After One Year of Waiting...

at long last we'll be having our annual vacation leave!!! (woohoo!!!) hallelujiah! and we'll be going all out! YEAH! 3 countries in 1 go.

hcm-kl-bdo-kl-MANILAAAAAAAA!!!!

how exciting! please please please let there be enough time to catch our next plane. when i booked the tickets, there was a 5hr waiting time for our next flight. unfortunately, air asia changed the schedule making our hcm-kl leg later & our kl-bdo leg earlier! now we only have 2hrs to get on our next flight. this might be an amazing race moment...

Budget Airline Monger

i get palpitations & become light headed when i see the following words:

SALE!
PROMO!
DISCOUNT!

even when i'm inside a moving vehicle & i see the red lettering, my head would swivel back & stare at the magic words until they fade from my view. tsk tsk! i have to get ahold of myself.

now, even when i'm in front of my computer, i get frequent palpitations from budget airline websites. i visit their websites everyday looking for a quick fix to my sale addiction. i have come away with 4 trips in 1 year and no, we haven't even used any of them yet & don't even know if the service is good or not. i just see a seat sale & i buy! bad bad bad!

hcm-kl-bdo-kl-mnl-hcm: $260
hcm-bkk-hcm: $80
hcm-hkt-hcm: $115

rendon has banned me from visiting these websites. secretly, i'm happy. someone has to stop me from my buying sprees =)

Goal Achieved

this happened 2 days ago, oct 28, 2009. this is a first of a lot more! :)

Sweetnees on a Sunday

knock on the door at 830am, rendon holding a breakfast tray he cooked himself!!! what more could i possibly ask for!?! needless to say, my sunday morning was full of love tee-hee!

Mother Nature's Wrath

my mom sent me a message last saturday, sept. 26, telling me that they've been experiencing heavy rains for the past few hours. i wasn't alarmed. it IS rainy season in the phils after all...

then i saw facebook pics & videos.

thank god my family is safe & sound & so's everyone else i know. a few minor mishaps like flooded houses but that's it. everybody safe.

sunday, rain has stopped & sun has shown, as if nothing happened the day before. but the tragedy that happened yesterday is still obvious on the roads.

hopefully all donations will reach the victims & not be left in the pockets of the corrupt officials. this typhoon has left a tragedy in everyone there's no need for more tragedy to occur.

2 more typhoons heading towards the phils as i write this blog. my prayers to all the pinoys. let everyone be safe.

Sweet Soup Partings

when one asks the kitchen to cook sweet soup for the colleagues, it signifies that the end has come. that person has resigned from the company & as a final act of goodwill to all, he/she will feed everyone sweet soup.

i'm not sure if this is a viet tradition but it is in our company. for my 1.7years stay here, i have had more than my share of sweet soup partings. now the time has come that the colleague i'm closest to the most has said bye bye.

her name's hoai hiep tran. she's the 1st viet colleague i've really talked to. i remember when she was transferred from accounting to my office. other colleagues would laugh at her bec she got stuck with a foreigner. sure it was awkward at 1st but gradually, we became real friends sharing boy troubles, in law & baby problems (her case), office gossip, & all else under the sun.

her dream was to become a chief accountant of a company. after waiting for 6 years, she finally got her break! just when she was offered that position, she got into another position which would prove to be more important than anything else. she had little bao nam.

as any mother would do, she let go of her dream to unselfishly take care of her little angel.

as she would quip, "my baby will only be a baby once." so to her, CHEERS! as the viets would say, "goodluck-y to you & your family!" and may there be a time when our paths would cross again!

Safety Measures

80% of deaths in vn are caused by motorbike accidents. therefore, vn government decided to pass a law for the motorists to wear helmets or else they will be fined. this man went beyond the norm...

A Few of My Favorite Things

painted toes & my gorgeous gizeh birks (courtesy of rendon). i have to ask kha tseng her wedding motif so i can have my nails done to match my gown hihi!

