The Sandwich Revised

 

I have never been a big fan of sandwiches or big burgers and that is why when you say SUBWAY, I do not really pay attention too much because what rings into my mind is a sandwich store which makes sandwich you cannot finish within an hour and very expensive. It did not erase my curiosity, though, on how such places work and why some people like it.

Happily, another sandwich maker, Quiznos, recently opened in Katipunan and I gave a shot at eating such food. I researched first how the small, regular and large sizes looked like. Apparently it is a measure of how long the sandwich will be. I went for the Classic Italian because I like eating sandwiches with veggies nowadays.The small goes for as long as 5 inches, with regular at 8 and presumably, the large is longerrr.

It looks like they will prepare first the meat and cheese and some stuff that needed heating, pass the bread and the prepared food to a conveyor oven and then it will be taken from there to have the veggies and remaining stuffing placed in your bun. 🙂 Then the one preparing will sort of compress your sandwich so that when you open it, it will not explode the contents to the wrapper.

Honestly, I liked it. It is still expensive though, for me, but I think if you are in this sort of business then you will not really mind the price tag. I was happy with the one I got, even if it was small. It was just suppose a light snack for the afternoon when at the end of the day, I was not able to eat dinner because I was still full.

These food are best coupled with soft drinks and I prefer eating them for lunch or afternoon snack. They just look and taste awesome. 🙂

Scouting Little Tokyo

A friend of mine told me that there is such a place where you can experience very authentic Japanese cuisine and it is called  “Little Tokyo”, located in Makati. At first, I was hesitant to explore the place because, well, it is in Makati and I am quite far from that place. I, then, looked at blogs of people who actually visited the place and ate there. It really looked interesting and the food seemed to be worth the expensive price tags. However, I still cannot go and the directions I saw were very confusing.

One day, I brought my external hdd to a service center in Chino Roces Ave. and my Dad, clever enough, told me to just commute back home. He pointed the jeep that will take me to Magallanes for the MRT ride back home. After bringing the hdd, I rode the jeep. While wrestling with the noon traffic, I did notice one sign on a place that looked like a bit dead, beside Makati Cinema Square. It says “Choto Stop”.

Wait a minute, that is the shop mentioned by one of the blogs. So I immediately went down from the jeep and took a little peek at the place and, viola, I am facing the so-called Little Tokyo.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough cash at hand to even try something in one of the restaurants. So I thought, maybe there is nothing wrong at taking a quick look at how the place looks like during the day because most of the blogs I saw had pictures taken during the night. It really does look good at night. If you have watched Rurouni Kenshin and saw the part where most of the characters were eating dinner, that is how it looked like. I did say not enough cash because even the decent meal that is worth your experience of that place will cost you more than 200 bucks.

This is how the entrance from outside looks like. Based from the maps I saw, the whole place only has two entrances from outside to the restaurants inside. Some restaurants have their doors facing the road rather than the lovely place inside.

This is how the path going inside, just right after you pass the red Little Tokyo sign. At night, only those lamps at the walls illuminate the path.

Then this is how it looks like inside. It looks even more exquisite during the night but even during the day, it really makes you feel like you are in Japan, except of course those monoblock chairs. Just pay attention to the restaurant signs, all in Japanese.

Because I do not have the money, I did not bother looking at their menus. Maybe next time, when I have a date and I choose this place for the dinner. I did bother looking at one place and that is the Choto Stop. It had the same logo design as our Mini Stop and it made me wonder who came first. 🙂 Nevertheless, I entered the store and, yeah, only Japanese goodies but not just any goodies. We all have seen Japanese products such as noodles in local and duty free supermarkets but none of them are in this store. Neither their products are in the local and duty free shops. I saw all of the noodles there for the first time and I thought I will recognize even just one. It was also my first time to see some variants of snacks that I usually buy. Check this one out:

There are also tons of curry packs, chicken breadings, soy sauce (did not see Kikoman) Beer, and lots of those sealed-vacuumed, ready-to-eat food. It is really nice to go there and buy some stuff and try them. Oh, I forgot, remember the Daiso stores? The ones with *everything 80 pesos* tags? This store is simply no exception with most products costing 80 pesos. 🙂

It was a good looking place. I look forward to visiting this place again and hopefully, eat. 🙂

Looking Forward

Quite a disappointment, isn’t it, if you try to push effort on doing something yet it does not turn out to be in your favor? It is really annoying and sometimes, it sets things as being not so trustworthy all of a sudden. It really blinds you on things, rendering you back to pessimism.

