Sunday Afternoon

Sunday Afternoon

        Before I go on blogging about sweet things I discovered last Sunday, let me introduce to you an artist I currently am liking… Alarice! Alarice is an Australian based singer with a cool soothing voice. I got this blog’s title from one of her songs that I really enjoy. Here is a link to watch and listen to Alarice’s Sunday Afternoon.  You can also watch her live here in the Philippines on February 17, 2012 at the UP Sunken Garden. J

Last Sunday afternoon, I was able to celebrate my birthday with my family at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell. There we had awesome Asian lunch at Banana Leaf. We had curry, roti, chicken pandan, and many more. J I enjoyed lunch but this blog entry is not about that, though maybe some other time I could talk about Banana Leaf J. This entry is about my sweet Sunday afternoon.  Last Sunday there were different food stalls at the ground floor all displaying different sweet treats for Valentine’s Day. I saw a lot of homemade chocolate desserts, from lollipops to bite-size chocolates to cupcakes to cakes!) I also saw a lot of heart shaped cookies; some were sold with a teddy bear holding the cookie. There were also unique Valentine gift ideas like pastillias rose (pastilias is made out of milk and sugar, which hardens) and bread dips and spreads. But the one food stall that I loved that day was the food stall by Cinq.

Cinq is a dessert boutique. They don’t really have a shop but they do have contact information in case you are interested (check out their website: http://cinq.com.ph/).  That Sunday I fell in love with Cinq’s Lexi and Aurore. Lexi is Cinq’s version of a cheesecake. It has a cheesecake bottom and a fruit puree on top (they have different types of fruit purees). The fruit purees are made from fresh fruits and this makes this dessert refreshingly tangy. I like how the cheesecake compliments the delicate sweetness of the fruit. Cinq’s Aurore, for me, is heavenly!! It’s not a cake or a tart; it’s like both in one good chocolate marriage. J It’s hard to give a description since it does not really fit a certain category, well not that I know of a category that it would belong to. You just have to taste it to understand my wild descriptions J. Although I did not buy their pecan tart, I did have a taste of it and was it also good!

Here are some photos of their delectable desserts: (photos are from Timmy Potenciano’s entry in appetite.ph)

The Lexi :)

AURORE!!! <3

Don’t they look yummy! So be in the lookout for their food stalls to have a taste of delicious.

-DOT-

For more information on Cinq check out: http://cinq.com.ph/  

Photos are from: http://www.appetite.ph/posts/very-important-foodtrip-cinq

UP Fair 2012: Status Change

UP Fair 2012: Status Change

WOW! It’s already February, the so called month of love J.

What do we usually do during this month? Buy flowers, chocolates, big giant teddy bears with hearts, cards, jewelry, and whole lot more. We also would spend on dates, dinners, hotel bookings, and other sweet stuffs.

Yes, you could go with the usual gifts and places BUT wouldn’t it be better to try something new with the person you love.

Well, I have a suggestion! Why not go to the University of the Philippines (UP) Fair. It’s happening on February 14-18, 2012.  During those nights there would be bands who would be performing live, plus raffle prizes.

I have decided to go on one night this UP Fair and it’s on the 17^th. The name of the concert that night is Status Change. They feature both local and international bands and artists like: Salamin, Julianne, Doki, Maya’s Anklet, Quest, The Crew (UP Street Dance Club), Stephanie Dan, Alarice, Every Nation Singapore, and many more! And they will also be giving away Apple Products plus other great prizes. I’m so excited!!! You get to watch great bands and win amazing prizes… now that’s a unique Valentine celebration experience!

Hope to see you there! J

For more information check out their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/StatusChange

or watch this:

http://youtu.be/-jfCf5rh_pw

-DOT-

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

                        Hey Everyone! This is the first for the year… and it is a late post J But nonetheless… I’d like to share how I spent the Chinese New Year.

            Chinese New Year was on the 23^rd of January, but while waiting for that day to arrive my family and I spent the 22^nd by having lunch at a Chinese restaurant, Gloria Maris. We really felt the Chinese New Year celebration because of the wonderful interior of the place, which was red and gold.

            We feasted on different dumplings and chicken feet. I loved their siomai (dumpling) it was packed with yummy steamed shrimp wrapped in dumpling wrapper (I’m not so sure what it’s made of though).

Dumpling Galore!

           We also had Chinese-style fried chicken. It’s really different from the typical fried chicken because it does not have breading or gravy, instead the chicken becomes yummy because the chicken has the entire flavor. The sauce just compliments it. We had sweet and sour fish fillet as another viand. My mom loves sweet and sour. I like it too. I like how the crispness of the fish goes with the sweet and sour sauce… oh yum! And off course we had to have noodles (signifies long life –a saying). The name of the dish was crispy noodle with mixed vegetable. This type of noodle dish is my favorite because of the texture, the crispiness of the noodle complimented by the sauce of the mixed vegetable equals mouthwatering goodness. J

Chinese Fried Chicken

Crispy Pancit

Sweet and Sour Fish

            On the 23^rd we had Tikoy! It is also known as the Chinese New Year Cake. It is made from glutinous rice and it comes in different shapes, sizes, and flavor. I was able to taste special Tikoy from Hap Chan Tea House. We cooked it with egg. We also did the same to the Tikoy from Shangri-La Makati. It was shaped like real koi fishes. It looked so cool and tasted good too.

the packaging of the Tikoy (fancy eh?) :]

don't they look awesome? :)

-Dot-

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J

You know it’s Christmas when...

