Wedding at the Bamboo Church

How fun it was haha...eventually the whole formal event didn't came to be...^^ Everyone was notified to just store away their gowns and be in a "semi" formal wear or whatever they feel right about wearing to a wedding...my husband has stuffed his tie in my clutch bag and I wore a flowy blouse and pearls. We car pooled with friends making the travel less harassing. The traffic was sooo bad at the coastal road, we began watching movies...yay! 'perks of being friends with a Congressman's wife, we rode into her car with one digit plate number and 2 LCD screens and snacks! awesome... We were able to breathe in our clothes as the location is about 2 hours drive from our city that wore on to be an hour more snailing our way through.
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We finally reached the church 20 minutes before 4pm, our first time to see the St. Joseph Parish in Las Pinas (Las Pin-yas) famous for the Bamboo Organ built in the 19th Century. The organ still plays, they used it for the wedding and it sounds fantastic, very much like what Dracula would use in his castle at the mountaintop to sound scary...tentententen! But this sounded awesome clear, you can only imagine what it was like for the people of the 19th century singing with this instrument playing, it would've been the coolest church in the country! The church also has bamboo chandeliers and ceiling, terracotta tile floors and ornate stone walls, though small it is cozy and has a feeling of being in a medieval world but also very Filipino for the use of Bamboo.
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The ceremony was very solemn, they only have about 100-150 guests of family and friends. The church was decorated with Sampaguita..^^ I find it very interesting that they did...even the Bride's bouquet was made of clustered Sampaguita, it's a white Jasmin flower that's very fragrant, it filled the church with it's scent.
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At the reception, the tables were still set "somehow" formal with all those spoons and forks and glasses that we scrabbled together eventually when the food came because the tables have huge centerpieces of roses and fruits, beads and the couple's photos that there weren't much space for the plate with food sooo...yes, eventually the utensils went out of its proper order, so what!

The cake was HUGE too! wow...I gaped at it.period.
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My husband and I won a game for the couples, winning our table an extra bottle of wine! yay! we were awesome at naming body parts with the letters "P" and "T"...

The night went on great, I'm sure the couple are pleased that there are NO major hitch at all besides the guests not being able to find their seats because the seating plan was a "mirror" image of what is actual! haha... nothing bad or worse was noticeable other than that so good job to the couple and the on-site coordinators! ^^ and good job ME and hubby for winning the delicious wine!

i love weddings!

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me and the hubby reminiscing...

the bamboo and Capiz shell chandelier

Sampaguita (jasmin) flowers as aisle decor

my red shoes to go w/the motif.^^

the 19th century Bamboo organ played at the wedding

coming as we are!

ceiling lamps at the reception

the HUGE cake. 'but was too far for my camera...and me.

Donabel

HUGE centerpiece.

yummmm...not just for the kids! yay!

friends not behaving.

me and the hubby

cheers!

Happy Weekend!

xoxo
Sassy

sassy dining.

A weddingggg!^^ We're going to a wedding this coming Saturday, me, the hubby and some friends. A formal dinner one, where you'd sit stiff and eat quarter of a meal served in a large white plate while sipping on red wine and chardonay...gulp. It's been a while since we've attended something like this, my own wedding was not too formal yet "elegant" and "fun", I can say that it was, yes I was there.^^ Well, I'm really summoning all forces to recall what good dining etiquette I've reserved for events like this. I've always been sassy with everything, everywhere...I have no problem laughing at myself if I drop a utensil or something but yes, I do remember to NEVER pick it up incase you drop one, even if you don't intend to use it again just don't duck under the table to pick it up... I kick it away from me though and ask for a new one...I don't understand why they keep handing me pairs of utensils when I drop only one? pfft.

Anyway the bride has been announcing that it's ok if we come as we are and have rowdy-fun! oh I bet she does! I'm not really sure if she wants to see her guests to be too quiet and uncomfortable, you know those tight dresses and heels could really itch!^^

...and what dinner etiquette are you talking about? I come from the 3rd world, I eat with my hands and it's proper!haha You can burp out loud in Japan and it's proper!... somebody invented this fuss, you know that etiquette thing...not fun at all!^^ haha no, seriously...From time to time we need this. We need to experience things like this so our lives wont be a cliche! You know what I mean? So we're not running around in circles where everything is a chosen, familiar path. So yes, we're giving this a try... be stiff, sit still and eat quarter of a meal...

...and have Mc Donalds after.

xoxo
Sassy.

