Non-working Holidays

It didn't seem right to not do a post about the holidays. But I wasn't in the mood to write about cliches either (no topics of Christmas reflections or new year's resolutions here!). So, I do what I always end up doing: I write about nothing. :)
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Truth be told, I had big plans for the long holiday. With the company shutting down as early as the 21st of December, I saw stretching before me hours and hours of down time that would allow me to finally give attention to all the things I wanted to do but complained I never had the time. I wanted to:

• write blog entries. I have about 5 blog topics that I've been meaning to write about plus a few others that I've been considering. In my head, the days after Dec 21 would find me seated at my work table exercising my creative writing skills.
• write for Electroshadow. It's not often I have the chance to see my work featured outside of myself. It's both flattering and challenging to realize that people who are not immediately connected to me will be reading me. The inner writer-dreamer in me derives some pleasure in this.
• fix my personal digital files. I have a couple of hundred pictures that need to be organized, flipped, cropped and edited and even some that need to be deleted. Then there are the music files that have been downloaded but not sorted and desperately needs to be.
• practice cooking. I have a belief (delusion?) that if I choose to really put my mind to it, I'd be a wiz in the kitchen. Slice, dice, chop and throw it all in a pan.. how hard can it be?

It is now Saturday, Dec 31 and I am just writing my first blog entry for the festive season. Need I say more?

Since arriving home in Dagupan on the 24th, my days have been filled with a lot of eating, a lot of sleeping, a lot of tv and a lot of playing around with my nephews. I lose periodic control over the TV remote, my tablet and my laptop as they are comandeered by two loveable boys who have their own ideas of what entertainment should be. But at 5 and 7 years of age, I am so incredibly thankful that they are still excited to have Aunty Stacey around. I dread the days when Aunty Stacey stops being cool to them.

But beyond that, I have spent a lot of time just doing nothing. And I have to say, it is amazing how much nothing you can do during a holiday. :D  I suppose I should be ashamed of myself for being so unproductive. I suppose I should be disappointed that I have practically nothing to show for all this free time. But I can't... and I won't. Because anyone who knows me knows I enjoy doing nothing. Just as much as I enjoy doing something new. There is a proper time for both and the Christmas holidays of 2011 is a time to just veg.

So from my seat in front of the tv, I end this final post of 2011 and eagerly await the promise of 2012. May it be a great year for us all.

Happy Holidays from us to you!

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The food of Frazzled Cook

My food posts are always late. Goes to show you that although I enjoy eating, I am not a foodie. Either that or I'm just really tamad. Anyway, this particular visit happened months ago. As in months ago. But, late though it may be, here it is.

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After the great success of Marcia Adams, which was followed by a smaller, purpose-driven ocular in Tagaytay that led to Breakfast at Antonio's, I once more coerced Joe into joining me on another food adventure. Although he really got the raw end of the deal because I made him take responsibility on where we would go. Again. *cue evil laugh*

That night the trip led us along the twists and turns of the side streets of Mandaluyong where, hidden like a true treasure, was the cuisine of (a) Frazzled Cook.

the sign

I'm not sure why a restaurant would name itself like that. It conjures up images of a kitchen in disarray and harried attempts to feed hungry mouths. Not very appetizing. But name aside, The Frazzled Cook wasn't frazzled at all. In fact, when you step inside, you instantly feel a relaxed, homey welcome. The interiors takes off from that same design philosophy you see in so many restaurants now: the coordinated mismatch (not the official term, I made that up. hahaha), where furnitures don't match but seem to still artistically blend together. Personally, I find this kind of decorating very hard to do since it's way too easy to turn the place into a holy mess. Thankfully, the execution here was quite tasteful.

an actual dining area (the owners had dinner there that night)

the main dining area

We were seated by the corner of the restaurant which also happened to house the most ridiculously large collection of fortune cats I'd ever seen! Shelf upon shelf of golden, waving cats. Hahahaha.. It was quite a site to behold. Especially because a great majority of them were actually in motion! Not quite in unison, but definitely enough for you to notice. And to make you laugh.

meow to the nth power

if I wave my arm, will I be lucky too?

