Destiny and Cold Storage

Early yesterday morning, I read Krip Yuson's column in Philippine Star where he mentioned getting himself connected to Destiny cable after Sky dropped Solar Sports and Basketball TV from its line-up following Solar Sports' granting GMA7 exclusive rights to Manny Pacquiao's fight months back. Yuson convinced me Destiny was ok, a question I had long wanted an answer to before getting a connection myself for the love of husband and son who enjoy watching NBA games.

I thought Destiny, like Sky, had 24-hour service. So after calling 187 for its number, I promptly dialed for Destiny but got no answer. I called 187 again (that was a little after 8) to ask for a second number as the first wasn't answering. The operator gave me a second number plus the info that Destiny starts office at 8:30. I patiently waited but wanted to be sure I'd get through early enough as I feared Yuson's article would evoke several calls from disgruntled Sky customers.

My efforts were rewarded. Shortly after 8:30, I dialed Destiny's number, was told I'd get a connection the very same morning at P450 monthly plus P250 for an AC switch so I could switch from Destiny to Sky channels. I got a call from the company and was told they'd be late, around 2 rather than in the morning. I said I'd wait. By 1:30 they were at the gate. Before 2 I had 2 cable connections. Now that's service. No installation charges to boot. Just 3 months advance. And mind you, the signal is much, much better. Hooray for Destiny (412 9685)! The guy I spoke with was Gene Loyola but his real name is Jennifer Loyola. Not kidding. And he's Ilonggo hence the pronunciation? He's male. Very serious. At one point he spoke to his companion in Ilonggo and his clownish companion said, "don't speak to me in English. I cannot understand English." I didn't get the companion's name, but such a jolly being!

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When the people from Destiny left, I promptly hied off to Rustan's for some groceries. Near the open freezer of Cold Storage was a made-up attendant of the entity, distinguishable by her aqua apron. She offered me some shells and said they were delicious. I asked, "which is better?" She said both. I didn't get. She offered me squid balls. I asked, "how can you cook it so it doesn't become tough?" She said, "when it's cooked, remove it." I said, "How can you tell if it's cooked?" She answered, "You take a bite!" Whoa. How very enlightening. I couldn't help it so I asked, "You don't cook, right?" With a sheepish smile, she said, "no." I advised her to learn. None of my business, actually, but at the rate she's going, she won't last on the job. What if I were her boss's spy? She'd be jobless by now.

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Unfortunate Food Incidents atbp (at iba pa)

Last week, my son, husband and I ate at a Greek restaurant in a mall. I am deliberately not posting the name as I love the place. Besides which, what happened to me there can happen even at home. Anyway, one of our orders was the clam pasta. This tastes very clean as there's no thick sauce that comes with it. Possibly, just the broth.

After I got some and put this on my plate, before I took a bite, I decided to open some shells, many of which were already half opened. There was one that looked somehow unopened but not much effort was needed to prise it open. When I succeeded, lo and behold, the shell halves contained black stuff. For a while there, I thought is this squid? Rotten clam? Then it occurred to me it might be wet sand. But I don't really know. At first I thought of just separating that shell from the rest but then remembering how seafoods can wreak havoc on one's digestive system, I called a waiter over. At first he simply said he'd remove the ugly looking clams. Then another waiter came and said, "we'll replace it." I agreed. Luckily for them I wasn't in a foul mood because I wasn't too hungry. Otherwise, ... As we were about to leave, at least 3 women from the resto said thank you profusely. The next day, we bumped into one of them and again she greeted me warmly. The explanation: the shells were freshly delivered so they hadn't shed all the dirt. Whoa! That's not far-fetched because Maid A always takes that route whenever I would ask her to cook the clams I had just bought from the grocery. Sometimes, I let her get away with it and say I'll eat the clams at dinner. But when I'm hungry, well, she just has to clean them fast.

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Years back I wasn't too lucky. Ordered food from Whistle Stop (for delivery). Was halfway through the fried rice when wow, fried fly. Catatonic. I promptly called them and they replaced it but I never ordered from Whistle Stop again.

Another time, I ordered binagoongang baboy from the neighborhood Pancit ng taga Malabon. What do you know, there was a white, triangular piece that came with it -plastic? porcelain (ceramic)? who knows? Perhaps the saucer fell, broke into pieces, one of which fell into the food being cooked. Or maybe they were hurling saucers at each other?

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On another note, as I blogged earlier, I was in the sala the whole morning. From there, I called Dog Bites to ask them to deliver food for my, duh, dog. One thousand pesos, the man answered. I said fine. This usually lasts the dog a little over a month. When the delivery came, I gave the maid P1k. She came back and handed me the sales invoice which read P1220. Grumbling, I said, "they said it was only "P1k", as I got 2 P100 bills. I asked the maid to get P20 in coins from my room. Then it occurred to me to complain.

