I left my keys at home....

... at dahil don, pakiramdam ko ang tanga tanga ko. Good thing I live near the studio, so coming back and forth is not a problem. And, good thing we have drivers on queue, so I can just ask him nicely to bring it for me.

So here I am, sitting/squatting on the corridor, mooching wifi from the neighboring tenant. What do I do? BLOG.

And what is there to blog about? I am happy because a simple twist of fate has changed my destiny (refer to this blog ... Ok, ang OA ko...) but I am really really really excited because two weeks from now, I will be basking under the sun with my girlfriends.

Prior commitments were rescheduled (okay okay I manipulated them into rescheduling) so now I can be free as a bird! Yehey yehey yehey! Vacay for me!

Heeeniway, andito na yung susi... back to work! Set up ng ilaw time!

Bruised and scarred

It's been only 3 months and I have bruised and scarred my oh-so-lovely doobiedoo. (Yes, I have decided to name my not-so-new baby doobiedoo). I know what you're all thinking, I'm such a bitch for posting this, what about the other people who can't afford it, right? YES, I AM SUCH PERSON. And the reason why I'm bitching is I promised I'd take care of this forever and ever (or for at least 4 years, then make an upgrade) but now, with the way it has been bruising and scarring, this will only last me a couple. BOO!

I noticed the pwet-like dent on top of my F9 key a couple of days ago. I keep staring at it, touching it lovingly, apologizing over and over and over again. Yes, mukha akong tanga, kinakausap ko computer ko. Now that I've been staring at it, it's so hard for me to function and work! I've been trying to remember what I did that made it that way. So far, wala akong maalala.

The second bump was discovered by my business partner Miguel when he was checking his email a month ago. He suddenly said, "Uy, bakit hindi pantay yung sa bukasan ng laptop mo?" OOOOOOHHHH shiyet. Wala pa ngang kalahating taon may bukol bukol na? Weird.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

Everyday, I see this pwet-like dent staring at me and farting me on the face...
I can hear it saying, "Ooohhh, look at me, look at me! I'm a dent in your brand-spanking-new computer!"

It's not so obvious here, but there's a protrusion on top of the button
that you press to open the computer.

DOOBIEDOO!?!? What have you done to me?!?!

Shameless plugging

Gray Area Studio is now available for rent! click the image to go to the website.

Cooking pasta for one...

I've never cooked for myself. If ever I get in the mood to cook (or, answering Iron Chef's chairman's Allez cuisine -- Je vais cuisine), I would usually cook for at least 3 people. Or when I was in Italy, I would cook for 4+++ people. In short, I would cook bigger servings, throw a feast, and have a gastronomical party in my tummy.

Today, however, was the first time I cooked for myself. I wasn't out to please anyone, only me. And since I had been craving for pasta, either tomato based or cream was fine, I decided to pas-tah for mah-self. The dish: Pasta All'amatriciana, Chinese style. Say whaaat?

Pasta All'amatriciana is a tomato-based dish. It's similar to puttanesca in a way that it also has chopped canned tomatoes, but instead all the veggie bits are replaced with pancetta, or unsmoked bacon. (Since we don't have unsmoked bacon here, or pancetta is waaaay expensive here, ordinary purefoods bacon would do). My version has yunnan ham, instead of bacon.

Yunnan ham is ham from.. well, Yunnan. They're usually sold in cans in Bee Tin Tin (ba yon?) a store along Ongpin. I think SRP is Php120 per can but it can laaaast a long time, since it's very salty a small piece can be equivalent to a gigantic spoonful of rice.

AAAANYWAY... Verdict is, I put in waaay too many spaghetti, cooked way too much sauce, but it was an ok ratio. Of course I shlopped everything into one big bowl and finished it. It lacked sauce when I had way too many noodles, but halfway through the noodles I had way too much sauce. Haha and I liked eating in my room, while watching tv. The ham wasn't crispy enough (I can make it crispier with bacon.) Hrmm.. should've stuck with bacon. But, I'm excited to eat Yunnan ham with rice, tho! Hahaha

Tama na. Magugutom na ako ulit.

How Boracay and I aren't meant to be...

