First, you put all the dry ingredients in a big stainless bowl—200 grams of standard potato granules, 250g of all-purpose flour, and 3g of salt. Once they’re incorporated, you can form a well in the center for the wet ingredients—four eggs, 200 milliliters of water. Mix until everything coagulates into a stiff dough. You massage...
Category: Lifestyle
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So you wish to win the lotto
No, I haven’t won the lotto—or not yet. But is it possible to really pray hard and manifest winning the lotto? How? My friend DM, almost 80, boasts that in his younger years he won five of the six-digit lotto combination at least thrice. He claims that he did it through the prayer and meditative...
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To buy or not to buy
Whenever I think of buying something, I try to be guided by the question “Do I really need it?” Almost always, the answer is “I don’t need it.” Not need in a physical, survival, existential sense, as I do have my basics covered. But for some reason or other, I want it. Want not necessarily...
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Freedom of choice and no-choice
“Managing the power of choice, with all its creative and spiritual implications, is the essence of human experience. All spiritual teachings are directed toward inspiring us to recognize that the power to make choices is the dynamic that converts our spirits into matter, our words into flesh. Choice is the process of creation itself.” —Caroline...
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Over a hot stove: ‘Ube halaya’ and love’s labors
I was born into a transnational extended family. My father, the eldest among his siblings, married before his brother (younger by only a year), was drafted into the US Navy. As a consequence, slowly, the brother and his parents and seven other siblings eventually came to live in the United States. We, the family of...
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Be grateful, we’re not nothing at all
Most people would prefer hankering first for a fruition of what they want in order to be happy. As if, for them, happiness is a destination to be arrived at, a “there” and not a “here” or “now.” Seemingly, they can only be truly happy when they have attained their desired goals, when they have...
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Being ‘Filipino’
We’ve just celebrated our 126th Independence Day a few days back and, likely so, the euphoric spirit of patriotism and national identity lingers still to the fore. For my part, I cared badgering myself once again with the thought: What does it take being ‘Filipino’? My youngest son, my junior or namesake, who’s currently teaching...
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Biri Island: enchanting, magical, mystical
I had the auspicious chance of spending three days on this exquisite island some weeks ago and I was simply struck with awe for what it is: adorably beautiful and bewitching. Biri is an island municipality nestled in the northernmost tip of northern Samar, facing the Pacific Ocean to the east and the perilous San...
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The necessity of not wasting food when others are going hungry
In 2019, the 74th United Nations General Assembly designated Sept. 29 as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste in order to promote “global efforts towards resolving it.” I came to know this because I looked it up, my curiosity having been piqued by certain groups that are pooling their efforts in...
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My foray into muay thai
My muay thai trainer Verden says I am the oldest person “boxing” in the gym. There I am, at 68, throwing jabs and punches, knees and elbows (I haven’t worked myself up to kicking yet)—strictly no sparring—among a motley crowd of much younger people, a considerable number of them women. I have always engaged in...