Life Bliss Daily

Fry & Pop

2012-02-12T22:42:00.000+08:00

My daughter reviewed diligently for her exams tomorrow. I feel proud that she's motivated about her school works and her church activities. Go, girl! Fry & Pop Onion & Garlic and Real Leaf accompanied her while studying.

Saturday Fun Day

2012-02-11T23:01:00.002+08:00

This is really a great day for me and especially for my daughter. I accompanied her and her best friend to attend the launch of One Direction's CD. They bought the limited edition so they got their ballers and a poster. Gad, they so love this boy band.

The two bought identical slippers. What are best friends for if you won't wear the same slippers?

The two had lunch at McDonald's while I bought mine from Red Ribbon for my palabok fix. We had our snack at Bubble Tea. I'm not into milk tea but definitely I am into chocolate cake.

We proceeded to Fully Booked and good thing, my daughter took interest with the book I asked her to check. She can't stop reading it now.

Till our next hangout. Haha.

Cheese!

2012-02-10T23:36:00.001+08:00

I am always on the lookout on foods that will interest my daughter. There are times she has food fatigue that even if it's her favorite she gets tired of it. Well, I guess everyone suffers from that. We need variety. Anyway, anything with cheese my daughter would love so I tried this. I bought frankfurter with cheese and the cheeze squeeze she can bring if she'd like even in school.

February 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 2012

2012-02-09T23:43:00.001+08:00

February 4, 2012, Saturday
It feels good that my daughter has company today. Her friend's so sweet to accompany her to make her feel better. She's really going here but she said now there's a better purpose than just hanging out in our house. I love her friend. She really cares for my daughter.

I picked them up after my daughter's rehearsal for the school's glee club and after I made a quick workout at the gym. We had lunch at McDonald's.

Also I did the Eggplant Szechuan Style for the hubby. I got the recipe from a friend. I am soooo thankful it was a success! Husband loves it and wants me to cook it again soon and he'll bring some to work.

February 5, 2012, Sunday
My daughter and I went to the mall tonight. Two things that she was looking forward are eating Gyudon and buying a CD of One Direction. :) We had dinner at Kimono Ken after we bought the CD.

February 6, 2012, Monday
I went to the grocery before going home and bought malunggay pan de sal. There's this malunggay pan de sal which husbands bring home sometimes and they are so good. I had a bite of this one and I cannot say it has the same taste as what husband buys.

February 7, 2012, Tuesday
My lunch, Kenny Rogers Roasters call it low calorie dish - grilled fish with mixed veggies and garlic rice. I only ate half of the rice and all the broccoli and the corn, a few of the chayote. The dish comes with soy sauce. Methinks the fish has no salt at all. It is practically tasteless. But I still like it. I love fish.

February 8, 2012, Wednesday
I can still spare a few minutes so I proceeded to Goldilocks to buy palabok. I was craving for it and wanted to eat again at Red Ribbon but the store's out of my way. I preferred pansit Malabon when I reached Goldilocks. I remember I like the said dish from Goldilocks. I was a bit disappointed because it's salty for my taste and it wasn't like how it was. Too dry. But the puto I ordered compensated for it.

I waited for my daughter at McDonald's. This is one of the best days we had since her "emotional up and down" (teenagers, y'know). She voluntarily talked to me about what happened. We spent 2 hours at the restaurant just talking about our topic. She wanted to stay some more so I obliged. I appreciate that my daughter opens up with me. :)

In between her stories, she takes a bite of her favorite quarter pounder.

February 9, 2012, Thursday
I loaded up! 2 plates, 2.5 lb each, both sides of the bar. I did it! I will continue to challenge myself in my workouts, sensibly of course.

Updates

2012-02-06T22:55:00.000+08:00

I know I am lagging behind. Will post tomorrow. Busy busy. Such is life. I'll take time tomorrow to chronicle the days that have passed.

Still on Ryan

2012-02-03T23:14:00.000+08:00

I had my breakfast alone at McDonald's. I wanted to order longganisa with rice but I'm avoiding rice. Got to discipline myself. I opted for pancakes but I had an additional scrambled egg. :) I had my breakfast while reading Facebook going public. Wow, the money that they are turning in!

I was at SM North EDSA and the huge crowd reminded me it's The Great Northern Sale.

I said yesterday I am going to watch Drive. I did! Thanks to hubs for buying the DVD for me! :)))
I love you Ryan Gosling! And this is one of my favorite scenes from the movie. He brushed the girl of her life aside to protect her from an assassin who was with them inside the elevator.

