Mhy Stories

Days are fast approaching. Twenty six (26) days to go and it's Christmas! As soon as the calendar reached  the 'BER' months, it feels a lot like Christmas. Every year seems to go on like that. September signals the start of the Yuletide Season here. I heard it said a couple of times that we, Filipinos, have this practice of celebrating Christmas at a very early time of the year - and in my own opinion, this so interesting. When I was in Singapore, it was something I dearly missed along with the extended Christmas vacation. Sure I got to enjoy the bright lights, the grand display and the big Christmas trees in Singapore especially along the stretch of Orchard Road, but I still would think of Christmas back home. 
This year, it was 1st of September when I heard the song A Perfect Christmas by Jose Mari Chan being played in the neighborhood. I was then preparing my coffee and I couldn't help but to sing along. A Perfect Christmas is a Christmas love song. Just like Christmas In our Hearts which is Jose Mari's biggest Christmas hit duet with his daughter,  A Perfect Christmas is one I truly like  along with the rest of his original compositions like Constant  Change and Love of a Lifetime. Though the song is rarely played nowadays in the radio or in public places, A Perfect Christmas still holds an impact and remains to be one of my personal favorites among Jose Mari's compositions, which he himself sang, and revived by other Filipino female artists like Jaya and Sarah Geronimo. Here is Jaya's rendition of the song:
 

My idea of a perfect Christmas
Is to spend it with you
In a party or dinner for two
Anywhere would do
Celebrating the yuletide season
Always lights up our lives
Simple pleasures are made special too
When they're shared with you

Looking through some old photographs
Faces and friends we'll always remember
Watching busy shoppers rushing about
In the cool breeze of December
Sparkling lights all over town
Children's carols in the air
By the Christmas tree
A shower of stardust on your hair
I can't think of a better Christmas
Than my wish coming true
And my wish is that you'd let me spend
My whole life with you

Christmas here in the Philippines also means a great time for many Filipino native cakes. In my place alone, a portion of a street near one of the churches here was allotted for bibingka and puto bumbong vendors every night. As of yet I have not tried the putong bumbong or if even if I have, I could not recall its taste. Maybe one of these days this year, I would try some:-) 

It's a different thing when it comes to bibingka. My love for this native delicacy traces back from childhood. Dang Guy (Aunt Guy) would sell the same infront of their house at the price I remember - P7.00 (or even lower) . Those days she would cook and sell bibingka not during Christmas but during Lenten Season. I, with all excitement and childhood enthusiasm, would go to her to buy. I would watch her prepare and cook the bibingka. She would pour the mixture on clay pots with pre-cut banana leaves over a charcoal-lit stove. Once the mixture was poured on the clay pots, she would cover the same with special improvised oven, also lit with charcoals. I would patiently wait for the bibingka to get cooked and would rejoice in the sight of seeing Dang Guy spreading margarine and freshly grated coconut on it. Just like how my love for bread has grown over time, so has my love for bibingka. Nowadays it is a relief to know  that there are easy ways to cook bibingka. One does not have to do it the traditional way. Also, other than grated coconut, bibingka now also comes in various toppings such as salted eggs, cheese, etc.  And oh, btw, aside from Bibingkinitan outlet, there is one stall in a nearby area which sells bibingka almost year round :-)

Bibingka and the charcoal stove used for cooking this native cake

Charcoal stove - the traditional way to cook bibingka.

Different toppings to enjoy bibingka!

So there, now I'm craving for one ahehe.  Anyway, here we go. Christmas is fast approaching and very soooon it will come. Amidst the hustles and bustles that this season will surely bring , I wish everyone a truly blessed Christmas. Although we really do not know the exact date of Jesus' birth, what's important is that He is remembered with gratefulness not just this Christmas but for always. He came here on earth - to die for our sins - and that's the real thing.  Merry Christmas everyone! 

