Jollibee spicy chicken

I had to do an errand for mom and a bit of shopping for me awhile ago. At quarter to one, my stomach roared loudly, I was a bit embarrassed. Lucky the mall was too noisy no one heard. I was craving to eat this unhealthy but very tasty fried chicken from the Philippines' most popular fast food chain: Jollibee. Every time I go there, I usually order the spicy chicken joy value meal which comes with a cup of rice and a glass of Coca-cola. The meal only cost me 87 Php (that's around 1.8 euros or 2 US dollars).  It was so spicy, the mucus in my nose started dripping. (Embarrassing again, but who cares?) My mouth burned as hot as the wildfires in Australia. It was so hot, my tongue was getting numbed. Nevertheless, I never once entertained the thought of quitting. The skin was too crispy and the meat was too juicy, I wouldn't dare abandon the entire ordeal. The spiciness made the meal less boring. The sensation lingered in my mouth for more than 5 minutes. 

I found that the best way to deal with the "spicy after shock" was to eat sundae. My favorite is the large ube crispies sundae from McDonald's (It looks like this but ube flavor and not strawberry). Because I always devour the ube sundae as fast as lightning strikes, I never ever had the opportunity to snap a photo.

My favorite winter boots

I finally booked my flight! I will be departing on the very last day of February. Aside from the emotional baggage I have to bear once I part with my family (especially my grandma because I love her dearly), I will have to carry along with me a limited amount of necessary things. To ease the burden of choosing what to bring, I have decided to avail of the 40 Kg baggage allowance. I am also entitled to 7 kilos of carry-on luggage. The total weight is a kilo heavier than my body weight. And although the thought of carrying that much luggage frightens me, I still availed of such as it is extremely necessary.

For instance, I need to bring my favorite winter boots. The pair is really of good quality. Not to mention, it's pure leather. The sole is rubberized with "ridges." The combination of these two features enables the sole to "grip" the ground more firmly. I used to run with this in thick snow and I never slipped. It's also very comfortable to wear. Thank you Tamaris for making this incredible shoes! 

Oh, I forgot to mention the most important bit! It weighs 1 kilo. That leaves me 46 more kilos for everything else.

Bignay Wine

This bottle of bignay wine reminds me of my childhood.

I spent the first five years of my life in a small town near the famous cone-shaped active volcano in the Philippines called "Mt. Mayon." When I started walking, I also started disobeying my grandmother especially when (before she would leave for work) she would persistently instruct me to, "stay at home and don't go to the rice fields!"

I don't know how I found my way to the rice fields; but for some reason, I managed to find my way through so I could happily play in the rice paddy which was too quick to swallow me whole. I too was too quick to cry and my grandma's sister who was supervising the laborers had to pull me out immediately. Discovering the dangers of the rice fields, my cousin and I decided to find another playground. 

In our massive playground, we found an area lined with trees bearing red and blue fruits. At that time, the species' name was unknown to me. It was only recently that I learned of its name: "bignay." These bignay fruits did not taste nice; they were a bit sour. They were barely even sweet, in fact. However, they were the only trees we could manage to climb, so we had to be contented with our new find. My cousin and I would climb these trees whenever we had the chance. I remember I was really enjoying my time picking up the tiny red and blue fruits. My hands were too tiny to hold the bunches of fruits we picked so I had to wrap and tuck them with my t-shirt. My grandma always appeared shocked to find my t-shirt all covered with red and blue stains. You can just imagine the look on her face. But all she could say was, "Just stay at home tomorrow, Ok?" I had to do my best to stay cute while replying with a "yes grandma" so I wouldn't be castigated. However, the next day, I would  once again freely run, play and climb in our massive "playground."

I had a wonderful childhood.

Coke Float

I had to do some errands for my bro and sis awhile ago and my parents dropped me off at McDonald's near Victoria Plaza. I had to wait for an hour before the mall opens so I decided to use the McDonald's coupon my bro gave me the night before. I told him, "I don't really need that. I don't like McDonald's." He said, "Someone just gave it to me. Just take it!"

