"Kiss the Cook"

One of my frequent daydreams involve me wearing a chef's hat and a graphically designed apron with "Kiss the Cook" printed on it. The setting has to be in a professional-looking kitchen.

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Cooking has been one of my better talents. The way I look at it, it's no different from my chemistry lab experiments and biology projects, two things which I enjoyed doing when I was a student. I grew up to be my mom's kitchen assistant -- first as a dishwasher, then as a vegetable slicer, and then I cut my finger at the age of 10. That halted my relationship with all the other kitchen knives (so I still don't know how to fillet a fish or debone a chicken) but my mom offered me to do the actual cooking. We reversed roles eventually --- she'd do all the food preparations while I do the frying or stewing. My first own cooked meal is sinigang, and I've been very fond of that dish ever since.

Over the years, I've gained the skills to cook other more complex dishes, such as Chinese food, paella, mechado, menudo, tinola, kare-kare, paksiw and all sorts of pasta. My siblings are my guinea pigs, and none of them has complained of my cooking. Oftentimes, I'd cooked for around 12 people (there's 10 of us in the family) in one go but all of it gets simot. None of them really says "it's a great meal" or any other verbal compliment on my culinary skills, but seeing them wolfing it down and going back for seconds is enough of a compliment for me.

I don't keep a recipe book. I'd refer to memories of how my mom does it. It's amazing how memories of cooking is not bound by numbers and instructions. Memories of cooking involve recalling the smells, sights and sounds of the dish being prepared. And in doing so, I learned how to cook by feel.

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Recently, somebody asked me if I'm up to a culinary challenge. She asked me if I can try out cooking something that she's been craving for years but couldn't find a decent restaurant or cook to prepare it for her. I said I can try, and she got the recipe from her overseas friend.

The dish is PEROGIES. It's basically potatoes, milk, flour, onions and cheese. A bit tideous to prepare. Since she only gave me the recipe, I had no idea how it's suppose to look like nor how it's suppose to taste like.

I didn't follow the recipe to the letter. On certain steps I'd judge that I need to tweak the boiling time a bit, or add less salt, or put more cheese, or dump the milk in two batches. I was doing it by feel. I even added tomato pesto and bacon bits on some of it.

As the dish was slowly conceived, I'd smile occasionally because I think I'm getting it right. It smells right, looks right and finally tastes right. For me. What i still don't know if that's what she expects. I'm unsure if the way I conceived it is the way she expects it to be.

Either way, when we do meet to hand her the dish (I've frozen it, and it's easy to cook at a later stage), at least one of us will be in for a surprise.

Relationships, for me, are just like that -- cooking something for someone for the first time. It's done by feel, with no idea of what the other expects, and hoping that what you prepared will get either an approval or a second chance.

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There I go again, daydreaming of me being in a graphic designed apron with a chef's hat. Kiss the Cook. =)

How I Want to Vote

It's been a while since I last blogged on a general, serious topic. This post took me about a week to draft, as I want this to be something relevant and convincing.

One of my more patriotic dreams (yup, I've a bit of patriotism) involves political maturity. I'd like to actually see the day when the Congress is truly representative, when public officials are held accountable to the people, when political affiliations have some semblance of permanence, when people vote based on issues, when popularity and patronage politics is no longer the norm. But of course I'm 27 (and in a few weeks time, I'll be 28), and if I keep smoking, I'd die before all that happens.

It's the election season once more (bah!), Senate-version. Again, as a voter, I am thrust into the duty of separating the "bad" from the "not-so-bad". At least from the line-ups of both team UNITY and team GO, I would only call Joker Arroyo good, but then again he did join the administration camp. Not that I'm for GO, but couldn't he have gone the independent route?

I have a project challenge for the major dailies and other media outlets. I want you, for the sake of more intelligent voting, to come up with something like this:



Brief profiles of each senatorial candidate with the complete history of his or her voting record. Or at least the most notable pieces of legislation. And attendance records. Maybe even prior posts held and a summarized assets-and-liabilities statement (input by my kid brother, who is in the same political party I was in when I ran for a seat at our University's student council). This should encourage more issue-based voting on the national level, which God knows is severely lacking during all the elections held since I was born.

I remember during the 2004 elections on how I voted for some of the senatoriables because of their performance in the 2001 impeachment trial. I voted for people because I knew what they stood for: women, the environment, education, or at the very least basic tenets of good governance. Although lately, political ads have surfaced touting Zubiri's authorship of the Biofuels Act (which is giving me nightmares in my line of work) and Villar's the Anti-Violence Against Women Act, something the previous election did not have. This should give people the idea what they stand for, or at least show that these are things you also need to know. Sure, it's a shameless act of pendering done to get exposure before the official campaign period, but what the hell.

Of course, I see this is going to be a problem for anyone who hasn't been previously elected. Hell, it's going to be a problem even for those who are. But these are the things that people deserve to know. First off, people need to know what legislators do, but this should be a big pointer in the right direction.

