regardless of everything, i still regard you as one of the best teachers i have had.

nasa film school pa lang ako, isa na kayo sa mga idol ko. nang maging teacher ko kayo, every day was my stint in your school is one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. you really were one of my best teachers. the toughest, yes. but one of the best.

god veered me away from a dream so that i may fulfill another. and you were instrumental. and for that i owe you. and i thank you.

rest in peace, direk.

Byenan's Recipe Series: CHICKEN SOPAS A LA ANNIE

I'm not the housewife kind of wife. My expertise is directed at other things, not at making or keeping the home. Thank God that we live at my mother-in-law's, and that she takes charge of the kitchen. Thank God for the blessing that is my mother-in-law! :-)

For now I'm safe, I have escaped the pressure of having to cook for my family, but I know I will have to face that "duty" someday eventually. And when that time comes I wouldn't want to disappoint my husband with my cooking, so I've begun to snoop around my mother-in-law's kitchen and take note of how she cooks her stuff.

Recipe for the day:
CHICKEN SOPAS a LA ANNIE

INGREDIENTS:
- elbow macaroni
- pounded garlic
- diced onions
- chicken breast and thigh
- diced eggs
- cheese
- evaporated milk
- carrot strips
- chopped cabbage
- fish sauce (patis)
- ground pepper
- butter

DIRECTIONS:
- boil chicken in water til cooked. set aside the water for later (as chicken broth).
- boil elbow macaroni in water til cooked.
- when boiled chicken cools, himayin into thin strips.
- sautee garlic, onions, and chicken strips in butter. then mix with chicken broth. set to a boil, keep fire low.
- while boiling, season with pepper and patis. add cheese. stir until the cheese has melted into the soup.
- add cooked  macaroni. stir.
- add pounded eggs and evaporated milk. stir for a few minutes.
- add carrot strips and chopped cabbage. stir until vegetables are cooked.
- add additional seasoning to taste.

I know the basics of cooking sopas, but the difference of the sopas i know with Mommy's sopas are the additional ingredients of cheese, diced eggs, and butter. My father also cooks a mean diet-breaker of a sopas recipe, so I'm marrying the two recipes with the following additional ingredients:

- quail eggs and thinly-sliced hotdogs (add last)
- chicken liver, heart, balun-balunan (sautee with the chicken, onion and garlic)

And for extra flavor, Papa adds the bones of the boiled chicken into the soup para sumama yung lasa nung bones sa sopas.

So there. sana mapangatawanan ko ang Byenen Recipe series kong ito. hehe. Yumyumyum! <3

this blog needs updating...

and so here i am. we're now on "-Ber" season. sigh. and yesterday 2012 was just a happy new year. the priest show done two months ago,  currently dabbling in a weekly night kid's show, assisting (in what little way i can) in a currently airing blockbuster show, except for that schedule's a bit light, and i thank god for the rest. peor gusto ko na ng sweldo tulad nung sweldo ko pag may soap. sana lang pag dumating na uli ang soap hindi naman sobrang stressful! less stress+more moolah+personal fulfillment is my idea of career success. sa ngayon. haha!

2012 is groundbreaking for me, personally. dahil marami akong steps na sinimulan this year that would matter in the long term. started investing in mutual funds this year. finally dove in at pumasok sa isang 5-year TD account na matagal ko na ring sinisipat-sipat. started taking my cat breeding business seriously (first time kong naginvest talaga ng pera dito--lost money when a persian that i bought died, pero di ako sumuko, ngayon may dalawang siamese and 1 persian breeder ako, pero di ko pa mababawi ang capital til next year at the earliest).

sana ang 2013, simula ng pag-reap ko ng tinanim ko this 2012. sana yung cat breeding business ko sobrang maging financially rewarding. sana lahat ng mga itinanim ko maging prosperous over the years. thank you lord. trying to pay everything forward.  