That was the biggest mistake I made the other day. I shouldn't have taken it. If I didn't, I would have probably just ordered coffee. But because I thought the coupon was a good deal I decided to get myself coke float and medium fries.

I think it was the third time I ever had coke float in my life. Coke float, by the way, is a regular coke drink with a floating chocolate sundae. The first time I drank coke float was during the first few weeks it was being offered as part of the regular menu. The second time was when I attended a meeting for my cousin's wedding. 

I don't think I'll ever drink coke float again. It's just basically sugar on top of sugar. I don't like it when the sundae melts and makes the coke creamy. The combination is just so wrong. No one has ever manufactured a creamy soda for some reasons.

Many of my friends love coke float though. I think it's because they love coke and sundae. The combination of the two makes the deal really good. But for a person who doesn't like coke but who likes sundae, the combination is deplorable. I'd rather just drink water!

Six drinks that ruled the world

I started panicking last week when I realized my vacation is almost over. A couple of weeks from now, I will have to pursue another academic milestone which is necessary for the enhancement of my cranial capacity so I can be dubbed a virtuoso in my field. And because the clock is ticking and I'm slowly running out of vacation days, I started making the most of my time again. 

My day has been really productive because I read another history book. This book is exceptional in that it clearly narrates important historical events as viewed from a different perspective. The angle with which history is told is based on the six indispensable beverages: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola. The story begins as far back as the Neolithic age where people became acquainted with agriculture. They serendipitously discovered beer, a brown intoxicating liquid derived from the fermentation of germinated cereal grains. The book also briefly discusses the Greek and the Roman Empires and how the discovery of wine played a big role in these societies. With the desire for these intoxicating drinks, people have further developed ways to concentrate alcohol in beverages by means of distillation. This is when spirits became widely popular.

Three non-alcoholic drinks also notably played a big role in shaping society. Coffee, which originated in Arabia, became the potent ingredient in unleashing the genius among men during the Age of Reason. Coffeehouses became widely popular during this age as these served as meeting places for men to discuss science, politics and other worldly affairs. Tea, on the other hand, became widely popular among women who, at that time, had no place in the coffeehouses as these were basically frequented by men. Tea became very much popular during the Age of Industrial Revolution. This beverage  also eventually became synonymous with the British culture. Finally, the book also discusses Coca Cola, a beverage which everyone in the world has probably tasted. The beverage picked up its momentum as the US gained a foothold and dominated in the international arena. Being sold on almost every corner of the world, Coca Cola is no doubt a drink that symbolizes globalization.

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

An hour from now, I will be heading to meet up with some of my best buddies. I thought of surprising them with a cake made from the bottom of my heart. I actually spent the entire morning baking this cake. It's really fun baking when you have all the time in the world. I only baked one cake because I didn't want to leave one at home since most of us are "on diet." You're looking at around 2000 to 3000 calories of sinful goodness. 

This is meant to be a red velvet cake; but I should have poured more red food coloring to hide the brownish tint from the tablespoons of chocolate I added. My favorite red velvet cake recipe is taken from the website Divas can cook. I've tried other recipes, but this is the one I like the most. However, I reduced the amount of sugar and salt; increased the amount of chocolate; and used cake flour instead of all purpose flour.

Let me just write the recipe down for future reference:

2 c. cake flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1 t. baking soda, 3 T unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 3/4 c brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 t. iodized salt, 1 t. white vinegar, 1 c. canola oil, 1 c. fresh milk (buttermilk was not available unfortunately), 2 t. vanilla extract, red food coloring and 1/2 cup of hot coffee.

For the cream cheese frosting, I used 1 stick butter, 1 stick cream cheese and 1 c. confectioner's sugar. People normally add 2 c. sugar; but again, I don't like very sweet cakes so I always cut back on the sugar.

The roses and leaves are just simple fondant icing. 

I really love baking but I hate eating. This is why I really enjoy baking cakes for my friends! I just can't wait to see them. Bye for now. Gotta run...

