Finally, Empanadas

I've been thinking about making empanadas for weeks, and it seems that every Friday night I would mention to Marvin that I'll be finally making them that weekend. And finally, FINALLY, I made a batch today. I used this recipe from smitten kitchen.

I was a bit anxious though, since up until now, I've just had to work with batter and not dough when I'm baking. This was my very first try and I was half expecting a disaster of some sort, so I asked Marvin to still buy some take-out dinner for us. I was quite surprised that they turned out really yummy and delicious! And Marvin loved them so much that he finished off 4 in an instant, even after eating a Burger King Whopper (yep, not exactly the healthiest take-out dinner choice, I know, hehe!) Marvin even said that the crust was perfect and that if I use the same recipe for other pies, he's sure they'd turn out perfect as well! Yay! ^_^

What's quite funny is that it slipped my mind that I would need a rolling pin, so I used my white wine vinegar bottle instead. I just covered the dough with plastic wrap. Hmm, I really need to buy more supplies. But I'm slowly buying stuff a few items at a time to complete my kitchen. Just this morning, I bought red wine and white wine vinegar, white wine for cooking, cumin, and dry yeast. For utensils and tools, I bought an icing spatula, a food brush, and finally, a flour sifter.

Hmm, what should I try next? Since it's going to be autumn soon, I might try a persimmon or apple & pear pie. =)

Stocking Up On Books For Silver Week

Bought myself some books for my 1 week off. I can't wait to get them this Saturday! I really love the smell of new books! Weird book fetish, I know. I just hope I get to read all of them... I have this nasty habit of buying books and not making enough time to read all of them.

1. Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art

   

   I just love cooking and baking and I think I'm fairly good at it, but as you've probably guessed from my photos, I'm more interested in styling and taking photos of the food I make. I'm looking forward to learning some great stuff from this book.

2. God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

   

   Now, before you burn this witch, let me just say that even though I'm having some doubts about my faith, I'm still the same person you knew before I became vocal with my thoughts on religion. I still have the utmost respect for my friends who remain believers and followers. I admire them for standing by their beliefs. In the same way, I think those of us who have chosen to be more like freethinkers also deserve the same respect and not be looked upon with the all too familiar contempt and condescension. It's not like we suddenly turned evil, you know. All the good as well as all the bad that was in us before, hey, it's still there. :)

3. The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering
   

   
   

   
   

   The usual boring career work stuff. :D

(images courtesy of Amazon Japan)

We'll Get Through Tomorrow Somehow Today

I love The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! I've watched the movies and read all four books, but I wouldn't mind reading them again. I also love the song These Days from the movie's soundtrack. ^_^

Silver Week 2009

Marvin and I are going to Osaka! ^_^

I had initially planned a solo trip to Singapore or Thailand, but ended up with our 3-day Osaka trip instead after getting all excited over one office colleague's stories of Universal Studios Japan (USJ). In Tagalaog, that's what you call "ay, nainggit!". Haha!

Marvin said this trip will be our official celebration of my 29th birthday, so he said it's okay to go all out. There, documented, so I can show this to him every time he complains about the price of something in Osaka. :D

For our first day there, we'll be visiting USJ and will be staying at the Univeral Port Hotel afterwards. I'm excited! Not too sure about the Jurassic Park ride though. I've watched videos of it on Youtube and I think there's a good chance I'd be in tears after the ride. I'm such a wimp, I know. Funny thing - we recently watched Ice Age 3, the one with the dinosaurs, and for days we called ourselves T-Rex and Rudy (the name of the big T-Rex). So when we found out that the Universal Port Hotel had some sort of dino theme, we got really excited! Ooh, and you can order a meal that comes with a toy T-Rex! Haha! I swear, living with the two of us is just like raising two pesky 5 year-olds, hahaha!

Anyway, for the second day, we'll be going around the Osaka bay area. I'm excited about the aquarium and the Santa Maria Bay Cruise! I've been there before and have been on the cruise, but this is the first time I'll be going with Marvin, so I'm still giddy about it hehe! We don't have a hotel for our second night though, but we're thinking of Cross Hotel, same as the one we stayed in when we went to Sapporo. On the third and last day, we'll probably just go around Umeda and Osaka station. Maybe if we have time, we'll also pass by Kyoto, but we promised ourselves we'd reserve Kyoto for fall, sometime around November and Marvin's birthday.

