To Know If You Are Pinoy!!!

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I have to laugh when I read this. These characters are common to a Filipino, although not all. 

I want to share this to my fellow readers and bloggers. Thanks to the author. 48 Ways to Know You Are Filipino

Dinner with Friends

I can't remember the last time I invited friends for dinner until last night when my husband invited one of my friend with her family to have dinner with us and watch football. It came out that I have prepared too much food and decided to invite some other friends. Hmmm.. Did I intend to prepare more or just because I am a Filipino, known of having enough to eat during parties and can even take home some left overs.
I took a different recipes from last night's dinner with mostly fish (shrimp with garlic, tilapia with tausi, baked stuffed calamaris) and of course some meat for the dutches (babi pangang and beef afritada). I managed to prepare all of these plus complements that they like it. It was a lovely evening with them and hubby was the happiest person with his team that won the football match.

Winter Wonderland

You will hate me as I am one of those who love the beauty of winter. The snow came later this season and I feel so bad that my family were not able to see snow when they had their holiday until late November. It should have been my mom's first experience in snow. Well, I can still let her come next time and hopefully around winter. 

The surrounding is so beautiful, totally covered with snow. Kids and even adults are having fun making snow man, sliding with their sleigh, throwing each other with snow balls, and skating. It is nice to hear and see all those laughters. The only problem here in Netherlands once it is blanketed with snow, chaos on the roads and public transportation are expected. Most buses and trains are not moving and traffics are everywhere. I heard several complains about public transportation and the worst part, less than 50 percent are moving. But the country is not well prepared when it snows. Luckily, my office is about 15 minutes walk from my house. No hassle on waiting the bus. I even took some pictures on my way to work. 

Lechon....!!!

Being in the Netherlands for 6 years now with almost 4 years of not coming back to the Philippines, made me realized that it is not only the place that I missed more but it is also the FOOD. Although I can find most of the ingredients here (thank God I have a friend who owns a Toko that sells mostly of Filipino products), but sometimes the tastes are different.

Just after the Holiday, a friend of mine organized a thanksgiving dinner at her place just to thank all of her friends for the whole years' full of fun and happiness we shared. She knew that most of us missed "lechon/grilled pig" which we can rarely find it here, so she ordered this for our dinner. Unbelievable but yes, 12 people managed to ate 3/4 of the pig. It was ordered from a chinese restaurant through a Filipino contact and they cooked it from a big oven. No wonder it taste lechon but different from what we have in the Philippines cooked traditionally from a coal and the pig filled with spices on the tummy part. 

After so many years of craving lechon, glad I had it early this year. 

Let There Be Sun

It's thursday, free from work and the first time of the year to have a sunny weather with a maximum temperature of 17 degrees. Yohooo, can't wait for summer!!! The sunny day cheered me up despite of the sad news I heard yesterday. My boyfriend also took a day off and came with me to the hospital for some medical test and went to the City Centrum to have lunch. It was wonderful and so refreshing. I cannot imagine how people here in the Netherlands long to have this kind of weather. While walking in the Centrum, I saw a friend of mine so I invited her for a drink. This is now girls time so my boyfriend decided to go home to have some rest after a long day hospital appointment we had. My friend and I did some shopping and end up chatting the rest of the sunny day. Although it was just few hours catching up but perfect to add up the weather.

The Moment of Truth

Everyone has its own favorite. It maybe a thing or a person. Some call it a hobby, other call it as an interest. Few months ago, I was confused on what to buy for my boyfriend as a birthday present. Although he is into music, buying CD is not a good idea because most of the time he gets the latest CD on the first day it is out in the market. Not all new CD's, but mostly for famous artist. Only one thing that is obvious, he is a big fan of Elvis Presley. Before his birthday, he saw it on the news paper that Elvis Presley is going to the Netherlands to have a concert on March. He came home one day and was so excited to share this news. I ended up laughing and even confused.....ELVIS on a concert!??He was long time ago dead. We cannot deny this but if he really comes for a concert, how can they show Elvis singing like a real one. I told him, well this is a perfect gift for you. So I bought 2 tickets for him to an Elvis Presley concert and he can choose either to bring one of his friend or brother, but not me. But lately, he ask me to go with him. Ohhh joy!I am not an Elvis fan, to be honest. But to get rid of this curiosity, I decided to go with him. Tomorrow will be the moment of truth. Elvis Presley live in concert at Rotterdam Ahoy. Well see!!!

The sun is up and so am I!

It was months ago the last time I visited my page. Been busy lately with my job, whom I enjoyed so much despite how hard it was to adjust during the first few months but I managed to get along with my colleagues from different nationalities. Aside from work day to day, I go to school during the night twice a week. Until now, it is so difficult for me to do both things at the same time but I can't give up my studies. I want to finish what I have started and hoping all things go well by this year for my Staatexamen (It is the highest exam to take for a dutch language course where the certificate you get out of this exam is necessary not only to get Dutch passport but also if you plan to enroll courses in a Dutch University).  My friends cannot even figure out and even asking if I still have time for myself. Work, school and even sporting twice a week. Yes, I do still have time for myself. What I am doing is giving time for myself. This is what I like, and this is how I give time for myself. I would rather say that I have more time for myself than spending time for some friends. Having this hectic schedule changed me a lot. I learned to manage my time, efforts able to appreciate all the outcomes, and wishing all plans come in a way I expect them to happen.
Now that I am back, I can't promise to blog as often as I like but I can assure to give help and answers for those who wants to know something about The Netherlands.