DIY Cupcakes

In one of the long weekends that I've been home, we decided to go to Town to do some window shopping. Before going home, my mom and I passed by Marta's Cakes to buy some brownies and cookies to take home with us. My little sister spotted this plastic container in one of the display cases. There were two plain cupcakes and 4 different-colored icings plus some sprinkles and marshmallows. My little sister, being the kid that she is, asked my mom to buy the DIY Cupcake kit for her.

The day after, my sister and I designed our own cupcakes and voila!

I realized, designing cupcakes with the provided icing was not the easiest thing to do. Normally, people would say it's so easy to make those cute squiggles on top of the cupcake, but in reality, it sure wasn't that easy. But I think we did okay for first-timers.

I love how having a sister gets me these perks once in a while, it does have its benefits once in a while. I love chaperoning my sister to her different activities even if it may sound like I'm becoming her own yaya. It's nice to have an excuse to design cupcakes, or go one kiddie rides, or even play in inflatable castles.

Ventosa Sunday

Last Sunday, my mom, my little sister and I went to Banahaw Heals Spa to try out their ventosa cupping massage therapy. I’ve heard of ventosa massage before and was actually tempted to try it, but spa outlets in Quezon City offered ventosa massage at a very high price. I got excited when my mom told me about this new spa found in Batangas City that offered ventosa therapy for only 300 pesos! Definitely a steal for massage enthusiasts like me, my mom and my siblings.I researched a bit about this ventosa cupping massage therapy.

According to spawhereveryouare.com, Ventosa means

"pulling out wind" or the familiar "lamig" - which refers to muscle spasm and tissue congestion, a technique in olden China which opens the body's Meridians and restores the flow of qi. Pain is believed to result from blockages in the pathway of these energy flow thus restoring balance is crucial in healing. This is done by positioning you face down and placing of glasses on specific accupoints in a negative pressure environment to activate blood flow, drive out wind and dampness. Vacuum created inside the glass lifts the skin and increases circulation, helps alleviate pain and allows the body to feel relaxed and rested. This method is generally pain free, and certain redness of the area is normal and is to be expected, a small price to pay for the invaluable relief that is sure to follow.“

Banahaw Heals Spa offered the same treatment, but it also had a steam bath before proceeding to the actual cupping. I love steam baths. I love how you can feel yourself sweating and feeling all that heat touching your skin.

After the steam bath and quick shower, the masseuse proceeded to the cupping. She used 8 glass cups on my back since I had a shorter torso. After all glasses were in place, she decided that it was best for the cups to stay not longer than 3 minutes so they won’t leave heavy marks on my back. I have to say, it was kind of painful when the glass was sucking my skin, but it was the good kind of painful. What I loved the most was the massage and stretching that followed after the cupping. It felt so gooood! I really felt that I’ve stretched myself fully after that whole session. This has to be the best massage I’ve had so far, better than my usual Swedish or Aromatherapy massage.

The only downside of ventosa massage though are the circular marks that are still very much visible on my back even until now. They look like giant hickeys, but one of my friends said I just looked like a wingless butterfly or fairy. Still, they don’t look nice at all, like circular bruises on my back.

Crappy photos I know. I should remember to always bring my camera with me all the time. :))

Decisions Made

Today, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life – to confirm my slot in Ateneo’s School of Medicine and Public Health.

To be honest, I don’t feel as secure when I made this decision. As much as I love Ateneo, it makes me feel so guilty that I chose this more expensive school and did not settle for a cheaper one. I know that as much as my parents want the best for me, they too might be scared if we have enough financial resources to put me through my whole medical career.

I’m so close to getting what I’ve been dreaming of for such a long time, but I realize, the closer we get to the thing that we want, the scarier it becomes. Now, there’s just this much pressure that I have to endure as everything becomes more real. Every decision I make is critical to how the rest of my life will look like and this seriously scares the hell out of me.

I really hope that this is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and will be something I’d look back to and say, “I chose well.”

So help me Lord.

Batch 2011

Congratulations everyone! Here's to the first day of the rest of our lives!

