juls random thoughts

59 words

Speed test

I am on position 174,496 of 592,780 on the ranking list.

Got tagged by Pat



ISTJ - The "Examiner"

ISTJ's are very loyal, faithful and dependable. They place good importance on honesty and integrity. They are "good citizens" who can be depended on to do the right thing for their families and communities. While they generally take things very seriously, they also have an offbeat sense of humor and can be a lot of fun - especially at family or work-related gatherings.

ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility. They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. The secretary, clerk, or business(wo)man by whom others set their clocks is likely to be an ISTJ.

At work, ISTJs get things done on a timely basis. They honor deadlines, and they believe in thoroughness. A half-finished joy is not a job well done. They established procedures and schedules, and are uncomfortable with those who do not do the same. ISTJs put duty before pleasure. As long as they can fulfil their responsibilities, they feel useful and thereby satisfied. Their work does not have to be fun, but it has to count toward something productive. ISTJs believe that vacations are something that one takes only when work has been accomplished; thus, at times they do not take vacations even when they could and should. - (Hmm... this one I am not sure because I seldom pass on vacations, actually, bihira nga ako makaipon ng VLs).

Famous ISTJs:
- Andrew Johnson - American President
- Benjamin Harrison - American President
- Elizabeth II - Queen of England
- Evander Holyfield- boxer
- George W. Bush - American President
- George Washington - American President
- Harry Truman - American President
- Herbert Hoover - American President
- Jack Webb - actor, producer
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee - athlete (heptathion)
- Thomas - Christ's apostle
- Warren Buffet - Investor, businessman

ISTJ careers:
Ha! my current career is included in the list! so, ibig sabihin ba eh enough na ang denial ko na I am not on the right career?! hmmm...

I want to know your personality Tet, Quel, Em and Nol.

I have been so out of the loop on scrapbooking. In fact, I haven't posted anything for a long time in my scrapbooking blog. I haven't touched my scrapbooking magazines subscriptions and just few minutes ago, I browsed my mail digest from scrapbooks-exchange yahoogroups and I can definitely say that I am so out of the loop.

I really love doing scrapbook layouts, I've even accepted the fact that I may not be able to make pages as beautiful as my SE friends BUT nalulungkot ako na wala na ako sa mundong yun. So many factors. I just hope I'll go back there soon. I need that outlet.

Thanks Em. Your tag is so timely as I have tons of things to do which I need to organize now otherwise I'll be lost kasi hindi ko alam kung ano ang lahat ng dapat kong gawin.

BUSY PEOPLE: 1.) my chopsuey 2.) mind bubbles 3.) vanity kit 4.) somethingpurple 5.) a detour 5.) juls random thoughts 6.) (your link here)

1.) Prepare for my training session tomorrow. I'll start teaching at 8am and I am only reading the topics now and it's 10:14 PM already.

2.) Prepare for the rest of my instructor sessions. I will be teaching whole day (both concepts and hands on), started today until friday of next week and so far, I only get the chance to prepare the night before the session.

3.) In addition to this, review and edit the final report for a client tomorrow after my staff completed the review notes and submit it to the partner's review just in time for the client meeting on wednesday, which I am REQUIRED to attend, so I have to do this in between my teaching assignments.

4.) I need to review and edit the other reports (two reports for each client) for all my other eleven clients. These are all due on May 15, again, sabay sa teaching assignment ko, oh di ba?

5.) Update blog. I have so many kwento about our weekend gimiks that I hardly have time to write.

6.) Be a MOM to Kurt even if work is neck deep. I keep my weekends sacred that no matter how busy I am at work, I make sure that saturdays and sundays are for family only. I go back to work on sunday night after kurt has fallen asleep.

Now, I am oh so glad that I deferred the certification that I was supposed to take this june as posted here and here, otherwise I need to add here two more super urgent tasks which are:

1. to attend two hour review class every night, and

2. is to read and understand at least 20 pages of my book everyday

oh.. one more to do, to be updated with the episodes of lobo. nyahahaha!!! big deal eto ha, I stay up late just in time for the current night's episode to be available in tfc now for me to download it.

So Quel, Tet, Mia and Jody, what are your to do's?

Some of my must-see destinations in America from the 100 Places to See in Your Lifetime list in no particular order.

Warning: Photo overload.

1. The Big Sur
http://geography.berkeley.edu/programcourses/2003_Field_Pictures/SouthCoast/0312_
BigSurHighway.jpg
According to Wikipedia, it is in the central California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The terrain offer stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Although it has no specific bondaries, many definition of the area is between the Carmel river and San Carpoforo Creek. I dunno but I can just imagine how beautiful it is. I can just remember the way I felt when I saw Pacific Ocean in Monterey, CA. It is so beautiful eh to think di naman bago sa tin ang Pacific Ocean. I even created a scrapbook layout about it.

