Catch up: We serve only what we eat

Yeah, from this point on, what you would be seeing is a backlog post. (Whutizuberlateright?)

Anyway, I was just going through some of the photos in my phone and I came across the foods we served for the two New Year's celebrations we had at home. It's kind of striking how different they were, which I thought were of course due to the contrast of the cultures they represent.

This is the Pinoy New Year group:

(Forgive the stray barbecue sticks, we were already hungry at the time.)

The Pinoy New Year group consisted of mostly kakanin and sweets. I'm quite not sure about the sweets (maybe we just loved the leche flan and refrigerator-slash-Graham cake in the blue-covered container) but the kakanin like the biko and the ube are for family togetherness. The all-time favorite spaghetti that they said were for long life was also included.

We also had the traditional ham (yes all sliced for eating already) and barbecue, which is my dad's specialty.

A new addition to the Pinoy group was the egg pie. I didn't really get what my mom said the pie was for but if I remembered well, she said because we had to serve a round pastry (weird because we had custard cake already).

(Yes, my brother did not even bother to put this on a decent plate. Tsk, tsk)

Of course, to balance out all the sweets and fats we consumed, we also had fruits. Haha. There were 13 of them, my mom said, for luck. My mother could be weird sometimes.

Well, however weird I found the foods we had for 2012's New Year celebration, I still enjoyed them. My sweet tooth was happy so was my sleepless eyes.

(No photo of me. I was already in my pajamas that night. Yeah, I celebrated New Year's wearing pajamas. Ninja lang as I wanted to sleep right after I digested the sumptuous feast my stomach had.)

Chinese New Year, on the other hand, was a bit more subdued. We did not observe any other traditions our chinito friends had. But all the same, we served quite a few of their prescribed munchies. This is because my mother and I both make a living out of Chinese-owned companies. Lol.

A fish-shaped tikoy that when cooked . . .

Looked pretty much just like any other tikoy. Haha!

We also had fruits, although lesser than what we served during the Pinoy New Year celebration. For this one, we only had kiat-kiat (I hope I spelled this right; they are small versions of ponkan) and three apples. Ask my mother why.

So there. These were really different food groups bound by completely different cultures. I couldn't say which was better for my taste buds because I did enjoy both.

I hope you had the same pretty nice New Year's! And remember, serve only what you could eat. The table, after all, is not for display-only-foods.

Sa mga bagong Isko at Iska . . .

Congratulations!

'Yan muna. Naiimagine ko na kung ga'no kayo kasaya ngayon, kung ga'nong nag-iisip ang mga magulang n'yo na maghanda. At kung ga'no kadalas nilang babanggitin mula ngayon sa lahat ng kakilala nila na pumasa ka ng UPCAT. Aba, UPCAT yata 'yan.

Naiimagine ko 'yan dahil nakita ko na 'yan sa sarili kong mga magulang. Hanggang ngayon, nakikita ko 'yan kapag may nagtatanong sa kanila kung saan ako graduate.

Masaya ang magkaroon ng reputasyong UP lang ang nakakapagbigay. Masarap sa pakiramdam 'yung masabihan ka ng mga taong "ang galing mo naman" o "ang talino mo sigurado". Magaan sa loob na alam mong may magandang direksyong kapupuntahan ang buhay mo.

Naiintindihan ko ang mga pakiramdam na 'yan dahil naramdaman ko din 'yan noon.

May isi-share lang ako ngayon.

Dalawang taon na since I graduated. Alam ko, hindi pa 'yan enough para magkaroon ako ng kredibilidad para pakinggan/basahin pa ang mga susunod kong sasabihin. Pero kahit pa, gusto ko e. Haha! Joke lang.

As I was saying, dalawang taon na mula ng matapos ko ang course ko sa UP Manila. At sa dalawang taong 'yun, maraming beses na pumasok sa isip ko ang mga bagay na natutunan ko mula sa unibersidad. Eto 'yung mga bagay na natutunan ko hindi galing sa mga professor ko o sa mga librong pina-photocopy ko o sa mga website na pinag-research-an ko.

Eto 'yung mga bagay na natutunan ko sa bawat araw na humabol ako ng deadline, na na-late ako sa klase dahil 'di ako nakatulog ng maayos, na kinabahan ako ng bongga sa tuwing papasok ako sa klase ng hindi ko binasa ang readings namin, at sa lahat ng pagkakataong hindi ako nag-aral para sa long at final exams.

