knicnax

Revampimg my new Craft Nook: Phase 1

2018-06-23T12:04:00.002+08:00

We moved back to my parents' place immediately after I gave birth to my darling baby girl. So far it is one of the best decisions we have made as a family!

Moving houses means a new craft nook layout, I was pretty nervous about how I'll set up my craft nook, especially my video rig, because the last time we stayed here, we were staying in the smallest room. Back then it was enough for our small family. That was also back when my craft stash was really small.

Noq, my parents let us stay in my childhood room that I used to share with my sister. I love it because it's the 3rd (or maybe 2nd) largest room in the house. The down side is, we can't remove the big, old TV cabinet and bookshelf, which means we dont really have that much space working for us because our bed is humongous.

In the end, I settled for using the small bookshelf as our cabinet. Some parts of the TV cabinet are being used for our clothes, baby things and craft storage.

I placed my table in one corner of the room because it's literally the only place it can be in. Unfortunately it's the side of the room where the paint is washed out and peeling.

How it looks makes me anxious so I've been itching to get the room repainted.

Our house is old and needs a lot of repair. The roof and ceiling in my room needs to be fixed badly. The water comes down on the walls and ceiling when it's raining. I couldn't have it repainedt it or put wallpaper up because I know the rain will just ruin it.

My husband and I had the roof and ceiling fixed when we had enough cash (and just in time before monsoon season started). I was finally able to put wallpaper temporarily while I save up to have the room repainted. I love the white wallpaper with a subtle floral design. Too bad it's the last roll. I wasn't able to cover a large area. I got the self-adhering wall paper from DIY Hardware.

I must say, the wallpaper did a lot to change the way i feel when planning. I now feel relaxed and happy! There is a stark difference between how it was before to how it looks now.

My washi rolls used to be in a small plastic box. I rarely use them because I'm too lazy to get the box out and fish for washi. I decided to display my washi and I've been using them more now.

I bought a drift wood dish holder from Japan Home. Since it's drift wood, it's very light which is perfect for hanging on the wall. I used 3M's outdoor double sided tape which is a really strong double sided adhesive.

The only down side with this setup is that I usually catch my son playing with the rolls! Haha

A new but very useful addition to my desk is a small trash can. My mom got this for my daughter when wegot home from the hospital and havent finished bringingbour things here. This bin is for my daughter's diaper changes, so we have a place to corral all those dirty cotton balls and diapers. Since we're not using it any more, I placed it on my desk and personalized it by sticking a sticker that my friend Janis made for us. It's an inside joke within our circle and it reminds me of how much our friendship have grown.

I also changed my desk caddy from the DIY one that I made from a corrugated box, to these clear acrylic cases that I found around the room when I cleaned it. My sister left a bunch of stuff in our room when she got married and moved out. I asked her if I can have them, of course she said yes :)

I significantly decreased the items in my desk so it's tidier. The acrylic cases also gave the impression that the desk is bigger.

The other things that used to be on my caddy, I placed them inside small drawers that I put in the small shelf I got off from Shopee. The shelf is made with compressed, shaved wood so it's not that sturdy. I find it weird that there isn't any support at the bottom shelf to help prop up the top part of the shelf. The shelf looks nice but the technical design is poor. I took the small drawers I bought from Japan Home 2 years ago that I use for our medical supplies to help prop up the top shelf. Since the boards of the shelf is just compressed wood, it can't take on a lot of weight. I put the drawers in the bottom shelf and added pieces of corrguated board under it so it fits snuggly. The drawrs will help strenthen the board holdinh up the top shelf so that it doesn't warp and bend with all the weight. I was able to fit 2 drawers and I put them on the side where my planners and journals are because that is where most of the weight is.

I love how my craft nook turned out. This is just phase 1 of my Craft Nook Revamp and it's making me even more excited to finish revamping my craft nook.

Next up: Ink pads

Prima Watercolor Confections Decadent Pies for coloring

2018-06-13T18:03:00.000+08:00

I got my order of Prima Watercolor Decadent Pies last June 11, 2018 and I'm super excited to try it out. It's my second artist grade watercolor (Peerless was my first, check out my review here ) and I'm very excited to try it!

Prima Watercolors are marketed to the crafting, card-making, scrap-booking, and coloring community. When you look for reviews in the watercolor art community, you wont see a lot of reviews for the brand.

The watercolor is advertised as artist grade, high-quality, and highly pigmented. The company hasn't disclosed the type or source of pigments so there are no technical details about the light-fastness of the watercolors, which I believe is one of the factors why this brand hasn't infiltrated the watercolor art community yet.

The watercolors are packaged to be an on-the-go watercolor palette. It comes in a nice black tin can with an aluminum finger hold at the bottom.

When you open the tin, there's another aluminum cover that swings open that serves as your mixing palette. What's great about it is that it has grooves so that the water doesn't easily spill on you.

The tin can contains 12 half-pans of watercolor. I love the Decadent Pies set because the colors are on the vintage-y side. I just wish they had a red and a purple, or even just a red one, so I can mix more colors.

I really love the shimmery watercolors included in the Decadent Pies set. There's a pearl, silver, gold, and bronze. The silver isn't as pigmented as the gold or the bronze though. At first I thought it was just to add some shimmer.

Since i'm not really good and drawing and sketching, I grabbed my Prima Princess Zara stamp and inked it up with Versafine Onyx Black. I stamped it on a cream watercolor paper and started coloring.

Coming from the Peerless watercolor, this set isn't as pigmented, but I didn't expect it to be like Peerless anyway.

I loved coloring with it so much that I made another one a few minutes after I finished the first.

Here I used the Prima Princess Olivia Stamp

Reflection: Spending on my hobby and how my hobby is helping me grow as a Christian Woman

2018-05-31T16:59:00.000+08:00

It's funny how when I finally stop ignoring God's message because I know listening means giving up something I love, God gives me reasons why I shouldn't give up that something.

This reminds me so much of Abraham and Isaac's story.

The reading for May 29, 2018 was about selling possessions, giving to the poor and following Jesus. God has been telling me in various ways to stop spending on my hobby. A hobby that I have loved even as a kid, and has helped me though my post partum depression. Aside from spending, my hobby is taking time that I could be spending with him in prayer, in service, or even with my children. I didn't want to listen because I've been telling myself that self care is important, and that this hobby keeps the anger and the ugly thoughts at bay.

I finally listened and I started writing my reflection down, talking to God, being intentional in my faith, when suddenly I get the messagr that my hobby is indeed good and that I should keep it. This hobby has helped mentally and spiritually. When my prayer life was flickering, this hobby has covered the wind of indifference, apathy, and fatigue. I always had my bujo where the desire to keep my tracker has encouraged me to keep on reading the daily readings, back track when I skip days.

My journals where always there to be written on whenever inspiration strikes.
My faith stamps, though I barely use it, reminds me of God's love whenever I read the messages on the set.

