Mean Sisig. And I'm on a fast. Duh.

Yeaaaaaah! I love the way this guy cookz his Sisig. It's versatile: both the dry and the gelatinous Sisig could be culled from this batch.

Mehn. How on earth did I find the most rockin' recipes on my fast???

Yesterday, it was Minestrone from Inquirer.net. Today, it's an uncanny scene of a Caucasian man cooking a meaner Sisig than Breakthrough's to-die-for batch!!!

Oh man.

I would love to try this recipe sometime, but I'm not as confident that I had absorbed his methods well. As it is, I shall watch this vid again, take notes, and let the cooking commence when I am able. Nyehehe!

Looking forward to Sisig with some ginger-based drink or something. It seems to go well with beer, but as per my convictions + biological chemistry, I am not inclined to take anything alcoholic anytime soon. :p

Today, I am strengthening my desire to beg God for a juicer. I am looking forward to juicing my own Ginger-Pineapple-Orange drink sometime soon. And pair it with Sisig I made myself. Oh bliss. (Erm, size 40 waistline, prepare to expand...)

Maybe tomorrow's a good day to start looking for new clients while I wait for my job offer. Heheheh. Yow, if you need writerz, am here. :p

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Slow Me Down: Seriously Sabbath Sunday

Today, I had been filled with sermons telling me to REST. The entire November was filled with such toil and trouble that I was actually already wondering if I was a member of the cast of Macbeth or something.. "Double double, toil and trouble..."

I decided not to go to church and just have my own service in my room, again. No use wasting energy getting on a jeepney and seeing energy-drainin' scenarios and energy-drainin' pplz. Heheh.

Uncannily enough, I chose Pastor Joey Bonifacio's "Curse of Restlessness" for my "Sunday Sermon." The title was just intriguing, and I just thought it would be a fun thing to listen to for my "Seriously Sabbath Sunday."

And you know what it was all about? Entering God's REST.

There is a reason why God had created us on the Sixth day, and Adam woke up to fellowship with Him on the 7th day. Pastor Joey said that this is because God did not want us to see Him working. God's priority is that we be able to walk with Him and enjoy His presence, as well as His creation with Him.

From that sermon, I realized that the constant running around and the mentality of "Busybusybusybusybusy," is not a blessing; rather it is a curse: the same curse that God had put on Cain when he committed the first murder: Restlessness.

After this sermon, I had decided to also listen to renowned prophet, pastor, teacher and writer Rick Joyner's "Entering God's Rest." Same thing. We need to rest. Same thing: God did not create TOIL. In fact, it is a curse. But God DID create LABOR, and LABOR is supposed to be enjoyable. Work is supposed to be enjoyable and holy.

After I listened to those sermons, I went, "WHOA!"

So for all those 8 weeks of grueling torture under toil, where I was actually being an idiot, running around like Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit, I was, in reality, under a "Curse of Restlessness."

Most people would deem me crazy/idiotic/stupid for letting go of a client that had allowed me to neutralize a big chunk off my current debt. You know what, the day after I let go, and I decided to fully rest, and the depression dissipated, I FELT SO MUCH BETTER.

I let go of that client because things were already emotionally maddening. There was deception and power-playing involved, manipulation, so much strife, and it was no longer a healthy situation. My emotional makeup was absolutely shot: I hated them, I hated all work, even for the clients I've been with for a while, and even those that I had struck a great rapport with.

I had never made a better decision in my life.

After listening to this sermon, and searching for Jewish Superstar Emmy Rossum of Phantom of the Opera's SLOW ME DOWN, I finally got it.

After "my own service" at home, cooking lunch for meh and enjoying it with God in a lazy, quiet, Sunday, I went off to my boarding house's subdivision playground. I had always told God, whenever I passed by that playground, that I'd like to be on the swing at one point in my existence...

I got what I wanted yesterday. :)

I was swinging high up in the air and just being in general glee like a 5-year-old. I didn't realize that you could actually swing without anyone pushing you. Hey, I was experiencing powerful swings, and major gusts of swinging-induced air that allowed my hair to flap behind me! I was... In bliss. :D

I felt like God was pushing the swing for me, as I listened to rockin' Christian prophetic worship songs. If I knew what flying was like, swinging would most likely be just like flyin'!

