Saturday, February 7, 2026

Hi, Sabado!


My sister is here for her birthday weekend. That's her hand in the photo. 

I prepared puff pastries filled with scrambled eggs and sausages this morning. Jay made our café latte.

We are going to paint the town red today. We will be spending money. 

Actually, we are hitting all of the thrift stores in town.

Hopefully, we will be able to find good stuff in the wild today. 

I baked 8 puff pastries and we inhaled all of them. We need the sustenance to whip the day up!

P.S. I couldn't find my pastry brush and couldn't find any substitute to brush the egg wash with on top, and that was why my pastries looked pale. 

Papa Don't Preach


On our way to pick up my sister from her apartment a few towns away, this song came on. 

When Madonna's song Papa Don't Preach hit the airwaves in the Philippines in the mid-1980s, I was just 14 years old.

The melody was catchy, and it was easy to sing along with.

However, in school, we were strictly barred from singing it and admiring the performer.

The nuns (who ran the school) saw the artist as an anti-Christ, which was bad news for us (the youth).

I continued singing the song. I enjoy singing Like A Prayer and La Isla Bonita too.

Fast forward nearly 40 years, and performing those songs had nothing to do with me or what I am today. I still sing Madonna songs as if I had stayed a virgin.

Hehehehe.

Just kidding. 

I love Madonna's La Isla Bonita. Our neighbors in the Philippines were aware of this because it was part of my repertoire. I'd sing it on weekends while lying in bed with our jalousie windows open.

Friday, February 6, 2026

Who would miss me?

I was talking to my little sister, Charmaine, this afternoon about my social media hiatus. We went to her apartment a few towns away to pick her up for the weekend.

It has been 2 weeks that I haven't posted on Facebook and Instagram, and so far none of my friends are looking for me. Not one message yet.

Well, I guess I was wrong.

At 9:36 this evening, my friend Esil sent me a message on Facebook Messenger and asked me how I was, as she hadn't seen any activity on my Facebook wall.

I have so many friends and families, and among all of them, I am so glad that Esil was the first to ask about my absence on social media.

We've known each other for 20 years. She's one of the most thoughtful and generous people I know.

I am extremely blessed, aside from my small close-knit family, that I have a great quality set of friends. 

Esil is one of them.