under the sun

Enjoy the Outdoors!

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:20:00 +0000

Outdoor activities should be an enjoyable experience. While we toil away in the fast-paced city living, we need to explore nature once in a while. A trek to see what nature can offer is memorable experience. Even more awesome is to see the vast expanse of snow-covered mountains during winter time. I do wish someday I could experience that. While flipping channels yesterday, I came across a show about a group of mountaineers. It looked like a difficult sport and hobby to get involved in but getting to those areas where nature is so breathtaking makes it worth the trouble.

Like any other adventure sport (or life in general), everything is a risk. But when you come prepared, it keeps you at ease and ready to embark on the adventure. I noticed that those mountaineers in the show rode trucks with chains on its tires. These are called snow chains. It makes trekking those rough roads with thick snow easier. These chains on the wheels provide traction between tire and the snow. It prevents the vehicle from skidding off the road due to the slippery conditions in the snow. Having these tire chains may slow down your driving speed but it keeps you safe and you reach you destination worry-free. Choose a reliable brand that is not made of cheap steel. As the saying goes, "A chain is as strong as the weakest link."

For a worry-free mountaineering, it helps to have a good camping tent. You should be able to pick a good tent as tents nowadays make camping a breeze. They are easy to setup and makes you enjoy the outdoors more instead of spending the whole afternoon just setting up the camp.

Explore the outdoors now!

Summer and Basketball

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:51:00 +0000

It is college basketball season! Which team are you rooting for?

New website design on Dneero

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:13:00 +0000

I think it is cool to update website design to keep people coming back to the site.

What is your favorite love song?

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Share them now!

Endurance Sports

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Do you watch those competitions?

More on the hair...

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:37:00 +0000

What is the best shampoo for you?

Hair Trends

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:26:00 +0000

My hair undergoes the trim and grow cycle only. I sport the same hairstyle since I was a kid. How about you?

Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:26:00 +0000

How should one celebrate Memorial Day? Share your thoughts.

Museums

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:41:00 +0000

Have you visited the museum near you lately?

Buzztrendz and Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:51:00 +0000

Still on Twitter, what can you share about it?

Are you in Twitter?

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:00:00 +0000

I have to admit I haven't been checking out Twitter until the Ashton vs CNN race to 1M followers. Ashton won and I am one of the followers who made it possible. Do you tweet?

Susan Boyle and American Idol

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Let us talk about music. Susan Boyle enamored the world. American Idol does not want to be left behind.

Blogsvertise!

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:20:00 +0000

I joined Blogsvertise today. I learned about this from a forum and the member who posted about seemed excited about this opportunity. It is so hard to find inspiration on what to blog so I think joining this site is a good idea. I get to write about something and at the same time earn from writing. Hopefully, this will turn out good for me. I want my creative juices flowing.

I've been doing all these jobs on the Internet writing reviews so it is time to go one step further. I know I've been neglecting my blog for some time now. Now, there is no reason for me to. Hopefully, they'll approve my request.

If I were a boy...

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:55:00 +0000

What do you think of Beyonce's song 'If I were a boy'? How about American Idol Judge Kara Dioguardi?

SpitzTunes -- SpeakEasy!

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:52:00 +0000

So, what's on your mind? Read along.

Separated at Birth

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:40:00 +0000

I've always mistaken Javier Bardem for Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Am I the only one who think they look alike?

My Thoughts on the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:19:00 +0000

I am seeing Eva Mendez everywhere. She's gorgeous, though. I just think the bow is too much.

What is Jennifer Lopez wearing? She should take a cue from Tina Fey.

I fear wardrobe malfunction on these celebrities. New Year's resolution: put a limit to push-up bra usage.

Help me understand the look they want to convey.

I love these dresses! (And not Drew Barrymore's do.)

Kate Winslet deserves the awards. She is an intelligent and seasoned actress. Her filmography shows the depth of her thespic abilities.

See you at the Oscars!

Photos: http://omg.yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Blogger is no fashion expert. Remarks on celebrities' attires are based on the blogger's personal preference.

How to Solve Sudoku Manually

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:05:00 +0000

Of course, it is much more fulfilling to solve sudoku with just a pen as an aide, right? Here are some techniques I use:
1. Identify recurring numbers.
2. Draw lines mentally or lightly using a pencil, whichever is your preference. The reference point will be the identified recurring number.
3. Use deduction.

