Sweet Early Bday Gift

A friend sent 1/2 dozen of Apple Cheesecake Doughnuts from Krispy Kremes.

Sarap! Im a fool for sweets and this is a treat for me.

Thanks a lot Gidget .

Maligayang 8 Months Anak

Happy 8 months Marianna. Bilis talaga ng panahon. Naaalala ko pa nung nag positive ako sa pregnancy test at nung nag kain ako ng nag kain ng pizza. Ngayon eto ka na. Bilis lang talaga.

Mahal na mahal ka namin anak. Naway lumaki kang may takot sa Diyos at nasa isip lagi ang mga kahihinatnan ng bawat kilos na gagawin. Palalakihin ka namin ni Daddy mo sa abot ng aming kakayanan at ibibigay lahat ng ano mang kailaganin

(di kasama wants anak ha? needs lang)

We love you anak. My kisses are also daddy's kisses to you. We love you equally.

More months and years to come for us to spend together.

Pantai Seafood Restaurant, Kg Kayu Ara

I cant recall the exact year I had my first meal at Pantai; my guess would be a few years back, for my birthday dinner.

Fast forward a few years later and I find myself back here again, this time with new found friends who were gracious to invite me along for dinner one weekend.

But Pantai has definitely expanded it's area over the years, it was much larger and caters for even more customers now.

We left the ordering to the man, the ladies continued with the bantering..

The prawns made its grand entrance first..

Cooked to perfection, the prawns were springy, sweet and so fresh. The accompanying addictive sauce complemented the prawns beautifully..

Stir fried fish slices with ginger..

An ubiquitous dish which Pantai did a slightly above average version of. The fish slices were thick and had nice flaky texture. Sauce was quite light.

The 2 style kailan

I think I first tried this style of kailan preparation in Pantai. Though a tad oily, this was still as tasty as I recalled.

The salt and pepper deep fried squids

The batter was a tad hard, which took more effort to chew. Not very impressive, this was an average dish.

The main reason we were in Pantai... we wanted crabs..

To our dismay, the local meat crabs were fully taken up (that was before 8pm!) and we were recommended to have the irish roe crabs.

Irish crabs at RM100 a kilo... well it better be good. We ordered 5 crabs to be cooked in 2 styles- with salted egg yolk and steamed.

The salted egg yolk version was served first..

The salted egg coating was pretty good, but when we tried the crab roe, we were disappointed. Although it had quite a substantial amount of roe; these irish crabs roe were more bland and not creamy :(. Nevermind the roe, I took a bite into the meat. Gosh, there were so many segmentation on the insides of the crabs that it took all of us a long time to finish each piece.

The steamed version..

We could really see the difference of these crabs to it's local counterparts. First thing we noticed was the weird 'curry puff' looking shell. And it's really hairy legs! And those darn hair were though bristle like ; which succeeded in hurting my fingers quite a number of time.

After all the digging and scraping for the flesh (which was not a lot); the crab meat was not worth the effort at all. It was just plain bland.

I cant recall the cost of the meal, but I sure did remember the crabs were RM320 (the rest of the dishes were ok priced). Felt cheated? Most definitely.

Pantai Seafood Restaurant is located at Lot 13575, Jalan Cempaka PJU 6A, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya. Tel No: 03 - 7725 5099/1099

What do I want as a birthday gift?

This saturday, May 30, at 5:17am, i'll be turning 30 years old. What do i want for my birthday?

Material things ....

• Gusto ko magkaron na kami ng sarili naming bahay. Para naman maiayos ko na room ni Marianna. Para na din ma practice ko na ang aking skills pang huwarang ina awards.
• Gusto ko magkaron ng oven para matuto ako mag bake through practice. Sana lang wag unahan ng katamaran at maging puro sa umpisa lang kagaya ng dati.
• Gusto ko manalo ng lotto pang treat sa aking family and friends. At kailangan pa sa lotto ko manalo para may pang treat? para bonggacious ang akin kaarawan. ha ha. Pero bago ang lahat, tataya muna ko. Di naman ako mananalo ng walang taya e.
• Gusto ko ng magandang TV, yung flat screen. 65 inches. Kasi yung tv pinapanooran ni Marianna ti-gulang na (matanda na) at ilang minutes din bago lumiwanag. May sakit na kasi. Katulad din ng tao na pag tumatanda, nag lalabasan na diprensya. Ganun!

