new year's resolution

So 2008 was a BAD year for my waistline and overall health. So for 2009, here is my game plan:

1. Drink less coffee. I don’t drink a lot of coffee, just 1 cup a day (sometimes none), but I keep on drinking it even if I don’t really like how it tastes! I like the fact that it wakes me up when I’m starting to fall asleep at my desk, but I’ll drink tea instead of coffee beginning today! (it’s only December 31 as of this writing).

2. Pick healthier snacks. I don’t eat heavy main meals but you’ll see me munching on junk in between. I got a good scolding from my husband last night and have decided to change my ways. Not only are my snacks of choice not good for my weight (I eat chips, chips, and more chips!), they really have no nutritional value. So I’m snacking on fruit beginning today. (already had an apple earlier. Clap clap clap!)

3. Drink soda only once a week. I drink diet coke almost everyday. While I’m limited to 1 can each time, I know it’s not doing me any good.

4. Eat more malunggay! This has got to be one of my favorite vegetables in the whole wide world! I should learn to incorporate this wonderful veggie to most of the savory meals I prepare. Buti nalang it’s readily available at the local asian supermarket and my mom learned to blanch the leaves and freeze it. I can use it in place of spinach in my omelet and puree it and add to pretty much anything I cook.

5. Drink more red wine. I love wine but I’m a big white wine drinker. I should split my wine consumption fifty-fifty.

6. Work out 3 times a week. Wish me luck on this one!

it's the holiday season...

Michelle was really excited about Christmas this year. I don’t think she realized the ‘gift giving’ part of it until we actually decided to put the Christmas tree together (no real true because my desire was shot down by every single family member, except for michelle) and presents started piling up under it. Naturally, she believed every present was for her, even though more than half of it are gifts for other kids. She loved the Christmas music that continuously played on KOIT Radio. She calls all Christmas lights and decorations ‘jingle bells’. Her favorite Christmas songs are jingle bells (of course!), jingle bell rock, and feliz navidad (spanish wanna-be ang anak ko e). And this is how she sings it…

‘feliz dididad! Da da da da da! Feliz dididad!’ (I’ll try to take a video and post it here)

We decorated a gingerbread house yesterday and she managed not to eat all of the candy. We’ll try to bake cookies together soon. I didn’t want to make it from scratch so I just bought the pre-made ones that you break off and bake in the oven. I’m sure she’ll have fun getting her hands messy like she did with the gingerbread.

My uncle from seattle is here and michelle is delighted to have another lolo around. She calls him, ‘lolo lori!’ (lolo rollie) and she gets confused because all her 3 lolos look alike (lolo abet, lolo rollie and lolo cesar). My cousin and her husband (also from seattle) will be arriving tomorrow and we’ll take them around to see the spots. San kaya sila maganda ipasyal?

I want to go to target to get a BIG FAKE CHRISTMAS TREE on sale. I wonder if there will be any more left by the time I leave the office? Hmmmm (as of 6 pm..we went to target and all that's left are christmas trees that are 9 feet tall. that's too big for the house so i have no choice but to buy it before christmas next year. hindi umepek ang pagkukuripot. or i might get my real tree next year! i bought several decorations for a good price though.)

Forgot to buy two presents and will try to scour the mall for a decent ‘new year gift’. I should really stop the last minute shopping thing because either I forget, or there is nothing good to buy anymore.

Sana matapos na ang holidays para wala ng kainan!!!!!

gingerbread house

i bought a gingerbread house kit at target not too long ago. i wanted michelle to get her hands sticky as she decorates the house. this is her masterpiece.

christmas eve

michelle's christmas eve presents

how i miss...

The smell of apples remind me of Christmas and the new year. I know it sounds weird because for most Americans, apples remind them of the fall. But being the transplant that I am, this time of the year is the time when apples abound in the markets around the Philippines. There are times when I would linger at the apple section of the grocery store here in the states just to take in the smell of the apples that remind me of Christmas at home. I would leave the area with a smile and a feeling of warmth, like I was home for a few seconds.

I still remember how my dad would start playing Christmas songs as early as September 1st and how I would start asking my mom to go to the mall to start our Christmas shopping in October. My parents would have a budget for each of their three kids on how much could be spent on new clothes for Christmas. The budget for my brothers is always larger than mine, which surprisingly, didn’t bother me that much even when I became aware of how expensive their jeans and shoes were. Every year, when my dad gets his bonus, we would make a trip to RAON and buy one major electric appliance or device for the house. My favorite was one holiday season, back in the 80s when we went there to buy a Nintendo Family Computer and how excited my brothers and I were to be finally getting one. I never got into the whole family computer thing, but I was happy my parents were generous enough to buy it for us. Back then, it was an expensive gift, even for 3 kids.

Trips to raon will include lunch at WAPAC (wala na tong restaurant na to, unfortunately) and they served the best pancit canton and fried chicken I’ve ever had. My parents used to go there a lot before they were married, then at least once a year after they had all three kids. One waitress in particular knew my parents to be regular customers and one Christmas, my dad gave her tip which was almost the same as the cost of our entire meal. After she realized how much she had received, she jumped up and down, teary-eyed, hugged my parents and thanked them profusely. it wasn’t a lot of money but maybe it was enough for whatever it was that she needed. Her joy was electrifying, and I remember leaving the restaurant with a big smile on my face like i was the one on the receiving end.

I miss going to simbang gabi, even though it’s a struggle to get out of my warm bed on cold December mornings. I mostly look forward to the pancit luglog, puto bumbong and bibingka that we ate after the mass. I miss seeing the neighborhood kids dressed in their holiday best, going door to door to greet people and wait for their Aguinaldo. I miss having my cousins over at our house to eat all the food that my mom has prepared. I miss my Nanay Dhe, Nana Juling, Tata Sergio, and Lolo Pacing and the smile on their faces when they see all of their grandchildren together. All four now celebrate Christmas everyday with our Lord, and I bet they are so much happier now.

I am looking forward to bringing Michelle home for Christmas and having her experience what Christmas was like for her dad and me and I’m sure she’ll have a greater appreciation for her heritage, her tradition, and her family. And I hope later on, she’ll agree with me when I say, there is no better place in the world to celebrate Christmas than spending it in the Philippines!

to the camus family

"Earth hath no sorrow, THAT HEAVEN cannot heal."

-Thomas Moore

restaurant review: bong su

After visiting t’s dad at the hospital last night, chel and I were debating whether to get a nice dinner or just get jalopeno poppers for jack in the box. Of course, we decided on dinner and bong su was just around the corner from where we were so it was the logical choice. I have been to bong su before and I wasn’t really impressed with their food. It is fancy (a.k.a. expensive) but the food is just ok, until I had the cod.

The appetizers we had were the vegetable crepe and the crispy crab spring roll…the vegetable crepe was a blander and deconstructed version of your good old lumpiang gulay. The spring roll was forgettable, even if it had soft shell crab in it.

The highlight was the carmelized black cod which was oh so good! Now, I would come back for that!

Dessert was so, so. It’s hard for any restaurant to mess up on dessert.

But if you’re going to bong su, get the black cod. It’s easily one of the top 5 fish dishes I’ve ever had.