Award from Dakilang Tambay....

This one's from Dakilang tambay....! Thanks....! I would like to share this with some of my blog-friends, to Redlan, Mrs.T, Mari, Zj, Karmi, Kulay, Ladyracer, Mel, Marie, Luki, Genny, Honey, Julai.... Happy Valentines Day all....!

Happy Valentines Day....

It's valentines day around the world, hindi ko alam basta naisipan ko lang na subukang i-trace ang mga iba't-ibang kaugalian at traditions sa iba't-ibang panig mundo, so i came up with these few.... Since i'm here now in downunder, i will start this with the old australian ways and custom.... This is going to be a long one, sorry guys....! =D

AUSTRALIA - During the Australian gold rush period, miners who were suddenly in possession of money from the new-found wealth of the Ballarat Mines were willing to pay a princely sum for elaborate valentines and merchants in the country would ship orders amounting to thousands of pounds at a time.... The most extravagent Australian valentines were made of a satin cushion, perfumed and decorated in an ornate manner with flowers and colored shells.... Some might even be adorned with a taxidermied humming bird or bird of paradise. This treasure, contained within a neatly decorated box, was highly valued, being both fashionable and extremely expensive....

AUSTRIA - Austria has some rather obscure courtship customs that may or may not be associated with Saint Valentine's Day.... Nonetheless, it is customary for a young man to present his beloved with a bunch of flowers on February 14....

AMERICA - In the United States of America, there have been many varieties of cards given over the course of the years, some of which have often been rude or even quite cruel in their humor.... In the times of the Civil War, cards were flagged with rich colors accompanied by patriotic and/or political motifs. Early American valentine cards were especially lithographed and hand-colored, beautiful and distinctive in design, produced with intricate lace paper and decorated with such ornaments as beads, sea shells, cones, berries and all manner of seeds.... Cards were also available decorated with seaweed or moss, in addition to dried and/or artificial flowers, all of which were attached to a string which was pulled and could then be suspended, thereby creating a three-dimensional picture.... Many early American cards were imported from abroad, given the poor quality of American paper at the time which was not particularly suitable for embossing. Today, American children usually exchange valentines with their friends and there may even be a classroom party....

BRITAIN - The poets of Britain have probably penned the majority of the best-loved romantic verses associated with Saint Valentine.... Different regions of the nation celebrate their own customs to honor this day, although the sending of cards and gifts of flowers and chocolates is standard procedure throughout the entire country.... One uniform custom is the singing of special songs by children, who then receive gifts of candy, fruit or money.... In some areas, valentine buns are baked with caraway seeds, plums or raisins....

DENMARK - The Danish valentine card is known as a "lover's card." Older versions of this greeting came in the form of a transparency which, when held up to the light, depicted the image of a lover handing his beloved a gift.... One custom in Denmark is for people to send pressed white flowers called Snowdrops to their friends. Danish men may also send a form of valentine known as a gaekkebrev (or "joking letter"). The sender of this gaekkebrev pens a rhyme but does not sign his name.... Instead, he signs the message with dots...one dot for each letter in his name.... If the lady who receives the card guesses the name of the sender, then she is rewarded with an Easter Egg later in the year....

FRANCE - In France, a custom known as "drawing for" once occurred.... Unmarried individuals, both young and not so young, would go into houses facing each other and begin calling out across from one window to another, pairing-off with the chosen partner.... If the young man failed to be particularly enthralled with his valentine, he would desert her.... As a result, a bonfire would be lit later where the ladies could burn images of the ungrateful sweetheart and verbally abuse him in a loud tone as the effigy burned.... This ritual was eventually abandoned since it left much room for nastiness, ridicule or even outright malice and the French government finally handed-down a decree officially banning the custom.... Elegant French greetings cards known as cartes d'amities, which contained tender messages, were given not totally as a Valentine but chiefly as a result of a fashion which was popular in England at the time....

