Today is Grandparent's Day

          When I was still working in Angeles City, I used to attend the Sunday mass in SM City Clark after my shift. I can still remember that there was one Sunday when almost all people who attended the mass were at least aged 50 and above. I wondered why when I arrived. Then I saw a huge tarpaulin that says: Happy Grandparent's Day!!! I never knew that there is a holiday called Grandparents day and it is actually celebrated anywhere in the world.

          Even if I lived away from my family, I can still rememember my grandparents and their influences to us. Like my Spanish mestizo grandfather - my Lolo Paulo (my father's dad), he's a very dominant person. We'd know if he's already angry because his face will turn all red and starts to speak in Spanish language with an angry voice.Yes, we get scared most of the time but he was a sweet grandfather to us. We also grew up with strong faith in God because of him. He would always gather us in front of the altar every 6pm and pray the Angelus or the holy rosary before bed time and ask everyone in the family go to church together every Sunday. That's one thing I'm very thankful for.

           My Lola Beatriz (my father's mom) was a great role model in our family. She is a woman full of patience and kindness. A very loving person indeed. My cousins would always tell me that I look exactly like my grandmother but with my lolo's nose. Thanks to good genes.

            My other grandparents (my mom's parents) live very far from us so we (siblings) never had a close relationship with them. We only see each other during family reunions or weddings. But I can always remember how good and hard working they are. I never heard any unwanted stories about them. I was even there when they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. I know that these days only very few couple could last up to 50 years of their marriage so that was really something.

             That is grandparent's day for me. I tried to remember the memories I had with my late grandparents and their influences to our family especially to me because they're part of my existence. I am so grateful that I have grandparents like them. So even though I don't celebrate this holiday with them or with my family, the good old memories will always remain in my mind and in my heart. How about you? How do you celebrate grandparent's day?

I still keep this photo with my Lolo Paulo and Lola Beatriz...that's me in front eating peanuts with my cousins.

Food trip around South East Asia

           When we talked about travel it's not only about alluring places and warm people. There is really more when we get to a certain destination. Of course if you are a traveler, you also love to taste different or exotic food. Just want to share our encounter with the best and popular dishes around the 4 South East Asian countries that we've visitied mainly in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

We had lunch at Bayview beach hotel (photo above) in Penang. 'Twas the first time that I've tasted chicken satay though this is also a popular street food in Singapore. It's a skewer cubes of marinated chicken roasted on barbeque. It is best to have satay with the peanut sauce. Really different!

I'd never forget this sizzling plate at Long beach hawker center in Batu Ferringhi, Pulau Penang. A sizzling plate of shrimp, sutong (squid), veggies, thin noodles, egg and mushrooms. We always had this almost every dinner during our stay in the island. A must try!

Hmmm.. really look so tasty! We had this dish in one of the hawker centres in the lion city. Well, I guess we just love to eat at the hawker centres whenever we're in Malaysia or Singapore. Above photo is a deer meat dish with veggies.

Kopitiam! true Singapore taste. Some more deer meat dish but this time at Lau Pa Sat hawker centre.

Don't forget to have a drink or two at Raffles Long bar, still in Singapore. They said that the Singapore sling is best here plus you can have unlimited peanuts in your table. A place in SG where you can literally litter.

I can't really believe that I'd get the chance to taste a Khmer dish. This was during our visit in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This may look like a very simple dish but the sauces tasted really spicy and different.

Three of the best tasting donuts at Big Apple donuts in Melaka. the 'alien' (one with choco curls on top) is my favorite while my partner love the 'alpine' (middle).  Just perfect for snacking!

  The satay and kebab in a bamboo hut resto in Melaka. They also serve a delicious strawberry shake.

 One of the best seafood platter that we had in Langkawi Telaga harbour park. How's that for dinner?

No Problem-a seafood place in Mactan, Cebu Philippines offers the best of SuTuKil dishes.

Though Cebu is best known for their lechon or roast pig,  I would still prefer Golden Cowrie's Crispy Pata and I can't wait to try it again.

