Curbside Stories

Yes, I think so. I am not materialistic. Things don't make me happy. When I was younger, it's all about getting the latest gadgets and going to places, but when I had a child, everything changed. What I have in mind now is "growth and sustainability". Having extra money would be great but I will not be depressed if I don't have it.

Maria has gone a long way since Lady Gaga's tweet about her cover of Born This Way. After more than 10 million views in You Tube and Lady Gaga's conversation with her on the phone, she now guested in The Ellen Show. And she sang her the song that made Lady Gaga cry.

Photo from here . Lo and behold, fellow workers... there will be no more holiday economics as per P-Noy! And the People Power Revolution is not considered a holiday in the labor sector. Holiday Economics or R. A. 9492 was made a law in 2007 by Ex-Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It is a law wherein all public holidays can be moved to the nearest Friday or Monday if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. President Noynoy already announced last December 21 via Proclamation No. 84 that there will be no more movable holidays come 2011 to give daily paid workers a chance to earn more. This means that the holiday will be celebrated on the day itself. This also means that there will only be long weekends if the holiday falls on a Friday or Monday. There are 14 holidays in  Proclamation No. 84 and only 4 of which fall on a Sunday: Labor Day – May 1 (Sunday) Independence Day – June 12 (Sunday) Christmas Day – December 25 (Sunday) Ninoy Aquino Day – August 21 (Sunday) (special nonworking ho

1. I sing love songs... in the bathroom, while cooking, while sweeping the floor... singing while doing things. 2. I write love notes and give cards even without an occasion. I also send them through snail mail. Yeah, I am cheesy and old fashioned! 3. I give random gifts. When I see something at the mall and I think it will fit perfectly or will look good on the guy, I'd buy it... even when there is no occasion. 4. I always find time for the guy... time to text, call, rub his back, comb his hair, et cetera, et cetera. 5. I text him from morning until night. 6. Do unusual stuffs for him like cooking his favorite dish, trying to learn his hobby or sport, pretending to like UFC to the point of accompanying him to Georges St. Pierre's autograph signing.  6. I take efforts to be prettier everyday. Somebody asked me today if I am in love. I do sing while doing things because I love to sing. And I take extra efforts to be prettier each day because I don't want to look olde

Lady Gaga really checks out the social media and socializes with her fans. I love her! In the mean time, be amazed or even cry with this video she shared on Twitter from You Tube. This kid is really amazing! Her version of Lady Gaga's Born This Way is so sweet. Maria Aragon is a 10-year old kid of Filipino parents in Canada. In her site, she said she don't look at music sheets, she just figure out the chords all by herself.  And this is Lady Gaga's version. Funky.

United Nude has some awesome wedge sandals for Spring... I could not wait to get my hands (feet) on them. A few weeks time and it is already Summer (here) so I will temporarily say goodbye to my jackets and cardigans. Buying jacket in Summer is not prohibited so I still have an excuse if I will buy a Burberry jacket that is not so fond of receiving hugs... that is, if I have the budget. Owning an Hermes satchel would be tantamount to asking for world peace so I will just probably have an almost similar design from other bag designers. Katy Perry probably is  applying  to become Victoria's Secret Angel so she wore angel wings during the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

How's your Valentine's Day? I got a candy heart with cute little rosettes, chocolate and lots and lots of Valentine greetings today.  My son went to the mall with our grandmother and when he got home, he said he has flowers for me. I asked where are the flowers and he said it's inside his pocket. He put his hand inside his pocket and handed me the flowers that are, apparently, invisible. I took the invisible flowers and he gave me a kiss. He said the flowers are invisible because those are meant to be seen only by me. And instead of saying 'Happy Valentine's Day' he said 'Congratulations'. I wonder why he congratulated me. Haha!  In exchange of his flowers and congratulations, I gave him a bar of chocolate. Per usual, he had an ear to ear grin on his face.

