The Inevitable Holiday Weight Gain

I'm now in California to spend my holiday break at my brother Jerick's. It's been great seeing him, Liz, and Aidan again. What I'm not so happy about is how I've managed to put on five pounds since I got here just three days ago. Argh. My parents are arriving from the Bay Area tomorrow, then my other brother John and his wife Tintin are arriving on Tuesday. I'm really excited to see them. I'm just dreading the weight gain that will come with all our holiday celebrations, which will surely be aplenty.

One small consolation about gaining weight in the U.S. over the holidays is that you can hide it all under winter wear. Nobody notices that you've gotten fatter since you wear so many layers of clothing. Besides, in the very unlikely event that someone does comment on your expanding waistline, you can always tell them you are just wearing a lot of thermal underwear underneath your clothes. Also on the plus side, the added fat will keep you warm, and keep your bottom padded in case you fall on it if you slip on the snow.

Snow Fun

The snow has been around for a week and I finally gathered enough momentum to get out of my house and do snow-related things before it all finally melted. Temperatures are rising a bit so that is likely to happen soon. I thought I really should go out, because a tropical girl doesn't often get a chance to play in the snow. Actually, to be honest, getting out of my apartment was not really my idea. My friends Maria-Ines (from Peru) and Geraldine (from Venezuela) called and invited me to go sledding, and so that finally pushed me to leave my warm bed. I was so glad I did, because it was the first time for me to go sledding. It was a lot like bodyboarding on the sea (if you lie forward on the board, that is), and a speed rush is always fun.


After we got tired from all the sledding (the tiring part was trudging uphill to start again), we decided to go to Maria-Ines' apartment and make a snowman there, since she had a lot of snow near her parking lot. It sounds like a dorky thing to do, but it turned out to be more fun than I expected. Maybe part of the fun was due to the fact that I ate a lot of the cereal that we used for the snowman's eyes.

Worst Snowstorm in 10 Years

Last week, Mid-Missouri had its worst snowstorm in ten years. And lucky me, I was right here when it happened. We had no class last Friday (unfortunately I really didn't have class that day), and so everyone just enjoyed the snow day. Some of my friends were lucky enough to have lived within walking distance from other friends, and they went sledding. I was extremely jealous, since none of my friends lived nearby. To compensate, I put some snow in a cup and made a sprite snowcone.

Being snowed in and not being brave enough to face the cold, I just stepped right outside my door and made a snow angel, after which I scurried back into the warmth of my apartment. A snow angel is something I've never made before, and it will probably be some time before I can do it again. I'm still waiting for enough energy to make a snowman, but the snow will probably melt before that happens.

Missouri Weather

The weather here in Missouri never ceases to amaze me. Don't get me wrong, this does not mean I have any kind of positive feeling toward it. It's amazing in the sense that my friend eating seven Big Macs in one sitting is amazing. It's not right, but it's still a cause of wonder and grudging respect.

Yesterday, the day started at a pleasantly chilly 14 C, the kind of weather where back in the Philippines, you would take out your thickest sweater and revel at the chance to wear it. By the time I got home from school, the temperature had dropped to 0 C, which, as every school child is taught at an early age, is the point when water freezes.

Then today, as I was about to move from one building to another, I saw and heard little pellets that looked like rice falling from the sky. This, apparently, was sleet, which I had never seen before. An hour after that, snow began to fall. Snow is pretty to look at, and nice to take pictures of, but it's very hard to walk in, especially if you don't have a car and have to walk everywhere.

I have to admit though that I'm pretty excited to wake up tomorrow morning, because there's supposed to be a foot of snowfall overnight. I haven't seen that yet, since when it snowed here last year (which happened maybe about twice) it would just be an inch or so. My undergrad classmates in convergence are planning to go sledding this weekend, and that sounds like fun. Certainly something I've never done before.

The High Cost of Studying at Ellis Library

It's the last three weeks of classes, and as always, I am cramming all my requirements into these very limited remaining hours of school. This means I have been spending inordinate amounts of time at the library, which closes at 2am. I am not really a nerd who likes hanging out there. It's just that if I stayed at home to work, I would inevitably fall asleep in the comfort of my bed instead of getting stuff done. It would be very hard for me to sleep in the library, because I refuse to be seen drooling in mid-dream at a very public place. So, Ellis library it's been, and for the past two nights, Felicity and I have been staying till the library police with their shiny badges shoo us away at 2am.

One unfortunate side effect of staying at the library for extended periods of time (yesterday we were there for more than 12 hours) is that you end up spending a lot. First of all, I have to eat out since I don't have time to prepare food and take it to school to eat. (When you are employed, this is not a big deal. When you're a poor student, eating out could mean you go without food the week after). Secondly, there's a coffee shop on the first floor of Ellis and I've been spending on overpriced triple espressos (the coffee shop is run by Starbucks) to keep me awake. Of course, there's also the occasional cookie (or two) bought as a reward for a paper completed.

So, if I'm not careful, I will be both burnt out and poor by the time this semester draws to a close.

Good News and Bad News

I got very sad upon reading the news the other day, and learning that if we don't change the way we treat our marine life, there will be no wild fish left to eat in the whole world in 50 years. 50 years!! I'll still be alive by then, and there'll be nothing left for me to eat! I'll be ancient AND hungry! Seriously though, that's pretty depressing news. The Philippines in particular has (or used to have) such great marine biodiversity, but with overfishing, dynamite fishing, and the like, it's all disappearing very quickly.

On the plus side, (former) Pastor Ted Haggard who headed the National Association of Evangelicals has admitted to "sexual immorality" and was booted out by his religious group. How is this good news, you ask? Well, in the sense that hypocrisy has been unmasked, that's how. His earlier admission that he bought methamphetamine but did use it; then, that he hired a gay prostitute but only got a massage was just ridiculous. Not to mention that he was vocally against gay marriage even as he was paying for gay sex.

It seems the prostitute/escort, who was named Mike Jones, went public with the allegations that Haggard had transactional sex with him because the leader has supported a measure that would ban gay marriage. Jones said he was also angry that Haggard condemned gay sex in public.

Who would have thought a prostitute would have more balls to stand for his beliefs than a national religious leader? (Then again, with other developments in the news about religious figures, that may not come as too much of a surprise anymore.)

