"The
curious are always in some danger.
If
you are curious you might never come home."
Jeanette
Winterson
"The
curious are always in some danger.
If
you are curious you might never come home."
Jeanette
Winterson
september
11 used to be
august and everything after.
* Marcos, Ferdinand - The Philippines' dictator president. the epitome of brilliance and power gone wrong. Dec
3 - Patricia's Birthday
|
301202
Of course I'm watching. Finally the honeymooners M and P have updated their blogs! No news is always good news anyway, so it wasn't like I was worried. Glad you guys are having a great holiday. Hello to Mr. Ramos! Got up at 6AM but it was too dark to walk outside, so I put off my dogwalking until 7. Got up, hugged and kissed my sweetheart, and headed off to Park Place, where nervous and growling Fred was waiting. I attempted to convince him to come take a walk outside with me, but he just kept showing me his teeth. I guess I was still gathering my courage and perhaps be bitten by the geriatric poodle, so a good hour passed. Finally Roz had to come and rescue me, approaching Fred with such confidence that there was no tiime to bite. Hmm...am I really a dogwalker? of maybe Roz should consider a career shift? Haha. Poor dog was too old to take a walk for a long time anyway, so I just let him do his thing and brought him back in. I have to do this three times a day. Whew. At least it's a great first job story, eh? :o) We spent the evening at the Short Hills Mall in Jersey, and I got myself lots of underwear at Victoria's Secret using the gift certificate Moke gave me for Christmas. After that we had dinner with Carol and Cora at a great sushi place in Hoboken. I had my first Uni (sea urchin) and it is TO DIE FOR. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! They say it's an acquired taste and that not even all Japanese eat it. I took one bite and it was heavenly. Make sure it's fresh though. :o) 7:30 AM I called up Gary Glicker. They're going to Mexico and they need someone to watch over their dog. I went back to bed and snuggled, passed out for a bit until it was time to go to Gary's. It was a short walk to Park Place where Gary, his wife Fran, and their 16 year old poodle Fred lived. Fred was grumpy, but Gary was entertaining. Especially when he asked 'Where are you from?" When I said "from the Philippines," he immediately replied "oh that's why you're so pretty." Flattery will get you everywhere. So will money. I walked away with my first paycheck in my pocket. :o) The sun was out and it was so bright and I felt like a million bucks, feeling for the first time that I was worth something. I don't know how Fred and I will get along, but as Gio would put it, "for $10 a walk, i wouldn't only walk the dog, i'd BE the dog." :o) Brunch with Amy and Maloy at Sweet N' Tart at Mott Street in Chi-town. Watercress/dumpling soup, bamboo fried rice, turnip cake.. the usual. We drove back home for some house work. we transferred our shelves from above the bed to above the computer table. Swell. Dinner was pork chops fried in lemon and soy sauce, topped with onions, Filipino bistek style. And also leftover ham, apple crumb and ice cream for dessert. If there's one thing I'm glad about living with my sweetheart, it's that she eats mostly Filipino food. I wouldn't know how to survive on pancakes and burgers. Rice rules! We were out of rice so we had planned a nice eggs Benedict brunch nearby. However, Gina called early to say she'd bring rice, so i cooked corned beef, eggs, and tuyo and we had a Filipino breakfast home instead. We took down the tree, cleaned up a bit, and headed off to SoHo. Kate's Papery, a large paper store, where I got a glass star christmas ornament to hang for next year. It's nice to shop for christmas stuff on sale after the holidays. We grabbed a bite at Hampton Chutney Co. and had Masala Dosa, a sandwich with crepe-like bread and indian style potatoes inside. Mmmm. Baby bought her boots at Tootsi, and we drove home to pack stuff for Moke. Traffic at LIE on the way to New Hyde Park. We arrived at my cousin Moke's and were surprised that the house didn't smell of food. Turns out we were gonna eat out. Headed off to Harvest Buffet at Great Neck, and the line was terribly long, longer for us since we were in a party of 10. It was well worth the wait though, as the buffet had everything from Giant Crab legs to oysters (mmm...must've had about 20!), and what-have-you. The secret to finding the best Asian restos is to see how many Asians there are inside. Duh. Moke showed us is mini bar basement where he had memorabilias of his life as a basketball player in the Philippines. Drove back home to find a message from Gary Glicker on our machine, asking about dogwalking services. Wow! Temp 33F/0.5C/273K TGIF Friday morning snuggle was fab. I was supposed to cook lasagna for dinner but baby called to say she's off early today so we might take Ling's car out for a spin. Invitations to Vermont. Gotta pick up rice at Chi-town. Moke's party tomorrow...we'll see. We ended up driving to Woodbury for some shopping. It was pretty with mountains of shoveled snow lining up the walkways. My sweetheart got me a shirt and pants at J.Crew, and then we passed by the Calvin Klein factory store, which was closing so there was nothing above $14.99. I got a pair of hipster khakis for $6! Can you beat that? Dinner was at the Korean Soft Tofu Restaurant at Fort Lee. I had my tofu soup chili-hot, and it was great. Driving home it felt like Saturday already. I love our weekends! Temp 31F/-.05C/272K Remains of the Day Had a disturbing dream but I have no memories of it, except for the fact that Paul was in it. Maybe that's why it was disturbing. :p Took Greta to Prospect Park in the morning, and it was heavenly white. Before that I caught burn and xty online, so we fooled around with our respective webcams, hoping gio was there with us. Stop working so hard, bro. Relax a little! :o) The shippers can't find my stuff yet, so I'll have to make do with the books I've got. Jeez. Cooked
miswa soup and baby made fried chicken. We finally got to watch Minority
Report, Azelia left the DVD here so we feasted on it all night. It
was good in the sense that it did not bore me in spite of its length, and
was able to suspend my disbelief throughout. that's kinda hard to do with
futuristic plots such as these, except for one thing. I don't understand
how Precrime was able to contain those Precogs in a pool of fluid, drug
them regularly, and use them for crime prevention. Wouldn't human rights
groups make a big fuss about its mere suggestion? On the other hand, detaining
people for crimes about to be committed doesn't make much sense either.