So from this point on, I's swearin': Two days off fer meh after grueling seasons of work, and at least once a day of REEEEEST. It says in the Bible that we have SIX days to do our work. I might as well enjoy my Sunday Sabbaths. :D

And you, workaholic human, next Sunday, YOU TAKE A REST TOO!

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That's What Friends Are For

After working grueling and crazy 14 to 16-hour workdays in the weeks past, and not really accomplishing much because of the extreme stress I was experiencing, I finally decided to take a break last Sunday, November 23. Thankfully, great best budz Monalisa and Kitchie were kind enough to give in to my request of a hang-out in UP Diliman and have lunch at Mang Jimmy's, a famed favorite hangout in UP, famous for the amazing Sisig, and other cheap, but great-tasting food.

After going to Mass (it was an educational experience, setting foot in a Catholic Mass once more. :p), we promptly headed on to the Shopping Center in order to get batteries for Lis' camera. Alas, and alack, we were out of luck for the cam (ehem; pardon the rhyme)... BUT... We found...

Inggat!!!

Thanks to Inggat, we were able to find Mang Jimmy's much faster than if we just bumped around on UP's sprawling campus. I fully admit, that had Inggat not been providently placed across our paths, my best friends Lis and Kitch would now be my worst enemies, coz I hadn't gone to Mang Jimmy's on my own before, ever. Especially since Lis was way hungry by then. Heheh. :D

Inggat was a wonderful Tau addition to our all-Grav company of three. With her around, the laughters were more gleeful, and the meal in Mang Jimmy's, buttery pusit and bangus, amazing Sisig and Tapa Mix, were all the more delectable.

Mang Jimmy's is almost like a hole-in-the wall resto. The food, especially the Sisig and Tapa Mix, were more than worth their price tag. And though the seafoods' sauce was much too salty for me, the taste was passable.

If you're looking for a decent restaurant with decent surroundings, don't expect it from Mang Jimmy's. The rugged Carinderia-like environment is part of Mang Jimmy's charm. Though I'm a Sisig Hooray fan forever, if you want a calm meal with friends, family, or a special someone, and Sinful SISIG, Mang Jimmy's is the place to go to. Their Sisig is among the best I've tasted; next to Sisig Hooray, I think Mang Jimmy's ties with Iloilo's Breakthrough's Sisig, in my list. :p

To get there, you have to pass by a side road off of Vinzon's hall, Shuster Street. Go straight, cross the main road of Katipunan, go inside the gated path leading to a park/reservoir, where a Manila Water building greets you, head straight, turn towards the left road from the junction, and there's a Mang Jimmy's sign that indicates that you're there already.

I recalled Shuster street, because I was blabbering on like the Energizer Bunny who had a bad case of talkativeness mixed in with the lethal combination of not having seen another being of its kind in ages, and Lis was telling me to "Shush," and we found "Shuster Street." Heheh. :p Good for y'all who want to get to Mang Jimmy's. At least here are more specific directions now. :p

It's really just a residential place that was converted to a resto.

After the meal filled with laughter, we left Mang Jimmy's giggling about a woman who looked eerily like Michael V. (eek). Then we went to take pictures on UP's grounds, had more laughs, bade goodbye to Inggat, and under compulsion, I went with Lis and Kitch to Megamall. I figured it was time to see my Victory Pioneer fam again anyway. :p

I then spent the afternoon with Lis around a Megamall bazaar, then going to church in Victory Pioneer, and coming home at past midnight coz the pplz were so fun and I missed them much. :p Thanx Ate Sam, Ate Ming, Beda, Mary, Keith and the new guy kabarkadas that I've met that night!

Moral of the story: Don't work too hard, make sure Sundays are enjoyable SABBATHS, and give priority to relationships. Money could only give you so much. In fact, it gives more headache than anything. :p

From that point on, I made a decision to have low-tech Sundays: only my iPod and cellphone are allowed for a few hours (Gawrsh. I need rehab for blogging/the Internets. :p), then I'd just have fun all Sunday long. NO WORK FOR 24 HOURS!!! (Unless "work" means just blogging. :p)

I guess this means one thing. I have to make it a point to touch base with people that I love, on the real-interaction realm, at least once a week. Whether it's just in UP Diliman, or I find myself in Victory Pioneer again, I should make it a priority to keep the relationships in my life alive.

I'm not yet ready to go home to Iloilo, that's for sure, but I'm now making it a point to make sure that my life isn't all about acquiring money. It should be more about enriching my relationships.

I hope I get it right this time.

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