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

All That I Am is Because of Mom

We finally got to watch "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" last night. I was looking forward to watching this movie when it came out, but things got super busy and I missed it. I was ecstatic when I found it on Google Play Movies yesterday and watched it with Sweetie. I super love Mr. Rogers. I would always remember watching him every morning when I was four years old. It's one memory I could still remember vividly. I'd turn on the TV, wait patiently for the US national anthem to finish playing and then joyously await Mr. Rogers to come out and sing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood". 

One of the memorable speeches that Mr. Rogers made was when he got an Emmy award. He said, "All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Those who have cared about you and wanted what was best for you in life. Ten seconds of silence. I’ll watch the time." It was included in another form in the movie and was a really good reminder to me to be grateful for everything I have been blessed with. 

The first person I thought about as I watched the scene in the movie* was my Mom. Growing up my Mom was very strict, but that's how she nurtured me to be who I am today. Every summer she taught me a new craft. She may not have taught me how to cook, but she taught me how to be street smart. She always found a way to work things out. Dad was the dreamer, but Mom is the executioner. I think I take more after my Mom than my Dad when it comes to work-style (the messy side of me comes from Dad hehe). 

All that I am is because of my Mom. Thank you Mom, happy Mother's day. Love you <3  

*where Mr. Rogers asked the journalist to take a minute to think about the people who helped him become who he is

#CB34 #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

Happy Tummies in South Korea

Here's a very short vlog of some of the yummy food we tried during our visit to Korea -

#CB32 #StayHome #BeKind

Lakwatsa Scenarios We Think About on Weekends

I've been sick the last few days and so I've just been resting mostly on the couch during the day. Doctor said my tests have come back normal so my illness is probably because of an imbalance from taking blood thinners. My doctor has taken me off it and I'm waiting for his advise on what to do next since I still feel weak and dizzy at times. I'm not sure why it happened, I hope it means I'll be off blood thinners from now on? 

Anyway, one of my friends pinged today and we talked about what she'd like to do for herself. She mentioned domestic and international travel. That got me thinking about places I miss visiting and places I'd like to explore more once it's safe for me to travel. On weekends, Sweetie and I usually have this conversation -

I think this was at SM Makati last December.

Sweetie: I'll go down to warm up the car and then you follow.

Me: Okay! We'll have lunch in Glorietta?

Sweetie: Yes, then we'll hear mass at Landmark and buy hopia after. 

Me: Yay! I'm so excited! Can we pass by National Bookstore too? 

Yup we're a little crazy like that, although we've been doing that since we moved to Singapore. That's how a typical Sunday is for us when we are in Manila. 

Aside from our usual haunts we always talk about food we miss from back home... 

Like, Dayrit's

My favorite cheeseburger.

Makati Supermart spaghetti

My all-time favorite spaghetti.

Max's

Banana ketchup anyone?

Jollibee (of course)

Jollibee forever!

And even McDonald's coz they have spaghetti over there

This was many, many years ago in McDonald's Bali.

Even Chowking

I attended a Chowking event once...

Commune - I super miss the longganisa pasta!

It's not only about the food in Commune, but also the company.

Don Henrico's - buffalo wings please!

Of course, let's not forget Shakey's!

Sbarro, Pixie's Sinugba, turon at SM! I haven't included here my favorite milk tea places! I'll reserve that for my Tea, Completely blog.

For now we just dream.

#CB31 #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