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10 things that make me happy

Hey it’s been awhile since my last post! I swear, I’ll try to update this blog more. 

Sunny day. Don’t you just feel a whole lot better when the sun’s out? I love sunny days because it makes me feel more alive and productive. 

Breakfast food. Maybe the reason why I’m a morning person is because of the fact that I love breakfast food and this is what I look forward to everyday. Getting up at 6am and eating breakfast. 

Homecooked meals. This is the reason why I go home every weekend even if I have a lot of acad-related works to do. I also love to cook my own meals especially because not all restaurants here in LB have vegetarian options. 

Working out. I love working out because it makes me feel and look good. 

Seeing old couples. It makes me realize that someone can actually love you for a long time, forever. This is also one of the reasons why I love attending the Saturday anticipated mass or the super early Sunday mass. 

Smiling kid. This makes me want to have a kid hahaha kidding aside, seeing a kid smile just really warms my heart. I really can’t say no to kids. 

Good sleep or long naps. This is something that I have really taken for granted back when I was still young. 

Little things. A simple hug, note or text message “how are you?” can really brighten my day. It makes me feel that someone actually cares for me. 

A good run. The kind of run where I’m drenched in sweat and my legs are sore. 

Solitude. I enjoy my own company especially after a long tiring week, I love spending time with myself. Going to a spa, watching a movie, eating at my favorite restaurant and the like. 

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February 05, 2017

reading Biochemistry by Lehninger. I'm not really good with chemistry that's why I'm self-studying. 

listening to the sound of rain. It's very relaxing. I actually downloaded an app called Sleepmaker and I always choose the rain sound whenever I couldn't sleep. Works like magic. 

watching random videos on Youtube. This is how I destress. thinking if I should still continue ~this~. 

smelling freshly laundered sheets. It feels so nice and it makes me want to sleep already. wishing this time it's going to be for real. 

hoping that I'll find a thesis topic and journals for my ENG10 tomorrow. 

wearing my Spongebob t-shirt dress. This is my pantulog. 

loving this new friendship that's just starting. Also, I love Sunday because it's grocery day. I love the fact that I ran 3 miles today. 

needing a thesis topic!!! Huhu 

feeling blessed and loved.

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January 29, 2017 

reading articles about Nutrition (my degree program) and its importance in our lives. 

writing an essay about nutrition. Ahhh. 

listening to B.P. Valenzuela’s Neon Hour album. 

watching Heston’s Dinner in Space. I’m trying to find a website where I could stream all episodes. 

thinking if I should workout or not because I feel really sick and weak. 

smelling my vanilla sugar cookie scented candle. I lighted it last night because I couldn’t sleep, now my whole room smells like sugar cookies. 

wishing everything will fall into place. Lord, I trust in You. 

hoping that people will go to my org’s orientation on Tuesday even though we only released one pubmat online. Also, I do hope the people whom I gave sponsorship letters to would respond within the week. Huhu, we need money for our event on Saturday. 

wearing my nighttime outfit heehee. My “flawless” white shirt and yellow boxer shorts. 

loving Sunday breakfasts even more especially my Dad’s cooking. Also, I’m loving all the support that I’m getting from my friends. 

wanting to shoot more with my film camera. But first, I need funds to get my films developed and to buy more films. 

needing to save up so bad. I need to stop being an impulsive buyer. 

feeling a little bit unwell, literally. I don’t usually get sick and my immune system’s pretty rad since I eat three servings of fruits and vegetables every day, but when I do get sick, it lasts for a week or two. 

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If you don’t know it yet, I’m fond of eating spicy food and I literally have small packets of chili powder and flakes in my bag so you could just imagine how happy I was when I saw this store at Malingap. 

