Anime marathon: ANOTHER

    Just recently, my brother, who is an otaku (anime addict), let me explore his archive of anime stuff.

Source

    While digging into the volume of CD's he has, my attention was caught by the cover of this anime entitled "Another". He was about to explain what it's all about, but I exclaimed not to because I am too much excited to watch for it that I might be ended up listening to his story and forgotten to watch the whole of it.

    The whole story was interesting. Though, the whole story lasts for 12 episodes, it was worth watching. The way it was compressed and the sequence was very tricky; the cursed of the legend that have been haunting the students for the past years, how to solve the mystery and to know who was the "Another" was the main dish of this story.

    The story goes when a 15-year old Koichi Sakakibara transferred into Yomiyama, class 3-3 in the spring of 1998. There he met Misaki Mei, a strange young girl belong to their class, but being ignored because of the thought that she might be the "another". Sakakibara, being unaware of the said curse, had brought his curiosity to stalk at Misaki. And as soon as Sakakibara gets closer to Misaki, he knew about the curse and the whole class started to ignore him, too.

    Though the students and faculty tried to follow the measures to prevent the unfortunate events, the curse continues as they were caught up by ghastly deaths. And, as Sakakibara and Misaki continued to solve the mystery behind, they knew that the 'another' was someone from the past and is already dead, but came back to the world of the living as of being part of the curse. The only way to stop the curse is to identify who was the 'another' and bring it back to the dead.

   

The Filipino meal: Breakfast or Almusal

   The best part of the day as an ordinary Filipino citizen was the breakfast or almusal. The ultimate power meal that will surely delighting every pinoy's morning.

Coffee - First and always on the list. Just a cup of hot kape ("Kape" is the Filipino term for coffee) always brighten the day. Kapeng barako of Batangas and Kapeng alamid are some of the best and high quality coffee that are loved by Filipinos.

Photo source: The pinoy warrior

Sinangag - Leftover rice from last night's dinner, fried with garlic sauteed until golden brown and onions and simply seasoned with salt, sometimes incorporated with other ingredients such as celery, onion sprigs, chopped carrots, green peas, etc., Sinangag or fried rice can be eaten even without side dishes.

Photo source: Pinoy cook

Daing & tuyo - Daing na isda (cured and dried fish) and tuyo (dried fish) is the best partner of sinangag. Commonly served as fried. In some provinces, they boiled it with herbs that are present in their yards such as saluyot, malunggay, sili, etc. The most commonly known daing is dinaing na bangus. Daing na bangus (milk fish) is marinated in salt, vinegar, ground pepper and finely chopped garlic and set aside for a matter of hours or even in days and served fried.

Longaniza - Longganisa or langgonisa? Smoked, chicken, skinless or garlicky? From vigan or iloco, lucban or pampanga, doesen't matter how you say it, no matter what flavor it is or where it originates, it is still the same sausage every Pinoy loves to pair with sinangag in the morning.

Photo source: Visit Pinas

Egg - Some like it scrambled, some like it boiled, but some like it on top of TAPSILOG.

Photo source: Pinterest

Kakanin - On the go? Kakanin are easily found in every corner of the streets in the Philippines. Heavy, sweet and in different kinds, kakanin is not just for breakfast and snacks, but also the superstar of Pinoy fiesta.

Photo source: Visit Pinas

The SI-LOG - TapSiLog (tapa, sinangag, itlog) is the most common among the combinations that are considered the all-time Filipino favorite breakfast. Sinangag at itlog (fried rice and egg sunny side up) paired with other different fried dish

Here are some of the Si-Log combinations:

• LongSiLog (Longaniza, sinangag, itlog)
• DaSiLog (Daing, sinangag, itlog)
• TuSiLog (Tuyo, sinangag, itlog)
• HamSiLog (Ham, sinangag at itlog)

TapSiLog

Make life worth living: Give yourself a treat

   Tired, stressed and rushing to make things done-that’s what we are in our daily life that we always forgot to give a reward after a day of heavy and hard working effort for ourselves.

