This year's Holy Week was unlike our family's traditional Holy Week Celebration. If in the past years we go out of town to do our annual Visita Iglesia, we decided to stay home this year, perhaps to stay away from places crowded with people. I hate to admit that I almost forgot the
reason why I (or most of us for that matter) was granted with this 5-day long holiday if not for our seafood fiesta. It served to remind me that meat is not allowed while celebrating the Holy Week. So, while others were busy going to churches praying and doing other religious practices,
forgive us for indulging ourselves in seafood and other yummy treats (hey! We did stay away from meat. hehe!). So let me begin sharing my Yummy Holy Week Experience.

On Thursday morning, I woke up with the smell of choco.. oh wait. No, that's not what happened. I actually woke up in an empty house as my thoughtful family decided to go out without me and without leavng a note telling me where they've gone to. But they did leave something delicious in our table for me to treat myself into - Churos with chocolate syrup! Talk about starting the day sweetly. My mum is fond of taking pictures of meals that she herself prepared(I think she did prepare this breakfast) so here's our breakfast meal.

Churos

After eating, I busied myself with cleaning up the house a bit for my 'rents not to yell at me for waking up late yet again. Hehe! An hour and a half after they arrived and I found out that they went to the Farmers Market to buy fresh seafood for us to eat for lunch and the following days. I was so excited with the thought of fresh seafood (I'm a real seafood lover!) that I volunteered to help prepare our meals for lunch. Yeah, you guessed it (or not), I cooked! I cooked Baked Mussels! I cooked and baked the sauce for the Baked Mussels myself! Yey! So, I present you with (drumrolls please!) Baked Mussels ala Aimee (LOL!) garnished with Parsley leaves on top to give it a distinct aroma and more for presentation.

Baked Mussels

Along with that, we had Mussel soup, Lato (cultured seaweed I think), and Tuna Sashimi! Yey! The meal was just so delicious that I forgot I planned on going on a diet during the Holy Week. Hehe!

Mussel Soup

Lato

Tuna Sashimi with Wasabi and Kikoman Soy Sauce

Friday came and we really didn't cook anything and just ate some fish and veggies, nothing fancy. But my Mum and I busied ourselves in the afternoon with baking Oatmeal Chip Cookies. Mike came for a visit and so he had the privilege of tasting the very first batch of Oatmeal Chip Cookies baked by his Hunny (hehe). When I asked for his opinion, he couldn't help but say the cookies were delicious or else.. Haha! Kidding! But our cookies really tasted delicious since they were fresh from the oven, they had that chewy soft and sweet taste. Yum! I can still taste it in my tongue! Hehe! These were the very first cookies I baked and so my Mum had insisted on giving Mike a jar of our Oatmeal Chip Cookies for him to take home to his mother. Hehe! And his mum loved it as well.

Oatmeal Chip Cookies

Saturday came and we went out to eat breakfast and went straight to Farmers Market again to buy fresh seafood for our lunch in my Lola's house in Antipolo. We had pretty much the same seafood course as last Thursday's and we enjoyed it as much again. We also brought along our Oatmea Chip Cookies for my aunt, cousins and Lola to enjoy as well. And they did! My lola loved it! Yey!

Sunday morning I woke up at the sound of my mum's voice waking me up and telling me to take a bath as we'll go shopping in Trinoma. That immediately woke me up. Hehe! So shopping I did at Trinoma! But since the weather was scorching hot that day, thanks to the summer heat, we bought ice cream on our way home. My mum is fond of presenting our food in a "fashionable" (for lak of an appropriate term. hehe) way and so when we got our ice cream srving, it came topped with marshmallows and a piece of a chocolate chip cookie. And what can I say? Yummy!

Ice Cream topped with Marshmallows and Cookie

Monday was a little bit of a drag for me since I woke up late, tidied my room and reformatted my laptop for the nth time. But thank goodness my parents consider eating good food very important and so we had salad and laing (funny combination thought hehe) for lunch and Pesto-Spaghetti for dinner. And for dessert - Oatmeal Chip Cookies served with warm green tea.

An Open Letter to That Person

Here I am pouring out my emotions once again and hopefully for the last time. Doing this, I hope to deal with the complicated and disturbing situation I've gotten myself into once and for all.

Dear ...,

Some friend you are. In my dire need, I've dared to ask for your help, your comfort, your caring gestures, only to have a door shut at my face. I asked for your help in the hope that you'll show me the same comfort and friendship I've bestowed upon you when you once found yourself in a dark time of your life.

I never asked for your friendship. You came offering it with your own free will. What I only did was what anyone would naturally do - accepted it. Little did I know that accepting it would only bring me to this situation that I never expected of being into. This is all new to me. Perhaps it's the reason why I came close to mistaking it for another thing, one which I dread. But it's a good thing a good friend lent me a listening ear and this issue has finally been cleared.

When things started to change, I tried to put up a wall but that same good friend told me that I should know when to put that wall down, enough to let other people know that they matter to me. That I did. And you could guess what happened next - I've only been disappointed at how you acted. This immediately led me to put up that wall again. And this time, I don't plan on putting it down for you anytime soon. Don't get me wrong. I don't plan on distancing myself away from you, I just don't want to be too attached anymore.

Others may get to the conclusion that I'm the victim in this situation. Perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not. After all, this is just one side of the story. Also, it's because that person doesn't know any of this, oblivious of what is happening to me right now. Another friend told me why fix something when it's not broken? So, I'm really not a victim. Because I think for that person, nothing's wrong, nothing needs repairing. And maybe that person's right. It could be that I'm the only one pulling myself deep into this crazy mess. But this is me. I'm comfortable at being honest with my feelings to the point that it has become my own flaw.

But I'll tell you this. I've always been a person who cherishes friendship so much that I could easily give out my trust and forgiveness without any second thought. And perhaps after writing this, I shall find myself forgiving you again, like I've done a number of times now. Forgiving you for the crime you did not know you committed.

Writing is my way of relieving myself off the negativities I feel. Being transparent at what I feel is what I'm best known for and I'm not ashamed of that. I just don't want to be a prisoner of my emotions.

10 DIVINE LETTERS: FRIENDSHIP --- KEEP IT.

Yuck emo! Charing! Lol!

XOXO (Hehe!)
Aimee