My 10 Highlights of the Week:

• Blueberry Muffins
  Getting addicted to this...
• Melon
  Sweet, cool, fresh in my mouth...
• Café Mocha
  Coffee makes the world go round and round...
• Books
  Take me places...
• Shopping
  What a release...
• Movies
  Long queues...
• Badminton
  Sweaty exhilaration...
• Wind & Rain
  Makes me smile...
• White Chocolate
  Taste bud-teaser...
• Chocolate Milkshake
  Creamy heaven...

10 Highlights of the Weeks to Come:

• Starbucks
  What can I say? Coffee is my life...
• Taho
  Missed it terribly...
• Fruity Margaritas
  Oh, yeah...
• Badminton
  Still want to sweat...
• Movies
  So many to watch...
• Stargazing
  It's been so long...
• Full Moon
  Can't fight the moonlight...
• Melon
  Please, please me...
• CSI: Vegas
  Missed a lot of episodes...
• Zagu
  Pearl milk tea...

Time just stopped...

My clock just stopped short a minute before the day ended.

This week has been so messed-up, time flew by and left me sitting in the dust.

I've missed you already.

The clock expressed my thoughts--

Maybe I didn't want this week to end.

My life needs fixing, like the batteries on my clock.

Then I could go on with my life.

Thanks.

Just now, I have another cooking experience to share with you.

We sent our old maid home, so I had to stay with my sister and watch our house until the new maid arrives. I am the new maid for the weekend.

Since I woke up late from a really fun, unexpected night-- what a surprise, I even surprised myself by downing two mugs of margaritas. If I weren't so full from eating all those food I'd have gone for a third round. I was teetering on the edge of drunkenness and soberness. I've had enough surprises for the week! Hahaha.

Getting back to the point, I was still wasted, hot, sweaty when I crawled out of bed. I thought of what to cook for lunch, then I settled for our traditional I-don't-know-what-to-cook-so-this-should-do recipe, which is... sunny-side up and pork & beans!

Frankly, I am disaster-prone in the kitchen. So expect the unexpected.

I fried the eggs first. With my brute strength I hardly even noticed, I sliced the egg in half with the spatula (I was meaning to just crack the egg open). Contents spewed out and my sunny-side up instantly turned into runny-side up. Well, it was still edible, so it was fine with me. The second egg for my sister was better, although it made horrible oil spatters on my arm, I was scolding the malicious egg. Darn, this is why I really don't like frying sunny-side ups-- I prefer them scrambled.

Runny-side up, anyone?

This goes great with white wine-- I finished the last of the contents from the bottle that was in the refrigerator. More alcohol.

In conclusion... If you ever see me do a sunny-side up for you, this means I love you so much to go through oil spatters just to cook them for you.

I applaud the creativity of one of our drivers!

It has been so, so long...

I admit, I am too lazy to post an entry.

Well, it's about time I have to post something. Hehehe. And I figured out it's going to be our office summer outing. So here it is.

April 29, 2006
Mmm-hmmm... Let me see... I woke up 4:30am in the morning, even if I had slept late that night. Ahem, take note, I was excited about the trip, but my dad was even more excited, apparently, since he started knocking on my bedroom door before the scheduled 4:30am wake up call. So since I can't fall asleep for a few minutes more I decided to just start getting prepared. I sent a wake up call to Jetski (who I think didn't even have time to fall asleep in the first place, hehehe), and started to freshen-up. I was quite sure that the 5:30-6:30am assembly time was not going to be followed (based on last year's experience), so I didn't bother to rush. I'd get there a bit late, but I believe somebody else would even be later, so I wasn't worried. There wasn't heavy traffic, so everything's fine as I walked through Ayala Avenue to get to the office-- our assembly venue. I missed somebody as I passed by Starbucks of 6750-- sorry about that, you were wearing shades, so I safely assumed you were a tenant from a hotel nearby or something, hehehe (frankly, you should be flattered). Going back, I was surprised at the number of people gathered at the assembly venue. Congratulations, people! Seems like they arrived earlier than I am. I went upstairs to my workspace and did some last-minute tinkering with the programs (sorry, I know it's a sin to work on that day!), grabbed a slice of bread (which I nibbled on the way to the elevator and made other people think I'm crazy), and met everyone in the assembly area. I finished a cup of taho (thanks!), and waited to be assigned to one of the three rented vans. I got assigned together with the newbies in our project. Anyhow, Jhude and Jetski were there to keep me company. Then we're off!

