Why wasn't I born a codemonkey? Widgets are supposed to make life simpler. So when I installed the latest version of Wordpress on Aki's blog, I was elated to see widget support. I started playing with said widgets.

Then, I figured, hey, I like Kyamkyam's layout. I want to get me one of those big, fat, footers. And I'll put widdle widgets on them.

Damn. And so the hell starts. For some reason, guide I googled refused to cooperate with me. From step one. Now, I'm good at following instructions. But the thing is, as soon as I paste my first chunk of code in my functions.php, the world goes haywire and syntax error flashes before my eyes.

I knew I should've listened to by high school programming teacher. Or maybe I should've just used a pre-formatted theme. Ijut Kao, insisting on modifying her own theme.

Looking at the guide and wondering where I go wrong? Step one. Registering the sidebar. WHERE the heck do I put that first block? I've tried all sorts of things, but they all result in the same syntax error, something about a = instead of a ) in line 11. Funny thing is, no wonder where I try putting the code, I get the same error.

Methinks it's my brain telling me to go to sleep?

Sigh. I guess this best be tackled tomorrow, hope Aki forgives me.

I need a new hard drive badly. But since I plan to switch to a mac when Tsukiko finally goes off to retire, I want to get a hard drive which I can reformat to mac when that happens. Hence picking an external over buying a second internal even if I have the tower space. I have two candidates:

Maxtor 160GB PS3200
SRP: P5,400



LaCie 160GB White
SRP: P5,990


Common sense tells me to get the cheaper and reliable Maxtor. It is a Maxtor after all, it's quite reliable. In fact, I had already handed the sales person my credit card to pay for the Maxtor when I sneaked a peek at their pricelist and saw the pretty LaCie's going for just 500PHP more. The thing is, the Maxtor's in stock, the LaCie still needs to be ordered. But then, he told me it just takes 2-3 days if the product is in stock. And while it's not a big tech hardware name here, the LaCie has a good following in the US and the bricks got good reviews with various tech sites. So they're relatively on even footing. Vanity says LaCie (it'll look so lovely beside a White Macbook!) but common sense says Maxtor.

What do you guys think? Help me decide, I'll make the final decision by tomorrow evening; either I order a LaCie then, or take the Maxtor home.

i. my bag!
A few weeks ago, Rotch did this meme where you go through the things in your handbag. I really really wanted to do it, in photo form, but because I was a tad busy, I couldn't. Until I remembered to take a picture, finally!



Seeing it for yourself is more fun than looking at a list, no?

ii. that's a toilet???
I've eaten at Sango quite a few times, but never saw the need to use their restroom until a few days ago.



They have that! Those newfangled multi-buttoned high-tech toilets with the blinky lights! Like the ones you see in those Japanese magazine shows on TV. The one with the blue title screens? (I'm sure a bunch of my friends grew up with it as well and know what show I'm referring to.) Waw. It's so moronic yes, being excited over a toilet bowl, but I have to admit, it blew me away, hahahaha! And being the snap happy nosy person I am, I took a pic. And am actually posting it on my LJ.

What the Hell am I doing???

i. memeage
Ran into this fun meme at Wifely Steps and I had so much fun answering it. It's all about food! Tagging anyone who understands Tagalog on my F-list. For my non-Filipino speaking friends, let me indulge in this vernacular rambling. I had a blast doing this survey. I guess all the Filipino writing is a refreshing change from what I usually do.

Ano ang iyong almusal kanina?
Wala! Pero nag hot chocolate ako pagdating sa trabaho. Kakabili ko lang na Japanese hot chocolate, gawa ng Morinaga. Mantakin mo bang may shot daw ng Remy Martin yun? Di ko alam kung totoo, ipapabasa ko pa sa kaibigan ko ang nakasulat. Mahirap I-feature sa blog pag di ko alam ang nakasulat sa pakete.

Ikaw ay may itlog — nilagang itlog. Paano mo ito kakainin?
Purist ako. Dapat rock salt. Kakainin ko muna yung puti, pag ubos na, saka ko nanamnamin yung pula. Panalo!

Ano ang paborito mong local na junkfood?
Potato Chips na plain ng Oishi. Tsaka Tostillos ng Jack en Jill, depende sa mood. Pero ang hindi ko mahindian, yung chichacorn / chichapop / popcorn. Basta yung fluffy na mais---parang popcorn na hindi tumuloy ang pagputok. Meron sa iyong suking Jollyjeep.

