Moving to Maginhawa wasn't easy for me. Tomas Morato has been my home for 3 years and being surrounded by bars, pubs and restaurants that operate 24/7 isn't actually a bad thing. But whenever I remember all the times I had to feel like a survivor just to get home while battling the rain, moving makes sense all of a sudden. 

Looking for a place close to work wasn't easy either. Sometimes I begin to think, why did I decide to work here in the first place if I had to endure all the evilness this place has to offer? Business-wise, Manila is a pool of endless job opportunities and aggressive career growth, but it's not a conducive place for a healthy and productive life--unless you're rich and can actually afford a nice place to live in. I have more to say on the topic but that deserves a separate blog post, back to the topic. Maginhawa is like a more laid-back version of Tomas Morato. There aren't a lot of establishments that are open 24/7 but the selection of places you can go to are eccentric and fascinating. One of which is Gerry's Jeepney. 

If there's another kind of food I love more than Filipino food, it's Japanese! I love sushi, teriyaki, katsudon, name it and most probably, I love it. And any Japanese meal would be incomplete (at least for me) without Miso soup! It can be the cheapest thing on the menu and it can also be a bit pricey, depends on the restaurant really. Since I love it, I wanted to know how to make it. 

Before I proceed with the recipe, can I just rant about the weather? Earlier, there was a thunderstorm and I had to cancel a very important meeting. After an hour, the heat started to intensify making the weather ultimately humid. UGHHH! Buuuut, this recipe is perfect if you get one of those perfect and cold rainy morning, without the weather getting bipolar. Let's start! 

I remember quite vividly the first movie I watched on the big screen, it was Thumbelina. For some reason, I didn't really like the movie. It may be because we were standing the whole time and as a kid, I didn't understand why we had to pay to be tortured like that--it didn't make sense! Well, it also wouldn't make sense now. I would never, ever pay for a movie and stand up while watching. It's like paying for your demise!  But one bad experience would not ruin my love affair with movies.  

I have 3 all-time favorite movies as a kid : Rock-A-Doodle, The Great Mouse Detective and The Land Before Time. When I was a kid, loved watching movies because there is always a moral lesson in the end. And being the little one who doesn't know much, I absorbed these lessons like a sponge. Each movie felt like a fun learning activity; It wasn't as boring as school yet you still learn something. It's funny how I already forgot some of the other things I learned as a child, but not why I started loving movies, haha. Watching movies as a kid was also some sort of recluse for me. The feeling of being transported into a make-believe world where every story has a happy ending--because we all know reality is very far from that. 

I'm not sure if it's professional to let it out and say, I'm not happy with my job. I'm okay with it, yes. But only because it pays the rent, takes care of the bills, takes me to places I haven't been to and gives me just enough to still help out my parents and my siblings who are still in school. I've been a little depressed at how I'm unable to figure things out. When I was younger, I always thought that when I approach 25, I'd already have a car and maybe a small condo unit, and you know, just live by as if life were that easy. Apparently, it's not. 

I am approaching 25, and what have I accomplished so far? I have managed to give money to my siblings whenever they need it. Treat my parents every now and then, help out with the expenses at home and that's it. I don't have any investment, and aside from my gadgets, I don't own anything at all. I'd like to say I have lived a frugal life for the past 5 years. I haven't shopped as much as I used to in college, if I have any guilty indulgence, that would be food--which is a necessity. But where did I go wrong? How come my ideal life isn't even close to my reality? It's really disheartening to look at what 5 years of work has done to me. I've been feeling this way for several months now and I can't seem to shrug this feeling away. Cooking is the only thing that keeps my mind off things.

Aaaaand, since this post is becoming lengthy and melodramatic, I'll stop. 

Woke up early today because the boyfriend kept on trying to ruin my sleep. We both have fucked up body clocks and unfortunately, they weren't in sync yesterday. Hence all the bullying while I was sleeping and he was wide awake. Couldn't go back to sleep so I made breakfast! We had Enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon, scrambled eggs with basil, onions and tomatoes, broccoli salad and coconut juice!

Work this week was extra toxic and extremely difficult. Two months before my birthday and this lingering feeling of unhappiness haunts me every time. I know, I know. You'll tell me this happens every year, months before my birthday. I know that, too! But I can't seem to get rid of this annoying and unpleasant feeling. I just had a haircut, hoping I'm one step closer to finally letting go--of that dreaded feeling, amongst other things. 

Is it just me or the cold not-so-summer nights are finally over? If so, I'm hating this weather. Can't we have the easy breezy weather until March? No? Okay. Anyway, we've been feeling the heat since the weekend (jackets and boots no more!), the boyfriend and I were binging on salad for like a whole week. It's easy to prepare and it's very light, perfect for the tropical weather. 

I already have several salad recipes on queue but let me share this first because it's the easiest! You just put all of the ingredients together and voila, you have a decent meal. 

I've been down with the flu for over 2 weeks now and I'm not even close to recovery. Huhuhuhu My salad life, which is supposed to be fun, is taking a back seat because my body keeps looking for rice. Or food portions in humongous sizes, and a salad just won't do. Sigh. I had a meeting at work earlier and it was so embarrassing because I kept on coughing while explaining my deck, and it was also painful. It's also affecting my workout! I haven't been doing Zumba because of this terrible feeling. I just want to curl up in bed until I get well. Huhuhu

So anyway, I just want to share a recipe I did a couple of weeks ago. I've seen a lot of sardines recipes online but most of them were oil-based. I love sardines in tomato sauce so I thought, why not use it instead.

Can I just breathe and finally say, yay because it's the freakin' weekend! And after a day, it'll be Monday again--woohoo work! NOT! Work was really toxic this week. Thinking about the food that I'll whip up the next day kept me motivated from Monday until Friday. Oh, I also have my monthly visitor! Isn't that just great? UGHHHH. Bad vibes aside, I was feeling hungry the other day and couldn't be bothered to look at recipes online, so I tossed some left over vegetables and came up with a pretty satisfying salad! It may have been a bad week, but I had my moments too!

Food is my comfort zone. Whenever I feel sad or depressed, I cook or eat--or do both! I mean, who doesn't love food? I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by great restaurants, street food and what have you. Maginhawa indeed is a foodie's playground. Can I just say I love living here? My place is strategically near the Supermarket, the laundromat, the terminals and work, most especially. I have to allot around 10-15mins of travel time to get to work, and that's not bad! Considering the horrendous traffic situation Metro Manila has to offer. 

In our pursuit to further discover what Maginhawa has in store for us, the boyfriend and I would usually try out new restaurants/fast foods which proliferate like mushrooms in this strip, I tell ya! One of the new ones that caught our attention was Wogo Ribs, Pasta and More. We tried it one afternoon because we were too lazy to get up and cook--but not too lazy to get up and eat out LOL.