Bondat Ka 'Day

The last time Mabi and I hung out, we polished off two bottles of alcohol — a Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of Champagne. It was no one's birthday and no one's anniversary, just another random day of the week, and still, because we were living it, it deserved Champagne.

And again, last night, celebrating nothing at all, we popped open a bottle of Two Oceans Shiraz and over the course of the evening loaded up on a lovely chilled salsa that I whipped up (pat on the back, yes), wafer crackers loaded with tuna pate (from Madrid, courtesy of Mabi) and topped with capers, Spanish sardines (also from Madrid) and black rice.

Also on the table: Gouda cheese and cream cheese.

We discovered that wine and words courtesy of the Dalai Lama are a good mix. Wine opens the heart, and the wisdom of the universe by way of the Dalai Lama speak to it.

Busog on many levels :)

In Bed with Oprah

It's official: I am a blog-aholic.

It's 3:02 am on my computer clock and here I am, blogging, eager to share my latest small triumph (no triumph is too small to ignore in this beach house!).

I have put on fresh sheets on my bed and they feel and smell wonderfully clean. It's almost too good to fall asleep in right away, and after savoring the clean by making imaginary angel wings with my arms and legs on the fabric, I've piled on the reading.

First stop, Oprah's O Magazine, the 10th anniversary edition, May 2010. Picked it up on my way home from Singapore last May (I always need to just buy something, anything, at the Changi Newslink), rifled through it on the plane, but never actually got to sink into the couch and enjoy reading it.

So here I go, headlong into special section called "What's Next for You?" Yey! How appropriate ;)

Available Light

The self-portrait above was taken in the bathroom of the adjoining studios of artists Plet Bolipata and Elmer Borlongan in Casa San Miguel, Pundaquit, Zambales.

It was sometime in late February this year and I had stolen away to the seaside town with fellow Baguio Workshop GROs (Girls of Room One), Rica and Mookie. As the rest of the photos show, it was a cozy weekend of comfort food and great conversations.