Joe had the foresight of calling the restaurant ahead to pre-order one of their best-seller pizzas, the Pizza Caprese, to minimize our waiting time, as well as to serve as an appetizer. Forgive my poor memory, but I think it came with a side of garlic chili oil which you would drizzle on the pizza for added flavor. But either way, I remember the pizza being delicious. I will  have to say that it was my favorite for the night.

lovely thin, crunchy crust with delicious cheese

the cute little pitcher contained the garlic chili oil

For the main dish I decided to splurge and went for the rack of lamb. I was a little disappointed though that it turned out a bit tough and was difficult to slice off the bone. I can be very thorough when I eat, leaving a very clean bone behind. But I couldn't do that with this one and I found that very frustrating. The meat was tasty though, but I didn't quite enjoy the eating experience as I would have wanted to. When I come back, I'm likely going to try something else off their menu. Just for variety.

rack of lamb with cottage potatoes and mint & herb reduction

(nadadala ako sa ganda ng title. hahaha!)

A really cute touch I found was their cutlery. It had Hello Kitty on it! Hahahaha.. I'm honestly not a Hello Kitty fan, but it was cute to suddenly discover your spoon had a design etched on it. You could hardly tell, unless the spoon is hit by the light properly. But when we discovered it Joe and I spent quite a bit of time trying to capture the image with our cameras. Thank goodness for macro focus.

can you see the kitty?

kitty up close

After dinner I decided to walk around the restaurant and try to capture some of the more interesting knick knacks that constituted their decor. Since the place was quite full I couldn't really get to some of the better spots and had to make do with where I could reach, without annoying some innocent patron.

they've got whoozits and whatzits galore

you want, thingamabobs? they've got plenty

postcards and things

Then, as with all things and all places, we took pictures of ourselves. :)

Yo! Joe!

people who like to eat

picture permutation #1

picture permutation #2

I suppose dessert at Frazzled Cook would have been great too, but we wanted to live up to being food trippers that night. So, on our way home, we detoured off into Bicutan stop at The Cake Planet and Cafe. I don't remember what I ate, but this is what the cakes looked like:

I took so long taking this picture Francis got mad at me na

A perfectly delicious, tho imperfect cake

enjoying the cake

 And guess who followed us to dessert!!!

the cat waves again!

All eating done on location at The Frazzled Cook, 916 Luna Mencias St., Bgy Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City. Tel No. (632)7825980 or (632) 7253354,  http://www.thefrazzledcook.com/ and The Cake Planet and Cafe at #91 Don Soledad Ave., Better Living Subd., Paranaque. Tel No. (632) 6212857. You can find The Cake Planet on Facebook.

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Hotel Hopping - 1st of a series

I'm very fortunate that my line of work requires me to travel. As far as I can remember, I have been obssessed with travelling. My earliest memories are of those boarding a Pantranco bus (that wasn't even aircon yet!) from Dagupan and traversing the long highway heading to Manila. Together with my brother and my mother, we would squeeze ourselves into those old barely 3-seater seats that didn't even recline. Since my brother and I both wanted to sit by the window, we employed a democratic process of sharing. One would have the window seat first, then after the stop over, we would switch. Admittedly, as the youngest and only girl, I got the window seat a lot more than my brother did.

When I was about 4 or 5, I remember telling my dad that my greatest dream was to board a plane. I'm not even sure what was it about travelling that excited me. At that age I don't think it was about the destination, but more about the journey. Even now, I think it still is.

That said, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you one of the best things about travelling: the hotel. Yes, I enjoy staying in hotel rooms. Although they can be very impersonal and often poorly-lit (didn't you ever notice? the never have lights in the center of the room. it's always just by the side, and it's always a dim yellow.) I love the fact that whatever state I leave my room, when I return it would have 'magically' righted itself. When you've lived on your own for 15 years, coming home to a cleaned up room and a made-up bed becomes one of life's true joys.

