Watermelon Eyes

I couldn't believe my (watermelon) eyes!

Recipe: Tinolang Manok (Chicken Ginger Soup)

This recipe is a sure delight to most Filipinos. It has been a popular local dish as it was even mentioned in Chapter Three of Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. The novel, Noli Me Tangere, was written in 1884 and Rizal is the country's national hero.


What you need to prepare:
-casserole

Ingredients:
-1 whole chicken, cut into small serving pieces
-1 small ginger, peeled and sliced
-1 small garlic, crushed
-1 medium onion, chopped
-2 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
-2 medium sayote (chayote squash), peeled and cut into serving pieces
-sili (chilli) leaves
-1 tbsp canola oil
-1 liter of water
-dash of salt

Let's start cooking!

1. Heat canola oil in a casserole. Saute garlic, onion and ginger until it produces an aromatic scent.

2. Add the chicken pieces to brown the meat lightly.

3.Season with patis and a dash of salt. Then pour water and cover for about 15 minutes.

4. When the chicken is half done, add sayote. Simmer over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.

5. Stir in sili leaves just before serving.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables.

2. You can also use raw papaya instead of sayote, and malunggay leaves instead of sili leaves.

Sudoku Champ in the Making

My niece who is fifteen months old begins scribbling and enjoying the exploration of the Sudoku world. As a start, she can count one, two and three. :GRIN:

Recipe: Fish Cardillo (Fish in Tomato Sauce and Egg)

I thought of sharing with you one of the many dishes my husband likes. The garlic, onion and tomatoes will produce a fragrant smell and it also enhances the flavor of the fish. This is definitely tasty and easy to cook. Here's my own version of Fish Cardillo.


What you need to prepare:
-frying pans

Ingredients:
-1 kilo tilapia, bangus (milk fish) or dalagang bukid (Yellow Tail Fusilier)
-1 medium onion, sliced
-1 small garlic, minced
-2 cups chopped tomatoes
-1 small pack of Tomato Sauce
-1 large egg, slightly beaten
-1/2 cup water
-1 tsp patis (fish sauce)
-1 tbsp olive oil
-a pinch of salt


Let's start cooking:

1. Scrape fish scales and clean thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt and fry until they are half brown on both sides. Drain in kitchen tissue.

2. Saute onion, garlic and tomatoes in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, fish sauce and half cup of water.

3. Add slightly beaten eggs and cook until it becomes a thick sauce. Season with salt.

4. Place the fried fish on a serving dish and pour cooked sauce.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. My grandma call this recipe, Cardillo but it is also sometimes referred to as Sarciado.

2. The original Tagalog Sarciado recipe will require you to marinade the fish overnight in garlic, onion, fish sauce and calamansi (or lemon) juice. Then roll the fish in bread crumbs prior to frying.

3. Another ingredient that is not included in Sarciado is the slightly beaten egg.

Sony PSP God of War bundle

The Sony PSP Limited Edition God of War bundle is a slimmer shiny red PSP with silkscreened Kratos art at the back, God of War game and Superbad UMD movie.

From the day Gilbert first held it, he can't hide the smile on his face. He carries his gadget everywhere he goes. He even bought a red Capdase Alumor casing to protect it from scratches and dirt.

My hubby is a game enthusiast. He constantly clamored for this amazing handheld gaming console. I now understand why.


This sleek portable device has 4.3 wide screen LCD and powerful graphics. Aside from playing games, you can do a whole lot of other things such as store important files, listen to your favorite music, watch a cool DVD quality flick, preview your pictures, read an e-book and surf the net. Neat companion, eh?

Is that our name?

Yesterday afternoon, we were at Robinson's Supermarket to grab a quick snack when I happen to notice the name of one employee.

It's a combination of me and my husband's name. I couldn't help but ask for a picture of his ID. Totally amazing!

Recipe: Torta (Ground Pork in Tomato Sauce)

Kapampangans call this recipe Torta but I learned from my mother-in-law that this is called Giniling in Tagalog. If you're a busy person and you don't have time to cook everyday, this is the perfect recipe for you. You can cook it on a Monday then store the rest in the refrigerator. Just re-heat a serving portion in the microwave and you have something to eat for the rest of the week.