Ikaw ay kinuhang TOP CHEF sa isang engrandeng pagtitipon. Ano ang iyong ihahain sa mga bisita? (Note: Ang mga pagkain na ihahain mo ay ang mga alam mong lutuin. Bawal magsinungaling)
Hindi ba pwedeng group effort? I jujudge ba ako ni Tom Colicchio dito? Kailangan bang matira ako sa competition o kahit babay na ako next round?
Appetizer: Asparagus na balot ng beef. Okay to, walang sablay, maganda pa tignan.
Soup: Bad trip. Mahina ako sa soup. Pwede bang instant soup-as na lang? Wala na, tigbak na ako agad.
Salad: Mesclun na may mango, shredded kani, grapes, jicamas (ganda pakinggan ng singkamas no? parang imforted) at ang aking sikat (sa opis) at ispeyshal na Poppy Seed Vinaigrette. Sowsi tignan, di lang nila alam, faker yan sa dali.

Kung ikaw ay makakain sa restaurant ngayon din, saang restaurant ka pupunta at bakit?
Kung iba magbabayad, sa UCC. Kung ako magbabayad, pwede na sa tabi-tabi. Kung pwedeng mag-ilusyon, sa Morimoto para at least natikman ko luto ng isang authentic na Iron Chef. O kaya kung saan man nagluluto si Tyler Florence kasi kras ko sya. Ay, runner up rin pala, titirahin ko yung mga high class na restaurant sa Roppongi. Para makakain ako ng tunay na Otoro. Siguro pwede na ako mamatay pagkatapos nun. Ay, gusto ko rin palang mag guest sa TV show na SMAP x SMAP at gusto kong kumain sa Bistro SMAP segment nila. Kasi naman si Kimura Takuya nandun. S'ya pa lang, ulam na!

Saang restaurant mong gusto makapunta, pero di ka lang nakakarating pa?
Ay mali. Ayun pala, yung ilusyon mode ko sa naunang item. Pero kung realistic, gusto kong kumain sa lahat ng masarap na restaurant sa may Quezon City dahil kalayo nun sa akin at hindi ako umaabot.

May pizza sa harap mo. Ano ang ayaw mong makitang topping sa pizza mo?
Ground beef. Di ko type ang pizza na may ground beef. Pag ala na akong makain, kakainin ko pero kung pwede sana, walang ground beef. Masaya na ako sa Mushroom and Pepperoni, Margherita at Quatro Formaggio. Minsan gumawa ako ng pizza na may kesong puti at fresh tomatoes. Haaaay, ewan ko ba kung ba't di naulit e ke-sarap n'ya. Siguro tamad talaga ako.

Ano ang madalas mong orderin sa Jollibee?
Pwedeng Chicken Joy, pwedeng Burger Steak meal, pwedeng Palabok. Hindi ako kumakain ng hamburger sa Jollibee (yung sandwich, burger steak okay pa ako). Mabibilang sa isang kamay ko kung ilan beses ako kumain ng Jollibee yumburger sa buhay ko. Ay, pero ang super miss na miss na miss ko na e yung Chunky Chicken Sandwich ng Jollibee. Sheht. Luma ang Chicken Mayo sandwich ng Delifrance sa sandwich ng ating friend na si Jolliee.

Paano magluto ng Sinigang? Marunong ka ba?
Oo naman. Ang linaw linaw ng nakasulat sa likod ng Knorr Sinigang Mix e. :P

Ikaw ay may fried chicken sa harap mo. Ano ang dapat niyang kapartner para masarap ang kain?
Depende sa fried chicken. Kung Max, dapat Jufran. Kung Jollibee, dapat gravy. McDo hindi ko pinapatulan manok nila. Pwera nuggets. Kung nuggets BBQ sauce. Kung Chicken fingers gusto ko honey mustard. Kung yung old-fashioned Fried Chicken na luto ng lola ko (sumalangit nawa) walang sauce. Ganon s'ya kasarap magluto.

Kumakain ka ba ng dinuguan? Alam mo ba kung saan ito gawa?
Oo, pero nasa kolehiyo na ako natutong kumain ng dinuguan. Sarap, lalo na kung may puto. Bobo ko talaga, sarap mag dinuguan ng lola ko hindi ako kumakain nung bata ako. Pinsan kong half-Pinoy lang at laki sa States, kumakain ng sabaw ng dinuguan. Sarap na sarap pa s'ya sa chocolate stew. Syempre hindi namin makayanang sabihin kung ano yung "chocolate" sa chocolate stew n'ya.

ii. this is why the nds rocks
A beauty regimen game on the NDS? What will Nintendo think of next? First there was that Cooking Navigator--an interactive cooking guide / cookbook, now a Beauty Navigator.

