Brewed Thoughts: August 2010

Monday, August 30, 2010

Postcards etc.

I'm officially addicted to postcards and Postcrossing.com. Lately I've been seeing myself going in and out of National Bookstore buying postcards by the dozen. Ever since discovering Postcrossing through Elise Estrella, I've been immersing myself in card swaps, traveling notebooks and lotteries at the forums. I've already sent 8 cards as of this writing, 3 of which have already reached their destination. So far, I have yet to receive my postcards.

I've been worried as of late because I haven't been getting any cards for the past month. I know our local post can be quite inefficient, but seriously...pati ba naman postcards eh pagkaka-interesan pa?

Lorns
told me to just keep cool and not wait for it because the element of surprise is what makes the exchange enjoyable. I dunno...I'm just anxious as hell. Why is it taking this long for a bunch of cards to arrive? Hrrrr.

Anyway, I'm having a roll exchanging local postcards with other people from all over the world. I'm really psyched to receive the Harry Potter, Korean cats and Buckingham Palace cards in my mail. Though I wonder how many months I'll have to wait for that.

Still, I'd give an arm and leg if I can get postcards of the following:

Alhambra Palace (Granada, Spain)
Tokyo Tower
Ludlow Castle (Shropshire, England)
Greenwich Palace (London, UK)
Taj Mahal
Tower of London
Winnipeg, Canada (thank you AVPM)
Jeju Island (Korea)

I Heart Froyo

When you're really determined to cut back on the amount of calories you eat everyday, it's very difficult to veer away from temptation. Personally, it takes quite an effort to say no to sweets, chips & practically everything else because I have to keep in mind that I can't burn all those calories with my very limited activity. But if I have to indulge in my sweet tooth once in a while, I'd rather gorge on frozen yogurt, or for the sosi peepz, "fro-yo".

What really sucks is that although there have been a lot of these joints that have mushroomed since Red Mango, the price for a cupful is close to highway robbery. That's why I was more than just psyched when I spotted this quaint fro-yo place in Teacher's Village in QC.


Unlike its sosi counterparts, I Heart Froyo is as Spartan as can be. The place isn't adorned with fancy furniture, nor do they use extravagant dishes where they serve the yogurt. The place was just decorated with a bit of color and a few whimsical stuff, but it was more like a local hangout joint than a convening place for the rich and fashionable.

As for the yoghurt, it's not as fine or firm as that of its high end counterparts, but it's not that bad either. The texture is a bit softer and there's a slightest tinge of sourness to it.

I bought two large cups (PHP 70), one for myself and my cousin, and paid an additional PHP 15 each for toppings of graham & choco mallows. You can also opt to buy it in small cone (PHP 35) or in a regular cup (PHP 55). You can choose from an array of toppings at PHP 15 (oreo, graham, chocnut, choco chip cookie, choco mallows, apple, cinnamon, kiwi, mango & blueberries). For PHP 20, you can get toppings of gummi bears, M&Ms, almonds and Nerds on your fro-yo.

It's reasonably priced considering the stuff is importerd from Australia & Italy, not to mention the equipment needed to store the yoghurt at the right temperature.


Frozen yoghurt is the healthier option if you're craving for ice cream or sweets in general and I'd definitely recommend I Heart Froyo to the health conscious as well as to those who are on the lookout for the more budget-friendly variety.


I Heart Froyo is located at 44M B Magiting St., Teachers Village, Quezon City. Store hours is from Monday to Saturday (11am to 11pm) and Sunday (11am to 9pm). Email iheartfroyocorp@gmail.com for more inquiries.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I keep trash on my desktop

Found this random thing lying around my desktop while cleaning my hard drive.


I wonder if some people feel the oddity of it all
Of being uncomfortably close, fidgety, distraught
It's only a matter of three paces at most
But it feels as if I can almost grasp it at arm's length

Strange.

It seems as if I could almost see it
My sense of sight and feeling twice as receptive
The ears half straining to hear the catch in the voice
My mind keeping the skin from being all over the place

Weird.

Somehow I don't know if this is all just me
I fear to turn around and see indifference
Or worse if those eyes will see straight past
Without a word or recognition

Nobody gives a damn.

So why should I?

Or should I?


Wow. How long has it been since I last wrote a poem?

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Thoughts on pictures


Pleasant weekend, everyone. :)

Team Carnival: My best blog post


Finally, I get to participate in another Team Carnival blog challenge, this time for the best blog post I've written. This blog isn't really that old enough for me to backtrack on the best stuff I've written thus far (heck, I haven't been posting regularly for weeks already), but if there was one entry I enjoyed writing, it had to be the Potipot summer getaway in Zambales.

This entry takes me back to my Livejournal years when I would write about anything & everything without fail. I most especially enjoyed writing about my frequent out of town trips from my previous travel writing jobs, and writing about this trip to Zambales with friends was all the more enjoyable because it was something personal. What's even better was that I took a fairly good amount of photos throughout the entire duration of the trip. It was also the time where I first met Fristine, although we've been corresponding many times via Plurk.

I've probably said several times over that I've been having difficulty blogging religiously with the advent of micro-blogging & Facebook. But with great experiences like this with close friends, it's almost impossible to not blog about it.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

What's in a bag?


I was supposed to get this done for Rotch's Ten Geek Girls, Ten Handbags post, but I was only able to download the file from my camera just now, so Rotch...really sorry for missing your deadline. D:

I keep a small bag where I can conveniently stuff it in my laptop backpack whenever I bring home this bajeezus-heavy contraption. I'm not used to having small bags and I'm not used to trimming down its contents to the barest essentials. What you're seeing is really as essential as I can get. Back when I lugged around a medium-sized bag, I was never without a book and all the other paraphernalia (like billing statements, scratch papers, pencil case, wet tissues, etc.) that I couldn't live without. Now I just have to make sure I have something to do if I have to wait in long queues or something to wipe my ass with in case nature calls in the most unexpected places.