Transformers - Pinoy Version

Auto-Toda "The Good Guys"

DECEPTI-TODA - "The Bad Guys"

This is an email forwarded to me by my office mate. Wala lang. Natawa lang ako.

Scrappin Mondaze: Marianna's 9th Month Celebration

Last Sunday, June 28 was Marianna's 9th month. We had a little get together at our house. Parang ako nga ang may occassion at puro friends ko ang invited. Pumunta si Tita Romelia, Tita Peachy with Ykaie and Tita Emielyn. A few relatives also came. Happy 9th month anak.

We love you so much.

Les Toasts Bakery, Bandar Puchong Jaya

When Gary brought us over to Les Toasts for the first time, I thought it was like any other bakery in town..

And as we approcahed the bakery, I could see that it's rather pack; business was good.

It was quite easy to identify the bakery's specialities, they make no qualms on highlighting it.

The Bamboo Charcoal Bread, which was supposed to be good for removing toxin from the body looks like a popular choice..

Though it looks rather greyish and dried up; it tasted like normal bread, texture was slightly chewy. Not too sure if any toxins were purged the next day though :p

The Japanese Chocolate Chiffon Cake

This was excellent. The cake was airy and melts-in-mouth immediately. The chocolate flavour had hints of bitterness, making this cake a breeze to eat for not being overly sweet. Very scrumptious indeed.

I noticed Les Toasts has a range of interesting stuff like Squid Ink Baguette, Yeast Free Bread, Takana Marble bread and Green Tea Azuki muffin. Will try those on my next visit.

Les Toasts Bakery is located at 05-01, Jalan Kenari 18B, Bandar Puchong Jaya, 47100 Puchong, Selangor.

Catching up...

You know that old saying that when it rains it pours? Well, this summer has been off to a bang, which is why I have been absent from both my own blog and yours over the past few weeks. Before I get back into the swing of things and share some great food, let me clue you in.

First of all, we had a great vacation at the beach. Our house, which we rented through Sun Realty was amazing- great views, expansive decks, and a great pool and hot tub. The owners really knew what they were doing when they named it A Perfect Escape, because it was exactly that. We had family and friends throughout the week and had some amazing food which I will be sharing in several subsequent posts.


We had just gotten back from the beach (depressing enough) and were putting everything away when I heard my daughter Bridget yelling for me from the kitchen, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I went in. My husband was seated on the cooler we had just brought from the Outer Banks squirting (no exaggeration) blood from his leg. I called 911 and applied pressure trying to stop the bleeding and figure out what happened. While the fire station is only about two miles from our house it seemed like an eternity before the paramedics got there, and once they took over, the rest was a blur of moving furniture to make way for the stretcher, locking up the house and following the ambulance to the Emergency room. The paramedics were incredible using two trauma packs to finally stop the bleeding and Gavin was continually conscious, so I felt that he would be fine, but since he is a diabetic and had already seen a surgeon for really bad circulation, I was really worried about his leg.

It turned out that he bumped the cooler and caused a skin tear above a large varicosity that was close to the surface, so even though it took only two stitches to close, he lost nearly a liter of blood, making my kitchen look like the Manson family murder scene (Bridget snapped a picture on her phone when we came back from the hospital, but I will spare you!) An ambulance ride and two (can you believe it!) stitches later we were on our way back home to clean up the bloody mess. To make a long story short, this made the doctor move up his scheduled VNUS Closure procedure that uses RF (radiofrquency) energy to close veins that just aren't doing their job anymore. This takes the place of the old "vein stripping" that requires a hospital stay and long recovery with an office procedure that uses only local anesthetic and the patient walks out of the office in about an hour. My husband walked two miles the next day. Now two weeks later, his bad leg is about half the size it was, and ultrasound shows that he has very little venous reflux in either leg. Awesome,huh?! A big thanks is due his surgeon, Dr. John Newman, who is an expert in the VNUS closure and one of those rare doctors who takes time for his patients.

