I need to trek to Kalinga province to meet her in the Butbut tribe village. Which I’m not prepared to do. I also don’t want to desecrate her culture since such tattoos are reserved for the warriors, specifically headhunters, of her tribe.
I also like the idea of the pintado warriors of the Visayas, the ones the Spanish conquistadores had fought with when they tried to land in what is now known as Leyte province. The Spanish demonized tattoos later on as these are associated with the indigenous Filipino warriors of yore who had been defending these islands from the likes of them.
My ancestors came from Batangas and natives of this part of Southern Tagalog are known to be feisty and warrior-like. We always had a gulok (or golok in Malay) somewhere inside or outside in the garden as a cutting tool or for self defense. It’s only when my father passed on did we dispose of his rusty gulok.
Gulok
I learned in one music workshop that I attended (when I was bored with my life decades) ago that Batangas has its own music tradition—the kumintang, or war songs. Again, this was watered down by the Spaniards to become something different form the original. The kumintang now known in Batangas is a music and dance performed by couples and has turned into a…let’s say non-threatening show for the conquistadores.
But I digress. My point is, I’ve descended from warriors so I may have a license to have an indigenous tattoo meant for warriors 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
L said we can get our tats done in Poblacion, Makati. When? I don’t know. What part of the body? I don’t know. I may not even get one since some onsen may be particular about tattooed individuals.
I tried squeezing in my outdoor walk early this evening before it rained. I drove my car to UP because it was already getting dark and I don’t really feel safe walking in the dark once I get near Krus na Ligas to get to my own village.
It was starting to drizzle. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My walk was shorter than usual because it was about to rain. I spent the last 2 km of my walk under the drizzle.
I was dissatisfied with the calories I supposedly burned so I supplemented it by doing my indoor exercises (core + stretching + weights). There finally, almost 500 kcal.
When I was lifting, my heart rate was around 125 bpm. Sooooooo…if I get stuck inside again, I can double the frequency of my lifts and lengthen my core exercises to achieve the same effect as when I walk 7km.
I’m tired but it’s the good kind of tired. I will start another panel of curtain because I finished the first one the other night.
And Kimchi started sleeping on the curtain I just finished. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Finally, the midweek drinks with my friends pushed through. So M has decided he will tender his resignation in November. He recognized that it’s really unhealthy to stay and his doctor told him that whatever he is feeling physically is psychosomatic. Which I had been telling him all along.
L, another friend, has been contemplating on quitting for quite some time. She said she can no longer continue working 7 days a week. But she is trying her darned best to overcome psychological barriers to performing better in her new beat. She needs to leave her job on a high note so she is pushing herself to the limit.
My cousin told us today that she will undergo mastectomy soon to remove cysts in her breast that are thankfully benign but they’re growing (???). She also felt that her menstrual period has shortened and wildly irregular so that’s the next thing that she should be focusing on, she said.
We’re the same age but she’s a few months older than me. She’s single while I already have kids…I don’t know if that makes any difference.
This reminds me that I should pay attention now to my body, aside from the exercise part. Meaning I should have my executive check up soon. I will be asking for a time off on my birthday week to visit my gynecologist (in my hometown; she had been my doctor since college) and I will also request her for a cardiologist referral and for an executive check up. I haven’t done anything yet to address my high triglycerides, LDL, and uric acid (i.e. meds to keep them low). I need to know if I had any clots after my serious bout with Covid last year because what was worrisome with my experience was that I had long haul Covid symptoms.
In the meantime, I need to keep going with my exercises so I will not end up as a blimp again.
I had to content myself with indoor workout because it rained. At least I burned 240 kcal today and I was not just sedentary.
Working at my desk (checking emails and replying to them) while in workout clothes 😂
I had to use my screen and webcam to monitor my dumb bell exercises because I don’t have a full-length mirror in my room. The form is more important than the speed of the curls and lifts so I need to keep my shoulders straight, arms tight/clipped. You can only do that if you see your reflection so you can correct your wrong posture or form. We used to do some weights when I was still playing football. We also did aerobics to improve our footwork.
As I said before, I intend to live beyond 42 years old so I need to be disciplined about this. My children cannot rely on their dad for anything if I die early.
