I know, I know, this is my 2 hundred millionth post for the day. What’s gotten into me? Well, I need to empty my pc of photos and so I am pressured to blog about those photos now. Plus, I’m going on a 2-day internet withdrawal rehab in Batangas so I need to get these posted. I promise this is the last one for the day.
I just really want to talk about the Creative Spiritual Journaling Workshop that I attended last Saturday.
I almost passed up on this one, since I didn’t really think that half a day would be enough to get me creative, much less spiritual. I am glad I changed my mind.
The workshop was conducted by trainer Mae Legaspi and Patsy Paterno, the Pa in Papemelroti. Mae shared some background information on journaling, focusing on its benefits. I admit I was taking mental notes because I dream of someday offering workshops to help others discover the joy of 
journaling. Writing about the events of my life has enriched the experiences, and reading about them years after has shown me how much I have grown up and discovered about myself. But the journaling I’m used to is more about writing. This workshop showed how I can take my journaling to a higher, more creative, more powerful level.
I love Patsy’s joy and passion as she enthusiastically described how this activity can be a joint creative process between God and journaler. How this is more than just doing art or mere journaling, but it is really a way to hear His message loudly and clearly, and to capture and remember these messages.
Even if you’re not there for the spiritual stuff, there was still much to learn about journaling and about creative and practical journaling techniques. And Patsy is not 
into buying expensive materials. She showed us how to use ordinary stuff like clear tape from divisoria, magazine clippings, and other scrap materials to collage and create artful pages. Some of the samples she showed were astoundingly beautiful. And it does not take a da Vinci to create similar pages.
But I think what I inspired and elated me most was the way that this workshop has recharged my hunger for the Word. Lately, I have been struggling to keep up the passion I used to have to read His Word. I’ve been distracted by shiny objects and worldly pursuits. And this afternoon revealed to me that reading His Word need not be a drudgery. It is a blessing. And adding art into it makes it fun and creative.
After the workshop I found myself again eager to get into the Word and excited to hear in my heart God’s leading. I have yet to start doing the creative journaling, but I feel the juices coming. I’ve taken my Prang watercolor off its dusty storage, and I know I’m going to discover more about myself, my thoughts, my dreams, my creativity, my life, and my God.
I know, I know, this is my 2 hundred millionth post for the day. What’s gotten into me? Well, I need to empty my pc of photos and so I am pressured to blog about those photos now. Plus, I’m going on a 2-day internet withdrawal rehab in Batangas so I need to get these posted. I promise this is the last one for the day.
I just really want to talk about the Creative Spiritual Journaling Workshop that I attended last Saturday. I almost passed up on this one, since I didn’t really think that half a day would be enough to get me creative, much less spiritual. I am glad I changed my mind.
The workshop was conducted by trainer Mae Legaspi and Patsy Paterno, the Pa in Papemelroti. Mae shared some background information on journaling, focusing on its benefits. I admit I was taking mental notes because I dream of someday offering workshops to help others discover the joy of journaling. Writing about the events of my life has enriched the experiences, and reading about them years after has shown me how much I have grown up and discovered about myself. But the journaling I’m used to is more about writing. This workshop showed how I can take my journaling to a higher, more creative, more powerful level.
I love Patsy’s joy and passion as she enthusiastically described how this activity can be a joint creative process between God and journaler. How this is more than just doing art or mere journaling, but it is really a way to hear His message loudly and clearly, and to capture and remember these messages.
Even if you’re not there for the spiritual stuff, there was still much to learn about journaling and about creative and practical journaling techniques. And Patsy is not into buying expensive materials. She showed us how to use ordinary stuff like clear tape from divisoria, magazine clippings, and other scrap materials to collage and create artful pages. Some of the samples she showed were astoundingly beautiful. And it does not take a da Vinci to create similar pages.
But I think what I inspired and elated me most was the way that this workshop has recharged my hunger for the Word. Lately, I have been struggling to keep up the passion I used to have to read His Word. I’ve been distracted by shiny objects and worldly pursuits. And this afternoon revealed to me that reading His Word need not be a drudgery. It is a blessing. And adding art into it makes it fun and creative.
After the workshop I found myself again eager to get into the Word and excited to hear in my heart God’s leading. I have yet to start doing the creative journaling, but I feel the juices coming. I’ve taken my Prang watercolor off its dusty storage, and I know I’m going to discover more about myself, my thoughts, my dreams, my creativity, my life, and my God.
