Peeping in!

Hiya gang I know I have been inactive in my blogging because of my work. I wish I had constant access to the net so I could continue to write stuff on here but maybe one of these days I will be back and write more and more stuff. I'm at my mom's place at the moment and the internet here is off and on so that really sucks for me. Any how I just wanted to let you all folks know that I am still alive and kicking.

Rest In Peace Michael!

I was sad and blue when I heard about the untimely passing of a great icon. Michael even with all the controversies throughout his life remained the King of Pop. His music was both fun and inspirational. I am sure that his fans from all walks of like and all over the world are devastated about this news. Although he hasn't been active of late but his songs are forever remembered by the fans who consider him king of his arena. His music will forever leave on if not more popular.Rest In Peace Michael. You are loved and idolized by many.

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to greet all those wonderful fathers out there a big and warm "Happy Father's Day". Last night my mom wrapped this big bar of chocolate for my stepdad. She placed it on his pillow so he will be able to see it when he comes up after using the computer. He was really happy to receive that simple gift. He said that it is not important how big or small or how cheap or expensive a gift could be all that matters is the thought behind it. It makes me really happy to watch the two of them like children and by the way my stepdad really really loves chocolates he has a very sweet tooth. He has been a great dad to me and my sister and I appreciate everything he stands for. To my grandfather,uncles and cousins you guys are the greatest.

Resurfaced!

It seems like I have been on a long long vacation. I just realized that it has been almost a month since I last written here. I have been busy lately with catering some pack lunches and then entertaining some visitors. I love everything about cooking but mostly it's the eating part that really gets me. Hahahahah I know I know I should stop or lessen my intake on food but since I am single food makes me happy. I know it sounds pathetic but hey it's what I feel. I think I am doomed to spinsterhood bohuhuhu.

In other news, my aunt bought a franchise on calda's pizza. It's a pizza place that serves a 30 and 36 inch pizzas. I've eaten there and we ate the 30 inch pizza. It's very delicious and there were 7 of us there but still we couldn't finish the whole lot so we took some home. She asked me if I wanted to be her cashier and supervisor on her store. I'm thinking of accepting it so will keep you guys in a loop on what's gonna happen.

Sliced Bread Pizza!

We were watching Supernatural last night til the wee hours of the morning and when midnight came I was craving for pizza but we can't order them anymore because the places where close so I went downstairs and raided the kitchen for something to cook or make or bake or whatever I can get my hands on. Luckily I had sliced bread, cheese, cooked ham, garlic and onion so I thought I'd make a sliced bread pizza. I didn't have tomato sauce so that was a problem but when I looked in the fridge I found tomato catsup(ketchup) so thinking that they both came from tomato anyways why not just use the ketchup instead. So I gathered all my ingredients and chopped the garlic and onion and sliced the ham into cubes. I then spread out some ketchup on the bread sprinkle the minced garlic and onion then spread out some ham and topped it with quick melt cheese. I also sprinkled some crushed oregano and then placed them in the toaster and after a few min. everything looked mouthwatering and smells like pizza too. Ohhh Yum Yum Yum. I then went back up and everybody dug in. My cousin Dominic couldn't stop himself. He was muttering "my diet,my diet" but kept on munching anyways. Hahahahahah.

Food Monster and Yummy brownies!

I have been away for a while and now I'm back. I have been with food lately, I mean I have been eating and eating heheheheh. If there is a cookie monster I am a food monster. Well here is a recipe of one of the foods I've been eating. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine/ butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
6 Tbsp. powdered milk

Procedure: (8x8 square pan lined with wax paper)

- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Cream butter then add sugar.
- Add eggs one at a time and mixing well after each addition, add the vanilla then the flour and then the cocoa
- Blend in the powdered milk and lastly add the nuts
- Pour in pan and top with nut
- bake until toothpick/cake tester/knife inserted comes out with little crumbs.
- Let cool slightly and slice into squares.

Attending a tournament!

Hi Friends and fellow bloggers here I am again letting you know that I will be off the radar for a few days as I will be helping out my stepdad with the cacoy doce pares world tournament. There will be escrimadors from australia,jakarta,us and philippines . I will be there to help out either be a tabulator or just do some errands that needs to be done. My sister will be dropping in on your ec's so don't worry. I will take pictures and get right back in the saddle when it is all over. Take care everyone and have a happy weekend.

Susan Boyle and my gratitude!

Now that my sabbatical is over I am back to blogging. The latest activity I participated in was my mom's 48th b-day which you can read about in my other blog The evolution of Insanely Chay.There are pictures there that you can look at.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who keeps dropping by my blog and on on ec too. I really appreciate everything. Thanks to my sister Melody for dropping on my ec while I was away.