And the greatest thing that this hobby brought me, I met people with the same desire to be closer to God. When I had the idea of having a group to help us be more accountable in our faith, and to share our spiritual journey with, it was received with a great response and I am now in a group where people pray for you and help you with your faith.

God gave me solid reasons why my hobby is awesome, He just wants me to use it more for his greater glory.

DIY Small Pocket Envelope out of scrap

2018-05-18T22:24:00.000+08:00

I have several of these B7 Card Case inserts for when I bought a lot of the plastic card cases to organize the stickers I sell. I got that tip from my friend Chie of Craft with Undomestic Diva. She sells planner stickers and other pretty planner yummies.

Since I love upcycling and recycling stuff, I couldn't throw away the inserts, so I decided to give these inserts one more shot at life!

I turned them into small pocket envelopes. I'll use these to house the sticker flakes and other small things that I'll give to my friends.

To make the envelope, I folded an insert in half then used washi to seal the sides.

I used Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain to add color on the right-hand side of the envelope. It's so easy to add a splash of color using Distress Stains.

After the stain dried - you can speed his up using a heat tool, I used Versa Mark and stamped the sentiment "Made with Love" using a set from Rosie's Studio stamp sets

I embossed it with Ranger's clear embossing powder and heated it up with my heat gun.

It's my first time to use clear embossing powder and I love how the color of the embossed sentiment is different from the background but it's just the same ink!

Next, I stamped a girl using a girl from on of my my Love Cynthia Stamp sets using Versa Fine Onyx Black ink. I'll write the name of the recepient on the box that the girl is holding.

I love how this project turned out, and how easy it is to make. Each envelope takes less than 5 minutes to make!

The Creative Journals and Planners PH Mini-meet and my First Pop-up Booth

2018-03-28T14:22:00.000+08:00

Last March 24 was the first Creative Journals and Planners PH (CPJPH) meet up. It was held in Bo's Coffee, Eastwood City.

As a small shop starting out, I wanted to try doing a pop-up booth in a small event so I sponsored lootbag content and snagged me a selling spot for the event.

I wasn't able to take a photo of my setup but I did learn a lot from this experience on how I can make my setup better.

What I did though was make sure I had varying height displays to make it more appealing, I also had a tall-ish chalkboard sign.

It was a big help that I was in the table where the watercolor workshop was done! I was able to absorb what was being discussed and got to try doing some leaves using that magical triangle brush! You can see my chalkboard display too! Lol!

Being in the central table is super fun! Aside from getting to participate in the workshop, I chatted up a lot of people! It's a big win for me because I can't move around so much with my big, pregnant belly, and I do love socializing when I'm out of the house :)

The CPJPH was super duper fun! I went to my sister's condo at around 530 pm (the event finished at 5pm), and just went back at around 7pm to meet my friends for dinner, half of the attendees were still there planning, stamping, basically just continuing the meet up, like it didn't end a few hours ago! Lol!

I got home at around 11pm, and I was so tired and happy! I even got to take home freebies from planner friends.

Here's a video with these items up-close!

Meeting with friends in a planner meet is always fun! You get to catch up with each other and swap stuff with each other :)

Check out my friends' stores and creative accounts in FB and IG

Janice A. for the crocheted rose and watercolor florals
IG: instagram.com/diamond.letters.and.treasuresinstagram.com/diamond.letters.and.treasures

Craft with UndomesticDiva for the Fashion Girls samplers, motivation, girl boss, snaky stickers - in awesome premium matte sticker paper!
IG: https://www.instagram.com/craft.with.undomesticdiva/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/plan.with.undomesticdiva/

Rainbow Papeterie for the Maternity Fashion Girls
IG: https://www.instagram.com/rainbowpapeterie/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rainbowpapeterie/

Paper Joy PH for the Mermaid kit, Panda Kit, Joy-emoji stickers
IG: https://www.instagram.com/paperjoyph/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/paperjoyPH/

Have you been to anty hobby meet ups lately?

*Photos grabbed from the event organizers, Marnie J. And Joanne J. :)

Breaking in my new Mini Happy Planner

2018-03-21T15:11:00.000+08:00

Wow. It's already Wednesday and I only had the time and energy to do this spread today. I wanted to do it last Monday the minute this gorgeous mini HP arrived but I was down with the flu and could barely function so I stayed in bed. Then I was so busy trying to work through my shop backlog yesterday + appeasing a very clingy toddler yesterday that I didn't realize it was already 4am and I had to go to sleep already.

So I woke up a little earlier than usual today and worked on this spread. It's the first time I decorated a planner before I even write on it, and I immensely enjoyed the process! I'm not sure if I'll be able to sustain the decorating before writing but it's a good break from always being functional in my planner. It helps that I don't need that much writing space here because it's just my business planner and bulk of what needs to be written down will be in a separate sheet or in my bullet journal!

Here's a list of what I used to make this spread:

Mini Happy Planner from Plannablers

Rose Stamps from Craft Starter PH

Today, flowers, and list stickers from Paper Joy PH (left overs from various kits)

Weekend sticker from Now Geek Out

Fashion girl sticker from Craft with UndomesticDiva

Pregnant girl sticker and gray balloon sticker from my shop: Craft and Knicnax

Orange side-washi: gifted to me by my good friend Joanne

White Uniball Signo used to draw the heart on the gray balloon and Faber Castell Watercolor Pencils from National Bookstore

Aqua brush from Scribe Writing Essentials

Versa Fine Smokey Gray ink cube from Lasting Impression

Check out my plan with me video here!

Breaking my No Spend Streak

2018-03-19T17:26:00.000+08:00

So this came in the mail today! I bought these from the Plannablers Destash Sale last Thursday on Facebook. I asked the shop owners like an hour after saying "Mine" if I could pay now so they can ship asap! Lol! They said yes and I'm majorly ecstatic!

I've been wanting a new planner for weeks now. I want a separate planner for my business over at Craft and Knicnax so that it's easier for me to see and track things I have to do for the shop. Things tondo for the shop has been taking over my BuJo and as much as I love writing down stuff in my bullet journal, I'd rather have my business tasks and ideas separate and easily accessible. :)

I also bought this scoreboard from Facebook (the planner community in Facebook is awesome!). I've been wanting to have one for some time but I can't justify getting one because I rarely make cards anyway. But since part of my business is making invitations, I know this will come in handy. I also need it for folding the envelopes I make for sending out stickers via courier. This arrived last Friday! A pleasant surprise after getting home from the clinic because of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.

To my pleasant surprise, it has an envelope scoring guide on the reverse side of it! I can make regular envelopes with it! Yay!

I haven't spent on anything for quite some time and these 2 purchases (plus a lot more for the shop) has been fun because even if they are for the business, I know I'll enjoy using them and creating things for my shop patrons

Now off to hustle and earn back what I spent!

