Zoology 101

My in-laws went to Candon yesterday and brought home with them bucketsss of fresh-from-the-fishpond-tilapia and bangus plus calamay, coconut and a few pieces of sea urchin given by a kababayan. Last night while preparing dinner, we were debating whether the sea urchin is a plant or an animal. I guess I was absent when they took this up in school. I wasn't that sure. Gosh! wala palang silbi yung pinag-aralan ko...o kaya naman, wala na talagang laman ang utak ko o kaya epekto ng tatlong beses na anaesthesia. Haaay...I even had to surf the net to satisfy my/our query.

Alas! hayop pala sya! may bibig, dila, lamang-loob, ngipin etcetera etcetera...kaya..oras na para hatulan.

mukha syang porcupine di ba? =)

The spines are no longer that sharp after boiling. They popped it open. Like the balut, there's broth oozing out, cough syrup like orange color. I had to collect using my spoon then straight to my mouth. Comparatively, it tastes like sea water. Super alat! and I don't know how to react, whether to pretend that it tasted great or not. NR na lang ako so as not to offend anybody seated around the table.

Next is to make kut-kut the inside. It looks like an alien to me with the teeth and all. We were told to set aside the black parts and spoon out the roe, the edible part of the animal. Dunno the rest.

"roe..roe..roe your boat, gently down the stream..."

Nothing unusual nor icky bout the taste. If the broth is verrrrry salty, the roe is moderately salty. I cannot say if it is actually tasty as I can only discern salt a.k.a. Sodium Chloride a.k.a. NaCl...period!

I am the type who experiments on food, however, if I'm offered again even just one piece of this creature, I'd definitely pass this time...

LBM after 3 hours ang katapat. Thank but NO thanks! Di kaya ng powers ko haay!

Kimi Update

@8 months and still counting, Kimi’s already able to..

1. Mumble (phrases like Bababa, Vava, Mamama, Papapa, Abu continuously and several sounds you cannot really decipher)
2. Bite and Masticate (with 6 pearly white teeth plus drooling to the max, any food that comes in contact with his mouth is surely dissolved. if the tasteis new, he will don a disgusted face and shivers but he’ll like it eventually)
3. Walk, run, glide and brake (with the aid of a walker), Walk and jump bounce (while in the walker)
4. Sit from prone position (with a little more practice, he may be able to perfect it in due time…imagine how he can support an ~11kg body)
5. Supercrawl (in contrast with superspeed)
6. Grasp, pull and throw anything (from hair to lightbulb switch to dangling things, placemats, curtains…name it!)
7. Climb stacked pillows, the sofa and Hubi & I when we are lying down
8. Bend over and reach his toes and while in supine, pull his toes up to his mouth (Yoga 101)
9. Bang his head on the wall purposely (surprisingly, he enjoys it, on the otherhand, we always worry ;p)
10. Play with our pet dogs (he likes his fingers being licked by them while roaming around in his walker)
11. Sing himself to sleep (aaaah’s in different tune and sustaining)
12. Divert his attention to the TV when the shampoo commercial of KC and Lea Salonga’s milk commercial are on air
13. Keep still while watching Nickelodeon’s Backyardigans, Lazy Town, Hi-5, Blue’s Clues, Wonder Pets and Spongebob (sunud-sunod yun from 7am onwards)
14. Laugh hard at anything and everything (he’s a happy baby eversince and he’s not given us a hard time)
15. Hold his legs up while his poop is being cleared off his butt =)
16. Play on his own ( self supporting ba)
17. Toss and turn while in his crib (sabi nga nila: “naalikuteg”)
18. Scrutinize everything outside the window when in the car (from the wheels of the truck/bus to people walking, the lights etc..etc. what’s difficult here is, he likes to stand and he doesn’t like to be seated at the rear)
19. Use the crib edge, plastic medicine bottle, blanket as his teether (we bought an appropriate teether for him, however, he doesn’t like to use it. whenever we give it to him, he holds it and shakes it like a maracas)
20. Now, he’s ~11kg, footsize 20-21, clothes M to L (those labeled for 18-24months wouldn’t fit him anymore)

These are only a few of his many achievements. Definitely, there’s more to come. Time flies so fast and Kimi’s no longer a baby haaaay. I don’t know if I would be happy. Parang kelan lang…nakakamiss!!

Church to Church

Yesterday, Good Friday, we went for our usual Visita Iglesia. Our family's been practicing this wherever we may be. This time we didn't abandon our beloved hometown. Luckily, for according to the weather news, it's been scorching hot in the lowlands. 36 to 37 deg!! Even up here, ang init na rin!

First stop should have been at The Baguio Cathedral but since there was no parking space available inside or outside the premises, we headed for Pink Sisters instead. There must be a scheduled procession in the afternoon; the reason why they closed the gates. So off we went. 2nd stop: St. Joseph, 3rd: Lourdes Church, 4th: St. Vincent, 5th: Don Bosco, 6th: Immaculate Concepcion-Aurora Hill, 7th and final stop: SLU Chapel (yes, now a separate parish).

It's so surprising that Baguio is traffic-free this special time of the year. This is a rare sight. We were expecting "millions" of people coming up by Wednesday but nada! Only a few cars rushing about. Even at the mall and the public market, napakaluwag. Parang normal na araw lang. Siguro kasi nanggaling na sila dito noong nakaraang Panagbenga kaya di na sila umakyat muli. Sa beach na lang daw.

Besides, there's nothing to see up here. The weather is no longer conducive.

What a relief! For the first time in history, Baguio's been spared from chaos. Indeed, the essence of Holy Week.

*pat*pat*pat*

Yipee!!!!

After 3.5 weeks, my mind's been liberated from agony. What an early Easter treat!!
I passed my NCA exam!

PHEW!! makakatulog na ko ng mahimbing =)

Whip It!

I'm starting to love this new TV commercial. When I first saw the ad, I thought it was something serious. The color tone, mood and expression of the main character made it more believable only to find out in the end that it was just Nestle's All Purpose Cream.

The scene goes like this:
A woman is shown visiting a loved one at the North Cemetery. Perhaps it was the death anniversary of the loved one for the woman's brought with her a bunch of flowers and a Tupperware filled with fruit salad. This must be her loved one's favorite when he was still alive -- atang sa patay as they'd term it. She recites her prayers by herself then leaves.

She seemed to have passed by the market/grocery on her way home as seen by the plastic bag she's carrying. She took the jeepney then alights near her house.

As an apalling tune is being played while on her way inside the house, an unexplainable gush of wind lashes the curtains in her dining room. She went to check and was so shocked to see the Tupperware filled with fruit salad there on the center of the dining table. A spooky tune then the tag line: "Dapat Nestle cream ang ginamit mo." =)

I just wish you'd see it..it will tickle your funny bone really. I was surfing Youtube kaso wala dun yung commercial sayang! ishe-share ko sana..

What is Teething?

Brownie Blackie

After weeks of solitary confinement, the 5 pups are ready to conquer the world. Luckily, Fox the mommy bitch wasn't around when I was taking pics of her babies. As I've said, she's deadly and I'm afraid of her! =)

two by two

Mr. Lonely

see related stories: here and there

Sunnyside Up

Thank heavens the rain's over. No shower/drizzle today. It's so ironic that the sky's been cleared of the rain clouds when the Flower Festival is already over. Too late the hero as they say. Kung sana mas napaaga lang ng ilang araw, eh di sana, mas may kinita pa yung mga tindahan sa Session Road in Bloom. Rental fee of P18K for one week plus rain..rain and rain, do you think they had profited? I don't think so. People would prefer going to the mall than walking around Session Rd, getting soaked in the rain and envying mates with umbrellas.

Since Day 1, I vowed to search for a binatog stall but wasn't able to keep it. Umaraw man lang sana, eh di nagawa ko yun. *sigh* I was even drooling over it. Hanggang panaginip na lang yata. Di naman ako naglilihi.

Hmmm....my quest isn't over yet. By hook or by crook, I MUST!MUST!MUST!

Welcome back sunshine!! See you again tomorrow!

..para naman matuyo yung labada ko =)