I'm calling out to major broadsheets, and their media allies for the elections coverage. How about coming up with something like this? Because I need to see more than their faces.

Filipinos need this. We need relevant, reliable information to arm voters. We don't need to know our candidates' campaign slogans, see their toothy smiles, hear their mind-numbling jingles. We especially don't need to know how much they're giving us in dole-outs. We need to know the issues, and we need to force any future senator or candidate to want to stick to the issues.

first

... walking along the Makati district at night,
... laughing on our chit-chat over chocolate drinks at Max Brenner's,
... last full-show of "Music and Lyrics",
... seeing the last few bands at UP Fair,
... ending the night with fishballs and squidballs, seated at the Sunken Garden.

:)

And Then They Were One

photos by Buddy Ilao and Tinters Molina

If I were asked to name one couple whom I admire most, it would be them. I look up to them both as individuals -- Dee for her cheerfulness and sincerity which cheers up everyone in the crowd, and Niks for his work-and-play attitude and high esteem for others -- and more so as a couple.

They proved to me that the sweet romance that one gets to see in the movies or read in storybooks is possible in the world that we actually live in.

Congratulations and best wishes, Nikko and Dee!

=)

This marks the day when we fumble our way past being friends, and discovering for ourselves if there is more to it. However it turns out, at least we agreed that we'll still be friends in the future and laugh heartily about this.

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Two for the Books (or in this case, the Blog)

FIRST

I'll never hear the end of this.

Last Saturday, I attended Volt and Donna's wedding at Tagaytay attended mostly by my peers and colleagues at our workplace. Let's skip the ceremonies and go straight to the 'interesting' things that happened to me.

When Volt and Donna released the doves after walking down the aisle, both of the doves flapped their wings at their sudden freedom. To my surprise (and shock), both of the doves decided to land at my feet. The more mature people among the guests commented that it is a very good omen of things to come to me. Uh-oh.... I think I'm not ready yet for what they're thinking of those 'good things' that will come my way.

At the reception, there was the standard game for the bachelors and bachelorettes among the guests. To make the long story short, I and my selected partner received the white flower among the reds, which means that I get the garter and need to 'garterize' my partner. Double uh-oh....

And to make things worse for me (I think, hahaha), the program required the new bride-and-groom to act three kisses which I and my partner needed to duplicate. Uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh... I think it's fair of me to assume that me, my partner and our situation had the whole venue shouting, kilig and cheering on their feet.

I'm not saying that I didn't like what happened to me, but it really was an awkward situation. =)

. . . . . . . .

SECOND

It was crazy of me and Gel to drive straight to Clark from Tagaytay (after the wedding) that Saturday night just to catch the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival. We got there at 130 am. Buti na lang hindi kami nauubusan ng pagkukuwentuhan, otherwise the long drive will be a tedious task. But being there early was clearly a good decision, based on the photos we took and featured at Gel's blog.

We signed up for a photo contest, saw the balloons get inflated and released, got to ride a tethered hot air balloon, befriended several photographers and admired some girls (ahihihi...).

On the drive back to Batangas (Gel and I had to take turns between sleeping and driving), we stopped at a fruit stand near Angeles exit where I was able to buy Zambales mangoes (those small sweet ones which I last tasted when I was still in elementary school) and finally satisfy my year-old craving for street-food fishball.

.....

Pagod na kong mag-multitask.

run LP, validate at REFSIM, analyze results multitask with evaluate terminal option scenario, identify needed capex multitask with do cost estimates multitask with run valuation model, identify investment strategy multitask with update 5-year capex plan for Euro IV multitask with prepare slide pack for MF, do technical write-up.

Haaay... malapit na yata akong mag-burnout.

Chronicles of my Cristobal Climb

Where: Mt. Cristobal (Level II), Quezon-Laguna province
When: Feb 3-4, 2007
Who: Me, Geland (opismate), Blos, Kat, Val, Ron, Agnes, Leo A, Leo C, Jayson (BMS), Tinog (mascot), Manong guides #1 and #2


Geland + Stip + Jayson


What transpired:

Feb 3

0200H: I'm still packing. Got off from work late.
0300H: Finally, I got to sleep.
0510H: Woke up. Ligo. Bihis. Text Geland (baka tulog pa e, he's driving). Go to House 3.
0545H: Left housing compound. Bigat ng packs namin. Kaya kaya namin?
0725H: Breakfast kami ni gelpogi at Jollibee Sto. Tomas. Di pa nakakaalis yung BMS group from Makati kasi late daw si Agnes.
0830H: At San Pablo. Blos, where are you?
0845H: At Barangay San Cristobal. Stip goes for a powernap, Geland goes for a scrambol and lumpia sold at the roadside.
0940H: Yaaay!!! Dumating na yung BMS group. Drove towards Gomez store. Iwan kotse.
1035H: Onboard rented jeep. Left Barangay San Cristobal.
1115H: Disembarked rented jeep. Group picture taking. Prayer. Start of hike. Ngarrk... mabigat nga yung pack ko. Pero kaya pa naman.
1240H: First reststop. Chowed on packed adobo and rice near a farmland. Kat forsakes her 'Skyflakes diet' for two extra servings of rice.
1330H: Forest trail blocked. Decided to take another trail. 15-minute assault.
1410H: Saw another group of mountaineers at a nearby crest. Sinundan namin.
1415H: My first tumba-slash-hulog. My left foot slipped into a rock crevice. 'kala ko I'm a goner, hehehe. Stupid me.
1421H: On the rocks. Photo ops. Manongs and Ron scout the crest to check our next attack.