GERMANY - In Germany, it has become customary for the young man of a courting couple to present his beloved with flowers on February 14.... Valentine gifts in Germany are usually in the shape of love tokens, complete with endearing messages.... However, these are not distributed solely on Valentine's Day, but on any occasion.... Even early German baptismal certificates or marriage certificates were considered at one time to have been valentines, but were more likely simply decorative and pictorial documents which contained lovely verses....

ITALY - In Italy, Valentine's Day was once celebrated as a Spring Festival, held in the open air, where young people would gather in tree arbors or ornamental gardens to listen to music and the reading of poetry.... However, over the course of the years, this custom steadily ceased and has not now been celebrated for centuries.... In Turin, it was formerly the custom for betrothed couples to announce their engagements on February 14.... For several days ahead of time, the stores would be decorated and filled with all manner of bon-bons....

JAPAN - In Japan, Valentine's Day is celebrated on two different dates.... February 14 and March 14. On the first date, the female gives a gift to the male and on the second date.... known as White Day and supposedly introduced by a marshmallow company in the 1960s...the male has to return the gift he received on February 14.... Thus, strictly speaking, a Japanese female has the luxury of actually choosing her own gift. Chocolate is the most popular gift in Japan.... However, since most Japanese females believe that store-bought chocolate is not a gift of true love, they tend to make the confection with their own hands....

KOREA - The traditional gift of candy takes place in Korea on February 14, but only from females to males.... There is another special day for males to give gifts to females and this is celebrated on March 14. Very similar to the custom in Japan, March 14 in Korea is known as "White Day." On "White Day," many young men confess their love for the first time to their sweethearts. For those young people who have no particular romantic partners, the Koreans have set aside yet another date.... April 14, also known as "Black Day." On that date, such individuals get together and partake of Jajang noodles, which are black in color, hence the name of the day....

SCOTLAND - In Scotland, Valentine's Day is celebrated with a festival. At this festival, there is an equal number of unmarried males and females, each of whom write their name (or a made-up name) on a piece of paper which is then folded and placed into a hat, one hat for the ladies and one for the men.... The females then draw a name from the hat containing the men's names and vice versa.... Of course, it is highly likely that the two drawn names will not match, in which event, it is usually expected that the male partner with the female who selected his name.... This rite having been completed, the company split up into couples and gifts are given to the ladies.... The females would then pin the name of their partner over their hearts or on their sleeves.... A dance often follows and, at the end of the festival, it is not unusual for marriages to take place.... According to another Scottish custom, the first young man or woman encountered by chance on the street or elsewhere will become that individual's valentine.... Valentine's Day gifts in Scotland are frequently given by both parties in the form of a love-token or true-love-knot....

SPAIN - In Spain, it is customary for courting couples to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and for husbands to send their wives bouquets of roses....

TAIWAN - Valentine's Day is celebrated in Taiwan on February 14, but there is also a special Valentine's Day on July 7 of the lunar calendar, based on an ancient Chinese folktale.... Both dates are equally as important.... Many men purchase expensive bouquets of roses and other flowers for their sweethearts on these days.... According to Taiwan tradition, the color and number of the roses holds much significance.... For example, one red rose means "an only love," eleven roses means "a favorite," ninety-nine roses means "forever," and one hundred eight roses means "marry me."

PHILIPPINES - And of course in The Philippines, valentines day (araw ng mga puso) is one of the most anticipated day of the year.... Couples may start by planning their own special ways of celebrating it days before february 14.... Like the western ways , we also give valentines cards and red roses, maybe go see a movie together, or simply watch the beautiful sunset by the bay.... In the old days, whenever there's a maiden in town, everyday is a valentines day.... Men comes at night with their guitars and a bucket-full of songs, dressed up in probably the best ever clothes and pair of pants and shoes that they could find in their father's closet to serenade (harana) a pretty maiden by her bedroom's window.... If he will be successful, then comes the asking for the girl's hand or asking the parent's permission (pamanhikan) and blessings to marry the girl.... If the parents specially the father will aggree, then the groom to be still have to undergo a month or two of hardships, serving the girls family by gathering and chopping firewoods, fetching water from the well few hundred meters away, farming, feeding the animals in the farm, and so on and so forth like some sort of an initiations for a frat membership ha-ha, isn't that exciting....! To the men, this is the best time to get to know the family and specially the girl better before the wedding proper.... And you know what comes next....! Anyways, these are just a few to give you a little insight on how they do things during valentines day in the other part of the world.... By the way, the picture inset is my latest drawing posted in my Astig Museum early today.... I call this piece Harana.... Ingatz and enjoy your valentines day....! =D

Cable talk....

