SMURFed

I am on vacation leave for the past two days and this afternoon, I watched "The Smurfs" with Peppe, Juju and Ate Sai.  It was an absolutely cute movie, I had giggling moments. The Smurfs became a hit way back when I was in high school I remember the finger puppets were sold at National Bookstore.  I was not a big fun back them.  It is only now that I learned who they really are -  all so cute ad cuddly.  The movie was an enjoyable one.  Try catching the movie in a theatre near you if it is not too late - and feel good about it!

My Mang Inasal food trip

This is day 4 of my Mang Inasal chicken diet (not!).  The first time I ever tasted Mang Inasal was just this Tuesday and I totally became I fan.  I ordered my first ever Mang Insasal PM1 (leg and thigh with unlimited rice for only Php99!).  I got home past 10 in the evening with a very satisfied stomach.  The following day, my office mates and I were craving for more we ordered "to go" but I was not able to enjoy the meal as I was in a rush.  Come afternoon, I invited my friends to go to Mang Inasal (jut nearby our office) again for dinner. This time, we all ate with our hands which made the meal more enjoyble. Imagine juicy chicken eaten with chicken oil drizzled over hot rice.  Happiness!  This past 2 days, I have been eating Mang Inasal still.  And tomorrow, I will be making my own inasal- complete with chicken oil.

Here are photos of Mang Inasal picked from the web.  

Pictures pa lang, nakakagutom na!

I will be posting my chicken inasal shots soon.

Got my bikes!

The wait is over!  I finally got my bikes yesterday- a Giant Revel 3 2012 and a Giant Revel 4 2012.  Both are entry level bikes.  Who would complain?  I have not biked in 30 years and I do not know if I still can.  I am hoping to take a vacation from work so I can do some biking this week.

A Batangas Day!

We were in Anilao, Batangas yesterday to bring some balikbayan friends for some swimming and diving. We left Manila at 6 a.m. and met up with some other guys at McDo-Petron in SLEX. We headed to Mt. Malarayat Gold and Country Club at Lipa, Batangas to pick up the balikbayans, chit chat with their folks and some photo  taking at their very picturesque backyard- the golf course itself!  We finally reached our destination, Bambu Villa,  at almost noon after being stuck at the Batangas City junctions.  (We later found out that it was Batangas Day so probably there was a parade that held up the traffic!)

As soon as we arrived, the kids practically jumped into the pool! This was all they were waiting for after hours in the van.  And as soon as they got into the pool, it started to rain so, we, the oldies went up and waited for the buffet lunch to open.  And here we stayed and chatted until it was practically time to pack up and go.  Lunch and merienda were so-so but we sure did a lot of catching up and reminiscing- and snacking on all sorts of chips. We left the resort at past seven too tired to even mind about dinner. Good thing Edith made reservations at Johanna's Grille at Bauan, Batangas.  I was not excited anymore as I was dead tired but dining at Johanna's capped the day indeed! They served fork tender hickory barbecued baby-back ribs!  It was so worth the side trip!  Apparently, Johanna's Grille is a popular stopover place to dine in  for divers coming from Anilao. The servings are huge and cheap. A big slab of ribs costs Php200 and this comes with corn and a scoop of rice.  I went for a smaller slab that was just Php180 (a similar dish would cost more than Php500 in Manila)
It was truly enjoyable Batangas Day indeed!  We were in 3 Batangas towns yesterday!  As soon as we hit the road for Manila, I dozed off until we were almost near Edith's house where I parked my car!  Thanks Norman for driving to and from Batangas as I was no big help!  Thanks much!

Love this song | Say (All I Need)

This song has been playing in my mind for a week now.  I simply love it!

Pancit na Puti, Max's Style Fried Chicken and Cassava Cake

Yesterday was Mama Rosa's birthday and we had some homestyle Pinoy cooking - Sotanghon na Puti, Cassava Cake and bottomless Max-style Fried Chicken. 

For the sotanghon, I use the Pancit na Puti recipe but instead of bihon, I always use sotanghon. I first tasted this dish during one of our office parties where we would always order from our "suki" Mang Julio.