Going Crazy from School Work

This is going to be a brief entry to state that the load this semester is just crazy! For some strange reason, I thought I would coast along this semester. Well, apparently I was misinformed. I'm just dragging myself from week to week trying to remember when papers or projects are due, then inevitably cramming to meet the deadline. This is one time when I wish I had made time management a priority as far as developing skills is concerned. (right now my amazing ability to remember people's birthdays is not very helpful.)

Don't get me wrong; I'm not exactly lamenting my lot in life. I would still rather be spending sleepless nights trying to stretch my five-page paper into one that's 15 pages long, than holding a staff meeting in the office. Life is still pretty good; I just have to remind myself of this whenever I start to lose hope of turning in a paper on time and feel like pulling all of my hair out.

When Fashion Gets Ridiculous

I'm going to be totally shallow here, and do some uncharacteristic ranting about fashion. Some friends of mine have heard my take on this matter, and since they're sick of hearing me talk about it, I had to find another place to vent.

A few months ago, all the women's magazines and fashion experts announced that the new trend that was going to take the world by storm was skinny pants, and leggings. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. LEGGINGS! SKINNY PANTS! Suddenly, I was barraged by images from fashions past- visions of supertight stretch "baston" jeans with side zippers, as well as women in leggings outlining each and every sordid detail of their saddlebag thighs (mine included). There's a VERY good reason those went out of style years and years ago. They make women look short! They're unflattering! They're downright UGLY. Next to oversized shoulder pads, these were fashion mistakes that never should have been committed again.

Sure, Hollywood stars can carry them well. Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton, all look fabulous in them. Then again, they all probably weigh 80 pounds apiece, and they'd probably look good EVEN in oversized shoulder pads. The point is, skinny jeans (and leggings) are only meant to be worn by SKINNY people. Which means, only about twelve people in the whole world can pull them off with panache.

Call me envious, call me bitter. I just hate how fashion experts are saying that bootleg jeans (which are universally flattering) are OUT, and these silly skinny pants and leggings are in. Of course, I also know they're trying to make more money since women have been hanging on to their figure-flattering bootlegs for dear life, and haven't done as much shopping in the past few years as they usually have. But come ON! Women finally find something that looks good on almost everyone, and there you are trying to convince them they'd be better off wearing something that makes their legs look like sausages.

On the plus side, this trend has been around for a few months now, and I'm glad to report that women have not embraced it blindly. I've only seen a few trend followers actually wearing these things, and thankfully, it's usually because they're one of the twelve people who actually look good in them. It's nice to see that women are no longer total slaves to fashion, and that some of us have actually realized that some trends are just not for everyone. I for one will wear my bootleg pants till kingdom come.

Myheritage.com

There's a website that Caye told me about called myheritage.com, and among other things, it tells you which celebrities you (supposedly) look like. You upload a picture of your face, then the site scans it to see which among the celebrities in their database you look like the most. The site suggests uploading several pictures of yourself to see which celebrities come up the most consistently.

Now, this CAN be an ego-boosting exercise, since the celebrities in their database are all goodlooking. So it's very likely that your match will be a lot more gorgeous than you actually are. However, be warned that their face-matching program does not take into account your gender. So, some of your matches might be members of the opposite sex. If you're a woman and you are told that you look like Wesley Snipes, this is not likely to be flattering. So if you have a fragile ego, take heed.

Here is an example of the results that I got. You can safely assume I did not choose the one that said I looked like some dude.

Crazy About Gadgets

I can't believe that my gadget-lust has been reactivated after being dormant for quite some time by Apple's latest offering. When Apple came out with its laptop, the MacBook Pro, I was able to resist buying one for myself (admittedly, the fact that its cost was way beyond my card's credit limit may have played a bigger role in this than any prudence on my part).

But this new iPod Shuffle, which Apple touts as the smallest mp3 player in the world, is making the consumer in me positively salivate with covetousness. It's just so small and sleek, and at $79 (probably a little less with my student discount) for 1 GB of space, enough for 240 songs, it seems like such a bargain. I don't even care what the reviews may be. It just looks so... cool. (OK, I'm shallow.) Well, I COULD use my current iPod shuffle as a flash drive to put my school files in and justify the purchase. After all, if my old shuffle is being used for academic purposes, then I'm left with no choice but to buy the new one, right? RIGHT?

The Dirty Restaurant

Here's a story I forgot to post while on my summer break.

One of my favorite restaurants in Southern California is a Thai restaurant which we fondly refer to as "The Dirty Restaurant". Aidan was the one who baptized the place as such. Since they say children never lie, and most kids also have lower standards of hygiene, you can imagine that it is not the kind of place that the private investigator also known as "The Monk" could abide.

Whenever we eat there, we have to wipe the glass table top with a napkin, which always comes up black with grime and dust. This does not diminish our appetites at all. In fact, we always end up eating more than our stomachs were naturally born to bear. But... I am not here to talk about the food. (If you want to know more about that though, you can check out my food blog.)

One other attraction this restaurant holds for us (that could also be called dirty, in a sense...) is a rather indecent pen holder that the owner/manager of the place uses. As this picture shows, it is a woman lying on her back, and you insert the pen in her (you guessed it!)... crotch. Classy! We've noticed this pen holder for quite some time, and I decided to take a picture of it during my last visit.

There were no other people when we went there for lunch, so that was perfect. I didn't want to be obvious about my mission, because I didn't want the restaurant staff to be offended that I was taking a picture of their prized possession for fun. (I also didn't want them to think I wanted to order a similar pen holder through the Internet with the help of a photo). So I waited for our waitress to go to the kitchen and tell them about the food we ordered, before sneaking to the counter where the pen holder lay. I turned off the flash of my camera, because the light might call their attention to what I was doing.

I managed to take a couple of pictures, but then I realized that there was no pen in the holder. My daring increased as I successfully took more pictures without being spotted. Since I wanted my pictures to communicate exactly what this woman was for, I wanted to take a picture of the holder with a pen in it. So I scrounged around the counter for a pen which would do the trick. "Another lucky break!", I thought, as I found one. So I stuck the pen in the... ummm... holder, to make the photo op perfect.