The one who answered muttered things as I told her (yes, this time a girl answered) the man who took my call earlier said it was P1k. I then asked, "Don't you have the "P1k variety?" She muttered something as I said I'd have it sent back and could she send me the cheaper one? Maid C called the man to take back the sack of dog food. I don't know what portion of the driveway he had reached with the sack perched on his shoulder when he came back and said, "Ma'am, P1k talaga eto. Mali lang yung recibo."
Fishy.

Was that a lie? Was it a deliberate mistake? An innocent one? Had they tried to pull this trick before and succeeded so that they repeated it? Should I give them the benefit of the doubt? Was thinking of reporting them to the owner but these days, I feel very bad when I think of people losing their jobs because life is difficult enough as it is. I think I'll just buy dog food from the grocery next time.

Coffee Prince

1st Shop of Coffee Prince

* Alternative Title: 커피프린스 1호점 / Coffee Prince
* Genre: Comedy, Romance
* Film Date: July, 2007
* Total Videos: 17
* Korea Casts:
Chae Jung Ahn, Choi Il Hwa, Gong Yoo, Kim Ja Ok, Kim Young Ok, Lee Sun Gyun, Yoon Eun Hye
* Description:

The life of Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) is not easy; she works many jobs to pay off debts and even gave up her feminine image. Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) is the heir of a big food company, but his grandmother wants him to settle down, so she arranged many dates for him. After Eun Chan bumped into Han Kyul and was mistaken for a boy, Han Kyul decided to hire Eun Chan to be his gay lover in order to avoid the arranged dates. Desperately in need of money, Eun Chan had no choice but to accept. Han Kyul's grandmother also made Han Kyul in charge of a filthy coffee shop in danger of being bankrupt. Eun Chan begged to work at the coffee shop, and not long after, feelings start to spark, except, how would Han Kyul accept his "homosexuality"?

My Opinion:

This is one of the most fun Koreanovelas I've watched. The actors are charming and the story is light and amusing. While it revolves around two persons basically, the other characters aren't idle and are somehow involved in the story too. Quite a refreshing respite from the heavy Filipino telenovelas where there is a lot of screaming, hair pulling, etc.

It is shown every night after Marimar on GMA. But if, like me, you want to watch all of it quick, check out the following link which my son found for me: http://www.mysoju.com/the-1st-shop-of-coffee-prince/. He too has taken to watching it . The site has several other telenovelas and this morning, I started on Spring Waltz. Heard though that it is the last of the Endless Love series, therefore it's depressing.

Whew!

Today is a day of transitions for at least two reasons. I finally submitted all the work I needed to and have been slaving over for the past two months. What a relief. So this morning, I had the room thoroughly cleaned (or so I hope) while I stayed in the sala reading newspapers dating as far back as December. So I didn't read the news pages (they being by now history), just the features. I am not through yet, perhaps it will take me another two days.

The other transition: Maid C has finally left. The other day at 4 pm, I asked if she was ironing the clothes she was supposed to. Her answer, "mangape pa ko". And she looked like she had just awakened. She was getting truly offensive because I guess she knew she was leaving anyway. In the past I had maids whom I'd cry about when they were about to leave. This one's departure makes me feel so free. Her sister and cousin (Maids A and B) were determined to see her go as she had a girlfriend and they were worried because she had suicidal tendencies. IN the past, she supposedly slashed her wrist when her girlfriend left her. Scary.....

So now I have a new Maid C. An unwed mom who got pregnant over a year ago, maybe two years, while she was in my employ. Her paramour was working at our neighbor's office. Will she do a reprise? I hope not. the man refused to marry her. I hope she has since learned her lesson. I like this maid because she's always smiling but she can be too engaging. In fact, a friend of mine whom she accompanied to a restaurant nearby to get dessert said my maid had interviewed her, asking if she had a boyfriend. (the answer was no). this maid can be flirty too. Once a tutee of mine asked, "where's your other maid?" I said "she's gone." They had each other's cell phone number! MY GOOLAI. Maid C is pretty.

oooooooyyyyyyyy miracle. Maid A asked me what I wanted heated for lunch as she was going to the bank. One friend who read my blog said she's sosy for always being at the bank. Wonder if she has a boyfriend there??? Just kidding. Maybe she has lots of money? ooooooooopppppppppppps.

Odd food combinations that work

This morning, the mom of a friend gave me a bottle of bagoong. When she handed it to the maid, she told the maid to tell me that I could eat it with crackers or toasted bread. That floored me. I had always associated bagoong with mangoes or with pork binagoongan. With bread and crackers? That was certainly a novelty. When I tried it out, wow, it was great. Perhaps the idea of combining both was in keeping with eating caviar and crackers? I don't really know. But it's a good combination, promise.

