Speckles n Spectrum: Food 3p

Showing posts with label Food 3p. Show all posts

Speckled Cockles

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (1)

August yey. It's 30 minutes past 1 in the morning, it's Monday here. I know I'm supposed to have this posted by Sunday but it's Sunday in some parts of the world so it doesn't matter right? Haha

I've been sick for almost 3 days now, colds, runny nose and high fever. I'm feeling awful and I'm glad my mother brought me some seafood to cook because I'm also getting sick eating broccoli and lettuce almost everyday for about 4 months now since she went back from NZ. Didn't I tell you she enjoyed her travel there very much that she wanted to at least do some of the stuff especially the food she ate even back here. Thank goodness because she suddenly appreciates fresh milk, cheeses, pasta and a lot more that I was trying to convinced her to like way back. But broccoli and lettuce everyday is just too much especially it's cook the same way everyday only some other days she had meat, then for some days she uses tofu. It's delicious but because of excessive repetition it's getting bland and tasteless for my taste-buds. I actually have a choice to cook my own food and I do that once in a while.

This shellfish is called Punaw in our language and known as cockles. It's very cheap 1 pack is only 10 pesos, I got 2 packs for this recipe. This is my own rendition of a family recipe I've learnt to cook when I was a kid so this is really very easy to do and very healthy too.

Speckled Cockles

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
garlic
red onion
Cockles (Punaw)
black pepper
ginger diced
salt
butter
1 ½ cup of water
herbs
3 pcs calamansi

How to mess it up:

1. Make sure to wash and clean the cockles with water then drain afterwards.

2. Pour just a little amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a heated pan.

3. Saute garlic until golden brown before adding onions and ginger.

4. Add the cockles and toss it along with the first ingredients while adding just a tiny slice of butter for more flavor.

5. After a while of tossing pour in the water. In low-medium heat let it simmer and wait until all shells had opened.

Opening of shells means it's cook.

6. Add the extracted calamansi juice. Make sure to mix it well.

7. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. For this recipe I used thyme, basil and oregano to kick-up its taste.

Enjoy best while hot.

* We usually cook this with green papaya but we don't have it available the day I cooked this but still it's pretty delicious and comforting on its own.
* Ginger is essential for it helps eliminate the fishy smell and taste of seafood (according to my mum.)

P.S.
This is actually the same with my mum's favorite Geewan's Sinigang na Punaw (I've mentioned in Just Another Day) which cost way a lot cheaper when you cook it at home though mine was pretty plain so you can toss some more veggies you'd like to add with this recipe too.

Oh if you're wondering why the cockles were too cheap it's because my mum got it from Tinambac, our old town which is 45-minutes by car and almost an hour by commute from Naga City, seafood is really very inexpensive there and fresh too. I might as well right something about that place one of these days.

Speckled Alfredo

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

According to wiki:

Pasta tossed with cheese and butter has a long history both in Italy and abroad.

It was popularised amongst US tourists in Rome by restaurateur Alfredo di Lelio who served it with his own name attached:

Fettuccine al burro is associated in every tourist's mind with Rome, possibly because the original Alfredo succeeded in making its serving a spectacle reminiscent of grand opera.

The restaurant's story is that the dish was invented by di Lelio at his restaurant Alfredo in 1914 as a variation of fettuccine al burro.

This is my very own rendition of Fettuccine Alfredo except I used linguine instead of Fettuccine. I was getting bored of the usual tomato pasta so I've tried to do a white one enough of the red for a while, let's get on with the milky white. Yep this one is still healthy and will pass for vegetarian, no meat but still very tasty.

Speckled Alfredo

butter
parsley
1 clove chopped garlic
1 whole chopped white onion
2 cans Century Tuna
4 packs of Nestle Cream
1 can Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 soup can milk
Parmesan cheese
450g grated Eden cheese
1 small can mushrooms sliced
500g pack of Linguine or Fettuccine
salt and white ground pepper

How to mess it up:

1. Cook noodles according to package instruction.

2. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine mushroom soup and milk.

