This calls for a celebration!

Recently, just heard that a good friend of mine passed the US CPA board exam.

2nd placer in the Philippine CPA board exams, she's now in Tokyo working for an audit firm. Next year, she'll be transferring to New York for work & at the same time pursue her masteral degree. Not only is she good in audit, she's also a great writer. I love reading her blog (http://jenny-the-sleep-talker.blogspot.com/). Some articles written by her have also been published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (a link to a sample of her written article -- http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=67623) . A really great achiever & all around person! But what I admire most about her is her ability to balance work & play. Despite being a very hardworker, she knows how to party hard too.

Congratulations Jenny! You deserve it! Really really proud & lucky to have such a wonderful friend like you!

Let's celebrate!!! Wootwoooot!!!

happy halloween!

can't believe it's already the last day of October. time flies!

nothing really particular to post about...just missin' my blog & felt like writing after i finished reading some blog entries of a friend.

happy halloween to everyone!!! 2 days without work for most of us! whoopppppiiiiii!!! 2 days of complete rest:P

feeling incomplete

Being a fan of the CSI series, it's sad & surprising to learn that Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle will leave the show for good.

I don't really like Sara but I guess I'm already too familiar & used to the characters in the show that missing one main character affects me this way. It makes me feel down.

most wanted

Andrew Cunanan - the musical!

'Twas 10 years ago when Andrew Cunanan killed the famous designer Gianni Versace. He killed 5 people in 3 months and now belongs to TIME Magazine's top 25 crimes of the century.

I was really surprised to learn that his life was now the basis of a play in US entitled "Most Wanted". I'm curious about the play, on how they will portray his life & what really happened. Sadly though US is too far for me to be able to watch it.

soooo confused...

why is it that i've wanted something so bad for so long & now that i'm about to get what i want, now that i'm getting closer to it step by step i feel so confused, i feel scared...

is it because it's a major step, a major risk in my life that i'm afraid to take the leap & get disappointed with what the results will be? am i afraid to disappoint myself? to disappoint the expectations of people around me? do i feel scared that i might realize that i don't really want it as much as i think i do?

so many thoughts running in my mind...i feel scared, i feel confused...maybe i do think too much...

i feel sick deep in my stomach...feel like throwing up...

farewell

after a long battle against pancreatic cancer, pavarotti at age 71, succumbs to his illness yesterday morning (Italy, local time)...

farewell to the most beloved & celebrated tenor...:(

turning a quarter

thanks to all who remembered:D ***hugs & kisses***

(special thanks to mer & joanne for dropping by, i was really surprised & touched. special thanks to sands too--whom i often chat with but have only known for a few months & met once--for being one of the first to remember.)

i got hit

"As we grow old, things get complicated. We settle to a less compromising situation. We prefer to dwell in the comforts of our 'safe, routine lives.' We tend to forget what it's like to dream, to take risk & to have fun. We harbor fears instead of challenging them. We have a choice... Choose to be happy & live your dreams. For it is better to have an energy tried & wasted than buried forever in a shady plot."

just want to share one good quote i got from a friend. very timely. this quote really hit me.

it describes exactly where i am right now.

the kitchen is busy

a great long weekend for me:D

finally, i was able to explore & use for the first time, my oven & my kitchen aid mixer. woot woot!!! as always, being an ambitious amateur chef, i tried to make a lot of different 'not so simple' things from recipes i got from the net. i made bagel last saturday afternoon & sunday, i made pizza & biscotti.

good thing my dad is not here in manila 'cause if he learns that i used the oven & mixer for the first time without reading the manuals (as usual, i was too lazy to read & too excited to use the kitchen equipments) i'm sure to get some scolding from him. the only thing i made sure before using them was to learn what the electricity requirements are 'cause i don't want to end up breaking my precious kitchen tools.

the bagel & pizza which both required yeast didn't rise to almost double though. until now i'm still trying to figure out what i did wrong. maybe it has something to do with the ingredients or the temperature. i'm hoping to figure that out soon when i make my next attempt at baking.

for the bagel, i just made it plain. no flavor in it. the taste was ok & it smelled good. it was a little tough though.

for the pizza, since i like simple pizzas like margherita or just cheese pizza. i worked with what ingredients i had for toppings at home. the sauce i used was tomato sauce & paste. the first pizza i topped with some sliced tomatoes, basil leaves, cheese, olive oil & pepper, the second pizza i added some homemade shredded fish (which my mom made). since the crust didn't rise when i placed it to rest, i just tried to make it as thin as possible to achieve a crisp crust. my sister liked it & she said that it reminded her of pizza from italiannis. hearing such a compliment from my sister made me really happy & inspires me to try & bake more.

