90/365

Day90.

Had my first fight today. Saya saya. :)

89/365

Day89.

Had a fun day making cupcakes and letting the kids decorate the cupcakes. That's about the highlight of my day today.

88/365

Day88.

I'm officially baking again and to start off my baking spree, I am making some Macarons for the first time. Macarons are the new Cupcakes now. Shops selling these had been popping all over and they sell it at an exorbitant 1.95$ per piece!

These are my first ever Macarons. I used some Almond flour that I made out of whole Almonds that I bought. I ground the almonds in the food processor and got some really nice flour.

I think I did well for the first time, but I'm not happy with it. Perfection. Perfection. Some of the Macarons had cracks on the surface, and these are supposed to be really smooth, delicate little pastries. As I got them out of the oven, I was disappointed that I had cracks. So what I did was to make what I do perfectly - Buttercream. I just filled the Macarons with Swiss Buttercream. They tasted heavenly!

I want to bake more. I want perfection.

87/365

Day87.

I have a new toy! I got a shiny new Kitchen Aid Food Processor today at Fry's. See yesterday, Adam and I went to the Bingo place at Madison. I think I only played Bingo once with my Mama back home - I think in Sta Lucia Mall, and I won for her 5K Php. It was a big amount back then. So last night, Adam thought of bringing me to play Bingo because we played dummy Bingo at their place once with his sister. We each bought a 10$ worth of Bingo, where there were 10 games to play. We totally had no idea how to get a Bingo and how to win, and there was this nice old lady who we sat next to, and was explaining to us how to win and stuff. I was not getting any luck with my cards, not even close. On the fourth game though, Adam asked me how my cards are doing, and I said, "not even close" for the nth time. Then all of a sudden, one of my face cards starting picking up, and before I knew it, I had a Bingo. I had to ask the old lady if I really won, and she shouted Bingo for us! Haha. I really won. I won 250$ for that game! And an employee at the Bingo came over to me and handed me the cash instantly. Flashback to yesterday, I was actually dreaming of a shiny chrome Kitchen Aid Food Processor, and I was already looking online where to buy it when I get my paycheck. Now I don't have to wait. :)

Happy happy weekend. I got a new toy, and I'm thinking of all the possibilities - yummy possibilities. I'm more excited to bake now. I say I need to add more thread mill time, or else, as they say at baking911, what you eat today will show in your tummy tomorrow.

86/365

Day86.

It all started with a startling discovery. As I was looking for a Stapler, I started looking in all of my cabinets around the house. I discovered that I have a sparky brand new Black and Decker blender sitting quite nicely in one of the kitchen cabinets. I have a blender! I have a blender, that I remember now, but I don't remember buying it. I'd been thinking since last night - where and when did I buy it? I can't remember. Anyway, I started sifting through my kitchen stuff just so I know what I have. I started finding stuff and I'd go - do I really have this? Nice. Oh how fun! Tons of unused food colors, gel pastes, gum pastes, fondant. Unused veiners, cutters, rollers, tips. Extracts galore - Vanilla, Chocolate, Orange, Lemon, Raspberry. And liquers - Chambord, Whisky, Godiva, Grand Marnier. Gawd. What happened to me.

My Martha Stewart wannabe alter-ego is back. (Insert twilight zone soundtrack here.)

***

Just so I will remember where to look for it, I am blogging an inventory of my pans. I'm missing a few, maybe I left those back home.

1 Tube Pan 9X5 inch

2 4 inch Spring form Pan

1 6 inch Spring form Pan

1 8 inch Spring form/Bundt Pan

1 10 inch Spring form Pan

1 11X7 inch Brownie Pan

3 Cookie Sheets (Small, Med, Large)

1 6X2 inch Round Pan

1 6X3 inch Round Pan

2 8X2 inch Round Pan

1 8X3 inch Round Pan

1 10X2 inch Round Pan

1 12X2 inch Round Pan

3 12-pc Muffin Pan

85/365

Day85.

Epic fail today. I tried baking today, pero wala akong na-bake. Wala akong naaccomplish today. Lousy lousy lazy ass.

Pero ayan may picture.

84/365

Day84.

