25 Random Things

This has been going around the blogs and on Facebook. Though I’ve already been tagged by Trish, I’ve resisted…until now! What the heck, it’s fun to do and fun to read friends’ lists.  So, here are 25 random things about me:

1.  I still eat Cerelac, but only Wheat Banana, please.

2.  On my first plane ride when I could already talk, I asked my parents as the plane landed, “Nasa Pilipinas na ba tayo? (Are we back in the Philippines?)”.  It was only a domestic flight, but when I was a kid, I equated plane rides with overseas trips.

3.  I can read musical notes and play simple melodies on a piano, but I have very little ear for music and can’t carry a tune!

4.  When I was a kid, we had a cat named Jeprox, but I couldn’t pronounce it and called him ‘Papus’ instead.  The nickname stuck, and everyone in the clan called him that from then on.

5.  The only way I would eat egg yolk is when it’s scrambled.  If I forget to request it and I get served sunny side up, I would eat only the whites, going around the egg yolk in the center.

6.  I was once eating candy in class (circumventing the “No Eating Inside the Classroom” rule) when the teacher unexpectedly called on me to answer a question.  I accidentally swallowed the still-large candy in my surpise, and almost choked!

7.  I can’t sleep without a blanket and with only one pillow.

8.  I can easily fall asleep at any time I wish – even standing up!

9.  I recite the alphabet backwards in my head when I want to amuse myself or to relieve stress.

10.  When I was little, and maybe even until now, I thought my dad could answer any question and solve any problem because he knows EVERYTHING!

11.  I love Cherry Coke.

12.  I once posed for a calendar.  It was a group photo, depicting Merienda Cena during the Spanish period.  I loved the costume (it was one of the prettiest) and it fit perfectly.  I half-jokingly asked the coordinator if I could keep it.  He said I could, provided I go back to Manila in full costume and makeup – the shoot was in Bacolod!  I’m afraid I wasn’t brave enough to actually do it.

13.  I’m a big fan of old Sharon Cuneta movies, heehee!

14.  Commercials, movies, TV shows, books make me cry easily.

15.  When eating pizza, I would eat the cheesiest portion of the slice last even if it’s the middle part; I would just eat around it first.

16.  My dream outfit has always been a full winter ensemble consisting of mini-skirt, tights, knee-high boots, white turtleneck sweater, bright red trench coat, scarf, gloves, and a very pretty hat.

17.  I dream of wearing the outfit above while walking the streets of New York, Paris or Florence.

18.  As a kid, I believed that you could get pregnant from torrid kissing.

19.  I love the smell of new books.

20.  I can’t wait to skydive, but I don’t think I could ever bungee jump or scuba dive.

21.  I don’t eat any black portion of any kind of fish.

22.  I like melon shake and melon juice with shredded melon bits, but I don’t eat melon slices.

23.  I’m afraid of going to the bathroom of a plane while it’s airborne.

24.  I’ve fallen into a manhole twice already!

25.  I’ve always prepared the fruit salad at Christmas since my mom passed away, but I don’t eat fruit salad.  I usually like my fruits in their fresh, natural state.

The Cheese Grater and The Crepe Thingy

While waiting for the Wall-E screening at the Promenade, Tin and I ventured into Gourdo’s, conveniently located beside the cinema.  We both enjoy checking out kitchen supplies and food stores, so we naturally gravitated towards Gourdo’s.  We ended up buying this cute and very functional cheese grater that solves the problem of grating your fingers once the cheese piece gets too small.  As we made one last round of the store, we found a T-shaped tool made of two pieces of light wood that’s slightly thicker than a pencil.  It had no label indicating what it is, only a price tag.  We were fascinated with it, primarily because we had absolutely no idea about its purpose.  We didn’t even know which is the right side up.  Do you use it hang something, or to whack something, etc.  We finally asked an attendant, and he told us that it’s used to flatten crepes.  Ohhh….heehee.  Well, it’s always nice to learn something new.

Charlie Brown is Real

Yes, Virginia, there is a Charlie Brown!  I don’t know if a lot of people know this, or whether I’m the last one, but Charlie Brown of the Peanuts comic strip is an actual person.  I learned this at Mass last Sunday.  The priest was talking about humility and he gave Charlie Brown as one example.

Charlie Brown is a real person, a very good friend of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.  They met at Art Instruction, Inc. in Minneapolis, where they both worked as instructors.  They struck a lifelong friendship.  One time, Charles asked Charlie if he could use his name in a cartoon he was creating. And no, Charlie does not physically resemble his cartoon alter ego.

After leaving Art Instruction, Inc., Charlie became Director of a juvenile detention center in Minneapolis, where he was quite well-loved.  Peanuts went on to gain international fame, but Charlie never once told anybody that he was THE Charlie Brown of the comic strip.

I liked how the priest ended the story:  “Imagine, for 20 years, the children who went to the detention center came looking for Charlie Brown, never knowing that they were indeed getting THE REAL CHARLIE BROWN.”

Read more about Charlie Brown, the person.