Cheska & Jollibee

I believe all kids from different walks of life in the Philippines love Jollibee?  Who wouldn't?  Its mascot is famous not only among the kids but of adults as well.  Its popularity is not just in the Philippines where it was born but of the world now.  I don't know of other nationalities but our Korean friends here like this fast food chain much.  It is our version of Mc Donald's.  I would not elaborate why because I prefer Mc Donald's over Jollibee. Haha!

Anyway, this post is about my niece and Jollibee and not the difference between Mc Donald's and Jollibee.  LOL.  It is amazing how attitude indeed change as years go by.

Look at my niece in picture on her 2nd birthday.  She was so afraid of Jollibee that she wouldn't want to be near him, thus would hold her dad tightly.

A year after, she's enjoying moments with  the mascot as she imitates his moves.  Hahah!

Cheska @ 2 yrs old dancing My Humps

Our only niece has just turned 7 last June 6, 2010.  Before I post her birthday celebration which I intend to finish before the month ends (crossing my fingers still...lol), I decided to share on my site the videos my sister (her mom) has compiled of her when she was still a toddler.  I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

She initially wanted to dance the "La Gasolina"  but her mom couldn't understand what she was saying. LOL. So, she settled with My Humps instead.  This is one of my favorite videos of her. Very cute and funny! Enjoy!

Father's pampering

This is a "commercial" of the upcoming posts. Heheh!

I just want to share that my father surprised and bought me adobong pusit for lunch today. Isn't that sweet that he still pampers me at this age with small things I like? Adobong pusit is my all-time comfort food.  You can expect me to eat tons of rice to pair it up with. LOL. Just kidding!

Forget about DIET again! Sigh!

My viand for lunch - adobong pusit. I already ate the tentacles when I remember to take this picture.  Hahaha! Talking about being ravenous when in fact I was full prior to seeing this. LOL.

...

June is almost done and I haven't posted yet most of my activities this month, particularly the much-awaited birthday party of my niece, Cheska.  I am talking about procrastination again. Darn!

So, today and the next few days, I will start little by little putting the updates on my blog.  I wish I can finish them before June ends.  :D

Fresh Herbs, Cooking and Gardening

Before I started baking, cooking was on top of my hobbies.  I started at an early age where I would watch my paternal grandmother cooks for us.  I get fascinated at how she does the delicious dishes she serves us.  When I grew older and took up Hotel Restaurant Administration, I got more interested with it.  I was even the Chief Cook on both my Quantity Food Production and Catering classes where we served guests of about 100 to 150 from soup to dessert.

In connection to cooking are the ingredients that make the dish unique.   I remember we had this "marketing" class, not the theoretical one but literally the "market place".  In this class my classmates and I would bravely visit Divisoria and Cloverleaf/Balintawak  wet markets during wee hours.  We would check  and get ourselves familiar with the different ingredients necessary in cooking.  We need to master them as well for questions on our practical exams would be coming from information available on those markets.

Aside from the ingredients we see in the wet market, I remember myself checking the supermarkets of SM North Edsa and Super Sale where I would look at the names and the appearance of every fresh herb that is displayed on their shelves and I would tell myself, " I wish we have these supermarkets in Pampanga so it would be easy for me to try recipes that require fresh herbs."  My dream happened a few years after.

Today, we not only rely on the big supermarkets for fresh herbs.  But, we can grow them at home in our backyards and if land is a problem, we can put them in pots so they are readily available when we need them.

This is the reason I am adding another hobby on my lists. LOL.  Since I ordered the herbs from Selle (aphrodayti@aol.com), I am looking at gardening as another hobby that can relieve me of boredom. I guess it's in the genes.  My maternal grandfather is a farmer and was able to collect 76 hectares of land (including the land where the Millenium tree - one of the largest if not the largest Balete tree in Asia sits) before he died. He used to plant coconut, coffee and citruses like calamansi, pomelo, and mandarin. My parents are entrepreneurs and farmers as well.  Currently, we have Guapples and Papaya on our land that are on harvesting stage.

So that gives me reasons to start planting too.  Heheh! For now, I have these 6 beauties to take care of.  I feel like they are my pets because the moment I wake up, I think about them and go immediately to them to water and check if they're still alive. Haha!   I hope I would be able to grow them beautifully for  I need them for my baking, cooking and tea.

