Artsy-partsy

Aren't this poodle adorable? I like how trendy and fashionable poodles are these days. They come in all shapes and sizes donning multi-colored fur.

We once had poodles we named Summer and Winter. But they got sick so we had to give them away to a family friend. I haven't seen them since then. I surely miss those two cuddly poodles! I'm hoping one of these days I'd get to take care of pet dog again, but our apartment owner doesn't allow pets inside the building. Bummer, I know....

Missin every1

I miss my friends... I've been busy... they've been busy. I'll be seeing them soon.

With Jhoie... the no-nonsense gurl who I play billiards with everyday till my 'kili-kili' hurts. Badette who likes freshening up with powder and tinkering with my eyeshadow. Dhon who never fails to laugh at my jokes... KC wearing the blue band, well she's the one I did blood compact with... and Jeannie beanie, she always keep the party rollin.. miss you guys and see you soon.

Me on bein' mushy...

Here's a list of quotes from movies which I really like. The first one's my personal favorite:


"I’ve kissed a guy... I’ve kissed guys. I just haven’t felt that thing.... That thing... that moment when you kiss someone and everything around you becomes hazy, and the only thing in focus is you and this person. And you realize that person is the only person you’re supposed to kiss for the rest of your life. And for one moment you get this amazing gift. And you wanna laugh and you wanna cry, ‘cause you feel so lucky that you’ve found it, and so scared that it’ll go away all at the same time."
Drew Barrymore; from the movie "Never Been Kissed"

"Death can not stop true love, it can only delay it for a little while."
from the movie "The Princess Bride"

"This kind of certainty comes, but once in a lifetime."
Clint Eastwood, from the movie "Bridges of Madison County"

"I want you to get swept away. I want you to levitate. I want you to sing with rapture, dance like a dervish."
from the movie "Meet Joe Black"

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
from the movie "Shaw Shank Redemption"

"We are who we are, how we got here doesn't matter. What matters is- what do we do know?"
from the movie "Deep End of The Ocean"

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."
Christian, from the movie "Moulin Rouge"

"You will never know love unless you surrender to it."
from the movie "Fools Rush In"

"I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you."
John Smith, from the movie "Pocahontas"

"I guarantee there’ll be tough times; I guarantee that at some point, one, or both of us is gonna wanna get out of this thing; But I also guarantee, that if I don’t ask you to be mine, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life... because I know in my heart, that you’re the only one for me."
from the movie "Runaway Bride"

"A name makes no matter to me, as long as I can call you my own."
from the movie "A Knight's Tale"

"This is true love. Do you think this happens everyday?"
Westly; from the movie "Princess Bride"

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with a person, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Billy Crystal, from the movie "When Harry Met Sally"


"I'd rather spend a lifetime with you then to live all the ages of this world alone."
from the movie, "Lord of the Rings"

"You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you, Peter Pan. That's where I'll be waiting. -Tinkerbell"
from the movie "Peter Pan"

"There is nothing sadder in this life than to watch someone you love walk away after they have left you. To watch the distance between your two bodies expand until there is nothing left but empty space... and silence."
from the movie "Someone Like You"

"You are the only person that can make my heart beat faster and slower at the same time."
from the movie "The Hot Chick"

"Why do you want to marry me?
So I can kiss you anytime I want!"
from the movie, "Sweet Home Alabama"

"There you see her, sitting there across the way, she doesn't got a lot to say, but there's something about her, and you don't know why, but you're dying to try... you wanna kiss the girl."
from the movie, "The Little Mermaid"

"I would rather have tasted her lips just once, touched her skin, one time, and made love to her for one night, than spend the rest of my life without ever knowing that."
from the movie "City of Angels"

I'm feelin quite sentimental and it's nice to read quotes like this. It makes my day somewhat brighter.... ^^

The L word

How can we decipher whether it's love or just another feeling? Sometimes it can be difficult to be sure it’s love.