the biscotti i made was a simple cinnamon sugar biscotti. the mixture of cinnamon & sugar baking in the oven really smelled good. even after baking the whole house smelled of it.

i know i love cooking but the thing i discovered about myself was that i love baking. surprisingly, what i like to bake are not the usual stuffs like cakes or cookies. i love baking breads.

another long weekend ahead & i'm really looking forward to it. hopefully i'll be able to solve the mistake i made, try out some new recipe & maybe discover something more about myself.

good green stuff

cooking makes me happy:D

yesterday, i was able to finally make pesto sauce from scratch. yehey!!! recipe was courtesy of emeril, one of my favorite chef.

eversince my basil plant started to grow leaves (thanks for the seeds ken), my sister kept on bugging me to make her pesto pasta. but i didn't feel that my plant had enough leaves yet & i was saving it for the right occassion. so since yesterday was the last lunch we were having as a family before my sister leaves for boston today (for 2 years for her mba) & since my plant had enough leaves already. i made pesto pasta.

hopefully the next time i make this, i'll be able to do the noodles myself too!;)

dingdongs & reruns

(entry inspired by my senti mood because of the weather & my meet up with 2 sgv friends last friday)

just like the dingdong mixed nuts (simple peanuts, corniks, greenpeas, popped beans & the nagaraya sort of peanuts) which we like so much, me & my sgv friends are all different. different persons with different personalities brought together to make an amazing mix & share a lifetime friendship with each other. no doubt, we can all succeed on our own, but i know that together, we can become even bigger.

coming from different backgrounds (different schools & different blocks), we met at sgv a few years back. all new CPAs, all very young & idealistic. slowly we became friends, shared lunch together, coffee breaks, snack breaks, friday lunch out, OT at the office, drinks & midnight snacks. we shared endless stories, jokes, codes, rants & kalokohans. we shared a lot of laughter & tears.

now we're all living our own dreams, (most have already gone to different countries), but whenever we get the chance to talk (in person, through ym or emails), it's like no time or distance separates us. we are still the same crazy young CPAs we were before. we talk about everything (from serious stuffs to silly stuffs), updates on what's happening to each of us, & more often than not, we catch ourself reminiscing our time together.

i'm really proud to be their friend & proud of what they have all achieved & where they are now. i'll never trade that one year i shared with them--priceless memories. though it's been a short time, it's one year i'll really never forget & will always keep in my heart.

(...manong & his chocolate covered pulvoron. 3 in 1 coffee & instant noodles in the pantry. dingdong breaks. bananacue, turon & camotecue from the jolly jeep. kakanin during lunch. midnight taho breaks. friday lunch out. enchanted trip. starbucks, coffeebean & caffea. kroco & cocktails. bday celebrations together. tripeaks club. :( )

caught the rerun of home alone 2 in star movies yesterday. i didn't realize how much i like this movie until i watched it yesterday. there's something about it that brings me back to being a child. it reminds me of spending christmas holidays in my hometown, of decorating the christmas tree in our living room, opening presents & sharing laughter about silly stuffs with my parents & my sisters.

i'd be willing to trade anything to bring back those times...if only i could be a child again...life was so much simpler then...but i'm a big girl now...& big girls don't cry...

let's pray

just read about it...like a scene from a movie, but this time it's real.

Minneapolis bridge collapses into Mississippi river. unfortunately it was during rush hour. let's pray for them.

told you

told you i was bored.

itching for a change...

...so i had my hair chopped off;)

celebrations

i love weddings!!! most people, when asked why they love weddings, find it to be a very romantic event. for me, it's not only attending the ceremony that i enjoy, what i like most when it comes to this important occassion is getting involved in all the preparations. honestly, i don't know why but i get excited & really enjoy doing research to help. (maybe i should think of becoming part of a wedding planner group as a second career...hehehe:P)

seems like recently, so many people i know are getting married. lotsa weddings!!!:D just this May, a first from our barkada got married. it was such a memorable event & really glad to be part of it. this December, a cousin is getting married & she' s getting me as part of her entourage too. next year, would you believe, 3 more weddings of close friends!!! one in September, one in October & the other one tentatively in December. (feel so honored that 2 of them asked me to be part of their entourage;))

anyone for november? any more to come? hehehe...