Drive

2012-02-02T23:27:00.001+08:00

I read a post from Facebook about the movie Drive. It was shown late last year but honestly I have not heard about it. It stars Ryan Gosling. Like what I have put in my status in Facebook.....
"I started to notice Ryan Gosling not in The Notebook but in the movie Stay. I like him in Ides of March. But I think I'll love him here in Drive. One comment in YouTube hit it right about Ryan Gosling's "calm confidence and slow burning intensity". (He reminds me of Kris Allen though in some angles)."

I am going to watch this on DVD.

Load Up

2012-02-01T21:55:00.000+08:00

I'm happy to note that I was able to load 12.5 lbs of these blocks. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have such a hard time pulling them up and down. It used to be really difficult for me. Good! It means I'm gaining strength again. :)

My daughter called me up if she can go with her classmates to celebrate a birthday. They wanted to go the new McDonald's branch in our area. If it's possible that her Daddy or I can accompany her, we let her. So I did. While waiting they were bonding at the second floor, I had my first decent meal for the day. But then I just had coffee and the fish fillet. I left the buns.

Oh yes, my daughter had been craving for some BonChon chicken since the other day. She asked me if I can bring home some. I passed by the store and bought her the 3 pc chicken leg, soya variant, before I picked her up.

On the Road

2012-01-31T23:06:00.002+08:00

This electronic billboard along EDSA shows advertorials as well as Good News Pinoy. Well, why not? Let's put up good news and maybe inspirational quotes. It just might help someone, you wouldn't know.

Before I proceeded to my appointment, I stopped by Vanilla Bean. I like the chocolate cake I ordered here. It's a bit sweet but I love the filling. Well, I missed taking a picture of it.

Haircut

2012-01-30T22:05:00.003+08:00

I needed a haircut already and so I trooped to my salon after my gym and met my hair stylist. I've postponed my hair fix because my stylist was on rest day last Wednesday. At last we met. He's the only one I prefer to cut my hair since he already knows the texture of my hair and how it should be styled. I didn't want it this short but as I've said he knows my type of hair and how it should be tamed. But then again, I find it good because it just felt so light. It looks fresher too. And so I love it already! :)

Mojos at Shakey's

2012-01-29T23:02:00.001+08:00

After church, my daughter and I went to the grocery to buy a few more things. I wanted to go home right away but she wanted us to have our lunch at Shakey's. It's all about the mojos really.

15th!

2012-01-29T17:20:00.000+08:00

I did a lot of cooking and eating today. Yang Chow Fried Rice is one of my daughter's favorite dishes. I have to say also, modesty aside, that this is one of the dishes that I can do well. But yes, there's a lot of preparation as there are several ingredients that need to be minced, sliced, saute.

My daughter had hers with fried chicken but I had mine with tanigue.

Our glasses need some fixing so headed to the nearby mall to have them polished. Our glasses look spanking new.

We dropped by Goldilocks and bought myself 2 slices of egg pie. Yes I miss egg pie. One of these days I will learn how to do this.

Notice that I keep on using red paper plates today. Haha. I just want to. :)

Well, the highlight of the day is our 15th wedding anniversary. My husband bought me a cake. Oh my. Diet, diet, diet. We're supposed to have our dinner but he has to work so we'll have it next week.

January 24, 25, 26, 27, 2012

2012-01-27T22:49:00.003+08:00

January 24, 2012, Tuesday

Hard boiled eggs, that's what they are. I either eat them as is or I make some egg sandwich by adding lite mayonnaise and spread a good portion in my wheat bread. This was what I had when I felt pangs of hunger late at night.

January 25, 2012, Wednesday

I used the MRT today going to Makati. The crowd is not as thick during rush hours but I was surprised that at 10 AM and at around 1 PM, there are already a lot of people.

I also had my hair fixed this morning after my gym. :)

January 26, 2012, Thursday

I had a meeting in Makati this morning and passing by the MRT walkway, this billboard caught my attention.

January 27, 2012, Friday

My schedule today fell into places. I'm happy about that. I finished my bank errand first before attending my gym classes. I did Body Pump and Body Balance today. I love it!

I proceeded to school mid-afternoon for the Parent-Teacher Conference fof the result of the 3rd quarter performance of the students. I am very happy to note that my daughter's grades improved significantly and her standing in class went up several notches. The advise also has great feedback for my daughter.

