Craving for Comfort

It's been raining a lot the past weeks. Rain, rain, rain... rain, rain, rain. I've had that phrase as my gmail status for sometime, in fact.  This year, we've had 12 tropical disturbances, already 2 more than the total last year. Just this quarter - our rainy season -, storms had been so bad, students and sometimes the office work force, had been sent home.

Today is another one of those days. It's rained throughout the night, then when parts of the metro were flooded and filled with commuters sent home after lunch, the sun decided to check us out. Just for an hour or two. Now, it's back to gloomy skies, more rain, and the craving for comfort food!!!

What is it about the rainy weather that makes one crave for comfort food? It's no longer a surprise to read status updates on FB, tweets, blog posts, and google+ posts sharing what one is having for a meal or snack, or craving to have. Here are the top all time comfort dishes posted by my contacts:

• Hot soup - there's Sinigang, Good old Chicken soup or Tinola, Ramen, Wanton Noodle Soup
• Noodles/Pasta - Chinese, Italian, Filipino, the closer to childhood versions, the better. 
• Champorado - porrige made with sticky or short grain rice cooked in rich chocolate. People have posted their favorite variations including grated cheese, dried salted fish. 
• Eggs & Bacon, Pancakes & Waffles, Sausages, French Toast - Breakfast!
• Adobo, Fried Rice, Eggs - all in one plate
• Chips & Dip, Pizza, Ice Cream - Junk Food!  

What is it about comfort food? The warm memories, images of safety, security, love? Do we need all that to feel safe and warm during rainy days like this?  And why does it have to hit us when we're in the mood for nothing else to balance it off, like working out instead of staying in bed or planting ourselves in the sofa for a movie fest.

Since we're now on the 4th or 5th storm in two months, I've been on a long-running pursuit of my very own comfort food.  Arghhh! Just making the list is driving me nuts. And, because I won't drive in crazy rainy weather, I couldn't satisfy every single craving, but I aim to have each of these at least once, while it's raining:

1. Ramen. Every single time my husband asks where I want to eat when we're out, I say anywhere with Ramen. This craving hasn't been fully satisfied, so I'm still on the lookout for the best. I've tried Teriyaki Boy's, Kimono Ken's, Shinjuku's, Ramen Bar's, and Sumo Sam's ... next on my list is Atsu Ramen.

RBS#1 from Ramen Bar... so good, so comforting

Sumo Sam's was not so hot (literally and figuratively)

1. Champorado. I read that Chef Laudico has a Belgian Chocolate Champorado in his all-day breakfast menu at Chef Laudico's BFast. My sister swears by her version of white chocolate. They're both on my checklist. 
2. Chicken Inasal. Chicken roasted on an open pit or grill, Bacolod or Ilonggo style. I've tried about four "best" places, and I have to give it to Oscaritos near ABS-CBN, with JT's a close second. Mang Inasal makes me sleepy and since I'm not much of a rice person, I see no thrill about the unlimited rice offer.
3. Eggs, Bacon, French Toast. For someone who gets up late in the mornings, breakfast is my all-time favorite meal of the day. Weird, I know. This I can prepare myself. With organic eggs, bacon slow-cooked to a crisp, French Toast made with Brioche and soy milk, and spread with either strawberry jam or Nutella.



Laksa at ToastBox. Come to me, mama.



4. Laksa. This is one comfort dish that isn't easy to find. There are excellent versions during Singapore month in hotels and restaurants, but on a whim? It's not exactly excellent good enough in Orchard Road in Mega Mall, and I have yet to try the one at ToastBox in Trinoma Mall. Better yet, why not try one from Singapore's Street Market? That is in the works *fingers crossed*. 

While most of these remain cravings, I will do my best to substitute, as I have often done -- preparing a version or turning to cold baby carrots instead of these warm, comforting dishes. In the meantime, I will find comfort in knowing I won't be putting on an extra 10-15 pounds eating every single craving every single time it hits me.

Note: When I finally get to satisfy the child in me with a sampling of these dishes from my target establishments, I shall update this post with better photos. 

Event Giveaway Keepers

I just got my nth USB flash drive at a press conference today. How did I get x number of flash drives (when I was just planning to get one 3 months ago)? It was the giveaway. It is the giveaway du jour at events, media launches, and conferences. Here are some:

flippers. Simple metal, or
encased in leather for some elegance

shaped  like a their product

ball point pen and laser pointer, too

I've received really funny, inane, useless, and creative stuff, but I'm liking the current trend. We've at least moved on from mugs, and for that alone, I do not complain. Here are my top 5 fave giveaway items, so far.

