What to look out when you cook "Kangkong"

"Kangkong" is one of the vegetable that I love to eat. It is a vine that finds me appealing to eat when cooked. You can actually think of many possible dishes that you can collaborate having this in your recipe. And mine is called "Adobong Kangkong with matching corned beef".

What you are going to pay close attention when cooking "Kangkong" is its leaves (most especially) because it can be overly landed by dusts of any kinds.

There you go, you got it fresh, but it is dusty, that is another big problem for once the dust is not properly taken away through thorough washing, then for sure, you will surely enjoying to also be eaten them. And that is a big no, no!



My not-just-an-ordinary Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

The weather is cold and my appetite for cooking is incredibly unstoppable. So I prepare what I have got to warm everyone's day. How? It is through my so called "Not-just-an-ordinary Champorado". In short, it is "Chocolate Rice Porridge", Filipino style.

What makes it not-so-ordinary is that when you have extra cooked rice at home, instead of throwing them as leftovers, you can add it on this. It is the idea of recycling and being not wasteful about food. Plus, when you cook, it doesn't mean to say that you have to buy everything to really perfect your creation. I mean, you need to utilize what is available. In this part, I don't have glutinous rice or "malagkit" which is supposed to be the original ingredients for this, I use plain rice. I don't have condensed milk as toppings, but I just utilize the bits of bread to appear my "Champorado" tempting to eat.

In cooking, you can make your own initiative, have your own style, follow your instinct as long as it will not compromise the exact taste as you wish for your food to appear.

And for my "not-just-an-ordinary Champorado", this I got for you...

The ingredients are:
1. 1 and 1/2 cup of rice (or you can use glutinous rice or malagkit)

2. 1/4 cup brown sugar (or you can also use white sugar)

3. 100 ml Ricoa Sweeteened Cocoa (or you can use "tableya" or any other cocoa powder)

4. 400 ml water

All you need to do is to follow these simple steps:
1. Pour 400 ml of water in a pot and bring to a boil.

2. Put-in the rice and allow water to re-boil for a few minutes.

Note: Don't forget to add the extra rice instead of throwing them as leftover. Put-in the old rice once the rice (new) is already cooked. Make sure that the old rice is not spoiled.

3. Pour-in the 100 ml. cocoa powder and add the 1/4 cup brown sugar. Stir.

4. Mix and wait until all the mixture is fully blend.

5. Once done, remove from the pot and place in a serving bowl.

6.  Serve hot with a swirl of condensed milk on top, but for me since I don't have condensed milk, I use my creativity. I make initiative of the bread, get bits of it and form "smiling" face on my "not-just-an-ordinary Champorado".

Bring on the happiness for you and your family with this so-called "Not-just-an-ordinary Champorado"! I just did for my sisters! :-)

How to spoil everyone's day? The secret? Here's how!

Long hours of waiting for another day and just get bored. Well, it is a sort of how to you turn boredom into excitement. It is a matter in a way of thinking how you can bring spark to everyone's lonely faces in the home.

I believe that the way to everyone's stomach is to make their tummy happy. Food, the ultimate solution! And not just the ordinary foods, but the ones that indeed give justice especially to their delicate "pouch".

Food. It is not to intentionally add weight to their growing body. It is to spoil them with the ultimate taste that you got for them. And so far, this is my ultimate love.

Being at home for a long vacation, I want to create a big smiling face to my sisters. That is why, in order for me to spoil their day, I always make it sure to cook or prepare something special for them.

Honestly, when you are not good in cooking, don't frown because I do believe that everything can be taught. Everything can be learned. I started from lots of trial-and-error attempts in order to perfect my cooking. And now, I can say that I am not in the losing end. I have applied what I have learned.

This afternoon, I prepared them the so-called "Egg Sandwich". It is just so simple. Here's how:

Ingredients:
150 g of all-purpose mayonnaise
3 pcs. boiled egg (peeled and chopped into very small pieces)
sliced bread

Procedure
1. Chop into small pieces the boiled eggs.
2. Pour the all-purpose mayonnaise and mix.
3. Spread the Egg Sandwich in the sliced bread.

See, it is just so simple. With just 3-steps away, you can create big smiles to everyone's faces. Happy delighting!

Yum! Yum! Yum! Delicious! :-)  Egg Sandwich, it is a day's spoiler!

Jumping in at Iligan City: G-Force Rocks!

Christmas Time in the Philippines is not complete without exchanging gifts with friends, families, etc. It has been a part of everyone's culture in my country that when there is an occasion, there should always be a celebration. And one of that is having a Christmas Party.

