MOVIE REVIEW: BREAKING DAWN

[photo grabbed from IMDB]

Despite being a Twilight fanatic (I read and possess all of Meyer’s Twilight saga e-books) I was not able to watch this movie though it was shown last November 2011. I guess I didn’t want to move with the crowds that are sure to deluge this second to the last installment of the Twilight series. Besides, I didn’t want to end up like the others who watched this first installment – so bitin as they stepped out of the moviehouse . That is why I refrained myself and succeeded too for the past three months. But my resolve just broke when an officemate arrived with a DVD or I guess it’s just the Valentine’s fever still hanging in the air. But whatever the reason I’m afraid I have to admit that I WATCHED BREAKING DAWN! And I don’t regret it one bit because it truly is a great movie!

It starts with a scene of Jacob running out of the house and transforming to a wolf as he receives an invitation to Bella and Edward’s wedding. Afterwards, wedding preparations are being made with Alice arranging the whole event. Bella is nervous as she gets the recurring dream that all her human guests get killed by Edward’s vampire friends (particularly those who are non-vegetarians like them). But Alice assures her that everything will be fine and that she just needs to get some beauty sleep. Before she sleeps though, she and Edward talk inside her room and Edward tries to convince her one last time to back off (not from the wedding) but from becoming a ‘monster’ like him. But Bella was insistent and believes she won’t become a ‘monster’ with Edward and the rest of his clan there to guide her.

Then, the big day arrives and I like the rest of the movie going public, I too was enthralled with the couple’s beautiful garden wedding where human, vampire and even wolf guests live in peace. Edward leaves us with this very touching line “No measure of time with you will be long enough, but let’s start with forever…” Then, suddenly Jacob arrives and he apologizes for being late. Jacob explains that he came just to see Bella one last time before she becomes a vampire. But Bella admits she wants to wait until after the honeymoon and so Jacob gets upset knowing that having sex with a vampire may kill her. Edward tells him to mind his own business and the other wolves appear to pull Jake away.

Edward whisks Bella off to an undisclosed place for their honeymoon and soon we discover it is an island off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They make love just once when Edward sees how bruised and battered he has left Bella that one time. And so they spend the rest of their honeymoon playing chess. Bella tries to convince Edward to touch her again but instead Edward takes her to do so many tiring activities (like cliff diving, mountain climbing, etc.) so that by the time they get back, Bella is too tired and just sleeps.

Two weeks into their honeymoon, Edward leaves Bella by herself to hunt. She sets off to make breakfast for herself and while eating ends up vomiting what she just ate. Bella realizes that her period is late and sees a tiny bump in her stomach. They both believe that it is impossible for her to be pregnant until Bella feels a kick in her tummy as if the baby was trying to tell her it’s there! Then, Alice suddenly calls because she says she stopped seeing Bellas’ future so they became worried and the two share their belief that Bella may be pregnant. The two immediately pack their things to return home. Edward intends to have Carlisle abort the baby but Bella enlists the help of Rosalie to prevent this from happening.

Meanwhile, Bella calls her Dad to say she’s caught some bug and needs to extend their trip so she can’t go home just yet. But Jacob gets worried and visits the Cullens to know what really happened to Bella. It turns out that Bella and Edward had been home for two weeks already and so Jacob is shocked to see Bella looking so terrible and obviously sick. Until Bella shows her stomach obviously pregnant (like 7 months pregnant!) when only a month has just passed. The Cullens tell Jacob that they too were quite surprised with what has been happening and they have completely no knowledge at all about the baby – Alice’s powers seem to be not working because she can’t see the child nor Bella’s future anymore. Jacob asked why they haven’t tried to take the baby out of her since it is obviously killing Bella but Bella insists on keeping the child – with Rosalie’s help. Edward goes outside to enlist Jacob’s help to convince Bella to let the child go since it may end up killing her. They make a pact that if Bella remains unconvinced and ends up dying, Jacob gets to kill Edward at last.

The wolf pack learns what happened and they make a decision to kill Bella since they are unsure if the creature inside Bella’s womb will be safe for the tribe or the rest of the humans. They want to kill Bella but Jacob refuses since she’s still a human (and of course he’s in love with her). So Jacob uses his birth right to become a true alpha to resist Sam’s order and creates a second pack. Seth decides to follow Jacob but Jacob at first insists that Seth return to the pack. But Seth is adamant and I guess knowing how Seth has befriended the Cullens too, he just lets Seth be. Jacob tells the Cullen’s to get ready since the pack is going after Bella. Jacob and Seth set up guard outside the Cullen’s house and both are surprised at the arrival of Leah who has also left Sam’s pack. She says she’s just looking after her baby brother but in fact, she just wants to be out of Sam’s pack (still due to unrequited love reasons) and so Jacob just lets her be too.

The next scene show the Cullens getting worried because the baby has started to grow stronger as Bella gets weaker and weaker. It has started to crush her ribs and may end up killing/crushing her from the inside. They are fearful that her heart may give out before she gets to deliver the baby. But Bella insists on holding on for as long as she could and when her heart gives, Edward or Carlisle gives her the vampire venom to try to start her heart back up. But they can’t give her any guarantees that it may work. Bella and Edward get into an argument because Bella seeks Edward’s understanding and help in raising the baby even after she’s dead but Edward says he can’t possibly love someone responsible for her death and walks out the door!

They all huddle around a deathly pale Bella as they try their best to figure out a way to help her survive with the baby growing fast inside her. Until Jacob starts thinking that the baby may want blood which Edward reads from his thoughts and agrees to and so they make Bella drink blood. The plan worked and Bella began feeling better. Bella and Edward make up their differences as well and Edward apologizes for not understanding Bella more. Then, all of a sudden Edward hears another voice and thinks at first it may be Bella but realizes it was the baby inside her speaking to him in his mind.

But the Cullens have another problem, for the past few days they have not been able to venture away from their home not just to protect Bella but to protect themselves too since Sam and his pack are just outside the perimeter of Jacob’s pack and they would stop at nothing to get the Cullens. But they need to hunt since they fear Bella may deliver the baby soon and they need to be strong for her. So Jacob goes out and tries to talk to Sam and his pack. He convinces them that when the time comes he will be the one who will kill the baby when it gets out because he’s the only one they trust. Meanwhile, as they talk Esme, Carlisle and Emmett are able to escape and leave the compound to feed.

Suddenly as they were talking about baby names, Bella bends forward to try to reach her cup of blood when her back just breaks! She falls to the ground with her knee breaking as well. Edward moves fast to catch her head as she falls and so Edward performs an emergency cesarean procedure on Bella. But they can’t cut her tummy because the placenta with the baby is just too strong. So Edward sinks his teeth into her tummy to break her open. Edward successfully gets the baby out and confirms to Bella that it’s a girl – their Renesmee.

Bella smiles as she gazes at her baby until suddenly her heart stops beating. Edward injects his own venom straight into Bella’s heart to try to revive her then he proceeds to bite her all over but it doesn’t seem to work. Jacob feels his worst nightmare has come true. So he vowed to Edward that he won’t kill him because he wants Edward to live in guilt for the rest of his life for killing Bella. Jacob walks out and slumps on the ground crying.

Jacob, in his fury, then proceeds to do what he was meant to do – kill the monster that killed Bella. Sam and his pack, on the other hand, prepare to kill the baby, too, even if it meant killing Jacob and the rest of the Cullens. But the moment Jacob sees Renesmee he imprints on her and he sees her entire life flash before his own eyes. Now, he has no choice but to do everything to protect her. Meanwhile, Edward, Alice and Jasper get out of the house to get ready for the approach of Sam and the rest of the wolves. They are severely outnumbered but good thing Carlisle, Esme and Emmet return just in time. The fight continues with Leah and Seth fighting their own kind to save the baby. Then Jacob comes out to tell everyone that he has imprinted on the baby. Now, they can’t do anything to hurt her as "whoever a wolf imprints on can’t be harmed, it’s their most absolute law”.

