Summertime

The sun and the warm weather are one of the few things I learned to appreciate ever since I’ve experienced living in a country wherein maybe 9 out of 12 months in a year are cool or damp. It is these 3 months that people can finally wear their shorts, flip flops, sleeveless shirts and sundresses.

From previous summers, I remember looking forward to being able to hike and run outside. This summer was totally different. I didn’t even get to hike, and only ran maybe 5 times, max this summer. I thought buying new runners would inspire me to go running more, but no, it did not (unfortunately).

I think this year was a little different because of a couple of things – my grandpa passed away end of Spring, early summer, and things were a little hectic for a while and I couldn’t really “have fun” for 100 days, or during grieving period. Also, before, I used to join folks from Manila on “pasyal” trips. Now, not anymore. Maybe because I don’t know or I’m not close to most of the people who were were sent here to work for a couple of months. Another factor could be, I started spending a lot more time with someone new too!

This doesn’t mean though that I didn’t do anything at all this summer. As I thought more about it, there were a couple of “fun” things I did this time around.

1. Golf

It all started when I joined a golf tournament at work. Mind you, I only played pitch and putt twice and did driving range only once before. But this year, I ended up going to the driving range maybe twice, and went to play a half – 3/4 part of a full golf 18 hole course (aside from the tournament itself). Took us 3.5 hours to finish, but super fun.

I enjoyed it so much that I’ve been thinking about getting my own set of clubs and maybe getting some beginner’s lesson. But, as always, I haven’t done any yet. Budget constraints + storage area concerns.

Previously, golf had this impression on me that it was such a slow-paced and boring sport. But after playing it a couple of times, I’ve learned to appreciate it more and why people actually get addicted to it.

2. Sunset Watching

Went to the beach and watched the sun set. Did this activity three times. Wonderful. Relaxing.

3. Outdoor Movie

I’ve always wanted to do this!! We did this a couple of weeks back. It can get cold late at night though so don’t forget to bring blankets! And, I’d suggest to bring lounge chairs or something similar instead of just sitting down on top of picnic blankets on the grass. Can you imagine watching a movie for an hour and half without any back support? Tough!

4. Tandem Bike Ride

I love riding a bike, but I’d never though I’d end up riding … a tandem bike!

Not only did we end up riding a tandem bike (his idea, btw), but when he picked me up, and this is no joke – we were wearing a matchy matchy attire – light purple shirt and khaki shorts/capris. I am not one who is a big fan of  wearing matching stuff but I think he was because… I think he was very happy about the coincidence (I remember during one event we went to before that he gave me a shirt to wear that’s exactly the same shirt as he had on. I just didn’t wear it because it was too big).

So picture this, tandem bike ride + matching outfits. Eye catching for sure. Someone shouted to us at some point: “Go Purple Team!” LOL!

5. Paint Nite

My officemate invited me to join her for an event called “Paint Nite”. It’s a 2 hour event wherein you paint on your own, with no requirement of having to be artistic or experienced in painting. You attempt to copy a painting, while someone is guiding and teaching you.

The two hours flew by so quickly! That’s how much fun we had. To be honest, we hardly talked to each other anymore because we painted and painted and painted! The teacher made everything sound and look easy.

And below is the end result. The one on the right is my creation! Great activity to do with your friends.

Now I can’t seem to stop listing down more things that I did or experienced this summer.

Overall, I enjoyed this summer. A little different from the past summers – lots of new memories created and new activities experienced. Now, looking forward to the Fall season!

Book

The Fault In Our Stars is a best selling young adult novel by John Green about teenagers facing the agony of cancer and the happiness of finding love amidst the situation they are in.

My younger sister had read this a while back and has been telling me to read it. I feel a little old reading a young adult book, but who cares, I am a sucker for love stories anyway, may it be for adults or young adults. Thus, I finally decided to read it. By the way, there’s an upcoming movie based on this novel as well.

Like many other young adult love stories that I’ve read (and believe me, I’ve read a lot – Love Stories series!), it reminds us all of how fun it is to be in love, even if you’re facing the worst of circumstances. Hazel and Augustus learns something great about life and love even if they knew that any time now, their cancer can steal them away from this world, from each other.

I find the book a little more sentimental than other young adult novels I’ve read. It’s kind of like a Nicholas Sparks novel, except that it’s geared more towards  young adults.

I’ve read a lot of books recently, and truth be told, the reason why this book stands out and had me writing a little something about it is because this nice guy I’ve been spending a lot of time with recently suggested that we read a book together and I pick which one we would read at the same time. And since this book’s been popping everywhere into my life, I picked this.

It’s a fun and simple activity that makes things a little different from what I’ve experienced before. For someone like me who likes reading, it’s awesome to actually be able to discuss it with someone else. In fact, he even mentions a specific page wherein according to him, when he read it, reminded him of something I did a couple of times that he, for some reason cannot forget:

As I reread that night, I kept getting distracted imagining Augustus Waters reading the same words. I wondered if he’d like it, or if he’d dismiss it as pretentious. Then I remember my promise to call him after reading The Price of Dawn, so I found his number on its title page and texted him.

Price of Dawn review: Too many bodies. Not enough adjectives. How’s AIA?

He replied a minute later: As I recall, you promised to CALL when you finished the book, not text.

In other words, he said that I never gave him a call back even if he requested that I call him back (because I couldn’t get to his calls when he tried calling me up during those couple of times). I always replied back via text. Well, that’s me! Funny, now that I think about it.