Telenovela Family

and so my family came & went. for 4 days we were all together again. it was so much fun albeit stressful with the constant bickering of all members while i looked on. it felt like i was watching a telenovela. all plans i made were thrown out the window. better to go with the flow... needless to say, they weren't able to experience the whole hcm experience (meaning going to mekong river haha!). we just did the food tripping thing. hihi! on the other hand, buti narin. if we did the mekong tour, i'd hear:

"ang araw! sayang laser ko. papagalitan ako ng derma!" -- mom

"punyeta! ang init naman dito!" -- sister

"wag ka magulo kaya ko 'to!" (in boarding the small boat through the channels) -- brother

"lan be chia seafood ba? careful kayo sa bangka!" -- dad

can't wait for another trip with them! *miss all of you! hugs!*

Wicked Witch from the South of Vietnam

yes that's what it feels like with my head of unruly hair. parang, alam mo yun? laging may bagyo sa labas... if i don't tie it back, it looks as if i just rode a motorcycle running @ a speed of 100km/hr with no helmet. THAT bad!

i've decided to give rebonding in vietnam another try. (the agony... altho i have to admit the viet girls have nicely rebonded hair. smooth, shiny, soft & silky looking. i wonder why mine doesn't stay that way...) did it before in some pang-masa salon & my hair got fried! well, not so much but after 1 week of having it straightened, it looked exactly like a steel brush used to wask pots & pans! to add salt to injury, the hairdresser gave me a complimentary haircut which looked like a zigzag road! i swore to never again go back to that dang place!

but now, desperate times call for deperate measures! my family's comng over & lest i want a scolding (lovingly naman) from mom ("you look like a monkey!"), i better do something to my hair & fast!!!

so, tom will be the ultimate test on how good this singaporean based salon (colorhaus) is. pls pls pls let me be beautiful. the shape of my face is not fit for a 'fro...

No, that's not a furry animal behind my back...

EDITED -081709-: my hair was rebonded quite nicely. let's see what it will look like after i shampoo my hair on wed. incidentally, i got a warranty of some sort from the salon! if within a week after i shampoo, my hair reverts to it's old wicked witch state, they'll fix it again for me for free! hihi! i think i'm the first (proof of my el cheapo-ness) to ask this from the salon hahaha!

Artistahin na!

just heard from my mom that my brother might be televised in ruffa & janice's talk show thing. how exciting! apparently, his coach will be interviewed (impart special olympics advocacy) & he'll be tagging along. *artistahin!*

he also changed sports again (for the umpteenth time)! he's now training for bocce in lieu of badminton & weight lifting. dad's afraid that he might push himself to lift more than he can & might have back problems or something related in the future. so now, he'll be playing the old man's game of bocce hehe! he'll have his first competition in october 4. crossing my fingers that he'll win... *pls, pls, pls!* if he wins, he has a shot at joining the special olympics in greece (as a representative of the Philippines). how exciting again!

Sa.choom!

it's been a while since i last watched a musical play (7yrs ago to be exact haha!). rendon has never been to one. answering the need of our lack of culture-filled activities (he's not one to go to art galleries) is Sa.choom. it's not as culture-filled as i would like it to be but there's a need to compromise. i can't allow him to afll asleep during the show after all. no point in watching if like that, right?

Here's an intro from the vn company bringing sa.choom here:

"'Sa.choom - a romantic comedy love story from Korea' is like a nerevending musical video live onstage with unique dance moves..."

Sounds interesting, yeah? besides, there's absolutely NO WAY he can get out of this one hahahaha!

the website looks interesting. apparently, they wowed the audience in the edinburg festival so it should be good! can't wait!!!! (bought tickets for this sat, august 1 at 3pm. the evening show costs 50k more. too much!)

for the meantime, here's a borrowed (from their website) pic as a preview to sat's show hihi!
(wanted to show a video but don't know how to so will just post a link)

EDITED -080209-: the show had a bad storyline but the dance moves were AWESOME!!! they were doing yoga moves in super fast forward motion. not a lot of people watched though. we were supposed to sit on the balcony (600 pesos) but were transferred to the 900 buck seating area. darn talaga! should have bought the 300 peso tickets instead hehe!

and the ultimate highlight is: the lead lady dancer stood in front of mike's seat (so that she'll look as if she's coming from far away to meet the lead male) so the spotlight was on mike. unfortunately for him, he was asleep with his mouth hanging open hahahhaa! HULI KA! hahaha! should've taken a pic natch!

Eeep!!!

several medical related incidents in vietnam:

1st experience: had boob problem a few months back. decided to visit an oby in an international hospital seeing as i won't be able to understand the docs in the local hospitals. so i made an appointment & i was assured that the doc spoke fluent english. *WHEW!*

so i went & arrived in a waiting room full of expectant mothers & their husbands... o-kay... i guess it didn't come as a surprise when doc started asking me these qs:

doc: how many children do you have?
me: none
doc: are you breastfeeding?
me: ummm... no (who will i breastfeed if i don't have kids!? no don't answer that...)
doc: married?
me: no

she nodded & wrote "CELIBATION" in my record. (ano daw?! is that even a word?)

then she led me to the exam table & started grappling my boob while i squirmed & almost fell off the exam table muttering "ouch! ouch! ouch!" to her unhearing ears.

after that torture, she said, "you have kyst."

me (not sure wether it's a statement or a question): kissed? yes i kiss my boyfriend

doc: no. you have kyst (hands flailing in the air)

me: *forehead creased, confused look*

doc: kyst! small circle (hands drawing small circles in the air)

me: ah! cyst! (nye!)

doc: yes yes! kyst!

