You're the 1, Goldilocks!

I loved joining contests. Joining them was a way for me to express myself and refine my skills. For me, being a contestant was a way of life.

I would join any kind of contest. Writing contests, photography contests, design contests. I even dreamed of joining song writing and music composition contests! Although I haven't gone that far yet. I have won some and lost countless times. Still I continued joining them.

However, it seems joining too many contests got the best of me. I abruptly stopped around 2004 and discontinued ever since. Maybe I just lost the interest and motivation altogether.

Then one day in September 2006, I met her...

We shared a lot of things in common. We loved anime, play video games, eat delicous Pinoy treats at Goldilocks... Simply being with her made me feel special.

After a few weeks of dating, she finally became my girlfreind.

Alright, enough of the appetizer, time to move on to the main course.

Here is is my Goldilocks experience I would like to share.

One cloudy day in June, as we were about to go home from work, we passed by a Goldilocks bake shop in Ayala, Makati. We were not in a hurry and we noticed an interesting poster on the store's glass window. It read: Join the Goldilocks"Cookie House" contest and get a chance to win prizes!

I really didn't know what came over me, but I felt the urge of joining this one. I have not joined design contests for awhile but this one sparked my interest. And so I read about the contest details.

She asked if I was interested in joining.

"I wish so..." I replied.

"Then why not join? No harm in trying..."


The "Cookie House contest" was a family oriented contest. "Too bad..." I thought. No one in my family knows how to bake or decorate food.

Then again, I reeeeaaaally wanted to try. I wanted to do something new.

"I could probably do it..." I said, "...but who's gonna help me out? I don't know how to build a Cookie House."

"I can!" She answered. I never thought she was interested too.

And so I finally decided to buy their Cookie House kit. Before we started, we checked to see what kind of goodies were included in the list.

There were...

- Candies and marshmallows for the decor
- Cookies for the four sides of the house
- Cookie sticks for the sides of the house
- confectionery sugar
- A plastic pastry bag
- a Cardboard box shaped like a house, which holds the 'cookie house' together

After seeing its contents, we decided on a design which we hoped will be unique. We entitled it 'Tahanang Pinoy'. Although the concept was not that original, it really was a challenge to make our entry look that way.

In order to build it like a tahanang pinoy, we decided to buy more cookies and sweets. Some include pretzels, graham crackers, and animal shaped biscuits.

After acquiring all the materials needed, came the hard part.

At first I thought it was that easy to 'build' the cookie house. The idea was to use the confectionery sugar to glue the cookie house together. Sounds fairly easy, until I tried it first hand!

At first, the walls stuck easily, but alas, after an hour or so, our cookie house, starting with the sides fell apart.

Arrrgh! What did I do wrong... I was so sure I did the right thing attaching the sides. But then I realized that I'm working on something I never tried before. Confectionery sugar after awhile hardens and becomes brittle. A little movement can cause the attachments to be unglued.

Although the cookie house literally crumbled apart, she never felt frustrated...

Thus, we attached the cookie house all over again.

After hours of pasting the house together, finally we got it completed. It was a tedious process, but we finally managed to complete it.

Completing the cookie house is a joy in itself...

The final part of the contest requirement was taking a picture of it. At the bottom is the picture of our creation..

Our Goldilocks Cookie House Contest Entry

After entering this contest, I learned a lot about my special someone.

- She knows how to cook and bake.
- She is very patient with meticulous work.
- She has a creative side as well.
- She loves new challenges.
- She is a lot like me in some ways.


You're the one Goldilocks because you've given me an opportunity to share treasured moments with my number one, most special friend. Even though we aren't family (yet), you made us feel that we belong to each other.

It was a very memorable experience, one I can truly cherish. And even if we did not win, the passion and joy we shared in creating our 'cookie house' was strong, and my feelings for her as well.

Thank you once again for that challenging yet worthwhile Goldilocks experience.