It's a windy night (again) and what better way to warm the stomach than to have soup for dinner. You can cook it in just three easy steps. I prefer eating this dish with steamed rice and fried fish. Here are the ingredients: 1 Patola (Ridge Gourd or Loofah), peeled and cut diagonally 2 packs of miswa (wheat noodles) 3 small packs of hibi (dried shrimps) 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons oil 2 tablespoons fish sauce 3 to 4 cups water salt to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Heat oil in pan or skillet and then saute garlic and onion. Add hibi (dried shrimp). 2. Add ridge gourd (loofah), water and fish sauce. Boil for 3 minutes or until the vegetable becomes slightly cooked. 3. Add the miswa. Miswa absorbs water so add more water when necessary. Simmer for 3 minutes. Adjust taste by adding salt. Trivia: Photo from here . Ridge gourd is rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, thiamin and magnesium. Aside from being ed

"I would rather have one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it." Happy Valentine's Day to all! Spread the LOVE. XOXO

Harakiri or seppuku is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than to fall in the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offense or it is performed for other reasons that had brought shame to them. Photo from Inquirer.net . Former Sec. Angelo Reyes was found dead before his mother's grave in Loyola Memorial Park at around 8AM today. According to reports , he asked his sons, his aide and bodyguard to leave him for a while and a few seconds later they heard gun shot and Reyes was found bathing in his own blood. Reyes is currently on probe because of the alleged anomalies in the AFP as revealed by Lt. Col. George Rebusa, including receiving money amounting to 50M pesos as send-off money from Former Pres. Joseph Estrada. We will never really know the reason why Reyes took his own life but in the midst of all the controversies that involve him, people a

Another no fuzz Filipino dish--pork adobo!  While riding the jeepney on the way home, I was thinking of cooking adobong sitaw (string beans) with ground pork but when I got home, I don't have string beans in the fridge... so I ended up cooking pork adobo. It is my son's favorite dish. In fact, even in the wee hours he would ask me to cook adobo. For me, it is his way of making lambing so whenever I see or eat adobo in other places, I always associate it with my cute and lovable son. Photo from here . Here are the ingredients: 1/2 kilo of ribs or pork belly cut into 3x2 size 3 tablespoons oil 1 red onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, diced 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 cup vinegar 1/2 cup of water 3 laurel leaves (bay leaves) salt and ground pepper to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Heat skillet and pour oil. Saute onion and garlic. 2. Add pork, water, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until the pork

How's your weekend? We stayed in our grandmother's house the whole day. While my son played with his cousins, I had a little chat with our aunts and grandmother on the porch. That is what I like about weekends... I get to catch up on my relative's lives over sumptuous meals. I was asked to cook tinolang tahong (mussel soup) . This is one of the easiest Filipino dishes to cook. Here are the ingredients: 1/2 kilo of tahong (mussel) 3 tablespoons of oil 1 red onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, diced 2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips 1 8 oz. 7-Up Salt to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Saute onion, garlic and ginger in a deep pan. Put in cleaned and fresh mussels. It is always best to cook seafoods while they are still fresh. Mix a bit. 2. Add the 7-Up. Cover the pan. There is no need to add water since the mussels will release its juice when it  opens. You may wonder why there is 7-Up in the dish. I actually don't know. I just learned this dish from my grandma and

Weeee!

I wasn't able to cook chicken a la king (obviously) because I did not go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. Instead of chicken, I cooked mackerel scad and nido soup for dinner. Sounds like something you only eat in restaurants but it is actually the Philippines' famous daing na galunggong . The fish is marinated in vinegar and garlic for at least 24 hours and then sun dried to perfection so that it will become crispy when cooked. Photo from here . It is actually best eaten as breakfast with fried rice and tomato. I cooked nido soup just to have something hot to sip. I admit to being too lazy this day because I used Knorr's Nido Oriental Style Soup mix. Hehe! Photo from here . As usual, my son and I got so full.

