Sauce

• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp minced Garlic
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (or any hot sauce)
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• Sesame Seeds and sliced Green Scallions for garnish

1. In a bowl, mix your marinade of honey, chili sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. Remove the chicken from the package and place into the bowl. Make sure all chicken pieces are well coated. Marinate for 30 minutes. For best results, marinate overnight. 
2. Once you're done marinating the chicken, preheat the oven to 375F. Line the baking tray with foil and place chicken pieces on top. Make sure there are no chicken pieces directly on top of each other. Place into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until done. 
3. For the sauce, prepare a pan in low heat. Combine all of the ingredients, the cornstarch should be the last ingredient to be combined. Stir thoroughly until the sauce begins to thicken. This would only take about 5 minutes or shorter. 
4. Once the chicken is cooked, top with roasted sesame seeds and sliced green scallions. 

In my version, I coated the chicken with the sauce once it was done. I'm not a fan of dipping chicken into sauces which is why I thought of incorporating the sauce after the chicken was cooked. For my side dish, I had buttered corn and carrots topped with a dried Basil. 

I love the combination of honey and soy sauce when I'm baking a dish. I have a couple of go-to recipes that involve the two, and I have yet to share them with you guys. For now, I'm staying in because according to Twitter, typhoon Lando is about to make its landfall. Stay safe, folks!

I was thinking of putting of this week's Friday's 10 Happy Things until I remembered one of my resolutions for this year, which is to be consistent with everything I do. May it be a task at work, a fitness program or simply following my blog series schedule. Obviously I didn't commit to the fitness program part (lol) because getting up in the morning will always be a struggle for me. Well, unless you have pancakes drizzled in chocolate syrup topped with fresh Strawberries and powdered sugar waiting for me! Let's begin!

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks which is why I haven't really had the time to work on my back logs. Good thing I'm already done editing the photos and I just have to work on writing the post, phew! Not sure if I'll skip my Friday's 10 Happy Things this week, but I thought about putting this recipe out first since it's very appropriate on a Friday. 

For today's recipe, we'll be talking about Mongo. In our office pantry, I would always tell the person in charge if they're running out of recipes since there's always Mongo every Friday. She would then respond that Mongo is served on Fridays like clockwork, but she also didn't know how or why it started. Do you? I've been stressing my guts out trying to find out why, but I couldn't so I just resorted to cooking it, hahaha! No connection at all, just want to share my dilemma. 

• Mongo Beans (rinsed and soaked)
• Pork (cut into small pieces)
• Garlic
• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Shrimp Paste (Bagoong Isda)
• Pepper
• Alugbati (Malabar Spinach)

1. In a saucepan, saute onion, garlic and tomatoes. 
2. Add the pork and saute until the color turns brown. 
3. Once the pork turns brown, add your Mongo beans with about 1 cup of water. Add more water when necessary. 
4. Simmer the Mongo beans for about 5 minutes or more, depending on how long you soaked it in water. 
5. After simmering, add the Alugbati before it is totally cooked. I usually add it 2 minutes before I turn off the fire. 
6. Gauge the flavor and add Shrimp Paste and Pepper as needed. 

HIIIIII! Yes, I'm ecstatic! Remember what I said on this post? Yes, I now fully understand what this means. I thought being nominated was the end of it, but no, you actually get to vote for me. But of course, only if you want to. No coercion happening here, hehe. This voting stage is to determine the secondary category winner which is the People's Choice Award. The finalist and the primary category winners will still come from the the jury's decision. Just follow these easy steps : 

Did you know that you can actually book an Uber ride from your desktop/laptop? Well, I didn't until recently. I've mentioned on a previous post that I use Uber on a daily basis. I also love talking to my drivers about their encounters regarding the whole new customer experience that Uber provides. One time I was talking to my driver and I mentioned that my phone almost died on me before I even went down because I forgot my phone charger. He then mentioned that if I'm coming from the office, I can actually book my ride using my computer! At first I thought the driver was just messing with me, but when I got home I tried doing what he advised me to and it did work!

Now, aside from making sure that I bring my phone charger all the time, I also am assured of a ride even without my phone! At this age, I'm very forgetful. Must be all the drugs I took when I was younger, LOL KIDDING! Before I begin to incriminate myself any further, let's proceed with the steps you'd have to follow to be able to book a ride using your laptop or desktop!

See, it's really easy and it would save us a lot of battery. If you're a first time rider, you might want to use my code (Ochib1) to get P200 off on your first ride. If you're using a BPI Credit Card, you can check this promo to get 2 free rides worth up to P500 each. If you're a SMART subscriber, you can enter your phone number here to get 2 free rides worth P300 each. Gosh, that's a lot of free rides for first time users! Head on over to the App Store / Google Playstore to download the Uber app and book your first ride!

I'm skipping my weekly Friday's 10 Happy Things to share a short story of a few things I'm really thankful for for the month of September. Here goes! I was planning what I'll be doing over the long weekend of the APEC summit when all of a sudden, I got an e-mail from an unknown person. I would usually dismiss e-mails like that as spam because I get a ton of those useless I'm a millionaire I'll give you some inheritance stuff, but I decided to read it anyway.  I was surprised shocked because it was a nomination e-mail stating that my blog has been nominated by several netizens in #Bloggys2015 for the Philippine Blogging Awards!

