Category Archives: Urban Living

Home Sweet Home

Everyone wants to have their own place to call their “home sweet home”. Several friends were able to get their own homes already and they have lots of stories to tell regarding the process of getting a house.

First, even if one has enough money saved for the purchase of a new house, or even the purchase of a house with a previous owner, it seems that there is never enough funds to pay for everything that has to be paid for. One has to get home mortgage to be able to finance all the necessary expenses to be able to purchase a house. Home mortgages like the Mortgage Finders Network should be able to help those who want to get into a mortgage loan process.

These expenses include all the paperwork, not to mention the expenses incurred in doing the legwork. Not to exclude the fee to be paid for the architect or engineer and carpenters who will build or remodel the house. And what about the furnitures? Well, at times, these have to wait. One can either use previously owned furnitures even if these seem “old” for the new house.

When done right, getting one’s home sweet home would not be a hassle but a breeze. Planning and timing are just two of the major key concepts in doing so.

Yacon, Apple of the Earth

Last Sunday, when we went to Market One Sunday Market, I chanced upon some root crops being sold. I thought it was “kamoteng kahoy” or cassava and I thought about buying several pieces. The salesperson told me it is in fact yacon. And I asked what it was again. She told me it is called yacon and it is good for those who are likely to suffer diabetes.

Hmm…I have heard about this a few months back from a student’s mom who buys the same root crop in the same place.

I asked the salesperson what it tastes like and she said it tastes like “singkamas” or what is erroneously referred to as turnips. Singkamas is in fact called jicama (pachyrhizus erosus). I got curious since I love munching on this singkamas.

I got one piece only. It was a bit expensive, compared to singkamas which can be bought for PhP25.00 for a bunch of 5-6 pieces. The one piece I got was PhP40.00(almost USD1.00).

I peeled the yacon around noon today. And took photos of the sliced flesh.

img_2541b-yacon.jpg

After a while, I noticed that the flesh discolored. I didn’t know that discoloration happens the flesh has been exposed to air, like apples and eggplants.

I tasted one piece and it tasted good. Sweetish, like a part apple, a part jicama and a part pear. So that is why it is also called the Apple of the Earth. It is also dubbed as the Healing Crop.

I didn’t want to eat it as it is so I thought about making a salad and putting some pieces which I sliced in strips. This was what I got:

img_2545b-vegetable-salad.jpg

Click here to read about more about this root crop called yacon.


Missing Manhole Covers

It is a common sight to see uncovered manholes and unfortunate event to some, to be sucked fall into an open one, here in the Philippines. This particularly happen here in Mega Manila.

Now this piece of news is interesting. In Philadelphia (you know, the city of brotherly love), people are being sucked into manholes, just like what is happening here.

No, it is not them aliens doing these things but its them again, manholes without covers.

Manhole covers are being stolen to be sold as scrap metals.

And it is not just in Philadelphia that these things happen.

These happen too in New York, Phoenix, Cleveland, Memphis, Miami.

Who knows, there are probably a lot more cities though these haven’t caught some attention yet from the media.

Here is the link to the article.