Way back when I was in Talisay, I always had barbecued saba with salted peanuts. Why? The maid got both from the market so to save on trips to the market, I'd ask her to get both for me at the same time. To this day, then, whenever I have one, I look for the other. Being in Manila now, it's not always possible.

Yet another food combination I enjoy is that of chocolate and potato chips. Some people find this odd but I have been vindicated. Bon Appetit in Rustans carried potato chips covered with melted chocolate. See? I also like eating potato chips with dikiam. Honestly.

Maids ... hard to live without them, hard to live with them

Maid A is the cook. Shortly before lunch, she either decides to take a bath, go to the bank or do something that will make her disappear when she is needed. She also works very slowly. One time a cousin ordered pastel de pollo and macaroni. Cousin said she'd get it at 5. When I asked the maid what time she thought we should start, she said 8 a.m. so we can take our time. Heavens.

Maid B. She's the one supposed to know where my things are, medicines included. Once I asked her for Buscopan. She gave me Mucosolvan. I said, "Buscopan." She said, "Sinutab?" Darn. Then this noon, as I was about to eat my Chow King Chao fan which was rather spicy, I asked her for hoisin sauce to go with the recycled roasted duck we had in Spring Moon last Saturday. Maid A as usual was elsewhere (in the bank, I remember). Maid B said, "ketchup?" I said, "Hoisin." The ketchup in sachets from Pizza Hut were on the table so they were the first thing she saw. I said, "in the ref, red cover." She lifted a bottle of Japanese mayonnaise. I said, "Red bottle, hoisin." She showed me teriyaki sauce. After some time, she said there was no hoisin. I told her to check in the ref in the kitchen. After a while she came back with nothing. I texted Maid A in the bank and she said it was in the ref in the room. Meanwhile Maid B was looking in the shelves where we keep the groceries, though I said it should be in the ref. Finally she checked in the ref again. It was there. I asked why she didn't see it the first time. She said she had only looked on the top-most shelf. arrghhhhhhh.

Sometimes I wonder if they annoy me deliberately.

Foibles and "shoplifting" indavertently

Back in college, a Chinese classmate gave me a company pocket diary where I listed stuff to buy. One evening, I was in National Bookstore near Araneta Coliseum and checked the pocket diary. Then I quickly put it back in my maong bag with a Raggedy Ann painted on it. Tandang tanda ko pa. It even had a wooden handle. Why does that memory stand out? Shortly after I put the diary back in my bag, the security guard accosted me. I said "Why?" He said I took something. I promptly opened my bag and he got the red diary. I said, but that's mine and it's been used. He returned it and walked away. No apologies. The maid with me said "you should have told him your Lolo can afford to buy National Bookstore." A gross exaggeration but comforting nonetheless. I was really shaken.

Years later, in my disabled state, my husband and I were choosing belts. The sales clerk gave me quite a number. I put them on my lap where my bag was. See, I can't feel beyond my chest so what happens down there, unless the sensation, okay pain, is intense, I'm clueless about it. (Proof: I used to sit my son on my lap, lots of groceries, etc. People would say they were heavy but I managed to smile. I didn't feel the weight. I just enjoyed having my son on my lap. Earlier, my nephew) Back to Rustan's. We got one belt, paid for it and were on our way out when the metal detector was agitated: tooot tooot tooot. Oops, I thought, my wheelchair has been detected. Then I looked down and lo and behold, under my bag a belt was lurking. I was soooooooooo embarrrrrrrrrrrrrassssssssssssssssssssssseddddddddd. The guard hastily went to me with a smile and said, "Sorry ma'am." Even the cashier and sales clerks smiled at me and said "Sorry." I guess that's Rustan's for you. And maybe it helped that I frequent the place even if only to look around. They thought or at least made me think I wasn't a shoplifter in their eyes. Whew.

If you think that embarrassing experience taught me to be more careful, it hasn't. But the succeeding mishaps have been minor. Except that it would have been interesting if I noted the dates and the places from which I've inadvertently brought home table napkins from restaurants. If my memory serves me right, I once brought out of Kimpura a peach napkin which was the same color as my pants. As I saw this just before I was loaded into the car, when we passed Kimpura, we handed it to the guard with our apologies. He merely smiled. I also brought home a burgundy napkin from I can't remember where, a white one from somewhere else, a beige one from yet another place. Last Saturday, I got one from Spring Moon. Make that I accidentally got one from the restaurant. Weird that I did as it was white, my pants weren't and my bag on top of it was beige. Their waiters weren't looking, I guess. Nice napkin. Had embossed patterns on it. Will I return it? Abangan...