Rosalie's Blog

2011 in review

rosalie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:20:14 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 20 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Headache & Migraine

rosalie — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:20:35 +0000

Frequent headaches or migraines?

I have been there, too. Medicine works only for a short time and I have been desperate to find a long term solution. Hence, I am grateful for Dada Dharma of Ananda Marga Wellness Center, Chiropractic doctor, Dr. Dave Israel Cirujano, and Dr. Tam Mateo for the knowledge they imparted to me.

Dr. Dave Israel Cirujano:

He said that headaches and migraines are manifestation of hyperacidity in the stomach. So, one must focus on the stomach, not on the headache because when the hyperacidity is corrected, the headache or migraine will go away.

Dada Dharma:

To ease hyperacidity, drink plenty of water and eat only when really hungry. Eat only fruits and vegetables cooked in water. Do not eat animal products since they are acidic and will aggravate the acidity in the stomach.

In Dr. Tam Mateo seminar:

When suffering from headache or migraine, drink about 1/2 cup of water every 15 minutes until the headache goes away.

Try it. It works better than the medicines I had been taking.

Cooking Meat

rosalie — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:02:37 +0000

When cooking commercial meat (meat that is not organic), I needed to find ways to at least remove some, if not all, the chemicals that the meat has.

As we all know, commercial raising of pig, cow, and chicken, involve commercial feeds, antibiotics, and other chemicals to keep the animals healthy, lean (with least fat), grow fast, pestilence free, and bug free. These chemicals are retained in the meat that we buy in the market or grocery, which we ingest (un)knowingly.

So after much experiments, I have found a way to remove some of these chemicals before I cook them. Before cooking the meat to my planned dish, I boil the meat for 5 to 10 minutes, remove the meat, then discard the water. I boil fresh or frozen pork and beef, bacon, and chicken.

If my dish requires water, I boil the water first before putting in the boiled meat. If the dish requires marinating, I marinate it first then fry. Or I fry immediately and season in the skillet. Works everytime.

The pork is boiled for 5-10 minutes. Then water is discarded.

I boil another water then added the pork. Then cook to planned dish.

At least, this is a healthier version of meat because organic meat is available 2 hours drive away.

Facebook Fatigue

rosalie — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:01:14 +0000

June 14, 2011

I just read this news. Let’s see when I will shutdown my account. Until my family and friends are on Facebook, I will be there, too.

Facebook ‘fatigue’ strikes as millions shut accounts globally

London, June 14 (ANI): Privacy threats and fatigue has led 1lakh Britons and six million users in the US to shut down their Facebook accounts, with the same pattern expected to follow in other countries too.

Facebook’s growth rate has slowed for a second month in a row, ironically, when the social networking site was aiming to reach its goal of one billion active users.

Canada saw a fall of about 1.5 million users of the website, while in Russia and Norway numbers fell by more than 100,000 users.

The company is now relying on developing countries to boost its numbers.

Blogs are abuzz with speculations that the website could one day ‘sputter into oblivion,’ fearing the fate of its failing rival MySpace.

There is a point at which the site can no longer grow, once it has established itself in a country, according to Eric Eldon, from the website ‘Inside Facebook’, which obtained the figures.

“By the time Facebook reaches around 50 pc of the total population in a given country, growth generally slows to a halt,” the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

Internet psychologist Graham Jones has predicted that Facebook users would suffer the same kind of ‘fatigue’ that comes whenever men and women get bored with trying anything that is new.

“People get terribly excited about something new and after a while the novelty wears off,” he explained. (ANI)

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/facebook-fatigue-strikes-millions-shut-accounts-globally-075248951.html

Baking Is This Easy?

rosalie — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:04:27 +0000

June 14, 2011, Whitecourt AB

Yes, it is my first time to bake. Not because out of interest but because out of necessity.

I need to bake using no eggs and other allergy reactive ingredients because I am allergic to them. I just have my ultimate allergy breakout so I need to be careful. We bought the ingredients and some utensils and it cost about C$80.00. I still have some of the ingredients so I can use those the next time I bake.

The preparation: Look good to feel good.

Just like going to work, wearing earrings and a watch make one feel good. The earrings are a gift from Izel. The watch is my C$15 jeans watch which is practically cheap considering that where I work the cheapest Guess watch costs C$95.

The recipe is a must.

Another must is getting all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Chopping the dates for the carrot cake.

All the ingredients for the blueberry muffins.

Cooling the boiled mixture. After which all the ingredients for the carrot cake will be mix together.

The blueberry muffin batter.

The carrot cake batter.

Baking at 375 degree F. The muffins for 22 mins. while the cake for 40 mins.

Beautiful. I need to buy additional muffin pan.

But it is burnt! It is supposed to be 22 mins. but when I pierced it with a toothpick, some batter was on the toothpick so I added 2 mins. Next time, it will just be 22 mins.

Still enjoying it with a big glass of orange juice.

Beautiful. Just 40 mins. this time, no additional minutes.

Delicious!

