Happy Image # 05: My First Full Marathon!

I know! Super late this post has been (yes, Yoda?). There are so many things to update because for the last few months, I've been so heavily busy with service, work, and some running. And I am so grateful to experience these activities!

Oh, running. So yeah, I finally got to run a full 42 kilometers distance at the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2012 which was held last December 2. I finished it with all blisters and pains which I endured all throughout the race. The feeling of accomplishing a full mary has been totally overwhelming!!!

This was what I wrote in the album description of my race photos:

"When I registered online a few months ago, I signed up with both squinted eyes yet with a firm stand that I should be able to finish a full marathon before I turn 30 on 2013. However, during the time gap between the registration and the race, I was initially thinking of bailing out because of other commitments and lags on my training. Weeks before 2/12/12, I had to remind myself of that indomitable will. So I managed to run, taper and get on with the SCMS 2012. I can only think of the many challenges I encountered during the 42.195 kilometers course which were eventually beaten by the fun and the unbreakable human spirit of others that I and my running buddies witnessed along the way. So praise God, I did it, and now I am back in the office where my boss is nagging me to wear the finisher's shirt on wash day. Haha! :)"

Some other facts:

1) I didn't tell my parents about me joining it until the day before race day so as not to get them worried.

2) I've had like 3 energy gels throughout the race.

3) As I crossed the 25th kilometer, I began to question my motives for running the 42 when I could have signed up for the 21.

4) I had scratches on my left arm because I wasn't able to apply some body glide on it.

5) My middle toenails were black for a week. They didn't die, though. New nails, new beginnings. Whatevs.

6) I was on leave the following day to nurse myself and pop out the icky water from the blisters. Hahaha!

7) When I returned for work, I was surprised by my beloved boss and colleagues with a yummy cake to recognize my achievement. I was soooo touched and felt honored!

8) I ran a full marathon before I turn 30. 'Slashed it out of the bucket list. How cool is that.

So now, if you ask me if I will still be running a full 42, my answer is: Hell, YES!

Here's my finisher's medal! Happy Image number 5! 

Chicken Arroz Caldo

This had been an eventful September. There are so many things to be thankful for, new friends met, and accomplishments to be happy of. It's been a month of endless blessings and with all the activities that took place such as opportunities of service and worship with my SFC Singapore community, gatherings with old friends, and solid projects at work, I decided to just stay at home for this month's last weekend so I could give myself some "alone" time.

I really miss having nothing to do but sleep, read, and eat. I needed a break to doze off and just lounge---

Like a (big, fat) boss.

So for this gloomy Sunday, I went to the nearby Shengshiong supermarket and grabbed a few ingredients to make an awesome Chicken Arroz Caldo. The last time I ever ate this was when I attended midnight mass here in Singapore last year (for free).

I guess it was just hot and "swak" to celebrate a good month and begin a busier one by cooking this porridge.

Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- Minced garlic
- Julienned ginger
- Chopped onion
- Hard boiled eggs
- 1/2 kilo of chicken parts
- Patis or fish sauce
- 1 chicken cube/ stock
- 5.5 cups of water
- 1 1/2 cup of Thai jasmine rice (uncooked)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Minced spring onion
- Toasted garlic

First, I sautéed the garlic, onion, and ginger in the saucepan. I sprinkled some pepper and waited until the ginger's a bit brown. Then I added the chicken bouillon cube so that all the ingredients would absorb the flavour. After that, I added the chicken parts, fried them for a few minutes, then put the fish sauce. I'm just so thankful that there was still some patis left in the kitchen, which was just right for this dish. When the chicken's already tender, I mixed the uncooked rice with it and poured the water.

At this point, I added the hard- boiled eggs and and seasoned it with salt and a little bit of pepper to blend the taste. 

While waiting for at least 45 minutes until the rice is cooked, I toasted the garlic in oil which I'd use to garnish. Remember, make sure you carefully toast it and prevent the minced garlic from getting burned. Otherwise, your arroz caldo would taste nasty and bitter. Once it turns golden brown, put it in a platter with kitchen napkin to absorb the excess oil.

When it's finally done, I put the arroz caldo on a bowl and garnished it with garlic and minced spring onion. Voila! Here's my Chicken Arroz Caldo with egg and a lot of love, which was just perfect for a rainy and lazy Sunday. Hello there, OCTOBER!