3. Add butter in a heated pan. When garlic is golden brown add the white onion then the tuna.

You can add more butter and try to stir fry the tuna until dried.

Toss the mushrooms.

Stir-fry it as well then add the oil drained from the tuna flakes for more flavor.

Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste.

4. Pour in the milk and soup mixture in Step 2.

5. Add the grated cheddar cheese.

6. Mix the noodles in or you can just individually pour the sauce for each plate or serving.

But if you think the sauce is limited go ahead
just toss it all with the noodles to have evenly distributed sauce.
But I prefer pouring sauce for every individual serving.

7. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and decorate it with parsley.

Best serve while hot and eaten the same day it was cook.

Pizza Spectrum

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

When my mother was away for about 2 weeks I was having a vacation grande as well at home by feasting nearly everyday with pizza... haha

I was able to come up with my own pizza recipe or at least combination of ingredients for my personal pizza. And yep, it's healthy as usual. That's actually one of my reasons why I like to cook because I can choose what to put in what I eat plus the fun of cooking by unleashing my creative side. It's just simply fulfilling.

For this pizza I used tofu instead of meat and it comes out just perfect. By the way, I cheated on the pizza crust. I just bought it. Why do I have to bother myself making one when it's easier and cheaper to buy a ready made, right? But if you'd like to make one I won't stop you... hehe

Pizza Spectrum

pizza crust
tofu (cubed or sliced into tiny bits)

butter or oil

mushrooms

pineapple tidbits

cucumber

Del Monte Gourmet Beef & Mushroom Pasta Sauce

1 green bell pepper

Edam cheese

mozzarella

How to mess it up:

1. Pre-heat your oven at 375 F (190 C) for 20 minutes.

2. Lay your pizza crust in a baking pan.

3. Spread the tomato sauce evenly on top of the crust. You can actually use any kind of brands of tomato sauce but I prefer Del Monte's Gourmet selection since it has already that distinctive classic taste that you don't need to add anything because the sauce is complete in itself.

4. Add the grated cheese. For this particular recipe I used Edam cheese since that's what we have available. Though it's perfect since it's a bit salty so it became also a substitute for salt.

5. Meanwhile, fry the tofu in butter or oil. I prefer the tofu almost grounded for it's more crunchy and will appear and taste like unsalted chicharon. But if you don't like crunchy you can just slice it into cubes and don't over fry it so this way it will taste and feel like meat. Then sprinkle it on top of the crust.

6. Add the remaining ingredients: cucumber, mushrooms, pineapple, and bell pepper and manage to decorate the pizza as well while adding them. Then sprinkle the grated mozzarella on top.

7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until crust is brown. Then serve with hot sauce or ketchup.

I like mine with a refreshing cold fresh milk =)

Down Memory Lane

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (2)

I just had my midnight snack again after a long while not craving for anything to eat in these wee hours. I'm back being a nocturnal being again these past few days so this is like lunch for me now but I don't plan to do it on a regular basis. They say it's bad to eat at night for weight and health reasons but then how about those people who treat day as their night and vice versa? Anyhow I've no idea how to answer that.

While having my midnight snack I got a light bulb above my head and thought of posting a sort of nostalgic stuff. I actually got this idea from a fellow Pinoy blogger named NoBenta who post anything he loves about the 90s. But hey I actually have a category called Reminiscin' before I even got to read his blog and his Balik-Tanaw entries. Yet I've to say I'm still inspired by his blog so now maybe I'll try to have Saturday as my flashback day. But if I can't help it I'm going to go down memory lane any day I like or maybe not... Good idea or let's just stick to whatever is up in my mind at a certain moment... haha

Now can you still remember the good ol' pancit canton days?

I first got addicted to it when I was in high school. It was my sort of comfort food. I had it 3 or more times a day depending on the mood: breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks again, dinner, midnight snacks and of course for pulutan haha.

I especially prefer the spicy kind and I used to eat it with cheese and then Jufran sweet chili sauce for the crackers. How weird is that?

