Philippine boxing here Manny “the Pacman” Pacquiao fights Mexico’s Oscar “Golden Boy” Dela Hoya today in Vegas. This fight has been much anticipated and people are finding it difficult to call which way it will go.
The fight is already underway as I write. The telecast is delayed though so we won’t see it here in an hour perhaps. My mom and dad are watching it live in the cinema, they’ll probably send a text message once it’s over.
When I first heard of the fight, I was actually surprised and wondered why with his stature, Dela Hoya sought to fight Manny. But Manny is definitely up to the challenge.
I’m sure that win or lose, his fans will welcome Pacman with their loving arms!
Alfred and I have already exchanged Christmas gifts for each other. For several years now, there’s really no surprise anymore when it comes to our presents for each other. He doesn’t like surprises, you see. So he usually just gets me something he knows I really want, and I also get him one that he actually asks for.
But I was still surprised when he offered to get this for me when I finally found a copy at Fully Booked Greenhills:
This baking book first caught my attention about two months ago, at which time I blogged about it here. I only saw an actual copy last Saturday, when I sought it out. At the same time that I saw it, I also found the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook.
When he saw that I was hesitant to purchase either books after checking out the price, Alfred immediately offered to get it for me – as my early Christmas present. The next crucial decision that took me around 15 or 20 minutes to make, was which one to get. Obviously this one won out, but it was really a tough choice. Both books gave tips for beginner bakers and offered plenty of recipes to choose from. I felt that Martha’s was friendlier for beginners and was actually more inclined to get that first, and then to just come back for ArtNSoul when I’m done with it. But there was something about this huge baking book that really just drew me in.
I have not yet taken it out from the FB bag since I brought it home. I want to be ready to tackle it when I do so. First I’ll be reading through it, and then picking out which recipes I’d like to try. Then I’ll prepare the environment for actual baking: starting with the oven. Maybe if I just clean it up, it’ll function better. At this point, I am shelving the idea of buying an oven because I need to prioritize payments for the condo. I need money to spruce it up a bit, and then finally rent it out. One’s that’s all set I can get a loan from mom or brother bear for a big new oven.
I have this other recipe book I’m itching to get, Anita Chu’s Field Guide to Cookies. It isn’t available here though and I haven’t mustered enough courage yet to ask a relative if I can have it delivered to his place and then he’ll bring it over when he comes home in a few weeks for his wedding. I mean, he’s going to be busy right, I wouldn’t want to add on to that.
Anyway, as for my present to the boyfriend, he got what he wanted too. A new watch!
It’s a Swatch Chronos with their new plastic/silicone (?) technology that makes this thing that looks ginormous so lightweight! It cost more than what I am ever willing to spend on one single watch so Alfred’s paying for the rest. We still consider it a present though.
You should have seen how happy he was with it. 🙂
I tried on some of the watches too, and I really wanted to take some of them home with me (lookup the Curvaleous and Color the Sky – this one reminds me of my previous blog layout). I seriously had to restrain myself. It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a watch. I still have my old black beady Swatch that just needs a new battery. I can always just have that battery replaced if I really needed to wear a watch. I just wasn’t up to spending a fortune on the Curvaleous.
We had to walk around the mall before Alfred finally finally decided to bring home that watch. I still had to keep my eyes away from the two watches I fancied so I wouldn’t be tempted to add them in to the purchase. Haha.
We had brunch at a Japanese restaurant before heading home. Salmon sashimi again, after so long!
I can only vaguely remember my mom telling me about this last week. She had mentioned that my Auntie Nellie, had tried it, and it worked wonders for her. She also mentioned that there was a program at St. Theodore’s Hospital in Sagada that administered this to people who were interested.
It didn’t register at that time. Not until I got round to checking my mail, and I found the link she had sent me.
Reading through the testimonies on the Juice Fasting had me thinking about Joan Joyce, a dear fellow blogger, who had gone on a juice diet as her means to lose weight. She had the discipline to stick to it, and she saw the results. I can’t wait til she reads about this. 🙂
Anyway, so St. Theodore’s seems to have a Wellness and Healing Program, and this Juice Fasting for 30 days is included in the treatments it offers. Apart from my aunt (mom’s cousin) who has followed it, the site features the hospital’s chaplain too. I personally know the Chaplain and his wife, because he used to be the Dean of the Cathedral right here, many years back. Their reasons for undergoing the fasting were not really weight loss, but general healing. Inevitably though, they lost weight too.
So I was thinking. rather than filling my head with thoughts of quick fixes for my weight and health dilemmas, and before I turn to unproven pills like Lesofat and NV diet pills; perhaps I should do this fasting. They say that if it’s done right, I will still have energy to do my day to day duties. It shouldn’t affect my performance at work. There should be no impact on my energy levels.
But I think it’s better done with medical supervision. And well, it’ll at least look scientific if they do tests on me before I go through the fasting, and then again at a specified period.
So I told my parents, we should go up to Sagada and have this. But Sagada is a 12-hour roadtrip away. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to find common time to go, specially with my new rest days. But it won’t hurt to try. Plus I’m pretty sure i’d lunge at any excuse to go up there.