ONE LAST MALE SIAMESE KITTEN FOR SALE!

task-free on a rainy night

And you know what that means. Me-time. Baby-time. Hubby-time. Not necessarily in that order. :-)
Finally, natapos ko rin ang Day 5 ng Week 9. Two weeks na lang...tapos na kami sa pagsusulat ng show na ito. Hanggang June pa kami though. I wonder what my next project will be? Sana magkaroon naman ako kahit 2 linggong R&R. (hehe, 2 linggo lang talaga?!)

I love the rain. I love you. I'm the vocal touchy feely type. But you're the exact opposite. I'm TV, you're movie. Ako, lahat kailangang sabihin. Ikaw...show, don't tell.

Pero kung magpapaka-cheesy song ako...I'd say I love you more than words can say. <3

Hay. Ilang araw kaya akong malilibre? Dami kong kelangang gawin. Bangko. Bigas. Wax. Hair Spa. Etcetera. Etcetera.

Thank you Lord, for the free night! :-)

it's not what you say but how you say it. and whoever's around to hear it.

you know what i hate the most? bitches. lalo na kung nagbibitch ka sa akin nang hindi naman ako ang may kasalanan...at virtually sa harap pa ng mga diyos. 

it's not what you say but how you say it. just because feeling mo may K ka pwede mo na kaming pagsalitaan na parang wala kaming nararamdaman. pressured na nga kami dadagdagan mo pa. palibhasa hindi mo alam pakiramdam, at wala ka rin namang pakialam.

nakakadiskaril kapag may bumato ng pebble sa pinagkakatingat-ingatan mong placid waters. lilipad lahat ng mga ibon. mawawala ka sa hulog. kng lahat lang ng tao kayang magpractice ng tact at hindi mamamhiya, siguro mas magiging masaya ang mundo. mas kakayanin ko ang pagod ng katawan at isip pero mahirap indahin ang sama ng loob. paminsan minsan na lang kasi ako maka-encounter ng mga nambabalahura sa akin kaya pag may natisod akong isa, iniinda ko talaga. 

lima na lang. maibabato ko na ito sa virtual kalangitan. bubuga lang ng kaunti, then back to the spinning mills again. kailangan lang maglabas ng sama ng loob sandali. 

rainy may night

baby bonding weekend. mutual fund day yesterday. finally, nakapag-invest na ako sa dalawang mutual funds na matagal-tagal ko na ring pinagpaplanuhang pasukin. that makes 4 mutual funds all in all, distributed among 2 equities, a bond, and a balanced fund. invested 25% of my total savings as of late. happy, but hungry to grow what i've put in. dangerously obsessed with monitoring their progress day by day. nakakaadik pala. lord, sana po hindi ako kainin ng obsession ko for material wealth. haha!


on the positive side, maganda naman ang maadik sa mutual funds at growing money. kesa maadik sa paggagasta ng pera sa mga bagay na nagdedevaluate naman in time. ilang taon nang uso ang blackberries, I-phones, and i-PADS pero hard-core stick-to-basic-cellphone pa rin ako. mas mabuti nang ilagak yung ibibili ko ng phone sa ibang investments na hindi magdedepreciate ang value overtime.


toxic at work. tatlong scripts to go. lord, iraos nyo kami. thank you for the work. will bite the bullet. let's go! para pag natapos ang things to do, more time to do the things i really enjoy doing. not that i don't enjoy writing, but, heck, it's still work. and deadlines are a killer. still, lucky pa rin ako. na may measure of happiness naman akong nakukuha sa trabaho ko.


i am beautiful. i am loved. i will never forget that. heehoo! :-P


sana matapos kami agad sa treatment. sana, sana. three more scripts to go! let's gooo!

under the weather on a work-day easter

random shwandom.

woke up on the wrong side of the bed after having gone to bed at 4 am. went about the day like an open wound. sensitive about the littlest things. dragging my normally-lark-like self around.

our daughter has created a lark out of me. she's my alarm clock every morning at 6 am. kaya pagdating ng 1am, nagshashutdown na ako. nagla-lag na ang makina. yun lang ang problema, pag 1am nasa trabaho ka pa. lord, give me energy. endless energy.

