Trying Something New

Our neighborhood continues to be eerily quiet. It's always been quiet, but I usually hear more planes pass by and schoolbuses dropping off kids (plus Miggy when he was younger). In the mornings, I'd hear Mang Jabar, our favorite taho vendor, shout out "Tahooooo!". There would also be the sound of horns from the manong who picks up trash for composting. There would also be sounds from the walis tingting sweeping front yards during early mornings. Of course, there was also the wake up call of chickens and dogs barking. 

The only sound I regularly hear now is the rustling of the bamboo leaves from our garden. Even the sound of sirens have lessened (which is a good indicator there are less emergencies). I guess my neighbors are all staying home and keeping safe just like us. Well, if you're interested to be my neighbor, the house in front of us is for sale (needs renovating though). Anyway, I noticed how quiet it was again when I watered the plants earlier. 

Speaking of plants, we decided to try something new -- hydrophonics! Sweetie successfully grew basil in water when we were in Singapore. We've been frustrated with buying lettuce lately. It's either not available in supermarkets or full of insects. It's ruining our healthy eating plans, so we thought we should grow some. After scouring Lazada and Shopee, I found a starter kit that seemed easy to follow. 

We started the process last Friday. Waited three days and opened the container where we put the rockwool with seeds. They sprouted! (Faster than the ones I planted in soil!). Woohoo! We transferred them last night and it's sitting nicely in the kitchen for now. We're hopeful it will provide us with lettuce and mustasa. If we're successful then maybe we'll add more kits so we can provide veggies for Mom too. 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

#BeKind #StayHome

Giant Ant and Lechon!

Early this morning while visiting my plants on the balcony a giant ant appeared! It just sauntered out from under one of the tomato plant pots and explored the area. I'm not sure how it got to our balcony which is more than 200 feet from the ground. I asked my friends what it was and one said it was a Japanese carpenter ant and another said it was just an ordinary giant ant.

I've been watching AntsCanada on YouTube and the first thought that came to mind was it's probably someone's pet! Haha. I can't imagine how an ant can climb over twenty floors. We haven't gone out for a long time too so the only way it could've reached our balcony is go up the side of the building from the ground or it may have escaped it's pet cage. I was planning to catch it and ask around if anyone lost their ant! It was gone by afternoon though. Bye-bye Mr. Ant.

Sweetie surprised me and ordered lunch from a lechon place from Novena. Oh my it was so makasalanan! He also ordered some lumpia since I was craving for it the other day. I was looking forward to eating lunch I shared with my colleagues that I was going to eat lechon. I was surprised when they all knew what lechon was and shared my excitement haha.

I have happy lechon memories. That time when I was a child and my Dad with my neighbor Titos tried to roast a huge pig by the seashore. They didn't expect that it would take 12 hours to roast the whole pig! They started in the morning and we got to eat the lechon late at night already. Then there was the time right after the GSA summit in 2013 when we celebrated the end of the event by eating at that famous Cebu lechon place across SM Cebu. And then that time when everyone went hungry in my Dad's law office because I declared that the tiny roasted pig was kawawa. They had to hide in another office so they could cut up the lechon de leche. 

Tomorrow Singapore is starting phase 2 of the reopening. I've been home now for 103 days. I've only gone out for really essential stuff like doctor appointments, the move and the home turnover. Physiotherapy re-started two weeks ago and I do that once a week now. We decided to stay put for now and see how things go after two weeks. Still need to take a lot of precautions to be sure.


#CB/73 #WFH56 #StuckAtHomeDay103 #StayHome #BeKind 

The Joy of Gardening

I used to see gardening as a chore. I tried planting a couple of times before. Even bought plants from Tagaytay to take care of, but the few that survived had to be put under my Mom's care. She has a green thumb.

Started to plant again last month during the labor day weekend. It was just an experiment to see if anything I plant would grow. It did and I realized that I had to take taking care of my plants properly. I enjoy researching to learn more about taking care of my plants. I've been smothering them with attention everyday.

At my balcony "farm" before the sprouts started growing like crazy.

I re-potted some of my tomato plants last night. They're about a month old now and are growing really fast. Just before I went to bed I realized that we can all be self-sufficient if we wanted to. In the old days most houses had backyards where you could plant vegetables and take care of chickens. My Mom has a huge backyard and we had fruit trees, veggies and chickens. Now I wish I had that space and easy access to gardening supplies.

The tomato forest needed to be re-potted.

