...the olly factor

i've been following the X Factor and this guy has been my favorite since the beginning. He's Olly Murs and i know it's really early, but i think he can win this whole thing!


this guy can move!!!! (not to mention, SUPER CUTE!)




OMG i love the pants. LOL.



i also like this guy (but not as much as i loooove olly!!), i liked his audition, AND the kings of leon song (youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu your sexxxxx is on fireeeeee).





go ollyyyy FTW!!!!

...no-tv week

it's day 3 of no-tv week for tsugtsug... and so far, so good. he's been self feeding and is actually eating a lot more than WITH tv.. maybe because i'm so focused on him, i always manage to stuff some food on his mouth..

anyway, he likes rice a lot.. here's him eating rice with homemade chawanmushi (steamed egg)




the no-tv rule is hardest on ME actually. tsugtsug doesn't seem to mind now.. first day, he will open the tv himself but yesterday and today, he's coping surprisingly well. it also helps that it's a weekend, so raymond can play with him too. last friday, when it was just me and tsugtsug, the hours seem to drag by.. tsug and i just made more trips to the hawker and the playground..

speaking of playgrounds, i have a new favorite mall.. it's Sembawang Shopping center.. it's just a free 10-minute shuttle-bus away from our place, and it has an awesome playground.. the usual dry one, and a wet one! splash park! best part, .. still free!! tsugtsug didn't like getting wet so much, but hopefully, after a few more trips he'll eventually come around. The mall also has walkalators/travelators, so no more queueing to the elevator because of the stroller.. it has a breastfeeding station, and a family toilet where the stroller actually fits inside the cubicle. One cubicle inside the regular ladies toilet also has this sort of highchair, where you can put your baby in while you're peeing hehehe. love it. it also has Aston's .. this awesome, inexpensive steakhouse and MOF, our fave japanese restaurant.

splash park:


classic before and after.. still smiling at the before, looks frightened at the after!


smiling at last.. patouch touch lng sa water


"i dont want!!!"



we're still making japanese stuff, still following the cookingwithdog youtube videos hehe.. last night we had oyakodon for dinner (super easy to do) and strawberry daifuku for dessert.. next meal, the hamburg steak!


we were laughing so hard while making the mochi.. it was extremely hot and our fingers were getting burned whilst trying to flatten them.. but trust me, it tastes better than it looks.


that's it for now. bye guys!

...make your own japanese dessert day

i'm not sure how i got watching a better half of an hour these "cookingwithdog" Youtube videos about japanese cooking.... a trip to Daiso later, we got all the ingredients we needed to make Tofu Dango aka Japanese-dumplings-we-order-extra-at MOF (ministry of food) at-3 dollars-for-3-measly-pieces!.

it was pretty easy to do, and the end result was as satisfying as the ones they sell at the Jap restaurants here.


our daiso loot:

redbean paste, soybean powder, glutinous flour


mix equal parts of silken tofu and glutinous flour until you can make small balls out of them, then dunk them in boiling water


once they float, strain and put in ice cold water

AND THAT'S IT! you just add whatever flavors you want.. in our case, we made 3 different types:

heat equal parts of mirin, soy sauce and sugar. actually, pangs added a little bit more of sugar to the mixture. then just spread it on the dango balls.


dango with mirin mixture(top), 2 tbsp soybean paste + 1 tbsp sugar mixture for the dango on the bottom


with red bean paste! they have these in daiso as well.. so cool!! every item there sells for 2 dollars.



line of the day: "tofu pala yung lasa na yun!"


the Youtube video:

...another milestone

this is definitely a momentous occasion for me.. tsug finally slept on his own tonight! no dancing and swaying for 30 minutes, no breastfeeding 'til my nipples are raw (eww).. he was breastfeeding as usual, then he unlatched, and played the hairbrush i left on the bed.. he usually does this every night.. latch and unlatch, sometimes he'll even go down the bed and play on the floor, then go back up to the bed to latch again until he falls asleep.. this night however, he just played with the brush, and i was reading my ebook from pangs' iPhone when i realized he wasn't moving anymore.. he has fallen asleep on his own!! TY God! At 16 months, this might be late for everyone else, but i've swayed and breastfed tsugtsug to sleep since birth so this is super exciting for me. I hope this is not a fluke, and am wishing this will be our new habit. Who knew the forgotten brush would be the key to my happiness? (and relief for my aching back)

On another big boy news.. we just enrolled tsugtsug on his very first playgroup! He won't be starting just yet as the minimum age is 18 months, (plus we'll be coming home to Manila for the holidays) so he'll start on February, when we get back from Pinas. This daycare, (Just Kids) which is just across our street held an Open House so we decided to check it out. It's a newly opened center so all the equipment and rooms look awesome.. and the cutie toilet, with all the mini toilet bowls, so cute.. too bad wasn't able to take a photo.. (forgot to bring our cellphone.. we were just on our way to the wet market when we detoured there)

It's just for 3 hours, and the timeslot we selected is 8-11am.. they'll serve breakfast too.. so tsug can go there as soon as he wakes up.. when we were there talking with the teacher, tsug just walked around and played at the indoor play area (they had slides and stuff..) and he had a teacher follow him and he was content in the 15minutes we were there.. i have a feeling he won't experience any separation anxiety.. he was pretty happy as soon as he saw the little tikes stuff.. I am the one feeling nervous, as early as now.. i wonder how he'll behave for 3 hours.. and I wonder if they'll be able to make him eat.. he's a pretty cheerful baby, until you try to put food on his mouth..oh well..we'll know soon enough.

will take a photo of him on his uniform on my next post. that's all for now.. gotta watch F1 qualifying race!!

...bitten (updated)

..by all the vampire hoopla going around. i've been reading a LOT of vampire themed books.. been reading so much, i sometimes forget which vampire goes to which novel harhar.. like i would confuse one power with another, or i'll be wondering "why doesn't this vampire use 'compulsion' (force humans into action)" then realize of course, he couldn't.. that's from another friggin series.

i'll start with my favorite so far.. it's Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, which is where True Blood, the kick-ass HBO series is based from. First off, i love the series. so i naturally read the books. the series doesn't really have the same plot as the book, but both are equally good. The series has a total of 7 books so far, and it revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic southern gal who finds herself knee-deep in the vampire world and all the supernatural beings who are either enemies or friends of the undead. In the beginning it was just her and her vampire BF, Bill but come 2nd and 3rd book, the other vampire Eric has entered the picture. Whereas Bill is serious (and boring), Eric is fickly, sarcastic and as endearing as a bloodsucking creature could get. (I am definitely, on Team Eric!!) He is unscrupulous and doesn't deny it. I luuuurveeee his character. More so because i can imagine the definitely hawt swedish actor playing him in the series.


scorching hoooot. vampire Eric. my favorite line:"Do I have blood in my hair?"


Sookie (played by Anna Pacquin) and Bill (boooo! lol). Anna Pacquin really rocks as Sookie.

Some of the books by Charlaine Harris:



the next set of books i've read is the Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. This so far is the most unique group of vampires I've encountered.. the story revolves not on vampire themselves, but on a girl bodyguard of some sorts to the vampires.. because vampires here are categorized in 2.. the undead and alive (strigoi and moroi) .. basically the undead are evil and the 'alive' are good, .. but the vampire morois are weak in combat, (and have i mentioned, they actually DIE?) therefore in need of bodyguards against the evil undead. Has a total of 4 books so far, i'll rate it as passable. The series has its moments, but mostly i skip through the narratives and go straight to the action stuff.

