Latest Posts

Day 28 – Memories: Top 5 moments in your life

Published by Justine

I will try not to think about this too much because then it will be too hard to narrow down. I have been blessed with a fruitful life and choosing the top 5 moments will be a challenge. I’ll try to make this as concise as I can as well. In no particular order..

1) Disneyland Hong Kong in 2006 (Disneyland, period!). Went there just a few months after it opened because just as all 90s kids are I am a complete Disney geek. We stayed at one of the Disney hotels and I begged my mom to take the Disney train with me from the city (everyone else took a cab) and we walked ALL the way from the train station to the hotel (didn’t take the shuttle, nothing). Needless to say I started bawling my eyes out when I reached the place. I had this weird moment where I just broke down because of happiness. I can’t wait to visit Disney America, Europe and Japan, no matter how old I am!

2) Watching my two favorite groups in the whole wide universe live in concert, 2PM and Incubus. Not at the same time, but this counts as one moment. I watched Incubus in 2008 and 2PM twice in 2011. I also had crying moments where I just couldn’t believe it all. Funny. A rock band and a K-pop group could do that to me.

3) Traveling alone by airplane for the first time at 10 years old. I was set to spend summer in the Philippines in 1998 so my mom sent me off for one of those Unaccompanied Minors program with Singapore Airlines. It was so exciting for me because every take-off and landing they would move me to first class and during transit in Singapore I was sent to this special game room for kids that are on the program and there was a mini arcade, a library.. I didn’t know such a place could exist in an airport.

4) Graduating in Australia. Even though I didn’t study there, but flying to Perth to graduate in the mothership university was surreal enough for me. It made me experience the Australian university life for a bit and share the stage with like thousands of graduates I never met once in my life. Pretty awesome.

5) This is a bit of a sensitive issue, but will always count. When my mom was having her mastectomy in Singapore I couldn’t go because I had tests in uni (I think either midterms or finals I forgot–like I said I choose to blur out a lot of those moments) and I think my parents didn’t really want me to go so I stayed back in Jakarta. During that day my two best friends, Noemi and Chino, were with me the whole day. Noemi went to church with me even though it was a Tuesday (I still remember) and after that we had lunch with Chino and they were just.. THERE for me and spent the whole day being at my side. They didn’t try to cheer me up, or make me sad, it was a normal hang out that didn’t feel loaded or pressured in any way even though I was anxious as fuck as to how my mom’s surgery would go. They may not know this and probably don’t realize it but I will ALWAYS remember that day as realizing how much of true friends they really are to me. So if any of them are reading this, thank you guys, I love you and that day was a gift to me. Thank you for being there.

Day 27 – Something you miss

Published by Justine

If you ask me, generally, I don’t miss my Jakarta life as a whole because I feel like that chapter in my life has already closed. There is a part of that life, however, that I don’t think can be really brought back anymore because of time, age, and individual priorities. It actually just happened here in Cebu, on my birthday week, and that was something I still continue to be thankful for, because it shows what kind of foundation we have as friends, but anyway, I digress.

My best friend Noemi and I live for lazy, uninterrupted weekends where we would just be in one room, do our own thing, lay in bed and waste the day. That’s something we don’t have anymore and I terribly miss it, and the main factor will always be distance. That feeling when you’re not wasting time because you’re not doing anything productive.. that’s a luxury now. Time is gold, things need to be done and life needs to be lived. I miss the times when my Jakarta barkada would spend Saturdays strolling in the mall without any proper goal (and no money, thus no shopping!), hanging out at someone’s house.. one would be playing guitar, someone would be playing video games, the girls would be gossiping, or creating funny videos but we’d all be collectively in one room, united as ever.

They say when you can find someone (or a group of people) with whom you can COMFORTABLY do nothing together with, that someone is a keeper. Whether a best friend, a lover, or just a group of friends, that’s something I truly cherish.

Day 26 – Share: A difficult time in your life

Published by Justine

The entry I was dreading to write is finally here. I actually wanted to put off writing this now but I decided to just go with it anyway, so I can get it over with. It’s funny how I’m able to blur out unwanted memories that when I look back on them the exact scenario is hazy but my feelings during that exact time or memory come rushing into me like it’s happening all over again. Wow, that was some weird branfart. Also, this is why I’m not a fan of these kind of questions and if I had a choice I prefer to not entertain them.

Alas, this entry requires me to do so, so here it is. In 2008 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time I didn’t want to delve on the severity, plus she acted quickly on it and immediately flew to Singapore to have a mastectomy. Post-mastectomy she had to go through 8 chemotherapy sessions and a 30-day radiation treatment. It all happened in a span of 10 months. I still don’t know how I got through it. Granted, I wasn’t a significant helping hand but save for her surgery in Singapore I was there in all the chemo sessions and drove her to probably 20 days of her radiation treatment. If you ask me, I think I was a zombie all throughout. It scares me now to think about it because of the possibilities that could have happened. A lot of things in my life changed that year.. and probably contributed to many of my life drawbacks today. It was just hard, because I’m extremely close to my mom and seeing shit like cancer affect the person I love the most, the most important being in my life and our family is just. Ugh. I can’t write about it anymore. I’m done.

Let’s end this on a positive note, shall we? The weekend is arriving and I want to make sure I don’t keep negativity on my blog too much. My mom has been cancer-free for 6 years now and that’s all we ever want year by year.

Day 25 – Your favorite: Recipe and comfort food

Published by Justine

My favorite recipe is the super easy to do BCP (Bacon Cheese Pasta), which can also be called a simple carbonara. It’s always been my go to pasta recipe because I’m more into white sauce than red.

Ingredients include, but not limited to:

  • 1 pack of pasta – any sort, but I like to use either linguine, spaghetti, or fettuccine. I’ve tried it with farfalle and rigatoni and it just didn’t work (the photos on google images look so good though!).
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 to 2 blocks of cheese – mozarella or parmesan (tried both and it works well)
  • 3-5 long bacon strips

Boil/cook the pasta, I like to put a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt to the pan so it doesn’t stick too much. While the pasta cooks you can crack your eggs open and beat them until they’re mixed well. Grate your cheese block. GRATE IT ALL until finish and put them in a bowl together with the beated eggs. At this point you can add seasoning if you like, salt, pepper, or even milk. Mix both together and let it sit for a bit. Cut your bacon strips into however you want. Big, or small then fry them up. Fry fry fry until they dry. If you like it crispy then fry them to a crisp but if you like them soft and ham-like (my style) just let them fry until cooked.

Once pasta is done boiling you can strain the water out and IMMEDIATELY put the hot pasta inside the bowl with the grated cheese and eggs because the heat of the pasta will turn it into yummy white sauce. Put the bacon, mix everything together and voila, easy peesy instant carbonara.

This feeds 5! I’m pretty sure this isn’t the perfect way to do it but it’s how I DO it and it’s been working pretty good for me these past few years.

When it comes to comfort food there is only one thing I can say: CARBS. Carbs and Coke are my best and worst friend. Anything with potato is comfort food: frieds, mashed potato, baked potato, then there are pot pies, meat bread, sandwich, panini, dimsum, ramen, instant noodles, Indomie. The list will just go on if I don’t stop!