Posts Tagged ‘my life’

25 Sep

Chopsuey

Posted by renxkyoko in my life, random musings, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , .

Hi !  Renxkyoko Iglesias here , hello !  * waves *

 

I’m calling this post chopsuey because I have nothing specific in mind…… just a mixed bag of  stuff  that’s on my mind at the moment. So , here goes….

 

I went to a 99 cents store to buy kitchen rags and sponges and my favorite scented soap, Palmolive. Of course, we inevitably get to buy other things that do not have to be expensive, such as seasonal Holloween decorations. Then, I saw this……..

 

It is  furniture polish wipes,  but its Warning  states ” Do not use on furniture “, or as personal hygiene , such as  “baby wipes.” Made in China.  I hurriedly left the store. Goshdarnit.  I’m assuming some people over there use this as baby wipes, hence , the warning.

 

The dairy plant where I work is huge. Employees have to drive through 3 gates ( using a remote control ) with road spikes to stop illegal entry. We do allow a few visitors to get in, like the one I encountered at the parking lot.  Please watch video down below ( I’ve done everything to post this video  on its proper place, but it seems it always goes down below. The old WordPress features were easier  to work with. I don’t even have a Preview now. So , yeah, I just   gave up fixing this. )  Anyway, the video shows a light brown fox  near where I parked my car.

 

I finally met a person (  a co-worker ) who thinks he had been abducted by aliens. He acts normal, though….. just don’t let him talk about his alien abduction experience.

 

I’ve been watching on You Tube anything on North Korea for over a year now. To me, the worst thing that these dictators’ family has done is to make zombies and robots out of  their people . Zombies are the undead. They may look human, but they don’t act like one. And the children …..  The way the children smile and act is uniform and robotic. . They look so creepy.  So, Ren, what exactly is your point in saying all these  ?  I won’t tell because you’ll hate me if I do.

 

There is a North Korean video of New York City in nuclear ruins , with the song ” We Are the World ” playing in the backround,….. and North Korean audience applauding gleefully as they watch the video.

” Ah, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. ”

 

And with this, I say, adieu, sweet dreams, and peace and goodwill to all men.

 

Check out my anime/manga/video games blogsite at http://2megaworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 Oct

Job -hunting Update

Posted by renxkyoko in Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , .

Renxkyoko Iglesias  here. Hi !

I didn’t watch the second debate.  While watching the first debate,  I did a juvenile thing …. I threw potato chips at the TV, not to mention  my intestines almost exploded.  Eh.  I don’t need that kind of aggravation in my life.

Hillary

 

So, okay, some of my readers have been asking me about  my job hunting.  Thank you very much for asking.  I did say on my previous post my dream job was  to be a forensics  analyst….. after all,  that’s  one of my majors (  I graduated with 2 majors, Cell and Molecular Biology , Minor in Chemistry, and Forensics Biology. )  I applied as Criminalist 1  two months ago,  took a test,…… unfortunately, it was  an ” experience ” test with questions like ” Have you ever been called as a DNA expert at a court trial ? ”  What the heck !  Of course I haven’t.  So, I didn’t get the job. But I have a question……   I got a Rank 4 and they said  they took in those that got Ranks 1 , 2 and 3 (  with experience , all of them ) but I’d have first priority  if and   when a position opens within the next 2 years.  I told my police officer friend about it….. and she said, ” Congratulations , girl, Rank 4 is  great news.  Just be patient. ”   My question is,  what does getting a Rank 4 really mean  ?  I want to be optimistic . That’s my dream job, after all.

 

Good thing I have another  degree to fall back on.  I actually got so many responses to my applications, but 90% of them are from out of my city……..  LA,  Nevada, San Francisco, Berkeley, etc.  Oh, wait, I even applied  at NSA ( National Security Agency , ha ha ha )  I answered NO to all the questions, except the one on being bi-lingual.  Then the questions got more detailed. Well, never mind. Hey, that’s NSA , okay ? *   zips mouth *

 

I got 2  responses from 2 companies   that are  located in my city….  one from Diagnostics and one from a  dairy company. At Diagnostics, I  didn’t get the job because , believe it or not, I WAS OVERQUALIFIED  in  the position  that I applied for.  That’s one  heck of a reason for rejecting me.

 

Well, good news! ! !  I got the job  at a dairy company.  I am now working  at their   Quality Control department,  checking out for contaminants, microbes….  in other words, the quality of the finished products, duh.   The dairy company manufactures milk, of course, and  ice cream, novelty ice cream products,  cheese,  cream cheese, gosh,even eggnog, and any product that comes from milk. Our milk comes from California cows,  and California cows are happy cows.

 

My work schedule is fluid…  sometimes it is from 12 PM to 8:30 PM….. or  8 PM to 4:30 AM  .  Another good thing about this job is , it’s a) unionized  b)   pay is good, very, very good    c)   it’s just an 11 to 12 minute drive from our house.

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Irrelevant random photos because there should be photos, right ?   I love these ones that I took at Louvre Palace in Paris.  Bet you haven’t seen a photo of Venus de Milo’s  butt.

 

This is all for now.  Thanks for reading, folks !  !

Please check out my anime/manga website  here at http://2megaworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

 

2 May

Random Musings

Posted by renxkyoko in Hillary Clinton, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , .

Renxkyoko Iglesias here, hello !

Before anything else, here are the titles of  the posts, so far, on my anime/manga blogsite, HERE. 