I was still addicted to it when I was already working in Makati but with chopsticks... hehe

I don't know what's with chopsticks but it seems it's more tasty and appealing with chopsticks...

For now I'm addicted to herbs: oregano, thyme and basil so I added some to oomph the aroma, texture, appearance and of course the taste...

I'm no longer addicted but still it is as delicious as before and having it once in a while is still that fulfilling...

Now I'm ok with this combo.

So have you been addicted to any kind of food that you want to eat it almost everyday? What is it and how'd it go? Do you still crave for it once awhile?

Double Trouble

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

Today I am grateful for having a family. It's not perfect for nothing is perfect. There's cat fight once awhile, arguments, and conflicts but that's life and we're still here, surviving and still intact midst the trials.

I'd like to excuse myself for not taking much time about the title of this post. Well, it was father's day and Rizal's bday and Naga City chartered anniv, that's triple treat but on a personal note we only have two celebrations: Father's day and my cousin's bday.

I just came up with Double Trouble but it's a celebration albeit a fun one... haha I'm not making sense I know but well to enjoy life you don't really need everything to make sense.

June 19's manoy's 28th bday. He's just one year older than me. We all grew up very close exchanging summers in our homes and celebrating almost every occasion together. Looking back he's the first one to mature and to this day he's still the most spiritual. He gave me the guidance and care I needed during my down days.

He even had this offering just for his birthday.

The food's great especially the salad and grilled liempo, we had little nice family chitchats and Judge Caring join us in this celebration with few friends and videoke of course.

Life is good, indeed.

I'm slacking in this post...
too happy to think straight and make sense...
let's just chill =)

Let's celebrate people when we still have them. Let's celebrate life while we're still in it.

Baked Mac n Spectrum

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (2)

The clock strikes 12 and it's May. Yippee fiesta month and as promise I'm going to start getting serious on food blogging. Wish me luck. I would like to establish my background about food. I've been eating since I can remember... he he Seriously, main dish cooking background came from Papa and baking and desserts knowledge came from Mama. (more about that on my personal blog post)

So here's my own version of Campbell's Northern Style Lasagna converted into a baked mac for quantity purposes. This is a more budget friendly recipe and twisted to Filipinos taste buds but if you would want to have the original recipe feel free to message me.

Baked Mac n Spectrum

3 tbsp cooking oil
5 tbsp butter (optional)
1 clove chopped garlic
1 whole chopped red onion
2 pieces diced green bell pepper
750g Del Monte Tomato & Cheese Pasta Sauce
½ kg ground beef
10 pieces thinly sliced Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog (optional)
1 can Campbell's condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 soup can milk
450g grated Eden cheese
200g grated Magnolia Quickmelt
2 packs of 500g Colavita Penne Rigate or 1 kg Del Monte elbow macaroni
salt and black ground pepper

How to mess it up:

You can fill 2 of these containers
using 1 kg Del Monte elbow macaroni

1. Cook noodles according to package instruction.
2. In a small bowl combine Mushroom Soup and milk.
3. In a heated pan pour cooking oil, add the onions when garlic is already golden brown. In low-medium heat cook the hotdogs while adding the butter. When hotdogs are all bright red and cooked add the ground beef. Cooked until meat is browned and is thoroughly cooked and no pink remains, stirring once during cooking to separate meat. Seasoned with black pepper and salt. Stir in spaghetti sauce, let it simmer then add the soup mixture in Step #2.
4. Add all the Eden cheese to the sauce. Stir to make sure that it melts and well distributed within the mixture. Taste your sauce and then seasoned with salt if you think it needs a little more pinch of it.
5. Turn off the heat and add the green bell pepper, set aside at least ¼ for toppings.
6. Add the noodles into the sauce and pour it into a baking pan. Top it with the quickmelt and sprinkle the remaining green bell peppers. Make sure it is evenly distributed and more cheese added the better looking your baked mac will be.
7. Baked for at least 30 minutes at 375 F (190 C) or until the top cheese melted.