I have been browsing through the web,reading blogs and watching videos on youtube when I read and saw about the media hype on Susan Boyle of Britain's got talent show and boy was I in for a shock. I just love her and admire her. I can see all the reaction of the people who were set on judging here before she could show her talent. Well she nailed it. It really is a big wake up call for everyone. You can really never judge a book by its cover as what the saying goes. I have been trying to look for vids that I can embbed here but so far everything is turned off. Anyway I am sure that everyone has seen and read about her already.I love how honest her reaction was to all the comments of the judges. I really wish her success.

Sabbatical

I would like to let everyone know that I won't be on tomorrow Good Friday and Black Saturday. It is the time for reflection and spending time with family. Thank you all for always visiting my blog. Don't worry I will be back.Take care everyone and happy Holy Week.

Siopao

The vacation I had at my grandparent's place was just awesome. I don't remember any vacation there that went sour. It's all fun and the food are just to die for. I love my grandparents and I love how much they care for the family. We were all gathered there for my grandmother's 76th b-day and it was filled with fun, noise and food binge. From seafoods to vegies to meat, it was all there. That is why I am on a seefood diet when I see food I eat heheheheh. Well before I left their place always and I mean always cook siopao which is a chinese bun filled with meat inside. According to my grandmother she is getting old and she can't cook that anymore and yes she was the one who taught me how to make those. Of course I didn't forget to take pictures. Here they are:



Hmmm don't they just look delish? I made about 60 pcs.

On vacation

I am on vacation here at my grandmother's place. It's a bit far from a cafe so I won't be on as much but don't worry friends I won't be gone long. I miss you all already. Don't worry I asked my sister ro drop ec's on you all who dropped ecs on me. I will have lots of stories to tell and pics to show for when I get back there. I'm looking forward to it already. Take care everyone.

Take a Bow!

Last Sunday my cousin Dominic and I went to church around 4 pm. As we were leaving the church after the mass I saw this papaya tree which is bent as if it was bowing towards the church. I was tickled pink when I looked at the tree but since I didn't bring a camera with me I pestered my cousin to take a picture using his phone. He asked me why I want that picture and I told him I would be writing about it in my blog. I was suppose to write about it last Sunday evening but my cousin went out and brought his phone with him. I forgot to take it out before hand. It's the first time I saw a bent papaya tree because most of what I've seen are standing erect like the men in the military would stand.

Missing the inflatable pool

It's starting to get hot here in the Philippines. I blogged about the new displays in the stores just recently. Since we moved to a smaller place there is no room for our inflatable pool to be placed so I really really miss just soaking there until I turn into a prune. Soaking in the pool takes away some of the heat plus I get to wear my swimsuit which is black of course so as to hide some of the bulges of my body. I miss just splashing and floating about. We plan to bring the pool to ormoc where my grandparents live and use it there when we go to attend my grandmother's birthday celebration. I can't wait.

Scorching Sun fun

I was out today and the scorching sun was licking at my dark skin heheheh.It really is summer time now here in the Philippines. Whenever I go to the department stores I see a lot of inflatable balls and pools being displayed as well as all sorts of swimming attire. The suits some in different colors and they would really dazzle you. I like looking at children's swimming wear specially the ones for little girls because they are just so cute. Some have raffles around and some are like little grown up get ups. Brings back memories of the first time I learned to swim.

I believe I was 6 years old when I learned how to swim. I mean I can swim a little but always at the shallow end of the pool. My cousins on my dad's side of the family has a swimming pool in their home so whenever we come and visit we would always take a dip in that oh so cool and sparkling blue pool. I am always envious of my cousins and uncles because they would just swim and swim to and fro. Here we are my sister and I at the shallow end of the pool. I would always ask one of my uncles to give me a piggy back ride when they swim to the deeper end of the pool because I really really like to go there. When I get there I would just happily cling to the sides even though it was hell on my arms heheheh but it was worth it at that time.

Then one day my dad called me and so I got out of the pool and went to him and so he hoisted me up into his arms and then suddenly he tossed me in the middle of the pool. I was there sputtering and shrieking like a banshee and splashing like a dolphin and then suddenly I touched the sides of the pool. I was so mad at my dad but then all of a sudden my eyes became wide with wonder.... I swam , I really really swam. Katching that was the sound I heard in my brain. My survival instinct kicked the hell off my fear of drowning. Beat that fear. hahahahah I was delirious with happiness and forgave my dad for tossing me.

After that incident I was like a brave soldier going to battle everytime I swam to the deeper end. I remember my dad did the same thing to my sister but she didn't even try and so I asked her years and years later why she didn't try to swim to the side and this is what she told me " I know they would save me" Hahahahahah that really cracks me up every time I recall that. Shsss don't tell her I said so but I think until now she still is afraid of going to the deeper end of the pool. Let's just keep this between us shall we?