Filipinos love to feast whatever celebrations in the month calls for, whether it be a birthday, fiesta, wedding, thanksgiving, Christening, farewell, relocating to a new house, New Year, etc. We feel the essence of love, the presence and togetherness as we enjoy celebrating the occasions with our friends, families, cousins, relatives, neighbors, loved one, etc. It is already part of our culture. That is why,  last December 20, 2014 (Saturday), we had our party. It is called the "G-Force Christmas Party".  Why "G-Force"? Because I spent the event with my "Gorgeous" (the adjective of how I describe our group) circle of friends  who are precious and important to me. We held our party at Iligan City which is part of Mindanao.

 

Why Iligan? Because we want to experience something new. And indeed, we really, really experience something new. All the places that we have been were unplanned, but shall I say that I enjoyed them so much!

The call-time is 6:30 in the morning and all of us should reach the meeting place where the van will pick us up on or before 6:30 and so I did. Evening of that day, I just can't sleep. It is because I am overly excited.

 

It takes about 3-4 hours travel from Cagayan de Oro to Iligan City, but we didn't noticed the time because all of us were having a sort of "Sing Along" in the van. The music are extremely great. All are my favorite songs, both classic and the latest ones were played.  My friends are enjoying too. We sing at the top of our lungs. Boisterous laugthers and unstoppable loud noises are everywhere. It is a sort of, "Who cares?!?".

We had three places of excellent invites that we have experienced landing:

First, we had our first stop at Maze Parks and Resort where we had our simple yet meaningful Christmas Party celebration. It is where we enjoy submerging ourselves in the cold water. It is also where we had our exchange gift and of course, eating time!

 

The area is tremendously huge. There are lots of cottages and mostly are "reserved" (already taken for occupants). Ours are P350.00 only. It is big.

 

Almost everyone in there are celebrating Christmas Party too. There are lots of people. Children, young and old adults are present. And all of them are enjoying the cold waters just like we do.

 

The pool caters for various ages. Children's pools are the coolest. There are countless kids swimming there. Adult's pools are just so-so. Not too many people and not too few.
 

 

What I love most is the time when I take the slide. It is wonderful. Actually, that was my first time and so I was never acquainted. As I was taking the last drop, it so happen that I drunk little amount of the pool's water. That is indeed hilarious. But that was indeed fun!

 
 

Second, I wasn't expecting that the tide would drive us to the place called the "Nature's Park" where the "Crocodile Park Botanical and Zoological Garden" as well as the "Maria Christina Falls" are awaiting for us.  This time I am super excited because I really love the nature so much and I know it is about time for me to discover something new. I have realized. This is a sort of an educational trip as well.

 

The crocodiles are like lifeless. I wonder if they ever move. They are super big and scaly. If they could ever stand, probably almost all of them are 9 feet long. They look scary because it seems like their stare are ready to take a bite. The baby crocodiles are the cutest. They are like lizards. They are tiny.

 

 

It is my first time to see the ostrich. Its long neck is an advantage because it can see views way up there. The duck is attractive. His color is purely white. I remember seeing the duck as the dove. But the most furious are the snakes. There were two of them. The one is like transforming his skin. I love to disturb them to see how they react, but I think it is not a good idea because I know my friends might be afraid. The moment I see the snake, there is that feeling that I would like to fight with them with a sword. Hahaha...what a weird thinking!
 

 

Third, since we are running out of time, we directly went to the place where the beautiful "Maria Christina Falls" is situated. It is also my first time to see the falls. I have seen them many times in pictures in some Social Study books in my elementary and high school years. Seeing the falls for real, it is a fulfilling adventure.

 

I want to capture the view in the near site, but we don't have the opportunity to do it. They said that the way to get intimate to the falls are closed. But nevertheless, I enjoyed a lot. The falls are like coming its prime start from the clouds above and it flows to the bottom. Its water drips down low and the sounds of the waters flowing in the river are suggesting me to take a rest and unwind for some time. Hope I had the time to go up close-and-personal of the falls but it is okay. At least, I am filled with much happiness on that day.

It is a wonderful feeling to see what nature can give for us. I have realized that I have to really work hard and even strive to study harder so that I could land a job with good salary after college so that when I have lots of money, I will let my family to travel places that they have never been.

Traveling makes me write a book. There is a sort of "ignition" that is happening in me. It is like there is a fire burning in me to do the composition now, as in now! It is a kind of determination that inspires me to see life in a greater chance of opportunity and that being with nature inspires me to love life even more and to thank God more, who is the Giver of life because of the opportunity that I have seen His wonderful creations with love and happiness in my heart, with my circle of friends who also inspires me everyday.

