uGoGirlFriday

It’s a three-day weekend! Unfortunately, I was so busy with work that I forgot about the long weekend. Consequently I wasn’t able to plan for an out of town, and at the moment I have a lot of time on my hands – 72 hours to be exact. Then again, as I learned from the recollection I attended several months ago:

relax != doing nothing
relax == change of activity

I had a quick look around in my room and I saw piles and piles of books on my study table. Yep. I need bookshelves; and perhaps some reorganizing of my room. I’m so excited! I haven’t bought furniture for months now. Who says you need to be out of town to have fun? Room redecorating is equally invigorating as well, not to mention fulfilling. ^_^

read comments (0)

I quoted the title from Marcella Hazan. I agree. As Julia Child put it, “Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.” The best part about cooking, unlike other type of arts, is that you get to eat it!

I have talked to several chefs and experienced cooks. And whenever I ask them what their secret is, they usually say, “Make sure that when you cook, you do it wholeheartedly. Because how you’re feeling while you’re preparing the food often reflects in your cooked dish.” Well, that, and Laiko Bahrs, “When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste.”

Also, it’s always a plus to have a great cooking instructor and to enroll in a culinary school like http://www.wci.edu/.

read comments (0)

A friend of mine told me the story of her cousin who seems to like traveling. Her cousin named Victor would spend each day walking and roaming the streets of each and every town in their small municipality. It is not known if it was because of personal preference or just out of habit, but it did start in a rather unexpected way.

You see, Jose was a drug addict. But before that, he was at the top of his class. He was a valedictorian since grade one, a student leader, and belonged to a family of achievers. It was said that when he was in college, he was unknowingly and consistently drugged by one of his fellow students. He got addicted without meaning to. His family brought him to various drug treatment centers, to no avail. Now all he does is walk, walk and walk.

Maybe he enjoys traveling. I sure hope so.

read comments (0)

I went to Bulacan last March 4 to get away from my usual house-office routine. I spent two nights and two days at my friend’s house – specifically, in a small, comfortable, modern hut in their garden – to experience a relaxing provincial life. We went swimming, hiking, trekking, biking, duck egg-gathering, and pond-fishing. It was my first time to go fishing. And I was really proud to have caught two Tilapia. I had an easy time catching the first one – I chalked it up as beginner’s luck. The second one was the tough one. It took me around 20 to 30 minutes (considering that it IS just a pond) just to catch it. The second fish I caught was what I deemed as my prized Tilapia because it was a painstaking effort for me to wait for it to bite off my poor, helpless worm-bait. My prized Tilapia was also the one that reminded me of the importance of patience and the priceless reward/s you get out of practicing it. During the 20 to 30-minute wait, I had several attacks of what-the-hell-am-I-stupidly-waiting-for-when-I-can-easily-buy-a-bigger-one-in-the-market. It was a tough battle I almost lost.

“The one great ingredient in successful fly-fishing is patience. The man whose fly is always on the water has the best chance. There is always a chance of a fish or two, no matter how hopeless it looks. You never know what may happen in fly-fishing.”

- Francis Francis

read comments (0)

Who said California is just a year-round travel destination with a weather that will please everyone? For those interested in studying abroad or sending their kids to the best schools, California offers three unique systems of public postsecondary education: University of California (considered one of the world”s finest public university systems), California State University (the largest university system in the United States), and The California Community Colleges system (composed of 109 colleges).

Moreover, California is also home to notable private universities such as Stanford University and the University of Southern California. To cap it off, for those interested in a career in the culinary arts, in pastry arts and baking, or hospitality and restaurant management, you can get a quality culinary arts education and prestigious Le Cordon Bleu diploma at California School of Culinary Arts (more info at http://csca.edu/).

So next time you hear California, I hope you also associate it with high-end education.

read comments (0)

One of the things my friend JC and I love to do is to watch movies. We have already frequented many movie theaters across the city. Some of the staff in those movie theaters even knew us by name.

No matter how we try to be selective and watch only movies with really great reviews, we’re still very much attracted to almost every movie there is. You could say that it takes a large chunk from our budget. My friend and I plan to save up so that we could watch movies within the comfort of our own homes. We’ll set up our own movie theater with the best entertainment system, and sit in our own home theater chairs someday.

read comments (0)