Favorite Person in the Restroom

Weird?... yeah, I know but  believe me or not,  I really have one favorite person in the restroom.  She is Aling Milan of Petron SLEX (south bound).  I shared before that McDonald's and Starbucks are the places where I normally grab my breakfast whenever I have schedules in the South.  Apart from these resto and cafe, the restroom is the other reason why I always prefer to stop by in Petron.

The restroom in Petron SLEX is super clean, everything is automated: from the flush, faucets, soap dispensers, and the hand dryers... plus there is Aling Milan, always cheerfully greeting the people coming in, assisting with the Tissue, instantly cleaning each cubicle after every use, and filling the restroom with her timeless songs.

Aling Milan is already 14 years with this job and I guess she is happy with it.   She never fails to give assistance and still gives a warm smile no matter what kind of people uses the place, some are really unhygienic but she's still happy cleaning and making the whole place clean.    Her singing voice got my attention last year, I thought it's just a random happy moment for her but everytime I stop by the restroom she's as cheerful as always.  I normally stay for one or two songs and when I get out of the place, her happiness radiates me and her songs are my LSS (Last Song Syndrome).  

This morning, I reached Petron so early, grabbed my breakfast and stayed in the restroom to brush my teeth and do some girl stuffs.  As expected, Aling Milan was there to assist me and she was in the middle of the "Top of the World" song, continued to "One day in the Night(?)", and few more songs, stopping in between greetings for the other guests... until I finished my hair and powder.   I couldn't resist asking for her name and thanked her before leaving the place again.

Aling Milan - a reminder to always find happiness in everything we do.  

Have a happy Tuesday everyone!

Flattered

I know for sure everyone of us had our favorite teacher in school.  I had few teachers that I liked but among all of them, Sir Joel Asubar was my favorite.  I was awed in Electronics when he became my teacher, he knew electronics by heart, not only in theories but in experience.

Sir Joel has previously worked in Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan as a Post Doctoral Researcher and now he is with Research Center for Integrated Quantum Electronics in Hokkaido University as a Post Doctoral Research Scientist.  Grabe talaga! he's a genius!

Molecular Beam Epitaxy

"Ang pinakahi-tech na pagprepare ng semiconductor kasi atom by atom ang deposition kaya nakakagawa ng quantum wells and quantum dots."... Nosebleed? Ako din... hahaha!

2 weeks ago, his wife, the prettiest and the youngest teacher in Mapua during our time added us to a group that are asked to take picture of ourselves holding a piece of paper with the "Happy Birthday Sir Joel" message.  It is for his 38th birthday celebration.

And this morning, I received a message coming from Sir Joel.... I was so flattered to receive this message from him.  He is super my idol until now... this surely made my day... Happy Monday everyone!

Banapple

We found another restaurant along Katipunan, Quezon City and instantly became our favorite.  We discovered this place while looking for a street to avoid traffic in Eastwood.  There are two BANAPPLE branches in Katipunan and they are across each other in South and North bound lanes of Katipunan.

We were so hungry then and the traffic was also so heavy so we opted to grab a meal in this restaurant. We both have a sweet tooth (that was me before :P) and thought the cakes can get though our hungry tummy up to when we find a place where we can have our dinner.

We were surprised that this restaurant has different menu other than breads and cakes, they have appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pasta, rice meals, and of course pies and cakes.

The place is so cozy, the interior design has a homey and young design.
The walls, the ornaments, the frames and the furniture have very soft colors
in which made a relaxing effect when you are inside.

I ordered their Baked Creamy Cheesy Penne (P185) and their best seller Banana-Apple Shake (P90).
My dear boyfriend got himself the Salpicao Rafael (P190) and his ever favorite Ripe Mango Shake (P90).

The pasta was so delicious... I so love the taste of the cheese and the tomato sauce, the Hungarian sausage's peppery taste is a perfect combination and the pesto bread tasted like the Organic Pan de Rica breads from the Regina, compliments well the creamy pasta.

....The banapple shake... OMG! it's heaven! ... no wonder, when we went back here again to dine, BF ordered the banapple shake.

Feast your eyes!

Look at that bowl! The serving for the pasta is good for share but can you believe I almost ate them all?

And for dessert, they have different pies and cakes to choose from, it was really hard to choose but I guess they are all yummy.