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January 21, 2017

Raindrop cake from Dewdew Cake, Malingap Marketplace. 

reading articles about trends in foodservice industry for the last 5 years for my HNF 131 class because we need to choose one local and international trend and report it in class on Wednesday. 

writing a sponsorship letter for my org’s upcoming activity! 

listening to Goblin’s soundtrack / listen it here: http://thisplaylist.com/playlist/goblin-2016-ost.html

watching Goblin’s episode 14. I was supposed to watch it last night but I told myself that I need to finish my acad and org works first, which I didn’t because I fell asleep while doing it. Heehee. 

thinking about Chubby Habbi’s hummus and falafel. 

smelling freshly laundered sheets. 

wishing for time to stop for a while because I really need to finish all my acad and org works before I go back to Los Baños later. 

hoping that I won’t be such a lazy ass and run 3 miles later. 

wearing my nighttime outfit aka boxer shorts and white t-shirt. I haven’t taken a bath yet. 

loving my sister and I’s fridates. Since our class ends early during Fridays, we can go home to Quezon City early too without getting stuck in the traffic. Last Friday, we checked out Pipino’s vegetarian restaurant and strolled around Malingap street in Maginhawa. We both enjoyed it and that’s why we decided to have fridates every other Friday of the month. We’ll just check out new restos, stroll around the area and take picture of each other. It’s a great way for us to bond too because we don’t really get to bond with each other when we are in Los Baños. 

wanting to stay home because of free food and fast internet connection. 

needing a ton of motivation to finish this semester strong. One week with this semester and I feel so tired already. Too many requirements. 

feeling so irritated right now. I don’t want to blame it on my hormones since it’s almost time of the month again but yeah, I’m blaming it on my femininity. 

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Pipino Vegetarian Food by Pino

The idea of vegan food can be quite intimidating for some especially for those who are not fond of eating vegetables and do not have any background on how complex a vegan food is. I’ve been a vegetarian for almost three years now and vegetarian-friendly restaurants make me so excited. I found out about Pipino Vegetarian Restaurant when a co-vegan friend from Facebook posted about it. Pipino is actually a vegan restaurant taking pride of bridging healthy and delicious  to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.  

It’s not a secret that there aren’t many vegetarian-friendly and vegan restaurants in the Metro and although healthy eating is steadily becoming a new trend in dining, strict vegans are still left with only a few choices when eating out. Pipino prides itself in the fact that all the food that they serve are all plant-based and does not contain any animal or animal by-products. They use whole-wheat flour, muscovado or coco sugar, canola oil, coconut and almond milk to make their baked goods. This, however, does not make the food they offer any less delicious. Their servings are huge and definitely meant for sharing. Pipino vegetarian restaurant lies in Malingap street, along Maginhawa street which is more popularly known as “eat street” or the neighborhood food haven of Quezon City. It is co-shared with its less restrictive sister restaurant, Pino restobar.

The place is very homey, cozy and quiet that gives you that relaxing neighborhood restaurant feel as you enter. It is a frequent hangout place of vegan students and residents near the area.

I was browsing through their menu and I must admit that I was so overwhelmed because I could order anything from the menu without having to ask if it contains meat or any animal by-product. I asked the waiter for some advice and he recommended me the vegetable kare-kare. I said yes in an instant since Kare-kare is one of my favorite Filipino dishes. While my non-vegetarian sister ordered Beef Salpicao with Mango rice from Pino, the sister restaurant of Pipino.  

The kare-kare was served with vegan bagoong brown rice, chinese cabbage, green beans and some alfalfa sprouts on top. The sauce was thick, creamy and very flavorful. In addition, the black bean bagoong was so interesting. The taste was so close to the real bagoong. If you ate it together with the kare-kare, you would think that it is just the normal bagoong, but it’s not, it’s actually made of black beans. As for the beef salpicao, it was served with rice mixed with chopped ripe mangoes, shiitake mushrooms, fried quail egg and alfalfa sprouts on top as well. According to my sister, the meat was tender and perfectly cooked, and the flavor was delightful. Ina addition, the sweetness of the mango rice complimented the saltiness of the beef salpicao. 

Our trip to Pipino was definitely one of a kind and something that I would look forward to trying again next time. Every dish in the menu was creatively thought of and each has its own unique twist to a classic recipe.