After that they began cleaning out Bella’s body and Edward voices misgivings that they may have been too late but Carlisle said there’s still hope and that he should listen to her heart that has began to beat even if haltingly. Slowly color begins to return to Bella’s skin, her bones and muscles repair themselves and blood starts to flow again through her veins. Memories in her dreams start to regress until she returns to her childhood with a younger version of her mom and dad and then her heart just stops and her eyes open – showing bloody red pupils.

In all, I guess I can say I truly enjoyed the movie despite the fact that it had less action scenes like the previous Twilight movies. It focused more on the love story between Edward and Bella and does no more than that but I loved it still! I don’t care what the others say that it was kinda cheesy and boring but I liked the way the director spiced it up a bit by putting a bit of gore especially in Bella’s childbirth and a bit of sci-fi effect with the blood rushing in her veins. It was a real good movie but just SO BITIN! I just knew I would feel this way but I’ll try my best to wait and be patient for the final installment. Meanwhile, I could do a film vs book review while waiting, who knows I may just have the time and energy to do it!

A SIMPLE VALENTINE’S DINNER

Today is Valentine’s Day and unlike most couples, we don’t usually go out on a ‘real date’. I guess this is because we do not really want to go through so much trouble lining up for our place in restaurants (because it would all be surely fully booked!) and neither do we want to be so cheesy as to walk hand-in-hand amid all the other couples out on a date that night. So we usually just eat a quiet and simple dinner at home with the kids and at times just buy a sweet cake or some ice cream for dessert. Sometime ago, the hubby used to bring me flowers but of late I told him to just buy me things that I need or want – like live plants (orchids) or books. This year, we did the same thing and just bought a cake at Red Ribbon. We went home and shared a simple dinner of chicken tinola and ate our truly luscious Tiramisu cake. Nope, the hubby did not get me flowers and neither did he buy me any gift. I guess he lacked the budget for it but the day did not pass without me receiving any flower. Of course it wasn’t from some secret admirer but from my little daughter who surprised me with a single red rose she bought from her own allowance, she is just so sweet!!! Thanks baby, you made my day complete!

TOP 21…What is happening???

Today we got the kids' report card from their class advisers at VMS and imagine my surprise when I found out that my daughter slipped from being number 14 in the 1st grading (okay, I let that go because I figured, it was only the first quarter) then to number 15 in the second grading (okay still nothing to be fearful about since she slipped just one notch and we’d only be just five slots away from the Top Ten). But on the third grading and she slipped to number 21! Now it seems I don’t have much choice but to raise a howl!!! I wonder what is happening to my daughter??? I know she had made some good friends now and she’s relishing constantly being with them (with her lyre band practice and other get-together sessions after class) but I don’t think these are much cause for distractions on her part??? Does she need more tutoring? Maybe, but I think it’s too late for that now. Next year if she still doesn’t make it to the Top Ten during the first grading I think I have no choice but to get her a tutor. I don’t think I am still able to keep up with their lessons anymore. I guess all the cost is gonna be worth it just to ensure that my kid returns to the Top Ten circle.

ANTI-BILL SHOCK...?

This morning I got a surprising, well, actually the more apt word is SHOCKING text from Globe that I have already incurred almost 3k in internet charges...WTF!?!?! How the hell could that happen when I have just been using the Samsung Galaxy Tab for like 7 days??? I don't understand this at all! I knew I learned my lesson when last year during Kit's first month of using the new plan with his Galaxy Y, he unknowingly incurred very high (like 1800 worth) of internet charges because he failed to turn off the GPRS when he wasn't using the internet. So I called Globe then to seek their understanding and lucky for me that they understood since it's our first time. But they warned us that now that they taught me to turn off the packet data when not using the internet, they would not be so lenient the next time.

And so upon arrival at the office, I immediately called Globe to ask them what the heck was going on, I even asked if maybe they made a mistake and sent me the wrong message. But after a brief check with their records, they confirmed my worst fear - my bill has gone up again after just a month hiatus, and it seems these blasted GPRS charges are wreaking havoc on my phone bill charges?!? I told them that I just changed phones a week ago and how could it be possible that I incurred 3k of internet usage in just 7 days when I regularly check if my packet data is on and just use the free wifi of our office. They said that the culprit may have been fluctuation in the wifi, since most phones automatically revert to data charging every time the wifi signal falters.

And so I had no choice but to have my data charging cut completely! I would just have to use my prepaid sim and use supersurf if I want to go online. It would be my only remaining option if I didn't want this thing to ever happen again. I don't think their anti-bill shock plan of 999 per month is a viable option for me since I have wifi in the office. Oh well, I guess it's a wee bit of sacrifice that I have to make for my own peace of mind. Here's hoping I won't have to go through this harrowing experience again!

ANTI-RABIES SHOTS FOR DITSE

Last night Ditse arrived home from visiting her apos in Tondo and it seems their situation is still pretty much the same (the girl, her manugang, still bitching about Ditse's son) and her grandkids still crying buckets of tears whenever Ditse leaves them. It’s a heartbreaking situation that they have but it’s the best that she can do since her manugang won’t let her borrow the kids anymore because she’s using them to spite her wayward husband and make him come back to her (highly unlikely!) So even though she can’t stand being with her manugang and her troublesome family, she still makes it a point to visit her grandchildren because she loves them dearly. Her visit would have ended uneventfully if not for her being bitten by a stray cat as she was about to leave. She said the cat bit her on the heel of her foot and at first she thought nothing of it but last night when she mentioned it, I immediately grew apprehensive because I knew for a fact that cats have rabies too. So I searched the internet and saw that indeed some stray cats have higher rabies than dogs because they forage around in dirty trash bins and thus their bites are more prone to infections.

The next day at work, after the office flag raising and while eating breakfast of oatmeal on my desk I decided to conduct a more thorough search and discovered that the first thing she needs is a tetanus shot within 48 hours. And so I immediately texted her and told her to proceed to the nearest health center so she can have her shots for free. I tried to search for nearby animal shots center so she would not have to go all the way to San Lazaro where we went when my son was bitten by a dog when he was just four years old. Good thing, an officemate of mine said that anti-rabies shots were given at the San Jose del Monte health center and so the next day, DItse went there where it would be much cheaper. She spent only 500 for the first shot and the rest of the money I gave her (I gave 1K from the first pisonet savings) she spent on antibiotics. She told the health center officer that she didn’t have much money to spare so she was given a discount on the 2nd shot and would pay again on the third shot another 500, so I guess it’s better that way, huh! At least now she can sleep better at night knowing she would not suddenly howl at night like a rabid dog or feel her body stiffen as the rabies slowly spreads to her nervous system and her brain…ugh! Well, at least that’s one less thorn from our side, I just hope she stays safe from now on.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES 55 – Rocky road dessert

During weekends when we are at home, I try to do something special for the kids – maybe a baked goodie or anything sweet. This time I found something very easy to make from Casa Veneracion and since I had all of the ingredients in the pantry, I just went ahead and did it! This recipe for Rocky Road only called for some chocolate (I had some leftovers from Christmas giveaways), heavy cream (which I don’t really have but I just substituted all purpose cream) some mini marshmallows and nuts.
First, you melt the chocolate that had been roughly chopped into small pieces. Sassy recommended using a microwave oven but you can also use the double boiler if you don’t have a microwave. Then you add in the cream and mix until the chocolate melts completely. After that, you just fold in the marshmallows and nuts, pour into a prepared pan (lined with baking paper) and chill for several hours. My daughter even decorated the top with candy sprinkles before we popped it in the fridge (that’s her hand in the picture). We did this after we ate lunch and ate it as a dessert during dinner - truly delish and so easy to make too! Just the perfect ending for our grilled liempo and chopsuey dinner. Once again thank you Connie!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 54 – Hotdog, potato and tomato fritata

