Pepper Lesson From Padma Lakshmi

This afternoon, I chanced upon a show hosted by Padma Lakshmi (host of Top Chef) at Discovery Travel and Living.

Discovery Travel and Living is becoming one of my favorite channels. But watching their shows partly frustrates me. Because by seeing the places they go to and the food they prepare, I realize how many places I want to visit and how much food I have yet to taste. I could just drool with all the good things they “serve” in their shows!

On the other hand, I learn many things from Discovery Travel and Living. Here comes one of them. Thanks, in part, to Padma.

Black pepper was considered black gold early on in India. They are used to purchase goods and, sometimes, to offer to warmly welcomed guests.

The peppers we are familiar with actually come from pepper berries. Green pepper berries are sun-dried to achieve the black pepper we commonly use to season our food.

Meanwhile, white pepper is produced by soaking ripe pepper berries (the berries are red when ripe) in water until the skin loosens. The white seeds that are left are then sun-dried.

Black and white peppers have opposite effects on our tongue. The taste of black pepper lingers more at the tip of our tongue (the lower part) while the flavor of white pepper is perceived more by the back end of our tongue (the part closest to the throat). Thus explaining why white pepper seems to be milder than black pepper in terms of spiciness.

I bet you didn’t know that!


Learn more about peppers here.

Post Halloween Post

I found this today.



Just thought it's worth sharing.

Happy All Saints’ Day

Text ni Goy: Nagpunta b kau k Nichi? Ang weird ng undas! Parang Pasko.
Sagot ko: Kanya-kanya kmeng dalaw k Nichi e. Ung bestfriend daw ni Nichi e dumaan na kanina. Para ngang fiesta ang undas. Ang saya. Kaso pagkaharap mo n lapida ng loved-one mo, depressing.

Text ulit ni Goy: Katakot isipin pg tau n ang nsa hukay. :-/…
Sagot ko ulit: …pag tayo n nasa hukay, sna uso p dn pagcelebrate ng undas para naman kht once a yr fiesta mode s mga “bahay” natn.

Siguro ito na nga ang time of the year kung saan pinakamaliwanag dahil sa mga kandilang nakatirik. At kagaya ng observation ni Goy, parang happy mood ang lahat.

(Photo c/o Soy)

Perhaps I have issues. Or then again, I may not be completely healed yet kaya may kurot ang undas para sa akin. Ganunpaman, gusto kong i-share ang All Saints day moments ko.







And by the way, we did visit Nichi as a family later this day.

si nichi


si ma


si soy


si dad


Kunwari spirit ako

Sosyal Kame Rito

Booh! It's Halloween!



Sosyal sa baranggay namin! May trick or treat para sa mga kids. Kaya kanina, nagkalat sa neighborhood namin ang mga superheroes at mumu—all were undaunted young spirits. Kasi kahit umaambot, sige pa rin ang mga kids sa pagparada.




Heto’t hiniram ko ang ilan sa mga shots ng kapatid ko to show ang mga kapitbahay naming hero at mumu.

busog si Batman


Darna with the queso de bola-like hair piece


Varga (hehe kilala ko ito!)


Sundalo and a Pirate


Alwina of Mulawin


White Lady


Impakto yata s1ya



Syempre na-miss ko na naman ang pinambato namin sa aming baranggay trick or treat 4 years ago. (Halloween 2004 lang sya sumali e.)



I’m sure na-cu-cute-an din si Nichi sa mga batang kagaya niya! Malamang humahagikhik yun ngayon. Hahaha! Yamot!

A Sunny Sun Tzu Moment

Our LPG tank has run dry. It paved the way for a Sun Tzu moment. As the Art of War stated, one must learn to maneuver misfortune into gain. Hence instead of letting the empty gas tank get in the way of LUNCH, we seized the situation that resulted in a more special meal: Inihaw!



The pleasant weather was all for it, giving me some more opportunities to take pictures with the aid of natural light.

These I’d like to share:

The chefs. Seryoso.





Lunch. Yum!




Twas a fine day to dry some clothes. (Shh… di alam ng kapitbahay namin na ginawa kong subject ang mga simapay nila!)





I bet this ring is also missing its owner.




Pinoy na barriotic ang dating! But it’s nice. (This photo is take by my brother.)




Ma’s empty paint bucket




Cross-Section of a Wood




Lamp against a sunny day



Ma’s plants













Flowers for Nichi




Live lens cap




Kuko ko.

Kadiri daw. Wala akong magagawa. Unlady-like talaga nails ko. Domeng, my high school friend, once said I’d be charged extra if I get my nails polished in a salon dahil masyadong malapad ang kuko ko, malakas sa nail polish!


Three's a Crowd




Scar ko.

Mas kadiri sa kuko ko. But it’s been a part of me for about 16 years now.

Freelance Jobs

Whenever I try to imagine myself doing freelance jobs, I end up picturing myself dancing while wearing a free-flowing chiffon dress. I don’t know who implanted that to my brain but that’s how it’s been for the longest time.

