Keep using it until it's manky. Don't.

Nothing makes you feel older than losing your teeth.

You can regenerate your skin (to a certain extent), you can start building even better muscles at way past your 40s, you can be slim forever (well, I am), but if your teeth are fucked, that’s it. Having fake teeth put in don’t count. I realised this yesterday when the dentist told me I needed to get an impacted wisdom tooth removed. I’ve been putting off going to the dentist for the longest time because I just couldn’t get over the cost of care in this country- and yet, here I am mulling whether to get a new pair of Yeezy’s.

So take heed, stop drinking coke with real sugar, quit smoking and book a dental clean ASAP. You can’t keep using your teeth until they’re manky like my bakeware which I threw out today (all of them save for a few, still good, far from manky spring-form pans) when a whole new set arrived today, bought from the Labour Weekend sale at Briscoes.

Notes on a long weekend

1. Didn't feel compelled to wake up early today as I’ve done most of the bigger chores the day before.

2. The weather forecast is overcast and some rain; staying-in-bed-weather

3. When I was younger, I spent the most part of the weekend in bed reading.

4. I should seriously read something more than the news (even if it’s the New York Times). Reality I’m beginning to think, is deadening to the soul.

5. I don’t feel the same way for movies though.

6. I’ve started on organising gifts; the budget seems to be growing bigger every year

7. How do you scale down on gifts though without looking like you’re watching your budget

8. But it’s my fault, to not have stuck to a budget and now you’re stuck there though I’m sure they won’t mind.

9. Saw someone in their car today smoking a real cigarette! Now that’s a sight you rarely see.

What are you watching? Invasion, Apple TV +

In New York just after morning recess, school-children at a Manhattan school start screaming as their noses start to bleed simultaneously as if a tap had been opened.

In Japan, a rocket carrying the country’s first astronauts launches into space. Reaching the thermosphere, the astronauts see something they hadn’t seen before. Within minutes, something rips into their ship as easily as if it were made of cardboard, hurling all of them into cold, dead space.

In Oklahoma, a soon to retire small-town police chief spends his last day wishing he had a bigger legacy to leave behind until an ordinary call leads to something possibly extraordinary- a mysterious crop circle and two missing townsfolk.

In the Philippines, members of an old powerful, and corrupt political family prepare to attend their formal return to power. Thirty-five years after they were ousted in a populist bloodless coup, they have regained the presidency using the same cunning & manipulation they have always used. On the way to the inauguration, on the same stretch of highway that was the scene of their defeat three decades ago, their entire convoy of vehicles along with their military escorts is suddenly hurled into the air, as if by an invisible giant hand. The vehicles fall back to earth and onto the confused crowds of their supporters lining the highway.

Invasion is an American science fiction television series created by Simon Kinberg and David Weil. It premiered on Apple TV+ on October 22, 2021.

Wednesday's spaghetti

Wednesdays are my second favourite days after Fridays.

It means if you’ve made it half-way, then you’re nearly there (to Fridays). On Wednesdays, you can also see what’s ahead of you, in the week ahead, a little bit more clearly. I usually take stock of our meals and because we just have one main meal a day, it’s important to know what those meals are.

1. Not the same proteins on consecutive days; should be chicken, something not chicken, possibly chicken.

2. Try to get vegetables every other day (ugh) if you can. In winter, this is next to impossible. Personally, I take fibre and other supplements to augment a lack of greens.

3. A dish can only be repeated once every fortnight (I have a wide repertoire)

4. Save the ‘bad’ dishes for the weekends (pork belly, baked chicken wings, baking etc.).

5. Try to lessen food-waste (I’ve been doing well on this front).

Personally, I don’t go for starchy, carbohydrate-rich meals (sure I do rice a couple of days a week, but I limit my intake to just over a cup) so I rarely do pasta (esp pasta bakes ugh), but I remember buying 500grams of Wagyu mince (it’s not that great really) and a pack of spaghetti (perhaps, the one pasta I never regret cooking) so spaghetti it is.

We had leftover cheese and jalapeño kransky sausages, so I had these along with the beef for a take on Filipino spaghetti, but not really, because there’s nothing I hate more than sweet spaghetti. I also didn’t use any pasta sauce, just used the last couple of tomatoes we had in the crisper ($14 for 6!), peeled and de-seeded.

