What the heck!

Theory on beauty

2008-08-03T21:08:00.001+08:00

Roast Chicken - 2nd attempt
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Part of my cooking mantra is that food should not only taste good but look good. I guess I grew up eating food that most of the time - just tasted good. It was as if knowing whether it was good or not would be more like the surprise factor to the whole meal.

Gio & Betty

2008-08-01T21:46:00.002+08:00

My latest obsession - the relationship between Gio (Freddy Rodriguez) & Betty (America Ferreira) on Ugly Betty!! Gio/Freddy owns a sandwich shop, and he is HOT!!!!!!

Red Velvet Cake from Jeffy

2008-08-01T21:41:00.001+08:00

Red Velvet Cake
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Had to post this slice of Red Velvet Cake from friend Jeffy who has apparently been reading my blog and has been complaining on the lack of entries for over a month already. He sent over something sweet to give me that needed sugar boost to get me out of my slump! Thanks Jeffy!!!

My first Dumpling

2008-08-01T21:33:00.001+08:00

My first Dumpling
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Having tasted my han yu lao shi's (chinese language teacher) home made dumplings during one of my classes at her home, I liked the taste so much that she so generously shared me some dumplings to take home plus her authentic beijing recipe which I the chaotic one lost even before I got to try it. Luckily she was patient enough to dictate it again to me over the phone one Sunday before I headed off to the wet market to buy the ingredients I needed to make her dumplings. My only apprehension from the very start was the dumpling skin which I had never ever made before. In my mind I knew what i had to do, knew the whole concept & theory behind it, but there are times that theory & the actual part don't gel at all. So I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would recall all those lessons at CCAC and be able to apply everything Mr. Lu had taught us about making the perfect dumpling. Another thing that I was afraid of was the recipe itself since teacher Mary did not have actual quantities & measurements. It was all "guesstimation" which for me, having a bakers background, we are so used to exact measurements that getting recipes like these can be unnerving. But being the determined cook that I was, I pushed all negativity aside & went for it. Part of the reason I was making these dumplings was because my aunt B had given me like half a kilo of garlic chives, which is the key ingredient in making dumplings. After mixing up all the ingredients for the filling, I cooked up a teaspoonful of it just to see if I got the taste & seasonings right. I then proceeded to combine the flour & water to make my dough. This step was easy eough, then came the hard part which was the stuffing & wrapping of the dumpling. After a few failed attempts, I finally got the hang ot it after maybe the 15th dumpling, by the 30th dumpling I was finally enlightened on the "secret" of wrapping the dumpling. It was getting easy peasy after this. As you can see I didn't do so bad for a first timer although some of he dumplings did have some holes - tiny one lah!!!

Molded pork w/ kiam chai- FINALLY!

2008-08-01T20:40:00.002+08:00

Molded pork w/ kiam chai
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I finally found the perfect piece of meat for my first attempt at making this classic chinese dish that is Molded Pork. It's been more than 6 months since I saw this recipe in one of mother earths Pei Mei cookbooks, and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to cook this dish one day. But my earliest fascination came about maybe 10 years ago while watching Taiwanese director Ang Lees movie Eat, Drink, Man, Woman wherein the opening sequence showed the lead character who played a famous master chef whip up numerous chinese dishes for his daughters, and one of the dishes he cooked was this. I will never forget the moment he plunged the deep fried meat in a bowl filled with ice cubes and I do believe you could even hear the sizzle. Up to this day I still don't know the idea behind this plunging in cold water, I know it's to wrinkle up the skin & make it soft, but honestly though would it matter if the pork skin was wrinkled or not? But hey, I did follow the recipe to a "T", and I must say was mighty proud of the end result. It not only looked delicious, it really really tasted damn good!!!!!

Singapore Food Fest Day 2

2008-07-01T22:39:00.004+08:00

cookclassmontage
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I have always been a big fan of the multi-faceted food of Singapore, so I was quite lucky that Chef Gina Choong was able to accomodate my request for a private cooking lesson at her home on Day 2 of my trip to Sg. Having read about other students raving over Chef Gina's cooking lessons at the Kitchen Capers forum, I knew that it was something I wanted to experience for myself if I ever visited Singapore again. Since I requested for a whole day private lesson I was able to decide on what 6-7 dishes I wanted her to teach me. Naturally on the top of my list was Black Pepper Crab & Laksa followed by Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bak Kut Teh & Prawns w/Salted Egg , the Char Kway Teow was suggested by Gina. I arrived at Ginas place bright and early & after a little getting to know you chit chat, we immediately started on my lessons. Since Hainanese Chicken & Laksa took longer to cook, these 2 dishes were the first ones we tackled. The biggest discovery for me that day was the fact that Laksa was named after the Laksa leaf, a key ingredient in making this special Malay dish. Cooking Laksa without laksa leaf is a grave sin for serious laksa eaters. Time quickly passed and by lunch time we had already cooked up the Hainanese Chicken, Bak Kut Teh, Char Kway Teow & Black Pepper Crab. Lunch was a proverbial feast. I was so full I was already thinking about how I could manage to eat the rest of the other dishes which we were still cooking. The dishes that really stood out for me that day was the Laksa which was I think as authentic as you can get, and the Bak Kut Teh which despite the simple ingredients was soo delicious & flavorful and the Prawns with salted egg.

Singapore Food Fest - Part 1

2008-06-22T21:58:00.002+08:00

feast1
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

My latest sojourn to Singapore last month proved to be the ultimate food fest/ gluttony parade in all my years of visiting this island nation. After 4 days and 3 nights of non-stop eating I do believe that my system had Singapore food overload, I was actually ready to come home, or at least my stomach was. Travelling with 4 or 5 foodies like me to Singapore meant that we were able to order a lot of different stuff at one go, unlike before when it was just me & Sg friends SL or LW, I would feel quite frustrated that I couldn't order everything that i wanted to try. After a delay with our flight we got to Singapore ready to chow down, we got directions from the hotel concierge on the whereabouts of the nearest good hawker place and he recommended one near the Esplanade. We decided to do a leisurely walk towards the area since it was still quite early for dinner, we hadn't even walked 5 mins. yet when we saw the tempting oily delights of Old Chang Kee, a food stall chain found all over Singapore that sells fried snacks ranging from meat pies, fried seafood balls, fried sotong (squid) etc. Let's just say we were there awhile, we tried almost everything on display. And yet we did not stuff ourselves silly, we controlled the urge since we knew we had to be ready for the main event. Good thing though that the hawker place was a bit hard to find, we got lost a bit so by the time we found the place we were quite famished already. Needless to say the above photo is everything we ordered. To think this was just Day 1!!!

Chocolate cravings

2008-05-22T23:09:00.001+08:00

Chocolate Cake - Midnight snack!
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

On my drive back from chinese class I suddenly had this craving for something sweet & cakey that just would not go away. I had to go through my brain rolodex to see what places would still be serving dessert at 9pm near our area. The easiest haunt would have been at Mickey D's for some hot fudge sundae or apple pie, but my craving was really for cake. I ended up at our friendly neighborhood Starbucks which I knew would have the answer to my hearts desire. I actually ended up with more calories than what was deemed legal when it came to after dinner snacks, I could not resist the Sausage Roll which is my ultimate SB favorite, imagine a lovely pork sausage slathered with some mustard then wrapped in a super flaky & buttery puff pastry - it was heavenly! Then for "dessert" I ordered the chocolate cake which was disappointing, I've had it before and I don't recall it being this sweet and it was a tad bit dry already - sadly it was not worth the calories. I'm now lying in bed feeling like such a glutton, I need to have more will power!!!

Chawanmushi w/ salted duck egg

2008-05-21T21:12:00.003+08:00

Chawanmushi w/ salted duck egg
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Today mother-earth decided to host a mahjong game for a good friend of ours visiting from Hawaii. So since I had to man the kitchen I decided that chawanmushi or steamed egg would be the perfect dish to serve for dinner, the rest of the dishes (pork barbeque, spinach soup) I would just buy at a favorite restaurant near our store. For this chawanmushi, I got the recipe only recently from my cousin B who took the Beginner's cooking course at CCAC, she was totally raving about how easy & delicious it was, so I really had to try it out. Having made steamed egg before I changed my method a bit when I was advised by our Hawaiian friend to lower the flame when steaming this dish, he said it will result in a more smoother texture & he was right! Although cooking time was extended for 10 more mins. It was sooo smooth & silky. Plus I added some chopped salted duck egg on top for added flavor. The entire dish was devoured by one & all.

The Ting Tings

2008-05-20T20:50:00.004+08:00

I stumbled upon this awesome British duo called The Ting Tings on MTV while I was channel surfing. They were performing the song "That's not my name" which is such an uber catchy tune that I just had to download it on my ipod right away. It's been awhile since I've been instantaneously impressed with a band, it's been so long that I don't even recall when the last time this happened. I googled them to see what they were all about and it seems that they have achieved some success in the UK already, now I guess they are ready to conquer Asia.

Pancit Luglug

2008-05-19T22:50:00.002+08:00

Pancit Luglug
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

This plate of Pancit Luglug was one of the dishes we had ordered on our day trip to Anvaya Cove. It was middle of last year that I first tried out the offerings of this resort and unfortunately I was not impressed at all. Food service was slow and when it finally came it was sooo disappointing. But I tried to be understanding as they were still in the early stages of their soft opening. So on this latest trip, almost a year later I was expecting to see more of an improvement from them. Food definitely was better but not yet in the category of good, it's more in the so-so stage considering that they are a first class resort. Service was decidedly slow when you take into account that it was 2pm already and there was no lunch crowd since it was a weekday. I guess I have to anticipate my next trip and hopefully by then I can expect the good unexpected.

Addicting!

2008-05-12T21:52:00.001+08:00

Addicting!
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Since mother-earth has been back from her trip, yours truly has had no more serious kitchen duty to perform except as sous chef to the queen bee. I can honestly say that those 10 days she was away were an eye opener, I really take my hat off to all the moms/wives out there - it is really hard work!!! As a way to relax, I have been having this after dinner drink during my down time infront of the TV. I discovered this instant Milk tea drink made by Lipton as I was making my supermarket rounds. I have been a big fan of sweetened milky tea for awhile now so I was soo excited to see that it is now super easy to enjoy it without having to deal with the tea bag, then adding milk & sugar, it's now all in one small packet, you just add hot water!! The taste is just perfect, it's how I would have prepared it if I had done it myself.

Mango Torte Madness

2008-05-06T22:23:00.003+08:00

mango
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

We enjoyed this lovely mango dessert from Dulcelin brought over by pal Jack for T & G's birthday party. I've had this torte many times before and for some reason I never really thought it was fantastic or even yummy for that matter. Sure it was pretty to look at with all the luscious vibrant looking mango balls, but for some reason I always felt that the mangoes were tasteless. It was only now that I realized (due to the lack of a freezer at the venue) that this dessert was not to be eaten in a semi-frozen state as suggested, but was best when it has all but defrosted already. Only then can you truly taste the decadent combination of mangoes & cream & the nutty caramely crust. Arrgh calories calories!!!!

Scenes from a Pool Party!

2008-05-06T00:09:00.003+08:00

It's the middle of summer here in South East Asia, the perfect time to indulge in some yummy ice cream with all the fun stuff added into it!!! Enjoy!

Caramelized Bananas

2008-05-01T20:31:00.006+08:00

Caramelized Bananas
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Our backyard plantain banana (saba) produced a bountiful harvest this week, some were already rotting that I had to quickly start giving them away. I decided then that this would be the perfect time to try to make Caramelized Bananas since I had loads of them to experiment with. I sliced the bananas in half then placed them on a pan and sprinkled them with brown sugar, then I dotted some butter all over. I baked it in the oven till the bananas turned nice & golden, by this time the sugar had already melted with the butter. It was quite yummy & super easy to make, although not too pretty to look at. I'm thinking I can do it a la Mode next time.

Fish Fillet w/ black bean sauce

2008-05-01T20:16:00.002+08:00

Fish Fillet w/ black bean sauce
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

For mother-earths welcome home dinner I decided to cook her a fish dish which I again saw in Yummy magazine. I think there must've been an error in their recipe because the dish certainly lacked in saltiness, and the one big boo boo I did was I didn't taste the sauce before adding it to the fish. I normally do do a final taste test but I don't know why I completely forgot it this time. Plus the fish was a tad bit overcooked by maybe 2 minutes. Recipe said 10-15 minutes steaming and I only did 10 mins. can you imagine if I did it for 15 mins.? It would have been as tough as pork. The only saving grace is that the finished dish looked so lovely.