2nd experience: pinoy colleague#1, who had his fingers rolled over by a machine, went to the emergency ward only to find there was a shortage of doctors. either that or they were all on coffee breaks haha! our v colleagues asked him to sit next to a guy with a bleeding head & a guy with bleeding legs both screaming from pain (both motorcycle accidents -- a very common sight in road accidents). pinoy colleague got queasy & declared that he's doing very well in spite of his nails turning black. hahahaha!

3rd experience: pinoy colleague#2, who had his foot on the spokes of a motorbike while the bike was running full speed, was rushed in an ambulance. when he got inside the ambulance, the driver told him to make room bec they need to pick up another patient. the other patient was "on the way" so, i guess to save gas, they gave him a ride to the ER as well! *eep#1* how odd is that? anywho, when the other patient got inside, the v guy who accompanied pinoy colleague#2 in the ambulance told him not to look at the other patient or else he might faint! turned out, the other patient was vomitting blood all over the vehicle!!! *another eep*

i'm not saying that the medical situation here is bad. i'm just saying it's a little off. not as normal as i'm used to. after all, we all got better right? there were just the added bonus of having those experiences which made & will still make great stories in the future. *hihi*

Who Would've Thought...

...that my brother's picture would be posted on the website of special olympics!?! pang showbiz! hahaha!

can't grab the picture but here's the link. picture #7 of 20 =)

it's a tribute to dads on father's day. here's the caption of the pic:


Tatay

I am Jorge Sandiego of Special Olympics Philippines. To my left is my son, Dacki. To my right is Andrew (my brother!!!), an athlete from our chapter, who calls me "Tatay", the Filipino word for "father". This picture was taken when we sent a team to a powelifting event Manila. Both boys also compete in badminton. I never regret any moment when they call me "Tatay". Happy Father's Day to all "Tatays".

cool, yeah??? =D

Strike an Animal Pose!

yup! i'm back to doing yoga after 6 months of hiatus. so, so, so, so happy!!!

i remember the 1st time i attended, the teacher asked me to reach my toes. i bargained saying i can only reach my calves.

she asked us to do rapid lamaze breathing (to work the abs), i wonder if i'd developed almoranas since it's not my abs contracting & expanding hihi!

then, there was this breathing exercise thingie... teacher told us to sit in our most comfy positions. backs straight, eyes closed, relax & just follow her instructions.

teacher: right in, left out
me: doing as told
teacher: right iiiiiinnnn.... HOLD YOUR BREAST!
me thinking: WHA!?
so i cheated, took a peek. hold your BREATH naman pala e...

we do a combination of hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga. out of the 19 poses found below, i'm proud to say that i can do 14 poses *yey*! of course i'm limited to doing the easy ones. the more difficult poses reserved for maybe a year later hehe!



noticed that most of the poses are named after animals. this reminded me of the jacky (ie?) chan movies i used to watch (dragon stance! monkey!) (in the movies, jacky chan would always shout the next move he's going to execute. is this wise? if i were the opponent, i'd anticipate his moves & snuff him out easily hehe!)

anyway, plus point to going back to yoga is that rendon will be attending with me hihi! now i have someone who will push me when laziness prevails!

happy bonding (to us) ;)


-- Yoga Secret Club (Add#1: 70 Truong Quoc Dung Street, Ward 10, Phu Nuan Dist.)
(Add#2: 42 Huynh Khuong Ninh St., Dakao Ward)

Off to Mekong We Went

... last sunday. it was fun but really tiring. left pham ngu lao 830am to come back 6pm. it was pretty well worth it but hoped that the river isn't so murky. however, that's the signature of mekong. murky waters because of the mud/clay bed.

per our guide, mekong is the largest river which connects 5 countries (laos, vietnam, thailand, cambodia, china). there are 13 municipalities in that area. we went to the famous ones which are my tho & ben tre.

