Sunday, February 22, 2009

Bootcamp for the Culinarily-Challenged: One Down!

There have been some instances when I was able to whip up something miraculous out of the blue -- none of those feats involve the kitchen, however. During team offsites, I'd rather be in charge of drinks instead of food, lest I want my friends to die from starvation (or worse, from food poisoning! Eep!).

This year, I resolved to take matters into my own hands, and I'll be forcing myself to cook at least one decent dish per month (except for Feb, I have to cook 2 since I skipped January =P). And you know what? It was actually possible! I was able to come up with fusilli topped with some random ingredients (tomatoes, tuna, mushroom and cheese) without screwing anything up. I also wanted to try out a friend's tip about baking (our oven's busted but he told me that a turbo broiler does more or less the same thing), so I put a box of instant brownie mix to the test and, booyah, yummy dessert. =) The folks at home finished off their meals without collapsing, so I think it's fair enough to say that round one has been officially conquered.

Yep, I know it's still a longshot from warranting the respect of anyone culinarily-able, but at least I'm making baby steps.I am just so psyched right now. Whoopee! =)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My 25 Random Things

I finally got this done! Am tagging everyone who wants to make their own list. Hehe. =P

1. I'm a true-blue kaladkarin. It takes all of my will to say no to an interesting trip, event or experience. A great year would be getting to visit 12 islands in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao within 12 months. An awesome year would be wherein every trip is paid for by someone else. Haha!

2. Each time before I take a bath, I dip my hand into the water and make the sign of the cross. It was an odd habit I picked up way back when our housekeeper made me do it every time she would give me a bath.

3. I could Youtube all day. I look up dance vids, commercials, series episodes, viral vids, almost everything online. Yep, that also goes to say that I barely watch TV. I blame Youtube for multiple counts of tardiness.

4. I used to write like crazy. I almost took Journalism instead of Computer Science. No regrets here.

5. I like geek talk, so sue me.

6. If you ask my closest friends, almost all my crushes have NOTHING in common.

7. As a child, I was a church rat. My kababatas are composed of members of the kids' choir and the Knights of the Altar. We still hang out. One of us just got hitched last month; I think he was the first of the bunch.

8. I have a 15-year old niece, Ikay -- her presence dots my Multiply albums. Ikay, my elder sister Ate Teng and I compose the Tres Marias of my family. We hang out a lot and goof out more often. Our favorite gimiks are going out to see flicks (especially cartoons!), wasting time at the arcade, window-shopping at toy stores and of course, gorging on comfort food. Ikay eats the most out of us three.

9. I'm that movie freak that laughs out loud and even claps (!) in the middle of movies. Back in HS, my favorite game with my movie buddies was Guess-That-Movie-Trailer. Sometimes the games turned to shouting matches wherein the winner was the one who blurted out the movie title first. Trust me, you would have hated to be seated next to us. I've also watched movies solo several times, and regretted none of those instances.

10. I think I'll always be an outdoors girl, even if I'm actually terrified of swimming in anything that's beyond the reach of my toes.

11. The farthest and most challenging mountain I've ever climbed was Mt. Apo, and that by far was the most humbling experience I've ever had in my life.

12. I've found a new vice in dancing. I'd scrimp on money for food, but not money for weekend dance classes. I dance while I walk. I dance while I work. I dance while I type. I sincerely hope I could do this forever.

13. I get sad when I commute without listening to music from my mp3 player (either I left it at home or it ran out of battery). Truly sad. I get so irritable that sometimes I throw tantrums, and God forbid that you should find yourself in the middle of an Ish-tantrum.

14. It doesn't suit me, but I'm such a crier. I cry when I laugh. I cry when I get mad. I cry at sad movies. I cried upon hearing the first riffs of 'Alapaap' during the EHeads concert.

15. I've lost more than 10 cellphones in less than 10 years. The one I had longest with me was for less than a year; the shortest lifespan was 2 weeks. But if you're a close friend, you probably already knew that.

16. I'm the youngest of five girls. Even if out of the five, I have the least chance of getting anything new, I have the comfort of knowing that I'm the cute one. Haha! =P I often think of how it could have been like if all of us could have grown up at least in the same country (two of them are in Canada, while one's in Singapore). Riot!

17. Ikay and I borrow each other's clothes and shoes. Good thing we have the same taste.

18. I still have a vivid recollection of the first time I cheated on a test. It was during Grade 3 -- I had some trouble memorizing the multiplication table. In the middle of a quiz, I felt someone kick me and I saw my seatmate gesture to a copy of the multiplication table underneath our chairs. You know who you are! =P

19. When Neil Gaiman came to Manila, I got to hug him! Thanks Quel for hooking me up.

20. One sure-fire way to make me sleepy -- scratch my head.

21. One sure way to tick me off is to let me catch you littering. Argh! Ang laki naman ng basurahan mo.

22. I got my first INC and my first DRP in UP when I took up masters. Humabol pa...

23. 2008 was a good year for me. It was the first time I stepped out of Philippine territory -- and my first destination was India. Definitely an experience.

24. I dream of doing a lot of things, but the one thing I really want to do is to bungee jump. My parents are going to kill me, but I'm going to die anyway. =P

25. I want to finish writing a book as well someday. Maybe something on being single forever. =P