A Letter To The New Guy That My Friend Is Seeing

Dear New Guy That My Friend Is Seeing,

More than two weeks since you showed that dauntless effort of finally getting to know a dear friend, I have, since then, become a witness of how she's been all aglow and giddy. Her vibrancy as she recounts all your minutes together got me smiling, too. You make her laugh so hard, and while she speaks of it, I got to totally dig your sense of humour as well. You see, she may not appear to do so, with all those no's, but's, if's, and refusals, but my friend actually adores the fact that a person who is so sweet, witty, and patient despite her quirks and whims suddenly arrived at such a rough phase in her life.

I have seen you only in photographs and that short apparition via Skype.  I have known you only through her stories. It is quite unfortunate though because I've this urge to be there with her as she dates you.  I am so certain that she’d support me as the third wheel for your dinners and trips, but of course, I'd hate to intrude in the rawness of your privacy. Oh no, even if I mastered it, I won't ask you to accomplish a Psychological test or have you undergo my Targeted Selection tactics. RELAX. Breathe. It just alarms me, however, that I am not physically present to be by her side. You would think I'm such an overprotective friend, but let me make you understand the reason.

I love her. Yes, that kind of love which springs from the heart of a long- lost sister that has been touched by her being real. Strange as it may seem, our friendship has become stronger, noting the fact that I am here in another country and have not seen her in a year. We are so connected even if there were some rifts during this long- distance friendship.

My friend is a loving woman. She is thoughtful. She will fight for her loved ones. She has this capacity to boost up somebody’s spirit and enlighten a clouded mindset. She will proudly tell the whole world of how much she treasures you. My friend is the type who’d send a bouquet of flowers on your birthday, and will be there during trying times. She is also full of talent and her ability to coordinate is by far the most superb I’ve seen. I can recommend her to fellow practitioners in my human resources network because of her passion, but when it comes to having deeper and personal commitments with someone, I will not recommend her to you. This is because I don’t really know you yet, and even if I do, there are no concrete ways at this early stage to determine how much mess you can make and how much she’ll have to go through.

In short, she is very special, but it’s not really about how my friend carries herself and treats another person that makes her so. If you sincerely know her, you would realize that it's her experiences of utmost pain that actually make her beautiful. My friend has attempted a lot of times in things associated with love- and she fell, failed, smiled, splurged, got wasted, and has gotten to the point of losing control. I understand her, and for me, it does not make sense how such affectionate and generous people can get broken. 'Good thing, she is learning about toughness along the way. 

Please be careful with her. What she needs now is some valuable time to discover herself. She needs more time to renew her spirit and dwell on positivity. Her family must be number one at this point, so woo her not through cheesy lines, food, movies, and drama, but through those people around her. Most importantly, allow her to rekindle that relationship with God and distract her from the worldly things as much as possible.

You’re a man. You’re of age. You are trying to be stable. I pray that you’d make her realize that love will not limit her potential as an individual. All those past hurts must not stop her from loving and being in- love. Get her to feel trust not as an issue but as a relief. Open her eyes in such a way that she sees the goodness of life and the awesomeness in herself. Her heart is so precious and pure but she is now on a fragile stage, so if you could just be an instrument in nourishing it very well, I'd be very much pleased.

Lastly, do assess yourself. What are your limits? How do you value life and what to you is the meaning of humility? How patient are you when it comes to waiting? Do you love yourself and are you ready to be committed? What stage are you in the realization of your ambitions? How is your spirit attuned with your body? Do you feel so crushed by me right at this point?

Hey. Please be the right one. With all the things that have transpired during these weeks, I wish for nothing but a story of lasting happiness for you two, because all throughout my years of crying and laughing with her, true love is what I have ever desired for my friend. If you're not ready for these and for her, I pray that you would grant her freedom soon enough.

So there. I am hoping that when I return to the Philippines, you’re no longer the New Guy That My Friend Is Seeing. I am crossing my fingers that you'd be this wonderful Man That My Friend Is Ending Up With. 

God bless you both.


In Love and In Peace, 

Kate (a.k.a. Future Hot Bridesmaid)

Happy Image # 04: Kuala Lumpur With The Bro

I really love my younger (and only) brother. Actually, everyone in the clan totally digs him. I don't know what kind of undisputed charm he possesses but I personally enjoy sharing with him what I know about cool stuff, food, sports, music, videos, and places where we can chill out with cousins and friends. 

We have common interests but we're sort of different in terms of ideologies. Yeah, we do argue. We'd eventually laugh about our fights.