Sliced pork in Yu-Xiang sauce & Brocoll

2008-04-30T23:31:00.004+08:00

04302008186
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I was quite impressed with myself tonight. Looking at the above photo of our dinner made me realize that I cooked everything from scratch all in an hour, including prep time!! Father-earth was quite happy with our meal as it's been awhile since mother-earth cooked any broccoli (she actually doesn't like it which is why she won't cook it). I followed Master Lu's method of cooking the broccoli which came out to be a vibrant green color after parboiling. I then sauteed the broccoli with some garlic & a little bit of oyster sauce for flavor. The next dish continues my Shanghainese trend for the week, I saw it in one of Mother-earths Pei Mei's cookbooks and it seemed simple enough. Sliced Pork in Yu-Xiang sauce. Yuxiang translates literally as "the flavor of fish. Now why this name was even used is odd since the sauce has no fish nor does it taste like fish. However, the spices and seasonings in yuxiang sauce were apparently used originally to flavor fish dishes, hence the meaning. I had to revise the recipe a little since I wasn't able to find the clouds ear mushroom at the nearby supermart & I thought mother-earth still had some water chestnuts in the fridge but it turns out that she had bamboo shoots. So I decided that I had to make do with what was on hand & ended up using the bamboo shoots which I sliced into thin strips & then parboiled to get rid of the unpleasant smell. The meat was then marinated before it was cooked in the spicy Yu_xiang sauce.

Easy Salmon Bake

2008-04-29T21:40:00.002+08:00

Easy Salmon Bake
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I used to be intimidated by the term Bechamel sauce, I guess it sounds so fancy & so French that I automatically assumed that it was too complicated to make. Bechamel is one of five mother sauces in French cooking and is also used as a a base for many other sauces, think of it like a jumpstart sauce. So today I decided that it's about time for me to try my hand at making Bechamel also known as white sauce with this Easy Salmon Bake recipe I saw in Yummy magazine. The recipe for the white sauce called for melting 1/4 cup butter then adding in the 3 tablespoons flour combining it very well, cook for 3 minutes then whisk in the 1 1/2 cups milk & cook till sauce thickens, it was soooo easy and the sauce came out so smooth and light. From my research I found that this method I did was called the quick method, apparentlly, classic Bechamel sauce can take over an hour to make what with having to make clarified butter, scalding the milk etc. But I was already happy with the results of my sauce traditional method or not.

Braised Lion's Head 狮子头 in clay pot

2008-04-28T20:58:00.005+08:00

Braised Lion's Head
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

It's been awhile since mother-earth made Braised Lion's Head, a dish that evokes memories of my childhood growing up with my sister on D. T. Street. Having decided that I would make this for our dinner tonight, I went online to see if I could find the origins of this classic family favorite of ours. I was really surprised to find that this was a dish that traced it's roots to Shanghai, I always assumed that with it's popularity, it would be a dish from Fujian province where my grandparents are from. Now I'm really curious as to how my grandmother and the other chinese families here in The Pines got introduced to this dish because I can remember eating this since I was but a wee little sprite which was some 30 odd years ago (scary thought!), a time when the internet was non existent. I have been a fan of cookbook author Eileen Yin Fei Lo for quite sometime now, she does things old school, meaning she still uses mainly traditional chinese ingredients in her cooking & she doesn't do short-cuts, (buddha jumps over the wall soup takes 3 days), you can tell that she "honors" those classic chinese dishes that have been around for generations. Her version of this dish was quite simple enough and I had all the ingredients on-hand which was the key thing. The secret to the success of this dish is that the ground meat has to be marinated first before they are formed into huge baseball sized patties, then pan fried till its gets a nice golden brown crust. I did this first step yesterday and placed the patties in the fridge, then after coming home from work I continued on to the next step which is to place some chinese cabbage in claypot with some stock then put in the patties & let it braise for an hour or so till done.

Cyma Lemon Chicken

2008-04-27T20:56:00.003+08:00

Cyma Lemon Chicken
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

A recent discovery or should I say discovered by someone else but was brought to my attention, was the Lemon Chicken at this local greek restaurant chain named Cyma. I had been hearing raves about this place for sometime and when I finally did try it out last year I was so disappointed by the lamb that I ordered, I had to send it back to the kitchen because the meat was so tough. I went back again early this year with much hesitation, but my aunt who was with me was a big fan of the place & encouraged me to try out this chicken dish of theirs which she really loved. Lo and behold I was totally blown away, the chicken was falling off the bone tender (which is how I like my roast chicken), you could taste the lemon & rosemary in every bite, the sauce was tangy yet sweet yet not overtly so, plus I loved the addition of feta cheese as a topping. Price wise it was around P350 (US$9) which is pretty reasonable considering how good it was. So today since father-earth wasn't going to be around for lunch ,me & Xtiane indulged ourselves in this heavenly greek fare and stuffed ourselves silly. Just stay away from the lamb though.

Meet Baby Mischa

2008-04-27T19:56:00.001+08:00

Meet Baby Mischa
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Here is a first glimpse of cousin T & M's new bundle of joy. I can already tell she is gonna be a looker!!

Shrimp Foo Yong

2008-04-26T22:21:00.007+08:00

Shrimp Foo Yong
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Shrimp Foo Yong 2
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

What happens when a crab-lover like me has to cook Crab Foo Yong for a crab-hater like father-earth? Simple. Just replace the crab with shrimps, which is exactly what I did for our dinner tonight. Saw the recipe in Yummy magazines Jan '08 issue and just couldn't resist trying it out since crab/shrimp foo yong has been one of my all time favorite dishes to order whenever we go out for chinese. I was tempted to try out this particular version because of the fact that tau miao (pea sprouts) was used instead of the usual bean sprouts and it really gave this dish a whole new dimension in terms of flavor. After peeling the shrimp (250g), I deveined it and washed it in some rock salt & water, after draining the shrimp I marinated them in a generous amount of ginger juice, (a staple in our kitchen) for a few mins. While waiting, I combined the sauce ingredients which consisted of oyster sauce, rice wine, stock, sesame oil, sugar, pepper & salt in a saucepan and let it cook till it came to a boil. I then set aside the sauce & returned my attention back to the marinated shrimp which I then strained of the ginger juice. The shrimps were now ready to be added to my 5 beaten eggs. For this dish I felt that a non-stick pan was the best thing to use especially since I was dealing with eggs, I wouldn't want to deal with eggs getting stuck to the wok scraper-rama!! So first I sauteed the garlic, onions & leeks till tender then added the tau miao & carrots, at this point it's best to turn down the heat of the pan to low before pouring in the shrimp/egg mixture. Continuously move the eggs & shrimp all over pan and cook till just set & not dry. Now you can add some cornstarch water into the sauce mixture then cook till thick. Pour this on top of the omelet. This dish is best served while piping hot.