Since this book is now done, the next thing I’m looking forward to is for the movie to come to the theaters some time June this year. Something we can both look forward to as well.

Snowboarding

For me, winter season has only been about the cold weather and wearing layers of clothing to keep myself warm. This season though, I think I’ve gotten more out of it, and enjoying it more because I was able to do a lot more winter activities this time around. A few weeks back, I got to try cross country skiing. And last Saturday, I was finally able to try snowboarding. Winter activities though can be expensive. Aside from the gears that you will rent (if you don’t have your own), you also need to buy lift tickets. But at the end of it all, it’s all about the experience – did you enjoy? Did you have a wonderful time?

They said that snow came in a little late this season so even though it was already March, there was still some new snow up in Cyress that day. New snow is nice because it keeps the slopes powdery soft and makes it look even more beautiful and pristine. Below is one shot of Cypress Mountain from base. This was one of the locations during the Vancouver Winter Olympics last 2010. They still have the Olympic logo up.

As this was my first time snowboarding, I was mentally and physically prepared to fall down a lot. I did fall a couple of times, with the last big fall resulting into a huge bruise of different color near my butt. I still blame the girl who sort of slightly collided with me as we alighted from the ski chair lift. When you’re in the lift, you only wear one of the boots in the snowboard and your other boot is not strapped into the board. So when we alighted from the ski lift, we both fell down and I ended up falling sitting down into the other empty boot strap in my snowboard, causing me this huuuuuge colorful bruise by my butt/hamstring area. Ouch. After a week, it’s still there – thankfully, not as painful anymore.

My free lessons were provided by my friend – my “teacher” for the day! Two other friends were supposed to come with us but one of them ended up being sick so they had to back out. Too bad because our designated teacher was pretty good and patient. That or I was a good student – learned quickly. Depends I suppose who you ask.

We first started with the basics, and then moved on to the bunny hills. This is an excellent way to start learning snowboard – gliding down on a not so steep slope, taking your time. I think we were there for 1-2 hours just going down the bunny hill, then walking up again, and then back. It gives you a little bit more confidence especially since the next you want to try is the higher slope – this is the time you’d need to ride the ski lift already. My officemate gave me this simple advise, that I followed, and worked like a charm. When you’re turning, exaggerate – do not hesitate and just pull your other leg around in an exaggerated manner. It is quite hard to explain here, but if in the event I have friends who are new to snowboarding, I will give them this tip for sure.

I think majority of the hard work happens in the core and lower body. Seems like it’s mostly in the legs for balancing and breaking, and then the core to assist you for movement and picking yourself when you fall down. Snowboarding take a lot of strength, that’s for sure. And during snowboarding downhill, having a lot of hesitations will make you fall down more. Be cautious, but not too much too. It’s like riding a bike - when you’re too slow and hesitate a lot, it’s much harder to balance the bike. 

As much as it was so much fun to snowboard, the after effects the next day were terrible. Two huge bruises in my butt and hamstring, and my legs were very sore. The shins in my legs hurt because of the boot. Over fatigue. Then again, we were snowboarding for almost 5-6 hours. Did I enjoy? Yes, definitely. I was hoping to try it again, however, winter season is almost over so I might have to wait for the next season before I can enjoy this activity again. It’s tiring, but fun and exciting at the same time. It’s more exhilarating than cross country skiing for sure, especially with the speed that comes with it. Until next season then!

Winter Season!

This winter season is by far the most memorable I’ve had. A lot of firsts.

Snowmobile

Last January 18 – two days after I came back to Vancouver from Manila, my friends and I had a planned snowmobile tour activity up in Whistler. There was a discount package from Groupon that gave us around 50% discount for the tour package. Couldn’t get any better than that. So we bought and booked it last November.

How it’s setup is that each tour group will have one tour guide, and depending on how many you are in the group, you may have to share a snowmobile with another person. The tour guide will bring you to different routes, trails and sights. If I remember correctly, the whole tour took around 1.5 or 2 hours. You can also swap with your partner as to who gets to drive the snowmobile.

I only tried to drive the snowmobile once for maybe 15 minutes. The rest of the trip, I decided that I wanted to the passenger instead of the driver. For me, getting to drive it once was good enough, and I preferred to sit at the back as I get to enjoy the sights more!

This is an activity I would probably just do every now and then. For one, it’s expensive, and two, I still prefer driving a car over snowmobiles. haha

Cross Country Skiing

The original plan last Saturday was to do a snow shoe tour up in Cypress Mountain. But that same morning, my friend suggested that we try cross country skiing instead (Both of us haven’t tried it yet too). Unfortunately, I never got to snap any photos at all during my 4 hour cross country skiing endeavor, and thus I only have here a picture to remind me of my first ever cross country skiing experience – my new goggles.

Usually in cross country skiing, you won’t need to wear goggles. Goggles are primarily used for downhill skiing and snowboarding. However, we ended up buying one because there was such a heavy snowfall that day that we needed something just to cover up our eyes.

I never knew this before, but cross country skiing is a bit different from downhill skiing. One of the main difference between the two is that the boots used in cross country skiing has its back detached from the ski itself, as opposed to downhill, where both front and back of the boot is attached to the ski. Aside from that, the size of the ski for cross country is a little bit narrower as compared to downhill skiing.

