his post should be called #thekitchenthatbankruptme, a hashtag I’ve often used when we were renovating this space. For 10 months it was a source of frustration and only recently transformed into a space where my little family and I make delicious meals together.

ilaga, (approximately translated to boiled) is a simple way Filipinos cook food. It’s basically boiling food in water either fish or meat, together with onions and garlic, mixed with an array of vegetables. The vegetarian version of nilaga is called bulanglang, usually with squash, raw papaya and moringa leaves. There’s also tinola, chicken nilaga with lots of ginger and raw papayas. Mussels and clam fishes like vongole are also great for nilaga.

was in Mechelen for the weekend for one of those spontaneous trips you book in the middle of a difficult week. Some personal issues have been bogging me down for months and I thought a weekend away from child and work would do me good.

Something happened while I was running last Saturday. The weather was  abominable for May cold, rainy, sleet and too much wind. I was on my 12th kilometre, listening to Rammstein’s Rammleid when another strong gust of wind almost knocked me down. I got mad, so mad that I was shouting expletives to the air. I hated everything about running, the pain, the long training hours that’s taking me away from my daughter and this disgusting weather.

here was a time when I wouldn’t flinch buying a €400 designer bag on sale, however impractical , just because I liked the colour. I had no child, no mortgage, no debt, and lots of dispensable cash. And I didn’t stop at one bag.