My love affair with vegetables

I’ve had one-night stands with fast food, flings with lean cuisine, encounters with luscious desserts, a consuming obsession with rice and a complicated relationship with potato chips. But nothing could ever compare with my longstanding love affair with vegetables.

Ever since I learned that they are good you (as I've read in many magazines and as emphasized by our parents), I felt the sparks fly once again…like I needed to be reunited with a long lost lover.

Consider it an on-and-off relationship. A great love that would usually be on standby for you to realize that “what you want isn’t always what you need”. And what we all need is good nutrition, like how we all need that well-intentioned life partner but prefer to chase those lovers who break our hearts.

Vegetables are the healthier option for those who have the passion for eating—for people who live to eat. And vegetables are the perfect lover—you can never have too much. Plus, it’s good for the heart!

I particularly adore the crunch of lettuce and pechay. It tastes great in all experimental dishes I cook, either as an extender or as the main ingredient. It makes you feel full with so little calories. It’s like something you can turn to everyday. A perfect companion. Plus, it’s so nice to look at.

I also love the versatility of tomatoes in any dish. In salads, it has a distinct bite, but when you mix it in soups, it loses all character and merges with everything else in the bowl. Try this: Spanish sardines with chopped up tomatoes. Heat in pan until it boils. Find out how the tomatoes taste so different, and how it almost seems like it belongs in the jar of Spanish sardines. Tomatoes are indeed a ‘great boyfriend’ to introduce to your friends, as it meshes well with them but when you need it to, it remains original.

I crave for the comfort that turnips and cucumbers bring when that hunger pang arrives. They are wonderful fillers for those long stressful hours. With its watery and crispy texture, it makes you forget all that hunger and thirst. Throw in the perfect dressing or bagoong and you have an enticing encounter that will surely fill up that solitude and emptiness.

I am swept away by the smell of garlic in every dish. Oh, the flavor, the aroma and its taste. It makes the most boring dish a delightful treat with the twist it brings. Is it spicy? Sour? Or salty? All I know is it arouses me every time and gives me butterflies, just like what every romantic affair does.

And just like every romantic affair, we need tension. And that’s when we chop up some onions to put in the mixing bowl. With its strong stench and flavor, it’s bound to create an element of hostility among the many ingredients. Yet, it’s simply a vital part of the dish. Leave it out and the flavor is weak and it simply wouldn’t last. Just like every relationship needs a bit of quarrel here and there to fine tune the individual personalities of the couple. Not too much though, as it would eventually ruin everything.

And did I mention the sex? Oh it’s good. Chilies are the sex of my love affair with vegetables. Literally, it spices up the relationship. It makes me sweat. It drives me nuts. It makes me forget my name… and ohhhh….It makes me want to have it over and over again.

So it goes on… my colorful relationship with these colorful vegetables. It took me a while to figure this out though: my parents encouraged me to ‘date’ vegetables ever since I was a kid. Oh did I ever become so disobedient and played around for so long. But now, I know better.

And then again, you can never have enough chilies.

Running

Letran Bataan was a sponsor of this event so some of my colleagues and I decided to run.

It was the first time I’ve actually joined a running event outside Letran Bataan. Well, I’ve been running for a year now--jogging along the highway in the morning, but not so regularly because there were some weeks when I just want to sleep late either because of partying, drinking or just watching DVD’s. Let’s face it: it’s hard to wake up early in the morning!!!

But now, because of the Bataan Run for Light by My Shelter Foundation, I feel I want to make it a REAL habit—to push myself further and faster.

It’s an exhilarating feeling finishing good in the event. And I’ve validated myself now to think I’m a good runner. I was in the 5-kilometer division and got to finish it in less than 30 minutes. I was ahead of the ‘occasional’ runners, which meant I had endurance and rhythm. Well, I’ve previously joined Letran’s Earth Awareness Force or LEAF’s fun runs for two years and was always in the Top 10.

So, yeah…aside from the gym, I think I really have to run regularly now. I have to lose the weight…Badly!

It's the hike!

Mt. Samat Hiking with friends and colleagues

It was a guh-reat weekend!

I went with some of my friends and colleagues on a hike to Mt. Samat. Last year, I also did the same, but only with Marlon, but now, we called up some of our friends to join us. From the arch that welcomed tourists to the “Dambana ng Kagitingan”, we left our cars and dragged our backpacks up the hill.

It’s a 7-kilometer hike, with curves and ‘shortcuts’ (trails that go uphill through the woods, making the actual distance from the road to the top much shorter). Off we went to some shortcuts, off the roads and into the woods.

It was drizzling—we were short of breath, had wet shoes and clothes and were unattractively sweaty. Still, I marveled at the scent of the wet soil, grass and trees as we stepped on drenched fallen leaves and branches, and fought against gravity and our aching heels, holding onto tree trunks and stones.

I also loved the feeling of being wet in the wilds. Sweat mixed with rain drops on your forehead. You'd be thinking, "Is it the sweat that's dripping or just the rain?" Never mind! I was on a mission to hike up the steep, slippery trail!

I half-expected to find snakes. I half-expected I would fall off because of the steep slippery ground, and at one point, I did fell. It was hilarious! I laughed hysterically as Marlon described how quiet it was until he heard a loud thud ahead of him. That thud apparently was me falling flat on my ass as my sneakers betrayed me of its grip on the soil. Good thing I didn't fall, otherwise I would be rolling over my friends and officemates like a snowball.

I also marveled at the fog. Lots of it. You almost couldn’t see anything, especially if you’re driving. Cars had flashing hazard lights and drivers were being extra careful by really slowing down on the steep curves and honking.

It was so cold but we barely noticed because of all the sweating, until Neslie's sister, who joined us in this hiking, pointed out how when you breathe out, you see ‘smoke’…Wow! I felt I was in a Russian movie.

When we reached the top, veterans and their families were there to attend the Araw ng Kagitingan (Bataan Day) Celebration, an event commemorating the soldiers who fought against the Japanese. Lots of politicians and their entourage. Oh, the president was there as well. We got to see him up close! He looked exactly how I imagined him to be.

We ate breakfast there ‘like there’s no tomorrow’ before we hitched at Conrad’s pick-up truck on the way down.

Jump shot with my officemates. So gay!!! Hahaha

Conrad, me, Brixx, Marlon and Mon - the Mommaz Boyz.