Speaking of which, I got incensed today because of his hare-brained idea to drive the girls from his province to Manila via my old small car. I mean that’s nuts. I doubt its reliability on long trips like that (800 km++) because he does not maintain cars well. The original plan was just I would let the girls stay with their paternal side in Shangri-la Mactan, Cebu (the girls’ airfare paid for by his siblings) then they would come back to Manila after four days. But noooo, he didn’t even tell me that they are going to be whisked away from Cebu to his province to stay longer for Todos los Santos/Dia de los muertos (All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day). However, only the airfare from Cebu to their province will be paid for by his siblings and since he doesn’t have money, he can only drive back to Manila with them.
That’s 48 freaking hours. In bad monsoon/typhoon season.
He doesn’t even think about the safety and comfort of his own children 🤬
Yeah, we used to drive from Manila to their province for Christmas when the girls were smaller but we had stops and spent the night in Legaspi or Naga plus we took turns in driving. But the experience was always exhausting because the ferry that shipped us and the car from Sorsogon to Samar (vice-versa) was ALWAYS delayed by 6-12 hours because of scarcity of trips or bad weather. And we drove using my big car.
And if we go by what Twin I has been reporting to me about the condition of my kei car when they get fetched by their dad, I highly doubt if they will not break down along the highway. We’re talking about very rural highways. The last time they were with their dad, she said there was no airconditioning. 😤 I could no longer get mad because it’s already beyond my control. I painstakingly took care of that car when it was my daily ride because it was so convenient to find parking space for it and I can easily slip in between bigger cars in really bad traffic. Plus it was economical so there is less guilt when I drive all around with just me as a passenger.
I told Twin I to tell her dad that if he doesn’t produce plane tickets from his province to Manila for the girls, I will not even drive them to NAIA for their flight to Cebu.
So he told Twin I that they will just leave Cebu and fly straight to Manila.
I talked to his youngest sister (who’s in California) on the phone this afternoon to tell her my concerns about the girls’ safety and the ridiculousness of that plan. She saw my point and agreed that they shouldn’t be doing a land trip.
I’m very sure that my BP shot through the roof when I was hyperventilating and I had palpitations when I learned about that stupid plan. So I called my mom to release my pent up fury. She said, “Well, it’s you who said that your ex-husband is more evil than your friend L’s ex-husband. So what do you expect?”
🤬
Another thing that alarmed me today was that my electricity consumption cost me PHP 1,500 more this month because of my Instant Pot use. I mean, everything was constant from last month to this month. And if you compare my consumption with last year’s, the September 2022 bill is still higher even though my fridge in Sept 2021 was still the old one that was already so inefficient.
That’s a serious bump in my consumption. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
So no, I don’t think I would be using that for simple dishes again. If I have enough lead time, I’d rather use the slow cooker. I will only use the Instant Pot if I don’t have enough time to make the meat tender. Besides, I should lay off the beef since I should consume less red meat.
Good thing I have my stress relievers…
Kimchi waiting for her wet food. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Cooked this from scratch before we lose power tonight. Then we will resort to time-saving, ready to cook marinated stuff I bought from Monterey today when shit hits the fan.
Meatballs in gravy. Secret ingredient: lots of nutmeg. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Apprently, I haven’t been reading the weather maps well. Typhoon Karding hasn’t made landfall yet.
PAGASA and JWC had upgraded Typhoon Karding into a super typhoon after it crossed the Philippine Sea—notorious for its warm waters—that fueled its strength before landfall. It is yet to cross Metro Manila now at 2 pm but the periphery of the typhoon is already felt with the deceptively calm rain we are experiencing now.
If Signal #4 is already raised here, then Karding is about as strong as Typhoon Glenda or Milenyo, two typhoons that knocked out power in Metro Manila for at least a week. Milenyo was in 2006 when I experienced walking from the Department of Finance to my newspaper’s office because there were no public utility vehicles. There was no power anywhere and as a reporter, I still needed to file my stories whatever the circumstances. The bigger the catastrophe, the more we must work and be on the ground.