I had forgotten to mention in my previuos post that I saw this huge poster for the movie version of Confessions of a Shopaholic in the cinema this weekend. Isla Fisher is playing Becky Bloomwood. I’m not sure I totally see her in the role, but I am totally looking forward to the film.
I am almost tempted to buy the rest of the Shopaholic books at full price because I never see them in my favorite second hand book shops. Only the first in the series ever gets on there. I haven’t read Shopaholic Ties the Not, then the one with the Sister, and then the Baby. Then I wouldn’t know if there are others.
I finished a book on my one day off – Kinsella’s The Undomestic Goddess.
Samantha Sweeting is really something. She was at the top of her game and then the whole world crashes down on her. She makes rash decisions, but those eventually lead to her happiness.
I want to be like her. 🙂
No, not to become a housekeeper, but to learn all that stuff and actually enjoy it – cooking, and cleaning. I’ve never been much of a domestic myself. I know how to clean up around the house and I can find my way in the kitchen (I bake, don’t I?) but to do them really really well and to enjoy it too? Hmm…
Nah, that’s not really it. I want to be free like her, to finally find the life she can be truly happy with. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy as it is. But sometimes, I still think about leaving my job behind and doing something completely different. Work isn’t as stressful as Sam’s lawyering, but it is busy. And lately, there’s absolutely no “just be” time at work. No one’s imposing that I don’t take my breaks, but with the volume of things that need to be done – I can’t help but forget to go on break. Haha.
Anyway, if you enjoyed Kinsella’s writing in the Shopaholic series, then you’ll like this one too. It’s very easy and light reading (specially compared to Les Miz – which I still haven’t finished). It’s a bit too good to be true, like would things like this happen in real life? But that’s the wonder of books – anything can happen.
The book had a very light approach to the debate on where women belong – at work or at home. It wasn’t imposing for either side. I guess what it did was come across to let women know that ultimately, it is their choice. Samantha was brought up to look forward to just one goal – to build a career at law and be the best in that field. She owned that dream and her whole life revolved in making it happen.
An unfortunate event yanked her out from that life. She went into shockand acted in panic. And though there could have been so many bad situations she could have found herself in as a result, it was the Geigers and Lower Ebury that actually saved her.
She really did sound like a woman coming out from a bad relationship – someone who needed healing. And what a great rehab she found! Iris, who was like a mom to her, did not just teach her to cook, but taught her how to taste, and feel.
Sometimes I feel like novels like this shouldn’t include a hunk of a man, so that there’s no confusion about what drives the heroine to the choice she makes. Would she really have chosen her new life had there been no Nathaniel?
Wow. I went without checking my blog and my mails (except my work email) for close to three days! I haven’t been browsing my usual digs either.
Not surprising since:
I’ve been busy (with nothing specific!)
My PC had OS issues since Sunday and Alfred only found time to work on it this afternoon.
My ISP has been soooo slow.
Okay, so of all three reasons, it’s really #3 that kept me away without ripping my heart apart. I could have used either Alfred’s or mom’s laptops to logon and live on as usual on my web home. But the thought of how slow the real download speed is, completely turns me off.
Tuesday-Wednesday: The New Weekend
Saturdays are tight in the office, and our management team has decided to tweak TM schedules so that there are more of us available to support our agents during the weekends. I’ve had Fridays and Saturdays off since I joined the account and it really is the RDs I prefer. But my boss asked for volunteers for weekdays off, and since Alfred and I have not shared the same offs in a long time… I volunteered for the Tue-Wed rest days. It’s supposed to start next week but since they’d already be needing help this Saturday, I agreed to be there. I took tonight off so I could catch up on sleep I didn’t get yesterday. I’d be back at work Thursday night though, then off again for Friday. Crazy, ain’t it? My choice though.
Frankie’s down again
I seem to have broken Frankie. I used up the 36-shot roll while at the Fiesta on Saturday and was going to rewind and reload with a fresh roll. But it wouldn’t wind properly. Then suddenly, the winder broke.
Frankie’s taking a trip back to her doctor tomorrow.
I seriously feel like it was my error that caused it to break. I feel so dumb sometimes. I’ve had Frankie for two weeks but I still haven’t seen any results – something always goes wrong with the film!
Fiesta. Greenhills. Twilight. etc.
Fiesta day was a fun day, clouded only by the Frankie incident. I have thoughts about fiesta, and the YAM festivities that I’d very much love to share. I’ll dedicate a whole post for that though.
We went to the Seminary in the afternoon, but Alfred didn’t find the basketball games particularly interesting. There were no games for the kids, so there wasn’t really much else for us to do – specially since Frankie was not up to shooting anymore. We decided to head to Greenhills and finally see Twilight.
Alfred had to work that night though, so we had very limited options in terms of which showing we could see. It so happened that the one we needed, was already sold out. Bummer. We ended up doing a bit of shoppping.
Greenhills at night at December, is still a nightmare when it comes to hailing a cab to get you home. It takes forever. We made good time though, Alfred was able to take a shower before heading to the office. I took a ride back to the Seminary with my brother and his girlfriend, for the YAM night.
These are just snippets of stuff I would have written about had I been online in the past three days. I’ll be back in a few hours with more!
