Sweet Night @ Icebergs

(From L - R: French Vanilla milk shake, strawberry milk shake,
super halo-halo, peaches and berries sundae and cappuccino sundae)
Prices start at P100.

My high school friends and I had these last Saturday night at Icebergs branch at Metrowalk.

Litratong Pinoy: Pag-aaral

Naalala ko na ito ang mga paborito kong gamiting pangmarka noong ako ay nasa kolehiyo pa.
Ano ang iyong paboritong kulay?

Ito naman ang paborito kong pansulat (hanggang ngayon).
Bensia kung ito ay tawagin. Sa tingin ko ay ito ang tatak ng lapis na ito.
Isa lang ang gusto kong kulay ng aking bensia - purple.

Kagabi ay nag-aaral ang aking kapatid. Ang linggo na ito ay linggo ng kanilang pagsusulit.
Sa Calculus siya pinakanahihirapan.
Saang subject kayo pinakanahirapan?

***

Mahirap rin pala mag-aral kasabay ng pagtratrabaho. Mahirap, subalit alam mo naman na para ito sa iyong personal na pagunlad.
Mapapadali kaya nito ang aking pag-aaral ngayon?

ang imahe ay mula sa pink--laptop.blogspot.com

Ito ang aking pinapangarap. Siguro sa buwan ng Setyembre na ko bibili. Tamang-tama sa subject ko na Statistics. Haaay, katakot!


Maligayang Huwebes!

Gloomy.

Captured shot on my way to work. unedited.

TCBTL's Chocolate Fudge Cake

It was rich and creamy and the best part of all . . .

It wasn't that sweet, di nakakaumay.
With a mocha ice blended drink, it was the perfect sweet ending to the night.

I had it last night at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf @ Fort Bonifacio.

of a random Friday afternoon

Just some random things to write about (while listening to Love Soldier – the Maskman theme song as uploaded by Zarah in her multiply account). Sorry Zarah, I have to speed through the other songs, I cannot understand Japanese.

I’ve just finished writing a topic outline for my Business Communication class at graduate school. At the end of the term, we are required to deliver a 5-minute speech. With such a short time, a five-minute speech as expected cannot be anything serious or complicated. Five minutes is even a short time for some to build on the introduction. Goodbye to possible discussion on corporate governance – after all, that topic may be long and boring so perhaps it’s a good thing to stick to something light to talk about. I’ve decided to just write about blogging – something easy and close to my heart. The professor said that with our topic, we have to convince and make the entire audience interested. I stare at forlorn faces around me – those who seem bored – and some who seem so hard to please – yes, I can do this.

***

We were discussing quasi delict and diligence and other cases last night at Business Law. The sample case was a vehicular accident, where the plaintiff had her leg amputated. It was a topic that drew so much discussion from the class. Later that night, while waiting for E to get home, I was thinking of the Tagaytay trip we were planning to have next weekend. I was getting worried for the trip because E would be coming from work so that means no sleep for him for more than 24 hours. I then decided to check my phone and see where he is now. I got that text message from E saying he had an accident. Apparently, he hit a truck. Thank God, he is okay now.

***

A quote from J.K Rowling’s speech during the graduation on Harvard

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

***

It is Fun Day season again at the office. It is that time after several hectic months where we are given a budget to do about almost anything which is fun for us. Last year, my friend in the office and I went parasailing at Subic. Now we are thinking of doing that ultimate Northern exposure trip at Ilocos. The Pagudpud beach (with possible surfing), pottery-making, visit to old churches, trip to Singson’s famous Baluarte and to the Malacanang of the North, trip to Vigan – all of these seem inviting. Do you have any tips for a trip to Ilocos?

I’m missing you Zarah and I’m loving the song No More I love yous by Annie Lenox.

The Chocolate Kiss Cafe

. . . is a place close to my heart.

The place was a witness to several hours of girl talk, catching up, laughters and celebrations spent with my two closest college friends, Joanne and Zarah. With meager budget, we contented ourselves to sharing servings of taco salad and chicken fingers. We made most of the bottomless iced tea, served with honey and calamansi; refreshing, with the non-commercialized authentic taste of tea. We satisfied our sweet cravings with a slice of cake, shared by three. Those were the days we can't even afford to buy ourselves a slice each. Times have changed; and we have all grown.

Earlier, I attached a new memory to this place. We celebrated E's birthday with a simple dinner here. Again, a slice of random sweetness was shared. There was music playing in the background. The nostalgic feel of college came back.

Amidst the rustic and busy campus lies this quaint store. Do you have any Chocolate Kiss memories?


The Chocolate Kiss Cafe is located at the Ground and Second Floor
of the Bahay ng Alumni at UP Diliman, Quezon City.

The Classic Savory Chicken Part 2

Yes, we came back! Well, E wanted to eat pancit; we had to eat anywhere at Pasig area because we were planning to watch a movie there; and we were already along C5 earlier. The Classic Savory Chicken at SM Hypermart was an obvious choice. We had a late lunch (around 2pm) so the place wasn't at all packed.

E chose pancit miki bihon since we’ve already tried the pancit canton plus the chicken, which was their specialty.