* You can substitute hotdogs with mushrooms.
* This dish taste improves better even after 3 days stack in your fridge. Just reheat it in the microwave and add quickmelt on top if you prefer having every serving with food presentation and add your garlic bread then It's good to go.

2 packs of 500g Colavita Penne Rigate will make 2 servings of this.

Kankungan Ni Mama

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

Diabetes runs in the history of our family. My grandfather on my father side had been blinded and died because of complications, my father too, as well as his eldest sister and now my mom had acquired it and is now on daily insulin shots so that leaves me to be next in line and the sad part is no matter how you live healthy and do the right stuff it's impossible for me to avoid it since it is both hereditary and can be acquired.

I am still on the philosophy that "If it's your time, then it's your time" no matter where you are, what you do if you need to go, then you need to go anytime, anywhere and there's nothing you can do to stop it. So I still eat what I want and live the way I want it to be in the meantime. It isn't healthy for health buffs but I think it's healthy for my soul however a lot will oppose my view about it especially my mom but I prefer heaving a healthy mind for now my focus is there and exercise is the farthest thing in my mind right now but it's on my list to do but not yet for now.

Even though not my choice but I'm sharing a home with a diabetic so it means we need to live and share lifestyles and it includes being on a same diet most of the time. Well, my mom don't force me to eat anything I don't want and neither force me to do things but it doesn't mean I don't get a consistent nag about not eating healthy, not exercising and all that stuff.

But somehow I like what she cooks so most of the time I'm eating healthy because of it so yes I can say I'm in a diabetic diet somehow and that's good because I don't need to adjust much when I'm already there (still wishing I won't inherit it and hope this way I won't acquire it too.)

She had been planting and growing plants in a vacant lot in our subdivision and in a garden in the school where she's still teaching until now and we call it her mini farm-ville. From time to time we get our fruit supplies from those, she share a few to our neighbors and we keep enough for our consumption, bananas are the largest produce so it's the fruit that we give out the most whenever it's bearing fruits if it's not we buy it in the market...

(Mangoes are from Cebu included in my sister's pasalubong)

I'm glad that she's done with carrot juices and shakes because it taste disgusting. It was fine with apples but then she said apples had a lot of fertilizers so not healthy and it's too sweet. Now I'm glad that she made this shake yesterday...

pure mango-banana-papaya shake no sugar

Still a bit bland taste like hospital food but with banana bits it's pretty tasty already So that's what I learned in time... I just need to figure out little things, modify something or add a few things here and there so it fits my taste buds but for her cooking I'm fine with it no need to adjust anything it's delicious and I'm not saying this because she's my mom because I won't say that even if she is. After all no one can make me eat anything that I don't want. So the stir-fried vegetable with squid that came along with the shake, I've passed, No thank you, the shake will do. Maybe it's delicious but sorry I don't eat squids and this had been my alternative...

Farewell and Hellos

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

Tis the season of graduation. An event of mix emotions happiness for you've finally made it passed your subjects; sadness for you're saying goodbye to your alma mater, your home for years and goodbyes to people, friends, classmates, teachers, etc. that you've been with for years of your schooling; fear that you are now venturing into a different world: for elementary graduates, high school it would be, for high schools college here we come and for college grads Welcome to the real world where everyone bites for real :) And yes along with all of these emotions is the excitement that a new world awaits for you to finally make all your dreams come true. Though you have to be prepared for the reality that not all of them will eventually materialize but hey, don't lose hope there's always something good waiting for everyone to happen and it will unfold all in the right time.

We had attended awhile ago a little celebration of a neighbor for a high school graduation and yesterday we had visitors coming from a nursing graduation too. So kudos to Mark and Bryan for a job well done and this event is making me nostalgic... darn! Congratulations Batch 2011!

Food, drinks, kids, pips, food, food, food...

Kalamay: c/o Chang... yummy, my favorite of all :)

Thank you for inviting us to this special occasion Ms. Vilma Furiscal. I haven't eaten anything the whole day so it was right on time to pig-out for dinner. LOL.

It's off topic but I got this after the party so I wanted to thank Ira for the pasalubong... chocolates straight from Canada...

