I totally failed at keeping my crafting blog last year. So maybe I
need to try doing something more feasible. I love food and it's
something I like sharing with everyone. So maybe the best thing to try
is one new recipe a month. Whether it's something Filipino or
something else, I have to try making it. There are so many things I
want to learn how to make. And I do cook sometimes. Or bake. It
depends on a lot of things. And cooking is an essential skill so I
know I must go beyond the pasta dishes I've been studying before.

Meat dishes are so difficult for me to cook because I find it
difficult to purchase meat. I am not always sure about their
condition. And more so when I need to wait for them to be tender. I
get really impatient haha. Another reason for me to want to learn a
new recipe per month is that I know I have to lose weight. So
healthier choices would be great. And sometimes I get fascinated with
the substitutions that could be done in a recipe. (Like eggless food.
You could use other stuff instead of eggs, but it depends on what
you're using the egg for.)

Here's a list of stuff I want to make and I am not sure which ones
will go to which month:
Chinese quequiam
Adobong puti
Zongzi/Machang
Peanut butter cups (ala Reese's)
Pad thai
Paella
Shepherd's Pie
Apple Pie
Chicken Roll
Tea flavored cupcakes
Matcha cupcakes
Pinangat
Salpicao
Kung Pao Chicken
Kare-kare
Oyakodonburi
Samosa
Palak Paneer
Omurice

I am still thinking of stuff to list. I see that I still haven't
written down much pork or beef dishes. I am so lazy when it comes to
cooking meat. ~_~ In any case, these should be interesting to try. :)

Jan 2011
My sister's birthday was fun even if we were just at home. I baked
some goods and her request was cream cheese brownies. I kinda failed
but she ate them anyway. AD gave us a visit and we were glad for it.
She's so sweet to us. Sometimes I feel spoiled hahaha.

Feb 2011
My birthday was fun XDDD We went to Binondo and ate at Wan Chai. It
was KKB but I brought home-made cupcakes. And Valentine's Day was
pretty special too. JM and I went out for lunch in our favorite place:
Twenty One Plates. We then went to Serenitea where I started
crocheting my birthday gift to a friend, and in the evening we
watched a play where his friends were part of.

March 2011
This was a cake month. Lol. My sister and I made two birthday cakes.
One was for Josh who loved Sponge Bob Squarepants so we made him a
chocolate cake with fondant as decoration. It was pretty cool :) And
mom's birthday was a week after and we made her one too. But something
more feminine so it was a white cake with store bought icing flowers.
I think I met Madz around this time. Madz is a very talented girl and
a great cosplayer. She even has a pretty pretty doll named Alice.
April 2011
Glenn and Shane visited Manila :) We even had a family day of sorts
hahaha. It was a day of bonding with them, Chelle, Josh, JP and his
siblings, Martin and Renee. It was a great day! Too bad JM was out of
town that day but at least Glenn and Shane were around for a week. :)
And Glenn was there when we went to Punta Fuego for our summer outing.
It was me and my 'siblings' who shared the room with JM so all that
time we had so much stuff to talk about. I wish Shane and JP were
there too but they had to do other stuff that weekend.

May 2011
Surprise of the month was Enzo's birthday party. I think we shocked
him so well that his expression was so priceless. Everyone was in on
the scheme! Including their high school barkada and his girlfriend.
It was so much fun! I am not sure how we could top that next year. We
also had bonding nights that time because we went OT on some nights
and on other nights, we would be playing Taboo in the office, whether
it's just us or with Ruth's sisters. XD The interns were such great
people to hang out with.

June 2011
JM's birthday happened and because I didn't really have enough budget
for a really big gift, I treated him to Yakimix because food is
glorious! Hahaha. XDDD Food will always be special, I think. The
banana muffins were fine :3

July 2011
JM and I had a lunch date at Spirals Clair + Food = Happy Time! I dressed up a bit for a change and I was
glad he really appreciated my effort in primping up haha and another
special thing from that day was that he gave me a dip pen set. :3

Aug 2011
August was the time that I visited Manila Zoo once again. I know I
should go back because I really want to see how the animals are doing
and if the handlers are doing fine as well. The visit we did was an
eye-opener for me and it's still at the back of my head, trying to
figure out what's the best way to help them. I need to follow up on
this thing in 2012. :)
I think it was around August that I started frequently replying to
Andhie and Kurn's blog posts XD

Sept 2011
Our company turned 1! We had a photoshoot at Citrus Snap and they
were so nice and accommodating. We filled up their entire studio
because everyone was there for the shoot. We had a party too and
everyone helped out in making the decorations. XD I learned a little
bit about flower arrangement from Liyan, the one who headed the
decoration team. I also recall that September was the time that I
watched a fashion show which involved some of my favorite people from
the internet: Cat, Chai, Luisa, Sese, Leny. After that, I added a new
fave: Yapo. Not everyone of them knows who I am but watching them
progress is just amazing. :)

I also had some fun learning moments during September. After all, FFC
happened then. :)

Oct 2011
Surprise birthday visit to Glenn XD It was my first flight out of the
country and it was really awesome! I wish our other friends were there
too but it's ok. At least we were able to give him a nice surprise.
Not just the visit, but we also had a video for him. XDDD Had some
shopping done in Sg! Cotton On is a great place to shop. And food trip
galore in Sg too :D We also had a company event which involved trick
or treats with kids from two NGOs. :)

The Ongaku gig happened in October. It was a blast! Funny thing was
that my sister, our friend Anna and I all won at the raffle in between
performances hahaha.

And October is special because I witnessed another special couple who
got married that time. Glad to have met Sacha and Wayne again after so
long! All the way from Canada
Nov 2011
I think it was November when we saw the schedule of the L'arc en Ciel
pre-selling of tickets. XDDD I spazzed. Seriously. Hahaha! Oh and the
last Momo Manila event was held in November. We were late but JM won a
Blackberry Playbook hahaha XDDD And it turns out that some friends of
mine from high school and college were there during the event too.

Dec 2011
December was a busy time! So much to do and so little time. Some
notable things include meeting new people online and offline. :) And
get togethers! This year was the most fun get together at my lolo's
house because of the bingo thing and the gimmicks that my uncles and
aunts did. And glorious food! Again. I think I have a one-track mind
XDDD I could just think about food food and food!

The last how many days was an adventure! It was my first flight out of
the country and I learned new things:

1. Double check your baggage's weight.
2. Always check your passport's expiration date. You need to make
sure you've got more than 6 months to go from the date of your flight.
My dear boyfriend had to extend his passport then and there. He ended
up getting to Singapore a day later.
3. Bring a book or a gadget where you could watch videos, etc. The
flight isn't that long but it's not that short either.
4. Bring really comfy footwear.
5. Invest in Aquazorb. I plan to buy one such towel before I go on my
next trip. (Whenever that would be lol.)

Martin was a good companion for the trip. I was really nervous about
the immigration thing because of the DOST thing. We were also mistaken
as siblings by the person manning the entry area towards the different
gates of NAIA Terminal 3.

By the time we got to Singapore, our friend Shane was waiting for us
and we were talking about the plane ride, the immigration stuff, etc.
We stayed up and waited for our friend Glenn -- the reason we went to
Singapore. XDDD He was surprised when he entered the unit so the trip
was really worth it! :D

My first day in Singapore was basically in Universal Studios. Martin
and I went around until our feet got tired. Got to see Shrek 4D!
Hahaha. That was fun. :D I tried some rides too. That includes the
Mummy ride. I survived riding it twice! Lol. Martin and Joan (via
iMessage) effectively goaded me into trying it. Both times I was
nervous. I could hear Martin laughing so much during the ride and so
I was really envious that he was able to truly enjoy it. At least I
am not so chicken about it because I did ride twice. Hahaha. We had
lunch at Loui's. The pizza slices were huge! Another good thing at
Universal Studios was my photo-op with Po! :D

After Universal Studios, we met up with Shane in Tampines and we went
to Ikea. :D :D :D That was really glorious! Such a huge place. And
the food was great! We had so much food: chicken wings, meatballs,
daim cake, pasta, etc. We bought dinner for Glenn and JM from Ikea.
Decided to bring home dark chocolate from Ikea too. That night we
stayed up late waiting for JM.

The third day in Singapore was in Jurong Bird Park. I SAW PENGUINS! :D
:D :D We attended one of the shows in the bird park and one of the
highlights was that the birds were showing off their skills. When the
handler asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday, we all pointed at
Glenn. It was really his birthday that day and the parrot sang for
him and another kid. XD That was cute!

