There I was two years ago, still fresh off the plane from the Philippines. I had just arrived in Florida a couple of months before, and had moved in to an apartment where I had decided to stay for a bit until my husband arrived. I shared this apartment with a friend from college, and her lovable two-year-old son.
Moving to the new apartment was easy. I had only brought one big suitcase and one small one with me, both of them with wheels, which made it very easy to take them around. I didn’t know much about what awaited me in Florida, but I had learned from years and years of travelling to pack light.
Getting around town proved to be a more difficult proposition, though. Neither my roommate nor I had a car at that time. Pinoy friends would call us from time to time, offering rides to the grocery store, to the mall, or the library to surf the web. But they had their own lives and schedules and errands, and I didn’t want to impose on their good graces too much.
There was the bus, of course, but for a place that prides itself as being one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, the bus service was (and still is) poorly lacking. The drivers are very friendly and the buses definitely very clean and in good condition, but they came by the stops only once every hour. If you missed your bus, you have to wait an entire hour for the next one to arrive!
At that time I had not yet discovered the taxicab companies via the Yellow Pages, but as far as I can see, there were no taxis plying the street. I could always walk of course, something I usually love to do, but there was practically no shade from trees or tall buildings, nothing to protect me from the 97-degree July heat.
For someone who grew up in Cebu and who worked for several years in Manila, where you can could hail a cab, jeepney, or tricycle right outside your door, this was a very frustrating situation indeed.
I had cried on the phone one Wednesday night to Markie, from loneliness and frustration, because in Manila we would usually go out for dinner and a movie and then meet up with friends on Wednesday nights. But here I was, cooped up in a house with apparently no means of going out on my own. For the first time since we decided to move to the U.S., I wondered if I should have come here at all.
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Posted under Navel-Gazing
My two friends allkaput and schatzli have excellent timing - they tagged me on two things I love, just at about the time I was getting ready to start my 2-week vacation. Thanks, guys!
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On Having Fun and Stress-busting (from allkaput)
What are the things you enjoy, even when no one around you wants to go out and play?
Go jogging!
I can go out and jog even when no one else wants to do it with me. When I was in Cebu, I would go to the Abellana oval on my own. In Manila, I would jog either in the ULTRA oval or around U.P. Diliman - sometimes with friends but usually on my own too.
Before the hubby came to Florida, I used to jog around one of the nearby lakes by myself. Thankfully Markie now walks with me around the apartment complex or joins me when I go on the treadmill. But jogging is really one thing I don’t mind doing alone - I love the exercise and the quiet time gives me space to think.
What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it in your journal, and then tag 5 friends and ask them to post it in theirs.
1. Watching The Simpsons or CSI (Las Vegas or New York - I don’t care for CSI Miami at all) right after work.
2. Playing tennis or badminton.
3. Hanging out with friends: eating, chatting, and/or dancing.
4. Having long conversations with Markie.
5. Reading the Psalms - instant picker-upper and stress-buster on days I feel frustrated and anxious.
6. Going on a vacation far, far away from the workplace - next week we’ll be in San Francisco, woohoo!
Tag! - Schatzli (balos ko ‘day, hehe), Teacher Sol, TheBee, Rene, Junnie
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On Food and Cooking (from Schatzli)
What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
When I was about 10 years old and vacationing in Leyte: making a simple fish soup with fresh fish, a few slices of tomatoes, a couple strands of tanglad (lemongrass?), and a pinch of salt in clear, clean mountain water, over a wood fire that I had to blow on occassionally to keep going.
Who had the most influence on your cooking?
A close match between my dad and my Lola Bening. My dad makes the best pato-tim (stewed duck), kinilaw (raw fish in vinegar and spices), native chicken tinola (no packaged buillon needed) and yes, crispy-on-the-outside-flavorfully-juicy-on-the-inside lechon (roasted pig on a spit) our side of the world. 
I was around my Lola Bening more though, and enjoyed her humba, pansit bam-i, embutido, and fish escabeche among many other goodies, all through my growing-up years.
Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
Unfortunately, I never had someone take a picture of me cooking. I have many pictures of me eating, though.
Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Although some recipes intimidate me at times, I don’t have a real cooking phobia. Who was it who once said that “love, like cooking, must be pursued with reckless abandon?” That’s pretty much my approach in the kitchen alright - reckless abandon. Just ask my husband, who has been heard to ask under his breath, on several occassions, why I use “too many bowls”. But after ribbing me about it, he still helps me clean up in the kitchen. (Thanks, sweetie! Mwah!)
What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets?
The coffeemaker! Hehe. It’s not strictly a *cooking* gadget, but it still is a *kitchen* gadget. I need it to make my favorite brew, which keeps me awake, which helps me cook. Otherwise, the answer will have to be my saucepan and wok, which I use for cooking most everything.
Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like and probably no one else.
Hmm…iba (kamias) - sliced thinly and soaked in soy sauce and cane vinegar with a generous helping of hot chili peppers. The only people I’ve seen eating this so far besides myself are three of my cousins who I grew up with.
What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?
Most definitely: rice, fish, and garlic. (Sha, we’re similar in 2 out of 3!)
3 quickies:
Favorite ice cream - vanilla and mango (not together though)
You will probably never eat - cat, dog, or monkey meat
Signature dish - humba (pork belly stewed in soy sauce and vinegar, with brown sugar, bay leaves, black pepper, and black beans)
Tag! - back to you, allkaput , Minnette of Lafang List, and because I just discovered that she loves to cook, I’m tagging TheBee for this meme as well.
Posted under Navel-Gazing