It was a fine trip North, no traffic, nice view of rice fields and empty land, which was a fine change from all the skyscrapers I see in Makati. I fell asleep once we went off the highway, since we encountered some horrible traffic that even prompted other drivers to counterflow. It was a challenge to sleep in the passenger seat up front, but with a little Piglet pillow I finally managed to generate some Z's. I had no idea how long I was asleep (I believe the newbies at the back also did fell asleep), but I woke up with the mountainside at my face. From there we took another stopover, since everyone had to pee. It was already lunchtime, and we're still quite far from our destination. We were all hot and sticky when we arrived at the resort.

From there, we had lunch first, then I had to wait (together with my roommates) for our rooms to get cleaned up. When we finally got access to the room I quickly took a bath and changed to my swimming outfit. I fell asleep waiting for my other roommates to get done, and when I woke up, there's still a queue to the bathroom. So I rubbed on some sunblock and decided to get out. I played some weird volleyball-- weird, since it was just too sandy to run around decently, and it's too hot to run barefoot. Imagine how hilarious the game was. Our slippers incessantly got stuck in the sand. I had a cup of halo-halo c/o Jhude (thanks! thanks!), and we had some kind of relay game and basically just went wild around the beach till dusk.

Some of the people just disappeared as the sun started to set, but some of us decided to take a dip at the nearby shore. There were quite a number of people swimming there, but we found a spot to ourselves and just had a fun chat. When the waves started to get stronger, we lay down by the shore, waves lapping around us, and did some early stargazing until it was time for dinner.

Night time was bonfire time. I had a few rounds of videoke, which I apologize if it may have disturbed anyone with all my caterwauling-- I'm not drunk, I assure you. I'm inherently crazy, so that's normal. Speaking of drunk, a couple of people were quite "drunk" (quoted, since they both denied being drunk) and started swimming so we had to run to the shore to keep watch over them. Once things got under control, I left the crowd to go stargazing and a long chat with a good friend till dawn. The sky was clear and full of stars, and it was so beautiful, I wished I had a tent and set it up by the shore and stayed there till sunrise. Lovely.

April 30, 2006
This was the day for some island-hopping. The first two islands were pretty, but unfortunately even if the sand was creamy-white, it was quite hot, basically stony, and there were quite a lot of people. Basically we just took some nice pictures and did not waste a lot of time there.

The third (and last) island was pretty, since the shore stretched into rows of trees that went on till the mountainside. I, Jhude, and Erwin, ventured to go off and explore the depths of the mini-forest, and found a stream, which turned out to be a beautiful river upstream. We did not waste the opportunity and took a dip in the shallow, warm, fresh water. It was very refreshing, and we just somehow forgot the time. So when we returned to the sea shore everyone was waiting and was quite worried we got mauled by wild carabaos that natives say reside in the area. It was a secret paradise, nevertheless, and the three of us did not regret having spent our time there.

The ride home was fun, especially with the fact that the newbies that were with me (Jhude and Jetski dropped off to take another trip-- hindi kayo nang-imbita o, hehehe) and were singing nonstop probably just to alleviate the heat-- apparently it was hot at the back of the van, and everyone had a heatstroke. I dropped off at SM North with sun-kissed cheeks and a smile on my face.

I didn't get sunburnt, mind you. Either the sunblock was way too effective or I've got dinosaur skin.

OK. So here I go again, staring at the computer screen, trying to rack my brain of something to write about. It's been quite a while since I've last posted something, relevant or not. Wah! Somebody please whack my head-- maybe there might be some worthwhile stuff in the deepest recesses of my brain.