Then the unlearned still brand us as paid hacks and useless 😑
Glenda was in 2014, when the girls were still babies. That was challenging. Right after Glenda passed, Metro Manila was freaking hot and humid—a guarantee that would send babies crying at night because it was so uncomfortable. We had to go to Araneta Center to charge our gadgets, in my case my laptop, and have some air-conditioning. Power was out for more than a week and I still had to file stories.
Twin I helping me shop for supplies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Twin I and I went out for our supplies run before Typhoon Karding hits us. Right now it is taking its time ravaging Quezon Province. 😔
Back to making curtains. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’ve also brought out my hobbies that won’t require power, like sewing curtains and sketching/painting.
I’m writing about these things so when I’m already gone, my girls will know what to do upon reading blog entries such as this.
Also posting this link to an IG reel that hit me hard. This is for my girls as well. If they feel like they are being treated like a human appliance, they should pack up and leave. They shouldn’t sink to my level; I who groveled at the feet of men who treated me badly.
So my children, if you’re reading this now that I’ve gone to the great beyond, then remember this: be always prepared before a calamity. It doesn’t hurt to be extra vigilant. If the typhoon passes without destroying Metro Manila, it’s good. Do not treat your prep work as wasted effort.
Second point: do not stay in a relationship because you are expected to. Once your partner treats you like a maid or human appliance, LEAVE! You don’t deserve to be treated like that.
That’s why I think I will end up as a cat lady. It’s only my cats who love me like this. Sushi slept on my pillows all day. We slept together this afternoon and this evening she’s at the foot of my bed, still sleeping. She doesn’t let me out of her sight. ❤️
Typhoon Karding will make landfall in Bicol tonight.
This is the calm before the storm. Typhoon Karding will be making landfall tonight and I haven’t done any grocery shopping today 🥴 It will be rainy and windy as shit tomorrow until Monday.
While the eye will not be in Metro Manila, we will be around Signal #2 tomorrow as Typhoon Karding crosses Luzon to exit West Philippine Sea by Monday. Better charge laptops, phones, and electric fans.
Today was sunny and I thought it will stay that way all throughout today. So I took my time and cooked chicken rice for the first time on Instant Pot.
Who would have thought Hainanese chicken rice could be this easy?
You need 1) Instant Pot 2) chicken rice mix (I used to buy them in jars from Hi-Top Aurora). Prepare washed rice but only 3/4 the usual amount of water that you put when cooking using a rice cooker. Dump and stir chicken rice mix.
Wash chicken thighs very well, like there should be no trace of blood and impurities. Season chicken thighs reeaaaalllly well by scrubbing it with a lot of salt. Place them on top of the soaking uncooked rice. Place halved shallots and big chunks of ginger in between the chicken thighs.
Set Instant Pot on “Rice” mode. It should pressure cook at “Low” for 14 mins.
Watch some Youtube videos. Your InstantPot will be calling for you in about 30 mins. You let it be because you aren’t done watching some more YT videos. Then you realize electricity is expensive so you attend to your chicken rice.
Lovely.
I didn’t have to put the chicken in an ice bath to stop the cooking process because I was lazy. I didn’t have to rub sesame oil on the chicken skin for that brownish oily glow.
However, I missed the soup part. There was no way you can have soup this way. So you can make a soup batch by sauteing shallots and lots of red ginger (or whatever color you have) or galangal, add a chicken bullion cube and boil all these until the root veggies almost disintegrate. Add chopped green onions.
Instant Pot Chicken Rice. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Skin still intact even without the ice bath to arrest the cooking process. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It was so tasty that I went over my one-cup-rice-a-day diet. I needed to walk 6-7km today to burn the calories but of course the weather didn’t cooperate. It rained heavily at 4pm just as I was about to leave. I waited and waited for it to end but nope, it only stopped when it was already dark.
No choice but I have to do indoor workout again.
Well according to my Oppo Band, my heart rate during my entire exercise session was around 125-136, especially when I was doing my weight training.
Not bad for indoor workout, almost 260 kcal burned, equivalent to a 5km walk under an hour.
My drinks with the friend is cancelled because he’s meeting his dad tonight so we arranged it for next week with more friends. I hope there would be no typhoon yet…Next weekend is our long weekend at the beach. ❤