This is what's left of it and I'm munching it as we speak; late midnight snacks to top all the eating spree for the day so much for my balanced diet. What diet? I don't have it in my dictionary. Shoot!

48 Hours (almost...)

by kris10na ☮♥☺ Thoughts (0)

March 17 about 6:00 pm just before dinner my mom asked me if I felt cold, I said "Nope, why should I since the temperature is just normal maybe a little hotter than colder." She shrugged and wonder why she felt it's too cold and headed back to her room to watch TV and I thought everything's just fine.

After half past ten in the evening she went to the bathroom and asked me to prepare coffee since she can no longer stand how cold she felt and she was trembling. When I handed her the cup of coffee it was impossible for her to stir it using the spoon but she still tried to drink it but it ended up spilling everywhere. I'm already panicky because it was the first time I actually seen someone tremble like that and chilling like how it was in the movie with people who had epilepsy however it's milder than that it's still is alarming for me. Then I was thankful that my sister and Jay came in just the right time to return the car so we immediately rush her to the hospital but before that she had vomited everywhere the house and in the car and all I could do was leave a status message in Facebook that we are rushing her to the hospital hoping that our family and friends would read that and by any chance be informed immediately as we can't waste more time on informing them one by one because we were in an emergency.

Few tests are done and after the doctor examined and right before she was advised to be admitted she already wanted to go home and said she's fine. But we all opposed to it because her condition isn't that clear yet and we still didn't have the test result thus we didn't have the idea of what causes the trembling, chilling and vomiting.

So I was in-charged with the admission papers, everything's fine I'd been doing this for years since my father had been in-and-out of hospitals since I was seven or maybe even younger than that and I've been in-charged of processing all hospital related papers when I was in high school until his death in 1999 and with my sister's leukemia and just this December my mom had been here because of a vehicular accident so this is pretty easy for me you might think. Yes and No. Paperworks yes but dealing with my being in a hospital premise again is a big No. I actually had passed the chance to be with my sister in the 3rd hospital where she had died for so many reasons and the major one is this. Hospitals bring back memories of suffering and lost to me. For me it is a euphemism of a graveyard. I know it shouldn't be that negative since they cure people here but with my experiences you can't blame me for scaring away in touching its grounds but I know I have no choice but be there for my mom so I have to set aside those personal reasons and be brave to face the reality that is now.

As we settled the rooms they said that the only available rooms are the 2 most expensive one. Oh my, we are in a hospital that people in this local city had given an alias "Money Seton Hospital" and called it by that instead of its real name Mother Seton Hospital and locals sure do have enough reasons to label it such as that. So being in the most expensive hospital in Bicol and they are saying that we need to choose between 2 expensive rooms well it would be pretty expensive for someone who belongs in the lower middle class like us. But we have no choice it's either here or in some other hospitals that wouldn't be at par with the services here and comfortability that it can offer. In fairness to them this is actually on the top-notch compare to other hospitals here but I would never say the word "best" because it isn't in the real sense of that word.

We actually went for the most expensive since the choices would be a room with A/C and a refrigerator or a room with A/C, TV and telephone. Of course my mom would prefer the TV on top of all and I know that for a fact so I had chosen the latter with her preference in my mind, after all she's the patient that needs to be entertained not me. On a practical note what would be the use of a chiller for us? We don't drink cold water and we like to order our food from restaurants since we want it served hot and this hospital doesn't have microwaves in any room.

We both have this Quantum Flask where you have to put drinking water (not cold) and it will turn it into alkaline water in seconds and this sure works wonder.

Jay and I went back to our house to get the necessary stuff for the following days we have to spend in the hospital though we were all hoping that we'll be out by noon that very same day. We grab everything as fast as we can, clean the vomits in the house and the car and went back to the hospital. When everything was settled about 3:00 am and my mom was already asleep in her room, we opted to grab something to eat since we were all hungry by that time. It was Jay's birthday also but we all knew it wasn't time to celebrate yet not with happenings like this so we just went to Magsaysay since I'm craving for Miggy's sisig but it was already close and the next option would be Haidnhor Shawarma and yes, that's the only resto opened at that wee hour. (What happened to Bigg's Diner branch here then?)