Pipino Vegetarian Food by Pino

39 Malingap Street, Teachers Village

Quezon City

Tel Num: 441-1773

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/pipinoveg

Website: www.pipinovegetarian.com/

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January 15, 2017

It’s a gloomy Sunday in Los Baños. 

reading Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi / it’s a manuscript of a Guantánamo Bay detainee about the abuse he suffered and the lack of due process; just last year, 2016, he was finally released after 14 years in prison. I asked my Dad to buy me this book when he went to US last summer but never really had the chance to read it because of my ~acads~.

writing this Sunday Currently. Well, I miss writing in general. It’s been a while since the last time my fingers went to function and I feel kind of upset for not being able to write that much anymore.

listening to the third album of The xx: I See You / my favorite so far is Test Me, I mean it speaks to me, “I don’t know where I went wrong. Tell me, should I see someone?”

watching Netflix’s ‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’ / I started watching it last night and I’m on episode 6 right now.

thinking if I should go out and see my friends or stay at the dorm and just read Guantánamo Diary.

smelling the orange peels from the orange that I just ate. I still have a slight cold and eating oranges is a good way to increase your vitamin C intake. In addition, my Lola bought me a lot of fruits, now my dorm room smells like the fresh fruit section of the grocery!

wishing for a really great semester. Last semester was really horrible #NeverAgain

hoping that I’ll be able to accomplished everything that I’ve written in my 52 things in 52 weeks section of my planner. I also hope that I’ll be able to finish the 52 week money challenge!

wearing my white Old Navy boxer shorts and my Caffeine dependent being white shirt from UP PhotoS

loving my stay in LB so far and I got back yesterday. I missed Los Baños so much. I missed the clean air, warm water, freedom and my friends.  

wanting to lose all the weight that I gained during the Christmas vacation. Here’s to a healthier and stronger 2017!

needing a fast and reliable internet connection! My dorm doesn’t have its own wifi due to some unknown reasons, I’m currently using my cellular data because our Sun pocket wifi sucks.

feeling a bit nervous for tomorrow because my first class is Pilates, which is in Yoga room and I don’t know where the heck is yoga room. I just know that it’s at Copeland but I don’t really know where. It’s my first time to have a PE2 class in Copeland.

Join the Sunday Currently link-up by siddathorntorn!

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Grub Hub PH Food Park

Disclaimer: I’ve been meaning to start a ~food review blog~ for quite some time now but I never really had the time to do so.

I went to Grub Hub with my college friend, Carlo, after we watched Vince & Kath & James (YES, I KNOW. It wasn’t that good and I don’t really get why it’s number one lol) at SM North. It was just another spur of the moment slash impulsive decision of ours because we both wanted to eat albeit just a ~light~ snack after the movie.

Grub Hub was just a 7 peso jeepney ride from SM North, around 70-ish pesos via Uber/Grab but since we’re just ~broke college students~, we opted for the jeep. In addition, it’s been a while since I last rode a jeepney in Quezon City. 

It’s one of the newest food park in QC. It’s located around the intersection between Visayas and Congressional Avenues, which is often traffic-stricken, and its  trippy apple-green colors stand out against the other structures in the area. Also, the makeshift PVC pipe facade catches attention right away. 

The property was formerly a branch of Fiesta Island Seafood Hub (FISH). 

The food park is divided into three dining areas: Greenhouse bar (airconditioned), Hippieyard and Junkyard. It has seventeen food stalls, including Mang Larry’s isaw. 

Junkyard, which houses most of the recycled materials from the old restaurant--F.I.S.H. 

Hippieyard, which features hanging colorful lanterns. There’s also a mini stage where artists could perform. 

We weren’t able to go inside the Greenhouse bar, which is an airconditioned dining area, since there’s a lot of people inside. 

The murals were amazing. 

There’s a lot of food to choose from but Carlo decided to try Matcha Green Tea Frappe (Php 120.00) from Café Fratello and Banana Chocolate Ice Cream Waffle (Php 150.00) from Big Tummiez; and I had Spicy Tuna Sushi (Php 99.00) from Aji Sushi and Crispy Greens (Php 65.00) from Papa Beer. 