The books



I almost forgot the first set of vampire books i've read.. the House of Night novels. I have no idea why I still read this. Its really juvenile, and I'm not a fan of the protagonistS, a bunch of freshmen vampires with different powers who talk like gradeschoolers. I mean, really.. they put American teenagers in a bad light.. Its written by a mother-daughter team (PC Cast & Kristin Cast) , and the daughter is supposed to make sure they sound like teenagers.. but what i'm reading sounds like a whiny, petty bunch of teenagers in need of some proper language lessons. I think I read this just so I would know what would happen in the end.. so I guess the storyline is okay, since I got hooked nevertheless. The book cover caught my eye in the bookstore, with the intricate tattooes, but that's pretty much what's awesome about this series. (and they say Don't judge the book by its cover.. HOW TRUE! lol)

at least the covers look nice.




The last one i've read (and still reading) are titled Blue Bloods.. i like this one better than Vampire Academy, but mainly because it's set in New York. (i love New York books.. haluuu, Gossip girl hehe). think Gossip Girl but they're all vampires. so cool. haha. makes me dream of living in the Upper East side. my only peeve is that each book doesn't really have an ending. (hate that, they should at least solve ONE conflict right?) Anyway, there are 3 (i think) so far, and i've only read 2.. can't wait to start the 3rd!

Blue Bloods



p.s.
i forgot to mention another series, which i actually stopped reading just after 2 or 3 chapters..The Vampire diaries by LJ Smith,
for the following reasons:
1. the main character, Elena, is blonde, beautiful AND popular. so her parents died in a car accident. boo-friggin-hoo.
2. When she sees this new guy at her school, she suddenly decides this guy is for him. "I must have him" I quote. then goes about her plan to get the guy. She sounds like a manipulative b*tch to me.
3. The new guy is a vampire.. who can walk in the sun via a special ring. How cheesy is that? (I can't explain why shining like a disco ball seems more authentic. lol)

Anyway, i just got interested because the books are now a CW TV series by the same name.. also didn't help that the actors held zero appeal for me. plus they made Elena a brunette in the series! as in Bella brunette. I knew i wasn't the only one with a problem of liking Elena. Maybe the TV execs thought being brunette upped her likeability factor or something. The pilot aired last week, and it was more or less what I've already read. (3 chapters equals 1 hour TV time) Still don't like Elena. (but I might be biased by the Blonde Elena) Maybe as the storyline continues, she'll endear to me. But as of now, I'll stick to the TV. I actually have low standards when reading books.. nothing too heavy, must have a bit of humor (genuine or sarcastic, doesn't matter) and main character must be likeable.. so the Vampire diaries not passing these measly criteria,... i'd rather sleep.

the books:



the actors playing Stefan, Damon and Elena. the plot is about 2 vampire brothers in a love triangle with Elena who they think is a reincarnation of their past love, Katherine.

...stuck on the 80s

yeah, am still going at it. i think i've rewatched almost all Brat Pack movies.. The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Ferris Bueller, Molly Ringwald films and a whoooole lot more. and i'm far from stopping.. still have Mannequin, Weird Science and About Last Night on my list.. wanted to watch Class too, but can't find it in torrent.. too bad cause I am definitely crushing on Andrew Mccarthy.. harhar.. i just try to forget he's some 40 year old guy now.

random stuff again i found out on the web while IMDBing the whole brat pack gang:

**They're going to remake St. Elmo's Fire to a TV show! but instead of 4 guys and 3 girls, it's 3 girls and 3 boys.. like a wannabe Friends dramedy. Let me just say it for the record.. Bad idea!! Why mess with a classic? Would I watch it? Heck, Yeah!

**I've seen a lot of "where have i seen this actor before" while watching these movies.. I've seen James Spader in Pretty in Pink! I was thinking.. where have i seen this guy.. and I actually connected him to being a TV Lawyer.. one IMDB second later, yup he's in Boston Legal! (should've asked Pangs, he would know. he watches that.)