You can be the best of friends and you probably laugh with him more than anyone else. The feelings of anticipation, passion, and connection are mutual. You remember little things like his favorite foods, the places he wants to visit and why. Even his views on everything from politics to fashion but is it enough to say it's the big L word?

Things he would do:

Put you on his “A” list (pay attention -- You'll know if you're not on it)
Introduce you to his family
Make plans for the future (near and far)
Do things outside of his “box” with you
Share his secrets and his dreams for the future with you
Worry about impressing your friends
Come right over when you ask him to
Try to do things that comfort you or relieve some of your stress (like surprise you with dinner on a night you are working, rub your feet, or ask about your day)
Appreciate and reciprocate your feelings and your actions like giving you a massage after he gets one from you, doing the dishes after dinner, or sending you a gift
Things she would do:

Share her embarrassing moments and fantasies with you
Little things all throughout the day that let you know she’s thinking about you
Fantasize about her life with you, getting married, having kids, growing old, traveling the world, etc.
Tease you
Hang out with your mother or talk to her on the phone
Appreciate and reciprocate your feelings and your actions, like offering to pay for dinner, getting tickets to a game or event she knows you’ll love, or cooking for you
Ask questions about your life -- past, present, and future
Flirt with you


How you will feel:

Excited, yet relaxed
Vulnerable, yet strong
Comfortable enough to be yourself in front of him/her
Like you want to include them in everything (but you won't desert your usual crowd to be in a relationship)
You’ll miss him or her when he or she's not around
You can’t wait to see them, talk to them, play with them, and kiss them
You’ll find yourself wanting to make plans to have him/her all to yourself


Signs that it's not the L word:

He/she blows you off or cancel dates
Talking about commitment makes either of you uneasy or nervous
Either of you are seeing other people
Things are moving too quickly for one of you
You find your partner lacking when compared to other people
You watch a love scene in a movie or hear a love song and you feel a strong longing or desire for what you don’t have
A guideline like this sure is helpful for a person like me who is clueless to just about anything when it comes to love. I know there are others like me out there.

Winter boots

Presenting the Crocs Winter Boots.

I'm not sure why but I have a love-hate kinda thing about CROCS. We actually have one and we use it for the bathroom but it doesn't leave the premises of the bathroom. I like the feeling of wearing CROCS cause it's undeniably comfy and I think it's their major selling point but how it makes my feet look extra large makes me think twice about wearing it.

I don't have anything against people donning one, I have a couple of friends who wore it once or twice. I think they are gutsy because in my case, it looks horrible with just about any outfit that I wear! Save for the winter boots... I'm thinking twice. It looks so comfy, warm and cozy like that of ugg boots. But still, it's something I wouldn't buy.

U.S. Visa Waiver Program

I read from Ana's Blog about South Korea being recently included in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. I also heard about this talks before while watching late night news program at SBS, I didn't know that it'll be implemented this early. Koreans can now enter U.S. (are the territories included?) without visa provided that they'll use the new electronic passport... Wait, did I just say 'electronic passport'? What's that? I'm intrigued.

I remember my sister going through a hard time preparing for her U.S. trip last month. She was in a major rush preparing documents, getting her passport renewed, purchasing her tickets, and preparing for the interview. I think she did all that in less than two weeks. My mother felt relieved when we finally took her to Centennial Airport. Imagine, if the Philippines like South Korea be included in the program... it'll be a hassle-free trip for her and also, she wouldn't have to pay the Visa application fee which was quite expensive.

I can't help but think that the U.S. government is earning big amount of money through that Visa application fee since a lot of pinoys are applying for visa every single day regardless whether it will be approved or denied.

Beef-y goodness

This is Beef Caldereta, an all-time favorite pinoy dish. There are different ways to prepare this dish like some would even put coconut milk, use lamb, goat or even pork. I prefer eating Caldereta which I cooked according to my preference but don't think I snub those from cafeteria or even a carinderia (I also love 'em!). The reason why i like preparing it myself is because I really like it spicy so I put a lot of chili and it's great with a hot bowl of steamed rice. I choose the meat without any bones... and I cook it for a really long time longer than the usual so it would be extra tender.