Quoted from a news feed:
"Dream Skincare" is part of recent efforts by Nintendo Co. to attract newcomers to gaming. Until recently, the gaming crowd has largely been young men fond of shooting and sports games.

Players input their daily body temperature and weight by marking a graph that shows up on the touch panel, according to Konami Corp. The game, which Konami describes as "beauty navigation software," asks questions that the player answers such as skin tone and smoothness, as well as exposure to sunlight and hours of sleep. Advice on a daily regimen for healthy skin pops up on the screen, including directions to drink more water, or to eat apples and ginger, food that had a reputation for warming up the body.

Nintendo DS Lite, you rock my world!

(Read more about Dream Skincare at here.)

i. just move forward
Just came home from a movie with Paddy. After a nice dinner at Pancake House (Crispy Belly, how I love you so!), we went to watch Meet the Robinsons. We had no expectations, having only seen one trailer--the singing frogs one that we caught before Shrek 3. A few minutes into it, realizing we were all surrounded by kiddies, we were getting quite worried. "I hope it's not too kiddie," he said. "I just hope it's a bit Pixar-y," I replied.

Something has to be said about watching movies without any expectations. When it unfolds, you're pleasantly surprised. You find yourself laughing loud in the theater, even if the only person laughing along is the guy you're with. You find yourself squealing with glee when some character reminds you of someone else (It's Dory! She reminds me of Dory! Hahahaha!). And you find yourself leaving the theater with a satisfied smile when you realize that you got way more than what you expected.

Go see Meet the Robinsons. In the odd circumstance that you don't like it, you can always just move forward afterwards.

(Note to self: Ask Cla if she has the Rufus Wainwright songs in the movie.)

ii. thank you bono
I think I should ditch plugging in Yukiko when driving and stick to my bootleg U2 compilation CD when driving. There's something about Bono that helps me park. Near perfect parking at ATC & parking at home garage, double success!

iii. have i mentioned how much a certain foodblog i keep makes me happy?
It does. And to show you that this mention is fueled by sincere happiness and not a shameless plug, I'm not even mentioning what the site is.

i. ds lite blues. or pinks
I am thisclose to snapping. Just a little nudge and I'm off to Greenhills to buy a pink DS Lite. Those who've been following this LJ know how I've wanted one for the longest time. I traced it. The earliest manifestation of pearl pink DS Lite longing was last October. It was on a post about Cooking Mama on littleyuzu's LJ. In fact, I wasn't even aware the DS Lite existed until I saw her post. But one glance at the pink handheld was love.

I've been dawdling for months already about buying one. I wanted one last Christmas, especially after Shelly, Mike's girlfriend bought one. I was thinking of using my 13th month pay for it but the desire to settle my credit card bills as well as to save up stopped me. Lately however, after hearing about the great deal Arbie bought his for and reading khursten's plans to buy one, my self-control is wearing thin.

If I'm going to go insane with pearl pink ds lite desire, don't you think I should go and succumb, EOS 400D fund be screwed? It's going to set me back 10k yes, but since my ultimate goal is to get myself the camera before Christmas, I think I can take the setback. And no, I won't be spending excessively on games since I plan to get a homebrew cartridge. Yes, I'm an ebil pirate. Rawr. But so is Jack Sparrow so that means I'll be in good company.

ii. ganked from faerydragonet

No Leonidas here.

( Maximus. )

iii. okay, so i let my imagination run wild
I honestly though monetizing kitchencow would be lucrative. I imagined money pouring. Well, maybe not pouring in but adequate enough to cover my hosting and maybe buy a few pinkies. But the road to profits is long and winding and requires lots of clicks. I honestly thought just serving the ads would be sufficient. You know, page impressions? It appears I need to actually convert them to clicks. And to do that, I have to work on my search engine optimization so Google would give me better, more relevant ads. You know, ones that would entice readers to click out of sheer interest. No coercion or begging involved.

Any tips from those better versed in earning from a website? Right now, I only have Google Adsense and an Amazon associates account. The Amazon associates I have yet to apply to the site, but judging from its performance on bishounenproject, I'm not counting on it too much. I'll probably sign up with Jlist as well, seeing they have a good range of bento goodies. I know I can sign up with other ad networks but I'm not too keen on having too much ads on the site; a large part of me still wants to keep the site clean. You guys have more ideas?

i. camera rush sale
An officemate is selling his Canon Powershot Pro 1, it's a semi-pro camera along the lines of the Powershot S2 and S3.