  1. Kimi no Sei manga , 5/10  ( about bullying, where the male protagonist falls in love at first sight with the girl whom he has bullied  and tormented during their elementary years….. female protagonist plans revenge….. you’ll read about my own perspective on bullying)
  2. Anime/ cartoon outsourcing and Philippines’ comics culture
  3. Hiiro no Kakera, 9/10
  4. Gunslinger Girl,  9/10
  5. Golden Time, 5/10
  6.  Moribito, 10/10
  7. My Favorite Animes
  8. My First Time                            There’s so much on my mind right now,  but I promised  I’d avoid politics,  so , what else can I talk about ?   Can I at least say I’m so happy  HC  is the presumptive  Democratic Party candidate  for POTUS ?  Yes ! Yes! Yes!   * happy dance *
  9.                    And why the heck  is my post automatically numbered ?  I have no time to fix this so please ignore the numbers, okay.  Anyways, I’d like to tell you guys that I’ve been working 40 hours for over a year now, not a part – timer anymore, y’know  ? and for some reason, my blog reading time has been drastically reduced.  Also,  I have finally decided to participate at my university’s graduation ceremony, albeit one year late. As you know,  I ‘m graduating  with two majors, 1)  Cellular Biology, concentrating in molecular Biology, 2)    Forensics
  10. Biology, and a minor in Chemistry.   Since I can only  ” walk ” in one major, the chairman of  Forensics Bology has decided  that I walk under her department (  since Forensics Bio is a fairly new department, she wants to have more graduates under her wing. ) Fine !   She did promise she’d write a letter of recommendation for me  to some  law enforcement ‘s  Forensics labs or the Justice department’s own Forensics department. * Don’t renege on that promise, Ma’m.  I’ll hound you. * Seriously.   Anyway,  Graduation Ceremony is on May 21.  Watch  this space.
  11.              Well, this is all for now, folks.  Thanks for reading.
  12.                Hillary

10 Mar

A political rant

Posted by renxkyoko in Hillary Clinton, political rant, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , .

Hi ! Renxkyoko Iglesias  here. * waves *

There are so much I want to talk about that  I don’t know where to begin.

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Believe it or not, I wrote the above  2 days ago.  It’s a good thing  I didn’t write what was on my mind  that time, otherwise I would have gotten myself in trouble.  You see, I  felt like  virtually   punching a certain  politician’s supporters’  faces. But then, we had expected this kind of behavior from the fringe, the far Left and the far Right.  The far Left has overran  all the Democratic Party’s fora, and had the temerity and gall to call  Hillary Clinton all sorts of names, like cunt, corporate slut , whore. It’s cringe – worthy. Majority of them have vowed to never vote for her if she becomes the nominee of the Democratic Party…. all of these on the Democratic party’s  forums.  Omg, these are nasty people. My gawd, how can we expect them to vote for her after all the things they have written about her ?

Do you know what they did  to Dolores Huerta , a well- known Latino activist and a Hillary supporter ?  And you guys are wondering  why poor minorities aren’t with you, despite dangling  FREE STUFF  on their heads ?   You guys knock on doors of poor people , and tell them  Sanders’  going to increase WIC, welfare checks,  food stamps, besides the big  deals like  free insurance, college,  and I don’t know what else  the fuck you guys are promising, and at whose expense ?  You see a minority  opening the door to you,  then  you start peddling  your  free stuff, hoping  they will be seduced .  Well, that’s how    some otherwise   Sanders  supporters  changed their minds.  You just looked down on them.

You actually think  you can  distribute free money  for 300 million people from businesses and rich people ?  You are like climate change deniers.  Almost all progressive economists  are saying  your policies will wreak havoc  on the US, except for one ,from whom your candidate based his economic mumbo jumbo.

Clinton won in Nevada because of the poor but hardworking  union workers’ votes .  They don’t need your freakin’ free stuff…  they need  social justice .  And you guys bash the symbol of   ” real promise” in the  hearts and minds of black folks…. Pres. Obama.  Your candidate had called him weak, another corporate lackey, and wanted him primaried in 2012.  You look down on Obama care . Whatever you guys say about it, it does work.  I have a friend who simply cannot afford insurance for her and her child….. but  she enrolled and qualified  , and is now paying just $24  a month .  She has been told it would increase  with increase in income, as it should be.

Another thing,  you made Cornel West the Black face in your party.  Google the nasty things he said about Pres. Obama.  I heard him on TV.  He was one nasty guy. And another thing, when a group  endorses Clinton,  you call them ” establishment ” .  UFW (  United farm Workers , SEIU ( government workers in California )  Planned Parenthood, LGTB, and others. Planned Parenthood and LGTB are establishments?  You guys bash anyone that doesn’t conform to your ideology.

And do you guys actually  think  your candidate  can do this on his own, once he sets  foot in the White House ?  That’s how you sell your ideology .   Oh, wait… there’s REVOLUTION !!

Politics involves good governance, and compromises. After all,  you’re not only the president of believers of socialist ideology.  You are the president of 300 million citizens with differing persuasions.  Compromises do work. Obamacare works.  Sanders has vowed he will never compromise.  A person who  doesn’t compromise ,  and doesn’t evolve  should not be President.

This is all.  I’m not going to accept  any  shitty  comments, like Hillary =  evil,  , by the way. I’ve had enough of that  crap talking to these people. Not on my blogsite, anyway.

My manga/ anime blogsite.   http://2megworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com

Check it out.

The Democratic Party memo has sent word to Democrats not to  ” displease ” Sanders’ supporters.   Nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 Feb

My Last Day in Paris

Posted by renxkyoko in European trip, France, Louvre Museum, my life, Paris, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , .

 

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Hi, there ! !  Just photos this time. I won’t write much  because it’s Monday, and Mondays s*ck.  Before anything else, those who are interested in reading my manga/anime site, check it out HERE.

