My 80-year Old Heart

A decade and a half ago, my cardiologist said I have a 70-year old's heart. He said after surgery everything will improve. I had mitral valve repair 13 years ago and I enjoyed it until late 2018 when I had a pulmonary embolism. Things went downhill from there since my lungs were affected. 

And now I'm (over)due for mitral valve replacement. The surgery has been postponed several times and now we have to do it in Singapore since my case is very complicated. 

And I feel I now have an 80 year old's heart. All my activities have to be "calculated" and I cannot overdo things. When I miscalculate, I'm definitely unavailable and unstable the next day. I used to feel bad about it before, but now I just shrug my shoulders and rest as needed. Whatever I had planned, just gets delayed. 

Sometimes it saddens me when I can't do anything especially when I can't be more supportive for my friends. That's the sad reality of having a dysfunctional body. I know not many people understand what it's like to have chronic conditions. On the outside, I look healthy. My insides are like a new car with an ancient engine. 

Life. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made a Sewing Machine Cover (with a Cat!)

Making a new sewing machine cover has been on my to-do list for 3 years now. We were still in Singapore the last time I made one and I made it by hand. I've learned a few tricks since then and made this one mostly by machine. I embroidered some parts which is why it took longer than I expected. 

Anyway, I did the cat first and made the base really simple. Just huge strips of denim-like fabric. I think I went for monochromatic tone since the sky has been pouring rain for at least two weeks now.  

I think it turned out cute and it matches the covers I made for my kitchen appliances. Here's how it turned out:

And how I made it:

#BeKind #StaySafe

Starting House Construction During the Rainy Season

Our home construction was tackled differently. We thought that the whole house would be demolished and then everything would start from scratch. The construction team treated it differently and demolished parts of the house as they progressed.

After removing the "finishings" (all doors, cabinets, windows, bedroom walls), the team prioritized digging the new foundation. They kept the roof intact so they can work without getting rained in. It was surreal to see a huge part of the house removed.

At street level, you wouldn't actually know that the house was slowly getting demolished. The front door was intact and the debris was kept and picked up from the back. It was a good idea to do this since the movement inside was kept private and it kept the dust going to neighbors to a minimum. 

It's really helpful to work with an experienced team. I was worried at some point about their safety and our architect told me not to worry since they knew which walls to remove. My siblings said seeing the bones of the house reminded them of the time it was still being built (I wasn't born yet at that time). Well, I was able to see (from photos) the structure of the house and it was really surreal. 

Our architect has a video about starting construction during the rainy season. He pointed out some pros and cons. The big plus is the pricing of materials. With lower demand, the prices are more affordable. For us, it helped that a structure was in place and they were able to use the roof while working on the foundation. The new house will be a bit smaller than the old one, so the old foundation will help support the new one. 

Would you start your house construction during the rainy season?

Waterlogged

We finally had a break from constant rains this afternoon. It's been raining everyday for two weeks now and it does a number on you when you don't see the sun shining brightly. The sun peeked this afternoon and it was refreshing. It was short-lived though and it rained again. 

I'm unable to sleep well when it rains, especially when it rains hard. I guess it's PTSD from typhoon Ondoy when I woke up to water rushing in. The past few years I struggled with the issue that the basement in our current home would get flooded. 

Good thing we managed to get help from city hall (Building Official and CENRO) to get it fixed.The flooding was due to the wrong way the contractor of the house beside us did their drainage. It was back-flowing to our backyard. It took two years before the issue was addressed, only resolved when city hall warned the contractor their license would get suspended if they didn't fix it. 

We held our stand and pushed back when the contractor through the HOA wanted to charge to fix the drainage. It wasn't our fault, so we said no. It took them almost two months to fix and it was quite obvious where they went wrong when they dug up the area. The drainage was higher than ours, that's why their sewage would back flow to us. They eventually grudgingly fixed it. 

Our issue is a very small one compared to the countless families affected by the floods the past few days (weeks, months, years...). Our city seems to have been crowned as the most flooded city in the region which is so sad. I hope a solution can be found and done soon. 

