tineveryday!

I’ve been keeping my tv series/sitcoms and books unfinished because I don’t want to feel that the characters are leaving me.

1. Working as a community health nurse in the Philippines under the Department of Health, I realise that I wasn’t earning enough for myself and can’t support my parents too so I decided to level up the game and passed applications online to the US and UK.

2. All of my applications - 3 US and 1 UK - got rejected because of one reason: I lack hospital experience.

3. I resigned at my current post, brokenhearted, lol. I applied in one of the prestigious hospital in the Philippines and got accepted. Thank you for three great years, AHMC!

4. On my second year of being a bedside nurse, I decided to reapply to US and UK even though I am really clueless of the application process.

5. Again, I was rejected in the US. Their issue that time was my area of experience is not “marketable.” I gave up that country and decided to just focus with UK application.

6. I entrust my application with IPAMS as they looked promising. Upon their receipt of my application, I was asked to complete a dosage calculation test and I was scheduled for an employer’s interview via Skype.

7. I passed the interview and IPAMS provided me with a guide on how the whole application process will be. This time, I wasn’t very particular with the institutions, the benefits, the salary, and the likes. All I was thinking is I’m going to work in the UK and will start earning £!

8. I took the IELTS without being very familiar with it. I don’t even know what is the best IELTS to take but I took the Academic IELTS anyway, under IDP. I recommend their Ortigas branch.

9. I got the required mark for UK on my third attempt. LOL. That time, I know exactly what IELTS is, what’s the best IELTS to take, and how to attack it. As for IELTS Review, I enrolled myself in CEVAS but because of hospital duties, I wasn’t able to attend much of my classes. I was just present on 4 classes maybe? I did most of the reviews by myself using review materials I found on the internet.

10. I informed IPAMS about the result of my IELTS. They then instructed me to choose three hospitals from their list where they could line me up for interview. I submitted my Top 3 choice based on careful research, LOL. I waited for weeks...until I got tired of waiting and followed up. I was told many reasons why am I not hearing anything from them: this hospital isn’t conducting interview anymore, this hospital has stopped recruiting nurses, this hospital is prioritising applicants with decision letter (another thing I didn’t know back then). To make the story short with IPAMS, they don’t have an available hospital at the moment.

11. After a month of passing IELTS, I finally decided to entertain other agencies and to apply to other agencies as well. Two of them looked propitious. I already submitted requirements to both but I wasn’t able to pursue my application with them because Abba is a scene stealer. LOL.

12. While I was waiting for a response from those two, Ms. Donna from Abba invited me for an employer’s interview. She provided me with adequate information about the hospital as if she is advertising it. She also gave me their facebook page and website so I can know more about the job offer.

13. I become specific with the hospital now and the benefits they are offering. Abba is the one who really opened my eyes with this whole UK application and up to now, I am still thankful to them.

14. The rest is history. Here’s a glimpse: NMC Registration, CBT, NMC Documentation, Decision Letter, TB Test, Visa, Pregnancy Test, and Departure. No other medical examinations were required to us by Abba or Croydon aside from the Documentation of Good Health signed by an MD and the pregnancy test done pre-departure.

I've been seeing this broccoli for a long time now inside the fridge so I decided to cook it. Some of its flowers are already turning yellow so I went out and get additional ingredients for a recipe called Beef Broccoli.

As I was doing research on how to deliciously cook it having limited ingredients, I found out that Beef Broccoli is a Chinese cuisine. All these time I thought it was a Pinoy dish, lol. It uses oyster sauce and yet I thought it was Pinoy. You wouldn't really care unless you're doing a presentation, yeah? Right there and then, I realised that China's foods aren't really bad so let's forget their exotic foods for now and just appreciate their use of unique spices to please our taste buds, Covid-19 aside. Ehem.

Fun fact: I grew up in Asia (which happens to be the continent where China is). This is the continent where most of the spices around the world is produced. Imagine how tasty the foods in Asian countries are. Lucky me, the Philippines is IN Asia and we are influenced with the utilisation of spices (and herbs) in our cooking. To be honest, I would always come home to Asian foods and wouldn't mind travelling miles just to experience umami. What English breakfast, huh? Pahinging kanin at ulam! Charrr! Tsaka ng sawsawan. :P

Enough of the talking and gather your ingredients.

