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16MarPapi’s 50th

I’d like to remember my dad’s 50th birthday in (food) pictures.

The night of his birthday, we had our family dinner at Emerald Garden in Roxas Boulevard which is one of his favorite restaurants. No meat for us since it was a Friday. Although I think we defeated the purpose of abstinence, that is to have some form of sacrifice, because the food was just delicious. lol.

Some food shots below. (Thanks pictobrowser for this nifty slideshow application. ) Go ahead and click on the picture to see the next one.

The following night we had another family dinner - this time in our home with our relatives. My mom cooked her specialty, Kare-kare, which I think is the best version ever. My brother also whipped up his version of Baked Chicken with Tomato and Basil that turned out really good.

It was an amazing week for him. I think he had 5 birthday parties that week - 2 with the family and 3 from his friends and colleagues. All these people wanting to celebrate his birthday - this just shows how loved he is by people whose lives he had touched. I’m truly blessed to have him as my dad. Happy birthday Papi! Love you! (xoxo from your favorite daughter )

in Family, Food and Photos. 0 Comments

06MarLive and Let Rock

I’m a little late in joining the Guitar Hero bandwagon. I only started playing about two weeks ago, when a colleague of mine lent me his guitar. It turned out to be so much fun! I never had the opportunity of trying the game out because first, I don’t own a guitar and second, I have no guts to play those music games in the arcade (the guitars, the drums, and ok, let’s include the dance revo) . I’m just too easily embarrassed! The only music game I’ve tried and enjoyed until now is O2Jam only because it’s free and you play it in private. I don’t know, but I don’t feel comfortable with people around watching. Though I’m growing to love Timezone because of their videoke rooms but that’s another story.

So far I’ve pretty much survived and 5-stared most of the songs in medium but I have yet to learn how to play the songs in hard mode. I can’t seem to figure out how to place my fingers on the fret buttons. But I guess I’ll learn this eventually. At the moment, I can only finish [barely] 4 songs in hard. Argh!

This new pastime prompted me to buy my own guitar. I immediately got one in Greenhills for P1400. And then the following day, after realizing that it’s more fun playing with another person, I bought another guitar but this time from a different store (costs only P1,350) so that my brothers could join me. So last weekend, my brothers and I bonded over GH.

* * *

Geek Night

Speaking of bonding sessions over GH, I and the boys of our team had a little bonding session over at our Team Lead’s place. I dubbed it our team’s Geek Night. Basically, the plan was to geek out and play video games. I brought our PS2 (my brothers’ actually, since I haven’t played in what, 10 million years? well not until GH anyway haha!) and my two guitars so we could have Guitar Hero matches. Someone also brought his DS Lite in case anyone would want to play.

That’s that plan anyway. Apart from indulging ourselves with fish fillet and spaghetti. (yumyum~) Food, even if it’s sans meat (since it’s Friday) was delicious as always. Thanks Mommy Chen (that’s how I call our Lead’s mom ) for preparing the lovely dinner (AND for getting me my own 1 Litter bottle of Vidalia Onion woot!). You’re the best! I had quite a few servings but did not stuff myself too much so I’ll still be able to stand up and play GH. lol.

Food Pictures! (because I love taking them )

Istapegi! Yum! (This is just how I like to call spaghetti hihi)

Fish fillet.
On the background was what we used as dip, which is my fave dressing so far. Vidalia Onion Dressing.

my first serving (followed by my 2nd, 3rd, 4th…)

And the following are pictures of us playing GH.

Haven’t uploaded them in my multiply yet. I’ll try to squeeze that in one of these days.

***

Catchy

I’m in emo mode and my current LSS are:

1. Dashboard Confessional - Stolen (I like this slower version better, though.)
2. Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats (I find this song very calming and soothing. )

in Food, Games, Music, Photos and Work. 1 Comment

14FebHappy Puso!

“Look, in my opinion the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what-have-you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out of your ass.”
— from the movie, Juno.

Happy Valentine’s/Single Awareness/Whatever day

***

Yay Sango day!

We had our team valentine’s day thingy a while ago. This time, we had burgers at Sango. Due to an unforeseeable event, I wasn’t able to bring Helga (my camera) along. I was able to take pictures using Suzy’s camera though, but I have no copy of the pictures yet, so I guess words will do for now.

