If we were sea creatures...

This conversation happened over dinner a few days ago:

Me: Afshin, have you been preparing for your OJT interview?
Afshin: What's there to prepare?
Me: Google sample questions. Sometimes they ask the weirdest things.
Afshin: Oh yeah, a few years ago I was at an interview and there was another candidate beside me. The interviewer asked "If you were a shoe, what shoe would you be?"

Me: No way! So what was your answer?
Afshin: Actually, the other girl answered first. She said "If I were a shoe, I'd be high heels because when I wear high heels I become taller than everyone else, so I can go up up higher than everyone else" Then I burst laughing at her answer.
Me: You laughed?!
Afshin: Yes, then the interviewer looked at me and said "Mr Foroozan...can you please share with us what's so funny?"

Me: Oh my goodness!
Afshin: I told him "High heels is a good answer, but her reasons... she could have said high heels help you stand confidently, not that it makes you taller or higher than everyone else. Why would you want to enter a company and be higher than everyone else? Then what will happen when your heel breaks? You will fall and how will you get back up?"
Me: Afshin! In front of the girl!? You're so mean! I'm sure they'll all hate you for sounding cocky.
Afshin: Then he asked me what shoe I'd be,

Celebrating the Earth

I never got the chance to write about an important date that recently just passed - Earth Day. I was away for work that week, hoping to be back in Manila on Saturday, April 22nd to attend the Earth Day celebration at La Mesa Eco Park along with other Bahá'is. But even though I missed the event (which I heard turned out wonderful!), I enjoyed the day in a way I least expected - somewhere surrounded by mountains and forests, and well, with limited mobile signal. 

 No, this is not going to be one of those blogs that says Earth Day should be everyday - because truth is, there are times I forget to turn my lights off when I leave the room and there are times I keep the tap running while I brush my teeth. The good thing is that Earth Day isn'tjust one day because we have world wetlands day, world wildlife day, international day of forests, world water day, world environment day, world habitat day and so many more environmental dates to remind us all through the year that we need to stop and reflect. 

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'i Faith said, "Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself so deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change int he life of man is the result of these mutual actions."

I was in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya for a few days and until the end, I still didn't get used to the view I woke up to and worked in every single day.  The mountains, the hills, forests, the farm lands... I was absolutely overwhelmed. Although... while enjoying the fresh air and the verdant topography, I never forgot that the Philippines' forests are rapidly vanishing. While in awe of our company's water treatment plant, brainstorming ways to get more people connected to our water system, I remembered what the former COP of Be Secure once told me "we are running out of water."

I asked my colleague to be my handmodel while I took this
picture at our Water Treatment Plant 

Balai Gloria, Solano

I’m someone who  really appreciates it when restaurant owners make effort to give their restaurants a theme, a personality. For me, Kerman's coffee shops remain number one in terms of creative ambiance. Speaking of ambiance, I surprisingly found myself in two really nice restaurants during my stay in Nueva Vizcaya last week. The first was Kainan sa Kainyugan in Bayombong - my Mom's relative took me and my colleague there. It was only 7:30 pm, but when we got there we saw a sign "We close at 8:30 pm". It wasn't only that restaurant, but it seems Nueva Vizcaya goes to sleep really early! The food options were pretty limited; we all chose roasted meat (fish/ pork/ then chicken for me). 
Just beside our table was a free soup corner! Even though the weather was warm and didn't call for soup, but the bricks, the fire log, the signs were very inviting; I got soup for all of us at our table.

My roasted chicken wasn't so special. In fact, it wasn't really tasty so I went over to a table that had bottles of soy sauce and fish sauce, abundant large calamansis and bagoong and I made my dip so that my dinner would have more flavour. The food was really JUST OK but the place was so lovely! First things I noticed were signs/posters everywhere - customers' comments, and some funny quotations. The tables/benches are wooden and give a very camping-in-the-woods feel.

Testing the action camera

After watching my Christmas-in-Manila footages last year, one thing I was very unhappy about was how much the video kept shaking (while in car, or biking or even walking). No matter how steady my hands were, the videos still turned out shaky. I did some research and learnt that the problem was my phone - doesn't have a stabilizer setting. My DSLR does, but as I've mentioned before, carrying a big camera around attracts "Bawal po ma'am!" non-sense from security guards. After going through reviews and suggestions, I decided to invest in a new gadget. Since I'm not a professional videographer/vlogger, I decided not to go for anything expensive...just something simple, easy to use and well, basically cheaper than a Go Pro. I am not very tech savvy so I'm not going to mention names and details (and pretend like I know what I'm talking about). 

In the process I discovered Lazada (I've never shopped online in the Philippines before - only a few times back when I was living in Sheffield, so I was a bit skeptical at first, trying to make sure most people had good experiences ordering from this website. I went through the Sports & Action Cameras section and came across the W8 Ultra HD 12MP Sports Action Camera. I looked up videos on  youtube to see sample videos and I was happy with what I saw and the customers/vloggers looked like they were also just starting out (they weren't professional), so it was very relatable. 

