The Convivial Gist

Travelling... leaving home for an exotic and unfamiliar locale surely evokes excitement. When I was growing up in the sleepy barrio in the Southern Luzon in the Philippines, I am always wondering what lies beyond the mountains and the seas that enclosed my little world. But this notion was in between my preoccupation of trying to get ahead with the childhood game of tumbang preso so that I won't end up being labeled as bagoong (salted paste made from shrimps and small fish). Later on in life, I developed an insatiable itch for discovering what lies further the confines of my abode. I considered those travels as one most important chapter of my adult life. These are experiences and memories that like education, are always portable and it goes with you all the time. I was wondering why to some people, travelling is such a daunting task, an interruption to their prosaic life. As if, they are about to leave their cocoon, that stepping outside their comfort zone is akin to doing ...

The time of  yuletide season is in our doorstep. The Christian world and other believers of Christmas will be in state of perpetual  tizzy.  Credit cards bloodletting will soon commence and the lists of gifts for loved and not so loved ones are like albatross hanging on every psyche of the gift givers. In this days of austerity, some people  are either mortgaged induced homeless or redundant/downsized casualties, be smart on gift giving.  I am not sure if I can practice what I am ranting in this blog  about gift giving but I am not buying any Christmas decor this year.  I would rehash, rework, recycle, reposition or any verb or word that has re as a prefix on it, all my existing yuletide ornaments. I will probably paint my much loved and much spoiled cat Pinay, Grinch green as part of my mobile noel decoration. I even contemplated deleting people from my fabled Xmas cards lists to save...

I am a tropical person, so much so that I dread the onset of cold weather here in the Midwest.  It makes  me lazy going out of my temperature controlled abode for it means putting on five to ten pounds of clothing. Shrink wrapping your body is no fun but getting pneumonia ain't no picnic either. When you used to live in a country which  is within the blistering range of the equatorial sun, any precipitations in the temperate zones sounds so nice and fuzzy. After living here for almost 6 years, I wish my sisters in the Philippines can send me barrels and barrels of sweltering sunshine to keep me warm on cold blustery winter time.  So its time to fandangle my winter caps. Last summer, I picked up a fleece cap and beanie cap. It was  the best time to buy these for the prices were outrageously cheap. The hats are kinda plain , a little bit of tweaking are needed so here's what I came up. Yellow fleece cap with felt flower pin....

Vertically challenged we the Filipinos are, yet we love the sport of basketball where height is definitely a might.  Growing up with my older brother in one television household,  my chances of watching my favorite shows were remote as me winning jueteng (local numbers game) when the pro basketball season was on. Boxing is another sport that Filipinos have affectation for.  I think we have better chances to succeed  in this sport, we have the physical built and mental toughness to survive in the pugilist arena.   Interestingly, a nephew of my husband, Manuel Mora recently published his book , Stanley Ketchel  A Life of Triumph and Prophecy , and it's out in the market.  It's an engaging story of an American boxer, I had read the rough draft of the book and I am pretty adamant that this will be a  good read. Check out the book especially if you are a boxing aficionado or just to learn the life of an unsung American Boxer -...

The last time I was in Paris, the European continent was sizzling due to the heatwave. Me and my travelling buddy took a side trip to Barcelona and Paris en route to attend a friend's wedding in London.  We were supposed to represent our company's  CEO in that wedding hence it's a freebie trip.  My TB (travelling buddy) had relatives working in Spain and France so our accommodations were taken care of .   As espoused by the queen of irony -  Jessica Zafra of  the impending world domination of Filipinos via diaspora - for wanna be globe trotters; start making lists of relatives to the nth degree of consanguinity living abroad or even people you are remotely related.  You might need them if you ever caught the travel itch but can only spare for the airfare and pasalubong (presents/keepsake) or you will end up eating ramen all the time. Filipinos abroad still practice their genuine unequaled hospitality .  When my ni...

Espresso Chocolate Mega Cupcake for Pinay   Key Lime Pie Pantry shelf chocolate Orange cake  Ricciarelli - Seines (almond)  Macaroons  Cheers, our cat Pinay turned 4 today.  In lieu of this auspicious occasion I baked a ginormous  Espresso Cupcake for her in spite of the fact that she does not fancy a brew of any kind or  my gourmet creations for that matter.  Oh, maybe it was  just my excuse every year this time in October to fill myself with calorie boosting  food.   A friend of mine from England gifted me this recipe book by Nigella Lawson, How to Be a Domestic Goddess .  I am a late bloomer when it comes to baking, I find it a daunting task, messy and I believe the probability of my failing in this field is as high as the current unemployment index.  I assumed my friend gave this to me to compel me to explore the intricacies of...

  Dr. Gunther Von Hagen's Skinman       Coming in the bedroom, she was suffused in ethereal peacefulness emanating from the horizontal shafts of morning lights streaming from the window blinds bathing her sleeping cat on the bed. Odd it may seems,this scene impels her to write on issue of race.     She met her husband on line almost 7 years ago and  married him for love.  A native of a third world country, considering the circumstances of how they met, it is common to assume that she may be one of the many who will marry a foreigner for economic reasons, a mercantile refugee. She has a comfortable life in her native country, a house paid for, a chauffeur, financially rewarding career, traveled a lot and indulged in hosts of activities that single women would do. Why would she leave this comfort zone for a man, live 8,249 miles  from her family and friends, kibitzed by her expatriate acquaintances.  ...