Oh well, nobody is perfect. the movie was good enough to eat. :o)
Temp 31F/-.05C/272K Maligayang Pasko! After Mexican food delivery from La Taqueria (7th Ave. Park Slope) the previous night, we opened our gifts. :o) Christmas morning we headed off to J Heights via car service to cook breakfast in Ling's kitchen. Aling Chayong's tocino, egg, and tuyo. MMMM.. We cleaned up Ling's kitchen and she gave me really nice jackets and shoes. Kewl! It was already raining hard by the time we left, and running towards the car hail stones were hitting my face. Ouch! We are borrowing their car while they are away in Florida. Upon arriving home I started to cook the ham while Roz took a nap. Mike and Azelia arrived at 4:30 pm with cabbage rolls. We ate and opened gifts. They gave me nice light blue snowflake pajamas, and Roz had a recurring theme to her gifts: Johnny Walker Black, a bottle of wine, wine stoppers and coasters, and the Rabbit Corkscrew, which was mighty fancy. "I'm not an alcoholic, I'm just a drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings." :p Greta got a lot of toys and was busy nibbling on them all night. It started snowing really hard, and it was fun to scrape and brush snow off the car. All in all, my holidays were swell. :o) I'm so glad to be here. Temp 31F/-.05C/272K Awaiting Snow 9-14 inches in the suburbs is the forecast. Today Emiko leaves for Japan and Paul n' Meli leave for Chicago. SMS Yuletide greetings to and from friends back home, phone calls to Rolly, Gio, Dre and Aldo. Rolly is in Cainta with her mother who hates her tie-dye pajamas, while the Tavanlars are celebrating (not!) without Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Dinner) because nobody wanted to cook. Bummer. Went to Key Food to pick up some pork butt ham, and proceeded home to boil it in pineapple juice and Sprite. The Sisons (my family) just came back from Misa De Gallo (New Year's Eve mass) and were eating when I called. Chitchat, Papa says to be wary of America's toxins, Myrza my sister talked of Maria Ressa's TOYM (Ten Outstanding Young Men & Women) award, and meeting Luna Sicat. Snow, our former maid, hopes to see me when she is petitioned by my sister in CA. Ham is boiling. Valenciana replaced with cabbage rolls. what to cook? Anyway... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Temp 39F/3.9C/277K Cold and Windy Dave Price says it's gonna be a white Christmas. It's gonna be a short week, too. We're gonna make some ham and Azelia is going to make valenciana. It's a small celebration, the way I'm used to. It's my parents' first Christmas without me. The house is gonna be empty since I don't think Myrza (my eldest sister) is staying long, and they probably won't be cooking any stuff my father can't eat. Oh well. I could feel the tears. Is it because I'm such a crybaby? Ironically, the longest relationships I've had were with women whose tears rarely fell. I dunno. When I'm filled with emotion it just pours out of my eyes. It isn't meant to threaten, or to ask for pity, or to point out faults. It's just emotion. Like anger manifests itself in loud voices, happiness through laughter. Things have a way of turning out for the best. In my life of near-misses, this is the fact I cannot escape. (Of course, I've also been faced with a really loud cryer who would wail for my whole apartment building to hear. now that can never be nice.) Today
I really must study. *Turning off TV*
Christine calls early in the morning to tell us she wants the prize back. WTF!!??!?! she was probably too drunk to know what she was doing. Nonetheless, I was stuck in a momentary state of panic, fearing being misconstrued as a hungry Filipino kleptomaniac. Jeez. Brunch over at Emiko's, and playtime with Oscar. Potatoes, pancakes, sinful bacon, salad and sugar apples. Yummers! We rode with Sue to Long Island to drop off Oscar and proceed to J&R where Sue's camera was out of stock. Old Filipino salesman made me homesick. Manhattan parking is a struggle. We went to Loewes theater to catch Die Another Day, which is the first James Bond movie I've watched from start to finish. It was entertaining. But Halle Berry was too X-Men-ish. Dinner at Soba-ya (229 East 9th St), and I realized that... If I'm gonna die, I want my last meal to be:
Picked up Emiko from her party at the Gay and Lesbian Center, and drove back home. emiko leaves for Japan to spend christmas with her family. Goodbyes, Holiday hugs, back home. Mama sends me a text, she's thankful she can easily contact me now. She's asking about my job progress, and I didn't have the guts to tell her. :o( Late evening TV with CNN and the Gores, bedtime hugs and fear-consoling. I would do absolutely ANYTHING to stay with my sweetheart in this great fabulous 'hood. Brooklyn rules! Early morning trip to the P-A-R-K with Greta. you can't say the word out loud because she gets excited so we just spell it. However, the dog has learned to spell O-U-T so there. At least she's not bilingual. :o) anyway, we walked over to Prospect Park carrying cups of hot choco and a bag of Krispy Kreme donuts. Of course, i spilled the drink all over my Spiewak jacket. We had a great time at the park, where dogs can be left unleashed to run around. Saw Midnight and her owner Jenna, so we invited her to the party at Jackson Heights, Queens. Sleepy day for love and napping, post-Aling Chayong's Longganisa. We got up at 4:30 to get ready for Christine's birthday party. Gina flaked out so we didn't have a ride, and Jenna got stuck in traffic. We ended up taking the Q to Times Square (of course we missed the transfer, and because it was a weekend the trains were far between), took the F to Roosevelt, J. Heights. Asian invasion! We played Musical Dykes and I won as the only "chair" left. Christine gave me a prize, a nice wooden massager to help me out with my baby's needs. :p A ho-hum game of "I never," and Truth or Dare, and I realized that NY Filipino lesbians are so much more conservative than their local counterparts. Why? Perhaps the fact that they were predominantly coupled had something to do with it. Also, I have discovered that locally we are more affectionate and playful, maybe because we can afford to be that way. It was a puzzler, but i've never