But I don’t want to go back to that. For quite a long time, I’ve been submissive to people’s misinterpretations and decisions. I don’t want them to misinterpret me and moreover, if my effort for trying to get things back to normal is not being noticed then I guess it is not my problem anymore.

I guess it is a good thing that I have other friends who can give a decent opinion on things happening me. Not that they sympathize and say that they are on my side. I know that I have a appalling attitude towards people last year. But that is where I knew the people who really care. People who are frank, tell that I have a terrible set of actions BUT will still go alongside me and guide me until I’m good to go on my own again. Those who are willing to listen, drop everything that they are doing and spend the precious minutes of their lives listening to my rants and see how I can be improved. And these people who really cared, understood my situation, that bad attitude and gave me the advice I need. They tell me, not only the flaws I have, but also tell me if I am already an irritating little *ss. “Pssst, you know what, you just did the worst. Next time, this is what you should do….”

I guess part of being a true friend is sacrificing their time. Not the sort of person who says he/she is willing to listen but does something else, letting you feel like an idiot talking to a wall. The people who accommodated me before, when they said “Let’s talk, I want to hear your story”, they mean it and they even said that when they are busy. Stop typing, stop clicking, stop reading and start listening.

Hopefully, this year will be a year of change. Change of environment, change of places and change of people.

I learned a lot from last year, and I am thankful to the situation and more importantly to the people.

 

*sigh*

 

Yeah, look forward. 🙂

Looking forward to meeting new people and discover new places and adventures. Forget the past? No because I am not the sort of person who runs away. 🙂 Good thing that your TRUE friends are there to tell you “yoohoo, get a move on! :D” then anticipate where you will turn your face on rather than “yeah, ‘maybe’ you should avoid it, blah blah blah.” and then turn away.

Yeah, look forward. 🙂

Friends. Time. Dedication. Commitment.

The Risky Business

With the recent conversations with some friends, I went back into thinking about risking things. A lot of people are not really sure about risking in some decisions because let us be honest, we do not want to lose, be compromised and be left out. Most of us, to compensate, plan things ahead of time and that is great but only to some degree. Yes, we can possibly avoid some issues or problems even way ahead of time. We can even set points in our possible timeline that when *this fails* or *that fails* we can easily go to plan B.

Somehow I find that to deliver disadvantages despite the perks. I, myself, did that a lot before and to be honest, I missed a lot opportunities in life. So many in fact that I had to do an overhaul on the way I think. I am not saying that planning to avoid problems is bad, it is just that maybe one can be overshadowed excessively by fear and worrying that they might not be able to achieve anything (I have been there, trust me. :D). So as most of my friends told me, get out, meet new friends, learn stuff and do not be afraid.

One can say “you do not understand how it feels to be betrayed/ how it much sadness” blablaba but the way I see it is this: do you really want to stay in that feeling of being betrayed, sad, and cannot forget what others have done to you badly? Or stay in that experience because it had dealt quite an extensive and sort of long term damage that it will also take an utterly long time to repair? Think about it, there is a saying in Filipinos: “Kapag gusto, madaming paraan. Kapag ayaw, madaming dahilan” (If you desire, there are many ways. If you don’t, there are many reasons). So I want to ask this again, does one really want to stay in that state? Or a better idea, move on from that and get a better life. Also for most of the time, I consider all the failures as opportunities for you to learn new things about you. 🙂

I do not know why people want to sulk into a corner and cry about a past when you can move on and get on with a new chapter in life. Yes, I know, it is not easy. Even I, at this stage in my life, is struggling to change but I never threw the white towel. Also when I say change, true change. Not just saying meeting new people and then all of a sudden go back to my computer chair and carry on with what I *used* to do before. Even if you are now sitting in your computer chair or whatever comfort zone you have, there should be this constant feeling of getting yourself out to do something else. For example, I was bound to go back to my usual routine of facing my laptop the whole day when all of a sudden, a friend of mine posted pictures of her baking. She is in Japan right now and I asked her how she did the yummy stuff and told me all the basics needed for baking. Then, with the lack of equipment, it pushed me further to learn more on how to go around such limitation and viola, I baked brownies. Plus, it did not stop there as I watched more and more videos about baking and cooking and constantly talking to her about her experiences, recipes and some casual conversations. I might be going back to my computer but trust me, I also keep on going away from it. Sometimes, all it takes for you to get out is money but if you do not have the money, you can always find a lot of ways to get out. AAaaaand I must say, even if I talked to a person I knew, I actually met a new person as I talked to this person even more. We do not talk to much during our college days and now the opportunity came to go deeper on certain stuff.