Polvoron

This is how Polvoron usually *should* look like (photo credit MM del Rosario)

I'll be feeding my friends at work with home-made Polvoron, of course I made them! Who's home do you expect it to come from? haha... I know, you won't believe me but I can do a mean Polvoron ...it's easy, that's why! ^^

Polvoron is just a mix of flour, milk, butter and sugar over a low-heat fire, it's like eating white-sand but sweet! I love Polvoron, it usually comes wrapped in colorful paper, shaped like ..."how candies are supposed to look like" wrapper twisted on both sides to seal it... but I had a hard time using the mould that makes it round ... so I made cones and just shove the sand-like sweet inside, stuffed it good and taped it closed. EASY eh?! ^^ I know, my friends are not accustomed to Polvoron wrapped this way ... but who cares? It tastes GOOD!

Mine. ^^

Going Organic

I'm chewing on a Green Tea mint Flavoured gum...with sooo much enthusiasm ... mm... this is goooood, it's so fresh, it's "earthy", tastes like chewing on a tea leaf ...now chewing with mouth open...mm ... tastes like jasmine flower now ^^... it actually iS beginning to taste like cheap perfume! ...yeah, I probably should get rid of it 'cuz I hate floral scents, I wonder why they ever invented this! It's ...so weird on my taste buds. BUT, apparently my friend here, enjoys it. She's chewing at it like there's no tomorrow... "hey stop!" haha she makes me laugh, I can never influence her! We're friends for so many reasons other than liking this green tea gum and that ... tea-leaf she's been driking that tastes like ... old, wooden cabinet ...

-ahaha! she laughs, have you eaten a cabinet before???

-Well, no but that's why you shouldn't eat that! We don't eat wooden cabinets and those cabinet-tasting things!

What a day ...

Anyway, we are going organic on a few things, taking it slow ...'cuz we're still learning more about it though we are pretty convinced that it's the healthier way, it's the sources that we are concerned about ... if we'll find an all organic market nearby here in the BIG city...'cuz I'm pretty sure in the province we have those. But here, it's quite a challenge! Sunday markets are held at the Metrotent in Ortigas but I think that is only by schedule, sooo ... YES! Finding the supplies is our latest goal!

We have another friend who's selling organic products like lotions and stuff, that I like so much 'cuz it smells very, very good that I want to lick it off my skin! It's made of fruit extracts and beeswax ... so imagine the smell of honey, yummm... maybe if I "accidentally" ingest it, it wouldn't hurt me ... ^^

'Let's go Green!

Finally my tomorrow arrives! I'm finally steering myself towards self-control and honesty! ^^ Actually, it's not that bad that I grew bigger 'cuz it's still me, I'm not at all obsessed with my weight and i love ice cream. It's just the matter of me eating more than I should! (uh-oh.) yeah, SIN....sorry. I'm really sorry and now I'm paying for it, because I feel heavy and my my conscience of not taking care of myself very well bugs me every morning when NOTHING in my closet fits me well anymore! All those pretty shirt dresses that I used to wear for work...all not mine! They are two-sizes smaller, they can't be mine!!! (eyes rolling...) you're kidding me closet!
Eventually, I bought myself new outfits for my new size and discarding closet loads of what my shape used to be. darn those skimpy shirts, darn those skimpy jeans, darn those skimpy knits!!! They aren't so skimpy when I was what? 12?! ... this could be a closet of a 12-year old girl and not mine! denial. denial. That's who I WAS. Was is good. I'm loving WAS because it represents the version of me that I don't like too much. I mean, I like myself, I like that I'm fun, that I'm happy and I have plenty friends ... it's ME not being able to fit clothes easily that I hate and had to be envious of a size-4 someone walking past me, with those long legs and high cheek bones! ... well, I'm not really sure if I'd get those long legs by slimming down, but I'm sure I wanna see those cheek bones! Maybe if I suck my cheeks in like a fish I'd get it quick!

whew. Anyway, researching on how to lose all these weight I gained from a happy marriage made me pry on other women's diet, especially Asian. Because I'm Asian but during my travels to Thailand and my frequent encounters with Korean women everywhere in the Philippines (as they seem to invade our country quietly.) I realized that we definitely have grown more curves among other Asians. We've embraced "curves" in our society that being too thin is regarded as sickly, malnourished and butiki (lizard!) So I don't wanna be really thin! I just wanna be the right size! =P

Anyway, here are some quotes about Asian diets that I wanna share and will try:

1. Thailand and their Spicy food.

Quote:

"The idea is that spicy foods increase your body's metabolic rate which makes you digest your food faster. Basically, spices improve digestion by increasing the hydrochloric secretion in the stomach. This is what increases your metabolic rate. With increased metabolism comes increased absorption rate. When there is increased absorption, then the body is able to utilize the stuff that you ate for your daily activities so almost nothing really stays put. So it does help you lose weight." -Yahoo! Answers.

