Omigosh An Earthquake!

It's what I fear most because we live in a high-rise building that's 40 stories and we live on the 36th floor. In the aftermath of the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, I live in fear of earthquakes especially since the Philippines lies along the Pacific ring of fire that have frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Well, we just had a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Manila (according to the news) early this morning. I woke up at around 1:20AM because I felt our bed swaying a little. I sat up in bed thinking that maybe I was feeling dizzy from waking up suddenly. The swaying continued for what seemed like a very long time. The Twerp did not stir neither did Via's caregiver, her Tita Neneng.

When I felt the swaying stop, I debated whether to go down to the lobby. I waited a few minutes, then the swaying started again. I was praying that it would not get stronger than what I felt was a hammock slightly swaying. It stopped again after what felt like several minutes, although I guess it must have only been a minute. I thought then it would be a very weak earthquake. I logged online to check if there were any news of the earthquake but I saw none online. It just happened after all! It took a while for me to fall asleep again.

I was so surprised when my friend Bex sent me SMS about the earthquake at around 6AM saying there was an earthquake and it was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Manila. I checked for news online again as soon as I got to the office and found out that the epicenter was in Zambales, a province about 5 hours away from Manila and that there were several aftershocks. So what should we do during earthquakes again? Here is a checklist I got from the Red Cross website. If inside the building like we were:

• Drop, cover, and hold. Move as little as possible.


• If in bed, stay there, curl up, hold on and protect your head with a pillow.


• Stay away from windows to avoid being injured by shattered glass.


• Stay indoors until the shaking stops and make sure it's safe to exit. If you must leave the building after the shaking stops, take the stairs, not the elevator as there may be power outages.


• Sprinklers and fire alarms may go off.

For more information, visit the Red Cross website.

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TGIF with The Green Tomato

Most everyone I know look forward to Fridays especially if they've had a tough week at work. My friends and I were especially looking forward to a get together after some of them came back from a trip to Hong Kong. We have a great system for traveling with friends. Everyone who's going on the trip put money in a "pot" which will be spending money of the group for the entire trip. Someone is assigned treasurer and does the budgeting. It works out great. Anyway, they had money left over and decided to treat the whole group to pizza to unwind after work.

We all met at our office cafeteria after work and ordered pizza from The Green Tomato.

Four Cheese with Cheddar, Mozzarella, Feta and Parmesan with Pesto. This is my favorite! So yummy and cheesy  :)

Margherita with fresh tomato slices and pesto. A little trivia, Margherita is what I wanted to name the Twerp but Daddy had other ideas. He was appalled! He said, how could I name our baby after pizza. Her name should mean something. So he named the Twerp and she ended up with very, very long name full of meaning :D

Pepperoni Feast with pepperoni, onions and bell peppers. Good, pepperoni is always good.

I brought along the Asti Martini my boss gave me last Christmas. It's been in my office drawer for so long.

We had a great time, talking about their recent trip and planning next year's trip. Voting is still open for Singapore, Taiwan or Hong Kong again. I voted Singapore because I want to bring the Twerp to Universal Studios. Crossing my fingers!

The Green Tomato, 6th Level Shangrila Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila

 

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The Secret to a Long Life

The Twerp and I went to my Aunt's birthday last night. It was her 80th birthday. She is my father's older sister and has the same birthday as my father who passed away about 8 years ago. He wasn't even 70. I said to my cousin how most of the sisters were still alive and all the brothers have passed away. He said that women usually live longer than men. Well...maybe. Below is a photo of three of my father's sisters: the youngest, 70 (second from left); the eldest, 85 (third from left); and the birthday celebrant (right most).

I'm not sure about my cousin's theory but on my mother side, I had a grandfather who lived to be 99. His eldest daughter, my favorite aunt is now 96, still strong, healthy and in command of her faculties. There many aunties that are 85 years old and more.

So what's the secret to living a long life? For me, it's a combination of the following:

• The lifestyle back then in their generation was much simpler and the kind of world they grew up in had less pollution, chemicals and processed food.


• A strong faith. My aunt is like a rock in her faith and accepts anything that comes her. Nothing fazes her and she never worries or fears anything.


• Being a giving person. She is not rich but gives generously of her time and money without expecting anything in return.


• She is also humble, never putting herself forward or over anyone.

In a nutshell, clean and simple living with no fears and worries. What do you think is the secret to a long and healthy life?

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