Parating na ang spring!

Natutunaw na ang snow. Medyo madumi at maputik na ang paligid. Pero masaya kasi ang ibig sabihin patapos na talaga ang winter at parating na ang spring.

Excited ako. Bagaman naaliw ako sa winter, nakaaatat din na lumabas nang hindi masyadong balot na balot.

Sa unang pagkakataon, mararanasan ko na rin ang tinatawag na spring season. Hmm, ano kaya ang meron?

My attempts in making the best crispy pata in Edmonton

Modesty aside, my mother cooks the best crispy pata in the world. And as her only daughter, she has to pass onto me this great gift of cooking crispy pata, right?

Her recipe is actually very simple. Just boil the pata with salt and garlic.

Which I did last night.

Unfortunately, my version tasted bland. It looked appetizing though. Plus I never had a hard time frying. To my surprise, there was no dreadful 'tilamsik' at all!

This was actually my second attempt in mimicking my Mamoosh' crispy pata. My first was last January. But instead of frying, we oven-cooked it.

Matabang din siya. Saka di ko nahiwa para mas mabilis maluto at mas lumutong ang balat. And though cooking via oven is safer and healthier (no more cooking oil plus the pork's fat will drip pa), nothing beats a crispy pata that's traditionally cooked syempre.

But I won't give up! I bought two more pork hocks the other day from Lucky 97 and I will try again. This time, I won't be scared in putting more salt. That's the problem with me, I am so afraid to use salt (obviously not a risk-taker haha!). I wish my mother knows the exact measurements of all her recipes. That would make my life easier hay!

Someday I will come up with the best crispy pata in Edmonton. Can't wait!

Our powder room

Our house until now is still "bare." To be honest, I am having a hard time finding the "right" furniture (and other stuff) for our one-month old home. Had we been in the Philippines, I could have finished the whole interior in a few weeks since I knew na where to find everything that I want and need (we renovated our family home in 2010-2011 and I was in charge of the reconstruction and decoration). Here in Edmonton, I feel that I am limited with my choices. Plus I find the prices stiff.

To cut the story short, I am not yet prepared to give you a grand house tour. It will surely take a while before I can show you the every corner of our humble townhouse so lend me your patience.

For now, allow me to just share to you some bits and pieces of our Casa Blanco that are 'presentable' enough.  Decorating one's home is always a work in progress so expect some changes in the coming days.

-----------------------------------

I already showed you my blogging area. Now let me introduce our powder room which is located in the main floor.

Our house has 2.5 bathrooms (.5 = powder room), by the way.

We chose the 'purple' theme because it was our wedding color motif and since then, we've adopted it as our official couple color

I must say that I am now gearing towards minimalism (or is it just because we lack a lot of home things?).

Our spacious powder room has tons of blank walls that I can play with. Hope I can find nice frames soon.

On Commuting and ETS Fare

I started working last February 1 and a few days after that, I asked my husband to get me an ETS Monthly Pass. I really thought it would be sulit (I also anticipated that I can lend it to my sis-in-law for a few days that she was here so she can move on her own), but I was wrong.

An ETS Monthly Pass costs $89 and I certainly wasn't even able to consume half of its worth.

The reasons:

• I only used my pass in going to work (one-way) because Ford picks me up at night.
• My husband sometimes would drop me off at work on his way back to the office ( he eats lunch at home). He did so because buses only operate in our area during peak hours in the morning and late afternoon/evening and I would have to walk at least 1.2km to the next 'nearest' bus stop.
• My in-laws were here so I never had the time to "explore" Edmonton more by riding the bus.
• My sis-in-law never had the chance use my pass.

One of my regrets is that I never had a monthly pass when I was still a 'bum' and we were still living in Downtown. I was hard headed kasi, I told my husband that I didn't want to publicly commute. I got so used to having my own personal driver, that's why.

Up until now, I am still nanghihinayang with my February Pass. Pero di bale na nga, may tax credit naman kahit papaano.

So for this month, Ford just bought a 20-pack Adult Ticket online. I think it cost him around $45 (including shipping). Not bad since one ticket only costs around $2.25 (exact cash fare in the bus is $3.20).

I still find the ETS fare here in Edmonton a bit pricey. Hay, I better get used to it. Riding the bus is still much cheaper than buying and maintaining another car eh.

Unang sweldo

I started working on February 1 (Saturday) and was surprised to have received my first ever Canadian salary on February 6. Yep, that was fast. Apparently, February 2 (Sunday) ang cut-off nila kaya nakasweldo agad ako ng pang-two days.

I was very happy. For the first time in three months, I felt a bit of 'independence.' Sa wakas makakabili na ako ng gusto ko nang hindi hihingi sa asawa ko.

My husband naman has been very generous to me. Hindi naman ako na-deprive sa mga gusto ko simula nang dumating ako dito. But deep inside, syempre nakakahiya na umasa lang nang umasa hindi ba? I am a self-confessed shopaholic pa naman kaya walang katigilan ang paggastos ko.

And so, for my very first day off, I had to excuse myself from my in-laws (I told them I had some bank errands haha!) and went to the mall for some 'Me' time.

My good husband gave me a go signal to shop and spend my unang sweldo. I was so happy - feeling emancipated talaga hahaha!

And I even ate at KFC kahit hindi Tuesday!

Ang resulta -- NEGATIVE na! I've overspent!

Plus meron pa nga pala akong naunang binili na inadvance ko mula kay Pod haha! Kaloka!

Oh well, keri lang. Eh kasi naman two days work lang ang included sa first salary ko. Maganda sana kung full na two weeks tapos uubusin kong lahat! Ang sarap siguro nun! #asapa

--------------------------------------------

By the way, to commemorate my first ever salary here in Canada, I of course bought myself a new Pandora charm.

I originally wanted a horse charm (since Year of the Horse ang 2014 at masipag sa hanapbuhay ang kabayo) pero parang wala sila. I ended up with this Stilleto charm -- to symbolize the fact that I now have my own money to buy my own shoes. Mas ok sana yung Bag charm (I love bags better than shoes) pero dangling kasi ang Stilleto kaya iyon ang pinili ko haha! I promise to buy the Bag charm next time.

Introducing my new blogging area

Hello! I am pleased to introduce my new blogging area...

I never planned on having a desktop computer in my work table (the husband wanted us to have one in my 'Me' Room so we no longer have to move the laptop from the first floor) so half the space was consumed. But I realized that it's ok. Less space, less clutter right?

Speaking of table, this was bought in Ikea. I originally wanted a bigger white table but I had to consider the size of the room so I settled for this simple and petite one. We also got the chair from Ikea. It is technically a dining chair but I felt that it's a perfect accent to my white-themed 'Me' Room. And it's very comfortable to sit on!

I have yet to figure out how to use this new computer (and Windows 8) but I'll get there. I am glad that after four months, I now have a computer of my 'own' again.

I'll show you the rest of my 'Me' Room as soon as I am done organizing it. Hope it turns out well! =)