Felix Felicis

aaaargh! i really want to say "I'm BACK!!!" but all i can think of is "here-i-am-trying-to- spit-out-something-photoartistic-like-squeezing-out-empty-toothpaste!"

I've been utterly bogged down with work, the slow wedding planning and flickr changing their site and sharing settings (damn you flickr!!!). I've just found the time to figure out how to post photos from the stinking flickr site so here's my newest edit.



Photo taken by ruffagrina using madam's camera, model is Ms. MVR. :)

I'm also currently listening to the audio book of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. When i first started listening to audiobooks, it was quite uncomfortable because I'm used to speeding up through the pages of the physical book. It was a love-hate relationship at the start though, either the reader is not fast enough or if i speed up it's too fast or my mind would fly somewhere else.

There's this one girl upon learning that I listen to rather than actually read the books blatantly branded me 'lazy' - ignorance once again proves to be dangerous. But the good thing, or dare I say the best thing about audiobooks is that it enables me to MULTITASK.  Yes indeed. I usually listen to the audiobooks while I'm at work or I'm doing the dishes or cooking allowing me to do two things at the same frickin time.

I also stick to books I've read before that i liked - Harry Potter Series, the Twilight Saga (hee hee) and Dan Brown books. Although recently I keep with the Harry Potter books. They are familiar enough that I can l ignore it playing in the background while I try to concentrate with my work, also blocking out the loud office noise. At the same time they remain highly interesting to me being an HP fan and I don't seem to be getting tired of them any time soon.

Oh well, 3 more months til the next movie comes out. Here are some photos from the first part of the Deathly Hallows book care of Baltimore Sun website. Enjoy!

Repost: Hott Saturday

Originally posted NOVEMBER 25, 2009

Two saturdays ago, the weather people forecasted a sunny 34-degree weekend in melbourne. i declined my girls' invite to go shopping around CBD. through out the day i kinda regretted not going cause it was rather cloudy and there was a cool breeze.

got bored inside the house and asked the husband to go to the shopping centre. it was a very unproductive day; didn't see anything i liked until this man passed by the car on our way out the mall complex:

sorry, cant help it. :)

well, it was kinda really hot. but still!!!

you made my day, mr. invisible pants! :)

making wishes and dreaming

25th July 2010, in front of the house

I used to talk to the moon when it's full, atop the roof of my grandmother's house back when I was about 15. Loony, i know. But like how people say you can make a wish if you see double rainbows or four-leaf clovers are lucky, I used to believe you can make a wish on a full moon. I actually made that up but it actually gave me comfort doing that. That's probably my share of cray-craziness at that time of the month when La Luna's power is at its peak.


Tonight was a cloudless winter night with the goddess in full force. And I am a slave to her beauty, i was hypnotized. I braved the 6-degree night with my camera, tripod and remote. It would be just nice to stare at her  in all her gloriousness.

My midnight sun.
25th July 2010, in front of the house

even monochrome cant keep her

She's giving me good vibes. Thanks, dear goddess; I was in dire need of inspiration and here you are serenely singing us your cradle song.

I swear, since seeing Your face,

the whole world is fraud and fantasy

The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf

or blossom. The distracted birds

can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,

a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,

a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

- "I SWEAR", by Rumi

...

To complete tonight's food therapy session...

Filipino fave food first. (Say that five times fast!)

This, i always miss. Puto Bumbong is probably in my top three favorite Filipino food. It's slightly hard to find as they are usually only available around Christmas time. One day I'll try to make it.

They dont make maki here in Melbourne like Tokyo Tokyo's maki where they put sweet-sour mango instead of avocado/cucumber. And bite sized too.

DROOL. The famous Razon's Lumpiang sariwa (Vegatable Roll). I really have no words, just DROOL.

Razon's palabok. Enough said - if you're Filipino you'll understand.

Haaaaay, I'll have this in my dreams please....

Good thing I did this food post after dinner, Otherwise I'll be snacking at 12:29am. :)

F.U.

For a late dinner, I made these...

Clockwise: Vienna sausage omelet, fried mini-cheese kransky, grilled veggies sauteed in butter and garlic and leftover mabo tofu with bok choy.


I HAD A BAD DAY. there, i said it. It's actually more of a really bad ending to my work day so after wasting one hour staring in black space thinking about it, i sought refuge in my kitchen. My cooking spree is totally justified. ;)

I also made myself a nice cup of Gloria Jeans' caramel coffee. I'm not supposed to have my second cup of the day - my skin doctor would not approve. Well, it's her or my sanity.

Very, very, addictive coffee. This is Janine's and Lorna's fault.

Four days ago, I had lunch at a friend's house where they served grilled eggplant and capsicum. I would not touch eggplant if my life depended on it... until four days ago (this is the vegetable eggplant I'm talking about ok?). HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME EGGPLANTS COULD TASTE LIKE BUTTER??? And that they are sooo far from okras in terms of texture? So Im a recent Eggplant convert and loving it. So this is my second night making these grilled veggies - Eggplant, capsicum and mushroom - this was my addition as I have a demi-obsession with mushrooms.

sauteeing grilled veggies

Im grateful for Donya Nella and Don Gil for introducing me to this grilled veggie dish. It is now part of my our weekly menu. :)

Recently, like the last 3 months, I've been learning a lot of dishes from friends and colleagues. For example, I never knew how to bake. My sister and I used to watch the Henny Sison baking/cooking show every Sunday and the only thing I got from the show is that you should follow exact procedures and measurements with baking otherwise it's not gonna turn out right. Since then I have always been afraid of baking and coming to Australia, I envied people who know how to whip up lovely cupcakes from scratch. Here are a few samples:

Lorna's cupcake

My birthday cupcakes by JDO. They we're perfect.

Lilianne works part time and some days she comes in with a tray full of cupcakes. Just coz.

SEE? How can you not be jealous? Lovely Lilianne graciously shared her basic cake/cupcake/muffin recipe which was fantabulous! It was soo easy I feel like a pro (nyehehehehe). I've only made the banana muffins and it wasn't too shabby; my friends' kids actually like them. Thanks heaps, Lil!

love the smell of freshly baked banana cupcakes

It's a work in progress and when I get better results I'll share photos.

Anyhoo, having breakfast for dinner was all in all a good idea. I feel a bit better, and a bit sleepy too. Tomorrow should be better.

P.S.

I love this egg poacher. That's one thing I am yet to learn, to properly poach eggs manually.

et voila! perfect poached eggs!

P.P.S.

Except for the first photo on this post, all photos are taken with an iPhone 3GS. Not bad no? x

Ghetto Superstar

I really hope I can keep this blog up; this I think is the fourth blog I've created here on blogger and this is the only one that has surpassed the 2nd post mark. So, so far so good. ALthough, I would really, lilly lilly, appreciate your comments.

Anyhoolabaloo, I've attempted to clear my iPhoto and surprise, surprise I got held up editing old photos again. I got a good haul this time, from our holiday photos last year.

Here are a few images from our Motherland.

Fried peanuts and drinks sold on the street

White pet rats for sale

Gossip Girls

Oh, this was during the province's trade fair in September 2009. Aaaww, how nice are the nights you just stay out and stuff yourself with street food and try not to be sick on the ferris wheel.

Living in the Philippines, being an archipelago and the second largest at that, would always put you close to bodies of water. And this is what normally happens in most areas come high tide...

FLOOD.

That was the neighbour fetching the rain boots her daughter used to cross the water so she can safely and dryly wear hear school shoes. Yeah, people in the third world know how to find ways.

And ways we find. Look at this two guys who picked up a washing machine from a nearby store. 

Who needs a ute/pick up when you got a scooter and a very trusting pal?

That's how we roll in the third world. Fish out. =P

Bulacan Week Fireworks Competition 2009

weeds and weather

It's the first month of winter here in Melboure and it's been really, really chilly. Nights are c-c-cold with occasional frosts. It's been raining a lot as well, which I know the locals are happy about. I dont really need to check the weather forecasts now as the weather's usually the same these past couple of weeks, but just to give you an idea...

Forecast for Wednesday (30 June 2010)

Cloudy. Scattered showers, mainly during the morning. Winds northwesterly averaging up to 30 km/h.

City: a few showers. Minimum 7 degrees, Maximum 12 degrees.

Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Overall: Cold and wet. BED WEATHER!!! source: me =)

Rainy and gloomy suits me just fine... that is if I'm staying at home, under the sheets while waiting for the soup to warm up ... or when going to the movies because there's a big chance the theatre would be empty... or if you have a good stack of movies for a marathon (read: only perfect when I'm not at work). It's kind of a different story when you have to go out and about; my tropically developed body can only take so much - so I'd really only prefer this weather during the weekends so I can stay indoors. I believe JB agrees, as come winter months he totally forgets we have the front and back yard to maintain. 

Currently we have a very healthy vegetation growing around the house.  In all fairness, it's kind of tough to do the lawns nowadays because of all the rain. So for now lemme me utilize the bright side of this situation (hah!):

I've been looking for a four-leaf clover. Obviously I still need some luck as I have had no success so far. Loser, right? But I'd still think finding one would be lilly, lilly cool. =B

Here's how our front area is looking now...

and see where all the above photos are taken: hee hee:

Ok, I'm getting sleepy now. It's currently 8 degrees outside and you can hear the wind blowing. I kinda miss the sun, but it's just extremely nice to rug up and sleep now...

I'll think of you, dear sun, when I'm at work tomorrow...

Front of our house, October 2009

basketball

Been watching hubby play basketball on Sundays. Him and the boys have been playing at this "Filipino League" in Hampton Park for about two years now. I stopped watching for a couple of months because some extremely Filipino mentality, I just can't stand. Just some. Anyhow, the tournament is not exclusive to Filipinos anymore as it has become more of a business.

Still, it's something to do on a Sunday morning and the boys really like basketball so we go. And since I'm there already might as well practice shooting. 

Looking at the photos make me want to *really* take up proper photography schooling. I know it will come - I'm just preoccupied at the moment. All the time, more like.

Got some funny photos while watching the game:

Hey Hunnies? Why dont you hitch your skirt up a bit higher? Eggs on toast right?... :)

Got to dance!

Yep, eyes on the ball. Two points.

The boys got lucky with some shots. Hello Facebook profile pic. :)

Hulk :)

It's a jump shot from Bushman!

brake/inertia.

Mr. C, as in Captain, had a really good game, scored about four 3-pointers.

The game closed to a draw so boo-hoo. Australian rules on small basketball leagues don't allow for overtime tie breaker. It was a very very exciting game nevertheless. 

Now let me just nurse my hoarse throat. Blasted cheering. Let's close this with my hubby's 'yabang' photo. :)