3/17/2026 at 2:10 p.m.

"Did you get the brush?" 

That's what my sister asked me during a super-duper-quick phone call at 2:10 this afternoon. I called her to ask about her friend whose family member died.

FYI, I know this friend of hers, but not personally. We're friends online, and I knew some of his family members and friends from the islands too. I was his cousin's classmate.

Now back to my topic about the brush, she told me that it was delivered yesterday afternoon and sent me proof of it. 

So, I dropped the call and asked Jay if he took it. 

In the family, I am the only one that doesn't buy on the internet. I do the opposite—I sell online and have been doing it from late 1999 to today.

I called Jay and said that there was a package he got, but it wasn't yesterday. It was the day before, and it was my magnesium cream. 

Oh no!

Packages getting stolen is probably one of my nightmares. As an online seller, I always send a little prayer with the packages I mail to my customer and that they would be delivered safe and intact. 

We had a tornado warning yesterday afternoon, and aside from the strong damaging wind gusts of over 50 mph, it also rained. We haven't had any reported stolen packages in our neighborhood, so I thought it might be just the wind.

I looked for the package, checking the right side of the house and at our neighbor Jamie's side of the house. It wasn't there.

It couldn't be in our mailbox because the delivery man already photographed it being delivered at our front door.

For my last resort, I checked the other side of the house. It wasn't there too.

As I walked back to the front door, my mind urged me to check under the bushes, but my eyes insisted that it was just dried leaves. However, when I looked closer, I saw black letters.

OMG! 

It spelled Amazon. 

I got it, and she said, "I bought 1 for me, and I want you to try it too." 

Yehey!

She got me a lymphatic brush. 

I've wanted to get this since last year, but I just kept forgetting to ask the mister to go buy it for me.

Thank you, little sister.

 

Beer House

I just arrived at the grocery store from mailing sold items from my online vintage shop at the post office. I swung there to buy some butter and dairy when Jay called me and told me that he had just left the office.

5:22 p.m., and it was still bright outside when he got in on Monday. So we decided to go somewhere for drinks—maybe in downtown. 

"To the beer house!!!"

He took me to hang out at Olde Mother Brewing Co.—a brewery in the downtown located across a fire station.

He got me a strawberry margarita, and I didn't remember what he had. 

Thankfully, the place wasn't mobbed, unlike on Fridays and weekends. 

There's a Backsplash Burger inside this place. There, "She's My Cherry Burger" is my favorite. I am salivating just thinking about it. 

FYI, back in my youth, a beer house was a dimly lit, low-end, somewhat shady drinking place where men paid women to sing, dance, or sit on their laps. 

I'm not sure if they still use that term to signify something other than what it literally means, but I use the term "beer house" to refer to a brewery.

It's Divine!

The little sister was ecstatic about the goodies I sent her via the mister last Monday. 

There were a lot of them that I picked from our pantry—4 individual packs of roasted seaweed in perilla oil and olive oil, 4 plantain bananas, a pack of lumpia wrappers, and a few cups of black glutinous rice. There were also 4 dressed Hamsaymada and the latest issue of GQ. 

This GQ issue was rip-off pre-ordered. 

((( $40!!! )))

Susmaryosep! 

We have a free subscription, so I gave her that issue.

She got the magazine and the goodies by noon, and by mid-afternoon, she sent me a text message...

"I want to eat the hamsaymada already." 

At 6:33 p.m., she sent me this photo...

"Lami kaayo!" (It's so good!)

She had it for dessert. She also bragged about it to our cousin in the Philippines while on a video call. 

"So divine!" she added.

Wow! That was an elevated rating of any delicious food. It's to the 10th power. 

"Did you send some to Rhett <3 Dinah and Esil <3 Jason too?"

I was really thinking of sending them some, but I wasn't sure yet if this new and improved recipe tasted good. 

Jay said it was a 10, but he always does that to all of my cooking. 

I will try to bake these again, but I am thinking of assembling the dough differently. 

I will improve this and send them dressed with buttercream and freshly grated cheese on top. I hope I get a 10-thumbs-up rating from our friends too. 

Hmmmsaymada

We capped our Sunday with a grocery trip. Going past the meat and deli aisle towards the dairy cooler, suddenly a memory came to mind.

I asked Jay if he liked the savory ensaymada I used to bake. Maybe it has been a year since the last batch I made.

So, instead of baking savory pandesal, I baked another savory bread on my menu list.

I made ham ensaymada, but I love calling it Hamsaymada.

I served it with buttercream and cheese on top with my pour-over coffee this morning.

Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, saymada!

It was to die for. 

I also sent 4 pieces to my little sister via the mister. They work together at the same location on Mondays. 

Jay gave it to her before lunchtime, and she sent me a text message as soon as she received it.

"Kamsahamnida for the hamsaymada!" she said.