Looking for a Vegetarian Store

I have been on a not-so-strict no meat diet for some time now. and i have been having some trouble looking for food to eat. when we're eating out, i can opt for seafoods and veggies. sure, there are a lot of restaurants out there that offer alternatives to pork, beef and chicken, but what if i'm home? a girl can take is so much canned tuna you know... i also tried stir frying veggies then i moved on to having tofu blended with other regular viands like adobo and afritada, so that it can soak in the flavors. but time came when i felt that my food choices were very limited. i bought a Filipino vegan cookbook and called for some meat substitutes, aside from the usual tofu. i decided to take it to the next level. i will try and cook using meat substitutes! i started looking for health stores that sold veggie meat. i went to the supermarket, but all i got was tuna tocino, which was yummy by the way and has since been branded as a FAVORITE! by our family.

i surfed the net. i looked for stores that catered to the vegetarians of the Philippines, but came up with nothing. it was really frustrating! here i was, trying a lifestyle change, and yet the net universe seems against me! (drama queen!) i just felt that it was simply not possible! i'm sure there are a lot of vegetarians here in the country, where do they buy their supplies? i mean, there has got to be a vegetarian store here in manila, makati or quezon city.

one time, as hubby and i were buying our dinner from Bodhi, the vegetarian restaurant found in SM Megamall's foodcourt, i asked the one serving us whether she knew where we could buy vegan goodies. she then said that Bodhi was not only a restaurant, they also sold vegan stuff in their manila branch. yipee! hubby got the address and we promptly made plans to go.

when we did finally get to go to Banawe, we just couldn't find their store! hubby drove slowly and we looked at every store along the street but we couldn't find anything! that was until we reached Banawe corner Calamba Street and that's where we saw the Daily Veggie Cafe. It was a restaurant that sold yummy vegetarian dishes, and they also sell uncooked veggie goodies that you can cook to your heart's content.



I was so happy! they had a lot of vegan goodies in that store! and they had really reasonable prices, the sales lady even gave us a discount!

our loot: a vegetarian ham, vegetarian chicken nuggets and meat chunks!







mission accomplished! even though we didn't find our original target, Bodhi, we were able to find a vegetarian food store nonetheless.

and for those looking for a vegetarian store, here are some of their branches:

Daily Veggie Cafe
540 Banawe St. Corner Calamba St. Quezon City
711-8209 and 711-3214

Happy Veggie Health Food Store
Unit C-4A G/F Gilmore IT Center
8 Gilmore Ave. New Manila QC
723-3854

Happy Veggie Health Food Store
958 Masangkay Street
Binondo Manila
245-9257

I'm really grateful that we were able to buy some meat substitutes, because of them, i was able to survive the holidays! thanks too to hubby for fixing up my veggie ham, it tasted so good, it tasted like the real deal. during our christmas eve dinner, i didn't feel left out at all. here's a pic of our christmas feast, with my very own veggie ham (encircled). yummy!

zzzzz....

My mind is already in vacation mode. I am soooo sleepy! The boss is away, everybody is busy. I am so darn sleepy! Just when I said I’d quit coffee again! Argh! So frustrating. Droopy eyelids… want…to..snooze…can’t…fight…anymore….zzzzzzz

 

a plan for my starbucks planner

I know what I will do with my 2009 starbucks planner. Since I already have a pda and I’m not really into diaries anymore, I have decided to use my planner as a food and exercise journal. Yep, lower your raised eyebrows and let me be. It’s my way of holding myself accountable for the weight-loss and healthy lifestyle plan that I have been intending to do for the past year. I succeeded in losing a couple of pounds a few months back, but that new-found pride and bod went down the drain when FIL died and I got sidetracked.

I need to be honest with myself and be responsible enough to accept my shortcomings and pitfalls. And of course, proud enough to pat myself on the shoulders if and when I achieve my set goals.

I intend to put my goals in writing so that I may look at them from time to time to gauge my performance.

I will stick to this plan. I need to. Next year, It’s 2009 already, and I’m not getting any younger. I need to act NOW!

blessings in disguise

This year has been a roller coaster ride for our family. Lots of ups partnered with lots of downs. There have been a lot of reasons to be sad this year, but how can we stay sad for long when God keeps on sending good things our way. As they say, I just have to focus on the silver lining and be grateful. Hubby and I received several bad news that could’ve crushed our already wavering spirits but thankfully, God did not let us wallow in our misery. He showed us the good side, the bright side, He showed us that all the bumps that we encountered were blessings in disguise that we should be grateful for.

Simbang Gabi starts tomorrow!