Cross country skiing is simple, it’s like walking on skis. However, the challenge for me is during the low downhill slopes where you need to break or change directions. So hard and stressful! The way to break your speed is to move your skis on an angled placement - think of it as an inverted V, and then pushing outward. It looks so easy when you see other people do it, but when you yourself have to do it, nerve-wracking! I think I fell face down a couple of times!

And you know that you’ve been working so hard because when I went home, my inner long sleeved shirt was wet by the armpits and the elbow part. To think it was snowing like crazy up in the mountain – I’m pretty sure that wasn’t because it was hot! I was quite sore the following day too. But all in all, this is a fun activity/workout that I would definitely do again, maybe every weekend (if I were rich!).

Snowboard

Maybe this weekend? I do have new snow pants that I just bought this week. Haha

A Few Thoughts On My Recent Trip Back Home

Going back home for the holidays last November/December/January was an experience I will always treasure.

It was the first time I came back to visit my family and friends in Manila since deciding to move permanently to Canada. Although it was only 7 months prior that I did move to Canada, the thought that I have uprooted myself and moved here makes me miss everything back home so much more. When I used to stay in Canada for 3-6 months a year, I didn’t feel like I was missing a lot from back home. But now, there’s just so much more to miss, and at the same time, appreciate.

Living abroad permanently gives you a better sense of appreciation of everything – this could be family or friends that you may have taken for granted, or things that you hated about Manila but in fact, missed so much as well (the irony!).

Such  a blessing it was when my manager allowed me to stay put in Manila for an “extended” vacation of 6.5 weeks (includes 3 weeks of actual work). I had to burn the midnight oil for my work though, but who cares. It gave me another 3.5 weeks to spend with family and friends.

Aside from the pasalubongs that I brought home with me, I also brought back to Manila my new and improved (but still not good) cooking and baking skills! So of course I had to show it off to my family! I cooked siopao, spinach gratin, mushroom stuffed spinach and cheese,  chicken and broccoli, and some other. I baked my favorite banana bread, and made two apple pies! Funny thing is, my mom had this new oven toaster that’s still in the box, never been touched, never been used for a few months! My mom was so happy someone finally took it out of the box and used it!

For some reason, I loved cooking and baking for them, even though my dad almost never ate anything I made unless I forced him to do so. I fondly remember cooking my spinach stuffed mushroom and preparing apple cider (Christmas eve) and baking my apple pie (New Year’s eve) where in my guests of honor were required to eat and drink everything I prepared. :) Fortunately, the family gladly obliged.

This was just one of the few things that I enjoyed doing for them and with them. The gatherings for lunch and dinner together - spending time with each other made my trip more memorable. As I live far away from them now, I have learned to appreciate the time that I have been given with them even more. And with the younglings around, it’s just so much more fun! Take a look at the picture below!

 

I have to mention that friends also made my stay in Manila much more enjoyable. The chitchats and gossips, what more can I say? So worth it!

As dramatic as this post may sound, what I want to share is that I am one blessed person. I love the life I am slowly building here in Canada, and yet, I also and still have a wonderful life back home in Manila, which will always give me something to look forward to each year, that is, going back on another trip to a place I call my home.

food again

I kept myself busy this weekend by spending a lot of time in the kitchen, and in food related activities. Well, I did clean the bathroom, which I hate doing, but is a necessity anyway – in other words, no choice! Oh and I did go back down to the garage just to check if my bike’s back – but of course it’s not! I must be wishing!

And so instead of punishing myself for not getting better locks for my bike, I instead decided to move on by being a busy bee for the rest of the weekend. So here were the results:

Barley and Lentil Soup

I love making soup because it is very easy to make and at the same time, there are no rules… you can put in whatever you want, season it, and that’s it! But so far, my favorite soup to make is barley and lentil soup. I like barley because its texture is the same as rice and you know how we love rice! And it’s healthier than white rice too.

According to this livestrong article: Is Pearl Barley More Nutritional Than Rice? -

Including more whole grains in your diet can lower your risk of heart disease and help you maintain a healthier body weight, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both pearl barley and brown rice are examples of whole grains. White rice is an example of a refined grain. While some of their nutritional components are similar, pearl barley is a better source of fiber, iron, potassium and folate than either brown rice or white rice.

Lentil on the other hand, is a legume. It’s quite healthy, high in protein and fiber and they give some added thickness to the soup.

The rest of the ingredients I added were broccoli, mushroom, tomato, green peppers, and veggie broth. I didn’t get the taste right after, but my aunt helped me with seasoning it further, and after a few adjustments, it actually tasted pretty good! I made a whole bunch… it’ll probably last us a whole week. Haha!

Banana Bread

And so I’ve been waiting for my bananas to go overripe for more than a week already and finally it’s ready. When I say overripe, I let it turn to black, you know how bananas turn out if you don’t eat it, they turn black, and that’s the state I want my bananas to be. I got this recipe named “Ridiculously Simple Banana Bread” from my aunt and that’s what I followed. To add some more zing into it, I included chocolate chips too!

I think it turned out pretty good, better than what I expected. It’s moist and it’s not too sweet too. My boss in the office brings her home made banana bread to the office every now and then, and I think mine’s much better. Hahaha!