played Truth or Dare where the word "kiss" meant a peck on the cheek. Oh well, you learn something new each day. Chingee drove us home, telling us how much she missed the Bklyn 'Hood, now that she has bought a place on the Upper East Side. Hugs, kisses, bedtime. Rainy day for some secret shopping. I finally found baby's gift at (location undisclosed). I wrapped it in fancy wrapper in the ways I was trained by Cora my fellow sales clerk at one of our stores where I worked summers. Baby liked it. Gillman company party at El Cantinera on University Place and 13th. Took the 2 train to Nevins and transferred to the 4, got down at 14th street and passed by the pretty Union Square Holiday Market, a tiangge (bazaar) of fun stuff like jewelry, aromatherapy paraphernalia, and other novelties. Explored Circuit City, Virgin, a couple of 99cent stores and toy stores, as well as Petland. Margarita over nachos, salsa and guacamole, followed by paella, steak fajitas, and enchiladas. Mmmm. Took a cab home because baby got her bonus and the grand prize in the raffle. Azelia came home with us, and Greta left us a gift. Everybody loves my phone. I adore it! Wanna text me online? It's free! Ask me for my number. Temp 35F/1.7/274K Walking Day WTF does it seem like i'm jetlagging!! I kept waking up every 15 minutes. Dreamt of my mother, I was sitting in her car and wearing her clothes! Jeez! I better do something about this insomnia, maybe tire myself out in the city today. I should start an exercise program, to boost my energy levels during this season. Headed for the city on the 2 train at 10:30 AM, and met Roz at the ukay-ukay on Chambers. We proceeded to Century 21 to buy her boss a gift, and then to Sophie's Cuban Restaurant for some fabulous eats. Stuffed ourselves with their Cubana sandwich and Pollo Guisado on rice and beans, as well as sweet fried plantain. Uggghh, so full! We got our webcam today, and I set it up immediately upon getting home. We also shopped for #1 on my wish list, at the cellphone shop on Church street, and the Indian guy there Preet got impressed with my knowledge on the cellular phone industry. Do you know that the Philippines is the #1 market for cellphones? Nokia rose to number one because of the local market. The reason for this lies in the fact that there are very few landline infrastructures in the Philippines, so consumers have found it more reliable to communicate via cellphones. The number of SMS messages sent in the Philippines each day exceeds that of the world's daily total. Impressive? Lucrative is the word that is most apt. Preet is asking for my number, Roz said. He should watch Fire. While I play with my Sony Ericsson T68i. It rocks! :o) I made split pea soup, although we were still so stuffed from the heavy lunch. Problematic on what to get my sweetheart for Christmas. I'm trying not to be sad about it, I'm sure I can come up with something that will make her happy. If I only had my way... Temp 23F/-5C/268K I Came, I Thaw, I Conquered. Woke up at 2AM realizing that I am still unfamiliar with the value of the US$. I can't convert it to peso 1USD=52PHP (current ForEx rate) because it seems too much, so usually i use a factor of 1USD=30PHP since the peso only started depreciating around 5 years ago at that rate, while the USD has more or less remained stable. I don't think I'll ever fathom its value until I start earning and spending my own money. But why the hell am I waking up in the middle of the night to think of this? Must be a continuation of some dream. Or missing my class in International Finance. I packed the wonton and barbecued ribs for baby's lunch, as well as little packets of soy sauce for the dumplings. It's too cold to go outside but I feel I need to take a walk, maybe to the park to see how it looks at this time? I need to study too. My sister Yasmin called me up after lunch for some catch-up. Baby and I cooked tinola (chicken breast soup with chayote and bitter mellon leaves), and Emiko passed by for some beers. Caught Dre, Mel and the Polster online, Amelia's made my gift! Wow! Bedtime and love letter at 9:30. Zzzzzz. Temp 24F/-4.4C/268K Brrr! Full night's sleep, I wonder why? Amelia writes, she always says the most supportive things. I did pack my baby's lunch today, saw her off to work, and planned a few surprises -- things I'd never get to do if I was working full-time. Today I plan to post my dogwalking posters and send a thank you/happy holidays letter to Dr. Bregman. Video conference with Gio. Aldo, Mommy and Java said hello. I miss them, especially that fat furball. My brother Ramses calls to thank me for the christmas card. Combed Park Slope and saturated the area with my posters. I learned that 7th Avenue is a no-posting zone. I put up my posters until my hands started to freeze, proceeded home and made siomai (wonton) and sinigang ribs (rib stew in tamarind broth). Azelia comes home and we teach her the wonders of online shopping. Massage before bed. Nite! Temp 41F/5C/278K Cold and windy Weekend
update:
I
had missed my blog so much and was looking forward to updating it with
all the little details and reflections (e.g. 30ish bankers with beamers
and fat suburban houses) but I don't really feel like thinking right now.
Wallowing is sex for depressives, they say.
------------------------------------------ Subject: Depression Junkie hi everyone, just wrote to say i didn't get the 5th ave clinic job. :o( they
left a message on our machine that they've "gone another direction." of
of
course, there are other options and i'm sure something good will come my
i'm
planning to post my posters for dogwalking in the neighborhood. if that
hay,
ewan. roz is very supportive of me and loves me to pieces but i guess
and maybe i'm just a depression junkie. the sad writer type. charing! :o) anyway,
thanks for all your kind words and encouragement. i'm hoping to
i love you and i miss you all. kia ------------------------------------------ Paul
says I'm not depressend, I'm just SAD. Yeah, Seasonal Affective Disorder
makes sense, although the disease itself seems too fancy for me. I studied
for a bit, took a nap to wallow, and then proceeded to cook dinner. We
returned the strike-contingency rental car with Greta and walked home.