This is the classroom devoid of students. It's really cold inside. It looks desolate without the kids inside.

After school my daughter and I went to Red Ribbon because we were both famished. She prefers this restaurant because of her favorite pan-grilled chops. I was also craving for yet another plate of palabok. I am happy to note I resisted ordering cake. :)

Busyness

2012-01-26T23:05:00.003+08:00

Yes, too busy now to upload the pictures and type in a few sentences about my day. I will be back to regular programming tomorrow or over the weekend. In the meantime my bed is calling me. Sleep!

Dinner at Stacy's

2012-01-23T23:00:00.002+08:00

I have been reading about this restaurant but the two reasons which enticed me to visit are their dainty set-up and the reasonably priced food. We had dinner there tonight. I'm glad my daughter and my hubby love it there.

Birthday and Christening

2012-01-22T23:32:00.001+08:00

After church half of the morning we attended the reception of the christening of the youngest child of my husband's friend. It was nice to meet the young couple and their two kids.

We went home to rest for a while and then proceeded to my aunt's house in the south to celebrate her 61st birthday. We don't see each other often that's why I took this opportunity to see some of my relatives in my mother's side.

Ryan Gosling

2012-01-21T23:09:00.003+08:00

I've been meaning to watch The Ides of March since it was shown here in the country but it's only now that I had the time to do it. It did not disappoint. I love the movie. I love all the actors especially George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. It made my early night wonderful.

Enter the Dragon

2012-01-20T22:46:00.001+08:00

A lot of people are taking pictures with the dragon as their background. It's the year of the Water Dragon come January 23. It's a holiday and car coding is lifted! Great!

My Chinese bosses send out tikoy (Chinese Rice Cake) every Chinese New Year but it was only this morning that I learned tikoy is meant to be a lucky food. Since it's sticky, luck will stick with you when you eat it on CNY.

The Apple Flavor

2012-01-19T22:37:00.002+08:00

Disclaimer: Dont' be fooled by the picture. This post does not promote drinking alcoholic beverages. And this can't even be considered an alcoholic beverage. :)

Finally bought this, San Miguel Apple Flavor.

My friends were talking about this in our Facebook Group and I have no idea what it is. I do not drink alcoholic beverages. I just don't like the taste. I take a few sips - like 3 or 4 and that's it and that's very rare. I bought this out of curiosity and have my husband drink it. Haha. He rarely drinks too but this one's only got 3% alcohol content. He said it tastes fine. Next time I will buy the lemon flavor.

Just a note, my friend said she bought hers at Landmark Supermarket and it costs P25. I bought it from a different supermarket and it's P35. What a difference.

Soya Chips

2012-01-18T23:16:00.001+08:00

I'm being a good girl with my diet for the past two days now. I returned to the shelf the chips I already loaded in my grocery cart this afternoon. But since I was craving for chips I thought of the soya chips which I can eat. Low calorie. :)

High-intensity Workout

2012-01-17T23:46:00.001+08:00

The mall where my gym was located had no electricity power this morning so all of us who where supposed to have our workout transferred to the nearby mall to be accommodated by the sister gym. I thought there's not much class so I attended the current group exercise when I arrived which is Body Jam. I enjoyed it.

I was doing my core exercises for about 30 minutes already when some of the gym people entered the room. Body Combat is about to start! It was a pleasant surprise really coz there was nothing in the schedule board that there will be a class by 10:30 AM. I joined!

And since there was only 30 minutes left before Body Pump, I decided to attend to. I took a rest and a banana while waiting. Great workout today!

I feel so fresh after the workout. I like this top given to be by my Mom. The fabric's so soft.

Thank You, God, for all the blessings today. I feel so light for one which is one of the best feelings in the world as far as I am concerned. I am truly grateful about this. :)

Vanity

2012-01-16T23:50:00.000+08:00

I'm glad I was able to join the Body Pump class this afternoon. I was a few minutes late but they were not starting yet. Happy to note also that I was able to add weights in my bar doing the workout I dread - putting the bar with weights on my shoulders. Also, only three of us were left to finish the routine workouts. It was tiring but fulfilling and recharging. Having said all these, I still need to lose weight. My diet patterned with how I did it two years ago starts tomorrow.

I looke heavy. I will take my diet seriously again. I want leaner muscles. Will start to track again my fitness and diet program in my fitness blog (I Am Working on My Fitness).
I had my pedicure last Friday and I am loving my red nails. Please excuse my big toes.