Using step 1, 2 and 3 above, we apply these tips to this puzzle:

Step 1. Let us try the number 7
Step 2. We draw the line (or lines if possible) from 7.

Step 3. By deduction, 7 should be on the cell encircled below

Let us repeat procedure for other numbers.

Step 1. Let's try 8.

Step 2.The lines will eliminate the cells where we cannot put 8.

Step 3. By deduction, 8 should be on the cell encircled below.

Repeat steps for other numbers and you'll end up solving the puzzle like I did below:

Try it yourself and enjoy sudoku!

See also:
Sudoku Excel Helper Explained
Sudoku Trick

Mosquito Zapper

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:19:00 +0000

Since the start of the New Year, we have been experiencing heavy rains. Low lying areas in the province and even the city have been flooding. Although there are no flooding in the place where we lived, the puddles that have formed in the unpaved streets, the murky waters in the gutters or simply the basin collecting the water that is dripping from the leaked roof were breeding grounds- in this case, breeding waters for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes in the tropical countries are lethal. They could carry dengue. Dengue is a disease caused by an Aedes mosquito bite. It usually starts with a high fever, a rash. It usually occurs in tropical countries. When nor properly treated, dengue is lethal. This leads me to another story.

Just the other day, there was a power failure. The people in our house sat idly in the living room with nothing to do. Brownouts give us the realization on how we are dependent on electricity, like we cannot live without it when the truth is that we only had it in less than a hundred years ago. No, I was not going to expound further on the history of electricity. My dad would usually start his stories about Benjamin Franklin. Who in his right mind fly his kite with a live mouse on a stormy night? Was it stormy that night? I have to recheck the story. Or perhaps science. Lightnings are associated with storms and dark skies, right? Now, where was I? Oh, the brownout. While sitting in the living room, I saw my uncle holding what looks like a tennis racket. I know that he is not starting on a new sport. He was swinging it indiscriminately all over the place. Then, something zapped! Interesting. What he was holding was a mosquito zapper. He swings the racket-like device where a mesh of fine screen has some kind of electrical charge that shocks mosquitoes along its path. So, while the lights were out, we spent the idle time zapping away mosquitoes until the zapper gave up that my dad told us to replace the batteries. To which we replied that it does not need battery. It needs to charge to an electrical outlet. He quickly replied, "Then, recharge it!" He forgot about the brownout. We laughed. We thought of another way to pass the time. Singing, perhaps.

Churros con Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 08:50:00 +0000

I have always heard about churros. My Spanish teacher one told the class that by the end of the semester, she will introduce us to Spanish food (which never happened). She mentioned paella and churros con chocolate. I thought ‘churros’ was some kind of dried fruit dipped in chocolate. I was thinking ‘churros’ was spanish for cherries! I once saw how this was made from FoodNetwork’s Gale Gand. From then on, I know how it should look like. Churros look like "straight" doughnuts.

One saturday afternoon, I slaved myself by cooking churros. I should have piped the dough using a star-stipped pastry syringe but I do not have it so I improvised by using a ziploc sandwich bag as pastry bag. I cut one corner to serve as nozzle. After I was done with all the cooking, I vowed not to do this again. I hate cooking for a long periods of time. It took an hour to finish the entire recipe. I have to wait for two churros to be fried well before I can dunk in another batch because that thing tends to curl up in the hot oil thus occupying the entire frying pan. I'm glad I was not alone feeling that way. One of my favorite bloggers tried to make churros also and said that she not thinking of doing it again.

It is funny that the Iron Chef Amercia episode that was shown on television that evening had chocolate as a secret ingredient. One of Mario Batali's dishes was churros con chocolate.

Yummy Gulaman

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:57:00 +0000

My favorite desserts made by my mother are refrigerator cake, chocolate leche flan (custard) and gulaman. I could not find Mama's recipe book. These were recipes written on the white spaces on a manual of some kitchen appliance. I remember the ingredients she used but I cannot recall the proportions. Ma's gulaman required egg yolks and we do not throw the egg whites because we use that to create the chocolate leche flan. Thanks to the internet, I can always try similar recipes. I found a very easy gulaman recipe that does not require eggs. It's so simple and quick. I must give credit to this blog for the recipe. Thanks, Toni!

