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A Happy Nightmare

A strange dream.

You are in a house where an exorcism is in progress. The exorcist is Haley Dunphy from tv's Modern Family and the possessed, a young girl you do not know. There is a clergyman in the house who asks you to go on a mission, to retrieve something that is key to the exorcism. So you set forth and leave the house, out to the fields.

This is one of those dreams where you know you are dreaming.

You hear the resonant chanting of the exorcist and it scares the wit out of you. But you know you are dreaming so you wake up. But you decide to sleep again to finish the task. You knowingly embraced the fear of spinning the web that makes the dream because you want to make it right, to turn the nightmare into something less frightening. You have to finish the task. You have to finish the task so you can believe again that something good comes out from things which are not quite pleasant or are different from what you expect things to be.

The place turns into a field with several animals, and you are someone who is not exactly animal-loving, you simply do not like moving creatures that are non-human. You have to cross the field to get to the mountains where there awaits your mission - and there are the animals, a white sheep,  2 baby turtles and a big whitish-brown hare/rabbit. From across the field, you see a famous celebrity with his German shepherd.  He tells you, he's been to where you are going, and he looks fine and filled with energy. After all, he is called Mr Pure Energy. Then just before you make your way across the field, a lady dressed in white comes by to move the turtles to the side. She lifts the turtles with her frail hands and smiles. Then you offer her a hand sanitizer when you sense she needs some after touching the smelly reptiles.

And as in every dream, the shift to the next sequence seems disconnected.

You receive a piece of paper from someone in the mountains and then you are back to the house of exorcism. There, they await your return. It seems like the exorcism was over. The young girl looks at you although you are scared to look at her as you imagine her face must've been contorted from the exorcism. She thanks you and she runs back to her mom who remains without a face.

You hurry back to the couch with your best friend who is sound asleep. You call your own mother to sit beside you.

Then just when you think everything is settled. One of the nurses attending to the child touches a black book which turns her into a vampire. Fortunately, the sun is up and even before she attacks anyone, the nurse explodes into a mass of gooey blood!

Then you wake up and for some reason, you feel happy about finishing the dream. It is the time you get reacquainted with the feeling of being in control of something. And something tells you that whatever happens, everything will turn out fine in the end. The sun will shine in its own time, and you will find it chasing the vampires in your life away.

of yellow hats and rose-colored spectacles

too cute eh? (photo credits go to google images again). these pictures literally depict yellow hats and rose-colored spectacles. as i have unreliable taste in fashion and an utter lack of fashion sense, you should stop reading right away. but then if you decide to read on, you're in for something else--a dose of a wanderer's rambling--a lesser evil compared with seeing me wearing the two pieces together, hehe :)

although these two have technical meanings, ie, the yellow hat which is one of de Bono's six thinking hats and the common expression, "looking at things through rose-colored glasses", they are my personal symbols of happy thoughts and healthy optimism.

when you have just turned 26 some days ago, and you're one of those self-proclaimed "i'm in a an extended quarter-life crisis" drama queen, visual reminders of positive thoughts are as helpful as your comfort food, minus the calories. (the extended quarterlife crisis seems to point at an increased life expectancy too, aack! but that is a completely different story)

nobody is spared from experiencing difficult and trying times, we all go through rough patches along our respective journeys. it sounds cliche but each of us had a bite of this bitter truth when Asian countries were hit one calamity after another just weeks ago. i also witnessed the truth in this when i hear of the problems other people go through.

speaking of other people's concerns, i have a little secret to share, i subscribe to a daily prayer request where i receive emails of prayers from other people. i came across the site when i was desperately seeking help in praying for myself and my loved ones so i initially posted my own prayer. i believed praying with other believers is stronger than praying alone. the more the manier :p hehe. whether or not we admit it, we all could use help from other people praying for us. i thought it was good to also pray for others for a change. we are happy when our prayers are answered, but believe me, it;s a different high when someone you prayed for gets his/her prayer answered.