One could just imagine how exhilarating it's been for me when my brother managed to drop by Singapore. I then booked for KL, Malaysia and volunteered to tour him around. So we recorded a lot of funny videos around the city and had loads of fun. We ate like the best trenchermen in town. We goofed around the streets. The rest's history.

His week- long trip's also my longest vacation leave. CRAZY.

So here we are. Fourth happy image: Me and my brother in Petronas.

A Few Ramblings Afterwards

1)      After giving a tour to a close family member to a place where you currently live, you’d realize that you’re the one who’s acting more like the tourist. You took for granted the entire familiar the whole time you’re there and now that you’re given the time to explore it, fireworks were sort of everywhere.

2)   After reading the Fifty Shades trilogy, you will never get to look at cable ties in the same way again. Upon devouring all pages, your standards on men may probably elevate.The thing is, it’s badly- written but addictive. Nevertheless, you’ll come to a point where you’d say, “Oh crappy crap crap, here we go again with the lovemaking narrative crappy crap.”; then you'd suddenly get tired (of reading). But there are those however's... and the Christian Grey casting contests will consistently occupy your head.

3)      After listening to Paul McCartney’s and Wings’ Silly Love Songs, you will feel all too giddy about romance, even if you have no significant other. You will justify your sentiments by singing, well, a lot of silly love songs.

4)      After a three- day travel, you will only experience the fourth day when you dream of it in your bed. Most relaxing day ever.

5)      After finishing all TV series this season, you will think of fillers to make up for them as you wait for a few more months. You’d download pointless films and shows. That’s it. 

6)      After watching the music video for alt+J’s song called Breezeblocks, you would choose from your own real- life experiences an event which you could play in reverse yet still matches the song. It doesn’t have to be disturbing, though.

7)      After successfully surviving DAY 1 of the General Motor’s Diet as a first- timer, you would want to pulverize whatever's in front of you or whatever you get hold of. Self control is the key. Discipline is the shiznit. 

8)      After running 10 kilometers non- stop on a stressful day at work, all you’d want to do is rest. Still, you would want to run ever so wildly again in that glorious pair of compression tights.

9)      After watching The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan’s third of the Batman saga, you will ask yourself this: “WHY?”

Obviously, this was how I grasped reality after having gone through a crazy yet awesome mid- 2012. Your realizations may not be as cranked- up as mine, so just proceed. 

alt+ J's Breezeblocks (Original)

                                          alt+ J's Breezeblocks (Reversed)

                                       

Sipo Egg

A gazillion of people have no idea that cooking is one of my strong interests. It was only recently that I've posted in Facebook some of the dishes that I cook during the weekend. For others, it's unusual how a woman with an active lifestyle and busy schedule like me could still kill time in the kitchen. That's one big surprise to most, but to my loved ones whom I serve food ever since I learned to cook, it was only normal. 

I remember myself arguing with my father who enjoys pestering me in the kitchen by volunteering to cook with me, which I didn't allow because he'd eventually meddle with my city- cooking style versus his Ilocano way of preparing food. Papa, by the way, was that parent who woke up early to prepare our baon for school. Then, there's my brother who does the best stews, thick- sauced Caldereta, and that killer Sinigang, but consistently criticizes my well- loved Adobo just to annoy me. In the end, he'd crave for my pasta dishes and on- the- go meals. My mom, well... she enjoys eating what the three of us create (yeah, she's so careful and sweet with the criticisms), but I must say that I should give her credit for those desserts she made, the California Maki she rolled, or the banana cakes and cheesy potatoes she baked when I was younger.

Here in Singapore, even in the lack of the usual Filipino ingredients available, I must say that there is quite a number of good foreign stuff in the market which excites me all the time as they aid in really bringing out the taste of the dish. I'd experiment a lot until I give the food a Pinoy touch. My housemates and I then settle everything in the dining table.

Just recently, nostalgia hit me as I recalled this one dish which I got to taste in Pampanga during a field training in my previous company. My Kapampangan colleague had me taste for the first time a viand that they call Sipo Egg. Until now, I have no idea why it's called Sipo but I did recognize some quail eggs and mixed veggies in a creamy ensemble which tasted great with rice. I never got to try it for the second time in any restaurant in Makati, or probably, I haven't been to a place which actually serves this authentic Kapampangan dish in the metro.


I told myself: "I'll come back to Pampanga for that (and Sisig, haha!) or perhaps attempt to cook that..." However, for some odd reason, this didn't materialize!