Torta with Chinese Buns/Mantou

What you need to prepare:
-skillet

Ingredients:
-1/2 kilo lean ground pork
-2 medium potatoes, washed and diced
-1 medium green bell pepper, diced
-1 medium carrots, diced
-5 small tomatoes, finely chopped
-1 small pack of tomato sauce
-1 medium onion, sliced
-1 small garlic, crushed
-1 tbsp olive oil
-a pinch of salt
-a pinch of pepper

Let's start cooking:

1. In a skillet, saute garlic and onions with olive oil. Add ground pork until light brown or thoroughly cooked.

2. Add tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and green bell peppers. Stir fry for two minutes. Then season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour in tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. Cover and let it stand for five minutes.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. My mom would add sliced hotdogs and green peas in this recipe while my mom-in-law's giniling recipe isn't complete without raisins.

2. You can eat this recipe with a hot bowl of white rice or Chinese buns (Mantou).

3. You can buy Chinese Buns in Robinson's Grocery, Nepo Mall. 12 buns is around Php50.00. Just steam the buns about 3 to 5 minutes and they're ready to eat.

4. For a more flavorful experience, try this recipe with a combination of 1/4 lean ground beef and 1/4 lean ground pork.

Edsa Shangri-la Hotel - A Review

What I like about it: This is one of the best hotels in Manila, that's for sure! Just before you enter the lobby, there are K9 groups that will check your car and luggage that make you feel safe. The location is a major plus for tourists. It's just a stone throw away from Mega Mall, Shangri-la Mall and my favorite thrift mall, St Francis Square.

here's a view from my room

my room

I stayed there for three days and I get a nice bowl of fresh fruit every day.


The bed was comfortable, pillows are huge and fluffy.


And my favorite part, the bathroom! It's complete with a fresh flowers, lovely bath tub, telephone extension, and pipe-in television sounds.


I must say the breakfast at Heat is also superb. It's an open kitchen with varied choices of Chinese, American, Japanese and delicious local buffet. I was utterly confused on what food to eat first because there were like 50 dishes or more.

What needs to be improved: The front desk personnel were polite but I can't understand why checking-in should be a long wait. They stare at the monitors forever, not sure if they need upgraded computers or time management training. No problem for me because I wasn't in a hurry that time but I noticed several guests who are starting to be impatient with the waiting. Overall, I enjoyed my stay!

My ratings for this hotel are:
4 of 5 = Check in / front desk
5 of 5 = Quality of Service
5 of 5 = Value for Price
5 of 5 = Rooms (Bathroom, Kitchen, etc.)
5 of 5 = Cleanliness

Read more about Edsa Shangri-la Hotel.

Our Love Potion

While most couples spend on expensive figurines, candles or paper weight as their wedding favors, we opted to give our personal brand of bottled water to our guests. It definitely added a mark of distinction on our wedding favors. The idea is cute, unique and most of all, practical.


We operate a purified water station in Dau, Mabalacat so we decided to customize the water label that would fit our wedding motif. Each bottle has 500ml of Liña Agua Purified Water and a personalized label "Love Potion".

I made the sticker sweet and simple. I've included not only our names and wedding date but also our message of thanks to our family and friends for sharing with us our big day. Check out the personalized nutritional facts and the bar code with a note saying "Just Re-married". (We had a simple civil wedding a few months before our church wedding.)

The bottles were placed on the guest tables so everyone can enjoy a cold, refreshing drink while watching the wedding program. If you're interested in ordering personalized bottled water as your wedding favors, feel free to email me.

English P and F sound

When we don't know how to spell a word, we normally just write it like how we say it. The only problem is that if we couldn't pronounce it right then we definitely couldn't spell it correctly either.


I saw this sign in one of the city's markets and as a former call center trainer, I know how challenging it is for most Filipinos to speak words with p and f sounds.

The greeting "Good Afternoon" becomes "Gud Apternun". Saying "I feel fine" becomes "I pil pine" or even explaining a situation like "The charge is part of your monthly fee" may sound like "The charge is fart of your monthly pee."

Doesn't sound good huh?

Mispronouncing both p and f sound not only affects your accent but also changes the message that you want to deliver to the receiver.

To produce the p sound: Place your lips together and force out the air very shortly

To produce the f sound: Gently bite your lower lip and push your voice and air out with a continued sound

Try pronouncing these sounds correctly as a simple drill. It may help improve your pronunciation which will make it easier for you to get your message across accurately at the same time.

You think you don't need PhilHealth?

Think again!

If you're wise and you think about protecting your family, you shouldn't neglect your health care insurance. PhilHealth is a Philippine Government health care program. It only costs Php300.00 every quarter and you get both outpatient and inpatient coverage. It may not be as comprehensive as American health care but it's not bad, eh?

For the past years, I had very little knowledge about my insurance and benefits. My recent resignation pushed me to take a closer look of our coverage. Soon enough, Gilbert and I headed to the Angeles City branch. I was honestly expecting an exhausting and difficult experience like all the horror stories I hear about local government offices. To my surprise, it took us only less than an hour to accomplish what we intend to do.

We were informed politely by the security guard/information assistant on what form to fill-up and which area to proceed. The next lady from the Membership Section was very friendly and concerned about our queries. I deactivated my membership so that Gilbert can add me as his dependent. After about ten minutes, they handed our new Member Data Record so our last step was to proceed to the Cashier and pay for our coverage. It was that easy!

There were enough chairs for everyone and best of all, the entire room was cool enough so waiting for a few minutes doesn't make people frown. Kudos to the management of PhilHealth Angeles City! The office is located at Nepo Mart II, Nepo Commercial Complex, Angeles City.

A Minnie Mouse Party

My adorable little niece turned one this month and her Minnie Mouse party was colorful, fun and exciting. Everyone had a blast!

Minnie Mouse Decorations

Minnie Mouse cake

Minnie Mouse favors

Minnie Mouse mugMinnie Mouse puppet showMinnie Mouse game host

Minnie Mouse pinata

and of course, the birthday girl wearing her Minnie Mouse costume

Bed Weather

January and February of each year are usually the cold months in the Philippines. But there's something different with the weather this year. I grew up in the Philippines and I've never felt this cool breeze of air in our city before. The 17°C temperature is also consistent throughout the past days and nights. We're like living in Baguio City which is the coldest place in the country. (According to the news, the temperature in Baguio is almost 07°C today.) These exceptional colder days bring out my hibernating mode... and I'm not enjoying it.

My faithful alarm wakes me up at seven in the morning but these January winds and weak light are pulling me back beneath the sheets. This somber weather also frustrates my sports minded and physically active hubby. Gilbert has tendencies to hit the couch any moment too but I'm trying to motivate him in sticking with his exercise routine.

Close friends can affirm how much I prefer warm, sunny days with the blue sky, or fruit shakes and barbeque beside the beach. But I guess, I need to live up to it especially now they're saying that the earth is on the brink of Ice Age. Whoa! Let's prepare for that, just in case. (Source: http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/106922-0/)

I was thinking of ways on how I can stay fit and at the same time, be more creative at home when the weather is this gloomy. So here goes my list:

1. Make myself busy - First thing that came to my mind is to do my household chores. I'm hitting two birds with one stone. Oooppss, make that three! Our little home is cleaner than ever. I have a fit and toned body through stretching. I'm being productive despite this chilly weather. Yippie! I started to clear off a section in our already too cluttered closet for our cold gear - jackets, scarfs, and thick socks.

2. Drink water - EVEN IF I am not thirsty. Remember that a person can be dehydrated in the cold as in the summer season. 8 to 10 glasses of water everyday is still advisable. Besides, it'll keep myself internally moisturized and prevent dry skin.

3. Care for my skin - When temperatures drop, it also zap the moisture on our skin. I replenish it by using mild soap to clean my face every morning and before I sleep. I also exfoliate and scrub my skin before showering at least once a week. And lastly, moisturize using a lotion everyday with a natural ingredient. Organic is better.

TIP: You can apply lotion on your feet at night and cover them with cotton socks to keep them moisturized. Believe it or not, I got this idea from my brother. He's a bit vain.

4. Exercise for my heart - At the end of the day, I'll enjoy the cold, quiet moment with the person I love. We'll drink that hot brewed coffee while exchanging stories and snuggling up! Surely, this is the best cure for cabin fever.

I guess this bed weather is not that bad after all.

Future Fashion Model

Philippine Fashion models have a new competitor on the rise - my niece.


Quintin enjoyed every minute of her first birthday photo shoot. No wonder she was featured Baby of the month.


When we came back to get a copy of her pictures, we were all delighted to see her charming smile on the shop's advertisement. Of course, the beaming grandpa snapped a souvenir of his grand daughter's public photo and proudly announced "This is my grand daughter!" .

Photos from Colorado Photo, SM Pampanga

Hotel Vida - A Review

August 8, 2008 was detox time from our busy lives as we took a day off and spent an overnight stay at Hotel Vida. This hotel is a true gem! It is located in Clark Special Economic Zone, Angeles City and it is nearby all that you would want to do in and around Clark.


What I like about it: It took me only about 15 minutes to make a phone reservation. We were then entertained promptly when we arrived. Our junior suite room was decorated exquisitely. We even have fresh fruits as welcome tokens for our stay.

The kitchen was very cozy with its modern style furniture.

Gilbert enjoyed the spacious living room and the comfy trundle bed.

The pool side view from our soft bed is also marvelous and the ambiance is very relaxing. All hotel staff were courteous and accommodating.

Salt Cafe/Restaurant was also excellent for fine dining. Waiters and chefs served us with a smile. Well worth the money!

What needs to be improved: First, they could have used bigger bathtubs in the hotel rooms. Don't get me wrong. The tub is clean and comfortable to soak in but my 5'11 hubby just couldn't fit in. I also realize that the tub is really small because water is rolling off the bath tub side and sliding off the edge when we shower. Second, when I made our reservation, I was guaranteed that Wi-Fi connection is free of charge. When we got our total bill, I was surprised to see an additional Php500 charge for Internet. Well, I was totally in-love with the place so I didn't protest about the misunderstanding anymore. We were very satisfied overall. We highly recommend it to our friends and relatives.

My ratings for this hotel are:
4 of 5 = Check in / front desk
5 of 5 = Quality of Service
5 of 5 = Value for Price
4 of 5 = Rooms (Bathroom, Kitchen, etc.)
5 of 5 = Cleanliness

You can view more about Hotel Vida by visiting their site: http://www.hotelvidaclark.com/

happy thoughts in 2008

I'm feeling more anxious today than I should be. As the new year approaches, I have decided to take big risks and major decisions in my life. I feel so low and my eyes are about to swell in tears. I know that I should not let this anxiety swallow me. Before I finally say good bye to 2008, I want to reminisce some of the joyous moments and blessings I received this year.

January - What a charmed way to start the year as my first niece was born - Joaquin Afridel Cay Roque. We call her Quintin or Prinsesita (Tagalog word for little princess).


February - I finally got my own ride - Bruce. It's a Honda esi 95 model and Gilbert bought it second hand from a good pal, Alek.


March - After several years of amortization, we got our Land Title for the lots Gilbert and I purchased in 2002. At the same month, my brother Ejae and pretty sister-in-law Princess officially pledged to love one another in the sacrament of Matrimony. Hooray!


April - It was my birthday! More to that, the whole family spent an adventurous summer in Subic Island Cove, Zoobic Safari).


May - Gilbert's high-spirited family visited us for a gathering in one of Pampanga's swimming resorts. We celebrated my dear mother-in-law's 64th birthday.


June - Luck is on our side as we celebrated a Holy Mass and met the Healing Priest, Among Fernando Suarez.


July - Gilbert's birthday! I also had a chance to file for a voluntary time-off from work.


August - It's detox time from our busy lives. We took a day off and spent an overnight stay at Hotel Vida (Managed by Fuego Hotels and Properties). I was offered a reasonable Junior Suite package from the visually stunning tavern. So our 08-08-08 story was all about our Hotel Vida experience - from the cozy ambiance to the great staff service.


September - Wanting a more inspiring activity, we trekked Pampanga and journeyed to the Seven Churches.

1. Sta. Monica Parish Church, Minalin
2. Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando
3. St. Augustine Parish Church, Lubao
4. Immaculate Concepcion Parish, Guagua
5. San Guillermo Parish Church, Bacolor
6. St James Parish Church, Betis
7. Holy Rosary Parish Church, Angeles City
October - Together with good friends, Helen and Roel, we invaded Tagaytay City and Enchanted Kingdom for a weekend escapade.


November - With the help of our ever reliable carpenter, Kuya Bong, we had a temporary fence on our Holy Angel Village lot.


December - After ten long years of relationship, our close friends - Inna and Armand - finally tied the knot. It was a funny, romantic, coffee themed wedding.


Dwelling lovingly on each memory assures me that God has not given up on me. He was standing right next to me all throughout the year with His infinite love. To this day, I am surrounded with colleagues turned best friends, supportive families, and a loving better half.

I'll let this wonderful thought sink deep into my spirit.

Now I'm ready to welcome 2009.