prito? nu-uh!

"i'll never make "prito" again, ever!"

last night, i almost got our condo unit (and who knows the whole building?) burned because i was trying to fry some fish! the last thing i remembered was putting the fish on the frying pan with oil and the next thing i knew i was holding a frying pan ablazed (while screaming my lungs out, like it could do something!). of course, that happened right after a huge blaze caught up the range hood and i was able to grab the pan away from it in probably less than a nanosecond.

when my housemate saw the kitchen and this huge fire (with me behind it), the first thing that came into her mind, that i was already burning. thank God it was just the pan! all happened so fast, but still what i had in mind was never ever to put water into the blazing pan. thank God i was still able to think about that one thing that's never to do in situations like this. who knows how worse the situation could get? what happened next was just screaming. i was screaming, my housemate was screaming (since she was as shocked as i was). but our screams of shock must have frightened the blaze since the fire started to let low until it finally was put off.

then there was a moment of silence. a state of shock. what had just happened?

when all our senses returned, we looked about our kitchen that was a mess. but everything seemed alright. well, except for the range hood that i thought i'd be spending much for repair services! the foam with all the black thingies that are like charcoal (which was supposed to absorb the odor from cooking) just got all burnt out, and all those little charcoal things just filled the whole kitchen and most of the floor. but on the other side of that mess, the kitchen cabinets didn't have any burnt
traces, the kitchen tiles just turned slightly gray and plastic food containers thrown to the floor. i must have reacted so quickly to be able to avoid any big damages. but then, that was adrenaline soaring high! for which, i'm still soo grateful! i've just been thanking God for saving me for whatever bigger damages that incident might have led to.

looking back, this happened to me the second time already. the last time was in our own kitchen back in bohol where i tried to fry some "chorizo" myself because i'm sick of everyone in the house bugging me for not knowing how to cook. see where my own pride brought me? an almost burnt kitchen, and no trace of "chorizo" to eat. but i was just 14 then, and i remembered swearing to never ever cook again.

it was a good thing i was able to overcome that fear. right after college, i started to learn how to cook. but making "prito" wasn't really that much of a favorite dish (to cook). in fact, it's one of the most difficult dish for me to make (aside from cooking monggo and anything with squash on them).

from now on, i'm taking my swear back. with having that up-close encounters with fire, i'll never have the strength to make "prito" ever again.

no worries

nothing beats a feel good song on a hectic day...

(Artist: Simon Webbe)
(Album: Sanctuary)

I just know your life's gonna change
Gonna get a little better
Even on the darkest day
I just know your life's gonna change
Gonna get a little further
Right until the feelings change

So, is this how it goes?
Think you've come this far with nothing to show
That ain't so, no
You don't see where you are
And if you don't look back you know you'll never know

Cause you think that you've been living, just treading water
And waiting in the wings for the show to begin
But I always see you searching
As you try that bit harder
Getting closer, oh yeah, to the life you're imagining

[chorus]
(I just know your life's gonna change)
Maybe not today, maybe not today
Some day soon you'll be all right
(I just know your life's gonna change)
Don't turn the other way, turn the other way
Feels like luck is on your side
(Just wanna live)
No worries, no worries
(Don't wanna die)
No worries, no worries
(Fight thought the lows)
Say it for me, say it for me,
(And take all the highs)
We all need somebody
(Yeah we can sink)
No worries, no worries
(Or can you swim)
No worries, no worries
(Or walk on out)
Say it for me, say it for me,
(Or jump right in)
We all need somebody

So, baby keep drifting on
Your endeavours ain't just selfless wasted time
Seek and find, yeah yeah
You're not that far from what you've hoped and wished for all along

Cause you think that you've been living, just treading water
And waiting in the wings for the show to begin
But I always see you searching
As you try that bit harder
Getting closer, oh yeah, to the life you're imagining

[chorus]

I just know your life's gonna change
Say it for me, say it for me
We all need somebody

*****************
lyrics from http://www.anysonglyrics.com

candy heart

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"
A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

shopping blues

i'm always impressed how shopping manages to lift my mood and little fits or even just my boredom. once i carry off a new pair of shoes from a boutique, i feel this certain lightness sweep over me like my troubles have just walked away with my old pair.

okay, you may think i am exaggerating this a little bit. But i know some women out there who has the same weakness for pretty, sexy, must-have sandals would definitely agree with me.

Shopping has always been a form of therapy for women. Although, it is a dreadful weakness to cope up most specially if you get your credit card bills soar high. Unless you got a rich daddy to pay them off, then there's not much of a problem there. hehe. But for those who have to survive on their own (just like me), you have to learn to be responsible with your finances.

I admit i've been a shopaholic myself. There's always a cute item (that later on i'd find totally non-essential) that i'd find in the malls. But i've been in some form of "therapy" for some time now since i started to see my huge credit card bills. Though it was difficult and i've had my share of relapse, i finally managed to pay off all my bills (thank goodness!). Now, i'm trying to shop on cash basis. Driving me away from the malls would have been more sensible, but that totally is NOT therapy for me. I just could not keep away from the simple joys that "malling or window shopping" brings, plus i get to have some exercise. :)

Since i came here in sg, i've been splurging with all the goodies that one can find. Well, who's to blame if Sales are unending in this part of the globe? they should have warned me! At first i was buying for necessary things, like work clothes and shoes. Then, when we moved to our apartment, i was buying house stuffs. There's always a nicer looking towel, or bed sheets, etcetera.