When I was a kid my family and I would go to Boracay often. Mainly since we spent our summers in Iloilo, Boracay was (well then) more accessible -- it was only a 6-hour bumpy ride to Kalibo, then another hour to Katiklan, then finally on the boat to Boracay.

Boracay then was a typical, uncommercialized island. Naabutan ko pa nga ata nung wala pang kuryente doon. Or, at least the electricity wasn't strong enough to have airconditioned rooms, so we would sleep in hipa huts, squished in between my parents, or whoever had a 5-inch space we could squeeze into.

We even had a hairdo named after the island. Remember when you were kids, you would spend hours in the water, then go up to play in the sand? At ang OC mong yaya, para naman daw hindi ka magmukhang basang sisiw, would towel-dry your hair (like a dog), leaving your hair sticking out and very unmanageable with all the sand, salt and wind. That look was our Boracay hair. My mom and titas would tease my sister and I if we had Boracay hair. Yung tipong, "Yuck! Isa! Boracay hair!!!" O kaya, "Uyyy...Boracay hair..." Weird ba?

Anyway, the last time I went was around 10 years ago. I had just started to experience the little nightlife I had, and was so excited to go to Coco Mangas and drink rhum coke. Of course that was very very thrilling for me, since my parents were the strictest when I was growing up and that was my little escapade. I loved it.

So what's the problem? you say? I feel this year, Boracay and I aren't meant to be. So why haven't you gone before that? I don't know. I've never really had the want to go. Since I was travelling a lot for the past years.. OK, fine.. OA.. I've been to Europe thrice in the 7 years, my savings were.. let's say.. close to non-existent. Why did I have to go to Boracay when I went go to the beaches in South of France -- St. Tropez, Nice, Cannes, etc, hung out in the beaches of South of Italy, and walked along the "beach" in Paris (aka Paris plage). So now that I have admitted to myself that I'm not traveling anytime soon, I'm ready to finally go to Boracay, and par-tay with my friends, the responsible side of me is holding me back.

Hayyyy... di bale, this is just the first quarter of the year.. Boo to me though, for not going this April! I'll miss you guys!

G.A.S.

This is it... We've finally opened Gray Area Studios, my first big, big BIG project. Well actually, it's not a project, it's a hard core business.

Soooo, what was an artsy fartsy girl with zero knowledge in business thinking when she started her business? I HAVE NO IDEA. Nasapawan ata ako ng business ghost nung mga panahong pumayag ako. I'm playing everything by ear, with a whole lot of moolah at stake.

Kinakabahan ba ako? Hell yeah. I wish my She God would do something about this.

Turning over a new quarter-life leaf

Some people have pegged 2007 as the year of the kalat (check out the blogs of Alessa and Patty), but I have pegged it as the year of the serious.

I had started the year optimistic --- optimistic that I will be someone who will accomplish something by the end of the year. And since I had accepted the fact that I will no longer be frolicking Europe this year (although the last two vacays were amazing!), I have decided I will be grab my semi-accomplished life by its horns and plough through.

Another part of my turning over a new quarter-life leaf is the Enhance thy self program Ales and I have committed ourselves into doing. The ETS program is simply stepping up a notch with our health, beauty and overall wellness. (Usung-uso pa naman ngayon ang wellness drama.) I am still trying to work on my eating bit.. I LOVE MY MEAT! But, I am already working on the others -- meaning exercise, moisturize and socialize! Haha

Now, the serious aspect of my year is business-related. Late last year I had thought of starting a business, which I did.. and now... tadaaaaa!!! Gray Area Studios is now open!

Heniway... that's all for now. I have gotten hooked on knitting too so I'm working on that.. hahahaha labo.

I AM MOBILE!!!

After ten million years of deciding whether or not I should "upgrade" my close to extinction computer, I finally had the enlightenment to say, "THIS IS IT." So, I asked my Tita in the States to buy me an oh-so-beautiful toy/work thing. And what do I do when it arrives? Get giddy like a 5-year old on Christmas.

Thanks Raf, for taking the pictures!

So what happens now, you say? I will try to be of more use and not waste internet space.