Because Tarajing Can Dream...

Why Not?

2013-10-02T01:11:00.002-07:00

Note to self:

I want one!

2013-06-06T23:23:00.001-07:00

Dole Philipines call it the Yonana Maker.

I want one! No, two. So Mom can have her own too.

Something for this weekend...

2013-05-15T20:54:00.001-07:00

Too easy. And all veggie! Yum!

Adding to Bucket List: Great Wall Race

2013-03-15T06:10:00.002-07:00

Not aiming the marathon. The half mary? Looks scary too with the steep inclines... So the 7.5km fun run would be just fine.

Ahhh, look at the photos at the Great Wall Marathon's page... The view is just amazing!

But that doesn't mean the race would be easy.

For this year I want to...

2013-01-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

...get most of my Christmas shopping done before December.

I generally don't make new year's resolutions but I remember dedicating a year for some sort of target. Like 2003 was the year for looking and feeling beautiful (a bit vain I know), 2004 was for keeping fit, 2005 was for travelling, and so on... If you think they qualify as new year's resolution, we'll they're too general compared to what I hear and read from others. For this year, however, I want to make at least one specific resolution/promise/pledge. And I will write it here (more than once) so I can see it always and be constantly reminded of it.

Get most of my Christmas shopping done before December.

Simple as that. You see, my December 2012 was a lot crazier than usual that I barely had time for shopping gifts. And if I had that teeny weeny time, I end up shopping for myself also. And in that very scarce moments I show up in the malls, everyone shows up too and I get dizzy just looking at the line in the cashier and that's even before I picked out something for gifting... Arrghh, even the memory of those trips at the malls stresses me. That was the most anxiety-filled time of the year and I want to avoid that next year.

Again:

Get most of my Christmas shopping done before December.

Note the "most" in the sentence. "Most" because there are just some things you cannot plan ahead. Like the spur-of-the-moment party invites you get and the impromptu exchanging gifts that come with them.

How about you, Riza?

Another Coconut Recipe!

2012-04-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here's another coconut recipe I'd love to try. Yum!

And it doesn't look too laborious to do.

I'd have to replace those raspberries though.

Whoa! Coconut Butter!??

2012-03-05T18:47:00.002-08:00

I want some Coconut Butter! I am not sure if I'll find it as delightfully good as the spreads that I regularly get in the grocery aisle--Lady's Choice Sweet and Creamy peanut butter and Magnolia Gold butter. But the one-ingredient procedure looks very doable. And we have lots of fresh coconuts here in Cebu. To dry the coconuts into the ingredient needed for the butter, ehow tells me drying them is not rocket science too.

Easier than a making a toast? Not for me as I don't have a blender or food processor (used in making the butter) and I'm not such a big fan of the oven (used for drying the shredded coconut). So what I did was email the above links to family and told them I am a willing guinea pig to taste test their first coconut butter. I hope they find the time to do this, busy that they are.

I Have My Eyes On You

2012-02-15T22:59:00.000-08:00

Since it’s supposedly the month of all things love, romance, etc., let me post about a current object of my affection.

I suck at love-letter writing, so let me just tell you straight:

I have my eyes on you. Yes you, sleek ASUS Transformer Prime.

Love,

Tarajing

What’s a Must-Have Item in Your Ideal Home?

2012-02-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

Cafeteria chitchat today brought us to the topic of houses. It has become a favorite topic lately with the news that at least two colleagues are moving to new abodes. So while we were in that subject, a guy officemate mentioned about a chandelier in his newly built house. I was real surprised to hear him say that especially because how he said it indicated that the chandelier was his idea and not the wife’s or the mother’s. I think I even let out a little chuckle because I thought men don’t need a chandelier.

Oh well, I thought maybe this is something he really pictured his house will have (influenced maybe by lifestyle programs showing grandiose houses with enormous, sparkling, ornate lighting fixtures). And then it made me think… What piece of item should my ideal house have? When I picture my little dream dwelling, what regular item (may it be an ornate fixture, a furniture, an appliance) always shows up in that image? Something that’s not present in my current apartment and in my previous residences?

That wasn’t so hard for me to identify as images of it vividly showed up in my daydream. And no, it’s not something you hang in the ceiling with crystals and dramatic lights.

