I tried googling what Tilapia is in English, for readers who are not from the Philippines, the closest that I got was St Peter's Fish. I hope you have it in your neighborhood so you can try this recipe too!

You will need the ginger, salt, vinegar and the tilapia. In our practice, we put ginger on the bottom of the casserole and on top of the fishes, basically smothering them in ginger. This will help get that fishy stink out. In kampangan cooking, or maybe just in our household (lol), we don't measure ingredients. We just gauge how much of this or that is needed. Hope that helps.

Wait for it to simmer down, you will see a change in color. The fish will slightly turn brown. It will probably take around 5 minutes depending on the kind of fish you're using. You can also use Bangus (Milkfish). I think for the tilapia, it took me 5 mins.

After it has simmered down, time to put the eggplants and add a glass of water. Use a small glass, you wouldn't want your paksiw overflowing with soup.

Wait for the eggplant and the fish to cook. Once the texture of the fish and the eggplant is fine with you, it's fine with me too. Hahaha! Add some salt or vetsin if necessary.

After step 4, you can put the sili (chili). Let it boil for 1-2 more minutes. The sili is optional, in our household we like it spicy. Yum. Ready to serve!

Btw, when I was taking photos while cooking this, I noticed that it's not that colorful. Then it came to me, I forgot to put the chili! Stupid. And now I'm doing this step by step tutorial on how to cook it. Lol.

With regard to the measurement, I/we don't really measure. We do the tantsa method. If there's anything I can help you with, feel free to holler. This tutorial is a bit vague but I hope it still helps! Link me your photos or entries if you're going to try it!

Happy Tuesday!

Don't get me wrong, with my height, I must love heels. I have to, so people can see me. Lol. Not necessarily, it's just a must because I want my posture corrected for I'm always slouching! Aside from that, the boyfriend think it's hot, plus I look taller! Optical illusion, yow!

My laptop is an extension of my social networking life. I know in this demented world we can almost do everything with our mobile phones but trust me, nothing beats blogging and editing your photos using a laptop. I don't know if it's just me but a bigger screen always works for me. Plus the keyboard. Lol. 

Out of impulse, I also bought a mouse. When I saw it on the display, I thought the color was Apple Green. When the boyfriend and I got home, I was surprised to see how neon the color was. I about to have it exchanged and pretend it has a defect but i thought this will do. It's green anyway.

I spent P150 for the mouse, btw. It's kinda pricey for a small thing. I think my past laptops are in better places now, wherever they are or the parts are. Hopefully, this one that I bought with my own sweat and blood wouldn't have to go through the same death.

Hiya, fellas! First off, happy earth day! Aside from getting +3 pts whenever you check in at Foursquare for enjoying the great outdoors, there are other things we need to worry about while celebrating Earth day and one of those is the #save182 project. For followers who don't live in the Philippines, you can google save 182 to know more about the movement.

Most of us think we care for the environment just because we repost #save182 posts on tumblr or put hash tags when we post about it on Twitter. Let's all remember that it doesn't stop there, awareness is one thing, action is another. After being aware, make sure you understand what you're being aware of. Remember to think before you click. Keep in mind that every repost has the power to inform or misinform someone who's going to read it.

Who doesn't love bullet fast Internet connection? I bet everyone of us would love to watch Gossip Girl uninterrupted, download GotYe's latest single, blog about our awesome Easter and what have you. The intarwebs is a whole different universe for all of us. But then again everything goes haywire when that movie starts to download at 0.2kbps, yes? Raise your hands if you're with me!

Good thing we have had a PLDT landline since I was in my Mum's tummy, and soon as PLDT had this Phone+Internet package, my Mom thought it was a good idea. I do too.

This connection gave me the glory of uploading 2 high-res albums in Facebook in 2 hrs, I was able to dload 5 movies, catch up on Gossip Girl, Glee, The Secret Circle, etc. I'm sorry if I keep talking about Gossip Girl, you know you love it. Hahaha! Also, I was able to participate on several blog hops during the weekend because of my connection!

I thought I was happy with what I had until I heard about PLDT myDSL's Great Payday Sale! I can do so much without it, what more is in store if I avail of it? I can't even--. I'm excited!

Okay, okay hold your horses. I know everyone wants a piece of the hot stuff, let me fill you in with the details first!

Aaaaand, need I say that your pockets won't be complaining since it's a payday sale? Booyah! If I were you, I'd take note of these dates and head over to the nearest PLDT home booth on April 27-29! See you there!

Thank you to our friends from:

How have you been doing? I've been pretty fvcked lately. I'm having 2 different shifts at work on a weekly basis, thank God it's not daily. But I'm surviving. I don't think it does my body any good but I can still stand so I guess I'm OK? NOOOT.

Stop.What this post really wanted to say is that "I had an awesome Holy Weekend!". No BV from here, booyah! We went to Cagbalete, thanks to Biyahe Lokal. Of course it wasn't an all-expense-paid kind of trip. But they did take care of the planning, booking, transportation, food and basically everything else that you need in a beach trip. They offer cheap rates too. Trust me when I say the coordinators are very friendly and professional. They wouldn't let you get bored for a millisecond. I suggest you head over to the site and book your trip, NOW!

After a good 4-hr drive from Manila, we reached our drop off point. This is our boat. The organizers will actually be with the team all throughout the trip to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

I was trying the Blog Hop thing the other day when I stumbled upon Blog Love Therapy's Photoblog hop with the theme "What's in your makeup bag?". I wanted to join the hop but I was busy that week. Since I already have photos, might as well share what's in my makeup bag!

Here is what's pretty  much inside my makeup bag. The pink dotted bag is, well, my makeup bag. Hehe! It's not much since I don't really put heavy makeup on. Just the usual powder, cheek tint, lip gloss and some lipstick if I have to meet someone. Also, I don't know how to put eyeliner. eye shadow or mascara thus I don't need them. I also don't use concealer.

Remember I had an entry about my favorite iPhone apps? Well, basically they were all social network and photography apps because my phone is very efficient when I have to connect to the intarwebs and brag about my not-so-artistic photos. Lelz. Now, I want to share some iOS games that I love to play when I'm bored and never get tired of these games even if I've been playing them forever.

I really like simple games. Those that wouldn't require in depth thinking but would let me enjoy the game as time passes by and it's my turn to pay the bills.

Anyhoo, let's do the roll call. Drum roll please.

There's something annoying yet fun with Bejeweled Blitz. Annoying in the sense that it's such a simple game yet when you run out of time, you have this urge to throw your phone somewhere. I guess at some point it requires logic, you have to strategically move your jewels (no pun intended). Among the games in my phone, I find myself constantly playing this one when I'm tired or bored. Try it, you just might get hooked.

I had a very disappointing experience last Wednesday, stupidity got the best of me because I forgot the malls will be closed. I planned all my shopping on a Black Friday and that includes beach essentials such as sunblock, swimsuit, etc.

Anyhoo, after rushing to look for the perfect swimsuit that will exhibit my curves (chos!), I still had time to buy other beach essentials and even did some nail polish shopping spree. After all the hoolabaloo, I went to Tokyo-Tokyo to grab some grub. From what I remember, here's how the conversation went.

Me: Ate, akala ko ba wala ng California Maki, ano yun?

Ate : Ay Ma'am kalalabas lang po nun eh, gusto nyo add nalang po kayo. 

Me : Ano naman kung kalalabas lang? Sana chineck nyo muna kasi diba. Oo gusto ko yun pero ayoko kong mag-add, palitan mo nalang yung American Maki. 

Ate : Ay Ma'am hindi na po pwede eh, na-punch na po kasi. 

Me : Edi ipa-void mo. Hindi ko naman kasalanan na hindi mo chineck. 

Ate : Hindi na po pwede eh, mapapagalitan po kasi ako. 

Me : Ate, hindi ko naman nga kasalanan na hindi mo chineck. California Maki nga po gusto ko e. 

Ate : Hindi na po talaga pwede Ma'am, add nyo nalang po kung gusto nyo. 

Me : *rolls eyes* Sige. Pakitawag na rin yung manager mo. 

Ate : Wala na po sya e. 

End of conversation. 

I'm so excited. too excited I can't even focus on work so while I try to divert my attention and try to bring myself together, I'll blog about the place were going to on Holy week. Yeaaah men!

This is the first time I'll be going out of town on a Holy Week. My family being very conservative as they always are, we weren't always allowed to go out nor have fun during Holy Week and this was supported by traumatic childhood experiences. We were to just stay at home and pray or try to be holy, with which most people call "Staycation" nowadays. Well, minus the being holy part.

Let me introduce, *drum roll please* --CAGBALETE!

Since I got promoted, I had this feeling that I'm spending more than I should. I've been saving more money before I got promoted, which is weird because I'm supposed to save more, right? Anyhoo, I'm not here to talk about saving or anything, while I do have some (savings, that is.), I'm not really good at following my own tips.

So today is where I talk about one of my luxuries which is -- coffee. Yes, glorious coffee. I love going to Starbucks because their coffee is sweet, like it's specifically engineered for Filipinos. Not saying that all Filipinos like their coffee sweet, just in general. Also, their baristas are so friendly! I started appreciating them when they started spelling and pronouncing my name correctly!

A couple of weeks ago, the boyfriend invited me to come with him to Baguio so I can meet his parents. His parentals have been in the UK for quite sometime, I met his dad when we were still in college but not his Mom. I was quite nervous, with the television feeding us with thoughts that our lover's parents are supposed to disagree with everything and they're not suppose to like you by default.

Before entering their house, I have tried every delaying tactic so we can prolong the agony, but alas, we had to come in. Upon going inside the house, we were surprised that his Dad was on his way out and his Mom is out. Yesss! I think God heard me. We slept for we were too tired from the trip, when I woke up it was already time for dinner. This time, I can't delay the meeting anymore because we will be eating in one table. When we went to the table, his mom was smiling and said hi. She was friendly. Contrary to popular belief, she's not scary after all.

The weekend was a blast and his mom was kind beyond words. His dad on the other hand is a natural comedian, he also told me stories about Mountain Province and I was a giddy little girl all ears. I couldn't be more thankful for the weekend. I also met his extended family, I hope the photos justify how good the weekend was for me.

 In this photo, you can see the birthday girl trying to dab some lip gloss onto her lips as if preparing for a debut party and the debutante is about to come out in her shimmering gown. At least that's how we thought it should go.

Yay, summer is here! Good news, yes! Bad news? Definitely, or at least for me. Summer always translates to beach, pool parties, etc. basically anything that involves a body of water or water itself because of the sweltering heat in this tropical country that we are in. Apparently, even if summer is one of the things that I anticipate the most every year, it's also one of the seasons that I dread. Ironic. I know exercise is good for the body yada, yada, don't give me that lecture because I know that, thing is, work has taken it's toll on me. And for the past year alone, I gained. 8kgs. And it's so fvcken obvious with my humongous thighs and bulging belly. Don't get me wrong, I'm not THAT fat but I'm starting to become heavy. I'm just awesomely covered in pieces that thankfully cover these things up.Plus, I'm fat in all the wrong places. I have a flat chest, very thin arms, but my tummy and thighs are--NVM. Haha!

A lot of people get deceived when I talk about my body issues, they come up and say, "You're so thin, WTH is your problem?". I'm like, "Girl, you ain't seen nothing yet." It's so difficult to be fat in a weird way. Thank God for high-waisted swimsuits.

Holla, fellas! I know you haven't heard from me in quite a long while, that's because I've been busy with not-so important things. February was not really a breeze, more of like air from the gasoline station. You smell it for such a short period of time yet it lingers in your nostrils. Bottom line, that air that you smelled is in no way relevant to your life or your workload or your love life. Get my point? Okay, nah. I won't expound anymore since my mind is not in the mood to think anyway, I've been having numerous migraine attacks for a couple of days now and I don't know why.

Anyhoo, I sold my beloved dSLR. I won't be posting any hi-res photos from now until I buy myself a new one. I sold it with the thoughts that looking for an upgrade would be easy, apparently it's not. I'm a bit heavy on my finances for this month, my mom borrowed my camera money so I have to use my savings to buy a new one. Thing is, if I use my savings, I will still have money left for, say a week. And I don't want that. I think I'm gonna put off buying a new camera until the 3rd wk of March. It's just so heartbreaking that I went to Baguio to meet the boyf's parents and I didn't have a camera! :( All I had was my 2MP phone which won't be able to justify how fun my stay there was. (This would be for another blog full of text.)

I hope I won't be invited to anymore summer activities this month so I can focus on my camera funds. A co-worker texted me last weekend asking me if I want to go to Laiya and I declined because I don't have a camera and the money to fund that kind of leisure at this point. Oh money, money, money does make the world go round.

As someone who works in an indefinite shift or most popularly known as the shifting schedule, I seldom don't get to call my meals the way you call yours. My breakfast could be your dinner and my dinner could be your lunch. For me though, no matter what time of the day it is, my first meal is always breakfast, lunch then dinner. Dinner becomes breakfast again though if the sun is already up. Hahaha! You're probably confused but don't be because I won't be talking about my time difference with the rest of the population. Meh.

Anyhoo, what I wanted to share is the not-so-new discovery I had a couple of weeks ago. While I did know that KFC already has its breakfast lineup, what I didn't know is that it's not as pricey as their chicken meals and they're quite okay! One of my all-time favorite from KFC is their fully loaded meal which now has a variation. You can have the double down fully loaded, the regular one and they have another option that I forgot. My current eye candy though is their breakfast fully loaded. Tadaaaaaaaaaaa!

A month or so to go, i'll officially celebrate a year of assuming a different role with the company I'm currently with aka I've would have been promoted for a year in a few more days. Wow, that was a long and complicated sentence just like my life. It feels like I've been working for a long time (wow! it's only been 2 yrs) and everything is just not paying up. I won't deny that I've thought of transferring to a different company but wait a minute, venting here doesn't look very professional so let's stop at that.

Let's just talk about February. I remember seeing one of my friends in Facebook post something about people who are single who kept on whining whenever this time of the year comes. There are those who have been single for the most part of their lives too yet doesn't get tired of telling people how miserable their lives are without a special someone in this not-so-special month. I must agree that it's difficult not having a special someone on rough and difficult times, but dwelling on the fact that you haven't found that person yet on a February is just too much.

And of all months, why February? Is it because a most, if not all couples are out on a date? Or is it because we call it the so-called-"love month"? Regardless of the reason, you should not think about being forever alone nor pity yourself this time of the month just because you don't have a date or a someone to kiss and hug. You might say it's easy for me to say all these things because I'm currently in a relationship, but no. Yes it's difficult to be single at times but it's not all that. I've had my fair share of years with single hood and it wasn't that bad. I had awesome friends, we had awesome group dates and intellectual yet fun conversations. It's all about perspective! I won't even go out on the date with the boyf on February 14. I'll probably spend it with some friends at a buffet restaurant pigging out. 

A couple of months ago, Lovey and I went to Manila Ocean Park. I bought discounted tickets from my company and they were about to expire so we had to use them immediately. Good enough, we were able to find a compatible schedule and we paved our way into Manila Ocean Park.

We went there around 12 noon, right after my shift we had breakfast first and tried to rest for a bit for it's going to be a long day. From Makati we took a bus going to MOA and from MOA we took a cab. Heh. We don't know our way around Manila, you guise. Spent around P190 something on cab fare and we arrived there around 1:30PM.

Being the voracious bitch that I am, you would've probably known by now that I love Mang Inasal. Not because the rice is unlimited but because I always feel satisfied when I eat there. I feel like P99 for a chicken is so worth it even when they haven’t had the additional things in their menu that they have now. And maybe the unlimited rice too, heh.

Hey, guys! I'm sort of back. Can't say that I'm back for good, because the start of the year has been pretty busy and I've been pretty lazy! I know I shouldn't for 2011 was a good year for this site. Well I think I lost my mojo because for starters, I lost my camera's memory card! :/ Photos from UPB's 2011 Pasiklaban, Christmas and New Year Photos are all gone. :( So Sad. I don't f*ckin' know where I put it and we've tried to search the whole house and Nada! But then again so many things have happened throughout the start of the year and I would want to share some of my recent discoveries with you sans the glam photos because I haven't had the heart to buy a new memory card for my camera. I'm attached to things, you know.

But anyhoo, let's proceed to the real subject of this blog post. I know most if not all of you know Instagram, it's a fun and easy way of sharing your photos online using your Apple device. You can only upload photos on the device, which is sort of a hassle since they have nice filters, and the web can only be used for viewing those photos. I've been looking for an Instagram widget for my blog but for the past month, widgets for Wordpress are all that I've seen. Trying not to lose hope, I tried to look for one again today and guess what, I did!

So If you're fond of Instagram and would want to have a widget installed in your blog aka have your Instagram gallery on blogger, you just have to follow these easy steps.

First : Just go to this website and put your Instagram username, you can also specify how you'd want your gallery to look like once it's in your blog. Just copy the code and paste it in your notepad.

Second : Now, we install the widget in your blog. Sign in to your blog and go to the layout section. From there, you just have to click 'Add a gadget".