Free Printable: Customizable A5 Vertical Week on 2 Pages for Happy Planner or Ring Binder

2018-03-15T03:08:00.000+08:00

I'm the type of person where pre-made planners do not work. I need my space to be fluid enough to cater to my needs, and that varies by so much. I think the reason is because I use my planners for everything, and the content varies per day; so naturally, my to do list, notes and journal entries won't fit the regular pages of a planner.

I started my online business this March and I find myself needing a dedicated planner for my business. It doesn't take too much space in my bullet journal, mostly just to do items and ideas to note of, but I think I'd rather that these things be in a separate planner where I can detail and schedule them properly. Since I'm new to this business thing, I need more structure in my planning. I don't want to devote the extra time of making my weekly layouts by hand so I figured I'd need a regular planner.

I know it's easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy a planner from the bookstore since most of them are on sale now, but I prefer the versatility of a ring or a disc-bound planner. Knowing myself, I know I'll want to change my layouts in the future, especially when I finally get the sense of what I need and how I want it. So for now I created just a basic A5 printable which is a vertical layout of week on 2 pages. I made it using MS Excel because I work fast in Excel, LOL.

Trying to print it was actually the bigger problem because for some reason Excel wont cooperate printing my two A5 pages in an A4-sized paper. I realized I needed to save/print it as PDF and from my Adobe Acrobat Reader, print it on A4. Here is how it looks like:

Two A5 sheets on an A4

It took a lot of trial and error (I wasted around 8 sheets of A4 paper) before I found the sizing that is just right for my disc-puncher and at the same the back-to-back printing of the pages are ALMOST aligned. I used 100gsm paper so the shadowing of the misalignment doesn't bother me too much.

Downloads

I'm sharing with you both the excel file I made so you can change the colors and font as you please.

You can download the Excel file here

You'll also need a PDF printer, if you don't have one yet, I recommend BullZIP PDF Printer. I've been using it for years!

In case you want to use the same font face as I did, it's called "Kittyspoon" and you can download it from https://www.dafont.com/

Excel Editing Reminders

1. Don't move or adjust the columns unless you want to do a trial run like I did

2. You can easily change the border colors by highlighting the cells you want to change the border color of, then clicking the border button, and then selecting "More Borders"

3. You can easily change the fill color of a cell by selecting the cell and clicking the fill color button

4. You can easily change the font face of a cell by selecting the cell and clicking the drop-down arrow for the fonts

5. You can easily change the font color of a cell by selecting the cell and clicking on the font color button

Excel Print Instructions

1. Make sure your paper size is set to A5

2. Check your margins, make sure they are the same in this photo (click Margins on the print setup page)

3. Use the print settings on this photo

Bull Zip Print Instructions

1. Set your paper size to A4 (click Page Setup on the print setup window)

2. On the Print Setup window click Multiple then select "2" on the drop down for pages per sheet.Page order should be "Horizontal" and orientation should be "Portrait".

Ink Smooshing Tutorial

2018-01-12T12:43:00.003+08:00

There's this technique that I really like using. It's called "Ink Smooshing" and it makes this watercolor, spatter effect. It's very easy to do and it needs ZERO creativity! Probably why this technique appealed to me so much.

The name came from the action that you do in order to achieve the watercolor effect, which is "smooshing" ink on paper. Personally I really like the word "smoosh" and "smooshing". It makes it sound like it's a really fun thing to do; and it is.

Something to note though is that the pattern will be pretty random and cannot be replicated since how the ink is smooshed on the paper unpredictable. You can exercise some sort of control on which colors to use, how much ink gets on the paper, and where the colors go.

I also noticed that most of the time when I'm doing this, my initial reaction is it looks ugly, but as I put in more colors and splatters, I see it get prettier. There are instances when I really didn't like how it looked and then after a few minutes, I suddenly appreciate how nice it looks, and I can't believe how I can be capable of making something so beautiful! Haha! So don't fret if you think you can't do it, or it's not pretty enough. it will be! Just wait!

There are 3 things you need in order to do this

Water-based ink or any ink that gets "activated" by water. So in other words any ink that is not waterproof. You'll get the best effects and colors with water-based ones though. You can also use watercolor! In my arsenal, I use the following: Versa Color ink cubes, Versa Magic ink tear drops, Distress Mini Ink Pads, Distress Stains, Crayola Super Tips, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens, Zebra Mildliners
Plastic Film. The plastic film acts as the medium that transfers the ink into the paper. I use the transparency films and just cut them out into smaller pieces. You can use any material that does not absorb ink. I find that the clear plastic transparency films are best for this because they are flexible enough for the job but not too much that I can't get any control on where I lay down the ink. And since it's transparent, I can see how the ink behaves as I smoosh it on paper.
Water. Adding water on the ink that's on the plastic film makes the ink spreadable and gives it it's watercolor effect. I use an atomizer when I do this technique.

So in order to smoosh ink, here's what you need to do:

Make sure your plastic film is clean, no other ink traces. I usually use different films for different colors. That way I don't waste ink. I can reactivate left over ink with water!
Put the color you want on the film, either you swatch your pens or press your ink pads on the film. You can do a single color or multiple colors in one film. Do note that having multiple colors will cause the colors to mix at some point. So if you have more than 2 colors, be ready to get a brown tint on some places of your work.
Put a little water on the ink. You can either spritz it with an atomizer, one spray will do; or put a small drop of water on the ink and mix the water with your finger. The key here is to use very little water, just enough to "activate" the ink. Too much water will also warp your paper or cause the fibers to show. When spritzing water, you'll need something to wipe off the droplets on the parts of the film with no ink.
Flip the film over get ready to smoosh ink. You can either put the film on the paper and use the pads of your index finger to smoosh or press the ink on paper so that it spreads out; or instead of putting on paper flat, you can do quick dabbing motions with the film to get a spattered effect.

After doing this technique a couple of times (read: a lot!), I've discovered a few things:

It's better to lay one color at a time. I like the effect better and each color is more vibrant since I can target where to put it
Start with the lightest color first because once all your colors are smooshed on paper and you haven't smooshed the lightest color yet, it'll be hard to bring out or the color because the brighter colors have taken center stage already
Using the water drop method yields better results than spritzing because sometimes when you spritz, there are parts of the ink that don't get activated, and doesn't have the watercolor effect when smooshed on paper

Check out the video here:

Super Easy Biscuits

2018-01-10T23:05:00.001+08:00

This biscuit is my go to recipe for when I want to eat bread or cupcakes but I'm too lazy to bake or I don't have all the ingredients I need. All it takes to make these are: Flour, baking powder, butter, and milk. Everything is a kitchen staple! I use evaporated milk to make it more rich and creamy!

Of course the crumb is not the same as bread made with yeast or a moist cake but it would definitely do if you need a quick fix.

You know how when a craving hits you hard (read: PMS) and you just want one now and you don't have time to proof bread, don't have the energy to whip up a cake, and definitely don't want to go out and buy anything? Oh boy did these biscuits save me!