1435H: Bad news. Our current path is doble-dehado: boulders on the trail and steep inclines on both sides. Group decides to backtrack to the crest where we started from.
1440H: Assault na naman. Made harder by trailblazing --- walang trail so we had to make our own. Half of the time I was on all fours just to advance. Can feel the pack weighing me down.
1500H: On the crest. Enter the kaingin-lands. Dusty.
1520H: Assault on the talahib slopes. Eyes are drooping already from lack of sleep. Decided to consume my Lipovitan. Pack getting heavier, despite me consuming 1.5L of water so far. Musta na kaya si Geland, his pack and his slippers? Girls are already muttering p*tang ina occasionally hehe.
1525H: Group starts to take more frequent rest-stops, intervaled at every 150-250 m advance on the assault-plus-trailblazing. I can feel my calf muscles tightening.
1555H: Trail becomes very narrow, bordered by steep 100-plus-meter drops on both sides. Had to crouch down occassionally due to strong wind gusts. Need to shimmy along a rock wall obstacle on the trail.
1610H: Group stops. Evaluates that the trail we've made is NOT going to the established campgrounds. Advancing further will be difficult. Will be dark soon.
1615H: Group decides to set-up an emergency camp.

1615H to 2000H:
We were very fortunate to find a relatively flat plot of land along the trail (elevation: 1180 m). In a half-hour's time, Manongs 1 and 2 were able to clear out most of the gigantic talahib and Agnes' group had the camp stoves lit to start cooking dinner.

As the temperature is rapidly dropping at our position, Kat prepared a liter of GSM+pomelo punch for everybody to sip and keep warm.

The rest of the boys started to pitch tents.

Dinner was served at 1800H. Drinks and socials started immediately after that. Brrrr... the cold temperature (16 deg C minus chill factor) had everybody craving for alcohol.

2000H: Alcohol run-out. Val sound asleep, walang pakialam sa mundo. Rest of the guys are asking who's hoarding/hiding alcohol. Kat reveals details of her 'first love'. Ahihihi...
2015H: So far, Blos and Gel started skipping their turns to drink.
2035H: Gel goes, "Pasok na ko sa tent." Hahaha... as I was very tired from the lack of sleep, I blurted out immediately "Ako rin matutulog na." Everybody else started calling it a night. Tent distribution: 7 BMS peeps in one tent, Jayson and Leo in another tent, me and Gel in our tent.



2100H - 0630H: Restless sleep: had to wake up every half hour or so because (1) my back's starting to ache from the big rock at my side of the tent so I had to shift my sleeping position and (2) because our tentground was sloping, I kept sliding to Gel. Pag nagdikit na yung pwets namin, ops! Reset sleeping position. And as usual, I was snoring daw according to Gel. He on the other hand covered his face with a towel because he's hearing voices calling out his name. Spooky.

Feb 4

0630H: Breakfast prepared by Ron, Kat and Val. Morning rituals. Picture taking.
0830H: Break camp. Blos starts to timekeep (Guys, 4 minutes to go!) Group photo at campsite.
0850H: Start descent. Goodbye, Mt. Cristobal!
1100H: Exit Mt. Cristobal, enter Barangay Kinabuhayan.
1200H: Took a much needed bath at a river in Barangay Kinabuhayan. Water had a minty taste (suppossedly with healing powers). Felt refreshed.
1300H: Group consumes halo-halo at a local store. Start trek towards pick-up point. Travel back to Gomez store. Goodbye socials. Late lunch at Jollibee. Drive back to Tabangao.

1730H: Me and Gel back at Tabangao. Haaaypagud.

Souvenirs list: 5 scratches on my left hand, 2 scratches on my right hand, a puncture wound on my right middle finger, 1 scratch on my left cheek (c/o Valy), callus on my left big toe, a slight sprain on my left foot, several pictures, pride in completing the adventure with a fullpack, and most of all a new gang that I look forward to joining in future climbs!


Photo courtesy of Geland.


Pictures from my cam are here. Also see Gel's accounts of the climb in his blog.

Rant

It's really frustrating the way your superiors have a great sense of timing to throw a wrench at your perfectly planned Friday.

Today, I had to surrender my plans of spending an afternoon with my parents, a quick shopping trip afterwards and a date tonight. Why? Because this morning, I was told that I need to do some analysis work for my boss and his boss. Urgently. Pronto.

*sigh* *sob*