L-R - Tarragon, Basil, Thyme, Mint, Chocolate Mint and Rosemary


Since I am interested in gardening now, I am planning to attend this seminar on Saturday.  It's cheap considering you get a lot of freebies from the Seminar.  I know my friends will laugh at this and would say, "you always study or attend to a lot of seminar of different things"  Well, I know there are just people who are thirsty to know a lot.  Oh! I have other reason too why I need to attend to this.  I'll disclose that on a different post. ;-)



Anyone, who cares to join me in this seminar?  :D

Happy Father's Day, Tang!

Today is another special day as the world celebrates the day of one of the most important people in the planet, our fathers.

If you read my blog about Mother's Day, youou would know that we don't pass this event as we always celebrate occasions that involves our parents.

So, today is no exception.  Even though four of my sisters were not around and only my youngest sister and I are present to celebrate it with my father, we still tried to make it a happy occasion.  How?

With the contribution of everyone, we bought a gift for him - Bvlgari Aqua and bought and prepared food for a dinner treat at home.

Here's a picture of him proudly showing our gift.  He loves it much as he's very fond of perfume. Thus, it's so easy to find him a gift.

Our family loves to eat a lot so cooking and baking is just second nature. We opted for a take-out of pizza thoughwhich is one of my father's favorite food instead of making one for time is limited as my sister and I had work today.  I ordered  the Cheezy Volcano and Hawaiian pizza from Pizza Hut.



To complement the pizza, I had ready ingredients at home so I just cooked a simple pasta dish.  A combination of  supposedly olive oil (we ran out at home and stock was in the farm so canola oil was used instead), garlic, a tomato based sauce (for this one we used the Del Monte Tomato-Basil sauce), chili flakes (excess ones we get from Yellow Cab or Xtremely Espresso, LOL), some herbs such as ground oregano, salt and pepper and lotsa mozzarella cheese.  I like the bow tie pasta with this kind of sauce. PERFECT!  My father who's not  fond of meatless pasta likes this dish much. This is the 2nd time I cooked this for him. The first one was on his birthday last April and he really fell in love with it. Hahaha!

Sweets will never be out of the picture for the Manaloto family.  So to complete the dish I bought ice cream, one  for my father, Vanilla flavor that  is Sugar Free as he has a high Sugar.  The other one for us, well especially for me as Green Tea is one of my favorite flavor for life! LOL.

Lastly, even if I know that he's prohibited to eating sweets, I whipped up his all-time favorite cake, Peaches and Cream before I reported to work this morning. It indeed made him happy when he saw me decorating the cake with cream and peaches.

Here are some pictures to look back:

My father and I on a speed boat in Pearl Farm on our way to the restaurant for dinner.  Many people say I got my features from him. Do you agree?

@ Brazil Brazil Restaurant in Rockwell. He loves posing for the camera.  My sister Azha got this from him. LOL.

@ Parola Bar in Pearl Farm.  Just like my mother, I am his stylist too. Just thinking of it now, I am my family's stylist.  Hahah!  They all ask me to buy clothes or complete outfit on their behalf! Anyway, it looks like we got our "kakikayan" from our father.  He would always be the one who would be "maporma"  for an occasion as well as would comment on our clothes or how we look like whether we look good or not while our mother would just be silent or indifferent.

Happy Father's Day, TANG!  My sisters and I are  proud to have you as our father and very thankful that you have worked harder for us to have a good education and better life that you missed during your younger years.  I bet your father is very proud of you as well.  We hope we get to celebrate more father's day with you. Thanks so much and we love you!

Pancit of the North

Last June 4 , my family and I traveled from Pampanga to Cauayan, Isabela to attend my niece's 7th birthday party on June 6.  I took time off from work for more than a week and it was food tripping for me again as travel for me always equate food trips.

In this trip we sampled the two famous "pancit" of the North, Pancit Cabagan of Isabela and Pancit   Batil Patung of Cagayan.

I've been to Isabela for about 6 to 7 times and have always looked  forward to ordering the Pancit Cabagan.  This time is no exemption.  It is my first time though to sample the one in Hi-way kitchenette.

