Double Chocolate

Note to self: Coffee Bean has a coffee-free version.

I am not a coffee person, and a little bit in my ice blended drink after dinner has me up and restless at 3:50 in the morning.

Also, I’ve been meaning to blog for months now but I just can’t. Not with WordPress being stingy with its customizable layouts. I am not paying US$18 a year for that! And so, the motivation to document my life has been dwindling. If only Livejournal was cool again (haha!), then I wouldn’t have this ~problem. I’ve been thinking about moving to another host site but that’s another blog and, oh goodness, I have too many of those for my own good.

I’m hungry.

Routine

It’s been a little over a month since I started my “big girl” job, and it’s been going well! I’ve been having a lot of fun, and I’ve been learning a lot. My boss has a lot of wisdom to share… even if she’s only 26! Already got my eyes set on a temporary career path. Really looking at this first job as a learning experience, and hopefully a few years down the road, when I really know what I want to do I’ll be able to use what ever I am learning now.

And I am really happy with where I am right now compared to a few months back where I was a lost child, and I felt like I wasn’t of any use the world, drama drama, etc etc.

On another, unrelated note… I now have instagram. Two years too late but, eh.

Bespeak greatness

Being surrounded by people who share one love is overwhelming, and one of the best feelings ever. Although sitting through four and a half hours(!!!) of a hip-hop competition was overkill. It’s not my favorite style of dance, but I cannot deny the amount of talent last night. And most importantly, the inspiration that comes with all that talent– contain all of that in one venue, and it becomes viral. I definitely missed being part of the dance world, I feel like I’ve been away from it too long.

Monster lasagna

As mentioned in this post, I’m not exactly well-equipped in the kitchen. I have no idea why my mother let me attempt this, but anyway I took on the lasagna challenge.

It didn’t start out so well as midway through I learned that we weren’t prepared to make this dish, like at all– we were lacking ingredients (which is why only half of the pyrex is filled), following two recipes, and the only knowledge of lasagna I had at that point was how to eat it. I wasn’t expecting it to be edible… but hey, it wasn’t so bad for my first attempt. My brother liked it! *pats self*

8.

Alive in the age of worry.

A week from now I’ll be back on Philippine soil, and it’ll be full-speed ahead from there. Adulthood beckons. Not gonna lie, even if I spent weeks and weeks searching for a job, and as excited as I am, the fact that I start the following morning is daunting. Trying not to let it get to me yet. I’m making the most of unemployment by taking a lot of naps. But my sleep-at-will days are numbered. The countdown to the working world begins: eight days.

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids. Paolo and Carmen, my brother and sister, are third culture kids. In the two years I lived and studied in Singapore, I was able to live this third cultured-ness (yeah, not a real word). Every one I met and formed friendships with were from different places, grew up here and there, and everything… transient. But I am not a TCK for the mere fact that I know where I am from. But did that experience make me more “worldly”? Probably. I hope it did.

My family has been living in Bangkok for two years now after the four they spent in Singapore; I visit every six months or so. It’s funny, because I can call Bangkok “home” because a good part of my family calls this home. Over dinner at our neighbour’s house this evening, Carmen casually mentioned that Manila is not her home, but it is mine. For a 5 year-old girl, she’s incredibly aware. She was born in Singapore, and is currently being raised here; Paolo was born and raised in Manila but he’s incredibly international.

It’s strange, this feeling of being half and half. I get to live the “third culture” life through my family. I call Singapore home for it was an incredible two years (of course my teenage self didn’t realize it until later on); at the same time I call Bangkok home– though I feel like a tourist, and do not know the city or the culture so well– since this is where my family has settled down for the mean time; and for obvious reasons, Manila is home, too. Maybe in another few years, my family will pick up their roots and plant themselves in another city of another country, and call that home. And so will I.

Kitchen Goddess

I am such a try-hard baker, really. The most I can do is make chocolate chip cookies that are, at most, okay, and I guess the chocolate chip banana muffins I’ve made aren’t so bad either. (Notice how I don’t claim them as mine because I get the recipes online, lol). It’s the chocolate chips. Without them I feel like whatever I make is too dry or funny-tasting. And I am horrible at gauging when to take them out of the oven. Is it ~golden brown~ enough? Is the top supposed to look like that? Too many questions! So I stick to the safety goods– usually stuff with chocolate chips. They’re magic, I tell you. Frying an egg is a hit or miss for me so I won’t even start on my cooking skills or, you know, lack thereof. I have much to learn from food bloggers!

God bless people like The Pioneer Woman because of this post specifically. Well, shit. Something I won’t be able to fuck up in three easy steps!

Cut, spread, enjoy.

I chose to feel it, and you couldn’t choose

“I’ll write you a postcard, I’ll send you the news
From the house down the road, from real love”

Is this ‘Carey Mulligan’ enough?

Stop being perfect. Just stop.

There’s always that 24 to 48-hour period of awkwardness after you get your hair cut. A little after the 24-hour mark I realized I wasn’t going to be happy with my new blunt bob, and was planning on getting it layered yesterday evening. P300+ for a trim? I’d rather pay for a full cut! But I wasn’t going to do that either because I’m lacking in funds at the moment so I turned to the next best thing: video tutorials. Thank you, people of YouTube! (Yes, I am cheap.)

But since my hair is way too short to see what I was doing, I was basically blind cutting my own hair. The last time I tried cutting my own hair (not just my bangs) was when I was around seven… and let’s just leave it at that. I must say, it didn’t turn out too bad this time around. It isn’t Edie Sedgwick chic but at least I don’t feel like Dora the Explorer anymore. I deserve a prize, I think haha.

From now on though, I’m keeping several pictures of Carey Mulligan in my phone just in case I decide to chop my hair on a whim again. It’ll save me from the unnecessary awkwardness.

Sign the dotted line

For weeks and weeks I’ve felt incredibly useless, waking up with no specific purpose. I did enjoy the free time and nothingness, but it got dragging. That’s another (sad) story for another blog (hello, LJ old friend).

But wait! In around seven hours, I am going to sign something that will officially declare me a functioning adult in society. (Start date yet to be determined). Huzzah! For now, I will enjoy the last few days/weeks I can still be a kid. Someone take me to the park and push me on the swing!