Bisdak Babbles

I wish you all happiness, good health, better and higher-paying jobs success, all the best!Thank you all for making my year 2007 more wonderful!
I look forward to knowing you all better this year…
and I look forward to meeting new friends!Today, let’s offer to the Lord our failures of the past and our hopes for the New Year…

Didn’t have time to take a photo of something messy so I browsed through my collection and found these photos of messy Shaynna:

Messy means a toddler eating chocolate:

Messy hair, smiling face:

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays!

I wasn’t that adventurous on food during my first stay here in 2001-2002. But this time, I’m braver at trying out food and drinks that I considered weird. Here’s a list of food and drinks that I find interesting. Most of these are now my favorites.

1.) Green tea ice cream
As you open the cover, you could “smell” its bitterness. But you have to reject the assumption that it is green tea, so it is bitter. After all, this is an ice cream so, it should contain milk and it should be sweet.

I may have been used to drinking green tea but my first spoonfuls of this ice cream was not so pleasant. I continued eating anyway and didn’t notice eating all up. It’s not bad at all! I think it tastes like avocado shake. Now, it’s one of my favorite ice cream flavors.

2.) Green tea cake
Its appearance might scare you away, especially if you don’t really like green tea. Well, who would think that a green-colored cake actually tastes good? I did not think so, too. But curiousity got the best of me, ate up a slice and helped myself to one more slice. It’s more bitter than the green tea ice cream, but more delicious… I think.

3.) Raw pork
I love eating sashimi/kinilaw (raw fish), but raw pork? I finally tried eating raw pork during a team party. With my eyes closed, I gobbled a slice. Surprisingly, raw pork tastes like raw fish!

4.) Raw chicken liver
Ok, raw pork was tolerable, but raw liver? Images of aswang flashed before me as a plate of blood-red raw liver was placed on the table. Again, I got really curious so I helped my self with a slice. Would you believe me if I tell you that it tasted like raw fish also? If not for those aswang
images that kept on appearing on my mind, I would have helped my self to another slice! It was delicious yet, I almost threw up. And I don’t think I would try eating it again…

5.) Okonomiyaki
Vegetables, bits of octopus, mixed with egg, then cooked in a pan, flavored with mayonnaise, topped with bacon and sprinkled with nori - sounds delicious, right? Okunomiyaki is now one of my favorite Japanese foods, especially from Maru, a small restaurant near our apartment. I
even eat this with rice. ^-^

6.) Nattō (fermented soybeans)
I haven’t met a foreigner who wouldn’t say “no” to nattō. Others would immediately cower at the sight of it. I was “challenged” by our boss to eat nattō and I think it is “bearable” if eaten piece by piece. But mixed with raw octopus and other raw seafoods? The combination was sticky, smelly… revolting! I haven’t tried eating it with rice, though. The Japanese claim it tastes good. Perhaps I would also get used to that combination…

7.) Mentaiko (marinated roe of pollock)
Mentaiko in yakisoba, mentaiko omelettte - delicious! I’ve first tasted mentaiko omelette at a Japanese restaurant where our manager usually treats us. It was really delicious that I learned how to cook it! Spicy mentaiko, egg, and mayonnaise: mouth-watering!

8.) Dates
Grace of Sandier Pastures sent us dates from Iran! She’s based in Dubai but she said that she loves the dates from Iran. Well, I have to agree with her. The dates are really sweet, tastes like really sweet mashed potato. I could barely eat up three pieces simultaneously because it’s too sweet. But after taking Grace’s suggestion to eat dates with milk, I couldn’t stop eating it (if not for the already full stomach)!

9.) Arabian chocolates
Grace of Sandier Pastures sent this interesting chocolates with the dates. These chocolate bits are coated in a way that they closely resemble stones, thus the name “stone chocolate”. I was a bit wary when I popped in a piece. To those who love the chocolate “curly tops”, you’ll also love Arabian chocolates. ^-^

Thanks for the desert treats, Grace!

10.) Mongolian tea
Bitter tea is ok, but salty tea? Mongolian tea does not come from fine tea leaves, but from the more course parts of the tea plant, and it is prepared with salt! Sometimes, other ingredients like noodles and rice are put into it.

Twice, I mistook it as green tea and pushed the button for this one in the vending machine. The first time was barely bearable. I was able to convince myself that it was just a cup of soup. But on the second time, I just threw away everything.

11.) Pocari Sweat
I thought this tastes like medicine, but I was wrong. It’s sweet and a bit sour. Some people say it tastes like human sweat. But to me, it tastes like buko juice! Is my tastebud still working fine? I wonder…

12.) Ginger Ale
I’ve always avoided trying out ginger ale but the 20-yen per cup vending machine at the office lured me to try it. I thought it tastes like “salabat” (ginger tea), but I was wrong again. I think it tastes like 7-Up or Sprite.