And that's when my mission went awry. The pen wouldn't go all the way in, and kept falling off. Well, that just wouldn't do for my picture. So, I pushed the pen in harder. This time, the pen DID stay in place. However, this also resulted in the woman moving her head in rapture, and saying (quite loudly for a pen holder) "Ohhhhh.... Feels so good! Do it again!" Apparently, the woman says (moans?) different things when pushed to bear a pen.

Since there were no other people in the restaurant, the woman's pronouncements were heard loud and clear, all the way to the kitchen. The owner (looking just a little peeved) soon enough came out to the counter and took away the pen holder. He probably didn't like us playing with his little toy. We may never get a glimpse of the amazing orgasmic pen holder again. It's a good thing then that I was able to photograph it for posterity.

Gil's Romantic Story about His Wife

I've left lovely Cali and its perfect weather and am back in good ol' Columbia, Missouri and its horrid humidity. It was raining so hard in Missouri the day I flew back, that I felt like I was back in the Philippines. Then when I opened the door to my apartment, the hot stale air blasted out of it, and it really felt like I had opened an oven door. Aside from the horrible weather and missing Kuya, Liz, and Aidan (as well as the great food over there), it's been good to be back and be with my school friends.

Today was the first day of school, and it brought me back to when I first got here. I remembered one of the first people I met here in Mizzou (my school's nickname), the very interesting Gil. As I have mentioned, he is already back home since his degree took only a year to complete. Here is another one of his stories which I just recently remembered (KB, this one's for you).

One day, I was asking him about his family in Ormoc. He was having a hard time adjusting to student life in the US, because he sorely missed his wife and kids.

Gil: My wife is a wonderful woman. She has a very strong personality, and she's a good mother.

Me: It's great that you feel that way about your wife, even after being married so long (a little less than 20 years).

Gil: Did you know that my mother dreamt about my wife long before I even met her?

Me: (Thinking that it was one of the most romantic things I had ever heard)
Wow, that's amazing! So when you brought her to meet your mother, she told you that she was the woman in her dream, and that she was THE ONE?

Gil: Actually the moment I met her, I already knew for myself.

Me: Aww, that's so sweet.

Gil: The moment I laid my eyes on here, I knew she was going to be my wife. You see, my mother said that she dreamt that I would marry a woman with a moonface.

Me: Oh.

End of Vacation Blues

July is nearly ending, and it suddenly hit me that my three-month-long summer vacation is way more than half-over. So, I have begun to panic at the thought that my happy days are nearly over. This shows you that my perspective in life is more of the "glass is half-empty" variety. After all, I have three weeks or so left, and for other people three weeks is more vacation time than they can hope to have in a year. Nonetheless, I began to dread the end of my days of bumming around and being totally unproductive.

At the start of my California vacation in May, I had to adjust to doing ABSOLUTELY nothing. This, of course, didn't take very long (as they say... like a fish to water). At first, I felt a measure of guilt at this unproductivity. It was the first time in years (decades?) that nothing was expected of me by anyone. Not my bosses at work, not my professors in school. I didn't even have to run errands, as I had to do when I had long vacations as a student living with my parents. I was accountable to no one. It was a very strange feeling, and again, one I quickly got used to.

So, I spent my lazy days in Cali getting in touch with my inner slacker. During the day, I'm left all alone in the house until Kuya, Liz, and Aidan come home from work/pre-school. So I whiled away my time reading, watching videos, surfing the Internet, chatting with friends online, catching up on Hollywood gossip in Star magazine, or just staring at nothing and daydreaming. What surprised me about all this me-time that I was having is that I was NEVER bored, and time just flew by. I know that a lot of people would probably be itching to do something, or go somewhere, if faced with all that time on their hands. Not me, though. I discovered that I'm perfectly comfortable doing nothing and having nothing to show for my day.

I easily rationalized this sloth-like behavior by thinking that I'm not going to have another three-month long break in the foreseeable future (unless I win the lottery), so I might as well enjoy it. So, enjoy it I did. The problem now is that I'm so used to my lazy lifestyle, that I know I will find it difficult to get back into the rhythm of school (and eventually, the demands of work). Well, I do have a few weeks more to prepare for it, though I doubt that I'll do something as useful as thinking about my Master's project or anything of the sort. I'll probably just end up watching more Comedy Central and reading about why Tom Cruise is determinedly keeping baby Suri from the public. (Is she really disfigured as some have claimed? Stay tuned.)

Working Out with a Former Porn Star

When my summer break in California began, I fully intended to work out and do some amount of damage control, since I realistically anticipated some weight gain from being on vacation. So I went on the lookout for cheap workout videos. I always scoured stores for marked down workout DVDs whenever we went shopping, and purchased some when the deal was too good to pass up. Two months into my break, I realized that I had acquired NINE workout videos including bellydancing, hiphop, pilates, striptease aerobics, NONE of which I'd used. So, having those videos were a good indicator not of my commitment to fitness, but rather of my shopping savvy (I did get a $1 DVD in WalMart).

Realizing I only had a month left to burn off my excesses, I one day resolutely decided to forego my usual afternoon nap, and be a good girl by actually trying one of the videos. I chose to try the one called "Jazzthetics", which said... "specifically designed to burn cellulite, these programs features (sic) great soundtracks and are hosted by physical fitness advocate Traci Lords". TRACI LORDS! Hadn't heard that name in a while. I didn't realize she had shifted careers. But I thought, what the heck, she was a famous (underage) porn star, so she probably knows a thing or two about keeping fit.

So I popped in the DVD, and there she is, in her very yellow outfit (down to the ballet shoes). I realized soon enough that although the DVD was copyrighted in 2003, it looked like it had been shot in the 80s. Three things clued me in to this. First, the hair. Traci Lords was wearing a side ponytail, the kind that would have been favored by Kylie Minogue during her "Loco-Motion" days, or Olivia Newton-John in "Xanadu". Second, the music. The much-vaunted "great soundtrack" sounded like the instrumental version of a Sheena Easton hit. And finally, the last clue... Traci Lords STILL looked like an underage porn star.

However, I didn't let the outfits, the hair, or the music faze me. I had to give the workout a chance (after all, I did shell out $3.99 plus tax for it.) At the start of the DVD, I heard Ms. Lords say that I should focus on her words so that I get a feel of the workout, and I will know what to do. Okay... so I focused and listened carefully to her instructions. I tried to follow them, I really did. I was expecting the usual "feel the stretch up your quadriceps, etc." I didn't know I was in for a treat. Traci Lords' workout instructions actually RHYMED. Here are examples of her spiel.