so, what is all the rambling about yellow hats and rose-colored glasses? perhaps it's just about a simple wish to keep our heads above water, when our problems seem to be bigger than us. when the inevitable comes, we can all just grab our yellow hats and don a pair of the rose-colored specs, to see that things are not as bad as waht they seem. it would be wonderful to imbibe an attitude of looking at things in a more positive way and keeping the faith that things are going to get better.

something we all need...

image source

I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip -
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you
The LORD is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm -
He will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

my ate has found a new love :)

i have some goodnight news. ate is finally enjoying her action sampler. she got this as a birthday present and it's only now (almost 9 months later) that she got around to having the rolls of film developed and actually see her "creations" with her new found love. i've been telling her she needs to make time for stuff like this. para mag, you know, unwind (read:un-wind as in hangin na wind hehe remember that line from tropang trumpo? hehe)

the above photo is a sample of her practice shooting with her action sampler. i like the photo even more because it is full of happy energy and a picture of a happy memory (taken during my vacation last july). i miss this little girl, jeri, especially when she YMs me with: ate gudgurlpoako :p that's how she types her messages over YM. sana nga good girl na sya lagi :p

buy more rolls of film ate :) just click away ;) >>>>>hugs<<<<<<

wan an (good night)

no way but UP

I just saw the Disney animation, UP, yesterday I'm and glad we watched it instead of "the proposal". it must have been predestined that i watch the movie before i end up going through the periodic personal state of calamity (the blues wanes every weekend--that sounded like bruce wayne ;p)

for those who haven't seen it, it's about lolo Carl, a 78-year old widower who one day decides to tie a monstrous number of balloons to his house and fly to Paradise Falls (to fulfill his promise to lola Ellie that they were to build their house over Paradise Falls) as he escapes the hands of the people who wanted him to leave their (his and ellie's) house and stay in the shelter for the elderly. he was unaware that russell, an 8-year old wilderness scout (who so wanted to be senior wilderness master), came along.

it's a disney animation, so suspension of disbelief was used a lot. regardless of the non-realistic things i saw, i came to enjoy the movie and be UPlifted and i was not disappointed. although i cried even as the movie was just starting, (lolo carl's eyes were simply too expressive for the crybaby me to ignore, i felt his guilt for not keeping his promise to lola ellie while she was still alive) i went home feeling waaay better.

what lolo carl and lola ellie shared is something i do not yearn to personally experience, but i was touched by the self-lessness and the simplicity of the adventure they shared, no matter how ordinary it seemed especially for lolo carl, but for lola ellie, it was one adventure she enjoyed (their marriage) even without reaching paradise falls.

my favorite part of the movie is that sequence where lolo carl decides to let go of all the stuff in the house so the ballons, already depleted because of the many sidetrips (and misadventures with the embattled explorer and his minions of talking canines), could manage to lift the house UP so he can rescue his young friend Russell. imagine unloading yourself. it really feels good. (hehe, my toilet humor gets the better of me and i suddenly think of other things, yak! hehe)

seriously, no matter how cliche the theme of the movie is, sometimes, we need to be constantly reminded of the simple things that can allow us to live light--learning to let go and getting rid of the unnecessary loads we put upon ourselves. of course the operative word is UNNECESSARY. we're not saying that you rid yourself of any concerns and become completely indifferent but we can always learn a thing or two from living light. detachment is one of the many things we should have with just the right mix. the non-practice of detachment (let's say too much attachment), weighs you down while too much detachment might put your emotions in coma and you end up lonely and constantly wanting, for having detached yourselves too much.

another beautiful thing i love about the film is how it makes the characters alive and almost human, even if they are just animated images, they were able to strike a chord with the viewers, well at least for the iyakin viewers. hehe. if i were to rate this film with boxes of tissues, i'd give it a three for making me cry at the start and at some point towards the end.

so if you're feeling a bit weighed down by a lot of things, just think about this, once you've hit rock bottom, there is no other way but UP, unless you decide to dig deeper down the earth layers and bury yourself in your self-made pits.