i'm no swimmer. i freeze & sink if my feet can't touch the floor anymore. i know how to float but unfortunately, i can only float with my face downwards. no help if our boat suddenly sinks right? so, imagine how scared i was when it started raining & the waves were getting strong & people were transferring from the right side of the boat to the left! i was grabbing the life jacket (under our seats) but was too embarrased to put it on hehe!

angry clouds

anyway, the rain stopped a few minutes after we docked on our destination. there we saw how rice paper & coconut candy were made, how honey was harvested, listened to traditional music in vietnamese (eep! ate & drank tea & talked to each other instead), rode a horse driven cart, rode a small boat (fits only 4 people) through a channel lined with palm fronds (pictures below).

a sunday very well spent. *satisfied*

Air Mail or Surface

i was looking for the cheapest way for some stuff to reach my mom's hands asap. known courier companies quoted sky high prices (courier fee 2x more expensive than the actual worth of the package). seeing as i don't have much of a choice & being happy with the previous service rendered, i have decided to utilize vietnam's postal system (vnpt).

of course, growing up in the philippines, i was expecting (yet again!) zombies with lead appendages attending to the customers. sometimes said zombies are too busy eating butong pakwan & chatting with each other to actually do customer service. OR! they'd throw me a huge book to look for the price myself. OR!!! this is a classic... they'd refuse to lend packaging tape or even a pen because these items are being sold!!!! hahahahaha!

there are several companies to choose from inside the post office ranging from the trusted courier companies to the not so known ones. there are also quite a handful of services being offered. they have snail mail, air, flower delivery, moneygram, etc. nice!

so there i was at the hcm post office shaking in my slippers worrying about getting the same treatment. luckily, none of those fears materialized. the postal place employees were efficient. when i asked for prices for my package to reach home, they actually told me how much it would cost & how long it would take to reach the destination! they even provide boxes & secure the boxes with tape (for a minimal fee of 20,000 dong - 60pesos). interesting. no hassle in paying, no queues anywhere. heaven! now the main challenge is if it gets to the philippines on time.

only thing is, they asked me to fillout a form which asked if i wanted to send my package by air or "surface". is this really the term for snail mail i wonder... of course i chose air (which will take 2 weeks if lucky... 3 weeks at most, never arrive - worst case scenario)

vnpt, please don't fail me now...

Edited: yes the package DID arrive 2 weeks later! woohoo! kakahiya... when my mom went to post office in the phils to retrieve the package, the post office employee didn' want to hand her the package asking for a bribe! A BRIBE!!! hay! my mom told him "personal po yan. hindi na kelangan dagdagan ng 'tax' "-- eep!

Hobbies Won't Make Men Go Astray

or so i was told. hopefully it's true. the D90 should last him a lifetime, right? RIGHT!?!

rendon's been taking pics of anything & everything since he got his D90. been bugging me that he wants to buy macro lens, extension tubes, landscape lens, tripod, etc. hello! magipon muna! langya yan... my egg cells can't wait any longer; camera accessories can! hahaha! joke lang... but
of course jokes are always half meant hihi =P

anywho... he joined a photographers' club here, Snappers United. (eh?) (shhh! i know! haha) they went to binh cuoi park last sunday to test their skills. here're pics taken by rendon using D90 with 18-105mm vr.

nothing too spectacular but , still, for someone owning the camera for less than a month, kudos are in order for taking nice shots =)

Quest for the Yummiest Banh Xeo in Saigon

i've been having a craving for banh xeo (vietnamese crepes with bean sprouts & shrimps & slices of pork) dipped in their universal sauce of fish sauce with lemon, sugar, chilies. now, due to the success of last time's crabfest, i decided to consult noodlepie's website for recommended places. he said 46A Banh Xeo has the best stuff so i wrote down the address & even drew the map (back of business card scanned) so we won't get lost.

we were in dong khoi so we decided to walk to the eatry seeing as how we're near notre dame anyway. we walked & walked & asked for directions & given the wrong directions 2x & had to backtrack & asked again & walked & walked & what the *bleep!* 30mins later, we're still walking!!! (turns out i got the church wrong in my sketch. hihi!)

anyway, our rumbling tummies forced us to take a cab. the place still looked like the same as noodlepie's pic (taken 2005). only we went there at night.

of course we ordered the house specialty. 2 huge ones came out and a plate of cha gio. both food were oily with the taste of rancid coconut oil. darn it! for the banh xeo, the meat & shrimps got lost in a sea of bean sprouts. the cha gio was overcooked & were a little on the tough side. quite difficult to bite & chew. it was quite expensive as well! 184,000vnd for 2 banh xeo, 1 plate of cha gio, 2 tiger, & 1 khong do.

what a HUGE letdown! will never ever go back again.