And I love having hot water in the shower. In my normal life, I live by the time-honored tradition of pinakulong tubig na binuhos sa balde. The tabo is my friend. But hotels bathrooms have temperature control, thick fluffy towels, a well-lit mirror and it is also 'self-cleaning'. hahahaha...

This entry is the first in what I hope is a series of posts about the different hotels I've stayed in during my trips. I'm a little hesitant to call it a review, but I'll try to put in as much useful information about the hotel as I can. But mostly, I hope to share the fun, funny and spectacular things that travel can bring.

Let's start with the funny...

My most recent business trip needed me to fly to southern Thailand, to a small provincial town called Satun. I arrived at the Hat Yai airport late in the evening but still had to take a 1-hr land trip to get to Satun. The trip itself was uneventful, except for the fact that for some reason, the van hired by the agency to pick me up, was also carrying with it two lolas. One sat at the back of the van, while another sat in front with the driver. Given they were already at retirement age, they probably weren't representatives of the agency I was working with. I thought they might have been fellow travelers who were hitching a ride home, but they rode with me all the way to the hotel, where they smilingly dropped me off as if to wish me a pleasant stay.

I had been pre-warned that the hotel we were staying in wasn't in the greatest condition, but was the best option in the area. Not a fussy one, it didn't really bother me. Having arrived at 11pm, the hotel was dark and the lobby was empty. It had a built-in-the-80's-and-stayed-in-the-80's feel to it. The furniture was all dark wood, giving it a very old atmosphere. And taking the elevator felt like you could probably have beaten it to the top floor if you took the stairs.

The room I got was spacious and functional, though it too had seen better times. But since I only needed it to spend the night, it would serve its purpose. I was afraid that the bed would be hard and the pillows would have no support, but to be fair, they turned out to be quite comfortable. As I could not control the temperature of the aircon, I was thankful that the blankets were thick enough to offer warmth. Over-all, I had a good night's sleep, all 5hrs of it.

twin beds for just one me

I initially took this bed, but moved when I realized the aircon was hitting it directly

The bathroom left much to be desired. But the water was clean and I could take a hot shower. That would do.

a very unflattering flourescent lighting

close up of the sink

Another thing to be thankful for was the strong water pressure. At least I didn't have to press myself up against the wall to catch the water from the showerhead.

the showerhead

the shower controls, which worked. so that was a good thing

But the best part of that stay were two discoveries I made about my room. Thank you Lord for a sense of humor and for throwing life's little laughs along my way.

First, when I opened the room cabinet, I found this, tastefully provided for the convenience of the guest, to service their needs:

 a balde in the cabinet because.. you know.. you might need it

Then, as I looked down, I discovered this post-modernist expression of art:

a plantsa-shaped hole on the carpet!!!

wahahahahahaha!!!

Can someone please explain to me how an iron-shaped hole got on the carpet. Please? Anybody?

Hahahahaha!!!

Pinnacle Wangmai Satun Hotel is located at 43 Satuntani Road, Piman, Muang, Satun 91000 Thailand. Tel no. (66-74) 711-607-8. Website: http://www.pinnaclehotels.com/. My accommodations were at 650Bht/night (approx. USD21/night).

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day off

On most holidays I'm more than happy to spend it assuming a catatonic state. Lots of sleep, lots of mind-numbing tv, lots of eating. On occassion, I will be inspired to get off my lazy bum and pursue the adventurous, active image I have of myself and do something new.

Then there are the days where you do a little bit of both.

For the 4-day long weekend we decided that the regular repertoire of DVD and/or movie-marathon needed spicing up. There is nothing wrong with watching 4 movies in 2 days or staying indoors to re-live the Star Wars saga. But I had just finished re-living Lord of the Rings so for the sake of my sanity, I needed to balance out all that sitting down with some standing up.

There were a few options thrown around: a food trip, a day trip, a hike or a walk around a garden trail. But one thing was for sure, it needed to be outdoors. If you've ever seen me, then you'd know that there is nothing about me that says, "outdoor-sy". I am squeamish about bugs and dirt and stuff that goes "squish" when you step on them. But when I have the chance, I can get down and dirty with the best of them. I am not a primadonna.