Included are:
- 512mb CF card
- Hama Camera Bag
- Card Reader
- Battery
- Fast Charger

Box and manual not included. 22k PHP, negotiable.
Contact him at 0916-6363720. If you're wondering why he's selling, he just really needs the money immediately, there's no catch.

ii. romeo x juliet
While some people have been knocking Gonzo's new anime Romeo x Juliet, I figured I'd give it a shot since it was a love story and my friend Jamie sold it well. She knew that mentioning the cross-dressing angle was enough to get me scampering off to the nearest torrent site.

So, I started watching episode 1 last night and I'm liking it. Sure, it's a very loose rehash of the original but still, when you forget that it's a Shakespearean and just think of it as an anime, it's very enjoyable.

I was enjoying the show until the realization hit me. "Waaaait. Just remembered, this is Shakespeare. What am I doing getting attached to the characters when they all die?" GLOOM DOOM GLOOM DOOM T_T I should stop watching immediately but how? I think I've crossed the point of no return. From episode 1.

iii. ore wa tensai!
Or so, as I quote Sakuragi Hanamichi. I was able to tame wordpress and now have it installed and running on kitchen cow. Right now, still trying to diagram what I want to do with the site. I'm definitely migrating all the kitchen cow @ livejournal content but I want to make it more special. What's the point of spending money on hosting and a domain if it's going to be the same as the livejournal set-up, right?

There's still a lot of work ahead, but right now, I just want to bask in the glow of my tensai-ness. Thankfully, I have the weekend and Labor day ahead. I want to launch the domain on May 3, the first anniversary of my first bento post. Here's to exciting days ahead! Busy but definitely exciting.

i. manila when it sizzles
Just heard from the news. Today has been the hottest day so far for 2007. No wonder we were stewing. 36.8 degrees celcius. Plus it was a highly humid day so it felt +3 or 4 degrees hotter. And PAGASA warns that May will be much much hotter.

Now that's hot.

ii. bento shopping. yet again.
I saw a couple of new cute Thermos brand bentos which made me miserable. Why? I wanted them all! Thermos has actually released a set of very bento inspired lunch boxes. I mean, tiered rectangular bento boxes made of metal! With moveable dividers and separate containers. With matching bento band! I was in love.

There were 4 at SM and I was thisclose to buying the most expensive one simply because I've been on the market for a thermal box for the longest time, this one in particular.

http://cgi.ebay.com/JAPANESE-THERMAL-CHOCO-BENTO-LUNCH-BOX_W0QQitemZ250100440898QQihZ015QQcategoryZ1411QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

But after seeing the other 3, I absolutely did now know what to do. I was even thinking of doing a poll to help me decide but I couldn't find pics of the other 3 online. *sob sob sob*

Will probably buy this one since it looks like it can do the best job of keeping heat in but can I help it if I'm attracted to the other 3 as well?

iii. gimme my lovecom!
I'm ever so disappointed with fansubbers this season. Two groups have picked up Romeo x Juliet and I know it's probably good but why can't anyone do Lovely Complex? I was practically squealing when I found out it's being animated this season and that an episode has come out...but where are the subs?

Poor me. This is what I get for not trying to learn Japanese. Sobbers sobbers. I want my Risa and my Kotani! I need my Lovecom anime especially because the movie disappointed me. Sure, Kotani was cute (it was Koike Teppei, how can he not be cute) but it didn't capture the feel of the manga as much as I wanted. I need my funny, mismatched couple. I hope someone fansubs it.

iv. finally got the ball rolling!
Kitchen cow will be undergoing a few changes these coming days. Positive change, I'd like to think and I hope you guys will agree with me. Still, all the usual features will remain though I do plan implement some improvements here and there.

Biggest change? Well, I'm now the proud owner of http://www.kitchencow.com

i. samuriiiiice!
When we were still at our old office, we regularly bought refreshments and other necessities at 7-11 because there was one at the ground floor of our building. I was too lazy to go to Mini-stop because it was a longer walk; the only time I'd go there was when I wanted to eat their chicken. So imagine my surprise when I stepped inside a Mini-stop last Monday and discovered that they sold ONIGIRI!

