Wedded Bliss

In less than 4 hours Manila time, my lovely friend from med school Dindin will walk down the aisle. How I wish I could just apparate* there and witness what I'm sure will be a splendid ceremony! Can't wait for the pictures (thank God for emails).
To Dindin and Regie: my best wishes! I hope you start a wedded bliss with all your wishes coming true! All my love and prayers are with you.

-------
*Advanced spell used by fully trained witches and wizards to disappear from one place and appear almost instantly somewhere else. A person who uses this spell is referred to as an Apparator. (From Harry Potter by JKR).
I had thought about wishing for a Floo powder but realize I need a fireplace (which I don't have) and I doubt if there are any fireplaces in Manila(snicker). Hmmm, maybe I have untapped witching prowess. Afterall, I share Professor McGonagall's first name (tee hee hee).

Iced Tea

Literally. Now my cold tea will never be bland even when the ice melts.

------
Idea crossed my mind as a kid drinking my daily Tang orange juice, but never acted on it. Then I later read Calvin (or was it Hobbes?) discussing the same concept (and perhaps even Bart Simpson).

Summer Treat

The annual Taste of Chicago took off over three weeks ago. We got our tickets priced at face value ($5.50/sheet instead of the $7) during the one-day sale at the local Dominick's store, and armed with 4 sheets to spend, our own cold bottled iced-tea, my bulky but reliable Nikon 5400 and of course empty stomachs with hefty appetite, we got there in time for lunch on a Wednesday, July 5th. We consumed the jumbo coconut shrimp and the crab cakes that immediately caught our attention. Yum.

Other stuff we tried (clockwise from top left): chicken satay with cucumber salad (Star of Siam), boneless ribs sandwich (Robinson's #1 Ribs), beef soft taco (hmmm, can't remember from which one), fried cheese ravioli (Deleece) and of course an exquisite meal of this variety deserves a booze.

Savoring an ice cold drink while sitting on the beach and enjoying the lake breeze in the middle of a hot summer day: a perfect summer treat.

Without the Bee

I missed the bee! Darn.

More Experiment

The beauty about working at home is that I get to experiment cooking lunch. Hmmm, I may be unemployed (or a more appropriate term: unsalaried) -- but I still have a stack of journal articles to read in order to finish my two manuscripts. There's some experiments waiting for me in the lab but I had impressed on my mentors I can't (and won't) do it until I complete my write-up (and since I've graduated and I'm "unsalaried" I don't think they can pressure me into it, hahaha). But I'm digressing.

I discovered Thai food several years ago and Pad Thai has been a favorite. I watched Alton Brown make it in Good Eats -- and I knew I will never be able to make it from scratch! (Perhaps I can attempt when I have my own kitchen -- the operative word here is "my"). I actually found it a little odd that he used thin rice noodles -- I've never seen Pad Thai that way. Nevertheless, that inspired me to try out the ready-made sauce packet I recently discovered. Unlike the boxed Pad Thai (which tasted like such -- a chewy carton), this requires me to get the noodles and the meat (I chose shrimp, of course). It also allows me to add some more fresh ingredients: lime juice, freshly ground peanuts, chopped green onions. Not bad.

Which reminds me of the time that my college couple-friends were in town and we were all craving for Thai Food. Joel suggested: How about Arun's? It was supposedly cited as a must from a book about 1000 places to see before you die (or something to that effect). I smirked, Ha! I wasn't in the mood to dish out $85 bucks for dinner. Jeejay and I dared him to call the restaurant and ask if we can just have a take-out Pad Thai.

Of course we ended up just hanging out at his tita's house and eating pinoy food.

The Balloon That Didn't Fly

I had been skipping going to the Balloon Festival for several summers now, but I finally made it this year. I was geared up for the $25 balloon flight, and I wanted to stay until the Balloon Glow. There was a threat of thunderstorm and rains but it was the 30 mph wind that deferred the launch. Aaaaccck! We thought of coming for the early morning launch (at 5:30AM!) but concluded riding in a hot balloon can happen in deep sleep.

Maybe next year. Then I hear my alterego sneering: yeah, right!

G Day

Graduation day -- the 5th time (and I’m not counting from my first one at pre-school). That’s how many times I’ve gone through the ceremonies after receiving my undergraduate degree (Hey! It’s my post-post-post-post-post graduate graduation!). No one warned me it will take this looooong to finally feel that I’m done graduating. Although this commencement didn’t require the elaborate pompousness of college and medical school graduation (you know, the type that you wear togas, have a notable speaker inspire everyone and every graduate with family members comes up to the stage), the impact remains the same: the day marked the beginning of bigger responsibilities.

The occasion was marked with a dinner celebration a couple of weeks ago with the entire Department of Medicine graduates. Then my own division threw out a luncheon for me, and then my mentors presented me with the traditional Mont Blanc parting gift.

This happened two weeks ago. Finally my professional adulthood has begun.

Or just about to. I happen to have an appointment with the unemployment gods.

Post-dunking

The Oreos squirmed and yelled: Help! We can't swim!
But their cries were drowned by munching. Literally.
----
On how to be morbid

ID 4

It was close to 8 o'clock p.m., the eve of July 4th. Despite the threat of possible thunderstorms and rain, a crowd forms at the lakeshore of the museum campus (which we chose to go over Grant Park). Off to watch the fireworks show.

The spot we chose was a favorite: the Chicago skyline in full view. 8:04 p.m. Wait....there's something here -- it's a bird! It's a plane?! No it's -- hmmm, I think I was meaning to post that another time.

8:24 p.m. Clouds linger.

8:52 p.m. Sun just about to set.

It's now almost time, and the weather had cooperated.

Fireworks begin! .

The birth of a new planet!











9:53 p.m. Final hurrah.