Last Two Days Of 2018

Wet, cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. Or maybe this would be a blessing to us so we won’t have to smell those toxic chemicals from the firecrackers occasionally lit by some residents who can’t wait for the new year to begin. At least the air is somewhat balmy. And maybe, it would be nice if the drizzle holds until tomorrow night to lessen the smog. There’s a storm  and the rains are affecting Metro Manila too.

We were blessed and lucky early this morning to have Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco. He officiated the 6:30 am mass here at Our Lady of Light. He used to be the Parish Priest of said church. Although his homily was a bit lengthy (as always), I learned a lot from it.

Last night Josef gifted  me with a kilo of  this Sevona dark chocolate compound  for baking. It’s made by Beryl’s from Malaysia. I don’t plan to bake chocolate though for home consumption.  Since it will expire two years from now, I still have lots of time to use it.  They are still at it, baking cakes which are  additional orders.

 

I am planning to bake Granny’s Apple Crisp tomorrow for Media Noche, the only sweet I plan to serve aside from the fruits. Mom loves salad, any salad will do so I’ll make potato salad too. Some recipes are ready. Yesterday I made the lumpiang shanghai for frying, siomai and embutido (again) for steaming. Got to cook spaghetti too so I could give some to the neighbors.

Even if we don’t expect visitors this New Year, I’ll be glad to prepare something for the family. It is always nice to see Mom’s reaction when she sees the spread on  the table.

 

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Andes Mints

It’s the end of the month and what could be more exciting than finding something that would make you smile from ear to ear and like a child who has just received a new toy, you can’t believe your luck. It’s  a plain case of finding when you’re not looking (gosh, what am I saying). It’s the excitement talking here so indulge me if I talk like a ten-year-old.

My son and I went to the mall after having the car cleaned at the car wash shop near our place. I was only supposed to go to the bank,  and withdraw some money from one of those satellite branches of Bank of the Philippine Island, the bank  where I used to work.  I do all my transactions online, paying bills and transferring funds via my computer but I need cash and after two attempts and lining up for several minutes, the machine rejected my ATM card. Good thing, the small branch was already opened so I applied for a card replacement and had a chat with their manager when they asked me to present an ID. And all I had in my wallet was my expired alumni ID and my old, old BPI  ID which I kept for remembrance.

I bought a loaf of bread and  looked at the display of chocolates, some are locally made ones and several unknown imported brands, then I spotted these familiar green wrappers of Andes Mints. It’s been years since I tasted this melt-in the mouth goodness because I couldn’t find them in any supermarket every time I do the groceries. Wow!  My head says “greedy” but my heart says “go,go Arlene, indulge.” I was planning to buy at least five packs, on second thoughts, what if it does not taste as good as it was several years ago, so I settled for two, a Creme de Menthe Thins which contains bite-sized layer of mint-green cream sandwiched between two layers of chocolate and a pack of Mint Parfait Thins.  I told you, I am not greedy but I want to go back to Ever Gotesco Mall to buy more.  A pack has 28 pieces of foil-wrapped mint chocolate that is a bit smaller than a domino but packed with extremely refreshing and delicious chocolate inside.  Here’s the Andes story if you are interested to know how Andes mints came about.

Maybe some of you are not familiar with it preferring the more popular brand of chocolates in the market. But Andes mints for me speak of childhood, a welcome treat from long ago days when chocolates were some sort of luxury for us kids.  Of course, I still have my favorite brands  like Ferrero and Hershey’s Kisses  and I love dark chocolates too. Any brand even the local Goya,  will do as long as it is dark.

And have you ever tried putting mint chocolate in your hot cup of coffee?

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Life at 3pm

The heat is getting a little oppressive so staying in the garden and feeling the gentle breeze touch my cheeks is a welcome thing. This little corner is mom’s refuge every afternoon playing a game of Solitaire while our three dogs watch like silent sentinels at her side. The occasional sound of cars, motorcycles and tricycles add to the otherwise lazy afternoon. Of course, the soothing sound of our small water pond  while watching the Koi swim with not a care in the world despite the water slowly turning green everyday somehow diffuses the heat of the summer afternoon like this. Add the hopping maya birds looking for food on the garden foot path and the picture is complete.  With the camera in tow, who could resist taking a few shots?

Special Dark  Kisses Chocolate for snack.  The background is  a painting by Manuel D. Baldemor called Pahiyas sa Lukban. A reproduction from the art collection of Bank of PI which they put in a journal which I am using right now.

And this one is a  Landscape rendering by Romulo Galicano.

My son whose days-off  fall  on  Tuesdays and Wednesdays  is busy reading Manga comics in the computer. “Sayang,” he said, “kung di sana nasira yung laptop, pwede niyong gamitin sa garden.” Two months ago, his laptop conked out and getting it fixed is a useless exercise so we share the use of the router, he on his Nokia phone while I have the privilege of using our PC. I am quite ignorant when it comes to using a handy cellphone while checking my e-mails or browsing the net. My head aches deciphering those small letters on the screen.

I don’t normally blog using these age-old tools,  a planner and a sharp-pointed Bic ball pen. Sometimes it is better to gather your thoughts as they come while doing something else then write about them as words or phrases and expand them later using the keyboard. I always wonder why at times, the best thoughts come fleetingly and decide to leave even before you have formed a complete sentence in your head. And you wonder again why you did not write it in the first place. Nah, it’s hard to fill a blank page when you are not inspired but the Bible Diary comes in handy because there is always a word or two, a whole paragraph even to make one’s day complete.

I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father but through me. – John 14:6

Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the father. – John 14:12

The journey is long, a long way to go and we complete it once we are with Him forever. And life goes on, no matter what. Life goes on despite the pain lodged deep in your heart. Life goes on because we still dream and believe in happy endings. And happy endings do not solely depend on other people,happy endings  depend on your relationship with God.

My variegated Aglaonema in bloom.

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