Paris, je t'aime!

Have you ever wished for something so much that the stars absolutely aligned and made it come true? It happened to me a couple of times already. Let me quote Rhonda Byrne, author of the famous "The Secret" book.

“You are the one who calls the law of attraction into action, and you do it through your thoughts."

Yes, it is possible! Our mind has a humongous unseen and sometimes, unfelt power that not everyone has mastered yet. Sometimes, all that it takes is a sincere wish and a broad imagination. Just think of the thing that you wish for to happen the most. Try to feel it and believe that you already have it. Then, it'll come to you. It must.

Years ago, I think that I actually made my dream of going to Paris come true to life. When I was younger, I used to dream of walking around the Eiffel Tower and just seeing myself there under it. I never thought about how I'd be able to get there, I just wanted to go. I kept on saying to myself that one day, I'd be able to step into the land of fashion and love. True enough, one day, I got the chance to travel to not only Paris,France, but to six other european countries as well, which included: Romania, Bulgaria, Austria,Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey. It would be seven if I include the stop over in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but I don't think staying at the airport actually counts. I'm not going to write about all of them now, but Paris. I love, love, love Paris!

Finally, I was actually walking around Paris. I couldn't believe that I was standing right below the Eiffel Tower. I got to see the actual Mona Lisa painting and the other famous sculptures. I got to buy my favorite designer bags at their "original" prices right in Rue Saint-Honoré! I toured The Louvre! Only in my wildest dream did I ever think that I'd be able to do such things. Thank you, universe, for hearing me out and giving me a great experience that only used to dream about.

Here are some pictures (It's ironic though that the pictures that I'm posting below are those of when I was sitting near the Eiffel Tower and standing outside of The Louvre! Hahaha!) :

I also never thought that I'd be walking down the shopping centers of Paris and bumping into one of Philippines, high-profile actresses, Ms. Gretchen Barretto.She was with her husband, Tony that time, but I don't think we acknowledged his presence, which was kind of awkward if you asked me. Seeing a Filipino actress in the streets of a foreign country was surprising. She even managed to have a small talk with me and asked me if I lived there. Then, there was the picture taking and the "Goodbye, see you in the Philippines.". Well,I'm not really a fan but Ms. Gretchen was approachable and humble, contrary to how she looks like or what she seems on television.

Well, Paris was lovely! Hearing the people speak  French was like music to my ears. Walking around the city was like walking in an endless park, full of beautiful sceneries and famous landmarks. The city was so clean and peaceful. The architectural structures were gorgeous. The french people were kind and hospitable. They'd help you whenever they can. The waiters and sales ladies do their job so well. So well, that you'll tend to feel like you're a queen being served! The civilians, well, when you get lost, feel free to walk up to them. Actually, even if you don't walk up to them, but they notice that you might need help, they'd be the one to offer help straight up. Just like when I was having trouble taking a selfie, a passerby just suddenly stopped and offered to take my picture. They are that friendly.

Lastly, there is Disneyland Paris! I think that Disneyland looks the same in every country where it is. The only thing that changes are their languages. Haha! Well, of course, each Disneyland differs from one another in some ways, but I will not get into detail anymore.

Here's a pic of the Disneyland Paris castle.

Paris is a city that I wouldn't mind getting lost in. I will go back there one day. Universe, hear me out! Listen to me, one day, I will go back and my new experience will be absolutely better than the last one! I am claiming it! 

See you one day, Paris. Until we meet again. 

Sea Surprise!

Anilao, Batangas is truly a diver’s paradise. It is a home away from home for the divers who live in Manila. It is a stone’s throw away from Manila, so it is easier to access than any other dive spots in the Philippines, if you live in the metro.  I find its location really convenient. Aside from being accessible, its water is clear, has countless dive spots and has a diverse range of underwater species. After a year of numerous dives in Batangas, never have I ever gotten bored. You could go diving again and again in the same dive spot, yet see a different kind of fish each time. I am not yet an expert in diving, but I must say that I really appreciate it more now. I used to be so afraid of swimming in the sea, whenever I go snorkeling but now,  I can’t believe that I actually dive and swim with the schools of fish 15-30 meters below the surface!

a great day to dive

Diving will never cease to amaze me. There is one particular diving day in Anilao that I will never forget. This was when we saw a pygmy seahorse, pawikan and a huge octopus all in a day.  The pygmy seahorse was as tiny as a fingernail. We had to use a magnifying lens to be able to see it clearly. 