First, get that broccoli before it rots.

Second, the beef - 500kg.

Third, your spices such as: 5 cloves of garlic - crushed, 3 tsps of white sugar, 2 tbsp corn starch, ground black pepper (the amount will depend on your taste), a thumb size of ginger - crushed (optional), 2 tbsp of Oyster Sauce, and 6 tbsp of Soy Sauce.

Fourth, a cup of hot water.

Fifth, a can of mushroom (optional). Just be careful with the amount of mushroom you’ll use because my finished product almost looked like mushroom with beef broccoli. LOL.

Now, let’s proceed with the cooking.

I followed mostly of The Kusinera At Its Finest's Beef Brocolli Recipe because *restaurant style* and I can easily look for the ingredients she used at a nearby store. I made some revisions, though:

I added mushroom because we used to have it with it back home.

I put crushed ginger just for the taste of it,

I didn’t use Knorr seasoning ‘cos I don’t have it,

I marinated the beef for 30 minutes in the “secret sauce” because I saw some videos marinating the beef in it

Let’s begin.

She started creating her special sauce, I did that.

1. Mix the spices and hot water in a bowl and marinate your beef in there.

2. While your beef is being marinated, prepare your broccoli: wash it and cut it decently.

3. Remove the mushroom in your can and set it aside.

4. Take a picture of your ingredients like what I did, LOL.

5. Stir fry your broccoli (The Kusinera At Its Finest said if you’re going to stir fry veggies, you have to put a little amount of oil, set your heat high, mix it well so your broccoli would be crispy).

6. Make sure you achieve that bright green colour for your broccoli because that would tell you it’s cooked (a cooking tip on the video is to add a little amount of water then cover it).

7. Once your broccoli already bright green in colour, set it aside and fry the beef on the same pan, set aside the marinate aka special sauce. Some parts of beef would require additional cooking time to make it tender, some would require you to boil it first. Use beef sirloin so you wouldn’t have to go through all of this boiling and stuff.

8. Once the beef isn’t pink anymore, add the “special sauce.” You would notice that the sauce has become thick, we want that. That is because of the cornstarch we put on the marinate. :)

9. Let it cook, cover the pan if you want.

10. Get a meat sample, when it’s already edible, you’re done cooking!

Wag kalilimutang magsaing habang nagluluto dahil pagkatapos ng lahat ng ‘yan ay gutom ka na panigurado. Aaaaat, ayan! Naisalba natin ang muntik ng mabulok na broccoli sa ref.

Learning #1: Mahalaga na planado ang menu bago mamili ng isa-stock sa ref.

Learning #2: Ang hirap lutuin ng beef, okay. Kailangan mong piliin ang tamang part ng baka depende sa ‘yong lulutuin. Ganun din siguro sa pork at chicken.

Alright! Until the next cooking!

A number of friends and acquaintances have asked how I’m doing and have sent me well wishes when they heard on our Church’s live broadcast the prayer request made by my mom for my continuous healing. However, these well wishes and how are you’s came a bit late because I already considered myself well and I am back at work! I appreciate those thoughtful gestures still.

When I said ‘daming ganap dito sa Europa,’ I mean those extra hell I’ve been through aside from work. It could be #ADULThings, injuries or diseases, and other misfortunes. So this one, although a cliche, is apparently, one of those ‘ganaps.’ I wasn’t planning to share it to anyone aside from my family but since our pastor has specified me in his pastoral prayers watched by hundreds of brethren across the globe, let me share my.covid.journey. which you might find relatable but not really interesting.

This is not Covid related but let me start my story here: I was put on 2 weeks sick leave following an ankle sprain due to excessive working out. I stopped exercising since then but I sure did a lot of talking on the phone and walking around the hospital vicinity.

During the first week of my sick leave, it was the first week of April, I have to do stuff for the house we’re moving in, check various places for my deliveries from online, and keep up with life. When I said I am busy figuring out life in this country, I mean it. Keeping up with life and establishing routine and relationship is pretty tiring for my introverted ass. So you see, I haven’t really rested.

