A Great Evening

Got out of my seminar at around 530 in the afternoon and decided to head home right after. Dong ( my trusty driver )  had decided to take his favorite route home-- through the back streets of Mandaluyong down Pioneer. I read in the car -- after a while you those headaches disappear -- so I don't really mind even if I suspect its a longer route. Sometimes I like to look out the window because theres a lot more action along those streets. You see a lot of tambays, or people selling stuff outside their small apartments. The isaw and fishball stalls always get my mouth watering. I especially like seeing the small businesses that are present in these streets and am always looking for an empty commercial space that might be good for a laundry shop. Tonight I was engrossed in the first of four 5S books I got and has been set as my car reading material. Luckily I remembered that I had to pass by a grocery to get crackers and yoghurt just as we were driving by Pioneer Supermarket. I was impressed at their wide selection of cookies-- I love cookies-- thank god discipline is reigning now-a-days. I decided to take a stroll around and I was in awe of their selection of cooking equipment. They had every kind of cooking device you could think of-- well, maybe not every kind... They have huge frying pans and cauldrons. Deep fryers, steamers of all shapes and sizes, baking tins for every single thing you can bake. All kinds of containers. They even had those japanese bamboo rice containers in all size and bento boxes. I didn't even know that strainers came in so many different forms. I have no apparent use for them but it was such a wonder for me to discover where to get all these things if I will ever need  them in the future. I texted Kace right away in my excitement and set a date for a creative excursion there just to marvel. Perhaps I should bake something then.

I got home at around 7 and immediately set out to make my dinner. Portobello Mushrooms and Mozarella on the menu. I am following this diet that a good friend has lost 50 pounds with. I am so proud of him ( and jealous ) But I cheat a bit because I would be negligible on this earth if I lost the same  amount of weight. I sat at the table and turned the television on while the food went into the oven and caught Oprah on ETC Second Avenue. It was the best Oprah episode I've seen in the last... hmmm.... maybe 7 years. I used to be an Oprah addict, watching Oprah 3 times a day on television. One of my life goals is to be able to watch it live, dreaming that it would be the "My Favorite Things Episode" too. Oprah's ending soon so I should keep that in check. Oprah became a little to preachy the past few years and I guess being out of the house for most of the past 5 years didn't really give me a chance to see her much so I lost my great love for her. But tonight was an amazing episode. It was the episode "Women Around The World" where they showed the lives of women in Copanhaegan, Dubai, Brazil, Turkey, and Japan. The segment on Copenhagen was my favorite-- which was also the main event. Apparently, Copenhaegen is the happiest country in the world. Citizens get paid to go to college, yes they get paid. They also get a year of paid maternity leave. Schooling and Healthcare is completely free. They showed the houses of a couple of women who lived so simply devoid of any clutter. They believe that less stuff is more space and more life. The reason why they are so happy is beacause they don't fear much. They are so well taken care of by the government. People prioritize their values over anything where families are top. Everyone's heading home by 4 in the afternoon in their bicycles to have dinner with their families. People do not chose their careers based on monetary reasons because consumerism is not a priority, life is and doing what you love is whats important. It is even common for women to have children without a husband because they don't need men to take care of them. They marry only and truly out of love, never out of necessity. Can I please move to Denmark? No wonder they are the happiest people in the world. I'd love to live in an environment like that. Then Chi comes down and I rave about Copenhagen-- he says "Eeew, socialist." Perhaps socialism is a good thing.

Chi goes into the kitchen and cooks dinner. My brother is such a good cook-- or maybe I am just biased. But he seriously is. Tonight he cooked hamburger patties in some Worsterchire and beer sauce he experimented with... It was so good, yes I had a piece-- yes I cheated-- no rice naman. I was so happy to hear that he was clearing his room of junk when I got home and then cooking dinner--- hmmmm?? Someone is following in my footsteps... :)