2. Korea and China's Tea Trend.

"Drinking tea is quite common in East Asian cultures. The most well known tea in Asia is green tea which contains a lot of antioxidants and has properties that promote weight loss. In fact, green tea extract is often found in weight loss supplements. Oolong tea also has the ability to stimulate metabolic functions. Ginseng tea which enhances mental and physical performance and increases immune function is commonly taken in Korea and China." - Suite101.com

3. Japan and their Banana Breakfast.

"Banana is also another fruit that is commonly eaten. In fact, a new diet trend in Japan is the banana diet wherein people eat only bananas for breakfast and eat moderate amounts of their normal fare for lunch and dinner." -Suite101.com

4. Philippines and Taho (sweet and warm soy beverage)

"Soy foods provide a main source of protein in the Asian diet. Soy foods such as tofu, miso and tempeh can be found more often in supermarkets rather than health food stores. Soy contains isoflavones, which are compounds that can stop the mutation of regular cells into cancer cells. Soy foods also lower cholesterol and are a good source of iron. New to the food market are soy milks, which contain no lactose, and tofu pizza and hot dogs, for those who wish to introduce smaller amounts of soy to their diets". -eSSORTMENT.

5. Me and Chopsticks!

-My own understanding of chopsticks and how it may help lessen food intake while still eating what I can! Not being very good with chopsticks will make me eat slower while I analyze whether I can actually pick food up with sticks!... ^^

-So there. I'm proud that I'm taking steps (baby-steps if you will.) to eat healthy and be healthy. Let's all be.

of childhood and gloomy weathers and CURTAINS, finally!

I said I'd write about India but this super gloomy weather is not making my creative writing juices flow. tsk. I nearly missed my stop on my way to work because I had dozed off. But not to worry, I will still be writing about it as soon as I snap back into the real world ... (e.g. when I'm not staring at the monitor for too long that my eyes can't back away until I already feel half dreaming and making conversations in my head.)

This day, well reminds me of my childhood when we'd make paper boats to float on the puddle that the rain makes, by the old love songs on the radio that we tune in to, while we were young and the stations weren't transmitting very well that it make noises and squeaks when you try adjusting the knobs. Rain and gloomy weathers, remind me of my sister when we would hide underneath a blanket scared of the thunder. While mom prepares rice, noodle soup and dried salted fish. yum. It's a must when the weather is cold to have "tuyo" (dried salted fish), best with sliced tomatoes, salted egg and sardines too!!! oohh! This cold weather is making me hungry!!!

(EY! that was fast, I now got a noodle soup on my desk ... Beef Wanton Soup with siomai! wow. I soo love it, it's warm and spicy and the noodles are perfect. Thanks hubs! I guess I was thinking out loud again! ^-^)

Well, for sure summer is gone now. From all these global warming mess, our summer was cut short that I have been to the beach, only once... ooonly once! How sad. 'could've gone a whole week if I'd known summer will be out by June. tsk. I really don't like rain, but I like drizzles and the cold wind. It's doing us a favor for not having 'airconditioning' at home, that it makes our house cooler than it normally is, while saving up on energy bill. By the way, we got curtains now ... haha ... our own fancy curtains! well, we have "old" ones, 'you know when you just got married ... almost all of your stuff comes from "charity" and each others homes ... so buying just mere curtains is BIG deal. It's our first REAL, lovely curtains ... soft, silky and expensive. We love it ... er... i love it!!! My husband thinks it's not the color he thought I'd choose, he thought I'd pick Blue but hey! I picked a red and white striped, mustard color curtain that has metal rings. Lovely while it hanged at the mall with all the spotlights goi'n, I just had to pick that one. And so I did and couldn't wait for it to get installed that we were drilling in the screws for the curtain rods at the wee hours of the evening... of course I got curtain rods, had to buy it too! Metal but finished in light wood pattern. Perfect!

We only did one window though, because for some reason the one that's near the headboard won't fit my other curtain rod, wont fit like it's SHORT! darn! short. The holes were already there on the walls ready for the rods when we got the apartment, but how come the gap in between the two holes on this side is wider than the other!!! grrr ... I insisted the whole look to be done that night that we spent hours more on trying to make extensions for the rod!!! grr... didn't work. We'll have to try again this weekend. So there, every morning ... I admire our one window with the lovely curtain. How it looks so smooth and expensive. That I wondered if celebrities got one like ours ... because I'd probably wont be buying again anytime soon! So, this had to be something ... (*convincing myself*) really special.