Not material things ...

• Im hoping I'll learn to be more patient. Kasi habang tumatanda, nauubos din ang pasensya. Kaya wish ko kay Lord na dagdagan pa sana ang pasensya ko. Kasi I know I'll be needing more of it dealing with raising our Marianna pati na din sa pakikisalamuha sa ibang tao.
• Im hoping I'll learn to be more organized. Gusto ko kasi maging masinop para maging huwaran ako kay Marianna. he he. Kasi minsan ang gulo gulo. Hanap ako ng hanap di ko makita kung ano man yung hinahanap ko. May pag kakataon kasi na may pagkamakalimutin ako e. Nasasayang lang ang oras. If I'll be more organized, life will be easier.
• Im wishing for good health for me and my family. Simply because health is wealth and I want to enjoy life and be ready to whatever it might bring.
• Im hoping I'll be more of a positive thinker. Minsan kasi, ay medyo madalas din pala, kung ano ano iniisip ko. Sumasakit lang ang ulo ko sa mga pangyayari na di pa naman talaga nangyayari. Nagsasayang lang ako ng oras pag iisip sa mga bagay na di naman dapat isipin. Hay ... pinaparusahan ko lang ang sarili. Sayang lang ang mga brain cells ko na nadamage dahil sa mga ganitong bagay.

Wish and hopes for my family ...

• I hope we'll get to spend more time together. Me, my husband and Marianna.
• I wish them good health and safety always.
• I wish Marianna will grow up to be everything that she wants to be, to the best of her abilities. May she be God fearing, respectful and kind hearted.
• I wish that our family bond will get stronger as years go by.

Many wishes, some will come true, others will not. But one thing for sure, everything happens for a reason may it be on small things or big ones. All we have to do is to place our trust in HIM that everything will happen according to his will and for our own good as well.

PS. These wishes are subject to change and/or additions. Habol na lang pag may naalala pa ko. Advance Happy kaarawan sa kin.

Having Fun with Bubbles

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Here's a smile box version of my scrap entry below

Bubbly Marianna

This is my scrap entry for this week. Marianna playing with bubbles. I was the one blowing the bubbles and taking the pictures at the same time. Good thing we had some good shots. The layout was courtesy of picnic.com.

Grumps, Kelana Jaya

Michael got a few of us to pop over to Grumps recently, it had just started its business for a few weeks serving Italian fare.

Overlooking the lake (if you are sitting alfresco), it was a nice, quiet place for families and friends.

Some soup to start off the meal, Grumps Seafood Zuppa (RM19.90)

The soup was filled with a generous amount of prawns, squids, fish and mussels which gave it a sweet flavour. The white wine enhanced the soup, giving a twist to the taste. Pretty satisfying.

The lasagna with mince pork (RM19.90)

Maybe I'm used to my lasagna with beef, I find Grumps version a tad bland. The top part were pretty cheesy, but the layers of sauce inside may have more bechamel mixed in. I'm not sure. The tomato flavour seemed to be blanketed and came out mediocre.

Pork knuckle was served next (RM 38.90)

The serving was huge, like any pork knuckle you get from german restaurants. The skin were crackling and crunchy, the meat was juicy and quite tender. Quite tasty and you might enjoy it more if you are a meat lover. Loads of meat. The accompanying apple sauce tones down the richness of the knuckle. Also liked the fact that the sauce was not overly sweet.

The calzone (RM22.90) came with a slight difference..

It was more crescent shaped, with extra bits at the end. Quite cute actually. Mr Chardonnay had the honour to cut the calzone...And here's what we got; oozing melted cheese, mushrooms, ham and onions. Lovely to have it hot, the crust had a nice biscuit like crunch; the filling was juicy. Make sure you have it hot.