Baby always makes my day. Long full body massage for her before bed. I
love it when our days end at 7pm. Lotsa time for loving. Makes everything
worthwhile. :o)
Temp 38F/3.3C/276K Friday the 13th! Got up at 5AM and couldn't sleep. Tasks lined up in my head. Melissa Etheridge is on live at Good Morning NY, I love her. Joy has begun reading RelinqWISH, hope she likes it. Greta's paws have grown black from chewing on the hoof for the past 2 days. Today: laundry, groceries, and then cooking. Hopefully start my studying soon. Lipopolysacharide is the component of the endotoxin detected by the limulus amebocyte lysate test. And tetrathionate broth detects Salmonella by inhibiting E. coli. Yersinia pestis! Switch to...*Nerd Mode* I did the groceries after i dropped off the laundry, moved the clothes from the washers to the dryers and then brought the groceries home while spinning. Efficiency is key. Pressure-cooked the stew until Alice arrived at 5:30. We had a great night and she slept over because of the rain. Temp 38F/3.3C/276K Finally a full night's sleep. Ducks wake baby up. :o) Ling called and she needs my help for the mural. I'm picking baby up at work at 5, to have dinner and buy vegetables in Chi-town for my Kare-kare. Alice is coming over tomorrow and I'm cooking. Laters.. After chores I ran out and went to the city at 2pm. Roz met me at the corner of Chambers and Church for a short walk around the block. She goes back to work, and I proceeded to the ukay-ukay (Chambers bw Church and Broadway), where from 99cents, everything is now just 50cents! Bought myself a pair of Moschino jeans I'll use for my painting job, and a UCB shirt. Also got a Union Bay long sleeved Tee and a Quicksilver shirt for the surfer. Total purchase: $2.50. can you beat that?! :o) Shivered, and then picked up Roz at 5, walking to Canal. Bought vegetables for the stew, and had pan-fried flounder and garlic kangkong at Hop Kee (or something like that). Took the Q home, my books from Mosby have arrived. They made me nervous. :p Grapefruit and Friends, and then bedtime with the ducks. Petrol calls begging for Kare-kare. Next time, bro. Temp 35F/1.7C/275K Rainy Day I'm having trouble sleeping, i keep waking up several times in the night to look at the clock. I turn over and baby spoons me, and I fall asleep again and the cycle goes on. I'm thinking about my job and the things that i need to do. Maybe it's the fact that my body isn't used to not being in hyperdrive, working my ass off and not having any energy left even for dreaming. Soon... Joy, my thesis adviser in college sends email and she's in VA. I'm hoping to talk to her soon, she's on vacation from Australia where she's getting her post-grad. Nina sent me a copy of the Queer as Folk soundtrack and it's absolutely gay and will keep me dancing for hours. Baby's doing her christmas shopping online, and i'm wondering if i should make up a wish list as Paul asked. But then again i don't really need anything except for little toys I know i'll outgrow anyway. Oh, maybe a cellphone to keep in touch with my mom. But i want to get that on my own. :o) Libay is starting her blog and i should give her some tips. For me this isn't so much letting people know what i'm up to (although it serves that purpose quite well), as much as writing this everyday is therapeutic for me. It makes me think about my day and all the things i've learned and put them all in writing. I remember Paul saying "this is your history, baby!" Haha. I dread the day I'll run out of time for this. Today i'm going to 5th ave and doing some shopping at the thrift shops for my mom's garage sale. After she retired from being an officer