The experience is immeasurable. It can't be paid by money or luxury. Simple things like being with nature and with the people that I love (my friends who is my family) are worth-remembering. It is life-determinating!

And the most that completes my day is because we have made meaningful circles such as these:

 

I had a lot of fun! Thanks that the sun cooperates!

Hooked in the middle: What should I do?

Until now, I am in the point of finding the right moment how to comfort the "important persons" in my life to ease their sadness that they are feeling. I admit that I am a people-lover person and I have this inner self of reaching out to persons, but this ones made me stop for some times and let me think all over, again and again and again on what to do, how to do it, what to say that they will not get offended or if what comes in my mouth will not aggravate their feelings. I admit that I find it quite hard to be in this situation because what I want is more on happiness for everyone, but life lets me think about the reality that there are some points that I need to accept and further place myself in a situation where understanding is always a must. That me too, I need to accept the reality and emphatize them the way how it should be. Frankly, I am just looking for the right time, the appropriate move to approach them.

This is one of the hardest part that I have encountered so far this year.  What I have in mind is just the thinking that I just have to keep quiet and let time heals because what I think is that if I talk to them on the delicate matter that causes the breakdown of their heart, then I will add more to the sad feelings that they bear.

Life has everything - sadness, failures, depressions, turmoil, plaques, frustrations, etc. Name them, the world has it all. But to surpass all those unwanted "viruses" that kills the heart, time settles the feeling of a broken heart.

Realizations will come. What happen to them is unexpected and of course, no one wants it in the first place. It is to tap them out from their sleep. It is probably to hurt a person in order to be formed. It is to calm the wild waves of procrastination so that it will swiftly drip into its level of doing the things now. It is giving a tranquil atmosphere where rooms of improvement are theirs to take and that give some extra shots of ultimate force to sacrifice - a matter of prioritization.

What I know for sure that I do is that I did not give them false assurance because it is much hurtful for them to know because I know from the fact that the situation will lead to a bad news.

I just listen and keep quiet. I just keep my mind registering all those information and create judgment which I just know in my mind because I do not want that someone will get hurt.

One thing that ALWAYS holds this Earth is that REALITY BITES. And that is the fact that everyone needs to STRONGLY face. :-(

This one tests me. My answer: Conquer them with all tranquility. In time, answers will then form.

On heated situation

People do have a choice to voice out what is really in their mind. It is part of our being human, the need to tell the world what we really feel and be involved in the kind of process that do delivers communication.

At times, when situation calls for a heated scenario, it is better still to calm ourselves and sit for a discussion on making everything mutually normal.

Oftentimes, people have this tendency to burst out all in an instant to tell the world what they really feel in a way of involving "swifting statements" in their hands. It should be that knowing that a kind of "attack" will lead to something unusually unexpected, then it is always better to think as many times as possible before we urge ourselves to speak if this statement will lead me good. There should be conscience in speaking. On the other side, it is best to confront with all honesty the person we want to talk with to settle things out.

There you go. You are in the verge of absorbing everything as if there is no other choice, but rather to dwell into anger, that you don't think twice or many times and you present all your anger to the social networking site.

At all times, calmness is essential. Before meddling into a heated situations, the best way is to look at the sides of the two and it is better to talk to the person, telling him what you really want to say. Eventhough that the both of you will not come into "okay", but at least you say what you want to say. That's it.

Bursting into much anger in the middle of an argument always vests for the proper things to do: Keep still and be calm as always. Settle with a talk and sit for moments of peace to that person. It is then that you are at peace. Don't make it  up to express your anger at the social networking site.

Jogging with friends

Taking a jog with friends is very enjoyable. You are not just simply being with them, but you are

Fun with Friends at Colonia Hidden Valley Park, Cagayan de Oro City

It was June 06, 2014, a Friday, my friends and I are having so much fun at the newest, beautiful place where the view of Cagayan de Oro can be seen in the midst of the cool invites of the waters.

This place is called Colonia Hidden Valley Park which is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Colinia, themselves. This I knew because I had the chance to talk with the couple as they are in the place on the time of our get together with my friends.

The place has two pools. There are those for children and of course for adults. The water's chlorine level is being monitored and it is not that harsh. In fact, I love swimming in this pool because the water is filtered and its chlorine level is just okay. My eyes don't get red.

The sun shines so bright and we are enjoying the waters. The place is so cool and refreshing. We had so much fun!