It’s A House Thing

Do any of you guys have Pinterest? Oh I can hear you guys grumbling “Not another social network, AGAIN.” Actually it does seem like Tumblr but in a more organized manner. Pinterest is somewhat like a corkboard and shelf all rolled into one. For example, you were looking for a particular style to redecorate your home but there are so many. So what you do is you “pin” it on a particularly board in Pinterest and then you’ll be able to review them all at a later time. What I love about is it’s graphical user interface and it’s just so easy on the eyes. It’s bookmarking WITH STYLE. I’ve already made 12 boards and I’ve also indicated my dream camera there too, just so I won’t forget it or anything. I will get a DSLR someday and after hours of research, I do know what camera and lens to get. I just need… you know, moolah. So if you’re on Pinterest already, ADD MEE! Or if you want an invite (you can easily log in using twitter or facebook), I can easily give ya one. Just comment away

One of my favorite boards there is of course, that dream house “Welcome to My Abode” board. Ever since I was young and had to move away from my grandparents, I knew I wanted my own room just like what other “normal” people had. Why am I still sleeping in the same room with my parents EVEN up to now? Why can’t I tear down these walls and decorate to my own liking? Well of course money money money is the problem and the fact that we’re just renting our house. So if ever the owners decided to boot us out, I’ll be homeless. So I don’t really have a permanent home, this is why I love the phrase, “Home is where the heart is” because I can make ANY PLACE my home. And thus the dreamer in me continues to dream. I’ve grown out of my pre-teen and teenage phase so unfortunately I can’t decorate my room like one anymore (well WHO SAYS SO… I still can! haha) but I have a vision of what my dream house would be like. It’s got to be big, and spacious! Check out my dream house board.

Seems though I LOVE to incorporate nature and books in my future home.

Maybe live inside a mountain or a hill

Or float around in my lazy river inside the house

Or yeah again in a cave

But then something revolutionary happened last week that threatened me to jump off my dream precipice. I watched a documentary on Youtube called “We The Tiny House People” and it featured the tumbleweed houses and various other people who were able to build extraordinary homes in such a limited space. It wasn’t actually my first time to see this particular house

which looked like a cabin compartment on wheels more than anything else. Somehow it wasn’t able to change my perception of my dream house but after watching this documentary and to find out how living less doesn’t always mean living more, but it doesn’t mean that LESS CANNOT BE MORE. Why can’t it? A lot would disagree with that statement at how having less things mean more things. But I believe that we can make it more. You got to work to achieve and if you check out my favorites in the documentary, such as this amazing 400-square feet boat home by Heather Wilcoxon who ditched the Hollywood glamour to live on a boat.(no I am not a hippie or bohemian-ish really… i would change the interior design but the concept is amazing)

My favorite apartment though has got to be Christian Schallert’s apartment in Barcelona. They call it the “lego-style apartment” because of how everything is connected and hidden. It’s perfectly functional too.

This space-saving idea is so practical and wonderful but might be turned off by those with kids. Of course you can’t raise kids in these kinds of quarters but it doesn’t have to be such a big difference right? People who have built tiny homes state that one of the reasons why they love building these is because of “being lazy” and “no dusting required” statement. Actually that’s a perk but I think the reason goes beyond that. Less cleaning is always helpful but let’s not forget that it’s great for sanitation purposes, it helps with countries’ density problem. Building these kinds of tiny houses is more economical and cheaper they say because of lower rent rates and of course less land needed and I do agree.

I look at the problems here in the big city of Metro Manila and look at the squatters and shanties around and I can’t help feel a nudge somewhere… that this might be a solution to their problem. I don’t know how it’s going to be implemented or not but applying these kinds of concepts could help with the environmental waste problem and also the squatter situation. I want to pitch this idea to somebody but I feel like I lack the needed knowledge (i am not an interior designer or an architect) but this is an important idea that must be shared. What do you think?

Please take the time to watch this documentary, it might be long (1 hour and a half) but it’s really worth it. You don’t have to watch it all now but it would be great if you take the time to watch this too. This has affected me so much that wherever I turn to in my home, I’d see “WASTED SPACE!!!” and say “TOO MUCH SPACE FOR 3 PEOPLE!!” and I want to take out everything. But it’s not yet my home… wait till I get my own. Nature will definitely be a part of my future home though.

If you just want to watch the trailer, you could do so here It’s only 10 minutes I think?

Check out the Tumbleweed blog or Faircompanies for videos and photos of more tiny houses. They also give you tips on how to “save space” from your homes.

Jay Shafer is also the founder and owner and architect and… well he built the first “tiny house” like this. Check out his tour. Thought that I should mention him here because he’s kind of the “pioneer” in the States.

Updates when I update!

Cleaning Out Culinary Skills

Don’t really have spring here so I just pretend I have spring cleaning. Even though it’s summer. So let me just be a Snow White here and clean out my closet.

Oh the things you find in junk (actually there’s still box-loads of junk and I just had a major Epiphany which I will share in my NEXT blog post) especially TONS of stuff toys. I didn’t realize I’ve amassed a collection until I saw that they were gathering dusts (and maybe cobwebs and a few spiders who knows) in my closet and I’ve decided to scrub em till they shine! Well lookie what I found!

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Sorry for messy beds background

That’s just 1/4 of the family and I’ve got some more tucked away in Narnia waiting to be found. Most of the stuff toys I have now were mostly gifts and this is one of the reasons why stuff toys aren’t really my ideal gifts… O_O where would I place all these without them gathering dust? I am thankful for each of them though and they are darn cute, you gotta admit it! I did find some… weird ones, one was so freaky that our dog kept barking at it.

But he wasn’t scared of his new toy

It creeped me out at first, I mean what is it and why doesn’t it have ears or something? See, having ears makes a difference. A lot of difference.

I’ve been reading a lot of good books lately and I hope you can check them out here. Add me up on Goodreads, am always on the search for another perfect book. I love fantasies such as The Hobbit, Harry Potter and also magical realism books such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, and also books with animals on them (Life of Pi did it for me I think). The last book sale blew a huge hole in my wallet but I died a happy bookworm. Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife is a gripping read, one of the few books that made me actually want to join a book club and discuss its meaning because there are so many twists and turns and I NEED to know what really happened. It’s also about a Balkan country which I know next to zilch about so it was a very interesting read. Full review of my read books can be found here.

As you can see, this set has all my preferences

I swear you have got to read Habibi if you’re an aspiring artist or designer because of its intricate patterns and designs on the drawings. Just for that I’ve already given this book a WHOPPING 10 but it is for mature audiences. This is the third volume of Y:The Last Man and since the bookstore only had 1 copy left… I couldn’t help but by it T_T And Free Comic Book Day is coming up on May 19 with 20% off on graphic novels… *gets shot more* Somebody help me control my book shopping tendencies. Maybe I should check in a support group.

I’ve also been bitten by the culinary bug. Well it’s actually more like my mom’s doing.

Mom: I don’t want to cook anymore, you’ve got no job yet anyway so you can cook for us.

Me: But but but I do help with the business…

Mom: No, you start today.

Me: Okay… *polishes my rusty cooking skills from 2 years ago*

I haven’t cooked really or had the desire to cook since my student exchange last 2010 but I thought what the heck and since our new helper at home actually knows how to cook, she helped me with my chopping skills and mentored me as we cooked these dishes. I was the mastermind and strategist while I learned the correct basic cooking techniques as I never received any proper training. Searching for recipes is the funnest part and I somehow became immune to the heat even while cooking. I didn’t despise it anymore as long as I can cook good food and see the happy faces of my family. Seeing the joy of somebody relishing good food is really something. Makes you feel happy like Santa. If Santa’s out there…

And now I want to introduce you to one of my inspirations (besides my mother and brother because he does cook good food), THE PIONEER WOMAN (Ree Drummond)! She was the one who saved me during my student exchange because of her step by step VISUAL recipes. I never had the patience for cooking videos because what if I missed a step and I had to rewind it back then I’d be hobbling around the kitchen frantically making a mess out of things. So when I saw her WONDERFUL WONDERFUL SITE, I became a disciple of her good cooking and inspired me to actually take good food photography (and I still fail at it, sorry ). What I love about her blog is not only the mouth-watering delectable pictures and easy to follow recipes (heck I’m even thinking of canning and making cinnamon rolls, what the fudge), but also her style of blogging. It really appeals to me. And maybe because she talks and answers herself a lot.

Oh yes she does.

Like me. Sort of.

See? Am answering myself again. Oh the beauty of solitary soliloquy! Oh where were we? Oh yeah food.

SO YEAH GO VISIT HER BLOG! Here are my “exam results” and I hope you guys… like the virtual food? TATA FOR NOW!

My first dish, Spicy Shrimp Aglio Olio (very unconventional as we decided to put Tomato, this is a no no for aglio olio BUUUUTT it kinda worked, it’s still tasty!)

Spicy Tuna Carbonara (didn’t follow Ree’s exact recipe, has Filipino touch to it)

Pasta Puttanesca (Had to substitute some items, be creative as they say! XD)

Chicken Parmigiana, my first love at her site and this was infinitely better than the one I made in France

Above: Baked Blueberry Cheesecake for Chair’s birthday!
Below: No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake from mom’s recipe
Baked = cheesier, no bake = ice cream-ier

Fresh Strawberry Smoothie.

Lasagna. We didn’t follow the recipe exactly and it came out a bit soggier than usual

After much Italia cuisine, I decided to cook healthier dishes LOLL coz I think we all became fatter afterwards :/ Chicken Couscous with Chick Peas and Harissa Paste. This recipe was from some dude in Foodily. I kinda forgot who…

Roast Herbed Chicken. VERY HERB-Y! This is Jamie Oliver’s recipe (I seriously love his shows. And his family is like the BEST FREAKING CUTEST FAMILY EVER! Check out his instagram) but I used breasts instead of a whole chicken. You need to lessen the oven time coz it cooks faster.