Stay safe and dry everyone.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Rain Drenched Garden

It's been raining for 12 straight days now. I've been missing my gardening time. I miss watering my plants one by one. And I miss trimming them when needed. Taking photos of random flowers that bloom. Harvesting bell peppers, tomatoes and papaya. 

It's always a wonder how plants survive non-stop rain, but easily get root rot when you over water them. Everything is so green in the garden now and I'm happy there's still some random flowers blooming despite the rain. 

I'm just afraid there will be a lot of pests again when the rain lets up. I'll just have to be vigilant and make sure they don't multiply like crazy! 

How's your garden doing?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Ravioli with Al Telefono Sauce

I'm honestly not sure if the term I used above is correct. We found ready to eat ravioli at a shop in Molito, Alabang. I immediately bought one because it's been years since I had it at home. When we were in Singapore, I used to buy a pack from Marks & Spencer after my PT (it was in the same building). I would boil it, drain and then mix it with bottled pasta sauce. It was so easy to make!

We got spinach ravioli, but since I couldn't find any ready pasta sauce I liked, I decided to mix it with pasta al telefono (sauce). I wasn't sure if it would work, but trying was worth it! 

Here's how I made it:

Now I want to run back to Alabang to buy some ravioli to make this again, hehe. 

Full recipe: https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/08/recipes-for-my-son-ravioli-in-pasta-al.html

#BeKind #StaySafe

One Second Everyday: July 2026

I'm trying to make sure I post my one second a day a week after the start of the month. Good thing I remembered to do it today for Throwback Thursday. 

The highlight of the month was celebrating Mando Laura and Grogu's birthday. They were born on different days, so we celebrated across the week. We even got cake! Haha. I couldn't figure out where to get cake that's safe for cats? The cake I got was devoured by the hoomans...

The rainy season is back, so I got to re-open my kitchen and cook homemade meals. Gardening time reduced a lot because of the rain. I water only when needed to make sure the roots don't rot. It will probably be this way for the next two to three months until the weather changes. 

We also go to see two friends from abroad. One from Australia earlier in July and the other one from Singapore at the end of the month. It's really fun to see friends who come and visit. I must admit, we've been hibernating and only go out when really needed, haha. It's hard to get around when you're on a wheelchair. 

I only finished one measly quilt project. We got busy with other stuff, so I had to de-prioritize sewing for the month. I've been a bit picky also on what I do since I have other ongoing non-sewing projects which take up time. I'm now choosing between three possible projects for the month. I'm having a hard time choosing since it will definitely take more time to make, heh. Here's my 1SE video for the month of July:

I hope the month of August would be a bit more productive. It's been raining like crazy, so we'll see...

How was your month of July?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Brain Fog

Is real...

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made Another Cat Quilt

I finally finished the cat quilt I've been working on. It was inspired from Pinterest and I used scraps to put it together. Making it took longer than I expected because I embroidered some parts of it. I also asked for advice from Miggy to make sure the measurements were correct.

Here's how I made it:

And the end result:

 

Nonetheless, I enjoyed making it. I'll use it as part of my new sewing machine cover. I haven't made one in more than 5 years. I hope it will turn out cute :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

How We Resolved the Water Pump Issue

After two weeks of just getting water directly from Maynilad and experiencing an almost 24 hours water interruptions, we identified the issues to determine whether we should replace our water pump. This is how we decided - 

El Nino + health issues + 3 to 6 months wait for repair = get a new pump.  

We asked our architect what water pump he used for his projects. He recommended Grundfos. What followed was a week of research and checking the nearest place where we could buy a pump. The store said they didn't carry Grundfos anymore since parts were expensive (based on feedback from customers). They had another brand, Calpeda, which we found out has been around since 1959 and an Italian brand. We also looked at other cheaper brands, some which I experienced using growing up -- they broke down a lot. 

With Maynilad having frequent water interruptions, we decided to get Calpeda. We got a discount for it since it was included in the 3-day sale. The next day, the installer came to inspect the area. We decided to move the placement of the pump to keep the cats from using it as a stand to jump to the roof. The installer explained also that it's better to put the pump close to the bottom of the tank so it doesn't have to work harder. 

