Do You Know Anyone Who had COVID19?

I've been reading the news and I'm surprised that there are people who still think that the coronavirus is a hoax. Whaaaattttt?!?!? With more than 13 million infected and almost 600 thousand deaths (source) I can't imagine how some people still think it's a hoax. I even see some vloggers in the US who still eat out like there's no pandemic happening.

I have family and friends who have been afflicted with this nasty, treacherous virus. I have relatives in the US who sadly passed away because of it. Believe me when I tell you, this virus does not end when you get well from it. It attacks your system and will affect the rest of your life. I had gone through several illnesses that have left my lungs severely scarred.

I suffer every single day even though I was afflicted by the virus and bacteria back in 2003 and 2008. I have accepted early on that this is my body now. I'm trying hard to make myself stronger through physiotherapy, but there are things that are beyond my control . There are days when my heart decides to run a marathon, leaving me fatigued even though I'm just at home and resting.

Staying home has it perks -- beautiful moon shows.

People like me are in grave danger of this virus and other viruses/bacteria. We can take as much precaution as we can, but we can't just stay home forever. I'm grateful that the country where I am today requires everyone to wear masks, social distance and they have other precautions in place. From the beginning the government had appealed to the citizens to follow the precautionary measures. They followed the restrictions as a community.

So yes, all of us are in danger with this virus. Please take precautions, wear a mask and go out only when it is essential. Stay safe everyone.


CB//100 #StuckAtHomeDay/130 #WFH73 #StayHome #BeKind

Dreaming of My Future Home

One of the things that tickled my curiousity the last few months being stuck at home is my future home. In the last decade I have drastically downsized my home. From living in a bungalow all my life we moved to a two floor apartment, a duplex, and then we got our own place. For a few years in Singapore I lived together with a neighbor so I just fit in all my things in a bedroom. It was when Miggy and Sweetie moved to Singapore when we rented our own flat.

I've gotten used to living in a smaller space. My childhood home had so much space. My Mom asks me every so often that I should just go back there with my family. As much as I love to live in a home with so much space I dread having to clean it. I've learned to love living in a smaller space because it helps me focus only on essential things (a.k.a. it helped me downsize my stuff).

Live by the mountain or sea? Live high up or ground level? 

Our place in Manila though is quite small and I get a lot of bruises just walking about our bedroom (I have flat feet!). I need help to get our place to have proper storage. I'm thinking of having it changed to two bedrooms only. I've been thinking about it for two years now and hope I could get things going this year. We'll see.

Long term though it's not really practical to live in a condo in Manila. It's still better to live in a house in a village since the association dues are cheaper. Should we go back and live with Mom? Or find a smaller house to live in. I have no plans yet right now, but I have been indulging in watching real property videos. Here's a few channels I watch -

Big yeyemenin house viewing
Practical sized houses (in Paranaque)
Tiny homes

I remember when I was a child I wanted to become an architect. There was a huge gap to that dream though -- my drawing skills do not exist. I used to draw home layouts and practiced it while playing Lego. I only recalled this the last few months I've been stuck at home. Funny how things from the past come back unexpectedly.

I've lived in 8 different homes in the past 10 years. That has given me a better idea of what I want in my future permanent home. I want it to be just the right size (read as: size that's easy to clean). It should have enough space to move around, enough storage and space for our hobbies. I'm not sure yet if I'd still want to live in the city or move to the province when I go back home.

What about you? Are you now in your permanent home? Or are you expecting to live somewhere else eventually?

#CB/68 #StuckAtHomeDay98 #StayHome #BeKind  

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 

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

Lockdown Easy-to-Cook Recipes

I've been teaching Miggy to cook by taking videos whenever I cook. This way he can also see visually how I make things. I was so surprised to see that I've made quite a lot of dishes already. Thought I'd make a summary here to help friends who are also stuck at home and want to learn how to cook. I guess this would be useful for foreign friends who'd like to learn Filipino dishes. 

Top on the list of course is, chicken adobo! This dish is so easy to make. The key though is to use Filipino soy sauce and vinegar. 

Second easy to make dish, pork steak. This is originally bistek Tagalog, but I find it hard to soften beef. If you want to use beef, just use beef instead of pork. I tried using Kikkoman instead of Datu Puti soy sauce, I ended up having to add a lot of water because it turned out too salty. 

My friends have been telling me that they miss my spaghetti. It's not your usually sweet Pinoy spaghetti. It was my seatmate from work who taught me how to make this spaghetti. 

And our favorite baked salmon is a frequent dish I make especially during lent.  

For those who love veggies, here's pinakbet. It was my first time to make this my friend Buddy from the onlinepalengke.com sent me a box of vegetables last Christmas.

