Random Billboards

Will start posting random billboards I find interesting along EDSA or C5.

I wonder why she approved this picture for her poster.

The joy of baking my own bread

Rice is the staple food of every Filipino, next to it is pan de sal and white loaf bread. I recently enrolled in bread baking at ISCAHM. I must say that this is now my favorite food to prepare. I find it amazing to do something as basic as bread.



It takes almost 3 hours from preparation to final product.

I don't do kneading, I let the machine take care of it. There is a lot of waiting time in preparing the dough. 1 hour bulk fermentaion, 30 mins scaling, and another 30 mins for proofing, then bake to another 30 mins but sure worth the wait.

Initially I base on the time specified on the recipe, but my reliable baker says, as my skills improve I'll learn how see and feel when the bread is ready for the next stage. (Haha employee training the employer)

I'm also happy to share this bread baking skills with the teeners in the family, my daughter, brother and sister already know how to form the scaled dough into nice smooth dough ball.

This is actually the first food preparation my teener really enjoyed doing. My teener brother and sister enjoyed their steak sandwich with bread they prepared.

Last Saturday, I spent the whole morning bonding with my brother preparing brown bread. He learned this thru the internet and was preparing dough at home with his bare hands. I let him try the convenience of using my industrial mixer. I must say e-learning worked for him very well.

Aside from the aroma of freshly baked bread, I love the smell of the fermenting dough. I asked my classmate if I'm weird, she says it's one of the most comforting scent for her too.

"Trying" eat healthy lately. So one of the staple food on our table now is freshly baked whole wheat bread, multi grain bread, honey wheat bread and the list goes on.

HI5 gang is in Manila

HI 5 gang is in Manila.
Katie is excited to watch the show. Meet the gang.

But we dont know them =(

http://www.myayalamalls.com/index.php/mall+events/id/233/Hi-5+Gang+Live+at+the+Ayala+Malls!

My other "New Baby"

I started to learn how to bake in YWCA summer class at 11 years old. Recipes then was very simple like cream puff, butter cookies, brazo de mercedes, brownies etc. I started sharing baked cookies with my neighbors and friends.

Even during college, I started selling choco crinkles and brownies to my friends and boarders during Christmas season.

I also taught a few friends on how to do basic baking, some turned it to be their passion, some just ate with me.

after one and a half year of cafeteria/coffee shop, I have to admit the coffee business will not take off because Starbucks is just next door. I had decided to venture to a business closest to my heart. Cake Shop!

Leslie, 1 year after

http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/gloriettablast/view.php?db=1&article=20081017-166879

I just tell her, mom’s in heaven’

October 17, 2008 05:22:00

Jeannette Andrade

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—In the past year, life for him has been a daily ordeal of “what if” and “what could have been.”

“I cannot really say that I have moved on. Every night I regret what happened,” said Carlo Cruz, whose wife Leslie died in the explosion last year at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.

“I keep thinking that if that [explosion] had not happened, we would be in Canada now. Leslie would be cooking breakfast. We would be one happy family who spends weekends in the park.”

But then reality hits him, said Cruz, 32. And the knowledge that he should move forward becomes a resolve made strong by his commitment to raise their daughter Amber well.

Amber is now 3 years old. Her father calls her “Leslie Junior.”

“She is very girly-girl, like her mom,” Cruz said, confiding with a relieved laugh that he had worried that she might grow up a tomboy with only him around.

With pictures of Leslie dotting the family home in Quezon City, Amber has asked about her mother at least thrice, Cruz said. “I just tell her, ‘Mom’s in heaven. She’s watching over us.’”

He said he and Amber used to visit Leslie’s grave at the Loyola Memorial Parks in Marikina City every Sunday but that he had limited those visits to once or twice a month.

“I want Amber to realize on her own that her mom’s around and what’s in her grave are just [the physical remains]. Although when I go there, I still talk to Leslie,” he said.

“I’m still trying to have faith that Leslie is happy where she is.”

‘Cherish each moment’

Days after Oct. 19, 2007, Cruz wrote a widely read e-mail about what transpired before and after the tragedy that took Leslie’s life.

He wrote how he regretted having parked where he did, not having arranged to meet with Leslie sooner, and not having “braved the dust” to get to the explosion site.