That’s Wednesday done!

An Apple a day...

I have to admit that more than anything, the aspirational quality of Apple products is what’s hooked me into its ecosystem all these years. Though some of its products for me have lost that specific lustre- the iPhone for one, expensive as it is, has become so pedestrian that it’s become just another phone (among many). Though I wouldn't switch to Android in a million years- and I have tried at least twice- because the system is manically tedious.

I call myself a sort of Apple geek and yet probably don’t know half of every iPhone iteration’s functionalities or use any of its shortcuts and this is precisely why I like it because it leaves you alone. Save for the system updates which most of the time it does automatically anyway, it leaves you plenty of room to make choices if you want to use these features or not. Non-Apple users accuse you of being locked into an ecosystem without realising that this is what every other company wants (even Android).

I’ve ‘locked’ myself in and I like it- not that I have any choice at this point. I have files and photos all the way back from 2011 when iCloud was first launched; currently over 40,000 images would you believe- going through them, I had months on end where I took a photo every single day. I’ve had every iPhone that came out save for the 1st one and the minor models (the SE and the XRs).

I’ve been an Apple Watch user since it 1st came out; bought the 2nd gen when the 1st one broke, and gifted myself last Christmas with the 6th generation in stainless steel for a dressier look. It’s always on my wrist, the 1st thing I put on after showering, and the last thing I take off before I go to bed. It has kept me fit and updated on news, Covid-alerts, iMessages, because I have a confirmed case of FOMO.

I had the 1st generation iPad and currently have the (old) 2nd generation 10.5 inch iPad Pro; I’ve been obsessing with getting the M1 chip powered iPad Pros, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my old one to justify a nearly $3,000 upgrade. These damn things never break.

I’ve ever only bought one iMac- which is now being used by Chini- and fortunate that because I use it for work (the 27-inch ones), I get to keep them after the end of the three-year upgrade cycle which means I’ve had two since.

And Macbooks…I remember my very 1st MacBook which was the 2006 matte black version. I split the cost of it with my sister Binky- her half was her gift to me- and her sister-in-law hand-carried it to the Philippines from the US. To this day, I remember and continually look for its distinct smell- this crisply sharp plasticky smell.

When I moved to New Zealand, it became a bit easier to acquire them. I knew the tech suppliers well from my 1st job for a publication company, and my next two MacBooks- 2009 and 2012 15-inchers in the iconic aluminum unibody with the lit Apple logo cut-out- were actually leases that I got from them at cost.

But as I’ve said, aspirational products can actually make you better. I learned to create new forms of content, I moved on to a new job that offered an accelerated path upwards if I was willing to go beyond what I already knew. I learned video, high-end graphics and 3D rendering. I brought it everywhere with me and my workflow was and is always melded with my personal schedule (because my idea of relaxation also meant being online or editing a photo). So when the fourth-generation MacBook Pro with the (pointless) Touch bar came out in 2016, I was able to buy it outright -didn’t even use a credit-card.

I was happy with it until Apple dropped without warning, the 16-inch model in late 2019 which I currently have. When you’re not expecting something, the impact of it on you is greater and I didn’t think twice about getting it. But the same issues are there- the battery doesn’t really last (it’s almost always plugged) and there’s still a struggle doing just baseline graphic work such as 3D renders or Adobe Premiere. These are the issues that the new MacBook Pros with the M1 Pro and Max chips are supposed to address.

But more than the technical aspects, it’s about learning new stuff! Logic Pro! XCode! Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve! I’ll probably never get to first base on some of this stuff, but the whole point of life is in trying and evolving- to aspire, remember?

Don’t ever be that basic bitch.

However, the price is not basic- prices for the 16-inch, M1 Pro chip starts at $4299 while the M1 Max version starts at (gasp) $6049.

Monday: 62nd (?) day in Covid-19 lockdown

I hope it doesn't sound genuine, but I have to say- and this is important that I say this- that I’m fortunate. So I feel less guilty (not that I’m doing anything wrong to be guilty about) that I’m spending it taking care of myself no matter how selfish and self-centred that sounds. What use would I be too anyone if I was sick (all it takes is a KFC meal two days in a row) and depressed? I could be sick but depressed, I don’t think so. I think I’m wired for enthusiasm and good cheer 24/7.