Transfer to containers for storage. This will be my lunch tomorrow at work.

Finally, tidy up.

Who would have guessed that I baked two items on my first baking session. I kind of like it. It makes your mind focus on something just like reading a novel. Yes, baking is easy. To breeze through like a pro, just prepare the ingredients and utensils before starting. Techniques will be learned along the way.

However, the unappealing part of baking is tidying up. Nevertheless, I will continue baking not because of interest but because of necessity.

“Summer Wine”

rosalie — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:46:41 +0000

It was about 5 years ago that I heard this song. I liked it so much that I listened to it for several times in a row everyday until I have perfected the melody when I sing it. And ever since, I sing the song when I go videoke.

Below is the video in youtube.com:

The 1967 version by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQiDs9tKZv4

The version by The Corrs and Bono: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj6nhpC5Qbo

Celebrating Our 10th Wedding Anniversary in Canada

rosalie — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:39:40 +0000

June 1, 2011 is our 10th wedding anniversary and my husband’s 42nd birthday.

Yes, we got married on his birthday. The reason is obvious. So that he will always remember our wedding anniversary. Also, so that he will remember his birthday because he tends to forget it.

It is a blessing to celebrate this occasion with family in a continent half the world away from home. My cousin, Amor, and my husband’s cousin, Izel, are in Calgary, so we drove down there on May 30, 2011. We are in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada, a 5-hour drive from Calgary, so it was tiring to travel under the heat of the sun late in spring. So, on our drive back home, we set out at about 6:00 p.m. to avoid the blistering heat while on the road.

We had two celebrations. The first one was an advance party on May 30. The food was sponsored by Izel. Izel could not join the June 1 party since she will be starting her new job on that day. After dinner, we went to play bowling then off to play billiard. The bowling and the billiard were sponsored by Richard. Nevertheless, the June 1 celebration was a gaily one, too.

Our special thanks to Richard and Amor, who not only opened their home for us to stay but also sponsored the June 1 celebration.

May 30: Cake from Izel

That is my 10th wedding anniversary ring.

Izel

KFC from Izel. Izel also brought a big bottle of champagne. But due to the rush, we forgot about it.

From left: Izel, me, Fregion, Jeremy, Elsa, Amor

Me and Dear

Fregion and Izel

After dinner, ready for bowling and billiard.

Amor and me at the bowling center.

Elsa, me, Izel

Well, this is not my strike. This is my husband’s strike.

Richard and Fregion. Richard joins bowling tournaments, so he gets many strikes.

Richard and Fregion at French Maid billiard center.

Amor playing billiard. At the background from left: Jeremy, Elsa, Richard.

Fregion and Amor. Contest?

Dear and me

Amor and Richard

Well…

Hmmm…

Jeremy, Elsa, Amor

June 1, 2011 after the 9:00 a.m. mass at Saint Bernadette Catholic Church.

Fregion, Fr. Newton, me, Amor

Richard, Fregion, Fr. Newton, me

Outside the church

Outside the house of Richard and Amor

Cooking

Balloon blowing by Elsa. Thank you, Els. There is an air compressor available however Richard and Fregion took too long to get the lechon. When they arrived, the balloons are all ready.

This lechon is C$250. Thanks to Richard.

This is Cebu style lechon. Spices are put inside the stomach cavity. Though cooked in oven, it tasted very near to the famous Cebu lechon.

10 years of being married to the same man does not diminish the excitement, the thrill, the fun when we are together. We still feel thrilled when we wait for any “dates” that we are planning. We have develop a deep relationship as spouse, friend, confidante, and much more. Yes, we have our downs but we do not linger on pain, anger, and frustrations. We discuss situations like we are in the board room full of investors in the corporate world. We share laughter, idealism, philosophy about life, God and religion. We acknowledge our differences and give room to breath. Mostly importantly, we trust and respect each other though not spoken but expressed, seen, and felt.

A toast to all couples who love being married to the same person year in and year out.

My Best Investment

rosalie — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 15:09:31 +0000

June 4, 2011 (Alberta time)

As of today, below is the update of my portfolio:

Company code: I bought in this price: Today’s price (I can sell the stock in this price):

AP P 16.7014 P 29.6000

JFC P 56.7224 P 88.4000

TEL P 2,687.9060 P 2,358.0000

Overall GAIN/LOSS: 34.20%

The stock market is my best investment ever.

My broker is CitisecOnline: https://www.citiseconline.com.ph/final2/b_home_new/home.asp

My Favorite “Guilty Dog”

rosalie — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:38:43 +0000

Every time I see this video, I always laugh like it’s the first time I’d seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kLdO3EsECs

And I miss my dogs:
Jenny

Jenny & Tiny

Blogging in Canada

rosalie — Wed, 04 May 2011 02:15:58 +0000

I just began my blog “Canada Through Asian Eyes”. When I started, I remember that I still have lots of things to blog for my “Cebu Philippines”. Now I’m doing 2 blogs simultaneously. Rosalie’s Blog is my original and personal blog and I’ll try to blog here again regularly.