Ladies and gentlemen, presenting tonight's dinner!

Kindly excuse the low res picture. I used my cell phone's camera to snap a picture of the shrimps with sayote. This is actually my favorite dish to cook. It is fairly simple. Quite healthy and savory, if I may say so myself! =)

For the record

I am not pregnant, I am just fat! hehe

It was a false alarm!

I know in a previous post I mentioned I wanted to wait until next year to conceive.

But I somehow changed my mind.

Changing one's mind is a very common female trait, right?

Foremost reason is my health.

Second are my husband's wishes.

Third is the timing.
I didn't want people to think I got married because I was pregnant.
It is a silly reason, I know but people can get really speculative, at times!



So hopefully next month we will be successful!

Food galore

Nowadays all I can think of is food, food and more food.
I've been bolder in my attempts to venture into the one place in the house I always treated as mine field - the kitchen. Well with our small place, there is no way I can avoid the cuisine! (French for kitchen) So I cook or rather I experiment with whatever ingredients I have in the frigo (French for refrigerator) and dish out edible meals. Thankfully, my husband is all praise when I cook and politely compliments my cooking. Bless him.

As I type this entry, I am munching on delicious suman and espasol from Batangas. Delicacies courtesy of my sister who went on a fam trip to Lipa City and its environs, recently. At night I even dream of places where I want to eat when we go out like Pho Hoa, Teriyaki Boy, Max's, Kaya Korean Restaurant, Pancake House etc. It is a very long salivating list.

No wonder I had difficulty fitting into my favorite jeans, today!


Pfft.

I CONFESS: A wedding anecdote

One of the requirements (among numerous) for the Church wedding was to hear confession at least 2 days before the D day. But we were swamped left and right with making final arrangements for the wedding, moving to our new place and picking up my mother in law from the airport. So after I had checked in at the Holiday Inn, Galleria the day before my wedding, I headed to the Edsa Shrine to confess my sins.

The thing is I haven't confessed in the longest time. By long I mean 3 decades! So I was hesitant as well as apprehensive because (1) I might be berated to high heavens (2) I had no idea how to confess and (3) my sins have amounted to a long list!

Anyways the night before I talked with D and my sister and they more or less told me what to do, how to do it and just encouraged me to go for it! After all I only had 1 day to go before my wedding and it was imperative I come clean. I wanted to make my confession while there was a mass so that I could go in, confess and then leave asap without drawing attention to myself. I got there just in time for the communion part, I head straight to the confessional. I come face to face with a young priest who surprisingly was very accommodating and didn't admonish me for the tons of sins I've accumulated through the years. Phew I was relieved that it was finally over!

The next day I was bright and cheerful for my nuptials. I got there early. I made small talk with my guests, my groom and my relatives. At 9:45 AM, the sacristan told us to get ready as the officiating priest was already waiting. I turn to take a peek at the priest who will marry me and D and what do you know? It was the priest I had confessed to the previous day. Quel horror!!! I started sweating from embarrassment. A few minutes before the mass started, I told D and he started laughing his heart out. To say that I was very uncomfortable during the entire nuptial Mass is an understatement. But it is still a funny wedding anecdote I will keep repeating to anyone who cares to listen.

Today is our 2nd wedding monthsary! Yay! =)

Experiment

Usually during D's day off we tend to do certain experiments. By experiment I meant in the kitchen, alright? I better clarify, people might get the wrong idea. ;-)

So yesterday after we bought the necessary ingredients, we decided to try cooking molo soup. D insisted on chopping the onions and the carrots into tiny squares. He did it against my wishes because he won't let me handle the sharp knife after I had a bloody encounter, a few weeks ago. I accidentally cut my finger while chopping onions. It was a rather deep cut and it bled for several hours. But it is fine now. The scar has mysteriously disappeared.

So anyways, I mixed the ground beef, ground pork, the carrots and onions together. Added some grounded black pepper, pinch of salt then blended them with 1 raw egg. Afterwards, I proceeded to place small portions of the mixture in the molo wrapper. I made sure they looked like dumplings which wasn't easy to do!. Meanwhile D sauteed onions and garlic in a pot with water along with 1 Knorr chicken cube. When it was boiling, he dropped the molo dumplings into the broth. D added the extra molo wrapper which he had cut into tiny strips.

