Sagada Buwis Buhay Experience

The adventurous spirit in me strikes again!

We were in Sagada few days ago to have our team-building activities.  One of the two most memorable experiences I had happened one Saturday morning after we watched the sunrise at Kiltep Peak.  We were inside the jeepney and were waiting for our colleagues when I realized that I had to do the unconventional thing, that is, sit on top of the jeepney on our way back to the guest house.  I know in a few years' time, I won't have anymore the will and the strength to do it, thus, in my mind, this is the right time!

There were two other courageous colleagues that already went up ahead of us and they seemed enjoying.  I asked a younger but conservative colleague to go up with me, good thing that she surprisingly agreed, otherwise I would have hesitated.  I admit it was so scary at first.  That feeling when you think the roof of the jeepney will have a mind of its own and divorce itself from the body, and all that you can do is leave it up all to TADHANA!  Delightfully terrifying!

And the rest is, history!  Sad thing though is the short video recording.  Nonetheless, the captured moment will always remind me that, once upon a time, I was brave enough to do it and, I did it!  ;)

I Wanna Try This!

While I was plowing through the shelves of every grocery store we've been to in Rome for that nero pasta, I came across with Paella alla valenciana, which would qualify as an instant dish.  I could not exactly remember how much it costs (but probably would not reach 10 euros or P608.80 at 1euro=P60.88).  If you know me well, I am a self-confessed seafood addict and being that, I immediately put the thing in my basket and proceeded to the checkout counter.

Fast forward, I am now looking forward to that day when I will have enough time to cook (or say, heat) and savor the dish.  Weekends are my rest days, which are, at times, my excuses for being lazy even in the kitchen. :)

First thing I should go through, though, is to study the fine print at the back of the product package.  ;)

Wish I could just scan the Italian instructions and easily decode its English translation!  Wish me luck! :)

P.S. I hope I will be able to remember to take a picture of the end-result of my heating, err, cooking skill and share it to this blog.  Again, wish me luck! ;)

Cravin' for Nero Pasta

I've been to Italy for a few times already.  And I thought that my sole favorite Italian dish is Frutti de Mare.  That changed when, during our most recent deployment, we dined in a restaurant, which was literally just a few steps away from the place where we used to stay.  It was my first time in that restaurant and my first time to taste nero pasta.  By the way, "nero", in Italian, means black.  It was so yummy that I did not mind being told by a Director that the squid ink painted my lips black.  I thought that she was joking when she further said that I was wearing a Gothic lipstick!

Nonetheless, knowing that I enjoyed my pasta so well, my seatmate gave me a quick cooking lesson on nero pasta dish.  Thanks to her simple recipe, at that moment, I couldn't wait to buy and take home as much nero pasta as I can.  Sad to say, not all grocery stores in Rome have nero pasta on their shelves.  In my recollection, there were only three grocery stores that sell nero pasta, one of which is Conad City (but not all branches!).  And take note, nero pasta is so expensive compared to other pasta noodles!

By the way, frutti de mare and nero pasta are both served with seafoods - shellfish and squid, respectively.  My love for seafoods explains why the aforesaid dishes are my favorites!

I haven't tried cooking nero pasta yet.  It's been almost a month since I received the box containing, among others, my priced nero pasta.  Just looking at the packed noodles brings back memories of how tasty the dish was.  Perhaps this weekend, I will have the privilege to challenge my culinary skills (or incompetence) and hopefully savor what I am craving for right now.  Perhaps this weekend.. ;)

My Harvest!

That feeling when you wake up one morning and see another beautiful flower in full bloom in your own humble little terrace, almost a thousand feet above the ground.. Priceless!!!

Reminiscin..

Urghhh!  Work-related stress is too much these days.  That's what I said to somebody just few days ago.  Wish I were back in time when what I was all worried about was not to fall from riding the snow sled.  It was such a great feeling then when, thereafter, I stood up beaming with a triumphant smile on my face and vowed to ride again.  Hayyy..... :(

I wanna go to Easy Street!!!

It's been a long while since I watched a musical.  The last one that I distinctly remember was, "The Sound of Music", which was shown in my alma mater in Cebu.  It was an enjoyable, eye-opener experience and I even had a crush on the Captain then, played by a young priest, who is now married :(

Last November 18, 2016, my colleagues and I went to Newport Performing Arts Theater at the center of Resorts World Manila to watch the musical, "Annie".  I admit I was not able to watch the original (1982) version of the movie from start to end so I was not really much familiar with the story.  I even learned only recently that there were two other movie revivals (1999 and 2014)..

Nonetheless, I was so impressed with the dance performance of the actors when they sang the song, "Easy Street".  It was so cool!  Thereafter I searched for that video in YouTube and voila!  I like the performance in 1999 version better.  I played it countless times even up to this day.  I guess that is my favorite video for now.  :)

While waiting for the show to start..
Credits to the owner of the photo (jojo) and the YouTube video above

Smart No More...

That's it!  I'm done with it!  It's over!  Twice is too much!

Two years ago, I tried to access the net through my Smart mobile data, armed with a P300+ load.  Few minutes after I finished surfing and turned off the mobile data button, I checked my balance, was stripped off less than a 50 bucks, and was okay with it.  Later, I was surprised when I failed to register for a P150 international call promo.  When I checked my balance, lo and behold!  I didn't have sufficient load for that promo!  Thus, I called up Smart and was advised to turn off my phone and take out the sim card.  Thereafter, I checked my balance from a non-internet capable phone and.. surprise to my surprise!  My load balance had been continuously declining!

I called up Smart again and I was told that, according to their system, I was using my mobile data!  But they could not explain how on earth was I able to fully consume my load even when the sim card was already taken out from the mobile phone!

And now, it's happening again!  This time, I lost P1000+!  Smart customer representative said that, according to their system, I used my mobile data few minutes before 6 o'clock in the morning of a Monday.  How could that be?  I usually get up early every Monday morning to hastily prepare for work!  Also, I have a sky broadband at home! Why the hell would I shift to mobile data when I didn't have problems with my wifi connection, particularly for that questioned period?!

Smart, you are so smart...