Here are some photos of my last day in Paris…. in fact, the last day of my 30 day tour of Europe.

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I had liver pate ( I love liver ), and escargot (  fancy name for snail ).

I need to say  this , though….. tipping in Europe is massive..  We had to tip those serenaders, the waiters, the tour manager, the bus driver.  If you bought a tour package for a certain amount,  never , ever think that’s all you’re gonna spend. Some dinners aren’t free. You can opt out and not join the group, and eat at McDonald’s ,  or pay $ 75 each for a lousy  dinner in Monaco , or $ 70 in Rome. Since my cousin and I didn’t really have money , my mother had to shoulder everything , for herself, for me and my 14 year old cousin.  For the tour manager and bus driver, it was $ 14 tip each day from one tourist, and since it was a 30 – day tour,  the amount totaled $ 420 each person, and since there were 3 of us ( Mom, myself and cousin ),  we had to pay $ 1,260. Take note…. there were 50 of us in the group. Good thing credit card was accepted.  If dinner was at the hotel we were staying in, then it was free. Unfortunately,  the group always ate out , in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris,  Switzerland, Venice.  Even some tours weren’t free, like the  Rheine River cruise, etc. So, be sure to bring plenty of cash. One thing though, we drank wine like it was water, one bottle per person, I kid you not. Every night was Happy Hour.

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And one more thing,  before  Paris, I had this impression  the Mona Lisa painting was huge.  Guess what, it’s small, about a foot and a half  long

 

DSCN2023 I have tons of pics  taken at the Louvre Museum.  The Louvre was the residence of Marie Antoinette and King  Louis XIV.  The ostentatiousness was breathtaking. ” They don’t have bread ? Let them eat cake. ” , said Marie, in response to massive hunger and poverty at that time. No wonder she got her head cut off.

Alright, this is it for now.  Peace .

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My sister , Mom , and I just signed up to work for Hillary.  I walk my talk.

 

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18 Jan

Christmas 2015, better late than never

Posted by renxkyoko in Christmas 2015, Filipino food, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , .

Hi !  RenxKyoko Iglesias is here again ..

Before anything else, please check out  my anime /manga  blog  HERE.  I already have 3 posts over there, but there’s no FOLLOW feature on that blog, so if you’re interested , just click the link  HERE….

I piled on about  7 lbs. of  body fat  during the holiday season.  The perpetrators  were these nasties below…. mango cake and Brazo de Mercedes being the masterminds.

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.Caldereta ( stewed beef  with liver spread ), paella, barbecued spare ribs, fried pork eggrolls ( lumpia ) ,  fresh vegetable  lumpia, turrones ( fried  wrapped  saba bananas ), ham, ube  ( purple yam ) jam, fruit salad, mango cake, cassava cake, Brazo de Mercedes (  it’s the rolled cake in the pic )…. oh, I see a tin of Danish cookies!  I’m sure there’s chocolate pastry  somewhere there. I’m sure of this because I baked it.  Oh, my sister is in the pic, too ! Do you see her ? ” What’s with the pose, Sis ?”

Brazo de Mercedes  (  arm of Mercedes ) and mango cake are very popular cakes in the Philippines. We bought these two from Red Ribbon Bakery, a franchise of this popular bakery from the Philippines.  Brazo de M  is rolled cake with egg custard filling. Super yummy and mango cake is Red Ribbon’s  specialty.  And yours truly cooked the paella, my own specialty.

We heard the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve ( 10 PM , Dec.24 ).  * ponders *  I wonder why Catholics say ” hear Mass ” instead of “attend Mass.”

The Christmas gifts I received  in 2015 were a bit modest compared to 2014.  Well, it’s not about the presents, anyway.  I also know that 2015 wasn’t a great year for  my family, as far as finances were concerned.  We do  have our ups and downs, and last year happens to be a downer. I hope and pray 2016 will be a good year for everyone….. peaceful, productive and prosperous.  * sigh *  I bought 15 Power Ball lotto tickets, then I prayed to all the saints in heaven and promised that if I won, I’d donate one half to charity.  lol   Oh, well, better luck next time, eh ?

This is all for now. Be good. Be nice. Be happy. Peace.

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26 Jun

I’m ranting, oh, yeah !

Posted by renxkyoko in mangas/animes, my life, Random thoughts, relationships. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Hi ! RenxKyoko Iglesias here.

So, my last post was on April 26.  That was exactly  2 months ago.  ( Right, , Captain Obvious).  Now   I won’t give an excuse like I’ve been busy, yadiya, but I do feel I’m starting to lose my muse………. oh, alright, I’ve been busy. I’m putting in at least 10 hours of work everyday, from Monday to Sunday.  I have 2 jobs, you know.  Plus, all my free time is spent watching Netflix, mostly TV series that I never had time to watch when they were on, such as Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Fringe, Medium, 100s, etc., and animes such as Hunter x Hunter,( 100 episodes at 25 minutes per episode  )  Moribito,  and currently Inuyasha , which ends at 193 episode … I finished the whole dang thing  yesterday, at 3 AM. Well, after work is the only time I have, so don’t judge. . I can’t multi task when I watch animes.  They are in Japanese, so I’m  pretty much stuck in the couch reading the English subtitles. About  InuYasha…. it is  addicting. I love all the characters, except, believe it or not, the main character, InuYasha.  He’s a freakin’ moron,  indecisive, and a two-timing scoundrel. I dislike him so much that I feel I just wasted 85 hours of my life watching this character  being   a stupid/ idiot.  Die, InuYasha ! Other than that , the anime is one great fantasy/action/thriller  story.