My Romeo got the Banana Starry-Berry Custard Cheesecake (P110/slice) and I got the Banoffee Pie (P85/slice).  I must say, the banoffee pie was Ohlala!  It's super delicious I thought I forgot my name for a while.  I am not exaggerating, but this is really a must try!

Oh! Sweets!

They have different branches but the one nearest home is at Ayala Triangle which is always crowded and terrible traffic.  I learned that they will be opening soon in Market!Market! and I am looking forward for the opening. :D

Missed my babies

It was a month ago since I last saw my niece and nephew and I missed them so much.  I was so busy in my running career? (hehehe!) that's why I had no time to see my babies.  Finally, my training schedules were over since Wednesday and I got the time yesterday to play with them again.

Kids are playing trace the blocks.
Their cousin Samantha is doing the traces and
Yanis and Yui color them according to the model blocks.

Ate Yanis needed to go to bed early because she is always having hard time waking up in the morning for school.  So, I laid in bed with her and apparently, I fell asleep too.... :)

Digital Photography

When my previous company was about to close its facility here in the Philippines 3 years ago, they were generous enough not to leave us hopeless and empty handed.  It was really a great company to have given us a year to prepare and to provide us different livelihood and skills training.   One of the training I enrolled was the basic digital photography.  I can no longer recall the instructor but I believe he was a professional photographer.

I learned the basics but I wasn't able to practice the manual settings.  It is always fun taking pictures but I notice that I'm always behind the camera. I seldom have pictures and if someone is kind enough to get the camera from me, I seldom have good pictures.  I'm not photogenic I know, but it will make me look better if it is taken properly, like this one:

Chubby Mel.  Photo taken by Chris Balla
All settings are perfectly set.
I'm just not sure though if this will display  the same quality as the original photo.

And if you are used to using a brand of a camera, like Nikon, you'll have difficulty in setting the Canon, or vise versa.  So normally, it is best to use the automatic mode so you'll not waste any important moment, capture everything!

I came across this cheat sheet and this is awesome!

Manual settings of both Nikon and Canon DLSR.

Ardee

No one knows the story of anyone in the running world unless you are a celebrity, maybe some basic information and hobbies but not the too personal information.  But for the TIC group, I just know the story of Coach Jackie, slight, but not for everyone else.  When we are together, no one knows S-A-D-N-E-S-S, can't spell L-O-N-E-L-I-N-E-S-S, can't even remember W-O-R-R-I-E-S, and all we know is F-U-N, all we do is to L-A-U-G-H and S-M-I-L-E.


I have my own worries and frustrations but I don't remember them when I am running and when I am with the group.  I thought this is just me and the running thing that's making my life S-T-R-E-S-S-free.
Not until I read this post in facebook from one of our dear friend Ardee.  Ardee's post is an ice breaker for the group... we didn't realize the positive impact of running and how the Team Ice Cream touch our lives.   I know TIC is not just a running group, but a group of friendly and warm people who are willing to inspire and support each other.

I am happy to have discovered running, I am glad to have known these people and I am gratified to found a new F-A-M-I-L-Y.

Kissed by an Angel (edited)

We have the youngest runner in the Milo Apex Season 4, a 6-year old boy named Juan Pablo was enrolled by his dad in 5 kilometer group. He's been doing an excellent job on all the drills and circuit training, I can see that he's having fun in all the activities while us, the oldies are already having hard time following the program.

He's obviously the baby of all the runners so since the start, I've been meaning to kiss this little angel and this became my goal eversince that before the season ends, i should be able to kiss him.  Finally, last night I asked him if I can kiss him, he said ok and then kissed me instead.  Almost everyone wanted to kiss him afterwards and you know that the little boys who feel like big boys no longer want to be treated as a baby.  At least I got my kiss and I'm very happy with it, if only I can hug him and kiss him again.... whew! he's so cute and cuddly.    

Upper Left: Pablo and his dad, Upper Right: Coach Jim Saret explaining the routine for that night but look at us, still can't stop doing the post with Pablo, Bottom: Pablo doing the squat thrusts.

Pablo is no longer happy with the attention he's getting from us, who's to blame?  hahaha!
By the way, he already lost his teeth to allow the permanent teeth to replace his milk teeth  :)

.... All along, I've been calling him Paolo, I learned yesterday that he is Juan Pablo. :)