A quiet evening after a Sisig dinner

I love sisig.  I used to enjoy it at Casa Ilongga at Glorietta back when I was still working there before I moved to New York in 2000.  When Alan and I first went home together, we tried everything from the original sizzling sisig to Squid sisig to Chicken sisig.  This go around in 2006, we went to Gerry’s Grill and Dencio’s more than just twice and had what else?  Sisig..=)

Tonight I made some chicken sisig.  I marinated four skinless chicken thighs in Knorr Seasoning and fried them until done, approximately 7 minutes on each side.  I cut up the meat and got rid of the bones, then I chopped up two medium onions and four cloves of garlic which I then sauteed in the same pan where I fried the chicken.  Once done, I added the chicken so that it can fry to a light crisp, and I added half a can of Liverwurst.  Then I poured 1/3 cup of vinegar, and after it released the acidic taste, I seasoned it with salt and pepper.  It would’ve been great to put some siling labuyo but I had to keep this plain for the Lolas, so I gave Alan his Mama Sita’s Siling Labuyo ala Tabasco sauce to spice it up. 

I dressed up the dish later on with sliced scallions.. a simple yet perfect meal.. and a healthy substitute to the usual pork sisig.

Alan and I enjoyed the meal. .the Lolas were happy.  And I don’t think I’m crying myself to sleep tonight anymore — we had a good talk which helped us to bring everything out in the open.

Beginning another day

I should be rushing out of the house because the boss is in today.  I figure I have a minute or two to type up something here. I already have our breakfast ready, Mom took care of Angel’s. I made Alan a ham and egg sandwich.  I had a donut.  Later tonight I have to rush home again to make dinner, give my baby a bath, and then prepare tomorrow’s coffee before I do anything for myself.  Everyday, that is what I do.

I would love to linger in the city.. go window-shopping.. have a drink with a friend.. (which is rare).. but I don’t, because I have people waiting on me for dinner.. and my baby needs his bath.  I cherish that special time he and I share in the tub, and later when he starts winding down for the day, we have our Mother-and-son talk.  Sometimes we get to play and tumble on the floor.. when I get home early enough, that is.

Oh, and did I mention that in between all that I actually have a day job? =) 

Sometimes it’s hard when you have to go home to a place where there is someone who disrespects you — in your own home.  And you have to prepare dinner with that person in mind and he decides to forego dinner because he is avoiding sitting next to his Dad in the dinner table.  Or later on you find out the gallon of milk you just bought the other day seems to have mysteriously spilled or disappeared and you have to go buy a gallon and lug it from the grocery all the way home at the end of the day.

Then you get a call that your hubby is going to be late, having a drink with his officemates.. or attending this or that function.  It makes me feel alone in dealing with my chores, with the family. 

I want to be understanding that he needs a break from the stress and tension in the house.  What I cannot understand is why he leaves me alone to deal with that stress and tension, on top of my chores.  And if he can do it twice a week, I can’t even do it once.. so maybe I ought to spend an evening by myself just to get away from it all.

Sometimes I feel like I’m a zombie walking through my own home.  Angelo is the only one who grounds me.  He gives me the inspiration to go trudging on even as I find myself still puttering in the kitchen an hour to midnight.  He is the reason I rush home despite it all, because his smile, his hug and his kiss is precious beyond anything.

Other people have worse.  I know that.  But someone told me not too long ago that I must never settle for less.  I am a very vocal person and you will hear what I feel and what I am thinking — and then I hear I should be happy because others are worse off.  But I am not.  A deep sadneses is forming in my heart which is like a blanket of darkness on top of me.  Maybe that’s what caused the tears last night.. time to go to work.. again.

 

Crying one's self to sleep

Have you ever found yourself just breaking out into tears as you tried to find sleep at night?  Last night, the tears just came.  Maybe I just felt tired.. sometimes, even when there is no major emotional upheaval to trigger something like that, it just catches up with you and the tears fall. 

Planning this trip and that

With my travel plans beginning to firm up for that Thanksgiving trip back to Paris, I have been trying to plan out my itinerary.  For starters, we’ve decided to forego Lourdes for another time when we have more time to travel together.  Although I am staying almost a week and Alan is staying a week and a half, he starts working on the fourth day we’re there.  

I’ve started to do research on the town of Chartres as per a fellow Paulinian’s suggestion, and I found out that France’s largest cathedral is actually located in this town of 42,000.  Just an hour away by train and the round trip costing around Euro25 (I’ve done a mock itinerary already), I have decided I will do a day trip on my own that Monday.

I googled Chartres and came across this James Martin’s website on About.com which gave me a good bird’s eye view of the place.  I then moved on to Fodors.com (my favorite travel website) to do further research and was momentarily distracted by their endorsement of San Francisco as Fodor’s Choice.  I have actually never been to San Francisco.  I keep saying maybe next time when Alan’s hotel sends him there again — but with scarcely any vacation days left due to the trip to Manila during their summer, I have to be very picky about where I use those days off.  So maybe next year.  I was hoping to do it while Mom’s here so we can visit some relatives there, but that would mean bringing Angel along, and that’ll be four of us traveling.   Hmmmm.. maybe when it starts to get warmer next year.  As it is, Mom is already wary of venturing out of our home here because it’s started to get colder.