Happy New Year! Tonight's dinner is shrimp in butter and oyster sauce. It is actually from last night. I cooked it while I was waiting for the pork sinigang to be cooked. I learned this recipe from my grandmother and I just modified it a bit because I am too lazy sometimes to buy all the ingredients. Photo taken from the pan, it smells so good... I wish somebody will invent a 'smell it' button on the internet. Here are the ingredients: 100 grams medium shrimp or prawns 4 cloves minced garlic 1 medium minced red onion 2 tablespoons melted butter or a two inch thick slice of 1/2 bar of butter 1 tablespoon of oil 3 tablespoons of soy sauce 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce pinch of ground pepper Here is how to cook it: 1. In a pan, put in oil and butter. Oil prevents the butter from burning. 2. Put in the onion and garlic. I learned in one cooking show that it is best if you put onion first before garlic because garlic burns easily and once it burns, it gives a bitter tast

This song cried me a river because it is my favorite song and it  was dedicated to me by someone. Sing and cry with me if you please. Maybe I don't wanna know the reason why But lately you don't talk to me And darling I can't see me in your eyes. I hold you near but you're so far away And it's losing you I can't believe To watch you leave and let this feeling die. You alone are the living that keeps me alive And tomorrow if I'm here without your love You know I can't survive Only my love can raise you high above it all. Don't throw it all away, our love, our love Don't throw it all away, our love. Don't throw it all away, our love, our love Don't throw it all away, our love. We can take the darkness and make it full of light But let your love flow back to me How can you leave and let this feeling die? This happy room will be a lonely place when you are gone And I won't even have your shoulders for the crying on No other woma

Photo from Mister Greeting Card . Happy New Year to all our Chinese brothers and sisters from all over the world. To the Chinese, the year of the rabbit officially starts when the clock hits 12:00MN. If you have missed the New Year because of whatever reason (lame), you can still celebrate the new year tonight. Did you receive any nian gao (tikoy) today? According to Wikipedia , eating nian gao has a symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year. If you haven't eaten a nian gao, it is a sticky rice cake. In Chinese tradition, nian gao should be given as this is also considered good luck. If you bought a nian gao for yourself, better give it away and wait for other persons to give one to you. It actually makes sense because the famous saying goes, "it is better to give than to receive."

It is cold and windy so I decided to cook something that will warm the stomach... pork sinigang (pork in sour broth). Sinigang can be cooked in different ways and ingredients but generally, it is cooked using sour ingredient as the base like tomato, tamarind, camias (ginger lily) or miso. Photo of my pork sinigang fresh from the pot. It's still simmering. Here are the ingredients: 1/2 kilo of pork liempo (pork belly) cut into small pieces or 1 kilo of pork ribs 2 cups of string beans, cut into 5" length 2 medium sized eggplant, cut diagonally into sections 2 medium size white radish, cut diagonally into sections 4 pieces okra, cut in halves 6 pieces gabi (taro), cut into small parts 1 bunch kangkong (river spinach) leaves, young parts are cut off the stem 2 medium onions, diced 4 medium tomatoes, diced 3 green chilis (Hungarian variety) 2 liters of water 1 pack sinigang mix (because squeezing the tamarind juice is so 1900's)  Here's how to cook it: 1. In a pot,

I need not go to Chicago to have my hair blown by the wind. Where I am right now is enough for me to experience the wind. It has always been like this in the Philippines when the snow from other parts of the world starts to melt and the Northeast monsoon gushes towards the Southeast. If I could no longer bear to shower directly from the shower head, it is already a sign that I should stock up on products with moisturizers and thick clothes to keep me warm and moisturized 24/7. A lip balm to lock in moisture thus preventing chapped lips. Burt's Bees nourishing lip balm , $2.99 at Small Flower. If you look pale without lipstick, here is Lip Fusion  Balm by Fusion Beauty . It will give your lips color and then moisturize it up to 6,000% if you use it continuously for 4 weeks. That's a lot of moisture! Get this at Beauty.com for $22. The face needs as much moisturizing as the lips. Try this Sephora instant moisturizer , $20 at Sephora. This has HydroSenn+ that not only

It is so freaking cold and windy outside that my hair just got so tangled and messed up, a detangler became useless. Good thing I am not wearing a skirt. Sarah Jessica Parker is so freaked out here. Great legs you've got there SJP! And thank goodness you are wearing panties.