A Dedication to April 30

I could feel a sort of summer energy humming in the air, and it pulsed through my body excitedly. This happened on my way home... a few precious minutes away before I transport my body and mind to another serious domain. I am half-burnt (the summer sun is seriously hot!) while writing this, still in office clothes and cooling down at the same time. I'm not excited, am I?  I did not think about what I was writing. This remains mostly unedited. This is probably as close as I've come thus far to just letting words literally flow through me and onto this blog.

 Mango Furomaji from BreadTalk

Or, mind you, I'm just pretty excited about some cute cake. It made me very happy. I'm feeling rather light and happy today, mostly because of the long weekend -  Elle Woods drama, eat some good food, green trees, absorb the humidity of summer, etc. I'm quite excited. As if the universe wanted to nudge me along in my excitement, I saw this mango cake* at BreadTalk. Mango flavor, smiley top, pretty cheap. My cake hunger was instantly solved! LOL!

Bye, April! Hello May!

*Due to scorching summer heat, the cream literally melted on the side. Tiny bummer.

Hodgepodge

So I'm like a hodgepodge these past few weeks. There's no one to blame; this is all temporary. I'm gonna bail my good ass out from this hodgepodge soon. Mark my word. I will.

I have long decided that I should not follow the major fad. I support the minority. With this, I vow that, as far as my homegrown talents are concerned, I shall create my own domain. What those talents are should remain under wraps. I'm still honing them until they are ripe for public consumption. The public may not include the people who are not so crazy about me. Oh well, merci.

This makes no sense, I know. See? Hodgepodge.

Gotta hurry to somewhere lively and whip up some vegan dinner. Red meat, out!

Gone Too Soon

Life is short. I could barely count all the people who have uttered that classic line, be it in the movies, sitcoms, soap operas or talk shows. I never really paid attention to it because I know very well that our mortal bodies will someday expire. So why bother paying attention to it, I'd say. Until 8:53 this morning.

One of my college besties lost her beloved husband yesterday from a motorcycle accident. I didn't know how to react and how to comfort her while she mumbled the painful news over the phone. It pained me so much and for a while I found myself at a loss for words. Lots of unneccessary questions hovered through my head. 

How could fate be so tragic? What will happen to their two beautiful kids? Blah-blah. And most importantly, how merciless could fate be to snatch a supportive husband away so soon from a wonderful young wife?

I witnessed how they renewed their love ties in the metro, away from the prying eyes of their folks and friends in the Surfing Capital of our country. They were HS sweethearts, but college life separated them. Dave (RIP, my friend) pursued bestie Vitanie all the way from Cebu where the former went to college. To cut the long story short, they lived together, bore two children and got married. To our minds that time, they were really meant for each other. I even suggested the name Geoffrey (Geoff for short - from actor Geoff Eigenmann who happens to be one of my celebrity crushes that time) for their firstborn, and bestie heeded my humble suggestion.

Life is really short. And now, the least I could do is to invoke God's ultimate guidance for bestie, Geoff and Sasha.

Today Is Earth Day!

Today, earthlings are duty-bound to contribute at least one selfless act for Mother Earth. After all, Earth is our one and only solace in this mighty universe. It wouldn't hurt just to be conscious of our own trash, throw the same properly, walk to save gas and help clean the air at the same time, or plant a seedling or what have you.

Founded in 1970, Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. According to Wikipedia, Earth Day 2010 also coincides with the World People's Conference on Climate Change, to be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and with the International Year of Biodiversity. Ah yes, climate change. But that topic is so mundane, right? Note the sarcasm here.

As a nature lover, I hope to leave my Earth - your earth, our Earth - much better than I found it. Happy Earth Day, y'all!

Laki Sa Gatas. Bow.

 My fave milk flavors as of press time: BB's green apple, banana boat & beary strawberry

Circa my grade school years, my folks were very particular with downing a glass of milk before bed time. As an obedient kid (Obedience used to be one of my key virtues, just so you know) I followed them. Fast forward to HS days, I grew a tiny devilish tail (cue devil laugh) so I bade au revoir to the habit. Reason? Never did like milk aftertaste. So I tricked my beloved folks that I'm lactose intolerant, which isn't at all true. For quite some time, my folks believed my invented tale. Call it weird but I don't like the clingy effect of milk to my tongue, maybe because I hate seeing my tongue white. I kind of associate it with poor hygiene. So there.

But after my horrible acne stage, I started loving milk. Research has it that milk has calming effects which promote a peaceful sleep. Blah-blah. I want to be more detailed and scientific about this but, heck, what for? I now *cardiovascular organ* milk. That's the point.

So while browsing some grocery shelves, I found Bear Brand's  fruit flavored milk drink. I find it amusing that once upon a time Bear Brand topped my hate list (and Nido too) and now I love the brand. My current fave is the beary strawberry flavor. While I'm making this entry, I can't help but smile. Such shallow shallow topic eh? All for the love of milk.

To quote one of my favorite local artists - Asia's Songbird,  "Ako'y laki sa gatas!"

Avenue Q: We're Back!

Hmmm, this is my long overdue post about Avenue Q. I watched this Sesame Street-inspired musical last March 24 with my BF at the RCBC Theater. And I furry furry furry much enjoyed it despite holding back a liter of pee (exag, I know) prior to the musical's 15-minute break.

The characters, namely, Princeton, Kate Monster, Rod, Nicky, Brian, Christmas Eve, Gary Coleman, Trekkie Monster, Lucy the Slut, Mrs. Thistletwat and The Bad Idea Bears will always hold a memorable spot in the theater fan in me. 