I'm chuckling! ^-^

Lose it!

So how do I get back in shape and be able to wear 80% of what's in my closet?! grr... so frustrating that I have gone really generous on food! ... yeah, the BUTs of it being delicious, nutritious and just because it's there, looking all yummy and "yes, I can do exercise and diet tomorrow!" excuses ... Which tomorrow however, I don't know! ... Marriage is sooo good that I was too comfortable to notice my weight! haha until I realize that I'm now running out of "wardrobe" options while preparing for work everyday. My husband tells me to plan ahead so we wont be running late, but that's not even the point. The point is, I could plan my whole outfit for the week, but the bad news is ... will it fit me?! I can't stand the times when I couldn't squeeze myself into something that I thought looks good on me. grr.

oohh! That's why I'm planning to give all those clothes away so I could fill my closet with NEW clothes in my NEW size. Good or Bad? BAAAD. Because I'm not that rich to pack my whole closet with new stuff and I have some sort of "emotional" attachment to the clothes I love, which makes me really mad at myself for not being able to fit into it anymore! I grew 2 sizes bigger. That's why. grr...

BUT, I'm not at all hard on myself about food and eating and not being able to be a size 0 ever!!! It's just my old self that I want and it's not easy to lose all these pounds because the more you get heavier that more you get lazy to lift a muscle. It's aging actually, that's doing all these metabolism mess I have. When before, I could eat whatever, whenever I want and it magically disappears! But now that I'm nearing 30 and have to work it out really hard just to see a tiny bit of progress! grr..

'Hope I get the inspiration to really lose it! 'cuz right now I'm just too happy to bother!

back from outer space!

Rodel my officemate and me at Khao Pad
Thai Cuisine at Khao Pad, Ortigas Center
Halo-Halo, Razon's of Guagua

ok so where was I? Oh! I have been all over ... like work on the weekend, shopping at the grandest sale ever!!!, ate at a fantastic Thai resto ... and uh... did I just say work on the weekend? ... like I mean earlier today?! haha... yes, if that was confusing, it was actually earlier today that I had been to work... you see the craziness of my schedule? I was blobbering about my day being sooo idle and now here! I had to work for the weekend to get a job done by Monday ... well, no worries! 'cuz I was on my way to the sale anyway! Yeah, 3 days and midnights of sale galore! Of things I need ( I never admit to my husband that I just bought some things that came to mind when I saw them!) Well, who knows when I'll need a pack of beads!!! ... they're all so pretty that I plan to ship it to my sister anyway... so there! I had fun at the sale though we couldn't really stay until midnight 'cuz there were too many people, traffic was bad ...so we're trying to avoid the already worsening rush!

Today... I also had the yummiest Thai food in Manila! Wow, so yummy that I want to take my husband there too! When I told him all about it, I showed him pictures that looked sooo mouthwatering he was convinced that we had to go there one of these days! yum....

Well...I wound up at that place when our boss took us there for lunch today... The place is called Khao Pad ... an authentic Thai Cuisine place. Good thing that we know a bit of Thai, though the boss is the one who's so fluent at it that the owner tried to converse with us and we were there dumbfounded! haha ... I should've known! Never start a conversation in a language that you know too little about 'cuz the conversation will get going without you! haha ... anyway, we've resolved that, my boss just said in Thai "they don't speak Thai very well, but they've been to Thailand in Chonburi"... then smiles. smiles.

I have been to Thailand thrice and it's always closest to my heart. Though I didn't like the food they were serving in the office canteen when I was there but at the resto ... YUMMY! Almost everything is spicy but you can also request it to be a little less spicy ... though it's a challenge to do so ... they don't speak English very well, so 'better be ready with your grandest miming expressions ever! You'll need it!

But here, in Khao Pad... The spices were a bit tamed but I still had bitten into raw red chili on a fried rice, still ... i went on eating like there's no tomorrow!!! It was just delicious as I describe it. Anyway, if ever you come to Manila and want to eat Thai food ... err... why would you do that anyway? why not go to Thailand and eat Thai food? ...haha ... it's at the Ortigas Center ... place with lots of resto and bars, and funky shops. Very nice place... I even felt like a tourist in my own country! weird that I was taking lots of photos, as if the place is not a few meters away from my office building! ... It's very cool to be there ... so we had to stay a few minutes more before going back to work and had dessert at the Razon's of Guagua ... they serve this Halo-Halo, that's unique to the Halo-Halo (hah-lo - hah-lo) I'm used to with lots of beans and colorful jellies! This one, is served with only white and yellow colored fruits and stuff I dont recognize 'cuz they lose their form when you mesh them into your glass...i tasted crushed ice (the softest I've had so far), milk, banana and young coconut ... the other fruits, I do not know ... cuz again they were all meshed in my glass! You can actually feed me anything that has ice and meshed and I'd eat it!!! haha ... oh! not to forget the Leche Flan on top.... god! heaven!