For the ladies. I know how hard it is to wear our favorite stilettos’ or to sit on our office chair or baby 

sitting on our kids while doing household chores the whole day, some happened to do all at the same time, so

Relaxing spa?

why don’t you give yourself a relaxing massage on a spa at the end of the day or after working hours. Aside from its relaxing effect, it also had good benefits to our body and health. How about acupuncture? A cute nail art? New pair of dress or just have a warm, soothing bubble/milk bath? Sounds good right?

For the gentlemen. Most of the men works harder over days and nights to earn money, so, I’ll say: “Tagay!” (‘Tagay’ means ‘cheers’ in Filipino) Small amount of alcohol at least once or twice weeks for leisure is enough, but please drink responsibly. How about a mouth-watering dish cooked by our loving wife? New accessories for your car or a new hardcore video game? Sound nice, right?

    We need to give ourselves a treat even in a simplest way we can, it doesn’t matter if it is big or small, what’s important is that the reward you choose to give to yourself is something that you really need. 

Make life worth living: Bond with your brother or sister

    When we were young, the first person we called 'best friend', 'best buddy' or 'partner' were our younger or older brothers and sisters. We used to play with them, laugh and cry together, stand as saviour to each other and the best person to share with our secrets. As we grow old, we meet different people, change ways and tend to forget the relationship that the siblings have had before

     How can we maintain a good relationship with our brothers and sisters? How can it make our life worth living?


Know each other's interest
Every sibling has different interests and it is a good thing to know their interest, likes and dislikes-from food to clothes, and even their favorite Avenger character. This is considered an advantage especially in times like giving a special gift or surprise. Actually, in this part, you will know how much closeness does two siblings have.

Take advantage of the common interests
Siblings who grew up together mostly have the same interest (toys, hobbies, etc.). Sisters both likes to watch movies, going to salon, shopping or even fixing nail polish of each other together. Brothers share cars or play video games, go to pubs and bars and have fun with each other. Some siblings in their adulthood period take advantage of their common interests to meet occasionally especially if they are living apart from each other.

Siblings as ultimate friends
Just like our friends, our brothers and/or sisters can be and always be our best friends. We should trust them the way as we trust our friends. But, unlike our friends, they're much sensitive when it comes to our security, which is the advantage of having them on our sides.


     In some cases such as being an only child, they treated friends and cousins as their siblings and some choose to be closer to their parents and set their parents hobbies or work as a bonding time.

     In my own experience as the first born with five siblings, bonding time with them is the most important part of my everyday life. I admit that I don't have an active social life so I had much time to bond with them. Though we always see each other at home, I always love to make group hugs and sometimes, in my age, we still play hide-and-seek together (it's a good thing we own a big house with a wide yard). They're the best friends I could ever had and they're the people that could see the real me. And, most of all, they are the reasons I have a life worth living.

We all love photography. And, we both love posing like a psycho or a victim in a psycho film. We just love the drama.

Make life worth living: Have a book to read

    Reading. Books. Not all people are into reading or has an interest in reading especially now that there are a lot of things around us that easily catches our attention (gadgets, online games, etc.).

    Then why reading? How can it make our life worth living?

    In a website, LifeDev.net, Glen Stansberry stated the eight major benefits of reading:

Photo source: The big five of reading

1. Enhanced Smarts
2. Reading reduces stress
3. Greater tranquility
4. Improved analytical thinking
5. Increased vocabulary
6. Improved memory
7. Improved writing skills
8. Helps prioritize goals

    Also in the website BenefitOf.net also stated some facts about the Benefits of reading.

    Aside from these facts, books aren't just a bunch of papers with ink in it. It is a piece of art, knowledge and experiences by different people.

     But, if you're still not into reading, there will be, one day, a book that will serve as your counterpart.
I found my match when I was in fourth grade. A Filipino literature book were accidentally sent to my home room together with our activity books. It is a book of short stories written by contemporary Filipino writers. And, by the moment I finished reading the book, I realized I was crying. I shed tears for something I don't know why.