The biscuits are best eaten on the same day, but then again, these taste so good they wont last the entire day! I've been making this since I was in 2nd year college and whenever I made a batch, I had to set aside a few pieces to make sure I had baon for the next day! haha!

I used to eat these plain or with butter with a steaming mug of Milo or tea. When I got married, Kitty and I decided to up the game and use different toppings for the biscuits. Since we're night owls and nowhere to buy nice toppings, we used what we had on hand - butter, strawberry jam, (homemade) mango sauce, and tablea.

The tablea needed more work, had to break them down and mix the powder with cream cheese and sugar to make it more palatable. I loved the one with mango sauce the best! Sweet with a little hint of sourness! It's just perfect!

Ready to make it? Check out the recipe below and let me know how it turns out!

print recipe

Super Easy Biscuits

by Knic January-10-2018

A quick and easy biscuit recipe with ingredients from pantry staples

Ingredients

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 cup Milk (preferably evaporated milk)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 230C.2. Mix together flour and baking powder3. Slice butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Use a fork to mash the butter and and flour mixture together. D4. Slowly mix in milk. Dough will be moist and lumpy5. Spoon on baking trays. I used silicone mini muffin trays.6. Bake for 8-10 minutes7.Optional: Put desired toppings or serve with a sauce/dip on the side

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 12 small biscuits

Catching Up

2018-01-09T21:04:00.000+08:00

Wow, it's been 6 years since I last updated this blog. A lot has happened IRL (in real life).

I was scrolling through the my posts, and the most recent one was a bento post. I remember the days when the bento supplies available here in the Philippines were so few. I thought of opening up a shop of my own but couldn't get it off the ground. I guess was I was too afraid to invest that I didn't put in my best effort to find a supplier. Fast forward to today, bento-ing is a booming craft. Lots of Filipina moms are doing it, which means more stores are selling bento-tools. How do I know? I've frequented a lot of the local hives of Filipina moms - Facebook Mommy Groups!

In the 6 years that passed, I got married and started a family with my then nicknamed SDEHBF (super duper extra hot boyfriend). I still think he's super duper extra hot, even if he doesn't believe me. LOL. I mean, I dont know about you but these photos do tell me he is still that SDEHBF I've had years ago :)

Aside from cooking and baking - which are super useful hobbies for when you're a real adult - I took on a new hobby; or rather turned a habit into a hobby: Planning or what is now popularly called: Creative Planning. I mostly do it at home or at work, but every once in a while I do indulge in spending time with myself in cafes, like a true tita!

Crafting and creative planning is a part of my everyday life now. It's so fun and therapeutic, it especially helped me when I went through post-partum depression after I gave birth to my first born.
I'm currently pregnant with our second baby and we'll know the gender this week! We're so excited!

Currently, I am mostly at home because of my sensitive pregnancy. My time is consumed with mostly playing with my son and washing dishes. I figured I'll carve out some time to resume my blog. I've slowly prepared our bedroom so I can work on my crafting and blogging without my toddler trying to get my attention, looks like it's working! Oops! spoke too soon!

Looks like mommy duty is back on, and I'll work on revamping this blog

Til the next post!

Bento No. 6 Yakisoba with Sho-yu Tamago and Vegan creamcheese Bell Pepper

2012-05-29T23:21:00.000+08:00

This bento is just a repeat of a previous bento, with just the addition of the Sho-Yu Tamago. This is actually the last bento I made for lunch as a technical consultant for my 2nd job. I didn't want to burn myself out on my last day of work so I made an easy bento. Plus, I really wanted to try that vegan cream cheese recipe that I've been reading about.

Bento Menu:

Nissin Instant Yakisoba
Sho-Yu Tamago
Vegetarian Creamcheese filled Bell Pepper (failed).

The Yakisoba is easy enough, my recipe to kick the flavor up a notch can be found here.

Sho-Yu Tamago or Soy Sauce is really easy to make. Took me about 3 minutes to give the egg that brown color. More or less 10 if you include boiling the egg and shelling it. It's best done the night before.

I got the Sho-Yu Tamago idea from Just Bento, so head on over there to check out how it's made

Bento No 5 - Chicken Pandan with Caramelized Eggplant

2012-05-15T16:09:00.000+08:00

Today's bento is especially scrumptous! I guess Ive broken my blah bento streak! It's also great news for me, cause I created a bento for bubu (my sister) as well.

Today's Menu:

Plain, unsalted onigiri
Pandan Chicken
Caramelized eggplant

Today's carb is just plain rice. I just molded the rice using the onigiri mold I bought last week. The brown sauce you see on the rice are the drippings of the caramelized onions

The pandan chicken is again, bought from SM Supermarket. I have no idea how to cook it, but what I did was I fried it while still wrapped in pandan.

The caramelized eggplant is a stroke of genius for me. Last night, I had no idea what to do with the eggplants. Before sleeping, I had a eureka moment. I told my self I'll make a rub for my eggplants. I dozed off as I was listing the ingredients for the rub in my head.

Ingredients

2 medium sized eggplants sliced
Sugar
Garlic powder/ground fresh garlic
Salt
Paprika
Turmeric

Procedure:

Mix all the dry/powder/flavor ingredients together according to your taste. I didn't measure my ingredients but the major component of the rub is sugar. Don't add too much turmeric cause it can discolor your skin
Rub the flavor on the sliced eggplants. Coat both sides. Set aside for a few minutes. The eggplants will excrete water while letting the flavors set
Water fry the eggplants - Using a non-stick pan, just fry the eggplants as you normally would with oil. The eggplants will naturally excrete water.

My Bento Story:
This bento has a fried leaf theme, or that is, the colors are those of burnt plants. I really wanted to make this bento savory because I was making it the first time for my sister and she loves eggplants! Needless to say, she and kitty loved my bento! It really is yummy!

Bento Day 4 - Playful Puppy Bento

2012-05-15T08:28:00.000+08:00

Today's bento took me about 7 minutes to make, 10 minutes tops. Quite a record actually. I wasn't able to get up early to make a bento. I also had no idea what to make for today's bento, so everything was out of whim and very simple, the concept just even popped out of my head. Not planned at all.

Today's Bento Menu:

Cheese Stuffed Onigiri
Century Tuna Octodogs (fail)
Various shabu shabu meats
Chopped Green Olive
Tamagoyaki

My cheese stuffed onigiri is just actually plain rice with bits of cheese inside. Didn't have the time to sear the rice, let alone flavor it. I was so lacking in time.

My proteins for today aren't really healthy, unless you consider the fact that the octodogs are made out of tuna hot dogs. The shabu shabu meats are left overs fro last night's shabu shabu dinner. They were already cut in half last night to minimize cooking time. I can't remember which is which for the shabu shabu meats, since we buy them by packs and they're already in assorted variants. Doesn't matter though. The surprise of flavor adds to the mystique of the bento. Usually, we fry these babies in our shabu shabu, but since I'm opting for a healthier lunch, I boiled everything. Didn't even bother using flavored water. It's just plain water. Straight from the faucet into the pot.