Christmas is definitely in the air! Tomorrow we start the Filipino tradition of Simbang Gabi. It is a series of 9 dawn masses meant as a novena which will lead up to the Midnight Mass on Christmas eve. As with other novenas, It is believed that if you are able to complete the whole novena, your prayer will be granted, enough incentive to try and wake up early. Of course the yummy breakfast of bibingka, puto bumbong and other kakanin is definitely a treat for the whole family. It is a very rare occasion that the family gets together in the morning for breakfast since we often go on our own ways in a rush to go to work.  

Hubby really wants to complete the novena this year. I really hope I can get up early! We are planning to bring the little one along, but I’m not sure if  we can get ready on time. Good thing that the church is just in front of our house, we can just lug some monoblock chairs since the church will be packed for sure!

Time sure flies so fast. Christmas is just a few days away! =)

 

rainy friday

Hmmm… it’s a rainy wet Friday yet again. It was just like this last week, what is it with Fridays and rain?! Hmp.

I heard some theories like cloud seeding, because later today some concerned citizens will be staging a rally to voice out their protest against the move for charter change. Hmmm. What good will that do to us? Nada. Just more confusing and irritating traffic jams here in Makati.

I keep hoping I’m in bed, at home. Hay. I just love bed weather, but only when I am actually in bed!

Rainy Christmas… not really that appealing to me.

Diet Tips to Prevent Holiday Bingeing

Holidays are fast approaching. Many are already feeling giddy with anticipation. There is the warm feeling of having family around, and the satisfaction we feel when we finally get to sink our teeth on the home cooked goodies we’ve missed during the year. All these holiday cheer can get our stomachs growling and out of control. And so I’ve come up with some tips that can help us keep to our diets during this Christmas season.

One main point to remember is to stay conscious as we eat. Don’t let yourself go on autopilot, because if you do, you can end up shoveling food into your mouth and afterwards, you will definitely be filled with remorse.

• A few minutes before the meal, be sure that you will be taking your meal on the table by the way, never on your bed or on the couch, take in five or six deep breathes. Let yourself feel relaxed and in control. Know your battle ahead and be ready.
• One minute before the meal, contemplate on the work that went in preparing this meal. What are the ingredients, how was it cooked, are these healthy food choices or not? Think about how this will affect your body, appreciate how this food will nourish your body.
• Halfway through the meal, stop for a minute or two. Put down your spoon and fork, and take a sip of water. Sit quietly, and you might just feel that you are already full. Stop eating when you do feel you are no longer hungry.
• Ten minutes after the meal, allow yourself  a couple more minutes to relax, do another set of deep breathing. Focus of the delightful sensations the food has caused on your senses and your body. Appreciate the feeling of fullness and nourishment. Let your body feel that it has gotten the dietary requirements for the moment and restrain your eyes from hovering and dwelling on the dessert tray.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you attend that Christmas party or that family reunion. Good luck!

Happy Anniversary Hunny Bunny!

We’ve been together for half our lives, literally:

16 years

192 months

5,760 days

138,240 hours

8,294,400 minutes

248,832,000 seconds…and I have been loving every second of it!

Thanks for being the person that you are. God definitely had you in mind when he made me… for through the years we have definitely proven, that you and me, we were truly meant to be! I love you forever!

I barely escaped disaster!

Yep, that I did! And I am very thankful for it. What disaster is this? Hmmm. My laptop conked out on me! As in! I was just upload some of little one’s pics on her friendster when the laptop turned itself off. Apparently, the plug was not properly attached to the socket, so the laptop had no more power. Ok, fine. This has happened to me a dozen of times! I just rebooted the laptop, but it won’t boot. It just kept of restarting. It was really frustrating. I tried everything. I tried booting on safe mode, using the windows installer CD, everything I can think of… to no avail!

Good thing thought that when my sister had someone fix her pc, she also asked the guy to look into my laptop. The tech guy that proceeded to put a partition in my hard drive, that way he said, should my OS crash, my files will still be intact (whew).

After attempting to reboot gazillions of times, I tried to format my drive c, as a last act of desperation. Bye bye files. Bye bye programs. Good thing though that I was able to back some of my files while I was on vacation. And as if fate is playing a joke on me, the formatting just won’t go through. It reaches up to 56% then hangs. Grrr!

I wanted to blog about Manny Pacquiao’s win, but couldn’t, I wanted to express my frustration that Channel 2 was showing Judy Ann Santos’ movie KKK part 2 the same time Channel 7 was showing the boxing match. I would’ve loved to watch Juday’s movie since I watched the 1^st installment and just loved it. But I just couldn’t. I was so sad. Good thing hubby is ever sensitive about my feelings. Seeing how frustrated I was, he volunteered to drive me to SM megamall to have my laptop fixed.