While recovering from strain, I happen to catch a bad flu: every task, even a small one, exhaust me. My cough (which started March 26 that I suspected an allergy because Spring is just around the corner) started to get worst and aside from headache, my body felt like I pushed myself too hard on the gym, lol. I thought I was just tired from running errands so I self medicated with lozenges, paracetamol, and I continue my multivitamins.

Three days after that, I lost my sense of taste and smell. My cough gets more disturbing because phlegm seems to be increasing but a bit hard to expectorate especially when lying down. It's scary because you will really be short of breath coughing continuously trying to get this sticky secretions out of your throat. I drank more water than usual partly for my phlegm to liquefy and also because my lips and throat easily gets dry. I’m not having temperatures at this moment but it feels like you have a fever. I was encouraged to get a swab which I did and after 5 days, I was informed that

my

sample

was

missing

do.I.want.a.re-swab? LOL.

Since I am starting to feel better this time, 9th day since I started feeling ill, I was having second thoughts of doing it again due to the risk of cross contamination, LMAO. But because a dear friend wanted me to have it for peace of mind, I showed up at the testing site. After 24hrs, results were in and BAM, detected.

It was apathy, to be honest. I was just thinking about my mum who would be really worried. I did tell her and she cried really hard, she keeps on calling just to check on me even though I assured her that I am doing waaaaay better than last week. She begged me to gargle salt water, do steam inhalation, and drink ginger-lemon tea. I called it "ita-try natin lahat, anak para gumaling ka" regimen because that's what she said trying to convince me to do all of those things. I did all of those but not for too long. During this week, I tried teasing my taste buds by eating sour candies, chocolates, and salty crisps. I also shifted my multivitamins to Berroca.

As I enter third week of recovery, I’m slowly gaining back my sense of taste and smell. I’m not having any pain anymore, just episodes of lightheadedness and a very slight drop in alertness. My cough is still bad, though. My ward sister said it is usually the last symptom to disappear...but because I still have symptoms, I am still not allowed to go back to work.

I was advised by an Indian friend to drink warm milk with turmeric and ground pepper for my cough and after 2 days on it, I saw an improvement. I have rested for almost a month and I didn't feel really good about it. I had this ~I don’t want to work yet but I want to go back to work already~ dilemma, you see.

It took me three plus weeks...the whole month of April, actually, to consider myself recovered. I went back to work before the month ended because I would REALLY go crazy if I haven't. I am probably negative now. We don’t do re-swab for staff who tested positive for Covid in CUH so let’s just assume. I'm keeping the Covid precautions, though. And I would probably include it in my lifestyle now.

Not because they are celebrity and have almost everything, it doesn’t mean that they are already exempted with “mind games”.

While searching on how Suga worked on this track, I came across Wikipedia page and saw this,

"While I’m not sure whether it’s from my personal emotion or from the overall social atmosphere coming from the disaster, my 28 would be remembered by the recurring feeling of lethargy and longing for the ‘orange island’ where we felt freedom rather than sadness".

—IU on “Eight”.

I am now convinced that there is a psychological effect this pandemic is bringing to everyone. Stay strong, guys! Meanwhile, let’s enjoy this single brought to us by IU and Suga et al.

IU – lyrics, composition, arrangement, chorus

Suga – production, lyrics, composition, arrangement, piano, synthesizer

El Capitxn – composition, arrangement, piano, synthesizer

Jukjae (적재) – guitar

Choi In-sung (최인성) – bass

Song Myung-gab (손명갑) – recording

Kang Sun-young (강선영) – engineering

Gu Jong-pil (강선영) – mixing

Kwon Nam-woo (권남우) – mastering

The vibes of this song for me is like a 90s teenage movie OST. As per Wiki, "Eight" is a "nostalgic" pop rock song that fuses "analog-based" and trendy "band" sounds with "delicate and emotional" vocals and "soothing rapping."

It’s theme is self reflection, a confession of the story of a twenty-eight year old using "using a virtual figure and various metaphors"

Above all of what is happening with the world right now,

above all of the emotional turmoil I’ve been through,

above all of those failed plans and relationship,

above all of the injuries and illnesses I’ve experienced just this month,

I choose to be thankful.