He urged other couples to “cherish each moment that we spend with our loved ones.”

Now, talking with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Cruz said he still could not find sense in the tragedy: “I still wish that this thing hadn’t happened.”

He said his in-laws were themselves barely moving on but were coping by recalling happy memories of Leslie, the youngest of three siblings and a “daddy’s girl.”

Amber’s resemblance to Leslie as a girl has helped them, Cruz said.

And his in-laws’ home in Valenzuela City is also filled with pictures of Leslie, the better for them to remember her and feel her presence.

No updates

Asked if he would pursue charges against those responsible for the explosion, Cruz said he had yet to receive updates about the court case.

He said the last he had heard was the recommendation of a Department of Justice panel to file charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple physical injuries against eight officers and staff members of Makati Supermarket Corp. and two private firms conducting repair work in the area.

“Though we have a flawed judicial process, the case still underwent due process. That’s the ruling; I guess things worked out the way they should,” he said.

Cruz said he had not heard from the mall owners since the start of the year, nor had he tried to communicate with them.

He said he had received support from the Ayala family for funeral expenses as well as for psychological therapy.

But he stressed: “I have to put that away in my life and move on.”

What Cruz wants from the Ayalas now is information on their plans for the anniversary of the explosion. “Will they celebrate a Mass for the victims? Will they build a memorial for them?” he said.

‘Even small steps’

The families of the other victims have also stopped communicating with him, Cruz said.

“I guess everybody wants to move on with their lives. Stepping forward, to try even small steps, would be better, although I do not think anybody can really move on,” he said.

Once, Cruz recalled, he needed to go to Glorietta 2 to buy office supplies.

“I had to numb myself,” he said.

He described the experience as “difficult,” and said he could not stand staying in the mall for long because of the memories.

“That was where Leslie and I watched our first movie together, had our first date and other dates,” he said. “We stayed there a lot because it was the mall closest to where we used to work.”

Cruz said he had heard that the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption was preparing to hold a rally on Oct. 19 to mark the tragedy and press for justice.

He said he was not planning to join the activity: “I’m not really a big fan of these things. I want to focus on Leslie, on what we had. I mean, I have better things to do. There’s Amber. Amber’s the remnant of Leslie.”

Cruz expressed surprise at how fast time had passed, and said he felt that the tragedy had just happened yesterday.

“If I survived a year, maybe I can survive a decade,” he said, adding that Leslie would remain an angel watching over him and Amber.

Galing Galing ng anak ko!

AJ has already started walking at 9 mos and 2 weeks old.

B- Cebu

Katie in Cebu AirportHere are some of the pictures of our annual family trip.

Though this was not her first plane ride, she flew to US and Cebu before she turned 1, Katie was scared, She wanted to hold my hand and sit on the middle seat. I encouraged her to sit near the window to let her see the cars and houses as they turn small. She also realized how high we saw the clouds way below the plane. All through-out the ride, Katie did not stop talking, asking where we are, announcing that she's not scared anymore, how excited she was to reach Cebu.

AJ just slept throughout the flight no fuzz.

We Stayed in the Pacific Cebu Resort. Most of the guests there were Koreans and Japanese. Most members of our family surely fit in. The teenagers can pass as Korean telenovela stars.

Katie enjoyed the morning walk on the beach and the long walk on the stretch of the pier.

AJ broke a plate in the restaurant. He's movements are becoming quick and strong.

AJ enjoyed swimming in the pool, Lolo just bought him floaters with sunshade. Katie also enjoyed lying on the inflatable bed which flip her over every minute.

Arnold enjoyed the trip but was was ecstatic to know star sports was available. He did not miss his F1 ritual.

Cym, Denny and Dana, was very helpful in taking care of the kids.

It was raining most of the time so most shots are indoors or in Ayala Mall. Yes we went to Cebu to go malling in Ayala and SM. We even went to Starbucks twice.


Miggy and Katie in Timezone


Plane ride home was also a breeze, even Katie slept throughout the flight.
My Kids

BFFs
Still raining, picture taking in the verandaDalaga't Binata na, Ayan na next sets of kids na palalakihin.