09.09.09 - ten days na lang anniversary ko na rito....nyahahaha!

magic? nah! -- it's saladmaster :p

imagine cooking sinigang without water, and "baking" your favorite betty crocker mix on the stove top without milk nor water.

is that magic? not really.

last saturday, we were invited over a pinoy household to see a cooking demo using saladmaster cookware. a friend's friend asked us to just come over for the free lunch with no obligation to buy any of the products afterwards. free lunch? who says no to free lunch? not us, hehe.

we were first introduced to the products and why we were sitting at the dining area (except for the free lunch) in the first place. the presenter was ms joanne (del rosario), one of only two dealers of Saladmaster products in Singapore, and yes, she is Filipino. (pagdating rito sa sg, nagiging clannish ako, hehe).

joanne

she told us that more than selling the product, she wanted us to learn about how saladmaster can help consumers eat healthy. that was quite believable because we went there just to eat, hehe, and we also learned a lot, some of the things she shared, we already knew but we chose "not to know" because what we do not know won't hurt us, hehe.


i'll just walk you through what was prepared that afternoon, and you could be amazed yourselves :)

joanne was assisted by her husband engr del roasario (the first name slips me as i write this, sorry) and they started with the dessert.

betty crocker's chocolate cake.

1) she poured the cake mix on a mixing bowl
2) then cracked open an egg
3) using the saladmaster saladmachine, she added in shredded zucchini, cabbage and carrots! very fine shreds of vegetables. (we started looking at each other with puzzled looks, we were worried about the vegetables spoiling the taste of the chocolate cake for us :p)
4) as expected, the mixture was dry. but not for long, with constant mixing (chefs call it, fold-in hehe) the magic started and the cake was getting moist every stroke, as though we put water and milk.
5) she pre-heated one of the cooking pots over the stove top (not the oven) before lining the bottom with sliced apples.
6) after pouring the mixture over the apple slices, the no-oven baking started.

that's the cake mixture, lined with thinly sliced apples :)

see how it has gotten really moist?

some 25 minutes later, simultaneously cooking the sinigang and fried chicken. the cake was ready for us to devour.

parang torched creme brulee, pero hindi hehe...

and devoured the cake we did :) naglaho ang mga gulay, even the taste, 100 percent keyk :p

while the cake was baked on the stove top, we saw another magic :) magic sinigang. preparing sinigang the saladmaster way, toss all the ingredients in the pot, just like that, parang salad, hehe. no need for water, if you're using sinigang mix, ibudbod lang rin :) the magic is in the vegetables, niluto sila, hindi sa sarili nilangmantika, kundi sa kanilang sariling tubig. magic nga!

the tomatoes, onions and sili panigang went first

followed by the pork and the other vegetables (labanos/radish, sitao/string beans, pechay)

the sinigang was just left to cook covered, not once, after putting all the ingredients in the pot did they uncover the pot. that way, the presenter said, all the nutrients and flavor are kept inside. see the finished product below, the vegetables were more tasty and flavorful indeed! and the pork was cooked to perfection, malambot at masarap :) hehe syempre pa, pork eh.

if you want more soup, you can boil more broth separately then add to the vegetables :)

sarap ng sinigang!

as we waited for the sinigang, they prepared the fried chicken--cooked using the electric skillet without using oil :)

this electric skillet can also be used to grill :) its special feature, beneath the skillet is a lining of industrial oil that helps even out your cooking

pwede kahit punuin, and you can fry all the chicken in one go (15 minutes on one side and another 15 minutes on the other side, you have to flip the meat yourself, otherwise, magic na talaga un, hehe)

and after 30 minutes, ready na ang fried chicken, crisp and well-cooked hanggang loob :)

may bonus pang oil! that's how much animal fat we got :)
sarap!

the saladmaster has been in business for decades, you can only buy their products through authorized dealers. in sg, one of the two authorized dealers in healthy cooking solutions pte ltd, at 757 geylang road lorong 39, singapore (HP: +65-81983244). they have a different company handling the distribution in the Philippines. joanne went on saying that kris aquino purchased her saladmaster ultimate cooking set in 2007 for a whopping 1 million pi-eytch-pi, hehe! she jokes, ka-level niya si kris since she has the complete set, the same set she uses at home and for work, when she does her demonstrations.

