How will this end?

December 8, 2012, PH time - The rivalry between two best pound-for-pound boxers in the world on who is the greatest fighter will once again be decided in the ring in just a few hours from now (December 8 at 9:00 PM ET/December 9, 10:00 AM, Philippine Time)  where Filipino champ and Sarangani representative Manny Pacquiao will face Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time in a welterweight division at MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.

This non-title fight will finish, once and for all, speculations on who is better fighter between the two. With Pacquiao winning his last two fights with Marquez and a draw in their first encounter, Marquez camp and many boxing aficionados are still not convinced that they were outpunched by Pacquiao and claimed that Marquez should have won it.

The two fighters first met in May 8, 2004 and ended with a draw. Pacquiao won in a split decision on their second bout on March 15, 2008 and a majority decision on their third bout last November 12, 2011.

This time, boxing fans all over the world will once again witness two future boxing hall of famers face each other for the fourth time to end this long-running feud. It should be decided by a knock-out and not on the scorecard of the judges. An impressive win that could convince everybody should seal the fate of the winner as the WBO Fighter of the decade and seal the mouth of the loser.

Many boxing analysts are putting their money to Marquez for his effort. He was training hard and even back to chopping woods to build up his stamina and strength, though, I am not sure if he is drinking again his urine. As for Pacquiao, they say that he had done so many things and lost focus on his boxing career. He had become a politician and a too much exposed celebrity.

Whatever the outcome of the fight tomorrow, one thing I am sure how will this end, Mommy Dionisia will get a new Hermes bag!

As Super Typhoon Approaches

Cagayan de Oro City, December 3, 2012 (10.30 am) - On December 16, 2011, typhoon Sendong hit the northern part of Mindanao devastating Iligan and Cagayan de Oro City causing a massive landslides and flash floods that killed more than a thousand of people. Intense rain for several hours resulted to flash floods that swept barangays near Cagayan de Oro River and Mandulog River in Iligan City at midnight where people were asleep after resting early brought by cold rainy night and untimely brown out earlier that day.

Photo taken as water subsides after 3 hours of flash flood.

Our home was not sparred by the flood. It came in the morning as I was awakened by Emily after the wall of our subdivision was breached and ravaging murky water was filling up the streets. Flood water had submerged our home up to waist-deep leaving some of our home appliances, clothes, and furniture drenched in mud.

Our share of Sendong

Cagayan de Oro City was left without potable water for a month after local water utility facilities were destroyed. Power was only restored after 3 days and dust subsided after months of cleaning.

 Typhoon Sendong sustained winds were at 90 kilometers per hour (kph) or 55 miles per hour and it unleashed more than 200mm (7.9 in) of rain causing the watershed and rivers to overflow. It was the worst storm that hit Philippines in 12 years. Because of the enormous damage and high death toll brought by Sendong, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) had retired the name Sendong in its typhoon naming list.

Today, less than a year after, another storm is brewing in the Pacific Ocean and slowly creeping the same path as typhoon Sendong, this time, it is named Pablo (international code name Bhopa). PAGASA forecasted that typhoon Pablo has maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph and will landfall tomorrow morning. As signal no. 2 was raised in my home province, Surigao del Sur, we are now preparing our contingency plan and had done packing our important documents. We had already charged our cellphones and radio and constantly monitoring typhoon updates from PAGASA though its website www.noah.dost.gov.ph. Real time information such as satellite images, typhoon track, rainfall and other data are provided by the website. Unfortunately, their Hinatuan Doppler Radar is currently under maintenance servicing thus it cannot provide rain intensity images but weather stations scattered all over Mindanao could compensate such setback.

Track of Sendong on December 15 - 19, 2011

Forecast track of Typhoon Pablo

We already accepted the fact that it will hit us; it is just a matter of how hard it will hit us. We are not afraid of the strong winds but of the rain the typhoon will bring. Cagayan de Oro and Iponan rivers are still clogged up by siltation caused by illegal mining. We are used to typhoon in Surigao del Sur. It is a regular thing for us, and accepted as an act of nature. What scare us are the flash floods. It is a consequence from the acts of man driven by greed, stupidity and foolishness.

Fettuccini in Creamy Mushroom Sauce

It has been a while since I wrote my last recipe. It does not mean that I stopped cooking. I got busy with my yogurt business, the research and development part is such a monotonous work until you get the right formulation.

