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Jan 30, 2015

beqaa: a food blog is incomplete

without a toilet shot.
(hubagang Ate oy!)

So I dunno how to start this food blog thing. Anyhow, I wanted to do one because i could not find a "meaty" review of Beqaa. It's a Lebanese restaurant by The Abaca Group. It's above Tavolata. but they're only open starting at 5pm up.

I'd been wanting to try this resto but I did not like to go thru the process of knowing their food. Finally, I felt like we have the time to go thru this complicated "getting to know" the food so Beqaa it is.

Here's my survival tips for exotic restaurant:

1. Go to foursquare, google, ask your friends.

So 90% of the search results of Beqaa raved about Fafafel. It's labelled appetizer but it felt like a main dish when i felt full after downing 2 pieces of it.

And, i felt tad disappointed why did i follow the google and foursquare results. I no longer have much room for the other foods.

Pita bread would have been fine because their dips / condiments are delish.

2. Be like Mark John, and order the same dish just like what he orders in other restaurants: Salmon!
 
And, I was like revolting! This is some Mediterannean or maybe Persian, or maybe Middle Eastern kind of restaurant, we're supposed to eat sheep here not fish. And, besides salmon tastes the same in all restaurants. And who eats fish for a kebab. Oh well, it's Mark John.
But it was not a wrong choice afterall. It was probably the tastiest salmon  that I came across in Cebu. Not that I have a lot of them.

3. Get the food that's boxed in the menu. 

It was a toss between this lamb stew, as suggested by Paola, and shawarma. But i did not feel right about a sheep being served as a soup. I mean I cannot remember a goat as a soup dish... Beef can be, but sheep or goat in a soup?!? 

So I let the staff have the final say. And, it helps that The Abaca Group restos usually know their stuff so she said that boxed dish is their specialty. Like DUH, rose!
I think i prefer the gyro of cyma over this one. But nevertheless, it was worth it except that the serving was so hugeee! :)

4. Condiments are not for "take-away leftover." How I wish I could also pack them togethet with the leftover...

So I just devour as many as I can that I got 3 refills of them. :)

5. Don't forget to post about it in all of my social network site, and hashtag #vegan. 




Jan 28, 2015

Cebu Music: Humba

The other day or week, I filled out the TEDxUSC registration form, and it has a question something like "how do you support local music?"

I used to buy random local, especially Cebu, artists on iTunes, even if I don't really listen to them that much as a simple way of support. I mean I'm not really a big music person. 

But with spotify nowadays, I guess playing their music again and again is a way to support (which made me think, which platform gives better pay).

I tried looking up for Cebu or Philippine playlist, but I cannot find one. There's a Philippine top hits but none one is from a Pinoy music artist. So i'm creating a Cebu playlist. Well, it has only Missing Felimon & Cattski, then the #vispop albums for now.

It's our schooldrive playlist. Simple way of trying to put some Cebu culture on kids.

I felt cattski's music are meant long joy rides, they have that feel. It makes me think if her music are inspired by long joy rides.

While, Missing Felimon feels like I want to go to my neighborhood tambayan. It makes me miss the old-school tambay sa eskina, which is probably replaced by facebook nowadays.

But that one song that first pops in my mind when talking about #bisrock or Cebu music is "Humba" from the Brown Underground music of Ka Pedro back in the days. I looked it up, and the name of the band behind it is Scrambled Egg. 

Cebu music is "humba" for me -- NGILNGIG. You can interpret "ngilngig" as "bidli" or ngilngig as "great. For me, it's bidli but demmit kalami sa tambok patunawon sa mais nga kan-on. 



Jan 27, 2015

I Don't Mind Being Alone...

as long as i'm pretty, sexy, fabulous looking alone.
Owkei, it's an ugly wish with the recent Maguindanao crisis. I'm so sad to read a friend's status that her husband is one of the victims. But then after I post a "condolence" status in my facebook, I then post a photo with a celebrity. 

(Kawasan Falls Marathon March 15, 2015. http://aktib.ph/1395-kawasan-falls-marathon-2015-kfm Registration centers:
* runforsight.net
* Run For Sight office in CDU Hospital)
I guess that i should stick to my rule of not putting any sympathy greetings on facebook as they just get burried with my lols and lels.

Anyhoo, I was planning to go to Ayala to buy ink for printer after the Kawasan Falls Marathon 2015 press con but i chickened out so i got down near Parklane, and thought of dropping by at Mickey's Japanese Cakes shop. 

I wanted to back out from the cake shop, which serves more of a coffee shop for me, because, for me:

DRINKING COFFEE ALONE in a COFFEE SHOP is the LONELIEST THING TO HAPPEN.

But too late because I already ordered their special brewed coffee and cheese cake. 
There's something about Japanese-run coffee shops that they can make you feel that you're not in Cebu. Cafe Egao has also that kind of feeling.

