Let's Keep It Real

So the internet has been buzzing about Manny Pacquiao's statement about the LGBT community.

All sorts of people have given their opinions and syempre, may comments rin ako:

- Tama ba namang icompare ang LGBT to animals ? Napaka harsh naman nun. Mas masakit pa kung iisipin mo kung ano si Manny. Kala mo kung sinong napakabanal na tao na walang kasalanan, e kalat na kalat naman yung infidelity nya. Hindi ba ipinagbabawal sa bible ang kumaliwa sa asawa ?

Kunsabagay, am sure na tinawag rin siyang hayop ni jinky nung times na kumakaliwa siya ;)

- Some people say that Manny is a hero, he's done so much for our country and he's even bled for our country - napaka super duper OVER naman nito. Yes, he excelled in his sport and has given our people so much to be proud of. Pero di naman tama na i-compare siya sa mga servicemen whose lives are on the line every day.

Boxing is Manny's sport / livelihood, it's not a service to his community/countrymen.

He is NOT a hero.

- In fairness to Manny Pacquiao, I have to admire his commitment. He apologized for his words but he remained committed to being against same-sex marriage. He's surely lost a lot of votes already, he even got dropped as an endorser by Nike, but he remains steadfast in his resolve.

- It's true that the Catholic Church is against homosexuality but it's also true that the Catholic Church tenets have been around for a long time, baka dapat nang ma-update ?

One time, I had a discussion with a friend about same-sex marriages. Sabi ni friend, against raw siya dahil "Katoliko ako eh and bawal sa simbahan yan". Immediately, I pointed out, "e diba ipinagbabawal rin ng simbahan ang IVF ? bakit nag IVF ka ? " Natahimik at napaisip si friend. Eventually, nung nakapagsalita na siya, "you have a point" ang sagot nya.

- May relative ako na feeling ko LGBT pero hindi naman siya nagladlad pa. Siguro ayaw rin bigyan ng sakit ng ulo ang parents/family nya. Sana someday, may chance rin siya ilabas ang totoong pagkatao nya in public. Can't be easy having to keep your real self a secret.

Maki Mi

I've been craving Maki-Mi for the longest time but we can't seem to find any restaurants in our area which has it - I don't remember seeing it in any of the Chinatown (NYC) shops either. My Aunt in CA makes it and so does my bro-in-law (in CA too) but I've never gotten the chance to ask them how to make it.

Today, the stars came into alignment. I had extra lomo (pork tenderloin) left over from a dish I made a couple of days ago. I wanted something maasim and got a pack of sinigang mix from the Asian store. Then, thinking that it is also Chinese New Year, I went back and got black vinegar too. The black vinegar really pulled everything together and made me think maki-mi.

I started browsing through the net to look for some interesting recipes. The actual cooking process took me a bit longer than usual so we didn't get to sit down for dinner till around 9:30p or just past that but this was so worth the wait.

Honestly, na surprise rin ako that it turned out great. Somewhere in the middle of the process, I tasted my maki soup and medyo nagduda ako and started worrying that I was wasting food.

Hubby loved it so much, he even asked for seconds, nagluto pa ulit ako ng noodles. Nag request pa siya ng wonton noodles for next time (sabi ko sure, sa next Chinese new year ulit).

*pats myself on the back*

Winter storm Jonas

I was at Walmart earlier today to pick up an equipment mat for our treadmill (oo, seryosong exercise na ito).

While waiting in line, I spied several customers picking up bags of ice melt so I decided to pick up a couple of bags too on my way out. I figured there must be something coming our way.

Good thing I did, looks like we're in for a lot of snow this weekend.

I remember the last time we got a forecast of a foot of snow - my car was entirely buried, including the radio antenna!

Peter Sam

So I got Swe-Cha a Peter Sam train today and when I took it out of the bag, he immediately exclaims, "PETER SAM!".

Now, he's been very good at remembering the Thomas & Friends trains. He could identify them by their pictures long before he can even communicate his basic needs to us.

I asked him, "How do you know this is Peter Sam ?" I didn't really expect him to answer a "how" question yet but I was curious and I thought I'd ask.

He points to where the packaging says the name, "See ? P, E, tersam" as he pointed to the letters P and then E and then the rest of the name.

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He looked out the window this afternoon and saw snow falling. He says "Oh, it's snowing!".

Caza Trail Sweet Iced Tea (KCup)

The Sweet Iced Tea k-cups I ordered arrived a few days ago so hubby and I amused ourselves brewing some iced tea on our Keurig machine this afternoon. We've been experimenting on the different combinations that we'd brew just so we could get the iced tea to our taste.

The manufacturer recommends a 6oz or 8oz brew.

The first one I tried was an 8oz and it turned out too strong, despite being watered down by all the ice I put in. We brewed a few more cups from the same k-cup, mixed them all together and eventually got the desired taste but we lost track of what we did.

This evening, I did a 10oz strong brew followed by a 6 oz strong brew, it tasted too watered down. Next time, I'll try and 8oz and a 6oz - this is actually the purpose of this post, so I'd remember what combinations I've tried already and how it turned out.

Interestingly, these k-cups aren't Keurig 2.0 compatible but the first 2 we brewed worked! The machine didn't complain until we were on our 3rd k-cup, sabi siguro nya inaabuso na namin. And so we took out our secret weapon - yung FREEDOM CLIP. It's a clip that you install on the keurig to bypass the DRM checking.

Conclusion, "not bad". Don't know if I'll buy more of these in the future - mukha namang matagal tagal mauubos itong 24 pcs if we can brew a lot from a single cup and share it. Hubby finds it too sweet so we might opt for just regular breakfast tea. I do like it naman. Note that this is sweetened with Stevia and has 18g of sugar per serving.

O'hare

Last weekend, we brought Swe-cha to the salon for his haircut, mahaba na kasi hair nya.

Since he does so well these days (during haircuts), we save time by having our hair cut at the same time. 

Most of the time, it works out well. Kaya lang, medyo palpak last time. The hair lady must have misunderstood me because she cut my hair too short. 

Now, I look like this (see below). Buti na lang may sense of humor ako. =P

Conversations

I've always tried to engage Swe-cha in conversation and we're getting some progress lately. Katuwa because he used to just ignore me when I ask follow up questions but these days, he really makes an effort.

Scenario 1:
Swe-cha: Potato Sticks please mom.
Me: Why do you want the potato sticks ?
Swe-cha: I need eat!

Scenario 2:
Swe-cha: Florida, Seaworld
Me: What will you do in seaworld ?
Swe-cha: the shamu ride
 Me: What will you do in the shamu ride ?
Swe-cha: do you want to scream ? ahhhhhh! (and raises his arms the way people do on roller coasters)

Scenario 3:
Swe-cha: Coke, Mom
Me: (I pretend to misunderstand) Okay, what do you want Mommy to cook ? Do you want egg ?
Swe-cha: Coke!
Me: Yes, I'll cook for you, what do you want to eat ?
Swe-cha: I drink the Coke, Mom.
Me: How about you just drink milk ?