I was still apprehensive though since I didn’t have any money to pay for any parts that may need to be replaced. I was also hoping against hope that the labor charges won’t be so steep. The heavens heard my prayer since as it turned out, I didn’t have to pay for anything! Labor was free, and since the problem was not in the hardware, they didn’t need to replace anything! The problem was with my OS and the installation process. The laptop must’ve been tired from all that rebooting. It got the much needed rest while we were traveling to the mall. When we tried to install the software, it ran beautifully.  Haaay (sigh of relief)

So last night, I was faced with the tedious task of installing the programs and drivers all over again. I wasn’t completely done yet, but at least I was able to try the wifi connection and was able to log on the internet. That’s enough for now. But of course, photoshop will have to be next, for my scrap stuff. =)

Whew…whew…and whew… a thousand times over!

 

Edward and Bella

Yep, finally watched it.  Watched twilight last night with hubby. What did think about it? Hmmm… it was ok. It had a lot of kilig moments. I like the guy who played Edward better in harry potter when he played cedric diggory. In this movie, he has definitely matured already and has more manly features, but sometimes I feel he is just too haggard for my taste. Although I must admit, he is effective in depicting the intensity of his feelings towards bella. Who wouldn’t be intrigued and mystified when stared at by those piercing golden brown eyes?  I didn’t like the girl who played bella so much, probably because hubby kept of commenting on how pretty she’s become. Her looks have definitely come a long way from when we first saw her as the gawky tomboy in panic room. She is pretty, but one thing that annoyed me about her is that her mouth is perpetually open! Grrr.

I’m not really into vampires, but then again, I thought I wasn’t into wizards too until harry potter came along. Maybe I’d appreciate it more when I get the chance to read the books. But I think I’m in for a long wait since bookstores have ran out of stock. Hopefully, when it becomes available, it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, maybe I can give the movie another go, watch it one more time, maybe it will grow on me then.

ho-hum

Stuck in the office.  Sooooo bored. Pretending to be busy. Counting the hours till corporate claws set me free… listening to good ‘ole Britney on my cellphone…

I wish I can watch twilight tonight. Feel so left out. I’ve been warning hubby not to shriek when Edward comes out on screen. BIL told me people did just that when they watched the movie.

 

mmm… it has been a while since I wrote an ode to my lonely work life. =)

the smiley moon phenomenon

I was not aware there was even such a thing.

Yesterday, when we arrived home after our trip to the south, I just happened to look up and was amused at what I saw. As I was smiling at the heavens, it was smiling down back at me! Heavenly bodies all lined up just to greet me a belated happy birthday.

They said it is the so-called smiling moon phenomenon.

This is from an email my sis sent to me: Smiling Moon Phenomenon Happens Tonight

Wondering why the moon smiles at you? Tonight you might have not notice the moon is smiling. Go out and look at the moon and you might see the moon smiling back at you. The smiling moon phenomenon happens every 48 years, so don’t miss it! “Astronomers say Venus and Jupiter and a crescent moon will form a smiley face tonight, with the planets forming the eyes and the moon forming the mouth. Venus and Jupiter have appeared side by side in the evening sky over the last week or so, but tonight will be the best night to see the “face” appear, astronomers say.”

The smiling moon phenomenon is best viewed in Western Australia. The eyes are closer to the moon! Sad to say, the effect of the phenomenon is inverted in the United States. It will appear as frown. Lucky to us here in the Philippines, we will witness the smiling moon!

As I a look at the moon tonight, I feel that the heavens are trying to send us a message. Perhaps it is a reminder for us to be happy amidst the crisis and problems that the world is suffering. Think positive. Be happy!

 

So, there is indeed a logical explanation for the skies’ happy face… whatever. I have my own explanation. I choose to think it’s my mama, looking down at me with her goofy grin. “Is it you mama? Greeting your bunso a belated happy birthday?  Thanks for remembering…”

another year older

Another year older. I have been walking this earth for more than 3 decades with not much wisdom and life experiences to show for it. Hmp.

Every year, when my birthday comes along… I turn into a b*tch. I don’t know why. I don’t really intend to. What is it with November guys and birthdays? Hmmm…I just feel like I have the license to demand sole attention from my loved ones because it is MY DAY. I must be treated special, I must be loved, I must be pampered… if not, hold on to you hats…hubby often chides me that I’m probably related to goku, gohan and the rest of the dragon ball family, because when I get mad, I transform. Blame it on PMS too… bad timing. Over the weekend, I lost my temper three times. Of course I felt so much remorse after I exploded… but still… hopefully the little one is still to young to imbibe my mood swings, and hubby is blessed with enough patience and love for me to survive it all…

Note to self: YOU ARE GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS! BE MATURED ALREADY, OR AT LEAST TRY TO ACT LIKE IT!

=)