Paparazzi's World: April 2005

What Happened??

I CANNOT believe that Constantine got voted out!!! Aaargh!
What is going on?? He was never on the bottom list... and then he's out?
Just like that? (sulk sulk)

Maybe the results got all mixed up. Maybe his fans don't have any more load(?) to vote. Maybe the people who were supposed to vote for him all fell asleep and forgot to vote. Maybe his fans all feel that he will still get a lot of votes, therefore opted to vote for their second favorite instead, without realizing that all their accumulated sympathy votes add up to thousands. Maybe there's also a "palakasan" system in American Idol. Maybe someone paid his fans not to vote for him. Maybe next week, Ryan Seacrest will hold a special announcement telling everyone that a mistake has been made and Constantine is still on the show. Maybe maybe maybe...

This is the worst episode of American Idol ever.
Last week, Anwar got voted out. This week, Constantine got voted out!
Grrr. I hate this show!

Simple Pleasures

Inspired by Jacluts' and Moan's list of simple pleasures, and for lack of anything else to write, I decided to share some of mine :)

- Coffee Jelly Frapp at Starbucks
- That extra 5 minutes of tawad in the morning before I consider myself officially awake
- The feeling of accomplishment everytime I finish my standard 30 minutes of cardio at the gym. Hmm... Let me rephrase that. That rare feeling of accomplishment everytime I manage to drag myself to the gym
- When the alarm goes off in the morning and I realize I don't have class that day
- Ice monster treat on a hot day. Bonus if my cup is overflowing! Yummy!
- Meiji macademia chocolates
- Telebabad with friends after weeks of not hearing from each other
- New stack of magazines every month
- New episodes of my favorite sitcoms, especially after weeks of reruns
- Lazy afternoons
- Sale! Sale! Sale! (books, art supplies, clothes, etc...)
- ang pao
- DVD's of movies I failed to watch on the theater
- Smell of a baby
- Hanging out with cousins and relatives on Saturday nights, eating Yellow Cab pizzas
- Lanzones
- That "high" feeling at 3am in the morning after finally finishing a project
- Great photos (either I took the photos, or I look great in those photos)
- Surprise gifts
- Haegen Daz Choco Choco Chip ice cream
- Cozy nights in bed with my favorite pillow and a good book during rainstorms
- Newly opened bar of soap, and I get to use it first
- Laughing at something stupid until we're all rolling on the floor with tears on our eyes, gasping for breath

Project: Table Setting

One of our projects for interior design class this term is to create a table setting for two. Fun right? We get to choose whatever concept we like! Anything under the sun. That's the hard part. We have so many ideas and it's hard to choose just one! Plus, we also have to make sure that most of the stuff that we are gonna be using are things that we already have at home. We do not want to spend a lot for this.

So anyway, my group (composed of Ian, Cat, Joliot and me) finally decided on something tropical. We wanted to create a perfect ambience for a couple on a romantic dinner date.

Picture this scenario:
Sunset. Soft chill-out music playing in the background. Overlooking the beach. Sound of the waves. Colorful sarongs. Candles. Flowers. Scrumptious tropical food. Very laid-back. Very romantic.

We call our creation - TROPICAL FUSION.

Our menu. (special thanks to Timmie for helping us with this!)

Hopefully, we'll get to taste this for real! haha.

Appetizer

Grilled prawns coated with crusted garlic paprika in young papaya noodles
washed with chili coriander lime dressing

Soup

Gratineed scallop seated in lobster bisque

Salad

Fresh mescluin tossed in red wine balsamic vinaigrette
partnered with chanterelle mushrooms

Entrée

Pan-seared oven baked sea bass coated with emulsified honey balsamic glaze
in pineapple-orange buerre blanc
served with saffron risotto and buttered vegetables

Sauvignon Blanc

Dessert

Slowly baked coconut crème brulee tossed with caramelized tapioca
coated with pineapple-mango coulis

Coffee / Tea

Something to think about

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

La lang...

Doggie Fashion

I love to dress up my dogs, especially PomPom and Mocha!
Good thing they don't really mind! haha! Or maybe they just couldn't complain.
I still have to find an outfit for Prada, our big black labrador, but I'm
worried that she'll just rip the whole thing apart. :)

clockwise: pompom wearing her dalmatian outfit, santa outfit,
baby t-shirt, pink dress

check out joliot's hidden talent! she made this new fur jacket for mocha!

mocha, feeling sporty, in her new "adidog" jersey!

Discovering Manila

A few days ago, 2 of my cousins, Jen and Jackie, came over to visit Manila for the first time. They were born in America and lived there their whole lives. They've never been here and I've never been to the States yet, so this is the first time that we'll actually get to meet each other. They were my age and I was really excited to show them around.

One nice thing about having foreigners (balikbayans?) over for a visit is the way they get excited over the smallest things -- things that we take for granted and don't really notice anymore.

They were curious about:

... the jeepneys (Jackie wanted to take a picture of the jeepneys to show her brother, who wasn't able to join them)
... Tricycles and Padjaks
... MRTs and LRTs
... Dinuguan, Sisig and Lechon
... Halo Halo (and Ice Monster.. haha)
... McDonald's spaghetti and Burger McDo
... Street vendors selling sampaguitas
... Star Apple / Kaimitos (they've never even heard of this fruit before)
... Maids and Drivers ("I'm not used to having people around to cook and do the laundry.")
... our language and the fact that almost all Filipinos can understand english
... and even Text Messaging! (they are amazed at my texting skills: texting while not looking! haha)

All their little discoveries and realizations about our culture made me look at Manila in a completely different perspective. Not good, not bad... just different! :) Hmm... Come to think of it, I must be the same way when i visited Thailand and got excited over seeing elephants and toktoks.

My Thailand Adventure

I'm back! Actually, I was back last week, but I just didn't have the time to update my blog! hehehe.

Anyways...
Had a really great time in Thailand! We were there from March 22-28, 2005.
We joined a tour and visited Bangkok and Pattaya.
I can't believe I almost didn't go! I only had a week off from school, and I was actually thinking of staying home and finishing my plates and projects! I'm such a nerd! haha!
Good thing the need to travel and see the world ranks higher on my list! :)
Plus, I fixed my schedule and decided that I still have time to cram everything when I get back! (ok ok... I am a nerd!)

Here we are at the lobby of our hotel in Bangkok.
standing from left to right: Ako, Koa, Uncle Philip, Ama, 3tsim, Kotiu, ME
sitting: Karen, Justin, Tiff, Janine, Rach

Trying to feed the elephant some cucumbers...
but I was scared that he'd poke me with his humongous and smelly trunk!
Notice how far away I'm standing... haha