Gulaman or agar is made out seaweeds. These are usually sold in dried bars. This is also used as culture medium for laboratory work. The bars are dissolved in water and left for several minutes to set into a jelly. Powdered gelatin may probably be substituted for this recipe but I do not know the proportions.

Ingredients:
1 bar gulaman
2 1/2 cups water
1 can condensed milk (301 ml)

Procedure:
Tear gulaman into strips. Soak it in water. Boil gulaman-water mixture until gulaman is dissolved. Remove from heat. Prepare bowl with condensed milk. Pour gulaman over condensed milk. Mix well. Strain mixture over the mold. Chill for several hours before releasing it from the mold.

Folks at home loved this. It has the right sweetness. This was a winner for us. Everybody loved it. I am a purist. I love this in its simplest form but I got a request from my aunt to mix it with fruit cocktail. I had a different experience with that. The fruits tend to float in the mixture that when it was released from the mold, all the fruits are in the bottom. I researched on the internet. The trick was to incorporate the fruits when the gulaman is half set so that it will be able to hold the fruits.

Paul Anka: Rock Swings!

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 02:44:00 +0000

Paul Anka is already a celebrity in our house long before I got hold of this new album. I grew up listening to 'Diana', 'Lonely Boy' and several other songs. No, I did not grow up in the 60's. I am an 80's child but my Sunday afternoons are spent on trips to 60's music lane. My father would crank up his music collections on Sundays. Back then, my parents would picture him as this handsome singer with shrieking female fans. Fast forward to the new millennium, he has this DVD which was recorded from his concert in Las Vegas. I saw a balding old man with the classic groove. Nothing new. I need to watch the DVD several times over to appreciate the performance. I learned that this guy wrote 'My Way'. Yes! It is that Frank Sinatra song which one should not sing in karaoke bars lest be shot to death for bastardizing the song.

Recently, I got to listen to the "Paul Anka: Rock Swings" album. I did not expect too much from this album. Needless to say, I was extremely pleased. The album contains his versions of some rock hits like Oasis "Wonderwall', Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" and Soundgarden's "Blackhole Sun". It is a wonder why this man, who composed gazillion songs, would do covers for other artists. Once you listen to this album you will realize that his musicality still shines through nonetheless. The arrangers should also be commended for the way the music turned out. I love the way the brass band swinged it. It rockingly swings good. This is fun music! This is ideal for parties where there’s a mixture of age groups. The younger generation would enjoy this because they recognize the songs and the older ones will enjoy because it is Paul Anka. In my case, I can now understand the lyrics to Nivana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" and this is one of my favorites in this album.

Below is the list of tracks:
1. It`s My Life (Bon Jovi)
2. True (Spandau Ballet)
3. Eye Of The Tiger (Survivor)
4. Everybody Hurts (REM)
5. Wonderwall (Oasis)
6. Blackhole Sun (Soundgarden)
7. It`s A Sin (Pet Shop Boys)
8. Jump (Van Halen)
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
10. Hello (Lionel Richie)
11. Eyes Without A Face (Billy Idol)
12. Lovecats (The Cure)
13. Way You Make Me Feel (Michael Jackson)
14. Tears In Heaven (Eric Clapton)

GO ahead! Buy yourself a copy. I know you want to. ;-)

The Chicken Adobo Debut on Martha

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:19:00 +0000

I was flipping channels last Friday and I stumbled upon a cooking demo on making chicken adobo hosted by no other than Martha Stewart! The guest was a chef who owns a successful Filipino restaurant in New York. They have a different way of cooking the adobo. They baked the chicken after cooking it on the stove. Also, they put coconut milk and chili on the sauce. I understand that part because the chef is from the Bicol region. They are known for using coconut milk and hot chili pepper in their dishes. Despite the difference in our adobo preparation, I still was happy to have seen a Filipino dish on American television.

I photographed my television to get the stills of that show!

Here's Martha and the guest chef.

Chicken is cut into pieces.