If you happen to be having some problem browsing through, or worse logging in to your internet connection on your side of the world at the moment, it might be because you are affected by what i've heard in the world news today about the two underwater submarine cables carrying internet traffic under the Mediterranean Sea that were snapped-broken last wednesday, disrupting both business and households half a world away....

Finger-thin cables tie internet together, these lines that tie the globe together by carrying phone calls and internet traffic are just two-thirds of an inch thick where they lie flat and submerged deep on the ocean floor.... The foundation for a connected world seems quite fragile, an impression reinforced this week when a break in two cables in the Mediterranean Sea disrupted communications across the Middle East, India, and neighboring countries....

After watching the new, some questions just popped inside my mind, what if one day, we will totally lose our internet i mean the whole network connections, functions, etc. around the globe in some unknown and unexpected reasons, yung basta na lang itong mawawala at hindi na pwedeng ayusin....? Just imagine how dependent we are to it in almost anything in the present and how destructive, disappointing, depressing, devastating, shattering feeling it is not being able to log-in to your internet service when you really need to use it but unable to do so for even just a night....! Feel mo hindi ka halos makatulog di ba....? How much more kung worse-case scenario, tuluyan na talagang itong mawawala....!

Lalong-lalo na dun sa mga talagang na-adik na dito, yun ang mga moments na daig mo pa ang na-basted ng syota sa sobrang pagkabigo....!

Pepe: Pre, hindi ka makatulog at wala kang ganang kumain, bakit na-basted ka na naman ba....?

Juan: Hindi yun pre, nawalan kasi ako ng internet, magwa-wan week na ngayon, nakaka-depress, magbigti na lang kaya ako pre.... =(

Parang ganun he-he....! Losing the internet would probably change the shape of our lives, and it's not only about the evolution of social media, web 2.0, and microsoft playgrounds being frozen off their existence but everything in it's path that has evolved to be dependant on the web as a hub of business and commerce, source of informations, communication and education....

Masyado na natin itong niyakap at minahal sa ating buhay na halos naging isa na rin ito sa mga importante nating pang araw-araw na pangangailangan at bahagi na ng lahat halos nating ginagawa.... Sino ba sa atin ang mga adik sa texting dyan....? Di ba ang mobile phone networks ay gumagamit na rin ng mga web networks....? Well, isa na rin yan sa maaapektuhan, a lot of businesses etc, plus masa-shutdown na rin ang Bombo Radyo's Star FM na paboritong-paborito ko pa naman at palagi ko ditong pinakikinggan through the power of the internet of course kaya umaabot hanggang australia ang signal nya, at madami pang iba.... So ngayon, matanong ko naman kayo, how do you think you would live and survive in a life without the internet in it....? KAYA MO KAYA....?! Parang variety show a he-he....! TAKE THE CHALLENGE....! =D

An Excellent award from Mrs.T....

I've just received another award again last week from always and ever thoughtful na si Mrs.T....! Medyo nahuli lang ang pag-post ko dito Mrs.T kasi napaka-busy po ni ako ngayong mga buwan plus the pa-impress effect to the boss pa dahil may ginagawa kaming silent campaign ngayon (silent campaign, ano yun nangungunsensya....?) to convince the management to bring back the overtime kasi napakahirap talagang mag-cope up sa mga gastos, budgets, bills, etc kung wala yun....

