Elections 2011

I will be voting for the first time on Monday, May 2nd for the General elections. I must admit that I'm not that knowledgeable in Canadian politics so voting is something that I felt that I should prepare for. Also, I must say that I'm not one of those people who brand themselves with the party they believe in. I'm not committed to one party because I have not really figured out what my political beliefs are. I believe that this is something that develops with experience and knowing what is important to one self. So first I asked myself the question: I am in my early 20s, a university graduate and has been working fulltime for almost a year now. What are the things important to me?

I know the struggles of being a student. The increasing tuition fees, the overly expensive books, the cost of transportation.. these are the issues I care about. My siblings are still in university and they are affected by the recent tuition fee increase. Yes, student loans exist but I know for a fact that finding a job right after graduation so you can pay off your loans is not always guaranteed. I was lucky to find a job right away and being able to pay a considerable amount to pay off my student loans but for sure it will still take me a number of years to completely pay them off. Affordability of quality education is important to me and to a lot of young people.

I am a foreign-born Canadian and I interact with minorities (cultural and ability-wise) on a daily basis so a party's plan to uphold equality and protect human rights is important to me. I am for creating a barrier-free Canada. I am for multiculturalism. I believe that all of us have the right to comfortably live in this country without the fear of discrimination.

And like you, I wish/want/hope for the waiting time for health care service to be reduced. Seriously, Canadians need this. I don't even need to explain why.

So what I did was I read the platforms and compared them. It took me the whole night but I think it's worth it to familiarize oneself with where these parties stand in issues relevant to each of us before we vote. 

Official websites:

Conservative

NDP

Liberal

Green

I found this website which compares the platforms. (unfortunately, no Green). I'm not sure how accurate this is so I would still suggest to still read from the official websites. 

I have finished reading and I think I already know who I am going to vote for. Let's hope that the outcome will be good for Canada.

Nala :)

Good thing I went home early ("early" meant right after work)! 

We bought bubble tea then brought Nala to the nearest park where she ran, ran, ran and stubbornly put everything she finds interesting in her mouth. 

Now she's tired and sleeping. I love this baby fur ball! 

Photo taken by Itel

PS. Don't you love my blog's new look? hehe 

Impromptu

The weather was GREAT! And when you live in this part of the world, you just have to take advantage of each day when you get awesome weather. Keith wanted to to visit the carnival (read: perya) but they're closed. Apparently, they are only open during the weekends. 

So we just walked around. 

Had Tiramisu Steamer! Yum!

And had an impromptu photoshoot instead! Fun times!

Thanks, KDF!!!

Lem's Despedida

Lem will be leaving for SK on the 30th so we arranged a small get together. It's really great to see these people again! We haven't seen each other in a while. Blame our busy schedules!

And look who just came home!!!

Welcome back!!!

They are reserved they say.

Tuna Dimsum

Another Jenni Epperson recipe! 

This made us EXCITED. Haha! It's a combination of some of the things we love: 

tuna + dimsum + lemon

It's a winner even before we made it! My sister has been staying away from eating meat for quite a while now plus pretty much everyone in the family is on a low cholesterol diet so recipes like this is received with much appreciation here in our household. 

We followed pretty much everything in the recipe except that we opted to make it like pork dumplings as you will see in the pictures below.

Tuna, Bokchoy and Lemon

The tuna mixture was seasoned to taste. Also, good thing we found Bokchoy at Safeway! Who knew that they have it there? And thank heavens for tags otherwise I wouldn't know it is a Bokchoy. I'm sorry I'm a market noob. I don't know my vegetables.

Good thing I did not have trouble sealing the wonton wrappers. The trick is using water to seal each one.

Each batch was steamed for 10 minutes. We like our dimsum gummy so that worked for us but some may like it softer so longer steaming time may be necessary.

Steamed!

Tuna Dumplings

The taste did not disappoint! We LOVED it! And because it's tuna, eating a number was guilt-free!

Meal time!

Easter Cupcakes

It's a super long weekend! Yep! 4 days! While I can't describe to you how good it feels to have 8+ hours of sleep for 4 consecutive days, I can assure you that I tried to be productive. I did a lot of reading, cleaning, catching up and, of course, cooking.
 
Jenni Epperson is slowly becoming me and my sister's idol. Haha! We made two of her recipes today and enjoyed them a lot! I'm making one entry for each recipe.

Easter Cupcakes
We made these cupcakes mainly because we thought they are cute. I really have apprehensions about boxed cake mixes. I was never a big fan because I find them too sweet but I still gave in thinking that this would be a trial anyway. 