So, if you’re so busy doing your thing, Ren, why are you posting now ? Well,  something happened a few days ago that made the wheel in my head churning again . My best friend “O” is supposed to get married on July 10, in Southern California ( I live in Northern California ), and I’m a ” witness”  in her court wedding. ( not church wedding ) I already bought my plane ticket, and arranged sleeping accomodations (  lucky to have my brother living there ) …….then 2 days ago, I received a text from O that the wedding was cancelled, permanently.  According to her, her ” fiancé”  has been living a double life  ( they’ve been living together for 2 years ) ,  is actually married, and has a child.  I was dumbfounded.  I hung out with her at their apartment, playing video games (  we’re not even done yet with Resident Evil, we both suck at it ), and yeah, the ” fiancé” was always there. And he was nice.  What the heck.  No wonder he wanted to hold the wedding at a place 600 miles from our city….. I wondered about that…… now I know.  So, when exactly does he plan to drop the bomb before he commits BIGAMY ?  What’s even more mortifying is the fact that  this guy is a police officer ,and a Captain , at that.  My best friend is also a police officer, by the way.  Dang it.  It felt like my own stomach  got  punched, so I cannot even imagine what she’s feeling now.  I don’t know what I can do to make her feel  better, besides trashing and badmouthing  him to death. That scumbag.  I’m not generalizing, folks, but seriously, we women always get the short end of the stick….. my friend and yeah, his wife, too. Worse for his wife, to be honest.  Aaargh !  Oh, man . The heck !

This reminds me of another break- up, but this time, the douchebag is my guy cousin.  He and his fiancée were about to get married….. church schedule already set,  wedding invitations, check, wedding dress, check.  So what happened ? My cousin had a co-worker who had a humungous crush on him since forever.  The woman invited him one day to dinner after work as farewell gift and according to him, a closure on her love. ( my cousin was aware she liked him. ) He obliged….. the problem was, they had drinks too many, and I assume, the woman was desperate, and men being men,  he got her pregnant.   Was the wedding cancelled ? Yes.  Did he marry the pregnant woman, ? No. Though he was threatened with a shotgun wedding by the woman’s family,  he still refused,   ( he consulted  with my  aunt …* my aunt is a judge* ,  regarding legal matters, like , was he legally obliged to marry her, and so forth ) Last news about him was, he and his ex bride got back together, not married yet,  and  he is supporting his child )  .  I met him for the first time at a family reunion when we were in the Philippines last year.  I almost told him, ” hey doosh, how’s it goin’? ”

* sigh *

Be brave and strong, sisters.

That’s all.  Rant over.

 

 

26 Apr

Fun Vacation in the Philippines, Part 5

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, my life, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, Random thoughts, rantings. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Continue reading →

6 Mar

Just my random thoughts

Posted by renxkyoko in Random thoughts. Tagged: , , .

Hello there ! Renxkyoko Iglesias  here.

I’m sure you have not noticed anything amiss about yours truly.  No, not about this blogsite. One post a month is normal for me.

I’ve been busy, and yes, I have not been reading your  blogs for over a week now.  I have an insane  amount of  unread subscriptions, over 10,000, ( majority of which are left-overs from last year, and  perhaps the year  before that, and which I stupidly thought I could go back to and read.  Ha ! ) Well, yesterday, I swept it away to zero. Sorry.

Anyway,  I think the only blogger who has noticed  my absence  is Cassie.  Hi, Cassie ! * waves *  I’d also like to think that she missed my glorious presence on her blog.  No, not the LIKES, but my  dozen or so comments that I post on her blog everyday.  You see, Cassie is a writer, and she posts  daily, excerpts of her on-going story.  I love her story… no, in fact, I’m obssesing on it, and no, I won’t tell what blogsite , because I don’t want more readers to read my comments. Cassie and I argue , and that’s idiotic, isn’t it ? I mean, argue with the author ?  Ha ha ha

She  just finished her first novel.  There’s a sequel, but I don’t know when she’s going to start writing again…. she says she’s resting, * what ? * but  I suspect I tired her out.  he he he.  That’s okay, though. I’ll wait.  I have health issues at the moment, anyway.  Oh, nothing serious… I  ‘m just having a hard time breathing… asthma attacks, you know… my childhood disease that I thought I had outgrown. Well, it’s come back, with  vengeance.

This is all for now.  I’ll post about  my fun vacation in the Philippines soon.  Come to think of it,  I need to write about  the last part of my European tour.  Weird.  It’s on my draft folder,  all ready to be published.  I’ve completely forgotten about it.

Anyway, thanks for reading. PEACE.

 

27 Jan

My Philippine vacation, Part 4

Posted by renxkyoko in Boracay Island Philippines, Philiipine culture, Philippine Heritage, Philippines. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello !  Renxkyoko Iglesias  here.

This is my first post in 2015, and I guess, the one and only post for the month.  I hope I can post more often this year. So, you ask, what’s preventing you from writing, Ren ? You’re not that busy, are you ?  Actually, I am.  I  work full time since I’m on vacation , and I’ve been doing stuff  that I’ve been wanting to do, but couldn’t find the time to do it,  because,  you know, life gets in the way .  Anyway,  my best friend  said, Get out of that nunnery black hole,  Ren !  And  get laid !  Huh ? Uhm, okay. Understood.  So, last week, I binge watched  the anime  Attack on Titan, all  28 episodes of it, and  2 seasons of Doomsday Preppers ( love this ! ). I also watched  Inside North Korea. That’s one heck of a fascinating documentary.  The North Koreans’ behavior  was so bizarre it made the hair in my arms stand on end while watching it.  Well, that’s what brain-washing does to people.  I liken them to the Fundamentalists, of any religion.  What  ? You saw the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in your ham sandwich ? Nope, I’m not going there. I’m a practicing  Roman Catholic. XD

Speaking of which….. Pope Francis just visited the Philippines last week.  The Philippines is the third largest Catholic country in the world.  Well, 90% Catholic in a population of 90 million.  Just a trivia for you.  And,  because  this post is about my fun vacation in the Philippines.