Now the bad news. In the midst of all this,our dear friend and neighbor Calvert lost his long battle with cancer (that is him at his birthday wearing one of his wife's famous homemade party hats!). He was an incredible friend and neighbor and a surrogate grandpa to our children since we moved to this neighborhood, and his loss will be felt so much by family, friends, and neighbors. We will be celebrating his life at a memorial this weekend, remembering his sense of humor, his fun-loving nature and warm heart.

Between taking care of Gavin, working, finishing a freelance proposal that was due, and helping our neighbor prepare for the post-service wake there has just been no time to post. But hopefully, we are past health issues and surgeries and any other bad news, and can begin bringing you up to date on the great food that we have enjoyed in and around these crises, and I will be stopping by your cyber-kitchens to check out what you have been up to!

Palayaw

Im thinking of a cute nickname for Marianna and I would very much appreciate some suggestions. Si Mark kasi Mark lang. Misan Macoy o Markey pero mas mahaba pa yung ibang tawag sa kanya kaysa sa totoo nyang pangalan. Ako kasi, madaming nickname. When I was young, aside from Joan, they call me Boyang. They say that I was sickly then kaya binasagan ako. "Boyang" came from my papa who is nicknamed "Boy". They say we look alike and Im a younger version of him, thus the nickname. Then when I was in 2nd year highschool, our English teacher then, Mrs. Marquez, tagged me Dj since my name si spelled as Djohanna. Then my mama calls me Mumay. From the film with a young girl that cries a lot kasi iyakin daw ako. Iyakin? Di naman ah. Ewan ko ba dito kay mama :-P. Then dito sa office, variances of Dj emerges, may tumatawag sa kin ng D-Jo, Deej, Dijay, Jay at kung ano ano pa.

Ngayon Marianna lang tawag ko kay Marianna. Dati I was thinking of Rian, kaso yung kapitbahay namin Rian pangalan kaya ayoko na. Then Mark's sister calls her Yan-yan. Dito naman sa office si Ate Grace tawag sa kanya Rianna. Then my tita calls her Yanna. Ano sa tingin nyo maganda?

Food Friday: Garlic and Basil Potatoes

I had this for lunch last Tueday. Garlic and Basil Potatoes. Very easy to make yet very tasty.

Ingredients:

Baby Potatoes

Water

Butter

Garlic

Dried Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedures: Boil Baby Potatoes in Salted Water until tender.

When Potatoes are already tender, drain water and set aside.

Saute Garlic in Butter. Incorporate cooked baby potatoes in garlic and butter.

Sprinkle dried basil, salt and pepper according to taste.

Enjoy!!!

I Got my Beryll's gift Pack from Smart Parenting !!!

I won !!! I'm one of the 40 survey participants in the Smart Parenting May 2009 Issue that won a beryll's gift pack. Kaya kaninang lunch time, pinuntahan namin ni hazel sa Robinsons Pioneer Complex, 7f Cybergate tower 3 ang office ng Summit Media. Hangang bukas na lang kasi ang claiming period and if di ko claim, it will be in favor of Summit Media. Kaya naman kahit late ako kanina dahil na siraan ang lrt, past 9 na nga ko dumating sa office. Lunch time pinuntahan namin ni Hazel, pinsan ko na ka officemate ko din yung chocolates ko. Effort talaga. Kakapagod mag byahe. From here sa office, naglakad kami sa kanto ng Vito Cruz, sakay ng lrt hangang Edsa Station then sakay naman ng mrt then baba ng Boni Ave Stn. Lakad ulit to reach Summit's office sa Robinsons Pioneer.

Ok naman. Dumating kami dun 1pm. Intay ng mga approx 20 mins para sa gift pack na beryll chocolates then kain kami sa Robinsons Pioneer Mall for lunch gutom na din kasi kami sa pakikipagbuno namin sa pagsakay ng Lrt at Mrt. Medyo madami din yung chocolates. Ok na din ang aming biniyahe.

Kumain kami sa Mongolian Quick-stop sa Level 2 ng Robinsons Pioneer.

