helping

This past week, the world saw the devastation that Typhoon Haiyan brought to the central part of our country. I am grateful for all my friends from all over who took the time to ask me how I am and my family. We are okay. We had been spared by the wrath of the typhoon. But I cannot say the same thing for my fellow countrymen. Most of them lost everything, including loved ones (that's the hardest part), and it seems that relief couldn't get there fast enough because of logistics problems (and politicking).

I am just in awe though on how Filipinos respond to the call of the needy. In just less than a week, relief operations all over the country materialized, people volunteering their time to pack relief goods, people who have extra gave what they can. Everyone just moved to help the needy.

I am just proud that I am surrounded by friends who are giving more than they can. Our office has willingly given up our annual Christmas party and give the money to the victims; my Geol friends gave part of their travel fund to Red Cross and one of my friend's office will match that amount to give to the Red Cross; another friend of mine went around collecting goods to send to the people of Ilo-Ilo who were also affected. My sister and I collected clothes that are still good but are not being used anymore and we have given away most of our toys for the kids who needs these more now than ever.

Sending our love to the kids who suffered from Typhoon Yolanda

 
I just hope with the little we have, those who receives it feels the love that we are sending them.

*****

Some of the stories that have touched me this past week. Truly, every Filipino today is a hero:

A lady military personnel breastfeeding babies in the evacuation centers
People with vehicles shuttling people arriving from Tacloban to their relative's homes
Fellow UP alumni raising money to support UP dormers whose families were affected by the typhoon
Students abroad with less still giving cash to send to the relief aid

***** 

Lots of thanks going out to the countries and private sector who had been helping out. I just realized that the Philippine military has a long way to go in terms of improvement. We do not lack brave and honorable military servicemen. Our government lacks the vision and left the military to decay. Imagine, only three C130s servicing the whole country of almost 100M people and 7,107 islands. Well, that is just my opinion.

yolanda

It was only after I watched the news on TV that I saw the massive destruction brought by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) to the central area of the Philippines. Footages of gusty winds with its noise like a car being revved forever hurling stuff, taking away roofings, storrm surge coming into the city of Tacloban are being flashed on tv. I just can't imagine what the victims are feeling right now. It seems that most of them lost everything, and sadly, including their family members.

It is times like this that you feel helpless for other people. The same feeling when I heard my hometown being attacked by the rebel army.

new tumbler

A few days ago, I broke my one and only tumbler given to me by my friend two Christmases ago. I love it and I can't help but be sad because I can't use it anymore. So just to make up for it, I bought a new one from the same store. I love it but it will be able to replace the first one.

calamansi muffin

A friend requested that I make a calamansi muffin, which she really loves after tasting the one from Boracay. As I've never been to Boracay in years and that shop was not even around when I went there, I got curious. Also, I've tasted one before, made by a friend's sister, and it really tastes good. I looked up on the internet lots of calamansi recipe, until I found one which looks really good. It also says that they "hacked" the Boracay recipe into a 95% "hackurracy."

It was pretty simple to make although one needs to be prepared for crinkly fingers after squeezing a lot of calamansi. The calamansi muffin turned out well but it cracked on top unlike the picture shown in the original blog. It is also dense and as recommended, it should be enjoyed with coffee.

I also followed some suggestions online, and my friend, to glaze the top of the muffin. So I used powdered sugar and calamansi juice and made glaze out of it. It turned out well, too!

Note: To make sure that I don't burn my muffins, I make sure that I set the alarm at half the time it takes to bake these things and check or turn it around to even the baking process at both sides of the pan.

Thank you to Pepper.ph for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 pcs eggs
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup calamansi

Procedure

1. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Mix together milk and calamansi in a bowl, set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
5. Add in milk mixture and flour mixture.
6. Mix until well blended, don’t over mix.
7. Scoop in non stick muffin pans.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 18-23 minutes.