In My Imagination

Summer heat and night shifts are the perfect catalysts for imagination.


I was all excited to sleep after my night shift, but because summer heat is a bitch and campaign jingle noise is bullshit, I found myself unable to sleep in my rented room even if I counted a million sheep. Home sweet airconditioned home is a hundred and fifty bucks away, so instead of taking a cab and sleeping at home before night duty as a normal non-cheapskate person would do, I forgo sleep, go online, let myself be inspired by awesome blogger Helga's recent post and start imagining my perfect world where:

1. Summer heat and night shifts are but distant memories.
2. I have clear skin, regular monthly visits and a metabolism that would keep me barbie-thin for the rest of my life no matter what I eat.
3. Every person has a signature fart smell and mine would be green clover and aloe.
4. I am an events organizer who gets to go to various product launches and food tasting events.
5. My mom and dad never age. My sister is my bff and my brother is an international singing sensation.
6. I have a best selling book, which will be made into a movie. The movie will star Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Patrick Dempsey and Geoff Eigenmann. Geoff would not be allowed to talk in the movie, only smile.
7. My boyfriend is a mean race car driver and professional gamer.
8. I have a steady supply of gourmet potato chips, macadamia nuts, my favorite chocolates, french fries and hello panda.
9. The world believes in God and is cancer free.
10. I speak fluent English, Filipino, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese and Japanese. Learning all these languages would be via hypnotism or something totally effortless like that.
11. Cockroaches are extinct. There would be a cockroach museum where people can throw tomatoes at cockroach monuments and laugh at the nonexistence of the cockroach species.
12. I have 20/20 vision and I can adjust the color of my eyes according to my outfit.
13. I have the cutest dog with a huge pink bow who poops at her designated poop compartment in the house.
14. I travel via apparating and Paris is less than 10 seconds away.
15. Awesome things I imagine [such as things mentioned in this list] become a reality.

It's 4pm, I haven't slept yet and my next shift starts at 9pm. I want milk, cookies, sleep and something that would halt the catalysts that are bringing about all this imagination.

Summer Love, You Bitch!

The heat these days is such an unwelcome bitch. No matter how hard I try to think of fine sand and clear blue waters, I cannot help but shout summer-you-bitch at the top of my lungs inside my room when  I'm all alone, bored and sweaty. Anyway, since I am in such a sullen, pms-y sort of mood right now, I decided to do an Ebenezer Scrooge and walk down the memory lane of all the summers gone past as I try to remember why I love summer (and the freedom from the bondage of school that it comes with).

Since I'm kind of digging lists lately, here is my summer lovin' list. Let's not call summer a bitch now, people! Why o why do men love bitches, anyway? I digress, I know.

(1) Getting lost in Hongkong with my cousin, Marco. I was 5, he was 8 and we were the worst combination of kids to have with you when you are bargain shopping in Hongkong. Our parentals, so swept by Jimmy Choos or whathaveyous forgot that they had kids with them and left us in one of the stores. Good thing I had the sense to stay put and NOT leave the store then because my cousin  had the brilliant idea to look for our parentals in the streets of Hongkong.

(2) Building my first snowgirl.  It took me quite some time to gather enough snow to build my first ice masterpiece, which, by the way, was reduced to complete ruins quite promptly by my cousin, Marco. I know that summer and snow do not go well together, but this was taken during my summer vacation in a totally different timezone.

(3) Enjoying childhood at 8 and reliving childhood at 16 in Disneyland. This is a welcome escape from reality at the heart of Orange County. I just luuuurve that Indiana  Jones Ride. Okaaay, maybe not the ride itself, but the way my aunt held on to the handle bars for her dear life during the entire duration of the ride. Teehee.

(4) Sinning in the Sin City! Oh, gluttony, I succumb to you! Think endless supply of bacon for breakfast and tender juicy steaks for dinner. Think Monet's paintings on exhibit and romantic gondola rides. I'm so infatuated with Vegas!

(5) Playing around San Francisco.  The biggest playground for kids! Play hide and seek in Alcatraz, traverse  the Golden Gate Bridge and go up and down and left and right on Lombard Street! Okay, so that is me pouting right there in the picture because the cold wind was slapping my face like crazy. It was kinda painful, I tell ya. Like when my mom hit me way back when I was in preschool  just because I didn't like going through lessons over and over again.

(6) Taking pleasure in staring at the magnificence that is the Grand Canyon.  I spent over an hour sitting on a rock and staring at the grandeur that was before me. I'm cheesy and emo like that, I know.

(7) Going wild at San Diego Zoo and Sea World. Yes, I am the kind of person who spends hours at the boyfriend's house watching Animal Planet instead of paying attention to the person beside me. I discovered that I can watch penguins, polar bears and flamingoes live their lives for hours without getting bored. What a total geek-freak, this Michelle person.

(8) Beaching! What is summer without sun, sand and water? Zambales and Batangas, I so heart you! I'll love you more when I'm thin enough to wear a bikini though. Lol.

(9) Braving the rapids at Pagsanjan. A welcome adrenaline rush.  I had a great time pretending I was in a jungle or something like that. The kid in me never grows, I tell ya.

(10) Bonding with the boyfriend in Subic, Laguna, Tagaytay and wherever.  What better way to escape the hellhole that is work than to spend time away from the city with a person who can totally relate to a geeky, cheesy and crazy person like myself?

Okay, so now I'm feeling all better.

 

Seriously, what was I thinking?

How can anyone not LOVE LOVE LOVE summer!

Wanted: Chef!

As evidenced by the bulk around my waistline, which grows bigger and bigger each year at geometric proportions, one of my greatest passions in life is good food.

I can get really cranky when I'm hungry, and genuinely ecstatic when I'm well fed.

My eating habits are not only sinfully unhealthy for my body, but also for my savings account, which is in grave danger of extinction these days. I know that it's a lot cheaper to cook food at home, but I do not have the necessary culinary skills to whip the following up!


1. Gumbo's Spinach Artichoke Dip and Chicken Limone

2. Cuillere's Rosemary Chicken, Steak and Potato Gratin

3. Friday's Chicken Tenders and Jack Daniel's Ribs

4.Texas Roadhouse Grill's Texas Nachos and Baja Mexicana Cantina's Sour Cream Nachos

5. Hardrock Cafe's, San Francisco Steak House's, Outback's and Alfredo's Tenderloin/Fillet Mignon Steak (Steak is my first <3, the boyfriend is my second!)


6. Conti's Mango Bravo and Banapple's White Chocolate Truffle Berry Cheesecake

7. Arya's Beef Kebab
8. Holy Cow's Pumpkin Soup

9. Prince of Jaipur's Lamb Masala and Wolfgang Puck's Grilled Lamb Chops... oooh la-lamb!
10. Bubba Gump's Beer Battered Mahi Mahi, Italianni's Parmesan Crusted Cream Dory and Fish and Co.'s Fish and Chips.

11. Army Navy's French Fries, Wham's Crosstrax Fries and Flamers' Idaho Potatoes

12.Hotshots' Crispy Burger Melt, Racks' Barbeque sauce, California Pizza Kitchen's Barbeque Chicken Pizza and Yellow Cab's Chicken Alfredo! Fastfood <3


13. Red Kimono's Tempura and Maki

14. Chef's Quarter's Caprese Salad and Dessert Surprise


15. Bizu's Chocolate Souffle and Red Mango's Frozen Yoghurt

If you do know how to make half of these stuff, call me and let's make a deal STAT!


Or not.


The waistline is not doing very well.