My daughter and I had a quick pictorial with her cousin and my grandson (by virtue of my cousin's son). The baby's soooo cute and cuddly!

Having a Break

2012-01-15T23:19:00.003+08:00

Today is Sunday but I had loads of things in my to-do list. So I deserve to have a break and have a KitKat.

I bought this KitKat for my daughter. When I saw the 107 calorie print I was enticed to have half of the half of the wafer...or 1/4 of it. Roughly 27 calories. Haha. But well, I had 3 bars with 2 wafers each...300+ calories. Bummer. Anyway, the real diet starts tomorrow. Promise.

"Suitable for vegetarians..."

Skittles

2012-01-14T23:03:00.001+08:00

Friends of my daughter were in our house this afternoon. It's fun to see them having a good time watching movies, browsing some videos over YouTube and eating. Oh, these kids, they can't seem to get enough food. Haha. Growing teens indeed. I thought they had a good serving of cake, banana cue, soda, fruit juice but one of them saw the Skittles in our jar and asked if she can have some. I said she can bring it to the others in the living room. They devoured it.

Bracelets with Charms

2012-01-13T23:24:00.001+08:00

I wore them today. They match my red top. This set of bracelets were one of the many things sent to me by my Mom last December. They are sold as one set but can be worn by piece. I prefer to wear them all together for more appeal. They've been sitting on my accessories kit for several weeks until I tried them on this morning. Cool. I love them!

Mocha Cake

2012-01-12T22:57:00.004+08:00

I was successful in my diet today until this...the mocha cake from Red Ribbon husband brought home tonight together with the salisbury steak for my daughter. Oh geez. But how can I not eat it? I love cakes. Discipline. But I love spontaneous actions like that, bringing home something without asking. Small things like this make me happy. :) And so I ate a few slices.

Algebra

2012-01-11T23:35:00.002+08:00

I helped my daughter review for her Algebra test tomorrow. She did 70% of reviewing and I guided her on what problems she should practice on.

I also joined the Easy Moves class at the gym but only for about three dances. I was encouraged to stay because of the 80s music they are playing. It was fun. :) (Picture of the class is in my phone which is charging now. Will post tomorrow.)

Hooray for Body Combat!

2012-01-10T20:45:00.002+08:00

Finally I've completed five breakfast meals at McDonald's so I got this already. Nothing big. It's just cute. :) My daughter loves the purple pieces. I'll give it to her.

Also, I joined the launch of Body Combat in my fitness center today. I have to say I love it! I enjoyed it so much!

I'm ready to combat!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2012-01-09T22:59:00.007+08:00

I dropped by The French Baker before heading home. I was thinking of the usual Beef Turnover which my daughter loves but changed my mind. Opted to buy chocolate chip cookies in two variants. I remember my daughter loves the dark chocolate cookie. True enough that was what she devoured first when I gave it to her. I ate the other one. Oh, there goes my diet.

Victoria's Secret

2012-01-08T23:10:00.001+08:00

These were given to me by my brother and sister-in-law for their holiday gift. Very much appreciated. First time I opened the boxes and used one of the perfumes, Heavenly. I like the smell only I have to spray several times before I can actually smell it. Haha. But it smells good, like fresh. My daughter who doesn't like my perfumes most of the time likes it.

Broccoli and Cauliflower

2012-01-07T23:11:00.004+08:00

I prepared this tonight, pork with broccoli, cauliflower and quail eggs. My daughter loves it. I resolve to have more vegetable dishes for the family starting this month onwards.

*Will post the picture as soon as I get hold of batteries for my daughter's camera.

Big Breakfast - Mc Donald's

2012-01-06T23:00:00.002+08:00

I think this is the first time I ordered the Mc Donald's Big Breakfast. I just need to complete their breakfast frequency card so I can avail of the Positivize It sticky note. They look cute from the picture, very colorful. I also love motivational quotes. I really do. I already availed of the 2 breakfasts, 3 more to go.

Red Planner

2012-01-05T23:16:00.002+08:00

It's the 5th day of January but I still haven't bought myself a planner. I cannot seem to find one that really excites me. I will probably make up my mind by the 2nd week of this month.

