Nhemskie's Haven

Lee, Linda. The Red Candy  Book Launching.2019.JPEG file. The Red Candy is the first illustrated Children's book of Ms. Linda A Lee in Kinaray-a and English that is gorgeously illustrated and wonderfully told. Front Photo of Linda Lee's Ang Dulce nga Pula.2019.JPEG file. Mimi the young girl of this charming and vibrantly illustrated story loves eating the red, sweet and stringy candy that leaves that glossy red tint on her lips. After convincing her mother, Minda, to give her money to buy some paper needed for school, she bought the money for her favorite sweet and traded guava for paper instead. That night Mimi had a nightmare after eating all the candies she bought and went to bed without brushing her teeth. She dreamt being chased by a gigantic talking worm wearing a tooth crown with scary fangs. But when she understands how horrible it felt when the monster gnawed her teeth, it was then Mimi was awaken by her mom and learns the importance of regular brushi...

JUN, NEMIE. John Denver Meeting.2019.JPEG file. Social media and online games are today's virtual playground. It goes without saying that the convenience of posting photos or videos online is simply undeniable, We've all probably seen someone being targeted by people with malicious comments and being judged at social media exchanges. Arden Rod Condez debut feature film "John Denver Trending" at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival prods the dangers of social media to us and to the modern youth. Set in the rural area of Pandan in the province of Antique, a teenage boy named John Denver was ostracized and condemned after an uploaded video of him impulsively fighting back a false charge went viral. The film shows multifaceted and complex issues - inequality, cyber bullying, and platforms of media manipulation. A teenager who is fragile, less resilient and thoughtless by nature becomes so much overwhelmed and distressed by the consequences of his abru...

Today marks another history for the Filipino people. Shall it be another six years of being in the same wretched spot or shall it commence great milestones and put Philippines back to where it was decades ago. Change is about to happen if everyone is ready for it. Funny how us Filipinos demand of great change and yet we never have tried being agents of change! I remember the Conference that I attended few years back in my teaching career in BSU regarding changes. We people tend to look at everyone to explain the problem when experiencing relational adversities. We must begin to examine ourselves and should be willing to correct whatever deficiency we have in order for change to materialize. “When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew into my t...

Corazon C. Aquino January 25, 1933 ~ August 01, 2009 Your legacy will always be remembered by the Filipinos. May you rest in peace!

In Batangas, my mom's hometown, we do fiesta every June 12th. The best thing about Fiestas is the food! These are the usual desserts that are served during fiestas or for just any occasions at all. These can be eaten as desserts or as "merienda"/snacks alone. Enjoy! Leche Flan (courtesy of cookwithmilk.com ) Ingredients 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tbsp water 1 can Condensed milk 4 cups Evaporated milk 9 yolks 3 eggs 1/4 tsp grated dayap rind (optional) 1 tsp dayap juice (optional) Procedures: Place sugar and water in a heavy-bottom saucepan and cook over low heat, swirling pan every so often to prevent sugar from “crystallizing”, DO NOT MIX. Cook until golden in color, this will take about 10 to 15 minutes and pour on 3 leche flan molds. Set aside. Place condensed milk, evaporated milk and the rest of ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour over caramel and cover with foil. Steam in barely simmering water for 30 to 45 minutes. Making sure the water doesn’t boil so as to have a ve...

Six years ago, I followed my heart. The events from that day seem from a distant planet. Six years ago, I worked as an English teacher in a Korean Language school in the Philippines when I met my husband, Tommy. He looked so strange when I first saw him at the school’s lobby because of his weird eye glasses (white-framed plastic eye glasses where he claimed he got the style from a famous Korean actor, 배용준). I think his strangeness and good looks had led me ponder some thoughts that night before I slept. The next day, to my surprise, he became my student (I was really glad that he enrolled to my class). I found his English very poor and horrible. I remember an instance that he mentioned his forehead as his “ground” and when he said something like "he is at my beside" thing. I burst into laughter when he metioned those lines. But after a few months of studying, his English had really improved a lot. Time passed and I found myself interested with him. I knew somehow that he sec...

My vacation this year was very busy and tiring. And though I had a full 10-days off from work, those days were still not enough to have a real decent vacation where I could get a day's nap and take things slowly than my usual pace. Most of these times were spent at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, our Community Center and the Busan Immigration . If you were keen to guess... yes, I am now a naturalized Korean. I won't say I'm very happy for this big change but I won't deny too that it'll make my life easier here in Korea and for my family too since we're all of the same nationality now. I also applied for Chloe's Philippine Passport and reported her birth as well (meaning she's now a dual citizenship holder). I'll do some more talking about the procedure next time. So, off we go to Seoul last Friday's night after my last class. We started at 11 pm and arrived at Euijeong bu at 3:30 am. Tommy drove all the way from Busan~Euijeong bu IC for four a...

I have fancied to be a politician before and I thought of doing some good things for my country- the Philippines. I am not a much of a patriot, I've never been involved to any strike, demonstrations or rally. But I had volunteered to some environmental projects run by the government back in my college years (coastal cleaning), I did "Alay Lakad" twice when I was in High School and applied for PMA scholarship when I was 17 (unfortunately they turned down my application because of my height... I was 157cm before they require for at least 158.5). I was told by one friend that you'll never love your country more than you would when you haven't gone out of it. It was very true to me. It hurts me to see something bad happening in 'Pinas', when other people ( should I say other nationalities) get the news first (it's always a bad news) before me or whenever a natural disaster like typhoon or earthquake hits the Philippines. It makes me think for a while th...

 Ate Ailen and I  Daedrian and Nikki  My beloved pamangkins   Ate Nena and Gio Lesther  Ate Nympha's Family  The Newly Wed Couple   Banana boat at Mindoro Waters  The Whole Family w/ an extra  I'm back!            I'm back here in Korea from a month vacation in my home country~ Philippines. Yes, I really had plenty of good memories to keep as well as bad ones....but that's okay... loosing your CASIO EXILIM digicam, all jewellery, some $150, some 120,000 won, your priced white musk cologne and set of silver chain to your newly hired nanny... THAT'S OKAY, RIGHT? (GRRRRRRRR!!!! May SHE REST IN PEACE)      On the brighter side, I met my family, relatives and friends(College friends: Llynn, Amie, Bona, Ate Joy, Kuya Bhe, Pat, Doosol colleagues: Mike, Eric, Ms. Tina, Ube, Liezl, Mau and friends in Batangas)enjoyed good old jokes and stories of all kind...