Beloved and enjoy themselves

  

Tonight, I miss you. Do you know? Friend.

Rain, rain, quietly beat of my heart. Are you ok? Friend. The cold weather, more clothes, be careful cold. Night, the quiet discount designer sunglasses, you hear me cry? I remember when you, sunshine bright, just behind me silently, give your love to me. We always seem to be neither friendly nor aloof, however in the fleeting days, you are more and more clear. In my every move of the moment, my tears in your phone's flowing, injustice and helpless I just want you to know.

Tonight, I miss you. Do you know? Miss, miss. I was walking alone in the busy street, feel my lonely and lonely, as the cold rain lost in my eyes. Step by step, do not know decide on what path to follow. Some people say, a man in the don't care you, can he call you back speed. I believe. You said, "you won't hang up on me." I believe. Love and friendship one step away. In this life, you and I can only love you, cocoon Private Cloud.

Tonight, I miss you. Do you know? My heart good block, good plugging. I want to with you a drunk, say to miss you in my heart. I know, once as long as I want, I will be the most precious in your life. But, why, why? You don't say, I also don't say, even though we know each other heart, but we are still a miss, again and again. Your love, I also can not afford to. Your the passions in, I also can only silently gaze fell dejected iPhone cover.

Tonight, I miss you. Did you hear that? Friend.  

It’s all in the way you spin it.

There are those who manage to maintain a sunny outlook no matter what life throws in their path. There are those that push forward, guns blazing and devilish grin at the ready, even in the face of insurmountable odds and surly weather. There are those whose feathers are never ruffled or out of place.

And there’s me, and those like me (and we are quite a few I firmly believe) – spin doctors.

Most of the time, I plant myself resolutely on the sunny side of the street. I like being positive and I like being surrounded by positive people Flower shop. I try to inject positivity into my life at every opportunity. It’s the best drug in the world…and totally free, with only the very best side effects. Overdose on it, share it, push it, gulp it down in large doses 3 times a day.

Admittedly, it is not always as easy as it seems. To those for whom it comes naturally, well, lucky ducks you all. Sometimes, as most of those who inhabit the real world know, it takes effort. And that’s when you need to spin it.

A traffic jam becomes the perfect time to call your best friend cube organizers. Working the night shift leaves you free to watch cheesy noontime shows. Rainy weather means less people at the market and hot chocolate at night (yay!). Summer’s blistering heat means extra ice in your gin and tonic. Bread going stale means French toast. Too busy with work to even go to the grocery? Nutella for dinner!

You get the general idea.

And speaking of being too busy. I have been and will be all throughout this week. But that will only make my Holy Week break (or Easter break) that more gratifying. Between work now, and beach holiday after, I’m afraid I won’t be able to be around until the week after next. I don’t want to leave you empty-handed nor empty-stomached though SKI TRIP….so I’m leaving you with these, hopefully, comforting words, and a dish which I find equally comforting.

Coconut Braised Wing Beans with Pork Belly

150-200 grams pork belly
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (patis)
Canola or other vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 white onion, chopped
250 grams wing beans (sigarillas)
4 long green chilis (sili pang-sigang)
2 tablespoons shrimp paste (bagoong), more or less depending on how salty your shrimp paste is
400 ml coconut milk
Freshly cracked black pepper


- Cut the pork belly into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a bowl with the fish sauce and a generous cracking of black pepper and set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat a wok (kawali) or a regular pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add a couple of swirls of oil. When the oil is hot add the garlic and onion and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent.
- When the onion is soft add the pork to the pan and fry, stirring once in a while, until brown on all sides.
- Add the wing beans, chili, and shrimp paste, tossing and sautéing until the wing beans just start to get soft and the shrimp paste is evenly distributed.
- Add the coconut milk and mix well. Cook, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks, until both the wing beans and pork belly are soft.

Coconut milk, pork belly, braising, and looking on the bright side are all things I find comforting. I’ve thrown in the wing beans to make us feel virtuous as well. Not a bad deal I think. Usually wing beans are not cooked too long, leaving them still fresh with a vibrant bite, but here I like them, as with the pork belly, soft and yielding and infused with coconut milk and shrimp paste. Very Filipino in flavor, and familiarly Asian too. Pile it on top of a steaming bowl of rice and let it be your silver lining…even if you have to eat it in front of a computer screen.

So smile when the sun shines and things go your way. And when they don’t…spin it. You might be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to do...and how real it can become ;)  

I was a happy girl this weekend. Despite last week having more than its fair share of stress, and this week shaping up to be just as hectic (with a big important meeting coming up!), and C being away (to watch FC Barca play in Hong Kong), the weekend was a wonderful interlude from everything.

Friday night was spent with my favorite girl, my icon, my mom. Yes, I am one of those girls who has lived her life in wonder, fear, and abject adoration of mother. This is a state that can never be outgrown…nor would I want to. We had a fabulous dinner at our favorite French restaurant, splitting a bottle of white wine and lots of gossip between us. Then we went back to my old home where we had a mini-slumber party with Moe, her poodle :)

I spent Saturday and Sunday with a very good friend (known as Christine, but Nena to me). We spent most of the day at the Pink Kitchen – a terrific food festival organized by I Can Serve (a breast cancer advocacy group) to raise breast cancer awareness. Many popular local chefs gathered under one roof, whipping up old and new favorites, all for a good cause! It was fun and we were stuffed silly, staying on for hours chatting and sampling all the delicious treats on offer. We liked it so much we returned the next day for more!

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Nena also introduced me to Genmaicha – green tea combined with roasted brown rice. I already love the taste of green tea…and the nutty flavor of the roasted rice adds a deep and earthy dimension to it, even if it was originally used only as a filler (way back when) to reduce the price of the tea. After she saw how much I liked it she kindly offered to get a box for me when she passed by the Japanese grocery.

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And speaking of green tea, C arrived back home on Sunday bearing the matcha (green tea powder) I have been wanting! Yay! Now I can finally make all those lovely looking matcha sweets and desserts I have been seeing everywhere! Hmmm…I wonder where I should start…Any suggestions? :)

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C also brought back a canister of Café Siam Thai herb tea. It’s a favorite among all my aunts and uncles who have lived in Hong Kong. It’s the café’s own blend of such goodies as lemongrass, bael fruit, lemon leaf, galangal, orange peel, and cha-em. The scent is out of this world. And the infusion it makes is absolutely magical massage therapy.

Thank you C and Nens! Now I have a good stock of tea to fortify me this week :)