I bought this temporary planner yesterday because I love its color. I started using it today. I had to backtrack a little so I can update this teeny weeny planner. Yes, it's small but I like that it's really handy and it does not take so much space in my bag. :)

Bonding with My Daughter

2012-01-04T23:41:00.002+08:00

I can mention a lot of things today which made me up and about. I accomplished a lot of things and even finished a book. But I'd like to share about the bonding moments with my daughter. I picked her up from school and we proceeded to our salon for her haircut.

She wanted to have some snack after so we dropped by Crave Burger beside the salon. She had this cheese burger all to herself. I didn't take a good shot of it but the patty is actually thicker compared to most burger stops.

Oh yes, we love taking pictures of ourselves. Luvo time eye bags and all.

2011 Left-over

2012-01-03T23:58:00.003+08:00

I am happy to note that I have made the right decision to limit our menu for New Year's Eve. I really don't want anything in excess now. Add to the fact that I intend to go back to moderate eating and less carbohydrates after the holidays. Every year we tend to have left-over food from the new year celebration which lasts to a week. That is not good.

But this year I decided to only have one pasta (seafood pasta), 5 main dishes prepared in modest proportions - shrimp and ham jambalaya, fried chicken, a small serving of hamonado, sweet and sour lapu-lapu, shrimps. Our dessert consist of ice cream, 3 pans of leche flan, 1 pan of ube jam, fruit salad given by my in-laws and my favorite cake, Death by Tablea.

Today is the third day of January and I'm happy to note, what's left are 2 pans of leche flan, 3/4 pan of ube jam, maybe a bowl of ice cream and this....

This is a good start for the year. Nothing in excess. :)

Post Holiday Lunch with Friends

2012-01-02T16:20:00.001+08:00

We were not complete when we had our dinner a few weeks ago at Chef Tatung's. Chats asked for a quick meet-up after the new year's celebration. Before everyone gets busy we managed to have lunch at Yakimix and have coffee after.

Getting to Know

2012-01-01T22:21:00.005+08:00

This is the second year that my family visits my father-in-law's house on January 1. It's very rare that we get to visit him in spite of the fact that he lives not far away from the city. Busy life. That's not an excuse I know so even if I wanted to do something else on the first day of the year 2012, going to his house was fine.

But the highlight of my day was meeting a part of my husband's family in his mother side. I haven't actually met them personally. If I did, that was years ago when my husband and I were still boyfriend and girlfriend on occasions at the church and yes, when my husband's mother passed away.

I communicate with at least three of them through Facebook but of course, that was not enough. I was glad to meet them after so many years. Our stay was brief but it was all good. My husband's family is big compared to mine. The people in the pictures here, specially the second picture are not even 1/4 of their clan. That's how big they are.

That's my father in law, sitting , in blue polo. I know he's glad he gets to see at least two of his children and also my daughter whom he sees only once or twice a year.

I love that my husband's 92 year old grandmother is still strong and can still recognize her grandchildren. I think I saw her up close when my daughter was only 2 moths old. My daughter's a teener now.

Choco Lava

2011-01-18T23:16:00.001+08:00

From Mister Donut. I brought this as pasalubong for my daughter together with baked pasta. She did not touch the choco lava though. My daughter is not fond of sweets.

It looks really appetizing from the restaurant's meny board but I just had a small bite. I'm on a diet after eating a lot during the holidays. The husband though is devouring this as I post this entry. :)

Out for Lunch

2011-01-17T23:50:00.002+08:00

I accomplished a lot of things today. I also had a great workout at the gym. But before that, hubby and I met for a lunch out at Tokyo Cafe.

He had pasta, Creamy Ebiko Pasta (P255), which is really a winner!

I tried the restaurant's Yoshi's Burger (P165) which did not disappoint because the patty is just sooo juicy. There is nothing much to say about the buns, the burger patty very well compensated for it.

Weekend Bonding

2011-01-16T14:41:00.000+08:00

Weekdays the family is not together the whole day because of school and work. My husband is also very busy during weekends if I may say but I really want our weekends to be family bonding time. We need not go out. Even just staying in the house, watching DVD, cooking or any activity that involves the family is great.

Weekends for this January has been generally fruitful in terms of doing things together. I am really glad about that. :)

This morning after church my daughter and I did our usual Sunday activities. We had lunch at Pancake House, proceeded to a bookstore to buy materials for her Science project and we did some groceries afterwards.

Everyday should be like weekends. :)

Justin Bieber

2011-01-15T21:41:00.000+08:00

See you on May 10, 2011, Justin Bieber. My daughter is a big fan of this boy.