This morning, I opted to cook hotdogs in an unconventional way because I have gotten tired with the usual fried hotdogs with eggs on the side. Instead, I decided to combine the two to make a fritata. I actually got the recipe from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog. First, I fried the hotdogs (any kind) sliced thinly in a non-stick pan in a little olive oil. Then I fried the potatoes, also sliced thinly (like potato chips) on a single layer at the bottom of the pan. Then, once cooked through, I laid a second layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. After that the cooked hotdogs and then spices and seasonings like dried basil, salt and pepper were scattered all over the frittata. Finally, I poured beaten eggs (about three of four depending on the size of your pan) on top of the mixture. I just made sure that every nook and cranny is filled with it. Then, I lowered the heat and allowed the eggs to set. Once set, I inverted the frittata onto a plate by turning the pan over and returned it to the pan to cook the other side. I waited a few more minutes until the frittata is done! Then I served it for breakfast with catsup and/or mayonnaise.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 53: Chicken, bacon and macaroni casserole

For our dinner tonight, I decided to cook a pasta dish that would not be so light as to resemble a snack but something a bit heavy that could stand as a meal by itself - so we had chicken, bacon and macaroni casserole (for the exact recipe just browse the Casa Veneracion blog). First, I marinated the chicken fillet in a little salt and pepper. Then, I cooked the macaroni in a little salted water for just five minutes, drained it though it wasn’t cooked through yet because it would be cooked a bit more later.

Then, I melted a bit of butter in a pan and cooked the bacon for two minutes. After that, the chicken, carrots, bell peppers and peas were added to the pan (but since I didn’t have any peas, I substituted corn). I poured in about a half cup of water and just let it boil. When the mixture simmered, I lowered the heat and cooked it uncovered until the liquid is reduced. More salt and pepper may be added, if needed. Next, the undercooked pasta was added and I just continued stirring until the mixture is almost dry. The dish called for condensed mushroom soup but I didn’t have any so I substituted cream of mushroom soup. I let it boil for a few minutes more, then I turned off the heat and served it at once. My family says it tastes good even if it looked a bit like dried-up sopas. What’s more, they lament that the bacon was a bit soft, they would have preferred it to be a bit crispy. But I countered that the recipe did not exactly call for crispy bacon since it is only cooked for two minutes in butter. Oh well, at least I’ll need to remember that the next time I cook it.

FRIGHT NIGHT: A movie review

[photo grabbed from IMDB]

This is a remake of an old movie I grew up with although I can’t really recall who the main characters in the original cast were but I got interested in this remake because it featured one of my fave actors – Colin Farell. The story starts with a scene of a murder being perpetrated by a faceless monster on a family living in a Las Vegas suburb. The only surviving member of the family is a teenage boy who was then hiding under the bed in his parents’ bedroom and beside him on the floor is his father with his neck slashed open, while his mom lay dead on top of the bed. He tries to fumble with his dad’s gun but the creature arrives and kills him too.

Next, the main protagonist of the story is introduced in the person of Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin), a classic, all-American teen, with a motor bike he's trying to fix and an inexplicably hot girlfriend named Amy (Imogen Poots) who drives around in a lime green Volkswagon Beetle. Charley's mother, Jane (Toni Collette), is a Nevada real estate agent, and since people in Las Vegas are transient by nature few stay in Vegas for long. A new neighbor, named Jerry, started renovating the place, Jane sees a lot of concrete being removed from the house, though he doesn't seem to be installing a pool.

Jerry, their neighbor works night construction downtown. Charley attend class and the teacher takes morning roll and several students are missing including Adam, who used to be good friends with both Charley and "Evil Ed" Lee (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Charley doesn't seem to care that Adam is missing, but Ed looks incredibly concerned. After class, Ed pulls Charley away from Mark and Ben long enough to tell him that he's worried about Adam and the other kids who have gone missing lately. Charley doesn't want to talk to Ed, and so Ed has to threaten to release all the videos they made together dressed up as superheroes in tights if Charley won't meet him at Adam's house after school.

Charley, reluctantly agrees to meet Ed. Charley goes home sees his mom flirting heavily with Jerry. Charley is uncomfortable and goes off to Adam's house to meet Ed. Ed explains that he believes Adam was killed by vampires, and that in fact Charley's new neighbor Jerry is a vampire. Charley thinks he's insane, but they break into Adam's house. It seems that the house is the same one from the opening of the movie, because they use the pet door to gain entry. Ed carries with him a satchel that has crosses, holy water, stakes, and other vampire-fighting gear in it. They go through the house looking for signs of Adam and his family, but finds nothing. He explains to Charley that he and Adam were doing surveillance and have deduced that all the disappearances of late are localized to Charley's neighborhood, rather, from the house next door to Charley's. Ed says that he and Adam had been following Jerry for a while and that they just need to figure out how to defeat him.

Ed leaves as well, and is accosted by a bully, Mark on the street while riding his skate board. He runs away from the bully, loses his satchel with all the vampire fighting gear in it, jumps from yard to yard and eventually lands in a yard where Jerry's waiting for him. Jerry confronts Ed and asks him why he's nosing around and spying on him. Ed runs away and walks into an abandoned place Jerry then bites him, and pulls him under the water to drink his blood. The next day at school, Charley notices that Ed is missing. When he gets home from school that night, Charley is surprised by Jerry outside on his front lawn, who wants to borrow some beer for a hot date coming whom he wants to get drunk. Charley says he will loan Jerry a six pack and goes to get it. He leaves Charley to supposedly have drinks with his mystery date.

Soon Charley hears a scream so he calls the police, and a squad car comes to investigate. As soon as the squad car leaves, Jerry also gets in his big black pickup truck and drives away. Charley decides to break into Jerry's house to investigate. Once inside, Charley sees that Jerry's kitchen is totally empty, and the house is a giant mess except for a giant screen TV in the living room. Jerry returns and Charley hears him outside so he hides in the closet. Inside the closet he sees there are small rooms like the dressing rooms in a department store. Charley looks through peep holes in the rooms and saw that Doris is being held prisoner in one of them. Charley had to hide in one of the other, empty rooms. Jerry walks right over to where Doris is kept and takes her out of the room to feed on her. Charley watches as Doris motioned Charley to stay quiet. When Jerry is done, he locks Doris back up in the room and then leaves.

Charley then leads Doris out of the house safely. The two of them wait awhile (probably for hours) and start sneaking down the stairs into Jerry's living room. Finally, they make their dash to freedom and at this moment it seems Jerry knew they were there the whole time and was just playing games because when Doris walked out into the sun she bursts into flames. Charley is stunned and races back to his house leaving Jerry inside, laughing. Charley knows he's dealing with a vampire now, and decides to fortify his house with garlic, crosses, and everything else he can find to ward off all the evil.

Charley insists his mother not invite Jerry into the house or have anything to do with him, though Charley did not say that Jerry is a vampire. He leaves for school, and on the way stops at Ed's house. Ed's parents haven't realized their son is missing, since he kept odd hours and did strange things. He lied to Ed’s mom and goes up to Ed’s room, where he sees Ed's computer with tons of videos of Ed, Adam, and Charley playing "Squid Man versus the Knights". Charley also finds all the videos that Ed and Adam took where they were spying on Jerry but Jerry never appeared on the film because he is a vampire.