Alam nyo, there's something right about this award kasi my real name behind the stage of blogging actually starts with the letter "E"....! Opo, kaya tamangtama tong award na to sa'kin....! Kayo na ang bahalang mag-isip dyan kung anong pangalan yun na starting with the letter "E", sigurado naman akong hindi nyo kayang hulaan ha-ha....!

Pasensya na rin pala kung medyo hindi ko masyadong naasikaso ang mga comments, tags, and messages nyo lately kasi busy lang talaga ako sa mga rackets ko sa buhay kaya weekend lang talaga ako makakapag-blog ng matagaltagal.... Meron naman computers sa trabaho kaya lang hindi ko masyadong ginagamit at mahirap nang ma-overload ng spams ang server ng kompanya at ako ang mapagbintanagan, nakasalalay yata ang propisyon at laman ng wallet ko dun he-he....! Anyways, just keep dropping by at sisikapin ko rin na sagutin lahat ng mga messages nyo pag-weekend pagkatapos kong maglaba at mamalantsa....!

Oi, advance happy valentines day pala sa lahat, o ano nakahanap na ba kayo ng mga dates nyo....? Pagwala ka raw kasing date sa valentines day, tawag sa bisaya nyan ay "bingkong", ewan ko kung paano at saan nag-originate ang word na yan para dun sa mga bigong puso sa araw ng mga puso, pero ang ibigsabihin ng word na yan sa tagalog ay "pilipit", pilipit na tansan o pilipit na coins, basta kahit na anong pilipit ha-ha....! Pilipit na puso siguro....! By the way, i will try to post something good on that day and it should be unique, maybe something bizarre again.... Have a great weekend everyone....! Ingatz all....! =D

Enter the Surprise Chef....!

Since i woke up this morning ay medyo may cravings na ako na kumain ng chips, normally heavy breakfast ang first thing na iisipin ko sa umaga like fried rice and scrambled eggs with sweet chilli sauce, fried fish, and coffee, or kahit tiratirang ulam sa gabi, best one is adobong baboy, pero kahit na anong tira ay okay na okay na wag lang balat ng saging....! Kaya lang kanina talagang naglalaway ako pagnaisip ko ang potato chips at ang fried onion rings.... Wala naman akong mahagilap na kahit anong chips dun sa kusina kasi hindi naman pala ako nakapag-shopping nitong nakaraang linggo....


Dahil na rin siguro sa quote na, " Necessity is a Spur to Ingenuity and the Mother of Invention " daw ay naghalungkat ang Pepe ng mga kung ano-anong sangkap at nagamit ko pa tuloy ang mga tinatagong natutunan nun sa Boy Scout ha-ha....! Oi, wag kayong tumawa dyan, Outstanding Boy Scout yata ako nung araw....! Ayun na nga, nai-apply pa tuloy ang mga kunting nalalaman pagdating sa initiative dahil naman dun sa sariling quote din nya kuno.... Akala nyo kayo lang marunong mag-quote ha....! Eto ang original Pepe's quotation, " Katamarang mag-shopping is the father naman of few other inventions " may mother na kasi kaya father naman sa'kin....!


To make the story short dahil maraming nagsasabing very long daw ang last entry ko ay naghalungkat na nga ako sa cupboard ng mga sangkap at eto ang mga nahalungkat ko at ilang deadbol na ipis, yuks....!

Ingredients:

1 cup water,

3 eggs,

1 cup bread crumbs,

1/2 cup flour,

2 spoonful of fried-dried onions minced (wala kasing makitang fresh),

salt, and pepper,

1 tbsp. minced shallot (dahon ng sibuyas),

vegetable oil,

Here's how:

All you have to do is to mix all the ingredients in a bowl tapos haluan ng minced shallot at inilagay sa plastic bag na tulad nung sa icing bag, tapos butasan ang dulo like what you do when eating an ice candy.... Kung kaya mo nang kainin at sipsipin na lang dun mismo sa bag like the ice candy nga ay hindi mo na kailangan pang magluto he-he....! Makaka-save ka pa sa sabon at tubig panghugas ng wok....!