E found the miki bihon dry. It was the opposite of the pancit canton we first ordered which had a thick sauce. E said that my own 'miki bihon' tasted way better. hahaha.

I am not a big fan of 'fried' chicken with no breading or marinade and so I am also not a follower of the famous Max's fried chicken. TCSC's specialty is similar to that of Max's, both cooked the same manner with the taste slightly differing. TCSC's chicken is served with their own gravy.

TCSC's chicken didn't change my opinion on chicken simply fried. The chicken's meat is naturally bland so it is quite tricky to put flavor on it. I found the chicken a little bit overcooked which resulted to an even more dry taste. I had to ask for soy sauce to add flavor to it. I prefer the moist chicken (cooked 'Shanghai' or 'China') style at North Park or any chicken cooked by adding rosemary and roasting.

If we ever visit again, we'll probably just stick to the pancit canton and try other dishes from their menu.

Litratong Pinoy: Kalayaan

Si Ninoy . . . araw-araw ko siyang natatanaw sa aking pagpasok sa opisina.

Ang mga kalye ng Paseo de Roxas at Ayala ay naging saksi sa malayang pagpapahayag ng mga naghahangad ng pagbabago.

Tunay na nga ba tayong malaya?

I cooked menudo and pansit miki bihon!

These are all part of E's pre-birthday celebration :)

I cannot recall the last time I cooked pansit. E said it tasted good but I wasn't really satisfied with the taste though. After several hours though, my mom tried the pansit and she said it tasted good. I tried it too and well, I must say it was delicious. LOL. It took time for the flavors to be absorbed by the noodles. Same with the menudo. It tasted really good the next day.

We gave our neighbors several plates of pansit.
Click here for the recipe.

Here is a copy of the recipe.

The Classic Savory Chicken

Friday night. E and I saw ourselves first time at the quite large and spacious, SM Hypermart at Ugong, Pasig City. The grocery with a few restos and stores is just beside Tiendesitas. I had my hair cut at the BenchFix branch there (which is an altogether another story :P) and went grocery-shopping.

I go grocery shopping at several malls either near our house or near at work (SM Megamall, SM Makati or Landmark). After trying out this branch of the SM superstores, if given the time, I’ll do the rest of my grocery shopping here.

My reasons: 1) it’s spacious (I think I’ve mentioned that already) which means more shelves and stacks of products; 2) so far, almost complete. I mean most of what I need are here. There is a variety of products. 3) few people shop here so it’s not that crowded and there are no long lines at the counter; 4) I went shopping at night and the veggies are still in their good quality; 5) There are restaurants around the are shouting at you to try them out plus Tiendesitas was just across the street for another dining experience.


Where did E and I eat?

We spotted a place just within the entrance where a number of people were eating. The place was just small. When we enter the mall, the resto was already crowded. When we were done shooing, there were still several people eating there. The menu was displayed outside wo we didn’t have to guess on what they were serving. Given that the prices seem reasonable, we decided to try the place. The place is called The Classic Savory Chicken.




As I read, this eatery dates back in the 1950s when four of the ‘Ting brothers’ put up a panciteria at the busy district of Quiapo. Later on, they discovered a special recipe for fried chicken and gravy which became popular not just among the Chinese but with Filipinos as well. Their version of a chicken recipe became so popular which led to the opening of the first branch of the Savory Chicken House at Escolta. After about 50 years, the third generation of the Ting family launched the The Classic Savory Chicken.

Basically, they offer Chinese Cuisine with chicken as their specialty. And so the Chinese saga again continues. I know I have to stay away from all these Chinese food and try another cuisine. LOL. (Indian cusine, don’t worry, I’ll try you next).

E really wanted to try the chicken but as I was planning a pre-brithday celebration for him which included chicken barbeque in the menu, I somehow convinced him that I do not want to eat chicken that night. As much as it was the main dish in their menu, we opted for something else.

They served their pancit the way I want my pancit cooked: with a thick sauce.

The staff was really courteous. E is allergic to seafood and we requested that it be taken out of the dish. They did just what we requested and we were happy about it.

We also tried their spicy beef with sate sauce. It wasn’t at all spicy but nevertheless, tasted good.

As I researched, The Classic Savory Chicken also have branches at Robinson's Place Manila and the SM Mall of Asia. I'm excited to try the rest of dishes at their menu.

Litratong Pinoy: Pag-iisang Dibdib

Marami ang nagsasabing ang kasal ay parang kaning isinusubo . . .

. . . pwede kang mapaso

. . . kapag hilaw ang kanin, hindi mo pwedeng isipin na maluluto ito sa iyong bibig

Katulad ng kasal, dapat sigurado ka kung kailan mo ito isusubo at gagawin

Subalit, hindi ba’t masayang makakita ng mga magsing-irog na masayang nagplaplano ng kanilang kasal?

Kayanin kaya akong buhatin ng aking magiging asawa katulad na lamang ng nasa larawan?


Maligayang unang Huwebes sa buwan ng Hunyo!

The girls are back!

image from tv.com

I watched Sex and the City last night with my girl friend, Val, and boy, did I love it!

It was romantic and funny and entertaining and poignant. A certain scene even brought tears to my eyes only to find myself laughing again.

I can't wait to see it again! :)