"Turn turn, feel it burn!" (which was ok, I guess.)

"Roll your hips round and round
a perfect circle should be found!" (hmmm...)

"Look this way and then that,
turn again and then go back!" (getting a little complicated...)

"16 more, I gotta say,
your self-esteem will want to stay!" (as opposed to "my self esteem has run away"?)

"Bend down, stretch your back,
you don't want to hear no crack!" (starting to sound like rapping)

"Move your thighs you will see,
cellulite will no doubt flee!"

After that one, I just couldn't go on. The visual image of my celllulite fleeing after moving my thighs (not to mention the sheer impossibility of it) was just too much for me. Also, I didn't actually do the whole workout because I ended up being hypnotized into immobility by all that rhyming.

So I ejected the DVD. To my credit, I did 5 minutes and 48 seconds of stretching with Traci before I got distracted. That's a start, right? I have all those other DVDs to try anyway. (Though I'm now almost afraid of what I'll see in the dollar DVD I got at WalMart.)

The OC Fair

Aidan had been excited for a week, since Kuya told him that we were going to the Orange County fair. Actually, we were ALL excited to go to the fair. For the "big people", as Aidan likes to call his parents and myself, the attraction lay primarily in the prospect of eating LOTS of fair food. I was particularly excited to have some funnel cake, which is the treat I've learned to associate with fairs.


On the day of the fair, the weather was sunny, so when Kuya and Aidan went off to enjoy the rides, Liz and I were glad of the chance to work on a tan. (Our desire to have a tan stems not from wanting to have the look of summer; we are just after the overall slimming effect that having darker skin brings.)


Aidan did have a great time getting on all the rides he wanted to try. Some rides were really lame, others were a bit more exciting and worth the dollar you shelled out. The ride we all enjoyed was the ski lift. Being at such a height freaked out Liz a bit, but we just imagined that we were on our way to go skiing (despite the oppressive heat), and all was well.


The big people as expected had a field day trying the different food booths. We had to pay for our excesses though. Liz and I felt a bit queasy at the end of the day because all of the food we had was fried (funnel cake included). On Aidan's part, the overstimulation of the fair (so many colors, so much to see and experience!) resulted in a meltdown. It started when he said he wanted a balloon just as we were on our way out of the fairgrounds. (He was probably trying to find a way to delay leaving the fair.) When his request was denied, he started sniffling, then whining, then finally he bawled his head out all the way home.

Which brings us to the lesson to be gleaned from spending the day at a county fair. You CAN have too much of a good thing.

Two Things I Dislike About Children's Parties


No, no, this is not some rant by a single childless woman about how horrid children's parties are (though some of them CAN be pretty terrible). It IS possible for me to have a good time at these events. However, there are two things that prevent me from being a great fan of these occasions.

But first, some details of the party which brought these thoughts about. Last Saturday, my childhood friend Toytoy, now more fashionably known as Corina, held a party as her baby Nicole celebrated her first birthday. Nicole is super cute (she's the baby in the background) and already has a bag of dog tricks that she readily performs for anyone her rightly-proud mom wants to show her off to. Nicole is good-natured, fresh-smelling, pink-and-chubby-cheeked, and all those good things that make babies adorable.

It was nice to see Toy again, especially since she is now based in the US. Toy is very artistic, and she certainly made a production number out of the party. It was a garden party, with a pink-and-green-and-ladybugs-everywhere theme. She even asked Liz and I if we could wear either pink or green in keeping with the theme. As I would say; "Career!" But being an old friend of hers, Liz and I complied with the dress code.

Anyway, on to what I don't like about children's parties (things which I encountered in this one). First, they make me VERY sweaty. Since these parties are usually held outdoors (if the weather permits), to make room for the kiddies' games, it is usually very hot. Always hot in the Philippines, and hot here as well in sunny Cali. I am not usually one to whine about the weather; I guess last Saturday was just particularly humid and uncomfortable. (Rabidly cheering my nephew on during the games probably didn't help, either.)

Second, and more importantly, I often end up having nothing to eat. Children's parties usually have a menu composed of spaghetti and meatballs, hotdogs, chicken lollipop, and the like. Things which I don't eat. It's a good thing I was already well aware of standard children's party grub before I came to this particular party, and so I had some fish for lunch. (Kuya asked me why I was eating before going to the party, and I told him I probably wouldn't have anything to eat there.) The party had a great menu (there was even a taco station!), except it was not so great for me.

In fairness to children's parties, they do have one thing that consistently saves the day. Birthday cake.

These are observations I've made in many children's parties I've gone to. I don't expect my friends to accommodate my whining (it's your party and you can sweat if you want to), I just hope they understand if I am less than enthusiastic about going to their little darlings' birthday shindigs. Now... when their kids are old enough to drink and serve alcohol during their birthday parties, that's a different matter altogether...

Bye, Biljana!

Last Sunday, I was very fortunate to have another chance to see Biljana, my Serbian (party girl!) friend. I was very sad when I said goodbye to her in Columbia in May, right before I left for California. It occurred to me then that I had no idea when I'd ever see her again. Luckily, she had a reason (wink wink, nudge nudge) to go to LA last weekend, and so I was able to meet up with her one last time before she heads off to Serbia in less than two weeks. We picked her and Temi up in the afternoon, then proceeded to the boardwalk of Santa Monica Beach.

We had a late lunch at Bubba Gump, where we all had to help Biljana eat her huge mudpie dessert (with pleasure!). We walked around the boardwalk to burn off what we ate, and of course, Biljana and I updated each other with what had been happening in our lives. The boardwalk was a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. The sun was out, the wind kept the place cool (a little TOO cool at times), and the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves were relaxing. Time flew by so quickly, and before I knew it, it was time to bring Biljana back to the hotel, since her flight was at midnight. It was once again time to say goodbye to her, and just like before, a wave of sadness washed over me. I don't know when I'll see her again, but I'm so glad we met in Columbia. I had so much fun with her, and I'll definitely think of her each time we have all-you-can-drink $5 cups at Deja Vu. I'll miss you, Biljana! Take care, and I'll see you again!

