folding and tearing receipts, straw wrappers or any form of paper for that matter when i am bored
shopping on amazon.com
~~~
okay, i was not one of those people whose interest in cooking started when they were 3. i don’t have any memories of cooking with my parents or baking with my grandmother. i started cooking because of necessity.
i moved to the united states on my birthday in 2006. i was plucked out of the philippines to live here. i did not know how to do anything. well, okay i’m exaggerating. i knew how to do few things, like cook and egg, boil water and kinda clean the house. i did not know how to turn on the vacuum cleaner or how to work the dishwasher. also, even though i am asian, cooking rice was a skill that was waaay over my head.
you have to understand that i came from a place where the middle class could afford having household help. hence, my lack of household chore skills. there was normally someone there to wash the dishes after you ate and fix your bed if you feel lazy to do so. when i moved here (to the land of milk and honey), all those disappeared. i did not know that i had to say goodbye to that lifestyle for a long, long time. did i say a long, long time?
when i first got here i did not have any plans at all. i did not bother adapting to the time change. for weeks i was on philippine time. i would sleep at around 6/7 am and wake up at 2/3 pm (looking back, i think that was just ridiculous). a couple of months and countless hours of food network passed, i took on cooking as challenge. it wasn’t easy. when i tried cooking rice in a rice cooker, i failed miserably. after the little clicker turned to warm, i bit into crunchy and dry rice. it was nasty to say the least. then i tried baking those brownie mixes you get at costco, where you add oil and eggs. when the first batch came out perfect, i thought i have made it, i am going to be in one of those food network shows soon enough. that didn’t happen… and i was devastated.
after many attempts in cooking and countless failed recipes, i have developed some skill in cooking. i guess it’s one of those things you just have to do to be better at. you can’t be a great cook if you don’t start cooking. i am glad that i tried my luck at it and after many failed attempts i did not give up on it. well, actually i didn’t have a choice. i had to eat when my mother is not around. either that or i have wait for her to take me out to eat. obviously i can’t wait for her to be done with work until i eat, so even though i did it for necessity at first, it soon became something i loved and still love doing.
~~~
since you reached this part of this post already, let me give you some tidbits about me. i think you deserve it since you’ve endured my senseless rambling above. here are 10 things.
1. i love where i live. it may not seem like it’s a great place to live in, but it’s proximity to both san francisco, sacramento and everywhere else (if they even matter) is so convenient. oh, it’s in suisun city by the way. i am not sure if anybody out there knows where this place is at, but it’s about a 2 stop lights down highway 12 after the jelly belly factory.
2. i’m gay. i have a fiance (shawn) and a dog (randall).
3. i am pretty sure that after you’ve read the rambling above, you have deduced my ethnicity to being mexican and black.
4. my move to america made me fat. real fat. thank you butter and jack in the box. ohhh, their tacos (don’t judge me!).
5. i hate gum, gum chewing and people who stick their gum behind their ear or their pinky finger for later use (oh, believe me, i have seen both).
6. i think that lines on the roads are just mere suggestions. i drive a green car, so if you see me it’s best that you take extreme caution.
7. i couldn’t handle the sound of nails on a chalkboard, scratching a fork on a plate or anything that produces a similar sound.
8. i love watching television. i am watch almost every show running and thank god for netflix, i can watch all those short lived ones.
9. i think that oprah is god. i really do think she is. who else can give a a car to her entire audience?! you get a car!!!
10. i just recently acquired a cast iron pan, and i think it’s the best thing since… hmmm. i’m pretty sure it predates sliced bread so i don’t think i can continue on with this idiom. you get my drift, it’s the best.
okay, i was not one of those people whose interest in cooking started when they were 3. i don’t have any memories of cooking with my parents or baking with my grandmother. i started cooking because of necessity.
i moved to the united states on my birthday in 2006. i was plucked out of the philippines to live here. i did not know how to do anything. well, okay i’m exaggerating. i knew how to do few things, like cook and egg, boil water and kinda clean the house. i did not know how to turn on the vacuum cleaner or how to work the dishwasher. also, even though i am asian, cooking rice was a skill that was waaay over my head.
you have to understand that i came from a place where the middle class could afford having household help. hence, my lack of household chore skills. there was normally someone there to wash the dishes after you ate and fix your bed if you feel lazy to do so. when i moved here (to the land of milk and honey), all those disappeared. i did not know that i had to say goodbye to that lifestyle for a long, long time. did i say a long, long time?
when i first got here i did not have any plans at all. i did not bother adapting to the time change. for weeks i was on philippine time. i would sleep at around 6/7 am and wake up at 2/3 pm (looking back, i think that was just ridiculous). a couple of months and countless hours of food network passed, i took on cooking as challenge. it wasn’t easy. when i tried cooking rice in a rice cooker, i failed miserably. after the little clicker turned to warm, i bit into crunchy and dry rice. it was nasty to say the least. then i tried baking those brownie mixes you get at costco, where you add oil and eggs. when the first batch came out perfect, i thought i have made it, i am going to be in one of those food network shows soon enough. that didn’t happen… and i was devastated.
after many attempts in cooking and countless failed recipes, i have developed some skill in cooking. i guess it’s one of those things you just have to do to be better at. you can’t be a great cook if you don’t start cooking. i am glad that i tried my luck at it and after many failed attempts i did not give up on it. well, actually i didn’t have a choice. i had to eat when my mother is not around. either that or i have wait for her to take me out to eat. obviously i can’t wait for her to be done with work until i eat, so even though i did it for necessity at first, it soon became something i loved and still love doing.
since you reached this part of this post already, let me give you some tidbits about me. i think you deserve it since you’ve endured my senseless rambling above. here are 10 things.
1. i love where i live. it may not seem like it’s a great place to live in, but it’s proximity to both san francisco, sacramento and everywhere else (if they even matter) is so convenient. oh, it’s in suisun city by the way. i am not sure if anybody out there knows where this place is at, but it’s about a 2 stop lights down highway 12 after the jelly belly factory.
2. i’m gay. i have a fiance (shawn) and a dog (randall).
3. i am pretty sure that after you’ve read the rambling above, you have deduced my ethnicity to being mexican and black.
4. my move to america made me fat. real fat. thank you butter and jack in the box. ohhh, their tacos (don’t judge me!).
5. i hate gum, gum chewing and people who stick their gum behind their ear or their pinky finger for later use (oh, believe me, i have seen both).
6. i think that lines on the roads are just mere suggestions. i drive a green car, so if you see me it’s best that you take extreme caution.
7. i couldn’t handle the sound of nails on a chalkboard, scratching a fork on a plate or anything that produces a similar sound.
8. i love watching television. i am watch almost every show running and thank god for netflix, i can watch all those short lived ones.
9. i think that oprah is god. i really do think she is. who else can give a a car to her entire audience?! you get a car!!!
10. i just recently acquired a cast iron pan, and i think it’s the best thing since… hmmm. i’m pretty sure it predates sliced bread so i don’t think i can continue on with this idiom. you get my drift, it’s the best.