danggit for brunch :)

Danggit from Samar for brunch, thanks to Apple :) While watching P.Noy's inauguration. Sarap, hindi masyadong maalat. :9

I ♥ baking soda

Other than for just baking, baking soda has much, much more other uses! It's a very effective cleaner and deodorizer! "The power of baking soda comes in a one-two punch: It helps regulate pH, which keeps a substance neither too acidic nor too alkaline. It also has the capacity to neutralize to retard further changes in the pH balance, known as buffering."

I like most its 'freshen sponges' function, which I have yet to try though: "To eliminate foul smell from sponges, soak them in 4 tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in a quart of warm water. Soak them overnight for a more thorough disinfecting."

Main reference and source of quoted text is today's Philippine Daily Inquirer article by Kenneth M. del Rosario, "Baking soda is home's best buddy: Best ways to use this all-in-one product for your household chores" :) I couldn't find an online link to the article so better get yourself a copy of today's Inquirer. It's on page M2, as part of the paper's Special Advertising Feature on Home Improvement. For those who can't get a copy, the article's source is the Yahoo! Green Blog. Link to Melissa Breyer's entry "40 fantastic uses for baking soda" here.

P.S. Another reference is the Arm & Hammer website.

pineapple moves to a new home

We transferred it to a bigger pot. :)

more room for its roots to stretch

gummi pustiso

say cheese!

Took this home (a.k.a. stole this) from the Spiral lunch buffet. :) Wonderful lunch with the Aquinos earlier today.

Advanced Happy Birthday, Tita Moje!

Nigella's chocolate fudge cake

photo by Francesca Yorke (from www.nigella.com)

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=250

quoting Margaret Thatcher

"Success need not be measured in terms of wealth, power, or fame. Success after all is a 'state of mind' resulting from self-satisfaction that you enjoy what you do, that you know without any doubt you are good in what you do, and despite that you still want to get better and do even better."

adaptor woes :'(

up-close

Do they sell stand-alone laptop adaptors in computer shops?

pineapple 100621

Rachelle removed the "weeds" na. Doesn't it look cleaner?

pineapple after the long weekend

I love long weekends!

Mutts 100531

Talking Tongues

Sixteen month-late blog post! :D

Day before Valentine's in 2009, after work, Ronjie and I had dinner at Talking Tongues, along San Agustin Street in Salcedo Village, Makati. The place was very near his then-office. I think it had just opened then, so we decided to check it out. That evening, around 9:00pm, we were the only customers in there, the seats were comfortable, the music was relaxing (actually, I don't remember na how the music was like then, hehe), and the lighting was warm... perfect ambience for a cozy dinner with your beloved.

They serve Chinese-Indonesian food... which tasted good! :9 The interiors were interesting, too. My rating scale for the things I blog about are: Try it, Don't waste your time (and money) on it, or Only try it if you're not paying. Talking Tongues is definitely a Try it! :) Some photos from my phone camera:

Indonesian idols?

they revere beer bellies?

satay

noodle soup is my comfort food!

Independence Day discovery

Was in Ali Mall earlier today; I discovered a new store! Saizen! Where everything is sold for P85. The 85-peso store! Merchandise is from Japan; they have some interesting items...

black cotton buds

wooden garden fences

I shall return! Saizen is located at the lower ground floor of (The New) Ali Mall.

Happy Birthday, Philippines! :)

The Perfect Date

Mela and I went on a French film date Thursday evening (June 10) and caught "The Perfect Date" in Shangri-La Plaza. The movie was really good! (You-have-to-watch-it! type of good!) Perfect sisters'-night-out na sana if not for the incident with some cinema staff before the movie. Just to make kwento, this is a sort-of detailed flow of what happened then:

~7:00pm - I fall in line for tickets to "The Perfect Date." I am (I think) the 20th person in line already by that time.

It's the annual French Film Festival in Manila and French movies are shown for free until June 13. For order and to ensure comfortable movie-watching, Shangri-La cinema issues out tickets an hour before the movie. You have to fall in line and they give only one ticket per person. Those who are able to get one are ensured a seat as long as they arrive on time for the movie. Otherwise, their seats would be given to "walk-ins". The movie was at 9 but as early as 7, there was a line already.

~7:30pm - Mela arrives and joins me in line.

8:00pm - Tickets to the 9:00pm movie ("The Perfect Date") are given out. We get our tickets, then head to the foodcourt for quick dinner.

~8:40pm - We walk back to the cinema, thinking, "early enough to still get good adjacent seats."