Order ko is on your right: Mongolian Seafood Bowl - Php 95.00 at Mongolian Vegetarian Bowl (left) naman para kay Hazel - Php 95.00 din

Our Verdict: Pwede na ( 3 stars out of 5 )

Kayang kaya gayahin at lutuin sa bahay. he he

Ayan ako, sampling one of the free chocolates that i got. Beryll's Strawberry infused white chocolate. Thanks Smart Parenting kasi its my first time to join one of your promos and luckily im one of the winners. Thank you kay Hazel sa pagsama sa kin at hindi ko mapupuntahan yung lugar mag isa. At higit sa lahat, maraming salamat sa boss namin, si Mam Loida sa pagpapasensya nya sa amin. Biruin mo, late na nga kami ng umaga, pati pag balik after lunch late pa din. Hay ... Thanks Mam Loi. Naway habaan mo pa ang iyong pasensya.

Fitou, Desa ParkCity Waterfront

When I first went to Desa ParkCity Waterfront one late evening, I checked out the restaurants there and Fitou was the first place I'd like to have my meal..

Reason? Looks like they had the nicest looking alfresco dining compared to the other restaurants.

And as if the heavens above was pulling my leg; it was pouring heavily when I finally decided to dine at Fitou. :(

This was how it looks like on a misty, rainy night..

Since it's a cold night, we started off with some soup to warm us..

The mushroom soup(RM16)..

Thick blend of chopped fresh mushrooms with a thread of cream. Most unfortunately they were heavy on the pepper; doused most of the flavour of the soup.

Confetti Seafood Chowder (RM18)

One word. Sour. My tolerance for sour stuff has always been low. And having this soup was rather hard to..erm..swallow. Even Dragon girl, who likes sour stuff said that this was way sour. Seafood sweetens it? Nah...

Fitou's Feta Cheese Salad..

Fresh lettuce topped with lots of pork belly, cheese shavings and a sliver of mid grade anchovy. We enjoyed the salad; sans the anchovy which was extremely salty and fishy (which dragon girl avoided like a plague).

Grilled Prawn Bacon tapas (RM18)..

We were expecting nicer presentation. Oh well. Simple grilled prawn wrapped with pork bacon and a dollop of BBQ-ish sauce. Quite tasty.

Spicy pork sausage (RM12)

Lived up to it's name, it's spicy alright. The bird's eye chilli added enough kick to an ordinary pork sausage.

Sauteed mushroom..

Served compressed in a small cup. Well, at first I thought it was small. After picking on the mushrooms for a while, it was quite generous actually :p. Again, too heavy on the pepper.

The manager's recommendation

Iberico Back Ribs (RM45)
For that price, we got a long rib and 2 measly short ones. A tad pricey me thinks. The rib were juicy with lovely charred sides; the sauce was not needed actually. El cerdo's iberico was nicer though.

The seafood paella for 2 (RM70)..

A generous amount of prawns, mussels, squids, pork sausages, and chicken. Alas, it was only an average dish- the rice was too wet, the sausages very salty and the chicken had the freezer taste.

The spaghetti meatballs (RM18)

Came with 5 rather large beef balls. The meatballs were very flavourful and well marinated; and rather moist. The pasta texture was ok, but the sauce was again extremely sour! So sour that we could not finish this. I believe it's the same base they used for the soup. :(

Oh, we skipped desserts as all looks horrendous (it was displayed in the wine room)

Overall, I find the food mediocre. The only reason I'll revisit would be for the nice ambiance, lovely place to chill with family and friends.

Fitou is located at Lot GF2, The Waterfront @ Park City, 5 Persiaran Resdien, Desa Park City, KL.

Creative Mom Blogger Award

Thank you very much Peachy for giving me this award. I would also like to thank my Husband for his contribution for making me a mom and ofcourse my daughter who did make me a mommy. Mwah mwah kisses to each and every one of you. .

Here are the rules:

• Take your award and put the logo on your post.
  
• Link the person who awarded you.Remember each recipient of the award should acknowledge the person who honored them and go to Mom's Special Diary to copy and paste the award.
  
• Put your own blog title and link.
  
• Nominate at least five deserving moms.
  
  I'm giving this award to the most creative mom bloggers I know:
  
  * Peachy of Blowing Peach kisses (di to solian ha? wala na ko maisip na creative mommy blogger kung di ikaw e, he he)
  
  
  Sunod ko na lang yung iba ha? I'll be listing the four creative mom blogger that i'll pass this award to soon.