Anyhoo, I dunno why but though i'm really an introvert but I find drinking coffee alone in a coffee shop as the loneliest thing to happen to me. Maybe because no one can take my #mugshot. Or maybe because I really do not have friends any more. I mean i do have friends, but not the "katambay" kind of friends. Either I have my own world, no one likes me to be their "katambay," or I guess it's part of being grown up. 

And, with coffee shops sprouting here and there?!? Wanted: FRIENDS or fabulousness or WORLD PEACE.

Jan 26, 2015

Compromise

I asked Meg if we can just give away his piggy stuffed toy because of Mateo's asthma. But It's heartbreaking to see her heart breaking to let go of her piggy Karla so we thought that putting her inside a plastic bag may help.
So she have to sleep beside a stuffed plastic bag with stuffed toy.

Next, what to do with Caramel and Snowy? 


Jan 24, 2015

DAY OFF #1

I have not much choice but to pick up again the motherhood role seriously. After moving on from the active aktib phase, i'd been trying to avoid picking up the motherhood role. It's not that it is hard. I have no problem doing hard work. It's more of i chickened out on the thought that i'll affect how 3 humans' lives will turn out because of me.

And, i guess it's one of the reason why i tried finding a "better" school because, well, i thought they can do better job than me (separate post about school if i dob't get lazy). But then i realized, it's not about who does a better job though... It's just that it's a job that needs to be done by me.

So goodbye to whatever glorified career plan i made up. I'm not that talented who can do very good at juggling career and motherhood. So for now, I'm going to be a HELICOPTER MOTHER until these 3 or at least this littlest human in this home no longer screams for my name to be in his Little Planet or whatever games, when i no longer need to be home when they arrive from home. (Oh that makes me feel weepy thinking that one day they might have another home to go home to.)

But as they say, heroes also take a break. Thus for this helicopter mother, Friday is my day off. It's my official day off.

So yesterday was my first day off. 

We went to this new cafe. The aesthetics were very pretty. 
Then, i went to Colon to yarn hunt. But it was disappointing. Maybe, i did not look hard enough.

I'm taking crochet "seriously" because it's something i can do that i can stop right away when the littlest human screams for my name. Or it's something i can do mindlessly while one of my ears is at the other little humans.
Then i attended techtalks.ph meetup. Please watch out for my blog post at http://techtalks.ph for the recent meetup.

Why did we ever have 3 babies?!? Because maybe i'm destined to crochet. 



Jan 21, 2015

Where to devour my @theabacagroup gift?

I'm probably not at all that a naughty child because I got a GC from The Abaca Group. If there are restos that i have no doubt of recommending, it will be any or all restos of The Abaca Group.

So where should i devour my GC:

French Toast from a Cafe? 
Freshly made from scratch pastas at Tavolata?
Churros at Maya?
Vietnamese coffee at Phat Pho?
Or maybe it's time to try Beqaa?
Or abaca at lapulapu city?

Jan 18, 2015

Retirement Training Days

At the end of this year, i started crocheting. From time to time, i find myself picking up a hook and stash of yarn, and printed beginner's crochet pattern.

(A valentine-themed socks but looks like another dish-cloth.)
It's not something i'm really hooked. It's more of a thing to do to make me stay away from the computer. I'm not saying it's better than internet, it's just another thing to do if i'm not on "internet." 

All my attempts at crocheting turned out to be i could not even pass as my kids' project. But i still find myself picking up the hook and yarn from time to time, and think that maybe this is a good training for my coming retirement days (though my status can be considered as "retired").

I mean we go to school for like 20 years to train for the "adult" phase. I guess it's just right to also train for tje retirement/senior phase. And just like when we went to school earlier part of our life, we did not necessarily like it. So i guess crocheting will do -- i don't really like it but it's not that bad. :)


Jan 17, 2015

Blank

Our neighbor, whose kids are carpooling with us, gives us calendars, umbrellas, and this 2015 planner. I'm glad i did not buy any planner yet. 

It does not smell like moleskine, and i find it too stiff but it just saves me from buying one which will probably be just unused.

Anyway, there's that exciting warm feeling of seeing a blank planner. I just cannot believe a crazy year was over, then what will probably be this year.

On top of my list for this year are some grown-up stuff that i don't like to deal with but then they're problems that i prefer over other things. I'm looking for:
* "bigger" home. I just want a ready-made cookie-cutter template kind of house, Mark prefers lot then build the home which i find too complicated. Maybe because i dwell in a boarding house for 10years of my life that i always find house as something temporary, and so investing money and most of all emotion on building it is unnecessary. For me, when you build a house from the groumd, the more you get attahced it as opposed to just picking a ready-made one randomly. 
* new school for the kids. Because, i could just no longer just wing it with mateo. He's bored, and it's not his existing school's fault, and maybe a different style of teaching can save me the burden of "unboring" it for him. Homeschooling might be a better option, but i'm not that hippie level yet. :)
This post makes me cringe. :)

Jan 14, 2015

Boobies Pose

Janice, my classmate since kindergarten in Badian until college, had posted her messages on my fb statuse asking why i was not replying to her private messages. She was blackmailing me by doing that. :)

Finally, We met earlier together with other highschool/college batchmate, Mona. We had so much fun, I skipped PkNcebu.