I am constantly earning,

I have a comfortable home,

I have food on the table (and fridge), 

I am continuously healing (the Earth too),

I was left with one person to call a friend,

I have a supportive family back home (and other parts of the world too),

I have a caring workplace, and

I am alive and breathing.

Tatlong linggo na bukas mula nung huling hospital duty ko, masaya ba ko? That, I don’t know. Dapat kasi, isang linggo lang talaga akong pahinga. Kaya lang, ang dami biglang happening sa buhay natin dito sa Europa tapos ngayon, nganga na tayo. Hindi ko tuloy mapigilang mag-emo.

Naranasan mo na ba yung gigising ka at any time of the day, pwedeng yung natulog ka sa tanghali ganon, o kaya yung actual na tulog mo ng gabi tapos gigising ka sa umaga tapos mapapatunganga ka na lang, thinking, “okay, so ano ng next?” With the tiniest amount of sanity left in you, you’ll say, “epekto lang to ng walang ginagawa” kaya iisipin mo, “pag balik ko sa trabaho, gigising, magre-ready sa work...” tapos babalik ka na naman dun sa thought na, “tapos, ano na?” Parang biglang nawalan ka na ng reason to live, mapapatanong ka na lang, “eto na ba yon?”

Iniisip ko if naapektohan ba ng pagkakasakit ko yung level ng neurotransmitter ko sa utak kaya ako nagkakaganito o dahil ba sa hangin dito sa Croydon o epekto lang talaga ‘to ng sobra sobrang pahinga pero iba e. May mga panahon rin na parang may hangin yung utak ko. Yung pakiramdam kapag pinipilit mong makinig sa lecture tapos wala kang tulog, ganon. Pero sa akin, ganito: may ginagawa ako, for example, naghuhugas ng kamay. While doing so, blanko yung utak ko tapos marerealize ko na lang bigla na, “uy, naghuhugas ako ng kamay.”

I finished watching the 16-episode 2017 Korean Drama Series after 24 hours, yayy! Sakto lang siya sa mga may sakit na nagpapagaling. Hindi stressful, saktong drama, saktong comedy, saktong kilig, saktong life lesson lang rin.

Dahil drama siya at sa TV lang naman kasi may nangyayari, mahirap siyang pangarapin na mangyari sa totoong buhay kaya hayaan na lang natin yung mga lapses at dahil korean drama ito, wala na tayong aasahang susunod na kabanata. Isipin na lang natin, “basta, they live happily ever after.”

Maganda yung twist and turns of events kasi nga Korean Drama eh. May kwento, okay yung mga characters - may nakilala akong bagong Fantastic 4, tinapos ng maayos yung istorya, happy lahat kaya OK.

Hindi natin laging kailangan ng mabibigat na kwento. Minsan dito lang tayo sa mga feel good na palabas katulad nito. Siguro kaya ako may sakit ngayon kasi pinipilit kong palaging may matutunan sa mga binabasa at pinapanood ko. LOL.  Ano na kayang isusunod ko? Gusto ko sana yung Hotel del Luna o kaya What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim kaso nawala sya sa Netflix.

We’re saying goodbye to the Mayday House Accommodation and hello to this one:

The house has four rooms, a separate bath and toilet, a kitchen, and a front and back yard. It is semi-furnished with the basic kitchen needs and two functional washing machines. The beds, wardrobes, and sofa was made available upon request. The heating is centralised which is something we should be responsible of because it needs to be set every time we have to use it.

The rent is quite reasonable for its location: £1675 pcm excluding the bills. It is near the main road and is a 15-20 minute walk from work.

Actually, this is not the original house we are planning to rent. We have a schedule of viewing for a house we found on the internet, on the same road, but farther, which was cancelled 30 minutes after our arrival in the property. On our way home, we saw the post outside this house from the United Estates and decided to save it for later. We phoned them after seeing the first house. From the booking of viewing up to the delivery of the furniture we requested (which is provided to us for FREE), everything has been smooth and legal even though all the transactions were made online because of the coronavirus pandemic. I highly recommend this agency and I would like to thank Angelika and Parma for being so accommodating with our queries and requests.