Reflections from a Gospel

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple."- LK 14:25-33

                

              The gospel  above brought a lot of realizations in my mind while I was listening to the priest early this morning. That everytime we encounter trials, we tend to focus on our own self and eventually we became selfish. Why selfish? Because we tend to forget other people around us. Those people who are experiencing more than the dilemma that we have. This sometimes happen to me especially that I live independently. I pity myself most of the time because I have no one to talk to and it takes time for me to recover from such pain. But I am still fortunate that of all those trials and difficulties that I've experienced before, I still remain positive for a wonderful future. 

             
The priest is quiet true that if we'll just look at the cross, our sufferings are incomparable to what Jesus had gone through. That we should face every problem and learn from it to make us a better person not a bitter one. In life, it is important that if ever we encounter any trials, we should not look down but look up and call Jesus. No other name.

            

Cherry Cake for my Amor

One afternoon (still in England), I decided to bake something I haven't made before. Since I'm fond of experimenting in the kitchen, I gathered all the ingredients available. Then I found a cup of sweet cherries in the fridge and the next thing I knew I'm already mixing the flour with the butter... My very own cherry cake.

My Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup self raising flour

2 eggs

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup unsalted butter 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup white sugar

a pinch of salt (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup cherries 

How I did it: I only had simple ingredients as you can see. Preheat the oven at 150 deg C. Begin by sifting the flour in a big bowl and put the butter ( butter should be sliced into small squares), salt (optional) baking powder and white sugar. Beat the eggs separately and pour it in the dry mixture including the milk. Mix thoroughly and add more flour if needed. Finally, mix the cherries and add the vanilla. Get a non-stick baking pan and wipe it with melted butter. Then pour in the mixture in the pan. You can also make use of the other cherries as design like the one above. But please note that the cherries will melt so better mix it thoroughly with all other ingredients. Set the oven to 200 deg C and put the pan in the oven. Cook for approximately 25-30 minutes or until it turns brown.

hmmm.. looks lovely!

a soft, yummy  and sweet cherry cake!!! Enjoy!

DIY Scones

Philippines is an archipelago with many known delicacies. To name a few, I'll start in my hometown in Cagayan de Oro. I didn't know if CDO has its own delicacy until I tasted this sweet yema flavored buns in boxes. This is not actually a CDO product as it originated from Camiguin- an island in the region. But most people who visited CDO would always look for these yummy buns so somehow it became CDO's trademark. Cebu on the other hand is known for its otap, dried mangoes (one of my favorites), pork cracklings, the ever popular lechon and many others.

When I first visited England early this year, I was also curious if they too have this so-called delicacies aside from the fact that the British fish and chips is known worldwide. I learned about scones and cornish pasty. But no, they don't call them delicacies.The most common scones you can buy from the supermarket are those with raisins but with pasties, you can buy them in different fillings. I tried to bake some scones and this time I used cherries instead of raisins.

my cherry scones

My first pasty (they're a bit huge) with sausage, cooked potatoes, butter, raisins, onions and ham as fillings.

so yummy!

I'll write a separate blog for my cherry cakes so I can post the ingredients for those who are interested.

Singapore and F1 Grand Prix

I never thought of going to Singapore if it wasn't because of an invitation from my partner to watch a live Formula 1 or F1 night race.

My perception about Singapore has greatly changed when I went there last September 2009 ( 'twas the day after typhoon Ondoy had its landfall in the Philippines). A day that I would never forget in my entire life. From being soaked by the rain on my way to the airport in Manila, I've arrived in Changi blessed with a warm, sunny Singapore weather. I was so amazed on how everything works and indeed it's all true that Singapore is a very clean country.

On our second visit, we enjoyed our walk along Orchard road, the Chinatown and Clarke Quay at night, the exciting rides at Sentosa beach, drinks and peanuts at Raffles bar and of course who would never forget the sumptous dishes at their many hawker food centers. Much about the place, let's talk about Formula 1.

Singapore is the only country where you can watch F1 night race. Yes, it was the first time I've ever seen a live F1 race though I've been a fan since then. The thrill, the excitement, the superb engineering, the pit stop and the noise...imagine all of that in one event. I took the photos below during my first day in Singapore just before the F1 grand prix.

The Merilion Park

Drivers on parade

Singapore F1 Grand Prix Grandstand seats facing Marina bay

More about Singapore coming soon!