Solution to My Beauty Problem!

Whey hey! I finally find the answer to my problem!

I have been complaining about pimples and blemishes on my face for almost a year now. I went to see my doctor but the medicine she gave me did not work too well. I tried some over-the-counter stuff but I have not seen the result yet. Even if I use tons of make up, my problem is still unresolved. Thanks to iDerma which offers scientifically advanced skin care products ranging from anti-aging products, moisturizing creams, cleansers and sunscreens, to mineral makeup and many more. Yes! iDerma has the solution to every beauty problem that an individual like me have. Selected brands are recommended by leading dermatologists and beauty experts, such as iS Clinical, SkinMedica, Remergent, NeoCutis. If you check GloMinerals, you will see the complete line of make up that is just right for your needs.

Now I am happy. I will have to get what I need for my face.

The Smile Stone Award

In this wonderful blogosphere, it is never impossible to meet friends who really care and are willing to extend a helping hand. This makes me ponder many times that if we care for somebody we are much, much willing to share what we have. Thank you Joops for sharing this awesome award to hubby and I. This really draw a very big smile on our face.

The top ten reasons why I am smiling are:

1. I am alive and healthy... Thanks God!
2. I married the most caring and loving man on earth.
3. I have a strong supportive family here in the US and back in the Philippines.
4. I have freedom and have no fear to execute my free will.
5. I have a job despite the scarcity of opportunities nowadays.
6. My Catholic faith is very much alive where we are.
7. I'm happy that Republicans did not win the election, so they will learn to rise and be true to their forgotten ideals.
8. I have true friends who fill up my gloomy days.
9. My senses are still in tuck to enjoy the beauty and abundance of God's creation.
10. Lastly, I am gifted with the ability to blog what I like. LOL!

Now I am passing this award to:

Ria, Blessie, Mabel, Marly, Chelle, Yvette, Twinks, Faye and Richard.

^_^ Happy blogging!

Food Trip....

Now that the cold season is here, my mind is always thinking of something to keep me warm aside from my layered outfit. My cravings for some hot snacks keep knocking at my head, thus sending the message to my own taste buds and stimulating my wild appetite.

Being far from the Philippines is oftentimes what pushes me to think of something that is traditionally of a Filipino trademark. I can never complain, though because I have the choices here in California. We do have a lot of Filipino restaurants that serve Filipino food if I really want to, but it is not merely my desire for food that I need to take care of. To me, it is more appetizing if I eat while socializing with people whom I know and have the same appetite as I do.

Anyways, when we went to Seafood City the other day, I saw a whole bunch of pinoy delicacies in one corner of the store. I wanted to buy but one package was just to much for me to handle and I hate to waste food. Too bad that until now I am still thinking of those kakanin.

Biko: a very popular kakanin during fiestas, birthdays and even in ordinary days. This is made out of sweet rice creamed with brown sugar, butter, and coconut milk.

This food is really special because my father used to make this when we were still young. He made it in a different way, easy and had its own distinctive taste slightly different from the rest that I tasted. This has a very special place in the deep recesses of my being.

Cuchinta: brown rice cake but this is actually made out of flour and water served with freshly grated coconut on top. This was a very popular street food when I was still there. During mid morning and/or mid afternoon, we knew that the Cuchinta man was there when we heard the ringing of his bell that he carried with him. I love this for snacking and I always had room for this even when I was already full.

Puto Cheese: a rice cup cake made of rice flour and topped with cheese. This is a nice treat in almost every occasion in the Philippines. This delicacy comes in different sizes. Some people like small and just bite sizes and others prefer bigger ones.

This food reminds me of my sister who likes to order this during family gatherings and other social events.

Suman: sweet rice cooked inside the assembled coconut leaves. To me, this is a very intricate delicacy to make because this requires to much skills to be able to come up with the right one. This is good to serve with hot chocolate. My sister likes to order this in addition to puto cheese when we had celebrations.


Hmm! all these remind me of so many things back home....

Miss Earth 2008 Pageant

Karla Paula Henry took home the Swarovski crystal-encrusted crown in the eighth edition of the international contest -- becoming the first Filipino and Asian woman to win in the Philippine-based pageant. She inherited the title from 2007 winner, Jessica Trisko from Canada.

Henry beat 84 other international delegates. She was also proclaimed Miss Photogenic based on votes cast by photographers and media scribes. To read more, just click here.

To Miss Karla Paula Henry....

Congratulations!
You have given our country another reason to be Proud Of!