Elderflower syrup – Carbonated Water Drink

Last Friday night, my friend brought me to this wonderful vegetarian restaurant and got me to try out different types of vegetarian food. That was one of the best dinners I’ve had, but I think I’ll reserve that for another post (if I can get to it). One thing that stood out was that he wanted me to try out an Elderflower drink. That’s the first time I even heard that word! No idea at all what it is. And so when it was served, oh did it make a really good impression. It’s a nice sweet flavor. Actually reminded me of sprite, but a lot less subtle. So anyway, I enjoyed it so much that this morning, I went to Gourmet Warehouse, as suggested by my friend because that’s where I can get this (the one of the left):

It’s an Elderflower drink concentrate, like a syrup, but not as thick as let’s say, pancake syrup.

The one on the right, the Gerolsteiner is a carbonated water that I got from a regular grocery store here.

The suggested mixture is 1:6 between the elderflower and the carbonated drink. You can also add some lemon and ice to the drink to make it yummier!

And thus, I made my own drink! Wonderful!

Stolen: my Kona Dew Black 46

My first expensive bike that I love so much… is now lost and probably will never be found.

The last time I used my bike was last Saturday after I rode it to go to Granville Island to attend a walking tour. The next time I was going to ride it was supposed to be this morning, when I was about to go for my Saturday morning bike ride to Stanley Park. I was all geared and up and ready when upon going down to the garage to get my bike, my bike was nowhere to be found!

And more annoying things this is, my other old bike, which I locked my kona with, was still there! F**K!

The problem is, the bike may have been stolen any day of the week!

What a lousy, depressing (and expensive) for a weekend to start. Iniyakan ko pa iyan. Nakaka depress talaga.

Just in case someone just stumbles upon my blog and my bike somehow, here’s the picture.

It’s a Kona DEW Black 46

Stolen around Fraser Vancouver area.

Ramen and Ice Cream

I invited my friend to join me and have a yummy ramen lunch at Motomachi Shokudo. It’s been two years since I was last ate here and it’s still very good. 

Afterwards, we were craving for desert so we walked by Denman and saw Marble Slab where I ended up eating this! It’s similar to Cold Stone creamery. Yummy.

 

We were so guilty afterwards that we decided to walk from downtown all the way to Broadway for MEC store where I was looking to buy front and rear lights for my bike. I think the distance was roughly around 5km, took us an hour or so. And what made it more tiring was that the sun was out and shining the whole time. Nasunog na ako, napagod pa. Well, I do hope nasunog din yung ibang taba ko from the ice cream! But, I was able to walk by Burrard Bridge which showed a spectacular view of the English Bay area.

I was exhausted that I asked my aunt to pick me up from the store afterwards. Haha

some random thoughts

The thing that I really miss the most about the Philippines is my family and friends. To be honest, there are times that I feel sad because I know I am missing a lot of memories from there. Events like, birthdays, parties, or even just regular get togethers with the family and friends.

But whenever I feel sad, I try to focus on the positive side of things.

I think about how blessed I am to be here. I think about how I can walk around here without much stress. I think about how I can run around the neighborhood, how I can ride my bike for 30 kilometers within the busy city and still feel safe. How about the outdoors here? Beautiful. Traffic here is nonexistent in comparison to Manila’s horrid traffic. There’s so much more to say.

Aside from these, the friends and family that I have here reminds me that even though I am away from my friends and family back home, that I still have people here who I can enjoy and have fun with.

This summer was extra special too (and jam packed). I got to attend a few bridal showers, plus just last Saturday, I got to join a few friends for Lechon, Vancouver style!

 

Things like these remind me of how blessed I am.

It does help too that I’ve been here a few times for the past five years so home sickness is really not something I feel every now and then.

Not that I don’t miss home. It’s still a place I terribly miss. But thanks to technology, I can still feel close to the family back home.

Things are different from before because of technology. Now we have Whatsapp, Skype, Hangouts, email, you name it. We even have a whatsapp group where I chat with my family regularly. You can send photos too! Which is why I’m always updated with how the nieces and nephew are. And don’t forget about skype too. When the family recently had a small get together to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday, I got to be in the photo too! Digital anyway! Pwede na! This is proof that technology can still keep us together even if we’re continents apart!

 

And how about sending post cards to people back home? It gives me a smile just thinking about how surprised my friends were when they got the cards (at least I hope they were!)

Being away from home can be quite challenging. And it never ever helps to sulk about the situation because thinking of the glass half full, instead of half empty is the much better perspective on how to look at any situation. I can’t say things are perfect here either. But I choose to be happy.

And of course, it does help that I have something to look forward to in a few months time!

Oh, and how about passing my road test exam yesterday? I am now officially a licensed driver here in British Columbia!

Kona

A year or so ago, I bought myself a new bike back in Manila. Check this post. It was a good bike, but not great. And unfortunately, Malabon area wasn't suited for cyclists so I ended up not using it as much (but that's just one of my excuses). Now it's currently gathering dust in our garage. Hmm, maybe I should just sell that.

Anyway, over the past few months, I've mentioned that I’ve been using my aunt’s old mountain bike to ride around the area. I’ve been enjoying biking here because Vancouver is a cyclist’s city. It’s very bike friendly. There are bike lanes and paths everywhere. Especially during the summertime, there are a whole lot more cyclists you’d see around the city. I’m still not a cyclist commuter, but who knows, maybe next time I’d be like my teammate, who goes to the office using her bike.