Gym Night

2011-01-14T23:15:00.000+08:00

This week was really full, toxic if I may say that with all the meetings and preparations before the two day business review for the year that pass. Friday was also heavy with all the reports needed to be reviewed and finished. I needed to go to the gym to relieve me of all the stress.

I left the office later than usual but I still decided to proceed to the gym. I know it's one of the surest ways to make me feel recharged.

I was energized especially knowing that it's the weekend at last!

No Pix

2011-01-13T14:58:00.000+08:00

I can't be more glad the business review is over. But I'd like to say today was better compared to yesterday. We had dinner after to celebrate the company's success for 2010. I'd like to post pictures but maybe later. Really tired now. Sleep I must.

Dinner

2011-01-12T22:17:00.000+08:00

I was so tired from the business review. The first day was quite heavy for me. I am just so glad it's done. The second day will be a breeze compared to today. Hubby and daughter picked me up tonight. I waited for them at Max's. Dinner was served when they arrived.

Thank God for my family. :)

Starbucks Planner

2011-01-07T13:03:00.001+08:00

I have not had Starbucks planner for three years or more already I think. It's been Belle de Jour and company planners for the past years. Now that I got myself a Starbucks again, I am not really happy about it. I finally completed the stickers yesterday, actually care of the hubs. :)

The material is good but there's nothing much in it. I just might buy BDJ after all. I like the brass bookmark thought. It's really cute.

2011 Life Bliss Daily

2011-01-04T22:00:00.001+08:00

I revived my Life Bliss Daily. I was not able to continue this last year but I am more motivated now to continue posting my daily highlights here. Oh well, the pictures I will be posting here may not be my day's highlights but it's what I wanted to post. Just because. :)

I just feel so motivated!

January 1, 2011, Saturday

New Year's Eve was good. I prepared just enough food, food that we love. We dropped by my aunt's place too which is like a tradition for us and also to see my cousin who is on vacation from the U.S.

I woke up later than usual on January 1. It was a laid back day. I had left over food while blogging my first post for 2011 - my very own Shrimp and Ham Jambalaya.

But it seemed January 1st just passed me by. I had a terrible runny nose, up to now actually though not as bad. I planned for us to watch a movie or go to Manila Ocean Park but I fell asleep from the medication I took. It was a good sleep - four straight hours. I felt so rested.

January 2, 2011, Sunday

I had a pretty good work out after church. We proceeded to my in-laws' house after. It was good to see my sisters and cousin in law and my cute nieces and nephews.

This was the last day of the holidays. We drove to Starbucks at night to relax a bit.

Really, I want to extend the holidays. I believe all of us do. :)

January 3, 2011, Monday

Meeting as usual. It's back to the daily grind with more deadlines to meet. But it was generally a breeze. I was able to go home on time. I really planned going to the gym. I proceeded even if I felt hesitant because I missed just being home with my daughter and hubby.

We just met after my gym and again went to Starbucks. My daughter love her chocolate chip and my husbo loves his mint coffee (or something). I am not a Starbucks person but I love their planner. I go there for the stickers to avail of the planner. Haha.

My daughter just doesn't want any pictures of her anymore. :D But mommy can't get enough.

January 4, 2011, Tuesday

Tonight I craved for scrambled eggs with ketchup! But the picture is kind of gross, haha. So I better not put it here. I deleted it actually after posting.

Mixed Veggies with Chicken

2010-01-25T11:53:00.001+08:00

Lunch was so good, mixed vegetables with chicken cutlets. Husband was the one who prepared this. It's just so tasty and juicy. He told me the difference was using chicken broth and not plain water. So...there's a big difference there huh.

Birthday

2010-01-24T15:47:00.000+08:00

It was my aunt's birthday on Friday but the celebration was held today at their home. Occasions like these serve as mini-reunions for us. We live in different cities that's why it's a bit hard to have a get-together whenever we want to.

We take this opportunity to bond and just spend the day together eating, taking pictures and just having fun conversations. The kids too group together and just do what they want. Computer is never out of their agenda.

Spices and Seasonings

2010-01-23T12:34:00.001+08:00

I was in a mad dash this morning thinking of what to do with the chicken wings. I want a quick fix but something new at least to my daughter's taste.

I thought of browsing on the internet how else can one modify fried chicken. It's a good thing I found a site which provided how to make chicken breading in five minutes. We ran out of the usual chicken breading that we use.