The pump was installed a few days after. It made a huge difference in the water pressure and we got to use our shower heater again. We were relieved that the heater wasn't at fault for the crazy extra hot water we were getting a few weeks ago. Ahh, Bhagwan water heaters are really for long-term use! To be honest, I was having a hard time taking showers without hot water and it made me feel unstable. 

We're still thinking whether to have the pump fixed and use it or sell it. What do you think?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Friends

We had a surprise birthday celebration for a friend's 50th birthday. It was a heartwarming get together with friends I grew up with.

I always look forward to our get togethers. Even though it doesn't happen often, we usually just pick up where we left off. That's what decades of friendship entails.

During his thank you speech, my friend said he suspected something was going to happen. He was told to wear running clothes because that's where the family was doing this afternoon. He thought there might be a get together with us since we're all in the same area. He was surprised to see relatives from far away and his colleagues. It was a big happy surprise. 

Happy birthday, Denz! We hope you enjoy our gift!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Rainy Gardening Days

It's been raining a lot in the past few days and it's been hard to figure out whether to add water to the plants or not. Our pocket garden looks like a jungle now because the plants had a growth spurt. 

Well, some plants continue to bloom even though it's raining. My new gumamela plants have been blooming every week. The new marigold plants were fine for a few weeks, but it hasn't adjusted well. I need to read up more about caring for marigold plants.

Surprisingly, the kalachuchi (desert rose) continues to bloom. I thought it would somehow hibernate since it prefers sunny days. I guess the chicken manure I added last summer is still providing it vitamins to make more flowers. The bonsai ones though are healthy but not flowering. 

I'm still amazed by the caladiums that just grew suddenly. We moved some empty pots from Mom's garden and apparently those pots had caladium bulbs in it. They just suddenly grew when it started raining. Not only that, they also grew much bigger than I expected! They are so lovely to look at and I always smile when I see them because it's also called "Heart of Jesus". 

The dark side of the rainy season are seasonal pests. We've been battling caterpillars that have been feasting on our calamansi plants. They had eaten about half of the leaves. The plants luckily bounced back, but the caterpillars keep coming back even though I've been spraying Neem oil mixture twice a week. What has helped is watering the soil with hydrogen peroxide which helps kill larvae. Oh well, we'll just need to be more vigilant.

When the weather clears, we'll also trim the plants. The grow spurt has been exponential with just a week of continuous rain. At least our rain drums are always full. It helps us keep the plants hydrated especially during water interruptions. 

How's your garden doing?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made Chicken Paprikash Again

Chicken Paprikash is a dish that was suggested to me by an aunt a few years ago. I was looking for tomato and cream based dishes to cook at home. This one though uses sour cream instead of all purpose cream. I just researched about it and found out it's fairly easy to make. 

I'm honestly not familiar with Hungarian cuisine, so trying this was an adventure. We all liked it and it's now part of my list of dishes to make at home. It's so delicious!

Here's how I made it -

For full recipe, visit https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/07/recipes-for-my-son-chicken-paprikash.html

#BeKind #StaySafe

Goodbye and Thank You Harbourfront Centre

We lived at Harbourfront in Singapore for 4 years. We frequented both Vivo City and Harbourfront Centre since that's where my bus stop was located. At the end of the day, Sweetie and I would usually meet up there to buy food at the hawker center before going home. 

We heard that Harbourfront Centre permanently closed on July 27 (early this week). We were sad to hear about it since it was part of our daily life for so many years. We enjoyed going there because it's a compact mall which has a bit of everything. 

We would have quick meals there, sometimes merienda at Toastbox. We loved going there since it has a view of the water. I remember we frequented a resto on the second floor (I just can't remember the name!) and a food court with Filipino food. And we'd sometimes do a McDonald's sundae run at midnight since it was open for 24 hours. It was also the only place we knew where you can buy Dunkin' donuts. 

Harbourfront Centre would often times have special events near the entrance. Sometimes it would be kitchen stuff, books, clothing etc. I remember it had a store that sold purely socks! There was definitely a wide variety of things you can see and buy. 

January 2020

It also had a branch of the Raffles Clinic which proved to be very useful for us. That's where we went whenever one of us got sick. It's also where I got a referral for the doctor who discovered my PE. The funny thing is we never tried riding a ferry from Harbourfront Centre, haha. 