Here's my recipe:

1/4 kilo sotanghon (soaked in water)

2 chicken breasts

1 cup chopped lechon kawali

1/4 cup minced garlic

1 medium onion, sliced

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup cooking oil

freshly ground black pepper

salt

chicken bouillon

1/3 cup patis (fish sauce)

Directions:

Boil chicken breasts until tender in 1 liter of water. Set aside broth. Cut chicken into small pieces once cooled. Saute garlic and onions in cooking oil. Add chicken pieces and patis. Let patis boil for 2 minutes then add chicken broth and bouillon. Let the broth simmer for 5 minutes then add sotanghon. After 5 minutes, add the spring onions, salt and pepper.  Top with the chopped lechon kawali as served.

For the Max's style fried chicken:

Chicken fryer

cornstarch

salt

pepper

oil for frying

Directions:  Split the chicken lengthwise. Rinse well. Coat will cornstarch and season with salt and pepper.  Steam for 30 minutes. Let the chicken halves dry. (May be kept in the freezer also!). When about to serve, heat oil and fry the chicken. Drain and serve with, of course, Jufran banana catsup.  

And for the Cassava cake, I picked this recipe from the internet:

For the cake:

2 lbs. grated cassava

1 14 oz condensed milk (reserve 1/3 c. for topping)

1 14 oz. can coconut milk (reserve /3 c. for topping)

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup grated young coconut

For the topping:

3 yolks

1/3 c. reserved sweetened condensed milk

1/3 c. reserved coconut cream

Directions:  Pre-heat oven to 325F.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cake ingredients. Mix well. Pour equally into 2 large greased rectangular pans. Bake until top is no longer liquid (30 minutes). Mix topping ingredients well and spread evenly on the two cakes. Bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. Cook cakes completely.

   

Get Together with Balikbayan Friends

College friends Angeli, Noel and Powie are in town from the U.S. We had a quick get together at Barcino last Wednesday. Traffic was heavy from ADB which was a usual 8-10 minute drive that it took me almost 30 minutes to get there. I was already anxious to see my friends! 

It was so much fun chit-chatting and laughing all  night with them! 

Pichi-Pichi

I was on my way home and happened to drive by a small store selling Pichi-pichi at Php6 per piece. This caught my attention so I decided to experiment. Yesterday was market day so I asked my mom and Yaya Sai to get kamoteng kahoy (cassava), lihiya (lye) and coconut so I could test the recipe I googled.

Here is the recipe I tried:

Ingredients:

• 1 – 1/2 cups grated cassava
• food coloring (optional)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bundle of pandan leaves, boiled in 2 cups water until reduced to one cup, and cooled ( or canned pandan concentrate, or a few drops of pandan essence in a cup of warm water)
• 1/2 tsp lye water* “lihiya”
• grated coconut for topping

Directions:

• Mix the sugar and the pandan flavored water and mix until sugar is dissolved. mix in the cassava and then add the lye water drop by drop mixing well as you do so.
• Pour into a mold or bowl that fits your bamboo steamer. steam until the mixture becomes translucent.
• While still hot scoop out the cooked mixture (use ice cream scoop or a tablespoon the same size as the scoop) and roll into grated coconut.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Telling the world

I do not like bird movies... until I watched Rio with Peppe, Juju and Yaya Sai. It was cute, fun and had really good music.  And this one is my favorite... Taio Cruz' "Telling the World."

Good Life

I love my Phiten

My back has been bothering me since Friday, I even had to go  and have a massage. This morning as I was dressing up to go out, I found my Phiten necklace inside my drawer and decided to wear it and give it a try. Lo and behold! The pain has become bearable and I could move freely. Really! My Phitens are really worth it.  Besides, I got mine at half its Manila price back in Japan.

Royce' Potte Goma Cookies

I actually thought it was weird when I saw them on the shelves but I know Royce' never fails.  I got four boxes of these treasures as pasalubong but I ended up giving away only one because they were too precious to share! These are not available at the Royce' stores in Manila.

Who could go wrong with everything good is rolled into one: potato chips, cookies, chocolate and black sesame seeds?! Absolutely delish!