I admit, again and again, that I have committed a looot of mistakes and missed a lot of opportunities but it did not stop me from pulling myself together again and give a shot at trying to move. I missed some chances of getting into a relationship, sometimes being stupid for some attempts but hey, at least I tried! There are people who are saying that trying is pointless if you do not push so much effort in it. My opinion, the fact that you tried, effort is very well present in there. So how about the people involved? Well, for me there is absolutely no point at being angry with them as that will only prevent you from rebuilding yourself.

Of course, in risking, you still have to step your mind up. I mean, there are risking that are quite stupid at some point of view. Risking will always require you to get a good view and assessment of the situation.

One thing that can help, I think, when risking is a good friend to catch you when you fall down. When I say good friend, he or she is not just going to listen but scold at you, tell you that you are an absolute idiot just to wake you up and more importantly, give you the best advice so that you will be able to avoid mistakes again in the future. I am not saying avoiding it fully, just avoid it as much as you can because mistakes are, to be honest, reaaally inevitable. 🙂

Just give it a go. Nothing will be lost. Only the material side. :))

In the end, as what I have heard before, it is better to say “Oh well” than “What If”

update: any stories, comments or questions to share/ask? I am an e-mail or PM away. 😀

Getting my eating habits on track

Yes, I am sooooooooo thin, legendary for being an underweight and so I have to rethink the way I eat. I start first with trying to eat on time, meaning I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at time spots wherein I will not feel full when the time comes for the next meal. For example, I do not eat breakfast on time, meaning I usually eat breakfast at about ten in the morning. The routine does not let me eat by lunch time because I feel like I am still full and not hungry. Same goes for the transition from lunch to dinner. So while being bum here in the house, our helper found out this bad habit of mine and made sure that I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on time. Moreover, she mandated that whatever she serves and how much, I should eat it. For example, I usually scoop about 3/4 or 1/2 cup of rice every meal. When she took over my routine practice, she always placed rice 50% of the plate and I have to eat them all.

And I realized (stupid me) this bad habit of mine when I went out one morning and saw how I ate outside of the house. Even worse, I realized that I have been doing that bad routine since the start of college. So now I have to eat on time. After getting the habit of eating on time, that is when I will start planning my diet, what to eat to make me, well there is no other word for it, fat. :3

 

First Mountain Climbing Experience

It was my very first mountain climb last January 6, 2013. The mountain chosen by my colleagues was the highest peak in Luzon and the third highest peak in the country, which is Mt. Pulag with its peak at 10,000 feet above sea level. We first went to our inn at Baguio and then travelled to the DENR Ranger station at about 8,000 feet above sea level. Our target for this climb was to see the sunrise at the peak as well as the famous cloud falls, given that it is not raining. With no plans of camping, we set off by 12:30 am Saturday and with timed breaks along the way as well as the overall pacing, we arrived at the peak by 5:30 am.

Starting from the ranger station, we were hopeful for the sunrise as the skies by 12:30 am is still clear and you can still see the stars. According to one of us, he said that the rains are normal on the mossy forest but if the weather is clear, the climb to the summit from Camp 2 should be fine. Unfortunately it started raining on the summit and the chances for seeing the sunrise looked bleak. Also, it rained hard during the previous days which meant that the paths with black soil are so soft and muddy, you can imagine how hard it was to walk through it. It was a super difficult climb with the rains constantly spraying water to you and eventually getting the whole of yourself wet. We were not able to bring rain coats because of our assumption of the weather.

So with the terrible conditions, I slipped down to the ground more than ten times, had a lot of instances wherein I nearly twisted my ankles, lots of cramps and muscle spasms. We arrived at the peak but I had to dive in for shielding from the wind because of my wet clothing. Apparently, the temperature above was playing near two degrees Celsius and with the wet clothes, constant rain and winds, it will easily send me off to death by hypothermia. Glad that there are high plants there that can resist winds so I crouched there while the rest are trying to take pictures.

Going down, I had to remove my gloves to prevent my hands from getting any colder and eat chocolate bars to keep my legs working. Back at Camp two, my breakfast is actually jumping on the plate because of chills. Good thing I have extra shirt so that I can change at least the top body and keep me from chills while travelling back to our inn.