I finally have a photo of the Seven Sisters in San Francisco after having gone there for the nth time. Also referred to as The Painted Ladies, these picturesque houses are located near the Alamo Square. I wonder if people still live here or they're just tourist attractions. It's in the opening credits of Full House.

Jojo and I went to the cocktail night at the California Academy of Science, also in San Francisco. It was a cool night at the museum. We dressed up going there since it's going to be a party! We had dinner, then watched an HD show at the planetarium and just went around the museum all night. It was awesome. Cocktails and alcohol were served at the museum, so no kids allowed. :)

Happy birthday ulit Jo! :)

83/365

Day83.

Once in a while, I take out all what's inside my purse to clean out dust inside. What's in my purse? There in the photo. It's a minimal purse though. You should see my everyday office purse. Daming abubot. I'll spew it out one of these days. :)

82/365

Day82.

I'm so excited. I finally got my lazy ass moving today and I actually got stuff done at home. I was able to do my laundry (but still have to iron), put in the new brown sheets that I bought ages ago, packed my balikbayan box (I'm officially an OFW! Kahit ayaw ko magpa-box. Hehe.), cleaned up my closet, cleaned the bathroom, watered the orchid, wiped the mirrors, threw out stale food from the fridge, and everything in between. I cleaned the whole house basically. Amazing no?

After all those stuff, I'm a lot more excited now to go to bed. Look at what I did to my bed. I put on a canopy! Matutulog na ko. Now na.

81/365

Day81.

It's Monday again. I hate hate Mondays. Hate hatest. I hate Monday because I have 4 meetings on Mondays. But today, things looked up, with 3 meetings cancelled. I had more time to get work done in the tester.

I bought Barbie Dolls for Berylle today. I love Barbie Dolls. There's the Black Label collection sold at Target. I don't want to start buying, because I want to buy everything!

Ang pangit ng picture. Totoo sabi ni Kokey, pag raw hindi na depressed, hindi na rin artsy ang mga pics. Wala na yung artistic angst. Ok lang. Ok lang na pangit pics ko, basta lang hindi ako depressed. :)

80/365

Day80.

I told myself I'm never going shopping until it's payday. But, with the nice weather, and the sitting on the passenger seat part, I have no concerns but just to shop. I ended up buying stuff. Some I need, some I don't.

Shopping List and justification (as if I need to justify myself to anyone):

Optical Mouse - the one that I had was too small. 40 bucks for my carpal tunnel? I'd say 40 bucks for my carpal tunnel.

Laptop sleeve - I'd been wanting to get one since I bring purses and I just hold my laptop out. Fine, it's just a few steps walk from the parking to FM6, but still, I don't want anyone reporting me to ergo.

Coffee Table - this one's pretty cheap. 20 bucks for the table. Pwede rin syang dinner table, pag may take out. :)

Orchid (plant with flowers) - haha, totally unnecessary but was really pretty for 5 bucks! Tsk. Tsk. Since I had the Orchid, I needed to buy a pot.

Floor Lamp - I made a mistake a few months back. Intending to buy a Floor Lamp, I picked up a Desk Lamp at Ikea. I fixed my error today. (Uuuy, the irony of it! Haha tama bang asarin ang sarili?) . Pag may Floor Lamp, shempre kelangan ng light bulb.

Dog stuff toy - para kay Maia. Pero mukhang kay Iya sya mapupunta.

Swedish Meatballs - never go to Ikea without bringing a pack home!

Baby Clothes - I will be sending a box soon, so I stacked up on Berylle's clothes.

Dog Treats - shempre, my baby won't be without presents. I got him Bacon treats and Meaty Biscuits!

Neosporin - for the pimples! for the love of God!

Kerastase Hair Masque - I never get hair treatments here, so might as well indulge. Pretty expensive but should be worth it. I should bring it to the gym, go to the steam room with Masque on my hair.

Boxes for the package - finally!

I want to do a lot of stuff tonight, assemble the coffee table, build the floor lamp, start assembling the box for the package, work on my data so that I have something to present tomorrow in ops - but no - here I am blogging away!

I am sleepy. I'm going to bed after this post.

79/365

Day79.