I taught them boobies pose, in which you put emphasis on your non-existent boobs.
I got a lot of gifts today!

From janice
From Cebu Bionic Builders, and Soybitz Natural Farm

We ended our night at katkat place, which name i dunno how to pronounce. 

Jan 11, 2015

Pit Senyor!



This is my Sinulog! =) 

Thank you, Sto Nino! Viva!

Race story soon at aktib.ph. And, yes, one of my goal this year is to be diligent in writing my race stories! =)

Photos from Jay Crodua and Iste Leopoldo.

Jan 9, 2015

Back at Tech Startup Chismis

I posted this on my facebook, so reposting it here:



with See Mei, head of design og Piktochart. stoked because i secretly wish to be a UI or UX or IX or whatever you call that designer. lucky for the design world that i cannot even make a decent stick man ***my 2015 goal is to "try" to write again about tech startup. i'm not really good at keeping goals. but anyway, here is the first http://techtalks.ph/blog/

via <a href='https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152632482536194&#038;set=a.10152632482476194.1073741843.535931193&#038;type=1&#038;theater&#038;notif_t=like'>Facebook</a>.

This is part of my "picking up old pieces / habit" of mine. =)


Jan 7, 2015

Of Finished Lines



Runner's World Philippines: To our dear readers, on behalf of Team Runner's World Philippines, I'd like to thank you all for the wholehearted support you've given us for the past five years. We're very grateful that you picked up our magazine and allowed us to accompany you on your running journey. You have truly been an inspiration to us! This New Year, we hope you will have the strength and courage to go after your running goals, achieve new personal bests, and overcome any obstacles that come your way. Always remember that it's not just about reaching the finish line but about the journey you took to get there. —Angel C. Aquino, Editor in Chief (@angelamc23)P.S. You can still get a digital copy of our last issue (Oct-Dec 2014) and all our previous issues at http://www.summitnewsstand.com.ph/runners-world/ via Cover Photos - Runner's World Philippines.

------------

Above is a post from Runner's World Philippines facebook page. I wonder if, somehow, my sentiments about going lie-low on running scene is the same as theirs. As much as how active and fun the running scene to look at social sites, the business side, I could say, is still at its "infancy." Its growing, but it's not that big yet.

Jan 6, 2015

Feel-Good Photos (Not a My-Top-10-2014-Photos Post)

I saw deathstockphoto.com on medium.com, a new stock-photo service provider. As their promotional, they're giving free stock photos -- which I understand you can use freely without the worry of putting credits. I downloaded it because I haz lots of time to waste, and I'm even posting about it now.

I read somewhere or was it in one of TED talks that there are certain "words" that can make a talk more interesting. It seems that the free pack of photos are tailored from that criteria because it has:

Photos about coffee.

Honestly, the only word I remember mentioned in that article is "coffee," but I think the following can still make a speech or any thing interesting.










Jan 5, 2015

Starfall Never Fails

After many ways of trying to escape the reading tutorial task with Mateo, I have no choice but to do it since I really have nothing to do now. I hate giving tutorial. Despite having a teacher as a mother, I don't have any passion for it. Thus, I have been trying to evade teaching Mati to read, and just brushed it off that he could wing it.

Plus, kids' lessons nowadays are so "advanced" or different. In my time, reading started with the Filipino "ba be bi bo bu." Now they start in English using phonetics as early as preschool, and with my ba be bi bo bu background, I'm having a hard time teaching it on their current technique.

Anyhow, among my kids, I noticed that boys tend to need assistance when it comes to learning to read, while the girl, Margaret was just natural even when she was just learning to read. I remember reading was also then a struggle with Miguel. I guess I was just lucky back then because he started at a school where they were only 2 students in their class thus the teacher was able to focus on him. 

So now with Mateo, he was forced to skip a level because of K12 thus he never was able to attend the very basic ABC phase. Then since he was the youngest, no one in the house already watches Dora or Barney so he never had his basic ABC. 

Anyway, last night, Mati became an #emododong. Either, we're a bad parent or he's making drama to avoid school today. I'm not sure if it's his reading issues that trigger it most but partly it might be.

I was wracking my brains on finding a "lazy" way of teaching reading this to kid, until I remember STARFALL.COM. I used this before with Miguel to get him started reading back when he's kindergarten / preschool.
So here I am again with starfall. 


Jan 2, 2015

What I originally plan to crochet...


My 2015 Resolution: JUST DON'T DO IT

Last year, I made Neil Gaiman's wish as my resolution:

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something."
I don't know how many is "many mistakes" but I felt I made a few many... that I felt puking just thinking about them, and of other things that will pop up in my mind from time to time. It was gluttony.

So this year, every time I felt an "itch" of doing something or seeing an "opportunity," my mind must shout "NOOOOO!!!" (You can hear it from here nooooooooooooooo.com!)

Emo NO