~8:42pm - We get to the cinema entrance. The cinema usher/guard/ticket receiver refuses to let us in because "wala nang upuan, dahil late kami, at nagpapasok na sila ng walk-in."

Of course we protested! Wala pa kayang 9:00pm! Then the guy tells us it's 9:05pm, per their time and the movie started already. My time is synchronized with theirs (from the ticket issuance earlier) and it's still far from 9:00pm. Maaga pa nga kami sa lagay na yon eh. By this time a number of other "late" ticket-holders arrive and join in the protests. "Paano naubos ang upuan eh may tickets kami. 'Di ba kaya nga kayo nagbibigay ng tickets para eksakto sa upuan yung makapasok?" "Sinasabi lang nila na 9:05 na dahil pinagtatakpan lang nila yung mali nila. Nagpapasok kaagad sila ng walk-in." "I've been going to this film festival the past 2 days at hindi naman ganito. Basta dumating ka before the screening time, may seat ka. And only after the movie starts do they allow inside the walk-ins."

~8:47pm - The cinema staff goes inside the cinema, to probably talk to his superior about what was happening outside and to find out what to do.

~8:50pm - The guy comes back and says firmly na hindi na talaga kami pwede papasukin. We protest some more and ask to talk to the manager (as we knew that the guy we were talking wasn't in the position to really make any decisions). The guy goes back in.

~8:54pm - The guy comes back and tells us that they'll let us in, but only those with tickets. We won't have seats though. "Ayaw man lang tayo harapin nung manager."

~8:55pm - We enter the cinema and seat ourselves on the steps. (The moviehouse was full, even the reserved VIP seats were taken already.) We get to catch a couple of movie trailers before the actual movie is shown.

9:00pm - "The Perfect Date"


Here's what I think happened: The cinema staff let walk-in people in after the trailers started, not after the movie itself started, as was done in the past and as they should have. When they realized their mistake, they covered up by telling us that their time was 9:05pm (when it was just really ~8:40pm) and by telling us that the movie started already when it was just the trailers that were still being shown.

Anyway, I hope lessons are learned from this, especially on the part of the Shangri-La cinema staff and management. (Hi, Ms. Laureen Tecson! My sister e-mailed you about this already.) On my part, I should have took photos of what happened, especially of the protesting that took place, to better document things.

This was dinner, by the way - crab puffs(?) and noodles in chicken soup from a 'shabu-shabu' stall in the foodcourt.

pasalubongs!

I love receiving pasalubongs! Here's what I collected the past 2 weeks. :D

Clockwise, from bottom:
- bright-colored pouch with aboriginal art design from Van's Australia vacation;
- blue-and-white chopsticks from Chris who joined a conference in HK/Macau;
- Mickey Mouse with pancakes cellphone charm/keychain from my Nihongo teacher's Japan trip (I like that the Japanese also have a culture of giving pasalubongs whenever they return from trips);
- lotion from Jill who's based in Singapore but was in Manila for a weekend; and
- wooden strawberry keychain from Marilyn who came from a Baguio trip with officemates

Calvin and Hobbes 100606

pineapple progress

08 June 2010

Rachelle's pineapple plant is getting bigger! And the foreign plants squatting in its pot are growing too! (Tinapon na si Sir Rico yung pineapple plant niya kasi kawawa na yung itsura.) I wonder how much longer before the fruit starts to form.

Calvin and Hobbes 100603

:D

Happy birthday, Kendy! :)

Cool!

mobile uploads

Dinner with college friends last Saturday, to celebrate our '10 years of knowing each other'. We tried the Oakroom in Oakwood Ortigas; this was dinner for me:

beef and a prawn

It was fine, not great though. Or maybe I didn't really enjoy kasi was busy thinking about Ronjie's pork sinigang which I wish I was having instead that night.

Monday night in Cafea, along Sgt. Esguerra Ave. My first time in there. I was so happy when I entered and saw the red carnations! I thought to myself, "Wow! This place invests on having fresh carnations! I think I will come here more often, if only for the fresh flowers!" But then, disappointment. As I got closer, I learned they were plastic carnations. *Sigh.* Oh well. And another disappointment followed: missing the Cafea Chops (porkchops stuffed with apples and other things) because I was 1 order late. Wenna and Arn, who ordered just a few minutes before me, got the last piece. :( They shared a bite with me naman, but still. Well, now I have 1 reason to go back. Another reason would be to try their coffee. :D

plastic carnations

I like their tables with marble tiles. :)