Ginisang Hipon

Ingredients:

0.5 lbs. shrimps
1 & 1/2 cup tomatoes, sliced
1 pc. garlic, chopped
Small chunck of ginger, chopped
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Italian mix herbs, to taste
200 ml. water

How to Cook:

1. Clean the shrimp by removing the intestines at the back using a toothpick or scissors. Cut the antenna, claws (walking legs) and rostrum. I usually take off the entire face but keeping the head because the brain is gives a tasty juice to the dish although we don't eat it. Leave the shell intact.

From Google images

2. Heat the pan and then add cooking oil. Wait until oil is hot. Sauté garlic and ginger for 40 seconds. Add tomato until softens and the liquid has been secreted.

3. Add the shrimps and stir a few times to evenly cook sides, be gentle as we don't want to deform the shrimp. Cook until it turns orange.

4. Add 200 ml. of water. Simmer for few minutes until it boils.

5. Add salt, pepper, Italian mix herbs to taste. Mix well and serve hot. When plating, I already remove the ginger since we don't eat it.

It's done! Enjoy this ginisang hipon recipe with your family!


Watch youtube video below for your reference:

Easy Pork Menudo

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1 lbs. diced pork
1 cup potato, cubes
1 cup carrots, cubes
1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chick peas
1 sachet of Mama Sita's Menudo
250ml water

How to Cook:

1.Heat the pan and then add cooking oil. Wait until oil is hot. Sauté garlic, onion and tomato until onion turn transparent.

2. Add pork and cover with lid to cook properly. Mix for a few times to cook evenly until light brown.

3. Add water, cover with lid and wait for it to boil. When it's boiling add Mama Sita's powder mixture, mix it well and simmer for few minutes until meat is soft and fully cooked.

4. Add potatoes and carrots, stir and cook until vegetables are soft.

5. The soup should have been thickened by now. Add bell pepper and chick peas then mix it to distribute the ingredients evenly. Cover the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes.

It's done! Enjoy this easy pork menudo recipe with your family!


Watch youtube video below for your reference:

Basic accessories

Gown details

My "dream" wedding gown

Looking back! Haha

And we've all seen Jennifer Aniston's gif memes taking over the internet.

Let's make a recap about their not-so-perfect love story but still named as one of the industry's power couples,

2004 - It all started in the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie

2005 - Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston divorced. Month of July, Brad was seen spending a holiday with Angelina and her son, Maddox in Kenya. Later, Angelina adopted her second child, Zahara.

2006 - Angelina announced that she is pregnant with Brad, now Shiloh Nouvel. Brad adopted all of Angelina's children and legally changed their surname to Jolie-Pitt.

2007 - Angelina adopted Pax from Vietnam and later legally adopted by Brad Pitt as well.

2008 - Brangelina welcomes twins, son Knox Leon and daughter, Vivienne Marchelin

2012 - Angelina and Brad finally engaged!

2013 - Angelina had double mastectomy and a lot of cancer scares.

2014 - The long time partners tied the knot!

Angelina also discussed the vows that their kids wrote for the wedding, saying: "They did not expect us never to fight, but they made us promise to always say sorry if we do. So they said, 'Do you?' And we said, 'We do!"

2015 - Brad and Angelina were back in the big screen, By The Sea

2016 - Angelina filed a divorce from Brad and seeking for physical custody of their six children.

With all that said, I don't personally care who's breaking up. I care about the time, the age, the physical body, the situation, the KIDS. Oh my God, the kids! Don't get me started!

I am FURIOUS!

Why is it easy for men to do this to women?

Time, Angelina Jolie spent so much of her time dedicated to Brad Pitt and their family.

Age, through those years Angelina aged so much.

Physical body, Angelina's beauty and health decreased.

Situation, she might have been depressed and going through a lot of things; this is the critical time where she most need someone to be with her.

Kids, they have six beautiful children that will be affected by their break up, their scandals, their issues that is trending globally, the alleged third parties, oh, you name it. There's a lot of things going on that can traumatized and greatly impact the lives of their children.

And all these because Brad Pitt cannot keep his pants on.

Why is it easy for men to just leave? Be single? And head on, ready to mingle?

Men can marry anytime, multiple times even, they have unlimited sperm supplies anyway.

Women gets an expiration date. We only have a certain number of egg cells and menopause is just around the corner. (Angelina Jolie had to undergo double mastectomy and oophorectomy for health purposes.)