Una sa lahat, natutunan kong ang UP ay UP at ikaw ay ikaw (o ako ay ako). Hindi s'ya UP dahil sa'yo at hindi ka ikaw ng dahil sa UP. Ibig sabihin, hindi dahil nasa UP ka, may kakaibang pagkatao ka na. Ikaw pa rin ang parehong tao bago ka pumasok sa UP. Kung magbabago ka man, sa ugali 'yun, sa mga pananaw, at sa mga bagong kaalaman. Pero mapapansin mo, kung ano naman ang mga pinaniniwalaan mo at kung ano ka bago ka mag-UP, 'yun ka pa rin hanggang umalis ka.

Dahil pangalawa, ang ituturo sa'yo ng UP ay paninindigan. Ituturo n'ya sa'yo na hindi laging sumabay sa agos. Na matutong tumaliwas kapag alam mong hindi naman sunod sa paniniwala mo ang gustong mangyari ng mga tao sa paligid mo. At na hindi dahil ginagawa ng lahat, gagawin mo na rin. (At na panindigan sa prof mong nakapagbasa ka ng notes n'ya kahit hindi naman talaga. Haha!)

Pangatlo, ang talino at galing ay hindi lang nasusukat sa kung saan ka nag-aaral. Oo nga at may reputasyong matalino at magaling ang mga nasa UP. Pero hindi ibig sabihin nun na magaling ka at matalino ka kaya ka napasok sa unibersidad. Minsan, ma-swerte ka lang din. And you'll be surprised to know just how the students from the other schools can be better than you.

Kaya pang-apat, matuto kang patuloy na paghusayin ang sarili mo. Hindi naman natatapos sa pagpasok mo sa unibersidad ang pagiging magaling mo. Kaya ka nga mag-aaral pa diba. You don't take for granted the fact na nakapasok ka sa UP, dahil alam na alam mong hindi lahat nabibigyan ng ganyang chance. Develop yourself further. Lagi mong sabihin sa sarili mong gusto mo pang maging mas mahusay. At pakinggan mo lahat ng taong tumutulong sa'yo.

At pang-lima, huwag mo lang basta panghawakan na taga-UP ka. Ipagmalaki mo, sige lang. Siguro naman pinagsumikapan mo 'yan. Pero patunayan mo din na karapat-dapat kang humawak ng ganyang pribilehiyo. Bakit mo ba kailangang patunayan 'yan? Dahil pagdating ng panahong wala ka na sa unibersidad, matututunan mong lahat pala ng tao sa paligid mo, may hinihintay, ine-expect galing sa'yo. At kahit anong sabi mo sa sarili mong hindi mo sila dapat na intindihin, kasama pa rin sila sa ikot ng mundo mo at alam mong one way or another, kailangan mong ipakita sa kanila na kaya mo.

Lahat 'yan, based on experience. Maniwala ka. Pero hindi ko naman sinasabing maging pamantayan mo 'to. Ang sinasabi ko lang, maging bukas sana ang isipan mo, pang-conyo man yan o pang-simpleng mamamayan lang.

Again, congratulations.

Paghusayan mo, Iskolar ng Bayan.

Laban lang.

Run away

Then the question always pops out: should we?

Well, ma'am, you made me realize I seriously need a new job

People close to me know very well how much I've had reservations over accepting my current job when it was offered to me a year ago. Yes, it's been a year and until now I haven't realized the exact reason I had for accepting that fateful job offer. It was not exactly blindingly generous nor was it in a field I am most skilled at. In fact, everything was contrary to what I knew were my standards before.

And just yesterday, I kind of had an epiphany: I seriously don't know anymore what the heck I'm still doing employed in this kind of work. Yesterday, I was trying to make two poles of one planet meet. I cannot say in detail what has happened, for obvious and unfortunate reasons. But I'd like to say something about how I feel right now.

Look, I know I'm not the most patient person in the world. But I'm diplomatic enough (I believe so) and maybe I do have that understanding nature needed for people like me to be able to carry out tasks well enough. I don't ask that you say yes to everything I tell you. I know you'd put up resistance because you have several ideas on what should be given to you. Sometimes, I even expect that kind of resistance and even more.

What I'm asking for is just a little consideration from you, the same that you very well demand from me. If I were to choose, I'd just give you what you want. But I cannot, I'm just as bound by our rules as you are.

Let's just work together for an easier life, shall we? You can keep on blaming me for the very fact that I help implement rules that you think are inconsiderate to the point of being inhumane. But I need you to work with me because this is your investment we're discussing here and you cannot expect me to just hand it to you like candies from a store.

I'm sorry we're not as considerate. I'm sorry we have strict rules. I'm sorry we don't always get to keep our promises. And I'm sorry that I am at this side.