1. USB flash drive 
2. iPod (who wouldn't appreciate that)
3. Notebook (the paper kind, double points for unlined ones)
4. Pen or umbrella (at the rate I lose them)
5. Coffee

There's always a reusable tote or even gift certificate, which is a hit whenever it's part of the swag bag, but where's the fun in those? For a PR person like me, who also gets the chance to be at the receiving end when covering a story for a publication, I'd say go for an item that will work double-duty. The item should:

1. make an impact. "So cute!!!" is ok. It's an impact.
2. be useful. Otherwise, it'd get thrown into the same hole as those glass swans or even mugs. The iPod... no-brainer, but what made it work? The organization's video and playlist were already in it. Smart! Same with flash drive; these were loaded with the press kits.
3. be related to the product, service, organization being promoted or introduced. I mean, why give a paper fan if the product is an ISP?
4. be the product itself, if a product or bunch of products are the focal point of the event or launch. Let the receivers get a whiff, taste, experience... you know? Hit two birds with one stone.
5. be branded. Put a stamp on it as a reminder. Make it a mini something like that USB flash drive shaped like a tire from this tire company; branded, of course. 

I'm looking at this latest addition to my growing collection of USB flash drives. It's different, and it's a USB flash drive, and these days, one can't get enough of these handy-dandy items. The uniqueness factor is icing on the cake or a piece of string the organization that gave it away just tied around my finger to remember them. For those two reasons alone, they're keepers. But I still want the Hello Kitty one I saw recently.

Holy Week with a Twist

I spent nearly the entire Holy Week in a hospital this year.

Being independent and autonomous, not foolish.

When asked to describe myself I would always point out something that has become very obvious to me, I've acknowledged and accepted it. I am a jill-of-all-trades. That's fab, I mean, what can you not do as long as you're willing?  Unfortunately, this multi-tasking bit habit comes with quite a trade-off.

Coffee Lover, ergo Coffee Paraphernalia ADDICT?

Does it follow that if one loves coffee, she'd love whatever comes with having that cup of brew as well? And if that same person needs coffee as much as she wants it, she'd be addicted to paraphernalia, too? I don't always buy coffee paraphernalia, but I can't resist lingering over coffee makers, stuff with coffee print, design, flavor, and scent, as much as I can't help stopping when I see cups and saucers and mugs. And, I have to confess that I was once actually obssessing over using the right measuring spoon for my coffeemaker.

The Trouble with Writing

Actually, the trouble I encounter happens when I write, not with writing in general. I once posted this bit years ago in another blog:

Tech love

Like I said in my last post, I welcome technology and enjoy it. What has it done to my life for me to feel this way?

Old School

I wonder why, in the midst of today's tech advances, the phrase "old school" has been going around a lot.

Building the "independent" status

Always cover your *ss.  That was the stern and sober advise I got from a friend who helped get me started in a new line of work, which would turn out to be my career till today. His admonition turned out to be words of wisdom that applied beyond the point we were then discussing. It has helped me throughout my journey towards working independently, also known as "freelance".  A dream and work scheme that I had for quite some time, and which sort of just happened to suit what would be my lifestyle.

Staying on Track

"Just claim it and it somehow becomes yours," a friend once shared when I asked how she bought the house she was dreaming to one day own. I wished it were that simple. 


Then she elaborated: she would pass the house day after day, claim it, then dream about it obsessively. Then it became hers... in a nutshell. Very Rhonda Byrne in "The Secret".  For me, though, more simplistic:  very Wayne Campbell in "Wayne's World": 

"It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine."

better late than never

I haven't had time to plan because the New Year's festivities combined with my allergic rhinitis really got to me. Nevertheless, in my head, I was formulating my personal goals and plans for the year. It's never too late and one doesn't really have to begin in January, or am I just rationalizing? Nah, I belong to the better-late-than-never crowd. So, technically, even if I had nothing down on paper, which is the ideal, I've had the following going in my head and setting my directions for the year (remembering, of course, the fundamental principle of setting goals that are measurable, realistic, and specific):

Who's name is that on your cup?

This is something I wrote seasons ago. I can let it go, but it's something I'm a bit finicky about and it continues to happen often enough for me to notice.  Like today. Short of ranting, let me re-post this edited version from my other web space.

A brother of mine gives the name Richard when he orders coffee at Starbucks. It's not his name -- in fact, far from it.  Apart from privacy issues (like not wanting his name to be shouted out in a public place), he uses it because his name is often misspelled or mistaken for another "off" name. Richard is safe, I guess.

reading time

Still on the fresh-start/new-chapter mode, I have to point out one observation. While I read a lot of books in 2010 (more of that in another post), it felt like I had less time for reading because it took me more time than usual to finish most of the books I did get to read.  Could it have been that...

• I'm becoming a slow reader?
• I'm losing interest in books?  *gasp*  Noooo!
• I'm overloaded with work?  Show me the money, haha!
• I'm becoming busier with homemaking and parenting? 

In fairness, these books happen to be long.  But that's another point altogether.

Resolutions: should I bother?

 

I needed two cups of freshly brewed espresso to begin day one of 2011. After a quick review of my previous years' resolutions and what had become of them, I made a mental note not to make a New Year's resolution.  Yeah, right.  Many of us do anyway, deep in our minds.  Secretly.  How can anyone pretend New Year is just another day? I can't. Just too much celebration and revelry. And there's something exciting about starting fresh.  But I have a problem with fresh starts sometimes.  Beginning a new year for me is like: