Been seeing this insect for a couple of times this season … no idea what that is!
But really interesting … this insect’s name’s got me bugged!

Ever since I was a young girl I have always been interested in animals (including insects, too!). I remember, I used to play with our dogs - we had nine dogs at one time! - the whole day during weekends, also together with our cats. Our cats and dogs didn’t fight those days. In fact, sometimes they take naps together! Those early interactions with our pets could have greatly encouraged me to take veterinary medicine as an adult, and I’m glad I made that decision. Honestly, I couldn’t have taken another course that time, and I was so happy when I passed and got accepted at the university of my own choosing. I’m glad I graduated from that course, since now I know and understand how important proper nutrition and management is for our loyal pet friends.

Petsmart.com Coupons is a good place to go online if you want to find stuffs for your pet, like toys, leads, and even a wireless instant fence! What I also like about the site is that they have a smart nutrition selector so that you will know the ideal nutrition for your pet. Browsing through the site is really easy since it is categorized depending on what kind of pet that you have, or plan on having. If you have a pet (or plan on getting one), do check out Petsmart.com and see what goodies you can give to your loyal pets as a gift or treats. The site’s got lots of choices so I’m sure you’ll see one that you know your pet will love!

They have a site which is dedicated to helping save animals, too, and it’s called PetSmart Charities. I think that’s really great and we should support it whenever and however we can. They have saved 3,113,597 lives as of September 22, 2007. Really commendable!

this is one of my fave foods … though it certainly isn’t healthy if you eat too much! Still, it doesn’t hurt if i know the recipe, right?!
got the recipe here.

Crispy Pata Recipe

Preparation & drying: 4 hours to 1 day

Estimated cooking time: 20 minutes

• 1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)

• 1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)

• 4 tablespoons of flour

• Enough oil for deep frying

• Enough water for boiling

• Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.

• Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.

• On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

• Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.

• After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.

• In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.

Hubby and I used to make it a point to buy a bottle of red wine everytime our stock (which was just basically a bottle or two) ran out. We don’t drink it daily, though. Mostly only on special occasions, like a birthday, an anniversary, or a special date. Sometimes we also bring a bottle everytime a friend decides to host a dinner or a cookout, and that’s why we like to keep a bottle or two in the kitchen cabinet, just in case.

However, our kitchen cabinet sometimes gets filled up, and so the wine bottles take the back seat. That was when we thought of buying a good quality wine rack. An online store, aptly called The Vine Store, came highly recommended.They have a wide range of wine racks; like wood (really liked their Bentwood wine rack model), metal (their Wrought Iron-Bottle Bunch design looks really classy), hangging, wall mounted, wine rack furniture (if you want to store not just your wine, but also the glasses; their La Cage Au Vin model under this category looks really great!), specialty wine racks (love their Chef Presents Bottle Holder design!), and commercial wine racks.

They certainly have a great list, and I love the pictures on their site, too! But wine racks aren’t the only products that they have on their website; they also have wine glasses, wine corkskrews, wine guides, and a list of other stuffs pertaining to wine. Loved the site! No wonder they came highly recommended!

Paypal in the Philippines … yes, there is such a thing!
It was unheard of for the past couple of years, and Paypal only arrived here in the Philippines around October of last year … that’s almost a year ago! Unfortunately, paypal here in the Philippines is limited; you CANNOT receive and withdraw money from your account. You can only send money. I dunno, but that doesn’t seem fair … our money is leaving the country! Oh well, I am no economist so maybe there is something more behind the situation. Maybe it’s a test thingy, or something. But don’t quote me on that, or anything … like I said, I’m no economist.

I found this site (actually, months ago!), Paypal Now!, where you can sign/add your name if you want Paypal support here in the Philippines to be like in the United States; you can RECEIVE, WITHDRAW (for me the two most important parts! hehehe), and SEND money.

I know a lot of entrepreneurs would love the idea of having full Paypal services here in the Philippines … so let’s all sign up and hope that Paypal will take notice. That is, if they haven’t noticed it yet.

ps. this is NOT a paid post, ok?

Being thankful doesn’t come easily to some people, and I am like that at times, too. Sad isn’t it? But I’m slowly (but surely, I hope!) trying to be thankful in everything that’s been happening around me … and here is a short list of what I’m thankful for these past few days:

• … it is with God’s grace that I wake up each day, ready to face a new day
• … seeing my son recovering from the colds
• … having the time to do what I love doing: blogging (and get paid for doing it! lol), dabble with my shots using different softwares, taking pictures, reading, and spending quality time with my family
• … being sorrounded by family (I’m always thankful for their support and guidance)
• … and having ample time to be just alone with my thoughts.

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.
Woody Allen

Thankful Thursday is being hosted today by Iris over at her blog, Sting My Heart.

TTags:thankful thursday, snippets, lifesnippets, maiylah

i was in a hurry to finish the book … i didn’t cook lunch. had burger, fries, and chicken delivered.

Yup, i did finish the book. Loved it. though some parts in the story really made me sad.

but I guess that’s how it should be … someone should die. oh well. i liked that character. my son does, too!

know who that is?
well, not many of you might know him, but that’s Curt Smith, from the Tears for Fears band. Am one of their fans (yes, i had their cassette tapes during the 80s and I even wrote them a fan mail!!! hahahaha. Thinking about it then … it really was a big deal when they responded with an authographed letter.) Now i don’t know where that letter is! thrown away together with some of my college papers, i bet.

but we move on … well, except for me being their fan.

i found Curt Smith’s page over at myspace.com ..
His partner’s Roland Orzabal … dunno if he has a myspace account.

oh yeah … i think he has one, too.

Funny how internet can make you feel like you have really travelled across space!

Photo courtesy of Curt Smith’s site.

One of my hubby’s former high school classmates, together with his wife and kid, are now living in London. He finds living there enjoyable. He mentioned that sometimes he visits London bars together with some Filipino friends. To find out how to go to the bar (they like to try different bars every once in a while), they use TurstedPlaces.com for directions as well as for the reviews. So far, things are exactly as it is written on the site, and for that they are really grateful!

This weekend we didn’t get to go to the province because my son had to attend a taekwondo promotion test …
He was a lower blue belter before the promotion test; hopefully pretty soon he’ll be in high blue.

Found this interesting site which discusses taekwondo belts, including a humour post about the sport.

Enjoy the start of the week, everyone!

TTags:weekend snapshot, snippets, lifesnippets, maiylah, taekwondo, digiscrapping

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Take a look at the snapshot of the past and you will find almost all of us have used candles for one purpose or the other. Scented yankee candles are famous all over the west for their scents. See a gel candle if you want to see what creativity can be used in candle making. You want a candle that has its design merged with some liquid? Go get a floating candle and cherish its beauty.