The famous Pancit Cabagan at P65.  Cabagan is a place in Isabela  where this pancit is famours for.   A very delicious dish. The signature pancit with chopped "lechon kawali-like" topping and vegetables and egg makes this distinct with all other pancit.  Just like Pancit Batil Patung, Pancit Cabagan is also served with chopped onions to add to the dish.

My Aunt Melda's family sampling the pancit.

We went to Sta. Ana's free port (post about that soon) too when we traveled to the North.  Sta. Ana is in Cagayan and Cagayan is famous for its Pancit Batil Patung. So while in Cagayan, specifically Tuguegarao, we had to make room for their Pancit.  My brother-in-law, Mon grew in Isabela and Cagayan and he knows places where to find the best food.  He brought us at Gretchen's, unfortunately it was already closed as it was already past 9 PM that time.

So we just checked on other opened restaurants serving such.  Eyyahyyo (wondering where the name came from...sound Japanese to me. LOL) is the one that caught our attention which is located along the hi-way.

We were first served this dish at  P50 only! I couldn't imagine how they profit from this as the pancit is loaded with toppings - chicken liver, meat, chicharon, vegetables and egg.  Note that fried egg is on top of this dish.

We were also served this that goes with the pancit.  Unlike Pancit Cabagan, the onions given to us are the red ones. I am not sure if this is really a difference but I prefer this over the white onions for both pancit. I love how the onion's distinct flavor complements it.

Finally, we get to eat our Pancit Batil Patung as "Batil" was already served.  It was called Batil Patung because of the egg.  The dish is served with a "binatil na itlog" which is the picture you see below and "patung" because the egg is put on top of the pancit.  Interesting, huh?

Now? How do we eat it?  You put the onions and calamansi together.  You could even add soy sauce and spices if you want to that mixture and then add it to the pancit.   The soup is eaten  with it.  We mistakenly thought we will pour it over the pancit though. Hahah!  Eating should be fast so food is still hot until the last bite.

It's a big serving and we all didn't finish it as we were still full from our late lunch.  Had not been the case, I know we would have enjoyed this pancit much.  Below is my cousin's John who's excited to eat all of it!

Aunt Melda who paid for all it.  It's a very cheap food. The one that were were served is even the special one.  People from Cagayan are very lucky to have this dish.

It's sad that I didn't enjoy mine even if there was enough chicken liver for me to eat as I was still full (next post will tell you why).  The next time I set foot in Tuguegarao, I'll make sure I have an empty stomach to enjoy this.  My parents below liked it but didn't finish the big servings.  By the way, we were surprised that the owner told us other would even get a second to third serving of this dish! I wonder how big their tummies are.  Hahah!

Kabigting's Halo-halo, another Kapampangan's pride

Talking about Halo-halo, Pampanga has a lot to offer.  There's Razon's of Guagua, Corazon's and Susie's of Angeles City and Kabigting's of Arayat.   I have tried the Razon's halo-halo in its main branch in Guagua years back and I fell in love with it that is why whenever I get a chance and is craving for one, I easily go to their branch at Nepo, Angeles City.  Corazon's and Susie's are also very accessible. I can get an order immediately whenever I want to.

With Kabigting's, it's a different story.  Arayat, Pampanga is far from my town, Porac.  I never get a chance to check theirs in Arayat.  So, when I heard a colleague from work, Jackie being addicted to this halo-halo and frequenting Marquee Mall just for that, I had to pull my friend, Nikki who's a sweet-tooth person like me to sample it.  Boy, I wasn't disappointed! It's addicting!  Just thinking of it and writing it about it now makes me want to grab one!

Nikki San with her new look while waiting for our orders.

Their menu.  This could have been better if not for the handwriting and erasures.  Anyway, it doesn't matter as we're after the taste.

Palabok.  Equally delicious as their halo-halo.

The star! My eyes were drooling over the pastillas settled at the bottom. I was getting anxious to spoon it.  Hahah!

See?  The secret ingredients.  I really don't think they are secret.  The milk is not sweet which I heard is carabao's milk.  The spooned ingredients are pastillas which they also sell, sweet corn and beans.  Just like Razon's, its simplicity is what I love!