Australian Vegemite

After regaining the vitality I have lost over the holidays, I have finally started running on the treadmill again. I only wanted to break a sweat so I just ran for 1.5 Km mostly under 6-8 Km/hour. I have also been adding vegemite on my morning toasts. Vegemite is a "weird" Australian product. Spreading it on your morning toast on its own will definitely ruin your day because it has an explicablly salty and tangy taste with a bit of an after aroma.

Just how weird can this product get? Turn the bottle and you will discover that it is mainly composed of yeast extract. It really does smell a bit like yeast when you eat it. But you would hardly know you're eating yeast if you didn't bother to read what's inside. 

Nevertheless, the best thing about this product is that, by spreading  a meager 5 grams on your toast, you get 0.55 mg Vit B1, 0.43 mg Vit B12, 2.5 mg Vit B 9 (niacin) and 100 micrograms Vit B9 (folate). It's overloaded with Vit B's and it's definitely good for breakfast! It's hard to miss a Vegemite in an Australian cupboard.

My bf taught me a simple trick when consuming this product: add butter! I think some of you already have the habit of slathering your toast with butter. Do that then add a bit of Vegemite. This will give your toast a kick, and your body a Vit B punch!

Have a beautiful morning!

2015 Planner

Despite the piles of unsorted papers on my desk and the permanent clutters in my room, there is still a fraction of organization embedded in my system. And this is manifested by the fact that on most of days, I normally enumerate my goals and agenda! It's no wonder why I am so obsessed with my 2015 planner (The red planner on the photo below)! Some days ago, I bought two planners: one for me and one for my other-half. We're supposed to have identical planners. But my mom mentioned that she liked the planner I bought better than the one given to her. I had no idea how her planner looked like; but because I really am not so fastidious with things like these and that I really love surprises, I told her, "let's swap Mom!"

It turned out that I prefer her planner over mine! Her planner has time in it. The one I bought only has a huge space for scribbling notes. I like to keep track of what I am doing (if possible) every hour. This gives me a sense of urgency. But jotting down my hourly activities is only applicable on weekdays. I'd like to keep my weekends spontaneous, haphazard and disorganized--just like my working desk.

Planning is really essential. I will never forget what my high school teacher taught me, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" 

Dreams + pineapple cravings

My sinuses are getting better. Tomorrow I should be well enough to have my medical check up for my visa application. I had more than ample rest yesterday and today. In fact, I think I slept for almost 11 hours this morning. I woke up recalling a bizarre dream about superhumans flying and throwing ice spikes to each other. One detail I vividly remember is the one  about a  male villain (let's call him superhuman villan A) who was commissioned to kill the female protagonist but he couldn't bring himself to do so for some unfathomable reason. It turned out that they loved each other in the past. The past, however, is unknown to them because all their memories were erased. Superhuman villain A killed countless innocent superhumans; and he had so many opportunities to kill the female protagonist. He attempted many times, but always, when he was about to put an end to her life, he would unwittingly step back. He couldn't understand why. There was always this urge to kill her; but his instincts forbid him to do so. The female protagonist, being invulnerable to the most powerful superhuman, becomes the most powerful of all! She uses this advantage to save the lives of many innocent but less talented superhumans from the hands of the most formidable foe!

Strange dream about superhumans, right? I'm hoping I'll have more dreams like that. I'm also hoping I'll dream about eating my favorite fruit tonight: PINEAPPLE! I ate nearly a platter today. Lucky the acidic juice spared my lips! Sometimes I just keep eating til the pain becomes intolerable. Call me a masochist. I'll do anything for tasty pineapples.

Happy New Year!

This greeting is a day late, but allow me to say it anyway, "Happy New Year." 

Since Dec 31, I haven't been feeling the best. It was a pity I greeted 2015 with a congested nose. I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday though. I was supposed to meet one of my best friends whom I haven't seen for more than 2 years. Unfortunately, she was also not feeling well. But I guess her condition was worse than mine such that she asked to cancel our meeting today. We were both excited to see each other. But these unfortunate conditions forbade us to do so. She will also be heading back to the US tomorrow. I'll be heading to Australia 2 months from now and only time can tell in which part of the globe will we see each other again. It's amazing how our bond of friendship hasn't waned despite the distance and time.