A taste of Filipino Christmas

            I am truly sorry for not being able to post the past weeeeeekkkkssss (yes it was that long). J I have been teaching preschool kids these past weeks so I was tired and busy. But the long wait is now over….

            If you ask me what is a symbol of Filipino Christmas I could say the parol (star lantern) or the belen (manger), but if you ask me what food symbolizes Filipino Christmas… I would say bibingka and puto bumbong. There are no direct English translations for these yummy Filipino Christmas sweet. It might just be called rice cakes but in the Philippines there are various types of rice cakes. These two particular rice cakes are mostly available only on Christmas.

            Bibingka is made from rice flour topped with salted eggs, butter, and toasted coconut. While puto bumbong is made from a sticky type of rice called pirurutong, this makes the puto bumbong purple. It is then cooked in bamboo tubes by steam.

            A few weeks ago I was able to eat puto bumbong from Via Mare. This was after going around the mall looking for Christmas decors. Eating this made me feel that it was Christmas already because traditionally puto bumbong would be sold alongside bibngka every simbang gabi (Christmas night mass). It was freshly made when I ate it. It was topped with toasted coconut and brown sugar. Oh boy did it taste good! It was warm and sweet… such a perfect treat J.

bibingka

the purutong being placed in the bamboo tube

off to be steamed

finished product :)

            So if ever you find yourself in the Philippines during Christmas don’t forget to try puto bumbong and bibingka. J

-Dot-

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J

You know its Christmas (season 2)

Hello everyone!

For the next days, weeks, and month I will be blogging on my “You Know it’s Christmas…” series. It’s now on its second year! J I hope you will enjoy the next few blogs J.

I also hope you would enjoy the Christmas season no matter where you are in life. I pray that despite all the business or craziness or festiveness of the season we will never forget why we have Christmas.

Advance Merry Christmas J!

-DOT-

picture was taken from ricekrispies.com :)

Yes! mama: nomama

Yes! mama: nomama

      Have you watched the movie “The Ramen Girl”? The star of the movie was Brittany Murphy. I really enjoyed that movie. It was fun and it was about ramen J. But I’m not going to write about the movie [check it for yourself J], what I will be writing is about a relatively new restaurant here in the Tomas Morato Area. The name of the restaurant is Nomama.

      Nomama reminds me of the movie so much because of the restaurants interior the food. Yes! They serve ramen and what’s amazing about it is that they make their own noodles J. They serve really good food… good in a sense that it tastes great and looks great.

      I was able to dine at Nomama last month (think if I’m not mistaken). My family and I had no reservations but thankfully we got a seat and it was perfect. We were seated on the counter table that was facing the kitchen and the chefs. We saw how the food was prepared. It was fascinating because it was like watching Top Chef because of the avant-garde techniques done to the food. At Nomama, we ordered tuna tataki and soba salad, prawn and red curry noodle stir-fry, Japanese steak and fries, and, of course, Nomama ramen [when in a ramen place one must eat ramen J]. The food was delicious and delightful. The flavors and textures were awesome! J Here are some pictures:

*i was not able to get the picture of the ramen because my dad ate it right away :) (it's that good hehehe)

Chef Him Uy de Baron

tuna tataki and soba salad (the tuna was gooood!)

prawn and red curry noodle stir-fry

japanese steak

That’s all for now! ありがとう

-DOT-

For more information on Nomama check out:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nomama/268437836506070?sk=wall#!/pages/Nomama/268437836506070

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J

The Coconut House

The Coconut House

       Here in the Philippines the coconut tree is also called as a tree of life because most, if not all, of the trees parts are useful. The trunks are used as wood materials for furniture and housing. The leaves are used as roofs in small huts and sometimes in houses. It can also be used in weaving. But the part that has the most use is the fruit. From the husk to the milk, the coconut fruit is very useful.

           

One of the, popular, uses of the fruit is for food and drinks. At the Coconut House, located at the Quezon Circle, they serve different dishes that are made from coconuts. This place is certainly for coconut lovers … and foodies too. J

All dishes served at Coconut House contain coconut (duh! J) from coco-butter to coco-wheat crust. I love how they incorporate coconut in all the dishes and how good it tastes even if some of the dishes sound different or odd.

I am blessed to have visited Coconut House more than once and I enjoy my visit there every time J. Some dishes that must be tried (well, actually you should try all since their so coco-tastic J):

Pancit Buko- pancit is like stir-fried noodles and this dish is like pancit but instead of using egg/flour noodles it uses coconut strips

Laing Pizza- Laing is a spicy native dish from Bicol (a region in the Philippines) made from taro leaves… now this dish is good as viand but at Coconut House it’s also good as a pizza

Dishes from their binalot menu- these dishes already some with rice and viand served in banana leaf

Coco Dessert Combo- No meal is complete without yummy desserts. Although Coconut House serve delightful desserts, I highly recommended this one because this is a combo of 3 desserts: suman latik, coconut ice cream, and buko salad [with choice of panda jelly or fruit mix]. With this dessert you would be able to taste coconut served in three sweet ways J.

Simple Buko drinks- what better drink to accompany your delicious dishes than fresh coconut water J

Binalot meals and Panghimagas(desserts)

Tanghap menu [viands]

Almusal [breakfast], Pampagana [light meals]

Laing BBQ (from the binalot menu)

Pancit Buko

Laing Pizza

Suman Latik from the Coco Dessert Combo

I love coming back to Coconut House because the dishes are new, inviting and refreshing… hope you could try them too. J

-DOT-

For more information on Coconut House check out:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/COCONUT-HOUSE/117524054952383?v=info

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J