When I was younger, I wasn’t very fond of Filipino food. Maybe it was because there were no places like Max’s and Red Ribbon, Goldilocks and Aristocrat, Kamay Kainan and other restaurants, where our parents could bring us. Mom and Dad are awesome cooks, but there was quite a limitation to the Filipino ingredients you could acquire when we were in Riyadh. So instead they learned to make do with whatever could be found in the local markets. Mom learned to bake, and she made wonderful things: pineapple upside-down cake, prune cake, apple pie, chicken pastel. Dad made excellent tempura, and everyone loved his tempura sauce. One year, for my birthday, they stayed up till the wee hours of the morning working on my birthday cake. It had a gingerbread house made of biscuits, Smarties, cookies, wafers, and I don’t know what anymore. Continue Reading…
Sandwiches are easy. Two halves of bread, some meat or fish, a toaster and you’re done. Unfortunately, many people fail to appreciate the potential of the sandwich to be a truly great meal. Most places will put tuna and mayo between two pieces of white bread and call it a tuna sandwich. Others will put Kraft or Eden cheese—thin slices at that!—or plain Cheez Whiz in the middle of boring white bread and call it a cheese sandwich. Blasphemy!
Simple sandwiches are not a bad thing. But simple need never be boring! A cheese sandwich, for instance, can have two kinds of cheese and a dash of something to liven it up: cayenne, chopped basil, a slice of tomato or cucumber. That isn’t so difficult. Continue Reading…
MERALCO, why oh why?
Nearly two months of wedded bliss, and everything’s fine. New house, new life, and many other new things, most of which use power. We’re people of many gadgets–who isn’t nowadays? My work requires me to be online almost all day, and Oneal and I have many interests online. In fact, we rely on the Internet for so many things: news, photos, communication with friends and family, even much of our charity work and 501st activity happens online. So you can understand the need for the multiple laptops, the phones, and the requisite power consumption.
Still, that’s not unusual. Neither are the aircon units (only used at night, but if during the day, only when we’re both home), the washing machine (chosen because it’s energy and water efficient), the lightbulbs (all CFL, mind you), the electric fans, and the kitchen appliances. So when we got our first electric bill in March, it was P2,082.40, and that seemed reasonable. After all, there’s two of us, and a three-bedroom townhouse.
Then just a few days ago, we got our new bill: P7,062.70 Continue Reading…