That said, we finally settled on visiting a forest reserve with the idea of having a picnic there. In my head I had images of flat ground, maybe a picnic table, and some trees for shade.

I got a waterfall, mossy rocks and a ceiling of leaves.

nature's touch

The falls was just a short hike up from where the trail started. Management was considerate enough to create a stairway for visitors to get to the top. The falls weren't steep but just gradually sloped down, with the water collecting in a pool at the base of the rock face. Halfway up we realized we weren't the only ones with the idea of visiting nature that day. A little off to the side we spotted a couple doing their pre-nuptial photo shoot and by the mouth of the falls, we could hear a large group of students (probably on a fieldtrip as they were all in uniform) frolicking in the water.

Not really in the mood to jostle for space, we opted to set up our picnic table by the foot of the falls, where the view was infinitely better anyway. Here, we could dip our feet in the water while enjoying the sound of rushing water.

what lay before me

our picnic table

Having packed sandwiches for lunch it was easy to sit back and enjoy the day. My only worry for the day was actually how to finish the gigantic club sandwich that was my share. It felt like no matter how many bites I took, it wasn't getting any smaller. Hahahaha...

starting on the sandwich

siksik, liglig at umaapaw

Being outdoors was quite comfortable even though we were out at the height of noon. Surrounded by foilage and water, the air was refreshing, albeit moderately humid.

loving the color green

After lunch we decided to make like monkeys and clamber up the rocks just to enjoy the scenery. The water was pretty clean and almost ice-cold, which made it a treat to walk through. The water wasn't very strong so it's not like we were in any danger of getting swept away. Besides, it was just fun.

go upstream like the salmon

falls up close and from the top

the obligatory cam-whoring shot

(you can see at the back where we set up our picnic)

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

foot spa

Shot on location at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel. No. 603-62797000

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dear diary...

As of the moment I am averaging about 1 blog post a month. One blog post! What a sad, sad statistic. You would think that given the number of thoughts that run through a person's head in a single day, putting them down on (virtual) paper would be easy. But that's the thing... not everything you think, not everything you do, not everything you say is worth broadcasting to the world. Because honestly, sometimes no one is all that interested.

So why do I even blog? Before Passionately Pretending I had attempted to own virtual territory at least 2 other times. That doesn't even count Friendster, Picasa, Facebook and who-know-what-else-I've-signed-up-for-but-no-longer remember. When my last blog fell into neglect, I said I was done. I told myself I'm going to protect my privacy and clean up my digital footprint. I didn't think anyone was clamoring for my writing anyway.


So why did I choose to do this all over again?


I started toying with the idea of blogging when I watched Electroshadow being developed. The idea of putting yourself out in the world and having people read your work was an alluring thought. Knowing that there would be a place where your opinion could be voiced and maybe even matter was empowering. As I listened to a dreamer's dreams, it made me think of what my own dreams could be, and wondered if I attempted it, could my writing find its place in the world?

But what ultimately drove the decision was when I went rummaging through my long lost junk in our provincial home early this year. Having lived away from home for the last 15 years, most of our knick knacks and assorted trinkets have been stored away to gather dust. Periodically, my mother reminds us to look through them and see what we want to keep and discard. During one such sojourn down memory lane, I came across a collection of notebooks and some haphazard pieces of paper.

There, scribbled on the back of these notebooks, or on torn out notebook paper, or loose stationary of varying designs were written my random thoughts.

pieces of me

It seemed that, at varying points in my life, wherever I was, when I had a thought and the thought was big enough to disturb me, I would grab whatever material I had on hand and write. I would write my observations, my realizations, my experiences. I would write because writing made it real. I would write because writing gave my thought a semblance of sense, if not structure.

Some of what I wrote were deeply personal to me, while others were simply meant to capture the essence of that moment. I am sure that what I found at home that day was only a portion of what I have written in my lifetime. Many have likely been lost or thrown away because it had never been important to preserve them. Their purpose was to filter the thoughts of the time. Now in my 30's, re-reading what has been left behind, I realize they weren't just for me then, it was for the me in the future.