True enough, Rachel Alejandro was a revelation as Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut. I suffered from LSS for a couple of days, thanks to her excellent performance of "There's A Fine, Fine Line". And I bet I will associate anything R-18 to Trekkie Monster's hilarious song "The Internet Is For Porn". Last but not the least, I think I will never view Sesame Street puppets with 100% wholesome feeling, and any attempt of resurrecting that same feeling which traces its roots from my puppet-worshipping childhood days will always be futile. Two words: Puppet nudity.

Our precious tickets

And here's something not so trivial, I learned the concept of Schadenfreude from the musical. Hmmm. So that very human feeling has a name after all. Interesting, isn't it?

Himontagon Hills of Loay

These verdant hills overlooking the whole town of Loay in Bohol were just perfect to cap off my Easter Sunday. Although not as popular as the Chocolate Hills, the Himontagon Hills (or Morning Hills) offer a scenic view of Loay and the Bohol sea as well. Getting there is not quite easy as the road is partly rough, only 4x4 vehicles and rural motorcycles (popularly known as habal-habal) can literally succeed to the top.

It is said that Mount Hibok-Hibok in Camiguin is very visible during clear weather. Amazing. I'm looking forward to my next visit sans the flat tire incident* of course. LOL!

*Turns out to be very hilarious amid the eerie silence of the hills and without network signals.

What's THE BUZZZ?

Armed with loads of SPF, bottled H20 and shades (gotta take care of my eyes), my bro and I went to Tagbilaran City last ultra-hot Holy Tuesday for a food trip. The initial plan actually is to go to Bohol Bee Farm (now a part of every tourist itinerary) in Dauis, Panglao Island and try their in-house cafe but we shunned the idea since the farm is not accessible by public commute. So, we opted to go to their cafe branch in Island City Mall in Dampa District.

The Buzzz (note the extra "z") offers a homey ambience, organic honeyed products and affordable prices as well. Since it's Holy Tuesday and tourists were presumably enjoying the scenic Panglao beach and the countryside tour, we had the cafe all to ourselves.

What's the buzzz?! Their menu comes in an embroidered folder made of something abaca, I think. I'm not 100% sure though.

After almost 10 minutes, the famous organic garden salad (fresh picked assorted romaine lettuce, radish, turnips, mustard greens and indigenous flowers served with honeyed mustard salad dressing), which sells for only Php 110, was served. It comes with two slices of wheat bread with pesto and honey spreads. The combo was simply delicious and yep, the bougainvillea petals were (gasp!) edible.

Honeyed halo–halo (PhP 140), made of fresh indigenous organic fruit like langka, mango, nipa fruit and topped with homemade ice cream (ube & langka, your choice actually).  I'd say this is far more tasty than Razon's.

Ube fries with honeyed latik (Php 80)

Home-made ice cream (Php 80 for three scoops). I chose three unusual ice cream flavors, namely, malunggay, lemon grass (tanglad) and spicy ginger. Two thumbs up for the lowly tanglad! LOL!

Honeyed puto maya and tsokolate (Php 80). The tsokolate is quite similar to Cafe Adriatico's Chocolate Eh! (exclamation point is part and parcel of the name), an authentic Spanish hot chocolate beverage.

Honey-mania: The cafe sells organic food items such as honeyed salabat, pure honey (but of course!), honeyed bahalina, honeyed tableya, kape mais, cab-cab, bread spreads (choices are pesto, coriander, honey, malunggay, mango and choco) and organic flavored muffins.

A must-try!

Cute bees

Looking forward to more honeyed treats from Bohol Bee Farm.

Clarin Ancestral House in Loay

So while I've been not blogging, I've been basking in the humid Holy Week air in Bohol, specifically in Loay. Aside from the typical meet-and-greet with the oldies based there, my bro Popo and I spent basically an entire Holy Tuesday afternoon wandering in the quiet town of Loay and taking pictures as well. Then we ended in Clarin Ancestral House which is just a few steps away from great-grandfather's house.

For the Bol-anons, the surname Clarin speaks of prominence. Built in 1840, the Clarin Ancestral House is a typical heritage house of a rich political clan in the province, and it is registered with National Historical Institute. The house has produced two senators, congressmen, a governor,  a mayor, blah-blah. You got it. I'm just simply amazed with the fact that the family has managed to preserve the precious artifacts and to showcase it to the public. Click here if you like details.
 

Part of Cafe Olegario, a snack cafe inside the Clarin Ancestral House grounds

A 1920's reproduction of Juan Luna's Spoliarium ~ an indication of a growing sense of nationalism

 

 Chess table ~ used to be the chess session table of Olegario Clarin, Sr. and President Carlos P. Garcia

Butaka or the quintessential impolite chair ~ even the Westernized elite need to let their hair down

Half-canopied high bed with raised carving ~ high class then used to be taken literally

Cuspidor or spittoon ~ made of porcelain

Urinola or porcelain chamber pot

Urna/family altarpieces with heirloom ivory saints ~ devotion going hand-in-hand with quality

Porcupine, caught in Palawan during one of the Clarin brothers hunting trip

 Chinoiserie porcelainware ~ a must for a house that entertained so many great men and women during its heyday

Banggera/earthen jar stand ~ concession to a native architectural devise

Dining table

Study tables in the family library

Looking glass with hat pegs ~ the colonial version of the hat check

Juan Luna's Blood Compact ~ a reproduction made in the 1920's. The original now hangs at the Malacañan Palace.

Prasko/demijohn or wine vessel ~ a relic of fiestas of long ago

Maltabana/big jar ~ one of the status symbols of ancient trade

Receiving area

Their version of NYC's Statue of Liberty ~ reminiscent of American colonial period

An entrance fee of Php 20 is all worth it!

For a heritage house which is more than 100 years old, I kinda expected to catch spirit orbs in my digicam. Strange as it may seem and quite surprisingly as well, I didn't catch any! LOL!