Yes, onigiri, being sold in local convenience stores! They're sold in three flavors: adobo, ham (looks suspiciously like spam) and BBQ chicken I think. Unlike the usual onigiri which has its meat stuffed, hidden in the centers, these "samurice" fillings were mixed in liberally, looking like fried rice onigiri. Understandably so, I don't think the average pinoy can grasp the idea of eating rice without ulam (aka. viand / main dish). I remember showing someone a photo of a real cute animal shaped onigiri and his reaction was, "Ano naman maganda d'yan, wala siyang ulam?" (What's so good about it, she doesn't have a viand?) I guess putting the meat bits where they can be seen was a way of adapting the traditional Japanese treat into something more acceptable to the Filipino palate.

I haven't tried it yet, but admittedly, it's arousing my interest. Heck, I won't be blogging about it if I weren't, right? Cla and I are interested in trying it out, thinking we'd split one. I'm adventurous, but honestly, the samurice scares me. Probably because I know what onigiri's supposed to be like and I don't want to ruin the happy love-love feeling I have for it.

ii. the work sitch
I have my own computer now! A new laptop came in today, a PC based one. They have promised to get me a macbook eventually but right now we have to watch our finances so a PC system will have to do. Not that I mind, really. I mean, I've been working with PCs for longer than I care to recall, and while macs are love, at the end of the day, I still go home to Tsukiko (my desktop PC set-up).

I'm still quite excited, while her specs are lower than Tsuki's, she'll do fine, methinks. This isn't the first time I was assigned a laptop for work; the first time was when I was new to Blue Bottle, but technically, it wasn't mine to do with as I please. I couldn't even bring it out of the office. This one though, I'm made to understand was so we could be mobile. Which translates to permission for me to bring it around. I mean, if it weren't, why the heck did they get a laptop when a desktop PC would've been much much cheaper, right?

So now, I'm searching for a name. I'm thinking Hiko for Little Sun (since I use her mainly during the day) to go with Tsukiko's Little Moon (for my night time and weekend computer use). Of course, my minimal understanding of Japanese (limited to the words kawaii, konnichiwa, sukebe, and most food names) could be wrong so I'm not to be trusted. Will search for a name when I get home. While we all have computers now, our network connection isn't up yet so surfing is done out of the office.

i. moving house
Busy busy busy! The work orders just keep coming and that together with our moving to a different office totally makes it so difficult.

Today was our first day at work in the new office, a small room along Aguirre St. in Makati. It's a stone's throw away from Greenbelt and is nearer to Makati Cinema Square than our old office along Ayala Ave.

I'm happy at being so close to greenbelt although honestly, a part of me is apprehensive about a mall being so close by. Must learn more self-control about impulse spending. And I'm happy about being close to MCS for pirated DVD shopping, as well as for lunching at Amici and shopping for food supplies at Co-Op.

The only place I'll really miss about our old office is Hatchin. It was so near, I could actually just walk there. And the post office I guess, for picking up my HLJ packages, but I guess that means I should switch to using John's home address instead.

Anyway, small and sparsely furnished it may be, the company at work is always fun and interesting.



Lack of office equipment and furnishings notwithstanding, we're happy. All I need are a pencil, scissors, a cutter and a giraffe.

ii. more on impulsive shopping
Passed by an installment madness thingie at ATC today and the Canon EOS350D (Digital Rebel) looks so attractive. It's at an affordable 39k now, at a reasonable 3k a month for a year. While I still want an EOS400D, right now I'm wondering whether I should settle for a 350D because I doubt the prices for the 400D is going to go down anytime soon. Choices choices.

In the meantime, I guess it's Natsume for me. Truthfully, I plan on keeping Natsume even if I'm able to upgrade to a DSLR already, simply because he's easy to carry around. Heck, Natsume lives in my purse, that's how handy he is.

i. earthquake blues
Asia still hasn't recovered from the Taiwan earthquake. We're still posting all time lows bandwidth-wise. My torrent downloads are at a low 10k to as much as just 40k. I who's supposed to be enjoying a 1.5 mbps connection.

Sucks really. I can't start downloading Hana Yori Dango Season 2, that new Kimura Takuya Drama, Goong 2, Lunch no Juou, Gakuen Alice, Ugly Betty and all sorts of stuff I've been wanting to download. I'm way behind on Manga downloads either since I have a hard time keeping up minimum connection speeds on IRC. Hell, I can't even visit LJ from my house, hence the inability to update this blog. And I had so much to blog about. I can make a feeble attempt to encapsulate all the stuff I initially wanted to blog about, but it's still not the same.

I feel so pathetic; yes, I am a net whore. *sob sob*

ii. something to put a smile on my face
On the brighter side, the Canon people have finally called me up and have informed me that the replacement unit for my Canon IXUS II has finally arrived and can be picked up by Thursday. They're giving me a Canon IXUS 55, I assume because the IXUS II has long been phased out.

I immediately googled it, and yay! Happiness. It's a 5.0 megapix (upgrade from the IXUS II's 3.2), 3.0 cm macro (I dunno if this is better than the IXUS II's since I couldn't find the macro info for that cam), a bigger LCD screen, and MANUAL FOCUSING! Yay!

I can't wait to bento! I can't wait to take Pinky pics. I can't wait to take pics in general! I really should make this the year of the camwhore. I just realized how few pics of myself I have. But then, would I really want to remind myself of how much weight I've gained?

iii. pinky addiction
I'm feeding my pinky addiction with something else, other than just buying pinkies. I am now the owner of gajillions of sculpting material (Premo Sculpey and paper clay) from Volty and Chris (THANKIES!). I've also bought loads of craft tools, like an exacto knife, a cutting mat, a metal ruler---all seemingly cheap until I start adding up the costs.

Oh well. At least it's something to feed creativity, and not something to feed my mouth. ^_^;; No weight gain there, right?

iv. resolutions
I made a lot of new years resolutions. Plus I had a lot of ideas on what to blog about for new years. But frankly they've all slipped my mind. All I remember is that I have to lose weight, and try to save money. Maybe I'll get in the mood to do that resolution / recap post again, maybe I won't. Let's just wait and see.

v. what i've been watching / reading
And because I've been spending less time in front of the computer, I've been watching stuff on TV instead. It's something easier to do now since we bought a TV for the room last December. So my mom and I have a TV each; luckily, I get to watch on the bedroom TV since she prefers watching in the living room so she can do chores while doing so. I like the room TV since I moved the DVD player there. So it's a win-win situation.

So far, I've done a Haruhi Suzumiya marathon, and an Arrested Development one. I love Kyon, I love his seiyuu. I love the 5 main characters of Haruhi Suzumiya, so I'll be getting the complete Pinky set, prolly. I like how I don't have characters I detest or feel ambivalent towards in the series. That's surely a rarity.

Arrested Development I really enjoyed watching. I finished the first two seasons in just a few days plus a weekend. I have a teeny tiny crush on Michael Bluth, I guess. Especially when he's so clueless. Must find season 3. (Which I prolly could find online if only the net weren't so wonky -_-;;)

Oh yeah, and I'm now up to date with Japanese One Piece manga releases. Or well, at least the fan translated ones. FRANKY IS UGLY! Hahahaha. But he's likeable in a way. At least he's really reliable when it comes to battle. I still love Sanji, but what else is new?

vi. saving? who am I kidding?
Considering I've spent a large part of the afternoon shopping for manga. I even bought a couple already, only to cancel the transaction when I realized it wouldn't reach my San Francisco aunt in time for her 4th week of January trip to Manila. Now I'm getting my Texas aunt's address instead so I can buy the books in time for her early February trip.

Plus, I'm prolly buying a few additional toys when my mom buys me her promised Christmas gift of re-ments. Aaaack. Must have more self-control.

i. thank goodness for fast dsl
Lately, I've been thinking of downgrading my DSL connection to a cheaper plan; one that's half the price. While fast internet is really nice, especially when it comes to downloads, sometimes I wonder whether it's really cost-efficient.

Today however, all I can say is, MY DSL R0xx0rS! The latest Nodame episode in 2 hours and a half? Bring it on! May not be a big deal for people elsewhere, but in the Philippines, upwards of 90kB/s is lurf. And to think I just finished watching Nodame 6 subbed too. Sigh. Sometimes life can be nice to me too.

ii. and more thanks for john's birthday gift
John got me a really really nice Japanese cookbook / encyclopedia of sorts for my birthday. He got me this book: Japanese food and cooking, something I really really wanted the first time I laid eyes on it.

I've been reading it the past few days, a chapter or two at a time. Today, I read up on noodles. And only now did I learn that I have to wash the starch off Zarusoba, if I intend to serve it cold. So I tried it this time and the results wowwed me. The simple act of washing the noodles made a really big difference. Looks like I'll start enjoying zarusoba more often now.