For others who are interested to prepare it, here's the recipe:
Beef cut into large cubes -- 1 kilo
White vinegar -- 1/4 cup
Soy sauce -- 1/4 cup
Oil -- 2-3 tablespoons
Onion, chopped -- 1
Bell pepper, chopped -- 1
Garlic, minced -- 1/4 cup
Tomato paste -- 1 small can
Beef Stock or water -- 3 cups
Small potatoes, peeled and cut in half -- 4 - 6 pcs.
Peas -- 1 cup
Salt and pepper -- to taste
Liver Spread (optional) -- 2 tbsp
Chili -- as much as needed

New names

So Beyonce' recently christened herself as the new 'Sasha Fierce' which she will introduce in her next album. She thought of a new nickname for herself and so should I.

I'm fascinated by 'Cherry Garcia', a name that came up when I took the Ice Cream Flavor test online, but I don't wanna be known as an ice cream flavor. It's just that, I've always thought it's a nice and cool sounding name... kinda fits my personality. And Garcia should never be dropped... Cherry sounds cool with the Garcia.

When I was in high-school, I thought about having a Japanese name... 'Kan-ishi' perhaps..? I'll be 'Ishi' at school and 'Ish' for people who are close to me. But then again, I have a very strong chinese sounding last name so it clashes with it. As I expected, it was just a phase and I moved on to countries of the world. Just like Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's spawn named Ireland. In my case, I would rather be known as 'Sweden'. Simply 'Sweden'... simple, nice and new.

When I started working or right after maturity hits me (or so I thought he..he..!), I want to be 'Rachel'. Sadly, I haven't thought of a last name that will go with it.

Way too Hot!

I'm just super excited to post something about one of my biggest celeb crush.. none other than Chace Crawford! Gossip Girl was then my daily fix, just looking at his dreamy eyes makes me squirm all day long. I remember watching all of season 1 in just 3 days. And I felt agitated the whole time I was waiting for the season 2 premier when he's about to hook up with S at the Hamptons. I just couldn't get enough of him.

I'm totally ecstatic he has now grazed the covers of VMan Magazine. I'm a total blockhead for not having any idea what this magazine is all about and that is because I only read Cosmo (yeah, you can call me tacky for all I care cuz that's the truth haha....). I guess it's some sort of 'Vogue' for men? If there's anyone who could tell me what this magazine is and where it can be purchased, I would appreciate it.

Honestly, I expected more... I think his brows are overly groomed and his smile is rather awkward. I don't have to be Tyra to know that these are not 'good' photograps, but nevertheless, he's still smokin hot! I just hope the rumors about his gender are false.

Gay Cannibal

This is a photo of the Gay Cannibal who ate his boyfriend. I was overly schocked when I read it today and who wouldn't be? An excerpt (which I higlighted in bold) from the article which I read online says;

" The former Mr. Gay U.K., Anthony Morley, ate his boyfriend, Damian Oldfield. After having sex, Morley stabbed Oldfield a bloody 19 times and then cut out a slice of his flesh, fried it in olive oil, and ate it. Morley decided he didn't like the taste and spat it out. Morley was then sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars."

And what's even more shocking is that some people are actually letting him assist in the operation of a new restaurant... Damn! I thought he's behind the friggin bars?!

" Michael Graham is opening up a new restaurant and will be receiving weekly consultations from Morley because Graham thinks Morley is a brilliant chef. Graham goes on to say that Morley will help design the menu. 'He’s made me countless meals and they’ve all been wonderful' Graham said."

I this this Michael Graham is totally deranged for letting this guy even touch a knife... Sick, sick people.

Chatty mom

My mom misses my sister who is currently vacationing in U.S. so she always bugs me to chat with her. I'm thinking about teaching her to use IM so she wouldn't be bugging me as much. It will be a long and tiring job to teach her.... My mom is a bit scared to use computer and other electronic stuff so she's just sticking to her cellphone as her way of communicating. But international calls and text messages are really expensive so I wanna teach her how to use chikka messenger. Her knowledge with the computer is very limited to basic operations. I hope my mom can be internet savvy too like the others... Soon she'll be pushing 60 but I'm glad she's open to learning new things.

Back to the blogging world

Hate it whenever I say that it has been a long time since I last posted here. Call it just being perfectly lazy and not doing anything at all. My mom calls it keeping her company. She actually likes the idea of me staying at home, rummaging the fridge, talking about my celebrity crushes (the likes of Zac Efron and Chace Crawford.. can't get enough of these two hotties!), and basically ranting about everything that pisses me off.

I admit I'm kind of lethargic and all that but in my deepest slumber, I miss blogging. I miss my blog and I feel sorry that it suffered from my indolence and sluggishness. So now, I'm making a pact.... I vow to start writing again here!

Where the hell am I?

For those who are wondering where I am, I'm back here in Manila... I haven't been updating my blog these couple of days but I'm still gathering pics from my travels here so hopefully I will be able to do so in a couple of days or weeks.

I arrived Saturday morning at the newly opened Manila International Airport Terminal 3. I don't know why I need to bitch on this, but I beg to disagree to the people who mentioned it's 'high-tech' or 'state-of-the-art' but of course, it's much better than the old and dilapidated Terminal 1. I just thought, they could do more

I think I only slept for 4 hours before getting up at 8 am. I went to the grocery and bought a lot of stuff I missed while I was in Korea. Good thing the supermarket is about a minute away from our house! 4 days have passed and what did I do? I went shopping for shoes and gym clothes, enrolled in a gym, went to the bank, started working-out, watched two tagalog movies in theaters, met friends, visited a hospital for check-up, visited my dentist who missed me so much, played at TimeZone and so much more! It was a crazy four days and I'm pretty sure it's gonna get even crazier!!!

Stone Galbi

Yesterday, I went to Inggyedong to spend the afternoon. Inggyedong is place where people gather to eat, drink, and be merry. There are lot's of dance clubs, bars, hofs, noraebangs, and restaurants. But the place can be quite boring in the afternoon, they come to life at night where neon signs fill the place with colorful lights and loud music.

I planned on visiting 'Pink Don' Samgyeopsal restaurant for lunch but much to my dismay they are close till 5 pm. So instead of waiting till they open, I went to this restaurant nearby. It was a good choice, food was great. It was featured in MBC TV show for their delicious menu so the place is quite popular.

I had Seok Galbi which I haven't tried before. It's slowly cooked in a stone pot, quite uniquely. They served about 12 'banchan' or side dished which I really enjoyed.

After a heavy lunch, noraebang was the next destination. It was hard looking for a noraebang that is open at that hour. They usually open from 6 pm. Luckily, one place was open. The manager was very kind and polite and he gave a lot of bonus time! I really enjoyed belting out my favorite songs... Call me cheesy, baduy or whatever but I think I sang "I don't wanna miss a thing" twice! And both times I got a perfect score of 100... not bad huh?!

A Tour Underwater

Last year when I visited Jeju, I had this one of a kind experience. I'm talking about a submarine tour and it's probably the coolest thing I have ever done! I never thought a tour underwater is even possible or better yet, riding a submarine!

In Jeju, they offer submarine tour for a hefty price. I forgot how much we paid but I remember that it was expensive. The submarine can only accomodate limited number of people so reservation in advance is necessary.

After parking the car, we rode a huge boat that took us to the middle of the sea. Then we transferred to this floating submarine. It didn't look much like a submarine when it's upfloat...


After a brief introduction from the crew and a couple of pictures here and there, we were guided to passage-way below....


