2012: Basic Is Beautiful

I’ll ring in the New Year by sharing one of my key takeaways from Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Let’s bring it on 2012!

Plants vs Zombies: The Local and Real Life Edition

Look what I found in the local park while trying to burn the chicken inato meal I had for dinner.

A plant

A group of zombies

And my Person A gobbled by a Repeater!

He always comes up with the funniest photos.

We’re sooo “in” with the crowd (read: ang jjeje lang naming dalawa). 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Let me introduce you to the best off the shelf cake frosting. Betty Crocker Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.

I initially thought of making one from scratch but cream cheese is too expensive for me to mess up with plus I have no patience to whip one for more than 5 minutes considering that I had 3 more dishes to make for noche buena.

Ako na ang nagmamagaling magMartha Stewart.

So I lathered the moist chocolate cake fresh from the oven and voila!

Cream Cheese-Frosted Moist Chocolate Cake.

It tastes so wicked that I am about to finish the whole layer off today. The next time you see me bloated, blame the cake.

Mission Accomplished

In 2 hours, I was able to crowd Jellybean's trunk with these:

Goodies from one of my favorite wastelands

Kiwi chocolates

And some travel accessories

No these are not mine to give but at no cost, I was Person A's personal shopper. Let me know if you are interested to avail of my services. Just kidding.

Sa dami ng pinamili ko, parang tatakbong class president lang ang drama. Seriously, his friends have been witness to the generosity and selflessness of this person especially when it comes to non-material things.

Let's keep this short and sweet.

I hope you are done with your Christmas shopping. If you haven't yet, family and friends won't mind if you help out the victims of Sendong in their name. *hint* *hint* I personally think this is the best Christmas gift this season.

Merry Christmas!

Hiatus: The Explanation

I went on a hiatus the end of November 'til first week of December. November was a jam-packed month: have to close out a lot of things at work, a couple of trainings to complete and some personal errands to make. December looks more or less the same, minus the training and load up on the parties.

Let me give you a quick roundup how I've been the past 3 weeks.

I went to a remote place south of the equator. In the line of work that I do, going to remote places is the in thing. The farther the place is, the cooler you get. I did it twice in a span of 3 weeks. 

The far-flung place is quite charming. It has at least 2 golf courses!

Tons of tennis courts.

And an interesting road crossing sign. 

Sometimes my mind interprets this sign as ape crossing. It entertained me for a few days.

Speaking of primates, I came across a group of 40 monkeys while jogging around one of the housing complexes inside the camp!

Like 40 monkeys grooming, roaming, climbing up trees and jumping on people's roofs. 

They also roam the grounds of my accommodation.

I was so amazed that the next time I jogged, I brought Fifi along to have his photo taken with the wild monkeys. The monkeys weren't in their spot that day but Fifs met a friendly and curious cat. 

The place I went to serves spicy food, 

so spicy that it triggered my gastroenteritis (read: hyperacidity, LBM and all the nasty things that come with it). I got dehydrated and ended up in the ER after 3 days. 

Through the whole ordeal I lost 6lbs. I am officially malnourished and scarily skinny. It's not so bad, at least I've got all the room in the world to pack the pounds by the end of December. -(",)-*wink*

So I kicked start the celebrations with our company Christmas party.

The next day, I went to a black tie (sort of) affair as Person A's date. Kailangan idilat ang mga mata. Kagagaling lang nyan sa sakit at 3 araw nang puyat. 

Food was great, entertainment was even better.

Joanna Ampil

and the Philharmonic Orchestra

Among the dignitaries, company executives, and government officials who graced the event, president Fidel V. Ramos stole the show. He has a lot of energy. He even convinced the audience to do a jumpshot. 

It must be the cigar. 

That was Friday. Saturday was spent with college friends 

And Sunday was with Person A's family. Life's wonderful, isn't it?

Now that I've explained my absence, I can go back to regular programming.

I terribly missed blogging.

Ang Pangarap ni Ernesto

My Househusband, Ikaw na! 

One of the seven entries in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival. 

According to Wikipedia, a househusband is a husband that chooses to stay at home instead of working at a career.

I can sense someone inviting me to a movie date. =P

P.S. Here's the rest of the 2011 MMFF entries.

Christmas Read

I dropped by the bookstore to get myself a Christmas gift.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Since its October 24 release, I've been eyeing to get a personal copy. If you've been following me, I am a fan of Steve Jobs. What's special with this biography is Mr. Jobs cooperated with this book: based on 40 interviews with the genius and more than a hundred with family members, friends, colleagues and competitors. He asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. 

Then Walter Isaacson wrote the book.

He has been the chairman of CNN and managing editor of Time magazine. He has written the biography of Einstein and Franklin. When Steve Jobs requested Mr. Isaacson to write his biography, the author wondered whether Mr. Jobs saw himself as the natural successor of Einstein and Franklin.

I want the book because I want to understand what makes Steve Jobs tick.

Here's a page from the book.



This makes him human.

That and he reminds me of Leonard Hofstadter in his younger years. It's the smile and the sparkle in their eyes.

I am excited to leaf through page 1. What are you getting yourself this Christmas?