Now if only I can start bento-ing again.

iii. camera lust
Been staring at online pics of the Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi and drooling. Yes, yes. There are better cameras, I'm sure. But right now, it feels attainable for me. Just a few months of hardcore saving, and I think I can buy a kit. Although that means I'll have to forego my planned DS Lite purchase but then, a new camera looks more practical.

Wish me luck!

iv. and because i'm a geek
I'm quoting Judy Sibayan, one of my Com-Arts professors from college on this. I'm a geek. And because I am, I signed up on Shelfari. It's an online bookshelf listing which in a few words is friendster for libraries. Well, that's what it appears to be for me, and while I haven't explored it much, I wouldn't be surprised if that summarizes the service. I created an account with the username kaoko, if you guys are interested in jumping in, or already have accounts, do invite me. :D

v. dollies
My mom encountered Pullips / Blythes for the first time. Remembering my Pinkies, she got some info and the URL from the doll seller she saw at a local fair, then led me to the site. She found the Pullips really cute, and was even suggesting getting me one for my birthday. Then I showed her what I really would like having. I took her to the Dream of Doll site, and she promptly fell in love.

Now we share the same dream. To win the lottery, so we'll have money to waste. Then buy DOD Shall. Hehehe. Like daughter, like mother, huh?

i. tadaima, land of the living!
After hell week which was capped by today's pitch, I can finally relax and enjoy my life again. The past few work days have been truly tedious. It was as if all our clients conspired to make things difficult by all having deadlines early this week. To add to the stress, we had a major pitch coming up so it all made for a messy, albeit fun week. Somehow, while everything was going on at a hellish pace, we still managed to have a few laughs in between deadlines.

So despite all the work and braindead moments this past week, I can still say I love my job. And with a real smile even.

ii. must catch up with my online life
And it looks like I have tons of LJ posts to catch up with, as well as bentolunch entries. I was planning to take a short hiatus from kitchencow because my IXUS II broke down last Friday, as I was shooting my food. Luckily though, I was able to borrow my cousin's spare digicam, so I may start bento blogging again on Friday--free lunch tomorrow so no bento.

iii. new camera
And since it's likely that my camera might be expensive to fix, it may be time to buy a new one. Currently torn between the S3 and a Digital Rebel. Points go to the S3 for price and relative ease of use since it still is a point and shoot. The DSLR screams pretty pretty camera though.

Sigh. Yes, I'm trying not to think about the cost, but if I do buy, it'll probably mean I have to put my DS Lite desires go to the backseat. Of course, if it happens that I can have my IXUS repaired for less than 3k, I'll just opt for that instead.

iv. ds lite love
I've been reading up on flash cartridges and I'm wanting a DS Lite even more. A G6 flash cart can actually let me play Avi-DivX files on a DS lite. How cool is that?! One thing which has me sticking to my Nano versus upgrading to an Ipod Video is the lack of divX support, hence the attractiveness of a DS Lite + G6 flash cart right now. Sigh. To have money to waste on little gadgetry.

v. to do list
- Catch up on FList backlog
- Check out the communities I belong to for new posts
- Watch anime / dorama / tv series
- Catch up on my downloads
- Start work on Project Tama-chan Pinky Mod
- Answer memes I've been wanting to
- Do khursten's wish list meme (this stands out from the other memes so it deserves a special slot
- Figure out what to get my mom for her birthday
- Bring Ixus to Canon repair center
- Update multiply account, especially post pictures taken at "unidentified beach" mentioned in a previous f-locked post.
- Drag padpad to Greenhills to canvass DS Lite and flash cart prices. Cheapest I've seen so far is the 8.5k DS Lite from Data Blitz. Anyone know of cheaper prices? I'm considering ordering from Amazon so that's less than 7k but that means I'll have to wait until my Aunt comes here in January before I can get it. I'm wondering whether I can hold out.
- Make new icons
- Catch up on sleep! Yeah, right.

Has the day finally come that I'll be able to make my multiply account actually work?

Not really sure. I just decided to dust it off and have a look-see. I've deleted the bento pics though, because frankly, it's so hard updating, I'd rather direct people to kitchencow rather than cross-upload (?) pics there.

Anyway, this is a test post. If anyone uses the multiply cross-post feature on LJ, do your friends only and private entries show up as well? I unticked all of my old posts and prevented it from showing up on multiply since I wasn't sure if the private / friends only posts will be filtered out though. Besides, that's 2 years worth of entries ^_^;;

Anyway, friends, especially my real life buds, please do let me know or add me as a contact if you keep a multiply account. Email addy's chrissie dot mata at gmail dot com.

i. make that 144 hours
Still no electricity. I’m too frustrated, I want to go shoot people. With a gun.

ii. no electricity, no ref, no bento
Fwark.

iii. the low down
littleyuzu’s entry on the DS Game Cooking Mama has me all interested. Give me the low down. Will it be a good idea to buy a Nintendo DS? I’m leaning towards the Pink (Nyahahahaha!) DS Lite.

i. lay-out love
I've been meaning to play around with my LJ lay-out ever since I got a paid account. But now, I'm not sure I want to; I've just fallen in love with the playful cherry blossom theme ported from Vox. Now I can't help but stare at my LJ. Aheeheehee.

ii. touching



(45 second clip)

I'm mababaw. This left me speechless.

i. excited-scared
New project. Kick-ass new project, but honestly, it's scary shite. I mean, no one's pressuring me but myself. I so want to be able to contribute something to this one. I spent the afternoon wracking my brains, instead of working on pending revisions. I do hope something comes to me before we re-align tomorrow.

ii. stalking works
My habit of stalking torrents has paid off. I finally chanced upon seeds for Chuushingura 1/47, Kimutaku's taiga dorama. Now I have it on my hard drive, waiting to be watched. Must finish Long Vacation first though.

iii. heehee, kim rae won returneth
Kim Rae Won has reminded me how cute he is, after seeing him on numerous GMA7 plugs for Love Story in Harvard. Last time I tried to download this series (around early last year), only two episodes were available so I didn't pursue it. Now it's all there in fully english subtitled glory. Can't wait!

iv. where oh where could my tama-chan be?
Two weeks now, still no sign of Ouran Host Club 18. Sigh. This is getting to be very depressing.

v. 2006: the year of the technologically inept cow
I'm so misfortunate when it comes to technology this year. For the nth time, Tsukiko almost died. She was working perfect, then suddenly...poof. She refused to work. Thank God for Jonathan from PCwerkes. Apparently, the problem was with my Video card. So now, I'm working with my onboard video thingie, and crossing my fingers that Villman will replace my video card quickly since it's still under warranty. I never knew how important it was; I can barely burn CDs right now because I think I don't have adequate memory at the moment. Or at least I hope that's it, heaven help me if my DVD writer's conking out on me too.

vi. you know you're really really tired when...
...the thought of watching a jdorama with a cute guy is too much. Wow. I'm actually going to go to sleep at 9:30. And I'm not even sick! Goodnight Manila!

MY DSL'S BACK! And right in time for the weekend!

*huggles huggles modem*

And hopefully, I won't ever be cut-off due to my mom forgetting to pay the bills since she agreed with my proposal to enroll our home phone with a check-free payment service, instead of our current set-up where I fork over the money, then she pays (which she regretfully forgets, time to time).

Yay! Weekend all mine! No take home work, no freelance gigs. My time is all mine, oh mine!

Except that I want to do research for our latest work project since it looks fun and challenging and I want to have nice ideas to present on Monday. Oh well, at least if I do decide to get some work done, it will be because I want to, and not because some client's nagging that we need to get it done. Oh joy!

Proper post later, right now I want to read in bed to start a beautiful weekend.

i. student mode kaoko, engaged!
Studying is fun! Today was the first day of the Macromedia Flash course we signed up for. It was slated for 630-930 pm, so by 6pm, we weren't quite looking forward to it anymore, being tired after a long day. But once we started...wheee! It was fun! Sure, the topics we covered tonight were very very basic. In fact, the things we did, I could probably do with photoshop and javascript, but hey, it doesn't matter. It was fun. Can't wait to get to animations, that's what I really want to learn.

And yes, we've been throwing around a few ideas for bipuro that's going to make it more fun, provided we master flash. No, it won't be flashy buttons or anything, god knows how old school / utilitarian I am when it comes to web design. But it's going to be something that's loads of fun, provided we pull it off. :D

ii. the best damn onigiri i've ever made
Did another onigiri bento today. (Details / pics at kitchencow and bentolunch, you guys know the drill.) It was farking good! Honestly the best darned onigiri I ever made. I don't know if it was because I wrapped the whole thing in nori, or if it was because I used japanese rice, or because I followed the Okame salesperson's instructions and tips on maximizing japanese rice. Maybe it was all three. Either way, it came out soft, moist, and yummy, despite sitting in my bento for more than 6 hours. A perfect foil for the shredded kani surimi and sweet mangoes. I'd pack it to work again tomorrow if only I didn't want to repeat bentos too soon.