Strange but yummy Kitkat Wasabi

When we were in Osaka, I tried a lot of strange things like curry tonkatsu, green tea (I never liked green tea until that trip!), green tea Melty Kiss, soy sauce and green tea KitKat and even seafood flavored Nissin cup noodles. When we were in Kansai International and about to board our plane, we came across a small shop selling all kinds of KitKats.  We bought a few of Kitkats but I did not even dare touch the wasabi flavored ones. Huh! Big mistake!  Almost half a year after the trip, Edith gave me some of her leftover chocolate loot and I just fell in love with KitKat wasabi! I want to hit my head for not stashing these yummy bars! Ugh!

100-yen shops

I just got home from Chicken-All-You-Can dinner after a bit of shopping at Daiso. Tonight was really what one may call a “bargain” night. I spent around P1,000 at Daiso but got home with a bag full of sorts.  Shopping at Daiso is quite interesting as all items are less than P100 one ends up buying stuff that they do not need at all but bought anyway since they are cheap. I was able to buy all sorts when I was in Osaka when we chanced upon a 100-yen shop at Tenjobi.

100-Yen Shops or the hyakuen shoppu are one of the best place to pick up a bargain. In these shops you can find some really good value and often very unusual products, and as the name suggest all for only 100 yen, which is an absolute bargain.

The Last of Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 epic fantasy directed by David Yates and the second of two films based on the nove of the same namel by J.K. Rowling. It is the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter series. The story continues to follow Harry Potter on a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry’s best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

I have watched Harry Potter from the very start.  Daniel, Rupert and Emma have grown before our eyes.  Now the saga is about to end.  I will miss you Harry Potter!

Caramel Butter Pecan

I just got home and I just put a quart of soft Tillamook Caramel Butter Pecan ice cream in the freezer.  I can't wait till tomorrow morning so I can dig in!

I have tried a lot of Tillamook flavors and this one stands out. I can only get it through an expat friend even though S&R carries the brand (only in very limited flavors).  The only local ice cream that comes close to this is Selecta's Vanilla Almond. 

This is one of my simple joys and it costs $5.37 a quart- not bad! Thanks a lot, Nishi-san!

Starbuck's Black Sesame Green Tea Frappucino

We were asked to pick our snack this afternoon and I settled for Starbucks' Black Sesame Green Tea Frappucino.... and I just died! Can't wait for my next grande!

What If | Letters to Juliet

I caught “Letters to Juliet” last month and thought of sharing a quote that moved me.  It was Sophie’s answer to Claire who had written to Juliet 50 years ago.  Here it goes:

Dear Claire,

‘What’ and ‘if’ two words as non threatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: ‘What if?’…

I don’t know how your story ended. But I know that if what you felt then was love – true love – then it’s never too late. If it was true then why wouldn’t it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart…”

I don’t know what a love like that feels like… a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for… but I’d like to believe if I ever felt it. I’d have the courage to seize it. I hope you had the courage to seize it, Claire. And if you didn’t,  I hope one day that you will.

Roasted Vegetables

The Mafia-gang's having a get together this coming Saturday and I am already planning what food to bring to our Italian-themed dinner. Definitely, I will be brining Ip-Ip's favorite grilled vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar dressing. I do not have an exact recipe for this but let me share how I do it.

Ingredients:

4 Eggplants

3 Zucchinis

2 Red Bell Peppers (large ones)

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

freshly ground Black Pepper

1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic

Salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the eggplants and zucchinis into 1/5 inch slices while the eggplants into 3/4 inch wide strips.  Place on a stove top grill (or onto a charcoal grill) and roast them until cooked and grill marks appear. Mix the rest of the ingredients and shake in a bottle. Drizzle the dressing on top of the vegetables.

In search of Tintin

I was at the recently concluded Toy Con at the Megamall last Sunday in search of Tintin toy figures. I braved the stormy weather and the long line at the parking lot hoping to find some of these. And there were NONE! =(  Good thing my niece, being a Manga fanatic,  immensely enjoyed the exhibit- doing the rounds at the Manga stalls and posing with the life-sized Thor and some other super heroes. And oh, there were lots in Cosplay!