I’m not suddenly like The Rock lol- I don’t even want to be that huge, gross (no offence to The Rock). But my body has stabilised. I don’t get the aches and pains on the 2nd day after a work-out, which sort of sabotaged whatever gains I’ve made because it would make me stop, then resume a couple of days later.

Because of the extended lockdown, I was able to weather the pain and lethargy of those days and plowed on, increasing the intensity of my work-outs and the frequency to the point where I do two rest days in seven days- not going to be stupid and not rest.

I’ve bought some weights, but knowing how quickly the body gets bored by the same work-outs, I’ve thrown in a huge variety of work-outs- decreasing push-ups; yoga and dumbbell circuits. I’m still very much house-bound by choice, and really haven’t done much cardio outdoors. Haven’t really been doing targeted ab-work, but…it’s definitely been 201% better than the last time. The whole point is NOT being comfortable- comfort is complacency .

My goal is that when it’s finally safe to go out there, I can transition easily to going to a gym and getting professional advice- yeah, I can afford personal trainers now! (you pay a little bit to eliminate the guesswork that comes from figuring out things by yourself).

What's for dinner? Roast pork loin

I wish it was Doyet’s lechon pork belly but..

A roast is so Western and so ubiquitous that you can buy it like you would lechon manok at a roast shop with all the trimmings like roast potatoes the size of tennis balls and pork-crackling on the side, which is the only thing I buy from a roast-shop if I had the chance. A dollar for a long strip of crackling.

I find it dry most of the time which is why I rarely ever buy it or make it. But this was before I’ve overhauled my cooking habits so when I got a small (about 800grams) pork loin by mistake- the people at the supermarket substituted it for pork belly- I thought this was my chance to cook it correctly.

And I sure succeeded. Just two key things really- cooking time and resting time.

Season

Salt & pepper, lamb seasoning, grated lemon zest, heaps of garlic and olive oil

Roll it

It already actually came rolled. I simply undid the strings to season the meat and then rolled it back and used the same string.

Rest it

Rest it for at least 15 minutes

#SuperSaturday #vaxathon

I hate anti-vaxxers.

It takes every ounce of my willpower to not tweet something like all of you should just 💀💀💀.

Everyone pitched in today for the effort to ramp up vaccinations even if the effort amounted to that of bribing a child with sweets to take their medicines. Growing up, my mother didn’t waste her time on such niceties. If we didn’t take our medicines or followed what the doctor said, we would die or be in terrible agony she would tell us matter-of-factly. It was our choice.

So to hear grown-ass people refusing something that has made the human race survive the Spanish flu smallpox and polio because they read something on Facebook makes my blood boil. If I was the leader of a country, I would do what my mother did. Fuck your freedoms you anti-vaxxer.

PS: but to quote Zeynep Tufekci from the New York tmes:
Anger — and even rage — at all this may be justified, but deploying only anger will not just obscure the steps we can and should try to take, it will play into the hands of those who’d like to reduce all this to a shouting match.

Instead, we need to develop a realistic, informed and deeply pragmatic approach to our shortcomings without ceding ground to the conspiracists, grifters and demagogues, and without overlooking the historic inequities in health care and weaknesses in our public health infrastructure. It’s not all fair, and it is not a Hollywood ending, but it’s how we can move forward.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

I don’t know why I keep buying new clothes when it looks like there’s no place to go and even if when all of this is stable, I wouldn’t be confident gallivanting about knowing that someplace, somewhere, Covid-19 is lurking.

Nike Air Force 1 Crater Whites

the struggle is real

• Lily the cat has been changing where she sleeps and I get woken up in the middle of the night as she comes and goes; her paws on my chest feel like gentle concentrated pokes.

• The cookies haven’t shipped and I have this sinking feeling that when they do arrive, opening them would be a surprise. But small businesses are struggling and at the end of the day, it’s just unhealthy sugar I shouldn’t be having. Not be going to be that person mouthing off on social-media over something as petty as cookies.

• And talking about mouthing-off on social media, when I see people who praise the Marcoses as if they’re the second coming of Christ, I’m like DEAR LORD, steer me away from evil. I’m back on Twitter and wanting to be clean this time (follow me? @rufino_amor)

• There’s no food in the house. I was thinking of ordering some fish and chips across the road, but ended up opening a can of spaghetti. Yup, spaghetti in a can.