A window seat. Um, not just a window seat but its bottom should be a storage cabinet as well.

Grabbed from photo from http://coastaldesignsct.com

Image from http://www.cushionsource.com/

http://www.cabinetrybykmc.com

From http://remodelingbible.com

From http://woodworkinstallations.com

Swiped from http://www.diarioartesgraficas.com

What about you? What's that must-have item?

Trading Dreams

2012-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

I woke up last Sunday morning with dreams about Forex trading – learning about it, getting good at it, going into it, and then later earning lots of money from it. Yeah, you read it right, Forex. I know the topic is significantly way off from my prior posts but that’s just how my dreams are cropping up lately.

Well, what started it all was the unplanned pot luck with the neighbors just because it was supposedly the subdivision’s fiesta. I was in the middle of dinner when a neighbor knocked at my door and invited me join them outside, in a table full of contributed food and drinks. Caught in a good mood, I went out and brought with me my still-hot-from-the-pan Carbonara dish.

To make the story short, the guys were already drinking when one (American) asked about Forex. His question was met with silence as his drinking buddies, all Cebuanos, hate conversing in English especially when it’s not about food. So just to be polite, I answered, “You mean foreign exchange?” And then he went to discuss animatedly about Forex trading and his experience. He got my interest so I kept throwing questions. Maybe because I was asking the right questions that he insisted that I should learn more about Forex and that I should meet him and another guy neighbor so he could show us how the platform looks and all.

And just like that, I and Alex showed up at his place the day after. We were shown some intimidating graphs like this:

My first reaction was, “Oh no not those boring graphs!”

But when he slowly explained, it was just like learning a new software at work. He gave me sites to look up and so now I’m going through lessons (free!) in an online school. I can't believe learning about Forex is fun! I hope the site doesn’t sell me anything later but so far I’m enjoying it. I’m still in pre-school level for now so there’s nothing more I can share.

Wish me luck!

Oh, by the way, my Carbonara dish was a hit at that mini party. :-)

Fashion Designing

2011-08-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

I really want to design clothes but my sketches are painfully crude that seamstresses might not figure them out. It doesn’t help that I can’t sew and I am also clueless in pattern making.

God knows I have these vivid images in my mind--what I wanted a dress to look, its textile, the color and print, and accessories to match it. The putting-the-vision-to-paper, however, is a little too tricky for me. So I guess this will remain a dream.

I have to note though that more than five years ago, I took tiny steps to this dream. I focused on swimsuit design. I love the beach, sea and swimming, why not swimsuits? Also I noticed how those available in the Philippine market are far from diverse--they're made to flatter only women with perfect figures. Once, I brought a couple of newly purchased bikinis (after I gave up at stitching them myself) to a clothing-alteration shop. I walked out of that shop happy but a lot poorer. So aside from knowing what to concentrate on my designs, I already then had a concept on what will make it different from the rest of the swimwear in the local market (definitely not the unsophisticated drawing of the designer!). I even had come up with a name of my line. That little step also involved getting fabric swatches from manufacturers, after which I realized it’s too much work and risk. I don’t have the funds for the capital and it seems suppliers of good textiles are at least a flight away. For really good suppliers, I will need my passport and maybe even need to procure a visa. Well, back to just dreaming.

Oh, here’s a sample of my crude sketch for just a very basic two-piece (the details I didn’t add as drawing it in would ruin this more).

Don’t snicker.

Of Neighbors and Breakfasts...

2011-08-11T00:05:00.001-07:00

I imagine my dream abode to be located somewhere I can enjoy fresh air and some peace and quiet (I’m still torn if I want it near the coastline or the mountains). Yet I don’t want it too far from the city so it wouldn’t be such a long commute when I need to be there, and family and friends wouldn’t be too lazy to come over on special occasions.

Speaking of friends, I always have this silly dream of having a select group of friends to be residing close by me. Yep, my neighbors will be some of my wonderful pals. No too close though that I can hear them when they suddenly decide to have a videoke concert. Uh-huh, these crazy people are mostly videoke whores.