Baked Cheesy Eggplant layer

Last night mom cooked eggplant in a different way. Usually when we prepare eggplant dishes it would be just steamed then dipped in egg and fried or it could be grilled,peeled and combined with tomatoes, vinegar and other stuff you know like a salad. Or it could also be just sliced and then fried with soy sauce and chilies. I know a lot of people have already made this dish but I just want to say that mom made a delicious cheesy eggplant layer last night. It was layered with pre cooked ground meat, sliced tomato and onion then top with quickmelt cheese. All that yumminess layer by layer is really divine. Even though I couldn't taste as much as when I'm not sick and yet the taste really registered big time in my delicious scale. Our family does love our food so we eat and eat and eat to our heart's content.

The new Place

We just transferred to a new place recently here in alumnos (cebu). It is just an apartment but now that everything has been fixed, I kinda like the place now. My mom made it a nice place to live. She placed all the plants outside on the walls in a certain design that it looked like it was landscaped. It really is prettier now. Even though we don't have a garden like the old house but the plants are still there to make the place beautiful.We now get a lot of oxygen heheheh as I remember from my old science lessons. Since the old house was bigger, we had a lot of big things but we were able to cramm most of the things here in the new apartment. Although it is sad because we couln't bring any pets here but we had our pets housed in my stepdad's aunt's house in minglanilla. They are quite happy there because they are free to roam around and be animals. I thought it would be hard to adjust but I'm finding that it's easy for me to adapt to my new environment so I guess I'm a very flexible person. Right now though I am sick as a dog. I think I got this from our arranging the plants outside while it was drizzling stint. Our drizzle here is more dangerous than the pouring rain. I don't know why though but it always almost makes us sick all the time. That is why it is good to be prepared with an umbrella all the time.

It is summer time here and it's starting to get very hot. I went to the store recently and saw that all the summer things that people would want are already on display like inflatable pools, swim suits, inflatable balls and inflatable arm bands for kids. It kinda sucks that we are in an apartment because we cannot inflate our 10 ft. pool. Mom and I do so enjoy frolicking in that shallow pool. We enjoy just soaking there, you know it is kinda like soaking in a tub minus the bubbles. In my 31 years I have yet to try soaking in a bubble bath. I wonder if I will be able to experience that hmmmm. But it is cool though at least I got to soak in the pool so it's kinda the same thing I think. So the new place is A OK. Below are the before and after pics of the apartment. Well the downstairs and outside area

Death of a loved one!

It was just recently that I went to the province to attend my grandmother's funeral. She is the sister of my maternal grandmother. Her name was Dolores or better known to us as "LOLA LOLING". She was the older sister of my grandmother. Our families have always been close to their family that is why her death has made a large impact on all of us.

She was the grandma who was a beauty queen in her younger years, a teacher, a good dancer and a wonderful sister. She devoted her life in taking care of her children and grandchildren. She was the grandmother who rose after any adversity thrown her way.

When they talk about their times together as sisters my grandmother and lola Loling it had always fascinated me specially when they talk about the past-- during the second world war. Yes you heard me right they were a product of that war. My grandma would always remember the times when they had to hide behind the coconut tree when the jets or whatever those planes were called in those days would let off rapid firing. Each of them would hide behind coconut tree praying that they would not be hit. Since my grandmother was the youngest she would often take refuge together with the other siblings and she would hide with the oldest sister but she would send her away then here comes Lola Loling who would take her in her arms and shield her from harm. This story would always enter my mind everytime I looked at lola loling inside the casket. It breaks my heart so to see my uncle and cousins in such pain moreso when I look at my own grandmother and see how painful it was for her to deal with.

Those two have always played jokes with each other and it makes me laugh remembering some of them. At every party the other is always present to celebrate so it is indeed a great loss for all of us to have lost such a wonderful grandmother. Right now I shudder everytime my mind would wander to the what if my own grandma goes..... Even now my mind can't wrap around the image of her going.

But I know that lola Loling is already at peace with lolo Tobal as what her husband was known.He past away a long while ago due to cancer but I'd like to think that he was there waiting for her as they would enter heaven.

Loveless!

Here we go again. Welcome to the firing squad as what we all say when you don't have a special someone on Valentines day. At the rate I'm going I'm bound to be in the firing squad for a long long long time. As much as I hope that I have someone somehow love has been eluding me. I think cupid has forgotten about me. What do you think? Hey Cupidddddddd...... throw some arrows my way just make sure that you hit someone I would like. But then again beggars can't be choosers as what they all say.

I wonder what I will do on this day of hearts which will be in a few days. Sure I have a lot of loved ones but I don't think they really count because they will always be special to me and close to my heart. Please please please God let someone fall for me and I don't mind it literally as long as it will be for keeps.