Sizzling Shawarma with 3 cheeses and 2 roti + 7 additional roti

They drove me back to the hospital and they went packing their bags for their flight to Cebu. Back at the hospital I can't seem to sleep so I spent the hours video blogging but decided to keep it to myself since it was too crappy as usual the audio isn't too good because I can't speak loudly as not to wake my mom up. Finally about quarter to 7:00am I was able to sleep and at 10:00 am they all started waking me up and as I was grunting and all then they kept shouting cake and so I just need to rise to have a piece of that :)

Blowing Candles: This was the little celebration we had for Jay's 27th birthday.

And right after that they went to the airport and that means I was left to take care of everything. So paperwork it is and I had a dose of walking exercise processing all of it and buying medicines back and forth.

Long lines @ PhilHealth: This is just the first stop :(

On the 2nd and final stop : I'm near next :)

Bored in the long lines and observing while taking stolen shots of people, yep that's what's good about my camera phone: people seldom noticed that they've been captured by my lenses though it doesn't give high quality pictures but for now this will do.

Oh wow, something I would wear in Manila but not here in Bicol. My mom would definitely grab some pants for me to wear with this not that I still have guts to wear this stuff now :(

Finally done, I was shocked to see my aunt (my mom eldest and only sister) on the pile doing the paperwork for herself and still had fresh bandage and dextrose needle marks on her arms since she was a patient too in the same hospital but she was admitted Monday of that week. She said she wanted to rush things so she can get out that day and no one in her family could help her fix that. If only she told me I would have just do that as well for her since I'll be processing it also for my mom but too late for that. So I left her still waiting in the line and hoping that I'll still be able to go to Goa to had this papers signed by my mom's employer. It was 3:00pm and it will take me 2 hours to be in Goa but the problem is the last trip going back to Naga is 4:00pm so it's not possible to go there that late. And as I was heading out PhilHealth's office in Magsaysay I happened to recognized someone I knew too well heading out too and yes I was correct it was one of my best-friends in high school. A little chit-chat there and off we go separate ways again.

Marijo with her son.
Yup she had 2 sons now but why is it I look more like I had been preggy compare to her? Life's unfair... grrr...

Back at the hospital... nothing to do. My mom as usual watching her only channel so cable is pretty useless for her. I'm not too fond of TV now and given that the room TV was too small and only showing 2 or 3 distinctive colors made it more uninteresting for me. With the A/C set in fan since my mom still feeling extra cold it makes it impossible for me to sleep adding the TV sounds as a nuisance and the fact that the sofa can barely accommodate all of me.

This is a proof that the world isn't built for plus size people like me. Reality check: it isn't too accommodating and welcoming yet because plus size means extra everything mostly view it in a negative way and that's sad. :(

So I spent the rest of my hours writing for my blog entries that I will post once I get back home. Yes, there is no wi-fi or net connection and I didn't want to use my broadband since it makes me more impatient than satisfied with its speed so I won't bother with that, I'd rather have no net than use it. I was able to write few stuff and however it was difficult to sleep I had to force myself or else I'll be a walking vegetable with a heavy floating head in the morning where I needed to fix some important things and thankfully I dozed off.

Started the day at 4:00 am and my mom was already demanding me to take a bath and go to Goa. Being too early in any appointment is her thing and I don't agree with that I used to be late almost everyday of my life with the exceptions of very important appointments but now I just want to be on time, not late and not early just right on the dot and we argue a lot about that. Well, that's just the many differences we have mainly in our point of views.

I told her I'm going to her boss' house and being too early would be too much and 6:00 am would mean disturbing them, 8:00 am would be fine though.

Blah, blah, blah...