Scrappin Mondaze: Marianna's Paper Scrap Vol. 2

Here are some pages from Marianna's Volume 2 Paper Scrapbook. I love making her scrap. I enjoy every thing from buying some embelishments to editing the photos for developing. I hope Marianna would appreciate looking at this when she grows up.

Belated Happy Fathers Day Sweetie

Last sunday, tumawag si Mark. Nasa Jebel Ali, UAE sila nun. At bungad agad sa akin "Happy Father's Day sa akin!!!". O di ba at di na nakaintay na batiin ko sya. Greet na nya automatic sarili nya. And from the tone of his voice, he seems to be very excited to be celebrating Father's day for the first time. Ako kasi, buntis pa lang ako, nag celebrate na ko ng mother's day. By that time kasi ramdam na ramdam ko na pag galaw ni Marianna sa tyan ko. In Mark's case, ngayon lang nya talaga feel na tatay na sya at nandito na, in the flesh, ang anak namin. So, tatay na talaga sya. Ano kaya ang feeling ng isang tatay? Magkaiba sa feeling ng isang nanay perhaps, o may pagkaka pareho din sa ibang level. Di ko nga din masabi maaaring mas malalim pa yung nararamdaman nila o concern nila minsan sa nanay na mismong nagdala ng anak nila towards sa mga bata.

Ang asawa ko, mag bf gf pa lang kami nun, lagi nya sinasabi sa kin na he knows that i'm going to be a great mom to our future kids. Ako, i may not say it as often as i do, i know, in my heart he will be the best father sa aming mga anak. I know. I can see, hear and feel it in his actions and words. Ngayon, although malayo sya sa amin ni Marianna, he does his best to be a good husband and father. Happy Fathers day Sweetie. Pag uwi mo, mas mararamdaman mo pa pagiging daddy mo as you spend more time with me and Marianna. We love and miss you so much.

Food Friday : Snow peas with Ginger Chicken and Oyster Sauce

Its my first time to be in this meme "food Friday". I'm a foodie in nature and is into discovering new things to cook specially now that I'm into it. I just discovered the joy of cooking in addition to my love of eating. I find it very fulfilling. I cooked this snow peas with ginger chicken and oyster sauce last week. Its a recipe i got from Peachy in one of her south beach diet recipes only i added some oyster sauce. Hope to be able to join weekly. Happy eating/cooking fellow foodies !!!

Bilis lang talaga ...

Nakita nyo ba ang picture ng anak ko? Dyan sa side bar, yung moments with baby Marianna yung picture nya with her Daddy tska yung latest picture nya na kuha ko kahapon. Bilis lang. Sa sunday, June 28, 9 mos na sya. Pansinin nyo nga kung ano ano na nabago sa itsura nya? Unang una, kapansin pansin na pumuti sya. Salamat sa kalamansi. Araw araw kasi tuwing pinaliliguan namin sya, pinipigaan namin ng 6-10 pcs na kalamansi ang kanyang tubig. Oh di ba? Totoo, nakakaputi ang kalamansi at nakakaganda din ng balat. Tip sa amin yan ng mga kamag anak ni Mark sa Pangil, Laguna yung pumunta kami dun last December 2008. Kung dati makapal ang buhok nya, mas lalo na ngayon. Nakakatuwa at bihira naman sa baby ang may makapal na buhok. Kaya naman malapit na sya makaipon ng isang palanganang ipit kakabili ko. Dati, kamukhang kamukha sya ni Mark. Ngayon, tingin ko ha? tingin ko lang naman, nasasainyo na kung aayon kayo sa akin ... na nagiging kamukha ko na din sya. Lalo na pag naka nguso. he he. Madami na din syang alam ngayon. Marunong na sya ng close open, pumalakpak, mag a - line, magpabuhat (hinihila ang damit ko pag gusto magpa karga), kumain (masarap sya kumain, salamat kay Lord at hindi sya maselan), gumamit ng straw, ano pa ba? mukhang nakalimutan ko na ang iba sa dami na nyang alam. Nakakatuwa. Ganito pala ang pakiramdam ng isang nanay. Nung isang araw habang pinapakita ko yung kanyang scrapbook, tinanong ko kung nasaan si Marianna. Walang kagatul gatul na tinuro nya ang litrato nya na buhat sya ng kanyang lola Wena. Sobrang saya ko. Pinupog ko sya ng halik. Maaring wala sa kanya yun, pero she made my day always. Simple yet very effective para sa akin na pang tanggal inis ang anak ko. Ngayon, dalawang bwan na lang at nandito na ang daddy nya. Sigurado ako matutuwa din sya na makita na malaki na si Marianna at marami ng alam. Bilis lang talaga ng panahon ...