Old Dogs, New Tricks?

the saying seems to be true. old dogs can't be taught new tricks particularly if the old dog is stubborn & flat out refuses to listen to reason. almost got into a fight but i refused to stoop low so i left it at that.

*EDITED 5/29: got an apology of sorts. good! i was informed that the temper isn't so good and to excuse the attitude yada yada... hopefully, it won't happen again. not everyone is patient & understanding & if i were caught on a bad day, i would've shown my horns as well.

A Little Piece of Home

last night's dessert was luxurious thanks to our colleague who has a pantry stocked with pinoy goodies & a supplier from tay ninh who provided 2 huge jackfruits.

halohalo never tasted THIS good! all the caloric intake was very well worth it. made me miss home a little less...

Sanity

in my opinion, living in a foreign country selling cheap dvds will, most likely, turn a normal person into a couch potato hoarding the latest movies & tv series. he/she will be an expert in the latest shows & will even have suggestions on what others should & shouldn't watch. he/she would even have a collection up for lending. pathetic? i think not.

for me, that's how i cope. that's how i keep myself sane & at the same time have a tight grasp of the "real" life i left behind. i think a lot of people will agree.

so, my rountine is, i check irfree to see what the latest dowloads are. then, i download like crazy in piratebay, mininova for english titles, and d-addicts for asian titles (i don't normally do this nor do i encourage it. it's borne out of desperation. promise!). last night, i couldn't (& don't uderstand why) download in d-addicts. a "404-not found" window pops up. so imagine how frustrated i was. already end of the season for most of the english titles i look forward to then THIS!

so, i googled and found: mysoju, my treasure... where you can watch asian series & movies online! no need to download & wait & waste space in my laptop! oh my!

saturday night will be a looooong night

THE Plan

while watching house last night, out of nowhere, rendon faced me to him and said:

"o ganito plan ko walang kokontra"
"ipon muna ako then papakasal tayo. para hindi naman masabi ng parents mo na wala akong kwenta"
"tapos of course help mo ako sa wedding then angpao na makukuha natin, wag na natin hatiin into 2. if malaki laki yung amount, buy na tayo house. if hindi ganun kalaki, downpayment muna tayo"
"tapos work pa tayo dito para ipon ulit. ok? walang kokontra. ano tingin mo?"

O-K... hehe! he has a plan =)

Better Late Than Never

2 months after my best friend from oz sent me a package, i finally got a notice from the post office that it has arrived! we were both losing hope but vsip buu chien saved the day!!!



feeling super excited, i asked the driver to get the package for me but no! no substitutes in getting packages darn! i have to get it on my own aiya!

with dread, i went. i was expecting the post office to either be a jungle or having half comatose employees moving so slow it would take forever to get 1 package. i was proven wrong!!! the service was quite efficient & the girl knew how to speak english ("pass-poh!" with her hand extended).

then she handed me a package crawling with ants (the sweets weren't hermetically packed + 2months travel time with weather changes ruined them). eeep! sige na ok lang yan... at least the package arrived unscathed with extras hahaha!

thanks, best! *hugs*

Heaven

i had my fix last saturday. *yummy! tulo laway*

crab spring rolls & a bowl of sibut

grilled shrimps & 1 pc deep fried soft shelled crab (the other 3pcs already in our tummies)

tamarind crab

after the hurricane left

another hole in a wall place with no aircon & purely vietnamese crowd. the waitress handed us a menu with pictures only hahaha! thank god for that. if not, we'd be walking around dragging her with us, pointing to other diners' food! spent 600k dong (1800pesos) for everything. will definitely go back again for another crab fix hehe!

-- Quan 94 (Add: #94 Dien Thien Hoang, Dakao Ward, District 1)

Ultimate Craving

the picture above is my idea of food heaven. (picture borrowed from noodlepie)

i'm afraid i'll literally get sick with anticipation.

saw an advert in the newspaper about this crab-fest in some hotel. the cost will be around $38 plus tax & servce charge per person. after adding everything up (came up to a total of around $45), we (mike, rendon, i) decided to splurge on a crab-fest in some sidewalk eatery instead. of course, i wanted it to be perfect... the best crab experience in hcm so i researched... and found the perfect perfect place to eat!!! (courtesy of noodlepie's website) unfortunately, noodlepie wrote that entry when i was still in limbo of what to do with my life which was around 2004 so i wouldn't know if the place is still alive.

so we called. when asked if they still serve crabs, i've never heard a sweeter "yes" my whole life! (eventhough in reality she was screaming "CO! CO!" -- yes in vietnamese). oooooohhhhhh!!!!! can't wait. *hungry*

Evil

a friend sent this email yesterday. just went through a few seconds & closed the window immediately. how can such evil reside in people? how can they wake up each morning & look themselves in the mirror after doing that? don't they have their own loved ones? have they no conscience at all?!

i don't wish this to happen to anyone. not even to the most hideous person on earth & beyond.