I learned this recipe from my nanay (mother) after I got bored with the usual Italian spaghetti. I do not like the sweet, Filipino-style spaghetti. It is like eating a dessert in the middle of the main course, though kids love it much.

My fettuccini in cream and mushroom is easy to prepare. Instead of making the cream and mushroom sauce, I used Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom. It saves time making the white sauce,  I just supersized it by adding more mushroom, evaporated milk and butter.

Ingredients:

½ kg fettuccini

½ kg ground pork

½ stick butter

3 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 bulb medium-sized onion (minced)

3 cups Campbells condensed cream of mushroom

1 cup pre-cooked sliced mushroom

2 cups water

1 cup grated cheese

1 ½ evaporated milk

Ground pepper and salt to taste

Procedure:

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter in low flame. Sauté minced garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Add ground pork, season with salt and pepper. Cook until ground pork is done.  Pour in the sliced mushroom, condensed cream of mushroom and water. Mix well to soften the condensed cream of mushroom. Bring it to boil, and then add evaporated milk and grated cheese. Simmer for 2 minutes. Mix the sauce with the pasta buy folding it gently until pasta is covered with the sauce. Let it stand for 2 minutes and transfer to a serving bowl.

Before I gained weight, I usually put 1 full stick of butter in the sauce topped and served with lightly-fried bacon but I stayed with this recipe so I can still enjoy more of it!

Living Under Down Under, New Zealand

A good friend of mine, Lorien Longcob, worked as a
farm manager in Temuka, South Canterbury, NZ

New Zealand, one of the countries in the world where families who want to migrate would consider it their next home. The comments that we usually hear of the place is so good.  The environment is quiet and calm that you feel like you are on a vacation while actually working to find a living. The place is not crowded yet and job opportunities are good. With these, New Zealand might be an option to stay for a greener pasture.  

However, it is inevitable that our inquisitive mind start to pile up questions about the place.  We could not grasp the feel of how it is to stay there and what could life be if we will bring our families there especially if we have kids.  A lot of things are to be considered, the way of living, the institutions like school of the kids, and the security of the place.  These are just few of the many things that might bother our mind whether we will push through with our plan of staying for good in New Zealand.

One chilly morning in NZ.

I know of families who are enjoying their stay in New Zealand as immigrants.  Some are nurses who brought their families there and eventually have found the place a real good place to stay for good.  Few also worked as farm managers and workers attending hundreds of milking cows. They are now already full pledged Kiwi nationals and have been there for more than a decade.  On the other hand, I heard from others that their experience of staying there was not good.  These are but some of the real life experiences that might be of help in weighing things out whether the plan has to push through.  Testimonies from people who are currently staying there would be one thing that we might consider.

Sky City, Aukland, NZ

With The New Zealand Immigration &Relocation Report, we can get the information that we need and so we need not to be in the place to prove that it is worth a stay for good.  Information has been collected regarding the place that would be of help for those who are still planning to go there.  It is like a one stop shop where all that you need is there.  Everything that you want to know about New Zealand is provided. 

With The New Zealand Immigration & Relocation Report, it is like sitting in front of a travel consultant where all your questions are satisfied.  At the comfort of your home, you can slowly come up with your final decision after a good read of this very informative guide.  

To get The New Zealand Immigration & Relocation Report, CLICK HERE.

And the winner is?

I am not fond of watching beauty pageant. I find it degrading on part of those women who compete with others to get the beauty title.  In my opinion, there is not enough time to find the real beauty in such a short period of time on stage.  Though, the swimsuit portion is a real head-turner.

Venue: Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin

 There is one contest that most audiences stick their heads and focused their eyes on the boobs. This is the most important part of the contest where they are judged on how big it is, how is it attached to the body and the veins connected to it. As a first timer in this event, I was fascinated how they were able to judge it. But after 3 days of watching and observing, I got the hang, feel, and eyes for the best dairy boobs.

Entrance parade of contestants!

This is the dairy cattle show of the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Every year, dairy farmers around the world will gather in this prestigious event and bring their best cows to show off and compete against each other for the title of best calf, heifer, and dam of the specific breed.

Right side view

Pre-judging

The boobs or udder to the cows, can produce milk up to 40 - 60 liters per day .

The crowd.

Up close and personal at the dressing room!

The purpose of this event is to find the best cow to produce the greatest amount of milk. 

After the event, an auction is conducted. The highest bidder will take home the champion breed,  that is if the owner wants to sell it. It does not come cheap though. A winner cow sells from 50,000 – 75,000 US dollars!