Washington St. Makati City
Pictures at: http://islandhopper.multiply.com/photos/album/25
No, that’s not really the name of the place. I’m not even sure it has a name. That’s what my husband and I call this not-even-a-hole-in-the-wall “sidewalk cafe” along Washington St. in Makati, very close to the corner of Pasay Road. It’s where my husband takes me to remove any vestige of colegiala in me.
When my friend Tisha and I went there last week, I was surprised to see that the place did not escape the clutches of inflation. What used to be a 35 peso meal of lechon kawali (see glorious, golden, crispy crackled skin in picture), rice, and broth is now 55 pesos. Gasp. It’s 45 pesos without the rice and soup. And it’s one of the best, most delicious ways to spend your 55 bucks. Unless of course, Booksale repeats their 5peso book promos. But back to the food.
The tokwa’t baboy (P50) can put to shame other finer dining places. Sarap! I also liked the pares (P45) that Tisha ordered.
For germophobes like me, there is a fear factor element to dining here, but hey, we only live (and get amoebiasis) once. Plus parking is not a problem; in fact, you can eat inches away from where your car is parked.
Westgate Center, Alabang
Sisterly bonding in a restaurant we’re trying for the first time. Nice way to start the afternoon.
Pretty good looking restaurant. Rockstar parking right in front of it. Loved the floor tiles. And now, let’s talk about the food.
First, they serve free vegetable atsara (in picture). My sister and I are not big on pickles so we didn’t really eat much of it. But I tried it, and if I were a pickle person, I think I would have liked it.
The Lumpia Mais (P150) was hands-down my favorite among the dishes served. Corn, shrimps, and onion wrapped in rice paper, deep friend, and served with a lovely sweet-sour-spicy chili dip. It was served as an appetizer though we had it with the rest of the meal. But I can see this working as a merienda dish as well.
The Bamboo Rice (P145) was delicious when hot, but was too filling and too flavorful (with shrimp and chicken) to go with all the other flavor-rich dishes. We had enough for left-overs.
The menu’s quite extensive so it was really hard to make a final choice among the meat and seafood dishes. We were tempted to order more, but we resisted. It was a good thing we focused on the Spareribs Adobo (P365) which was served with steamed white rice. Yes, more rice! The 3 pieces of spare ribs deceived me into thinking we could finish this. But again, the serving’s too generous for 2 females with small appetites (snicker).
The gising-gising is a great looking vegetable dish of minced kangkong stalks in coconut cream. It looked spicy but was actually yawningly boring.
No space for desserts and had bags of leftovers to take home. My sister and I rated the food at 3.5, but the homey ambiance and the attentive and friendly service upped their score to a 4.
More pictures here: http://islandhopper.multiply.com/photos/album/24/24
1025 C. Ayala St. corner Arellano St., Malate, Manila (near De La Salle – CSB Angelo King Building)
My friend Alvin told me about this resto, where College of St. Benilde Hotel and Restaurant students take their practicum. When I googled it, I was led to Awesome Planet’s site where I found not just a review of the place but a heatedexchange of comments. Some students did not understand the concept of constructive criticism.
A few weeks back, I was at DLSU-Manila and so I decided to give this controversial place a try. I took a semi-long, mega-sunny, ultra-hot walk to the place. 3 pedestrian directions, a nice glowing tan, and 8.25 gallons of sweat later, I, Mc-steaming, got there. I was never that happy for the invention of air-conditioning.
Big tables are squeezed into a cozy room and the place seemed to be packed. I was afraid that since I was dining alone, they’d ask me to move to the outdoor tables. The al fresco option had zero appeal to me. I was so glad they let me have one of the big round tables inside.
I heard that the resto theme changes every year, and this year’s batch 14 was offering international cuisine, which is a fancy and quite misleading way of saying that they don’t really have a theme.
The Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (P40) was delicious in a Campbellesque kind of way. But I had no issues with that. Campbell soup is comfort food for me. The asparagus flavor was too subtle though for my tastebuds to capture it, if it’s there at all. I was sipping my soup leisurely because I really wanted to stay in that airconditioned oasis for a long time before I stepped out into the Sahara again. But the server (a student doing practicum) seemed to be in a rush to serve the food and she served the entree even before I was halfway through my soup. That was a bummer because that meant my main dish was cooling down before I was ready to eat it.
The Roast Beef in Mushroom Sauce at P95 was well-priced. And the price was the only thing going for it. Because it was tough and chewy, and I couldn’t believe that was sirloin. Sure, the price was on the low side, but I’ve tried good, tender local sirloin before.