Has anyone checked the time if 1 second is still 1000 milliseconds? Because it seems like time is going so fast right now. Preparing and eating my breakfast takes me 2.5 hours without even realising it! Later on, I’ll be reading something without even enjoying it and then when I look at the clock, it already took 3 hours of my time; I could also be doing some unnecessary spreadsheet on my laptop (because inputting formula and seeing cell values automatically change when a variable is modified is fun, lol) and when I look at the window, the sun is already saying hi, OH. MY. My, my.

I was granted the whole annual leave for 2019 which should be consumed until April 2020 that is why I am off duty for quite a long time. To be honest, I have not done anything productive in that span of time, and by that, I mean review for the OSCE. I am busy figuring things out in this country and I always end up contemplating this life that I chose to live. (LOL, but srsly)

I still have 4 days until I go back on duty. The long days off and the OSCE being cancelled could be my lifeline from the Lord because He have seen me struggling. I must use this time wisely.

So today, nagluto po tayo ng Sarciadong Mackerel dahil hindi masyadong uso ang Tilapya rito at hindi pa rin ako nakakakita ng Galunggong.

Una, ihanda ang ingredients:

1. Isdang tinanggalan ng hasang at laman loob, nilagyan ng pampalasang Magic Sarap. Lol. Minimal lang.

2. 6 na hindi masyadong malaking Kamatis (inuna ko na yung mga kulubot na nasa fridge namin)

3. Isang Buong Bawang - dikdikin

4. 3/4 na Sibuyas - gayatin

5. 2 Itlog - batihin

6. Asin - iready mo lang

7. Paminta - iready mo lang rin

8. Tubig - same as above

9. Saktong dami lang ng Cooking Oil pang gisa at pang prito ng isda

Pangalawa, simulan na ang pagluluto.

1. Igisa ang bawang at sibuyas. Dito ko nadiskubre na dapat talagang unahin ang bawang sa pag gigisa dahil ang hirap na nyang lutuin kapag inuna mo yung sibuyas. Selosa pala, lol. Mahina lang dapat yung apoy sa pag gigisa at ang bilis masunog ng bawang. Kalmahan mo lang. Kapag malapit na mag golden brown yung bawang, tska mo ilagay yung sibuyas.

2. Isama mo na sa gisa yung kamatis kapag parang luto na yung sibuyas. Pakatasin mo yung kamatis. Wag kang papayag na hindi sya kakatas bcos gHorL, walang sense yung sarciado kung buo pa yung kamatis sa dulo.

3. Kapag balat na lang yung nakikita sa kamatis mo kasi nakakatas na sya, lagyan mo na ng tubig. Yung tamang dami lang ng tubig. Sabi ko naman sa previous recipe ko hindi ako palasukag kaya tanchahin mo na lang. Basta tandaan mo, ang sarciado ay sarsa, hindi sabaw kaya wag ka masyadong maglagay ng maraming tubig at baka magmukhang aquarium yung putahe mo.

4. Hayaan mo lang munang kumulo yung tubig. For the mean time, prituhun mo na yung isdang may Magic Sarap na pampalasa. Lol.

5. Pagkakulo nung sarsa, timplahan mo na yung sarsa ng asin at paminta. Hindi ako masyadong fan ng Magic Sarap or ng betsin sa mga may sabaw/sarsa na lutuin. Naniniwala akong kapag masarap yung gisa mo, swak na yun. Tska tamang timpla ng paminta at asin.

5. Kapag nakuha mo na ang tamang timpla, pakuluin mo lang ulit ng bahagya tapos ilagay mo na yung itlog. Haluin mo lng then ok na yun.

Samahan mo na lang rin ng dasal at konting pagmamahal para mas masarap yung luto mo. Mag smile ka habang nagluluto para good vibes lang. Ramdam kasi ng bawang, sibuyas, at kamatis kapag hindi ka masaya. Ok?

Ayusin mo na lang rin ang presentation para kahit hindi masyadong masarap yung luto mo, at least pwede mo syang ipang-instagram. Lol.

I promised myself that I’ll roam around London once OSCE is done, that I’ll start to actually live here when I am no longer thinking of the topics I have to go through over and over again because the exam is over. But, surprise! It was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was called off following the Prime Minister’s announcement of UK’s total lock down which was three days before my exam.

