Ikea Meatballs, I Miss You!

I'm a creature of habit especially when it comes to food. I like trying out new restaurants, but I tend to order the same thing when I go back. Sweetie is the complete opposite, he likes trying out new dishes. It's a hit or miss thing and we usually end up laughing when it's a miss. We just chalk it up to experience. 

Would you believe I've even built a regular order list when we order via Grab Food? Hahaha. To mix things up I usually ask Sweetie to chose where to order so I'm forced to try something new. It may be the same dish (i.e. sweet and sour pork), but at least it's a different restaurant haha. 

One of my all time favorite food since I moved here to Singapore is Ikea's meatballs! I think everyone does and whenever friends visit that's the other place we go to also (aside from buffet places!). The last time we were able to visit Ikea was just before the circuit breaker. Today I got lucky. After spending hours and hours with my doctors Sweetie said I should have some comfort food. 

It was almost four already when we ate lunch. Sweetie did the ordering and came back with so much food! We ended up bringing home half the food and we had it for dinner. We immediately went home after eating. No energy for shopping and my doctor would scold me if I did. 

I remember that time after heart surgery my doctor was encouraging me to walk more. My family would bring me to Ikea Tampines to walk around. When my doctor asked if I was doing any walking I told him I went around Ikea Tampines. He laughed and thought it was a good idea since you're really forced to walk around. Nothing like reaching your cardio goals while shopping haha. 

I saw a recipe of Ikea meatballs online and it's so similar to the recipe of my Japanese hamburgers. You can just use the same recipe, make smaller balls add some gravy and jam. Let me know if you try it! 

#CB//212 #StuckAtHomeDay/242 #WFH143 #StayHome #BeKind

The Beach, I Miss You

I miss the feeling of walking barefoot on a sandy beach. Feeling the warm sun on my face. Breathing in fresh air. And then taking a dip in the cool water. 

I had a hard time selecting photos for this post. 

This is one of fave places, Carbin Reef.

I love going to the beach. I oftentimes find myself looking outside the window wishing I was at a nice tropical island. I was only 8 months old when my parents started bringing me to the beach. We'd go to Camangui in Pasacao every year when I was a child. My family always had a hard time getting me out of the water. I never learned and was always sunburnt by the second day. 

I haven't changed. I try to go to the beach at least once a year. At least we were able to go to Bohol last December. We spent a few days there as a family to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. It was a fun few days. Looking back we should have spent a whole week there. 

Super miss my Miggy and Mom.

The beach also reminds me of the wonderful food you can have while on vacation! Fresh fruits like mango, watermelon, honeydew, lanzones, rambutan, chico, banana. Special local food inihaw na isda, barbecue, mangga't bagoong, ensalada, kinilaw, sinigang, kare-kare and the multitude of yummy Filipino food. I think I have just effectively brought back my appetite just thinking about all the food I normally eat whenever I'm by the sea. 

Back when we could do jump shots hahaha.

I have so many happy images flashing through my mind now. I miss going to the beach with my family and friends. What about you? What do you miss most about going to the beach?

Miss the beach? I have many more beach posts here and here.

#CB//211 #StuckAtHomeDay/241 #WFH142 #StayHome #BeKind

Buffet, I Miss You!

 I need good vibes today so I thought it would be good to think about a happy family memory. I just watched a video of a couple celebrating a birthday at a favorite buffet place back home. Buffet! 

And that promptly triggered a lot of happy memories with my family. That's one of our guilty pleasures... eating buffet! That's what we do normally for birthdays or when Kuya comes over to visit. The last time we ate at a buffet was in January with my cousins. We didn't get enough of it we again went out a few days later and Tito Louie ordered so much food it felt like we were back at the buffet place. 

When my Kuya comes over to visit we always eat at a Japanese buffet place. There's several of them here in Singapore. It's more fun to eat at a buffet when we're a huge group. I remember we even ate the day before my heart surgery (yup, buffet is life!). Having my nephews and nieces around makes the trip more sulit haha. 

I like the Japanese buffet places here in Singapore because it easier to choose food. The buffet places back home offer a lot of different cuisines and it's always hard to choose what to it. The last buffet place we ate at was at "The Alley by Vikings" at BGC. The place was huge and had every food imaginable. Even before leaving we were already planning another trip. Here's a video of our visit last January --

My friends have not been spared from our buffet visits. We find different excuses to have them try it too, haha. It's one of our happy places. We do it sparingly (must watch the weight!), so that's probably why it's always fun and memorable. 

I hope all the buffet places survive this situation we are in today. I hope they'll still be around when everything is safe again. It's one of the things I miss most (I'm sure my doctor won't agree hehe). 

What about you? Does your family like eating at buffet restaurants?

*Just some of my fave buffet places

Singapore - Kuishin Bo, Buffet Town, Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Manila - The Alley by Vikings, Dad's (of course!), La Fiesta

Sydney - Harvest Buffet

#CB//210 #StuckAtHomeDay/240 #WFH141 #StayHome #BeKind

Ina, Please Help Us

 I haven't been feeling well the last few days. 

My prayers and thoughts for the people severely affected by the typhoon. If you can, please send help.

