Biyernes Santo

Last Friday, my dad and I went to BGC to ~relax and unwind~. Also because Fully Booked hehe. We were surprised by the wide, unloaded road. There was literally no traffic and it felt so free. It kind of looked like a zombie apocalypse occurred. It was a very unusual sight because EDSA is this stressing strip of road filled with smoke-belching cars and all that polluting sight. Anyhoo, it was great because yay no traffic!

 We were surprised by the number of people strolling around the place. Little did we know that a solemnization of Holy Week is being held. BGC organized the whole place and they made it look like a museum of the life and death of Jesus. 

 This is the part wherein the place is filled with mirrors. People are asked to look at the mirrors and think about the fears that scare them or are scared to face. Pretty creative, though. 

From station five, I think.

 Alveo Corporation will plant trees! I think every strip of green cloth represents one tree. 

 This was probably the most genius ideas of all. People can actually share those pains with Jesus. I didn't try it, though. 

Station nine!

The red piece of cloth taken from the second station will be hammered in this big cross. It symbolizes our sins. 

These pieces of papers are all special prayers for the important people/loved ones.

I't's very nice to know that people haven't really forgotten about God. 

The con of this whole experience was the large number of people and the blazing heat. We weren't able to eat a nice dinner. We were so hungry we can't even function properly. We can't even get in since every. Single. Restaurant. Has. A. Freaking. Waiting. Line. Like, are you serious? But that was okay. At least I took a time out from everything else and at least I got to experience something different this holy week. 

If you're going to ask if we ever ate dinner that night, yes we did. We went all the way to Alabang to meet up with my family so we could eat a proper dinner. And thank the Lord heavens above, North Park was open. I was craving for Chinese food that time and I was so happy yayyyy. 

We then headed straight to Acacia Hotel to stay a bit longer with my cousins. This is my cousin Rian. She was asleep when we got there. Yes. 

And then we watched two episodes of Adventure Time. Only two because the parentals wanted to watch something different. Boo. 

  

The day practically ended and I felt productive. Fulfilled, even. I'm not that religious and prayerful but I do have faith in God. I'm glad I spent my holy week very well. I am very blessed to have my family. I hope you had a blessed holy week, too! 

Bucky Sunday

My dad and I finally fulfilled our dreams of being the next Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson last Sunday! I don't know what came up in my dad's mind but he suddenly told me to cook up something fancy and "indulge ourselves". It's been a while since we whipped up something like this and it felt great to just be productive in the kitchen and be all Nigella-ish the whole time. Despite the summer heat scorching through our house's windows, I managed to season the chicken with all those fancy and herby things without whining and complaining about the temperature. The Philippines is a tropical country and I know I have to deal with it or else the chicken will be ruined. 

 I named this chicken Bucky because the name fits him/her perfectly. Also because of the unsure identity of the gender. Bucky looks cute. 

 I then  boiled the potatoes so I could ~whip up~ something later and also because my dad told me to use it as a stuffing for the chicken. 

Not all potatoes made it inside, though. Sad.

Bucky looking good exposing the rear.  

 And so the potato legacy began. Haha. I cooked (or "sauteed", in Nigella's world) the potatoes and made up my own recipe. Butter, garlic powder and thyme. Ain't I the greatest? Joke. Anyhoo, it was a success. It tasted so good, I made a second batch hehe. 

 The sad part of this day was when I forgot to take a picture of Bucky when he (I finally decided that Bucky was a "he") was finished. He was cooked perfectly and he looked very good and tasty. Bucky tasted good, he must be very thankful in chicken heaven. 

I don't know why am I talking about this but I hope you had a lovely Sunday. 

Merry (a bit too late) Christmas!

My dad and I spent our Christmas with my aunt in Pasig along with their friends. Christmas for me was kind of boring, I don't know why. Last year's Christmas was kind of fun but this year's was...okay. I think New Year will be fun since the whole family's gonna be here for the reunion! Anyway here are some of the things we did on Christmas day:

Christmas dinner harhar

After dinner, I stayed inside the room and talked to my friends, wishing them a Merry Christmas. I really didn't have anything left to do so I spent the night reading. The visitors left so I decided to play 2k12 with Kuya JC instead mehehe. Of course he won but it was a fluke win. JOKE HAHAHA. It was actually my first time to play the game since whenever I have the time to play, it's either they're using the PS3, or they're busy (meaning, they can't let me borrow), or Kuya JC is playing with his friends or his friends are using the PS3. You can never win. So I end up just sitting there in a corner and watch them play silently. No, I am not bitter.

~*~*~Instagram skillzzzz~*~*~

The next morning, we headed out to Rockwell to have lunch and watch a movie. We were basically torn between 34768932 restaurants because we can't choose. We then opted to have lunch at Sumosam. I am now in love with their food. Everything was good and tasty huhu. It was very delicious I almost cried joke.

 Assorted sushi hohoho

Osuyaki rolls~~~ This is my favorite of all I wanna marry it

After an eventful lunch, we decided to buy tickets for Sisterakas but the tickets were all sold out aww. I went to Fully Booked, anyways weeeee. I saw a lot of books from my "to-read" list and God, was I disappointed. I wanted to buy those books but I don't have enough money so I stared at them for a long time and told myself to get a grip. I hate talking about the lack of money. I really hate it.

So by afternoon, my dad and I watched this mini concert. The choir was really good, it  gave me goosebumps. Really. They serenaded the crowd with a lovely Christmas ensemble  and I  missed being a part of a church choir. Right after the mini concert, my dad and I  heard mass at the chapel in fourth floor. There were a lot of people in the entrance so we decided to just stand outside. We weren't able to finish the mass because my dad was dead tired so we decided to sit down in Cibo. 

 My dad ordered this VERY strong espresso. I gave it a try and EW. It was so bitter and it was so strong I almost puked huhu. 

And then my dad got me this. ALLELUIA. After 2743298473 years of begging him to buy me a copy. He said he doesn't like the book because it had "no substance and story". But he bought it anyway, as a gift. Yay for me, then. 

~The~ Candy

If someone gave you a Made In Candy brand of candy, appreciate it. Because I just found out that the designs between the candies are made manually. Yes, they do this magic using their hands. They roll the big chunk of candy and they pull it to make it thinner. And when they cut it into small bite pieces, you can see the design in the middle! It looks so cool and fascinating at the same time because it's hand-made. Cool beans.

Rockwell never looked so pretty.  This may not be the best Christmas for me but I had fun with my dad. Can't wait for new year, though!

Happy Holidays!