No matter how I try to think about it, women will always have the disadvantages in this kind of situation.

The purpose of marriage has long been gone when divorce/annulment have been legalized.

We marry not just because we love her, or we need to legalize the properties, legitimize the children.

For me, marriage  is something you choose to make things permanent. It is when something happens, whatever mistakes, misunderstandings or fights; we will make it work because marriage is permanent.

And then there's this people who would tell me, what if they realized that the person they married was violent, psycho, cheater, abusive whatever....... They need divorce.

That is the reason why it is very important for us women to know our partners first before we marry them. It is important that we've invested enough time to get to know him well, see his bad and good sides, get along with his families and friends, and discover the environment where he grew up and now living.

Don't tell me that you can't. You can make a research, stalk him, spy at him, whatever method you think of just KNOW HIM before you marry him because originally marriage should not have any OFF button.

We should all start to think about marriage as permanent, that no matter what happens.... even your wife turns grey you will love her and be there for her. Even when things doesn't go perfectly, never quit working things out. Even when life gets generous and surround you with beautiful young girls, always think you have someone permanent.

I don't expect my wedding guests to read this but in case they do I hope they take this to heart.

5 Rules for Wedding Guests:




Do not overdress, respect the bride as it is her time to shine. Do wear a decent attire, you are attending a wedding not partying in a club! If they provided a color for their guests to wear, please abide by the rules; their celebration, their money and their rules. Never wear WHITE or RED or BLACK unless asked by the bride and groom.

2. 



Do not bring a guest unless stated in your invitation. Here's a thing, it is very expensive to celebrate a wedding. I'd have a long list of the things that the bride and groom would pay for so don't bring an extra head because yes it's gonna come with a price. For example, my fiance and I purchased the package for 100 guests, we are expecting 120 guests (estimated). If we excess the 100 guests we will have to pay them per head ---- Php 2,000 for the menu; Php 1,000 for the lechon; Php 1,000 for alcoholic drinks; so we will be paying an extra Php 4,000 plus for 1 guest that you'll be bringing, so in respect to the couple DO NOT BRING ANYONE unless a plus one is stated in your invitation. I do not tolerate exceptions because if somebody knew about it, the rule will be questionable and other guests would insist in adding their plus as well. This applies to boyfriends/girlfriends/spouses/children/siblings/friends.

3.



Prepare a gift for the couple. Your presence is gift enough, uhm no. Wedding means the couple are starting a life together so it is a must that you bring with you a gift be it monetary or an item to help them start up.

4. 



Participate in the program especially during the games or if the couple asked you to give a speech. If you plan on becoming a kill joy it is best for you to not attend at all rather than spoiling the celebration.

5.



Don't be a grumpy. Never criticize anything that is disappointing in the party. Instead on instilling negative vibes you can help by making the mood lighter for everyone. For all we know, the couple are already stressed out and a nitpicking guest will only add fuel to the fire. I remember attending a wedding of my friend, the food has taken so long to prepare and couldn't accommodate the "hungry" guests. And the grumpy guest started shouting how disappointing the food service were. I mean that's really disrespectful to the couple. I know we were all hungry at that time but sometimes certain situations happen and we don't have any control over it. Since we are all guests it is better for us to behave properly, we didn't pay for it anyway so we don't have any right to get mad or whatsoever.

If you haven't read the first part, Here it is ---> First Part of the Interview

We will continue to question number 6.

Paskuhan c.2011 at University of Santo Tomas, Manila

6. What am I looking for in a marriage? What are my hopes?

- We were looking for a lifetime companion, someone who will be there for us through thick and thin. We are looking forward to starting a family and a good life together.

7. What do I fear most about marriage? (apprehensions)

- Let's be honest, of course the scariest thing that could happen in a marriage is divorce. It was my fiance's answer, I was totally surprised that he had taught about it. I always want to have the best answer but congratulations he got this one right! Hahaha! 

For me, I fear the most is when one of us would have an affair. It's really hard for me to even think about betrayals; including friendship. I consider myself a reserved person and it is very impossible for me to open up to a person unless we've already established a steady foundation. I believed that trust is earned, so when you try to break it, everything's not going to be the same again.

8. Why do I think I am ready for marriage?

- Aside from we love each other and realized that we are really serious having a steady and long relationship, we are both financially stable and responsible.

P.Noval Court at UST, Manila

9. What do I like to talk about with my partner? What do I avoid talking about with each other?

- I talk about my hubby about everything (literally!). Anything and everything, positive or negative I can talk to him. I am always open to talking to him, we might end up arguing about something but we're going to make-up anyways because there's nothing that can tear us apart. His answer was he can talk about anything as well but he avoids talking about past arguments or mistakes he made! Hahaha! Typical guy!

10. Have you experienced separation/breaking up from each other? If yes, what was that like?

- Yes! Of course! But to other people they might not consider it a "real separation" hahaha! Back before I finish my university we both know that I will be migrating to Hong Kong. That's where my family is, so there is where I'm supposed to be as well. So we decided to stop it from there, but we didn't really separated because we still continue communicating with each other everyday. And after 2 weeks he started courting me again. By that time, we talked about how hard a long distance relationship will be but we still agreed on making things work even how hard it is.

@Shakey's Espanya, Manila

After I graduated just a couple of months I left Philippines and started living with my family in Hong Kong.. LDR, we were winging it! But few months passed, it became really hard since I started working, his work has different shifts so we barely have the time to make a video call especially when his schedule is different than mine. We would often leave videos or messages or voice notes.. But you know it is still different especially when that person would reply immediately rather than wait for his reply when he comes back home. So we decided to try and break up. But the same thing happened! Hahaha! We still talk with each other even we already broke up, so it's like we did not even break up in the first place! Few weeks, we decided to put extra extra effort to make things work. Like he would register an unlimited internet when his schedule doesn't match mine so we can still talk even his not at home. He would stay awake just few hours more just to talk to me, and I would also wait for him to go home and sacrifice some hours of sleep. So that's it, we made it! It's hard but putting extra effort for the one you love is so worth it.

I went to see the iconic Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi also known as Sheikh Zayed Mosque last year when I was staying in Dubai for a few months.

Sheikh Zayed from Google Images

I first heard about The Grand Mosque during my time in the architecture university. It is common for us to discuss fascinating structures and be inspired by them.

I was once a simple person; I go to a place eat their food, breathe their air, take random photos and observe how people look in a certain place I am in, but when I was studying architecture my curiosity and fascination in various styles grew bigger that I wouldn't be able to leave a place without even visiting any prominent architecture building in the area.

As you approach the mosque it is very impossible for anyone not to notice how majestic it is. Once I had a chance to enter the gate I couldn't help myself but stare in awe how the architecture style were beautifully executed.

Entrance

The structure was built from a very elegant material, Macedonian SIVEC marble. Islamic architecture have been known by its artistically rich details in its facade and ornamentation in its interior, the Grand Mosque as a perfect example.

Islamic Ornaments

The rich details used in the ceiling and ornaments atop the columns were built with sophistication.

The concept behind this magnificent and iconic architecture is how they innovated the Islamic architecture in a more modern manner using fine techniques lies a masterpiece that is culturally rich as well.

For anyone who wants to enter the mosque, there is a dress code especially for females - abaya. The female needs to fully cover their body before they can enter a holy place as the beliefs of Muslims. You don't need to worry if you don't have any abaya, there is a changing room downstairs that will let you borrow, you just need to lend your identity card/travel document and they will return it to you once you've returned the clothes.

It was 42 degrees Celsius when I went there last year, it was so hot I am close to dehydrating! Gladly, there's a drinking fountain or something like that available inside! Fresh, clean and cold water so you don't need to worry. If you are not Islam/Muslim you are not allowed to step on the center plaza of the mosque which they use during Ramadan for worshiping.

Below are the photos from my trip using my Samsung Note 3 with semi-wide lens.

Photo from Google

Canonical Interview slash our love story! Hahaha! This is only part one... There are many questions to be answered one post wouldn't be enough so please bear with me! The next part will be posted very soon!

St Benedict Parish Church - Photo from Google

Before a couple can marry in a church they first have to pass the canonical interview. St. Benedict Parish Church Ayala Westgrove Heights is more strict than most of the other churches around so yes this is serious.

Our schedule for the interview was May 18, 2016 at 10am but was asked to be there at 9:30am to answer some questionnaires.

We went there with my fiancè and his mother. There were no traffic so we arrived at 9:00am. Ms. Irene the Parish secretary was already there waiting for us. She took four pieces of our 2x2 picture and gave us 3 pages of questionnaires.

My fiancè and I thought the interview would be very easy and that the priest would only verify our answers from the questionnaire but no.... this is something serious.

We already submitted the questionnaires with our answers on it to Ms. Irene and then she introduced us to Father Angelo. He will be conducting our interview.

Our interview lasted about an hour and a few minutes. Thankfully we weren't interviewed separately. Sitting beside my fiancè made my jitters a little less.

He will again ask the questions from the questionnaires that we have already answered but now Father would asked every detail and he would add follow up questions to get to know us better. And by the end of the interview he would give us advise on how to make our marriage stronger.

I will be writing down the questions and our answers below so you can have an idea.

1. How and where did you meet?

- We were schoolmates back in high school. (This is what we answered in the paper but he wanted to know us more and asked for the detailed one. So prepare yourself!)

(I volunteered, so I was the one who told the story and my fiancè would be the one to answer the next question. Hehehe!)

- We were in the same school for a long time but we didn't really know each other until 2005.

It was the first month of the school year, June 2005. One day, my fiancè, Rey and his friend, Mark Borbon were standing in front of St. Matthew Classroom. I was walking in the quadrangle when Mark pointed at me and told Rey, "Uy si Kim. Maganda no?" And when Rey saw me for the very first time, everything was in slow motion. That time he knew, he loved me already but he kept quiet because he thought Mark had a crush on me. He waited 3 months before he started approaching me just to make sure that his friend doesn't have any feelings for me. Hahaha! I don't not know him yet. This story was based from Rey.

Weeks passed, we had our class at the Sister's Quarter with Sr. Thrella and he was at the roof top. That's how we finally met, but we weren't friends or anything. Then came Buwan ng Wika August, I remember St. Philip and St. Matthew won the Sabayang Pagbigkas in that year that's why we had to perform in the elementary auditorium once again. After our performance they were the next to perform. Rey and two of his friends Aaron Sinaon and Keith Ramos were blocking my way out and then they said "Hi, Kym!" I perfectly remember how Rey looked, he was blushing, grinding, nervous(?) hahaha! I ignored them because I didn't know them at that time and I don't talk to strangers. And then I passed by.

Few weeks later he had the courage to contact me via text message, "Hi Kim! Kumusta? Rey Viray to." I received his text but didn't reply immediately: first I didn't have a load at that time, second I don't really know who "Rey Viray" is. Hahaha!

One of my other suitors sent me an autoload (Ganda-gandahan lang ang peg?! Hahaha! Chos!) So a few hours later I did reply to him "Sinong Rey Viray?"... That's how we began talking to each other.

Later on, I had a chance to talk to Kenneth Ramos one of his friends and my school service mate, we were neighbors. When we were talking he got a chance to tell me that when Rey texted me the first time, they were all together spending their friend's birthday, Ryan Banal at South Peak. He then informed me that when Rey received my text message he was too excited and happy he accidentally hit Ryan with his elbow so Ryan's nose was bleeding. Hahaha! Too bad for Ryan because Rey got really excited! This story was based from Kenneth Ramos.

--- It seriously got this long! Father is eager to know every bit of details in our love story! Hahaha!

2. How long have you known each other? Courtship period?

- 10 years and 9 months;  Official courtship period is 3 months but he is insisting na more than that raw! He used to stalk and chat me kasi before. Hahaha! Sabi ko hindi official yun! He said 6 months plus daw! Whatever!

3. How long have you been engaged?

- 4 months (when we did the interview) now, 6 months.

4. What attracted me most to my partner?

- Family oriented, very kind and patient, God-fearing and sporty (my answer)

- VERY beautiful, VERY intelligent, VERY kind, VERY humble, I love everything about her. (his answer)  EDI AKO NA TALAGA! Hahaha! Wag kayo magpaniwala sa sagot ni Rey puro joke alam niyan! Hahaha!

During this question we also discussed the skills we can do and contribute in our future home. So I told Father, I can do everything and anything. I have ways on easily accomplishing household chores since I do them at home where a family of 5 live, I take care of my two siblings and even help them with their homework after my office work so sabi ko Kuracha mode na ako Father kaya ipasa mo na ako as long as Rey will clean the toilet kaya ko lahat! Hahaha!

5. Why do I want to get married?

- I want to get married because I love my fiance very much. We've been together for ten years and I think it is the right time to take our relationship to the next level with the blessings of God.

It is such an amazing experience discussing this with Father. The interview was full of laughter and teary moments! This experience made me and my fiance extra closer..

There are a total of 20 questions but since this post alone is too long already I decided to divide our Canonical Interview Experience into parts. Hope you did enjoy this post as we have in reality!