Simply Belle

I was in a vehicle too engrossed in delivering letters to the box one fine day, when, suddenly, I heard a high pitch voice from somewhere.

Wait! Wait!

I stopped what I was doing and glanced at the side mirrors of my vehicle to decipher where the voice was coming from but couldn’t see a thing. So, I resumed my activity, and lo and behold, a little boy, popped out of nowhere, was suddenly next to my side, holding a paper.  If he wasn’t a boy,  it would have scared me to death.  I easily get startled these days especially if I am so immersed at what I am doing, and someone suddenly appears right next to me like a genie.

Boy: Can you read this for me please?

Me: Tristan, please do not tease the dog.

He flipped the paper over.

Boy: And this?

Me: It says the same thing but in reverse.

I saw him process the information in his mind. I could tell that he was disappointed as he wasn’t going to be able to play with the neighbor’s dog anymore. He loves dog so much. He was also worried that his neighbor might tell his parents and reprimand him. So, I soothed and calmed his fear down to make him feel better.

Me: Know what?

Boy: What?

Me: Your neighbor is definitely not mad at you. She just doesn’t want you get bitten by the dog.

Boy: (Looking relieved,  he went on to narrate a story.) When I was little, I used to play a lot with our dog, and the dog bit me on my lips. See the scar? (his finger pointing on his lips). Indeed, there was a scar.

Me: Reason why your neighbor doesn’t want you to tease the dog. How old are you?

Boy: I am six.

I offered to throw the paper away but he was a bit hesitant. He ran across the road towards his driveway, and paused and looked at me. He was probably wondering if he should show the paper to his mom or have me throw it away. As soon as he decided his mother need not see the paper, he ran back towards me.

Boy: Can you please throw away this for me?

Me: Certainly! Bye now.

Boy: Bye.

It’s been over a month now and I haven’t seen him.

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Me: Meg, can I showcase your beauty in my blog?

Meg: tita! that’s so sweet of you! i don’t mind, it’ll be an honor for me, as a matter of fact

Me: Thanks Meg! Your beauty reminds me of the super model Cindy Crawford.

Meg Tanael is the daughter of my friends, Maria Liza Rodriguez and Rolando Tanael, all natives of Bato, Catanduanes. Both parents were my batch mates in high school. Meg is 20 years old, a senior in University of Asia and the Pacific majoring in Information Technology. She has an older brother named Daryl Tanael whom she fondly calls “kuya,” a term filipinos use as a sign of respect to an older brother.

She was born in Pasay, Philippines. At age six, her parents accepted job offers in Saudi Arabia.  They took with them Meg and her brother and started new careers and brand new life in some strange place in Saudi Arabia, reason why she was hardly known in Bato or in Catanduanes. She graduated from high school in International Philippine School in Riyadh in which she was a consistent honor student.

I had had a chance to exchange email with Meg’s father several years back, and he mentioned how beautiful her daughter has evolved and blossomed,  and I could tell how proud he was of her. I get same feedback from her mother who is now based in USA. Though she has been persuaded a career in modeling for the last several years in the Philippines, her mother has adamantly insisted that she finish her college first before she ventures into such things. One thing that strikes me about Meg is she is a very sweet girl and she minds her parents. Most kids these days do whatever they please regardless of what their parents say. When Meg celebrated her 20th birthday, she wanted very much to go bungee jumping, and she asked me if i could entice her mom to allow her to do it. I didn’t talk to her mom. I just reasoned with her that bungee jumping is such a risky activity, that she should save this reckless abandonment stuff for later.  Lo and behold, she listened which made me so proud of her.

Her beauty didn’t go unnoticed in the Philippine community in Saudi Arabia. At a young age of 15, she was crowned first Binibining Pilipinas-Riyadh 2004.  As a result,  she became more  and more popular even in the Phillipines. I could imagine how proud her parents are of her. I know I am.

She now resides with her older brother in the Philippines. Now and then, she visits her mom in the USA or vice versa.

Lately, she has had many pictorials from various Philippine photographers, currently modeling for Circuit Fashion for Multiply sellers (designers) & Publicity Events Dep’t. (PED) of the UP Public Relations Advertising Society (PR+Ads)

Meg during her senior year in high school

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There should be no reason why people should go hungry these days. Absolutely no reason! We all have small portion of land in our yard that we can turn into vegetable garden except, of course,  for people living in the apartments and condos.  The only hard part of  gardening is the preparation of the soil and beds, but it is a breeze once the hard part is out of the way.  All you need to do is add compost to the soil once a year. Veggie gardening doesn’t raise water bill that much if drip irrigation is installed.  It is fairly reasonable rate. They say that for every dollar you invest in the garden, you get $4 dollars back.  Pretty good return of investment I must say.