The hawaian pizza (RM18.90)

The size was a decent single person serve. Maybe we had it much later in the meal (when it was cold), I find it an average pizza. The crust was too thick and not crunchy. And I really dislike sour stuff and the fresh pineapples they used were really sour. If it was chopped to smaller pieces, maybe I would have liked it better.

Final dish, the Jumbo Tiger Prawn Thermidor (RM55.90)

The prawns were no doubt huge; the filling was baked to perfection, with a thin crisp top. There were chopped prawns chunks, mushrooms and creamy white sauce for the filling; making it a rather sinful but delicious meal. I would think it's better to share this dish though; having it all by oneself would be just too rich. Would have been better if it was less pricey :p

Grumps is located at D-02-01, Jalan SS7/ 13A, Plaza Kelana Jaya, Kelana Jaya.

Our Sweet Baby Girl

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Another scrapbook creation courtesy of Smile box

8 Things

Tagged by Peachy .... Here we go :

8 Things I'm looking Forward To:


* My husband coming home from work. (Sobrang miss na miss ko na kasi sya, ***sob***)
* Marianna's 1st Birthday
* My upcoming birthday
* Seeing again high school friends
* Going to the mall
* Shopping for Marianna
* Eating out with Marianna
* Spending family time with my husband and baby


8 Things I Did Yesterday:

* Go and went to the office
* Bought milk and wipes for marianna
* Ate some oatmeal cookies (sarap!)
* Played with Marianna
* Talked to mama about Ria's schooling
* Watched an episode of spongebob at http://www.spongebob.com/
* Work
* Scout birthday party ideas thru the web


8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

* Not go to work and spend everyday playing with Marianna
* Be with my husband and that he doesnt have to go onboard for work again
* Swim (di din ako marunong lumangoy e)
* Dance (parehong kaliwa ang paa ko)
* Have my own business
* Take an around the world trip with my family (mama included)
* Have the time to do everthing that I want and need to do
* Have the opportunity to do charity work

8 TV Shows I Watch:

* Unang hirit
* Fairly Odd Parents (pinapanood kasi ni Marianna)
* American Idol
* Eat Bulaga
* Blue's Clues (fave ni Marianna)
* Dora the Explorer (fave pa din ni anakis)
* The Backyardigans (another fave)
* TV Patrol or 24 Oras (pa lipat-lipat)


8 People I Tag:

* Grace

* Daisy

* Bambi

* Ida

* Jenny

* Madz

* Jelay

* Pau

(mga ka-office mate ko, haha . wala ko maisip mai tag e)

Sweetheart

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Nice scrapbook. Too bad its not for free. he he. check out the trial.

Cameron Highlands, Part 1, Pahang

Went for a short overnight trip to Cameron, with a fun, boisterous group of friends..

It has been ages since I've been to Camerons, so I was the 'katak bawah tempurung' compared to the rest of them who makes trips to Camerons on a yearly basis.

What remains the same since I last visited Camerons would be the lovely cool weather, the chilly air at night and the lovely, healthy looking plants there..

The flowers were just lovely..

We went pass the tea plantation, but didn't really went down for a closer view...I had a really up close and personal experience with the tea plantation years ago, which I shall not share here :p

And so what did we do?

Other than lunch and dinner (which will be in another post); we popped over to The Olde Smoke house for it's notoriously expensive but scrumptious scones..

While we were waiting for that scones to be prepared, we enjoyed the ambiance of the Smokehouse.. Rustic, cosy and serene; a lovely place to hang out with family/ friends (maybe not to stay though..may be a bit creepy at night :p).

While we were busy enjoying the cool air outside, Vincent informed us that the scones were already serve and we were back to our table within seconds..hehehe

The famed, very over priced scones (RM25 for 2 scones and a cup of tea)

Warm, buttery, solid yet crumbly...smells fantastic, tasted divine..

Slather it with load of clotted cream, home made strawberry jam and/or butter...gosh, I dont mind having this everyday for tea. Sinful yet delightful. Wash it down with a cup of strong tea, no milk, non sugared. Perfecto.

We took a walk to the famed pasar malam at Brinchang town after tea.. It was already packed though it was not even malam yet..

Lots of food and fresh produce..

Had the deep fried lily bulbs and mushrooms. The lily were very sweet and juicy. Mushrooms were too oily though. Vincent and Naz got some ayam goreng rempah, nasi kukus, popiah basah.. I see lots more food like deep fried crabs (not the soft shell type), prawns, squids..quite a lot of seafood up on such a mountainous area, no?

And popping to the next pasar malam lane brings us to lots of fresh veggies and fruits..

The norm stuff everyone bought were the strawberries and sweet corn. I got myself some fresh mushrooms, local avocados, lily bulbs, cordyceps and pearl beans. Everything were just so fresh and tasted so sweet and crisp.

And for our other meals there?..that would be another post..

The Smokehouse Hotel & Restaurant By The Golf Course, Tanah Rata, 39007 Cameron Highlands, Pahang.

My One and Only Love

This is my entry for this week. Its my husband's birthday last saturday, May 16 and this scrap entry is for him. The baby picture was taken when he was exactly one year old while the other one was one of the shots in our wedding pictorials. Happy Birthday Sweetie.

Happy Kaarawan aking Mahal na Asawa

This day, year 1979 was the birth date of my husband Mark Cahigas Mariñas. Counting, he is now 30 today. What do i know about my husband? Hmmm. When he is still young, he is very attached to his papa. Kaya most of his childhood pictures, umiiyak sya. Hinahabol nya kasi papa nya who is the one taking the pictures. Sa klase nila, he is almost always in front of the class pictures. Cute kasi sya e and di makikita kung ilalagay sa likod. He he. One story that i remembered him telling me is when he was still in elementary, studying in St. Paul Bocaue Bulacan, he saves all his money to buy pigeons. Lahat daw ng kaklase nya nag memerienda, sya daw, candy lang kinakain kasi nga tinatabi nya pambili ng kalapating mataas ang lipad, as he tells me. Then when he was reviewing for the board exams, sobra nyang payat when i saw one of his pictures during those times. Sobrang aral daw nya kasi and sometimes doesn't sleep or eat when he is studying. And with God's grace, nakapasa naman sya agad and became a Licensed Electrical Engineer and Master Electrician. And in his stories like this that i can say na gagawin nya talaga anything to get what he wants as he did when he got me (another blog story to tell, he he). He is very loving, sweet, determined and hard working. Loving, since he always tells and shows me how much he loves me and Marianna. Sweet kasi lagi na lang yun nakadikit at naka embrace sa kin when we are together. And very determined and hard working because he gives his all to provide for his family and ours. Marianna and I love you so much Sweetie. Happy Birthday. Hope to spend more birthdays and other occasions to come together.

Moussandra, KL

A suggestion to meet for dinner after work in KL got us to Moussandra.

We wanted a nice, quiet place for some catching up and since all of us work in KL, it easy to pop over to (the almost dead) KL Plaza ...MC was stressed at work and the girls decided to meet up to help her relax and destress :)

Something that we could toast to...we had Sangria to start the meal..

Was a decent glass, but not even close to the delicious one that I had in Hong Kong( Mr BS claimed it's the best in the universe..maybe he was not joking after all)

Ceasar salad (RM20) to start the meal

Fresh veggies, cute little crisp garlicky bread toasts and a tad creamy dressing goes very well together. A good start (though would have prefered a bigger portion).

We ordered some tapas to share...

The Setas Salteadas (RM9)- Mixed mushrooms sauteed with herbs

Cant go wrong with this right? Very tasty, would have been better if they serve it with some bread. Portion size was ok for a tapas.

Some Banderillas De Gambas (RM16)- Grilled Marinated Prawns with Asparagus & Olives served with Garlic Mayonaise..

Pretty good stuff too, the prawns were nicely marinated, juicy and slightly charred...just that the portion was too dainty. Then again, it tapas :(

The famed Moussaka (RM40)

Served piping hot, I nearly burnt my tongue with the first bite. Very cheesy and creamy, definitely not for the faint hearted. The mince lamb was rather gamey, which was excellent. Would have been better if the eggplants were sliced thicker.. it was all melted into the bechamel, we could not detect much of an eggplant. Tasty dish nonetheless.