Kimchi Korean Restaurant, Tropicana City

An unexpected visit to Tropicana City led us to Kimchi Restaurant, it was still brunch time and I was not too sure I was up for korean for brunch time.

Nonetheless we stepped in; being the first customer has it's perks I guess. The service was pretty good.

some drinks while waiting for our food..

The Korean Plum tea.

I didnt like it; reminds me of the cough medicine I had when I was young. BQ liked it though..

There were 4 types of side dishes. A lil less compared to other restaurants..Boring selection too.

Complimentary pan fried dumplings..

Juicy, moist center and crisp skin. Pretty good.

The beef bibimbap

Somehow, this felt like fast food korean. The ingredients looked unrefined and prepared haphazardly, i could even see 2 of the side dishes served earlier also served in my bibimbap. :(. Taste wise, it's average.

The sizzling chicken ..

BQ enjoyed it; the chicken was tender and the sauce gets spicier with every bite. I felt it was more chinese- aka chinese hot plate spicy chicken.

Overall an average experience that does not render a revisit from me.

Kimchi Korean Restaurant, L1-57, First Floor, Tropicana City Mall, PJ.

Pictures while Working

May picture taking kanina dito sa office. And these pictures are courtesy of our resident Photographer KT. Ayan ako, doing my usual thing dito sa office ...

Cameron Highlands, Part 2, Pahang

Totally slipped my mind on part 2 of Cameron Highlands..
Which was my other meals at Cameron... :p

And back to Cameron we go...
By the time we reached Cameron, it was almost lunch time.
There's a row of restaurants in the middle of Brinchang town and we settled for OK Tuck; a place where Vincent and gang always popped by for a meal.

Since we're up here, and Cameron's known for it's fresh veggies, we had a variety of local produce..

The Stir Fried Mixed Mushroom

A good mix of oyster, shitake, straw mushrooms and chopped vegetables was served piping hot. The dish was tasty as the sauce was very light- letting us savour the woody flavour of the mushrooms.

Vince and Steph wanted the stir fried bitter gourd with chicken and fremented black beans..Decent dish; the bitter gourd was fresh, just a tad bitter. The sauce was average though.
The stir fried brinjalThis was an excellent dish and my favourite. It had wonderful wok hei; the brinjal was slightly caramelised but still tender soft inside. A bit oily, but still a hit with us nonetheless. So tasty that we ordered 2 plates of this :)

The sweet and sour spare ribs was absolutely disappointing though..

Meat was dry, hard and lacked marination. Enough said.

The venision with ginger fared better

Meat was tender, served with lots of fat, juicy sprigs of spring onions. Pretty nice.

We were out and about in the afternoon...

And soon after, it's dinner time..

As predictable as can be; yes, we had steamboat :p

I mean, it's only natural for us to go for ta pin lou on such a cold weather right?

We had our steamboat at Strawberry View

I was very glad to see that there were plates and plates of fresh vegetables for the steam boat. Water cress, siu bak choy, mushrooms, cabbages etc were served with some meat and seafood to make the soup sweeter. Must be one of the healthiest steamboat I've had. The herbal soup was tasty, tom yam was not impressive.

Great way to warm our bodies (and bellies) on such a windy, chilly night :)

OK Tuck
26, Jalan Besar, Brinchang, 39100 Cameron Highlands, Pahang

Strawberry View Cafe& Restaurant
Lot KF/04, Kea Farm 39100, Cameron Highlands, Pahang. Nearby Equatorial Hotel.