Remember these photos ?

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That’s the before and after photos of our vacation house at Boracay Island, Philippines.
Oh, but we don’t live there. We live in Manila, the capital city… well, Paranaque, specifically.  So from there, we took  a  6 –  hour- ferry ride to Boracay. Could have flown, instead, but it was too expensive. The ferry ride was like 900 pesos ( USD  20 ), and plane fare was Php 4,000.  I won’t bore you with money matters or lack thereof.  But for PhP 900, we got this.

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The one and only meal we had was terrible. Actually, it tasted good, but it looked so unappetizing,  and pitiful. 1/2 cup steamed rice and  3 beef cubes drowning in dark sauce. Good thing our aunt warned us about this. So we made sandwiches, brought some Cheeze-it and Oreos. We left the port at  8 PM  , and arrived  in Aklan  at 4 AM.  Since big ferries cannot dock in Boracay , we had to ride on  a small contraption they call banca.  Anyway, while on the ferry,  the passengers were entertained  by 2 pretty singers and a Minus One.  the singers were good, but they were too loud.

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The banca…. it was a 10 minute ride from one island to another.

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My cousin  , my friend/neighbor,  and I,  sleepless, tired, but none the worse for wear.  We look like refugees.

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That crude contraption is there to balance the banca, and do you see that small  thingy tied to the bamboo pole ? I assume that’s our lifeboat, just in case.  x_x

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There were no furniture in the house, no bed, nothing… just a small electric cooker,   a few stools, and a makeshift table.
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Oh, there’s an eletric fan, and an airbed. But I slept on the mat.

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.The house has 4 floors, ( the 4th is a rooftop garden, with a nice view, ), 7 bedrooms, 4 toilets and bath.  Well, I’m going into details because we’re renting out  the house to tourists.  XD  We’ve been told there are beds already, and a few furniture, and a refrigerator. ( My Mom left some money for a fridge before we left )  So, to my readers from the Philippines, if you plan on going to Boracay, email me.  ( shameless  advertising) )

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A bedroom with a nice view, airconditioned, with its own toilet and bath.

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.A small kitchenette, first floor. The first floor is ” private quarters “… for our family  and has a separate entrance.

We didn’t waste any time, and headed out straight to where the action is.. the beach.  Actually, we rode a tricycle to go there. Our house is about  a 5 minute walk to the beach, but we’re at a “quiet” part of the island.  ( which we preferred , by the way…. but we wanted to see the touristy area. )

A tricycle

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.Actually,  it was more like this.  he he

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.We were packed like a can of sardines. Fun, fun, fun.  My  US – born cousin really loved it.

The last photo is just a glimpse  of  yours truly  at the beach….  a long shot …. well, I don’t want to show my flabs, , pardon me.   ~_~

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This is it for now. … more  Boracay photos on my next post.

Thank you for reading. PEACE !

 

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30 Dec

Our Christmas Fare, 2014

Posted by renxkyoko in Christmas 2014, Filipino food, Happy Holidays, Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , , .

Hi ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here !

Let me  first greet you  a happy, productive, prosperous, and peaceful 2015 ! !

As for me, I think 2015  is the year my life changes, for the better, I hope.  I am a Microbiology   graduate, minor in Chemistry, and this spring, I’ll be graduating in Forensics Science.  2 majors, 1 minor. I’ve already found my mojo, so I think  that’s enough studying. I’ve had it. I’ve covered all the bases. I’m ready to face the world ! ! ! Or not. :/    But then, this post is not about  my future….. it’s about food, and my family’s Christmas celebration.

By the way, I’m sure you’ve all received WordPress’s Annual Report. Oh, my, my total number of posts in 2014 is, ta- da !  13  .  XD   This post makes it my 14th post……. which is a good thing , because , to me, 13 is an unlucky number. Superstitious crap, I know.  But, do you know that in the Philippines, no building has a 13th Floor.  If the building has 13 or more floors, the actual 13th floor is  designated as the 14th. Also, when they erect the stairs , they have this ritual of counting , from the lowest rung,  Oro, Plata, Mata ( which means, Gold, Silver, Death ), and the topmost rung should not end with Mata. ( Death ) The 13th stair  is Mata.   There you go… a useless trivia from me. *chants*  Oro, Plata, Mata, Oro, Plata, Mata, Oro, Plata, Ma….. Noooooo ! !

So, 2 days before Christmas, my Mom and I went grocery shopping  at the Filipino supermarket.  .  We saw Queso de Bola, a standard  Filipino food item  and lots of chestnuts… we bought a few pounds of chestnuts , but not  the cheese.

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On Christmas Eve, we went to Mass at 10 PM,  temperature was 33 F (~0C ).  Darn, it was cold !

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Those are  my folks in the picture. I had to walk back to take the pic.

I practically did all the cooking .,  the sweets the day before, and  I prepared the main dishes for our Christmas lunch. While  off  the family  went to bed  after  church, I was  alone in the kitchen rolling the pork ( lumpia) chopping onions, etc. etc., etc. At 2 AM, I decided to call it a night, I mean, to  take a nap for an hour or so…. but I overslept, and woke up at 9. .I had a meltdown.  Just because I volunteered to do the cooking ( as  as my Christmas gift to Mom who does the cooking all year round ) , it didn’t mean they wouldn’t lift a finger to help me.  I was the Drama Queen for an hour or so. ” Is it done yet ? What ? So what time do we eat ? ” That was when I blew my top. My brother and sister really annoyed me. But it was Christmas. So, I just gritted my teeth and calmly told them, ” You get to eat at 3  ! ”

All’s well that ends well.  So, here are the photos of our Christmas spread.