One Dance, One Song | Where the hell is Matt?

I love everything about this video.  The song is haunting, inspiring, uplifting.  I would love to do the Matt Harding dance around the world to deliver a message:  ONE song, ONE dance, ONE world.

The background music to this video is Praan (Stream of Life) composed by Gary Schyman and sung by Palbasha Siddique with lyrics adapted from a poem  Gitnajali by Rabindranath Tagore.  Here are the lyrics in Bengali:

Praan

Bhulbona ar shohojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 2X)

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare!

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3X)

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami

Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
dao more shei gaan

Stream of Life [English translation of Praan]

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Mt. Pinatubo - Death Trek

My friends and I have an agreement to do at least one special thing every year and we all decided to do the hard ones first before we end up doing the hot springs and shrine visit thingy.  So the first challenge- trek Mount Pinatubo.

We had planned this a couple of months before but was warned by JR that doing the trek during summer would “kill” us.  His tales of swimming in the lake and wearing a fleece jacket during the hike sort of mesmerized us.  We waited for the opportune time and December was just it.

Way before the trek, my friends, Noman, Pearlie, and I have been training for the major trek by doing the rounds at the U.P. academic oval,  Ortigas Center (actually  eating at Banchetto then walking towards Chateau 1771 Cafe for another bite) and at the Salcedo Market.  Hmmmm…. come to think of it, were we really training for the hike or just tasting all the food?

Our group did some serious planning on this one.  We had our “planning session” which was actually an excuse to eat and party!  We came up with our food list, gear list, etc., etc.  Okay guys, pan de sal, check!  Dry-fit shirts, check! Head gear, check! Drinks, check! Cameras, check! Sunblock, check!  And of course, our matching Keans hiking shoes, check!

On December 30th, we headed to the sleepy town of Capas Tarlac where the  jump off point is located.  We met our guides, picked our 4×4′s and headed for a 45 minute drive to the “point of no return.”  The weather was perfect, just as JR described it.  Bagiuo weather- just right for excited trekkers.

Only a kilometer into our trek we start asking our guide, “Kuya, malayo pa ba?”  The guide would only shake his head and smile every 20-30 minutes or so when we would ask the same question.  All the groups in the trek have overtaken us as we walked leisurely as if we were walking in the park.  A serious 2 hour walk for others was a 3.5 hour death-defying walk for us.  Oh!  But it was fun.  We could not wait to reach the top and see the fabled crater lake.

A funny thing happened along the way.  
Edith’s hiking shoes decided to quit just there and then!  With less than a third of the trek going up the mount, her shoes gave up. But lo and behold, JR,  our knight and shining armor had duct tape in his backpack!  Who would bring duct tape to a trek?  Maybe he brought tape in case he needed to silence us with our continuous whining all the way to the top?  JR just saved the day!

When we had finally reached the top, we were blown by the beauty of the magnificent crater lake. Who would think this volcano was a national nightmare in the early 90′s?  The sleeping giant volcano now revealed, so beautiful, so majestic and so serene….

I was already dead tired when we reached the top I did not have energy to go further down to the crater lake for a swim. With a hundred or so steps down (and back) I decided to stay at one of the sheds and took a nap.  The weather was just so cool, so perfect, I even put on my fleece jacket.  An hour and a half later, we all decided to leave.  I could have stayed  forever.  My legs were hurting like hell and simply did not want to move.  I just wanted to quit!  Another 3 hour trek and we were at the drop off point.  We were the last group out of the mountain.  Our drivers must have wondered what kept us so long.  We were all so tired.  I used a walking stick on the way back, I looked like Mama Moses!

Another 45 minute drive into the dark, dusty road until we finally reach the Capas stop.  My leg muscles were already stiff I had to slide myself out of the 4×4.  And my, was I thirsty!  And hungry too!

We had a 10,000 course meal served to us and we ate them all!  I was just soooo looking forward to a shower to rinse the eeky lahar off my hair.  We were told that hot water was not available.  What the heck!  I must have shampooed my hair three times.  Only on the third time did my shampoo bubble like shampoo!  Oh what a relief it was!  After that, we all headed to the van and fell asleep as the Davy and Ip’s (thanks!) driver piloted us to Manila.

My Mt. Pinatubo trek was an adventure of a lifetime.  I could not have made it without my friends cheering me on, laughing and giggling along the way.  It was also good that we went on a perfect time.  Otherwise, we could have missed its beauty as the water turns murky and gray as the rain comes. Yes, it was a worthwhile adventure.  Would I do it again?  Yes, only if the skyway is back.

Night out: Dotombori and Shinsaibashi

Before visiting Osaka with friends last fall, we made a to-do list and among the places to visit are Dotombori, to see the famous Glico man and the giant crab; and Shinsaibashi for night-time shopping.

With a map on hand, we first headed to Mido-suji to check out the autumn leaves. Mido-suji Street that runs the center of the Shinsaibashi is the main street of Osaka that links the downtown Kita (north) around Umeda and the downtown Minami (south) around the Shisaibashi and Namba districts. Unfortunately, autumn was a bit delayed, only a few leaves have started to turn yellow. Curiosity led us to the Louis Vuitton and Chanel shops and we headed to Tokyu Hands to looks for Ip’s bag.  We did not get the bag though but we ended up buying cute stationary and pens!

After Tokyu Hands, we crossed the street and our feet  instinctly brought us to the entrance of Shinsaibashi!  It was an amazing long street full of nice shops.  The Shinsaibashi is the largest shopping area in Osaka where many boutiques and specialty shops are gathered, attracting local people and visitors. The new Uniqlo building was just right at the entrance.  It was already cold so we did not mind walking and gazing at the store displays and dazzling lights.

We walked the entire Shinsaibashi Shopping Center until we finally reached Dotombori. Dotombori is an entertainment district along the southern bank of the Dotombori River. The slowly flowing Dotombori River at night reflects the neon lights, creating the largest city in western Japang a unique atmosphere.  This is where we finally meet the Glico Man, a giant electronic display of a runner crossing the finish line by Glico, one of Japan’s biggest candy / snack manufacturer.  A few steps further we found the Kani Doraku Crab, a six and a half meter crab in front of the crab restaurant with mechanized arms and eyestalks.

After finally seeing the two famous landmarks, we decided to have dinner at McDonald’s to try out the Cheese Fondue!  Too bad, most of the McDonald’s offerings in Japan are not available in the Philippines.

Our trip to Shinsaibashi and Dotombori was fun we decided to go back to following night with Edith!

I am a Dancing Queen

For ladies who love karaoke-ing, this is a must sing song.  When the first few notes are played, they stand up and grab the microphone.  I love the music- so 70′s young and carefree…..

You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen

Night Out: Mambo Cabaret, Bangkok

During my first visit to Bangkok, I had wanted to watch a show in Patpong but turned back once we were walking in the area. Patpong is an entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand known as a red light district at the heart of the city’s sex industry.  Go-go bars feature women dancing on stage.  Some establishments advertising massage are disguised as brothels and several have bars upstairs that feature sex shows. We decided not to go ahead as planned as we were becoming wary of flocks of locals luring us to watch the shows.  Scary.On my next trip to Bangkok, I got curious as I was leafing through the tour brochures at our hotel’s lobby.  As we were on our way to Ayutthaya, we asked our tour guide if he could take us to a Lady Boy show that night. We wanted to see some Katoeys.Thailand has a lot of Katoeys. In fact, one can see a Katoey in almost all of the places of the country. Thailand is a country where Katoeys are tolerated. Katoeys are transgenders. They are mostly men who had sex transplant surgeries. They may be men but they have the heart of a woman. That is why they preferred to be operated externally to become a woman.Our tour guide picked us up from the hotel lobby at around 8 p.m. and we headed towards Rama III to watch the Mambo Cabaret show. Picture taking was not allowed inside the theatre but everyone had their cameras ready while waiting for the show to 

begin!!I enjoyed the show.  In fact, there was one Lady Boy who I called “Kikay” who kept waving at me while on stage so come picture-taking time after the show, I had mine taken with her (for a BHT50 tip). For around BHT1,200, it was a truly an enjoyable experience!