In total, a shirt, two jackets, a mountain climbing bag, jeans and jogging pants and three socks and gloves suffered immense weathering. Also my pelvis included joint pains, legs with muscular pains which made me walk like a penguin afterwards as well as my palms for trying to save me after slipping down and my arms for trying to pull myself out of ditches.

It was a crazy attempt, some say, to have your initiation of mountain climbing on something like Mt. Pulag, even worse at those conditions. They said I should’ve started with lower mountains. Thankfully, I survived the climb. I was also amazed that despite the lack of preparations, both in gear and in body, I still managed to tread along continuously. It was fun.. Disappointing because we were not able to see the sunrise but as a first experience, it was fun.

I want attempt #2. 🙂

Year 2012

I will just say significant events in my life for 2012 since a lot of us are saying “There are a lot of things that happened in 2012” but cannot really recall all of them. 🙂

First of all, the graduation from college was this year. It was quite a bizarre event for me because there are things that happened that made it a little bit sad but still great (after some time, I realized, it was not sad, afterall).  Five years in college was tough as your batch mates are already graduating and you still have one more year to go. With the help of other friends and course mates, we were able to endure BS ECE and graduated on time. It was tough but fun at the same time.

Second, the failure of board exams. Yeah it was really disappointing but given what was happening behind, I guess I can live with it. What I cannot take are the smug faces of those people who got it by luck or whatever. But, here we are, they have their licenses and I hope it will give them a big help. I remember one high school friend of mine that I met in TENCON in Cebu and asked him if he got the exam. He replied yes, but quickly told me that he does not need that license as it will really bring nothing much into his preferred career. He does not even plan on renewing that license and he hates paying penalty fees.

Third, new friends 🙂 Although most of them are still in Gabay since most of my year are tucked within the school proximity. Still, even if it makes me old, I miss people calling me Kuya Pau or Lolo Pau. For sure, I will be waiting for someone to shout Kuya Pau from afar when I am working. And I know they are good friends because just this December when I needed someone to talk to or just simpy gather some opinions, they were there for me, told me what they think and some possible things I can do. I cannot wait to see them once they all gather back here in Manila. 🙂

Fourth, the people who are guiding my spiritual life. Another year of full-blast effort and attention to my spiritual life. These people, you will really observe dedication to improve other people’s spiritual lives and I am thankful that they are still beside me, guiding me everyday on what to do, how to encounter problems in life and solve them.

Fifth, the blessings, material and non-material. At the start of 2012, I really did not expect much of gadgetry despite having a part time job by May because I am not really interested much even if technology is shooting up. However, I am still blessed with some opportunities to get some things I want. For instance, the Nexus 7 tablet was the very first gadget I got out of my work and it was a blessing indeed because I got it with no shipping fees, which means I got it for the price that Google exactly indicated in their store. The others are simply love from family and friends. The care that my parents have given me, despite their strict nature, the Ninongs and Ninangs who are there to ask how am I doing and my inaanak. Yep, I became ninong this year and so far I am happy with my inaanak. I even teach her Math! 🙂

Sixth, Love life? Hahaha! MISFORTUNES! But I learned a lot from those events. In fact, I may have been avoided a catastrophe but of course, all the moments and such… oh well. 🙂 Just recalling some of the events, makes me laugh.

There are also some events that have brought me into a thinking spot and even got me misinterpreted. Sometimes, confusion come along, either I really do not know what is happening or someone is messing things up. The introvert in me is surely making things a little bit miserable for me but at least it is keeping me on the safe side. So far I am doing well with things and I love what I am doing right now. 2012 taught me a lot of things through people and events.

Ups and Downs were a lot this year, I got confused, got scolded by people for some reason I cannot understand or rather I cannot put things or their side into context. There are people out there who are ready to bring me back to the road and escort me until I can go again on my own. I want to do more of that this year.

To the people who became part of my 2012, I love you guys so much, I miss you and I hope I will see you soon. 🙂 >:D<

 

Hopefully 2013 will not be just a year of better life, no more miseries, but rather a year of more challenges, more opportunities to learn, more chances to meet new people, then that better life can be achieved. 🙂

 

Cheers to 2013. Big *stuffs* ahead. :))))))))) *mwah*

I cannot think of something to write

Asus Nexus 7 Dock

It is not yet available worldwide as of this moment, but I got a unit at hand straight from Japan and here it is, the Nexus 7 Dock. The dock costs 3480 Japanese Yen from the Japanese Asus online store and you have a sturdy, well-built casing, a micro-USB port to feed power to the dock and a 3.5 mm jack for audio.