We used the same brand of cake mix and icing as Jenni but we skipped Sprite Zero and just followed the instructions on the box. Basically, just eggs, milk and oil. Even just the smell of the batter is nauseatingly sweet.

I need practice! Haha!

Can't see the colors because of the light:
orange, apple green, pink, purple

I liked how the colors turned out especially the apple green but I'm still not very fond of the cake itself. We had fun making this though! We might do this again but I'm totally making the cupcake from scratch next time.

Mukha

Mukha: Faces of Young Filipinos in Winnipeg (or as Keith called it, The Fez) opened at The Edge gallery at 611 Main St. last night! It's my friend, Arianne Solis' first exhibit. 

The Pictures

We were pretty excited about this! We are a group of friends who love art. During our freshie and sophomore years, we would go to different artsy places around the city and attend various exhibits. We loved those days so much! And who would have known? Now we are going to one of our friends'!

Cheesecakes all grown-up! Sybil, Arianne, me and Lem

The music was awesome!!! Allan Suban and Jenelle Salanguit were invited to play. I liked their playlist! Definitely added a lot to the overall vibe of the place.

Allan and Jenelle

The pictures and the statements are installed all through the gallery walls. I have read the statements before the exhibit opened as I helped Arianne edit them and I can tell you that, each person has a story to tell. Every person featured in this exhibit has a different way of coping, living and striving.

The gallery

The people

Met some new people and saw faces that I haven't seen in a while! Great times! 
The exhibit is on until the 21st of April! Go and visit, guys!
PHOTOS FROM ANDREW DE LEON

Come one, come all!

Banana Bread

And so I was in the kitchen again. This time I baked Banana Bread. We were inspired because the kid who we got to know at church gave my brother a Banana and Walnut muffin when they saw each other at church. We decided to make some! Too bad we didn't have walnuts. This recipe came from Panlasang Pinoy.

Baking!

I decided to use muffin pans instead of a loaf pan because it's just easier to eat and pack it for school and work. The recipe is enough for 12 cups. I also put nutella on two just to try. 

Final product

Yummy and healthy

And because they were baked in muffin pans, the cooking time was much less. It was supposed to be an hour but it was down to about 25 minutes.

Pink

I have been obsessed with nail lacquer for quite a while now. There was even a period when I buy one every time I go to either Superstore or Walmart. I'm not particular about brands. If I like a colour, then I buy it (or ask my mom to buy it for me. Haha!). I am not particular about colours either. Sometimes I like it chic, sometimes I like it pop. My mom prefers taupe and my lola does not wear any other color except red. For me it really depends on my mood.

Yesterday, I put on Chanel's Rose Confidentiel which is very classic, old rose. I used this a lot during the last Christmas season. It's very classy Chanel but I'm not in the mood for it right now.

Rose Confidentiel

So today I switched to this:

Fuchsia

Same colour as my Hello Kitty comforter!

It's Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Fuchsia Power. The color is fun! It makes me happy and energized. This particular line is cheap too so if you want to experiment on colours, check this line out. I think a bottle is less than $3. It applies well and lasts quite a while (for me at least).

If you want to read more about nail polish visit Emerald Sparkled and Lacquerized.

J. Epperson's Tuna Ala King

Since there's nothing to do and I have nowhere to go to today, I decided to cook! It's not everyday that I venture to the kitchen 'cause I almost always just don't have the time (and the mood) to whip something up. But since I have time to kill, why not right? My sister showed me Mrs. Jenni Epperson's Century Corned Tuna Ala King recipe yesterday and we agreed to try and make it. Actually, no. What usually happens is that I make it and my sister tastes it and today is no different.

The Filling

Confession: I did not use the ingredients and the proportion the recipe calls for although the idea is there. We have no corned tuna so I had to use light tuna (Century pa rin ang brand! Ha!). I'm not sure how much the difference is exactly between these two kinds in terms of taste but I'm sure there is a difference. 

I used frozen mixed veggies instead of just peas and carrots. I also added more milk, flour and salt. I made the filling thick 'cause I prefer it that way. I like a creamy consistency.

Toast Cups

We currently don't have whole wheat bread (like we normally do) so I had to use white bread. I also spread butter on the second batch of cups as suggested by my brother. Tip: Make sure to flatten the bread to prevent it from tearing apart as you put it in the pan. But if it does tear apart, don't worry. Just fix it once they are placed in the muffin pan by making sure the torn parts are together and there are no holes. Once you see them turn golden brown, they are set! These treats are best when warm so serve them immediately.

First Batch