Yaya Relief

I had written about my difficulties with the Twerp's yaya and how I'm looking for a suitable replacement. Finally, we did. Rather, her first caregiver who's my cousin came back. She took care of Via when she was a month old until about 7 months. She had to leave because she was given a job at her hometown's municipal office. She has children so I understand that she prefers to be with her family. However, her paycheck was not regular and she decided to resign from that job. Lucky for us.

I had not realized how much stress the previous yaya was giving me. I even had to have physical therapy for my neck and shoulders because the muscles have become bunched from stress. I am so relieved and feel so much better that Via is in good hands.

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Keep Them Coming

Even before Via was born, friends and relatives have been giving me baby stuff. Brand new or hand me downs, everything welcome, I'm not choosy :)  I have not had to spend a lot for her clothes, toys and other stuff. Until now the gifts keep coming. Via still has shoes in reserve and clothes that are still too big to wear. Yesterday, I went to pick up another package sent by an aunt in LA through a friend.

The little twerp loves gifts and opening them. She was even happier to see the contents and tried everything on immediately. Thank you Tita C!

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A Little Surgery

Every year during my annual physical exam I'm reminded to have this little bump at the back my head removed. It's been there for years. It was even x-rayed to see if it's something to be concerned about. Apparently it's nothing serious. Still this year I decided to finally have it removed. It's a minor, outpatient procedure. It was done by a doctor in our office clinic who's also a surgeon. He said he's authorized to use the operating room in Megaclinic in SM Megamall so that is where he'll do it. 

We met at Megaclinic after work and I got dressed in a hospital gown and changed my shoes to a sterile one from their shoe rack. But they told me to put my shoes on the same shoe rack so those shoes aren't really sterile anymore. I lay on my stomach on the operating table but had nowhere to put my arms where it would be comfortable. So the attendants attached a makeshift arm rest to the operating table. I was amused by the whole thing because it's like a comedy sitcom. The procedure too about 15 minutes including the closing of the incision. 

Then Dr. D said the tape to hold the gauze in place won't stick to my hair. We needed to improvise. He said I needed a headband such as those worn by athletes to keep sweat from trickling down their face. Since I didn't have one with me, I got changed and went to SM department store to buy the headband. Couldn't find one so I got a headband for the hair with ribbon. P and Via met me after and we had dinner. I looked ridiculous walking around the mall wearing that headband with ribbon around my forehead. I even met an officemate who thought I did it on purpose. Some new style I was trying out.

I wasn't supposed to get it wet for about a week but the next day we played badminton and I just had to wash my hair and I washed it everyday after that. Luckily it didn't get infected. I blow dryed my hair each time making sure it was thoroughly dry and applied betadine plus I took antibiotics.

I healed quickly and the bald patch is not noticeable once hair is brushed over it.

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Travel Souvenirs

During the holidays, I went through my clothes to give some of them away because we have very limited space at home. I realized I had so many T Shirts. It's what I buy as souvenir whenever I travel. I also collect keychains and refrigerator magnets but they're difficult to find in some places I've been to like in P's hometown in Indonesia or in Laos. T Shirts, however, are always available as souvenir items.

When we went to Bangkok, I saw shirts in Chatuchak market with messages that I found amusing. I got one of those and a kid's shirt with elephants that was so cute.

  

T Shirts would make a great  valentines day gift especially if you're like some people who have difficulty expressing their feelings. Just have it made to order and print whatever is in your heart. Twins T Shirts are really cute especially on babies. It makes them look even more adorable. 

I have T Shirts from around the Philippines but some of my favorite T Shirt souvenirs are the ones I got in the US because the material is pure 100% cotton. Very comfortable. I bought kids shirts because the adult medium size in the US is like XL in Philippine size. Besides, the designs on children's T Shirts are much nicer. These two shirts are from Monterey when we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and went whale watching.

   

But back to my sorting, I think I will hang on to my souvenir shirts and just store them in a box. It's great to look at them once in a while and remember the travels to those places.

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Mommy and Me

This post is in memory of my mother who passed away 11 years ago. Last weekend was her death anniversary. I still miss her to this day. She's the person I love most in the world and I cannot think of her without getting emotional. I miss her and I wish she could have seen my daughter.

This picture, with a mosque behind us, was taken when I was about 5 years old at Nayong Pilipino. It's a big park that features the different regions of the Philippines with their famous landmarks. It's like a mini vacation and seeing the places without actually going there. There are replicas of places like the Chocolate Hills of Bohol and the Cagsawa Ruins of Bicol. She used to bring me here often. Nayong Pilipino has now relocated from Manila to Clark in Pampanga. It's not very accessible anymore but I hope to bring my daughter there one day.



Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

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Yaku Japanese Grill

A friend at work is migrating to Canada and our lunch group had it's farewell lunch for her at Yaku Japanese Grill at the 3rd floor of the Podium. It was a happy affair with lots of reminiscing and laughter. This was my first time to dine at Yaku and I was pleasantly surprised that the food was good and the prices reasonable. The servings were small but there was enough for everyone to have a taste. The best thing is we felt full but not stuffed after.

Enoki Bacon

Yakiniku

Aspara Bacon

  Ebi Tempura

Ankake Tofu

Rice with beef toppings (I forgot what it's called in the menu)

Yakimeshi Rice

Yasay Itame

Butabara

Negima

A photo to remember our farewell lunch taken at Segafredo where we had our coffee and dessert. We all had identical orders: Coffee with Frozen Braso de Mercedes.

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2011 Starbucks Diary

Started collecting stickers for my 2011 Starbucks Diary today. I got the Peppermint Mocha (love it!) and my friends, who donated their stickers got, Americano and another Peppermint Mocha. I don't have pictures of the diaries but they were on display. I like the one with the red velvet cover. I hope I get more sticker donations. There's a Starbucks in the library at work and if I hang around there I just might complete my sticker requirement with minimal cashout  :)

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Toddlers, The Great Imitators

Toddlers learn a lot by imitating and trying out new things and it's amusing to see. I found these photos on my mobile while deleting files. They made me smile.

Playing doctor to her stuffed dog Chao Pai.

Buying groceries with Mommy.

Looking all grown up.

Children like playing pretend. Since their social circle is limited at this point, they mostly imitate Mommy, Daddy and other people in the household. It  forces the adults to be on their best behavior by being good role models. The child's personality is becoming more evident as she learns more of the world she lives in. Providing a good example at this stage will make it easier for the child to be disciplined later on in life and grown ups get to learn from their children as well.

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It's All in the Accent

I work in an organization where employees are of different nationalities. It's fun and interesting because it's not the usual workplace. Although English is the language used at work, the different accents of people make it very interesting if sometimes challenging.

A consultant from New Zealand once asked me, "Are you hippy today?" I replied that I was not a hippy. Then he said that he would like to take a picture with me because it was his last day. Ohhhh....I realized then he was asking if I was HAPPY that day.

Then there's the boss from mainland China who was asking me to change some data in an excel spreadsheet. He kept saying, "vanish it, vanish it." Huh? It took a while for me to figure it out. He wanted me to use the VALUE SHEET.

It's been especially challenging to take minutes of meetings. Hard enough that sometimes attendees have already discussed issues by email before the meeting and seem to continue the email discussion at the meeting, but to deal with the different accents (Indian, French, Australian, Italian, Singaporean, etc.) really drives me nuts.

It all just makes each day interesting.

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Beef Rendang

Been trying to learn Indonesian dishes for P so he wouldn't be too homesick for food. He's been subsisting mostly on fried chicken, KFC, Jollibee, McDonald's, Inasal, etc. He's tried them all. Most of my experiments have not been too successful though. Either the recipes were not good or I wasn't following it correctly or I did not have the right ingredients. Still, I keep on trying. My friend Karen got a Singaporean cookbook which had a lot of Indonesian and Malaysian dishes in it. I decided to try out the Beef Rendang although the recipe confused me a bit because it was not specific enough. I had to look up other recipes on the internet. So this is a combination of many recipes.

1/2 kilo beef brisket cut into cubes
1 cup grated coconut, lightly toasted
1 cup thick coconut milk
3 pieces dried tamarind, sliced thinly
Salt and pepper to taste
2 pieces kaffir lime leaves
1 piece turmeric leaf
1 piece salam leaf
1 cup cooking oil


Blend the following into a paste:
1 medium onion
6 pieces large garlic cloves
1 teaspoon minced ginger
a handful candlenuts (I used almonds as candlenuts were not available)
1 piece shallot


Add these to the blended paste:
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chili paste
2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric poweder


Season beef cubes with salt and pepper and marinate for at least an hour.


Heat 1 cup cooking oil (in medium heat) in a large wok and fry the blended paste. Add the kaffir lime leaves, turmeric leaf and salam leaf and continue stirring until brown.


Add the sliced tamarind. Once the oil separates from the paste, add the marinated beef and cook in slow fire for 2 hours or until beef is tender. Stir once in a while and add a little water if the paste starts to dry up.


Add the grated coconut when the beef is almost tender and stir until well mixed. When the beef is tender, add the coconut milk. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once oil starts to float on top, it is ready.


Serve with steamed rice.


This time my experiment worked out well. P said it was good and I brought leftovers to work to have my friends taste it and they liked it too.

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