13.) Skal
Milk-based soda, anyone? If the vending machine runs out of Pocari Sweat, I go for Skal. If you grew up in a rural area in the Philippines, you would find Skal delicious. Remember those times when you were sick and then your grandmother or lola would prepare a special drink - Royal Tru-Orange/Mirinda Orange with egg? That’s how Skal tastes… refreshing! ^-^

There are still lots of interesting food and drinks out there and I think I already have the guts to try them. Perhaps I could now force myself to eat balut when I go home to the Philippines.

*Images of okonomiyaki, mentaiko and Pocari Sweat were from Wikipedia.

My first home in college was a neat boarding house, but mattresses were not provided, so I had to buy a new one. However, after a few weeks, my roommates and I woke up with itchy and reddish swells all over. Much to our disgust, we discovered that those were doings of bed bugs! How did the bugs get into our mattresses? I had no idea. I’m not sure what really extinguished those bugs since we tried every way we could think of: almost soaking our mattresses with insecticides and laying our mattresses under the sun. It took days before we totally got rid of those bugs. If I had known that there are actually bug-proof mattress covers!

Also check out Bed Bugs Guide to know more about bed bugs. You could also find tips on how to detect them, get rid of them, and protect your mattresses and yourself from them.

This post is sponsored by: Bed Bugs Guide

My alarm went off at 7:00AM but it’s “that time of the month” and I’m having my share of monthly pains. A part of me wanted to go to work, another part screamed that I was supposed to take the day off because it’s Christmas day! In the end, I decided to dwell on the pain, sent an email to my boss, and went back to sleep. I woke up past noon but there was not a single message from home, as I have anticipated. It’s the Christening of Keira Alexis, my younger brother’s 1-month old baby, so the whole family and some relatives spent the day at a nearby beach.

Shaynna, despite her insistence of being an “ate” (big sister) already, was a bit jealous at Keira for being the center of attention. She was after all, the family’s only baby for more than 2 years! My father recounted that Shaynna kept to herself during the celebration. After some wooing, she was back to her cheerful self. When my family sent me the photos, Shaynna was already sound asleep. She was so tired running around with her cousins.

Here are some photos during the event:

A few more minutes and it’s gonna be Christmas. As I laid down on my bedroom floor, beside me were 5 empty bottles of beer, I thought of home…

Nah, I didn’t drink even a single drop of something alcoholic. First, I only drink when I badly need sleep, but I no longer do that. Second, how could I dwell on my forlorn state, when my little Shaynna completed the Misa de Gallo? I wonder what inspired my 3-year old to wake up at around 2:30AM, to attend mass at 4:00am, for 9 consecutive days! I’m proud, impressed, and humbled that Shaynna was able to complete this novena, while I was never near completing it. A miracle, or an angel at work?

Aiza, my younger sister, also completed the Misa de Gallo. When asked by our mother about her wish, her answer really humbled me. Here I am, very busy trying to solve everything on my own, but Aiza reminded me that it is indeed impossible to take on this quest, solely relying on what I thought was my strength. I should admit defeat. I couldn’t face my battles alone.

Now back to the Christmas countdown…

Minutes before midnight, my family already left for church, so Skype was silent, and my flat mates were still out. Trying to shove away homesickness, I decided to clean my room. But it’s too small that I was done with the task a few minutes before the countdown. Thankfully, my flat mates came back before midnight. At the stroke of midnight, we were busy eating our ice cream bars.

At around 1:30AM, Japan time, my family and some relatives called me through Skype and they “shouted” out their greetings. I could hear firecrackers in the background. They just came from Church. But Shaynna was already very sleepy and was very grumpy that all I heard from her were shouts of irritation. Nonetheless, I went to sleep smiling…

I went out this afternoon, not with a Japanese guy, but with a Japanese gal and a friend, Akane-san. Since most of the Japanese are not Christians, Christmas here is celebrated not like the way I am used to.

Indeed, some Japanese families now practice gift-giving but for those who are single and/or available, Christmas day here seems to be lovers’ day. Akane-san and I couldn’t help but notice that everywhere we look, people are “moving in pairs”. We went in for a chat at a cafe and splurged on the delicious cakes - I had my favorite tiramisu. Later, we met our date, Nicholas Cage, at the cinema. Thank you, Akane-san for the early birthday gift.

“National Treasure 2″ is as good as the first one. It is indeed worth watching at the theater. I was really glad we opted to watch that movie instead of “I Am Legend”.

I planned on meeting up with the other Pinoys after the movie and go with them to the mass. However, another “girlie” mishap made me frantic, embarrassed, and left me feeling-stupid. I had no other option but to go home. That surely ate up my time so I decided to stay home and do the Christmas countdown alone…

Christmas decors I always pass by here in Osaka:

Merry Christmas!