After i spent the weekends buying the "necessary" stuffs, i was left with nothing else to do but stay home and face the tube. Plus, there's really not much interesting shows on weekend afternoons, so i just got bored.

I'm afraid my boredom has driven me to the malls :( well, with choices like stay home, or do overtime and malling for the weekend, which do you think would i choose? well, i can stay home for a day, on a weekend. but definitely not for two days straight. i need the exercise, you know. hehehe.

i know i really have to stop myself before my credit card bills soar high once again. darn those banks for existing in the first place. hehehe. well, okay, it's really not their fault. i really have to look for things to occupy me on my weekends, or else i would have toured all the shopping malls here before the year would end (which is really not such a bad idea).

i should do yoga. (think).

colin firth

i just had a funny, sexy dream last night that left a smile on my face even when i woke up the following morning. The funny part was that i dreamt about Colin Firth! i rarely take big handsome actors in my dreams (like i take them home). But then, Colin Firth?

It's funny coz i don't think about him as often as i think about someone like brad pitt (though i'ved liked him less after the jen-brad-angelina thing), or george clooney (still my favorite). Well, i admit Colin Firth is sexy in a very endearing kind of way. don't you think? If not, you must haven't seen him on the bridget jone's diary! :D but rhim being in my dream is not the sexy part yet.

So, in my dream he had me engrossed in some conversation. Then i realized i wasn't so attentive with what he was talking about coz i was just taken away by the sexy british accent. The next thing i knew, we were in his room already and he was talking about his underwear. He tells me in this really sexy and innocent way how comfortable he is with boxers as compared with briefs. all of a sudden i was wondering how did our conversation ever lead to this? i couldn't recall but i surely wasn't complaining. :D

My attention definitely got quipped as he showed me one by one his "unused" black boxers ( which by then i was already holding my breath and then was gasping for air after) HEHEHEHE. Like what he
was doing wasn't torture enough, he told me he wasn't wearing one (boxers, that is) and gave me a peek of the black briefs that he was wearing. that got me totally speechless and all i could think of
after was 'what a sexy bum!'. HEHEHE..

i was curious what would have happened next, but the spoiler already came. the sun was then up and shining and my body clock ticked for me to get up. i still stayed in my bed for another thirty minutes since funny and sexy dreams are rare when you sleep exhausted from a day's work. i just had to linger on and think about my dream. the smile on my face just won't go away.

i still can't believe that i just dreamt about colin firth and his boxers. :D

an hour at daydream-land

my pc suddenly crashed for the longest time this morning which became a good thing, since i get the chance to go to my daydream-land. as i patiently tried to close every application as to not to loose any "important" data that i was "working" on, my mind also lazily travelled to a quick view of the future i'd love to see myself into.

however, i won't be spilling anything about what my daydream-land looks like. i just think that if i spill it here, people reading might want to gag :D .. but that's besides the point. what i want to relay is, ever since i started to work here in singapore, i get to have bigger chances to realize my small dreams that i've always considered as some fancy thoughts before. these things are what i've always wanted to do but never had the chance because i was too afraid to take the risk then. now, in a probably a year or two..these small dreams might be feasible already, for finally, i've figured out little steps to make them real or close to real. that is if luck is on my side. Well, the ingredient for luck would be a job during my planned years of stay here, a deep sense of being financially responsible (Hmm..now that sounds heavy!) and of coirse, tons of prayers. But nonetheless, i'm just really excited just thinking if everything would just go as planned.

The new thing here is, these things that i'm wishing/hoping/praying to achieve are the things that keeps me going these days. Thinking about them (aside of course from my family and friends who always maintain to be my inspiration) gives me the drive to work harder. That, I've never felt before and i've never felt this way about myself - to dream, and be inspired. it feels great!

"ain't no mountain high enough"

gong xi fa cai

sometimes i feel like i'm starting to understand mandarin when my officemates speaks to each other. i can almost get their jokes and manage to produce a self-consious chuckle among their laughter.

nah. i am just kidding myself each time i think about that. i'm totally at lost when they speak to each other. at first, all i hear was noise. but after hearing mandarin for about two months, and almost everyday at that, my ears seems to start forming words. although, the words still don't make sense to me, i say it's quite a progress. i've never learned mandarin anyway (except for the classes i had in
secondary school which i've totally forgotten).

today, my officemates, who are mostly from china, are busy decorating the office because chinese new year is approaching. to get a hang of the celebration, i try to help out in the decorating. Happiness, Wealth and Luck for everyone is the center of this celebration. That isn't a well-researched observation though since i just asked for the meaning of all the chinese characters posted on the decorations.

I may not be celebrating this festive event the way the chinese do, but i would like to share what they wish for everyone as they start the year.

So, happy chinese new year! Cheers!