Have  you noticed how expensive vegetables at the grocery store nowadays? Several months ago, I bought 3 huge tomatoes and it cost me about $5.  Expensive, huh? It has something to do with the supply and demand. If there is more demand than supply, then what happens?  Obviously, the price goes up.  Even if it was against my will to spend that much money on tomatoes, I had no choice.  I needed them in my cooking.  I forgot to mention that the tomatoes I bought were hot house tomatoes. They were fed commercialized fertilizer made from oil. And they didn’t taste as good as the organic ones grown in our garden, not to mention how nutritionally deprived they were being that they were grown in oil.

And with this price of produce nowadays, most college kids would rather opt for for fast food rather than a wholesome meal because they simply can’t afford it. Need I say why people are sicker these days?

Anyway, I thought I would show you how small plot in your backyard can bring in so much produce for at least 5 months – year-round for people with moderate climate.

Prolific zucs

Tasty tomatoes

Fruits of different varieties

Delicious green beans

Last but not the least, the ever-nutritious saluyot

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Per Joe’s and Ching’s request, I am posting a recipe of the pancit bihon complete with photo illustration.

Begin by boiling a whole Cornish game hen (gives more flavor to the broth than regular chicken) to produce about 2 1/2 cups of broth. I then shred the cooked meat to use in this recipe.

Soak the rice stick noodles in lukewarm water for 5 minutes at the most, and drain the noodles.  Set aside.

See photos below, by the way.

1. Slice the veggies and meat into thin strips according to your preference. Cabbage, green beans, carrots, and snow peas are recommended for this recipe. You can use chicken, pork, shrimp combination or you can use one type of meat only. Like my daughter, Steffi, she likes to use shrimp only. Also, chop up 3 to 4 cloves of garlic finely and onion, coarsely.

2. Saute garlic and onions in 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil for a minute or two until translucent. (I like to use oil generously)

3. Add the meat to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Add about 4 to 5 tablespoon of soy sauce depending on your taste.

4. Add 2 1/2 cups of broth to the meat (this measurement is for the whole package of noodles = 16 oz.) Bring to a boil.

5. Add the veggies to the boiling broth, and blanch them. Remove veggies and meat from the broth. The broth stays in the pan.

6. Add the noodle to the broth and keep stirring for 5 minutes. Add more soy sauce if needed. Add a good pinch of sugar, a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a tablespoon of fish sauce (oyster sauce and fish sauce are optional.) Add a pinch or two of chicken bouillon powder (also optional.)

7. Then add the cooked veggies to the noodles and mix them all thoroughly on medium heat. This is when I add the snow peas because I like them cooked al-dente. If the noodles are not fully cooked this time, add a small amount of water at a time and cover the pan. Turn the heat on low while you are doing this. It shouldn’t take long anymore, the most is 3 minutes as you don’t want a soggy noodles.

8. Transfer noodles into a big serving dish. Garnish with slices of hard-boiled eggs and chopped-up green onions.

9. Enjoy. Oh, try squeezing a tad bit of lemon on your noodles before eating.

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When we attended my daughter’s graduation, my sister-in-law and her husband stayed in the same motel we were in. And the attendant was nice enough to place us in rooms adjacent to each other. The motel was about 20 minute-drive to Stanford U. Every time we went for a walk, to eat, or to drive to Stanford U, all we had to do was walk a couple of steps and knock at their door.  Convoying was so easy and convenient.

Anyway, one night we decided to hang out in our room for a while before bedtime. My husband misses his sister so much so whenever possible he likes to spend time with her. Boy, they can talk for hours and never run out of topics to talk about.  Once in a while I threw in a few words here and there if the topic was of interest to me..he he.  They took walks together, and ate breakfast together.

Then my sis-in-law’s husband came in bringing a small rectangular golden box that resembled a Godiva chocolate box.  Surprisingly, he handed it to me. With the many pounds I have been putting on lately, chocolate is one of the many temptations I try to avoid as much as possible because once I see it, I will eat it. That is how irresistible it is for me. I was hesitant to accept the box. He said, “just take it and open it,” or something like that.

When I opened the box, I was so amazed with what I saw. It was a beautiful unique piece of jewelry of his late grandmother made out of a bunch of Filipino/American ten centavo-coins from 1945 to 1951, strung together to form a one-of-a-kind necklace. Evidently, his late grandmother had it custom made somewhere in the Philippines in the early 1950′s.