#CB30 #StayHome #BeKind

Revenge of the Fifth

The moon is full outside tonight and this is one of those days I'd rather delete from the calendar. I missed my second alarm and woke up a bit dazed and worried that I may have missed my meeting. It was dazed when I got up. I told myself that maybe it was because I was having a weird dream just before I woke up. After I went to the bathroom I sat down on the couch to think whether I should go see a doctor or not. Sweetie then came out of the room and asked me how I was and whether I wanted to go see a doctor. 

I have been feeling some unusual symptoms since Sunday night. I thought it was just overfatigue from working 11-hour days since March and working to fix our new home during weekends. I took a sick leave yesterday to rest and by end of day yesterday I was feeling a bit better. I even checked my calendar to see my schedule for Tuesday. While sitting on the couch I realized that the heart is a delicate organ and it can betray you without any cause. I decided to see my doctor because work can wait and it's better for me to make sure there's nothing funny going on in my system.

Good thing I went to see my doctor. It wasn't just fatigue I was feeling. There's something wrong somewhere and my doctor had me do some tests today. I'm also on a holter for the next 24 hours to check if there's anything irregular with my heart's rhythm. I've been doing so well for a couple of months now. Working long hours probably took it's toll on me. I'm on forced rest for the whole week. I hope and pray that it's just fatigue and nothing serious. I guess Papa God is telling me to get some rest for now. 

I used the title "Revenge of the Fifth" because today my body revenged on me. It's what it does whenever I've had too much. And, yes, I'm also alluding to the revenge of the Sith in my country. They shut down the largest broadcast company during a pandemic. It's just truly unbelievable what some people can do because of greed. God please save the Philippines. 

#CB29 #StayHome #BeKind

Recipes for my Son: Tuna Pasta

This is my 17th recipe video for my son, Miggy. I started doing this when my cousins told me that they missed our family reunion food. Titay's lengua, Tita Olive's spaghetti, my Dad's corn casserole, Tito Ben's giant prawns and many other dishes. Just thinking about it is making me very hungry! The only dish Dad was able to teach me was his mustasa dish (mustasa with yummy ground beef) and I realized I have to teach Miggy the dishes I usually cook for them. The number of videos increased because of the ECQ. Miggy has to fend for himself since he's in Manila, so I've been making more videos for him so he can avoid just eating canned food. 

One thing on my to-do list is to learn to cook more seafood dishes. I only have a handful I know how to make since I'm scared of frying fish! If you know any easy-to-cook seafood dishes please let me know! I'd be excited to try making it. This tuna pasta recipe is the healthier version of my spaghetti. I only learned to cook through YouTube university as recommended by Dominic Ochoa (yup the actor) during one of the Taste Asia events. Miggy though has the talent. He's cooked a couple of really yummy dishes and when I was in Manila he cooked dinner for me all of January. 

Here's how I prepare tuna pasta, it's really great if you use Century Tuna in Brine -

Ingredients:

1 small red onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4-1/2 tsp oregano

1/4-1/2 tsp basic

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 can tuna, drained

1 packet Del Monte Italian spaghetti sauce

1 small can mushrooms, drained

1 Tbsp sliced black olives

1/4 cup grated cheese

#CB27 #StayHome #BeKind

Work to Accept the Unknown

The most difficult thing about this pandemic is not knowing what may happen next. I've been trying to keep abreast of what's happening. Almost 3.2 million people have been infected globally with the US leading at 1.2M, 17k in Singapore and less than 9k in the Philippines. Many countries have instilled community quarantine/lockdown, but there's very few countries where the spread has slowed down (Korea/Taiwan to name a few). I had it in my head that perhaps by May it would  slow down already and we can start going back to normal by June. I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon. 

I've been reading articles about taking care of your overall well-being during this period. The phrase "work to accept the unknown" caught my eye and I realized that is where we all are now. There is no known and no one can say for certain when this pandemic is going to end. My director told me that in time we'll probably ease back in the office, but he said that I should probably think about whether I should come back soon. With my health condition I'll probably be the last to come back to the office. 

The unknown is a scary place. There is the term "step into the unknown" which incites excitement. The unknown that we have now is not something that any of us would want to go into. How does one work to accept the unknown? I don't know. I don't have a clue either. I was really affected when the circuit breaker was extended in Singapore. I was a wreck. I'm a creature of habit and the extension affected me because I know there are things I like that I won't be able to do anytime soon (like being with my son who's in Manila). 

I only calmed them when I was reminded that I have my faith and I must trust that God will lead the way. It may not be the same life as before, but I must trust that wherever this will bring us it will be where God wants us to be. 

Happy Saturday everyone. Keep the faith!

#CB26 #StayHome #BeKind