Let's start with my favorite topic-- WORK. Hah! Who am I kidding? It's been quite a hectic month for me, with lots of documentation and coding to be done, I am starting to break down. Anyhow, at least it has gotten me busy for the whole work day, and kept my mind from flying into outer space and crashing into meteorites. I've never been so bushed in all my life whenever I arrive home from work-- I'm practically comatose when I fall asleep. I slept through my morning alarm once, and that was so not me-- I usually wake up at the slightest noise. Well, I guess it's better this way; I get more restful sleep nowadays. Excluding the fact that when I ride the train to work, I sleep through the whole ride to my destination. Then I get sleepy during work, which contributed to my addiction to coffee. I am also fast asleep once I get a seat during the train and the car ride home. Is it just that I'm tired, or am have I contracted some sort of sleeping disease? Hahaha.

Last Saturday, I had quite a rest. It wasn't my usual badminton weekend, since most of my officemates weren't available for a game. So I stayed home and cooked my Anything-Goes omelette. Of course this time it came out well-- better than expected. It didn't end up like some runny mess; it was decent enough to warrant an empty platter from my sister, who is such a finicky eater. I gotta improve on the thickness though, the egg still rips like toilet paper. Then of course, I slept through the whole Saturday afternoon. I woke up and it was time to cook dinner. Man, I live like a pig.

Tomorrow will be badminton day! Yipee! I really need some exercise, and this is the only way I could get one. And I mean real exercise. I usually walk a few blocks from the train station to my office, and since it's summer, I'm sweating like a horse when I arrive at my building. That would be my exercise for the day, since I'm too sweaty and breathless to climb up the stairs to the fifth floor. Oh yes. I can't wait to swing my racket at anything that goes in my path. I have to burn the calories I've eaten for the past week, including this week. Food, glorious food...!

Hahaha. I'll end here. I'm encountering another writer's block.

Please look for me. I'm lost. Mommy!

This unusually sticky Post-It managed to latch on to a bird. Now the bird has a life of its own-- it goes to wherever it wants to go. Yet the bird looks stupid with a Post-It stuck on it. Likewise, the Post-It also looks stupid by sticking on to something that probably has got no use for it. The Post-It has no right to know everything the bird was thinking. The bird's got it's own mind. The Post-It just follows whatever its adhesiveness takes it. It's its nature. So ironically, however closely they are stuck together, they have no control over each other's lives.

But they need to be separated, since they both can't function properly by being stuck together. Prying them off each other would surely hurt one of them.

But how? Considering this Post-It sticks like super glue.

It's either cut the Post-It to pieces or pluck off the bird's feathers.

The Post-It would be better off sticking itself under a tire.

No wonder his whiskers are all curled up...

Is there anyone out there
'Cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe...

Literally.

I am having another relapse of the common cold-- I think this is the third pass. My throat hurts, and I'm getting very good at breathing through my mouth. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I sure am getting a lot of practice for this summer since if this keeps up I'm not going to have a problem trying to hold my breath underwater. Considering the fact that I'm probably better in drowning than in swimming. I've been blowing my nose off in the office, I wanted a nose replacement.

But enough of that.

I couldn't seem to find the time to post an entry these days, since I got so busy. But there's another underlying reason. Due to the fact that our company has installed in our computers some kind of a firewall, we can't access most websites. I guess there are some people who just don't know the value of responsible surfing that's why our company resorted to this drastic measure. So, I guess if you want a cure for boredom you'd rather take a long coffee break somewhere outside the office. I can't blog as often as before. And I can't view other blogs as often as before. So sorry for the late updates. I'm thinking of posting in batches-- uploading a couple of blogs at the end of the week. So those who have access to my blog, feel free to post some comments or just drop by and say 'hi', 'coz this is getting to be a lonely blog.

Not that I'm unhappy about it. I am getting quite busy nowadays, so I can't even find the time to think of a topic to post.

Hmmm... Today's my mom's birthday. And as usual, she is being so bitterly sarcastic about it. My dad bought her a birthday cake. She reacted. I got annoyed at her reaction. Oh no, not the squealy, schoolgirl-y happy reaction. Frankly, I'd be more amused (if not a bit spooked) if she reacted that way.