Five Pounds in Five Days

Kuya, Liz, Aidan & I drove to San Francisco from LA (a 7-hour drive non-stop) for the long weekend of the July 4th holiday. Our plan was, leave Friday early morning, visit some relatives and friends, then start the drive back home Tuesday whenever we woke up. We ended up following that schedule. We also ended up gaining tons of weight in the process. When we arrived Friday, we visited Tito Alex (Mama's brother) and Tita Thelma. They prepared enough food for a Filipino fiesta for each meal we had at their house.

Saturday morning, we drove off to Ferdie, Kuya's high school classmate. He brought us around Pier 39 (which was PACKED with tourists); then we had the usual photo-op at the Golden Gate Bridge; then he brought us to look at the redwood trees at Muir Woods, which is a National Monument. The highlight of the day for me, however, was dinner, which we had at Patio Filipino. EVERYTHING we ate there was good- the Crispy Tilapia, Bangus Sisig, Coco Loco Shrimp (something like Ginataang Hipon), super garlicky rice, and the desserts! There was some variant of halo-halo in buko, ice cream on a sylvana with mango balls in syrup, etc, etc. I think I personally ate enough for five normal people that night.


Sunday, we were off to visit Ate Agnes in Daly City. She brought us to Gerry's Grill for dinner. Gerry's just opened in the Bay Area a few months ago, and is set to open in the LA area in August, which has Kuya and Liz excited. We ordered the dishes we usually did back home, and though they were a bit Americanized to appeal to a larger market, we still enjoyed them. Again, I polished off a meal that would have been enough for the average Filipino family of six. Our gluttony seemed endless that evening, because we immediately hied off to Ghirardelli, where we did not content ourselves with a mere scoop of ice cream. Each of us had an ice cream concoction with at least three scoops of ice cream. At this point I had to unbutton my pants since my stomach was very much overextended.

The next day, we had another big dinner at Tribu, yet another newly-opened Filipino restaurant, where we had another meal that we really shouldn't have. I won't give you the gory details, but I do have to mention the bagoong rice, which was topped with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, mangoes, and some pork (which I removed). It was sooo good, I intend to replicate this (sans pork) when I get back to the Philippines since it's easy to prepare.

So, we said our goodbyes to beautiful San Francisco, and drove back to Southern California the next day, which was the 4th of July. We saw some fireworks on the way home, because we ended up arriving home around midnight. People have been asking me what I did for the 4th of July weekend. I tell them I went to the Bay Area, not for sightseeing, but for weightgaining.

Happy 4th Birthday, Aidan!

Aidan celebrated his 4th birthday on June 24, and since this fell on a Saturday, he had his party in school the day before. This was Aidan's first real party with his friends, so Liz wanted to make sure he was happy. That means the menu had to include his non-negotiable requests, which were a cake bearing the logo of the movie "Cars", pizza, and lots of candy in a pinata. Liz and I spent the whole morning running around buying things for the festivities, and it was more hectic than we anticipated. Murphy's law was in effect the whole day, and we had to deal with missing membership cards, almost-lost pastries, and the like. Liz and I survived mostly on nervous/hysterical laughter, as we anticipated arriving at Aidan's school when all his guests had already left.

Despite the little foul-ups, we managed to get to his school in time to start the party; pizza, cake, and pinata in hand. One thing that amazed me about the party was how well-behaved the children were while they ate. I've attended quite a few children's parties at home, and they are invariably marked by hyperactive, overstimulated children running amuck on all the sugar they consumed, yayas in hot pursuit. In contrast, the ten or so kids in Aidan's class raised their hands to ask for food, and ate quietly in their seats.

But kids will be kids, and everyone was ready to go wild over the candy that the Ninja Turtle pinata was ejecting from its back as it was being hit. The pinatas here, unlike the "palayoks" back home, took quite a while to crack open. All the kids had their turn at whacking at the pinata (you just had to feel sorry for Ninja Turtle after the beating he took), but it still took some help from the adults for it to finally cough up its last piece of candy. The whole party, from setting up, eating, and pinata-bashing, took all of one hour, exactly. That was another amazing thing. That was probably the shortest-running party I'd ever seen.

The Sight of Seal Beach

Before I start this entry, I would like to apologize to Kuya Bong for the lack of Gil stories in my blog. I've wracked my brain but I can't seem to recall those priceless gems at the moment. Don't worry, I promise to write them as soon as I remember them.

Moving on... Last Thursday, Liz was off from work so she, Aidan and I made plans to hie off to Seal Beach. (Kuya was envious because he had to go to work.) We were so excited about our little excursion that we overdid the preparations. We went shopping for different kinds of sunblock, and of course, SNACKS! We bought chocolate, chips, cookies, and soda that would have lasted a week (and they did). After a half-hour drive, we got to the beach. But before we went to enjoy the surf and sand, we had lunch at Walt's Wharf where, as usual, we ate more than we should have. (This explains why the snacks we brought were not immediately consumed.) We had seafood dishes which we topped off with Turtle Pie. Yummy!


After our overconsumption of calories, we were finally on our way, beach paraphernalia in tow. We first saw the sand, but because the sand rose a bit in a way that concealed the sea, we had to go closer to actually see the water. This induced strange behavior in me. When I heard the sea, I ran up the sand to see it, and tears actually came to my eyes. Well, I didn't exactly bawl like a baby, but I have to admit my eyes became a bit misty when I saw the water. I REALLY miss the beach, more than I ever expected to.


After my brief brush with sentimentality, Liz and I sat on the beach to catch some sun. Aidan enjoyed playing in the sand with his shovel and pail, and I just enjoyed hearing the waves and feeling the sun on my skin. The water was a bit cold so I was hesitant to go in. But shortly before it was time for us to go home, Aidan persuaded me to play knee-deep in the water. After a few moments of playing in the waves with Aidan, I was convinced that I could handle the water. Next time we go to beach, I'll try swimming, even if the water is not as warm as I am used to.

If I lived in California, I would probably find myself on the beach pretty often. Then again, I was pretty near the beach back home and I didn't go there as often as I would have wanted. When I get back to the Philippines, I'm going to take a few weeks to decompress from my stay in the US at the beach. Being near the sea will recharge me and prepare me for my re-entry into the real (working) world. That's a year from now though, so in the meantime, I'm going to soak up as much California sun as I can.

Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival

Last weekend, Kuya decided to bring all of us (us being, of course, Liz, Aidan, and myself) to the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival. Temecula is about an hour's drive away from Buena Park, and it's smack in the middle of nowhere, the better to view hot air balloons from. According to the brochure, we would see balloons glowing, so that sounded pretty exciting. When we got there, we went crazy with country fair food. You could buy any kind of food you wanted, sausages, cotton candy, funnel cakes, etc. It brought back memories of the school fairs I went to back home, where my friends and I would gorge on all the different kinds of food that you could find at the booths.

After getting ourselves shrimp balls, fish tacos, and other picnic food, we settled on the grass to wait for the balloon show. Kuya checked out the wine booth, where you could taste seven glasses of different kinds of wine for $15, a good deal all around. Unfortunately, the deal was so good that half of the people in the fair were lining up for it. So, we nixed the wine idea, and just waited for the show while listening to bands playing all sorts of music. We got all excited when the balloonists began setting up their balloons. There were five balloons set up where we were sitting. They were firing them up so the balloons lit up. We were waiting for the balloons to launch into the air and glow, but apparently, the glowing was all we were going to get. Aidan was shouting at the balloonists to fly, but apparently the show was to be held purely on the ground. Though we were disappointed that the balloons didn't actually fly, it was still a pretty sight. No wine, no flying balloons... but the glowing balloons were pretty cool, and we did get to stuff ourselves with fair food. Aidan and I also had fun running around on the fairgrounds. Liz and I amused ourselves by laughing at people who were trying (unsuccessfully) to dance to the music. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening.

Lovely Cali

I've been spending my 3-month summer vacation in Buena Park, California with my Kuya Jerick, Liz, and Aidan. The weather's great over here. It's warm but not humid. No wonder land is so expensive here- the gorgeous weather is probably factored into the price. In Missouri, summer is both hot and humid, so it almost feels like home (on the plus side, less chance of getting homesick). It also feels so strange to not be in the minority, in the sense that there are more non-white people around here. I believe whites comprise less than 50% of the population in California, so they are technically the minority.

There are Filipinos everywhere, so we have to be careful about saying bad things about people. Kuya told me of their friend who rode a cable car in San Francisco. It was very crowded and she said to the friend she was with, "Ano ba 'to, natutulak na tayo palikod. Napatabi tuloy tayo sa mamang mabaho." She was referring to a man standing behind her, who looked to be African-American. Obviously, she was confident no one else could understand her. After a few stops, the man said, "Excuse me, dadaan lang po ang mamang mabaho." Which is why I don't speak ill of other people I see around here. Well, at least not too loudly.

Sweet Sick-teen

I've been horridly fascinated by a television show called "My Super Sweet 16" that airs on MTV, ever since our Qualitative Research classmates presented an episode of the show as part of a presentation they did in class. The concept of the show is simple- it's a reality program which shows how rich kids prepare for and hold their "Sweet Sixteen" birthday party. Apparently, turning 16 is a big thing for Americans (like debuts are for Filipinos). This show is the perfect example of how gross conspicuous consumption can be.

The show generally starts with the celebrant describing herself, or himself, as the case may be ("I'm an heiress in training!"), and what they want their party to be like- the theme (they usually want to be queens, emperors, and the like), their entrance (carried by gorgeous men? popping out of a cake? riding a camel?), how they want all the kids to get invites to the party, the present they want to receive (a car, a house), etc. Some of the preparations are shown (talking to the party planners, auditioning people for parts in the party), then the party proper is shown. Sometimes a celebrity makes an appearance at the party. Toward the end of the show, the birthday present is usually given to the celebrant at the height of the festivities. It's almost always a car- in one case there were two cars given.

The first episode I watched featured an apparently nouveau riche girl, who acted like a brat with her mother during the party preparations. "Moooommmm.... can you please stop talking for just a minute!!!" She was also gloating about how some kids were NOT invited to her party, and how they were all begging her to give them an invite. In other episodes I watched, you can see how the parents are so anxious to make their little girls happy (in one case, a boy who held a 15th birthday party). At the end of the party, the kids or the parents talk about how much they spent on the party and how it was all worth it. As the 15-year-old boy said, "I spent $300,000 (I guess he OWNED that money) for this evening, and it was a great party!"

Watching the show is like looking at a car crash- you just can't help but look out of morbid fascination. When I think about how much these parties cost and how many people could be helped by that amount money, it's enough to sicken me. "The Showbiz Show with David Spade" did a short feature on "My Super Sweet Sixteen", and they featured that same girl who was bratty with her mom. After the segment, David Spade said, "And we wonder why they hate us." My classmates in the research class reacted vehemently to the show as well; they say it's not representative of what real Americans are like. I'm pretty sure the average American is nowhere near these rich brats featured in the show. The fact remains though that there are still a lot of people like that (parents and kids alike) around here, and they are all dying to be part of this show, aiming to upstage the previous parties aired on MTV.

Being Carded in Missouri

Columbia is a university town, and as such, establishments are particularly strict when it comes to selling alcohol to minors. When you enter a club, everyone is carded, regardless of how old you look. So, it's not particularly flattering when they ask for my ID when I go to a bar or club, since that's just standard operating procedure. A few days ago, however, being carded felt a bit different.

Fil, Biljana, Maria Ines and I went to Walmart to get some groceries. As Fil was checking out her purchases, the woman asked for all our IDs since Fil got a bottle of wine. I handed over my ID, and a look of shock came over the woman's face. "Oh my," she said with some surprise, upon seeing my year of birth. "You don't look like you're a day over 21!" I told her not to announce my age to everyone (she looked surprised enough to broadcast it to the whole checkout counter of Walmart), since even my friends don't know exactly how old I am. (Keeping my age secret is my neurosis, so sue me.) On one hand, I felt flattered that she thought I looked that young. On the other hand, it was not a pleasant feeling to have people sound as if your age is so advanced that it's unfathomable (I exaggerate, but you get the point).

School's Out!

Finals week is finally over, and after all the stress of finishing papers and other requirements at the last minute, my adrenaline level has finally gone down. So, technically, summer vacation has begun for me. Since I'm not taking any classes, I'll be spending most of my time in California to visit my older brother Jerick, his wife Liz, and my nephew Aidan. The break is around three months long, and the length of school's summer vacation is making me consider becoming a professor. Teaching starts to look so attractive when you think about how you can have long summer breaks just like you did when you were much younger.