As much as I love riding around that bike, there are two major problems with that bike. First is that the lower gears are very noisy. Since it wasn’t used for a long time, it just probably needs more tuning, or maybe even parts replacement, who knows. I had it checked out previously, but he said that it might have to be replaced. The challenge with being unable to switch to lower gears is when you’re riding uphill. Bike just gets too heavy that I have to just walk the uphill area.

And this brings me to the next concern that I have – the bike is a bit too heavy for me. It’s actually built as a mountain bike. I wanted something of a hybrid between commuter and road bikes.

And besides, it’s really not mine, it’s rusty….

And… ok, I’m giving myself a lot of reasons why I need to get myself a new one.

And thus, last Saturday, I finally got it. My new toy!!!!

It’s a Kona Dew 2013 model. It’s the basic model of the Kona line of bikes and it’s a hybrid between commuter and road bike.

My cyclist friend recommended a nice bike shop by Burnaby and so I decided to drop by there last Saturday. My friend actually recommended this brand as well, and when I asked the shop keeper what he would recommend, he actually recommended this Kona Dew for me. It’s a pretty good bike model for someone who’s simply looking for a good ride to get around the city.

He allowed me to test the bike outside the bike shop (there’s a bike pathway just by the back). After riding it for just 5 minutes, I loved it so much that I went back and bought it at once! 

It is however on the pricey side…but nothing to worry about because I’m loving it so far!

I had to wait for Sunday night to finally ride it out in the city.

My first ride on my Kona was going to Granville Island, which was roughly around 16.6 km according to Runkeeper. I rode it at night, while the sun’s just about to set. And such a wonderful experience because not only did I get to see the sun set by False Creek, but also discovered that there are public pianos situated at different locations along the seaside path, and anyone can freely play on it. I got to watch this awesome lady playing and you can actually see a crowd forming already.

My second bike ride yesterday, I took a different route – towards the Langara golf course. Nice route too. I still hate uphills though (who doesn’t?).

This weekend, I’m planning to go ride further out to Stanley Park this time. A lot of cycling routes available so it should be a good and safe ride too.

Now, the next project I have to sell off my aunt’s old bike, that is if it still has some value. Who knows, maybe we can still get some money out of it.

Eventful Summer

2 bridal showers, and 2 weddings.

3 down, 1 more to go.

Looks like I came here just in time to attend these special events.

As it always is when you’re moving to a new place, it’s quite hard to meet new people, let alone make new friends. I am quite blessed and lucky that I’ve been here a few times, which helped me establish some nice relationships with people already. And that made it possible for me to attend such nice and memorable events. In fact, after all the preparations that the friends did just to help make the special occasions awesome, I realize more how great and nice these people are and how much they care for their friends.

Now last Saturday, we had a party in…. guess where…. a yacht! How cool is that.

And you know what made it even better? It was also one of the nights of the Honda Celebration Of Light. It’s similar to what we have back in Manila – PyroOlympics. That night, it was United Kingdom and their theme was James Bond! This is the first time I got to watch the fireworks here, and add to that, watch it from the best seats on the house – from a yacht! Awesome! 30 minutes of wonderful fireworks. Unfortunately, I only had my phone with me so I didn’t get some nice shots. Themed music was also playing in the radio so that everyone can enjoy the show more.

So of course, the nights ends with almost everything perfect, except that I had to carry this small table, that unfortunately pulled a strand out of my dress, which clearly shows that there is a “run”, just like in stockings. It’s just a small damage, however, the thing is, I just borrowed this dress! Grrr! What a way to spoil the day!

yummy!

 

Doesn’t this look yummy?

Don’t be fooled though. I only cooked the chicken, the mexican rice is actually one flavor of Sidekicks, a.k.a. easy to cook meals. :)

But last weekend, I did prepare, with the help of my Aunt – my amah’s amazing, yummy, delicious siopao! I still need to work on properly closing the buns. If you don’t close it properly, there’s a tendency that the sauce from the inside will ooze out – as we call it… “sinipon”. You’ll actually see a lot of the siopao in the pictures below that were not closed properly.

On another note, I’ve also been into making healthy fruity smoothies lately. It’s very simple to make – grab some fruits, chop it, blend it with crushed ice. Healthy and yummy! I bought a ton of mango and grapes (my favorite!!!) and instead of just eating them all the time, I just decided to make smoothies out of them as well.

The one of the left is the grape. This is my favorite so far – but I still can’t mimic the grape shake that I love from Pancake House.

The one on the right is the Mango shake. I’ve also mixed mango with banana or apple. I find the mango-banana combo much better than the mango-apple.

One thing that I find nice with my new life here in Canada is that I feel like I have more time to do things. Maybe it’s because of the lifestyle here. Kahit walang katulong, I get to do more things. Or maybe since we do everything here on our own, I’ve become less lazy.

But I’ve been thinking about it more, and I really think one of main reasons is that I have more energy to move because I’ve been sleeping pretty well here, given the “regular” work hours now and the relaxed commute. Not only that, I do get more exercise these days which gives me that extra energy boost. So even though I find myself getting sad (missing family and friends back home) every now and then, I still find the positive side of things – that I can wake up each morning to a nice place, to a great job, and to a wonderful family and friends who I am still in contact with regularly (thanks Whatsapp! and gtalk and skype).

Bike and Frame

My aunt’s friend Mike is a serious cyclist and he offered to tune up “my” bike last  Wednesday for free. He even gave me a free (according to him – very cheap) bike horn, but will still be useful nonetheless.