It was late Friday night when I clicked purchase, with the pay-upon-delivery option, expecting the order to arrive the following week but my door bell rang the very next morning and it was my order! Having the item delivered instantly was a pleasant experience. By the way, I noticed the price kept changing on a daily basis. By the time I bought it, it cost Php 1,300. 

This was my instagram post when I opened the package:

I was really overwhelmed with the number of mounts that came in the box. I went through the handbook carefully - it explains how you can use each and every mount - so you can strap the camera on top of your biking helmet, on your bike's handlebar, you can clip it to your bag, or stick it on your windshield. I think more than anything, I was most excited with the waterproof case.

How to spend a homecation in Manila

Easter is coming up this weekend. I've always known of "Easter Sunday" but I've never heard of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday before now! I guess it's because this is the first time I'm spending this holiday in a Catholic country - the Philippines. Back when I was studying in university here, I'd always go back home (to Nigeria) for the Easter break...but it wasn't really called Easter break; it was called summer break! Over here, summer is April/May as opposed to Nigeria's June - August. 

I observed that my colleagues and friends have been excited about this holiday for a very...very long time. I wondered why, I mean Thursday - Sunday is such a short time! Then I realized...for those who are working, the next holiday after this week is all the way in November (All Souls/Saint's day!) No wonder a lot of people are taking this entire or next week off, to enjoy. My Mom and I asked each other what we'd do and the thought of us travelling this time of the year wasn't as exciting as it is for most Filipinos, because of the following headlines: 

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/04/08/1688825/naia-flooded-departing-passengers

A green past

I recently took a leap of faith, and well... I landed on my first workation. We went to a few places just two hours away from Manila. I did some research before going there - I looked at the websites of the places we were planning to visit, and also read some articles about the town/city we were going to. When we got there, my first impression was "this isn't as green as it looks in the pictures!" I thought the pictures I had seen were old, until I voiced out my opinion and a lady told me "global warming has brought us drought this time of the year". My heart dropped because I suddenly remembered those mornings I spent in Lucknow crying in the office while readings newspaper articles about farmers in India committing suicide because of the drought. I don't know if such is the reality in the Philippines as well. I know we experience typhoons and floods very often over here, but which is harder for the farmers to deal with: flood or drought? Either way, these are extreme conditions brought about by our extreme actions and now require extreme solutions.

A few days ago, the whole world turned off all the lights for an hour. Okay, not the whole world...because a country like Nigeria celebrates Earth Hour every single day (NEPA don dey ohhh). But do you think that's enough? Everyone here in the Philippines, for example, can easily switch off their lights for an hour - no big deal, we still have our laptops and cellphones to kill time with. We go to Bonifacio Global City here in Manila and see three bins for trash segregation, but the condominiums/apartments there, and everywhere else in Manila have only ONE garbage chute. It's hard to do the right thing when the system around you does not encourage it.  How can we make our actions consistent?

Why do we wait for our President to call upon us to keep the cities green and clean? There's only one Prime Minister Modi. Why is the only time we've ever planted a sapling that time our teacher said she's give us a grade for it? We'll never learn to love what we're forced to do. Why do we depend on our parents scolding us into conserving electricity and water? Beyond the horizon of time, our children and our children's children are watching us. 

I'm sure a lot of us have heard our parents or grandparents comparing life "their time" and "our time". But what's really shocking is that the amount of changes I've experienced during my life time (which is half of my parents') is much more than theirs. The speed and intensity of the changes we've been experiencing in the last ten years and will continue to face is...well, let's just say there are no brakes on this ride. Have you ever wondered why it's very hot right now, compared to this time last year? Have you ever wondered why a certain place is experiencing snow for the first time in twelve years? Here's a short, yet powerful animated video of our reality: mankind vs the planet:

Kitchen throwbacks

I pulled off all my posts in Instagram and hibernated for a couple of months (that's what I do when I regret how much technology has been consuming my life), and now I've decided to re-post them on my blog. In case you haven't noticed, farzaneology has moved from .blogspot.com to simply .com! Yes, I invested in my own domain name. I have lots and lots of plans for this blog, and to be honest, I felt that spending for my domain name would really push me to write more often. As for the food blogs, I've cooked a lot of new things recently, but before sharing them I'll be posting these throwbacks just because they're no longer on instagram and do need a new place to exist. 

You might remember these crab cakes

2017 Fasting Diary: Week 3

...Continuation 

(Click here for the introduction: week 1)

(Click here week 2)

March 15, 2017
Food for the soul:

"...Even thou outwardly the Fast is difficult and toilsome, yet inwardly it is bounty and tranquility. Purification and training are conditioned and dependent only on such rigorous exercises as are in accord with the Book of God and sanctioned by Divine law, not those which the deluded have inflicted upon the people. Whatsoever God hath revealed is beloved of the soul. We beseech Him that He may graciously assist us to do that which is pleasing and acceptable unto Him."
-Bahá'u'lláh

Food for the body:

Korean noodles & boiled egg for breakfast

Things have felt a little different these last three days. I've been eating smaller breakfasts, and I've been breaking my fast over an hour over sunset and it has made no difference. I remember during the first week, whenever it hit 12pm, my stomach would make this grumbling sound, but then it would go away and come back again at 3pm. I knew it wasn't because I was hungry; I think my system was just used to those hours as the time I normally eat (so automatic reaction). During the first 10 days or so, I'd reach home with a feeling like there's a knot in my stomach, hence the desire for some warm liquid. But no more. It's obvious the body has adapted. Outwardly, yes the fast looks difficult and challenging, but physical suffering is only temporary. 

