Typhoon Ondoy

International Name: KETSANA
The Date: September 26, 2009

I'm still overwhelmed by the extent of the damage that Ondoy has caused. People have died... many were left homeless as they were ravaged by the flood. As of this moment, many are still waiting to be rescued.

this floodwater is waist-deep.
our antique narra sofa can be partially seen floating here.

that's another cabinet floating around.

I'm just thankful that we have a 2nd floor in our house. We still had a dry spot to rest in and space where we moved the ref, and some other appliances that may be damaged by water.
It had been the worst (and hopefully the last) flooding i've ever seen in my life.

My prayers for the less fortunate victims of Ondoy who were left homeless, for those still waiting to be rescued, and for those who died in this calamity.

Please pray for them, too.

Miag-ao Church

40.04 kilometers southwest of Iloilo City is where one of only four churches in the country to make it to the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List. The church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva or better known as Miag-ao church (named after the same town) can be reached by jeepney from the city proper in about 45 minutes. Built over 200 years ago, the church’s fortress-like design suggests its dual purpose as a place of worship and as a fort used in defending the town against moro raiders during those times.

From exploreiloilo.com:

The artistic facade of the Miagao Church is decorated with a relief sculpture of St. Christopher carrying the Christ child amidst coconut, papaya and guava shrubs. Like any other foreign influences, the architecture of many colonial churches has undergone the process of indigenization. This process is carried out by incorporating the prevailing Hispano-American and Medieval Spanish architecture with local as well as Muslim and Chinese touches. Thus, the synthesized topology which is anachronistic with the unmindful sues of decorative elements. It had no distinction in terms of periods or orders. A truly ‘Philippine Church’, it exudes a native touch.

A large stone image of St. Thomas of Villanueva, parish patron saint, dominates the center. Carved life-size statues of the Pope and St. Henry with their coat-of-arms above them flank the main entrance. Supporting the facade are the twin belfries, one towering two-storeys and the other three-storeys high. The church's simple interior is nevertheless highlighted by a striking gold-plated retablo.

- - -
I have been to Iloilo thrice but it was only in January this year (the third time) that i was able to get up close with this magnificent sight. It was a regular day when a friend and i went there to visit. The church was closed but with a bit of luck and my friend, being a local, found a way to sneak us in. Nah, we didn't actually sneak in. It only took a little chat with one of the people there and that's it--instant access inside the very quiet and solemn place.

the massive door

church-fortress

contemplating (?)

Folks say that one should make a wish when you visit a church for the first time.

I miss the place already. I wish i could go back there.

A day at the La Mesa Ecopark

A day of fun with family and nature.

with cousins, aunts and nephews

keep walking...

active play is more fun!

and they conquered their fear here.

Other scenes...

It's actually my second visit here and if i have more time, i'd come here often. It's one of the few places in the city where you could see lots of greens and enjoy the fresh air. My usually funny uncle found the park a nice place to escape from one's worries and stressful situations. Indeed it was.

So put on your most comfy shirt/tanktops, shorts or jogging pants, and shoes (or slippers...anything comfy for long walks), put on some mosquito repellent (although i hardly saw any mosquito), and you're ready for the park. Bring extra shirts and hand towels ...and don't forget your SPF.

More information about the park here.

Almost!

Who hasn't heard of Jennifer Chung?

She's an Asian teenager based in the US and quite popular in YouTube because of her videos where she sings with her beautiful voice (a lot of viewers actually commented that she should join American Idol).

Jennifer did an excellent rendition of Make Me Whole by Amiel Larreux (one of my favorites) but she's also got a couple of original songs. One of my favorites is her song "Almost" which you can check out here.

= = =

It's another weekend and the month is almost over.

Just had our defense on our research proposal last Tuesday and we're on the process of revising it per recommendation of our adviser.

Next week, we'll be having our last subject for the trimester. Yup, almost done. Soon we will all be singing "I Will Survive" for surviving the first trimester of the post-graduate course. And before we know it, a year has passed and hopefully we'll all graduate from the course.

Good thing that work was breezy lately. The paperworks trickle in manageable quantities. I hope it stays that way while i wait for my busted scanner to get fixed, but that's another story.

= = =

On another note...

Baking skills are starting to get on a steady pace. Most times I find myself researching for recipes and thinking of ways to make them more interesting.

My cookies have taken a backseat for a while because my brownies and cupcakes are getting rave reviews from the office people.

triple chocolate delight:
choco cream-filled chocolate cupcake
with chocolate frosting
mmmm....

They said they wouldn't be surprised if one day i resigned from my job and just concentrate on the baking business or put up a bakeshop.

Although i like the idea, i just don't think i'd be doing it very soon. It would take a lot of work and capital to start with.

For now, i'm happy with what i'm doing. I have a day job which serves as my steady source of income. The baking stuff serves as my stress buster and an outlet for my creativity (or kaartehan, hehehe!). Sometimes, those baked goodies also provide me extra dough! No pun intended.

= = =

Oh well.
Have a nice weekend!
And see you again next month!
:)

Big!

Remember the mini mango?

First time i saw it, i thought it was amazing.

Think you've seen it all? Here's mini-mango's big brother. And i mean big!

Ready?

told ya.
it's almost as big as my sister's face!

Anniv pics

Photos courtesy of choir mate Bing.

- - -

SLC's Anniversary celebration @ San Lazaro Hospital Pediatric Ward...

'Dr. Jollibee' doing his rounds

flanked by the kids-at-heart!..... and yeah, the balloon has to match the shirt! ;P


this was supposed to be a 'wacky' shot with Fr. Jun

and here's a more decent one

same cast as last year...
but we're open for applicants
;)

Happy Birthday Manny!

Here's to another year of videoke, SanMig Lights, lunches-out and lots of fun!

Cheers!

from Ninang

It's been quite a while since the last time someone gave me flowers. So i was surprised yesterday afternoon when a colleague handed me a bouquet of peach roses. Some officemates got curious as well.

I got the card and it read: Happy Birthday, from Ninang. But Ninang (tagalog word for godmother) wasn't around so i just texted her for the lovely flowers. She replied: nice to know you appreciate the flowers.

Hay ninang! You have no idea how much i loooove flowers.

(How long has it been since the last delivery? Find out here.)

My Cake

chocolate cake with coffee cream frosting

Photo taken using my "busted" camera phone. Yeah, i can still use it. Just had to aim, shoot, and hope that i got the frame i wanted when i upload it to the computer. Gotta have the phone fixed as soon as possible. Uh, subject to availability of funds. Hehehe!

Back to my cake, shall we? The recipe called for sliced fresh kiwis and strawberries or other fruits in season. I opted to use canned fruits instead (consisting of pears, peaches, pineapples, cherries). I use whatever is readily available.

The cake will be left for my family's consumption tomorrow. I'm planning to bake another cake to bring to the office on Friday.

from South Park

recognize this little fellow?

it's Kenny!

bro's sculpture project in Humanities.
galing no?

Blondies

Technically, they're just brownies without the chocolate. Hence, the light color. But i can't resist putting a little of that bitter-sweet stuff so i took out my dark chocolate bar and shaved it to my heart's content, putting chocolate flakes on top of those blondies.

Another one down!

So after 4 weeks of nosebleed-inducing lectures and quizes, the subject has come to a conclusion last Tuesday...and tomorrow starts a tougher subject.

and that's Prof. V with his plaque of appreciation from the class.
He said it was his first-ever plaque that was academic in nature.

More bread!

Yeah, i was still able to squeeze in some baking yesterday. So dad and my siblings will have something to munch on (besides ulam at kanin) while i'm out at work.

And as for me, i had a little fun doing it too!

Cheesy...

Following the success of my first white bread, i tried tweaking it up to come up with my version of cheese bread.

I made a mistake of putting grated cheese just before baking the dough. Hence, the black swirls on the bread. Tried to cover it up with a fresh batch of grated cheese when the bread was done and i thought it kinda looked pretty interesting. The burnt cheese also gave an interesting twist on how the bread tasted--kinda like munching on chiz curls.

surprise!

it has cheese inside!

;)

Brownies!

(pics backlog)

I stumbled upon this recipe with the title "perfect brownies." Curiosity got the better of me so i gave it a shot. I think its other name should be "easy brownies" because it's so easy to prepare. ;)

I used to shy away from brownie recipes because based on my bro's brownie experience, he had quite a challenging time before finally arriving at his best version of brownies. But when i found the "perfect brownie" recipe, i felt that it was finally time to face it and bake it.

So i did!
;)

Making the Grade

Last week's quiz from the nosebleed-inducing subject.

I'm getting the hang of it.
;P

White Bread

As promised in my previous post, here are pics of my first white bread...

Dad thought i bought the bread when he saw it on the table one morning just as he was about to prepare our breakfast. I was quite amazed at how it turned out too!

My sister bought a pack of instant dry yeast way back when she was still the one who bakes and thought she might be needing some of those someday. But a couple of months later, she got very busy and the pack of yeast remained inside the refrigerator. I just can't bear the stuff to be put to waste (it's a big pack) so i figured to give it a shot.

After hours of watching instructional videos (thanks to YouTube) i finally had my first white bread. This kind of bread requires a lot of patience coz you really have to leave it for a couple of hours and let the yeast do its work. In some videos i watched, they even left the mixture overnight for the dough to rise. But i chose the recipe where you have to proof it for just a couple of hours coz, well, i guess i didn't have that much patience.

So there you go.
;)

Banana Bread v.2

My first banana bread fared pretty well but after some revisions and some add-ins, i think this one finally has that "personality" i was looking for...

banana bread face-off:
version 1 and version 2

Transformation

From boy to girl!...

One of our supervisors gave her a pair of girly sandals and dared her to wear the footwear during office hours so she could see it being used. So our rugged, groovy-mama-of-two colleague traded her comfy running shoes for those girly sandals.

Extra challenge moment!

;)

win some, lose some

This was supposed to be a corn muffin.

but it didn't look like it's supposed to.

it did taste like corn, but not in a muffin-ey way.

it was more like a pudding.

saan ako nagkamali?!

oh well, time for some adjustments again.

remember my cookies? they were not perfect the first time.
But i tried to figure out what went wrong,
which ingredient to minimize, which to add more...
and now my cookies are a hit!

I'll just have to be more patient with this muffin stuff.

I'm not all-knowing when it comes to cooking and baking.
I didn't have formal training and i haven't really taken the time to sit down
and study the technicalities of baking.
It's more of a pakiramdaman when i bake something.

But then, it's still practice...practice...practice.

;)