In disbelief, I asked him for sure if he wanted me to have the jewelry. He said, “yes!” I said, “thank you so much!” I must have said “thank you” several times. I was really touched and appreciative to have been given such a unique and beautiful of jewelry. Both my sis-in-law and J thought the jewelry would be more fitting on me being that I am a Filipino. And then he said to pass it on to one of my daughters when the time comes. Of course, I will.  Thank you both!

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After graduation, we headed straight to a place in California to scout for my daughter’s apartment. It took us all day to look around with help from a woman hired by her company to specifically help newly-hired employees. Her future roommate had to do the apartment search, too, but on a different day with the same woman. They were supposed to collaborate and compare notes the day after and see what apartment complex was best suited for both of them.  My daughter already had an idea of a place where she thought would be ideal for her to live. Of course, she would have to consider her future roommate’s choice, and make a compromise to suit them both if their choices were not identical. Sounds fair, right?

We drove home the following day after the search, and deliberated on the topic. We agreed that my daughter made the right decision on her choice, being close to the beach, close to work, and being in the wooded area which is cooler and with cleaner air, and also close to shopping center. It fits her personality.

The following day, my daughter and her future roommate were supposed to pick out an apartment because her roommate is moving in tomorrow, June 21. As it turned out, their choices weren’t the same – her future roommate liked a fancier, and more expensive place. MD (my daughter) was cool about it and wrote an email to her FR (future roommate) explaining why she preferred the other complex as a last attempt to try to persuade her. Her FR went back to the apartment complex that MD liked and looked at it a couple times more. Surprisingly, FR fell in love with the place and the nearby beach. MD was happy…………..

FR, at first, didn’t care who got the bigger bedroom and covered parking, so MD grabbed the opportunity based on FR’s terms. MD would pay $105 more based on square footage that FR computed. MD tried to make negotiations with her by cutting down the price to at least a 100. FR wouldn’t budge.  Tough roommate, huh? As you can see, it was all about her FR’s terms and conditions.  So, for the sake of getting along, MD accepted her terms.

To help her FR move in as quickly as possible, MD had to sign the lease the next day via fax incurring $10 fax fee. She felt accomplished after the fax was sent knowing that she found an apartment and a roommate.

But not for long.

She got another call from her FR. FR told her that she checked the apartment one more time, bringing along a tape measure to get the exact dimensions of the rooms.  She found out that her room was quite a bit smaller than she thought and she proclaimed that MD pays higher rent yet,  or FR takes the bigger bedroom, or they move into a fancier place that FR initially liked. Stephanie told her flat out that all she did was agree to her terms and that she already signed the lease, and if FR tried to raise her rent again, she would not want to be her roommate anymore. Meanwhile, MD called the apartment manager right away to cancel her lease as she felt there is no longer a future between her and FR together because of what had just transpired. She felt she will be miserable living with her with all the signs FR was manifesting already. Gladly, the manager understood her predicament and let her get out of the lease. Manager actually sympathized with my daughter.  MD  then called her FR on the phone and told her that it is for their best interest if they don’t become roommates.

Then several unpleasant scenarios start popping up in my mind:

What if her FR buys the couch and bans MD and her guests from sitting on it?

What if FR’s family comes for a visit, and does a cook-out, and never bothers inviting MD for even just a piece of dessert? I am a very giving person, my daughter’s friends are like my family, too. They are automatically included in our meal if they show up.

What if someone was in MD’s bathroom, and MD needs to use a bathroom urgently, will she let her use her bathroom? FR made an agreement that her bathroom is hers and hers alone.

What if MD’s car breaks down, will FR drive her to work? And how much would FR charge her?

What if MD accidentally leaves an appliance on, will she bother turning it off?

What if MD is out of food and can’t go to the market for some reason, will she let her borrow her food?

Or S (MD), I have been keeping track of how many times you flush the toilet, I feel that you pay higher portion of the water bill!

Did my daughter make the right decision to back out of the deal?

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June 14, 2009 was Stephanie’s big day. It was her graduation day. My whole family, her aunt and uncle, and her boyfriend attended her graduation ceremony.  Ceremony was held in Stanford U Stadium commencing with the Stanford’s traditional wacky walk. Graduating students got to wear their favorite costumes and they had an option to march foolishly as they wished, however and whatever they wanted to be remembered. Some students came in shorts, and some even arrived in skimpy swimming suits. Funny, yes, but I didn’t care for it. People were all over doing wacky things. It is like going to church with so many distractions. It took away the seriousness of the ceremony as if everything was just a joke.  But, whether people like it or not, the tradition must go on.