2017 Fasting Diary: Week 2

...continuation (see previous post for introduction)

March 08, 2017

Food for the soul:

"O SON OF BEING! My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish."

-Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh (Arabic, No. 9) 

Food for the body:

My Mom and I made a Nigerian breakfast this morning - egg stew and yam (call it tomato omelet, if you may). How to make it: saute onions and garlic until a little brown, then throw in some sliced tomatoes. In the meantime, scramble some eggs in a bowl, then when the tomatoes are a bit soft, pour the eggs over the tomatoes. In Nigeria they usually scramble the eggs on the pan, as they're being cooked, so it becomes scrambled omelet...but we didn't do that. The yam is just boiled - in Nigeria the yam is white, but there's no white yam here; just purple (Filipinos call it ube *not the sweet one*). If you don't have yam, you can just boil potatoes - tastes almost the same. I said *almost the same* ... I know my Nigerian readers might react violently (yam and potatoes do NOT taste the same) I know...but that's the closest taste comparison I could make hehe

Even if this is your 20th fasting-versary (lol), it always takes some getting used to in the beginning. Each year we fast, we realize it's always a different experience - it was different when I was fasting as a student, when I was fasting while on a holiday, and now fasting as an employee. This year I made more effort to read the Holy Writings - before, I would just pray in the morning and that's it, but this time I wanted to make my fasting a more holistic, more meaningful experience. So for the first week I selected quotations related to the Fast, because I felt it would really help me adjust better and gain a deeper understanding of what I'm doing and it has also helped me in sharing with others (who ask) why I'm doing what I'm doing. 

For this second week of the Fast, I'm selecting 7 quotations from The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah (Part I: Arabic). I'm selecting the quotations by the nines...so quotations #9, 19, 29...etc 😃

2017 Fasting Diary: Week 1

I think I'll be calling this and the next two posts my Fasting Diary. To those of you who don't know, Bahá'ís around the world fast for 19 days each year (it always used to be from March 2-20, but since last year it's now March 1- 19). Fasting is obligatory for Baha'is between 15 - 70 years old. It means no eating, drinking, smoking... from sunrise to sunset. People who are traveling (for more than 9 hours), women who are pregnant or are nursing or are on their menstrual cycle, people who are engaged in heavy labor and those who are ill are exempted from fasting. The harmony of science and religion is one of the principles of the Bahá'i Faith, so in terms of physical health, fasting cleans and detoxifies our digestive system. Eating excess food sort of burdens our digestive system (so much stress to digest, metabolize, etc) so giving our body this break will divert its attention to healing and recuperation or basically a chance for the body to "catch up". 

Then spiritually, fasting does wonders - it gives us a chance to reflect on our habits and to detach ourselves from the physical world and from the self... no, not just with food...but to practice self-control and moderation with everything else, even our thoughts!

So I'll be sharing with you my journey through this blog. Each day I will share a quotation from the Bahá'i writings, then I'll also share with you what I had in the morning for breakfast or what I had in the evening to break the fast. I'm only doing the second part because in case you don't already know from my previous posts, I'm a food blogger (or is that just a fancy word for foodie). 

March 01, 2017

Food for the soul:

"Praise be Thou, O God, my God! These are the days whereon Thou hast enjoined Thy chosen ones, Thy loved ones and Thy servants to observe the Fast, which Thou hast made a light unto the people of Thy kingdom, even as Thou didst make obligatory prayer a ladder of ascent unto those who acknowledge Thy unity. I beg of Thee, O my God, by these two mighty pillars, which Thou hast ordained as a glory and honour for all mankind, to keep Thy religion safe from the mischief of the ungoldy and the plotting of every wicked doer. O Lord, conceal not the light which Thou hast revealed through Thy strength and Thine omnipotence. Assist, then, those who truly believe in Thee with the hosts of the seen and the unseen by Thy command and Thy sovereignty. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Powerful."
-Prayer for the Fast, by Bahá'u'lláh

Food for the body:

This evening I broke the fast with mango cheeeesseeecake from Becky's Kitchen because..... 
it's my birthday today!!
This prayer was a reminder to me of how important obligatory prayer is, and how it should go hand in hand with the fast. It's been difficult for me to say the noon obligatory prayer since I started working this year because there is no room in the office for privacy (to pray)...well there are two empty conference/board rooms which I could go into, but I don't feel comfortable having to go into those rooms alone, and have everyone wonder why? Today however, between 12-1 pm I found myself alone in my office room because everyone was out for lunch, so I had the opportunity to stand and face the Qiblih. It was a wonderful feeling!