Simply Belle

Dear Lexi and Tepsi,

So sorry to break bad news with you about Mango. He died this morning about 11 AM. After we had our breakfast, he looked perfectly fine, attempting to come out of his cage. I removed his cover and gave him slices of apples. He attacked them like he normally would. Then, an hour later, I removed the bar off his cage so he could freely get out. I was sitting in front of the computer composing an entry for my blog. Then 15 minutes later, I heard him fly to my room, chirping. I expected him to land on my black chair but head to daddy’s space instead. Daddy wasn’t home. He was at the bank doing some business. I got engrossed in what I was doing, I didn’t look for him. I thought I would just wait until he found his way to me which he normally did. I didn’t hear any unusual noises to cause panic. I was assuming he was perching on the bed’s frame and doing his poop and play routine.

Then half an hour later, daddy arrived and sat on his chair. Daddy made this weird and unusual look and yelled frantically. I couldn’t exactly tell why he had that look. I said, “why, what?” In between his computer desk, at the corner, laid an upside down creature, lifeless. He said, “Mango is dead!” At first daddy thought, it was one of those small beannie babies.

Mango was like a family to us, you know. I didn’t mind him pooping all over the house because I wanted him to have the freedom to fly instead of being cooped in his cage. He had been with us for about 14 or 15 years. This last year, I had seen some signs of deteriorations from him. He wasn’t as agile as he was. When he followed me in the bathroom, one time, he bumped himself against the wall. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt and survived. He chirped a lot when he got stuck somewhere in the house like a plea for help. I would always get him and take him to his cage.

What may have happened was when he flew to our room, he bumped himself somewhere along the way. Maybe, he hadn’t been flying for 3 weeks and lost its strength to fly and hurt himself. It didn’t look like he suffered any. All I heard was a couple of chirps, and that was it. Or maybe, he died of old age?

He lived a long life with us. He was loved, cared for well. Even daddy stepped up and fed him good everyday. Though lately, he seemed to prefer rice and sphagetti as opposed to his food. Daddy gave him rice this morning, and he was very hungry for it. He ate the whole pile.

We put him in a small box of perfume and burried him in between the plum and persimmon tree. Daddy put three rocks on top so he is protected from any animals. This summer, when you guys go home, we will build a shrine for him.

I am sure Mango doesn’t want us cry or to look sad for him. He wants to see us happy just like the way he was.

Love,
Mommy

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She was not expected to win. She is the “hampas lupa” as what the parents of the affluent and the highly favored contestant described her. They were right! An hour before the competition, 19 year-old Vinyl wasn’t quite ready. She hadn’t found the accessories that would embellish her outfit. They were searching hard here and there and suddenly they spotted me in the crowd. Good thing, my sister-in-law reminded me to take my jewelry to the event just in case she needed them. Fortunately, the necklace and the bracelet went well with her evening gown, and her costume respectively. I brought those jewelry actually as pasalubong or give aways but I had no particular persons in mind to give them to. God surely does have a way of putting things together at the right time, doesn’t He?

I came just for the fun of it with my camera in tow. Once again, it was yet another blessing for her because there was hardly anyone taking pictures of her. She is the “hampas lupa” or the destitute, you know. Her family can’t afford a camera or anything of that sort. To make up for her deprivation, I took tons of pictures of her from a distance because I only bought the cheapest ticket thinking that I may not like the show and head home early. No problem with the distance because I had the long lens with me.

But, as the night progressed, the pageant became interesting and stimulating. Our own Vinylwalked off the platform and sashayed the night away with ease and confidence. Not only that, she seemed to be the only one who answered every question intelligently in perfect English. She eventually enamored the audience- with increasing applause each time she nailed the question. The “hampas lupa” had what it took to win and she did it! She won!

To add drama to this story, our baranggay captain visited me early in the morning after the pageant in my hut soliciting money for the queen’s gown to be worn at the parade. I said, ” she is now the queen of Bato, the town of Bato should provide for it.” I am sure they made quite a bit of money from the pageant’s paid admission. The entrance fee ranged from 20 pesos to 300 pesos and the house was packed. There should be enough money to rent a gown for the queen of Bato, right? Where else would they allocate the proceeds of the event????

Anyway, after I made my point, I relented and handed the captain php1,000 so, at least, the queen would look decent at the parade. To rent a white gown, they needed to come up with php800, so there was enough money even to cover for the transportation.

This costume made out of abaca paper was sewn together by the queen’s mother including the necklace and earrings. The bracelet was the one I lent her.

Didn’t the necklace fit perfectly with her gown? How did I know she would be wearing navy blue gown?

First runner up went to Jenelyn Bonao of Bato ilawod, on the far left. Second runner up went to Christina Montano of Bato libod, 3rd runner up went to Jenelyn Temena of Sibacungan, and 4th runner up went to Marivic Tubalinal of San Roque.

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Not bad for a picture taken from inside the plane through a window pane.

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Hello everyone, I am back acclimatizing from a trip to the Philippines. Had a great time despite of the typhoon that hit the Philippines while vacationing. Earlier forecast said that it would hit Catanduanes by early morning of June 21st and we were staying in a hut just 15 meters away from the water. For some reasons, even if it was signal #3 already, I wasn’t scared and didn’t even think of leaving the area. People were typhoon proofing their houses already while I didn’t seem to feel the urgency to vacate the area. Fortunately, the typhoon suddenly changed its path and spared our place once again - hallelujah! Thanks Elaine, Pat, and Patty (my SIL) for the thought and concern. I appreciate it so much.