2. The Grand Canyon
http://www.oursaviorchurch.org/school/faculty/gthorp/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/tour_grand_canyon_1.jpg; http://www.familyvacationco.com/LA2Grand/grand_canyon.jpg

I think I've seen the Grand Canyon in one of my plane rides from San Jose to Phoenix, Arizona then to Austin, Texas when I was in the US but since I've never been there I'm not sure but para talagang yun kasi ang ganda. According again to Wikipedia, it is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado river in Arizona. Hay, I so wish I could go here.




3. Nantucket
http://www.crimerant.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/nantucket.gif
This place, I only learned from this 100... list. For me it's like Sausalito, the small town near San Francisco or Carmel, CA near Monterey. Well, that's my impression. I'm not really sure but given that impression, I want to go here. Per Wikipedia again, it is an island (that's the difference) 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Masachusetts. It is a tourist destination and summer colony. It is part of the National Register of Historic Places so it must be really nice. It features one of the highest concentration of pre-civil war structures in the US.


4. Monument Valley
http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/utah/images/s/utah-monument-valley.jpg
Again, something that I only learned from the list but I think I've already seen in the movies I've watched. It is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona. It is part of the Colorado plateau. More really nice pics can be seen in wikipedia.


5. Yellowstone National Park
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-wyoming/YellowstoneMorningGlory.jpg
Eto, I know na even before and I so want to go here na, di pa ko nakakarating ng US. It is located mostly in Wyoming but extends into Montana and Idaho. The park was the first of its kind and is known for its wildlife and geothermal features specially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular areas of the park. I'm more excited to see the geysers found there.


6. Yosemite Park
http://www.desktopscenes.com/Scenes%20from%20a%20Day%20at%20Yosemite%20(2003)/Yosemite%20Valley%20Tunnel%20View%20Panorama.jpg
This one, sobrang sayang. My sis and I planned on going here for my first long weekend in the US and her visit to me in CA but since I've only been in the US for less than a month and mostly nasa Texas pa ko, di namin na plan then when we went to AAA to inquire, sabi nila, mahirap na kumuha ng booking as sobrang late na kami. Sayang! hubby and his family went here and maganda nga raw. This National Park is located largely in Mariposa and Toulomne Counties, California. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, it is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequioa groves (I saw hubby's pics with these trees, talo ang Muir woods pics ko with the giant trees), and biological diversity.


7. Mount Rushmore
http://blogs.trb.com/news/politics/blog/Mountrushmore-thumb.jpg

Well, I guess this is the most common among my list of seven destinations. This is near Keystone, South Dakota. To those who don't know, the granite sculptures are the heads of US past presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.



Now, to my the three places that I've been to that is included in the list.

Here they are:

1. Lake Tahoe with hubby, tita alma (hubby's aunt) and faye (hubby's SIL who went all the way from Las Vegas to join us for this trip)





2. Statue of Liberty - with my sister. At ang nakakatawa, pareho pa ang suot kong damit sa pics na napili ko dito at sa Lake Tahoe.



3. San Francisco
Inside Alcatraz



The Golden Gate Bridge:


The "Crookedest Street" - Lombard Street


Fisherman's Wharf


Next entry: The World

I have a 9am review with one of the partners in our office this morning. Given that we don’t usually arrive on that time (usually we arrive 9:30) I set my alarm clock to make sure that I won’t be late. The alarm clock rang and unfortunately, it was not only me who woke up, Kurt was also awake, which was unusual as before the alarm has no effect on him. The little boy won’t make me take a bath. As in! he’s saying that “mama, no office ikaw!”. Ayaw nya ko paalisin at pinapahiga pa ko sa bed so I am convincing him that I have to take a bath na. Then he said this nakakadurog puso at nakakagulat na tanong: “mama, love me?” then “no office!” as in both hubby and I are shocked with his statement. As in this is the first time that we heard this from him. Him saying that if you love me, please don’t go to office. Bigla ko tuloy naalala yung email na na-receive ko from my officemate about a kid buying one hour of his dad’s time. Oh my God! I never thought that we will come to this point. Every day, upon waking up, he will always ask if I have no office, to which I reply that I’m going to office, usually he’ll just request that I leave later or that he’ll drive (with me on my car or his dada’s car) and that’s it. But now, may pangungunsensya na. Out of guilt, I stayed and lay down beside him while his dada is trying to make him go out of the room para I can prepare na for office. After a few minutes, he decided to follow his dada outside so I went out na rin and ate breakfast, the little boy has been telling me, “later office, finish eat” then when I went inside our bedroom to get my bathrobe, he immediately followed and locked the door shut behind us. As in kinulong ako ng anak ko sa room saying “no office ikaw! Stay here” natatawa-tawa na ko and at the same time sobrang touch talaga ako pero di talaga ako pwedeng ma-late but I won’t dare go out and make him cry. So I patiently waited inside the room, siguro nainip na rin, he went out and that was my cue to take a bath, after that, hindi na nya ko pinigilan. I guess, napagbigyan ko na sya to leave later and well, the effect, late ako sa review ng boss ko. I do not regret being late though I know negative point against me yun. At least, hindi ko pinaiyak ang anak ko at pinagbigyan ko sya sa maliit na request nya. I just wish it’s a weekend already. I always love it when he asks if no office and then my reply is Yes.

