Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
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Roma
So the fire alarm testing thingy went fine. The fire alarm was going off for about 30 minutes or so. Good thing I decided to just take a PTO. It was loud. And my dogs were very agitated. But it went fine. They were pretty quick with the apartment. The Fire Marshall really just needed to check if he can hear the alarm. So that was that.
I was able to hang out with my love today. We watched three movies today. And also watched someone’s stream for a bit after that.
We watched Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Both were really good movies. I preferred Venom compared to the second installment. I said that I was not expecting a symbiote to endear itself to me. But that first movie was just amazing. The interaction between Venom and Brock was one of my favorite things in the movie hands down. The villain in the first movie, Carlton Drake, was a good villain for sure. Not to say that Cletus Kassidy was not. The actors did an amazing job putting these characters to life. Tom Hardy was great. But then again, it’s Tom Hardy.
We also watched Vacation Friends. It was funny. My hun and I enjoyed the movie a lot. Sure there were some cringe moments there but funny nonetheless. I really like John Cena. He is not scared to take on roles for sure. I saw him in Blockers and I thought his comedic timing was good. So I was not surprised that he also did a good job on this one.
My hun is now streaming for me. He is playing DBD, playing the new killer – The Mastermind. He says he will try to play this killer the correct way.
It’s hot again today. I cannot with this heat. It really needs to be fall already. Like now. It needs to be colder. I cannot with this heat. Also, apparently, big honchos will be on site tomorrow, so I would need to wear actual pants again. I am not amused.
- Title: Arsenic and Adobo
- Author: Mia P. Manansala
- Genre: Mystery
- Pages: 295
- Publisher: Berkley
- Published: 2021
I remember seeing this book on Amazon before the book got released. Do not ask me how I came across this one, I think I might just be randomly perusing books. The trigger word? Adobo. That’s all it took for my interest to be piqued.
For those who do not know, adobo is a Filipino dish that can be made either with chicken or pork or BOTH cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and peppercorns. This dish is served with white rice. One of my favorite dishes to make and eat. A good adobo is just so comforting to me. So yeah, it is understandable that putting adobo on the title will tickle my interest.
In a gist, the book is about a Filipina named Lila Macapagal, going back to her hometown to get over a breakup. Helping out her family business in the meantime, her name got dragged into a murder case when a food critic – who was also an ex-boyfriend – drops dead while eating at their family restaurant.
As you can see, this is a book with a heavy subject matter – murder. However, as in any mystery novel out there, the story was very fast-paced. I cannot put the book down. Growing up in a Filipino household myself, the book really called to me. From the importance of family to the appreciation of good food.
Aside from the main conflict – finding out who killed her ex-boyfriend, the novel was sprinkled with food, family conflict, friendships, and a hint of a possible love triangle. I mean, what’s not to love this book?
But really aside from all the food mentioned in this book, it was the family dynamic that reminds me of how it is to be in a traditional Filipino family. Regardless of where they are. Having been raised in an environment where family is a huge thing, the dynamic did hit home for me. I, too, had to struggle of finding a good balance between following my dreams and still not fully abandoning my responsibilities to the family. Not an easy task.
All in all, I loved this book. And I will continue with the series. This is the first book to the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series. Book two is already out – Homicide and Halo-Halo. I will be adding that to my cart soon.
There’s really nothing going on right now. Just that I’m struggling to find my next read. My hun is having some boys’ night playing video games with his friends.
I consumed an anime called given. This is not a new discovery. I saw this one maybe a year or so ago and I just wanted to rewatch it. This anime is just something. It definitely did pull on my emotions quite a bit. Okay – a lot. And I just took the chance and watched it again yesterday in subbed – including the movie and that one random episode. I watched this again at work in dubbed so I won’t have to read subtitles while working. Same reactions, same emotions. I just love this anime. Right up there with Yuri on Ice.
I decided to take PTO tomorrow. Granted there is something that I needed to take care of. I could’ve easily just worked from home but honestly, I didn’t want to deal with the fire alarms during meetings that I have scheduled for tomorrow. It was nice to actually decline all of them.
My hun and I are planning on hanging out earlier tomorrow. We’ll see how disruptive the fire alarm testing in my building is tomorrow.
I finished reading Howl’s Moving Castle last night. Did I enjoy it? Yes. I am quite surprised by this. Why? I did not like Howl at all. His character was very flawed. But then again, all the characters in the book were all flawed – even Sophie. And I appreciated that. Sophie and Howl from the movie were softer. Good but a lot softer than their book counterparts. The plot in itself was also darker – way darker than the film. Understandable. The Miyazaki version did feel more childlike. The book has a very sinister undertone to it. I really liked it a lot. And yes, I also just found out that there were three books in the series. Well, more like there were two companion novels out to Howl’s Moving Castle so I want to buy them and read them all.
I did sleep pretty late last night just because I couldn’t put the book down on the last 150 pages. There were certain things that I wished were adapted into the film – like the magic fight scene between Howl and the Witch of the Waste. I wished I could have really seen that visually. But I mean, it’s all good. I enjoyed the film as it is. As I did the book.
My hun and I decided to hang out earlier today so he can hang out with his friend and play some video games. We were able to play some Stardew Valley. It was fun. I really enjoyed the relaxing nature of the game. And I appreciate the fact that my hun enjoys playing it with me as well. We did end up watching a couple of episodes of The Great British Baking Show and an episode of Bob’s Burgers. That episode of Bob’s relaxed me quite a bit and I started feeling quite sleepy.
I did end up taking a couple of hours of nap after that. And now, I am cooking some beef with veggies and white rice. I wish it would turn out well. My allergies have been pretty bad since yesterday, even when I woke up this morning my arms and thighs were full of welts. So I want to indulge in some Roma-proof food in the next few days.
Since I finished reading a book last night, I need to find a new read. Or maybe I should pick up Lamb again. I don’t know. I’m actually not sure what genre I am in the mood for right now. It could be fantasy since Howl’s Moving Castle is technically a fantasy novel. Not sure. I’ll give Lamb another go though. I hate having unfinished books on my bedside.
This morning was busy for me. I had quite an early start – for a weekend anyway. I had an at 8 AM today with Discount Tire. I am not going to explain why, I think you can deduce from the place of appointment the reason why I made an appointment there. The fix finished earlier than expected. I ended up waiting outside of Costco for an hour since the store was not open yet. I was at that store for less than an hour, went directly to a grocery store, and then went to Joann. By 10:30 AM, I was home from errands. I cannot complain. The fact that the big errands were done that early on a Saturday – yeah. I think I did well on time.
I did hang out with my hun today. We played Stardew Valley for a bit. It started storming where he is at, so we decided to stop. We feared that our newly started game save will get corrupted if somehow the power goes out on his end. We definitely do no want a repeat of last time.
We then took a few minutes break and then watched a couple episodes of The Great British Baking Show. There is just something about that show – relaxing and stressful at the same time. However, it is always a breath of fresh air seeing them help each other out when needed. For a competition such as this, it’s very rare to not have a mentality of “every man for himself”.
We then decided to continue watching Tokyo Ghoul. Three episodes to be exact. I like the show enough. However, I quickly realize that this is not an anime that I can just binge watch. I would need a break. There are some scenes that can get too gruesome for my liking. It stresses me out. So I told my hun that I would love to watch the anime for sure. It is interesting but I just cannot sit and binge on episodes. My cap would be three episodes in one sitting and I would need to a different anime or show.
We ended date night there. My hun was feeling tired. And my allergies were pretty bad so I had to take Benadryl. What triggered it? I think the cold brew coffee and chicken bake I had this morning. I was feeling the drowsiness by the time we decided to call it a night. I was just in bed for almost three hours before I decided to start typing this post.
My hun and I planned on hanging out again tomorrow. No time set though. I know he wants to hang out with his friend as well. I do have a couple of things that I plan on doing tomorrow. So we shall see.
Nothing really exciting happened today. I was pretty tired the whole day. I was falling asleep at work as early as 8:30 AM. My guess is the excitement from yesterday. Like I said yesterday, after the fire alarm event, I was pretty amped and did not get to sleep until super late that night. Same with the dogs. It was really difficult to close my eyes when I know my geriatric dog was moving around the apartment and refused to lay down on her bed.
As I said earlier, nothing really note-worthy happened at work. It was the same shit different day kind of thing. I started listening to romance at work again. This time I can actually pay attention and not get too distracted. And I think I was blushing at some parts of the book. Well, I mean it’s that kind of romance so yeah. But to the people who knows what type of romance I like to read then they would understand why I blush from time to time.
My hun is doing a double today so hanging out was a no-go. Might as well, since I barely left the bed since I got home. I only stood up to feed the dogs, drink my medicine, and wash up for bed. Aside from that, I was just rolling around the bed. Finding a comfortable position.
It sucks when you’re body wants to sleep but your mind does not want to. I want to just sleep. But my mind is just telling me, “It’s Friday night for crying out loud. Stay up for change.” And my brain is definitely fighting the urge to sleep. I want to read. But also, I know when I start reading I would end up reading the one sentence over and over. I always had a problem with focusing when my brain is like this.
Tomorrow morning will be busy for me – an appointment early in the morning and some errands to do. I am hoping that my love can hang out with me in the afternoon though. I know he wants to hang out with his friend on Sunday for a bit. So we shall see how this weekend pans out.