Sure, you can hate me. But try to think about how you would feel if you are on my shoes. Maybe you'd see how you have been demanding Mars from me and how I'm so sorry I can't even give you the moon.

For the next 12 months . . .

Because I admit to the fact that I cannot as of the moment make a decent 2011 year-ender post, I am settling instead on the idea of compiling a good set of New Year's resolutions.

Well, I would not want to brand these as resolutions. Instead, I would like to call them little goals that I'd like to accomplish within the next 12 months. I want them because I'd like to have something I can look forward to this year. Now, I may not exactly go out of my way to be able to achieve them so I'm just trying my best to be hopeful that by the end of the year, I would look back at this post with a smile on my face because I have done lots of my plans.

Here they are:

(photo from prettybooks.tumblr.com)

1. Finish the 2011 50 Book Challenge. Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish the 50 books I have listed last year. So, I'm carrying over the challenge to 2012 and hoping I could add more to it.

2. Buy lots of new books! This is a given goal, considering #1 and the fact that I don't know of a better hobby.

(photo from Live.Like.You)

3. Re-stock my closet with new clothes. I'm sort of growing tired of all my shirts and blouses already, I think it's time I look for new stuffs to wear. And new colors to like.

4. Invest in shoes. Right now, I'm trying to diminish the number of slippers/flip-flops I have and replacing them with flats and sandals and even wedges and heels. Shoes are a difficult find for me, so I guess I should always have extra funds for when I see a pair that is good enough and that fits me well.

5. Learn how to drive. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Angge, you know why I'm laughing that hard. But seriously, I'd like to be able to upgrade the level of my independence by being a road-pro. And to save myself the hassle of commuting through Aguinaldo Highway!

6. Get a new job. 'Nuff said.

7. Get a lower digit on a weighing scale. Bleh.

8. Travel. Locally, that is (since I don't think I'd get a good go signal for travels abroad yet). I'm dying to see the Underground River in Palawan and several places in Cebu. Please, help me convince my parents that traveling is a good form of family bonding. (So I won't have to spend much. Haha!)

9. Start writing. Decently and diligently. It's a known fact that I want to be able to come up with my own novel someday. And I know it's a superbly tall order. But I'd like to start if I can. I hope I can.

10. Learn how to cook highly edible stuffs other than hotdogs and tocino. I'm not aiming to be an almost-chef, you-can-start-your-own-resto cook. I just want to be able to make myself a good-tasting adobo when I'm all alone at home.

11. Redecorate our bedroom. Actually, my siblings and I don't have a bedroom. We just have "that space you see when you come up the stairs". I'd like to clean it up and install new furniture and possibly make it homier for all three of us.

12. Learn new small stuffs. Like braiding/cutting my own hair or sewing the holes in my shirts. It's always fun to be able to do little things you've never really taken time to learn before but would actually make life easier for you.

13. Watch a lot of movies... In the cinemas. The Hunger Games, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Snow White and the Huntsman, Tangled (Part 2), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, these are just some of the good films I'm looking forward to this year. And I hope to catch them at the big screen. And lots of indies, too.

14. Blog more often! I'm thinking of putting up a 365-day challenge for my blogs this year, but I'm afraid I couldn't live up to that. So, instead I'm just making a resolution to post at least a couple of stuffs every week--in every blog.

(Fiona, who's taking this photo at that time, is represented by Saab. Haha!)

15. See my friends more often. 2011 has been a great bonding-with-friends time, with our new "tradition" of getting together for each of our birthday celebrations. And I hope to be able to do more of that this year. The same goes for my high school friends, who are more far away from me than I thought they are.

16. Start a collection. I don't know what kind of things I'd like to collect yet, but I want to have stuffs other than my books that I could really call mine. I'm thinking of snow globes, but they're highly breakable. Oh well, I swear I'd think of one. And start collecting!

17. Do something out of the ordinary. Like be in a road trip without an actual destination, or ride a hot-air balloon (lifted out of one of Paula's tweets, this one), or probably post/send a fan mail to one of my favorite authors. Just something I'd like to be able to laugh myself at when I remember a few more years from now.

18. Find something to smile about EVERYDAY. Haha! I know, you're already raising your brows in a yeah-right-you-will fashion. But with the very stressful place I work at and the everyday rants I hear around me, c'mon, I'd like to keep my sanity.

19. Finish watching all the concluded Grey's Anatomy seasons. Fiona, help please? Hahaha!

Okay, so that's all for now. I think I've got most of the thoughts I have covered. I'll edit again when something comes to mind, which I think would be sooner than later. Haha!

P.S. If you're a friend, you know very well how difficult it would be for me to complete this list. So help would be very much appreciated. Ha!