I am also thankful I have the necessary ingredients in my cupboard save for breadcrumbs but these will do. I love my spices and seasonings, they really come in handy.

Crackers

2010-01-22T15:59:00.001+08:00

I have been managing my diet for the past days now. It feels good that I am following my 'no-rice' policy. 1/2 cup of rice in a day on some days but I generally do without it. It costs me 3 pounds less on the weighing scale. :)

Crackers are my usual companion in between tuna sandwich and bananas.

Beanie

2010-01-21T15:52:00.001+08:00

This beanie was a gift last holidays by my niece to my daughter. They all have this - my daughter and her two cousins. We call them the Tres Marias. One's 17, the other 16 and my daughter is 11. They just jive together. My daughter looks up to them as their big sisters. I love these girls!

Adjustment

2010-01-20T14:11:00.001+08:00

This has been a very productive day. I was able to do all the things I have set out to do successfully. I even dropped by my ortho's clinic. My orthodontist is also a dear friend.

Here's the reception area of the clinic she shares with two other doctors, another dentist and on OB.

School Project

2010-01-19T13:05:00.001+08:00

One of the reasons I keep a lot of magazines (local and foreign) is the school projects which suddenly come up. My daughter's class was required to submit pictures of products made in the Philippines the following day.

We pulled out some magazines in our rack to find what the subject needs. This is their Arts subject mind you. Anyway, we came up with several pictures after an hour or so of looking. And the mess here made husband up a few minutes more than his usual bed time.

Red Flower

2010-01-18T08:32:00.001+08:00

I don't know what this flower is called but I like it. I saw this last Thursday when I attended church but I did not bring my camera at that time. I made it a point to bring it this morning so I can take a snapshot of this.

This flower stood out in the pocket garden of our pastor's house inside the church compound. It stood out because it's the only flower among the plants and very colorful at that.

The flower seems to float here as the stem was hidden from the petals.

Baked Macaroni

2010-01-17T11:11:00.001+08:00

I have been wanting to prepare/cook baked macaroni since I had a taste of co-blogger's "forget-your-name-baked-mac" during our get-together a week ago. I also had a taste of my niece's baked mac last New Year's Eve which we also love. I sent her a message last Sunday through Facebook about her recipe. She shared it after a few minutes of giving her the message. I'm a happy girl. :)

Here are some of the ingredients I needed to cook my first baked macaroni in bechamel sauce. :)

Word Puzzle

2010-01-16T13:03:00.002+08:00

Jumbline Lite is one of the game applications I downloaded for free from iTunes. It's a family activity for us. We try to come up with words that we can form on the jumbled letters. It's both fun and educational.

My Cafe World

2010-01-15T12:27:00.001+08:00

One of the game applications I like in Facebook is Cafe World. I like it because it's fun cooking your own menu and creating a layout with different themes. Another thing, I am particular with games which are not time consuming. Like Restaurant City, Farm Town and FarmVille, Cafe World is easy once you are settled with your layout. You won't spend more than ten minutes when you play this game (unless you go around your neighbors' cafes). I choose menus which take two days to cook so I won't have to go back on a daily basis.

Sometimes though this application hangs. I have to close my browser and reopen it again. I usually play at night as one form of my relaxation before I go to bed.

Meet my avatar in Cafe World.

Corn Kernels

2010-01-13T21:08:00.001+08:00

My husband craved for corn on the way home. I have no idea why. He must have seen someone along the road eating or peddling corn. I wanted some too but I still can't eat corn straight from the husk because of my braces. Quite simultaneously, we thought of our corn in can at home.

A few minutes after we arrived, he opened two cans, heated them and put a little butter and salt. Cravings satisfied, we have our buttered corn!

Oatmeal Cookie

2010-01-13T12:36:00.001+08:00

This was my lunch today. I only consumed a pack. I survived the day by having the second pack at home and some crackers and hard boiled egg.

Ham

2010-01-12T13:33:00.001+08:00

The picture below is the last remaining pieces of Excellente Ham we bought before the new year's eve. This is just so divine. We had it for breakfast this morning. It's totally gone now. I plan to have a monthly trip to Quiapo just to buy this.

Crab

2010-01-11T10:27:00.001+08:00

This crab was the main ingredient for our miswa (vermicelli stew). Instead of putting in patola (loofah) or pork, we opted to have crabs in it. It tastes great but I have been managing my food intake so I only had a spoon of that orange crab fat that you see in the picture.