Pygmy Seahorse

It completely camouflages with the fan corals, where it lived, which made it even harder to be seen.  

Try to find the Pygmy Seahorse.

The pawikan, on the other hand, was huge but I believe that there are a lot of bigger ones around the area. I tried to swim after the pawikan, but contrary to how slow it walks on land, it is quite a fast swimmer.

"Hey, dude!"

Needless to say, it slowly disappeared into the deep. It swam so gracefully, like as if to glide without any effort. 

gliding gracefully

I actually wanted to jump unto its back and ride it, but of course, I can’t! “Never touch anything.” is one of the golden rules in scuba diving. I still enjoyed just watching it. It felt so surreal.  

Nearing the end of the dive, we chanced upon this big octopus.

Spot the octopus!

I think its head was as big as ours. I was lucky to have caught it on camera. The way that it continuously camouflaged with whatever it touched was like magic.

Yes! It is the same octopus!

At first I thought that it was just a huge rock until it suddenly moved. Its tentacles glided seamlessly with the rocks while the fishes were swimming all around it, like as if to take a small bite off its head.

Of course, these three aren’t the only species that we saw underwater. The sea is like a vast museum of living creatures that you can’t even imagine without seeing it live. 

Just keep swimming.

If you think that you’ve seen it all, yet you haven’t tried scuba diving, then maybe you should give it a try.

A Healthier Version Of Crispy Pata (Turbo-cooked)

I’ve always been fond of cooking. Ever since I was little, I’d always watch my mom cook our meals. She wouldn’t allow me to go near the stove though because I was kind of clumsy (even until now…haha!). She would allow me to watch from afar though and I’d wait patiently until she finished cooking.

One kitchen equipment that I’ve always been fond of was our Turbo Cooker. I can still remember our old one being made up of I think aluminum or steel. It wasn’t even stainless. There were two meals that I could still remember that she used to cook in it. One was Cheesy Baked Macaroni and the other one was Marinated Beef Slices or some sort of Bistek. They always smelled so delicious. The aroma coming out from the Turbo, while cooking, would always leave us craving and super hungry!

After some years, our Turbo Cooker got rusty and we had no choice but to throw it away. When I was the one already cooking, I used our oven instead, whenever I tried to replicate her recipes. Of course, hers was still better than mine, in my opinion. I’m not going to talk about the recipes for those two though. I'll just write a separate entry about them next time.

Recently, I finally convinced her to buy a new Turbo Cooker. I ended up searching the net for any recipes that I could cook using a Turbo, just so I could try it out. I found some recipes on how to make Crispy Pata using a Turbo Cooker. So, I decided to mix all the recipes that I could find and concoct my own recipe. This is a bit healthier than the regular deep-fried Crispy Pata, which makes it much better!

Here is my take on it. Please note, however, that I’m not really into measuring ingredients. I just take what I can and add and subtract based on how the food tastes while cooking, so please feel free to tweak the recipe in your own liking.

CRISPY PATA COOKED IN A TURBO CONVECTION OVEN

Ingredients when boiling the meat:

1 whole pork leg

1 pc onion, chopped

1 head garlic, peeled and crushed

rock salt, measure according to your own preference

1 tsp peppercorns

4 pcs bay leaves

4 pcs star anise (optional)

water for boiling

For rubbing on meat:

2 tsp powdered pepper

Iodized salt (measure according to your own preference)

Garlic powder (measure according to your own preference)

For the sauce:

1 pc onion, chopped

½ cup vinegar

½ cup soy sauce

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp warm water

salt and pepper to taste

1. Put enough water in a large pot, enough to submerge the whole      pork leg.
2. Put the onion, garlic, salt (measure according to your own preference to be sure), peppercorns, bay leaves and star anise (optional). The star anise makes it more aromatic and flavorful. Be careful with the salt though as putting a lot might make it too salty.
3. Bring it to a boil and cook for about 50 mins to 1 ½ hours in medium heat. This would usually depend on the quality of meat.
4. Stick the meat with fork from time to time, so as to know if it’s already tender.
5. Once the meat is already tender, remove from water and put in a plate or rack to cool and dry. Do not score the meat anymore, so as to prevent the meat from drying out.
6. Chill in the fridge if you still have time. (When I did mine, I didn’t have enough time, so I just chilled it for about 10 mins. It was still a little bit warm when I transferred it to the Turbo cooker.)
7. Combine the iodized salt, pepper and garlic powder.
8. Rub the mixture on the whole cooked pork leg.
9. Put in the turbo cooker.
10. Cook for about 30-40 mins at the highest temperature setting.
11. Check it from time to time. When the skin has already turned medium to dark brown and it seems crispy already, then it’s just about done
12. For the dipping sauce, combine the onion, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, water, salt and pepper and mix.

Serve crispy pata with the sauce and enjoy! This makes about 5 servings.

Under The Sea

off to see the Thresher Sharks in Malapascua Island, Cebu

When I was younger, I used to be afraid of swimming in the ocean and riding small boats. As a child, I've always believed that there must be jellyfish, sharks, sea snakes and other unknown sea creatures just swimming all over the ocean, no matter how shallow or deep the waters are.  I'd always be afraid to sit on the side of the boat and dangle my feet on the water. My imagination would take me to places that not even scary children's storybooks could describe.  Not even The Little Mermaid movie could make me want to swim further than 5 feet away fom the shore. I've tried snorkelling but I'd always be hesitant at first and I'd never take my hands off the edge of the boat or the floater. I'd usually just wear my mask and snorkel, position myself into a deadman's float and let the boat or the guide hat holds the floater take me to whatever part of the sea. Don't get me wrong, I know how to swim. I'm not that good at it, but I can float and tread. Yet, I've always been afraid to swim further than where my comfort zone would allow me.

helmet diving in Boracay

I think the first real underwater experience that I truly enjoyed was when my friends and I went Helmet Diving in Boracay, a couple of years ago. Even during that time, I was a little skeptical, even a little hesitant. The guide assured me that it would only be about 15 feet deep, yet while he was taking me down to the bottom, I felt like I was being dragged down to 50 feet. Of course, it was just my imagination running wild again. However, as soon as my feet touched the bottom sand and I saw these colorful fish just swimming around, my worries started to fade. I felt like I was inside a huge aquarium. Then, I thought to myself, "So, this is how scuba diving feels like.". I was contented. I've always wanted to try scuba diving, but by getting to experience helmet diving, the inside urges to go scuba diving have already been satiated.

helmet diving with MJ and Myriel

Some of my friends had already been inviting me to go scuba diving, about two to three years ago. I never tried to go with them because I found the Php 15,000.00 scuba diving lessons with license fee sort of steep for my budget, especially that I wasn't really a sea lover. Finally, after some good persuasion and a little bit of pushing, I've finally gathered enough courage and decided to actually spend my money on scuba diving lessons. 

scuba lessons with Conrad and our Dive Master Mr. Freedom D. Dellosa

testing underwater

Scuba diving is far from helmet diving! I must say that it was the best investment that I've spent so far. I used to be afraid of drowning in water, of getting pulled down to the bottom of the sea by creatures that I've only imagined. After my scuba diving lessons, my per eption of easily drowning in the sea had been altered. I realized that my problem is not actually drowning and being pulled down to the bottomless pit that I've always imagined. My actual problem is how to descend in the water! At first try, no matter what I did, I just couldn't get myself to descend in the water. I've never imagined in my entire life that I'd actually be praying to God to help me go deep down in the water. I also realized that there weren't many sea creatures in the surface of the water. They are usually swimming near the bottom, where their homes and food are, with the exception of some jellyfish. Yup, they are seldom near the surface.  It was really a funny and ironic experience for me.

dive right in!

A couple of dives after, I'm finally learning the techniques. I admit that I'm still a novice when it comes to scuba diving, but I'm much better than when I first started. I almost lost interest during my first few dives, as I've always had sinus issues whenever I went diving. I'd always get nosebleeds and headaches. I'd always have trouble descending and controlling my buoyancy. It's a good thing that my innate competitive nature suddenly resurfaced and pushed me to not give up and try again until I finally get it...and so I did! 

practicing buoyancy

safety stop

Yup! I'm okay!

Never in my entire life did I imagine that I would actually learn to appreciate the sea and the creatures that live in it.