My Tamagoyaki is about 5 days old already, just sitting in the freezer. I got the recipe and procedure for my tamagoyaki from lunchinabox.net, I didn't have dashi stock, so I used the soup from 5 night ago's dinner, Tinolang Manok. It tastes great though!

My Bento Story:
Like I said, everything was on a whim today, including my Playful Puppy Concept. I so wanted to make a face in my bento today so I just chopped up an olive and placed it on my onigiri and then just tossed everything inside my bento. When I got in the office, I tried fixing up my bento and try making something out of my bento. At first I wanted it to be a horse, but in the end it looked more like a thin piglet, so I though, hey why not make it a puppy who wants to have its tummy scratched?

Overall, I wasn't expecting a scrumptious lunch, and I was correct with that. Taste was really bland. Needed lots of ketchup. It would be great to have a ketchup and cheese onigiri though! I'll take a mental note of that.

Bento Day 3 - Pesto Torikatsu with Summer Cool Down Salad

2012-05-14T09:41:00.000+08:00

Day 3's bento was a bit bleak! I just pulled it together haphazardly. I had no idea what to match with my pesto torikatsu, and I didn't want to repeat any of my bento food items yet.

I was excited to make this bento for one thing, I bought my first set of rice molds! Well, it's actually just one shape - a triangle, but I'm pretty glad I now have a mold for my bento :)

Day 3's Menu, like I said, was put together haphazardly, but the blend of flavors were still considered. Actually taste-wise, my previous bentos were much more yummier. Only the salad in this bento had this oomph factor.

Day 3's Bento Menu:

Plain Onigiri with Bell Pepper garnish
Pesto Torikatsu
Summer Cool Down Salad

My plain Onigiri was just freshly cooked rice, then I added about 1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to give it a little flavor. I then molded it in my newly bought onigiri molds. I let the rice set for a few minutes and then seared it in a pan with very little oil. After cooking one side for a few minutes, I flipped it then coated the seared side with Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce (The green one, best for seafood). After a few minutes, I flipped the onigiri again. The side with the soy sauce is now being seared again. I coated the top side with soy sauce too and flipped the onigiri one last time before removing from the heat. I garnished it with a triangular-shaped bell pepper.

My Pesto Torikatsu is again bought from SM Supermarket. I was surprised with the flavor of the torikatsu. I wasn't expecting it to have a distinct pesto flavor, but it did. I was really pleased with the flavor. It blended well with my summer cool down salad.

The Summer Cooldown salad was actually just something out of whim. I had no idea what to do for veggies. I also wanted the veggies to have a great color to liven up my dull looking bento. I looked at our veggie crisper and saw that I still have a few left veggies like carrots, baby corn, sweet peas and bell peppers. I wasn't in the mood to saute them, nor did I have the time, so I thought I'll just use carrots which can be used immediately. I checked our fruit crisper and saw that we have several bags of mangoes, so I thought, "Hey! This could be an interesting salad!". I could almost taste the different levels of sweetness that the carrots and the mangoes would give out! How refreshing! I also added a dash of apple cider vinegar to prevent them from browning, and to blend the flavor of the salad with the bento. I called it Summer Cool Down Salad because the colors were so festive and bright like the summer, and yet it's so refreshing! It's best served cold.

Ingredients:
2 small carrots or 1 medium carrot, cold
1 large mango, cold
1 tsp-1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Procedure:

Grate the carrots and mango
Slowly add the apple cider vinegar
Toss the salad
Refrigerate if you won't use it yet. Will probably keep for 2 days

Serves 4

My Bento Story
This so far isn't really good. Aside from the salad, everything else didn't give an oomph, nor looked very appetizing. I wasn't able to dress up my bento well, add the fact that I almost grated my thumb! It was a tough job to grate carrots and my finger won't stop bleeding!

In placing the food in my bento, I wasn't really paying attention on how to put the food items in. I was just careful to separate the salad since mangoes are juicy and might juice around the box. Lacking proper bento paraphernalia, I just folded a soft-drinks plastic bag and placed the salad inside.

The bento wasn't filling nor was it satisfying, but I guess it's better to have food than none at all

Bento Day 2 - Pork Meatballs and Luncheon Meat on Spicy Chicken Yakisoba with Cheese-stuffed Green Bell Pepper

2012-05-10T09:16:00.001+08:00

Okay. So I had a hard time in planning out this bento, mainly because of budget constraints, and also because I had a different bento in mind yesterday afternoon, and I found out later that I lack most of the ingredients needed for the bento I wanted to make for today. I guess that bento'll be for another day.

Anyway, my bento today took me, more or less, 45 minutes to make. It's a really long time to make a bento this simple, but hey, I'm new to cooking and I'm new to bento-making. I spent roughly about 25 pesos for this bento. The total cost of this bento (if all ingredients were taken account for) would be 35-40 pesos. Depending on the quality of products that you would use. Take note that this cost is for 2 bentos already.

Today's Bento Menu:

Pork Meatballs
Luncheon Meat
Cheese-stuffed Bell Pepper
Spicy Chicken Yakisoba

I got the pork meatballs already flavored in SM Supermarket at 5 pesos per ball. I placed 2 balls per bento.

The luncheon meat is free, since it's today's breakfast. I used up 2 slices of Purefoods Luncheon Meat. 1 for each bento.

I forgot where I got the idea of stuffing a bell-pepper with cheese, but that's what I did.
Here's my recipe for it:

1 medium sized bell pepper
2 triangles Laughing Cow spreadable cheese
1 pinch onion powder
1 Tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Core the bell pepper (it would be great if the bell pepper were small, so you could have 2 of this babies). Wash the insides of the bell pepper. Make sure there are no seeds left
On a small bowl, mix together the cheese, onion powder and cheddar cheese
Stuff the cheese mix inside the bell pepper using a spoon and a butter knife. Make sure that the whole pepper is stuffed
Optional: Grill or sear the bell pepper.

My Spicy Chicken Yakisoba is big downplay of any authentic yakisoba. I actually cheated a bit on this one. Since I don't know how to cook yakisoba, and I'm on a tight budget, I bought 2 packs of Nissin Spicy Chicken Instant Yakisoba. CHEATER! I know! I did however upped the game a bit by putting various vegetables in the yakisoba, and tried to make a sauce to flavor the veggies.
Here's what I did:

2 packs Nissin Spicy Chicken Yakisoba
1 small carrot, diced
4 pieces sweet peas
3 pieces baby corn, chopped
1/2 medium bell pepper, cubed
1 small onion, diced
1/8 cup Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/8 cup water, room temp. or warm.