Voila our molo soup was ready for dinner. I admit it needed some more seasoning but hey it was an experimental labor of love meticulously prepared by two people. One master chep and his alluring assistant cook. Yes I am merely relegated to 'cook' status but at least I am alluring! =)

I feel the earth move under my feet

So there I was last night doing what I do best (online, browsing the Internet!) when suddenly I felt the floor move sideways. At first I thought oh geez am I having dizzy spells? *gasps* Could I be preggie na? *gasps again*

A few minutes later, I receive a text message from my sister (who lives on the 12th floor of a condo building) that there was an earthquake.

I rush down the stairs to ask hubby who was doing what he does best (cooking!) if he felt the earthquake. He shrugs "ah nope I didn't feel a thing."

Hmmm!

Later I find out that there was indeed an earthquake with an intensity of 3 that shook certain parts of Metro Manila with Baler, Quezon being the epicenter!

Yikes!

Here I thought that I would be much safer living in a two storey apartment than a condo unit but I guess if the earth moves it doesn't matter where you live. You will definitely move as well.

Dirt Devil

Cleaning is a major household chore, especially if you live in an area where dust accumulates faster than you spell d-u-s-t. You need to make sure your house is squeaky clean, in spic and span shape without chalking up a huge electricity bill. Sure you can just use the good old reliable broom (walis) but there are certain places which are out of reach like those little nooks and crannies.


With the Dirt Devil cordless vacuum cleaners, you get to clean your house and save energy at the same time. Their new AccuCharge Stick Vac and Hand Vac use 70% less energy – making AccuCharge the first cordless cleaning technology to earn Energy Star approval.

They are available in several sleek designs and suited for all types of surface. A wide range of vacs at your disposal. Hand vacs, broom and stick vacs, carpet cleaners. Everything you ever wanted and needed in a handy vacuum is present in the Dirt Devil range of vacuum cleaners.

With these electricity saving vacs, cleaning would definitely take on a new meaning. It would no longer be a major boring household chore but a fun filled activity to spice up your daily routine.

So rev up and get a cleaning!

Lumalapad ka ata, anak

That's what my mother told me yesterday when I met her in church for the first Friday mass. Hmmm I have not seen my dear mother in less than a month and she tells me I've gained weight?

Yikes.

On the contrary I lost weight because I got sick. But it was useless arguing with her. Maybe it was her way of fishing if I was already expecting. I don't think I am just yet. But who knows? (Abangan!)

But can you blame me if I did?
The culprit would be my husband's cooking. I even joke and call him my world class chep (instead of chef!)

So instead of sulking over my extra pounds, I did what every woman should do - beautify myself by indulging in a refreshing hair spa and getting a trim as well.
Nothing beats having your hair massaged with some great hair products to produce smooth, silky straight as a feather hair. It did wonders for my self esteem! Not that I necessarily admit I have added some pounds because I firmly believe I haven't.


Enough said!

A romantic meme

I feel much better and for want of something to post on my blog, I decided to do this meme which I saw at LittleMsFirefly's blog .

1. How did you meet your husband?
I 'met' D on Friendster towards the end of 2005.


2. Where did you go on your first date?
We heard the 4:30pm anticipated mass at Greenbelt Chapel. Then watched "Spiderman 3" and ended the day with dinner at Teriyaki Boy, Greenbelt 1.


3. When was your first intimate kiss?
It was the evening of September 3, 2007 (yes I remember the date!)


4. How many girlfriends did he have in the past? Do you honestly know?
He's had four.


5. What is his ethnicity?
Filipino.


6. What is his favorite food?
He loves to eat ampalaya and basically prefers fish dishes.


7. What is he like if he is mad?
I have no idea because he rarely gets mad.


8. What are the things he did you thought is the most romantic thing he’d ever done?
He isn't the romantic type that buys me gifts or flowers. But he is very protective of me like shielding me from the vehicles when we cross the streets or lifting my hand when we step off the escalator. Those small gestures make him very lovable in my eyes.



9. Describe how he proposed to you.
There wasn't any proposal, really. But I remember during an exchange of text messages, he told me he had nothing to offer me in terms of material possessions. But there is one thing he can give me with all his heart - his surname!


10. When did you know he was the ONE?
Well let's put it this way. At my advanced age of 39, I was basically coursing through life being single yet happy in my own skin. So when someone actually makes the effort to spend some quality time with me despite his busy sked, I was willing to give it (love) another try. I've been in a lot of relationships before but there was always something lacking or I didn't feel complete! But with D it simply felt right so I knew he was the ONE.