I've been thinking about where I want to be when I go home. We have a home in Manila which has two balconies and I've finally found a reason to interact more with my neighbors. The recently created our community gardening group and I'm so glad I joined. I've been learning a lot from my neighbors and they've been inspiring me to think about what to do with our balcony.

Now I understand why my Mom spends so many hours in her garden. Her plants have been giving her so much joy. I guess my previous attempts at gardening did not work out because I wasn't ready. It's only been a month since I started cultivating my balcony farm. Read more about my gardening adventures at "The Balcony Farmer". I have friends who told me they got inspired with my efforts and started gardening too!


#CB/61 #StuckAtHomeDay91 #StayHome #BeKind

Happiness in Half a Kilo of Lechon

Today is the first day of phase 1 of the safe-reopening of Singapore. It was an important day for us since we finally got all our stuff out of our old apartment. We also turned over our keys. Now we just need to wait to get back our deposit (minus cleaning expenses). It's the end of an era for our life here in Singapore.

I finally found someone who adopted our microwave oven. Originally wanted to give it to my seatmate, David, but he said his landlord does not allow cooking in his place. It's my good friend Cathy who opened her home to our microwave oven. It was perfect timing so I sent the microwave oven to her via Grab this afternoon. She traded it with lechon (it's actually her belated birthday celebration)!

Harbourfront era, the end.

This is one of the longest times I haven't been home (more than 5 months now!). The lechon was heaven sent (thanks Cathy and Mike!). Luckily I ordered some atsara two weeks ago and it matched perfectly. We had to keep active for awhile after dinner to let the food digest better (haha) and we skipped dessert! (We only ate half of the container!).

I think I'll remember this day for a long time. Thanks again Cathy and Mike :)

#CB57   #StuckAtHomeDay87 #StayHome #BeKind 

Mood Mondays

I thought I'd put some order to my blogging so I don't end up just blabbing away here. So for Mondays I thought I'd just allot this day to blog about the general mood for the week.

Today is the last day of the Singapore circuit breaker. I think with all lockdowns/quarantines/whatever you call it went through different phases. Ours here became stricter right after we moved to our new place. The easement back to normal will go through several phases also and the general guideline is for those working from home to just continue working from home.

I've accepted the fact that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and I have adjusted to a new normal. I've been home for 87 days now and only go out for essential stuff. Essential stuff has just been my doctor visits and urgent stuff we needed to fix related to our move.

At this point I think the only thing I miss most is the ability to hug Miggy and my Mom. Everything else I can do online. I love going to the supermarket and rarely ordered groceries online before. We didn't have enough supplies when we moved so I did groceries weekly for the first few weeks. Now I only order what I need. We used to eat out at least once or twice a week, but we always preferred to just buy take-away and just eat at home.

The new normal allowed me to explore other things. Gardening, baking bread and work on my quilt projects. I've also made two photobooks now and waiting for the second one to arrive. No travel means I have the chance to finally blog about all my travels the last ten years (yes! I have a 10-year blog backlog!). Of course also more time to reach out to family and friends and see what they're up to.

Meet Mr. Mustasa. I'm so excited to see it grow!

This pandemic is hard for everyone and we have different ways to cope. I've had to manage my stress better because the <3 complained a few weeks ago. That really scared me and I followed my doctor's instructions closely. I realized I cannot be of service to others if I'm not well. I had to really impose a hard stop everyday so I can have enough time to rest and re-load my happiness tank. 

How about you? How are you? What is keeping you happy nowadays?

#CB56 #WFH44  #StuckAtHomeDay86 #StayHome #BeKind #MoodMondays

Happy People Coping Habits

I just had a nice chat with some friends. We were supposed to plan for an event, but ended up sharing to each other how we've been coping with the pandemic. Just staying home day in, day out is hard! Aristotle said,

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”

Happy times with my childhood friends.

We are meant to socialize and even introverts have friends too! For many summers growing up my Mom kept me busy at home. She taught me many different crafts. Eventually I became a teenager and started to prefer hanging out with friends. Fast-forward to our current situation made me realize that those summers I spent with my Mom is helping me cope better.

Here's a list of things my friends and I have been doing at home to cope -

1. Playing an instrument/learn to play an instrument

That week when I had to rest I brought out my old recital piece and tried to re-master it. My hands were very, very rusty. I only made progress with 2 pages of the 11 page piece. I spent 2 hours playing the piano. It was fun and relaxing for me. My friend bought herself a portable keyboard and got a subscription to learn how to place. We're looking forward to her first recital next month (over Google Meets of course).