Here's how coconut milk is extracted the traditional way. We used to own a similar grater. I once tried to use it. It's pretty hard. I was still a child when I tried it so I guess I'll never know if it was really hard. Nowadays, we can buy freshly grated coconut meat from the market. They now have a machine that can grate coconut meat in seconds.

Chicken is marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, water sugar, salt, pepper and bay leaf.

The chicken is cooked together with the marinade.

This is final product! For presentation, the adobo is placed on a banana leaf.

Mango Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:26:00 +0000

I got this mango pudding recipe from a friend a few months back but I never had the time to try it out. I had a day off from work last Thursday so I had the opportunity to try the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water plus 1 + 3/4 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin (2 envelopes)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 mangoes
1 cup half-and-half
Fruit for garnishes, such as kiwi, grapes, or tangerine segments

Procedure:
Put the 1/2 cup water in a large bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it stand for 5 minutes, or until softened.

Add the boiling water, and stir to dissolve the gelatin; then immediately stir in the sugar. Set aside.
Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh off the pits. Reserve half of one mango for garnish, and cut the remaining ma go into chunks, and then process it in a food processor to make a smooth puree. You should have about 2 cups pureed mango.

Stir the puree into the gelatin mixture, and then stir in the half-and-half. Divide the mixture among 8 individual bowls and refrigerate it for 3 hours, or until set. Top the pudding with sliced mango or other fruit. Serve with evaporated milk or half-and-half.

There were three things that I ignored- the part where I have to pour the mixture into eight ramekins, the part where I have to wait until the mixture is set and the garnish. I placed the mixture into an 8"x12" rectangular dish instead of the ramekins. After 3 hours, the mixture was still in liquid form. I was expecting it to harden like gelatin. So, instead of waiting for it to harden, I placed the dish in the freezer. The following day, we have mango sorbet! It was still yummy! I omitted the garnish because I have no more fresh mangoes.

Basic Photo Corrections using Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (SiKat) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 09:03:00 +0000

Photoshop is a very useful image enhancement tool. Amateur photographers like me can easily master basic tricks to correct minor imperfections in a photograph. Below are simple photo improvement techniques I often use using Photoshop.

1. Crop. Cropping a photograph simply means cutting off portions of the photo. This is to put emphasis on a particular subject or simply trimming off unnecessary blank spaces or unwanted areas. How do we do this? I have a sample photograph below. First, examine the photograph. Decide which portion you need to trim off. The glare of the window is distracting to me so let us trim off that portion by clicking the Crop Tool pointed by the red arrow. Drag the mouse to create a box to create the area to retain after cropping. Once you have decided on the image you wanted, enter to crop.

2. Healing Brush. Healing brush is a helpful tool which can correct blemishes, pimples and other imperfections in a a photgraph. It works by copying a "clean" portion of the photograph and overlapping the problem spot with the clean copy. To do this, examine the photograph. Click on healing brush. Press AlT+Click to define a source. This is the clean area of the photograph to be copied. Then, click over the area to correct. Several clicks may be need until the right corrections are finally applied.

3. Curves. Curves is a very powerful tool. Photographs can be corrected by mastering only this tool. In my case, I often use this to correct dark pictures. Click on Image>Adjustments>Curves. Curves will adjust the bright and dark areas in the photograph. Click on a point in the line. Adjust up and down to get the right adjustment. Try on other points until the correction is right. See the adjustments made below.

4. Brightness and Contrast. Photoshop allows image adjustments on its brightness and contrast. The tool is simple yet it creates a huge improvement in the photograph. The brightness control regulates the brightness of the pixel while contrast regulates the difference between dark and light areas. To do this, simple click on Image> Adjustments> Brightness and Contrast. Adjust the levels to you desired output.

6. Sharpen. There are images that are blurry and would be further improved by sharpening. To do this click on Filter> Sharpen. You have the choice to do Sharpen, Sharpen Edges, Sharpen More and Unsharp Mask. I often use the first three but I was told that the unsharp mask gives a better output. I have not learned that part yet. Below is what sharpening does to a photograph. It adds more detail to a photograph. The grains, lines and texture of the flower are now visible. Personally, I prefer the unsharpened one.

Like any other tool, use the tips above at your own discretion. Using these tips can either improve or worsen the image that you are trying to correct. Be sure to have back-ups in case you accidentally ruin the image.