What do you do when you oversleep until 12 noon? You sleep some more. Yes, that's how my Saturday started. After eating my lunch, I went back to sleep again(!). I just needed to work for a bit, and then I met up with Adam. We watched Cop Out with her sister. It was funny. Not as funny as how the trailers looked though.

78/365

Day78.

Happy birthday Jojo! Wish you all the love and happiness always. Thanks for the pizza. It was awesome. And the not-so "pinoy" Pinoy Henyo was fun.

Kamusta naman ang shopping galore?

77/365

Day77.

Nakakatawa to, galing to kay Duds. Basahin nyo, ang galing pala ni Duds magsulat. LOL

Once upon a time, there was a conquistador. Conquistadores, who used to be on local shores but set off to the west after a forgettable battle with an Indio, a local tribesman.

After arriving in the land of milk and honey, the conquistador immediately embarked on an adventure. She grazed into the Kingdom of Benhur, The White Chocolate Man better known as The Hanging Out King. A fierce battle ensued over the two rivals, and then darkness fell. As strong as she is, she came out defeated and crying. She gave everything to conquer the Hanging Out King but it's tough to conquer a king that would not engage, just as Clottey would not fight Pacman.

But the conquistador would not be defeated, she never learns her lesson. Down as she was, the conquistador would never refuse to engage in a battle. This is her life, the last piece of the puzzle that was never put in place. The crowning jewel of her saga. The conquistador has everything but the spoils of the war!

To uplift her spirit, she went punishing lesser fighters left and right. They wanted to fight but they were not given the chance. The conquistador would just smile and say, "you are just good for a free lunch..."

And now, as the conquistador is nearing the setting of the sun, (the conquistador is at her peak, may not last that long), she engaged a Polish warlord. May become the fight of the century. The conquistador was fast. She was able to break down the walls of the enemy in a matter of days. As a proof, the conquistador was able to conquer the ancestral home of the warlord. She has captured the folks of the fighter.

So there it goes. The conquistador is nearing her victory but who knows. She may soon go back and fight a local hero, an Indio. Only two things are definite - she will never learn her lesson and she will always be a conquistador. Goodluck conquistador! :)

The end.

76/365

Day76.

Sobrang LSS ako today ng theme song ng Iskul Bukol. Ang kulit kasi ni Russ, Iskul Bukol raw yung FQA Enabling meeting namin kanina. Eh totoo naman. Pa-bolonjongan. Hehe. Kumain kami ni Russ and Jojo sa Mizu after ng Iskul Bukol meeting. Tantanan...tananan.

St. Patrick's Day raw ngayon. Malay ko ba, wala naman sa Pinas nun eh. Pagpasok ko sa office kanina dami naka-green. Nagtataka nga ako kung bakit eh. Tapos si Dan, suot nya yung Guinness shirt nya na kulay green rin. Tapos grineet nya ko ng Happy St Patrick's day. Sa kanya ko lang nalaman na ngayon pala yun. Nagyaya sila kanina na magbeers raw sa Streets of London, in celebration of the holiday today. Sama sana ko kaya lang may pa-P na kasama eh. Ay saka magkikita pala kami ni Adam ngayon. Hehe muntik ko na makalimutan. Nagdinner kami sa Thai Paradise. First time ko magdinner dun, parati lang kami kumakain ng lunch dun kasama mga tatays. Nakakaaliw kasi automatic na nila nilalagay yung company discount ko. Less than 2 bucks rin yung bill namin, sayang rin yun.

Masaya naman araw ko today. :) Sana kasi nabubuksan ang desktop para naman makaupload ng picture. LOL.

75/365

Day75.

Knockout ako kahapon. Natulog ako from 6pm to 6am kaya walang blog post. Tester ko yan, yan may gawa kung bat ako super antok

74/365

Day74.

A new friend told me that I'm awfully cynical. But am I? After all that I'd been through, I have every right to be cynical. Awfully at that. But I'm not. Thankfully, I'm not.

I was telling another friend today that my emotions right now are pretty simple - sleepy, hungry and lazy. No dramatics. I could not remember the last time that I was this basic. I like basic. Basic is good.

