Artsy Fartsy: Baywalk Buddies

I've never been a spontaneous kind of person. I'm more of a plan-everything-then-go type. But I didn't have anything to do earlier tonight. So I grabbed a notebook and a pen and started to doodle. After a few minutes, I found myself rummaging through my "pencil pouch" (it's way bigger than your ordinary pencil case)  for crayons. My doodle magically turned into this drawing. Yes, I know I'm a bit artistically challenged and it's not exactly Picasso praise-worthy. But hey, a drawing's a drawing.

In case you're having a hard time figuring out what the drawing is, it's a picture of a guy and a girl watching the Manila Bay sunset together. I realized that I've been living in this city for a couple of years already, but I've never actually seen the Manila Bay sunset. It sounds cheesy, but I'd like to see it one day. Doesn't matter if there's a guy in the picture. The only reason why I drew a couple is because I couldn't draw just one person. I have no idea how to, without the figure looking like a bowling pin. Haha.

Here's to more pen and paper adventures! :)

From Musings to Adventures

Hey there!

In case you haven't noticed (if you're one of the few people who regularly visit my blog site), I changed my blog description from "musings of a damsel under stress" to "adventures of a damsel under stress". I just think my posts here are too shallow to be considered musings. My posts usually talk about new food finds, restaurants, books, films, and travel. They can hardly be considered musings. Yes, I've posted twice or thrice about my personal issues, but believe me, I thought about the decision to do so a thousand times before I hit the publish button. So tonight I've made another decision. From now on, I'm going to write about my "real" musings on my other blog. I've stashed it in a very private location so no amount of guessing will get you there. Ha!

Like other [strange] people, I keep a lot of blogs, and by a lot I mean more than two. I find that weird myself. I mean, who keeps three or four blogs?!

I have that may blog sites 'cause I do a lot of writing and I have a lot of target audience - varying target audience. This blog, for example, is free for everyone to read. My other blog is a Tumblr blog where I usually just reblog other people's posts. My last blog is my "personal" blog. Most of my posts there are private, and yes, that's the secretly hidden blog site you'll never find!

Counting the number of blog sites I have made me realize how much I love to write. I'm talkative in cyberspace! I can go on talking and talking here without even noticing that I haven't made any sense, like now. Haha.

I used to think about using my blogging skills to earn money, but every time I try, I back out. I love writing so much that I was afraid if I use it to earn money, I won't love it as much any more. I didn't want writing or blogging to be a chore. I didn't want to be forced into writing. I wanted to write just because. Plus, I wasn't very confident about my writing skills.

But two weeks ago, something inside me pushed me to give it a try. Just one go. I figured, if it works out, then I'll have extra income. If it doesn't, then I can go back to loving writing the way I used to. Surprise surprise! It worked out!

Last week, I got a job as part-time online article writer. To date, I've finished a couple of articles and so far, I haven't received any violent reactions and degrading comments from my boss. Haha. The better news is: I didn't fall out of love with writing. I became even more in love with it. I get to practice my writing skills everyday. It's just like blogging, only more frequently. And I'm even doing that other thing I love: research! Wow! I'm so blessed to be able to practice my two loves at the same time!

Hopefully, by the time school starts again, I've already gotten used to this new job of mine. Wish me luck!

And, a word of advice: if you're thinking about giving something or any thing a go, just give in. You never know how things are going to go. Best case scenario: you get what you want. Worst case scenario: you lose but you've gained the experience. Just my two cents.

So... Does this blog post count as a musing or as an adventure? Do I keep this post here or do I move it to my other site? Hahaha.

Kitchen Battle: Calamansi Loaf

I confess. I have no use in the kitchen. With the exception of eggs and canned and instant foods, I don't know how to cook anything. I'd love to enroll in a cooking class, but my frugal self just won't allow me to. Let's face it - cooking classes may just as well be as expensive as film classes.

There. Now that you know I can't cook to save my life, I'm gonna share with you a little something I achieved over the weekend. I baked! *confetti*

Okay. I know it's not as big as learning how to cook, but hey, it's one step closer.

And this time I call it an achievement 'cause I didn't use ready-mixed ingredients! *more confetti*. Haha.

Mama is frustrated by the fact that I can't cook - even more frustrated than me. Haha. That's why she lets me hang around in the kitchen and poke my nose into her or our angel's cooking. Last Saturday, just because she had something to attend to, she let me do the baking all by myself.

I've heard about Real Coffee's Calamansi Muffins but I've never actually tasted them. And when I saw a recipe on PEPPER.PH, I knew I found my first ever serious baking project.

And before you react violently, yes, I didn't bake muffins. I didn't have a muffin pan handy so I had to improvise. The only baking pans we had were the ones good for making brownies or a loaf. I chose the loaf. It was, after all, only an experiment.

I had to make a few more changes to the recipe. You must be wondering why the color isn't exactly similar to the one found on PEPPER.PH. Well, it's 'cause I used coco sugar instead of the usual. Papa is a diabetic so he's not allowed to have too much sweets. I didn't want him to miss all the fun so I had to use his sugar. Also, instead of the required oven temperature, I baked the loaf in preheated 170 degrees Celsius oven for 30 minutes.

Mama and Ate said it was good but I could do better with more calamansi. And the next time I bake these, I'm gonna make sure there's a muffin pan somewhere.

So, how's that for a first-timer? :)