Random Thoughts

My clock says 3:09am. I should be sleeping by now. I always set my alarm clock at 9am in an attempt to accomplish more things. Running at least three times a week has always been a dream. But for some weird reasons, It never happens. I'm always preoccupied with schoolwork, not that I do them. A lot of times, I'm just having a staring contest with my books and laptop. My mind is always somewhere else. 

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I'm currently in the midst of a 'quarter life crisis'. One day I woke up having doubts about what I really want to end up doing for the rest of my life. It came as a shock to me because I'm the type of person who always knows what I want. I'm lost. I want to quit school because I feel that I'm just wasting my money, time and energy in it. I wanted to say that my life sucks but it would be inappropriate because of the continous pour of blessings in other aspects of my life. 

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I think I have a cabin fever. For those not familiar with the term, as per Wikipedia cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, paranoia, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark. That was a long definition, in a simpler term, I'm bored out of my mind. It is mostly because of the weather. It is getting really cold here. The worst part is that winter hasn't 'officially' started yet. Maybe its also because my life has been so predictable. I need to get out of here. I need a vacation.

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I wish to do something random. Like driving without a particular destination or hop on the train and go to New York to watch a Broadway show or go to Miami to get a tan or fly to Vegas to get married to get drunk. I wish life  is as easy as that.

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Is it weird that I like watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians? I know they can be overly dramatic at times it almost seems unreal. But I like how they exploit their popularity and use it to their advantage. 

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I found out that I don't need a visa to go to Peru and Brazil. Isn't it awesome? As much as I love my country and I'm proud to say that I'm Pinoy, it pisses me off that I need a visa almost everywhere. It's such a hassle.

***

I miss Manila. I miss Christmas in Manila. 

Drooling over Kermit Tesoro shoes

I instantly fell in love with these shoes as soon as I saw them. They are edgy, fierce and ridiculously sexy. I want them all! I wish to have a shoe fairy who can give me all these shoes for Christmas.

Cardio Pumps

Skull Heels 

Skull Heels in white

Pony Hair Skull Heels [my favorite]

Hyperthrophy heels

Heelless wedge

Wing Booties and Lace and Leather Heels

Heelless Extreme and Brocade Pisa Booties 

What makes me want to buy these shoes more is the fact that it is made by Kermit Tesoro, a Filipino designer who also happens to design Lady Gaga's outfit on the cover of her single 'Marry the Night'. The outfit was designed in collaboration with another Filipino artist, Leeroy New. [Yeah! Can't help but be proud that I'm Pinoy while I'm typing this]

The closest thing I have to a shoe fairy is my credit card and I would've bought these shoes in a heartbeat. The only thing that stops me from buying these precious babies is the fact that I live in one of the small towns in Wisconsin. It will not be practical to wear them here since the average winter can lasts up to five months. 

I'll have to wait until I get back in Manila. Or if I go somewhere else. 

Eno Vino Date Night

Eno Vino Wine bar and Bistro is a precious gem tucked away in one corner of Madison. It's now one of my favorite! The soft light and warm colors immediately sets the mood of anyone who comes here. The tapas menu is to die for! Don't forget the extensive wine selection which is really impressive. 

Eno Vino is a tapas style bar. A lot of the dishes are meant to be shared. You can order it one at a time while enjoying your wine. Perfect place for spending time with your family, friends and loved ones. Nobody is in a hurry. Interesting conversations, good glass of wine, terrific food and a serene atmosphere with people you love equates to a perfect night. 

Start of with a glass of wine to set the mood. I really like how they present their wine list in an Ipad2. Very tech-savvy!

We paired wine with a cheese course. We had brie, gouda and manchego with prosciutto. Their cheese plate is served with marinated olives, fresh fruits, spiced pecans, crackers and crostini. Cheese and wine! This pair always leaves me yearning for more.

After the cheese, we had braised short ribs set on top of polenta cakes, served with roasted garlic and pearl onion confit and drizzled with poblano fondue. A feast of flavors in one dish. The meat was so tender that my grandma will not need her dentures to devour this dish. The combination of different flavors in every bite was just awesome. I can't remember how many times I sighed and uttered the word YUM throughout the entire evening.  

As they say, save the best for last. For our third dish, we had the Hudson valley foie gras set on top of toasted almond puff and pineapple gastrique then sprinkled with peppered bacon. Every bite was a feast in my palate. The exquisite flavor of foie gras, the crisp almond puff and that delicious crunchy sound, the sweetness of pineapple and a hint of saltiness brought by the bacon, the fusion of flavors was incredibly satisfying. I have to stop myself from wanting another order because I remembered PETA's campaign against eating foie gras. 