The Matcha Green Tea Frappe tastes nothing like anything matcha-y. Actually, it tastes just really sweet milk frappe with a little hint of mint syrup. Carlo even said that it tastes like soap. Haha. The waffle was nothing special, it’s just two plain waffles (the edges weren’t crispy :--( ) with seven thin slices of caramelized banana and a scoop of chocolate ice cream on top. The spicy tuna sushi was edible although you’ll know that the tuna’s not fresh at first glance. The crispy greens is just Papa Beer’s version of crispy kangkong. The batter was amazing because it wasn’t really soggy and it wasn’t even THAT oily, which is a plus for me. The dip was also good, it’s not your typical honey mustard mayo. 

For dessert, I had a Dark Chocolate Gelato and Brownie (Php 99.00) from Sub Zero. And I tell you, it’s amazing. It’s everything I ever wanted in a dark chocolate gelato. Bitter, deeply dark chooclate gelato with the right amount of sweetness with chunky chocolate brownie on top! The owner’s very friendly too! 

Food stalls available in Grub Hub:

Aji Sushi - sushi, katsu, teriyaki

Mang Larry's Isawan - street food barbeque

Noble Comida - tacos, nachos, quesadillas

Yzzy Eats - fried bacon

Chica's Chicharronia - chicharon bulaklak, tokwa't baboy

Cafe Fratello - pastas, frappes

Wicked Kitchen - desserts like milkshake

Papa Beer - fried food like calamares, crablets

Miggy Piggy - chicken, sandwiches

Brook's - burger

St. Mick's - chicken wings

Joey's Charcoal Grill - barbeque like pork, lamb, chicken

Hokkian Kitchen Co. - chinese food

Mrs. Lumpia - lumpia rolls, kebab

Sub Zero - gelato

Big Tummiez - waffle, ice cream, churros

Grub Hub is located at 47 Visayas Avenue corner Congressional, Tandang Sora, Quezon City; open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Monday to Thursday) and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. (Friday to Saturday) and 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. (Sunday).

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It’s been a while but this time, I’ll be back for real. 

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Sunday night.

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Mahigit isang linggo na lamang ay pasko na. 

Isang beses sa isang taon lamang natin ipinagdiriwang ang pasko. Magtatayo ng Christmas tree, maglalagay ng mga iba’t ibang dekorasyon, magsasabit ng parol sa labas ng bahay, maglalagay ng Christmas lights, maghahanda ng masasarap na pagkain at magbabalot ng mga regalo. Mayroon ding Misa de Gallo, mga batang nangangarolling, puto bumbong, bibingka, queso de bola, ham at mainit na tsokolate. Ganyan ang paskong kinagisnan ko, natin.

Ngunit, ano nga ba talaga ang tunay na kahulugan ng Pasko? Ano ba talaga ang diwa ng pagdiriwang na ito? 

Para sa mga Kristiyano at naniniwala, ito ay hudyat ng katuparan ng pangako ng Diyos sa sangkatauhan; isang paggunita at pagalala sa pagsilang ng ating tagapag-ligtas na si Hesus. Para sa mga bata, ito ay pagdiriwang na kung saan ay nakahain ang masasarap at espesyal na luto ni Nanay na hindi pwedeng kainin hangga’t wala pa ang mga bisita, paglalagay ng medyas sa pintuan dahil sa pagsapit ng ika-12 ng gabi ay darating si Santa Claus para ilagay ang hiniling mong laruang Barbie doll o kaya’y truck na kulay asul. Para sa mga empleyado, ito ang panahon na sobra kang ginaganahan na pumasok para makuha mo na kaagad ang iyong 13th month pay. Para sa mga ninong at ninang, ito ang panahon na kahit gusto mong pumunta sa bahay ng kumpare/kumare/kaibigan mo ay pinipili mo na lamang na manatili sa bahay ninyo dahil baka singilin ka ng mga inaanak mo. Para sa mga may pamilya, mga magulang, ito ang pinakamagastos na buwan. Dito na pumapasok ang problema ng komersyalismo. 

Komersyalismo ang sumisira sa tunay na diwa ng pasko. Nakakalimutan natin na ang pagmamahalan at pagmamahal ay hindi kayang higitan ng kahit anumang materyal na bagay. Kakaiba na ang pasko sa mga mata ng kabataan ngayon. Ito ay ilan lamang sa mga nasaksihan ko noong nakaraang Pasko.