Anyway, the pictures above are of the boat named after me. My husband wanted the other end of the boat squared off so he could utilize his outboard motor that he shipped from the US two years ago so he doesn’t have to inhale the fumes if a regular diesel-in-board motor is used. Big mistake! When he tested the boat for a ride, water started splashing up from the stern and eventually got inside the boat. Which means the boat is not safe to take to the rough water but perfectly fine for a pleasure ride in a steady water around the bay. That is how good Bella is for now- just for rowing in the shallow water of the lagoon. That proves that I am indeed chicken in the water.

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An old friend of mine from college named Au recently introduced this wonderful and healthy dish during the recent get-together of our group in Manila. It is called Dinengdeng, Ilocos specialty ( I think). It is so easy to make and it’s main ingredients are vegetables. I am more of a veggie person so naturally I became interested in the dish and immediately emailed her to ask for the recipe. She responded right away and graciously shared the recipe with me.

This dish may look unappetizing for most of you but for me it is heavenly even though I overcooked the squash. I didn’t realize squash cooks faster but it somehow enhanced the sauce, making the dish taste even better. Believe it or not, I had it 4 days in a row

In my recipe of Dinendeng, I used spinach, opo, slices of ginger, tomatoes, yellow orange squash, and bitter melon (ampalaya). My friend Au doesn’t recommend adding ampalaya to the recipe but I thought I would try it anyway because I love it so much. To cut down the bitterness, I soaked the sliced ampalaya first in salty water for some time and it did the trick.

I ate this much four days in a row with only half a cup of rice. Who says half a cup of rice is not enough?

The dish below prepared by Au was the one I was trying to achieve. But for some reasons, mine came out quite a bit darker, probably due to the type of bagoong I used. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with its taste. I mainly gorged on the veggies.

Those who are interested, here is the recipe my friend sent me:

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The day before my daughter A went back to the university for summer class, we took a walk to the park with our respective camera in tow. I was using the DSLR Sony A100 while she was using a point and shoot camera that her sister gave her for a present. It was more of a leisurely walk because we often stopped when something struck our fancy like a dandelion flower. It never occurred to me that dandelion flower would make a good subject for photography. She must see something that I don’t. She would take pictures of almost anything. I noticed that she didn’t mind taking pictures against the light for artistry either. Here is one of hers with the ducks.

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Jessica Sanchez is from Southern California, and was born to a filipino mother and mexican father. She started singing at the age of 2. Her influences include Celine Dion, Christina Aguillera, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

During the first season of America Got Talent, she earned the wild spot impressing all three judges. Brandy, the international pop star and one of the judges raved about her and made a remark, “You’re going to be huge, I promise!” She was 9 years old in this video.  She may be 13 years old now and sounding even better. You can check out her myspace site here

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I just recently received a present from my daughter S for her Mother’s Day gift to me. She was trying to save some money so she sent the package third class. Third class parcel usually arrives within a week or so. I was so excited when I opened the package, wondering what she got me this time. In the past, she usually gave me good quality cosmetics- things I don’t normally buy because they are expensive. One good thing about this daughter, she is very good at budgeting her money and she saves up for those special occasions.

Inside the package, there was a card she made herself that says:

“Happy Mother’s Day. This present is something you can wear in the Philippines. The dress can be worn multiple ways. I have included a small card that contains directions. I hope you like it. Love, S.”

And you know what she gave me? A sexy black dress which can be worn several ways. Ha ha…I didn’t think my daughter would approve of me wearing this dress but apparently I was wrong.

I modeled the dress at night so the pictures weren’t as good even with flash.

my favorite variation

least favorite.

second favorite

third favorite

So it appears that I have four new black dresses. How cool is that? Too bad the dress doesn’t have a magical power to change into different color for every style because I would love to have it in green, red, and white.

Now, I am thinking where in the province I could appropriately wear this outfit. To Virac Palengke? Nah! To nang Hilda’s sari sari store? Nay! To the beach? I don’t think so! To the church? Certainly not, priest would shoo me away. To the vesper ball? Hmmm, that’s an idea.

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Lately, I have been craving for this dish that my niece fixes for me whenever I go home to the province. I never asked for the recipe because I didn’t think that I would one day prepare it myself here. I was wrong.

Last Sunday, we (8 of us) went to Phoenix to do some oriental shopping. I was surprised to see good quality taro roots just like in the picture below. I immediately grabbed a plastic and picked about 6 medium roots and thought of making kalo-ko to satisfy my craving.

Here it is:

In between Kaloko is filled with the flesh that I pryed out of the taro roots (split lengthwise) using a small spoon. I made sure I carved it out carefully so as not to puncture the shell to put the filling in. I flavored the filling with 1/2 can of coconut cream, 2 cups of sugar (or more depending on your taste), and anise for flavoring. Pandan leaves work just as good for flavoring. My niece suggested that I add salt. No salt for me, thank you.

Then I filled in the shell with the filling about 3/4 full. I poured 1/4 can of coconut milk into the bottom of the pan and placed each kaloko in. I poured the remaining 3/4 can of coconut cream over the kaloko and another cup of sugar or more depending on your taste. Cook slow for 45 minutes or until the juice becomes sticky. Cool and enjoy. (For this recipe, I opened 2 cans of coconut cream but only used 1 1/2.) I ended up throwing the other half. I know I am wasteful but I don’t foresee myself using the leftover milk in my cooking in a week or two.

It was sooooo good!

Below is the picture of the taro roots that I lifted from this site

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