Saturday notes

Dodging rain bullets outside (typhoon Hannah is in our vicinity, but she will not hit Manila directly); rainy mornings are soporific. Barely made it out this morning, not that it was that encouraging for any outdoor activity, but the bills have to be paid and promises kept.

Back at home, I clean up my feline companion's litter box and find the backyard full of pots filled to the brim with water. Dengue Alert! I spend the next 30 minutes draining every potential mosquito condo development and make sure the drain spout is clear of obstruction. It's a good idea to check on this more than once a month since mozzies aren't picky about where to lay their eggs.

I tuck into a sandwich, coldcuts and cheese. Tasted the beef sausage from Mickey's, a new deli. You can tell that they make their sausages by hand, based on the uneven sizes of the sausages. The taste is a bit overly salty, but paired with pickles and vegetables, a decent late lunch.

For dinner, I decide to make or toss together a sesame noodle dish. For more precise instructions, there are tons of recipes online, but I'm doing what I do best: check what I've been keeping in my refrigerator and cupboard, see if I can make something out of something (honestly, where does the line make something out of nothing even make sense?). I find a questionable sesame vinaigrette that's been in the ref for sometime (sniffed it and found it to be in good shape). A couple of plugs from that in a mixing bowl, a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter, a glug of soy sauce, several shakes of indonesian chilli sauce, take a taste, find some white vinegar for additional texture, and pour over reconstituted noodles (ramen do fine, but if you have canton noodles, or linguine, or chinese egg noodles, actually any noodle that is long/stringy does the trick). Ah wait! I find a bottle of minced ginger, toss half a teaspoon in. Mix. Taste. Freshly grated black pepper. Good cold or hot, but no matter. It's perfect for a quiet night. Me, my noodles, and a book.