In my youth I kept a diary, treasures I have kept safe until today.

my first attempt at chronicling my life

vol. 2 - with just as bad handwriting

still at vol 2 but with better handwriting

(contents blurred to protect privacy. hahahaha!)

As I grew up, keeping a diary fell to the wayside. Entries came few and far between. When I completely filled my second volume, I thought I had outgrown the need for a notebook and pen. I had a brief daliance with digital journaling (both attempts have resulted in entries now forever lost to me) and then there were the mini blogs and the habit of jotting down my life on tenous surfaces.

Seeing, literally, pieces of me and my life scattered everywhere made me decide that it might be a good idea to have a single place to keep those pieces. I now have a small notebook that holds my more personal musings, the ones that were never meant to be shared.

a journal of my 30's

Then I have this: Passionately Pretending. Where I pretend that somehow my thoughts matter.


If not to me now, then to the me in the future.

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Laugh it up!

I consider myself a creature of habit. I like the comfort of the routine and the intimacy that consistency can bring.

But on the night of Sept 30, Friday, I desperately needed to do something different. Having lost my regular Friday habit (see here for why... hahaha...just kidding. I'm not that bitter. Anymore. :P) I dragged a friend with me in my search of something new to do.

On the menu board that weekend: a staging of 3 plays by a celebrted Filipino playwright, a stand up comedy show or a production of Ibong Adarna.

We opted for the stand up comedy show. Hey... it was a tough week.

I never considered stand up comedy as a popular form of entertainment in this country. When I think of Philippine comedy, I think slapstick: loud, can be somewhat vulgar, and involves as many facial contortions as possible. When I think of Philippine stand up comedy, I think of fast-talking gay (like the lifestyle, not the emotion) acts that normally involve some form of audience participation (mostly when they choose to pick on you).

Imagine my pleasant surprise when Comedy Cartel turned out to be none of the above.

the management

It describes itself as the First Philippine Point of View Comedy Group in the Philippines. Essentially, that means they stray away from the usual schtick and bring on the laughs with witty monologues based on their observiations and insights on Filipino culture. Think Jay Leno/David Letterman except without the suits.

Personally, I love this kind of comedy. I get a certain smug satisfaction in knowing I got a joke that was told only in words. :P It's even more satisfying when you can relate to topics that are so uniquely Pinoy that you feel that your identity has been validated.

The show was headlined by 5 comedians, each with about a 20-minute routine (please don't take my word for it. I was too busy laughing to really mind the time). With their individual styles and persona, they covered different topics during each round. From childhood monsters, crazy bosses, the single life and rock & roll. But my hands-down favorite for the night were the punchlines revolving around the realities of communiting around the Metro. If you've ever taken the jeep, fx, mrt or taxi to get around Metro Manila then these jokes were for you.

We weren't a big crowd that night, but we were certainly appreciative. And even though some of the material fell flat, I thought they were all wonderfully amusing. I have an incredible respect for what these comedians do. Because the ironic truth is that it's not easy being funny. It's even harder to find the funny in the everyday things that we do.

I was disappointed when the show ended. It felt way too short. In a way, I think the performers were disappointed when it ended too. You could tell they were having a good time. It was almost like when you get together with friends over dinner at ang sarap ng kwentuhan. No one wants to go home.

As I left the venue I was already thinking about who I would invite the next time I went to see their act. Ikaw, sama ka? :)

the stars(l-r): Richie Fernandez, Ryan Sarita, GB Labrador, Alex Calleja

Before heading out to see the show, my friend and I grabbed an unhealthy yet satisfying dinner at Cerchio, which, to be honest, neither one of us knew how to pronounce.

sige nga.. i-pronounce mo

With it's black and white decor, the place had a nice sophisticated feel to it that made me run to the bathroom to put on make up. Mascara included. Hahaha...

the second floor

where we were seated

the lighting fixture above the staircase

after the re-touch. hahahaha...

The cuisine was Filipino food which is always comforting when you're hungry and had a long day/week. Deep-fried meat with rice. Who could ask for more?

Pinoy favorite: liempo

our fish dish.. which was deep fried anyway

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