A Scam Letter Capitalizing on the Popularity of FaceBook

I received the following in my eMail today. It is very convincing, but originating from West Africa smells of rotten fish, although the origin of the letter is supposed to be in Menlo Park. The street address of #1 Hacker Way sounds very appropriate.

FACEBOOK INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD 2013
The Online FaceBook Consumer's Promotions 2013.
Facebook Corporate Office Headquarters HQ
#1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park,
California 94025 USA
Official Website: www.facebook.com

Dear Sir/Madam,

Congratulations We Are Happy To Inform You That Your Email Address
Have Won $500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) From FaceBook
International Christmas Lottery Award 2013.

This Lottery is sponsored and promoted by the FaceBook International
Lottery Award U.S.A as the part of COMMUNICATION around the World and
to promote the use of INTERNET in the world, no tickets were sold but
all E-mail addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for
representation and privacy. Your E-mail Access Code: 101 to avoid
Scam/Fraud lottery going on internet.

(WINNING NOTIFICATION NUMBERS)
TICKET NUMBER: 00545 188 564756
WINNING NUMBER: FB/575061725
PRIZE NUMBER: 7780129/N
SERIAL NUMBER: 5368/02

FILL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND SUMMIT TO YOUR REGIONAL CLAIMS
AGENT IN WEST AFRICA NIGERIA (REV. JOHN TIMOTHY) FOR MORE DETAILS AND
DIRECTIVES FOR CLAIMS.

1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Amount Won:
9.Mobile Phone Number:
10.Your lucky email address:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Rev. John Timothy
Email: rev.johntimothy2013@live.com
Phone Number: +234-80323-06470
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
NOTE: Keep your winning private from public to avoid double claim and
unwarranted taking of advantage because it will lead to
disqualifications.

Yours in service,
Prof. Wilcox Bruce
Award Co-ordinator
FaceBook International Lottery Board USA.

Bird Watching in My Backyard in Marinduque

December 1, is the official first day of bird watching in the beautiful Island of Marinduque-Our Second Home!
The Cuckoo Bird in my backyard, Chateau Du Mer, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Marinduque Island, Philippines is a tourist destination for Bird watchers all over the world. In my backyard at Chateau Du Mer, you can watch several species of wild birds that reside in the gardens and flowering trees in my back yard orchard. Besides bird watching, one can enjoy beach walking and snorkeling at the resort as well as caving, biking and touring the butterfly farms nearby.
Yellow Breasted Bird
What is this Bird's Name?
For the last four months this year and last year while we were in Marinduque, Macrine and I had been enjoying watching the beautiful wild birds that resides in the gardens and fruit trees of Chateau Du Mer. I do not know most of the bird names except for one, they called "the cuckoo", because of the sounds the bird makes. This bird had a long tail, blackish-brown almost look like a small parrot and very elusive. It flies from the tamarind tree in our back porch to the huge palm tree by the side of the house. It hides in the thick foliage of the trees, so unless you look closer, you may not be able to see this beautiful wild bird. Another bird is multicolored and almost look like the California blue Jay but with a yellow breast but blue throat. It is smaller than the cuckoo, but this one would stay on our clotheslines for minutes and you can enjoyed watching its beautiful plumage for a long while. Besides the above two birds, there several varieties of birds, butterflies, and bees that also reside in the gardens and fruit trees of Chateau Du Mer.

Just recently, I found out that there are bird sanctuaries in Marinduque. The bird wildlife adventure organization of the world listed the following birds that can be watched in the six towns of the province as follows:

Amethyst Brown-dove, Blackish Cuckoo-shrike, White-browed Shama, Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Purple-throated Sunbird, Mountain White-eye Zosterops, Philippine Duck, Philippine Cockatoo and Green Racquet-tail.

Other activities recommended by the group besides Bird Watching are, Caving, Trekking and Camping. The seashores near Chateau Du Mer is excellent for bathing and snorkeling as well as jogging or just beach walking/combing. Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort and Conference Center is located in Western Marinduque, 8 KM from downtown Boac- the capital town of Marinduque.

Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary regions are located on the western side of Gasan, northeast side of Sta. Cruz, southern side of Buenavista, northwest side of Boac and at the eastern side of Torrijos.

The best time of the year for bird watching is from December 1 to May 30. For details, visit www.world-wildlife-adventures.com. As Marinduquenos, we should do our best to help in the conservation of these wild birds. They are our national treasures.

Anyone for Sweet Corn and Crab Soup?

With the Dungeness crab in season here in Northern California, the cost of whole Dungeness crabs is only $4.99/lb in Safeway and $ 5.19/lb at Raleys yesterday. I bought two 2-pounder crab for only $20. After cleaning, the two whole crabs yielded about 16 oz of meat including the meat from the claws. I was looking for a simple recipe in the Web, but I did not find one that is simple enough, so that an amateur cook like me can do it without using my brain. Then suddenly I remember a very simple dish that my wife used to prepare. It is her corn and crab soup. Here's the recipe, so simple even a person who has never cook in his/her life will enjoy doing it.

8 oz crab meat ( Dungeness,Maryland or Philippine hard or soft shell)
1 onion ( sweet preferably)-minced
1/2 clove garlic
1 16 oz can golden sweet corn, cream style ( Del Monte brand preferred)
salt and pepper, soy sauce to taste
2 cups water
vegetable oil
chives or green onions (optional)

Saute the onions and garlic in oil until cooked. Add the sweet corn and 2 cups of water. Add salt and pepper or soy sauce to taste. Let the mixture simmer and add the crab meat. Mix and stir until the soup simmers. Add the chives or green onions as the garnishing.(optional). Serve Hot!

Very, very simple! Delicious and Nutritious!

My Wife's Recipe of Chicken-Macaroni Salad

Yesterday at the Thanksgiving dinner in Walnut Creek at my son's residence and every party in the David B Katague household, my wife always prepares Chicken Macaroni salad. The recipe is a favorite of my four adult children and six grand children who all grew up here in the US. There are several Chicken Macaroni salad recipes that I know of but this one is the simplest one.

16 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
1 lb boneless chicken breast, boiled and cubed
1 ½ cup pineapple chunks
1 cup Spanish, sweet onion
1 cup raisins( optional)(sweetened and dried cranberries may be used)
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped( optional)
2 cups mayonnaise (can be 1 cup mayo and 1 cup miracle whip)
1 ½ cup Cheddar cheese, cubed
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 apples chopped into small cubes

Cooking Preparation:

Cook the macaroni as directed in the package. Place the macaroni in a large container. Add the mayonnaise (and /or miracle whip) and mix well. Put-in the minced onions and mix well. Place the cheddar cheese in and mix again
Now, add the chicken and distribute evenly. Put-in the pineapple chunks, boiled eggs(optional), and and apples (raisins optional) and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill inside the refrigerator for about an hour. Serve chilled.

Note: The popular Pinoy recipe has raisins but no apples. I love raisins, but my wife hates it. So in this recipe, I listed raisins as optional. Apples in the Philippines is very expensive. Another option that I enjoy is to use sweetened dried cranberries instead of raisins. Here in the US, the dried and sweetened cranberries are more expensive than the raisins.

Our 53rd Thanksgiving Day in the US

Today, is our 53rd Thanksgiving Day celebration in the US. The whole David B Katague Clan will have another mini-reunion at my oldest( Dodie) son's residence in Walnut Creek, California at 3PM today. My four adult children and three of my six grand children will also be able to attend. My grand daughter, Alix, who is in College at Cornell University in New York decided not to come, reserving her transportation money for the coming Christmas break. My two other grand children spent thanksgiving with their other grand mother in Santa Rosa. My wife and with my son's assistance has prepared her favorite recipe of Chicken-Macaroni salad. My youngest daughter has prepared pumpkin/sweet potato-leek soup. We will have the usual turkey and its trimmings to be served by my oldest son and wife, Ruth. For dessert we will have pecan pie, chocolate cake, cheese cake and mercedes brazoz. My oldest son's wife, Ruth turns 53 years old today. My other son, David III turned 51 years old last week.