San Bei Ji (3 Cups Chicken)三杯雞

2008-04-24T22:10:00.002+08:00

San Bei Ji (3 Cups Chicken)
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

With mother-earth out & about traveling to the Land of our Forefathers, I have been whipping up dishes that I know she doesn't like but which I and father-earth like a lot. One of them is the dish that I cooked for dinner tonight San Bei Ji which literally means 3 Cups Chicken. The name stems from the original recipe which calls for 1 cup Sesame Oil (que horror!), 1 cup Soy Sauce and 1 cup rice wine as the main sauce ingredients that is then cooked with the chicken. This dish is quite popular in Taiwan but traces it's origins to Jiangxi province in southern China. I had to research quite a bit online as there were numerous recipe versions to choose from. The one I finally decided on used only 1/3 cup each of sesame oil, rice wine & soy sauce, which to me sounded like a reasonable portion of ingredients. Cooking this dish was quite easy, I just sauteed the garlic, ginger & chilis in the sesame oil then added the chicken pieces & poured in the sauce mix of rice wine, soy sauce & sugar then let it simmer for 30 mins. I then added the basil leaves & scallions at the very end before serving. That was it, easy peasy and super yummy!!! Go on and try lah!

Earth Day & Buridibod

2008-04-22T20:00:00.004+08:00

Earth Globe
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

I knew Earth Day was fast approaching with all the events being advertised over the radio & on TV. So with all the talk of green this & green that I unconciously planned tonights dinner menu to include not one but TWO healthy vegetable dishes, an event that is unheard of in our highly carniverous household. For the first dish, I used the leftover ground pork stir fry that mother earth made extra before she embarked on her annual trip to Lam Hai, I decided that I would saute it with some chayote which I knew father earth liked a lot. The next dish was one that I saw in Yummy Magazine and featured a very interesting combination of ingredients. Imagine grated RAW plantain bananas, mashed sweet potato, mushrooms & malunggay leaves as it's main ingredients. The dish had it's roots in the Ilocos region and was called Buridibod. Believe me I was a bit wary at first to the success of this dish but decided to push all negative thoughts aside and put my faith in the capable editors at Yummy. In a casserole, I first sauteed the garlic, onions & the grated banana in some olive oil till tender then added some chicken stock ( the recipe called for water), then in went the sliced mushrooms & mashed sweet potato & I let it simmer for 5 mins. after which I put in the maluggay leaves & added salt & pepper & a dash of sesame oil. Then came the taste test. The dish was amazing!!! It was creamy but still had some texture from the maluggay leaves & mushrooms. It's so hard to describe how it tasted because it's as if my taste buds were still adjusting to this new flavor experience. The bottom line is that IT IS GOOD & HEALTHY!!!! Happy Earth Day!!!

BAck to Blogging

2008-04-16T21:25:00.002+08:00

04/13/2008
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

It's been AWHILE since I updated my blog, sorry to my loyal readers for abandoning you. Now that life has somewhat settled down to normalcy, I think I should jumpstart my blog again but this time I am changing the format a bit and will be focusing mainly on my foodie creations & travels & experiences with food. I know I know there are so many blogs out there talking about food, but what's life without food, food makes life interesting & fun. Food makes the world go round in my book! To start off my blogging with a a bang, I am featuring my first ever crab dish that I cooked on Sunday for lunch. Mamasan brought me home a lovely live crab from the wet market and I was (as brutal as it may sound) quite excited with the prospect of killing my first crab. I tried to remember all Master Lu's lessons in my head with regards to killing & cleaning crabs & was quite surprised to see that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I even remembered to remove the sac located near the crabs eyes to remove the bitter taste. Guess I've seen Master Lu do it so many times that I just sorta remembered it by default. I decided to make Crab with steamed egg since the recipe looked easy & I luckily had all the ingredients on hand. Crab with steamed egg is kind of like eating Chawanmushi with a whole crab cooked in it, and believe me, the steamed egg tasted heavenly since the combination of the crabs natural juices mixed with the egg made it extra flavorful. It was cooked perfectly if I may so!

Birthday Queens

2007-06-15T22:38:00.000+08:00

My neck and shoulders have been giving me a lot of grief lately, so I was forced to skip the joint birthday celebration of Mona & mAe at Click the other night and hie off to this massage therapist from China. I decided that in my absence I would send them both roses, and thought it would be even cuter if they each got a beauty pageant crown to go with their bouquet. It was quite easy to find these crowns at Q, and I had my florist attach a crown to each of them. Thanks to Jigs for sending me this lovely pic she took of them.

Aaargh! I SPLURGED!

2007-06-04T22:42:00.001+08:00

Aaargh! I SPLURGED!
Originally uploaded by cutejoos

Couldn't resist buying this Tokidoki belt bag, the design was really the selling point for me. Couldn't find any other pattern with this specific belt bag design though, so I had to shell out quite a bit of moola - no more shopping till next month!!!!

Zero and counting . . .

2007-02-18T19:08:00.000+08:00

Zero and counting . . ., originally uploaded by cutejoos.

What a great Chinese New Year treat to fit into this size 0 dress which I saw hanging at Bayo. I think someone attached the wrong sized tag for this, unless of course I have lost considerable weight . . . NOT!!!!

Best Movie!!!

2007-02-01T22:14:00.000+08:00

I was so happy to see the cast of Little Miss Sunshine winning big at the recent SAG awards. I saw this movie with my friend Soony when I was in Singapore and I absolutley loved it, I never laughed so hard in my life. It was such a joy to watch. As a filmmaker, I think I will die happy if I will be able to make one good movie during my lifetime, especially if it was as memorable as this one.

Birthday message

2007-02-01T21:53:00.000+08:00

I can't believe another year has passed and it's my birthday again. 10 years ago I could never fathom the idea that I would actually be as old as I am right now. So scary to be a year older. It was quite timely that I heard this song on the radio yesterday "The Sunscreen Song", it's been so long since I last heard it playing on the airwaves. For people who know this song but haven't heard it in awhile, I suggest you search for it and try to listen to it again, and for people who don't know what I'm talking about, I highly suggest you try to download it from somewhere in cyberspace. Listening to the lyrics again, I came to the realization that it's been almost 10 years since the song was released but almost every advice it gave was soooooo true. It's almost as if this song foretold the future in a way. I think adding another 10 years, this song will still hold true. Take a Listen. Happy Birthday to me.

The lyrics to Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen, by Mary Schmich:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Andy and her pink bike!

2006-12-25T23:54:00.000+08:00

Andy and her pink bike!, originally uploaded by cutejoos.

Here is my god daughter Andrea and the pink bike I got her for Christmas 2006!