Yay, I'm super excited! I just hope nothing goes wrong with this trip, but when it comes to the two of us, a blunder or two comes with the package haha! And I hope there won't be any embarrassing accidents that also seem to follow us wherever we go - like slipping and landing square on my butt right smack in the middle of Sapporo station's snow covered main intersection. Yikes! But the important thing though is that we still have fun and I am sure we would! ^_^

Down To Two Laptops

My 4-year old desktop, which Marvin and I assembled ourselves, is dead. :(

Last Saturday, I turned on my PC and while waiting for it to boot up (it has been so slow these past months), proceeded to do some house chores. I was of course expecting the all too familiar Windows welcome tune, so imagine my horror when a female robotic voice began to murmur something barely audible. Without daring to flinch a muscle, I tried desperately to make out the words. By then, I had conjured up an image of some Sadako-like (The Ring) woman standing beside my TV. I was about to cry when I realized it was my PC letting me know that the "system failed memory test". Haha, I was half relieved it wasn't what I feared it was and half amused at my own stupidity childishness.

So now, my PC would not even boot up. It just stubbornly informs me over and over again that the "system failed memory test" when I push the power button. I tried to look this up, and it turns out that it's a known problem with my Asus motherboard. Don' t ask me the specifics though; I don't have patience for all that technical jargon. Bottom line is, my motherboard's toast and I either have to try and replace it myself in the hopes that it is indeed the only problem, or buy a new desktop or laptop.

At first glance, it doesn't seem to be such a difficult choice. Hmm, let's see, 20,000 yen for a new mobo vs 200,000 for a new laptop? That one extra zero seems to give it away, right? But one FB friend suggested that I do both - get a new one and fix the old one! Not such a bad idea, especially if I've been meaning to buy a laptop anyway and I'll definitely always need a desktop.

So after looking at the models out there, I've narrowed it down to two choices.

1. Sony VAIO AW Series (VGN-AW180Y/Q) - Y279,000

   Here are some of its specs:

   • - Display Size: 18.4 in
   • - CPU: Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
   • - RAM Included: 4GB
   • - HDD: 800GB
   • - Optical Drive: BD-R/BD-RDL/BD-RE/BD-REDL/DVD±R/±RW/RAM/±RDL
   • - Resolution: 1920x1080
   • - Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT
   • - Video Memory: 512MB

   



2. Apple MacBook Pro (17 in) - Y278,000

   Here are some of its specs:

   • - Display Size: 17 in
   • - CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz
   • - RAM Included: 4GB
   • - HDD: 500GB
   • - Optical Drive: DVD±R/±RW/±RDL
   • - Graphics Card: GeForce 9400M/GeForce 9600M GT
   

I'm leaning towards the Vaio because I'm not too sure I'm ready, or if it's even worth it, to switch from Windows. And the Vaio is a good replacement for my desktop, and I sure need a powerful machine in my line of work. Plus, for the same price, I get 200GB more HD space and a BD-RW. What do you think?

Just A Thought On Faith

Today I chanced upon a film by Richard Dawkins about how religion's closed-minded view of the universe may just be the root of some of the great injustices in the world today. While I don't 100% agree with everything he says, I think that it's also helpful to listen to and learn from him and others who have different views.

One thing that bothers me about religion is that the devout always complain that people should be more open-minded and open to the possibility of their God, yet sometimes it seems that they're the most closed-minded ones. And why are the faithful so judgmental and unforgiving of those who do not share the same beliefs? Why do they frown upon people who would like to believe but would also like to question those beliefs maybe because they just want to understand their faith better?

P.S.

Just like to add one comment I made on FB:
It's not like I'm saying that God does not exist and I think that those who believe in Him are fools - this is also one thing I don't like with some Atheists. I'm just saying that why can't we be more open, believing in our own set of beliefs but not passing judgment on others? Why can't faith be open to discussion without people taking offense and even taking up arms, both literally and figuratively.