But back to Chartres..  It’s a trip I would love to do on my own, spending some “me” time without the Dad or the little tyke.  I will certainly grab some stamps to put on the postcards I will send home to Angel.. not just for my collection, but more importantly, to give him a photo essay of the good times we had with and without him.  Someday, I hope those postcards and the pictures we are taking will inspire him to dream of bigger things and instill in him an openness to the world at large.  Seeing and experiencing the world beyond what we are accustomed to does wonders for our own perspective — and it helps mold our tolerance for the difference between the many countries and types of people out there.

We’re also doing the Day with Thomas (the tank engine) trip to Connecticut… so many things to plan.. and plan.. and plan..

 

 

Busy, busy, busy bee

Between working on a dozen projects (personal and business -related) and my iffy wireless connection, I gave up on trying to write a blogpost before midnight last night. 

Neris’ scrapbook is taking shape and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve managed to put together.  My postcard collection has proven a good source for additional graphics.  I have a ton of spare New York postcards for trade and to send, so I’ve been interspersing the pictures we took with actual postcards of the view or topic on the scrapbook page.

I woke up to darkness although it was already past 6AM.  Soon our clocks will move forward.  It will be dark earlier, too.  It’s been rather cold.  I took out one of my winter coats yesterday and wore it to work — good decision, it turned out.  It was freezing when I left the office at past 6PM when Alan picked me up.  No, it’s not yet scarf and gloves cold yet.  But your denim jacket or blazer won’t do you much good unless you’re jumping into a well heated car. 

The color of the leaves have been changing the past few weeks but with all the rain and wind we’ve been getting, they’ve ended up a soddy mass on the pavement.  I remember my first fall here in 2000 when I went around collecting beautifully colored fall leaves that had fallen — not quite dry yet, but no longer green — and I pressed them between the pages of our phone directory and my thicker tomes.  I still sometimes come across one in my rarely opened cookbooks.  I have the frames I created up in the attic.  Maybe I’ll take one or two down and bring them to the office.

Time to finish my cup of coffee.. take a shower and head on out the door.  As Bear says on ‘Breakfast with Bear’ on Disney, “Hey, it’s a brand new day!” 

 

Thanks for all the updates I got on Philippine Idol

Thanks to Noemi, Markie (although I couldn’t publish your comment because you didn’t leave an e-mail or URL) and Zherwin.  With the texting buzz in Manila, I’m not surprised technical glitches like this will take place.  I guess we just have to wait for the coming week.

Why wasn't anyone eliminated in this week's Philippine Idol?

I was waiting for news from Jan Kurt Nieto’s family on the fate of Jan in Sunday night’s results show back in Manila.  When I didn’t get an immediate confirmation he was safe, I started to worry.  My brother, Nikky, texted me though, that no one was eliminated.

The Philippine Idol site just got updated but gives no explanation.  Can someone fill me in please?

Two for the Road

It’s half an hour past midnight and I just finished watching the digitally remastered version of Two for the Road.  I’ve already made up my mind that I will get a copy of the DVD to own so I can keep watching it.

This is a movie for people who are falling in love, have been in love and have fallen out of love, and those still deeply in love at one point in their life somehow.  It was agonizing watching the movie as you see Joanna (Audrey Hepburn) and Mark (Albert Finney) fall in love, almost fall out of love, and then stay in love through the challenges that their marraige faced.

It begins with the couple driving past a newly married couple, and they make a comment that the couple don’t look very happy.  And then one says of course they’re unhappy — they just got married.  It sets the tone for their present state, then the movie goes on to show us how they met and fell in love, and how they got to this bickering stage in their marraige.

It ends with a scene where the two talk about why they have stayed married and they then move to the scene where they are driving across the border from France and Mark loses his passport again (a staple in their relationship and which was the original reason they crossed paths..)  Joanna fishes it out of her purse and tacks it onto the wheel as Mark frantically searches the trunk, and he finds it when he returns to the car to continue looking for it… He smiles and lovingly calls her “Bitch,” and she calls him “Bastard,” and they kiss.

An Autographed Obama

I totally missed Barack Obama’s book signing yesterday  but I tried calling Barnes and Noble in Union Square to ask if he had signed any extra books for them to sell, and apparently, he only signed for the people who were present.  I had an idea to call his DC Office by visiting his Senate Website here, and I found out the Senator will sign books sent to his DC office as long as there is return postage and packaging provided.  So I ordered my copies of the his The Audacity of Hope. and a paper back of his first book currently out of print as hardcover, Dreams of my Father.   
 
(The hardbound reprint of his first book is not available until January 2007.)  

It is currently a bestseller and as already stated in an earlier blogpost provides a good insight into him as a person and politician.  A good read I’m looking forward to…

Text "JAN" to 2339

It’s Philippine Idol night again this Saturday!  Help keep JAN KURT NIETO in the running by voting for him.  He cannot make it without your votes!