Dapat din pala siguraduhin mong less than pencil size lang ang mix na lalabas sa butas kaya dapat ay maliit lang ito, then squirt the mixture like crazy sa kumukulong mantika in a spiral motion sa tugtog ng cha-cha, tulad nung ginagawa natin sa pre-school nung panahon ng mga dinosaurs with our pudpod na crayons and one inch long pencils kada art class.... Tapos ihain ito pag-crispy golden gold na (golden na nga gold pa, ay tange) at patuluin sa ibabaw ng isang platitong mani este platito na may tissue paper pala.... Ilipat sa clean bowl, taktakan ng chicken salt, and presto, may instant Fried Onion Spirals ka na Pepe style....! Galing kong talaga, yum....! =D

Nutrition Facts:

High on carbohydrates

High on calories

High on fat

Can be high on cholesterol

Can be deadly in the long run (nananakot)

Masarap pero wag kaining palagi, bad for the heart, wala nang halong pananakot yan ha-ha....! Kung nakita nyo lang sana kung paano sipsipin nung mix ang mantika dun sa wok, nakuw....! Anyways, thanks for your time spent reading my cooking tips today.... Kain muna ako, gutom na sa kaka-typing....! Adios taquitos....! =D

Ang pagbabalik ng astig....!

I'm back wooohooo....! Masakit pa rin ang balikat at leeg pero pwede nang mag-type ng pagong speed lang....! Baka akala nyo hindi ko alam na may mga comments and messages kayong lahat dito ha, i was just right in the background reading and laughing nakikiramdam sa mga kakalugan at kakulitan nyo all along....! =D


Last time i was really feeling so bad on my upper body at hindi talaga kayang mag-typing, naranasan nyo na bang magpapasta ng ipin, ganun ang feeling ko last time na parang may on going na road constructions sa loob ng shoulder ko....! Nature kasi ng work ko, naka-upo buong maghapon, nakasubsob ang mukha sa ginagawa at nakatunganga sa mga folders ng mga schematic diagrams, paperworks, electronic gadgets, electronic components at kung ano-ano pang connected sa electronics na pang mina ng coals sa ilalim ng lupa.... Kaya pala madami kaming stock ng pain-killer sa luchroom dahil dun, ngayon ko lang na-figure-out....! Pero mas okay na lang tong job kesa dun sa mga minero mismo, at least wala akong putik sa katawan, paupo-upo lang buong araw, naka-aircon pag-summer, naka-heater naman pag-winter, at nakakapag-blog pa on our office pc uha....! Yun nga lang ang down side nya, sakit sa ulo at batok but not always....! =D


How's everyone by the way....? Salamat sa lahat ng mga walang sawa at walang tulog na bumibisita dito naks ha-ha....! Oi, matulog naman kayo, wala na bang tulog-tulog dyan sa phils ngayon at kahit bandang 4 'o clock ng umaga ay may natatanggap pa akong mga messages....?! Bakit mo naman alam Peng, hindi ka rin siguro natutulog ano....? Dun sa mga nag-iwan ng mga messages nila at comments at sa mga bumibisita para magbasa, makiki-iyak at nakikitawa sa mga kadramahan at kalokohan sa blog na'to, thank you talaga sa lahat.... Alam ko yan kasi bumi-build up din ang visit records dun sa hit-counter ko araw-araw kahit na kalahati pala nun ay sa'kin....! Aba, big fan din yata ako ng blog ko, conceited....! =D


Palagay ko hindi ko na kailanggan pang i-mention ang mga pangalan nyo dito dahil baka lalong mas na sumikat pa kayo kesa sa akin nyan, kapal....! Hindi, alam ko naman at alam nyo na rin kung sino-sino kayong mga espesyal na mga nilalang sa balat ng lupa at palaging nagbibigay buhay sa munting mundo ko, wag nyong sabihing hindi nyo pa alam kung sino-sino kayo dyan dahil ibang kaso na yan....! I just wanted to tell you all that you'are the most important part of my blogs and i really do whole heartedly appreciates everyone's support.... (hikbi!) (singot!) (lulon!) (singot pa ulit!) (isinga mo na nga yan, kakadiri you naman!)