Back to my fantasizing… And in this silly dream I’d whip up some breakfast and invite them lucky friends over. And then they’ll fall in love with the food I prepare and enjoy the feel of my place that they want to repeat the experience. So they bribe me to keep on preparing them these light morning meals (or heavy brunches) and gobble them up in my cozy dining room or some special place in my home just for them. I can just imagine who of my friends will be so insanely demanding on how their food should be done (e.g., fluffy eggs, only organic ingredients for the pandesal, etc.). I don't know what it is with concocting breakfasts and getting paid for it (of course, sometimes it'll be on the house) by happy patron-friends... Maybe because breakfasts are the easiest meals to prepare and after that I have the rest of the day to myself? I don't know. What I know is that it will contribute to me feeling less stressed, more contented, and I guess, happy!

P.S. This post is inspired by a chat I had with a buddy who could be that insanely demanding neighbor above. Good luck to our dreams!

Now for the Splash of Color

2011-08-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

As my previous post shows, I want my dream house painted, and my furniture, in safe, uncomplicated colors. Well mostly. Don't think of my dwelling to be devoid of vivid colors. I'll have the splashes in:

Carpets and Rugs

Pillows

Bar stool

Bean bag

Curtains

Or maybe some framed painting I made or some sunflowers or bright red roses in a vase in the living room.

See, my dream house is far from boring. But it won't be too bright to overwhelm me.

I Want Them Uncomplicated

2011-08-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

From the house layout in the previous post, you can see how I want most things simple. Even for furniture, I want them in solid, neutral colors. I'll save some bright splashes and prints in the rugs, pillows, one little furniture like a bar stool, the fresh flowers in the vase, or few quirky mementos you want to display. But I want my walls and ceilings in beige or white, my floor in dark brown wood, and my furniture in, well, just something plain and uncomplicated.

With my little space and my fondness for something simple, I love IKEA products. (But who doesn't?) Anyway, while blog-hopping I was led into another store that sells simple, clean designs--just the way I like them--for stuff for the home. Their shops are nowhere near the Philippines though and I don't want to know if they ship to this third-world place I call home (read: can't afford). So I just gawk at their products:

Armless sofa that I could curl up in with a good book. Well, maybe in a darker color like chocolate brown or black so stains from coffee spills and whatnot won't be so visible.
Of course a good book is perfect with a cup of joe. Speaking of which this coffee table is simply beautiful.
And it even doubles as a storage for bric-a-bracs!
Pretty buffet table, don't you think?

And these sleek shelving are just so sleek, I want to have them now! For sure, they'll maximize my white kitchen and room walls.Hmmnn... Now, please excuse me as I will have to check the lottery results. If I'm lucky today, I can show you soon my own dream home.

Two-Bedroom Home

2011-07-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

I got hooked to Floorplanner designing a layout for my little dream house. I am easy to please so my ideal dwelling is just this two-bedroom bungalow with lots of space outside for trees and flowers and maybe a vegetable garden later. Sigh, I can just imagine how much time I'd spend just lazing around in a house like this.

Here it is in 3d.
A closer look.

I can just hang out in the cozy living room, to channel surf. Or maybe experiment on a new dish in the pretty kitchen. I would gladly receive visitors if they promise not to stain my rug. Haha!
Or maybe I can kill the time at the patio with a good book and coffee. There's actually a little round table between the two chairs but for some reason it did not show here. And now that I think about it, I ought to add more trees. Fruit trees, preferably. So when friends come over, we'll just have a little barbecue under the shade. Whee!
Okay, off to dreamland now.

First Obligatory Post

2011-07-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

I’ve been recently preoccupied with thoughts of house plans, apartment designs and whatnots. Hmmn, I think "obsessed" could be more apt. Really!

Instead of the usual TV, book, or Sudoku game putting me to sleep, it’s now the mighty pen and my trusty notebook. Before I go to bed and call it a day, I make rough sketches of house layouts. And when I’m online, I scour the web for pictures of pretty living rooms, well-designed kitchens, cozy bedrooms, minimalist furniture, hardwood floors in my shade of brown, etc.

I don’t even have a parcel of land to build a house on nor can I afford to rent a condo unit or an apartment and have it redesigned to look how I would fancy it. (I actually am currently renting a very small place but I don’t want to spend so much on something that’s not even mine.) But a girl can dream, can’t she? And what if five years from now I will have the riches to finance my dreams?

So let me start this catalog of dreams with those about dwellings and what I want to see in it.