My Beloved Mindanao

I was reading the news today and as usual, things are not getting any better in any part of the world these days. Let us not go too far. I love Mindanao, it's my birthplace and it's the place where I spent over four decades of my life. It is so sad to watch the news that feature the life and struggles of my fellowmen. I was once a part of them back then but I can't draw myself totally apart from my roots.

My first teaching assignment was in Agusan del Sur. I was able to witness all the hardships of people which was brought about by the government's failure to deliver good service to the vast minority. Back then, I had to travel by boat for 5 to 6 hours traversing the famous Agusan River. My area of assignment at that time would have not been that far had the government developed the road that would connect the people to civilization. It was too far flung which made most of the people there (if not all) felt so laid back, though the place is so agriculturally rich. People did not care to plant because they did not make money out of it.

What they did was join the group of illegal loggers cutting down trees and rattans to get money. It was a sure money for them not really thinking of the ill effect of such activity to the mother nature. While working there, I was able to experience carabao-back riding and crossing the swollen river just to attend a district meeting.

Later did I know the danger of what I did. Crossing the furious river on the back of the carabao was really dangerous but I did not see it that way. There were small canoes but they never work when the water current was so strong. There was one time that we went with a bamboo raft and it took us almost one day to reach our destination.

I am glad to hear that the government had already done something to improve the place. However illegal logging still exists. Just like what I just read in the news today. So sad but you can click here to read.

These are two familiar pictures I gathered from google. They look very similar back when I was there.

Going to the Market

Our whole morning was totally spent picking persimmons from the tree. We had our brief lunch shortly after our friends left. We still did not clean our mess in the yard because we think that we need to take the five bags of the fruits to five houses (sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, neighbor and a friend). After dropping off everything, we went to the cemetery to visit my father-in-law's grave since we were not able to do it on All Soul's Day.

Despite all those errands, we still got the chance to go to the market to buy some food. It was already past four o'clock when we left the house. Our plan was just to go to the Portuguese market to buy bacalau, but when we got there, we ended up buying few more items. I got Portuguese sweet bread and lemon cookies. Hubby got our favorite Portuguese Olive Oil and the marinade that we both like.

Then we headed towards where the Filipino market is. It was just very close to the first market that we went in. This Seafood City is in Mckee Road, San Jose and this is the nearest Pinoy market around where we live. Before, we used to go to Union City just to buy the Filipino food that we both like. We started going to this store after its opening (I guess last year. I could not even remember). Our intention was to buy the lumpia wrappers since I am already running low on that one. But as usual, we ended up buying more than what was on our plan.

Hubby took few pictures of me inside the store:

As shown in the pictures, the store is impressively clean compared to some Asian markets that we have been into. A lot of Pinoys and Pinays do their shopping here because it is cheaper in comparison to the other market, besides the pinoy cliché "Tangkilikin ang sariling atin," which means patronizing our own no matter what. But this store is a store that a pinoy can be proud of.

Persimmon Pickers

The persimmon tree that we have in our backyard has been bothering early this week. The fruits are fast turning very rich yellow and I thought that if we could not pick them within this week, some of those fruits would just go to waste. I'm glad that my friend from Hayward returned my call yesterday night. She was off today and my day off also... and hubby's Friday off too. Perfect timing! Hubby just got persimmon pickers.

Since my friend, Vilma likes persimmons, I asked her last night to come over to help me and hubby take all those fruits down. So as soon as we finished breakfast, Vilma and her Mom arrived.

It was a very nice morning, the sun was shining but not too hot for the four of us in the yard. All the three women were on top while hubby remained on the ground to take the bags full to the buckets. Vilma and I went to the roof top to pick the ones that were there. We were all wondering what benefits do we all get from persimmon. We kept guessing and I jokingly said that it has Vitamin "P" (for the word persimmon) and hubby thought I was referring to Potassium. I told him the joke but then I thought it has Vitamin A considering its color. I was not certain, though. So I told my friend to just google it if she really want to know. Just click here to read what I read on the web.

The pictures above show all of us on the tree. We really did have some fun. It was hubby who took all the pictures.

We really did good and we were able to fill four buckets. Vilma religiously counted them for curiosity sake. We had 777 nice and clean ones and around 30 bruised and cracked and haft eaten by squirrels. We did not pick everything because hubby said that he wanted some for Thanksgiving. So we left at least a dozen or two.

Food Stamp Issue

I am sorry but "some" Food Stamp people really piss me off. It is not that I am against this government program but some of these individuals do not deserve this kind of government welfare.