Even my photos are no brainer. Not thought of, just plain lousy. Still, lousy is good. :)

73/365

Day73.

I piggy backed on a motorcycle today, at 115mph in the freeway.
Went out at the American River Park, it was such a nice day. Sun was out and weather was nice. Too bad I forgot my camera, the geese and the birds on the river were such a picturesque scene.
I saw Franco for the first time! He's such a cute baby! And Maia is such a happy baby. I missed her a lot while I was in Israel. And after not seeing her for a very short time, Iya is so big now.
I used my gift certificate today at Red Lobster. Had some yummy lobsters.
Had a wonderful cup of coffee. Can't go without one.

72/365

Day72.

I did not do anything today. In between sleeping and being jetlagged, I managed to catch the Pacquiao-Clottey fight in PPV. It was quite entertaining with Pacquiao at one point doing a pompyang on Clottey.

I'm watching Star Wars Episode 3 now and I'm betting that it would be in a matter of minutes before I stop. I'm going to sleep soon. I'm so groggy.

I'm a cat.

71/365

Day71.

My day started with the breakfast being served at the airplane. I slept at the plane for a good 8-hour! Can you believe that? The Tel Aviv-Atlanta flight is supposed to be 13 hours, and at the start of the flight I had dinner again at the plane and then watched Love Happens (starring Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston). It was a so-so movie, but I love Aaron Eckhart and I'm Team Aniston so I watched it. Then I fell asleep and so glad to be able to sleep non-stop in a flight! The plane landed shortly after breakfast and the line at the immigration was impossible! It was a long queue! After having been on a plane for 13 hours, I had to stand in line and wait for my turn at the immigration. Hell. It took me about an hour to go through immigration and the officer who interviewed me was nice, he joked with me while I was being interviewed. I had to do security and check-in luggage again, and by the time I got to the gate, I only had a few minutes before boarding. I saw Dan again there, we had to go through separate lines since he's an American. I got myself a Seattle's best Coffee (can't find a freakin' Starbucks for the mugs!) and dashed to the gate to board. I barely made it to my flight. The Atlanta-Sacramento flight was horrible. It seemed longer than it was. It was bumpy and I got really dizzy.

Our plane landed 10 minutes earlier than the estimated arrival, and Dan and I separated ways afterwards since he's parked on the 2nd floor and I had to pick up my luggage at the first. Adam was already waiting for me at the luggage pickup. I was glad to see him. He was his usual dashing self. Hehe. And I looked spent from all the flying. LOL.

I was not really feeling well after the flight, I was so tired. After dropping off my suitcase, quick shower and few glasses of water, we went to eat at Mizu. I'm so craving for Sashimi so I asked if we could eat there for lunch. I was so sated afterwards. We then went to their house to say hi to everyone. I fell asleep though before everyone showed up and he was laughing at me because I was so asleep with all the chaos in the house! Well, I'm tired! They all had dinner at home while I was all bundled up and sleeping. By the time I woke up, there's no more food so I just had a Taco Bell take out.

I'm so freaking sleepy. I'm so glad. I think I don't have a jetlag. I had been sleeping well and I hope I don't jinx myself.

70/365

Day70.

It had been a long day. I started my day at 630am with the hotel wake up call. Then I had a meeting at 8am, then a 9am wrap up meeting. At 10am, my day immediately opened up. I'm finally going home!

Dan and I went back to the hotel to checkout from our respective rooms, and then at around 1230pm, we had lunch at Spaghettim. Seriously, nobody leaves Israel without eating at Spaghettim! I had liver pate (ang sarap pala ng liver pate dun!), foccacia and pasta. Wala na yung pollo piselli sa menu! Dan had pizza and it was good!

After lunch, we headed to Caesaria so that we could at least have seen one tourist spot in Israel. It had been a long and hectic week at work and we didn't get the chance to see sights. I did not even get to see Joseph and Ate Jen. We got to Caesaria at around 230pm and then we saw the rest of the gang there - the Brians, Helen and Ahmer. We went around Caesaria and by the time we got to the ampitheater, it was already closed. I've seen it before so it's no biggie for me, but I feel bad for Helen and Ahmer since it's their first time there.