Now I Really Feel Like a Student Again...

...and it's not because I'm still in the middle of trying to finish all my school requirements at the last minute (procrastinating's a way of life for me in school AND at work). It's because last weekend was just crazy, like weekends always were back in college. I haven't had such a hectic weekend in a while. Friday night, Fil (aka Felicity), Biljana and I went to Fieldhouse (where I got drunk on the $10 bottomless Vodka Sprite) and the J-School party at Hubbell house. Saturday night, Fil, Biljana, Maria Ines, and I went to Heidelberg for some cocktails, then proceeded to a farewell party for all the graduating international students (where I didn't know anyone but managed to have fun anyway). Then on Sunday, there was a surprise birthday party for Yuriy, (for details, read Fil's blog.) where we had so much fun. Lots of food, alcohol, and music.



The coming weekend is shaping up to be a fun one too. Ale is graduating on Friday, along with Yuriy and Gyorgi, so there'll be another party at chez Maria Ines. On Saturday, Yuying is cooking another one of her amazing Chinese dinners in honor of the end of the second semester. I'm pretty excited, except for the fact that I still have papers to do and a long shift at the Missourian to finish this week. With all the fun in the air, I just can't get back to studying mode anymore.

Changes Back Home

I've been hearing so much news lately from my friends back in the Philippines. One gave birth a couple of weeks ago, one just found out she's pregnant, another just got engaged, two just got new boyfriends, one is moving to a great new house, one just got a new job in New York so is probably moving there soon...

Congratulations to all of them, I'm very glad my friends are so blessed. Of course all these developments made me a little sad that I was not there to congratulate them in person, and be there to share their happiness. It was also a reminder that life is going on back home, even as I pretend to myself that everything there is on hold, and that when I come back everything will be exactly as it was when I left.

The Library Police

A few days ago, I started reading a novella by Stephen King entitled "The Library Policeman". According to the story, the Library Police (with a capital LP, of course) will come and get you if you don't return your books on time. This concept is supposed to strike fear into children's hearts, resulting in library policy compliance (at least as far as returning books is concerned). King's story was one of horror, so the Library Policeman was depicted as a really scary towering figure who lisped, and had the capacity to turn the delinquent book-borrower's hair white by merely revealing himself to him.

The day after I started reading this story, Felicity and I went to the library in hopes of writing and finishing our papers. We found a little alcove that allowed us to talk without disturbing others. Lunch time came around, and we were at a loss as to what to do. That's because things at tables that are left unattended for more than twenty minutes are confiscated, and the table could be occupied by anyone else. We didn't want to lose our alcove, so we came up with a brilliant idea- Fil would go out and buy burritos at Taco Bell, then smuggle them into the library (food was not allowed), where she and I would surreptitiously eat them.

Fil came back with the burritos, and I was able to finish eating mine without further mishap. However, Fil, caught up in writing her kilometric paper, put her burrito down on the table in plain view. She then saw a boy pass by our alcove who shot her a glance as if she were doing something criminal. A few minutes later, a library staff member (library policewoman?) and told Fil to throw her burrito, since eating wasn't allowed in the library. She put it away, but of course, continued to eat it in secret.

Fil and I later bitched about the snitch who told on us. Sure, eating was not allowed. But REALLY. Anyway this whole incident got me to thinking about the Library Police. There may be no 7-foot policemen to scare you into returning your books, but there sure are plenty of library SNITCHES around who patrol the premises, ready to report to the library staff every infraction that they seem to take as a personal affront. Just remember, Library Snitches, what happened to the Library Police in King's novella. (Hint: King's monsters are usually obliterated at the end.)

Places I've Visited

I found out about this cool website that makes a map of places you've visited.
The first map is of countries I've gone to, the second is of states I've visited in the US. (Looks like I have a lot more travelling to do!)



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Gil and His Son

I am very busy procrastinating and putting off papers that need to be done, so I got to thinking about Gil and how I should have recorded some of our conversations. As you may have read, they have been enlightening (?) and rather humorous. He truly is one of a kind (Probably a good thing). So I've decided that I will try to write in this blog all the interesting conversations we have had. The following story is the first that comes to mind right now, and you will understand why.

One day, we were hanging out with some friends, and for some obscure reason, we got to talking about attitudes toward the human body.

Gil: You know, I am not very conscious of the human body. I do not put malice in it. In fact, my whole family's attitude towards the human body is very candid.

Me: What do you mean? (Half-afraid of the answer)

Gil: For example, my son goes around the house without his pants.

Me: You mean he goes around with only his underwear?

Gil: No, I mean he only wears a shirt, and nothing else. In fact, one time, there was a party in the house, and my son went out of his room not knowing there was company. He tried to hide his private parts by pulling his shirt down, but then when he ran to his room, his buttocks were exposed!

Me: (Imagining my 3-year-old nephew caught in such a situation) Oh, the poor kid! How old was he then? (Thinking this experience may have been a traumatic highlight of his formative years)

Gil: Sixteen.

Going Insane at the Semestral Homestretch

I have less than three weeks of classes left and I am going crazy thinking about how to finish all the papers and other projects I have to do. Felicity and I were bitching about how we hate our lives right now, but after ranting a bit more we both decided we'd still take the demands of school over the stress of work. I am currently panicking about how I will manage my remaining time to fit in all the school stuff I have to do, but despite this I guess I never really lose sight of the fact that I greatly prefer stressing about class requirements to dealing with difficult co-workers. I really wouldn't mind being a student forever and not have to work. Sigh.

Partying With The Kids (a.k.a. My Convergence Family)

Last week, my Convergence class got together for alcohol and two-for-one appetizers at Heidelberg. I thought it unlikely, but I actually enjoyed hanging out with these kids (average age of people in this picture minus me=21.2). It's our second semester, and we've had several get-togethers since Fall (always with alcohol involved). This group was formed in August, when we found ourselves in the same major. When I first enrolled at the Journalism School, I was persuaded by my adviser to enroll in the Convergence sequence instead of Broadcasting, as I had first planned.