Cook the yakisoba noodles according to the instructions indicated in the pack
Heat oil in a pan on low. Put in the carrots and the baby corn. Saute until you see a minimal change in color. Add in the onions and the sweet peas. Saute until onion is becomes a little transparent
Add the soy sauce and sugar into the pan. Simmer for a few seconds, add in the water. Saute the vegetables until everything is well coated. Simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce is reduced.
Turn off the burner/remove pan from heat. Cut out the remaining sauce in the pan, leaving at least 1 tsp of sauce. Vegetables shouldn't be saucy since the yakisoba pack already has a sauce pouch with it it.
Mix the yakisoba sauce and podwer in the veggie-sauce you made. Do not use the dried up vegetables that came with the pack.
Add the sauce to the noodles and mix to evenly distribute the sauce.

My Bento Story:
Since this bento wasn't what I wanted to make, I made the combinations haphazardly. I really have no idea how to put this together with the lack of ingredients. I wanted to add a few tamagoyaki but or even just a plain boiled egg, but I couldn't find an egg last night and this morning to save my life. I couldn't afford to buy by the carton, so I had to omit the egg. Also, you may have noticed that one bento doesn't have a stuffed bell pepper. That's due again to my budget constraints, I ran out of cheese.
The taste of this bento was surprisingly good! For something that I thought out of whim (well, considering how much time I thought out the other bento menus). The veggie sauce I made complemented the yakisoba sauce well. The meat balls also blended well. Actually, if you eat the noodles where the meatballs sat, it tastes really good! Next time I'll dice the meatballs and include it with the veggie-yakisoba sauce. The Luncheon meat added a great salty taste to the sweet yakisoba flavor. All the meat used in this bento worked well with the sweet-spicy-salty taste of the yakisoba. I was surprised with how good the cheese-stuffed bell pepper tasted. It-was-freakin'-awesome!!! SDEHBF ate his bento with me, so I got to taste the cheese-stuffed bell pepper! The sweetness of the bell pepper worked well with the sour-salty taste of cheese stuffing! It was an explosion of flavor in my mouth! I think it will be doubly awesome if the cheese-stuffed bell pepper was grilled or seared for a few seconds. YUM!

Bento Box Day 1 - Torikatsu Parmesan and Ketchup butter gohan with cheesy brocolli

2012-05-08T12:09:00.000+08:00

I was scheming all day yesterday about how to make my SDEHBF feel special on his birth month. I don't know about you, but I love getting the royal treatment on my birth month, and he sure did make me feel special last year. I want to return the favor this time around.

Since he's so into anime and manga, I thought, why not make him a bento box? I was prowling the Internet for ideas on bento making.

So here's my first ever attempt of a bento:

Today's Menu

Butter-Ketchup Gohan / Rice
Parmesan Torikatsu
Blanched Broccoli with cheese sauce
Vegetable saltine crackers for dividers
Strips of quickmelt cheese over the gohan

I got the gohan/rice recipe from lunchinabox.net. It was supposed to be an onigiri or a fried rice ball but I had too much butter on my rice mixture that I wasn't able to form strong balls of rice.

My Paremesan Torikatsu was bought from SM Supermarket, pre-made, so all I had to do was fry it. Talk about speedy bentos! I had a bad experience when I bought it though. There was a cockroach on the torikatsu I bought! SDEHBF saw it before it was packed away by the cashier. They "changed" our torikatsu though. Not sure if they just repacked it or if they really replaced my torikatsu. Horrible! horrible! I fried and re-fried the torikatsu just to be sure that the germs are dead. Eeeewww.

The blanched broccoli were left overs from last night's dinner. Notice how it's mostly stalks! Haha! The cheese sauce was made by my wonderful mum. Yay!

Bento Box Story
Nothing much happening in this bento box. I think I did okay for my first bento. The colors looked wonderful, though mostly on the shade of orange.

In this bento box, I just primarily wanted a basic lunch accommodating the 3 major food groups - Go, grow, and glow! (yeah bit childish terms!).

SDEHBF texted me at around 9am and told me that he was so excited to eat his bento that he ate it at 9am! He also said it was good! I found it deliciously sufficient.

After making and eating this bento, I find myself in a frenzy about bentos. Can't wait to make one tomorrow (or maybe this evening!)

inlove versus love

2012-04-13T19:06:00.002+08:00

Bossa Nova, yellow lights, a relaxed atmoshphere, alone, and a long time to kill are all ingredients for a reflection. This time, the idea of love and being inlove is running in circles inside my head. I've memorized this line I thought of already, what with the countless times I thought about this? "Love starts when being inlove ends". Of course, that statement doesn't hold true all the time. This statement is not actually meant to be a definition of love but it's the challenge of love. This is how you know if you truly love the person. It's easier to forgive, to put yourself aside, to change yourself when you're in love. Naturally! You're so high with "love chemicals" that you're to numb to even care how much it would normally hurt, or be a bother. It's wonderful how the body works, but once you mind catches up with your body, when you start crashing down from your high, that's when loving starts. That's when things are starting to take its toll. That's when you start realizing that you're sick of giving way, you're sick of just plainly understanding, sweet words and gestures don't really work anymore. Once this happens, you're not in love any more. You're as vulnerable as an cant crawling on the bathroom wall, being watched by someone doing #2. You either get blocked by fingers, get sprayed or drowned with water, flicked by fingers or be squashed for no reason! If you know the risks, if you're feeling the heaviness, when you feel like you've had enough and yet you still continue with the relationship, then congratulations! You are already, truly, loving someone. Now hang in there because the crash is always difficult. It'll be painfull, annoying and downright unreasonable. There'll be times when you just want to quit, but you won't. Don't. It's just a phase. You'll get through it eventually, then you'll slip into to the monotonous conundrum of life. Now that, that is another thing. Another reflection for another night like this. I'm hungry, better eat this ultimate grilled cheese before it gets too cold!

Joing the Social Ministry of our Church

2012-04-02T11:32:00.000+08:00

I love being a church worker. I've been with our Church's Parish Youth Ministry for years now, and I've enjoyed the roller coaster ride it have been giving me these past few years. I'm not getting any younger though, and as much as I want to stay in the ministry, I can't, well not for very long. I have to venture out and serve God in a different ministry. Something with a more specific goal (aside from evangelizing).

When I was in High School, I wanted to be part of the Lector-Commentator Ministry. I love to read and I'm not afraid of speaking in front of many people, so it was a really good fit for me. My mum joined in and I found out that it's a very difficult ministry to join in. It'll be very difficult to balance my work, family, love and social life if I join in. Also, I wanted an approach where people really listen. LCM don't always achieve that. No matter how great they read, there will really be people who are mentally absent and just answer automatically during masses.I needed a ministry with more 'oomph'.

I wanted to join the ministry in charge of catechisms. I believe I'll really do well in that ministry, but I guess the Social Ministry had more appeal to me. It kills 2 birds with one stone. Helping people in need and evangelizing. WINNER in more ways than 1!

