recently read - august 2011

• Glitter Baby (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Fancy Pants (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• First Lady (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Call Me Irresistible (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Breathing Room (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• It Had to Be You (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Natural Born Charmer (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Nobody's Baby But Mine (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• This Heart of Mine (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Match Me If You Can (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
• Guys & Dogs (Elaine Fox)
• Beware of Doug (Elaine Fox)
• Bedtime for Bonsai (Elaine Fox)
• My One and Only (Kristan Higgins)
• The Next Best Thing (Kristan Higgins)
• True Love and Other Disasters (Rachel Gibson)
• Any Man of Mine (Rachel Gibson)
• In Bed With the Devil (Lorraine Heath)
• Between the Devil and Desire (Lorraine Heath)
• Surrender to the Devil (Lorraine Heath)
• Midnight Pleasures With a Scoundrel (Lorraine Heath)
• Passions of a Wicked Earl (Lorraine Heath)
• Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman (Lorraine Heath)
• Just Like Heaven (Julia Quinn)
• Code Name: Nanny (Christina Skye)
• Code Name: Princess (Christina Skye)
• The Darkest Hour (Maya Banks)
• No Place to Run (Maya Banks)
• Hidden Away (Maya Banks)
• Sweet Surrender (Maya Banks)
• Sweet Persuasion (Maya Banks)
• Sweet Seduction (Maya Banks)
• Sweet Temptation (Maya Banks)

it's a go!

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Because somewhere in between brownies and choco chip pancakes, my Dad said YES! OMG, I've been waiting for this, and I'm so glad I now have his permission. Although, granted I would go for it, whether or not I have his permission. I was about to ask Ate Juliet, a good friend of our family, how to get a loan. She works at Insular Life and handles our insurance plans, and she told me once about their loan policies.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm gonna backtrack a little.

Ever since I was a little girl, my Mom would let me help in the kitchen, although I don't think I'm much of a help that time. And ever since I learned how to make my way in the kitchen, I've always known that I wanted to be a chef. But college got in the way, and when my Mom won't let me take up Psychology or Journalism and I ended up in Nursing, my cooking has taken a backseat. Sometime during the middle of my first year, I asked my Mom if I could shift from Nursing to Culinary Arts. She refused. But she promised me that if I finish Nursing first, she'd pay for my Culinary after college, if I still want it.

But halfway thru college, I decided to pursue Medicine, and become a doctor. Well, that didn't happen, which suck, but I'm over it now. I know I would have been an awesome doctor, though. So, it's their loss, whoever they are.

Which now comes to this. I did 6 months as a nurse volunteer, and while I did enjoy the work, despite how tiring it is, I just don't see myself being a nurse for the rest of my life. I don't think I received the calling from Florence Nightingale. And that led me to reflect on my life so far. I tried to think of a work/business that would profit, but also something that I would enjoy, and I circled back to my first love: food.

I love to eat, but more importantly, I love to cook. Or rather, bake. It started as a hobby, and became my major stress reliever while I was at school. Now, I'm hoping it can be more.

So.. I'm going to enroll at the Philippine School of Culinary Arts. Hopefully, after 10 months, I'll become a full-fledged Pastry Chef. *fingers crossed* My Mom supported me from the time I told her about my plans, but my Dad had some misgivings. Probably because the school is at Cebu, and this will be the first time I'm gonna be away from home for a long time, but he finally said yes! And OMG, but I'm just bubbling with happiness.

Sometime next week, I'm going back to Cebu to get a city health card as part of the requirements, enroll, and find a place to live. I'm so excited!

I was bored earlier to day so I decided to make brownies and chocolate chip pancakes as our late-afternoon snack.

The brownie batter.

Brownies! Fresh from the oven. =)

Pancake batter. It's not much to look at, but it's yummy! I like the batter better than the cooked pancake!
I don't know why it rotates to this position everytime I upload it, though.

Teflon pans. The best kitchen tool, ever. This rotates, too. I wonder why.