2. Cooking childhood favorites/learning to cook favorite local food

My friend's husband has been cooking a lot for them and he made one of his childhood favorites for her -- misua. For me I want to learn how to make hardinera. It's a dish I think originally from Lucban. We used to eat it at the original Buddy's restaurant near the church in Lucban. I've been researching for the best recipe to try.

3. Create your own happiness photobook

I showed my friends the photobook I had printed recently and they thought others may be encouraged to create their own too.

4. Baking

I have friends who have been baking tarts, cookies, pastries, pies etc. I normally bake cookies and cupcakes. Now I'm learning to bake Pinoy bread. It's so satisfying to eat it after so many hours of waiting for the bread to be ready for baking.

5. Planting, it's a #plantdemic!

There's something about nurturing something from scratch that's so satisfying. I take mini-breaks during the day and hang out with the plants on the balcony. I think they like it when I check on them several times a day. I give them a lot of encouragement to grow and be healthy.

I think the most important thing to do is really take care of your well-being at this time. Do things you love and rest as needed. If you need help, don't hesitate to contact family/friends.



#CB51 #WFH41   #StuckAtHomeDay82 #StayHome #BeKind 

Lesson for the Day: Can't Teach Old Dogs New Tricks

It is challenging to teach someone new tricks if the person isn't open to learning. I think in some ways I am already like that (since I'm kinda old!). Over the long weekend break I told myself I needed to change my perspective so that I don't get super stressed.

It finally dawned on me today that sometimes the issue isn't because of me. Fact is we're all built differently. Depending on your personality type you can continuously clash with another person. This causes a lot of stress especially if you can't both agree on one thing. And there is also the fact that at some point you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

What do you think? Have you encountered this too?


#CB50 #WFH40   #StuckAtHomeDay81 #StayHome #BeKind 

Pandemic Coping Mantra -- Learn New Things!

Eid Mubarak, Selamat Hari Raya!

It was a four day weekend for me! I was looking forward to this weekend for a few weeks now since I really needed a break. I spent a lot of time resting and just did stuff based on what I felt like doing. Looking back at the last four days I just ate-slept-cooked-did some hobbies. 

I made a new discovery about myself the last few weeks. I actually like tending to my tiny balcony garden. It's still fairly new, but I enjoy learning new things about planting. I used to buy a lot of plants when I lived in Manila. Usually got them from Tagaytay. Most didn't survive for a number of reasons. Those that did are with my Mom.

I prefer to plant from seed. It gives me so much joy to see a plant sprouting and grow centimeter by centimeter. Now I understand why my Mom always tries to rush back home to check on her garden. I can never keep her for more than two weeks when she comes to visit me in Singapore. She always worries about her plants. 

I told Sweetie this morning that I've decided to put a schedule on my hobbies because I've neglected my quilting and I have several projects that haven't moved for a few months now. I've been quilting since last weekend. I hope to finish a wedding gift I started last year before the couple celebrates their first wedding anniversary (haha, sorry got so busy!). I also need to make new throw pillowcases for our couch. 

I cooked and baked too. I wanted to bake some brownies, but I conked out yesterday afternoon. I'll just probably bake next weekend if I'm up to it. I think the most important thing we did was to re-organize our freezer. I wanted to keep track of our food so I only order what we lack. The circuit break is ending early next week, so I hope we could drop by the Filipino grocery also since that's what we're lacking now. 

I'm so grateful for the R&R at home. As much as there's so much unknown out there because of the pandemic, I'm glad my Mom taught me how to keep busy even at home. I've discovered a lot about myself also. I realized too that there may be things that's out of reach now, but there are ways to cope. One project I'm really excited to do is my home panaderia project. I want to learn how to bake my favorite Pinoy breads. I'm also putting together a list of food I miss most. I want to learn how to cook them. 

So that's my new mantra for now -- learn new things!

#CB49   #StuckAtHomeDay80 #StayHome #BeKind 

The Home Panaderia is Open! My First Attempt at Baking Bread

Two decades... That's how long it's taken for me to learn how to be comfortable at cooking. The only thing I new how to cook until ten years ago was spaghetti and lasagna and I only knew how to bake peanut butter cookies and crinkles. 