So last Saturday, I attended my very first meeting with the Social Ministry. It was a real eye-opener for me. It shocked me at how many people are really selfish. Of course, selfishness sometimes have a valid reason, but that's just it. It only happens some times. If you think of what they're selfishness might result to, it's very appalling to find out that they were even thinking that! On the other hand, I'm glad to find out that a lot of people too, are willing to help. I'm also glad that we're not limiting help on the financial aspects only. I can't wait to get started. I believe this will be the stepping stone to one of my dreams - to build a sustainable community for the poor, that may help them propel themselves forward, out of poverty. I really really hope to be able to do that. I've been wondering how to start, maybe this will help me get my engines burning.

Another thing I realized, quite unexpected but hit me hard, was I felt guilty for failing my subjects when I was still studying. Poverty-stricken families rarely have food to fill their stomachs. They don't even have enough to go through school. Children fail school because they have nothing to eat, they can't think properly. They can't go to school because they have no means of going to it. They have no things to use in school. And yet, there I was, sitting my pompous ass in some of the best private schools, and yet still failing with a full stomach, a decent way to go to school and brand new school supplies. Now I understand when my parents told me: "Lahat na binigay sayo. Ang trabaho mo lang magaral, tapos babagsak ka pa" (Everything was given to you. Your only task was study, and yet you still failed).

My first day in the ministry and I already felt guilty of worrying (as a kid), feeling bad that I don't have the pencil case that pops out sharpeners and the lid on a press of a button, that I only have 24 pieces of brand new Crayola, not the 48. When I just play around with my Pilot ball pens, making them orange peel darts or a chewing toy. Discarding my Mongol pencils when they're already in half. Not even caring if my scissors (especially ballpens and pencils) got lost. Not giving a damn about how much staple wire I'm wasting just to create the perfect staple wire bracelet because I was bored in class. Guilty. Really REALLY GUILTY

Life Lessons I Learned at Splash Island

2012-03-19T17:54:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday was our annual company outing. This year, we went to Splash Island and had a "splasing good time". Through the course of the day (until midnight), I learned and remembered a lot of valuable lessons. Here are some of them: 1. No matter how tired you are, you'll still enjoy and tire yourself even more when you're with friends. 2. Friends are there to coach you and help you conquer your fear (even though they don't phrase it properly) 3. Friends will always, always give a helping hand, especially in dire need. 4. No matter how much you hate the guts of your friend, you still can't find it in your heart to tell on him 5. There are levels in friendship. Our goal should be to be at the top level. 6. You can do anything if you can face the consequences 7. What's worse than doing something wrong? Seeing someone who's doing something wrong and not correcting it. 8. The stupidest and simplest of things can give us utmost happiness. 9. Think before you act. What you're doing might damage your friendship 10. Self control is something that everybody should learn. 11. When pushing the limits, have a friend near the limit, in case you can't handle what you started. 12. Competition is healthy among friends, but you should know when to stop. 13. You don't have to prove to your friends that you're good at something, especially at someone's expense. 14. When you have to justify what you did, chances are, you did something wrong. 15. Don't tell someone they're fat when they're about to eat. 16. Some scars go waaaay deep. Better be carefuk. 17. Food tastes best when shared. 18. Anger will get you nowhere. Pray for your anger to just ebb away 19. Love is the best remedy for tiredness. 20. Rest is good.

My BBS1 Adventure

2012-03-13T09:21:00.000+08:00

Last weekend I attended our Church's annual Basic Bible Seminar 1. I really wanted to attend it this year but it was announced on such a short notice. My schedule was full-up that I thought I won't be able to attend.

The first day (night) of BBS1, I was supposed to have dinner with SDEHBF. He just arrived in manila after a week-long vacation in his province in Bicol. We were really looking forward to the dinner date. On the same night, my office friends planned a videoke party at a nearby bar. We were celebrating a lot of stuff, plus we had to spend the 2000 peso winnings we earned in last year's Christmas party. I had 2 dates already conflicting for the night, but I already worked out a plan to go with my friends first while waiting for SDEHBF's work shift to end, and then meet with him for a late dinner. But after all the planning that I did, I ended up doing neither and just attended the BBS 1 seminar. I just asked SDEHBF to pick me up at the Shrine at 10 pm so we could go home together.

I'm really glad that I decided to attend the seminar, I really felt enlightened and happy. Also, it was constantly mentioned throughout the 3-day seminar that the reason why we were there were not really the reason we thought it would be. They said that God called us, he made a way for us, and we answered His call. No matter what reason we may have, it is still because of God's will. Whenever I think about it, my hairs stand on end. Really... God's presence is here, and He's alive in me.

The reason why I joined BBS1 was because earlier this year I had a debate with an acquaintance over the Black Nazarene procession. That acquaintance of mine was a protestant and he posted something about it on the Facebook wall of the group we both belong. What he posted was against the people who zealously attend the Black Nazarene procession. He quoted Bible verses against what the people were doing. Naturally I felt really defensive about my belief. I don't go to the procession and I personally don't like the idea of risking your life for that kind of adoration, BUT if people really love God, and that's their way of showing it, then who are we to judge? If you reflect on how many people are there, it'll really make your spine shiver. That many people come together to show God reverence. To show God their love. It's a good thing. And here comes along someone who bashes those people, quoting Bible verses. Strongly implying that what they're doing is wrong. It made my blood boil.

I replied to his post explaining why these people act like this, and that we are not to judge them, because really, who are we to judge them? Who are we to dictate what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of God? We got in a heated debate and he kept on taking what I said literally. I had a response for every tirade of attack he unleashes on me. It came to the point that he attacked where the Catholics are weak. The Bible. He challenged me to back up my answers with Bible verses. He challenged me to interpret some Bible verses. I dodged them off saying I haven't read the Bible and that I can't interpret what he's given me because I need to read the whole book (or even chapter) for me to get the full meaning. It was with this that I stopped replying to his tirades and focused on getting answers for the his questions that I found difficult to answer, questions that are related to my faith and my religion.

I attended BBS1 to help myself find the answers, but lo and behold, God gave me the answers during the 3-day seminar. I was shocked. REALLY REALLY SHOCKED. For 3 days, the speakers and facilitators slowly answered the questions asked of me during the debate (which I answered, and my answers were based on my own reflection. I was looking for the answers given by my faith). When the last question (and most important one, mind you) was answered on the 3rd day, I my hairs stood on end. There were chills on my spine. My head was abuzz. Seriously, God works in ways that will pleasantly shock us. Right there and then I was so sure that I wasn't in the seminar because I just wanted to. I attended because God intended for me to find out the answers. On that moment, too, I realized, that I still have one more mission. I called my first discovered mission, my personal mission (living green and educating others about it). I called my newly discovered mission my "prophetic" mission. Not that I consider myself a prophet, no not that. It just sounded good, and related to what my mission was. To spread God's words. To speak to people about God. To send out and tell everyone God's message.