That was a shock for me because I can’t easily cope up with sudden changes. Everything have to take time before it sink in to me. So when I received the cancellation email, I tried hard to convince myself that it’s okay. I have to remind myself that God is not playing dice up there and whatever is happening, He’s got it.

I might be discovering United Kingdom sooner or later than planned but one thing is for sure: I was given more time to prepare for the exam.

I am ending this entry with this:

May my succeeding plans be aligned with what God wants for me so His name alone is glorified.

Let me tell you something about myself.

I have a smart ate and I look up to her. I tried to be an overachiever growing up because I want to be like her. But when I entered high school, I saw many students who are better than me academically and are more financially able. Also, that time, my inspiration ate had to study in a university far from home so eventually, I stopped trying to excel; passing is enough.

I was a smarty-pants and I self diagnosed myself with OCD so I am always mistaken having a strong personality. I always end up in an argument stressing my point or trying to get what I want. One day, I realised that I’m not having many friends even when I have good intentions, LOL. Then I get it: people doesn’t like such attitude/approach.

I came across this phrase:

then, okay. I know you shouldn’t please people, I know. But sometimes, you have to retreat because:

Actually, I am also having trouble with saying sorry back in those days but when I am already working as a nurse, dude... I. APOLOGIZED. MORE. THAN I COULD ACTUALLY IMAGINE. Even to those people who don’t deserve it, but again... being right IS NOT always the goal.

Going back to stressing my point/being right and getting what I want from people who tends to argue, here’s a passage from the Bible I always keep on my heart so I won’t be my previous self in an argument:

That’s it. I was just reminded today because I have seen it as another person and not being the other person in an argument. LOL. Loveyou, G! More of your words to keep in my heart.

Margy and I have been to a body shop in Town last week and since they have discounts on some of their items, we got ourselves some facial products! ❤

Ganon tayo e, basta discount kahit di naman kailangan, binibili natin. Lol. Anxiety must be high on us, hence, stress shopping. 🙃

We've been reviewing a lot more lately since OSCE is nearing, at the same time, we have classes and seminars to attend so we don't have the time to relax and try the said products, but today, we finally got the chance to squeeze it in our sked, yay!

For our first...

We tried the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask!

We were told that this product is advisable if you are in need of a lift after a very stressful week. It removes dead skin, giving you the 'glow.' It can cause dryness of the face so you have to use it only once per week and should always be followed by application of a moisturizer.

It looks like a mud pack, it smells good, the consistency seems legit and it has some particles kaya para syang burak ng mga kanal sa Pilipinas. 😅

We look cute, do we? Lol.

The same feels with a mud pack, tight on the face...it's a bit stingy during application but it gets better (unless you have an allergic reaction to the ingredients). After 10 mins, you can wash it off and.....bam! Your face is soft parang baby. Haha and they aren't fooling us with the glow thing because somehow, your face lighten up. 🌸

Share ko lang how I made this fried chicken because I felt deprived of ingredients but still happy on how it turned out. 😅

I marinated the chicken in soy sauce and lime - 500g chicken, 3 medium sized lime cut into half and juiced into the chicken, soy sauce est. 1/2 cup

Kept it in the fridge (not freezer because we don't want it to be frozen and be watery when the ice melts)

Let it stay there for 2 days HAHAH 🙈

Prepare the breading: All purpose flour, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of paprika -- sorry, I hate measuring so I just estimate everything I put. Of course, the all purpose flour is the greatest of all those three

Literally shake the chicken in the breading making sure that it is completely covered (you will use a covered container in doing this so you can shake hehe)

We're going to do deep frying so make sure you have enough amount of cooking oil for this act (LOL), I used vegetable oil as if it's going to make fried foods a little lethal..char

Heat the oil making sure it's extremely hot so that your breading will not separate with the chicken.

Once you see that the breading has stick to the chicken, you can now lower down your heat to medium ❤

I think the chicken is already cooked in 20mins, medium heat.

Enjoy!

A colleague taught me how to check if the chicken is already cooked on the inside: poke the chicken with a fork and if the oil didn't react, it's cooked. Hahaha. You know, if the oil doesn't make this loud noise, something like that. That's it. Stay tuned for more cooking tips by tine. 😂✌

Ps. When I told you I hate measuring, I really do. I tried baking a banana cake: