This Bed is Mine

If there's any doubt in your mind on who the queen of this house is - I think this picture will remove that confusion.  I - Midori - am the queen of this house.  Everything in this house is my turf.  I only allow the humans - and the other furbabies ( i.e. Char Siew and Brita ) - to set foot on all of this territory.

NOTE:  A guest post of @MidoriBeagle

My Tattoo

I have this chinese character tattooed on my right calf  (君 - pronounced as jūn).  I got it in Austin, TX.  Like many tattoos - I got it as a dare from my friends.  They said they will pay for it if I got one.  I was looking for my name in Chinese - and this is the closest one.  According to what was written on the catalogue - it's the Chinese word for king.  Soon after I realized that it doesn't exactly say that.  The Chinese word for King is 王 ( pronounced as wáng ).  The character that I have on my leg can be translated to many words:  monarch, gentleman, lord, ruler, don.  Hey - I think I got lucky - since one of those words is Lord - which is my name.

Bulakenas Kakanin

The next time you're in Baguio and you're looking for pasalubong for your family and friends back home - I recommend checking out the Bulakenas Kakanin stalls in SM ( or Abanao square and other locations in the City of Pines ).  Don't be confused.  I did say look for Bulakenas Kakanin in Baguio.  Apparently - the owner is from the province of Bulacan - but these stalls have its roots in Baguio.

On weekends - when I go to SM City Baguio - I always pick up a box of 12.  I think they also come in boxes containing 18 pieces.  You can choose whatever kakanin you like.  They have Maja Blanca, Bico/Bibingkang Kanin, Sapin Sapin, Cassava cake and others.

My favorite is Maja Blanca and their two variants of Cassava cake.   The box of 12 is sold for 120 pesos.

Incense Holder

We're in the middle of the ghost month.  Feng Shui experts advise that you light up incense before 6:00 PM daily to clear up your abode of any negative energy coming form the roaming hungry ghosts.  My old incense holder - made of china - was dropped by one of our household companions.  That's a shame because that was a cheap but effective incense holder.  I tried to replace it with something similar - but the store I got it from ran out of stock.  I looked for something around that price point ( 300 pesos ) - but I can't find any in Baguio nor in Manila.

While walking around Porta Vaga mall in Baguio - I spotted the Feng Shui shop on the second level - and asked if they have any incense holder.  They gave me this one - and I like it - and I like the price ( 900 pesos ).

It is now sitting inside my bedroom and I light up incense daily - as advised by the Feng Shui masters.

iShoes Stand

First - let me apologize for featuring this kitschy product.  I'm a sucker for cutesy tech add-ons.  I was browsing through the Digibabe store at SM City Baguio and I found these phone stands.  Yes - they are called iShoes.  You plug it onto the connector at the bottom of your phone and use it as a stand.  They're not very stable --- so apart from this photo-op with me - I won't really trust my gadgets with them.  They're just 50 pesos a piece.  They have variants for the micro-USB, the lightning connector, and the 30-pin Apple connector.

Fog

It started to rain last Thursday.  It hasn't stopped till this morning.  The sun is still not out.  It's cold here in Baguio.  Temperatures are hovering around 14 degrees in the morning.  Apart from the rain - there is fog.  Times like these - I silently expect Jacob or Edward to come out of the woods to say hi.