We ended the meal with Penne Al Pesto(RM25)

The pesto was very oily and not fragrant. Have tasted better versions of it.

Moussandra is located at Sub Lot B-8, Mezzanine Floor, KL Plaza, 179, Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. I used the side entrance as the main KL Plaza looks sorta creepy to go in at night :p

Marianna's New Book/Toy

Kahapon pag labas ko galing ng train sa lrt may nakita kong stall na may mga tindang books. Ang una kong napansin yung "The Hungry Catterpillar". Nakita ko kasi yun sa "Smart Parenting". Namamahalan ako kasi Php 445.00. Tagal ko din hawak hawak. Then nakita ko yung mga finger puppets/book. 2 pag pipilian. Isang Old Mac Donald tska isang Noah's Arc. Cute din yung Noah's arc. Mga animals din tska si Noah yung nasa dulo. Pero yung Old Mac Donald binili ko para kay Marianna. Mas maganda kasi naka tahi yung mga eyes ng animals compared dun sa Noah's na sticker lang mata. Eh lam nyo naman mga bata mahilig mag susubo as you can see above, he he. At take note, laging yung aso ang kinukuha nya para isubo. Mana sa mommy. Mahilig sa aso. ha ha. Anyways, it costs Php 495.00. May kamahalan pero buy agad si Mommy kasi lam ko naman magugustuhan ni Marianna pasalubong ko sa kanya. Ngiti lang naman bayad sa kin, solve na ko. At isa pang dahilan bakit yun binili ko is because para maisaliw ko sa aking pag kanta ng "Old Mac Donald Had a Farm yung mga animals during our playtime.

Nong & Jimmy, Ampang

It was a rainy, cool evening and Gary gave me a buzz...

Up for some grilled seafood?

Sure!

And soon the 4 of us were on our way to Nong & Jimmy..

We left the ordering to the boys, Candy and I were relaxing and sipping coconut juice..

When I first went to N&J 9 years back, it was a very spicy experience but all of us were addicted to it. But after not eating there for a couple of years, I'm not sure how's the food now..

Gary ordered his fave, the seafood fried rice..

He likes the fried rice, he's not even bothered with the loads of large prawns that were in the rice...it's the fragrance of the rice that he's addicted to. I took a bite and knew why...it was filled with fish sauce..hence the fragrance and also, the 'wetness' in the rice. Very wet with fish sauce. Am ok with the rice, felt its MSG laden though.

The tomyam soup..

When I had this years back, it was so spicy that my lips and tongue burns everytime I took a sip. Was rather fearful when I took a sip, but it was no longer that spicy. It's just mediocre spiciness, acceptable level. Rather sweet base, I'd prefer it more sour.

The kangkung belacan

Fresh vegetables, this was pretty good.

The grilled sotong was served first..

This was excellent. The charred exterior gave the sotong a nic smokey flavour while the meat was sweet and springy. Very tasty. Have it with their special sauce (some peanut thai spicy sauce) and you'll be at cloud nine :)

Some grilled prawns..

This used to be my fave years back, so I was darn excited when it was served. Alas, there were some changes in their recipe...they slathered too much marination (which were mainly pepper) onto the prawns. Prawns were fresh and springy, but the marination kinda doused the sweetness of the prawns.

Grilled fish..

Thought the fish were not that fresh and too much tumeric over powering (probably to cover?) the taste of the fish.

Highlight of the meal, grilled crabs..

Large crabs, these were grilled to the right level...The meat were firm and juicy. You dont need any sauces for dipping, just enjoy the subtle sweetness from the crabs were good enough.

Nong & Jimmy is located at Lot 27363, Jalan Cahaya 1, Taman Cahaya, Ampang, Selangor.

Scrappin Mondaze: Mothers Day

Yesterday was mother's day and Im very proud to say that i now belong in this wonderful group.

This picture was taken last 2007 before i got married and had Marianna.
Im with my niece Ria, who is now 3 years old and my mom. Hopefully we get to have the chance to have a shot with Marianna. Me, my mama and Marianna. Happy mothers day mama. Marianna and I love you so much.