visita iglesia last maunday thursday with my beloved bosobear. a prayer for every church stop. 5 minutes, lord. everyday. i know that what you ask. my biggest prayer will always be a prayer of thanks. thank you. thank you.

what i want right now:
1) our own house and lot. our own.
2) good profits from my mf investments.
3) more money for more mf investments.
4) a menthol yosi.
5) mind speed.
6) longer stamina
7) higher energy
8) more enthusiasm and inspiration for what i do.
9) more money. millions of pesos.
10) to get rid of varicose veins. pregnancy did this to me. years of production work did this to me. and the vain beeyatch in me is whining foul. how do i get rid of these things and prevent more from appearing!?!
10) the happy company of my babygirl and bosobear. but now's not the time. work first, happy family time after.

thank god, for my family. my job. my life. despite life's little glitches, despite under-the-weather days like these, every day is something to thank you for.

numbers numbers

10pm, 38 sequences to go. 12 noon deadline tomorrow.
sakit na ng likod kowwww.

lord, hindi po ako nagrereklamo. naghihinga lang. masaya po ako sa buhay ko, at nagpapasalamat sa mga blessings ninyo. pero sa mga panahong ito...balakid sa untainted happiness ang deadline.

tatlong araw lang ito. paano pa kayo kung lima na.
saan ba makakabili ng speed? ng hyper-energy? ng megasuperultra sharp concentrating powers? gagastusin ko ang isang taong sweldo para lang makabili ng lifetime's supply.

paano kaya nagagawa ng iba? nang hindi nagsasuffer ang ganda? sana, makaya ko rin. kung hindi ngayon, bukas. kung hindi bukas, someday. sa next script na isusulat ko. kung hindi sa next script, sa second next. kung hindi pa rin, sige, kahit sa next show na.

paano kaya nila nagagawa yon? or am i relly just wired this way, and will be wired this way for the rest of my writer's life?

lord, pray po ako sa inyo. thank you for everything...pero isang request po. sana po, bigyan nyo ako ng paunti-unting extra bilis at extra galing...kahit isang gasino isang taon...okay na rin. at least nadadagdagan. :-)

everyday is a day to thank god for...

especially when i remember this point in my life. being transported back to those days, napapausal ako ng pasasalamat. i thank god, for giving the chance to make a decision, 4 years ago. i thank god, for shining a beam of hope on me during those dark, lost, limbo-esque days in 2008.

reading back, i realize now just how painful it all was, writing the experiences with fresh ink and fresh memories. to say that i was miserable was an understatement. i was working on a project that i loathed but had to see through completion, i was counting the days, smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. kung hindi ako nagquit sa trabahong iyon, baka ikamatay ko pa.

natapos ang project. relief. joy. then came the realization. i wanted out, but i didn't know where to go. i had nowhere to go. i was 28, feeling lost and directionless, still in mourning over the death of a dream that i had nurtured for the most of my youth. i turned to prayers for hope. praying everyday, for him to lead me sa direksyon na gusto nya para sa akin.

and then, a text came. from a friend, with a door of opportunity. she was god's answer to my prayers. a beam of hope shone upon me. i gave it a try...full of hope yet full of fear...knocked on the door, expecting the best and the worst. and when a friendly face greeted me at the door, i felt relief course through me. i sat through the meeting, gave it my best shot...and the rest was happy history.

thank you, lord. hindi ko maaappreciate ang liwanag kung hindi ko naranasan ang dilim. thank you, thank you. kuntento na po ako sa ganitong lebel ng kasiyahan habambuhay, i'm happy enough with what you've given me. i only pray that i'd never have to go through dark times like 2008 ever again.

there's poetry in pain...

and i used to have that in my blog entries, years ago. now, i mostly write about day-in-the-life journals. boring, dry, practical stuff.

but i'd rather write like this than have the poetry come out of my words again. i'd rather be dry and boring than be in pain.

thank you lord. :-)