Cute Blogger Award

I got tagged by Tani (Thanks Tani! And sorry, it took me so long!)
As recipient of this award,
1. Each blogger must post these rules.
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
3. Bloggers that are tagged need to write ten facts about themselves. You need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.


So, here are my ten weird, random, little known facts or habits about myself.

1. In relationships, it's inevitable that people fail me or I fail them, and wish we could shut each other out. But either way, I don't burn bridges. In most cases, I just don't cross the bridge. (this can be another topic for another blog time)

2. I am musophobic.
I have this fear in mice/rats. They get me extremely hysterical, they could kill me! In fact they almost did when I was still in my mother's womb. A rat startled mommy that caused her to bleed quite profusely. The doctor gave my precious life an ultimatum. If wednesday comes that the bleeding still doesn't stop, she has to scrape me out. Tuesday, the bleeding stopped... So yeah, my life is meant to be.

3. My first aspiration was to become a nun.

One day, mommy had a chit chat with the mother superior (in our school). And for whatever reason, she sorta bragged that "oh, my daughter wishes to become a nun. She must be a saint in the making!". Then the mother superior went up to me, encouraged me a little more to pursue this dream. And in front of my adviser, she attested that she's been seeing me frequenting the chapel. She LIED! I barely go to the chapel. Well, that made me change my mind. Not only lawyers are liars. Nuns, too.

4. Speaking of lawyer.. If there's any regret or "if only" in my life, maybe that is, not following my dream to become a lawyer.

5. My first love will always be dancing. And I can say that "first love never dies".

6. I love Rainy days. If you happen to have watched the movie "One Fine Day", the weather in that movie can best describe my perfect day. Windy and drizzling all day.

7. I love Fall.

I live in a tropical place wherein rainy or sunny can only be the choice, and I've never experienced fall (or winter, or spring) in my life. But I love fall! The color of the leaves. Orange, yellow, magenta, purple! Fall affects me in a happy kind of way. Kahit sa picture lang..

8. The saying that "silent water runs deep" isn't true in my case.

You can call me a hyperactive teen-ager/kid (note: I am far from that picture now. I've grown to be so demure .. heheh). I was always in the list of noisy girls in class. I laugh and talk a lot. I run around seemingly restless. And you can hate or love me for this. To those who only know me skin-deep, I may appear shallow-headed. But I am a surprise because I am more than that to those people who really know me inside out. At my young age, my human understanding is already broad. Friends come up to me for advice or simply talk about life (almost dissecting life)... I had a friend/roommate who's twelve years older than me. She said she finds me very mature. I think maturely (daw) than other kids my age... So, in my case, noisy water can run deep, too.

9. I fear to be old, wrinkled, and ugly. I am trying to learn to come in terms with this reality.

10. Motherhood did not come so easy for me. After I gave birth to my first born, I suffered from depression for a long time. Was it the hormones? Or did I find it hard to say goodbye to my youth and freedom? (another topic for another blog time).

For the eleventh...

I break rules. So, instead of ten, I'm tagging everybody. Please feel free to add this to your blog.

PAGKAING BINABALIK-BALIKAN (My Homecoming II)

There are foods that I keep coming back for. Foods that I associate with my childhood. And I see to it that everytime I visit home, I get to taste each one of them. Every munch, I savor memories!.. hmmm, heaven...

TOASTED SIOPAO

It's hubby's favorite as well. I'm not sure if this recipe has originated in Naga, but I don't know of any place that sells toasted siopao. Well, good news for toasted siopao lovers in Manila , I heard that Naga Garden Resto has a branch in Market! Market!. They made toasted siopao within our reach now.

PINANGAT

Gabi leaves stuffed with dinikdik na hipon, young coconut, ground pork and cooked in coconut milk. Yummy!

GINATAANG LAMBO (Labong) with clams (shelled)

Siblings favorite! My sisters and brother.. we all crave for this!

LOGLOG

(looks like mami but the distinction is in the sauce)

Who doesn't love loglog?!! Eaten with maruya and softdrinks? Ah, perfect!

BINU-TONG

Malagkit na rice with coconut milk

Some prefer it as is. I prefer it with sugar. Coffee or hot chocolate goes perfectly with it!

CHEESE BURGER @ BIGGS

I used to love their cheeseburgers with the cheese stuffed inside the patties, and you can feel the cheese melting in your mouth. Heaven! That's how they used to do it. And the memories that goes with eating them are priceless. Biggs was our barkada's favorite tambayan and we don't fail to order their cheeseburgers. During my college days, sometimes I go to Biggs before school. Munching cheeseburger while studying. My alone time. It was a very relaxing thing for me.

'Til another food trip at home!

ANDOY

This is Andoy..

Few weeks back, he was featured in Rated K, Channel 2 hosted by Korina Sanchez. This is the same Andoy that we met when we visited Callao Cave (Peñablanca, Cagayan) during our road trip to Northern Luzon. He was our "spokening dollar" tour guide, and he really speaks well in english! Okay then, maybe those are just memorized lines taught to him by the Department of Tourism (wherein he got trained to be a tour guide). So we pushed him more to speak english by asking him questions outside the context of his "comfort zone" (the Callao cave). And he successfully answered our queries, and in straight english! We learned some details about his life during our question and answer portion... He stays with his lolo ( I forgot whether he mentioned about his father living with them). He has foster parents from Hawaii who helps out with his studies. They plan to bring him to Hawaii someday. He wants to be a lawyer. And when asked why, "Because I want to prove that not all lawyers are liars!", goes his famous line. "How much have you earned today from your tour guiding?", we went on prying. He earned more than 1000Php for that day. Not bad eh (summer is peak season). And he's going to use that money to buy materials for the upcoming school year... Andoy is driven by his dreams. Such an intelligent boy. I pray that he stays that way.

The thing is, Andoy was more amusing and unforgettable than the Callao Cave.

And here's a glimpse of our road trip to Northern Luzon:

COFFEE ALAMID

"Coffee Alamid is Philippine Civet Coffee from wild civet droppings on the different forest floors of Philippine mountains. The Paradoxorus Philippinensis is a civet which belongs to the mongoose family - a nocturnal animal which uses its nose to choose the ripest and sweetest coffee cherries and relentlessly eats them during coffee season. Gathered very early in the morning usually before the sun rises, the forest dwellers climb the mountain and pick the civet droppings on the forest floors. On a good day, a gatherer can collect one kilo of civet droppings .
Coffee Alamid is a blend of the Philippine's finest Arabica, Liberica and Exelsa beans. When roasted, it exudes an almost musical, fruity aroma. It has a strong, sweet , dark chocolatey taste that is perfect for that morning kick or high power meetings. Definitely a clean cup."

SOURCE: arengga.com

CREDIT IMAGE : andy_atsaka

Coffee Alamid (civet coffee), the most expensive coffee in the world selling between $120-$600 per pound. It must taste like heaven so as to cost us this much. But knowing that these are coffee berries came from cat poop, would you try to have a sip? eeeeewww...