Anyways, nandito na ulit ang astig at handa na ulit sumabak sa bakbakan, hindi bakabakan ng pandesal na may kuko to kundi bakbakan ng stick bread na may kuko lang....! Ano raw sabi, paki-ulit mo nga Peng....? Nalito yata ako dun a, paki ulit nga ng mga sandosenang beses pa plis....! Happy lang ako na sa wakas pwede na ulit akong mag-react sa mga iniiwan nyo mensahe, hirap nung hanggang basa lang ako talaga kasi parang tortured pala ang pakiramdam nun, sa'kin nga ang site pero ni kalabit man lang sa mga pyesa ng keyboad ay di ko kayang gawin....! Kamot nga ng ilong hindi ko kayang gawin, kalabit pa kaya sa keyboard....!


kinabahan pa nga ako kahapon dahil naalala ko na si David Bowie pala nun nung nagpa-opera sya dahil nangangalay daw balikat nya everytime na tumutugtog ng gitara, yun pala sobrang barado na ng cholesterol ang isang artery ng puso nya kaya medyo nag-worry din si Pepe dahil parang pareho yung case a at medyo napalakas din ang kain ko ng fried french ba yun nung happy new years day, sarap nun para syang strips ng pritong patatas na lasang chicken joy pagpumikit ka....! Ha, french fries ba tawag dun, kala ko kasi fried french ay baliktad....! Buti na lang hindi naman pala ganun kalala at talagang muscle pain lang sya'ng talaga....


At the moment ay medyo okay na ako pero may paminsanminsan pang pagsakit ng balikat at shoulder-blade kapagnapahataw ako ng forehands and backhands ko.... Napasobra kasi panunuod ko ng Australian Open Tennis Game lately kaya yun medyo naki-carried away minsan lang naman he-he....!


Anyways, i'm back and my first plan is to visit your blogs later on kasi madami na yata akong na miss sa mga tsismis ng mga buhay nyo....! Talaga yatang mapapasabak ako ng typing nitong araw na to....! Dapat kasing mag-comment din ako sa mga entries nyo mamaya na hindi ko pa alam kung ano ang mga topics.... Baka kasi sabihin nyo na loko naman tong si astig, binibisita ko blog nya nun at nag-iiwan pa ako ng greet and smiles tapos wala man lang nailagay sa blog ko kahit na dash and dots lang nung nagbalik, mabatokan nga kaya kita, etong dapat sa'yo um....! *toinks*....! Jokes only lang ha-ha....! Wala lang magagalit....! O sige, kitakits na lang tayo mamaya.... Wag nyo lang akong hintayin at baka gabihin si Pepe ng punta he-he....! Ibi-breaking ko muna tong balikat ko para maisabak ng husto sa typing....! Wawoooo....! =D

Pahinga muna ako....

Nanibago lang sa trabaho, buong araw ka ba namang nakayuko at nakatunganga sa mga gadgets and paperworks.... masakit ang ulo, batok, leeg, balikat, likod, left arm, at shoulder blades.... I probably need that snake-spa so badly right now....! Pass muna ako for a while kasi hindi kayang magtagal sa sitting position.... Pahigahiga na lang muna, sana may maimbento nang pc na nakadikit o nakasabit sa kesame para makapag-blog naman ako kahit na nakahiga ano....?

Ito yata ang tinatawag nila sa inglis na oksapyo pwe! pwe! occupational overuse syndrome pala.... Oi, magandang topic yan pagbalik blogging ko sa saturday a....! Makapag-file nga kaya ng compo report para makapag-claim ng cash he-he....! O pano, kitakitz na lang muna tayo sa weekend, bisita pa rin kayo dito syempre kasi babasahin ko pa rin mga messages nyo kahit na hindi ako muna magta-typing.... Babawi na lang ako sa weekend kung kaya ko nang mag-typings ulit.... Ingatz all, be back blogging on saturday....! =D