eve's droppings

          I'm a dog person, but lately I'm drawn to cats. It all started when one day I happened to pass by Petco, and there were several cats up for adoption, most of them abandoned. They were soooo cute!!! I especially love their white paws, kakagigil! Unfortunately, we can't adopt one.  So I just settled with visiting them whenever I pass by the store. I even signed up to be a volunteer to help take care of them, that way I get to play with them even without owning one.  Besides, I already got something that's very low maintenance and just as cute. In fact, I have two of them!

     I’ve been doing a lot of cooking lately. With getting married and moving to the States, I’m now the head chef of the household. I’ve never particularly liked cooking.. I just see it as a necessity because people need to eat, so we need to cook. But lately, I’m having fun discovering and experimenting with different recipes - the fusion of flavors and textures, the wide selection of ingredients, the techniques and methods of cooking. I’m thankful to my mom for teaching me the basics. I used to be her assistant in the kitchen - washing, peeling, dicing, cleaning up.. anything except the actual cooking. But at least it made me know my way around the kitchen. My mom-in-law also taught me a few simple recipes which helped jumpstart me again, because prior to coming here, I haven’t cooked in ages.

     By God’s grace, most of my ventures have been fairly successful. I just prepare the simple, easy-to-do ones, mostly Chinese. And Stan is not a picky eater so anything I serve tastes good to him. Aah I love my husband, such a pleasure to cook for. He always asks me what’s in the recipe. And my answer always is.. ’the secret’s in the sauce’.

     Oyster sauce is my best friend.

          Coming from a labor-intensive country where everything is done for you, it was a big adjustment coming here to the States. Everything here is DIY..from cleaning up after yourself in a fast food place, filling up gas, loading the groceries to the car. Not to mention normal chores like doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc etc.

          I was feeling this today more than ever because I had to tint our car’s window myself. Ours had clear windows that let the sun's glare get to the eyes while driving, not to mention the UV rays! So I started looking for a car shade. I had a hard time finding one in the mall so I shopped online. It led to some links of self-tinting car kits. DIY again! Looks like too much work, so I scrapped the idea. I discovered car shades here are not categorized under auto accessories, but under baby travel. People here aren’t mindful of sunshine, only babies need sun protection. I was able to buy a sort of plastic sheet that self-adheres to the car window at Babies R Us. Amusing huh?  But then I had to apply it like a tint because it’s a self-cling type, not the suction kind. And so my attempt at DIY begins. First I cleaned the surface, then measured and cut the desired shape, smoothed out the sheet, and used a ruler to smooth out the air bubbles. The end result.. obviously done by an amateur . Good thing I was able to observe the Banawe boys tint my car back home a few ago. I wish I could have it done there too.

          Labor here is expensive which leads to self-service. I sort of miss being served upon. But I guess I got spoiled that way. I realized we often take for granted the people who serve us faithfully and make our life a little bit easier. We must show our appreciation and not take them for granted. After all, Jesus Christ set the example.

‘Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Matthew 20:28)

‘The greatest among you will be your servant.’ (Matthew 23:11)

Last Tuesday, I had a meeting at Rockwell. I got there early so I decided to kill time by window shopping, so I thought of withdrawing some money. As I dug into my bag to get my ATM card, lo and behold.. I realized my wallet wasn't there! Which translates to.. I've been driving without a license! I had no money, no credit card, no ATM, no ID..except for my coin purse and some spare change in the car. I mentally berated myself for being so stupid. What do I do now? It was too late to go back home to get it, and I didn't want to let my parents know coz I would surely get it. On top of that, I was hungry. I decided to just stick it out and finish my meeting before going home.

Well, the first order of business was I had to pay for parking. So I counted out all my change and set aside the amount. Thank God for small blessings coz I had some left over. What food can I buy with P70? Never mind the embarassment of counting out coins for payment. Fastfood and kiosks were my only option. I settled on Breadtalk and bought a piece of bread and ate it slooowly to kill time. There was no point in walking around anyway, it's like being a diabetic at Baskin Robbins (as Samantha of SATC would say).

It was a weird feeling not having a wallet.. I felt lost. I was suddenly thrown out of my comfort zone. I never realized a bunch of plastic and paper can hold such importance in defining who you are, but it does. You're powerless to do anything, and you become painfully aware of things that are beyond your reach. When you have so little you really become grateful for every little thing, and you learn not to take things for granted. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. Well, lesson learned.. always carry a hefty coin purse, you never know when you might need it! =D