What Happened to Our Dab Water Pump

We were happy with our Dab water pump. It was newly installed when we moved into our house five years ago. Together with it was a Bestank water tank that tided us over whenever there were water interruptions. Maintenance was easy and we only called for service once in the last five years. We also had a filter installed to reduce the need to have the water tank cleaned*. We were happy campers.

Until... we noticed all our faucets kept spouting hot water. We thought it was our Bhagwan heater, so we turned it off. The water was still very hot and it made us anxious because hot water can melt pipes. It would be a huge disaster if that happened. I did a quick Google search and figured out it was our water pump causing the issue. Sweetie immediately turned it off and we used Maynilad directly until the Bestank service crew could come over. 

The crew they sent was very knowledgeable. They confirmed it was the pump that was causing the hot water because the primer dried up. They said the primer probably dried up because of the water interruptions. We had interruptions often last summer and we honestly had no idea you have to add water to the pump whenever that happens. 

They declared we can have the pump repaired. It needed 3 parts to be replaced and it'd cost PhP18,000, BUT, we'd have to wait 3 months for the parts to be imported. Sweetie and I discussed what to do and with El Nino affecting all of us, it would be problematic if we're unable to have water (I'm immuno-compromised, so a lot of factors affect my health). Sigh!

It's a work in progress, so will update next week!

#BeKind #StaySafe

*Getting your water tank cleaned costs at least PhP8,000!

Watched "Love You So Bad"

I discovered earlier that 2025 MMFF films have started to trickle on Netflix. We try to watch the annual MMFF films every year and we started with "Love You So Bad". 

We watched most of the trailers last year, but for this movie I just remember who's in it. We first saw Will Ashley and Bianca de Vera when they started in the series jointly produced by ABS-CBN and GMA. Then we saw them on PBB. Like everyone else, we were curious who'd they end up with. 

College days. We all grew up :)

Anyway, we decided to watch "Love You So Bad" while having dinner. To be honest, I expected it to be a teeny-bopper love team thingy. I was so wrong because what it featured was quite complex. It delivered a realistic story about love, being in a relationship and the complexities of growing up. 

Honestly, the film reminded me a bit about myself. I was a mix of the characters and I must say, growing up is truly messy. In the end, we all learn from our mistakes and move on to become better versions of ourselves. 

I'm not going to spoil anything, just go watch it!

Happy Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

July Plant Roundup

July was an interesting month for my garden. It's the rainy season, so everything's a little greener. I also had to adjust the placement of some plants because it gets very windy when there's a typhoon.

Some plants still continued to bloom even with the weird weather -

We harvested some bell peppers and cherry tomatoes -

And I still managed to grow some new plants from seed -

Curry

A variety of orange

I hope to harvest some mustasa to make our favorite dish soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried Making Salted Egg Chicken!

I accidentally* bought a curry plant. It's a tree now and I thought I'd put it to good use. One of the dishes we miss most from our stay in Singapore is salted egg chicken. We usually buy it at a stall in Food Republic (Vivo City). I wonder if the stall is still there. 

I found some recipes and made it with Miggy. We decided to bake the chicken instead of deep frying it. We don't like oily food, so thought that would help. It turned out tasty!

We didn't make it too spicy. Just add more chili flakes and sili if you want it spicier. Here's how we made it:

Full recipe: https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/07/recipes-for-my-son-salted-egg-chicken.html

Let me know if you'll try to make it!

*Garden nursery dupped me. I was aiming to buy lemongrass!

Throwback: OHSI Days

I resumed scanning old photos today and found some from a job I had 24 years ago. I don't even recall the event of the photos since it's been years since I last saw them.

What I remember was being happy that I was part of a community. We were quite tight-knit in the office since most of us were young adults learning the ropes of the workforce. I joined the company when I had just completed my MBA. 

It was technically my second corporate job and I learned a lot while I was there. I was eager to use what I learned from grad school and I gained new skills along the way. I was obviously a workaholic, but I had fun with my colleagues. The photos reminded me that we had after work gimmicks even though we were so busy. 

I always think about those days fondly. I honestly have no idea where most of my colleagues are except for a few who are active on FB. Maybe someday we'll have a get-together!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organized My Basket of Thingamajigs

A neighbor pinged yesterday asking if we had a LAN to laptop cable. I have two areas where I keep my collection of cables, a drawer and a basket. The basket holds frequently used items like cables, adaptors and camera/phone stands. The drawer holds cables I don't use often. 

I must admit, I don't throw away working cables. I did that once and realized I made a mistake. I donated the cables for an old data storage drive. I hadn't transferred the data at that time. I ended up paying a lot to purchase a replacement cable. Gaaah. Since then I haven't thrown away anything unless it doesn't work anymore or definitely of no use. I'm also working on noting the use of each cable.

Anyway, I went through the two storage places, but I didn't have the item. He eventually pinged me and said they were able to purchase it. Since I saw the plight of my thingamajigs, I decided to organize the basket today. I used containers I originally bought for the fridge, but since it's too small I decided to repurpose it to organize my stuff. 

I kept cables in a separate bag (I'll go through it again later this week) and moved camera stuff in another case (donated by Sweetie). I categorized the other items into the following: adapters, chargers (plugs), phone stands, safety plugs, travel adapters and phone chargers (frequently used). I used to keep stuff in ziplocks, but it's harder to clean and tends to gather dust. The containers would be easier to wipe down. I'll add dessicant to make sure they are kept dry. 

I'm in my "organize" era and the funny thing is our architect noticed I've been moving things around, LOL.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Next Cat Project

I want to try some cute Pinterest projects and I chose this cute cat to form part of a new sewing machine cover I'm making.

I thought I'd be finished by now, but I got busy the past few days. Our water pump broke down, so we had to prioritize home issues.

 

Anyway, I've laid out how I'll make this cat. I hope it'll turn out cute.

#BeKind #StaySafe