We're already full after the third plate. But the glutton in me insisted that we should have dessert. So we ordered churros which were set on top of sliced bananas, drizzled with white and black chocolate syrup and dusted with cinnamon. Don't forget the strawberries. Ooh. We finished everything off this plate even though we can hardly breathe. For sure this would be perfect with a cup of hot coco on the side. Instead I opted for coffee and Peter tried the $20 ice wine. It's so sweet (and expensive!) you would almost think you're sipping honey. 

Gaining five pounds after this dinner doesn't sound so bad after all. =)

Wishlist

Christmas is just around the corner! I'm so excited! I was gonna do a wishlist after Thanksgiving but I'm bored tonight so I  might as well do it. It's never too early for any kind of wish list anyway.

1. Blackberry Bold 9930

My 2 year contract with US cellular is going to expire in December. So I need a new one. I like this new BlackBerry because of its sophisticated design. It also has a sim card slot so you can switch from CDMA to GSM when you need to travel outside the country.

2. Technomarine watch

I've been eyeing this watch for a while now. I want this!

3. Road Trip

I've always wanted to go on a road trip. Also, I've been longing to cross off California on my list. With my school schedule, I don't think this will happen until spring. I will just put it here so i won't forget. To enjoy this trip, I will probably need 2-3 weeks. This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to go on a road trip  too. One main requirement is that we should know each other. If you're fun loving and adventurous, let's go! This is my proposed itinerary. I wanted to visit national parks as well and of course Vegas has to be in the itinerary too.

Afternoon Tea

Photo: Lorraine Anico

I used to be a heavy coffee drinker. I can proudly say that I am one major contributor in Starbucks' success. But just recently, Peter encouraged me to try drinking tea since the only tea I ever tried is sweetened iced tea. I didn’t expect to actually like it but I did. I started reading about tea and its varieties. I also learned about the English afternoon tea tradition and the more elaborate Japanese tea ceremony. Since then, I have always wanted to try out an afternoon tea service so I searched for an afternoon tea room I could visit here in Madison.

 Yesterday, I had a really awesome afternoon tea experience at Legacy House Imports Gift Shop and Tea Room along Lien Road in Madison. The Cape Cod style house offers a variety of quintessential quilts, jewelries, tea sets and other crafts which mostly came from various parts of Europe. The back porch of the house is converted into a Victorian style parlor which offers a very relaxing ambiance, just perfect for an afternoon tea experience.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

The 3 tier afternoon tea tray is $14.99. It includes four different tea sandwiches, tea bread, a scone and 4 serving of miniature desserts. The pot of tea is not included in the prize. I ordered a pot of Formosa oolong tea for myself which is a mixture of good earthy and subtle autumn leafy flavor. Peter on the other hand settled for Sencha green tea which has a rich, deep flavor but with a very refreshing green aroma.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

We devoured the tray from the bottom tier and worked our way up. The crustless finger sandwiches include cucumber with dill and cream cheese, crab salad, chicken salad and ham salad all of which are delicious and flavorful.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

The middle tier is my favorite. A slice of banana bread and a buttery warm apricot scone served with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and apple jelly. Aahh. Each bite screams heaven! I had to order two more extra scones that I can take with me at home. I also asked for more Devonshire. =)

Photo: Lorraine Anico

 And lastly, the top tier was full of sweet treats which includes pistachio cake, cream swan, mini pumpkin cheese cake and mini chocolate decadence which are all baked in-house. Devouring these little dainty desserts was a perfect way to end the tea experience.

I was relieved when Peter told me that he genuinely enjoyed it since I saw the hesitation in his eyes when we entered the tea room. I guess it’s to ‘girly’ for him at first. It’s funny how he ended up buying extra bags of loose leaf teas to bring home. Well, it seems that this is not going to be our last afternoon tea here. I'm already looking forward for more afternoon tea visits.

Memory Back up File

I used to have the best memory bank. I remember every little insignificant detail in everything. What I wore on our first date, what I ordered, the cheesy lines from movies I watched, names of people I just met, jokes I heard once, you name it. I got it all stored in my head. But as I grow older and start to worry about almost everything, my memory is becoming rusty each passing day. Sometimes, I couldn't even remember my bank account password.

I have discovered my love for travel and adventure when I was in college. I have gone to interesting places in the Philippines and in the United States and tried out delicious foods from restaurants I could no longer remember. Even though I took a lot of pictures, there are a lot of details I could vaguely retrieved. But I believe that it's never too late to start doing things you feel like doing. This adventure has just started. There will be more adventures along the way since I plan on conquering the world. Oh yeah! You read that right! I'll conquer the world, one place and one dish at a time.

So I decided to create this blog and just put everything I wanted as a memory back up file. This will contain travel adventures, sumptuous foods I've tried from restaurants I've visited, good and bad service experiences and some random things about school and life in general. A lot of it will be interesting (I hope!) and some will be irrelevant things that are almost not worth sharing but definitely worth remembering.

This will be my own little space in the cyber world where I can just dump everything for a later retrieval.