Charley decides to get serious about learning to fight vampires, so he heads to the Hard Rock Hotel and grabs a Las Vegas newspaper on his way in. He talks with Vincent of the "Fright Night" show but at first he doesn't want to do it, but then agrees, and takes Charley upstairs to his penthouse home somewhere in the hotel tower. There, Charley sees the immense collection of occult objects that Vincent has collected --- axes, swords, guns with silver bullets, chalices of sacred holy water, and more stakes and sharp things. Charley proceeds to ask him how to kill vampires for real but Vincent admits none of this stuff is real. Crestfallen, Charley heads home.

Amy comes over to Charley's house, and not long after that Jerry pops up by the door, trying to get invited in. Jane almost lets him in, but Charley begs her not to. Jerry tells Jane that Charley broke into his house and has been harassing him, and he says that either he comes in to talk about it or he calls the authorities. Jerry storms away coming back with a shovel and a blow torch, and starts digging into the ground to reach the gas line. Jerry takes the blow torch and sends some fire through the line and into the house making it EXPLODE. Jane, Charley, and Amy leap over the couch to avoid the blast and then escaped into the garage as the house burns down around them. They get into Jane's SUV and flee the scene. Jerry follows them in his truck and tries to run them off the road. Charley slams his foot on the accelerator and they run him over and keep driving but Jerry is still alive to claw his way through the metal to get at Jane or Charley. Jane impales Jerry with a street sign, getting him all the way through his body, though missing his heart. Jerry is in immense pain but the wooden post that runs through his body is too long for him to remove. Jane, Charley, and Amy pile into the other car and drive away.

They proceed to the hospital where they tell the doctors that Jane has been in a car accident, and leave out the part about vampires. Charley hangs a bunch of crosses all over Jane's hospital room, telling the nurses she is very religious. Meanwhile, Vincent, changes his mind and tells Charley to come meet him immediately. Amy and Charley then head to Vincent's penthouse. When they get there, Vincent tells them the tapestry is the emblem of an ancient kind of vampire tribe from the Mediterranean from more than 400 years ago, and that this particular vampire nested and created a sort of tribe of vampires. Then the security guard downstairs rings him to let him know there is a package delivery. But when the delivery arrives, Charley sees it's Ed, dressed as a delivery man, with a fake package for Peter Vincent.

Ed calls Jerry on his cell phone to tell him that Charley and Amy are at Vincent's place. Jerry makes his way there too. Ed and Charley battle with Charley knocking various things out of Vincent's display cases to use as weapons, including knives, battle axes, swords, etc. Meanwhile, Amy is running through the Penthouse trying to escape but Jerry confronts Amy just as she finished loading up a gun and shoots him. Jerry, unfazed, just plucks the bullets out saying silver is for werewolves. Charley and Amy run out of Vincent's penthouse and walk into the Hard Rock's nightclub. They see Jerry following them, but Amy thinks he can't do anything to them in a room full of people, but Charley countered that no one would notice if he killed them right there.

Jerry reaches Amy first and bites her neck, right in the middle of a crowd of people, with no one paying attention. Charley then heads back up to Peter Vincent's penthouse and tells him that he has to rescue Amy. Vincent says that he is too scared to follow him, but will give him a special stake that was blessed by Saint Michael and has the power to not only destroy a vampire, but also to free everyone from vampirism who was turned by that vampire. Vincent also relates to Charley that years ago he had an encounter with vampires and that is what made him start collecting all of this stuff. It turns out that Vincent's parents were attacked by a vampire, and that Vincent only survived because he successfully hid from the creature. Charley says he doesn't want to hide anymore, so he is going to take down Jerry. Vincent advices him to set Jerry on fire so that he is distracted, and then he could get close enough to stake him.

Charlie proceeds to a sporting goods store where he buys all sorts of materials like a crossbow and fire retardant clothes. Charley then heads to Jerry's house, smashing all of Jerry's windows to let sunlight in. Vincent soon arrives, who decided to man up and help take down Jerry. Vincent is outfitted with all the vampire-killing gear he had been buying through the years on eBay. The two of them search the house, coming to the secret hallway with all the little rooms Jerry carved out for his victims. Amy's in one of them, but slides down a trap door in the floor. Charley and Vincent head down and end up in Jerry's basement, where a giant mound of dirt is on the floor. The walls of the basement have been chiseled away to make it look like a catacombs cemetery. This is clearly what Jerry has been doing in his basement and not a pool.

Jerry appears locking Charley into a cave room with Amy, who is now a vampire. Vincent is left to fight Jerry, and Jerry just throws a small pebble at Vincent's face. It draws just a tiny drop of blood, which falls to the ground. Vincent laughs at Jerry at first, until he sees the blood has summoned vampires from the mounds of dirt all around the basement. Jerry has turned all the people he drank from into vampires too, and the blood has called them all to life. Vince uses a stake-gun to shoot wooden stakes at the vamps, and manages to kill one of them, with the vamp turning to ash. He also uses his shotgun to try to blow holes in the floor above, to let in light to keep the vamps at bay. Upstairs, Charley outsmarts Amy by staking her with the St. Michael stake just as she was about to bite him. It wounded her enough that he can get away, but does not kill her. Charley then heads to the main room of the basement to fight Jerry and rescue Vincent. He discovers that Vincent is starting to smoke in sunlight, which means that he is turning into a vampire himself. Jerry gloats that all they have to do is wait until the sun goes down, and then Charley will be theirs, so there's no hope for Charley to escape. Charley then starts putting a hood, mask, and glasses on himself and sets HIMSELF on fire and then runs towards Jerry. Meanwhile, Vincent starts shooting more holes into the floor above so that the sun can come in. The combination of the fire and the sun is too much for him, and he starts to melt away, just as Charley jabs the stake right through his exposed heart. Jerry turns to dust and drifts away and out of all the other vamps, an evil black spirit appears leaving their bodies and flying away. Soon they turn back into people with absolutely no memory of how they got in the basement.

Some time later, Charley's house is rebuilt and his mother is back to doing real estate. Everything seems back to normal, and Charley and Amy seem to be good friends with Vincent, who lets them hang out in his penthouse at the hotel. The movie ends there and all is well after they successfully vanquish the evil vampires after all. It was an OK movie and though most of it was dark (or maybe my video copy wasn’t really good) it was fun enough to watch with the whole family – not too gory and neither was it filled with much explicit sex scenes as horror movies are wont to do, just right for a movie with the kids.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 52: Sesame Chicken in Hoisin Sauce

For today’s lunch/baon, I cooked another recipe using hoisin sauce and this time I got it from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog. It’s another really easy and time-saving recipe since I just marinated the chicken fillet overnight in salt, pepper and calamansi juice. Then, the next morning, I fried the chicken pieces by batches with a little oil in a non-stick pan then I added the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and a bit of sugar. You may add more salt or pepper, if needed. Then I took the pan off the fire, added the sesame oil and it is done! The original recipe called for the addition of sesame seeds and onion leaves but I didn't have both in my pantry - but it still tasted delicious!

A NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB!

At long last after quite a long wait I finally did it! I finally went out and bought myself a new SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 7.0 PLUS. You see I have had the money since November last year but I refrained from buying one at once because I have read in blog posts that a new 7-inch tablet will be coming out by December and so I waited until the last day of December but still no Samsung Galaxy 7.0 plus hit the stores. Finally, I heard of its arrival over at Yugatech’s blog at around the first week of January but I didn’t rush out to go and buy a new unit just yet. I waited a few more days to browse through reviews and restrained myself just a little bit more. You know just in case something better comes up and indeed something better did come up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 with an Amoled screen that has infinitely much brighter and crisper resolution display. But alas it is way beyond my budget already! In fact, I only just initially planned about 20 – 22K as my budget for the tablet but the 7.7 is already at 30K while the 7.0 plus is around 24K. But still I persisted and bought the 7.0 plus. Anyway, it had dual core processor already and never mind the not so clear screen resolution.

But you may wonder, if I would be spending around 24K, why not buy an Ipad? Well, my main consideration was that I didn’t have wifi connection at home and so I needed a gadget that had 3G and would allow me internet access using just my sim card. And since the Galaxy Tab at 24K already provides that, I just knew it would be the one for me. IPad’s 3G version cost something like 30K also! So it’s definitely a no-no. The 7-inch tab is just right because aside from having the feel and weight of a pocket diary/notebook, it’s just the right price! I just hope I would definitely be able to use it for blogging! Here’s hoping I could do real time blogging soon!!!

[photo grabbed from the internet]

MOVIE REVIEW: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

It’s our weekend to just stay at home and as our usual routine, we either spend the time just watching TV or movies in USB or just hanging out with the kids upstairs in the room while they play with the PC. The hubby usually just tinkers around with his carpentry work in the garage and basically leaves us in peace. On this particular day, after we ate a late lunch, we chanced upon a good movie at the Star channel – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the 3rd installment of the Chronicles of Narnia). The movie starts with Edmund and Lucy shown living in the house of a cousin, Eustace. They were staying inside Eustace’s bedroom just hanging out when suddenly they noticed that the water in the painting was moving. Soon, the water spills into their bedroom and continues to rise until they are submerged in water. When they rise up to the surface, they discover they are in a real ocean and with the ship in the painting right next to them.

The crew of the ship fishes them out of the water and they soon discover that they are in Narnia. The passenger on board the ship is none other than Prince Caspian. Eustace, on the other hand, becomes flustered with all that’s been happening and could not believe everything he sees especially after seeing a talking mouse and a talking Minotaur. Edmund and Lucy learn that Prince Caspian is on a voyage to search for the Seven Lost Lords of Narnia and the kids enjoyed joining them in their quest, well, except for Eustace, of course.

Soon they see land and they reach Narrowhaven, a city of Long Island and when they embark they find the city ‘seemingly’ deserted. But it wasn’t truly deserted as it seems because it is actually a lair of slavers and the four (Prince Caspian, Edmund, Lucy and Eustace) are captured and thrown into a dungeon. In the dungeon, they meet Lord Bern, the first of the Seven Lost Lords and he tells them what happened. Outside of the prison, they see some frightened slaves being led on a boat out to the open water. Then suddenly a green mist appears and disappears, taking the slaves with it. The Lord tells them that the other six Lords went off in search of the mist and has not returned ever since.

The next day, they were sold at an auction and a buyer shows up (actually the captain of the Dawn Treader) who takes over the town and sets all the slaves free. Lord Bern gives his sword to Caspian who gives it to Edward for him to use while in Narnia. The Dawn Treader soon arrives at another seemingly uninhabited island which is in fact, inhabited by invisible men who hop about on one foot. They abduct Lucy and trick her to go inside a magician’s mansion to recite a spell to render them visible once again. Lucy reluctantly does so after learning that they can neither read nor write.

Lucy finds the spell book, and finds all sorts of spells inside, including a spell to make snow and to make one beautiful. She tears that page out and finds the spell to make things visible. Lucy arrives with the master of the island, Coriakin who tells them to proceed to Aslan's Table, with a Blue Star to guide them, and lay upon it all of the Seven Swords of Aslan. But he also warns them that they are all about to be tested.

The Dawn Treader then sets out again, but they sailed into a storm. During the storm, Lucy has the bad sense to try out the beauty spell and she turns into Susan, and finds herself with her brothers Peter and Edmund in America. But in effect, she deletes herself and also their experiences at Narnia. Lucy learns her lesson and burns the beauty spell.

The next day, the Dawn Treader reaches yet another seemingly uninhabited island. They explore and reach a cave. Inside they find a pool of water with a golden statue at the bottom. Edmund tries to probe it with a broken-off branch--and the branch turns to gold in his hand. Then they realize that the statue is actually one of the Seven Lords, Restemark, turned to gold and dead. They retrieve his sword but Edmund was tested and obsessed with acquiring riches for himself. Caspian sees a resource over which he, as king, should take dominion and they start to argue. Only Lucy's intervention keeps the two from killing each other. Eustace, meanwhile, goes off exploring and finds more treasure than he has ever seen in one place. He finds a skeleton (actually that of Lord Octesian) and steals a gold bracelet.

Caspian and Edmund are looking for Eustace, when a winged, fire-breathing dragon swoops down from the mountains and scoops up Edmund so he could read a message burnt into the rocks: I AM EUSTACE. They then realize that the dragon is Eustace. The group stays on the island overnight to keep Eustace company. The next morning, the Blue Star appears to them. A mermaid comes to warn them not to continue their journey but they press on.

That night, Dawn Treader lands at yet another island, the Island of Aslan's Table. There the crew find three more of the Lords (Revilian, Argoz, and Mavramorn), not dead but fast asleep and tangled in their own beards. At Caspian's direction, they recover the swords that the Three Lords carried. They lay these, and the swords they brought with them, on the table--but they make only six. They still must recover one more. The Blue Star appears to them, and takes the form of a young woman--Liliandil (Laura Brent). Liliandil then tells them that they must sail on to one more island: the Dark Island, source of the Green Mist and of every man's nightmare. There Lord Rhoop (Bruce Spence), carrying the last sword, walks that island, mad with fear. This will be their greatest hazard, for the island will make any man's nightmare take real form.

And so they sail on to the island, armed and ready. As they approach the Dark Island, the Green Mist reaches out to them, though the men do their best to ignore it. All of them see their worst fear as embodied by the mist - Drinian sees a thick fog, that robs him of sight; Caspian sees a vision of his father, dressing him down; Edmund sees the White Witch, who offers him the same thing that she once offered him many years before: to make him her king. Eustace flies to the island, scoops up Rhoop, and sets him on board. Then, a Great Sea Serpent, which was imagined by Edmund attacks the ship.

Eustace fights with the Serpent but the Serpent takes Eustace in his jaws and throws him onto the rocks. Eustace flies off to Aslan's Table Island as the Sea Serpent wraps itself around Dawn Treader, threatening to crush her. Edmund and Caspian seek to steer Dawn Treader toward the rocks, to ram the Serpent. Eustace, on the sand bar, wakes up and sees the Seventh Sword nearby so he races to the table and lays the last Sword on top of the other Six while Dawn Treader's crew continue their desperate fight with the Serpent. Finally Edmund impales the Serpent with his sword. The deep darkness lifts, and Dawn Treader is in daylight again.

They set out alone in a longboat to Aslan's Shore. Aslan informs them that their journey is at an end. Caspian, knowing that he would never return from an adventure into Aslan's Country, decides at the last instant to turn back, and go back to Narnia to govern it properly. Reepicheep is welcomed permanently into Aslan's Country. Aslan then sends Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace back to earth, back the way they came. They find themselves back in the room in Eustace' house. Eustace hangs the fallen painting back on the wall--and in it, Dawn Treader is sailing away from them. The film ends with Eustace writing in his diary.

It’s a really good adventure movie. I am just not sure if it stayed true to the novel upon which it is based. I will try to read the book some time and tell you if it was indeed made in accordance with the book.

