How to Remove Stains on Concrete and Wood

Every parent's nightmare starts with that very moment their toddler picks up a marker, a crayon, or a pencil, and starts scribbling all over the walls, furniture, TV--just everywhere! Worse part of it all, you can't take it off even if you scrub it with a brush and your trusty detergent. Or that you have removed the stain ALONG with the paint/varnish on your walls or furniture (GASP)!

Here's something I have learned 4 years and 2 daughter later, and I am sharing it to you all for the sake of your sanity. Best part of it all is that you don't have to drive too far to look for the materials--just in the bathroom or the garage. Yay!

How to remove stains on wooden surface:

What you'll need:

Damp cloth or baby wipes
White toothpaste; NOT gel toothpaste

Procedure:

Squeeze about a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on a damp cloth or baby wipes. Wipe wipe wipe! Et voila! Stain's gone.

The kids' door... After some toothpaste and baby wipes action,
Allie's "abstract" art using a pencil, a marker and black crayon are finally gone.

How to remove stains on concrete surface:

What you'll need:

Damp cloth or baby wipes
WD-40
Optional: face mask or anything to cover your nose (especially if you have asthma or allergies)

Procedure:

Spray a bit of WD-40 on the stain. Be careful not to spray it on toys, etc. or you have to clean it all up! Wipe away the stain and the remnants of the WD-40. Ta-da! It's as if nothing ever happened.

The room's wall...
About a spot of WD-40 and a good wipe on Allie's crayon graffiti,
it's as if the walls have been untouched!

So there you go. No more stains, no re-painting needed, and most of all, no expensive stain removers required. Happy mommy and daddy!

Good luck! :)

A Sigh of Relief

A few of days back, my family and I were frantic with worry due to the situation in the Visayas. Reason being, my Aunt, cousins, niece and nephew all live in Tacloban. All lines of power and communication went out as Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda) ravaged the region, leaving a massive trail of devastation. Lives and homes were lost by this tragic catastrophe.

Photo credit: NBCNews.com

Yesterday, as most people in the area laid their deceased loved ones to rest in a mass grave in Tacloban, my family finally got a message from my cousin that they are safe. My mother, and the rest of her siblings, got a huge sigh of relief to have found out that my aunt and her family are okay.

If you may have noticed in my last post, I posted an SOS to you all in case someone might have seen them in Tacloban during the rescue efforts. I am happy to say that they are fine now. Although they have lost their things, they are all alive and safe now. Their house was a mess, but still liveable. Only problem is, there are no lines yet for power and communication, no water, no food, and no meds. They have been travelling back and forth to Samar to get food rations from the relief operations so they could survive for the moment.

Haiyan victims rescued by C-130 planes have finally landed
in Villamor Airbase, Manila
(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)

In this post, I also want to thank those who helped me and my family through links of lists, videos, etc. so I can identify if anyone in those videos were my relatives. Also, the nations who have sent help... THANK YOU. To the government institutions who aided the people--except for the politicos with other agenda than to help--the Armed Forces, police force, DOH, etc. I may be harsh in my words with some of those who sugarcoated the news about those people, hiding the real condition of the people to "avoid panic" for the victims' relatives, I still thank you for helping out those in need.

You can find relief facilities almost anywhere at the moment.
Please send your donations to Red Cross, nearby hospitals, schools,
fastfood establishments, banks, etc. to help out our
kababayans in the Visayas. :)

What I am asking you all right now is to please help the people in need. In cash, in kind or if you can volunteer. Doesn't matter how, but just please, help them in any way. We may have lost some of our stuff by giving them away, but it's the least we can do for those who have lost way more than just material things.

Happy Friday everyone. Our nation will get through this. Kapit lang.

The Haiyan Aftermath

Hello all.

I haven't been writing for a few days now as I am looking for my relatives who were victims of the past typhoon. As you all know, our country was hit by Monster Typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda). If you haven't seen the news, thousands of homes were wrecked by this Category 5 Frankenstorm. Families perished, children orphaned, parents lost their children, spouses widowed, crops destroyed... everything in chaos.

