How was your 4-day weekend?

As mentioned before, I did not have anything planned for the 4-day weekend. It could have been a good time to hit the beach because we had a sunny weather.

However, the agoraphobic in us anticipated that everyone else got the same idea like us. Instead, we stayed at home. Actually, weekend started early for us.  Friday afternoon, I played nanny for this cutie pie.

My cousin was contemplating whether he is going to adopt this cutie pie. I think he returned the doggie to the previous owner. 🙁 We were already taking care of three dogs.  I was with this doggie the whole afternoon and I let him sleep in my bed. When he was fast asleep, I sat in front of my computer to work and I took a quick glance, he already  pooped on my bed (on my new sheets!). Oh my!  I think there is some belief that when a bird poops on you, you will find luck.  I dunno about doggie poop on my bed sheet.

I guess it is true because that afternoon, my cousins brought these. Lucky us!

Except for one cousin, every person in the house is a durian eater. We love durian. Actually, Papa planted that durian more than 10 years ago and it was only last year that the tree started bearing fruits.  Papa planted the durian in his brother’s lot in their hometown using a seedling another uncle bought in Davao.  Collective ownership!   Too bad he did not get to taste what he planted. Whenever we buy durian before, Papa will not eat durian so we can get a bigger share even if he likes durian. Durian is pretty expensive so we can only afford to buy 1 fruit at a time which will be shared by at least 6 voracious eaters so he always gives up his share so that me and Mama can eat more.  (I miss them.)

My cousin who does not eat durian kept on covering her nose. I can’t remember having an aversion to the smell of durian. It seemed like I was born to eat it . 😀 She just had to be content with mangoes that were given to us which we froze. Remember the egg-shaped ice cream we ate at Malacca? Well, we kept the plastic holder and turned them into these:

Durian is rich in calories and it believed to be an aphrodisiac.  To maximize the shelf life of durian and control our intake, we made durian ice candy. The non-durian eater wore a mask because she wanted to learn how make ice candy.

I took advantage of the holiday to experiment on the White King bibingka from the box. Plus, my aunt had a craving for biko. I made bibinkang malagkit instead.

My aunt and cousin volunteered to clean my cupboards.  Yes, without me asking them.  Kusang loob.  Probably, they can no longer take how messy they are. HA!

My aunt even fixed the bedsheet I recently bought from a thrift shop.

My cousin cleaned the brass wares in one cupboard.

Because they did the dirty work, they deserved a reward. I cooked chicken inasal for them.

I experimented on a recipe I found here. It was a hit. Everybody had a clean plate. The chicken meat was juicy after being marinated overnight. My other aunt had one complaint. Flavor-wise,  it needs a little salt which we fixed the taste by dipping the chicken in soy sauce before each bite.

Sorry for the grainy photo. I used my cellphone. I forgot to charge my digicam batteries.

As a bonus, my creative aunt rearranged my living room.

As I think about the four-day weekend, I think we were pretty good when it comes to budgeting. Instead of going to the beach, we stayed indoors. We saved on gas money, food provisions and hut rentals. Instead of buying durian, we were given 4 huge fruits. Instead of buying ice cream, we made ice candy instead. Instead of buying chicken inasal which would have amounted to P540 for 6 people, we made the inasal. Cooking it only costs P300. I can only imagine how much the savings I will earn if I actually set the amount aside and learn stock trading advice from Tim Sykes.

Indeed, a four-day weekend can still be enjoyed at home.

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Some thoughts on the recent event:

I was online when I learned on Saturday that the plane carrying DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo went missing.  I do not know why I was affected by the news. I do not know him personally. I have never met him nor seen him.  I was aware of what he has done but I never put much thought into it.  When he went missing,  I became more aware of what a great man he is. I was hoping he survived. The sad news came last Tuesday when his body was found among the wreckage.

Lucy Torres-Gomez wrote some nice words on his passing.

I learned from my friend that Sec. Robredo was in the Peñafrancia festival I attended last year. It was my happy thought that day. I enjoyed the Naga he developed. Thanks, Sec. Robredo!

I found this on facebook.

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