We were escorted to our respective seats and after a while the captain politely introduced himself and the rest of the crew. The submarine didn't move a lot while going down... so I didn't notice the descend. When it reached the bottom, lights were turned on so we could view the outside. It slowly moved, exploring the places around. There were lots of fishes and colorful reefs and plants. I was in complete awe! I took several pictures but as I expected, it's not so clear.

After a while, the lights were shut so I thought the tour has ended but when the lights went back, I saw a diver waving at us. He swam gracefully around us while feeding the fish near the window so we could see upclose. After doing a couple more rounds outside the submarine, he then waved goodbye. Lights were shut again and we slowly made our ascend.

It was already dark when we reached the parking lot. Tired but very happy. It was a memorable experience for me. I'm really glad I had the chance to experience that.

2nd Round

So we went back to Outback for dinner like what we planned last Friday. Our reservation already lapsed when we arrived 15 minutes late, so we had to wait a couple more minutes before getting a table. There were 3 groups of people waiting to get a table ahead of us so I browsed through some magazines while waiting.

As usual, there was Bushman Bread served while we were choosing our orders. I got a nice salad in Blue Cheese dressing for starter, it was actually good especially the cherry tomatoes! For the main entry, I chose Rockhampton RIbeye in Mushroom sauce once again, can't get enough of it really... There was also baked potatoes in butter and sour cream dressing.

This time, the steak didn't come perfectly done. It was a medium well done, scorched a little bit more on the outside. A bit tough, really regret not having it in medium like the usual. Overall, it wasn't mouth-watering-ly delicious but a so-so and I'm fine with that. Steak will always be steak.. gotta love them when rare, medium, or scorched!

Remembering Lotte World

Before coming to Korea, I've always wanted to go to Lotte World because I've watched Korean Dramas which showed this place. So whenever I plan on going to amusement park, it always crossed my mind but I always end up in Everland instead. It was a rare opportunity to visit Lotte World last winter. It was so cold at that time, not a good time to visit a theme park and ride rollercoasters.. I can't say I enjoyed the time while I was there... my winter boots were killing me at that time. Huge chunk of my visit was wasted on falling in line to try out the rides cause there were so many people.... I think it's not worth the $26 I paid for the ride all you can : (

'Happy Socks'...

Ever heard of 'Happy Socks'? Well, I got one...

Mul Naengmyeon

This is 'Mul Naeng Myeon', a summer delicacy here in Korea. It's made from buckwheat noodles and let me tell you that it's really chewy. The key ingredient here is the sour and salty broth topped with shaved ice. There's egg in it, some sliced veggies, and meat. I personally don't like eating Naeng Myeon. I find the cold sour broth not appealing, and the noodles are too damn chewy that sometimes I have difficulty in swallowing it. But it's a popular dish here in korea so I'm sure a lot of people like it. It costs about $6.50 per serving.

The Specialty Dinner

Yesterday, the water delivery person came and brought 24 bottles of water separated into two large boxes. Since I'm alone, I had to carry it and transfer it to another place by myself. I didn't think it was that heavy so I kind of hurt my back.. I think I might have a torn ligament or something cause it hurts like hell. Because of this 'injury', I wasn't able to cook dinner so I thought going to a restaurant is a good idea (just making a lame excuse!).


This is a specialty Naeng Myeon restaurant that also serves Galbitang, one of my personal favorite. I always order Galbitang whenever I visit here and since it has a very mild taste similar to 'nilagang baka', I ate this a lot the first time I came to Korea. Back then, I was less tolerable to spicy korean dishes that I always look for food that resemble ours.


The way to prepare Galbitang differs from place to place. But this 'style' appeals to my taste the most. It's served piping hot in a very big bowl; one reason why I like this place is because they have big servings unlike the other places scrimping on meat... The broth is mild and light, just exactly how I like it. They also put 'tteok' or rice cake along with a bunch of vermicelli noodles. Also a lot of scallions, jujube, gingko nut, ginseng (this is what makes it healthy and uber delicious!!!), and some mushrooms were added. It's best eaten with boiled rice... This Galbitang costs about $8 per serving.