DSCN2420DSCN2425DSCN2421From right to left….. roast pork pork roll ( lumpia ), leche flan ( custard ) chicken macaroni salad, red velvet cake, buckeye, cheesecake, and refrigerator cake.

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.Above photo is Caldereta ( beef stew in tomato sauce and liver spread. Don’t think the liver spread makes the taste weird. It’s delicious. ) The roast pork goes with liver sauce, too. ( and I love liver spread sandwich )

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I wrote on my previous post that I’d cook my specialty, Paella. Well, I didn’t. We forgot to buy a major ingredient. Instead , I cooked Pancit a la Malabon ( noodles ) and fried rice. I didn’t bake fruit cake , either, a staple at any Filipino Christmas fare.

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By the way, the second photo of the spread has the pictures of ube jam ( purple yam ) and pie on a cloud ( the one with white whipped  topping  )

.DSCN2426That’s embutido… just pork loaf, and oh, yeah, you can see the ube jam.

DSCN2437 That one above are  lychees and almond gelatin.

DSCN2433Cheesecake, buckeye ( just peanut butter, powdered sugar, dipped in choco dipping )…. and you can see the refrigerator cake, and red velvet cake, and the leche flan.

And lastly, the wine.

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Okay, a few more pictures…. the opening of gifts. My annoyance at my sister disappeared when I opened her gift… a Kindle ! And dad gave me a new laptop ! !

DSCN2447DSCN2454So, I didn’t want to show myself because I was wearing pyjamas. I was so exhausted that I didn’t bother to dress up for lunch. I know. I ‘m a slob. Ha ha ha

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Oh, that’s my Mom’s photo when she was young, it’s random, but I thought I’d just post it here.

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And a Christmas pic of yours truly from 2 years ago… dressed up , you know. 001

So, that’s it…. my last post for 2014…. my 14th post. WordPress should take note of that.

 

Happy New Year to all ! PEACE ! !.

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24 Nov

Fun vacation in the Philippines, Part 3

Posted by renxkyoko in Filipino food, Forensics, my life, Philippine Heritage, Philippines, Random thoughts, Taal Volcano. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here  ! ❤

Wow. My last post was Oct. 24.  I know, I’m a lazy blogger.  I’m suppose  to post  Part 3 of my fun vacation in the Philippines, but, I feel it’s gone  stale already.  It’s  still okay, I guess.

Oh, wait…. remember my Cringe- worthy  Forensic Science project ?  I  was told  not  to talk about it. Now you’re telling me. I just did. And I’m not going to delete that post.  I mean, Forensic  shows are all over cable, so there’s really nothing  federal  about it.   Oh, and before I forget, we made 6 trials, and that means, we asked for 5 more of  THAT.  THAT is semen.  I don’t have to  act coy anymore.  I’m past that.  Here’s another jar, pal. And put it in the freezer immediately.  * ponders*  Actually, I’m sensitive and fragile so please take care of me.

The US  Congress is planning to pass a law  that will allow the government to get the DNA profiles   of all Americans and store them at  the  DNA Data Base  center.  This way, it will be easier for law enforcement agencies to catch the criminals.  That’s a good thing,  right ? Wrong.  Even  Forensic Analysts  do not agree.   Criminals are smart now, especially those who commit  premeditated murders.  The bad guy can just pick up any  cigarette butt or  beer and soda cans, and plant  them at the scene of crime.   Even if  the innocent guy has a solid alibi, he still has to explain the presence of his DNA  at the scene..  Even if the prosecutor cannot find  any motive, you can bet that the sun is up there the prosecutor will find one.  The innocent is totally screwed.  He’ll be looking at a life sentence without the possibilty of parole, or worse, death penalty. That’s what happens if all our DNA profiles are in the DataBase.  Well, you know what they say… it’s preferable to free 100 guilty men over incarcerating  one innocent man, or something like that.  In fact, this happened already. The bad guy planted a random cigarette butt……. good thing the DNA  profile found on the cigarette did not have a match  at the National DNA  DataBase.

Enough of chatting.

Here’s Part 3 of my fun vacation in the Philippines.

So, off we went to see Taal Volcano, the smallest volcano in the world.DSCN0045

.Can you see the volcano ? It’s right there in the middle of the picture. You can see the mouth of the volcano, right ? It was misty  around the area of the volcano , even though the temperature was like, 100 F  ( 38 C ), and very, very humid.

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Facing the picture, the volcano ‘s  to the right of me.

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We went up there to have lunch at that restaurant in the photo, but it was closed for renovation.   Good thing there was a Chinese restaurant  nearby, with a nice view too.

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DSCN0059.Photo below is the view from the restaurant .

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The first thing that I ordered was real coconut juice, straight from the fruit. By the way, coconut is not a nut. It’s a fruit. Oh, my gosh, it tasted sooo good.

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After drinking the juice, we scraped off the white meat with a spoon. Delicious.

This is all for now.  Oh, before I forget,  on my Part 2 Philippine post, there was this singer whose  song was played over and over  on our  trip to Taal Volcano.  Well, he was Rick Astley, and the songs were Never Give You Up and Together Forever. :/

And the owner of the car is a relative who is also a Prosecutor.  That car plate  was a souvenir  given  during a Prosecutors’ Conference  held a month ago before I took that picture. She said she wasn’t supposed to make that a permanent fixture 😮  It’s  dangerous.  I talked about her on my Part 2 Philippine post.  She received death threats a few years ago.