This federal poverty program is supposed to aid hard-working people that no matter what they do, their income is still not enough to provide the whole family. And I do believe in the purity of its vision and goals to help the helpless. But look at some of these "Advantage" card holders! They are just trying to take advantage of the program. They now have another trick of buying liquor. Since cigarettes and wines are never allowed in food stamps, what they are doing now is buy these stuff separately using cash.

I felt so bad yesterday when one sturdy, husky-looking, arms tattooed-full, long hair guy came to my check stand. He "ordered" me to ring his bottles of wine first because he said that he was going to pay it with cash. Then I rang the rest of his groceries using his welfare card. What the hick was that! There goes a man enjoying the government food privilege and using his money to buy what he does not need.

I hope that the government will look into this program and do some reforms. This I bet is one of the programs that eat a huge portion of the federal budget.

Not a Grumble...

It's truly an adjustment having born and grew up in a tropical weather country. It was in December, almost four years ago when I first set foot in this country. I was already wearing a long sleeves shirt and a jacket knowing that I was heading toward a cold America. But when I landed, it was terribly cold I could imagine. I was shaking. Hubby anticipated it so he brought with him an extra sweater to make me comfy.

Just at the beginning of the month, hubby asked me to take out all his long sleeves from where I kept them. So I took just one or two of them but now that the cold temperatures finally settles in, I have to take all of them out from the tub and keep all the short sleeves in. This routine sometimes make me a little bit grumpy but this is the only way to keep ourselves warm throughout the season.

Early this morning when we woke up, it was freezing so hubby asked one sweater to go with his long sleeves. It's good that I decided keep all of them within reach so that I don't have to be grumpy again and again whenever he needs one to match his outfit. Now I have to do the same with all my warm clothes to keep me alive this whole season.

Election is Over....

The sun is shining brightly to all democrats who supported President-elect Barrack Obama yesterday in what they so-called "historical election." He is the 44th president and the first black African to the White House.

As hubby and I watched McCain concession speech last night, I could not help but feel sorry for him. We both believed that he could rule the country better and that his background and his visions about the country was enormous to make him the next president. But it was never enough. I think there were still things that Reps failed to do resulting in its downfall. The campaign to me was not too strong that they could have scored some points if they stayed focused on the issues. McCain could have nailed down Barrack but opted not to until the last minute of the campaign.

Now that the game is over, there is nothing that we can do (Republicans) but hope that the conceived CHANGE will eventually be born.

My Colleagues in Action...

I was supposed to post this on that same day I took these pictures at work, but something came up. We went to Pleasanton to see our grand kids and to stay there for the evening. So I was away from the desk top. Then I postponed it and postponed it and postponed it and I finally decide to do it now.

It's really fun seeing some of the customers coming to the store wearing their spooky and fancy attire. Some looked good on the wearer and some did not. Everybody who dressed up that day thought that he or she was the best-looking character on place of the earth.

On the pictures above are my colleagues who made that gloomy day a bright one.

"YES on 8" Election Ad Defaced

Hubby and I strongly support Proposition 8 here in California. It's just too bad that I can not vote yet but if given a chance, I will vote YES on this proposition without second thought. It is very important to let this pass this election if we really care about the diminishing moral of the American society. I don't want to sound judgmental but it is very clear that our society nowadays has changed a lot compared to the norms set by our forefathers. While it is true that "CHANGE" is an important element of progress, it is equally important too that the majority (if not all) must be able to discern which factors need to be changed without altering the old practices and beliefs that brought America to its peak.

With the values and the line of thinking that the vast majority have embraced these days, our nation is heading downhill. I hope that my dream nation will not turn into a dreaded hell when the time comes.

The picture above is a good example that our country is morally regressing these days. This is not right and this act is an indicative that the person who did this no longer respect the rights of his fellowmen. NO on 8 proposes "fake equality" with what they did to this ad by my mother-in-law's front yard. I can tell how selfish these people are and very self-serving in their own means. Hubby told me that this afternoon, on his way to the store along Stevens Creek Boulevard, he passed by the group of youngsters holding NO on 8 ad, making noise. There was only one grown up joining the youth (she propably was the leader). However, they dispersed themselves after noticing that there were more on the YES side with grownups bringing their own streamers. Hubby decided to join as we still have one ad in our car.

The BRAIN behind this big NO have found the most effective machinery to carry out their indecent and selfish cause. Usually, the ones that are easily recruited by any movement are the young ones because they do not dig deeper to find out the real essence of the struggle.

In conclusion, I hope Sodom and Gomorrah in the bible will not happen in California when Prop 8 fails.