So after a year, and with this nostalgia of that creamy and delectable memory, I made a version of Sipo Egg and prepared the following ingredients:

- Sliced carrots

- A cup of shrimp

- Diced celery stalks

- Diced turnip

- Chopped baguio beans

- Nestle cream

- Green peas

- Diced luncheon meat

- 20ish hard- boiled quail eggs

- Butter

- Ginisa Mix

- Onion

- Cornstarch dissolved in water

- A bit of evap milk

- Salt and pepper to taste

Now, that's a lot of stuff, right? I did the usual drill of sauteeing the onion with butter and added the luncheon meat and shrimp. When the shrimp was already a bit brownish in color, I put the rest of the veggies. After a few minutes, I added the Nestle cream, water, cornstarch, and the quail eggs. When it boiled, I just poured like two tablespoons of evaporated milk and then added a dash of pepper, ginisa mix, and salt.

Here's the outcome:

RESULT: My housemates loved it! The three of us managed to have great amounts of the Sipo Egg served over steamed white rice! Verdict? AWESOME!

This is my first time to blog about my kitchen- related activities, although it's been really like a feast every week or so in our dining table. I guarantee more posts about my daring adventures in the kitchen. The thing is, I really am taking the art of cooking seriously now more than ever!

Sundown Marathon Singapore 2012

Yes. I did it. I am fierce na talaga. Hahaha!

So ayun na nga at tumakbo ako sa Sundown Marathon 2012 dito sa Singapore kasi wala na naman daw akong magawa at kung anu - ano naman daw ang pinagttripan ko (I love you, mama! LOL). Gaano kalayo? Bongo drumroll, please....

21 kilometers, baby! That's 21 kilometers or a half marathon!

Nasa venue na ako around 10pm noong Sabado, ika- 26 ng Mayo, 2012- two days after my birthday. Bawat taon kasi akong tumatakbo at may race na sinasalihan tapos palayo rin ng palayo ang distance ko, hence, the Birthday Run. 

Pagdating ko sa Nicoll Highway, heto ang aking nasaksihan  ko:

Shot from my BB

At konti pa yan! A total of 28,000 runners actually ran during this event. WOW.  Ang mga Pinoy runners, ayun, pumangalawa sa lahi at nationality ng pinaka- madaming nag- register. 1,400, next to the Malaysians. 

So back to the event. Naunang tumakbo ang mga 10 km runners. Ako naman eh nagiikot (nagroronda, lol), nagsstretch, kumakain ng saging (isang piling ang baon ko eh!), at kumuha pa ng neon green na light stick kasi ang tagline this year eh "Light up the city". Ayun, hanggang sa 12:30 na ng umaga at kinailangan ko nang pumunta sa starting line. Nasa 3:00:00 mark ako kasi ayokong makipagsabayan sa mga dakila at confident na matatapos in 2 hours dahil alam kong hindi ako nakapag- ensayo ng mahusay para dito. In short, hindi ako solid na handa, pero pwede pa rin namang tumakbo. Positive tayo.

And so the race started. Singapore's night scape was amazing. It was almost the same route as the 2XU Compression Run last which I joined on March 2012, except that Sundown was held at midnight. You could just imagine all the lights and sights while running during that time.

Pagdating ng 16th km, ay grabehan at biglaan ang pagbuhos ng malakas na ulan. Actually, pinagdasal ko kasi kay Lord na umulan talaga para libreng hydration anywhere, pero di naman ganun ka- OA! May hangin pang involved! Yun lang, hindi ako sumilong ng matagal at sumugod ako sa basa at maputik na mga kalye hanggang sa finish line pavement, kung saan mangiyak- ngiyak akong tumawid at nagfi- fist pump. Na naman. Hahaha!

Haller! Happy birthday run! 3 Years in a row :D

At proud kababayan din ako dahil mga Pilipino ang nagwagi ng first place for Men's and Women's categories ng 21km! Ang husay! Kayo na ang halimaw at idol sa takbuhan. Ayoko naaaah. Kidding!

Congratulations to all runners. Miski na anong distance pa yan, ang galing niyo. Natapos mo? Ayos yan. 

Until our next run; pero pahinga muna dahil may kina- career akong bagong activity. But yeah, I'm so excited!

Tandaan: Never ever settle!

Mabuhay! My finisher's medal, woot woot!

Tumba na'ko nito.