It turns out that Convergence was the first new major of the J-School in 50 years. (I saw later that this meant they were still trying to work out the kinks in the sequence) Learning how to report across different media platforms (radio, TV, print, online) sounded interesting, so I signed up. I was the only foreigner in my class, and only one of two grad students, so last semester was rather challenging. We had a lot of group reporting and at times it was very stressful, as I have previously written.

This semester, we have less group work (really NOT my strongest point), so it's been less difficult for me, and seeing my classmates has been more pleasant. I've learned more about them, and a couple of them have become real friends. One nice thing about my convergence class is that there's some semblance of community (I have found that this does not occur here as naturally as it does back home). Being the J-School's guinea pigs for a new major formed a strange sort of bond. It was probably all that collective bitching about not understanding anything in our classes that brought us together.

Easter Dinner at Nikki's

Nikki, one of my favorite undergrad classmates, invited me and a few other friends over to have Easter dinner at her house last Sunday. She (amazingly!) cooked everything we ate. We had ham, which they said was traditionally a part of Easter celebrations (and which I didn't eat, of course), corn with cheese, rice with beans and bacon (Nikki made a vegetarian version for me), Greek salad, baked beans, and sweet potatoes. Among all these, the sweet potato dish intrigued me the most. The American students said that it was a common dish in the US, and that the way Nikki prepared it was the way they usually ate it. She baked the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. It was unusual for me, but it was pretty good. Mostly because it had a lot of sugar. Then we had apple pie a la mode (More sugar). You can't get more American than that!

I think I've been lucky to have American friends who have given me a chance to see other parts of life in the US. I've heard that a lot of international students don't even set foot in American houses even if they stay to study here for years. It was great to see and taste food that they normally celebrated Easter with, especially since this holiday is very big in my country. I'm a very staunch believer in learning about other cultures through food ;)

Bye, Gil!

There was a farewell party for Gil last night at Bob's house, since he is leaving Columbia for good on Sunday. His Master's in Dispute Resolution is only two semesters long, so he's off tomorrow for what he calls a six-week "externship" in New York. After that he goes back to his little town of Ormoc, Leyte. Gil has a good heart and many friends, so this party was only one in a series of despedidas for him.

Gil and I are the only Filipino Fulbrighters who went to the same school in our batch. Knowing him has been a very interesting experience. He made me realize just how very different people can be, even if they have their country and the Fulbright community in common. Because after spending some time with him, it seemed these were the ONLY things we'll ever have in common.

Consider his comment about women and beauty which he reiterated during the party, where there were Americans, Iranians, and a South African. (I brought Felicity along as a witness to Gil's expected proclamations.)

Gil: I think that American women are more beautiful than Filipina women. All the students I see could be actresses back home! Filipinas mostly have inner beauty!

Me: (taking this as a personal insult, of course) I don't know about the women where you come from, Gil, but in Manila, there are many beautiful women!

He also had a comment about personal hygiene.

Gil: Did you know that we Filipinos do not like toilet paper?

Me: (thinking, now I understand why people think we still live in trees) I don't know about you Gil, but the Filipinos I know are on very good terms with toilet paper.

Felicity: I think Gidget wants you to stop using the word "we", Gil.

He expresses more views on hygiene.

Gil: The weather here is warm like in the Philippines, but here I noticed that clothes do not smell. Gidget, do you use deodorant?

Me: (to the group) That's it. From now on, I'm officially Taiwanese. I do not know this man, I've never been to his country.

Finally, as the party was about to end, he delivered the coup de grace.

Gil: Gidget, did you gain weight?

Gidget: (ARRRGHHH!) I hope you realize I'm never speaking to you again.

I hope he didn't get offended by these exchanges. It was just so strange to see how disparate our worlds are, despite coming from the same country and having a similar academic background. Don't get me wrong; Gil is a well-meaning good guy who will probably go straight to heaven on judgment day (definitely more than I can say for myself).

However, when he talks about his culture and his experience of being Filipino, sometimes I feel like we literally come from different worlds (I'm talking Milky Way here).

The Two Seasons of Missouri

I never thought I'd be so preoccupied with weather, of all things. But the weird weather (strange to me, at least) is really puzzling to me. I had heard that Missouri has very distinct four seasons. But I've been here for eight months, and so far I've only seen two, really. In autumn through winter it was freezing. And now, just a couple of weeks into what was supposed to be spring, it's already summer hot. I therefore conclude that just like the Philippines has only two seasons- wet and dry- Missouri likewise has two. Very hot, and very cold. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I Love Daylight Savings!

Finally, I can feel the arrival of spring (fingers crossed)! There are a few flowers now, and I actually hear birds chirping when I wake up in the morning. The temperatures are also higher, now ranging from 10-22 degrees Celsius (a big relief from below zero weather). The best thing is, they moved the clocks forward last Sunday because of daylight savings, so we get an extra hour of sunlight. So now, it's still bright even if it's almost 8pm.

I didn't realize how much the sun affects my mood. It actually makes me happy! I did realize that I was getting the winter blues a couple of months ago because it would be dark by four o'clock. Now, I feel more productive since I don't want to stay in bed all day. The sun was something I also took for granted back home, since the lengths of time where there was sunlight stayed pretty constant. I can hardly wait for the summer, with even longer days, and warmer climes!

What I Miss Most

I've been in Missouri for almost eight months, and I haven't really felt homesick. Of course, I miss Caye, my friends and family, and my dogs, but I've managed well so far, thanks to email, Skype, and iChat. What I've been missing aside from the people back home, surprisingly, is the sea (no virtual water will do). I never thought I would be imagining being by the beach or in the water so much.

The sea is something I've taken for granted, because it's always been a relatively short drive away. Now that I live in a very landlocked state where the ocean is a flight away, I find that I have a hankering for even a glimpse of a vast expanse of water. I've resolved to go diving more frequently when I get home, and find more time to stay near the sand, sun, and sea. The sea clears my mind, soothes my spirit, and gives me a sense of well-being. It's one of the advantages of living in my country, and I've never had a greater appreciation of it than I do now.

Spring is here?

Today is OFFICIALLY the first day of spring. I have long waited for this day, since I've been rather sick of this Missouri cold. I thought that spring would bring warmer weather. Well, last night, snow fell. And as I was walking to school this morning, there was more snow. Today's high was 0 degrees Celsius. I guess the weather here doesn't follow the calendar. I shouldn't have so easily believed the rumors that spring was on its way.