We're not sure, we're nervous. We don't know if we're ready for this. But we go on, diving headlong into the possible insanity of what comes next, because life needs nothing less than that reckless abandon and hopeful engagement to truly be worth living (Lucero, 2011).

Blue Roast

Last Wednesday, I was brave.


Part of the seniors’ tradition in Ateneo is to have the Blue Roast days before the graduation. Basically, it was a gathering among all the seniors at the Bellarmine Field. We get to enjoy free booze and if we’re lucky, free roasted calf and pig. But aside from the free things that comes with this night, there’s also different performances, awards given, and a whole lot of good vibes everywhere. And I guess, what makes Blue Roast even more special for some is the blue rose.

So I thought this giving of the blue rose was somehow overrated, like it’s become one of the cheesiest things to do in college. But apparently, as I discovered and shocked myself, it really wasn’t. Giving your special single rose is something to be considered significant if not sacred.

Thank you for the roses I received from the special people in my life, thank you for making me feel that somehow, I’ve been important in your lives throughout college. It’s nice to receive flowers once in a while, it’s even nicer when it’s a blue rose.

Thank you for the new friends I found. It would have been nicer if we’ve known each other longer so we can have more of this shameless fun. See you guys in Bataan!

Thank you for my first college friends. Being part of this block truly makes a difference. So thank you.

But most of all, thank you for accepting my blue rose. Though I couldn’t send mine to you personally, I’m happy to know that you’re equally thankful for what I’ve given. I wasn’t expecting that I’d actually give mine to you, but hey, it’s Blue Roast on your senior year and as we know, we always surprise ourselves during senior year.

Photo Credit: Patricia Lim and Cindy Gorospe

Asian Lunch at Dapitan Street

I went over to Dapitan to have lunch with my sister since she told me she’d treat me lunch at a new Thai restaurant found along Dapitan Street. We have developed a love for Thai dishes and milk tea after our quality time spent in Bangkok. Since that trip, we’ve been looking for the orange-y milk tea we bought from the streets of Bangkok and we thought we’d find it here in Dapitan.

I realized the Thai restaurant she was talking about was S. R. Thai! I love S. R. Thai! Seriously, I love it. They used to have a branch just in front of ALCAL Building and I’d eat there whenever I can. When they moved out of ALCAL, S. R. Thai moved somewhere near Shakey’s  Katipunan, but they soon closed down and was nowhere to be found. Until that fateful lunch date with my sister!

We ordered Thai iced tea which was really milk tea. It’s okay, but I’ve tasted better-tasting milk teas and this was quite on the expensive side.

Because my sister and I were both on the pescetarian diet, we opted for seafood fried rice and crabmeat fried rice instead. Both tasted okay, but I’d stick to seafood more than crabmeat. It can be a little more spicy though. I always look for that kick in Thai dishes since they have their special kind of spicy to my tongue.

Crabmeat Fried Rice

Seafood Fried Rice

We also got a side order of Pad Thai. Thankfully, this one was quite spicy, no need to add chili oil and chili flakes. 

After lunch, we went to another restaurant called Hanayo to buy ice cream. I’ve been craving for a particular Korean ice cream for so long and was happy to see it here. Have you tasted that kind of ice cream that’s wrapped inside a mochi ball? It’s super good! I love both ice cream and mochi and this Korean ice cream really got the combination right.

 

Bicol I Like You

I just finished uploading around 300 photos from my Naga trip last week. I’m not usually the type who uploads photos on Facebook. I prefer to look through them and choose the good ones and post them on my blog. And besides, I was never assigned to do documentation for trips, I was usually the one likes to pose or do whatever in front of the camera.

I looked through my photos and Thirdy’s and chose the “best” ones. And just so you know, a lot of my own photos were not my prettiest ones. Yes, I do have a few decent ones, with a smile here and there, but a lot were drunken photos that I of course remember. :>

Things I love about Bicol/Naga/CamSur:

1. Food
I think this trip would not have been as fun without all the food we ate. I had to put a pause on my diet to make way for all the yummy meat to enter my body. What made the food trips more was the free meals paid for by the boys once in a while. Hihi. Plus, the bill won't be as big since there were a lot of us who'd split the bill. Aaaand, food was relatively cheap in Bicol. Didn't get to take photos from all the places we've eaten at, but I don't think there's ever a bad place to eat at in Bicol.

