My Favorite Things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad...

Maria from "The Sound of Music" sang about raindrops on roses, and snowflakes, and schnitzel with noodles - those were a few of her favorite things.

Mine are as follows (in no particular order):

• Sour cream and onion flavored Piattos potato chips dipped in Tostitos Salsa con Quezo (preferrably cold).
• Mongolian Quickbox, sweet and spicy, eaten with chopsticks.
• Quickly Choco Loco Super!
• French fries with mayonnaise. Always with mayo, no catsup please.
• Regular coke with ice cubes, drank from a plastic cup...its weird, I know, but I stick to my claim that Coca Cola with ice tastes better in a plastic cup than in a glass/ceramic mug.
• Avocados topped with sugar and scraped off with a teaspoon.  Or mixed with water, milk, and sugar.
• Green peppers on pizza.
• Crushed red peppers on pasta.
• My grandmother's cooking.
• Choral music/musicals.
• Cold wind nipping at my nose.
• The sound of pouring rain.
• Rubbing my feet against my pillow.
• Holding hands and cuddling.
• Witty repartee with friends.
• Hand-written letters.

These are some of the things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside...and then, just like Maria said, I don't feel so bad.

Home Sweet Home

Nothing like a trip back home to renew one's spirit.

Got some time off from work so I decided to go home, my first trip back in almost two years.  I needed a break from the city, from work. So Sunday afternoon, braving the heat and the crowd, I went to Superlines in Cubao to catch the 3pm trip to my hometown.

I'm not really your girly-girl type, so it was fine for me to take an ordinary bus. I could've opted to take the 8pm trip in an air conditioned Philtranco bus the same day, but I couldn't wait any more. The earlier I arrive home, the better.

My hometown of Daet is ideally a six to eight hour drive from Manila. My ordinary bus ride took about 9 hours. It was very tiring, and my legs and lower back hurt from sitting. But at 12am I was home.  My mom and sister and 3 pamangkins greeted me when I arrived.

I managed to visit Bagasbas beach, and of course ate mango sherbet (ginumis) at K Sarap.  My mother served fresh fish sinigang for lunch and then of course, my lola's chicken adobo with potatoes. Yum-oh.

Our dog Potchie also had babies two weeks before, and I was so happy to see her puppies, which we have no names for yet.

It was so good to be back.  Honestly, I'm not really looking forward to going back to work tonight. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

But I'm happy, tired, achy...but happy to see my family and our old house, and our neighborhood once again. Home is really where the heart is, I'll tell you that, no matter how much I gripe about it. =)

Prooky Friday: Happy Feet

I love my flat satin baby doll "grandmother" shoes from Shoebox in Greenhills.

Color Me Turquoise

I was perhaps nine or ten when I learned that my birthstone was turquoise. I thought, well, that doesn't seem very interesting. First of all, it's not a shiny gem like the ruby or diamond. Then there was the complicated spelling, and not knowing how to pronounce it (tur-kwoyz? tur-kwah? turkeys?).

To my pre-adolescent mind it was disappointing to think that whoever thought of this birthstone thingie didn't assign a much more shiny-shimmery rock for my birth-month. It didn't feel special. Why couldn't it have been opal? Those are not as precious as diamonds, but at least it's pretty, opaque like marbles.  Turqoise looked like normal rocks...aqua-colored rocks.

I cannot remember now when exactly the revelation came to me that turquoise is actually pretty.  I don't even want to use "pretty" because it seems so trite. Slowly I found myself falling in love with it. Something about the tranquility and depth of it, being the color of the sea.

Turquoise has adorned rulers of ancient Egypt, the Aztecs, Persia, Mesopotamia and ancient China.  In ancient Mexico it was so revered that "mere mortals" were not allowed to wear it. Turquoise was reserved for the gods.  It was a prized possession back in the olden days, but eventually decreased its value.  In the '60s it was a favorite among the hippies because it was inexpensive and complemented their style.

Some cultures believe that it awakens feelings of romantic love. It is also believed to have healing powers.  They say it changes color depending on the wearer's health and also protects him or her from untoward forces.

Now that costume jewelry is definitely back in fashion, turquoise is once again gaining popularity. I love the different designs from rings to earrings, bracelets, necklaces, bangles, even belt  buckles.

One of these days I'm gonna start collecting these...delicious thought that! ;-)

Color me turquoise why don't ya!

Images by alibaba.com, best silver jewelry, stylehive, native american art jewelry, and nevada outback jewelry.

Data sources: Wikipedia, Turquoise Jewelry Facts and Buying Guide.