What can you say? You be the judge and tell me if we enjoyed it.  :D

Our Korean look by Tony & Jackey

I have been getting bored with my long hair and wanted a different look.  I was considering a haircut and/or a digital perm so, I asked my friend, Nikki which I know can always accompany and support me with such activity and request.  So, last June 2 before I reported to work and which is in time before my niece's birthday (talking about preparation...LOL),  even if it was raining, we pushed through with our plan of meeting up at Marquee Mall and check the Korean salon, Tony & Jackey.  Even before this was put up in Pampanga, I have read reviews from blogs in Manila of the said salon that perked up my curiosity and wanted to try it then.  Time has been the problem.

It's a good thing it's available here now.  Well, we have a lot of Koreans in Angeles City, thus a ready market for them.

Tony & Jackey's spacious entrance.

Me and Nikki before our transformation. Hehe!  Prior to going to the salon, Nikki wasn't hundred percent sure if she really wanted to have her hair done.  After seeing the magazine of beautiful haircuts, she immediately gave in!

I love having my hair shampooed here. The chair is soooo ergonomically friendly! It adjusts automatically to where needed.

Nikki's turn.  You might  notice that I was wearing a robe while Nikki is not.  This is because I had a hair spa done as well which I guess requires to wear a pink robe. LOL

Nikki's looooong hair now ready to be cut.  The hairdresser is so cool and very meticulous.

Heat as being applied to my treatment.  I like the combination of pink and purple.  So girly! I wonder what colors they use for men. Hahah!

Our new looks.  Do you like them?  Feeling Koreans, huh?

I had a funny feeling in this salon because while all salons I've been to , after the haircut and blow dry, hairdressers would straighten the hair.  With this one, the hairdresser used a hair straightener iron not to straighten but curl our hair in less than 5 minutes! So cool! I wish I could do such.

Nikki and I looked like we're going to attend a party. Hahah!  Seeing the outcome of this, might consider digital perming next time.  :)

Tony & Jackey

3rd level of Marquee Mall, Angeles City

http://www.tonyandjackey.net/

Haircut: P500

Haircut + Hair spa: P1000

"Pasalubong" from Vietnam and a Treat

Last June 3 at around 7 AM when I was starting to get my sleep (I worked from a night shift  on that previous night), I heard loud knocks from our main door and shouts of  my name.  My sister Azha (Maritza) has just arrived from Vietnam to attend my niece's birthday party which was to happen in the next 3 days.  She was calling me to open the door for her.  Well, I was the only one at home so I had no choice but to get up and open the door.

It's a good thing my disturbed sleep was compensated with her luggage bag's content.  All sweets and nuts and Vietnamese coffee which I all love!  THANKS!

Nut & Coconut Nougut.  Haha! Rhyming...

Noodles.  Azha brought different flavors.  I prefer the spicy one.  This one tasted like our "Tinola".

Cashew nuts with honey.

Nescafe Vietnamese Coffee.  I love it!

Sesame seeds. One of the seeds I love in this world. :)

More sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, peanuts and cashew.

More candies...

and peanuts...

and more sesame seeds...

and MORE pasalubong for me to come hopefully! LOL

The following day she invited me to go shopping.  We were supposed to go to Marquee Mall but was running out of time as it was already late afternoon and she and her boyfriend, Art will be traveling to Isabela that night while I and my sister, Mylene will be baking the cakes and cupcakes that we will be bringing to Isabela the following day.  Talking about cramming again. LOL.

We decided to go to SM Clark instead.  While at Plains and Prints checking on some dresses, my youngest sister, Mylene and her boyfriend, Lucky arrived in the boutique and we were surprised because both boyfriends were wearing Astro Boy shirts! I can't imagine my "future" boyfriend wearing such. Hahaha! Oh well, unless he is in his 20s which I doubt will happen. LOL. What's with Astro Boy anyway?

Lucky and Art in their Astro Boy shirts. Be the judge and tell me who wears it better. Hahaha! Just kidding.

Azha trying a Plains & Prints dress.  I tried this same dress at Marquee mall to purchase for another sister but the size may not fit her so I didn't buy it.  I asked Azha to fit  it. She looks good on it. Unfortunately, they don't have her size.

Mye & Azha

Me & Azha. We all love Buko Express.  That deserves another post. ;-)

Azha trying a fashionable pair of Parisian shoes.  She loves it but she already bought a new pair of shoes in Celine so "regret" just fell on her. Sorry for you. Hehe!

We ended up at Gerry's Grill for our dinner.  My camera gave up so no pictures of food were taken. :p