Even regular office hours imposed 8:00am as a start of a working day. (I wanted to add you're making me work out of regular office hours and it's still in the wee hours it's just 4:00am, it isn't proper it is slaving but better not or else maybe the oxygen tank near her would fall on my face if I did ever utter those words.) But I know it's wrong too for me to make her angry that early plus she's sick and we are actually in a hospital so that makes me a very bad daughter so I've always been no matter what I do but we are at peace now and I don't want to jeopardize our relationship just because of this petty things.

At 5:00am I'm all dressed (but not dressy I only brought home clothes for this event... tsk.tsk.) and I'm thankful that she's okay now with how casual I am. I was even surprised that I heard her said my clothes are fine even though I am insisting that I don't look too decent facing her boss. No matter how casual I prefer my clothes are I still know how to dress up for any occasion and an extra large shirt and men's walking shorts plus slippers aren't too appropriate for this but she was too eager for me to finish all the paperwork so I went to Goa looking like that anyways.

I had committed 2 stupidities in 12 hours time-frame and the first one had been while on my way to Goa (see another post)

I was thankful enough that my mom sent me there. I've seen 2 pretty simple houses and met 2 real people...

That's a pretty fountain with a fish pond.

Pillars at the back: That's something isn't it?

Too bad no one is making this a permanent home now.

The rocking chair reminds me of Tatay Andres (mom's father) and the garden, I miss Lola Lydia. She used to have beautiful variety of flowers in her lawn way back when she's alive.

I wasn't able to take a picture of the front view of the other house since I took all of these discretely and I will not post pictures of them here since it would be too much for their privacy since she's a campus dean of the main branch of the university where my mom is a professor in another campus and I was too shy to ask permission about these.

I found my mom's dean cleaning her wide garden and I was introduced to her husband both wearing home clothes so I didn't get any degrading looks that I came there not too presentable, nothing like that. They are nice and real as they can be and I am glad of being there that day.

Last visit from Dr. Tormes: We are always thankful for taking care of all of us whenever we need help.

A visit from Ma'am Bel and her husband.
(She's responsible for my free food pickled things, kakanin, home-made sardines, etc. and I asked permission to post this photo here though she was surprised how I was able to get it without them knowing it)

They brought this but they never mentioned it. I just realized that it's there when we were already packing our things. Thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness as always.

Rushed things so we can get out of this money-sucking institution...

Photocopied lab results...

2nd stupidity of the day goes here... (see other post)

Some more medicines... it's cheaper to buy it outside the hospital.

Met a former classmate in college and her mom outside Bigg's Centro. This is actually the guy in Kasta Ng Kung Kasta under the code name Ivan. He's not aware of the story but he's fully aware of this picture but wasn't too approving as you can see.

I didn't take this for that purpose well, he's a friend too so just for souvenir we rarely bump into each other these past few years same with Marijo.

Got mom's goto in Bigg's and my tofu and buchi from Chowking
so off to the next stop...

Withdraw some in an ATM for hospital bills

San Francisco Church at night just across the side of Metrobank

All our bags are packed we're ready to go... ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪♪ (singing Leaving on a Jet Plane)

Checking if her car is still in the parking lot... tsk.tsk.

Dinner's done: wheel chair please.

Zoom we go...

Yey... we're out of here! Folks we paid the bills we didn't get out through the fire exit.

March 19, quarter to 11:00 pm, I was able to post this status message in fb:

‎2hours more to exactly 48 hours of being in the hospital but we're lucky my mom is ok now just a major UTI. she's sleeping in her bed now and i had finished unpacking and so we're home and I'm back online. All thanks and praise to God :) and to Dra. Tormes for taking care of mama.

And that's all because of a major Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and I'd never knew that it could be worst like this since I had this also before and I haven't felt anything like I am sick and just taken some purple antibiotics prescribed by a doctor when I was hired for my first teaching job. Well my mom is diabetic too maybe that made it worst. But I'm really glad that she's all fine now in fact she had car-washed on her own her left over vomits the morning after we went out of the hospital: for the love of her car and being too thrifty or maybe she's just so industrious compare to me coz if it were me I'll just send that to a carwash shop :)

(Note: Still working on other posts related to this... follow up for 2 stupid things and Money Seton Hospital.)