     Reading a book is like a journey with a friend, an adventure that doesn't require physical presence, but a mind that can soar higher and able and willing to think of the unimaginable. Admit it, sometimes, you stopped for a moment just to say: "Oh my! What happened?" or "Why?!" or you happened to say bad words when the story turned out the way you didn't expect. It'll make you cry, it can make you laugh. To finish reading a book is like losing a friend.

    Pieces of papers, pages bounded by words, and stories painted by ink, having a book to read is a Thing worth living.

Sinigang

     Best soup for cold season you say? Want to taste the best one? Then, have taste Filipinos all-time favorite Sinigang.

Cravining for soup?

Tumblr: My food

     Sinigang is a pinoy version of sour soup and is perfect for cold season. Mostly associated with tamarind as a souring agent and enhanced with green finger pepper, gabi (taro), labanos (raddish), kangkong (water spinach), kamatis (tomato), paminta (pepper) and usually cooked with meat or fish. Here are some of the variation of sinigang:

• Sinigang sa Sampalok - Tamarind traditionally the souring agent used for sinigang. It is added at the beginning of the cooking procedure to bring out the soury taste of the tamarind. 

Ygoy: Tamarind as medicine

•  Sinigang sa Miso - Miso and seafood always blends together. Miso usually cooked with bangus (milk fish) or salmon.

My 3rd & 7th sense: Salmon belly sinigan sa miso

•  Sinigang sa Libas - Libas is a leaf that is mostly used as souring agent in the southern part of the Philippines or Visayans. It is incorporated in the dish right before it is served.

Manila old timer: Libas leaf

•  Sinigang sa Batuan - Jammed (I mean, not to the point that you have to crush the fruit.),  and cut into halves, this sour fruit will surely a counterpart of the tamarind soup.

Marketmanila: Batuan

 Sinigang sa Bayabas - Bayabas or Guava will put another check to our list. Aside from its sourly flavor, it gives a little sweet to the dish which also enhances the flavor.

Bayabas/guava

A life worth living: Things people should do to make life worth living

   
    We don't have an eternal life, but we do have a life to live, reasons to continue living and enjoy the happiness that life could bring.

    I know it is a kind of crazy (and I mean, for some, it will be really insane to say) that I have fascination for death and afterlife and... More things about death. Lately I have been roving around the web searching for things like "Things to do before you die" or "How to kill yourself" Too much insanity for an introduction, right? That's when I realize "Why not make a list of things to make life worth living?"

    People live every day in a time where the clock is hurrying to tick. Everyone is rushing to do things as a part of their every day living, we forgot to notice the simple, yet important things around us. We miss the moments that can make us more human and when the moment we start to look for a place for ourselves, we realized everything is too late for us. Simple, yet important, what are those? Missing a big sale on the mall? Saying no to a slice of double cheese pizza because you're on a diet? Shopping with your mom or small talk while fixing tires with your dad? Yeah, right! Simple and small moments, these are things that can make us complete, but we always missed on our lives because we always set them aside.

Source: Happy moments

   I'm not planning to do the killing or dying thing--I'll be busy on listing simple things instead. Simple things we always missed or we always planned to do, but we don't know how to. A list that is more than being list (Huh?). It's like writing a bucket list and bringing it into life.

Rainy Days Tips

• Always bring your umbrella. Rain or shine, it's definitely the basic, but it really helps. 

• There's jelly shoes available in the market and sold at a cheap price, why don't you try to buy one? Just in case you don't want to ruin your red heels. Jelly shoes can be folded and can't do such clutter inside your bag. 

• Recycle used, but still clean plastic bags by bringing it with you and use it for your wet socks so that it won't do mess with the other things inside your bag especially your phone and papers. 

• Used to have umbrella, but still arrived like a wet chick? I heard there are available fashionably and cute raincoats that will protect you and your bag from the rain. You heard it right, even bags too.

•  Having fun with boots? Go fashionable with printed and specialle designed boots that are available in the market

• Even if it's raining, don't forget to apply sun block.

Filipino Delicacies: Suman

     No Filipinos have not tasted the sweet and savory kakanin. Who wouldn't persist to taste it's sticky yet sweet and delicate taste?