This is technically not my bike. My aunt won this bike 5 years ago, and unfortunately, it has never been used since. And as I’ve always wanted to bike around the area anyway so I decided to adopt the bike as my own. It’s a mountain bike and a bit heavy though.

And now that it’s passed the safety checks (though Mike, the cyclist friend, said that he’ll update my brakes next time he drops by), I finally got to use it today do some errands! I biked going to the bank, and then went straight to a framing gallery to pick up my order.

This framing gallery makes custom frames for any of your framing needs. I had this name board that I’ve been carrying around which was a gift a few months back. So instead of this name board rotting in my cabinet, I decided to go try and get it framed last week. It was the first time I got something framed and it was a nice experience. You get to pick everything from the frame type, frame color, and even the boards, what’s the size, etc. It’s a complex piece after all. The lady in the shop who would be doing the frame was really helpful. She helped me decide the design and gave me suggestions on what would be nice. In fact, when I picked up my order earlier, she remembered me and even gave me a discount from her original quotation!

And so, here’s the finished product!

And that is now properly parked in my room:

walking and reading

walking

This is where I walk by every day going to work.

 

Via this route, I can take the bus, but since it’s only a kilometer, I usually walk, and then take another bus to work. That’s what I enjoy here, you can walk anywhere and feel quite safe and peaceful.

Of course, only if the weather is good. If the weather is freezing cold, I don’t think I’d feel happy walking around!

And since I take the bus now, I also get to read more now!

reading

And thanks to Rhys – I finally have it:

I’ve been delaying buying one for the longest time, and I finally have it! Paperwhite!  And it is the best. You can now read at night! That was one of the main problems of the kindle before, you need a night lamp to assist you with reading in the dark.

I already gave up my samsung tablet to my parents and sister in Manila and so far, kindle and my smartphone has totally replaced the tablet (which means, I am not missing it).

What I found amusing with Amazon is how easy it is to purchase books, and to load books into your kindle. You can do your shopping either via the amazon website, or via kindle’s store itself. For my first book, I bought “Silver Linigs Playbook”. I’ll talk more about this on another post.

Another thing that made me love kindle even more is how easy it is to load files into it. It can be as simple as sending a file via your "kindle” email, which loads it into your online repository (via its cloud) and then automatically syncs to your kindle! Managing your books online is good too.

My bus rides and bus waits have been made more interesting by my kindle. I’m currently reading “The Girls With The Dragon Tattoo”. Funny thing is, I’ve read the second and third book already! Haha

run and walk

I dragged myself out of bed around 11 AM to go for a jog outside.

I got a new nike armband so I wanted to test it out as well. It’s quite small, but can easily fit my keys, my bus pass, and some money. Unfortunately, my galaxy cellphone won’t fit. Too bad, I wanted to take pictures of where I end up running. Maybe next time when I just take a walk.

Since it was quite cold outside, I wore three layers of clothing, my shirt, a long sleeves shirt, plus my jacket (when I was on my way home, I saw another running, wearing only shorts and a shirt! LOL). After running a kilometer on an uphill slope, I was dead tired, breathing heavily and my lungs had some trouble adjusting with the cold weather for some reason. I was planning to head off to a farther shopper’s drug mart to purchase my bus pass, but I ended up retreating and instead went to a nearby shopper’s drug mart instead.

And while walking around for a bit, I just realized how different the place is from 2 years ago (that last time I came here). Along this main street, I see a lot of new shops, cafes, and even a new yoga place. I saw this one European cafe that sells fresh European breads. I don’t know what are European breads but I will try it out a little later. It’s just around a 5 minute walk away.

Walking or running out and about is a good way to explore the city. Although I’ve only started exploring this part of the city, maybe as the weeks come by, and with the weather getting warmer, I might be able to explore and discover nice little places and shops further out of the area I’m living at. Hopefully next week, I’d find some time to walk around downtown, or maybe go running again near False Creek area too.

I wish I could’ve done something like this in Manila. I just think our city back home is not pedestrian friendly. Maybe the weather limits us too, or the places are too crowded. Or maybe I’m just lazy when I’m back home. But I’d like to envision something like this in the Philippines, where we have parks in every area, or maybe where it’s a quiet place and people can freely walk around to relax (not only in villages and subdivisions, but all around the city). I think slowly we’re getting to this mindset too. I remember walking around in MOA area by the bay, that’s a pretty good place to walk around. And Ayala Triangle’s a nice start – where there’s a park in the middle of a bustling city. Nuvali’s supposed to be developed with eco in mind. One can only hope for the best.

And hopefully next time, I can run a bit longer than just 1.5 km. Haha

Few Updates

Flight

I took home a few items from my Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. The strawberry jam was part of the brunch while the small box – that’s actually chocolate from my dinner there.

Cathay had a pretty good menu (might be because I booked then Premium Economy). Not only were the utensils silverware, but my dinner menu had an option for Australian Prime Beef with Haagen Dazs as dessert! The overall experience was not too bad. Apart from the menu, the main difference I noticed from the premium economy as compared to economy was the leg space. The space disparity is very much noticeable.

SIN

I went to Canada Services to have my SIN # (Social Identification Number). It wasn’t very far so I decided to just walk. It was a 20 minute walk one way, so all in all, took 40 minutes back and forth. The problem was though it was sunny outside, but it was so windy! Sumakit ulo ko pag uwi.

I was only asked to wait for about an hour before I was called. I was there at around 11 AM, and was out around 12 noon. The person who assisted me was very friendly too. How I wish we have a similar system like this in Manila. Everyone won’t be grumpy anymore when it comes to government services.

Cooking

I was tasked by my aunt to cook dinner for us today. I did all the chopping and preps, I just don’t know if I did it right, but hopefully I did. The food’s currently sitting in the cooking pot for about 30 minutes now. I think I started it up a little early because it’s only 4:30 PM and the food’s almost done. haha. I was afraid it would take an hour or so to prepare it, apparently not. It smells good though!! I think it’ll be another 20 minutes. I put in salt and pepper too, I just don’t know if seasoned it right, we’ll know later. 

 

Starting a new chapter

Around 5 and a half years ago, I got a call (or was it an IM message) from a guy named Gerald asking me if I was interested in applying for an opening in their company for a Java developer. Unfortunately at that time, I couldn’t entertain it because I still had a few months left in my contract. I told him that and he said, ok, I will give you a call back in a few months.

A few months later, around March 2008, he did call me back and asked if I was open already to apply for the job, and I said yes.

Fast forward 5 years later, a new change. I’m now moving to Vancouver to continue working there.

Around July last year, my boss offered me a permanent job in Vancouver. It took me a week or so to even decide on it and say yes. I used to say that I am happy with the way things are right now, but then again, as I thought about it more and more, an opportunity like this is not often offered to anyone, anytime. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been given to me – more of a blessing. I think God made sure that I stay put here, just because he has something bigger planned to me, and lo and behold, two years after my attempted escape from that company, I’m about to start something new.

To be honest, my mom was hesitant (but supportive), while my dad said go (considering that he used to be an immigrant there decades ago and went back here to Manila). A few friends said go, a few friends asked why. I think hesitations are normal when making a decision like this. Aside from telling them that this is a great opportunity, I also let them know, that it’s always better to have tried, than never to have tried at all. I say that in the most sincerest way that I can (even though sigurista ako pagdating sa pag-ibig).

So the time has come for me to pack. I am flying off to start this new chapter of my life this coming Saturday. An event like this brings about a mixture of excitement and sadness. Excited because it’s a start of something new. And sadness because I am leaving the place I’ve called home for the past 29 years. I will miss my family and friends the most. I will miss Grant and the twins. I will miss having my mom and dad who are always there when I need something. I will miss my friends who has always been there for me through my ups and downs. However, I will definitely not miss the traffic and the very very very hot summers here. 

Amidst all the anxieties and troubles of preparing for the move, I found out that I am just about the most blessed person in the planet because I have my family and friends who loves me so much. So much so that they even surprised me with free lunches and a few memorabilia for me to bring to Canada.

Parting Gifts

My wonderful friends threw me a wonderful Tong Yang despedida party a few weeks back. I thought it would only be the ladies, but I was surprised that my wonderful friend Leda invited a few more folks to join us for our hotpot lunch. Not only did they treat me for lunch (my favorite place, by the way), but they even surprised me with a beautiful scrapbook of various pictures and letters that symbolize our friendship over the years. It was so much fun looking at those pictures. I love it so much that I couldn’t keep the smile off my face every time I open it and sift through it. My mom said that I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends.

And my brother and sister in law also surprised me with a nice little sling travel pouch (not in the picture) for my future travels, plus a beautiful Holy Rosary and a framed picture of the whole family taken during their wedding last February.

My parents and sister surprised me too - with a new cellphone! This has a funny story attached to it. I was going to buy a new cellphone just so I can bring it over to Canada and I can go on roaming for my globe number. My current Nokia phone is too cheap, thus not a tri-band phone. I told my mom I was going to buy it on Tuesday. That same day, my brother sends me a text message telling me that I don’t need to buy a new cellphone, he will just give his old phone to me… for free. Yehey! I was so happy that I wanted to get it from him that same day. When I came home that night, I saw a paper bag in my desk with… notes and words that said that it’s a gift from my mom, dad, and sister. And to my surprise, it’s a new galaxy phone! Yey!! Apparently, my mom went on panic mode after I told her that I was really going to buy a new phone that day and quickly called my brother to do everything he can to stop me from doing that. They ended up going to SM Annex to look for a cellphone – no model in mind, which is probably why it took them forever to get the one they gave me. 3 hours I think. Haha they went back and forth to various models. Nahilo na daw sila.

Nevertheless, I would’ve been very happy already with the time I got to spend with my family and friends before I leave. But having these thoughtful gifts showered upon me is such a blessing indeed.

I may be far away geographically, but my family and friends will always be in my heart all the time. And with technology these days, it’s very easy to keep in touch! Sabi nga ni Leda, pwedeng pwede mag “E-numan”!

Cleanup Day 3

With the impending arrival of: #1 twins and Grant next week, and #2 Grandpa and Grandma from Canada in two weeks time, I set out to do a week long clean up project for the house. The objective is to clean up all unnecessary documents, trash and random items that are still hanging around our house.

It is day 3 of my week long project clean up project, and it’s been tiring so far.

As soon as I got home, I started to tackle my office / brother’s old room / my room. I cannot believe how much dust has gathered on one of these open cabinets that we have. I found meters and meters long of LAN cables too! I even found old playstation games, as well as VHS tapes. Can you believe it? I don’t think this part of the house has been touched for years!

Amongst the junk and the dust could potentially come some prized items. Unfortunately I didn’t find any today. I did find one yesterday when I was cleaning up my trolley cabinet. I actually found the few St. Christopher tokens that I bought a few years back when I was in Montreal. My mom quickly got one to give out to her friend.

After working on it for an hour or so, I looked back at my finished product and well, it doesn’t seem like there’s any change at all. But if you look at the box of junk that I was able to pull out of the room, you’d wonder how all these fitted this room for a long time.

I am targetting another corner of the house tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have enough energy left to do so.

Lasik

If I remember correctly, I started wearing glasses when I was in grade school, probably around grade 3 or 4. I only had to wear them because I had astigmatism back then. I thought it was nice to have glasses to wear and so I was excited to wear them! But as I got older, I hated wearing them. By the time I was in high school my eye grade shot up to 200+ something. I was a teenager then so I wanted to get rid of the glasses, and put on contacts instead. And ever since then, I wore contact lenses. Eventually, by the time I was working, for some unknown reason, my astigmatism disappeared all of a sudden and I was left with around a stable eye grade playing around 275 to 325 on both eyes.

Although it may not be as bad compared to my mom, for example, who has 900 grade (that’s almost going blind), I was, for some time, already interested in getting a lasik surgery to bring the grade back down to 20/20. I always remembered my friend who had lasik right after college graduation. He said that why wait to have it later on, when you can have it now, and enjoy the benefits longer. And that did stuck to my mind. However, getting my eye sight back to 20/20 back then wasn’t a high priority. It was a nice to have and not something I really considered.

But that all changed when my dad decided to get one for himself during 2011. He actually had cataract too so I don’t know what the procedure was (I was in Canada that time). You know, when someone close to you finally does something like this, it gives you a better perspective on the whole procedure, that it was safe, fast, and generally, it wasn’t so bad after all.

And so last year, when my dad went to have another check up with the doctor, I went with him to get some initial check done too. Unfortunately, doctor said that she’d prefer if I didn’t wear my contacts for two weeks, before we do the preliminary checkup. So there, I was so used to wearing my contacts that I couldn’t go without it for two weeks. And thus, my pan to have my lasik surgery had to be postponed indefinitely.

Not until early this year, when I finally decided that it was about time. I keep having headaches already when I wear my contact lenses or my glasses. I began hating using either of them. And so after a few weeks of wearing glasses (with the exception of one day where I wore my contact lens – during my brother’s wedding, where I begged my doc to allow me to wear contacts), I finally had my lasik surgery!

The surgery itself was quick and painless. According to my dad, it was around 20 minutes, from the time I entered the room, to the time I excited.

It was an interesting experience. You’re wide awake during the whole procedure. They put in some anesthesia so that you don’t feel anything in your eyes the whole time. They start with one eye, then move on to the next.

First, they put some clamp or something to keep you eye open.  The whole time though, you should just focus on looking at this color flashing in front of you. And then there’s this one procedure wherein everything turns black. I don’t know exactly what they do that time. I wasn’t worried that much because the second doctor who was with us were updating me during each step that we’re going through. He tells me what to expect next so that I won’t be stressed about what’s happening. For the actual lasik surgery, that procedure only takes a few seconds. You can actually smell something burning during this process,  but you won’t feel anything at all.

After the procedure, your vision will be a bit hazy. It’s not 100% yet and you will have this sandy feeling in your eyes. I had to wear protective goggles so that I won’t accidentally scratch my eyes ( I still wear it now, but only when I sleep ). I also had to put in different drops for my eyes too. But in just after around 6 hours, the sandy feeling was gone, and my eye sight was getting clearer and clearer by the minute!

I went out to have Halo Halo that afternoon and I was soooo happy that I can read the plate numbers of the cars already! It was so exciting. And then the next day when I woke up, I didn’t have to grab my glasses anymore to see what time it was! Amazing.

So to whoever discovered this procedure, I salute you. This is a truly one of a kind scientific miracle on its own. Who would’ve though we could finally have our 20/20 vision back again!?

S&R

Back when I was in Canada, I always loved going to Costco. For those unfamiliar with Costco, it is a popular members only warehouse grocery chain that offers cheap and good stuff from groceries, to electronics. Costco offers items by bulk, which is probably why it’s a bit cheaper compared to other grocery chains. My officemates from Manila would usually go there to buy stuff to send for their families back home via balikbayan box. We call it the “relief goods”. I remember buying my pasalubongs from here too!

So apparently here in Manila, we have our very own version of Costco, which is S&R! I know S&R been around for years and years and unfortunately for me, it was only today that I got the chance to step inside this store and realize that we actually had our own version of Costco right here! And what surprised me was that everything was similar. The tire store inside, the food stands where they offer huge slices of pizza (and they’re good too!) and even Kirkland products and the various pastries and huge cupcakes ! They’re all the same! It brought me back to Costco!

So now my mom tells me that, next time, don’t bother buying my pasalubongs from Costco anymore. Just give her money as pasalubong. After all, she apparently, can buy the items I usually get from them here in Manila already. haha. That will actually save me luggage space now! Though, korny kasi when you get home and you don’t have much to take out from your luggage as pasalubong. So, I will still get them the usual chocolates I buy for them (I even saw the truffles there!).

It’s nice to know that S&R can offer different set of items you won’t usually find in other grocery stores. My mom finally signed up for membership, which was only 700 for the year. So, hopefully, I’ll be able to go to S&R more often from now on.