**Charlie Sheen cameo in Ferris Bueller. he's so friggin hilarious. love him.

oh, it's not an 80s movie but I also watched Adventureland, starring Kristen Stewart and some geeky guy. It's set in the 80s, so it still goes with my theme of the month. I liked it, but then again, I might be biased because i loooove Kristen Stewart. Geeky guy was okay, more Shia LeBeouf geek than SuperBad. (What is it with Hollywood and protagonist geeks anyway? Is there a shortage of drop-dead gorgeous guys? I guess they are more loveable.. I mean, I myself am still crushing on Adam Brody)

Anyway, am in Manila with tsug. sort of in hiatus online, its just logistically more difficult than in SG. will be leaving at the end of week though, so more FB time then. (my Farm has seriously been neglected) Am also trying to undo this habit tsugtsug has of being only able to eat while watching Hi-5 or Yo Gabba Gabba (it has to be either or, else he still won't eat), to which I am wholly responsible for. (what have i done!?) You can see how this poses as a problem, when we're eating in a restaurant. So far, its been slightly successful, albeit i have to feed him spaghetti or soup using my hand. (he seems traumatized by utensils) Be that as it may, i am happy as long as the food finds its way to his mouth sans DJ Lance and Broby.

well.. that's all for now. its been nice going to sleep really early (zero chores here).. will be missing that. bye guys.

...random john hughes thoughts

1. i wonder why i've never watched sixteen candles before. was i somewhere else when my sisters watched this or did i indeed watch it but was too young to remember?

2. the Birthday song sang by the Tingtings in Yo Gabba Gabba is actually a 1980s song by Altered Images.. its in the Sixteen Candles soundtrack.. so thank you tsugtsug, without your constant need to watch YGG everyday, 3 times a day, i would have never recognized the song.

3. since i'm on the topic of expressing gratitute, i would also like to thank my sister ate chary for introducing me to Ducky, Watts and Ferris Bueller at the tender age of 10 or so.

4. since i'm also on the topic of memory gaps, i can hardly remember the Ferris Bueller movie as well.. I did watch yesterday the first 10 minutes and was instantly entertained.. decided to stop watching because i just have to share this moment with Pangs. he hasn't watched ANY John Hughes film. (Travesty!!!)

5. Ferris Bueller had a TV series spinoff which I do remember.. my remembering of it is pretty weird though since the TV series was soooo bad it hardly finished 13 episodes (still worth checking out though, purely for posterity. Jennifer Aniston was in it too, as Ferris' sister. you can add it to your mundane trivia facts that always get stuck in your memory, which consequently remove much more important facts in your brain, like a friend's birthday, in my case. but hey, maybe its just me.)

6. Have watched Some Kind of Wonderful perhaps 4 times in my lifetime.. once when i was 9 or 10 in which i probably didn't remember a single scene, another when i was in highschool after which "Some Kind of Wonderful" has found itself next to my "Favorite Movies:" list and has stayed there since. and then a couple more times during college when i wanted validation that sometimes, the tomboy-bestfriend-drummer gets the boy. (can i be more obvious?)

7. i've never understood the allure of The Breakfast Club. But I'll pass judgement until I've watched it again in my twenties. (and definitely before i hit thirties. Christ!)

8. how could Molly Ringwald, ranked #1 in VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars, take a role now in this decade as a mom of whiny Juno-wannabee Amy Juergens of the tv (TV!!) series The Secret Life of the American Teenager. wouldn't she want to be last known as Andie/Samantha instead of a pregnant mom to a pregnant daughter?

OMYGODOMYGODOMYGOD!!!

i can't believe this is happening. here i was writing about John Hughes and was IMDBing him and saw this newsflash header which i thought was a joke:

JOHN HUGHES, BARD OF TEEN ANGST, DEAD AT 59.

OMYGODOMYGODOMYGOD!!!

did i kill john hughes with my reminiscing????? am too depressed to continue anymore.

and off the wall topic, raymond's lola died today too. =( we might be coming home for the wake.

please Lord, i can't take anymore deaths. this blog is starting to look like an obituary. (i didn't even blog about Tita Cory, was too much for me) facing my mortality and anyone else's is a huge drain in my emotional state now.