     Kakanin, or Rice cakes as they refer to call it, is one of the best delicacy that Filipino should be proud of. Aside from the famous Lechon and pancit, kakanin gain its popularity in fiestas and other special celebration. Every region has their own variations of kakanin. Appearance, taste, ingredients and preparation depends on the region or town where it originated or even on the person's family where he adopted the recipe.

1. Suman - I put it on first on the list because of its being common and availability in the market. Usually made out of glutinous rice wrapped in a coconut or palm leaves and steamed. Here are several types of suman

• Suman sa Ibus - Glutinous rice wrapped over a coconut or palm leaves, steamed with water and small amount of salt. These yellow leaves that serves as its container will attract everyone's eyes. Its sweet taste from the rice yet salty flavor matches hot chocolate and coffee for breakfast or simply match it with ripe mango on an afternoon as a miryenda or snack.

•  Suman sa lihiya - Another favorite on the list. Glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed with coconut leaves instead of water. It goes with the latik, made of coconut milk's residue, cooked over medium heat. 

Ranchero's Merienda

•  Suman sa Kamoteng Kahoy (Cassava) - Made of grated or finely ground cassava, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed in coconut milk and sugar.

When adobo met feijoada

Writing Rituals: Listening To Music

I used to listen to music before and while I'm writing. So I made a list of the songs I used to listen.

 Thou shalt not - If I only were a goth 
I really love this song. I wanna play it over and over.

 Acel Bisa - One love

I was actually listening to this song while doing this posts. I can't help myself but to get blushed every time I hear this song

Bamboo - Muli

I fell in love with this song. I was disappointed when bamboo disbanded.

Tears for fears - Everybody wants to rule the world

Tears for fears - head over heels
Another song from TFT. this is the first song from TFT that I had heard

Owl city - Vanilla twilight
Even my friends got mesmerized by this song.

Coldplay - The scientist
I've listening to this song since I was in grade school.

Coldplay - Every teardrop is a waterfall
One that I always listen to lately.

Kamikazee - Girlfriend
Lastly on my list, I could relate my experience to the meaning of this song. (-___-) I really bet you should listen to this.

Filipino snacks: Kutkutin

    I have been on the web looking for a site that is about Filipino snacks, unfortunately I haven't seen exactly what I've been looking for. So, I made a list of the foods that I've been craving for a long time.

   This list is all about Filipino snacks that mostly Filipinos always bought while they're on their way home as a pasalubong or gift for their family or loved ones, specially if they came from a long trip or have been to a vacation.

Barquillos -  A thin rolled cookies, mixtures of milk, flour and egg. Iloilo, a province in western Visayas, is a well-known province for making barquillos and other sweet delicacies. It's like the Champola wafer sticks and Stick-O's. Good to eat with a hot chocolate and/or along with a scoop of your favorite flavor of ice cream.

 Photo source: Wikimedia

Kamote (Sweet potato) Chips and Cassava Chips - This two chips may look like the same, but they differ from the texture and taste. Sweet potato or Kamote are sliced thinly to ensure the crunchy texture after frying while the Cassava, which is also sliced thinly, may appear to have a bubbly-like appearance on the layer of a thin-sliced cassava due to heat pressure while cooking. Kamote chips are best if they're flavored with honey and Cassava chips goes along with cheese flavor and barbeque. You can go and visit Market Manila for their recipe of Kamote chips.

Photo source: marketmanila.com

Photo source: Between you and me

  
Shingaling -I've been eating this food since I was a child and it was and is the best snack ever. Made out of Thick noodles, dried over night and deep fried with seasoning and red pepper until it reaches it's golden brown color. Visit Loqal.ph where Marjorie Gorospe shared her story of A snack fondly called ‘shing-aling’.

 Photo source: loqal.ph

 Banana Chips - Sliced thinly and deep fried with sugar, banana chips is one of the classic Pinoy snacks.

 Photo source: Multiply

Ampao - From the word itself Ampao or hollow, this food is made out of sesame and a thin wafer-like filling or sometimes is made out of puffed rice and coated with sugar caramel.

Photo source: Market Manila

These sweet delicacies and snacks are mostly found in Pasalubong stores, bus stops and or supermarkets.