May nag-carolling sa isang malaking bahay. Kumaripas ng takbo ang limang taong gulang na batang lalaki. Binuksan ang pintuan at sumigaw ng “Patawad.” Kumanta ulit ang mga nagka-carolling, “Thank you. thank you, ang babarat ninyo!” 

Isang bata ang namamasko sa kanyang ninong. Binigyan siya ng isang malaking regalo, makisig ang pagkabalot at may malaki pang ribbon. Sumimangot ang bata sabay sabi, “Ayoko niyan, gusto ko pera.”

May batang gusto nang buksan ang regalo niya kahit hindi pa bisperas at ang sabi niya, “Akin naman yun ah!”

Sa hapag kainan, may batang nakasimangot. Tanong niya sa kanyang Ina, “Bakit ba kasi ang daming pagkain?” Sagot ng kanyang Ina, “Para kumain ka ng marami.” 

Sa paglipas ng panahon, unti unti ng nawawala ang tunay na kahulugan ng pasko na dapat sana ay panahon ng pagmamahalan, pagbibigayan, pagpapatawaran at pagkakaisa. Nakakalungkot lamang isipin na ang pagmamanuhan ay iniisip na nilang paraan para makakuha ng maraming pera. O ang pasko ay para lamang sa kainan. O ang pagdaramot ay normal lamang sa isang araw ng pagbibigayan. O ang lahat ng gustong regalo ay dapat nilang makuha. 

Ikaw, ano ba ang Pasko para sa’yo? 

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On emptiness and realizations

I’ve been through a lot these past few years. It’s like everything I love is slowly drifting away.

I can actually think of several adjectives to describe it: surreal, soporiferous and most of all—exhausting. And there are a lot more, I’m sure, but lately my brain hasn’t been really working since it’s still drained from the University and in case you didn’t notice, it’s my first time to blog again after two long years of being hiatus and it’s good to be back.

Lately, I feel really emotionally invincible, in the worst of ways: empty. I have a feeling it has to do with me trying to shut down any possible feelings I could unearth just to maintain the walls I’ve built around me. I was so busy trying to escape the feelings to even know what the feelings were. Perhaps, I tried so hard to feel something that I ended up not feeling anything. Everything around me just seemed so unnervingly ironical and everybody, every single person, seemed to be an epitome of hypocrisy.

“The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence.” 

Is there really nothing to me? Am I really numb and incapable of feeling anything? Have you ever felt like this? Like you are just doing it for the sake of doing it? Have you ever felt empty inside? So empty, you can’t feel anything? Because I sure do. I’m so hollow and empty inside. Nothing fills me up and it’s hard to sleep at night when you’re empty inside. Sometimes, I drink sleeping pills just to doze off into oblivion but most days, the pills aren’t working anymore or so I thought.

Contrary to belief, feeling nothing is not bliss—it’s actually painful. You are mentally aware of not feeling anything, but something still hurts. It has a weight to it that pulls you down. To some extent, I’m not really sure what I’m feeling anymore or if I’m feeling anything at all but feeling nothing isn’t the same as not feeling anything. I feel so empty yet still full of emotion or maybe I felt so much that I started feeling nothing at all. Weird, eh?

I just want to feel something. I need to feel something.

But the problem is: how do I start? How do I start feeling something again when everything just feels so inadequately unreal?

I also feel like I’m floating in some sort of dream-state whilst I repetitively chant in my head: “You are better than this. Take it one day at a time.” And that’s what I’m doing, for the most part. But in truth, I’m just feeling my way through the darkness. I hate it when I don’t feel like talking to anyone, faking a smile, pretending to be happy like I always do, but at the same time, I don’t know what’s wrong.

I hope my month-long vacation would give me answers. I am so tired of not feeling anything and trying to decipher what’s wrong with me. I’ve talked to some of my friends about it and all of them just told me to relax and to try finding my sanctuary, my inner peace.  Hence, I plan to do some meditation yoga and go back to running again.  

I’m still not okay but I know I’m better than this. I just really need to find myself again.

Hopefully, come January, everything will fall back into place.