another thing to celebrate is the recent passing in the US CPA board exams of my dear friend betc!!! whoopi!!! soooooo proud of u & i knew you could do it:D

ra-ta-TOO-ee

Ratatouille ("ra-ta-TOO-ee") is a French Provencal stewed vegetable dish. The dish, originating in Nice, is fully named ratatouille nicoise. It may be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice, potatoes, or simple French bread), or as a side dish. Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, some herbs de Provence, and sometimes basil. All the ingredients are sauteed in olive oil. It is also sometimes used as a filling for savoury crepes. -- Wikipedia

last night, i was able to watch the animated film "ratatouille". i like watching movies but i'm not really much into cartoons or animated films. i have not seen the trailer of the film so i didn't know what to expect. i have heard though that it was written & directed by the same oscar winning writer-director of "the incredibles" (one of the rare animated films that i was able to watch & really like) & how well the ratings are, so i became curious & went to see it with an open mind. unexpectedly, i looooooved it!!!:D brad bird (writer-director) did it again!

for those who have no idea yet what the story is, it's about how a simple rat wants to be an extraordinary chef. yeah, the story is (like any animated film or cartoon) impossible (and quite disgusting if you would think that a rat was cooking the meals for a restaurant), but i found it cute & there were moving scenes too. the story is a complete mixture of the most important things in life--dreams, family, friendship & love (bonus--good food!).

being someone who really loves to cook, i was entertained by all the kitchen scenes. the food animation was great! (although there were rat scenes which still have that ewww-factor & made me cringe) i can relate to "remy" the rat who dreams of becoming a great chef despite his family's objection & i hope that someday soon, like him, i will be able to fulfill that dream.

crime scenes

i love crime scene investigation.

...like fitting together puzzle pieces to see the real picture

watched the season ender of csi vegas last night. it made me stay up late & now i'm feeling really really sleepy...(damn! can't have coffee though. trying to avoid that stuff & be a little healthy so i'm stuck with my caffeine free herbal tea.)

been a fan of csi vegas for quite some time now. it triggers my curiosity how smart the crimes are planned & executed. i get fascinated & intrigued on how Grissom & the rest of his team outsmarts the criminal & eventually solves the crime. i love the characters (specially Warrick :P *wink wink*), love the details, love their lines. i even get a rush of excitement when i hear the theme song playing at the start of the show (who are you...who who, who who...hehe)! i love it to a point that i even thought of becoming one. but i'm pretty sure i need special education to be one & that it takes a lot of hard work, & if i'm gonna do it here...i'd be better just watching the show & dreaming. hehehe...

lately, i started watching csi new york & i think i'm starting to like it too. (oh no! another show that will keep me up late.) i was able to catch an episode or two of csi miami before but i honestly didn't like it, i don't like their style. i can't even believe the ad on tv that says csi miami is the "world's most watched show".

in my opinion, the vegas team is smart in a practical way (i don't know the exact term, sort of "street smart" i guess). the new york team on the other hand is wise in a "bookish way". i love how both teams remain calm in solving crimes. both don't jump into accusing someone without first thoroughly investigating & collecting evidence. as for the miami team, i find their style a bit "arrogant". i've observed that they are fast into making accusations. i particularly dislike Horatio, i hate how he sometimes tend to threaten suspects. if i were to rank the 3, i'd say number 1 for me would be csi vegas, number 2 csi new york & last csi miami.

which crime scene investigation is the best for you?

push the button

the clock is ticking...really fast...

(can't do anything about it. i wish there was a pause button out there somewhere)

i'm too lazy to move...

yeah...i think i'm too familiar with it & too comfortable already.

this is not good at all... i have to start moving soon.

finally found it

after the long search, i've finally found my perfect shade of chocolate brown nail polish...

call me shallow but looking at my nails right now while i'm typing, i'm happy:)

for a change, it's a monday morning but i don't feel down. i'm quite surprised that i feel happy. nothing particularly good happened yet but i'm just feeling lucky.

i feel really satisfied with my life...

i feel so much blessed:D

a little discipline please!!!

queue (kyoo) -- noun, verb [French, from Old French cue, tail , from Latin cauda, coda.]
-- used more in British English, while the world "line" is used mostly in American English. Canadians use the term "line up".
-- Chinese "排队", Spanish "fila", Filipino "pila"

this concept is so simple yet why can't some people understand & follow it???

it really irritates me...

a little discipline please!!!

goodbye harry...

no, i don't know how the book will end yet. i don't know if harry will live or die.

having read some of the 6 books & watched all 5 HARRY POTTER movies, i can say that i'm quite a fan of the series.

tomorrow, the last book of the series would be released. (no, i haven't reserved/bought my copy--actually i haven't bought my copy of any of the 6 past books) many are excited, not only here but all over the world. unlike them, i'm not. i feel sad...it breaks my heart that the series i've come to love will now come to an end.

i think i want to buy my own copy of the 7 books soon...