Bedside Read

when i was small, a visit to the mall will not be complete without going into the bookstore, refusing to leave without getting at least 1 book & eating fries & milk shake at mc donald's. i could and still can spend 1 whole day or more in bookstores browsing but too much of an el cheapo to buy. i usually scour second hand bookstores for titles i'm interested in hehe! or libraries but that was during university days when the library was well stocked.

since books are uber expensive nowadays & having limited titles available in a foreign country, i'm so thankful for colleagues who have books to share! because out of sheer desperation, i also read books which i won't normally buy for myself and widen my knowledge & interests (or so i'd like to believe).

the book i'm crazy about right now is twilight by stephenie meyer. as i said in my previous entry, i watched the movie & was disappointed with the choice of lead actor. it was a mistake to watch the movie prior to reading the whole series. i now see edward as james pattison. only half kilig now darn it!

the book is very well written with just the right amount of kilig so as to not appear disgustingly mushy. it relieves the "night in shining armor saving the damsel in distress" emotion in me. i had to close the book when i read sections wherein my heart will twist with pain & happiness & frustration & tenderness & all other mixed feelings related to first love. then open it again looking forward to parts wherein i would feel that again. cringe haha! some things make you feel young again. this is one of them. *happy wistful sigh*

Travel Bible

came upon tripadvisor back when i was planning our cambodia trip. personally, it's the ultimate traveller's source of no holds barred info. it exposes the dirty secrets of not so good places & allows you to discover true gems through others' experiences.

that's part of reason why i contribute reviews. in my mind, followers of this website will appreciate any feedback to help them plan & choose wisely. altho never in a million years have i thought that someone will contact me because of a review i did. so imagine my surprise when i received an email asking about this hotel i stayed at & did a review on. hihi! mababaw but it made me happy & appreciated.

Cooking & the Pissed Off Cook

since rendon & i cook to have more quality time not just in front of the tv, the company cook has been ignoring me. she was insulted that we prefer to cook our food to her cooking. i explained & have someone translate that it's not her but she still ignores me. whatever. should not care because rendon & i are happily showing off to each other what we can cook with limited ingredients.

i cooked fusili with garlic-onion-hotdog-spaghetti sauce with ricotta and he, garlic bread. we only had 1 frying pan, plastic bag used as chopping board, 1 small knife, stove, and toaster. cool right? can't wait for our next cook off :)

aesthetically challenged fusili

Out of Desperation

rendon was sick yesterday. now, in my family, when we're sick, mom would always cook chicken soup for us. well, i didn't have that so i have to be creative.

i've never been a cook, hated handling raw meat or fish, cried when i tried to chop off the sharp "nose" of shrimps before cooking, tried baking chiffon cake but ended up with something resembling tikoy... no matter how awful my cooking is, my family has always encouraged me. they would eat what i cook/bake no matter how awful it would taste. one time, my mom & dad (on 2 separate cooking sprees, had indigestion but they never complained! i just saw them took kremil-s hahaha!)

so, anyway, back to my attempt yesterday.

i only had the following:

3 bowls water
1 pc white onion
10 pcs lobster balls
1 pc pork (leftover only - 6 inches long cut into 3)
1 can corn kernels
salt, pepper, pork cube

boil onions & pork in water & corn kernel juice. add a little pork cube to taste. add lobster balls & corn kernels to broth when pork is tender. add salt & pepper as needed. bring to a boil. serve. this is also good as an egg drop soup just scramble 1 raw egg in a bowl. ladle the hot soup and stir.

aesthetically, it failed but the taste was good!!! rendon had 3 bowls. no need to say anything more.

success! *proud*

Marked My Territory... Twice!

really! i did! the way dogs mark their territories hahahaha! i never thought i'd undergo this ever in my life but there it was... so nasty

the picture on the left is the happy-just started trekking-still so energetic me. unaware of the length of travel ahead.

the tiger chil out trek was harsh! by my standards anyway. it would be a good idea for the company to add this to their description: 17kms of never ending trails. will go up and down 3 mountains, numerous hills, will cross 3 streams, will walk through 2 coffee plantations, will see 2 waterfalls (one of which is the Tiger Waterfalls), and will visit a minority tribe (Chil tribe). the tour normally lasts for 5-6hours but for people experiencing early onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the trek will finish after 8hours, if we're lucky.

the last sentence would be the perfect description for me.

