Why I Sometimes Hate Where I Live

When Belle Today posted their 7x7 Challenge (at least 7000 steps everyday for 7 days), I posted my very little concern about where to buy a pedometer. One of the members (Gisa) sent me a link to a pedometer on sale c/o Groupon - one of the many sites offering discounted prices for services and goods - and signed up for it.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Groupon (the site normally sends e-mails whenever they have a new set of deals) and this really caught my attention:

p90 for one week of Zumba Classes. Sure is something I'd grab right there and then - this can be a good chance for me to know more people in the same journey as I am...but the one thing that prevented me was its location. It's not really that far from where I live, but... going there everyday, I'd pay a lot for bus / jeepney fares.

If you live near New Manila (E. Rod Sr. Avenue), and want to grab this deal, you can see the full details HERE.

Scrolling more of Groupon's deals... I saw this:

80% savings is really big... and we all know Gold's Gym is one of the well known gyms around. p1485 for one month sure is very affordable, but again, I can't grab this one because the nearest Gold's Gym was quite far from where I live.

Want this? View the full details HERE.

All I can do is sigh about it. I love where I live - our neighbors are just awesome, it's near a mall, church, hospital, and marketplace... but it was just so far! As a food blogger, I have received e-mails from small companies hoping I could try their products, but because of my location, they have cancelled sending the goods because their courier can't deliver it to my house. Whenever I have to attend an event, I have to leave the house at least two to three hours before the start of the event just so I won't be late. Sometimes I wonder if my parents thought about how far our place is when they bought the house, but of course, I have been living here since 1985, and nothing bad happened to us - so I am truly grateful to be living here, it's just that... part of me hopes we are near the heart of the Metro, too.

Speaking of gyms... Ria told me of a gym somewhere in Lagro (Quezon City). I still haven't checked the place out, but she told me she is planning to sign up for membership because it has complete facilities. My sister spoke about it, too, and since membership fee is p1500 per month and that I pay only p22 for the jeepney fare, I am thinking of considering this... but like what Mr. Pipoy suggested - I have to check it out first before I make any decisions.

Hopefully by March, I can find a nearby gym.

Bibimbap!

Ever since my sister cooked her very first Bibimbap dish, I have already loved it, and craved for it from time to time. I got to eat Bibimbap once at a restaurant, but I still feel my sister did a much better job (not because she's my sister, but really because her version was much better), so I asked her to cook it again. The other day, she granted my wish.




That night, the family had a minor scare - the jeepney mom was on had problems with brakes, and in the end, the driver decided to hit the tail of a bus just to make the jeepney stop. Since traffic was light and the jeepney wasn't really fast, there were no major injuries, except for some scratches. Mom bumped her forehead on the hand rail and had a bruise because of it.

This Bibimbap Dish was mainly sister's cooking, but brother and I helped - I cleaned the tails of the mung bean sprouts and blanced the kangkong leaves, while brother cooked the eggs. The rest - including the plating of the dish was something sister did.

Us siblings have eaten sister's Bibimbap for two or three times already, but this was the first time mom got to taste it. It sounded foreign to her... but she loved it, too.

Big thanks to sister for granting my not-so-simple wish. You're the best!
You may check the recipe HERE.

Roses from Brother!

Us siblings have our own romantic relationships, but none of us celebrated Valentine's Day with our significant other - maybe because VDay fell on a weekday and that brother's girlfriend is living in Cagayan de Oro.

Our family isn't into giving gifts, but for Valentine's Day, brother surprised us by giving us a red rose each. I asked why he gave us a rose, and he answered it with, "It was cheap!" Well, considering he bought this at the roadside flower shop near a church, it was indeed cheap - maybe p20 each rose... but we really appreciated it. As they would say, it's the thought that counts. For someone who's so not into gift giving, this was indeed a sweet gesture.

In behalf of mom and sis... thank you, brother.