It's just sad to hear about Harbourfront Centre closing. I heard they're going to demolish the whole building and replace it with something better. I tried to look for more photos from the place, but I just have a few and a very blurred photo from one of our McDonald's runs. 

April 2020 during the pandemic

Thank you Harbourfront Centre. You are one of the places in Singapore that brings me fond memories :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Big Change

A few months ago, a family member of a heart patient asked if people change after heart surgery. She shared that her husband changed a lot after surgery. He was withdrawn, impatient, sometimes mean and basically didn't want to do anything. 

I thought about it and shrugged it off. It took a while for me to recover after OHS, but I went back to work and traveled a lot. I felt "normal" for the next 5 years and then I had my first pulmonary embolism. 

It's been months since I read that post on a patient group I'm part of. The feedback from other patients and family members were quite extreme. Some even ended up in divorce. I only realized the past week that I changed after OHS. The change was only more significant leading up to my first PE. 

I used to be able to pull all-nighters and had bottomless energy, but since OHS I wasn't the same physically and I eventually started to pull back. After OHS I became scared of crowds. I wasn't stable and could easily fall. I had accidents and lost my balance once on an escalator in the airport. Good thing I landed forward onto my luggage. 

The biggest change happened the year leading up to the discovery of the clot in my lungs. I had breathing issues and had a hard time sleeping. I didn't really want to bother anyone and easily became a recluse. My body became significantly weaker, I couldn't even place my backpack on the airplane overhead storage anymore. 

When I can, I skipped outings, parties, dinner, get-togethers especially when it requires a lot of walking. I used to enjoy meeting up with friends, but it's become too tiresome for me. It doesn't help that I'm an introvert, so my social battery is depleted really fast nowadays. 

So yes, I guess major medical issues can change a person. So...

#BeKind #StaySafe

Black Cat Project Progress

When I started the project I thought it would be easy. I thought I'd finish it in a day or two. What I forgot to take in consideration was the time needed to add the eyes, nose and attaching the tail, haha. I also have chores and make time to play with our cats, so I work on it when I can. 

Working with different fabrics also took time since  I had to measure each one properly. Here's how it's going -

Of course, the tail -

I honestly still have a hard time sewing on the curves. I read though you can use hemostat scissors to help hold down and move the fabric while sewing. I'll dig up my Mom's pair to try that trick. I pinned my finger again while sewing the curved areas, haha. 

I can't wait to finish the project!

#BeKind #StaySafe

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

Issue with Dab Water Pump

A few weeks ago, our water started to get scalding hot. We thought it was due to our water heater. Sweetie adjusted the temp and we thought that would resolve the issue. I was super surprised one evening while washing my hand the water was scalding hot. We turned off the water heater in our bathroom. 

The next day, Miggy said the water was still hot everywhere. We were getting really worried because hot water can damage our pipes and we were not sure what was causing it. I did some research and found some pages about how hot water can be produced by your water pump. 

Removed the Dab water pump for now

I specifically looked up possible issues of a Dab water pump. We've had ours for five years now and have had it checked only once. Sweetie called the next day and booked a technician. While waiting, he turned off the pump from the circuit breaker just to be sure it doesn't cause other issues. He switched the water to come directly from Maynilad and not our tank. Water was once again cold all over the house. 

Bestank (the distributor of Dab) sent a technician by end of the week to check the issue. He explained that the water dried up in the machine. This can be caused by brownouts and when there's water interruptions. We experienced both the past few months and that's what probably caused the pump well to dry up. He also noted that the grounding was removed from the outlet* and there's one more part that needs replacement (the hot temp damaged it). 

We're now just waiting for Bestank to update us about the cost to replace the 3 parts. I hope it won't be expensive. While waiting we'll also get an electrician to replace the outlet to accommodate the grounding. We've used water pumps for decades now. We had a cistern in my childhood home where we'd store water. A water pump helped distribute it across the house. The issue has always been the pump well drying up. I'd still use Dab since it's been very reliable. We'll just make sure the well always has water.  

*Removed by the electrician who helped build the house. He should have changed the outlet instead. This is what also ruined our water dispenser (rawr!).

#BeKind #StaySafe