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She’s okay now. The bad guys are in jail. Still….. announcing you’re a Prosecutor is a bad idea. Try doing that in Mexico, and see what happens.
Oh, well, what do I know .

This is all for now, and thank you for reading.  PEACE !

 

 

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29 Sep

My Philippine vacation, part 2

Posted by renxkyoko in Barbie Dolls, my life, Philiipine culture, Philippines, Random thoughts, Taal Volcano. Tagged: , , , , , .

Hello, there.  Renxkyoko Iglesias here.

My  last post  was about crying at sad movies, and I listed down some of the movies that tugged at my heartstrings.  But I forgot one…. the last Toy Story movie.  I cried at that part where grown -up Andy  bequeathes  gives away his beloved  treasures  toys  to a little  girl.   Well, I did  exactly the same thing this week.  I   finally said  goodbye to my beloved Barbie doll and Toy Story  collection and donated them to , I hope, a  deserving brat child who will take care of my stuff lovingly.

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.In that box are over a hundred  beautiful Barbie gowns and dresses, a revolving dress closet, kitchen, dresser,  ( I gave away that stupid  cute barbie car a long time ago), etc.  and most importantly, my Toy Story toys… Woody, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head,  Jessie,  and  sadly, my beloved Buzz Lightyear.  * Buzz, parting is such sweet sorrow.  But I’m an adult now. I can’t play with you anymore.  So, here’s to you, pal….  To Virginity  Infinity and Beyond !!!!! *

Oh. I’m keeping my complete collection of Pokemon cards.  Sorry, kid.  You don’t know what my mother  I went through to complete it.  Not gonna happen.

So…….. here’s part 2 of my fun vacation in the Philippines, as promised.

We spent the first few days after our arrival visiting malls, shopping, and tasting Filipino foods and delicacies at the mall food courts.  So, okay, not all were Filipino foods,  like this Japanese omurice rice ( fried rice wrapped in omelette ) and sizzling steak with mushroom gravy.

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That red thing is ketchup. I think Filipinos love ketchup., seriously.  I mean, my father drowns his sunny side up  in that thing and my Mom does  it with French fries. Half a bottle of ketchup is used up for medium sized fries.   Oh, and it has to be Del Monte catsup, not Hunt’s, nor Heinz…  Eh, what am I saying …..

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.Steak, with rice, and I don’t know if you can see the sunny side up, but it’s there, with the carrots and beans. Ha ha What a combo. Both dishes are USD 2 each.  Cheap, huh.

Photos below  are of   family reunion at our house.

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That’s me in the photo, looking bored. But I wasn’t bored.  I was concentrating on the Monopoly game.

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Just a few slice of life photos above.

The following day, we were invited  by a relative to see the smallest volcano in the world,  Taal Volcano , located about an hour drive ( 50 km./31 mi ) from our house.  Taal Volcano is active,  in fact,  there were so much seismic activities  that were detected in 2011.  Its last violent eruption was in 1977.

The drive to Taal was quite interesting .  Our relative, who was also the driver, played the same songs over and over again… ABBA, Tears for Fears, and one singer  whose name I can’t recall at the moment. Worse, she and my Mom knew the lyrics… so yeah.  * You are the dancing queen,  young and sweet, only seventeen….lalala ” .  The singing was interrupted when Mom opened the glove compartment and saw a small gun.  ” What the h*ll  ! ”  So, okay, our relative ia a senior Prosecutor in the city of Manila, and that gun was issued to her by the mayor for her protection.  Three years ago, she prosecuted the mistress of a rich man for attempted murder. Our relative received death threats purportedly made by the mistress’s relative. They are now both in jail.  And our relative assured us there were no bullets in the gun. Still…. Anyway, they continued singing.  It drove  me crazy.  And then I saw this……

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Then this…..

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.Can you read it ?  It says ” Warning.  P 2,000 ( $46) Minimum Payment for Bumping Barrier. ”  Ha ha ha !   We don’t have that here in the  US !

Well, I have to stop here.  Part 2 of our Taal Volcano trip will be on my next post.

 

Thank you for reading , folks ! be well, and PEACE !

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16 Sep

I cry, therefore I am.

Posted by renxkyoko in Random thoughts, sad movies. Tagged: , , , .

Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here. * waves*

Has anyone watched the movie Transcendence ?  I watched it last night, and  oh, wow, I bawled my eyes out at the end of the movie.  I mean, it’s a syfy movie, for pete’s sake, and  we’re not supposed to cry, right? Well,   it’s  about self-aware  computers, and all that stuff, and you know,  I didn’t really  understand any of it,  but at the end of the movie, it becomes  pure, eternal love!  Well, that’s how I see it , anyway. If you say, I’m just a sentimental , simple-minded fool, it’s fine by me. So, tell me,  what movies  made you cry? I’m talking buckets of tears here, like,  you know, waterfalls,  dams breaking,  and non-stop crying for one day.  By the way, do men cry at movies ?

Anyway, here are some of the movies that tugged at my heartstrings, choked me up, and opened the floodgate of tears.

1. Ghost………….. The love shown  on Sam’s face as he utters the words, “I love you, Molly, ” and  , starts to disappear into heavenly light…. that killed me, darn it.

2. Marley and Me….. I saw 2 tatooed  bikers with swollen , red eyes,   come out of the cinema. Well, the movie’s about a dog ‘s unconditional love for and its loving relationship with its human masters.

3. The Notebook…… Oh. my . gosh, the feels ! ! ! The dam burst at that part of the movie when the nurses see  the lovers, Noah and Allie, lying together in bed ,……both die peacefully, still holding each other’s hand.  Love beyond death.