2006-12-24T11:43:00.000+08:00

Click!

Check out the new digs of Click! The Pines newest post production house.

Suvarnabhumi Airport - bangkok

2006-12-02T01:26:00.000+08:00

Suvarnabhumi Airport - bangkok, originally uploaded by cutejoos.

This beautiful monument greets visitors at the departure lounge at Bangkoks newest airport.

Sit back and relax

2006-12-01T17:40:00.000+08:00

12/01/2006, originally uploaded by cutejoos.

Finally was able to enjoy a relaxing night out after my stint as MobiQ has come to an end (?). It's been awhile since I've enjoyed a good Mojito

2006-12-01T17:37:00.000+08:00

Arrival of Krispy Kreme

This is the moment all of Pines has been waiting for, the arrival of these little beauties to our shores.

2006-11-03T21:02:00.000+08:00

N93 Review

Tried my hand at doing a video review of my N93, my voice sounds way too nasal because I had a cold :)

The big 5 0 0 0!

2006-11-02T22:10:00.000+08:00

The big 5 0 0 0!, originally uploaded by cutejoos.

Thanks to everyone for supporting my WATDAHEK blog for the past 2 years. I have finally hit 5000 visitors so a big thank you to all my loyal fans!!!!

Food Fiesta 2006

2006-11-01T16:22:00.000+08:00

Home cooking

Our All Saints Day Food Fiesta courtesy of my Grandma. Hope all the cousins who watch this are jealous!!!!To the rest of the world, here is a short description of each dish. Turbo Honey Chicken - the chicken meat was marinated in a mixture containing honey and cooked on a turbo broiler, Pancit Canton aka Stri fry noodles - is the usual concocotion you can find in most chinese restaurants only my grandmas is better _ NO MSG!!!, Kiampung - is a special rice dish of people from the Hokkien province of China which is glutinous rice cooked with broth, meats, beans and mushrooms, Lengua in cream of mushroom sauce - is the new invention for the year, Lengua or tongue, pigs tongue was used here is cleaned and boiled then sliced before adding the mushroom sauce. Chopsuey - stir fry vegetables, Hot and Sour Soup - needs no explanation, Peanut Balls w/ Black Sesame and peanut soup - this special dessert was made by ME with the supervision of the master, GRANDMA of course and normally contains just peanuts, but our version has the added twist of black sesame and the special peanut soup which is raw peanuts boiled in water till it gets really soft then sweetened with some sugar.

2006-10-31T23:42:00.000+08:00

Viva Mexicali

Our food fiesta continues with some yummy scrummy Mexican fare!!!

2006-10-30T08:02:00.000+08:00

Movies, Munchies & Lady Liberty

Things me and Xtiane did while at the mall

2006-10-22T21:15:00.000+08:00

Food Frenzy at UCC2

I re-edited this video to fix the audio issue, so this is just a re-posting

2006-10-22T00:55:00.000+08:00

Caffeine Overload!!!

Have I finally reached level 10 on the pathetically pathetic level of humanoids with this clip of my lunch???

2006-10-22T00:53:00.000+08:00

Anchovies & Olives2

sad saturday with me and xtiane having pizza

2006-10-16T23:57:00.000+08:00

Ladies Night at UCC

It seems that this whole month has been a non-stop food fest ever since my trip to Sg. To continue the tradition here is another food-fest with the cutejoos production team.

CUTEJOOS productions

2006-10-15T23:25:00.000+08:00

CUTEJOOS productions, originally uploaded by cutejoos.

After doing 2 mobifilms together, we finally took our official portrait together on a recent brainstorming session at UCC cafe.

2006-10-14T21:23:00.000+08:00

Anchovies & Olives

me & xtiane were in the mood for some pizza since dinner food was a bit blah!

2006-10-11T21:35:00.000+08:00

Bitter Cherry & Watdaheks lunch parade

Went for my yearly spine adjustment at the chiropractors afterwhich I passed by Food Mag to get my check and have lunch with friend cherryberry!

2006-10-05T15:05:00.000+08:00

Yummy Bun

The yummy lunch me and Soon had before watching the movie "Little Miss Sunshine", my first ever movie watched in Sg.

2006-09-19T00:58:00.000+08:00

SUSHI at SAKAE!!!

It's been awhile since me and the girls had a night out! It was nice to catch up on each others lives after sooo long.

2006-09-15T07:56:00.000+08:00

N93 arrives via FEDEX

I got the shock of my life when the Fedex man stopped at the store bringing with him this big package and looking for moi!!! I was thinking to myself, DC sis didn't say she was sending me anything? It's not my birthday! I think I would've remembered if I ordered something from Amazon?! So I quickly scanned the package to see who sent it, when I saw DCI, I couldn't believe it!!! Would they actually send my N93???

2006-08-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

N90 underwater

Experimenting with different ways to get the N90 to shoot underwater

Casting call by CLiCK

2006-08-22T21:11:00.000+08:00

Jackie's cast was bombarded with lots of wacky & funny messages courtesy of the Click crew. Despite being incapacitated for the next 6 weeks, she was still the perfect hostess during our lunch meeting at her place.

MFM 2006

2006-08-15T18:58:00.000+08:00

Has it already been a year since I first saw the Tv ad on Discovery Channel which, as dramatic as it may sound, changed my life forever? Time really has flown and attending the Philippine leg of the semi-finalist workshop made me realize that in another few months a new MFM winner will be announced. It was really great meet up with the folks at Discovery again and I also got a chance to meet people from Nokia. Acclaimed Philippine director Jeffrey Jeturian was also there and we actually "bonded" for most of the afternoon as we were waiting for the semi-finalist to complete their mobifilm. I had only planned to stay till after lunch but in the end I ended up staying till the event ended. Congratulations to Joel Cardenas and Rey de Guzman who made it to the finals.

Presenting Christopher William Mancino

2006-08-10T21:28:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law Will for the birth of their first baby, born last Aug.1, 2006. The baby came in at a hefty 9.1 lbs.

Last but definitely NOT the LEAST!

2006-07-18T22:22:00.000+08:00

I had been getting these weird left side headaches for more than a week already and kind of figured that my teeth were due for some checking, I don't know if this only happens to me but when I have these "tylenol can't cure headaches" it can only mean 2 things, I need to check my eyes or my teeth. It finally dawned on me that I still had one wisdom tooth left and had a suspicion that this might be the cause of my suffering. After doing some x-rays, my doctor determined that my 3rd molar was ready to go. Since my previous surgeries with my doctor went very well, I was not at all worried that this would be the same quick and easy procedure as before. Boy was I wrong, apparently my 3rd molar was decidedley larger than normal, plus the bone surrounding the impacted tooth was quite thick. So there I was suffering for more than 1 1/2 hours on the "operating chair", the doctor must've used every possible instrument of torture on me, I could hear drilling, sawing, sucking, it was just awful. I was so relieved when it was over.

Lily

2006-06-25T22:50:00.000+08:00

Here is Lily the daughter of my cousin Val, it's been awhile since she posted this pic on her site but it's always been my favorite.

Grub Club: Lemuria

2006-06-25T22:09:00.000+08:00

The Grub Club had another gastronomic adventure at this newly opened restaurant/wine cellar in San Juan called Lemuria. Funny to note is that the chef at this place is the wife of the chef at Bykes Cafe, the place where the Grub Club had our last get together. The restaurant is owned by a German couple whose main line of business is selling German & Austrian wines. It has only been a week since they opened their doors to the public so I was not surprised to note that our group of 18 were the only guests for the evening. All the dishes we ordered were beautifully prepared, although my Mushroom with Gruyere soup was a tad bit salty, I loved my appetizer of Smoked Cheese ravioli and my main course of Herb crusted Prawns with Pasta Negra was very good except for the sauce on the pasta which was a bit too fishy for my taste (I think it was called Uni cream). The desserts were all scrumptuous, we practically ordered one of each on the menu and passed around the plates for everyone to try. The only downside of this place is the price, our meal was definitely not cheap.

Mark and Marc and Makeover

2006-06-19T18:42:00.000+08:00

America's Next Top Model?
Bee-yatch look

Having to attend two events in one day was certainly tiring for little ol' me. It was the wedding of my good friend Marc at 630pm and the innauguration of the new dental clinic of my favorite dentist also named Mark. I decided that I was going to do my hair at noon so that I wouldn't look too crazy for the wedding (being that I had a small part during the mass, what happened there is another story). After I was done at the salon I rushed to the clinic just in time for the ribbon cutting, luckily I met up with Marl at the clinic who was game enough to join me on this bright idea I had of having a Make-up counter Makeover. We both had a blast at the Bobbie Brown counter where the very accomodating Darren was there to give us both a "new" look. Since I was attending a wedding, my make-up was done in warm tones, while Marl on the other hand opted for the smokey eye which we were both dying to try out. I even used my cellphone to video the step by step way of achieving this awesome look.

Snack Attack

2006-06-17T14:52:00.000+08:00

It was finally time to have a snack in my new/old room, think of it like an innaugural meal. It's been awhile since we had Shakey's thin crust pizza and their signature MOJO's. Me and Miss X chowed down like pigs to the Garlic and Cheese Pizza with extra beef, mushrooms & garlic and the small order of MOJO's with garlic dip.

Room with a View

2006-06-16T19:21:00.000+08:00

Here's my new and improved room, as my cousin commented it is now fit for human habitation. It took me almost an entire month to clear out all the 20 years worth of S*** from my room, there were days when I wanted to cry from being so frustrated at all the junk I had accumulated. But the end result was certainly worth all those back breaking days.

Independence Dive

2006-06-16T18:31:00.000+08:00

Taking advantage of the Independence day weekend, Amy organized a diving trip to Anilao. It's been almost 3 months since my last dive so I was pretty excited to go on this trip. The resort was really packed with fellow divers, so it was a good thing that we got their by 630am. We did 2 dives, one at Mainit and the next one at Bahura, both considered to be high current dives.

Crab Night

2006-06-05T21:21:00.000+08:00

Tifanny and Grace treated us to another special Crab night to celebrate their birthdays. It's been awhile since I last saw them, so it was really great that we got a chance to chat up on all the latest happenings. I ended up being so stuffed, I must have eaten my equivalent of 2 whole crab.

Spaghetti al Tonno

2006-06-05T21:04:00.000+08:00

Here is my attempt to recreate my favorite pasta dish from Figaro. I've been eating this same dish for so long I figured I should more or less know how to make it.
My recipe calls for a 3 cans of Solid Tuna in oil, 1 bottle of prepared pesto sauce, a handful each of pitted green and black olives (sliced), about 2 tbsp. of capers (rinsed), 1 head of garlic (minced), a handful of button mushrooms (sliced) and olive oil for sauteeing. Saute garlic in hot olive oil till lightly browned, add the rest of ingredients one by one and saute until thoroughly mixed, make sure not to overdo the mixing which may cause tuna to be too mashed up, it's best to see a little bit of tuna chunks. Add enough of your favorite pasta and toss till covered. Top with lots of grated parmesan and Serve. Bon Appetito

Cha-cha the Dog

2006-05-21T22:32:00.000+08:00

Here's the newest addition to our familia, Cha-cha the Dog. This caramel colored sweetie comes from the breed Lokalus Askalus aka a Mutt.

Mad over Mojito

2006-05-21T21:55:00.000+08:00

Discovered this new drink on my trip to Hongkong, new friend Cole mentioned Lime, Mint & Rum so I was sold, I really had to try it by then. I really liked this drink but Cole had said it wasn't the best he's tried, so now I'm on the prowl for the best Mojito around.

Open Studio Event HK

2006-05-21T21:38:00.000+08:00

That's me during the Open Studio Event at Cyberport in Hongkong. It was my first time to give a speech/presentation, so I pretty nervous. All went well thank goodness. I actually looked quite slim in my pics. . . nice hair too!!! hahaha!

Night at Bykes

2006-04-09T21:49:00.000+08:00

It was a night of total glutony as the Grub Club went on another one of it's gastronomic field trips, this time to a place called Bykes. This had to be one of the bigger gatherings of the G.C. because of the excellent primer that Mrs. Darcy gave us a few weeks back when she posted pics of the dinner they had here. We were truly not disappointed with the amazing selection the chef carefully prepared specially for our party. We had 3 big appetizers (hungarian sausage, sauteed pork belly & tuna tartare), a beautifully presented salad with shrimps on the side, 4 main courses (braised lamb shanks, shrimp curry, steamed fish, and bbq pork)and this super yummy Asian fried rice. It was just crazy, and definitely satisfied the carnivore in me.

Suman lessons

2006-04-02T22:27:00.000+08:00

Elsa who has been in my grandmothers employ for a number of years took time out to share her mom's special recipe for Suman (sticky rice cooked in coconut milk), before leaving to be full time wife and soon to be new mom. Making Suman is not as easy as it looks, it took around 4 to 5 hours of squeezing, cooking, stirring and not mention individually wrapping each and everyone of these little babies. I made Elsa a special montage of pics taken during that day as a little souvenir of her time with us.