The ambiance was quite nice. Clean, well-lit and cozy. I say cozy because they have couches. I like sitting on couches in restaurants. There’s an ionizer at my left and some cute animal origami. The munkee origami is the cutest.. I want to take it home! Japanese pop music videos were being played in the flat screen TV and at the furthest right of the room are stacks of Japanese books and magazines (If you can’t read Japanese, there’s Time). Food-wise, the burger was really good. The best part of my Master Burger (yup, that’s what they call their best-seller. ) aside from the patty that’s cooked well (not oily nor too dry) and the soft burger bun, would definitely be the caramelized onions. Loved it! They should put more of that vs. the mustard-covered onions. Imho, the latter makes the burger taste a little bit bitter. Other than that teeny tiny minor comment, it was delicious. I enjoyed it. Enjoyed so much that I didn’t mind that it was kinda messy to eat. Prepare to bring mint though, because your breath would smell like onions afterwards. Enough to ward off vampires. (or was that garlic? haha!) I know mine did. Eww me. Good thing Bigi gave everyone Moo ice cream sandwiches when we returned to the office. (Thanks Bigi!) It sorta helped neutralize that onion-y smell. Oh, and the Sango crew also gave flower origamis to the ladies. So they get plus points from me.

When I get back, I’ll try their rice burger.

in Food, Friends, Holidays and Work. 0 Comments

13Feb99 red balloons floating in the summer sky

Though the balloons weren’t only in red but in yellow, green, blue and even in rainbow colors. I’m talking about the recently held 12th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival at Clark Field, Pampanga which I attended last Sunday. It was my first time to be part of such event. I tell you, the experience was surreal.. riding one of ‘em balloons. I want to do it again.

My favorite among the bunch:

The Octopus balloon is too cute! Too bad I wasn’t able to take a front shot. I also like the rainbow balloon because rainbow colors make me happy.

More pictures in my multiply.

Special thanks and shout-outs go to: Nhatz for letting me know about this event. My family of course, for giving in to my ~~pangungulit~~ request of driving all the way to Pampanga to attend the balloon festival. Tito Manny and his family for accommodating and feeding us heftily. Food was AWESOME! We were stuffed to the brim.

We had Shrimp with chopped beans in gata (on the left) and Crispy Pata (on the right). There’s also Steak and Ripe Mangoes which I wasn’t able to take pictures of because I was too busy eating haha!

Last but certainly not least, Tita Beth THANK YOU for the passes. Without which, we won’t be able to go “backstage” and ride the balloon (Gulfair balloon FTW!).

I rode that balloon!

‘Til next year! Hopefully by then, my lenses would have improved lol.

X’s: This is me, looking badass hah!

in Family, Food, Friends, Photos and Travel. 0 Comments

10Feba belated Kung Hei Fat Choy

Last Friday, I received this:

Thank you so much Cynthia for the box of Tikoy! Please send my thanks to your mom too! Hope your computer’s working well now.

Today’s merienda. ^-^

in Food, Friends, Holidays and Photos. 0 Comments

08FebHungree?

Today I hung out with the boys of our team and had humongous burgers at Hungree Burgers, located at the corner of Zobel Roxas Makati. We’ve been itching to get our own share of giant burgers after seeing a big box of burger in the office fridge. No, they weren’t kidding when they said they’re the home of the Giant Burgers. As you will see in the pictures below.

hungree burger + mcdo fries

quartered.

my 1/4 slice.

more pictures at flickr
and multiply

Not much of a reviewer, but I will give this my best shot. This is my personal take on Hungree Burgers SuperDooper Burger so please don’t get mad at me if they’re not the same as yours.

The good ones:

+ Originality - Is there another joint serving 8 inch burgers? I don’t think there is.

+ The patty wasn’t dry. Nothing turns me off like dry burger patties.

+ I was surprised that the patty is quite flavorful.

+ I like that they used the quick-melt type of cheese.

+ It actually has veggies! (tomatoes and cucumbers haha)

+ Value for money - will definitely fill the empty stomach.

The not so good ones, imho:

- No lettuce? I like lettuce in my burger

- Since it’s fried, it can’t help but be a bit greasy. I kinda felt oil bursting in my mouth when I bit the edge of the bun.

- They don’t deliver. You really need to go all the way to the store to get your big burger fix.

- No place to eat. Have to look for a nearby Mcdonalds haha.

Other points for improvement:

* would have tasted better if the meat is grilled (This is just me. I like grilled burgers.)

** they might consider improving the dressing. though ketchup and a bit of mayo is fine.

And another thought for the day:

After hanging out with tha boyz: Franny, Bigi and Marlon, it became more apparent, the difference between hanging with the girls vs boys. Boys aren’t fond of group shots haha.

Special thanks to Rani our driver for joining us in our road/food trip. Yourethebest!

in Food, Friends, Photos and Work. 2 Comments

04FebPicturing food: Turning Japanese

There are occasions when I do not bring a camera when going out. So whenever a photo opportunity arises, I have no choice but to take pictures using my phone’s built in camera.
Below are a few pictures taken with my trusty W700i. I was only able to upload them now as I do not regularly transfer pictures to my PC.

