gyoza, anyone?

i finally made gyoza last night. i'd been dreaming about cooking it even before i saw a how-to video on youtube.

preparing the vegetables and crimping the dumplings was so much fun. but i was a little disappointed with my finished product. although i obtained the yummy looking brown crisp on the bottoms, the gyozas were melded together and were difficult to unstuck from the pan. i must have placed them too close and cooked too many at one go... 21 pieces at once!

but, presentation aside, i think it was a success. it all disappeared in snap and my mom asked me how much it would cost if she'd sell it per piece. (haha)

but i think its a little too early for that. i reviewed the video and found out i missed one tasty ingredient, the ginger. of course, i substituted other ingredients and eye-balled the measurements. still, have about 15 pieces left over which i put in the freezer for later. next time, it'll definitely look like these guys:

when i get it perfectly, i'll post my recipe and a picture here.

:D

obsessions

i've been obsessing over something lately. a simple curiosity about a specific person that has been fueled by circumstance and opportunity, and slowly cemented by undesirable negative emotions.

i'm not proud of it. it's out of character for me. yet, i find no small amount of guilty pleasure when i indulge in it.

but, the more i find myself dipping into that sordid well of unhealthy curiosity, the more i realise that it's going to lead into something dangerous, for my mental well being and mayhap for my relationships.

writing about it brings a measure of relief. perhaps, the fact that no one knows about it is one of the reason why i have held on to it for quite a time. no one knows so it can't do any harm, right? well, i'm finding out otherwise. the more i keep doing it in secret, the worse i feel everytime.

so this is one small step for me. i am taking myself in hand. next step will be telling someone about it. hopefully, i'll get over this... soon.

don't drive while laughing

last night LD taught me how to drive a motorbike. it was fun for me and hair-raising for him. i enjoyed the breeze while he sweated buckets. i developed new-found respect for all drivers and solidified my resolve to avoid driving while under the influence.

i learned that driving requires you're full attention. and you have to process all those extraneous information like speed, visibility, traffic, pedestrian movement, etc. while maintaining a firm yet steady grip on the throttle and keeping the darned thing on a straight path.

i kept squeezing the throttle which made us sped up. each time i did that LD would shout, "slow down! slow down! stop squeezing!" which made me let go completely and made us stop. i got nervous as the decibels rose which made me laugh which made him add, "stop laughing!", to his on going litany.

but the most important thing i learned was that fear can and will cloud your senses if you let it. when i looked down that street we were practicing on, i felt my heartbeat rise and my breathing turn shallow. LD's voice sounded teeny and i couldn't understand what i was doing on that street straddling something heavier than I and possibly facing broken bones and scratches if I fell.

but i took a deep breath and resolved to let go of the fear. suddenly, my chest loosened up, my way became clear, and LD's voice receeded. i knew, i just knew, what i should do. and i did it...! i stopped listening to his anxious tone and just focused on what he had taught me.

however, the return trip wasn't such a success. I listened and got confused by LD's instructions and argued with him too much. half-way thru the second pass, he was done. he finally put a stop to his suffering and we went home. he was breathing hard and was sweaty, too.

it was exhilirating but i wonder if he'll continue to teach me. (lol)

i'll just do some research in the mean time. i found this cool site for added info.

just so you know

... i already got a grade for my "inc" subject...!!! (funkydance)

so now, i have 18 units of my grad program under my belt. with a gwa of 1.375 (woot) to boot.

all those sleepless nights, hair-pulling and teeth clenching moments paid off. *whew*



*******


i'm feeling restless again.

"shouldn't there be more?"

plateau.

falling.

scrambling for a hand hold.

looking.

searching...

in memoriam

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."
— John Donne

Finisterre (End of the Land) Photo by Victor Nuno


Dedicated to my lolo whose birthday will be this aug 10, madam cory aquino, and georgie... may their souls rest in peace.


"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and His hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to another." - John Donne