Katre with friends

2006-04-02T22:02:00.000+08:00

It was supposed to have been my birthday treat to my "metro group" of friends. But after much cajoling with Jack, who had conveniently forgotten to treat us during his birthday last November, he ended up footing the bill for our lovely dinner at Katre. This Meditteranean fusion place has been one of my favorite restaurants in the city & it is where I can indulge in my all time favorite pasta dish, the ever simple but yummy Aglio Oglio spaghetti, the chef never fails me when I say I want extra garlic. But honestly speaking no matter what I order at this place, everything is really good.

Watch and be Welcomed!

2006-03-22T23:10:00.000+08:00

My friend RJ recently entered the field of producing with the new home & lifestyle show called "Welcome Home". Hosted by the very cute Robin da Roza, every episode showcases one distinct home, with in depth interviews with the home owners regrading personal style, decorating tips and the like. You can catch this 30 minute program on Studio 23 every Sunday at 11:30 AM

BACK TO BLOGGING

2006-03-22T22:23:00.000+08:00

It's been over a month since I last posted on my blog. Sorry to my loyal "fans" who have missed reading about my adventures. For some reason I have been mentally exhausted since January, which I attribute to the events of the last quarter of 2005. But now finally I'm now energized and ready to BLOG with a vengeance. Hope you guys stick around!!!

My friend Mel

2006-02-04T21:17:00.000+08:00

belated happy birthday mocmoc!
Originally uploaded by chocolate monster mel.

My friend chocolate monster Mel, the baking queen, has just added food photography & styling to her list of accomplishemnts. Please check out some of her yummy pics.

My Thai

2006-01-23T00:11:00.000+08:00

Here is the article that appeared in Thailands second largest newspaper regarding the First Time Mobile Film Makers Award. Fellow winner Ndol sent me a digital copy to add to my collection of newspaper clippings.

GOOGLE me!!!

2006-01-11T20:58:00.000+08:00

A Feast for the senses

2006-01-09T22:20:00.000+08:00

My photographer pal Arnel had convinced me that it was advantageous to my video career to take some footage of the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo. The last time I attempted this was around 5 years ago, so I pretty much knew what I was in for. We decided to head towards Echague street to see if any of my store owner friends would be willing to let us go up and shoot from their building, we were fortunate that Josie from Mostwell was very accomodating and let us up into their 3rd floor balcony. In the end though, me & Arnel had to climb down from the balcony onto the roof of the 2nd floor since lots of electrical wires were blocking our view. The footage I shot was awesome, the entire street was literally covered with a sea of people, it was total pandemonium as soon as the procession started.

First Dive of the Year

2006-01-08T23:40:00.000+08:00

Me & Tim got the day=off to take Wes on a diving trip to Anilao. We drove to batangas right after work on Friday but didn't arrive there till 11:30pm because of heavy traffic. This was the first time I dove on a Saturday and was surprised to see Aquaventure with so few guests, it was as if we had the whole resort all to ourselves. Our first dive was at Mainit, and it would be the deepest depth Wes had ever gone 90 ft. we were able to see 1 black tip shark & 2 schools of barracuda. The 2nd dive was at Kirby's rock which features this massive wall, water visibility was excellent so it really showed off the colorful plants & corals on the wall, there were a lot of moray eels & huge lion fishes. It was 2 very different dives, one was more action packed with stronger current & the other was an easier dive but was visually more appealing.

Kitchen Princess

2005-12-26T00:53:00.000+08:00

Trying to avoid the Christmas crowd, I was finally able to go shopping for gifts for my godkids today, Christmas day. Yes, admittedly I am one of those who procrastinate when it comes to shopping for Christmas. I couldn't resist buying this Disney Talking Kitchen for one of my godkids Andrea. As you can see from this image taken a few hours after I dropped off the gift at her place, Andy has fallen in love with her new toy.

And the winner is . . .

2005-12-24T21:50:00.000+08:00

Here I am accepting the gigantic check from Discovery channel & Nokia representatives for winning the First Time Mobile Film Makers Award last Dec. 15, 2005. It was truly a proud moment, the 2 months of hard work really paid off. Please check out the mobifilms website to see my award winning entry. THANK YOU to all who supported me all through out, especially to Jackie, Lesley, Ica, Christiane, Melissa, Amy, Mama Loy, Sockie, Jigs, Louie & Carina.

Beeline for Bibingka

2005-12-11T20:25:00.001+08:00

.

One of life's simple pleasures for me is eating a freshly baked/cooked (over charcoal) bibingka. Despite my no-carb diet, I just could not stop myself from ordering one while we were at Tiendesitas. Bibingka is a mixture made from eggs, flour, coconut milk, sugar & topped with grated coconut, slices of salted duck egg & butter.

Every Tom, Dick & Harry

2005-12-11T20:15:00.000+08:00

Couldn't resist taking this shot while we were doing some shopping at Tiendesitas. They were just the cutest little . . .

Discovertree

2005-12-09T22:53:00.000+08:00

Saw another beautifully decorated Christmas tree at the lobby of Intercon hotel.

Not so little chicken

2005-12-09T22:04:00.000+08:00

I usually hate movies about animals and avoid them like the plague, no Benjie or Lassie's for me!! So guess how shocked I was that I really really liked the new Disney animation Chicken Little. I had an appointment at the Intercon at 2:30 which was pushed to 3:30 at the last minute, so I decided to take in a movie since the weather was icky with rain, didn't feel like much shopping at all. I had wanted to see Reese Witherspoons new movie but unfortunately it was gonna end past 4pm, so I had no choice but to watch Chicken Little. Oh my goodness, the movie was hilarious, so funny, editing was very tight, didn't have too many dragging scenes like singing and stuff which I really really hate! This is really a MUST SEE movie!!!

Hamming it Up

2005-12-09T21:49:00.000+08:00

This was the sight that greeted me when I decided to drop by Excelente on Palanca street, as you can see it is very famous for it's cured hams. With only 3 people at home, I usually just buy a fourth of a kilo.

To Pho or not to pho

2005-12-04T22:28:00.000+08:00

I have been cutting back on my carb intake for the past 2 weeks to try to bring down my triglyceride levels so says my doctor. But I guess with a ton load of projects that I've been working on at the same time, I kinda went ballistic when I saw this new restaurant "Pho Saigon" on Banawe st., I love Vietnamese noodles and haven't had one in a long long time, so I was pretty excited to try out their Pho. I don't know if I was just hungry or what but everything was so good, the noodles, the coffee, the spring rolls, it was all so heavenly!!!