The weather was something I did not expect upon our arrival. I expected a breezy and cool weather just like the one I experienced when I visited the place in March 2011 along with my brother and my  parents who were then celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. But though my expectations about the weather were not met, I anticipated and looked forward to something wonderful about our 3-day stay in Tagaytay City. It was already past 1pm when we got there on Friday. Our group did not make it for the morning tour which composed of choices at the Sky Ranch, Picnic Grove, Mansion Puzzle, Zipline and Palace in the Sky. Among those options, Picnic Grove is the only spot I've gotten to see as of yet, thus leaving me with good reasons to go visit again  Tagaytay someday. We proceeded to the venue of the conference, waited a little while at the function hall while our coordinators checked on our room assignment. After a few minutes, we headed on to Room 17 at the Elijah Hall which is at the far end of the center, beside the playground and the basketball court. It was already past 2pm when we finished settling down and oh boy, by that time, we haven't had our lunch yet! It's a good thing however, that we have our leaders, Phebe and Len, who gladly did us some favor such as buying lunch for us, among others.  And we were just so grateful for their hearts to serve! They delivered meals to our place, which we enjoyed at the parking lot (we were not allowed to do it anywhere else inside the center). We were in a hurry, and I think I've finished my chicken meal in 5 minutes and after that we proceeded right to our assigned room and prepared for the opening program.

Me during the first day of the conference

Singles from the different sectors gathered at the plenary hall for the opening program. I was greatly encouraged to see the couple, Phua Hee and Angie Low, our guest speakers from Singapore. My fond memories of Angie include a lesson time of our D-group with her. I was not expecting that the couple still know or remember me, but I was glad that when I approached them before the opening program, Angie managed to recognize me that she even took notice of my haircut (I used to have a long hair)! Aside from them, it was also great to see the rest of Filipino singles from Singapore, Joie and Joy,  who have come back here for good, as well as Doris whom at first looked so familiar to me and I thought I've seen in one of the events until we both finally realized that it was in Singapore that we met and got to fellowship with each other !  Oh no! my memory is perforated with holes that I barely recall things! The second day was full packed with different lessons intended to cater to specific and varying needs of the delegates/participants. Among the classes I've attended were the following: (in the morning: Fan (the faith) Into Flame and Stewardship of Talents and Gifts. For afternoon lessons, I chose the classes on Defending the Faith, Church History  and Antidotes of Impurities. It rained hard in the afternoon thus leaving a cool weather in the evening, which I liked very much.  On the third day was the closing program, during which we posted on a big butterfly wall a piece of paper which contains the specific character or areas that we want to change or grow out from. I am hoping that I keep myself reminded of the thing I wrote in there. 

My paper was posted somewhere there!

In the entirety, the conference was awesome! It's true that I was not able to get my desired tour nor fill my cravings for hot soup of bulalo while enjoying a good view of the Taal Volcano. It's true as well that I did not get to experience the windy Tagaytay and the theme park at Lemery, Batangas just like the way I did during my previous visit - but I pretty much enjoyed the conference even so.   By the way, below are some of the photos during my visit in 2011 which captured a windy Tagaytay (take notice of my hair!!! haha!)

This is where we enjoyed a sumptuous bulalo lunch while having a good view of the Taal Volcano.

Do you see how the leaves of the palm tree are being blown by the wind? (I am not sure if it is a palm tree anyway ehe.) That's how strong the wind was when we went to Tagaytay in 2011

ooops! Bad hair day haha!

The tripod could not stand the strong winds (with emphasis on the word "strong")  So I have to ask the guard to take a photo of us :-)

Adobo. There are many versions of this popular local dish. My mother cooks adobo in such a way that she lets it sit in low fire until the sauce becomes dry. On some occasions, she lets it simmer just right in order for us to have enough amount of sauce to pour into our rice bowls. 
During childhood, whenever my beloved bapa (uncle) would come home with some chicken, mother would usually cook adobo. By then, I and my older siblings would patiently wait while the meat was being boiled and tenderized in a cooking pot over a firewood-stove set on the ground at our backyard. Mother would usually add tomatoes in her adobo (not all the time though). From childhood until now, I must say that mother's adobo has tasted simply the best for me:-)
What I'm sharing in this blogpost is completely different however in the way adobo is done at home. It is a recipe I've learned from my former colleague in Singapore. It's worth a try, I must say. So let's get started:

YOU WILL NEED: Pork or chickenPotatoes (optional)vinegar or lime juice (for my recipe, I used lime juice)soy saucegarlic (crushed)onionchili pepper (optional)Ground pepper ginger (crushed) (NOTE: only for chicken adobo)

HOW TO COOK:
1. Boil meat for 30 minutes. Set aside.2. Prepare marinade sauce using the stock. Add all the ingredients listed above except chili pepper, potatoes and onion. (Remember to use ginger only for chicken adobo)3. Marinate the meat into the sauce for 15-30 minutes. 4. In a separate pan, fry the potatoes, then the marinated meat for 5 minutes.5. Add the marinade sauce for soup base. (Add water depending on your taste)6. Simmer. 7. Sprinkle onions and chili pepper 

It may look like a bistig, but this is the  adobo recipe which is definitely worth a try:-)

Enjoy your chicken adobo meal! 

Lately I've been caught up with the plan of changing the entire look of my blog and switching and importing my current blog to other host sites.  Either way, I'm stuck - and I gave up at this point in time as I realized that I have not gone yet to that point of overhauling this entire thing (I mean my blog) technically wise. I just got too inspired and overwhelmed by several bloggers who have managed to create and design their own sites. That was so interesting that I thought of doing the same. I have the option though to get the service of other host sites but then doing so would require a purchase, so I put aside this option.  Over the entire week I've been scanning through several blogs both on Google and Wordpress - and the designs and lay out templates put an envy on me (not the negative type of envy hahaha!) that I wish I could design and layout my blog as wonderful and systematic like those ones. For several hours, I've found myself working on some template codes to get it done on my blog but then in most attempts I failed (sigh!) - this is particularly true when I tried to put signature on every post. I painstakingly followed through the steps recommended by one blogger. I was glad to see my signature during preview, but when I applied the template on my blog and checked on my posts, NO signature actually appears. Instead, what popped up at the topmost portion of my blog was the CSS codes that I have put in! And that was frustrating! I have successfully managed though, to label my posts and add the LABELS gadget on my right bar. You see the LABELS on the right side of my blog post? Yeah, that's it. That's one of the results of my navigation attempts on CSS codes haha! Crazy me! For a non-tech savvy like me, applying CSS codes and getting the desired look for my blog seem to be difficult for me to do at this moment. I admit though that'd pretty easy, I just need time and patience to get things done. Yeah, correct. Time and patience. So for other things (layout, design and background) I guess in time I will (can) do that.  On the other note, I am happy that I came across another blogpost on how to put signature on blog entries. I like the idea of having a signature after every post - that makes it more intimate and personalized right? haha I'm such a bummer!  Anyway, here it is - my signature, MHY FOR MHY STORIES (Mhy is my pet name, and MhyStories for my blog description). I chose the cursive and curly font which seems to be dancing and moving and flowing and free!!! And the color red was not my real choice. I was hoping to have pink or purple or lilac or any shades in between, but then I cannot get the bar on the color of my choice - so red was the color!  This signature will automatically appear right after every post I publish on my blog. 

I think this signature says a lot about my personality

Lastly, I just want to say that I love this signature!

Hooray to me for finding some blazers after patiently scanning through plenty of displayed items on racks. The first one (below pix) I got for P80 only. I love the pockets and the mesh detail at the front and back.

Overall, I spent P730 for several pieces of good quality blazers. So when I think of my buy at Baguio City's night market and the blazer worth P795 which I've seen in the mall two months ago, I couldn't help but smile. Being able to buy six items at a price which is a lot cheaper than that of the lone piece of item in the mall sounds pretty smart, don't you think?  

Now I am watching The Voice Kids and I will try to finish up in between commercial breaks.  Edray from Team Bamboo and Ton Ton from Team Lea have just rendered their performances. They were not my personal bets, but I say that they are really good. Ton Ton sang One Day In Your Life, and I will go with what Coach Bamboo has said. The song just reflected Ton Ton's personality. Edray sang her piece very well, too. They are not my personal bets in this competition, but I can say that they really deserve to be among the six (6) semi-finalists. 