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), viewed from the International
Space Station (Source: AFP/Getty Images)

Aerial view of the massive destruction in the province of Samar, Philippines
(Source: Reuters)

Taclobanons (Tacloban City, Leyte residents) surveying the ruins
(Source: AP)

Though here in Manila and most parts of Luzon weren't hit by this freak of a storm, the central part of the country was badly devastated by it. Because of this, I appeal to you all. To those who could help our countrymen, please send your donations to Red Cross, or to charity groups helping out in this cause. It doesn't matter if you choose to donate in cash, in kind, or even yourselves as volunteers--as long as you can help.

Also, I wrote this to take the opportunity to find my relatives. She and her family are residents of Tacloban City, one of the most badly hit places here by that wretched typhoon. She, along with my cousins, Joyce and Patrick, as well as Patrick's wife, Mae, and their kids, Rhylenne and Russel, are living in Kassel Homes in Tacloban. Since the storm made landfall, we have no word yet about their current location. We don't know if they have evacuated or not. We have no idea as well on how they are doing at the moment--if they have food to eat, if they still have clothes to wear, if their home is still intact, and most important of all, if they are all safe.

I am posting their photos here, and ask you all if anyone (especially those who went to medical missions in Tacloban just recently) have seen them. I have tried Facebook, Google's Person Finder, etc., and am now trying my luck here too. Anyway, here are their names, ages and photos.

My aunt, Miraflor Cruz, 58 yo

My cousin, Joyce Carol Cruz, 24 yo

My cousin, Patrick Anthony Roca, 27 yo, his wife, Mae Richell Loyola-Roca, 27 yo,

daughter Rhylenne Keizhia, 5 yo, and son, Steven Russel, 4mos.

In case you have any information about them, please let me know through my email: shockingina<at>gmail<dot>com

Please, no spams, chain bullshit mails or whatever. I need help, not junk mail. If you are in my position, you will understand my point.

Anyhoos, thank you for your kind sympathies for my country, by the way. Til next time.

Back to the Old Drawing Board!

I started drawing again. It has been one of my oldest passions aside from music. I remember when I was in first grade, my father drew a picture of the Sto. Niño for my school project. I have always look up to him for being so artistic. He never draw portraits a lot, but when he do, it's always awesome.

Anyway, I stopped drawing back in college due to my crazy law subjects. I was a Public Administration student and I was pretty busy when I was in my third/fourth year. A couple months after graduating, I started working at a call center and had to press pause on music and art. Since then, I haven't done anything art-related... until recently.

One of my first pieces, years after I stopped drawing.

Here's a few that I made a few nights back.
Insomnia gets the best out of me, I guess. Haha!

So yea, I started practicing again--my family as my muse. I started out with mu husband, then the kids. I have never felt so great. For me, it's just like gardening and playing the guitar. This thing excites and calms me, both at the same time. And just like riding a bike, not drawing for far too long (about ten years, actually) does not make you un-learn these things. You just get rusty, BUT you will never forget how to do it.

Happy Allie. :)

Ate Renee and her shiny hair. Hihi!

How about you guys? Any passion you stopped doing that you wish to start pursuing again?

Streetfood Hack: Manong Fish Ball's Famous Sauce

When I was young, I have a very sensitive tummy. As much as I want to eat lots of street food, I was always the type who would be sent to the doctors the next day for eating isaw, fish balls, squid balls, dirty ice cream, barbecue, halo-halo or ice scramble from your nearest carinderia or "tulak-tulak".

Back then, I just wanted to hack their recipe for the sauce or the marinade. For years, I was able to make the barbecue marinade, the "dirty" mami, dinuguan, and all those yummy food that I so wanted to eat, but doesn't have the stomach to endure them. I mean, they're not that bad and all, it's just that I have the most sensitive stomach growing up. Though I'm still not sure if it was really the street dirt that has always got me sick then, or if it's really that sensitive tummy that has always been the culprit.

Years later, my tummy toughened up and there's this missing piece in my collection of street food hacks--manong fish ball's sauce. So much trial and error, but I just seem to get it right. Until now. I stumbled upon a recipe online. I tried it at first but it was not as good as manong's. A couple of tries and some tweaks later, I was finally able to get it right! And now, I am happy to share to you my "lamon triumph". Haha!