As a gift to its subscribers, Time magazine gave out a very special book, something that I will treasure my entire life. That is the Heaven on Earth: 100 Places to See in Your Lifetime.

Out of the 100 places mentioned there, I’ve only been to four. It could have been five because my sister and I planned on going there but we were not able to do so due to late preparation. It could have been six if we chose that highway from LA to San Jose. It could have been seven if my project in Australia pushed through, I even have the visa already.

And now, I can proudly say that it will soon (hopefully, nothing goes wrong) become five as I have a trip to China at the end of May and we vow to go and visit The Great Wall of China.

Without further ado, I am presenting the 100 Places to See in Your Lifetime as presented by Time magazine.

AMERICA ▪ Acadia ▪ Big Sur ▪ Charleston ▪ Denali ▪ The Florida Keys ▪ The Grand Canyon ▪ The Great Smoky Mountains ▪ Hoh Rainforest ▪ Katmai ▪ Kauai ▪ Lake Tahoe ▪ Mammoth Cave ▪ Monument Valley ▪ Mount Rushmore ▪ Nantucket ▪ Natchez Trace ▪ The San Francisco Bay Area ▪ The Statue of Liberty ▪ Yellowstone ▪ Yosemite

THE WORLD ▪ Abu Simbel ▪ The Acropolis ▪ The Amazon ▪ Amsterdam ▪ Angkor Wat ▪ Antibes ▪ The Australian Outback ▪ Bali ▪ Barbados ▪ Barcelona ▪ Belize ▪ Bermuda ▪ Bhaktapur ▪ The Black Forest ▪ Bruges ▪ Budapest ▪ Buenos Aires ▪ Cartagena ▪ Churchill ▪ The Colosseum ▪ Copenhagen ▪ The Cyclades ▪ The Dingle Peninsula ▪ Dubrovnik ▪ Easter Island ▪ Fez ▪ The Galapagos Islands ▪ Geiranger Fjord ▪ The Giant’s Causeway ▪ The Great Barrier Reef ▪ The Great Pyramid ▪ The Great Wall of China ▪ Guadalajara ▪ Guilin ▪ Hong Kong ▪ Iceland ▪ Iguacu Falls ▪ The Isle of Wight ▪ Istanbul ▪ Jigokudani ▪ Krabi ▪ Kyoto ▪ The Lake District ▪ Lake Lucerne ▪ London ▪ The Lot ▪ Machu Picchu ▪ Madagascar ▪ The Maldives ▪ The Mausoleum of Antiochus ▪ Mont Blanc ▪ Monte Alban ▪ Mount Kilimanjaro ▪ The Namib Desert ▪ New Zealand ▪ The Okavango Delta ▪ Paris ▪ Petra ▪ Phan Thiet ▪ The Potala Palace ▪ Prague ▪ Registan Square ▪ Rio de Janiero ▪ The Sea of Galilee ▪ The Serengeti ▪ The Seychelles ▪ South Georgia Island ▪ St. Petersburg ▪ Stonehenge ▪ Sydney Harbor ▪ The Taj Mahal ▪ Tallinn ▪ Tasmania ▪ Tikal ▪ Torres del Paine ▪ Tuscany ▪ Vancouver ▪ Venice ▪ Vienna ▪ Yamdrok Yumtso Lake ▪

Those in blue font are the places I’ve been to.

Having seen this list, hubby and I agreed to try and visit one from the list at least every other year. That means we should no longer go back to the countries we’ve been to and instead visit a new place.

I wish I can include in this blog the actual pictures used by Time, I’ll try my best so I can share what I have seen in that book.

Thanks Tet for this tag.