#CB//209 #StuckAtHomeDay/239 #StayHome #BeKind

Help for Bicol

My beautiful home province has been devastated by the typhoon. Assessment is still ongoing, but more than 1 million people were evacuated (source). Footages shown by news outlets have been showing the devastation caused by typhoon Rolly. 

If you can, please send help through my parents' alma mater. Here are the details from Ateneo de Naga's President, Fr. Roberto E Rivera, S.J. -

DEPOSIT DETAILS: Kindly send an email to rnrivera@ateneo.edu with a scan or photo of the deposit slip transaction for proper acknowledgment. God bless you for your generosity!
Account Name: Ateneo de Naga University
Bank: BPI, Naga Caceres Branch
Peso Savings: 8863-0478-04, Dollar Savings 8864-0093-02
Swift Code BOPIPHMM
BDO, Elias Angeles Branch
Peso Savings: 5970-114724, Dollar Savings: 5970-110745 Swift Code BNORPHMM
Overseas donors can send through this link. Please check "Ateneo de Naga University" as the donee institution and state for Typhoon Rolly (Goni) efforts" in the comments section.

#CB//208 #StuckAtHomeDay/238 #StayHome #BeKind

Typhoon Rolly (Goni)

The strongest typhoon of the year hit home today. My home province, Bicol, was hit the hardest. It's my first time to hear DOST Pagasa declare signal number 5 for a group of provinces. When I was growing up the strongest typhoons only reached up to signal number 3. Signal number 5 means the typhoon brings catastrophic winds which can bring heavy to widespread damage (source).

Our backyard during Typhoon Ondoy (2009).

I may be far away from home, but I cannot help but worry. Miggy and my Mom are in Manila and I have relatives in Bicol. I just heard back from Miggy and he said they're okay in Manila. I'm more worried about my Tita Olive who is in Pasacao, Camarines Sur. A friend from Naga City said they don't have electricity and there is no signal from Globe. He hasn't been able to hear back from his relative in Pasacao too. 

I can't help but worry because I remember Tita Olive told me before she had to hold on for dear life on the pillar of her house so she won't get blown away by the wind. She lives by the beach. I know she has moved to a new place, but I'm not sure if it's on the beach side or mountain side. I haven't been able to visit her in Camangui for a long time now. There's also not much news about the area so I hope and pray they are okay. 

Since we started having supertyphoons, any typhoon that's above signal number 3 always grip me with fear. Being far away from my family makes it even harder. I could only hope and pray my relatives in Bicol are all okay. 

We will only know the devastation this supertyphoon has brought in the next few days. Help will be needed. I'll post updates on where you can help once I get news from back home. 

#CB//207 #StuckAtHomeDay/237 #StayHome #BeKind

Once in a Blue Moon and a Moonless Sky Tale

Growing up I oftentimes heard Frank Sinatra's song "Blue Moon" playing on the radio. My parents preferred to listen to songs from their era and my Mom had her radio permanently on what I called the oldies channel. There's many different definitions of what blue moon means. 

In our current time, blue moon refers to the second moon that comes out in the same month. I read though that blue moon was a term that farmers used to identify the fourth moon of the quarter. It is rare for two moons to come out in a month, it only happens every 2 years and 8 months. And that's also the reason why we use the expression "once in a blue moon". 

Once in a blue moon I was in a city in the southern part of the Philippines. I remembered about my trip there when I realized it's the last day of October... it's halloween. At that time I was advised to stay at the hotel nearest to the airport. I just dropped my things in the room after check in and rushed out for the activities scheduled for that day. When I got back it was quite late and this is what I wrote on my other blog after it happened ten years ago, from "Tales from the Moonless Sky" --

After watching my favorite evening shows I settled in one of the beds and exchanged text messages with my husband. I soon fell asleep. I'm a deep sleeper so I rarely wake up when it's not time to wake up. I also rarely wake up in the middle of the night to use the toilet.

I don't know what time it was but I was suddenly awakened by the feeling of someone sitting beside my right foot. I opened my eyes and looked. Nobody was there (I left one light open before I slept). I then felt whatever it was creeping under the covers and I felt its weight going up from my legs. When I felt its heavy weight on my chest I suddenly prayed the “Our Father” out loud in a hoarse voice and prayed for the soul to rest in peace. It was gone after a few lines. I continued to pray the “Hail Mary” and “Glory Be” and felt the presence leave the room entirely. Good thing I managed to go back to sleep.

Strangely enough at around 7 in the morning the radio suddenly turned on. I would've understood that it was possible somebody programmed it, but the radio was the old style, not programmable traditional one.

Ahhh one thing I didn't write about is what I discovered the next day. I normally check out what's outside of my room from the window and just briefly saw a huge tree. My friends said I probably caught the attention of whatever it was that visited me in the middle of the night. It was a really scary experience and it was a good thing I only stayed there for a night. 

After that I haven't had any significant strange experiences. If I feel anything strange I just normally say a prayer and it goes away. One of my former colleagues explained to me that when you have spirit encounters they normally just need prayers so don't be afraid. 

For everyone back home, please take care! I hope and pray everyone will be safe from #RollyPH. 

#CB//206 #StuckAtHomeDay/236 #StayHome #BeKind