We also dropped by Vivo City and I ended up buying a Charles and Keith
bag. So pretty! And it's brown. I love brown so I couldn't resist.
Plus it's one of those new bags. JM also shopped that day. He found
nice brown shoes. (We like brown hahahaha.) Dinner was in Seoul
Garden. Korean dinner~! Lots of great kimchi ;)

Sunday morning was in Wild Wild Wet, a nearby water theme park. I
don't really know how to swim but I survived! :D The 'tsunami' in one
of the areas got me dizzy so I sat for a bit and Shane kept me company
while the guys were trying out the different slides. We all went to
the big slide with the gigantic boat-like thing were we all fit. We
went down the slide twice XD After that, we went home to change and
we then went to Vivo City where we bought snacks. JM and I proceeded
to watch Songs of the Sea. It was one fun and enchanting show. You
have to experience it to understand what I mean. If you're getting
regular seats, be early so you would be near the main area of the
show. :) Shane, Glenn and Martin went around to window shop and we
just met up after. Dinner was at Makan Sutra! Lots of great food:
cereal prawn, stingray, chili crab. Did I say glorious food? :D

Today we went to the Singapore Zoo. Going around was pretty tiring
but still fun. I liked the fragile forest because the animals were
freely moving around :) I saw lemurs, birds, monkeys, bats and
butterflies! There were also penguins in the Singapore Zoo so I was
really happy. Too bad the polar bear wasn't there. Why? Because
they're going to include it in the River Safari in 2012. There was
also a show in Singapore Zoo that talks about the destruction of the
rain forest. It's informative and I think kids will understand it.

After Singapore Zoo, we went to Marina Bay. We walked around. The
place is beautiful in the evening. The helix bridge even had letters
A, C, G, T all over it. We saw the Singapore flyer from there. At the
Merlion Park were lots of tourists including us~! XDDD There was also
a light and water show there. It was beautiful! Not as lovely as
Songs of the Sea but it has its own great points.

My main luggage is more or less packed. I've got some food stuff to
bring home ^^;;; And I am pretty sure my sister will love what I got
for her from the Singapore Zoo. When I wake up later, I'd be
preparing for our trip to Orchard Road and Funan to do the last leg of
shopping. Hope to get something for my mom there. I'd be dropping by
Sephora so maybe I'd get a thing or two. It depends.

I have other things I wish to write about my trip to Singapore but I
think it's better to post all the touristy goodness in this entry. The
other details will come later when I have pictures to share.

I just need to remember this:

1. Commit all previously made changes.
2. Branch out using git branch
3. Go to branch using git checkout

Want a Crumpler bag? Here's your chance.  Write a haiku to win it!  There will be three winners and if your haiku is creative enough, it could be you. ;)  The first prize is a really nice messenger bag called Pinnacle of Horror. The second prize is Kazoo, which is nifty because you could carry around your travel documents and gadgets close to your body. And third prize is Carrot, a nifty pencil case.

Well, in my case it is. I forgot to bring the proper charger end for
my office laptop. Therefore, i'm going home right after lunch. I can't
do anything at the office because of this. How awesome is this? On one
hand, this is a reminder of how convenient it is for me to switch to a
Mac when I could afford it already. Having a Mac means I could leech
off from people who use the same charger at work. Also, that means
better battery life. My old laptop is as good as a desktop. Bah.
I'm so frustrated and pissed off. Oh well.

These two things shouldn't come together. If they come together, like
today, i wouldn't want to report for work. Sleeping is way more fun on
this kind of day.
I remember being a kid in the 90s and watching videos of the Beatles
on channel 5 when classes are cancelled because of a typhoon or
something. And we used to eat champorado with dried fish. Ah well. I'm
no longer a kid so I can't do that anymore.
What are you up to on this rainy Monday? :)

http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/agileux/

A quote from the article:

Story mapping is a way of organizing Agile user stories that communicate user experience. It allows us to build the collection of stories that become the backlog. Agile expert Jeff Patton will show you how story mapping gives you a tool: a tool to both quickly think through and simply describe the user experience. This strong technique helps you put the big picture of UX and the little pictures of Agile in one place, engaging the developers and stakeholders you’re working with.
Users will always have an experience with your product. Story mapping will pull your UX focus into your organization’s process and ensure that experience is a great one.

http://www.uie.com/events/virtual_seminars/agileux/

A quote from the article:

Story mapping is a way of organizing Agile user stories that communicate user experience. It allows us to build the collection of stories that become the backlog. Agile expert Jeff Patton will show you how story mapping gives you a tool: a tool to both quickly think through and simply describe the user experience. This strong technique helps you put the big picture of UX and the little pictures of Agile in one place, engaging the developers and stakeholders you’re working with.
Users will always have an experience with your product. Story mapping will pull your UX focus into your organization’s process and ensure that experience is a great one.

It's a rainy weekend.  A great companion during these times is a mug of hot masala chai.  Thanks to Catherine Jannelle for the tea leaves!  I've been drinking assam tea more but I've been wanting to open the pack of masala just because.  Finally~!  It took a rainy weekend for me to do this haha.  Well, it's better late than never.