I Blog, Therefore I Am.

I turned THIRTY today and it was fabulous!

There's a certain enigma and mystery in turning thirty. I am actually having the time of my life and I embrace thoroughly the changes in me and within me!

I have so many thoughts for this milestone of a year but I am too pre-occupied at the moment with endless reading of the Twilight saga, catching up on missed work, resizing of pictures, watching the Olympic Swimming events, and getting ready for another quick business trip this weekend thus the non-post.

For the meantime, I leave you with one of my "iconic" Boracay self-portraits which was taken just a few days ago. I want to immortalize the fun, carefree and relaxed atmosphere that Boracay brought within which I want to channel myself with.

Cheers to thirty, flirty and thriving!

China waited for this moment for more than a hundred years!


The Beijing Olympic Stadium otherwise known as the Bird's Nest

In less than 14 hours the dream of showcasing to the world that they are one of the modern superpowers will become a reality as Beijing welcomes everyone to the Opening Ceremonies of the 29th Olympic Games! No expense was spared and even the weather was controlled to prove to the whole world that they are indeed the new kid on the block! Move over, America! :)



This is the Aquatic Center, otherwise known as Water Cube,
where all the swimming meets will be held

I've always been a crazy Olympics fan and will surely watch ALL the exciting swimming events as usual. It actually did not help that I live on the same time zone as Beijing's because all the final swimming events will be held in the morning (as opposed to the traditional evening sched) so the US viewers can watch it live on their primetime TV. It's going to be exciting with Michael Phelps attempting to re-write history books (again) with 8 gold medals on his swim meets. Let us see if he can do it in Beijing. Athens left him cold with just 6 golds and 2 bronzes. He will race again in the 200 meter freestyle, 200 and 400 individual medley, 100 and 200 butterfly, 400 and 800 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. Stay tuned for Athens' "IT" boy. Will he finally get the 8 elusive gold medals and become Beijing's "ultimate IT" boy?

I wish to write some more about the grand Beijing Olympics (and my favorite Australian Women Swim Team and the 'Redeem Team' of LeBron James) but I also have to do some swimming and celebration of my own on this once in a lifetime 08-08-08. My friends and I are Boracay-bound this afternoon and we will stay there until Sunday! I'll write some more when I get back!

Happy 888! :)

August 22 is the release date of the much-awaited iPhone 3G in the Philippines. I am actually amazed that it only took less than 2 months for the Philippines to launch it from the US release date.

The announcement was made today through a special website and a press release. An on-line reservation page was even published by the network for eager buyers. BUT the celebration ends there. Prospective early adopters, gadget-lovers and Filipino techies had a collective heart attack when they learned the plan scheme and the obscenely expensive price tag of these babies!



It's a whooping Php 48,899 ($1,087) for the iPhone 16gb for prepaid and P22,300 ($496) for Plan 1599, which is the lowest plan for postpaid. All postpaid plans are also locked with the network for two years. So theoretically, subscribers will pay a total of Php 60,676 ($1,349) for the plan and the phone on top of the voice/data/SMS usage that they will accumulate and consume outside of the plan.

Notice that I don't have links? I am of course biased on this one so I will just let the raging community of Phillipine Twitterers do the talking - positive or otherwise.

I am just thankful that I won the Pond's Beauty Blog Contest and will be getting one for free as part of the prize. Never mind if it "might" be a first generation iPod and non-3G.

It will be unlocked immediately of course...for obvious reasons! :)

I don't know where the term "better" came from on this pasta's name; but this is definitely one of the freshest and healthiest Pasta Pomodoros I've ever made. I was searching for an all-red tomato pomodoro recipe but I decided to make this one instead because it's easier to prepare.


I got the recipe from Vina of Recipe Zaar but I tweaked it a bit (as usual) to suit to the taste I want.

Ingredients

2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 lbs. Fresh garden tomatoes, medium dice
1/4 Cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces finely grated parmesan cheese
12 ounces of fine pasta, cooked (I chose San Remo's Angel Hair)
Pepper
Salt

Equipment needed: cooking pan, stove top

Steps

1. Heat olive oil over high heat and add garlic; saute for 30 seconds.

2. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Saute for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

3. Remove from heat then add cooked Angel Hair pasta and chopped basil then toss gently. Add 1/2 grated parmesan cheese to taste then toss again.

4. Serve immediately and pass the remaining grated parmesan cheese.

Serving size: 6 to 8

As you can see, the pasta was mixed into the sauce while it's being cooked unlike most pasta dishes. My sister-in-law, who loves strong taste on her food, also added spanish sardines for instant Pasta Puttanesca. My niece and mom love its salad-like lightness while I love the taste of basil combined with tomatoes. I bought all the ingredients at SM Supermarket and total cost is around Php 300.00 ($6.67). I was able to save a bit on the Extra Virgin Oil because I had some left from the Basil Pesto Pasta which I prepared a few weeks ago.

Next on the cooking list? Pasta With Creamy Mushrooms and Ham

Greetings Potter Fans!

The first official trailer of the Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince movie was shown and released just last week. Unlike the past films which was primarily centered on Harry, this sixth installment will also focus on the young Voldemort known as Tom Riddle. The film is expected to be as dark and as sinister as it was in the book. I can't wait!

Here's the trailer:



Photos:


The young Tom Riddle will be played by Hero Fiennes-Tippin,
nephew of Ralph Fiennes who plays Voldemort








Watch out for the death of Dumbledore!

Some Spoilers (skip this if you don't want to know what's in the movie!):
This is the movie where Harry will get together with Ginny, and Ron with Lavender Brown. Hermione will stay single but will be pissed at the latter. Harry will be Captain of Quidditch and Ron will also be a team member. This is also where Dumbledore dies.

Showing on November 21, 2008 July 2009

I intend to write a lengthy post about this but I am still loss for words.

I joined last month my Pond's 7-Day Beauty Blog contest sponsored by Pond's Age Miracle and SM Hypermarket (SM Mall of Asia)...and I WON! :)

Here's the announcement that was made yesterday:



Click this link to be redirected to the SM Hypermarket's blog where the announcement was made.

Thanks to Pond's, Unilever Philippines, SM Hypermarket and to Google Philippines' Aileen Apolo. Congratulations also to my fellow blogger, Xee, who won in the contest, too!

Muchas Gracias to my wonderful family, friends, colleagues and on-line buddies for the whole-hearted support! Here's to brighter and younger days ahead of us!

What a great way to start August 2008!