Don't Run Off Thinking You're Right and Telling Everyone that They're Wrong: On the Black Nazarene, Among Other Things

2012-01-10T17:41:00.003+08:00

This may be a late post but I just can't take it anymore. I am not a devotee nor an advocate of the Black Nazarene but sheesh, why don't the others just keep their ideas to themselves or to their groups?

A lot of people have been quoting the Bible about idolatry and fanaticism, how the Catholics have gone overboard with their devotion. How the Catholics pray and worship idols, like the saints and even *gasp* the Black Nazarene.

News Flash everyone, the Black Nazarene represents Jesus. JESUS CHRIST our SAVIOR.The devotees and what you call the "fanatics" worship JESUS. What's wrong with worshiping God?

The Black Nazarene is merely a symbol of faith, a representation of Jesus at one point in his life.

Is worth the trouble? Is it worth dying for?
I haven't been to any of these public displays of affection to the image of the Black Nazarene, or of any saint for that matter, but I believe, if you truly love someone, anything is worth doing. They believe in Jesus and in Jesus' healing power, thus people go to witness his love. Some manifest their love and adoration by helping pull the carriage. Is that wrong? Tell me is it wrong to love God and tell me it's wrong to go to Jesus and ask for your or your loved ones' healing?

Self Righteous Much?
Those who are casting stones on the Catholic faith, please stop assuming that you're right. Yes I know we have the Bible as our guide but can you personally guarantee that the people who pledge to do this every year will suffer the fires of hell? Only God can tell if we Catholics acted foolishly or not. It's not for you to decide. It's not for you to point fingers.

We should all learn something from our 'playground' days
When we were kids, we knew how to respect each other, or at least know to get along peacefully in the playground. You don't play on the seesaws when you see kids using it. You don't tell people off for using your favorite swing. Likewise, please learn how to respect our religion, just as we do respect yours. You don't see (or hear) us in tv and radio with tirades of nasty remarks about your religion. You don't see us posting in facebook nor twitter, our opinion about how you do things in your religion, so just please, respect us. I'm not saying don't talk about it, by all means, rant all you want, but do it in your group, unless you want to really start something up. Because really, a lot of us take our faith SERIOUSLY. We get hurt when people think wrongly of us, when people JUDGE us because we don''t do things in the normal expected way, as written by our ancestors, through the grace of God (Gee, doesn't that sound familiar? sounds like the *cough*pha*cough*ri*cough**cough**cough*).

Count your Blessings Insted of Sheep

2012-01-07T09:15:00.001+08:00

With what's happening with me and my family, God, prayer and support from family & friends keep our wits together. With nothing to do in the hospital but to eat, sleep, watch tv and play games on the computer, I have had a lot time to think, reflect and be thankful, that despite the fact that we're going through this again because one of the graft's in papa's heart bypass wasn't properly done.

An "honest mistake" papa's cardiologist said. "We can't really blame the surgeon". Yeah, okay. Can't blame the surgeon about it, but we don't have deep pockets like them. I could rant on and on and on about how unfair it is but that won't take me anywhere. Instead I tried channeling this frustration into something positive.

I know that we should be thankful about this, because like last year, what we're doing is preventive. We're preventing the incident that one day, papa'll just collapse because of a heart attack. We should be thankful and I am really really thankful.

We should also be thankful, that even though the price for the angioplasty is expensive, we can still manage to pay for it, or rather, we have friends that are willing to lend the money, and that I know we are able to pay the debt off. I am thankful that we have the means resources to make the procedure possible.

I am thankful that everything's going on fine and that a lot of family and friends are praying for papa's speedy and full recovery.

Luck and Idolatry - The Sin of the New Year

2012-01-02T09:26:00.000+08:00

I think that we (myself included) overrate the new year. What's the deal anyway? Aren't we supposed to celebrate everyday as a new year? If you look at it, today, January 2, 2012 is a new year cause it's 1 year after January 2, 2011. Just a thought.

And what's the deal with new year resolutions? I haven't made one for years. Do you really have to wait for the new year to be a better person?

I love festivities and parties; Games and food. I love that it's another holiday to celebrate. I don't mind the noise but I sure do mind the smoke. The smoke filled with gunpowder and other chemicals that make everything go BOOM and hazy. Maybe I'm irritable cause I am feeling that my lungs are so weak from all the allergies that I got this new year.

So were you able to complete your circle fruit basket and buy the various white thingies (salt, rice, etc). Were you able to waist about hours of your life waiting for the colored candles to burn out? Did you wear something polka-dot-ty and placed coins in your pockets, then jumped and jumped when the clock struck 12 midnight? Did you buy figurines and bracelets, feng shui and astrology books to aid in you bringing in luck this 2012?

This is what bothers me most during the New Year. It's not the smog, not the ear-splitting bangs of firecrackers. It's all these frenzy for good luck. We're supposed to be Catholics, or for the most part Christians. We all go to church and attend the Mass. We sing praises, we glorify God, we ask for forgiveness and thank Him for all our blessings. We were our best clothes to church and donate money, and yet, we rely on charms, furniture arrangement and bowls of fruit for luck. We base the trajectory of our year on which candle burned fastest. We base our decisions on what our astrology forecast for the year says. People, say what's wrong with inviting luck? And with luck they think prosperity of wealth. I find it sick. I find it terribly, terribly, terribly wrong. Do you seriously think that there's such a thing as luck? Do you seriously think that there's a force far more greater than God's, which when pleased (hence the offering of fruits and a barrage of other charms) will give you prosperity, more than what God will provide? Think now.

Luck is some sort of idolatry - without a physical idol that we can look at, but most people worship it. Most people worship luck, and the frightening part of it is that they are not aware of it. They think that they're not doing anything wrong. Forgive me for my over-analyzing mind, but I feel strongly about this and I am fearful that a lot of us (myself included) have broken the first commandment without realizing it.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you
Mathew 6 :33

Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies
Psalm 103:2-4

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

Focus.... focus... FOCUS

2011-12-29T09:28:00.000+08:00

I've been attempting to update this blog for a few weeks now, but everytime I sit down and type something in, I feel like I'm slowly getitng in the zone and then - BAM! My mind goes blank and I feel like the wall of text in front of me just won't do for a blog post. I get lost in the middle of everything I'm trying to do.

2011 whizzed by as I tried to juggle and squeeze in everything I wanted to do. Maybe because deep down inside, I'm scared that the world might end next year and I didn't get to do what I wanted to do. I've been doing a lot of activities and I spent my year trying to hold on to everything. Trying to do everything. Maybe that's the reason why I can't blog properly. I'm trying to do so much that when I stop in the middle of my blogging just to check something, I totally loose my mojo.

To be honest, I have a lot of thoughts in my mind, contemplations about a lot of things that I'd love to put into writing, but just like with how my blogging streak is doing, the blogs haven't met my keyboard yet.

Maybe I'll find more time next year?