A Visit to the Big House

2005-12-02T22:09:00.000+08:00

This is probably the most famous house in the entire archipelago, the house of BIG BROTHER. Despite not having watched a single episode, I still couldn't resist seeing it when I went to pick up my paycheck at FOOD magazine.

Switching to JD

2005-11-29T00:08:00.000+08:00

Just saw the video for the new INXS song "Pretty Vegas" and it looks and sounds awesome. Their new album SWITCH will be released on November 29, and I'm looking forward to seeing how well their new vocalist JD Fortune gels with the band, being that Pretty Vegas was something he wrote on his own. But I must say that he looks super hot on the video! Hopefully he will be a worthy replacement for the late, great Michael Hutchence.

I'm seeing Red!

2005-11-28T20:35:00.000+08:00

"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches . . . "

Thanksgiving Feast

2005-11-28T18:41:00.000+08:00

Here is the thanksgiving feast that I had been slaving over since 9am. I made 2 turkeys, 2 pecan pies, & the mashed potatoes w/ parmesan cheese, the clam chowder soup was made by the cook while my aunt Judy made her own wholewheat french bread which we spread with garlic butter. Everything was all GOOD!!!

Turkey & Pie

2005-11-28T18:25:00.000+08:00

This is my first attempt at making pie, and I must say the results of my Pecan Pie were just purrrfect!!! Thanks to Judy (filling) & Melanie(crust) for sharing their recipes with me.

This was possibly the hugest turkey I have ever cooked in my life, it must have been at least 20 lbs., the thing was enormous and you can just imagine how heavy it was too.

Star Sighting

2005-11-23T22:40:00.000+08:00

Of all the unlikely places to catch my first ever glimpse of "Madame" in the flesh, had to be at a church where I had gone for a relatives wake. It was almost 10pm and we were on our way home, when my aunt caught sight of her standing by the entrance, I quickly took out my N90 to shoot some video, unfortunately because of the low lighting conditions the phone couldn't manage to pick up an image of her. I have truly failed the Great Manolo.

Angus Burger

2005-11-22T21:15:00.000+08:00

For the past few weeks I have been craving for a really good hamburger, I guess it started more than a month ago during the trial shoot of the N90 in the swimming pool when Louie took us to this hamburger joint called WHAM! for our lunch, I swear those hamburgers were one of the best burgers that I've had in my life. They were huge 1/3 pounds of pure beef goodness, the damn thing couldn't even fit in my mouth, but man were they yummy! So today, when I saw Brothers Burgers, I knew that it was a decent enough place to satisfy this hamburger craving of mine. I ended up ordering the very pricey Angus Burger at 220php a pop which was despite not being as huge as the Brothers Pounder was as the counter guy said, "Taste really different from our regular burger". With that kind of sales pitch, the carnivore in me just had to try it. With such good meat being used, I should have kept my burger plain & simple in order to savor the actual taste, but I couldn't resist not adding on the sauteed mushroms & glazed onions & of course the garlic cream cheese spread. When my order was finally called, I was disappointed to find that the meat wasn't quite as tender as I would have liked, I think that they cooked it a bit too long which made the meat a bit tough, but inspite this the burger did smell wonderful & the meat definitely had a lot of flavor. The important thing is it really hit the spot! I'm planning to go back next time & order a regular burger together with another Angus Burger and do an actual taste comparison.

Autographs anyone?

2005-11-21T20:58:00.000+08:00

I dreaded seeing myself on TV since I assumed from the sneak peeks that Channel News Asia was showing of me that what I said during the very short interview was something totally incoherent. But after watching the whole show tonight I realized that I was able to redeem my little faux pas after all. I finally get to be on regional TV and I had to look so harassed, my hair was a mess & I had a huge pimple on my cheek. Most of my fellow semi-finalist were shown also, but for some reason only Ferlin & I had actual talk time. I was also surprised that they did not even mention about the ongoing contest of Discovery/Nokia.

YOU?

2005-11-20T22:07:00.000+08:00

Couldn't resist taking a shot of this huge display, I wanted to remove the "O" tho.

It's in the air

2005-11-20T21:46:00.000+08:00

The holiday season at the mall is in full swing with the huge wreaths hanging all over the place. Had to search high and low for a suitable dress to wear for the cocktail event next month.

Disco Madonna

2005-11-18T20:50:00.002+08:00

Am finally back from 3 weeks of hibernation as I call it while I was doing my final mobifilm submission to the First Time Mobifilm Makers Contest. Haven't updated my blog in awhile, guess I was too stressed to even deal with my updates, but I'm now back on track. One of the first things on my "Back to Normal" agenda was to buy my ultimate idol Madonna's new CD "Confessions on a dance floor". I had already downloaded the first single "Hung Up" on my N90, and made it the ring tune on my phone. It sounds way cool. All hail Madonna!!!

Happy Halloween

2005-10-31T18:51:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy halloween!!! The above image was taken during our Halloween party last year where me & Mae won best in costume. I was dressed as the very controversial Michael Moore - with videocam as accessory.

20 years of Porsche

2005-10-27T22:53:00.000+08:00

How lucky were we, that on the 2 nights we were staying at the Ritz carlton, one of those nights was the 20th anniversary celebration of Porsche in Singapore. It was just unbelievable to see rows and rows of these fabulous cars all lining the driveway of the hotel.

Commecial material

2005-10-26T22:02:00.000+08:00

Here I am being filmed for a tv commercial featuring the new Nokia N90 at the poolside of the Ritz Carlton Millenia. Yes Virginia, this is my 15 minutes of fame!!!

15 to 6

2005-10-26T21:10:00.000+08:00

So the moment of truth has arrived, from the 15 hopefuls, 6 have been chosen. And yes, I was fortunate enough to be one of them. Please check out the submissions of my fellow finalist:

Bob from Bali
Ndol from Thailand
Soon Ling from Singapore
Oman from Singapore
Noel from the Philippines

I've been Discovered!

2005-10-24T21:04:00.000+08:00

I haven't posted anything about my plans to join Discovery Channel & Nokia's "First Time Mobile Film Maker's Award" till now. I guess from the time I was informed that I was one of the semi-finalist from this dude named Harry from Singapore, things didn't really sink in. There were days before i got my ticket to singapore that I thought Ashton Kutcher was gonna come out and say that I was being PUNK'D big time. But it was really really true "I WAS A SEMI-FREAKIN-FINALIST!!!!!!
Click this LINK to go to go to the official mobifilm site & view my submission