So, nice day huh? yeah, pretty! ... Next week, I'll be joining my husband who's just gotten into Airsoft ... yeah, I'll be gaming too!!! Me and my hubby are newbies so pray we don't get hit too many times 'cuz were paying the game hours fair and square!!!

'till then! ciao!

P.S.

Thanks Carmela, of Khao Pad for the corrections... appreciate it!

Burp and Wonders

For some reason people would want to celebrate their birthdays even when its not...and in a world where there's freedom and equality, no one can stop you from doing just that!!! So we did! For Che, a friend who by her whim treated us on a hefty dinner the other night supposedly a birthday treat. Given the budget and friends who are willing to party, why not?! Even if her birthday is still in October, why not?! Because there is a special production number by the crew of the restaurant, why not?!!! ...and there are plenty more reasons that could be answered by "why not?" so we just never argued why! It's like a blessing you never prayed for but came, so why ask?

So we went, stuffed ourselves, had good laughs, she paid --- and then there were loads of leftovers. The rule is, if your leftovers still resemble the picture on the menu, you have to take it home! It's still good food. In a world with many hungry mouths, you just can't throw away food, it's as if "again" a blessing that has overflown and now you want to get rid of it... no, no, no, NO! We had them wrapped and then brought home, agreeing that we could still eat it for lunch the next day.

SO THE NEXT DAY... we did just that, ate them and shared some more of it too ... How weird that the food *slash* blessing seemed to have overflowed, that we had fed a room of people including ourselves?! We go wondering how much did we really ordered that night, or how much it could've costed our friend? ... well... were not really sure how much food we had on the table, but surely we had wasted none of it! Leftovers are good food ...(just don't let it go stale!)

Anyway, our generous friend was not finished with us ... she later again treated us to Starbucks for a drink of our choice! *coffee jelly=heaven* we really don't know what's gotten into her! But, there has to be a "moral lesson" in this, even if it seems to be vague that people would do random generosity! ...

The moral lesson? uhmmm... "To bring out the generosity in someone, you must be a charity case" ... aaaaccckkkkk.... not good! uhmmm ... "In order for blessings to come into your life, you must learn how to share it" that's pretty good, huh!...explain! Well, it's like a pail of water, when you don't throw out excess water, you wont be able to fill it again ... so let your Blessings flow! Let your hands, be at least "quarter" empty, so it'll be filled in again with things you need more in your life! Let your closet breathe, so you could shop again and fill it with great, new, in season stuff! ... uhmm.. kidding!, haha, but you get my point, right?

Celebrate Earth Day.

I thought I'd be writing about Hollywood and how we know all about it here ... in a far corner of the world, we do know about Hollywood! But let's just save that thought for the real world outside the glitz and glamour, of fashion and gossip. The world outside is celebrating EARTH DAY and we had seen AL Gore at the mall ... uhmmm not the real deal of course! But just a production onstage with a huge screen playing the Inconvenient Truth, complete with props of a windmill and mountains. I'm glad they had that activity, that at least for us who were mere passers by had been reminded of what day is today...

"ah! it's Earth day, let's go celebrate!"

Ok were not really heavy activists for the planet earth and the biggest thing I ever did for mother nature was planting a tree 10 years ago in school... which is probably all grown and shady by now. Sorry that I didn't do much after, but carried canvass bags for shopping... and oh! I made a donation for the "Kapit-Bisig para sa Pasig Project" (arm in arm in saving the Pasig River) That in seven years, the Pasig River will be clean and rid of the slums that encroached the area. We have high hopes on the project, we just hope that people will do their part in saving the environment though it may begin in a small way, the effort becomes bigger when put together.

So... in celebration of the Earth day, we had a big, hearty dinner with friends... uhmm... let's just say it was an impromptu celebration that we had to think of a reason just to eat! (grr.) We even thought of celebrating our friend's birthday which isn't really today but we just wanted the birthday song by the waiters at Gumbo! (eyes rolling!) complete with maracas and bongos! haha I know, were crazy, but who doesn't do that in their lifetime? To pretend that there's a celebrant at the table? haha one of those days you know, when you're all tired from work and just want to hang out and have a decent meal ... fun for old people like us! Boring and stupid for others!

Well ... happy Earth Day all ... may everyone be protectors of all God's creations ... HUMANs included!