Again, every thanksgiving day always reminds me of our first Thanksgiving Celebration here in US in 1960.

An excerpt of an article that I wrote about that memorable day is as follows:( see photo above also)

"It was November,1960 when Macrine and I and our oldest son, Dodie(who was only 2 years old then) experienced our first Thanksgiving Celebration in the United States. That year, I was a graduate student of the University of Illinois at the Medical Center in Chicago. The Chicago Hospitality Center along with YMCA and Christian Family Movement(CFM) invites all foreign students in the area to spend a thanksgiving weekend to the homes of volunteers in small towns of Illinois away from the crowded city of Chicago. Some of my foreign student friends were reluctant and did not accept the invitation, but I had an adventurous spirit so with great anticipation, Macrine and I along with Dodie went with 12 other foreign students and their families to Central Illinois.

Our host for that weekend was Mrs. Johnston, a widow from Danville, Illinois. She lives alone and her beautiful bungalow house right in downtown Danville. We left Chicago in the morning, had thanksgiving dinner ( turkey and all its trimmings)in late afternoon. This was followed by a program in the evening at a local community center, where all the hosts met and socialized with other invited students from Korea, Iran, Mexico, Japan, Chile, South Africa, Egypt and the Philippines.

The next day we had a grand tour of the area, the farms and then to Springfield, the capital city of Illinois. The tour of the area and Springfield was the highlight of our two days break from our hectic schedules as a graduate students.

So, did I like the roasted turkey? Nope, that was first time I had turkey. In the Philippines we do not celebrate Thanksgiving and I had never tasted turkey before. I did not like the pumpkin pie either. What I enjoyed was the oyster stuffing, vanilla ice cream and the cranberries sauce".

I wrote another article on my impression of inviting foreign students to American homes during thanksgiving day. This article was published in the Christian Family Movement(CFM) Newsletter. Here's a short excerpt from that article.

" As the first couple of CFM and Interfaith group in our diocese, we will do our very best to reciprocate, promote, and encourage hospitality programs to foreign students and scholars in our area. We believe that opening our homes and our hearts on weekends and holidays, is one of the best ways of promoting world peace and understanding. Let us then make it possible for foreign students and scholars get the true picture of America and its people. Let us give them the opportunity to share with us our way of life. Let us get busy as a group or perhaps join other groups in order that we can show to the future leaders of the world, how sincere, friendly and aware we are of other human beings in other parts of the world. This is one of the many ways we could be more Christlike, we believe".

This year I am thanking the Lord again for all the good things and for the past 53 years of our Thanksgiving Days here in US. The Lord has given me and my family so much good things here in US. To all my friends and relatives all over the world, May God bless you and your love ones this Thanksgiving Day!

Avocado Shake and Madeleine Cookies for Merienda

Have you tried snacking (merienda) with Avocado shake and Madeleine Cookies? This combination is one of my favorite snack items. Madeleine french cake cookies are commercially available. The brand that I love is made by Sugar Bowl Bakery. The cookies reminds of the Pinoy mamon, The cookies advertised it as "every bite is just right" The cookies are also good with just a cup of hot tea or coffee.

However, combining it with homemade fresh avocado shake, makes me feel like royalty enjoying high tea at the most expensive hotel in England or for that matter at the Queen's Elizabeth Hotel in Victoria, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I have my own recipe of Avocado Shake. The ingredients are as follows:

1 ripe large Avocado ( Hash variety preferred)
2 teaspoons white sugar( or 1/8 cup condense milk)
1/4 cup Half and Half ( or milk if less fat is desired)

Blend the mixture until all the avocados chunks are homogenous and creamy. Add water if you want the mixture not too creamy. Refrigerate for one hour and served cold. Blend the mixture with ice cubes if there is no time for refrigeration. Bon Apetite and Happy Merienda Time!