for the Central Bank of the Philippines, she was the curator and director of our art gallery and library in Ayala Ave. During the crisis of 97 we closed the gallery and transferred all the art to our warehouse in Paranaque, where my mom built a thrift shop she sells little pieces of junk in, including her kids' old clothes and outgrown toys. I'm so psyched about the job! *crossing fingers* Prayers... Walked out at 2pm to 5th avenue, and it was pouring. Went past Gray Shel up to 12 st, where a large Salvation Army was, plus Petland, Dee&Dee and several 99cents stores were. I wanted to get the Brooklyn long-sleeved Tee at Dee & Dee ($2.99) but they didn't have my size. Maybe the only thing i really would like is a t-shirt, sweatshirt or a jacket that says "Brooklyn" up front. Solid colors (dark blue/black/maroon) only. I was supposed to buy my mom's stuff but I bought Greta a cow hoof (she went crazy) and got my baby these guys. Of course Greta just wants to eat them too. Adobong Pusit for dinner, not so good. Kim Fields on TV till bedtime. Sue passes by with Oscar, who pees by the door. Hugs, surprises, happiness. :o) Temp 27F/-2.8C/270K Shopping Day Woke up at 5AM and couldn't sleep. Restless from excitement re:job. Cookie Crisp cereal with baby after packing her lunch. I've been sending her off with lunch for the past week. Last night I asked if she was getting tired of bringing lunch, and she says "Of course not, it saves me $10 a day!" to which i replied, "Oh really? can I have $5?" Haha. If I get in the cat clinic, I'll be saving on clothes because i'll just be wearing scrubs, save on train fares because i'll just walk, and save on food because i'm packing lunch. :o) If we get the place on Clinton Hill I can bike to work during spring to fall, and maybe take the bus when it's cold. Jim, John, Odette and Alex sent emails of support, I hope they didn't think my resume was l4me. John mentioned something about making a CVP (cost-volume-profit) analysis of cats. *shudder* what does PERT/CPM stand for again? Buzz words get you in, I suppose, as long as you're not asked to substantiate them. Called up my mom to ask for her requirements for the stuff I'm going to buy for her little thrift shop. I'm going to the city today, maybe do some shopping and walking around. Called up my best friend Rolly, too, to tell her about my interview. These little conversations from people back home make me feel like no, i'm still a part of their lives in some way. Left for the city at 2:30, picked up Roz from her building at 3. She showed me the newly-opened clothes thrift shop (kewl, Petrol, everything 99 cents! Chambers btw Church and Broadway), and the discount stores (Dee&Dee, Ralph's, etc) that I've actually already seen. After she went back to her office, I went shopping and bought a pretty cat rug and collars for the felines I left behind. I also got Greta a few toys (which, of course, were destroyed upon contact), and proceeded to Great Expectations, another thrift shop which was kinda sad-looking but had quite a few interesting things, like tons of used luggage and briefcases. Passed by for Roz at 5 and we took the 3 trian home. A couple was selling really stinky perfume on the train and we prayed they wouldn't spill it on us. Fortunately we escaped unscathed, to come home and cook. Roz made her ribs, which was fantastic with roasted garlic, barbecued eggplant with bagoong (shrimp paste), and crab & corn soup. Some more apple crumb and Friendly's ice cream. Yummy. I'm
wearing my orange tie dye pajamas and my white sando. I think my shoulders
have grown wide. I've finally come to like my body the way it is now. Thank
God.