[photo/movie poster grabbed from IMDB]

MAC’S BIRTHDAY CAKE

It’s a nephew’s birthday today but we didn’t have all that much money and so it was his mom who actually spent for his spaghetti dinner and all that we bought for him really is just the cake. What was just different is the cake that we bought. You see for such a long time we have long been buyers of Red Ribbon cakes but since last year they have not come out with any new flavors and so this time around we decided to go back to an old favorite – Goldilocks. And guess what it seems they have good flavors of cake that we never even knew of. This one that we bought was called Almond Java Mousse and surprisingly it was not so sweet and neither was the cake so spongy. I guess they learned their lesson, you see we have been loyal buyers of Red Ribbon because their cakes are not airy, just full of flavors and very dense/creamy. It’s good that Goldilocks had ventured into these specialty cakes, too, truly one that I would recommend!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 51: PAKSIW NA PATA

Today, I tried to salvage the crispy pata that I cooked yesterday. It was still crispy but the inside was a bit dry and tough so I guess I needed to put in some sauce to make it a bit juicier, hence, the decision to make it into paksiw na pata. Besides, there was just a little left of the pata so I figured adding in some sauce would extend its life a bit further and feed all four of us better than if it were just plain crispy pata. I used the recipe from Connie so just check out the full recipe at her blogsite Casa Veneracion. The only difference is that I was unable to find any banana blossoms in our nearby talipapa so I made do without it. Also, I didn’t have oregano so I just placed star anise to make it a bit like pata tim and it turned out quite well.

NEW CABINET PROJECT FOR MY DAUGHTER

At long last, after my endless prodding for him to do it, he finally did – my daughter’s cabinet what else??? Well, I guess he got tired with all his furniture projects last year – the kitchen cabinet and two TV racks in a span of less than two months. So I guess he truly deserve the break but for this year, his daughter had long been hankering for him to make her a cabinet and now, he finally went out and bought some wood to add to the remaining few pieces he has left from previous projects. On the first day, Saturday, he did nothing but sand and smoothen the wood sometimes with a grinder, other times with just sandpaper. I know it’s a tiring and tedious process but I guess he wanted it perfect for his little girl – no rough edges that may harm or hurt her. And then, the next day Sunday, he set about assembling the cabinet. There was still no work/classes on Monday and so he plodded on with his project and by the end of the day he was finished doing the cabinet doors, imagine that? Just three days and he was able to assemble the entire thing already??? All that’s needed now is some paint, rollers and brushes and it’s good to go! I will update you and post more pictures as soon as it is through.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 50 – PASTILLAS, CRISPY PATA AND TURBO CHICKEN

It’s Chinese New year tomorrow which is why it’s a holiday for us also. I guess the Chinese went up in arms when P-Noy declared two Muslim holidays last year and so to appease them (I guess???) P-Noy decided to declare their New year celebration also a holiday. Well, that’s good for us since we’d be having more days off! Anyway we’re not really Chinese and we don’t really believe in all that feng shui but hey it doesn’t hurt to follow some of their beliefs eh? Like yesterday, my daughter and I figured it was about time for a haircut and so we went off and got a haircut on the eve of their new year because they say cutting off the hair also removes some of the bad luck we may have accumulated the past year. And then, we didn’t really have a sort of feast prepared for the night but I decided to just cook good food for our dinner tonight.

In the afternoon, the kids and I had fun doing pastillas from a recipe I have had a long time ago which is why I can’t remember where I got it??? All I know is that it needed a cup of condensed milk for every cup of powdered milk. But we didn’t have a cup of powdered milk and so we had to just make do with half of everything. We followed the no-cook version and just mixed everything slowly and during the last stages of mixing, it became quite difficult to stir the mixture. We left it inside the ref for a while and watched TV to let the mix harden a bit more. But, of course, kids being kids they couldn’t wait for very long and so Kaye took it out and began to form it into logs even if it was still quite a bit soft( I am not sure if it was because we needed to refrigerate it longer or maybe add a little more powdered milk but since we didn’t have the latter and my daughter lacked any more patience to wait, we decided to just do as she wishes.

As it is, the pastillas did not look so good even after my daughter dredged it in sugar but boy oh boy did it taste oh so good, almost like the pastillas that we are so fond of eating but find difficulty buying not just because it is difficult to find but because of its steep price. Now that we have discovered this, we now can easily do it at home…hurrah!





Then, for dinner I decided to cook turbo chicken using the Bounty Fresh Honey Lemon marinated chicken. But since the turbo is quite big and just cooking the single chicken would be quite extravagant/expensive I decided to also cook at the same time a bit of crispy pata to which I just added some salt and pepper a few minutes before it is placed inside the turbo broiler. I cooked both the chicken and the pata for a little more than an hour and we all had a hearty dinner at around 8. They said the chicken was a bit bland. I guess the sweet and spicy is truly their best seller for a reason eh? So now I know I won’t be getting any of their brands anymore. From now on I’d just stick to marinating my own. Then the crispy pata was a bit of a revelation - true the pata skin was quite crispy outside but they say the meat inside was a bit overcooked and dry. I guess, I’ll just turn it into paksiw na pata tomorrow to make it a bit juicier.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 49 - GARLIC CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS

Today, for the kids baon I borrowed a recipe from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog which he titled Garlic chicken with mushrooms. I marinated the chicken last night in just salt and pepper. Then when I awoke today, I fried some garlic in oil, and then reserved it for later. After that, I melted some butter and fried the chicken till it was just cooked through. After that, I placed the mushroom and the water in the mushrooms and let the dish boil for about 15 minutes. At first, I thought the dish looked dull and colorless and even lacked a bit of salt and so I added more salt. But there was still something lacking – some kind of zing to the dish. Until finally, when it was cooked and I garnished it with the roasted garlic, the dish totally changed! Truly amazing what garlic can do to spice up an otherwise bland dish! Thank you Dennis for this recipe!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 48 – Pork chop steak

Nope, this is not actually a new dish but rather another comfort food of sorts - a dish that’s quite easy to make and one that I just fall back on when I fail to think up anything new to cook. Anyway, my kids love this and so this is actually an almost weekly item in our breakfast/baon menu. What’s more, I can pre-boil the dish the night before in soy sauce, calamansi, pepper, garlic and onions so that the next day, what would be left for me to do is simply fry the pork slices in oil, return the marinade/sauce that I boiled them in last night, drop the freshly sliced onion rings before turning off the fire and voila! Breakfast/baon is done!

A SURPRISE GIFT!

I know, I know it’s not yet my birthday, it will be for another three months yet. However, I got a surprise birthday gift from my dad whose birthday we are actually celebrating today!!! Hurrah! Actually, it wasn’t truly a surprise because he has been hinting at it when we chatted a few days ago on FB. He asked if I still needed a TV and I said YES GLADLY especially if it’s his LCD TV that he’s giving away. But he never replied and so I figured maybe he was just kidding??? But when we arrived at his condo today, I saw that his old 32-inch Hitachi TV in the sala is still there. So, maybe that’s not what he was going to give me. Then surprise, surprise the kids saw a box of a 32-inch Sony Bravia behind the small sofa. Well, he sure as hell won’t be giving that to me would he??? Well, I guessed as much because what was inside the box was his old 21-inch LED TV in the bedroom - which wasn’t so bad at all. In fact, it was just right for our bedroom! Because it even had a free movable TV bracket that we can turn around any which way we want and a surround speaker! Thanks a lot Pa! I hope you win more raffle items in golf (because he won the Bravia in their Class 70 Xmas party) so that you could give me more hand-me-downs!

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

This entire weekend was spent bonding with family members who celebrated their birthdays in the month of January. First off, we went to my Aunt’s place in Pasig because it was her two kids’ birthday last January 8 and 11. Their party was held on the 14th at around 4pm but it was for the kids’ classmates and so we opted to come a bit later. Anyway, we were commuting since the hubby and Ditse (with son Mac, of course) went home after breakfast. We opted to stay behind and get a bit of studying done before leaving for Pasig at around 3pm. My brother called as we were traveling on a bus and wanted that I pick up his kids. But I can’t do so as I was on a bus with my two kids already.