Okonomiyaki at Little Tokyo

Taken last October 2, 2007.
It was Bigi who introduced this place to us. Since he has this amazing ability of making us instantly crave for the food he describes in full detail, we (Franny, Bigi and I) decided one lunch time to head over Little Tokyo in Pasong Tamo Makati to have a taste of this so-called Japanese Pizza. Now, Japanese cuisine is definitely my favorite — the sushis, teriyakis, tempuras, sobas, ramens. I so can’t believe I haven’t come across an okonomiyaki dish ever. And I’m very happy that my first encounter with the dish was a delight. The okonomiyaki is basically made up of eggs, chopped meat and vegetables (Unfortunately, I cannot enumerate what we had in our order because it was a long time ago and I already forgot. lolz ) All I remember was that ours was cooked perfectly. For me, what made it more delicious was the okonomiyaki sauce and the added flavor of this green powdery stuff (I found out later on that this is dried seaweed). So thanks Bigi for bringing us to this place. I would definitely go back and bring my family here.

***

Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak at Trinoma

About 3 Sundays ago, my family went to Trinoma to check the place out (first time for us! ) . Part of the plan was also to have dinner. We searched around for good places to eat but we couldn’t unanimously decide on what to choose. We were walking for quite a while and were getting hungry by the minute. Since I’ve read good things about Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak (via our the Project’s Newsletter), I suggested eating there.

We scanned the menu which by the way was laid out well (the pictures were really enticing) and decided to have the Gyu Saikoro Burger Steak, Teriyaki Chicken Steak, US Yakiniku Steak, Beef Papper Rice, Wafu Steak and Hamburg, Chicken Salad, Corn Soup and Tamago Soup.

Unfortunately, the food only looked good in pictures and didn’t live up to expectations. (No offense Bigi.. Probably my fault too because I set my expectations way high haha.) The salad = mayonnaise overload. The Gyu Saikoro Burger Steak tasted like it was stored in the freezer for so long. The chicken teriyaki was undercooked (had to return it to have the plates reheated). I also remember my dad returning the Yakiniku and the Wafu Steak and Hamburg because they weren’t cooked well. We were really disappointed. Even the corn and tamago soup were so-so. The only saving grace for me is the Strawberry shake. And that’s only because I like strawberries. Bigi said that I should’ve tried the Beef Pepper Rice. Well, maybe next time. But I doubt if we’d ever go back. We should’ve just waited for the real deal (Pepper Lunch..coming soon!).

***

Kimpura, Greenhills

One of those ‘spur of the moment’ dinners we had. Last Saturday, after hearing Mass, we initially planned on having dinner at The Old Spaghetti House. But when we’re already in Ortigas, my brother suggested eating at Peri Peri Chicken. When we’ve already parked our car, my mom saw Kimpura and said she’s kinda in the mood for Japanese. Because we haven’t tried that restaurant yet and my dad couldn’t really resist my mom, we went straight to Kimpura. We had a wonderful time at this place. We stayed in a private room (you need to pay extra but when you reach P3000, there’d be no additional charge!) so our family got a chance to bond sans the shoes.

The service was good. Waiters were prompt and food was served on time. And everything is delicious! I especially like their salmon and tamago sashimi and gindara teriyaki. I would have ordered a lot, if only they weren’t too pricy. I won’t go into details about the food. Let the pictures tell you how yummy the food in Kimpura is (which, according to the waiter, they’ve been serving for more than 30 years).

house tea

sushi sauce in cute fish saucers

yummy~

tempura and at the back is the gindara teriyaki

Papi’s bowl of seafood ramen

a serving wasn’t enough, so we had another order of chicken teriyaki

tonkatsu

yakisoba

empty plates lolz.

in Family, Food, Friends and Photos. 2 Comments

31Octmove over Col. Sanders ;)

I was in hurry to go home a while ago because it was almost 8 and my family hasn’t eaten yet. I’m in charge of dinner so there’s no food on the table aside from the pinakbet that my younger brothers swore not to touch. It was almost 9pm when I arrived. I removed my shoes, put on my slippers and dashed to the kitchen to begin my cooking. 20 minutes and 10 million shots later, food was served.

They may look like a bunch of brown rocks but they’re really deep fried chicken - my version of KFC’s ® funshots (it wasn’t spicy enough to be called Hotshots). Since I don’t have the recipe for the gravy, I "cheated" and asked my brother to buy 2 large cups from KFC.

My family loved it. But of course! This was made with love~

My youngest brother, Justin told me he likes it better than KFC because the chicken’s tenderer. My mom couldn’t agree more. I’m one happy cook!

in Cooking, Family, Food and Photos. 1 Comment