So without further ado, here is my food hack of manong fish ball's sauce recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups water
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tbsp white vinegar
7 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp patis
1 medium sized onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red chili or siling labuyo, finely chopped (you can add more if you want OR skip it, if you have kids who would eat them)
salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste

Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients, except onion, garlic, chili, salt, pepper and chili powder, in a saucepan. Mix them together until everything is dissolved BEFORE you start cooking it.
2. Once dissolved, place the mixture on medium heat until it boils.
3. Add garlic, onion and chopped red chili and stir the mixture until it thickens.
4. Once you reach the desired consistency of the sauce, add salt, pepper and chili powder to taste. Place heat on low. Bring to a boil.
5. Enjoy with kikiam, fish balls, chicken balls or squid balls.

My daughter has never had street food ever, but she loved it so much, I am cooking this once more this weekend for the whole fam.

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did. :)

My Lazy Corn Cupcakes

I have been under the weather lately and has been pretty sluggish in doing stuff at home. Renee asked me if I could make her corn cupcakes.

Since I have been suffering from asthma and super heavy colds since last Monday, I can barely breathe. I had to make a lazy version for the meantime and not something from scratch. That said, I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but thank you, Sharon Cuneta! Haha!

Yes, I made a "lazy cupcakes" using Sharon's cupcake mix, corn kernels and cheese.

Here's how I made them:

Ingredients:

2 x 200g packs of Celebrations by Sharon Party Cupcake Mix
1 x 425g can of Corn Kernels (I used SM Bonus' kernels. I got them free at a yellow tag promo pack at SM. I don't know what to do with them until now. Haha!)
1/3 cup cheese
1 cup milk (instead of water)
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs

1. Drain the can of corn kernels. Set aside.
2. Whisk eggs, cheese and milk until frothy. Add the melted butter and cupcake mix until smooth, without lumps.
3. Fold corn kernels in the mixture.
4. Cook as per package instructions:
 - Preheat oven at 350 F/ 177 C
 - Line cupcake molds with liners.
 - Fill up cupcake tins until 3/4 full.
 - Bake for 15-18 minutes or until done.
 - Once cooked, set aside and cool.

OR if using stove & steamer:
 - Boil water in steamer.
 - Steam for 10 minutes or until done.
 - Once done, set aside and cool.

Makes about 20-24 medium sized cupcakes. Aaaand there you go! Enjoy. :)

Sorry, I'm Not Sorry... Bullying is NEVER Okay.

Earlier today, my family and I went to the mall to have some family time, taking advantage of the holiday (Eid al-Adha). We were also looking for costumes so the kids could have something to wear when they go trick or treating. By the time we were done, my hubby and I thought of grabbing something to eat at McDonalds.

After eating, my four-year-old daughter, Renee, asked us if she could play at the fast food's play area. Since she's already done with her meal, we let her played for a bit so we could rest a bit from taking care of the kids and for her to enjoy McDonald's free play place. We sat near the play area in case of a commotion.

A while later, the kids became sooo rowdy and my kid's reaction was to ask her new-found playmates if they could use their "inside voice" so that the people around them wouldn't be disturbed. One of the kids was not happy about Renee's request. The six-year-old-looking-boy kept on following my kid, shouting at her. My kid kept walking away from him, but he followed her. Renee stopped. The kid suddenly held my kids neck! WHAT THE EFF?!

My husband and I were shocked, and our reaction was to get his attention. We both shouted at him,"HEY!", so he would leave our daughter alone. I called out my kid and in the process, I was also lecturing the little boy. I said, "Sasakalin mo anak ko?! San mo natutunan yan?! (You're going to choke my daughter? Where did you learn that?!)"

My reaction to the situation caught another father's attention. He called one of the play area kids (his daughter, I assume), and told her that they'll be leaving. I noticed that earlier, he also made another girl (about his age) cry. What is wrong with you, kid?

Look, kid, I'm sorry if something mean happened to you when you were younger, that has caused you to be all aggro towards other people. But pick on somebody your own size! You're lucky that the Aryanne you encountered there was not the old version. If that were the old me, I would have dragged you to where the hell your parents were seated and I would lecture you about aggression and picking on smaller children. How dare you, you little prick?!

To his parents, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU? I called on your son and told him off with a loud voice, so I could also get your attention. You weren't there. I was hoping for a parental showdown of some sort with you people earlier. No one came. No parents, no guardian, not even a yaya (nanny)!

I may have embarrassed him by telling him off in public, knowing that he's not my kid, but I am not sorry that I protected my four-year-old daughter from your six-year-old (seven-ish) son, who was about to choke her.

Sorry, I am not sorry.