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

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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 :)

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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...

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!).

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Restful Sunday

I hope you all had a restful Sunday!

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I Didn't Know Caladiums Can Grow So Big!

Last May, we transferred the last set of pots and plants from my Mom's garden. Some had soil in it but no plants. Those pots eventually got rained on and I was surprised to see Caladiums/Heart of Jesus growing. 

I didn't touch it and I watered it everyday. I eventually gave those pots some chicken manure and I was surprised to see them grow so big! Here's a few photos of how it developed:

I think I'll re-pot the other bicolor caladiums. They thrive in bigger pots.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Found Some Dalandan, Made Spanish Chicken Adobo

I made Spanish Chicken adobo whenever we buy dalandan. It's always a big hit and I remember Tito Mon would hide it when I bring it for parties at home, haha. We bought some dalandan in Tagaytay a few weeks ago and I immediately planned to make some Spanish Chicken Adobo. 

Full recipe is on my recipe blog: https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/07/recipes-for-my-son-spanish-chicken-adobo.html

Here's how I made it (this time, Miggy did the cooking coz that's how we roll nowadays):

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Back When I was an Office Girl

I honestly never planned to work in "tech". I just stumbled into it. I worked for a Telco, then helped my Mom in her business which forced me to learn how to make a website, make marketing materials, and figuring out how to use the world wide web for business. 

It eventually led me to work for a company that made websites/directories. I ended up as a product manager of the Philippine version of an import/export directory. It eventually led me to the yellow pages - the electronic version. 

The skills I developed through my career led me to work at the biggest search engine in the world (it still is!). Looking back though, what led me to work for tech companies was not because I planned it. I was led to those companies because of my quest to learn new skills.

I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in marketing but what fascinated me when I took my MBA was the different pathways you can take to become an expert marketer. At that time I didn't know what path to take, so I thought I'd do stuff to learn. My experience and skills led me to become a product manager (eventually program manager) and it allowed me to learn new things. 

If you're feeling lost in your career, perhaps learning new skills in your particular interest can be a way to grow :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

My Respiratory Therapist Made Me Cry

Last week during my respiratory therapy session, my OG respiratory therapist suddenly joined the session online (they reverted me back to online sessions to protect me from picking up germs at the hospital*). I didn't recognize him at first because he was on a hospital bed and he lost a lot of weight. 

He said he just wanted to say hi and told my current therapist to do well. My OG therapist always knew when to stop so I don't get overwhelmed and exhausted from the session. He also motivated me to continue since he knew I had only resumed my sessions recently. 

After he dropped off, the team told me he was supposed to get discharged, but was sent to ICU when his BP became unstable. I bit my lip from crying since my OG therapist could've just rested to get well, but he made the effort to say hello and motivate me to do well in my sessions. I guess he can't help, but be his generous self. Even in pain he thinks of others. 

Huge hugs for R*****. I pray you will get well soon.

*Plus COVID-19 cases have increased.

Made a Cat Coaster

I had a hard time making the Yoda-inspired coasters and to reset I wanted to make something easy. I took a look at a cat coaster I got from Daiso and thought it would be a perfect pattern. 

I found some of my Mom's scraps (they're probably older than Miggy!) and I used it for this experiment. It was fairly easy after I got the size of the squares right. Here's how it turned out -

And how I made it :)

Maybe I should make more in other colors?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Where Did the Demolition Debris Go?

During the first month of construction, the contractor ripped off all the cabinets, windows, ceiling and flooring. The outer walls were mostly still intact to keep the roof. Our architect explained that they will work on the foundation first and then remove the walls as needed.

There was a LOT of debris. The reusable items like the wooden flooring and walls were kept for future use. The chipped walls were set aside to be re-used as filling. Only the things that cannot be re-used like rotten wood, ripped linoleum flooring and tiles and broken glass were hauled out. 

I'm actually glad that parts of the original house will form part of our future house. The original foundation will also be kept to reinforce the new foundation. How'd that happen? We asked our architect to strictly follow the property line and easement requirements. That's what allowed them to move the new foundation and use the old one as reinforcement. 

My Mom told me that Tito Bert (the original architect) made the house earthquake proof. She said that the house moves as earthquakes happen. True enough, the original house barely had cracks in the 50+ years it was standing. I'm really glad we chose the right architect to work with because I don't have to worry about potential structural issues. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Why Pinoys are Resilient

We've just experienced another super typhoon (Bavi with local name Inday). It brought strong winds and rain. I've never gotten used to it and I always wake up whenever the rain starts pounding on the roof. I'm also always creeped out when the wind howls. I keep reminding myself we're safe and we've taken precautions to prepare, but the worry never goes away when you've been through a lot of disasters.