We then, or rather, they then bought souvenirs and then we sat at the Port Cafe for some coffee and light dinner. We stayed there until sunset and then started heading to the airport. It took us an hour and a half to get to the airport, then another hour and a half to get through security. By the time we got to our gates, we were so hungry and time was running out! We saw Andy at the airport. I had a light Cheese Burekas dinner. I'm now at the gate waiting to board in a few minutes. See you in the US!

69/365

Day69.

Tall glass of Riesling Wine.
2 shots of Double Espresso Vodka.
1 glass of Guiness Draft.

I'm buzzed.

68/365

Day68.

I'm so sleepy as hell today. And it does not help that you spend your entire afternoon at the dungeons (i.e. the underground power lab room).

Still no photos. Pictures are still in the camera that's why. Dan and I had dinner at The Bear Pub. I had some Blue Cheese Burger. Yum!

67/365

Day67.

I finally slept well last night, and I woke up groggy this morning. I had a short day at work since I had to go to Tel Aviv to pick up my visa and passport. I got my passport today at 3pm with the new visa stamp. This had been stressing me for the past few weeks, I'm so glad it's finally over.

Andy came to Tel Aviv with me and we had lunch at Moses. I had burgers. Then we took photos for a while after I got my visa at the Promenade. We headed back to Haifa afterwards. I came back to the hotel, fell asleep and then I went to dinner at Giraffe with the FM people. It was a fun dinner.

Now that I got my visa, I'm excited to go home. :)

66/365

Day66.

I am back in IDC today. It was a good day, people were so warm and nice. I had nice time saying hi to everyone and just catching up with my former collegue's lives. I also got a lot of wonderful hugs and kisses from everyone. Only in the Israel site huh? :)

It's nice to be back. And then I had dinner with the FM gang today at Fattoush. I had some really yummy sour cream pistachio steak kebab.

March 7 last year was Eheads day. It was my first happy 2009 day. The concert last year was so much fun, I went with Ly, Manuel, Ice, Bry and Ate Mayz. Come to think of it, I only had very few happy days in 2009. Ok lang. Bawing bawi na ko sa 2010. :)

Sana makatulog na ko tonight. Sayang naman kama ko.

65/365

Day65.

After having been up until 5am, I overslept and I woke up to the phone ringing. I missed the phone and got a message. It was already 1130am, and Dan was waking me up. We were checking out and meeting Noa at 12nn. Hell. I have 30 minutes to shower, packup and checkout. I was so groggy. Damn jetlag. I so wanted to sleep early but only got to it when the sun was starting to shine already. So I took the fastest shower ever, and then packed up and went down the lobby.

Dan and Noa were already there and after checking out, we went to walk around the old Tel Aviv streets. The weather was nice and warm so it was a nice walk. After walking, we went to this restaurant called Moses which serves really good burgers. It was actually pretty good, and I never liked burger here back then. It was pretty decent. My favorite is still Mel's though. :)

After lunch, Dan and I went on our way to Haifa. I drove to Haifa like I was going home. I was amazed that it seemed like nothing changed. After a little over an hour, we were at Haifa already. After checking in, I went to my room and I had the nicest view! This is by far the best hotel room that I ever got here in Israel. I thought the one I had in Tel Aviv yesterday was already the best, this Haifa room topped it. I'm getting pretty luck this time no?

After settling down for a bit, I brought Dan to the German Colony with the view of the Bahai Gardens. We had drinks at Faces, I had coffee and he had a Guinness. He made me try it and it was smooth. After finishing the drinks, I brought him to the Carmel Beach. We walked for a bit and ate at Camel. I had some good calamari there. Then we went back to the hotel.

It was nice coming back here in Haifa. I never thought I'd be back soon. I'm glad I'm here only for a while though.

I know you miss this. XOXO~.

64/365

Day64.

My day started really early today, like 2am early. I can't sleep anymore after sleeping all day yesterday, so I ended up just lying down and staring at the ceiling.