Temp 19F/-7C/265K Bundle Up! Today is my interview at the Cat Clinic. Ling called yesterday to say our painting day is shot, so it's just the interview i'm worried about. Stories later. Breathe in, breathe out. :o) Walked out at 1:30 for my interview. Cold walk until 5th and President where the clinic was. 10 minute interview with Dr. Allan Bregman, and IT WENT GREAT! It's funny, i'm applying for a Vet Assistant position and the first question I get asked is, "how are your computer skills?," to which I answered "Excellent!" Things are really looking up for me, he said, also that my resume was very impressive. I'm the best he's seen so far, he says, but he's gotta do interviews till the end of the week and then he'll let me know. The best part is that they're willing to sponsor working visas without any problems, and that they're actually doing it for a couple of guys right now. I've had a good feeling about this, and I hope it will remain that way until he calls me up for his decision. I doubt someone with better credentials would come along, but who knows? Today was a great day, and I felt really good about myself. Tonight: Pancit Molo! Walked over in freezing weather with Grets to the Korean deli on Flatbush, to get chicken broth and scallions. Proceeded cooking my wonton soup, which was such a big hit that we invited Eric over for dinner for some chitchat and christmas tree bragging with Azelia who slept over. Greta's got a new Burberry dog collar, which kinda looks too fancy for her exquisite brindle. Apple crumb a la mode and baby's hooked on Ebay. She's determined to win something, whatever it turns out to be. :o) Today is National Lesbian Day in the Philippines, and also the birthday of Mother Mary. Bigfoot is dead...or at least the man who made the hoax is. RIP? Snowpark shot because of Sunday laziness, Gina flakes a second time so no Woodbury either. We had longganisa at ginisang itlog for breakfast, as well as the most delicious tuyo from my mother. Ma called last night to check up on me, I talked to Pa too regarding the business and health, etc. We took an extended nap and ended up losing most of the day. We finally got up at 3pm to get our tree. It's my first real tree and it's really pretty decorated with Filipino Capiz stars, but it was such an ordeal to carry from 5th Ave in front of Key Food. Fried Chix and Pinakbet (sauteed squash, string beans, okra) for dinner, and a nice Sunday snuggle. Homemade Filipino breakfast: Tocino (sweet cured pork shoulder), Tuyo (dried herring), Itlog na Pula (Salted Egg) with tomatoes and onions, rice. Gina cancels Woodbury for the day so Roz and I watched Parenthood (one of my clear childhood memory movies) in the morning, and headed off to Lafayette to view an apartment. It was beautiful, and i hope things work out well on monday when baby makes a bid on the co-op. We headed off to Eric's for some chitchat with Stella and brother Barkley, then to Geido along Flatbush for some sumptuous sashimi/sushi dinner. loved the white tuna, yellowfin, but i just had to close my eyes and say mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm for the spicy tuna and the unagi (eel) sushi. yummers! rented the Humanite DVD, which was long and quite uneventful to my standards. well, okay so i did feast on the sex scene and the prolonged pussy close-up. you think they have pussy doubles? i guess so, otherwise the whole world and their mother would know the actress' pussy by heart. I love weekends. Good night. Tom: snowpark! Wow! People around the world...join hands! (GAP commercial...so okay, you are not your clothes.) :p Temp 29F/-2C/271K Post-storm slush Roz is teasing me about Dave Price. :o) Dre in my inbox, starts work at Shell on Monday. Big day on Monday, when I start my work for Ling, and I have an interview at the cat clinic at 2pm. Dre predicts I'll get the job because of the serendipitous circumstances. We'll see. I've always had a good attitude when it comes to jobs. If i don't get in, that only means it wasn't for me, and besides whoever rejects a talented and hardworking person as myself will always be at a loss. Of course things are different here in the great US, where my stay depends on the opportunities I'll get, but I've always trusted the powers that be to decide my fate. $23M on the lotto, baby says I should give it a shot. What would would you do with that much money? We'd buy a brownstone, I'd build my clinic, and baby can put up her own flower shop and quit her job. At first she asked, "if we win the lotto, will we move back to the Philippines?" Of course, I said "No!" There are a lot of things I miss about Manila and its adjoining provinces, but until I feel i've exhausted my potential and the numerous possibilities out here for me, I'm here to stay. And that, is a threat. Been here 6 weeks now, and I'm loving it. I love Brooklyn and walking around these different neighborhoods, the