I was forced to learn to cook for survival. I got a lot of encouragement from my Ate who's a good cook. She told me that her initial attempts at cooking didn't always work. I still cannot figure out how she turned sweet and sour pork green. She said my brother-in-law still ate it and I thought if she could do it I could learn too. 

I tried cooking and baking like a science experiment. I rarely veer away from the recipe. It's my Dad and siblings who have that talent at winging it while cooking. Miggy actually has the talent for it. My attempt at teaching him through "Recipes for my Son" is just a way for me to encourage him to cook more.

I wanted to try baking bread as early as late March, but yeast was hard to come by. I only found some through Lazada and it took weeks to arrive. I was already researching for easy bread recipes I could try. I heard that our Pinoy breads are a little hard to make, so I decided to make dinner rolls for my first attempt. 

My cousin who runs a bakery in Naga City said she doesn't have the patience for baking bread. She prefers to bake cake. I told her I like baking bread because it gives me opportunity to rest in-between the proofing period. I followed the recipe I chose step by step and save for the uneven sizes of the dough it turned out well. I kinda regretted baking only half the recipe since we finished everything immediately haha. 

My new mantra now is, "Just keep baking to learn more!" My plan is to attempt ensaymada next!

#CB48   #StuckAtHomeDay79 #StayHome #BeKind 

My New Normal

So it's been more than two months now since I've been stuck at home. I miss going out. Last night before we went to sleep I told Sweetie I wanted to have cappuccino for breakfast. I don't even remember the last time I had breakfast outside of home. 

We tried to order cappuccino this morning, but there wasn't any from our usual breakfast places. McDonald's is still closed in our area. I just contented myself with a double latte. I didn't stress over it because I've accepted the fact that things are different now. 

I've learned to "accept the unknown". It's been a struggle for me, but I did what I could to cope. I kept busy. My body rejected being work busy, so I worked on a good balance. I don't work 11 a days anymore, just 10 hours and 45 minutes. Kiddin'. I try to keep to 9 hours a day now. 

After work I break it by changing the lighting at home. I switch on the TV and watch a couple of YouTube videos relating to my interests -- planting, baking, home viewing etc. Then I prepare dinner. After dinner we watch our favorite vlogs and I either sew or do some research on my interests. I blog usually before I head to bed (that's why I post super late at night). 

I learned from Dr. Joe Dispenza that when you want to break the habit of being yourself you need to continuously learn something new. To keep myself on the bright side of things I've decided to re-work my plans for 2020. And working on the "stay at home" framework I'm going to learn new things based on my interests -

• Planting - veggies! Become more self-sufficient! (Honestly, I just want to grow mustasa coz I want to cook my Dad's yummy mustasa beef dish).
• Quilting - finish a couple of blankets I've started!
• Cooking - learn to cook favorite Pinoy dishes that I miss so much!
• Baking - learn to bake my favorite Pinoy bread (plan is here).

I'll work on detailing the list in the next few days. I'm happy when I'm productive and that will help me cope from missing Miggy and Mom so much. 

What about you? What's your new normal?

#CB47   #StuckAtHomeDay78 #StayHome #BeKind 

My Home Panaderia

We had an extra day off today. Yay! I woke up around 11 in the morning and just stared out of the window while drinking my coffee. I woke up rested and happy, I was content to just spend time doing nothing. After checking on my plants I decided to watch some bread baking videos. I've always wanted to learn how to bake bread. 

I took a trial baking class last year.
Plans have changed, I'm now a full time YouTube Academy student haha.

My biggest fear about bread baking is dealing with yeast. Luckily there's now a lot of videos on YouTube you can watch to learn how to bake. I've been watching a gazillion bread baking videos to learn how to bake bread. I'd probably start with something easy like dinner rolls and then work my way through different types of Pinoy bread. 

Dreaming of Panbonete. I hope my cousin gives me the recipe! :)

My original plan this year was to enroll in bread baking classes. I still want to, but in the meantime I've enrolled myself in YouTube Academy (haha). It took me awhile before I was able to obtain some yeast! Now that I have yeast I could start my bread baking career. 

I'm now compiling a list of bread I want to try baking. I hope to bake one type of bread every week. The perfect time is this weekend since Singapore is on holiday on Monday! Yay!

Here's my bread baking bucket list:

Dinner rolls

Ensaymada

Spanish bread

Pandesal

Pianono

Putok

Pinagong

Pan de regla/kalihim

Cheese rolls

Monay

Markina 

Panbonete

Wow, this is quite a long list! But I'm up for the challenge! What about you? What are your favorite Filipino bread? 