Stephanie, however, ended up just carrying a big sunflower balloon and walked just normally. That is my Stephanie. Though I had trouble finding her in the crowd. I had to ask her boyfriend to take a picture of her using long lens.

Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the commencement speech and it was somewhat interesting. After the ceremony, they went straight to their respective department for another ceremony to receive their diploma. Stephanie graduated with a degree in BS Biomechanical Engineering, with a grade point average of 3.71. In another school, she could have qualified easily as Magna Cum Laude recipient but in Stanford, specifically in her department, they only gave a couple of honors given to those who attained the highest possible rating, and that’s it.

Let me show pictures of Stanford’s traditional wacky walk:

Stephanie is the one holding the sunflower balloon.

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The other day while my husband was doing some gardening work, he spotted a lizard in such a precarious position. Lizard’s back legs and tail are trapped in a half-inch hardware cloth and the only way to free it was to cut the wire. Steve came at it with the flyer (geeesh, I meant plier),  and the lizard thought for sure that he was going to crush it between the jaws. You should have seen the expression on its face. Instead, Steve snipped the wire and cut him free like a good scout..he he.

Finally, my husband figured out how to attach watermark on the photograph so no one can claim my photos as theirs anymore. That lizard picture was taken by Steve and he wants me to reiterate that the good deed was done by him.

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While browsing on friendster, I came across this quotation: “Be nice to your kid, they will choose your nursing home. Indeed, there is a lot of truth in that statement. I turned to my husband at the far corner of the house and read the line out loud to him. My husband was so engrossed in what he was doing, he didn’t say a word.

A while back, my friend, Bob, and I were talking about the same topic – elderly. He said there is nothing we can do when we reach that certain age when we cannot care for ourselves anymore. And that we are most likely to end up in a home care facility.  Of course, knowing how it is like in the nursing home because I go there everyday, the idea terrifies me.

What if I don’t want to go?, I asked Bob.

You are not in the right frame of mind then. Your daughters would say, “come on mama, we’ll go for a little trip, now,” and before you know it, you are inside the facility, helpless.” Bob retorted.

Oh my gosh, what a scary thought. I hope I don’t have to go there. And then, suddenly, several hours thereafter, my husband broke in silence and yelled, “whatever happens, I am not going to the nursing home.”

I laughed and said in a joking way, “if you are consistently nice to us, we might spare you a trip to the nursing home.” Might spare?? he asked. I am just kidding, I said.

Terrified at the thought, my husband becomes even more determined not to go to any nursing home facilities. And so am I. He would rather stay in the Philippines and hire a caretaker who will look after him, and a driver to take him to places, all for a reasonable cost. Just like my mother, even when she became physically disabled, she didn’t have to be forced to leave the house  she loved so much to live in a strange house. Instead, she had the financial independence (through my help, of course) to hire a caretaker to take care of her during the day. Caretaker left at night when everything was done and in order. Eventually, my sister-in-law took over the job and made sure that my mother’s last days on earth were fun and around people she loved and cared.

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It infuriates me when I see my pictures stolen in front of my very eyes. I don’t mind them taking my pictures and post them on their site if at least, they give the credit to where it is rightfully due. Or, I don’t even mind seeing my pictures in people’s site so long they leave the pictures the way they are – unaltered-  for people to oogle on. That’s fine with me. People are smart and they can eventually trace to whom the photos belong.

What irks me is despite of how repeatedly I told the guy that the pictures were mine (by leaving comments on my pictures that are displayed on his site , and yes with his signature on them,) instead, he had the gall to get mad at me, and told me that he got the pictures from a different site, and that he already thanked the person from whom he got them. What I would do if I were him, after he was notified, I would get rid of the pictures or if he likes my pictures so much, I would retain them and put a caption that the pictures were taken by Belle.  It is the right thing to do.

Of course, he didn’t do a thing.  Instead, he took it upon himself and put a signature on my photograph that he knew he didn’t take.  Which, by the way,  only sneak thieves are capable of doing. And what is worse was he had the courage to alter my photo by cosmetically removing the other person from it using the photoshop and put his own signature at the bottom and making it look like his. And the funny thing is he did an amateurish job at it that even a kid would know that there was something wrong with the picture, as if he painted it over with tool brush that was done so lousily.

Take a look:

original picture

the picture that the thief altered.

Doesn’t that tell the type of person he is?  Definitely, an untrusworthy sneak thief.

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