• Still waiting on a new pair of shoes. Yup, a new pair again.

• Tuesday feels like Thursday

• What to get for Christmas?

• I need to see a dermatologist like ASAP

• I need to see a dentist first lol

Monday

Today was okay; sometimes, getting through the day quietly and efficiently is all you need

Air Zoom Tempo NEXT% x Off-White™

Is your tooth sweet?

In 2020 and putting aside the chaos and heartache of Covid aside, I watched with envy how Filipino foodies bloomed; a culinary feast amidst the blight of the pandemic, and all at a tap on your digital screens.

While in New Zealand, there was uhm KFC and your neighbourhood Indian takeaway (ground-breaking).

Not that I would end up binging and spending hundreds of dollars on non-essential, processed food- but it was sad that there wasn’t much choice in a country with so much abundance.

But now, good Lord- it must be the frustrations from last year, boredom, or simply inspiration, but we have a flood of sweet goodies- don’t have a sweet-tooth I must admit, but here’s a couple I’d shell out some good dollars for:

messykitchenbakes.com

Creme Brulee Sourdough doughnuts

Daldang

Two words: Korean macarons called fatcarons

Hello Smash Cake

Take out your frustrations on a smash cake that ships with a cute wooden mallet. Smash the cake and treats inside!

cookiecartel.co.nz

These are 220gram monster cookies and available for order only once a week

The Macaron Company

There are heaps of macaron sellers in Auckland but if you want something a little bit more custom like your own design, this company can make that happen

Soet.co.nz

They offer what you call a cruffin, a hybrid of a croissant and a muffin which they say are hand-made over a 3-day process. Their Caramel Popcorn Cruffin is dual-filled with a Popcorn infused Crème Pâtissière and Salted Caramel. Topped with Caramel Popcorn.

happyslice.co

I like the occasional slice, usually a ginger one which is a bakery staple. But Happy Slice offers something a bit above the ordinary with slices that have Mars and Oreos and even Liquorice All sorts.

What's for dinner? Meat pie

When I first arrived in New Zealand, I had a short-lived obsession for supermarket and dairy staple, Big Ben pies which the kids loved it as a school or after-school snack.

I’ve come to appreciate more sophisticated pies since then- a couple of award-winning ones in fact- but given a choice between a wagyu beef and chanterelle mushroom pie and a siopao, I’d honestly pick the siopao.

I don’t know really- sometimes like with steak and kidney (a favourite), there can be a bit of stodginess or heaviness to it. And sometimes I feel, the use of pastry which is so western throws me off a bit which I associate (and prefer) more with sweet like a good apple pie (I made individual apple pies in a muffin pan a couple of weeks back actually).

But having store-bought flaky pastry is good enough reason to try and make some, which at a glance on Youtube seemed so straightforward that I didn't use any particular recipe. You can basically flavour your beef whichever way you want it. I did the traditional route as if I was making normal beef stew; sear and brown the beef pieces first (I used a cheap blade steak cut) before putting them on a slow-cooker to soften. I used mushrooms but put them in a food processor with brown onions and garlic, and fried them in butter. Seasoning of course was Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, several tablespoons of chipotle sauce and heaps of black pepper.

We currently don’t have proper individual pie pans- thinking of getting some of those traditional enamel ones- so had to stuff them into a muffin pan. The portions were small that I couldn’t really seal the tops nicely and two, if you want your pies to be on the saucy side, there’s not enough room for the sauce either.

But they turned out perfect, like really; about 20 minutes in the oven at 180 and they were done. Served them with store-bought deli veggies.

Adele30

We were soaked. I almost peed where we sat, with my poncho as a cover- no one would have seen nor cared anyway. She was spectacular. And I’m not really a singer-music kind of person, but before the 21 album exploded, I was already listening constantly to 19 without caring who she was. Can’t remember what I was going through then (nothing dramatic really, maybe just depressed by the fact that I was living in a country that seemed so basic), but I listened to her everyday on the last iPod that I would ever own.

Video snippets below strung together- and yes, this was the year that the iPhone I had, was the 1st water-resistant one (the iPhone 7). Perfect timing!

So fuck you Covid- you’re not going to mess up Adele’s concert plans.