How I think of myself isn’t necessarily how other people think of me
We all have an image of ourselves in our heads that may or may not correspond with reality. Mine is that I’m a loner who doesn’t have any friends. This pandemic is showing how wrong I am. I’ve been catching up with friends online, and some of them have even been sending me care packages. […]
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A friend dropped off fresh vegetables
A friend dropped off these carrots, along with salad greens, arugula, Swiss chard, and spearmint from Papaya Tree Farms. This friend was the first friend I made in the agriculture industry, back when I was a food writer who wanted to focus on food security but didn’t know how to go about it. How we […]
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Goodbye, Peque Gallaga
Peque Gallaga is a stalwart of Philippine cinema, but he’s also touched a lot of random people such as myself along the way.
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Relief goods
About a week ago, my landlord gave their tenants relief goods. I got rice, eggs, munggo, kamote, onions, and white sugar. They didn’t suspend rent (I wish they did), but this is a nice gesture all the same. This means that I don’t have to do groceries for a while, at least. This morning, we […]
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Cooking is being able to make a recipe your own
Part of cooking is making a recipe your own and this delicious breakfast, now in my belly, is wholly mine.
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It’s hard for me to make my favorite childhood dishes for myself
This is what I try to get my quarantine meals to look like. Nothing fancy, quick to make, as nutritionally sound as possible. Eggs and sardines for protein, vegetables for vitamins, bagoong for flavor. Atchara because I miss silogs so much. I realize that the things I miss most fall in the realm of comfort […]
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The joy of eating a mango in season
My space is suffused with the scent of mango. I bought two during my last grocery trip, both at different stages of ripeness. The first one, I had peeled and frozen so I could use it to top my yogurt. I had been waiting for the second one to ripen so I could do the […]
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Friends gave me sun-dried tomatoes, I gave them tea
Today was the day of the Great Neighborhood Exchange. A friend who lived nearby drove over to drop off sun-dried tomatoes and I gave them tea in teabags. It was weird to see them with half their face obscured by a mask. For a second, I wondered if it really was my friend who was […]
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I made inabraw
It’s a simple dish, but I’m extremely proud of myself for making it.
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When spirits are low, I turn to instant noodles
Are instant noodles healthy? Probably not. Is this the best brand out there? I doubt it. But does Nissin’s Ramen chicken flavor make me happy? Absolutely. And in these trying times, it’s important to embrace every little thing that makes you happy.
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