If there's anything I did differently this year, I started to focus more on putting articles that will be of help to my readers. I used to post rants and really personal stuff *cringe* in here, but I realized after a loooong time that people probably wouldn't be interested with all the drama my life has to offer, lol. I also started cooking more and posting consistently! Being nominated alongside popular bloggers is such an honor already! I thought that was it, I was happy and ready to accept my loss even before the voting session begins, ha! Your main pessimist, that's me! But then I received another e-mail! I was told that I'm also invited to the Philippine Blogging Awards Gala Night! *insert silent scream*

I got the e-mail while I was in the office which explains the silent scream, hehe. Can you imagine? A red carpet for influential bloggers and I'm actually invited, people! I also get to bring a date! Ugh, so much enthusiasm and eagerness! I think this is the part where I tell you guys, I'm bringing my boyfriend.  Yes, I have a new boyfriend, haha! More about that on my next post!

For now, I'm just really thrilled with how September ended for me. It started out crappy due to some financial miscalculations I did aka buying clothes, shoes and gadgets I don't really need, but overall it still turned out quite well. I went over to the site to find out what it's all about and also to nominate my favorite blogs! If you want to know more about Bloggys, you can go here. If you want to nominate your favorite blogs on the other hand, you can go here. 

Aside from the horrendous traffic we experience last Tuesday, I think I had a pretty good week. I don't want to remember how horrible Tuesday was because I actually consider myself one of the lucky few who didn't get wet, who had to walk home or who paid P1k+ for a ride home. Doing this week's 10 Happy Things also made me realize how fortunate I am to live 10-15 minutes from work. Oh, the small things. 

1. Waking up to the person I love on a Monday morning and sort of not wanting to go to work yet because you just want to cuddle. And eat breakfast together or probably sleep some more.

2. 100% passing rate for my Engineers! They got endorsed to Technical training last Wednesday and I couldn't be more proud. We also got to celebrate with a few drinks after class which is a good thing because it saved me from the hellish traffic situation. 

3. I got a box of donuts from my trainees the other day as a simple thank you gift. It somehow served as a reminder of why I'm doing what I'm doing. Not for the food of course, lol. But to keep inspiring people (naks!).

4. I was out drinking last Tuesday which is why I didn't have any idea about the horrendous traffic consuming Metro Manila. I thought cab drivers were just being extra choosy because of the rain. One thing to be happy about was that I got an Uber to take me home. I didn't fully understand the extent of the traffic until I traversed EDSA-Ortigas and was still stuck in traffic for about 15-20mins at 1 fucking AM.

5. Got an invite to join a product launch on Saturday. I won't be able to go because I have another appointment but I'm really glad to be getting a lot of invites lately. Posting content consistently really does pay off. 

6.  The new iPhone 6s in Rose Gold! It's so pretty. I don't really like Pink but it's a break from all the neutral (Gold, Black, White, Silver) colors we've been getting from Apple. Not to dismiss all the fun colors from the iPhone 5c but, they're just too loud for my taste. The Rose Gold on the other hand has the perfect amount of subtlety I would want for my next device. 

7. I found the perfect design for my blog! Buuuuut, it's only available for WP. I've already sent the designer an e-mail since I can't be bothered to tinker with my own design right now. Crossing my fingers she can convert her WP designs to Blogger!

8. A reader sent me an e-mail containing links to her photos doing some of my recipes! I'm overwhelmed because I'm NOT good in cooking. I really just get lucky with all of the recipes I mix and match. Lord, is this a sign? Lol!

9. Finally finished all my backlogged office work! As of this writing, I have nothing to do for the rest of the day except work on updates and follow-ups. YAY! It felt orgasmic to cross out that final task on my list.

10. Today is payday Friday! I'm not going anywhere due to the weather. But still thankful because I get to pay my bills on time, huh. I want to hold on to my money a little longer before I do so which is why I've decided to pay my bills this afternoon, hahaha!

Anyway, as mentioned, I will be staying in because I've been out and about for three weeks now and my room looks like a scene from Tarzan. I have to sort my stuff, clean my kitchen and do the laundry! I will also be doing a few kitchen experiments. I'll be cooking Steak for the first time (wish me luck!) and I'll also be doing a new version of my No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake. Cheers to the weekend!

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks and haven't really found the time to work on my back logs. I'm still in the process of rediscovering tools that will help my blogging life easier. I'm pretty sure there's a more efficient way to make this blog work to my advantage. Easier that what I'm doing right now, lol. Once I've finalized my tools, I'll be sharing them with you guys! Right now, I'm sort of stuck in creating templates, looking for the perfect font, and still trying to find the perfect theme that really encompasses all of me. 

Enough about all that insanity; Let's talk happy things! I've been seeing a lot of blog series lately such as The Sunday Currently, Life Lately, What I Ate Wednesdays and Workout Wednesdays to name a few. I've been wondering for quite some time now if I should join the band wagon as it will also help me be consistent in posting articles on my blog. I was leaning towards What I Ate Wednesdays but it dawned on me that my condo has the crappiest lighting in all of Metro Manila and given my busy schedule the past few days, I sometimes don't eat, so....nah. I first read about Friday's 10 Happy Things on Helga's blog and I remember feeling quite light-hearted after doing so. Obviously after a lot of thought and convincing, I decided to go with that blog series. Let's get started!

There you have it, my first Friday's 10 Happy Things. I hope I can be consistent in doing this because it does feel great to look at all the small things we should be happy about. It's also a good way of re-evaluating one's self. Here's to the weekend!