The other sour note to my Solomon dining experience was the kitchen noise. The kitchen was partially open, and over the usual cooking and chopping noises, the students were also very noisy carousing and joking around. Not pleasant.
The only saving grace is the Tiramisu (P65). Though this was not the best I’ve had and I had to follow up before it was served, I found it was pretty good.
I understand that this is ran by chefs in training so maybe we have to give them a little latitude. But I’ll wait for batch 15 before I come back.
Summary: Long hot walk, cozy place, a menu with no personality, amateurish service, low prices, tough meat, and a dessert to save the day.
There’s a space inside me, a gaping hole,
That aches to be filled by another soul.
There’s a space in my life for one new being
Hungry for nourishment, love and caring,
There’s a space in my home waiting for a gift
From Him who receives the wishes I lift.
There’s a space in my heart that longs to love,
Waiting, hoping for an angel from above.
There’s a space in my ear that longs to hear,
A cry so sweet, a giggle so dear.
There’s space in my mind filled with knowledge
Sharing them with you would be my great privilege.
There’s a space in the nook of my arm,
Ready to hold you and keep you warm.
There’s a space in my being
Longing, longing, longing
1999
after having been diagnosed as having PCOS,
a non-life threatening condition that makes
conception a bit of a challenge
image from http://www.hobotraveler.com/2005/12/streets-of-manila-photos.html
Eyes ten years older than they really are
A face well trained to incite sympathy
An empty stomach and a hungry heart
Sunburnt skin on a tired gaunt body
Calloused fingers tapping on car windows
Filthy hands begging for a mere peso
An angry scowl and an embittered frown
As he is ignored and looked down upon
Society’s shame, a syndicate’s pawn
City’s scourge, a politician’s icon
A corrupt cop’s lunch, a tourist eyesore
A pedophile’s wet dream, twisted pimp’s whore
Cursing his parents, wishing away time
Sniffing glue he escapes reality
Life of vandalism and petty crime
His dirty finger for humanity
Rockwell, Makati
I loved:
-my husband’s Pepper Rice (loved the pepper flavor)
-my Shimofuri Pepper Steak (just the right tenderness) P570 ala carte, P645 with rice and drink
-instructional videos
I liked the:
-steak sauces – I like the garlic soy sauce more than the honey brown sauce, but they’re both good.
-bright interiors
-helpful service
-bean sprouts and carrots with my dish
I didn’t like the:
-salmon – it wasn’t bad, but it was ordinary and on the dry side (P275 ala carte, P312 plus drink)
-way we smelled after the meal
-sticker shock given the fastfood ambience, but given the quality of the steak, it’s forgivable
I super loved:
-Daniel Craig, whom my eyes feasted on after dinner. Nothing to do with Pepper Lunch, but he was the most scrumptious thing on that night’s menu. Argh, how can white jeans look so good on a guy?
The rule regarding conversion of verbs to their past tense forms is straightforward; add -ed. Answer becomes answered. Question becomes questioned. Of course, there are irregular verbs such as: go that becomes went, come that becomes came. Some of these irregular verbs are pretty common so it just takes frequent usage to get used to them.
Regardless how straightforward the rule is, we still seem to struggle with past tenses. We sometimes fail to convert them to past tense when they should be, and sometimes we use the past tense version even if we shouldn’t.
Let’s take a look at the sentence:
As a 16 year old virgin, I am afraid of being sacrificed to volcano gods.
Now, this sentence would only make sense if the speaker is young enough to know the names of all Jonas brothers, is chaste, and lives pretty close to active volcanoes. But if the speaker is old enough to have been part of the Death March, or knows the terms disco, betamax, or Karma Chameleon, then most likely this sentence should be in past tense.
In that case, it should be stated as:
As a 16 year old virgin, I was afraid of being sacrificed to volcano gods.
Try these sentences out by converting the verbs in parentheses to their past tense:
Last week, we (run) _____________ out of bell peppers.
Yesterday, I (go) _____________ to the market.
I made sure I (bargain) _____________ with the vegetable seller.
I was so glad he (give) _____________ me a 20% discount.
That wasn’t so hard, was it? I suspect that many of us know the rule, but we make mistakes when we are not being careful. Just remember, if it happened in the past, convert the verb into its past tense form.
Oh, just to make sure it’s clear. The title of this post is incorrect. In this case, tense is a noun, and nouns cannot be converted to past tense.
More on the past tense in the next posts.