And that made me think. They always say Filipinos are resilient. We are because you grow up needing to be prepared all the time. Here's what I grew up with:

• EDSA Revolution (x3), Coup d'etats
• Strong typhoons (Ondoy, Pepeng, Yolanda are just some, it's an annual thing)
• Flooding (queue memories of getting stuck in school and not being able to go home + walking in floodwater)
• Heavy forever traffic
• Increase in prices (gasoline/groceries/electricity)

We all just usually shrug it off as something that's common and an everyday thing. I was in Singapore when I realized it is a hard life we truly live. I was at an event and people were panicking because Orchard Road was flooded. I had to see it for myself so I stepped out of the hotel and saw it was just practically a puddle. An inch of clear water coursing through the street. The other attendees of the event were already saying they were stranded! 

The event has ended already, so I crossed the road to go to the MRT. My shoes didn't even get soaked! Ahh, for me, it wasn't a disaster. I would have probably waited for the water to subside if it reached gutter level, but it wasn't bothersome for me. Well, that's the sad thing. If we had things in place and if we weren't cheated by those who could make our lives easier, then our threshold for disaster would be much lower. 

I hope and pray everyone is safe and dry. There's going to be more rain for the next few days, so don't forget to bring your umbrella.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Bloomed After 4 Years

My friend, Ate Rose, gave me a bunch of cacti and succulents 4 years ago. She gave me some tips how to care for them and I watched videos how best to care for them. She told me to re-pot them, so that's what I did 4 years ago. 

There were two gymnocalycium saglionis originally and I think I gave one to my Mom a week after I re-potted them. The other one that was left with me grew and I didn't even bother re-potting it. I would just give it some fertilizer when I remembered it. 

Gave some to my Mom :)

A month ago, I gave all the plants in the pocket garden some rice water with orange peels and then let Miggy do the watering the cacti and succulents weekly. I checked the plants early this month and was surprised to see something coming out of the gymnocalycium saglionis. My friend from Cebu pointed out that it was a flower. 

Oh! I didn't know that this particular cacti can produce flowers. I ignored the cacti as usual (it doesn't like that much attention) and told Miggy the other day to check if it already bloomed. He sent a photo to me and it looked like it was about to bloom. 

I checked the next day and was surprised to see it had bloomed! It took 4 years! I guess randomly giving it some diluted fermented rice water with orange peels encouraged it to bloom. My friend also said to put it under bright light the whole day. It gets morning sun and afternoon sun, so I guess it's just on the right spot. 

I'm really happy about this achievement because TBH I failed a lot on cacti and succculents. I usually overwater them, but I've managed to correct that and here we are today, haha. 

How's your garden?

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Our Bistek Tagalog Recipe

Bistek Tagalog is one of the dishes I learned early on. I prefer making dishes that are marinated first since it allows me to rest between preparing and cooking. I've also been just preparing and having Miggy cook lately since he likes cooking. 

Here's our recipe:

500 grams beef (I normally use sirloin)

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 cloves garlic

3 to 4 calamansi

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 medium onion

And here's how we cook it -

It's very easy to make and that's why it's a staple in our home cooked meals!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Super Typhoon Preparations

After my therapy session, I went straight to the pocket garden to check the plants. I wanted to make sure they wouldn't be toppled over by the strong winds. Most were secure since I also had to make the area cat-proof (they like sleeping in pots!). 

Sweetie cut some of the bamboo this morning. He trimmed the top parts so they don't sway wildly while the typhoon is ongoing. He actually started a few days ago to make sure everything will be secure. 

The only thing I'm worried about are my bell pepper plants, tomatoes and two growing papaya trees. The bell peppers are still growing a number of fruits. I hope they don't get affected by the typhoon. I'm hopeful the papaya trees will stay put. One has flowers already and it takes months before they are ready to be harvested. 

I brought down some of the decorative plants. They were swaying wildly when I went out an hour ago. It was hard to grow them, so I set them in between larger plants to be protected from the wind. 

As for our cats, I added some beds that should warm them up in the next few days. They have hiding places and should be safe. Anakin and Grogu though loves the rain and they really like wiping their wet bodies on our legs, haha. We'll be ready with towels!

Stay safe and warm everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organizing

I was too tired yesterday to do anything. I just watched the impeachment trial the whole afternoon and watered the plants. I planned to organize some of my stuff since the clutter has been terrible. I usually get that urge to clean up when I'm in between projects.

I woke up rested today and after a hefty lunch, I puttered around while watching (again) the impeachment trial. After boxing some stuff, I started sorting documents from envelopes I put them in. These included bills, receipts, medical reports. 

My main goal this week is to reduce the clutter around me. When it hits a certain level I'm not able to do anything else because I get overwhelmed. I found it useful to target specific areas and then do another area if I still have time. 

Since I finished two "areas" today, I can move on to the "fun projects". It feels like I cleared the "cache" and can pile things up again, hahaha. 

#BeKind #StaySafe