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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!

Day 23 – What’s your schedule like?

Published by Justine

I like talking about my schedule. I start work mid afternoons usually around 2/3/4pm and I’m out by midnight. I like this schedule for a lot of reasons, I’ve always been a night owl and almost nocturnal so this schedule enables me to sleep late, and wake up late (which is probably the best thing in the world). I get to do bank errands in the morning, or have a late brunch with friends, and I can use whatever break I have at night to have dinner with friends or with family and I wouldn’t be too tired (con: limited time though). On Fridays I get to go straight to a chill night of drinking, or usually a party, whatever is happening that night.

In my previous 8-5 jobs back in Jakarta I would always be guilty of sleeping late (waaay past midnight) and waking up early (at ungodly hours of 5 or 6am), usually getting only 3-4 hours of sleep because I would stay up and catch up on my shows, my feeds, and everything else.. which was caused by reaching home late because of bad Jakarta traffic where I would be sitting my ass in the car for a good 2-3, even 4 hours (H E L L), as if sitting in an office with people you didn’t like wasn’t bad enough. Phew, no negativity. That world is over.

Being back in Cebu, my travel time is 30-40 minutes to work and up to 1 hour with REALLY bad traffic already, and ONLY a good 12-17 minutes going home because midnight = no traffic, no rush hour and HAPPINESS. I have more time to sleep, more time to do yoga, more time to catch up on things. I like it because for me, it’s the best of both worlds, I could never work in a night/graveyard shift setting, and a morning shift would just be uggghhhh (what a way to describe it, right? heh).

P.S. SEVEN MORE DAYS! 🙂

Day 22 – Tell me: What do you want to do for a living?

Published by Justine

At this point in my quarter life, I think I definitely belong in the millenial workforce. I like a flexible schedule in an office but not entirely doing the same shit every day. I like being in a team where my brain cells are constantly activated and working, and I’m able to generate ideas and implement them. That’s what I would like to do and I think I want my career to keep going that direction (with improvement, of course) wherever I work.

Having said that, my hobbies and interests have always leaned towards the performing arts. I love to sing and dance. Choreographed and technical dancing is something I’m not entirely great at, but singing, on the other hand is something that I’m quite confident in, even though I lack a lot of practice. My secret (well not so secret anymore) dream job would be an acoustic cover singer in nice hotels or bars, or even in cruise ships and hotels abroad. I don’t know why. Alas, the future didn’t take me there but I’m pretty happy to be where I am!