First thing that popped into her mind was how the heck is she going to squeeze the cake in our refrigerator. And how it will take up too much space because no one will eat it. Then the perpetual statement that she's too old for those kind of things. My sister bought her a small bouquet of flowers last Saturday. She also said the same thing-- she's too old, nobody should even bother remembering her birthday. She grew up in the province. Such tokens of affection were unheard of. And so on...

Then the one statement that just did it. She said (and I quote), "Maybe next year these [cake and flowers] are for my funeral..." No kidding-- she said that. I have no idea why she's being so sarcastic. I, for one, don't think her life's that miserable. She's just being paranoid. Anyhow, I wanted to retort that we'd all get our chance to die sooner or later, so quit it. But that's my mom. And it's her birthday. So I just snapped, "Binilhan ka na nga, nagagalit ka pa." My dad went into some extra effort just to buy her a cake, and it's just not right for her to be so ungrateful about it. I think that put some sense into her head. She sobered up. Even if a few moments later she's grumbling while squeezing the cake into the refrigerator. I guess some people just don't know how to apply the saying "it's the thought that counts" into their lives.

Man, there is not a single ounce of romance in my family. Hehehe.

My dad could be very stubborn. Yesterday, my sister asked my dad if he knows anyone from a large company that she can give her survey in Business Research to. Then my dad just launched into a big fat lecture about why we need that kind of data, when we can look up in the classifieds and more or less conclude the answers to the questionnaire. I tried to explain that we need solid proof of that, that's why my sister needs to look up companies and let them answer the questionnaire. We need cold, hard evidence. Of course, my dad said skeptically, "What are you going to do? Knock on every door of companies?" All that just for asking him to give out surveys to his business acquaintances. He seems to contradict every point others are trying to make. And to top it all off, my sister started talking while I'm not even finished explaining my point to my dad. Anyhow, we got the cue. He doesn't want to help in distributing the surveys. Point taken. I told my sister she should be careful in asking favors from my dad. She should learn how to calculate the risk of being lecture-ized.

Maybe that's why I'm just naturally loony. I'm living in a madhouse I call home.

Nevertheless, maybe this is why I learned how to appreciate the simple things in life. And acquired the right amounts of sweetness and brutality I am so well-known for.

Or maybe it's just the lack of oxygen supply into my brain. My nose is solidly stuffed.

Post-Its come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.

There's a Post-It that's so colorful. It might be small, but it has seen many surfaces to stick on. But there's a problem. Once it attaches to a surface, it would take a lot just to un-stick it. True, it served its purpose well by facilitating communication. It made people happy. The only problem is that it just isn't normal. Whoever wants a Post-It that sticks like the normal adhesive tape? A Post-It's supposed to be removable. But this one's apparently not living up to what's expected of it.

Why? I don't know. Probably it's its nature.

Time to pry the Post-It off.

Analyze that.

Article I: Thoughts To Ponder On

Ever had a feeling...

• That the more you see something, the less appealing it becomes?
• Whenever you just want to get pissed off at someone, you can't do so, because you know you're going to end up having no one on your side, leaving you no other choice but to just shut up.
• That everybody's being nice to you, like there's just something-- a conspiracy, probably, because they're just nice to make up for guilt. Or pity. The bad part is that it's you they feel sorry for.
• That some people are just so darn gullible, it's so obvious that they're just being duped right in front of their faces, and they still just don't get it. Duh, man, maybe you should stick your head under the soil and sprout out some common sense.

Hey, I'm not bashing anyone here, I'm just letting my thoughts wander into paranoia.

Article II: V-day Is Me-Day

It's Valentine's Day! Everyone's out for a romantic date, I can almost see the air turning into rosy smoke because of imaginary hearts popping out of sappy people that are so much in love (hey, I might be one of them, but I evenly distribute my sappiness every day and not just concentrate them on one day). But instead of talking about couples holding hands and tons of flower bouquets, I'm going to talk about myself.

I love observing people. I seem to have an uncanny talent of predicting what's going to come between people I know well. I discovered this during grade school, where I observed my classmates by subtly assessing their movements and know who has a crush on whom. It wasn't quite a challenge; it's easier to read people when they are younger and thus more naive. Heck, I predicted once during college that my ex is going to get steady with his girl friend-- even before we broke up. It did happen. How cool is that?