I had an appointment at the US embassy in the morning at 7am, and it went well. I will just need to go back on Monday to pick up my passport. I was out of the embassy at around 830am, went straight to the breakfast hall of the hotel and had some sunnyside up eggs - my all time favorite food. Hehe. I had two sunnyside up eggs with parmesan, belgian waffle with vanilla and cranberry currant, a glass of freshly squeezed orange and a cup of coffee. Someone's bochog. And then I felt sleppy. After calling concierge to give me a wake up call at 230pm so that I could pick up Dan at the airport, I slept. That's 930am to 2pm. Crap. I won't be getting sleep in the night again.

I woke up at 2:30, freshened up and got dressed and I was driving to the airport. I bought a cup of coffee while waiting for Dan because I was still groggy. I found him after about an hour, then we headed straight to the hotel. After he checked in, I went back to my room and then we met up again for dinner. We also met up with Noa for dinner. She brought us to this good fusion resto called GooCha. I don't know what that means. Then after dinner, we went to drink at this pub (forgot the name) and I had a good glass of white wine - Pinot Gringio. Then we went to go have some desserts at Max Brenner. I had a hug mug of Swiss White Chocolate. Then Noa went home afterwards, and Dan and I headed back to the hotel. Along the way, he saw this pub called Tel Aviv Brewhouse, and we stopped by where he had a beer and I had a Midori Sour.

Then we walked to the hotel, and the weather was so nice at midnight. Not cold at all. I missed Israel. Officially.

63/365

Day63.

Traveling has messed me up once again. My body clock went bonkers and I'm such a loser because I have to google what time is it here. Every freaking time! I always have to call concierge to give me a wake up call. For the past two days, I slept on the day from 9am to 3pm, and then at night, from 11pm to 2am. Sakit sa ulo!

I think I should force myself to go out today. I should have brought my sweats or bathing suit so that I could hit the gym or swim. I haven't even gone to Haifa yet. I'll be driving there tomorrow after I checkout here at Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv.

Oh and I'd been eating room service food the past two days. I should start going out for food already. Here's my burger with no cheese (only in Israel!) and coke in a bottle!

62/265

Day62.

I wasted my entire day! After getting breakfast, I slept all day! Blame it on the jetlag, I'm still on CA time.

61/365

Day61.

Today is flight day. I'm flying to Israel today for my 2 week business trip. My flight was at 6, so I had to be up at around 230am. I was on the road at 330am on the way to SMF. Then it was a blur from there, boarding then stopping over at Dallas, then boarding again, then stopping at Boston. I ate my lunch at Boston at about 3pm PST already. It was already 6pm in Boston that time. I had some pasta and garlic bread. Then it was all blur again, getting on my flight to London and then getting the connection to Israel.

I got to Israel just fine, and the smell of Israel filled me. I unintentionally associate every place that I'd been to with a smell. And Israel is that smell of detergent/disinfecting agent that they use everywehere. It was the first thing that I smelled in the airport, and the smell had followed me until the hotel.

I got may rental car, and drove to Tel Aviv to Dan Panorama Hotel. I got here perfectly fine, and I think I'm done for the day.

I wonder if Thet gave birth already. Lampas na sya ng tatlong araw. LOL.

60/365

Day60.

So March 1 is Day 60. Makes sense, since 2 months have already gone. Had it been a leap year, March 1 is day 61. See, I'm good in Math! LOL.

I had lunch at Mizu today with Jojo. It's no-Japanese for a while for me so I indulged with Salmon Sashimi today. I cut work today. And I did not even tell my boss about it. He would be wondering where I've gone because we were IM-ing before I left. I'm also not sure if I told Roel and Annie that I'm stepping out already. I probably just disappeared. Hehe.

After lunch, I dropped off Jojo back to the office and I went on my way. I swear I should not be left wandering on my own! Must-not-be-left-alone! I went straight to Coach after we separated, and I bought a bag! Another big ass bag! I had my laptop and stuff with me, and I made sure that the purse will fit my dorky 14-inch work laptop.

I'm finishing up last minute packing, toiletries already in the luggage and final preps done. I can chill out tonight. Chillax, as I always say.

See you in Israel, or somewhere in between.

PS.
Thet, anong petsa na di ka pa rin nanganganak? Haha. Have a safe and easy delivery! Pwede ba yung happy delivery na greeting? :D