There was much traffic which made Mike unable to pick us up at the market so we just rode the trike to get there. We arrived at their house at around 6pm and surprisingly there were just a few people milling about. The kids’ classmates have left and only about five kids remained. Auntie Chuchay, Tito Alex and Xuey have arrived but the host of the party was nowhere to be seen. It seems she’s still sleeping upstairs and then took a bath upon waking. It was past 7 pm when she went down and by then, Papa and Tita Espie have already arrived and I fed Kit and Kaye some spaghetti, hotdogs and fried chicken which were served earlier during the children’s party.

After a while, we ate dinner and I felt so full with all the delicious food that Ace has prepared for us - the best was the Bon Chon chicken style chicken that seemed fried with breading then cooked in a sauce that had hoisin and oyster sauce (I think!) I was too excited to eat to take some decent photos …sorry! After eating, the kids took a dip in the pool and by then, Papa was asking me if we could pick up Sam and Chi for Papa’s birthday tomorrow. Anyway, we’ll be coming from Pasig and they think it was a bit near. Well I am not sure if the hubby would agree to that so I told them he would just pick them up tonight after he gets back from Pampanga. I even called the kids’ grandmother to ask permission to get them at such late hour and thankfully she agreed.

It was around 12 midnight when the hubby arrived with only Chi because Sam didn’t want to come and just wanted to sleep. We fed them some leftover dinner first of the remaining pata (it wasn’t crispy but pata tim hehehe) but the bon chon chicken was already gone! But there were still some salad and pasta left over. Well, there were many people in the house (they had a guest from Norway, I believe, Mike’s boss at the farm). We slept in the loft at the children’s room with Kaye. Chi slept by herself on the double deck (coz I was afraid Kaye might fall off) while Nicole and Kevin slept on their big bed with the remaining friend who stayed for the night. Kit, Ace and Mike slept on the sofas downstairs. Before we slept, the hubby and I got to talking and agreed we both liked the design of the loft in the kids’ bedroom so I guess we’d be copying it in the new house we’re planning to build at BP within the year (hopefully!) Well, here are some of the pics that I was able to take…boohoo! No food pics!












PAPA’S BIRTHDAY

The next day, after rummaging around for some breakfast (since the host left us last night to attend a party) and after taking our baths, we left for Papa’s condo in Makati for his birthday party celebration. We took Auntie Jingay’s kids with us since she and Mike would follow us to the condo a bit later (well, he needs to attend to his guest but I think he won’t be able to bring him to Papa’s party because Papa was strict against bringing in strangers since his place is just quite small). The kids took their time getting ready so it was already around 11 when we arrived at the condo but unsurprisingly we were still the first ones there.

We ate some snacks (some nuts, chocolates, candies and other junk food) while waiting for the others to arrive. Then, in a while the food arrived (courtesy of Ate Marisa’s catering) then the lechon arrived too (brought by Dian from Fort Boni) and we finally ate and good thing I was able to get some decent food pics this time hehehe!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES 47: Disastrous corn maja

I know, I know I have made this dessert countless times before which is why I just don’t understand at all what I did wrong again this time. If you look at the picture on the left closely, the maja seems a bit watery, and indeed it was! I thought it was just like that at first and would later on harden as it stays longer in the ref but lo and behold even if I let it stay in the fridge overnight it still won’t harden!!! Maybe it’s in the milk I added to make up for the coconut milk that I lacked. I doubled the ingredients this time since every time I make this, I always make too little with just a half-inch of maja made. And so I tried to double the recipe but the results turned out disastrous. To fix it, I decided to reheat the entire thing and added more cornstarch and also some gelatin just so it would harden and be solid enough to eat. Well, it still tasted good even if it did not look so good. At the right is a picture of the ‘fixed’ maja. It looked fine at the outside (I used green gelatin, well, it’s the only one I have left) but actually it was still a bit soft and gooey, and a bit too sweet! So next time I guess I’d stay away from using any kind of milk and just stick to coconut milk.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 46: Beef Steak - my comfort food

For this morning, I decided to cook for my kids an all-time favorite of mine, one that I may consider a comfort food of sorts since it brings back memories of a warm kitchen and the smell of simmering beef wafting gently in the air. I know, it is also a favorite of my kids but I haven’t been able to buy as much beef as I want because well, you know, the cost and all plus the fact that you have to cook it a bit longer than pork to achieve that tenderness that just melts in your mouth. And so I pre-boiled the beef in soy sauce, calamansi, pepper and onions the night before. I also added some water so that the beef will become tender. Then, this morning I fried the beef in a bit of oil and let it boil in its sauce with some water to soften it just a wee bit more before adding onion rings just before I turned off the fire.

Then, for my lunch I also made a salad to go with the beef steak. I felt that in order for my diet to really work, I need a non-fattening dressing like vinaigrette and so I searched the net for white wine vinaigrette and found the following recipe:
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp white sugar
½ tsp salt
a pinch of black pepper

A friend gave me white wine vinegar as a gift last Christmas and so I decided to put it to good use with this salad, problem was when I was making the dressing I mistook the sugar for the salt so when I wanted to add more sugar (because the dressing turned out too sour for my taste) I ended up adding more salt than I would’ve wanted, oh dear. So I made up for it by adding more olive oil and sugar. Well, at least the dressing still came out fine. Next time, I should remember to lessen the vinegar a bit and add more sugar or even honey to balance the sourness.


P.S. Sorry I forgot to take pics of my kitchen misadventures today, maybe next time when I have done it right.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 45: BBQ SPARERIBS WITH HOISIN SAUCE

For the kids’ lunchbox today, I made a recipe that I got from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog though I made a few adjustments. First, I boiled the pork spareribs in bbq marinade, salt and pepper, garlic and a little sugar. Then, when the meat is already tender, I fried the meat in a little oil in a non-stick pan, returned the marinade to the pan and added hoisin sauce just before turning the heat off. Dennis’ recipe called for cooking the spare ribs in a turbo broiler but I decided to just fry it, adobo style and I’m glad the end result was still great - another flavorful but fuss-free meal for my kids’ baon!

Book review: FOR ONE MORE DAY by Mitch Albom

This is my first book for the year which I was able to download today thru the internet. Last December, I bought a copy of this book as a gift for a friend and though I wanted one badly for myself, I restrained myself and figured I would just get an ebook not just to save up on expenses but also on space because I don’t have anymore space on my shelf. And so today, I was finally able to download an e-book and I placed it in my Samsung Corby phone so that whenever I have available free time I can start reading. I will update you on the book’s story as I go along.

But first let me tell you why this is the book I chose to read. Actually I have long been a fan of Mitch Albom, ever since I have read his book – The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It’s a very good book which I was able to read in just one sitting. I know I haven’t been able to make a review/post about it in this blog, but maybe someday when I reread it, I will. And so ever since, I have been on the lookout for more books by Mitch Albom and this one title caught my attention since last year because it was touted as a good book to give for moms on Mother’s Day and so it tickled my interest, eventually I found out why.

The story is actually about a ghost and how a son was given the chance to spend one more day with his mother who was then already dead. It tells the story of Chuck Benetto who grew up idolizing his father who just went off and left them. As an adult, he begins to realize the many times he has taken his mom for granted though she has stood up for him many times in the past. Then he makes one final mistake when he (once again) chose his long-absentee father only to return home and find his own mother dead. And so, he ends up a broken man, with a myriad of problems in his career, family life, languishing in alcohol and regrets.

He finally decides to take his own life and on that fateful day, he takes a midnight drive back to his hometown but upon entering their old house, he finds his mother there (eight years dead), puttering about in the kitchen as if nothing has changed. He then spends the entire day with his mother and he gains valuable insights into their relationship which he failed to see before and others which his loving mother shielded him from ever knowing so as to keep his youthful view of his life and family intact. He learns how his mother worked hard (despite the downsides of their society to a divorcee) to put both him and his sister through college, how she patiently stood by him even if she disagreed with his decision to stop studying college and embark on a baseball career (because it was what his father wanted).