Darren from Team Sarah has done performing, and owwww emmmm geeee! He did it again, this time with the song One Moment In Time! He finished it off like a grand winner. His performance is something that I always look forward to since he performed Listen from last week's sing-offs. I was trying that time not to look at him on TV and simply  listened to his voice which then sounded to me like one from recording, or directly from a CD. His voice definitely knocked me off my feet. It is clean, he hit the high notes  perfectly and what else can I say? He sings and performs like a pro. His performance tonight is perfect! As described by Coach Leah, it's phenomenal! His journey from Calgary to the Philippines (for this competition) (he is Filipino-Canadian) is definitely all worth it :-) Congratulations Darren! It's still a long way to go, but as yet, you are my winner. I hope you can make it all the way to the Grand Finale. Btw, ang guwapong bata mo. Ayiii:-)

Juan Karlos, another semi-finalist, sang Sway with a real swag. I was not able to watch the episode when he auditioned and when he performed in sing-offs, but he is equally good. And Lyca? Oh Lyca, I wish she can make it to the finals, alongside Darren. So that the battle will be between her and Darren..Aww! But Darleen, the "girl on fire", is another contender to reckon with. Darleen's personality is as charming as her performances. She takes the whole stage when she performs and she does every performance like a winner. Cannot wait tomorrow night for the announcement of the top four (4) semi-finalists who will get the most text votes from the public. Speaking of winning by text votes in talent shows on TV, I do not personally like this idea  for some reasons, or shall I say under these three (3) circumstances: 1) if my  bet does not have enough following for reason that she does not plainly or simply have "it" 2) she or he is well-liked but those who like him or her do not bother to buy loads just to make their votes or are "lazy enough" to cast their text votes  and 3) if my bet does not have "capable supporters" to get and generate other support. I do not personally go with this idea (winning by text votes) especially when my personal fave loses the competition for such reasons hahaha but anyway, that's the way it is. Most of the talent shows nowadays are sort-of commercialized in this way. Cellphone networks are "in" in the competition ehe.  

Back to the show contenders, who among them wins? Let's see in the coming days. I am saying that Darleen is a strong contender. But I hope it's gonna be Lyca. or Darren. or Lyca. or Darren. or Lyca. hahaha. Either.

Her name is Renser Juesa, the only niece (so far) among a bunch of our nephews. Renser Juesa or Ue Ue as we fondly call her, turned 9 last week. One time last year (or early this year? ) while cleaning up the house, I stumbled upon a piece of paper which, when was about to throw in the garbage bin, I discovered contained a writing by her.

Her letter went like this:

(Jesus it's okay even if you did not grant my wish,  just don't take my parents from me because I love them so much. And I am praying they will live long. Thank you, Jesus)

It was not a perfect letter, there are words wrongly spelled, but I was moved while reading it. I asked UeUe  of the date when she wrote the letter, but she was reluctant to answer. She appeared surprised and embarrassed to know that I saw her writing. It gave me the impression that her letter is not meant for showing to anyone, it was a thing she intended to keep only between herself and the one to whom she has written. I didn't come to know exactly the "wish" that she mentioned in this letter, but I was particularly grateful about the fact that at a young age, she has the heart to think about others above her own interests. I admire her  attitude not to whine over 'wishes not granted' and accept that not all things she wants, she gets.

We (her aunties) did not teach her to write letters, especially to Jesus, and I am very glad that she starts to write such letters at her own initiative. I myself write letters and prayers to God, but I never told her that. There were times she would see us reading the Bible, or she would come to me and see me jotting down some notes, but I never told her anything about those notes or what they are for, or whether they are letters to God or what. So seeing her putting her prayers into writing at her own volition means something to me. When I have found out about that, I have given her a notebook and encouraged her to write more. As of this writing, I have not checked if she did,  though. But whether she keeps writing or not, I wish and I really hope UeUe will grow up to be loving and God-fearing. 

She is such a joy to us