Nevertheless, I don't speak much or react about my personal predictions. It's much better to watch the events unfold and the mysteries unravel bit by bit. Although more often than not, things come out as I have expected. I think there might be someone out there who could testify the accuracy of my observations-- hey, remember the time when I told you before (however jokingly) that she likes you?

Do not worry, though. I don't deliberately check out everyone I meet. Sometimes there are situations that are not of a particular interest to me. I shut down my spider sense completely if it's not worth it. Anyhow, whatever secrets you are keeping that I have eventually read all over you, will be safe with me. As I've said, I observe, not proclaim. Then smile and say to myself, "I told you so."

Occasionally I would bump into a celebrity and never recognize him or her. Sometimes I look like I don't really care, but these seemingly uninterested eyes see some things that can't be seen superficially.

I may be oblivious to the world around me sometimes, but this might be the reason why I see people as who they really are.

I am a poisonously sweet empath. Beware, I can be addictive.

Preface
This is the first of the possible culinary series I will be posting. Note, just possible. Because some of these cooking adventures are not worth posting for obvious reasons-- due to the graphic nature of the finished product (taste-wise or aesthetic-wise), I wouldn't dare post it. My pride, as well as your stomach, is at stake here.

Last Saturday, my parents were in Tagaytay, and after a tiring yet fun play-till-you're-dead badminton game, I arrived home in time to cook dinner for me and my sister. As usual, my devil-may-care sister did not put the oven toaster back where it came from, and 'forgot' to bring out the dishes she used for the maid to clean them. Gathering up all my strength not to hurl the appliances at the wall (it's not their fault), I just put them back in their proper places. Does she always expect other people to do things for her? Sure, we've got a maid, but it's just too narrow-minded to assume she'll do everything. I hate cleaning up after other people's messes. The next time she does that, I'll put the oven toaster on her bed for cute little ants to crawl on. That's a piece of my mind.

Getting back to the point, I began raiding the refrigerator to look for something to cook for dinner. I couldn't find anything. Anyway, I don't have the time for the frozen foods to thaw. So I checked out the pantry, deciding to cook the humble corned beef. I expected a can or two stashed in one of the shelves, but to my shock, there wasn't any! So I decided to improvise.

Anything-Goes Omelette (good for 2 persons)

Ingredients:
3 medium eggs - I have no idea what size, just use the eggs you see normally in grocery stores.
1 small can of sausages - I needed some meat, so I just picked a can of vienna sausage. You can use Ma Ling (the Chinese version of Spam), or ham.
1 small tomato - If you like tomatoes, you may add more. Lycopene is good for your health.
button mushrooms - As many as you'd like to put in your omelette.
1/2 medium-sized onion - Red or white, be my guest, as much as you please, although considering the quantity of the previous ingredients you may want to cut it down a bit, before you run out of eggs to hold everything together and end up with gunk.
dash of salt
Quickmelt cheese
fresh milk

Beat eggs. Add a dash of salt, and a little fresh milk. Careful not to overdo the milk, or else your eggs will become so runny it's egg soup. Dice and mix all other ingredients in beaten eggs-- except for the cheese. Heat frying pan or skillet. Add cooking oil (if you know how to handle teflon pans, then you won't need oil). Pour egg mixture carefully into skillet, in one or several batches, depending on how large an omelette you want to make. I suggest a size easy enough for you to flip over. Let the egg fry until the undersides are cooked. Then flip the egg over to let the other side cook. If you did not execute a perfect flip and ended up with torn egg clumps (like I did), do not despair. Do the eggs Air-Force style (hideously scrambled). Transfer to a serving dish, and grate the cheese on top while the omelette's still warm. No, it is not advisable to use ordinary cheddar cheese, 'coz I've tried it, and it was disastrous. And here's the finished product.

OK, OK! So it looks like goo from a squished bug. But it tastes good. And it's processed! Sooo healthy. I should probably spare no expense on the garnishing. Or just cover the whole thing with a blanket.

That'll do, Cat, that'll do... for now.