The packaging is also well made and simple. Well, when I say simple, you only get the dock and a folded manual. The manual also have different languages which suggests worldwide release.

The dock, however, have some requirements. First, your Nexus 7 should be running the latest iteration of the Jelly Bean, which is 4.2. I have not yet tried Nexus 7 with older OS and I will not be able to because all of my colleagues that have a Nexus 7 already have 4.2 on their tabs.

Manual

Ports

The Micro-USB port and the 3.5 mm audio jack can be found at the back of the dock. As I said earlier, the purpose of the Micro-USB port at the back is just to feed in power to the dock. The dock will not work and will not be recognized by your Nexus 7 without it having plugged in with power.

Nexus Logo at front

Asus logo at the rear

You need this to make your dock work.

The good news with this setup is that the power will now be fed through the pogo pins in the dock. This leaves the micro-USB port on your tab to be used for other purposes. Right now I am using it with a USB OTG cable and plugged in some peripherals like game controller and keyboard.

Nexus Pogo Pins

Respective connecting port on the dock.

Attach good quality speakers and plug in HD movies and you have a mini theater system. 🙂

I admit, there should have been more to this dock like what most people expected, a HDMI port but the dock itself is fine. For instance, when docked, you can attach good speakers and you have a mini theater system, given the HD screen. Or, like what I am doing, I attach the speakers, use the micro-USB port of the tab to attach peripherals such as keyboard and mouse and I have a mini android desktop. 🙂 You can also configure how the tab will react when docked:

Daydream options

Audio options

Overall, the dock is nice. It is perfect for your desk at the office or at home, whether you are checking some stuff over the internet or using it to search, say, some recipes for cooking. It is a great companion when you want to set your Nexus 7 up in a landscape, tilted position good for viewing what is on the screen. Oh yeah, you can use it as your table top clock, just make sure you do not push it off the surface when snoozing its alarm. :))

The Night Drive

A friend of mine waited until 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm for the traffic to calm down along Katipunan. It is always traffic because aside from the rush of college students and some primary and secondary students going home late, Katipunan is a major route for people going home from work. Which means that around 5:00 to 7:00 pm, the traffic is heavy. Much more worrying for me who goes beyond Katipunan and reaches the junction that connects Tandang Sora and the way to Capitol Hills and that street who’s name is quite difficult to pronounce or spell “Zuzuaregi”. Both ways can bring me to Commonwealth and new traffic problems arise from there.

So last Friday, all Christmas parties squeezed in and I asked permission to bring the machine so that I will not bother my parents for fetching me late at night. Rest assured, the 12 o’clock rule will be followed. That rule means you have to be home before 12 midnight. 😀 (Sounds weird for someone who’s out of college but come to think of it, I am still living under their roof so technically, I cannot complain. 😀 Despite the car.. :D) So they let me bring the car for Friday and joy of joys, it was also my cleanup day and I can place all my things in the car with no problem, including the bike I borrowed from my brother.

Then the parties started! Almost all of the venues were inside the campus except one: AECES Christmas party. I went there just to check what is going on because I am sure, alcohol will be involved. 🙂 And yeah, there is alcohol when I went there and a lot of people who recognized me tried sharing drinks with me and were denied. I said, I will be driving tonight, I cannot afford shattering one of the headlights. Being the senior among them, they cannot force me. 🙂 So after some meeting with other people I know, my batch mate who is a teacher of these people, decided to go home at quarter to ten.

Driving alone sure is a bit lonely, especially during the night. Not even music from stereo can help as I even consider it as distraction. I was able to escape Katipunan traffic due to late driving but I was not able to escape the terror from the junction though it was moving quite at a considerable speed but still many vehicles. One thing I have noticed with driving at night is that it did not make me wonder why a lot of accidents happen during late times. The dark environment with flashy lights is the main contributor. Much more difficult in my case as my car is fully tinted as if I have super ugly face that I do not want people seeing it. Another is that vehicles tend to move faster as authorities also sleep with the night and that the only people awake are the medics and some police just waiting for emergency calls but anticipating authorities on the road, nah.

What is nice about driving at night is that, at certain parts of the route home, there are vacant roads or at least only few cars around which makes you relax a bit and because of the silence of driving alone, it can make you realize that it could be a time to think, time to work stuff out. 🙂

That is why that night, I had quite a fruitful conversation with someone. 🙂 and I am happy with it. My 2012 can end well. 🙂