Filipino foods for Halloween

Since it is in season, I thought I'd conform and write an obligatory Halloween post. Instead of posting the typical "Happy Halloween" or "Trick or treat!" and a picture of a pumpkin or a scarecrow, I thought of Filipino foods and delicacies that are considered "scary" and perfect for the event. 
  
I got this idea from work when the social committee thought of holding a scary potluck as the theme for the Halloween dinner. My friend slash colleague and I were thinking of what to bring. She suggested dinuguan and I suggested balut. She suggested isaw (barbecued chicken intestines) and adidas (barbecued chicken feet) which I think are good enough for a scare, but dinuguan and balut tops the former as "scary-looking" foods. If you think isaw and adidas are the worst, think again, especially if you haven't seen or tasted dinuguan and balut yet. 
  
The foods look different from the taste, so the foods posted here are either scary-looking because of its appearance, its taste, or both. But this varies on Filipinos, whether they grew up eating these foods or not. A caveat: some of the foods do not really adhere to the theme, I just wanted to post them because I like them. 

balut or duck egg (photo by me)

bbq street foods from left to right: adidas or chicken feet, isaw or chicken intestines, hotdog, and the other ones I have no idea (photo from Definitely Filipino)

bbq street foods (clockwise from left): isaw (chicken intestines), betamax or dried pork blood, helmet or chicken heads, and adidas (chicken feet) (photo from Definitely Filipino)

crispy dinuguan or pork blood stew (photo from Definitely Filipino)

Lechon is usually served at parties. They're not really spooky but I just thought that the presentation looks interesting so I posted it here. (photo from Definitely Filipino)

Slow Down, Please

  Quite a late reaction considering that the event took place on Sunday, October 16th, and the report was released Monday the next day. However, when my instructor mentioned this bit (and I am ashamed that I have not read the news that day), I checked the online newspaper to see what the laughs were all about—and the photo delivered (but trust me, I wasn't the only one who didn't read the paper). 
  
  With all the Occupy protests happening around the globe and the eurozone crisis, you would think that those should be the news of the week. But what can I do. I'm swamped with school work and work, and add to that my social life that I try to relive once a week to bring me back to reality. And my stress reliever to take me to the fourth dimension to keep me sane. 
  
  I'll make this short and sweet because it's late and I have a class tomorrow (not a surprise really). 
  
  On Sunday, October 16th, drivers were shocked to see this sign as they were driving on the road:

  
  Do you think the drivers slowed down when they saw this sign? Of course. I mean, who wouldn't? This made my day yesterday so this should have made it for the drivers who saw this too. 
  
  I apologize again for the quick and short post. I'll do better next time, just, not now. 
   
  The full article is right here if you are interested in the details. 


(photo by Karen Chapman for The Winnipeg Free Press)

Take it easy

Four courses for fall. Five days a week. Twenty hours to work. How do I do it? Even I ask myself that question. Which reminds me, I need to continue that volunteering I signed up March of this year. As if I don't have enough things to do. And did I mention I work five days a week? Oh, I also took five courses last winter, and I worked part-time during that period.

I take my physical strength for granted just because I can deal with it now, which I'm sure I'll suffer the consequences later in life. I can be pretty stubborn. I know that. I take my body for granted. I know that. I once pulled three consecutive all-nighters in one week. I hated that. But what can I do? I had assignments and readings I needed to do that week, and I was also adjusting from my crazy lifestyle in summer and the new school year--my second year as a university student. 

Since I'm already in my second year, I have to make it a habit of updating this blog every week--be it a mundane post or a heavy, life's-biggest-questions post. What has this blog got to do with it? I'll give you a bit of info about me which I don't normally do, because I take my privacy seriously. But since it's already late, and although I'm tired and I want to go to bed right now, I can't because I want to finish this post now that I'm in mood to write about it. And when ideas and words flow, I rather release them at that moment than wait for the moment to pass because it might not happen again and I might forget it. So expect a freewrite vibe in this post because I'll only edit this once. Or twice. Okay, maybe before I begin a new paragraph. Even though I'm editing it doesn't mean my brain is processing these words to look for cohesion or coherence (I always get these two mixed up) or if I correctly used a scheme (like in the first paragraph). 

Anyway, back to me (wow, that sounds egocentric). I'm taking the 4-year Joint Communications program of the University of Winnipeg and Red River College where I take two years (or three, depending on the course availability) to get a degree in Communications, and then two years for a Creative Communications diploma in Red River College. I have a friend who is with the same program at Red River, and she said that they are required to update their blogs every week. It's a good thing I started this blog two years ago so at least I have already established myself as a blogger (no pun intended) and I'm not forced to write a blog but I enjoy doing it. The downside is that since I started university my blog posts dropped drastically. Which is understandable, because I am in university after all. But if I'm at Red River College I'm sure that I would be required to update my blog every week. Which is why I have to make it a habit to write a new post every week. Which would make me write more about my personal life if it's a slow news day. 

There you have it. And so, my bed awaits (I'm sure after I publish this post, I'll still read and open other websites that are not relevant to what I'm supposed to be doing).