 Bulastog for only 7 pesos! Found in the city's Centro. This is just boiled egg wrapped in kwek-kwek wrapper, but tastes really good when freshly cooked.

 Red Platter found along Magsaysay Road

Bigg's Diner is everywhereeee (not that I'm complaining!) I super loved the Cajun Chicken and I can't wait to try their SM Batangas branch. I think everyone can't leave Bicol without eating here!

Best dinner at Bob Marlin! There's only one branch and can only be found in Naga, so make sure you drop by here. Really really good food.

One of the best crispy pata I've eaten

 Pinangat

 Laing

Grisinni Ristorante serves Italian food. I love how their pizzas are thin crust like Calda Pizza but more flavorful! Pasta dishes are good too, but I wouldn't say the same for the risotto.

 

 Desserts every night at Cold Shack. They have FIC, Korean ice cream and sundaes. 

 

Before going home, we went to Centro and ate at Naga Garden Restaurant, famous for their toasted siopao and lomi. This kind of reminds me of Wa Nam Restaurant where old Chinese folks would dine.  

At SM City Naga, we found The Colonial Grill which sells flavoured ice cream like Kalamansi, Bailey's, Sili, etc. 

 We decided to try sili, malunggay and tinutong. For me, all of them were interestingly good. Although the sili had a really good kick, the ice cream remained creamy. The other two were okay, you can really taste the flavors. 

2. Wakeboarding

I'm honestly not very good at it, but I can say that I've managed to go through 8 out of the 10 orange buoys you have to go through on the CWC lake. That's quite a big accomplishment for me, considering I was never good at sports. I realized that water is my friend and if basketball or volleyball has failed me ever since, I find my home in swimming and wakeboarding. Sobrang feeling lang eh no? It wasn't really wakeboarding, more of kneeboarding. Believe me, those hot guys you see on TV who do crazy back flips are really good at what they're doing. Just being able to stand for a few seconds would already be a big accomplishment for beginners. So I'm happy with my kneeboard, maybe I'll go there again and finally get to stand on the wakeboard. 

Had fun at the inflatables too. They had a floating trampoline, a floating iceberg, and a floating obstacle course!

 

3. Fail/Not Fail jump shots  

I guess the measure of a really good time is getting your friends to do jump shots with you or for you. Whether they come out nicely or shamefully, jump shots will always be fun for me. And in Bicol, nothing stops my friends from their jump shots, not even drunkenness. 

4. Hospital Visits

This trip wouldn't have been complete without going to Bicol Medical Center and playing with some of the Bicol kids. I admit, the language was kind of a barrier but thankfully, we managed to still have fun with them. There were so many cute babies and little boys and girls who were game to play with us and make dogs and cats and bears in their little playroom in BMC. We worked during the day and well, had our fun during the night. I hope the next time we visit BMC, the kids would have more toys to play with and even more volunteers who'll have fun with them. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. New friends
Another reason for coming to Bicol was to check up on Kythe Ateneo de Naga. You see, Kythe volunteers in Naga just started their own Kythe org this school year so it was normal for them to have a really tough one ahead of them. A part f me is happy that there are other people who are as driven to start something as big and colorful as Kythe in an area that was never used to volunteerism or the idea of initiative or even participation in the first place. I sensed their anxiety and fear on holding on to something like Kythe, but I know, in a few more visits, they'll realize that they're capable of making these kids happy. So hurrah for you guys!

 

 

 

 

6. Forever friends :)

I'm happy this trip pushed through. Although there was still some work involved, I'm super kaduper happy that my Kythe friends made this trip really worthwhile. Hopefully, this won't be the last. Cheers to more trips and more inuman nights! I love you friends.