complementing colors of the buildings and the surrounding vegetation. I love the seasons and their little details, like how rain creates yellow sheets of leaves on the ground which turn dry and crisp when ithey dry, and how the snow accumulates on tree branches and the remaining leaves waiting to fall off. Spring and summer have more surprises I know, and then we'll see if my tropical-trained flesh fares with NY's scorching summers. Housecleaning Friday! Decided to make Roz a surprise dinner of baked mac and caesar salad, of course that entailed a whole day of cooking. i took a break around 3pm to take Greta to the park. Prospect part was lovely post-snowstorm, all white from the autumn hues of orange! lovely,lovely. i could have died in delight, but greta got loose and wanted me to run after her. i ignored her for a bit and she came to her senses, coming near me. i dove on the snow and grabbed her leash and scolded her. i love greta. she's loving me too. :o) dinner was fab, another set of "mmmmmms" from baby. i cooked the entire week for her, which saved her a lot of trouble because she took the leftovers for lunch to work all week. a blessing during the snow. we vegged on the couch over grapefruit watching "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing," which is a good thought-provoking movie if you're the type. i was amused to see our 3 train, and much of NYC in the film, realizing that i'm surprised to see my new hometown in the movies. hey, fuck it, i'm in NY! and for the first time, sitting on an icy bench at Prospect Park looking at kids on sleds, snowboards, and cross-country skiers, i wanted to scream "I (heart) NY!" but then i didn't know how to say the heart part so i just pictured myself screaming with a comic strip balloon on my mouth with the "I (heart) NY!" silly-dilly. Temp 29F/-2C/271K Snow Storm Dave Price on Fox 5's Good Morning New York makes the whole show worth watching. Who ever thought a weatherman would make such an impact? He went on vacation for a few days and the show sucked. Oh well, this morning he is warning the city of 6 to 8 inches of snow, so we cancelled our Woodbury shopping cum korean food trip this afternoon. I was taking some snow photos outside my window but my hands got too cold. so maybe i'll take them later when i go out walking with my snow shoes. Midway through the snow storm, I lingered by the window again. I thought it would be good to take a walk on the snow so i did just that for an hour with Greta, who just loves the snow. Of course I ended up looking like a toon from South Park, but at least I met him at the Grand Army Plaza. I don't know who he is, but I'm sure he doesn't like the way he looks. :o) Balakubak (dandruff) problem? Teehee. Things
I learned today:
Baked honey chicken again upon request, and sauteed mung beans. Snow cuddle on the couch. R's Jornada is problematic. Paul says HP doesn't do PDAs, I say Sony doesn't do PCs, and Alaska doesn't do bacon. Sleep. Temp 21F/-6C/267K Windchill! Dre sends photos of Ira's pups. Ira was a puppy I bought at the Arranque Market in Espana back in 2000. She was a quiet and timid yellow-lab-mix puppy with a funny fat nose, but she turned out to be a rowdy Tasmanian Devil. We had hoped she would produce the prettiest pups with Griffin the Chow/Shepherd Mix (bad temper, devoured my arm once and I couldn't pull away so i just let him chew on my arm till he finished, leaving two deep scars), but she refused to mate with him. She finally got pregnant by a neighbor's dog, 4 girls and 1 boy. Batman and Capowere among them. I like their eyes, they seem to say so much, but i'm so glad they got Ira's fat nose. Ira came home in a box when she was a pup, Dre took one look at her and said, "You're not cute at all!" Ira was beautiful, but Sabine was prettier. Sabine, on the other hand, was a terrier mix that I got at Arranque when Vishnu (shepherd mix) died of maternity complications. Sabine was a well-behaved and friendly puppy who caught parvovirus and nearly died until I hooked her to an IV and administered a shot of atropine. We thought she had died one morning, and when we called "Sabine?", she jumped up on the bed and was well! unfortunately, two days after she got run over by the car. We cried for weeks. :o( RIP, Vishnu, Sabine, and the Shiva I never met. Amelia's blog says this today: if i havn't mentioned kia to you yet, i'm sorry. crossed paths with this girl on account of paul. time and again, this woman so eloquently captures my feelings and desires in words i never would have found. she moved to new york to be with her heart just this winter. her cheery disposition and beautiful face are always such a nice thing to come across online. good luck to you in your job hunt, dear. thank you, dear, for your kind words. they are very appreciated, and I gather strength from thoughts like these. Today I plan to drop off my resume at