8am, rendon & i trekked with 2 french women & a guide. everybody had their packs (rendon with 3liters of water, raincoat, extra shirts, umbrella, camera) on their backs save for me. apparently, rendon had an invalid with him. not yet halfway and my legs were like logs. they had minds of their own refusing to walk, complaining they're too tired already. i swear!

i asked the guide for a shorter route but he said once you go in, there's no getting out. oh my. by 12nn we reached the top of the highest mountain. we had our lunch there. of course the weather wasn't so cooperative as it rained and fog was all over! everybody was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the beauty of the mountain. me, i was cursing myself for agreeing to this trip in the first place. later on, i was praying we won't slip and die in the middle of nowhere!!!

so on we went. for every 50 steps i take, i was asking the guide "are we there yet?" and him seeming to not understand bec his answers vary from "i do this trek 2x a week" to "my mountain is beautiful". great. so i had no real information as to where we were exactly and how long before we reach the jeep again!

by 3pm, we were maybe 4-5kms away from the jeep *YEY!* i know i said my legs were numb before but now, the numbness has spread to my arms & even up to my lips! me and my bright ideas... poor rendon had to carry me 2 cross 2 streams and down some paths! it was horrific!

and then it was over by 5pm. hallelujiah! i realized a lot of things along the way.

1. i was never a goat or a mountain climbing animal in my past life
2. 5 year old sneakers are for show only not for hiking
3. 4 tablets of alaxan is not enough to make me feel my legs again

the almost dead-arthritic-after trekking me

"No more trekking for you ever!" -- guide

as if!

No Worries & Then Some

so, it turned out that my brother won a gold medal for the special category & a bronze one for amatuer something. *YEY!*

personally, i think his coach is training him for the upcoming special olympics. half a month ago, his sport was badminton until someone beat him. natch! so now weightlifting it is. so far, no contenders yet. *double YEY*

maybe next time he will be able to lift this (150kgs YIKES!)! hehehehe!

Swine Flu

this scares me... there was bird flu, foot and mouth disease, mad cow, tainted milk, and now this! 81 reported dead in mexico and has spread to the US and maybe neighboring countries. what's worse is that there's no known cure! all you can do right now is to take meds within 2 days of the onset of the swine flu. how would you know if it's the swine flu or regular flu?!? what if you're pregnant and cannot take drugs? awful.

a friend said that it is inherent in all living creatures to heal itself after it has been wounded and one day, the earth, being a living thing, will heal by resetting itself. i think it's happening now.

Weightlifting

heard from my mom today that my younger brother is entering a weight lifting contest. learned from my sister that the younger brother will be lifting 90kgs!!! is that even safe? won't he get hernia or back problems later in life???

worried...

on another note, 5 more days before we head for dalat!!! praying for clear weather on our way there and coming back...


EDITED at 4pm: apparently he only had to lift 35kgs which is very easy for him since he lugs around 50kg sacks of rice. so no more worries.

first lifting 15kgs...

...then lifting 35kgs

he got 3 white flags which my sister said meant that he lifted real well. and for that, he won GOLD for special division and a bronze for amateur division. not bad for a first timer! *happy!*

1st Mountain Climbed. Such A Feat!!!!

too bad there's no picture of the actual mountain to gauge how high it is. it's pretty noh? vung tau in all its glory.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Ain't No Millipede Small Enough

me and my bright ideas...

we're off to dalat on april 30 and will do the tiger chillout trek. of course i needed practice lest i keel over and die in dalat right? besides, i was able to climb the vung tau mountain with relative ease, therefore, i will also be able to conquer this one. correct!?! apprently not hahaha!

after i saw the first millipede, i was screaming like a banshee and holding on to rendon's arms so tight that i left red nail marks. i would post the picture of the millipede but i'm too freakish about it. my shoes were not fit for any real sport. they're just for show... and besides, those were not stairs as was promised, those were stones to step on!!! hahahaha! at one point, i almost fainted because of tiredness. so we rested for a while. a guy carrying a huge block of ice was resting beside us. we started our climb again 5mins earlier than he did. it was such a HUGE embarassment when he hiked past us with his ice block! i'm not fit to do this. i'm no fan either. i should've stuck to my hoola hoops.

SEE the trail!?!

Girlie Time

had a blast yesterday! woke up 8am, putted around my room lighting scented candles, putting hair mask & face mask in an airconditioned room, watching downloaded series & a long overdue movie. rendon was hiking up the mountains. tried it 2 sundays ago and i was officially known as the inavlid who screams when she sees millipedes. anyway, i digress...

so yesterday, i watched 2 episodes of house, 2 episodes of this great new series, lie to me, and twilight. hahahaha! couldn't help laughing at the twilight boy. he looks like he's always in shock or looking at something when in fact he's not looking at anything. i wish they could've gotten a better actor. it kind of ruined the whole movie for me. my edward looks infinitely better & manlier than the one they casted. such a disapointment...

Angkor Wat

**taken with my 2megapixel mobile phone at 5:30am**

Siem Reap: 01-25-2009 (Day 1)

jan. 25, 2009

this is it!!!! our first time to travel and not be part of a tour... after doing extensive research, we're pretty sure we will have a great time!

armed with our print outs of maps, 5 bottles of 1.5L of water, and change of clothes, we left our domain 3am. we had our dimsum breakfast as we've been musing about dimsum breakfast in HK with the noisy clatter of plates and chatter of the early risers. i've never been an early riser but excitement has pushed me to wake up early and join the fanfare. (plus, there's no driver to take us to the city should we decide to leave later hehe!)

after a spread of noodle soups and dimsum baskets, we headed out to sinh cafe to board our bus. mike took us (howe and me) there. bus was ok no odd smells and someone continously eats oranges during the whole trip thank god! wanted to sleep but couldn't -- too excited to even sit still hehe! it was a 6 hr ride to phnom penh and another 6 hrs to siem reap with toilet stops in between. the toilets get scarier and nastier as we get away from the city. it was a good choice to wear sneakers instead of slippers!

arrived siem reap at 8pm. so tired by then but we still had enough energy left to explore the place.

the first things that came to mind were, 1) siem reap has a good night life and 2) that the roads are dusty.

we lived in Bou Savy Guesthouse near the airport. chose that guesthouse for the praises it received for being clean and safe. of course safety comes first but for me, clean toilets always come first in my list. (pics of toilets in reality. old but clean. i concentrate on looking at one not so yellowish spot on top of the shower to not notice the yellowish areas)

so there we went and walked the 15 min walk to the old market (took us 20mins though as howe walks slow hehe!) checked out the night life but didn't join, had dinner, checked out the night market, and went back to bou savy for a good night's rest.

collection of thoughts from the past

been here in vietnam for a year already! can't believe it myself but here i am -- still can't speak the language and even if i do, they all look at me as if i'm an alien so i've sort of given up on that and given in to playing charades with one and all hahahaha!

dec. 8, 2008: at long last after almost a year of being apart and seeing each other 2x a year, the howe has landed!!! thanking our lucky stars everyday that we've been given this opportunity to get to know each other up close and personal and not be virtuals howes. hindi ko na siya kelangan landiin sa skype!

dec. 24-25, 2008: spent xmas with howe and mike. threesome! hahahha! ate at ashima. filled ourselves out with 3 kinds of mushroom. hoping all the anti-oxidants will make our skins pimple free for 2009.

a few days before xmas, rendon (the howe) refused to take me out with him told me he and mike have this boys night out thing. i played along... i knew that he'd be buying me a gift so is ok hihi! asked mike to buy me a donald duck figure which bobs its head from side to side when the sun's rays hit the solar panel.

rendon was ecstatic when he received it. i was happy with the climacool pants (1st jogging pants to cost more than $20 ever! i usually buy from tiangge as scouring for stuff and bargaining gives me such pleasure...) was so excited i wore it to sleep the night he gave it to me hahaha! so soft and comfy... yum!

jan. 1, 2009: threesome again hehe! but we don't mind. new years and xmases are meant to be spent with family after all. since we don't have out respective families here, mike is part of our pseudo family here. planned to go somewhere but sid and company came and had to be kept company ergo we're pretty much stuck in the city. howe, me, mike went to 17 saloon.

too many people, too smoke-y, too crowded. didn't even have a stool to sit on so we decided to head on home and celebrate on the rooftop with drinks and our torotots. firecrackers not allowed in vietnam. (not sure why but the theory is that maybe the people would think they're being attacked. i'm pretty gullible so i believe that explanation) we even jumped when the clock struck 12.