Perhaps the idea of being “free” while working leads me to imagine myself without the shackles of office work; thus explaining my images of free movement which translates to dancing and comfy clothes.

I find freelance jobs tempting. So tempting, I signed up for one proven job provider called Odesk. I say “proven” because my good friend, Kate, who introduced me to Odesk, is living proof that jobs at Odesk really work. By “really work” I mean a job provider receives compensation for the job s/he delivers to “companies” affiliated to Odesk for real. As long as you do things right—the way you and your “boss” agreed on—then you are sure to earn what is due for you.

I have yet to land the perfect freelance gig at Odesk. Until then, I shall leave my freelance job numbers in my mind.

* * *

For more information on Odesk, simply click banner below:

Losing the Extra Weight

A couple of days ago, I got to catch an episode of Oprah. After all these years, Studio 23 finally decided to air Oprah at an earlier time. It used to be that Oprah episodes border on midnight; one can’t help but wonder, “who watches Oprah at this time?”

Anyway, in the said episode of Oprah, a family was being featured and “guided” into turning over a new leaf. With this I mean Oprah was hosting a house makeover for her selected family. To modify it from the usual house makeover shows, Oprah and her expert guest probe on how the family’s house affects their lifestyle, health and happiness.

Expert guest started raiding the family’s kitchen, throwing in a basket everything inside the kitchen drawers—cookie cutters, sushi makers, skewers for kebabs or satays. It was not long before the mother, whose domain was the kitchen, began to breakdown and freak out just by witnessing her stuff being thrown away by expert guest. And, I think, what pushed her button more was the spoon expert guest broke.

Expert guest stood firm. He said that these things represent what the mother was fancying herself to be: a baker, a sushi master, a kebab/satay guru. He doubted that the mother uses those things despite the mother saying that she does bake, prepare sushis, and make kebabs/satay anytime in the year. “Time to let go,” expert guest insisted.

The mother walked out of the kitchen, frustrated, and told the rest of her family to get expert guest out of her house for breaking her spoon. She was crying. The material things from which she draws power over had just been deemed rubbish by this guy who knew little about her—about her life as a mother who tries to keep her family together, who puts things in order, who seeks for herself amidst all the things she does.

It is true that it is part of human nature to want to feel in control—if not over the people around them, then at least over the circumstances they have to deal with. But when all else fails, people turn to the most convenient option: material things. I don’t think anyone enjoys feeling powerless. There really is no reward in it. (That’s why telenovela underdogs are only good for fiction.) No matter how superficial it may sound, people will eventually settle with whatever is available to them in their quest for power.

In the mother’s case, those were her kitchen tools—the things that affirm that although her life is being run by responsibilities here and there, she has her kitchen tools to turn to for temporary “me” moments, to remind her that some things are still possible albeit her status quo. Because she can deal with these things at her own terms.

Expert guest, on the other hand, being that he’s just doing his job, remained unfazed despite the mother’s sobs and underlying predicament. He remained clear with his mission which was to get rid of the family’s “trash.” It wasn’t hard to do since he was not emotionally involved with the mother nor with her kitchen tools. Expert guest was the sane party who sees things objectively.

He convinces the mother to continue “cleansing” the house, to throw what remains inside the other drawers. “It’s time lose the extra weight,” he says. “Only then will you be able to move forward.”

The mother hesitates some more but eventually gives in and helps in throwing away the things they barely use in the house. Still there is that dark shadow over her head because although the things she is ridding her house of are not useful for the household, she needs them to validate her power.

Right now I do not have the purchasing abilities to command that tempting things my eyes lay upon be mine which, although could be a spectacular showcase of my power, is trouble, especially if the abilities rely on credit cards. So I’m settling on the other end of the ordeal. I am basking in whatever power available to me by simply eliminating those little things that may be holding our house back. I take control by losing some of our house’ extra weight. (My extra weight, measured in pounds, I shall deal with later.)

I have to admit that there is a liberating force in getting rid of the things you’ve been attached to for years. This may justify my recent surging obsession to cleanse our house, to box whatever stuff we have which don’t serve their purpose, to let go of the non useful things that eat up space and collect dust. To date, I have packed one bag of clothes which haven’t been used for years and one box and three plastic bags of unused stuff. Some of them we’ll give away; some of them we might sell.

As for the expert guest and the mother—the voice which is so clear in saying that it’s time to let go of excess baggage and move ahead, and the other voice who, amidst being silenced by the daily grind, needs to find a venue to be in control and feel power—well perhaps it helps to marry them, to establish a compromise.

Expert guest got his way because the mother eventually allowed him to take out her family’s trash. He did his job and ended with a brilliant house makeover. On the other hand, the mother felt that she can still be in control because expert guest acknowledged her need for it and supported her in finding ways in which she can better use her power other than keeping her cookie cutters, sushi makers, skewers and spoons. She now has a picture perfect home with a sparkly new kitchen devoid of that extra weight that inadvertently dragged her down.

Everybody happy, including Oprah and her audience.