I get it!

Yes, I definitely get that I’ll be starting work on Monday.

And this is because in the past two days alone, I’ve gotten four calls and one email from HR, reminding me of this fact. Come to work at 9 am, go straight to HR, bring passport, check.

I don’t know who’s more excited, them or me! Haha, as if I’m important enough for them to be excited about.

It’s the last few days of freedom…tonight will be spent learning mahjong! My friend and her husband will be coming over and we will take advantage of the mahjong set and table that our landlord left here in our flat. Wahoo!

 

Protected: What do you do?

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

 

Succession

With everything that’s going on in Philippine politics now, it is no wonder that initiatives are being formed to see reforms and accountability in government.

Just last Friday, February 15, a massive rally was again staged seeking the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over allegation corruptions posed against her husband, Mr. Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, as well as some of her allies in the NBN-ZTE broadband internet deal.

If these allegations are true, and especially if Mdm President was aware of all the improprieties, bribes, and kickbacks, she truly deserves to be kicked out of her office.

However, at the same time, one thing worries me. Who will replace her? An equally corrupt, and a much less qualified man in the person of our vice president, Noli de Castro?

And after that, what’s next? A succession of politicians who are just as, if not more, corrupt than her and her allies?

Just as the song says, all we need is love. In this case, not romantic love, but true love for the country, that will supersede any and all personal ambitions from the highest politician in the land to the lowliest of civil and public servants that will enable them to put the country’s welfare above and beyond their greed and corruption.

 

End of holiday

This is it. HR just called me and informed me that they’ve gotten my employment pass. They’ll take care of collecting my EP - yes! that’s a hundred dollar less expense for me!

I just have to show up on the 3rd of March at 9 am, and I get to start work. More than two months after I got offered the position, I’ll finally finally be able to start work.

Wish me luck!

 

Gilmore Girls

I’m probably a few years too late, but I’m so into watching the Gilmore Girls right now.

I never used to watch it when it was being shown on Studio 23 back in Manila, but I’m sure making up for it now.

I’ve been borrowing the season five dvds, plus watching it on Channel 5 as they show the seventh season here.

But I seriously want to watch all the episodes, but I can’t find the dvds nor can I find the videos on the net.

So frustrating! I’d buy the ones from Amazon, but I just can’t justify the expense at this point!

Argh. If I had only seen and bought the series in Ruins when I had the chance…

 

V-Day

Valentine’s Day has never been a special occasion for us, save for one year when he surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and a cake that he ordered online.

A couple of days ago, we were talking about it, and I mentioned that I wasn’t expecting anything from him since it’s never been our practice anyway. I don’t buy him Valentine’s Day gifts either. At the most, all we do is greet each other the usual V-day greetings, share a kiss, and that’s it.

I actually think it would be nicer to bring on the romance on any other random day, and not on a socially-prescribed-got-to-be-romantic day like February 14. I have nothing against most couples worldwide who actually do celebrate it on this day. However, I do think it’s more romantic to just be sweet because you feel like it and not because you feel like you have to be.

Gotta say though, receiving anything from your Significant Other — on Valentine’s Day or otherwise — counts for something special in my book! Be it flowers, chocolates, a nice book he knows you’ve been longing to read, a massage, preparing a nice meal for you when it’s not normally his job…it just means they’re thinking of you and want to make you happy. And isn’t that what romance should be all about?

 

How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

Watch this: The Man Hug: Step by Step

This is freakin’ hilarious!

 

How To Avoid Trapped Arm Whilst Cuddling In Bed

Video: How To Avoid Trapped Arm Whilst Cuddling In Bed

If you’ve ever cuddled with your significant other in bed, you know that this is definitely a concern!

My hubby actually complains now that I don’t really cuddle with him as much as I used to do before. I find that cuddling positions aren’t really too comfortable, and though romantic, isn’t really the best way to have a good night’s sleep.

And since I can’t even fall asleep while lying on my back, I always have to just say that I’m about to turn…signaling my eminent journey to dreamland.

 

Approved

I just checked the Ministry of Manpower’s Employment Pass Online system and found out that my employment pass has been approved.

I wonder when my employer will make me start; given that I still need to receive the letter from them, collect the employment pass from MoM, take their compulsory medical exam, and the fact that they only let new employees start work on either the first or third Monday of the month.

I’m a bit nervous at  starting my new job. To begin with, I haven’t had much experience in actual journalism. I’ve written articles, for sure, but I’ve never done actual journalism in writing them. I hope they’ve got some training program!

Plus, I don’t know anyone there! And they will be mostly locals (Singap0r3ans). Not Filipinos like I’m used to. While I have worked with locals previously, it’s at an entirely different place and capacity.

And it’s been such a long time since I’ve done actual work. What if I can’t hack it? What if I’m too lazy?

This reminds me of when I was about to enter UP, and I was so nervous because I felt like I was extremely mediocre compared to the rest of the students who would be going in. But luckily, I survived. So maybe I’ll survive this one too.

So now I’d reaaaally better make use of the remaining days of vacation for me!

 

Pinakbet

I am so craving for pinakbet right now. And with bagoong in my ref courtesy of my parents’ visit last week, all I would need to do now is to collect veggies from our friendly neighbourhood supermarket.

I’ve never tried pinakbet before, though, so this will be my first experiment at cooking it. That’s the nice thing about experimenting with food…you’ll always get, ahem, productive results, one way or another!

================================================

Update:

Went down to the supermarket after posting this entry and bought the ingredients. I got to buy pork belly, ampalaya, okra, kangkong, and French beans. Too bad the supermarket didn’t have squash or eggplant on stock..but anyway, the dish still turned out to be yummy! And it’s easy-peasy too!

Boil the pork belly, chopped up into thin slices, for around 30 minutes. I prepared the rest of my ingredients while boiling to save time. I was already hungry! Haha.

Then I panfried the pork slices before adding the garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Saute until they are all wilted.

Add around 3 to 4 tbsp bagoong (or to taste), and let it simmer after adding 2 cups of water.

Add all the veggies, except for the ampalaya. Saute until cooked. Finally, add the amplaya. Let it sit there until all the veggies are cooked.

And voila! Home-cooked pinakbet!