the 5th ave clinic, order my review books, post my dogwalking posters, and then cook Kare-Kare. Kare-kare is a stew of oxtail with peanut sauce. I'm cooking this for the first time using my Yaya's recipe with the classic sinangag na bigas (roasted rice grains) and Lily's Peanut Butter (my sis Yasmin says Skippy Peanut Butter won't work, Lily's is imported from the Phils and I got it at the Filipino store in Queens). Kare-kare is my favorite Filipino dish, I used to eat it only once a year when my Yaya would cook it on my birthday. Hope it turns out fine. I'm cold and that's why I have this on. :o) Pressure-cooked the ox tail and then walked out to take a walk to the 5th ave cat clinic. They scheduled me for interview on the 15th! Hope it goes well. Afterwards i took a walk up 5th, all the way to 8th and 9th streets, where there are a lot of thrift shops and discount stores. Went shopping at the Gray Shell Warehouse Store and at Save at Fifth, got me a few sweatshirts ($2), thermals, roach traps (i'm in charge of pest control), stoppers for our bed's wheels, and a photo album for our pictures. It's a nice neighborhood, of course unlike the more upscale Park Slope, out there it's more diverse. In our area (Prospect Heights) it's a predominantly black neighborhood, Park Slope is mostly white, but that area up 5th there are more hispanics, italians, and the occasional asian. Walked back to buy toilet paper and garlic/onions at Key Food. Lugged my acquisitions back home to begin cooking... I DID IT!! I replicated my Yaya's Kare-Kare! I was so glad to be able to get the exact taste and texture I wanted, because it's easy for the stew to end up tasting flat. Roz loved it, said it was the best she's ever had. I just earned myself more bragging rights. I can serve this, as well as the baked honey chicken, and my popular peach cream pie. Wow! Early
bedtime, to which baby says, "We're so married!" Sweet weekday love,
it was hot and toasty in the room, good for snuggling naked.
Temp 19F/-7C/265K Windchill! Happy 28th to my cousin Patricia! I grew up with her in our family home in Paranaque City, until she moved to the US when she was 8, and I was 6. I remember she would go to school everyday and we would give each other long hugs like we would never see each other again. She got to know a little of the magic I grew up with, the songs my siblings and I used to sing, and how scary my parents seemed at that time. A decade later she came home to visit and we found out how geography changed us, language and personality-wise. She's a programmer at Yahoo! now, as I'm just finding out how life is out here in the US of A. Hope you have a happy day, Patty. I miss you! It's cold, even indoors I want to wear gloves right now. We're going to have cold winter, baby says. Smiles as I think about how good it felt to be held last night. TG/CT snaps here. Amelia sends email, and Dre gets the job at Pilipinas Shell. I dropped off my resume at the 6th Ave Clinic with Greta, and got lost on the way back. Serendipitously, I passed by the 5th avenue Cat Clinic, where a HELP WANTED sign was posted for a Vet Assistant / Receptionist. Good luck to me. Walking back home I swear my face almost froze! Baby comes home with my dogwalking posters. I made dinner, baked chicken with honey sauce and vermicelli (miswa, in Tagalog) soup with dumplings. She liked it so much she's taking the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow. Seinfeld reruns over grapefruit, the news says this is the coldest night since January 2001. Does that mean I survived? Let's see what happens cos there's a snowstorm Thursday. Snow! Temp 25F/0C/273K Freezing point is 32F. Of course that's 0C, and we learned from chemistry that C+273 = Kelvin. Brian the landlord calls and asks how the temperature is here. Wait till I thaw. :o) We arrived from CT at 2PM, and Greta dozes off immediately. Roz samples the TJ Max Gourmet Food and we head off next door, where Emiko's mom Mrs. Otsubo served dinner (curry, rice, tofu). Sunday night love. :o) I received an email from the 6th Avenue Animal Clinic, which is a few blocks' walk from here, regarding a job opening. I just callled them up but Dr. Dendtler is with a patient. *crossing fingers* Spoke to Dr. Dendtler at 430pm, turns out she's looking for a licensed vet who "can be left alone" to relieve her. I asked if she had any openings for assistants or any part of her staff, but right now nothing's open, so I was asked to just leave my resume at her clinic. Oh well, didn't Paul say "kung di ukol, di bubukol"? (if it isn't meant to be, it won't come to be). I'm
starting a dogwalking business in the area, just to keep busy and earn
a little cash. Do you know dogwalkers get paid $12/30 minute walk? Interesting...
~ novembrrrr ~ ~ september 11 used to be just marcos' birthday ~ ~ august and everything after ~ |
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