He was also able to admit to her the reasons for his absence during the last birthday she spent before she died. How he lied to her about a client meet-up when actually it was for another ‘baseball game’ for oldies that his father set-up for him so that he could once again get his foot back inside the ‘big leagues’ so to speak. But in the end he failed to do what his father wanted – return to baseball (even as a coach or a trainer) because he realized it wasn’t really his dream to live, but his father’s. And in the course of wanting his father to return his love, he desperately tried to live a life that wasn’t meant for him…

Chuck regretted not being there when his mother died for the rest of his life and he was finally given one more day to be with her. His mother also made him realize many more previously unknown factors from his childhood – including the reason why his father suddenly left them. It turned out that he had another family, a previous wife he married during the war when he thought he wouldn’t make it out alive which is why his mother decided to cut the ties between them - for good. And with that one fateful day, he was given the chance to understand everything about his seemingly failed relationships. But most of all, that one day gave him the chance to resolve issues in his family and get his life back on track.

In the end, Chuck was revived by a police officer at the scene of the accident and his experience with his mother at their house seemed just like a dream to him. But what matters was that it inspired him to quit drinking, reconcile with his family, and do things he may have failed to do. It’s a very inspiring story, a bit like the fatalistic movie, If Only, but with a different twist. The two stories main underlying message is how one should cherish the time spent with loved ones because you may never get a chance to show the person how much he or she means to you. In If Only, the story revolved around lovers Sam and Ian and how they spent one perfectly enchanted day before the other one dies. This time though the story revolved around a mother and how she shows that even through death, her love for him remains eternal.

P.S. I was not really able to read the ebook on my phone as I had originally planned because the fonts were a bit small and it was difficult to navigate the book using the Corby and so when I was able to buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus, I immediately installed the e-book and was able to finish reading the book one weekend we were at BP (Jan 28-29). It was that good, you just can’t put it down without finishing the entire story.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 44: TURBO CHICKEN IN LEMON AND PEPPER MARINADE

Here’s another easy dish because I cheated a little and used a ready-to-use marinade from McCormick, particularly the Lemon and Pepper Marinade. So all I really did when I bought the chicken thighs yesterday morning was marinate them in the mixture, let the chicken stay in the fridge overnight so that the next day when I pop them in the turbo oven all the flavors would be incorporated. But sad to say even if I marinated the chicken overnight the flavors still did not penetrate past the skin. In fact, only the chicken skin was a bit salty and sour and the flesh still quite juicy but tasted bland. Well, next time maybe I guess I needed to make some grooves or cuts in the chicken so that the marinade can penetrate. Anyway, here are pics of the cooked chicken.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 43 - GRILLED TUNA PANGA

For our lunch today, the hubby decided to cook the tuna panga that an officemate bought for me yesterday at Farmers market. It was the same thing we cooked last Christmas eve and I guess the hubby was a bit bitin then because there were so many people and he could only eat a bit of it which is probably why he requested me to buy again (if ever we are able to go to Farmers) and thankfully when my officemate left yesterday to do some errands in Cubao she willingly passed by Farmers to buy some fish.

It was an easy and simple recipe that he did. A few minutes before grilling the fish, he marinated the tuna in a little garlic, soy sauce, calamansi, and salt. Then he placed it over the grill and after like 30 minutes, the fish is done! He was careful not to overcook it lest the fish meat come out dry and tough. Instead, what he served for lunch was just right – very juicy and tasty tuna… just yummy!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES SERIES 42 - CHICKEN AND POTATOES IN LEMON CREAM SAUCE

Here’s another chicken dish for my kids’ lunchboxes which I got from CASA VENERACION. (As always just get the exact recipe from her site) I was able to buy some chicken fillets at the grocery yesterday and so I decided to cook it for their baon today. The recipe was quite easy and fits exactly with what I needed to cook - nothing too time consuming since I need to be quick. I started by frying the potatoes in butter then when the edges were a bit browned I added the chicken fillet. After a few minutes, I dropped the onions and when cooked I added a bit of water (since I didn’t have some chicken broth). When the mixture boiled, I lowered the heat and let it simmer for about twenty minutes. When the chicken and potatoes were cooked, I added the lemon – cream mixture. Again, I didn’t have any lemon so I substituted 7 pcs. calamansi but it turned out a bit sour so I’ll need to remember to put less calamansi next time. I also added more salt without tasting it first so the dish became a bit salty just a bit though coz it doesn’t seem to be salty anymore when eaten with hot rice. Then, after ten minutes of letting it simmer uncovered, the dish is done!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 41: BRAISED CHICKEN

Here’s my first kitchen misadventure installment for the year – Braised Chicken for the kids’ lunchboxes. I got the recipe from Connie Veneracion’s blog (CASA VENERACION) so if you want the recipe just check out her site. I marinated the chicken the night before so the flavors would all be incorporated into the chicken the next day. I only substituted calamansi juice for the lemon since it’s quite difficult to get that here in our place. Then, in the morning I just boiled the chicken in its own marinade, added a bit of water and let it simmer slowly until the chicken was cooked. After about 30 minutes, I added the hoisin sauce and voila – another easy and delicious dish from Connie! My kids loved it and said it tasted a bit like chicken tocino - imagine that!?! Now I can give them all the chicken tocino they want without the unnecessary preservatives!!! Hurrah! Hurrah!

HOPEFULLY A HAPPIER 2012!

Okay, okay so I promised myself not to make a regular list of resolutions for 2012 pretty much like the way I did last year since I would be turning 40 then and I’d want to take each day as it comes and not be hounded by a list I would find hard to complete. So let me track back a bit and see what I was able to accomplish last year??? Well, so far judging by the entries of this blog I have been able to do 20+ Kitchen misadventure articles, around 15 movie reviews, only 1 book review, about 5 articles only that dealt on travel and places (which meant I did not get to travel as much as I wanted this year, and no air travel pa!)

What’s more, there was a noticeable increase of entries that pertains to health – i.e. starting to jog again, joining a fun run, kidney stone screening, bone scanning, having an APE. Well, I guess that is understandable and comes with aging! Then, it was only during the latter part of the year (because of the bonuses!) that we were able to buy some gadgets and techy stuff like the 32-inch LCD TV and Kit’s Samsung Galaxy Y phone (where we bought 2 because he lost the first one after only two weeks!) There was also a proliferation of entries regarding our new diversions / pets – the bunnies that gave birth to a total of three sets of kits for the entire year! Imagine that if we were able to sell the said kits, we would’ve been able to recover most of our investments but as it is we only gave the bunnies away as presents. Well, that’s OK they were given to relatives and friends anyway.

So I guess, what do I need to do this upcoming 2012??? I guess I need to do more traveling – one aspect I have sincerely neglected in the last year. Our travels last year were mostly due to office outings – at Bolinao, Pangasinan, FAS outing @ Calatagan, Batangas and Tagaytay, CMS outing @ Bataan and lastly our family outing during the Holy Week at Taal, Batangas – all within Luzon and can be traveled within two to three hours by car. What’s more, we have not traveled as a family since 2010, (our last was at Bohol with Myk and Inang) and so I guess I truly need to save up some money this year so we could do some traveling and our first destination – Baguio or even Sagada!

Next, though I was able to be more adventurous last year with the more than 20 dishes I whipped up for the kids baon, I admit I tended to shy away from baking and making desserts. So this year I guess I need to make more desserts and start baking again. I also hope to watch more films and read more books! Lastly, though I don’t really believe that 2012 will truly herald the end of the world, I still intend to establish a stronger relationship with my God! And also I want to do a Bucket List of things I want to accomplish before the world ends. So here’s good luck to me and hopefully the year 2012 shall be a happier one for all of us!!!