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It’s up to you how narrate your stories but there are two rules: 1.Post pictures (I want to see what is all the hotness about), 2. Keep the linky linky alive (Tip, highlight the text which has links, right click and choose View Selection Source and just copy the HTML). Link the post where you wrote about the topic so women can find more drool-worthy men. (You might need to publish and then edit the entry first)

I am such a fan of Grey's Anatomy and I really love Dr. Mc Dreamy kaya first day of showing pa lang ng Enchanted eh nanood na kami ni hubby.

--->> Patrick Dempsey

This one naman, local. Bading daw sya sabi ng marami but I don't care as he's still hot. Sa dinami-dami ng nakikita kong artista sa ABS, never ko pa etong nakita. I've seen all the other hotties like Aga, Richard (when nasa Dos pa sya), Sam. I liked him even before I started my Lobo craze though now I liked him better.

--->> Piolo Pascual

List:1. Aggie 2. Thea 3. Litzie 4. Joy 5. Jane 6. Tet 7. Juliet

Tag all the people you want!
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Need to check first who has not done this yet.

I have always been a fan of banana cream pie or banofee pie, I actually posted about this last year here. Well, anyway, I would just like to post that this year I found three new restos/coffee shop/dessert shop where I can indulge on this favorite of mine.

One - Classic Confections in Greenbelt 5

I actually learned about this from this blog and well, given that it's near my workplace, I did not waste any time and tried it for myself. Katawa ako actually kasi feeling food writer ako, as in I logged in my cellphone the actual experience while eating the banana cream pie. So to share, here's my opinion about the pie on the exact time that I am eating it:

"Dense chewy nutty crust, not too sweet with a hint of cinnamon. The cream is not too sweet too. On top of the cream are the slices of ripe bananas then a weave of whipped cream on top then garnished with swirls of caramel syrup. My only wish is that they have a banofee pie version. Illy coffee served is not too strong just perfect for my pie. I just wonder how the crust is done as I don't see a hint or taste of any graham crackers in it. Tastes like all the sweetness comes from the crust. I thought it's caramel cream but when I tasted it on its own, it's different. It's so good but when you're eating one mini pie alone, all the sweetness sinks in and now you wish that you're not alone. My verdict, it's good but shouldn't be eaten alone as it is too much sweetness for one person."

Ha! and now that I visited their website, I learned that the cream pala is a vanilla custard while the crust is crushed cashew nut. Teeheee...

Two - Bo's Coffee Club

And I just tried it now. Hmm.. I think this one is the cheapest among all my faves though I can't remember the price na in Banapple so I'm not sure. This one is so small, which is perfect for me, kasi hindi pagsasawaan as compared with the one from Classic Confections, di ko talaga kaya ubusin mag-isa.

Three - Myron's Place

Photo taken from Dessert Comes First

Well this one, I haven't tried yet. I am super curious as its presentation is different, as the sliced bananas are on top. I actually planned on ordering that after our lunch posted here kaso we're so full na and I realized that after that lunch eh sa coffee shop ako tatambay so we weren't able to try it na. I was actually contemplating of ordering a take out of it so I can try it. Maybe next time.

So, now that I tried a lot of versions of banana cream pie/banoffee pie, I honestly don't know anymore which version is my favorite. Now, what I am trying to look for na is a recipe on how to do it. I tried doing the banofee pie before but not too successful. I am now off my quest for that recipe search and more restaurant finds for this pie.

Photos of Bo's Coffee Club's banana cream pie to follow as I don't have my cellphone's LAN cable with me right now.

Hubby and I had lunch yesterday in Myron's Place in Greenbelt 5. I've been hearing about this na even nung sa Rockwell pa lang sila but since we seldom go to Rockwell and when we're there, di ko naman naiisip, haven't tried it yet. Now that it's so near to our workplace, I've decided to ask hubby that we have lunch there. That interest was actually renewed when I read about it here and since both hubby and I are steak lovers, we decided to give it a try.

Our order: salad with seared tuna - definitely yummy. sarap at feeling sosyal kami ni hubby, ang ganda ng plating. Then our main course, roast beef (medium, Franco cut). We're supposed to order ribs pa with this but according to the waiter the cut is already good for two so we took his word for it. We requested that the steak be served on separate plates na.

Photo from Dessert Comes First

So, what's our verdict. We still prefer the roast beef from Gulliver's as in! though I liked the sidings here better, mas gusto ko ang lasa ng meat sa Gulliver's pero bilib ako dito, sobrang kapal ng meat. The last time I ate that thick steak was when nasa US pa ko.

So according to our list, this only goes second. First is still Gulliver's, followed by this (Myron's Place) and third is the Highlands Steakhouse.