Chocolate chip pancakes ♥

Pancakes and brownies together. =)

the queen city of the south

Cebu is just a 30-minute plane ride, a 4-hour van/fast craft ride, or a 6-hour van/slow boat ride from Tacloban, you'd think I'd be going there as frequent as I can, but no. I live so close to Cebu, but I've only been there a handful of times, and the first time I did, I was in second-year high school already.

I remember feeling a bit burned out in my last year of college that I begged my Mom for a short trip, just a change of environment to settle me down, and we went to Cebu for a bit of downtime, and a lot of shopping. And sometime during February last year, I accompanied my Dad for a conference, and I caught up with friends while he attended it. That was the time my Dad bought me an iPod Touch, as a gift for me for passing the Nursing Licensure Exam.

My longest stay in Cebu, though, was during my third year in college, when we affiliated at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center for our Psych duty. Now, that was fun! I love my patient. He was a schizophrenic, but he was fun to talk to in his lucid days.

Anyway, the reason I'm rambling about Cebu was because I just had a mini-vacation there. My main reason for going was because I wanted to see the culinary school I was setting my sights into, and I had some inquiries. Of course, seeing my friends and doing some shopping are added bonuses. I also got to meet my Mom's BFF and my former yaya, Ate Memie, along with his son Michael.

French fries break with Jen, Ate M, and Michael =)

Jenny and I arrived at Cebu on the 2nd of September, and Jojo joined us on the 5th. It was a fun-filled week, and we got to do a little bit of shopping. I got myself a pair of shoes, 3 shirts, a pair of shorts, an Angry Birds keychain, and a pair of Angry Birds flip-flops. Usually I'd take a picture and post them, but this time, I kinda forgot, and I don't want to postpone this blog post any longer, so never mind the pictures.

My new pair of comfy flats ♥

I got BF these, though. He's not much of an HP fan, but I am.
And they don't have female sizes of the shirt, so if I can't wear it, then I'd rather he did. =)

While waiting for Jojo to finish fitting his choice of shirts.

Jojo and Jin watched Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington, and while they did, I walked around the mall, and bought the things my Mom asked me to. I didn't watch, because I seldom watch Filipino movies at the cinema (yes, I know, I don't support the Filipino movie industry, blah blah blah). After all that walking, I decided to have a bit of rest, so I went in search of my favorite FroYo store, The White Hat. And that was where they caught up to me after the movie.

Pizza Hut for dinner that night. Lasagna and mozzarella sticks. Yum ♥

And this is completely off-topic, but I just have to remember the time I bonded with my Sigaw Sisters Krissy, Kaiye, and Grace at The White Hat. Those were good times.

When are we doing this again? ♥

What we did in Cebu are all random,and I don't think I'll be writing down everything the happened. Those were the highlights. I know I had fun, my friends had fun, and that's all that matters.

I'll end it with this, though: Jin and I finally got over our Teriyaki Boy cravings!

Chicken Teriyaki ♥

Jen lost her space to Cookie Monster!

At the airport. Our last meal together before we went separate ways. Me to Tacloban, Jen to Manila.

packing my stuff early for a change

One more night, and it's Hello, Cebu! My flight doesn't leave till 5 in the afternoon, and usually I prefer packing at the last minute, around 2 hours before I have to leave for the airport, but this time I decided to pack early, just so I won't have to do anything else tomorrow.

My friend Jen and I are off to Cebu tomorrow for a week-long trip. It's mostly vacay, and meeting up with friends who are there, but I have some stuff to see to, too. Hopefully, if all goes well, I can finally tell ask my Dad about my Pastry Arts plans. *fingers crossed*

I'm excited about this trip, even though I don't have much money, and by the time I come home I'll be virtually broke, because I'll be seeing my best friend again after 6 years. That's a really long time, but still, our friendship remains strong. We've known each other since our elementary days, became best friends in our high school years, and maintained that friendship to this day. I can't wait to see her, and I do hope she can bring her little girl Yzabelle (Yza, as she's called, but I prefer calling her Belle, so we'd share the same name), since she's the only inaanak (goddaughter) I have that I haven't seen yet.

I love promo flights. It allows me to travel whenever I want without thinking how expensive flying can be. Mind you, it is still expensive, but considering the original ticket price, it's a steal.

I can't wait! =)