they have the host a dinner/lunch rewards-scheme that gets most moms and cooking enthusiasts in a hosting frenzy. they have gifts for people who open their doors and let the saladmaster cook for them. and i quote from their website --

"Hosting a dinner is easy-and so much fun! Plus, you get rewarded just for opening your home and allowing us to cook for you. We'll cook an entire dinner for you and your friends with absolutely no obligation! We bring the food, do all the cleaning AND reward the hostess with a very special gift from Saladmaster. All you need to do is invite the friends and supply the beverages. It will be a night to remember!"

i think that's how it works even in the philippines. for those interested, i have included links to the website in this entry.

as for me, sarap lang ng free lunch. hehe :)

ang wisdom ni simba

i am not the person who is comfortable with being the center of attention. i took a personality profile test, and it showed (revealing so much more, some of which i am not really happy about hehe)! but here i am posting a picture of me. myself. oo, ako yan! we were experementing on making the eyes smile--whether the eyes can smile and give the impression of a smile even without seeing the actual smile.

ate ana likes this picture, she tells me it's nice. jeri, my 6-year old cousin, jumped in surprise when she first saw it as my profile picture in ym (yes we chat a lot, she uses her mom's YM account). they said it was very real, as though i was about to move out from the screen in one swift move. even miss lebron, who took the picture said, nakakatakot kasi parang totoo, hehe. tita told me, she saw jeri putting her nose on my picture's nose, as if i was there. and i couldn't help but smile. we were nose to nose ;-)

it isn't too obvious that i miss my family a lot eh? i am past the stage where i cried almost every night. besides, hindi naman ganoon kalayo at mayroon namang chat, text at tawag, at kagagaling lang nila mama rito, pero kahit na, iba pa rin kasi.

bakit ako nag eemote? hehe... wala kasi akong magawa. i have nothing to do but find something worthwhile to do. i am actually working on an article (work-related), but i've been getting a serious writer's block on the topic i'm at. pero bakit nga ba? 11 months na kasi ko rito come august 19 and i'd like to think that it is in itself an achievement, i mean, working(?) and living away from home for almost a year is in itself an achievement for someone like me.

i have earlier treated myself to a vanilla-filled lime ice drop (weird, pero masarap, it's one of the few good things that happened this week, a new find for dessert, hehe) to cheer myself up and continue to keep myself on track, despite the intermittent bad weathers i've been experiencing. i have come to realize for the nth time, that all things are passing, nothing is permanent. so if you find youself down in the doldrums, lilipas rin iyan. when you are self-absorbed and enjoying the power and wealth that is not yours to begin with, may katapusan rin iyan. karma is another layer of the same cake, and as far as karma is concerned, it is best to do good and leave the rest to its natural course.

Ika nga sa kwento ni Simba,

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
 
Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

In the Circle of Life

It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Life

Roaarrr.

i like

i am not so much into facebook for many reasons (something to write about when i get in the zone hehe), but i know fezbuk, pisbuk erm facebook has this "i like" feature which i am trying to copy as i write this post. anyway, "i like" is a good way of channeling positive energy is it not?

from time to time, if not as often as we can, it's good to focus on the things worth our "liking". it lets us feel that hey, life is not all about sad stories and disappointments, there is so much to "like" in life. (there, i'm using "like" as though it is a trademark, hehe)

today, i have songs from laura izibor for my "i like" entry.


i will try to post an mp3 of her song shine for those who also "like" it, :) have a great week everyone. hope your days will be filled with the things you like.

my precioussss...

papa, ate, mama, mean, celebrating mama's 50th birthday last July 6, 2009 at the highlands steakhouse in SM Mall of Asia (SM shoemart, hehe)

while waiting for our food (that's goose liver for appetizer), mistulang si papa ang may birthday :) please check ate's post for details of what we had, basta pork, beef at beef hehe :-D

tapos na ang happy birthday ni mama, pero tuloy pa rin ang ligaya :)