Yellow Bananas

2010-01-10T08:50:00.001+08:00

My husband brought me some bananas for today. I'm on banana mode lately. It's part of my diet. These taste great! A bit expensive but they're worth it. Value for money if I may say. Not so sweet, just right and it's really soft to the bite. Love them!

Post-holiday Party

2010-01-09T14:47:00.001+08:00

At last it came to pass, haha. Our get-together was postponed twice I think last December because our schedules just won't meet. Finally the date was set, January 8 at one of the mommies' house. It was a great night with my mommy-blogger friends as usual!

Food was overflowing as well as the laughter that we shared as we spend the night together.

Tuna Melt Sandwich

2010-01-08T15:43:00.001+08:00

This was my lunch today, tuna melt sandwich plus coffee. I like my bread a little more toasted. I don't like it pale. I survived just having this and a few bananas throughout the day. The glasses in the picture is not mine but the person I shared the table with.

Gym

2010-01-07T14:39:00.001+08:00

Today was my first day back to the gym for 2010. True enough I gained a few pounds which I need to shed quickly. I set my goals each month targeting May 2010 to reach my ideal weight.

My Morning Moon

2010-01-06T13:35:00.001+08:00

I have not really taken a good shot of the moon. My camera can only zoom so much, haha. It's always just like a round moon against a dark sky. I have not really captured its texture or whatever you call those black patches (craters I suppose).

My husband chanced upon a big moon early morning today so he took a shot of it, scenery mode. I like it. :)

Suman

2010-01-05T12:28:00.001+08:00

After all the food that we have consumed over the holidays, I craved for something local, something that will wash away all the after-taste of the pasta and meat that I've had for the past days. It's a good thing I passed by Trinoma before going home and decided to buy suman and okoy.

I originally wanted to post okoy but the result was not good. Here's my favorite Tita Lynn's suman instead. I prefer the original rather than the flavored sumans.

Haircut

2010-01-04T08:20:00.001+08:00

After our worship service we headed to the salon to have my daughter's haircut. The first haircut for the year. Haha. Trivialities. Indulge me. Anyway, this is in preparation for going back to school on the fifth of this month.

Every mother wants her child to look fresh and neat. It's time to face school once again refreshed and with so much energy. I asked our hairdresser to just trim her bangs and fix the length of my daughter's layered hair. She looks younger with bangs. It makes her face bloom all the more.

Pasta with Shrimp

2010-01-03T08:19:00.001+08:00

As in most Filipino homes, the new year's eve left-overs span three to four days, and to some even a week. I did not cook anything today because we still have the food that we prepared on December 31. Of course they are all still edible.

More often than not, beef and pork dishes taste even better after a day or two. The meat absorbs all the flavor and spices as the hours go by.

This is my lunch and dinner for today. Pasta with shrimp and broccoli. Yummy!

Tycoon

2010-01-02T06:24:00.001+08:00

This is a laid back day for us after the merriment the past days in preparation and in celebration for the coming new year. The new year is here. We woke up a little late today without any guilt feeling. The days to come this 2010 are so busy that it's best to just savor the moment at this time.

My husband told me he read an interesting article in Rogue magazine about Toni Gonzalez - the debonair, the ladies' man during Cory Aquino's regime. I got curious so I read it too.

Interesting yes, the rise and fall of Jose Antonio Gonzales (JAG). I am particularly engross in autobiographies of famous people. I want to learn how they did it. JAG, the owner and president of the once thriving Mondragon Industries and Mimosa is now living with his nonagenarian mother in New Manila. Toni Gonzalez may not be as rich as he was but my guess is he is still richer than any one of us reading this. But it is not just about the money. It is the power, the command that you once hold during your peak.

The story of his life was laid out for readers to learn a thing or two according to his family. It's a heartwarming story if I may say it. It showed how forceful he is as a business man. His drive, his passion, his business acumen and the risks he took to propel his business transactions are admirable. His wife is God-fearing and devoted to him. So the saying goes, there is a woman behind the success of every man. But by some twist of fate, and of a man's own doing, if a man is not careful (and a womanizer), behind his failure could also be a woman.

One thing is clear with JAG's life (and in ours too), generally, in whatever class of society you belong to, you always go back to your family who is always willing to understand you and give you unconditional love.

Happy new year! May we give our families the love, support and attention that they so deserve.