4. Harry Potter, last movie….. as Snape lies dying in Harry’s arms, he asks Harry to look at him so he can gaze at Harry’s eyes one last time.  Harry looks exactly like his father, except the eyes. They are his mother’s… and we all know his mother is Snape’s one , true love. It is this love that has kept Harry safe and protected  from Valdemort.  So, that’s the significance of Harry’s eyes., nothing more, nothing less.  Heck, I didn’t even cry when Prof. Dumbledore died. I cried for Snape’s undying love.

5.  Grave of the Fireflies……. Roger Ebert considered it, to  quote ” one of the best and most powerful war films, and included it on his ” Great Movies ” list. Believe it or not, this is a Japanese animated film , made by Isao Takahata. Rotten Tomatoes had given it a 97% approval rating,  a film, they say, that is powerfully profound and beautiful.

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* tears falling *  My dear readers, I urge you to watch this film, especially at this time when we see the  clouds of war looming on the horizon.

6. The Little Match  Girl….. I read the story when I was  8 years  old, and watched the short film too. I wrote about this a few years ago here on my blogsite.  I guess it’s easier to just copy  , paste and revise.  So here it is.

 Have you ever read a book that made such a great impact on your psyche that it changed how you view the world? Well, there’s this little children’s book titled The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen that I read it when I was 8 years old. I remember my teacher was a Philippine-American  named Miss Silao, who assigned us some books to read and to make a short book report on . I think I made a rather heartfelt   book report,  (” children should be loved, not get beaten, children should just play, not sell matches, children should be happy, not die on Christmas Day.” ), and disturbing enough that  Miss Silao  talked to me after class. I remember telling her ( I was in tears, too ) I did not like the book, that it upset me that a little girl died. Miss Silao explained  it was just a story the author made up, that nothing like that ever happened. I don’t remember if Miss Silao managed to appease me or not, but, to this day, I still tear up everytime I think of the little match girl. I realize now the story was a mere social commentary of that era. Sadly, it still rings true today. There are millions of children out there that get beaten and abused and go to bed hungry.

If  I wrote that book report today, it would turn out like this…. ” children should be loved, not get beaten or killed, children should just play, not dodge bullets, children should be happy,  and not bombed away. ”

7. Forrest Gump….. Forrest Gump does not show any emotion,  even when his mother and Jenny, his friend/lover,  die……. he does not cry, he does not laugh, except at the last scene where he visits Jenny’s grave (  his childhood friend and the mother of his child)  and,  for the first time in his life, he breaks down, and cries, and says, over and over again, ” I miss you , Jenny.” Forrest Gump is so pure. Darn it.

That”s it.  So, what movies make me cry ?  True Love.

Thank you for reading. PEACE.

 

 

 

23 Aug

The World is on fire

Posted by renxkyoko in Random thoughts. Tagged: , , , .

Hello ! Renxkyoko Iglesias here.

I ‘ve been trying to make sense of the upheaval that’s going on in the world.  Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Iraq, ISIL, Israel-Palestinian conflict,  Ebola, and here in the US, the shooting death of an 18 year old  African- American  guy by a cop that resulted in almost 2 weeks of street protests, and now, the beheading of an American journalist by ISIL…….. not to mention the catastrophic  drought here in California. What else can  the world pile up on top of that ?  About the drought……. is that significant? You bet it is.  California’s agricultural products can feed the world.

I read that European  intelligence  services  had contacted the Assad regime regarding the extremist rebels fighting the Syrian government. Assad’s trade-off was not palatable to the intelligence community then, but today, who knows ? Iran is also paying attention.  The White Hoouse just revealed to us that  US’s Special Forces were secretly sent to Syria to rescue James Foley and other hostages. It went on smoothly, Sec. of Defense  Hagel said.  No, it didn’t. The fact is, there was shooting engagement , and several ISIS militants were killed, …only one US soldier was injured, no one died. I’m wondering if Assad secretly allowed this rescue mission, or at the very least, it was a tacit agreement, and he looked the other way. So strange.

British Intelligence  is now  investigating who that ISIS guy is that beheaded the American journalist.  They have pinpointed the source of the man’s  accent to be  South of London.  It’s amazing that different parts of a city have distinct accents, isn’t it ? Well, California accent is different from New York’s. But then, they are separated by 3 time zones.   * ponders*   This reminds me of  9/11  catastrophe. It  happened  at around  8:30 AM  New York time. In California,  it was 5:30 AM . ( I’m assuming you know about 9/11. Otherwise, you’re an alien. ) You’d think who would be watching TV  at that hour ?.  Well, my mother  was already up, turned on the TV on CNN ( as was  her habit ), but didn’t pay attention to the news as she was busy preparing breakfast, or whatever it was she was doing that time (  The TV was on Mute ). At 7 AM, she got an overseas call from my aunt ( 10 PM , Philippine time ) ). The conversation was like this… .. ( sans any preamble ) ” Turn on the TV, CNN “…. Huh ? what’s going on ? ” Are you watching it ?”  No, but……”  ” Are you crazy ?  The US had just been attacked, and you don’t know ? ”

So, okay, I know….. this post is totally jumbled…. but that’s how my mind works, or how my thoughts roll.

Anyway, what’s up with the world ?

Heh. And I was supposed to post about my fun vacation in the Philippines.  But with all that’s going on in the world,  I  thought  it frivolous  to  write about  insignificant me cavorting on the  beach in my teeny weeny polka dot bikini with nary a care , while the world  is in a state of raging conflagration.

Well, later, okay ?

PEACE ! !

 

 

 

 

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