#CB46   #StuckAtHomeDay77 #StayHome #BeKind 

#ThankYouUncleSundar

My First Visit to Korea

Last February I shared the time Sweetie and I visited Korea. I also visited the beautiful city of Yeosu. I have so much blog backlog and I remembered I never got to share that first time I visited Korea. 

My first visit to Korea is truly memorable. I went with friends from work. We always joked that it was a test of friendship since we spent our first night in a traditional Korean home. It was Myra who wanted to try it and we gave in. We all decided even before we went to bed that we were going to move to a hotel the next day. It was an experience like no other, but the need for conveniences won. 

After transferring to a hotel we immediately visited two palaces: the Changdeokgung and Gyeongbukgung Palace. All I remember now is we walked a lot. I guess at that I was already starting to have issues with clotting and I got so tired easily. At Changdeokgung Palace I parked myself at the museum steps while waiting for the girls to come back and get me. 

That same day we met a Kpop star who taught cooking at our office! That was a memorable experience! I should have probably asked him if I'd pass to be a Kpop star since I was mistaken to be one in Pakistan! Hahaha. 

By evening we dined out and ate yummy Korean barbeque. What was memorable for me was trying soju for the first time! They mixed it with beer and I absolutely loved it. I found it really tasty since it matched the grilled pork perfectly. We conked out immediately when we got back to the hotel. 

The next day we went to Seoul Skytower and Namsan. We took the cable car going up to the Namsan Tower. We decided to dress up for the day just for fun. We spent most our time there just taking photos and I remember laughing and laughing. There was a Latino guy who even asked to take a photo with me! That was so funny. 

After Namsan we went to a market since I wanted to buy fabric. That was where we had our second funny incident for the day. We were so hungry we went inside one of the shops. We immediately found a seat and tried to observe what other diners were ordering. We belated realized that everything they offered were raw food! OMG! We weren't ready to have that so we apologized to the server and moved to another resto. 

For our final full day we went to Nami Island. We just commuted and took the train. It was so cold! It was the perfect timing to visit Nami Island because the leaves were all orange and yellow. We rented a bike-trike (I'm not sure what it's called). It was an exhilirating experience to see the whole island through biking. I had so much fun doing that. After visiting Nami Island we also went to Petite France. 

We spent evenings roaming around Myeongdong. I learned a lot about beauty products visiting the shops. It was useful for me since Sweetie and I spent time in the same area when we visited last year. I wish I could visit Korea many more times in the coming years. I'm also interested to see the different provinces. Hopefully when things start going back to normal, maybe next year or the year after. I'd really want to visit all the wonderful people I've been meeting from Korea. I shall be back!

#CB45  #WFH39 #StuckAtHomeDay76 #StayHome #BeKind #ThrowbackThursday #TravelThursday

Yummy Toastbox Peanut Butter Cookies

On Labor Day I finally tried out the oven in the kitchen of our new apartment. Here's how you can make it -

Full recipe here.

#CB44  #WFH38 #StuckAtHomeDay75 #StayHome #BeKind

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My Dad would have been 87 today. It's been ten years since we celebrated his birthday with him. 

My Dad was the funny one between my parents. I take after my being makulit after him. He was the one who was malambing. What I miss most about my Dad is his presence. He was my rock and I never thought anything bad could happen to me as long as he was there. 

Growing up my Dad would regularly bring me out on dates. We'd go to his favorite place "Luk Yuen" in what is now called Glorietta. Or we'd go to Dayrit's. He'd buy me ice cream every Sunday after hearing mass. I'd hang out with him and his friends at the tennis court or I'd bike alongside them while they would walk around the park. I remember hanging out at lot at his law office too. 

Makulit vs. Mas makulit.

It's been 9 years since I lost my Dad. I was beside him when his pulse slowly ebbed away. It was the most painful thing I went through in my life. A friend recently asked me how I coped and I told her I threw myself at work. Looking back I realized I kept myself so busy so that it won't hurt as much. It's not been good for me because I ended up not taking care of myself properly. It was Daddy who always watched out for me especially when I was sick. 

After 9 long years of salving the pain with work I've learned to slow down (a little) and I'm taking care of myself better. I'm grateful that I have a friend who reached out to lean on me at this time. This helped me resolve the pain of losing my Dad. I'd like to think that he's relieved that I've finally realized this and he's smiling up there in heaven. 

I love you Daddy and happy birthday!

#CB43  #WFH37 #StuckAtHomeDay74 #StayHome #BeKind

Last Normal Photo

The last time I was able to go out "freely" was on January 12. It was the day the Taal Volcano erupted. Miggy and I went to hear mass, have lunch and buy a few stuff. For me it was that day when things changed.

I'd like to keep that day as my last normal day. We were able to hear mass, have a great lunch and do some shopping. I remember we even got to try tikoy turon from SM Supermarket. I knew things were going to change when the electricity died when we were about to go home. On the way home, the air was acrid and the sun seemed to be dancing. 

Life hasn't been the same for me since then. The only thing I yearn for is to be with my family. To hug Miggy, to be with my Mom. Everything else will adjust as needed. I hope and pray things can be better soon so I can be with my family again. 

#CB41  #StuckAtHomeDay72 #StayHome #BeKind

The Art of Doing Nothing

If you know me you know I could never sit still. I am a perennial multitasker. My Mom has been scolding me since high school. She says I never seem to rest. I remember she used to turn off the lights in my room by 9pm to force me to sleep early. Usually I wait for her to fall asleep and then I turn the lights back on and work on whatever I'm doing hehe. 

My body is what it is today because I didn't rest enough after I had heart surgery. I was running a huge event three and a half months after open heart surgery. I felt I was fine and even climbed the Borobudur temple. Crazy noh? I think it's normal for people who have had major surgery to try to prove that we're superhuman and do all sorts of crazy stuff. I didn't stop after one big event, I did a lot more in several countries. 

Looking back now, I could say I made bad decisions. I'm a work in progress and I've been told that whenever I feel unwell I should stop and take care of myself first. I decided to take a long break last Christmas because I felt like a top spinning non-stop. I had to "clear my cache". It worked, but by the time I felt I was stable again I once again started to be busy. It was "happy busy" because I finished my "back-up 15 years worth of photos. 

In my mind this is the perfect set-up for doing nothing (except maybe to eat a bag of Chips Ahoy)...

During my break I discovered the art of doing nothing. I had to start with just doing one thing. I was able to watching TV without doing anything else. It was hard for me because when I watch TV I normally sew or write. I still have a long way to go, but now I understand the value of just being still and being calm. I'm also trying to learn to do that for my mind too.  I still have a long way to go. 

Today I discovered this YouTube channel of a Singaporean who shares his thoughts about the art of doing nothing. He made me think about my well-being. I hope I can continue on this journey to take care of myself better. 

What about you? How do you take care of yourself?

#CB39 #WFH35 #StuckAtHomeDay70 #StayHome #BeKind

My Happy Photobook!

Today was an amazing day even though I had to get up super early for meetings. I was in the middle of a meeting when the doorbell rang. Sweetie got the item and then handed it to me. It was my photobook!

At the end of January I was pretty stressed out one day and asked my friends to give me some happy thoughts. I went offline after that and rested. A few hours later I checked my post and was so surprised to see so many comments!

It inspired me to capture all the beautiful thoughts and I started working on what I called "My Happy Project". I finished the content and then gave it a rest. The rest stretched from end of February to last weekend! I quickly finished the cover and ordered it to be printed.

I didn't expect it to arrive so soon and right now hearing the doorbell ring is music to my ears. I was so excited I started opening the package during the meeting (sorry I got so distracted!). It was a huge happy boost and even though I was so busy the rest of the day I just went through everything happily. 

I chose this photobook printer mainly because it can connect to Google Photos and they have a lot of promos. I was happy with the quality of the paper also. In Manila I normally have it made through Picturebooks, but their app doesn't really work online. The price is just the same too. I have two more projects lined up, I'm still thinking about what I'm going to make. Maybe a recipe book for Miggy? Hmm...

#CB38 #WFH34 #StuckAtHomeDay69 #StayHome #BeKind

Seeing Through the Fog

My general happy mood usually changes whenever I get sick and a dark cloud usually settles on my head. It's a huge struggle to get out of it when I don't feel well. I went to see my doctor today because my BP was low yesterday. I actually had to stop working around 4 in the afternoon and Sweetie put his foot down and had me rest (yes, usually I'm so hard headed). 

This was taken a week after Miggy went back home to Singapore. We were so sad when our nest went empty and we kept going out because we didn't want to go home to an empty nest.

I tried meditating several times the past week, but it didn't work. I prayed. I slept. I wrote. I quilted. I played the piano. I cooked Japanese-style hamburgers last Saturday. I called my Mom. My mind was so noisy nothing worked. It always happens to me when I get sick and it's a terrible feeling. 

Moving on...

It was my friend Cathy who sent me a meditation resource. I selected a three minute meditation guide by Chade Meng Tan. It worked! The fog dissipated just like that. I had a chat with friends and I realized that I should make sure I find the right meditation guide to follow. I'm so relieved I finally snapped out of the fog. Thanks so much Cathy and Iris for the chat today. 

Off to our weekly bread-run. We've expanded our walks by taking the long way back to our unit.

Being on "lockdown" is very hard on all of us. The med-tech who took my blood today told me that we could actually go out for walks now. I still need to be cautious and I don't think Sweetie will allow me to go out yet. I have to be content for now when we go down to buy bread on the vending machine (vid here). For the meantime I need to get back on my exercise routine. That will surely help with my well-being. Please pray for me. 

x-o-x-o

#CB36 #WFH32 #StuckAtHomeDay67 #StayHome #BeKind

Recipes for my Son: Double Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I love baking food coz it's easy and usually yummy. Here's a recipe my boys absolutely love and ingredients are quite easy to find too. There are times it's hard to find sour cream so I've tried making my own with just cream and calamansi. Baking potatoes though take awhile and to shorten the baking time I just boil the potatoes. 

Here's how I've been making double stuffed baked potatoes -

Ingredients:

4 large potatoes

2 T butter

1 medium white onion, chopped finely

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup sour cream 

salt and pepper to taste

#CB35 #WFH31 #StayHome #BeKind

We have Become More Domesticated

More than two months ago I started to work from home and it's day 33 of the circuit breaker here in Singapore. Prior to the circuit breaker I was still able to go out for my PT sessions. We made a mad rush to move to a new home and that was a really good decision because things are much stricter now. We did not want to get stuck in our old home. 

Church

Our beautiful church back home. Photo by Kuya June Tupas.

We haven't been going out that much since I came back to Singapore last January. Miggy came with me and we originally planned to explore more of Singapore, but because of the virus we just stayed home. I think the highlight of the last five months for me was Cathy and Mike's wedding (watch Cathy's poem dedicated to Mike here). The last time we went to hear mass in church was in early February and after that all churches were closed. Good thing you can hear mass online now and we've been attending Pope Francis' live blessings also. 

Meals

Home-cooked Japanese-style hamburgers.

When in Singapore we usually go out to hear mass on Sundays, then we eat lunch and buy supplies (actually the same formula when back home in Manila hehe). Some nights on weekdays we also sometimes eat out to break the monotony. Things have changed a lot though and I was telling Sweetie earlier that it took me a year to finish a bottle of olive oil. I finished half of a new bottle in just a month! We've been preparing majority of our meals at home now.  

Entertainment

Meet "plant", our 4-year old plant our former landlord left with us. 

We don't have a cable subscription here in Singapore and only watch content from YouTube, TFC and Netflix. From watching TV shows/series, movies, travel vlogs we're now watching a lot of videos on planting veggies, baking bread, house tours and tiny homes! The reality is we're going to be stuck home for far longer than we expect and we are finding more ways to be productive at home. 

Shopping

You can't imagine how much joy I get now when we go downstairs once a week to buy bread from the vending machine. I was ecstatic when I was able to buy something from 7-Eleven after my check-up at the hospital last Wednesday. I took it for granted that I could go anywhere, anytime I wanted. Who would've thought that we'd experience a pandemic in our lifetime? Now I have to pre-plan everything I need because I can only buy things online. It's good for me because I have now learned to only get what I really need and I haven't bought any new clothes this whole year! 

Home Cleaning

Ahhh, this is where things have really changed. We have someone who comes in weekly to help clean the house and do ironing, but with the #CB we've had to do everything. It's been really hard since we moved and have had to do all the cleaning. My colleague Victor was telling me it's easy since he had to clean his unit every three days when he was an AirBnB host. My lame excuse for him was that I grew up with helpers and I only learned all my home management skills when I got married hehe (thank you YouTube Academy!). And as much as I keep viewing large nice houses, I don't really see myself living in a big house again because of all the cleaning that's required to maintain a big house. 

What about you? What changes have happened with how you live? What do you think you need to adjust more?

#CB33 #StayHome #BeKind