KITCHEN MISADVENTURES 6: PORK CURRY

For the past three weeks, we have tried our best to stay away from chicken dishes in deference to our family members who have had a bout with chickenpox. But lately, I have started to run out of ideas and dishes to cook. And so this time, I decided to convert a favorite chicken meal (of the kids!) but instead use pork… but I used the same procedure: Saute the garlic, onion and ginger.

Add the pork and let it brown a bit. You may add the seasonings at this point – salt, pepper and the curry powder. When the pork is partially cooked, add the potatoes and/or carrots then the cream or coconut milk. Let the vegetables cook a bit before adding the kakang gata and the red bell peppers and voila! It is done… serve with steaming hot rice!

A BOUT WITH CHICKENPOX!

I don’t really know for sure how she got it…maybe from our neighbor, Michelle but they say her chickenpox happened about a month ago (in May pa) so I wonder if it was possible for a virus to last that long??? Well, anyway no matter how she got it I guess there’s really nothing I could do about it but wait it out until the virus decides to leave her body. Meanwhile, I would try my best to relieve the itchiness that is sure to come with chickenpox…oh dear, why did she have to have this disease now when school will be opening next week??? The good news though is that Kaye had the pox for only a week and then she started scabbing and healing quite well so that only very few marks were left on her body, most of them on her legs and back (thank God there were only a few on her face!) The bad news, however, is that she infected her father…oh no! I thought he already had chickenpox when he was younger…and Inang thought so too …but apparently he hasn’t had it yet and so now he’s suffering from it. They say an adult’s bout with chickenpox is much worse than when he had it as a child and this proved so true with my hubby. In fact, he had chickenpox marks all over his body – even inside his mouth. And what’s worse is that they itch all the time and all at the same time…I don’t even know how to help him…calamine lotion doesn’t seem to work anymore! He also doesn’t want to go to the doctor since he’s afraid to infect all the other patients there! Oh dear…what am I supposed to do??? But I guess what made his situation worse was the fact that his pox lasted for so long…like three weeks or almost a month!!! I learned later on when he got well na there were moments when he felt like just wanting to die… I guess that’s the way he is…he very rarely gets sick and when he does, he has it so bad that I wouldn’t really know what to do to ease his pain and give him comfort…I try my best to just be there…because I guess that’s all I could really give him…

(Image from Clipart)

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 5: TUNA IN MUSHROOM AND CREAM

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 5: TUNA IN MUSHROOM AND CREAM Okay, okay I am truly very sorry…I know I have been quite remiss with posting lately, particularly with my kitchen misadventure series. It is not that I haven’t been cooking lately…I guess the food I have been cooking are just the regular ones and so I haven’t found the energy to post them at all! So this time around, I am posting quite a simple recipe that I did not actually get from any particular site. It is actually a dish similar to an old time fave – chicken a la king but instead of chicken, I used fish, particularly tuna fillets. The cooking procedure is quite the same, the fish is pre-cooked. But instead of boiled, steamed or grilled like chicken, it is rolled in flour and deep fried. Then this is set aside. Next, you put butter in the pan, stir in the mushrooms, add the milk then you let the mixture boil a bit to thicken it. Finally, add the fried fish and serve while still hot! Pretty easy…and tastes great too!

PIAO OUTING @ TAGAYTAY

PIAO OUTING @ TAGAYTAY For the second straight year, our small unit at PIAO will be holding our annual team-building at Tagaytay. Nope, it’s not exactly our favorite place in the world… In fact, I get to visit this place about twice or thrice each year but heck I still never get tired of it! But compared to last year, where only Keith and I were able to come (because the hubby had an important ballgame) this year I was able to take Kaye with me since Jun went with us na din. First stop, as usual, was Bag of Beans for breakfast and their brewed coffee. Afterwards, we wanted to shed off the heavy meal we just ate so we went to visit a zoo but a different one this time and not Paradizoo since its entrance fee is quite steep and so we opted for its sister zoo – the Residence Inn.

They even had the chance to have their pictures taken with live animals…of course for a minimal fee but that’s OK… they may never have the chance again e so might as well get it over and done with! I’m sure they take the necessary precautions naman e so doing it would not be so dangerous… still, I can’t help but remain apprehensive when it was Keith’s turn to have a pic with a baby tiger…even if it was just baby, it is still a tiger with its fangs, claws and all!

Next stop was People’s Park to walk off some more our heavy meal/breakfast. An added plus was the zipline that allowed the kids to take part in another daredevil stunt! I decided not to take part in it na lang…not really because I am afraid of heights (although partly, I guess) but because of money concerns. A roundtrip costs PhP300 and one way is PhP150 and so I had the hubby join Keith na lang while Kaye and I opted to ride the cable car with Jude and his equally fearful daughter, Gianna.

The highlight of the day was lunch at another bulalo restaurant - Taalena (I think!). And as usual, we ordered bulalo and tawilis (Tagaytay’s specialty food) This time, their bulalo was still great but not very spectacular. We also ordered crispy pata – another food good for the heart (hehehe!) and we even tried the restaurant’s other specialty – adobong dilaw! It was OK naman but I missed the saltiness of the true adobo with toyo. Here are pics of the food we ate.

Suffice it to say, we were all stuffed after our meal and so we spent some time resting at the resto grounds and taking pictures. It had a pretty garden and some nipa huts to house those who may wish to drink and dine outside. Before heading back to Manila, we stopped by Mahogany market to buy some beef, pineapples, and other pasalubong stuff… we all went home happy for the fun time, good food and special friends we spent our day with.

KAYE’S 7th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

For this year, Kaye celebrated her birthday in a bit of bongga fashion, in fact, we celebrated it three times! … because after all, it is her 7th birthday and instead of spending it at a restaurant in a fancy dress…we opted to spend it at a pool! Where else? It’s summer for crying out loud! My daughter’s birthday this year fell on a Monday and so on that day we just bought her a cake. It was during the weekend after that (on May 24) that we decided to go swimming at Nicolas Grande resort which was just near the house at Barranca. Then, on the next day (a Monday) we gave her a party for her friends naman in our subdivision. I know…I know some may say this may be a bit too much but hey it’s not all the time that our little princess turns seven so we might as well celebrate it well! She had been a good girl naman e with all her nice grades this year and the last so I guess she deserves to be treated well din!

KIT’S CONFIRMATION


My boy, Keith will be turning thirteen (13) years old in a month’s time… and it is also around this time (if I remember correctly) that I, too, had my confirmation and so when my sister-in-law asked me if I wanted to have Kit confirmed along with his other cousins at Bahay Pare I immediately agreed. We carefully chose his new godparents and settled on (for the girls) Sanse Edith and Boots, and (for the boys) Odie and Adrian. He shall be confirmed together with Ace, Alkey, Argie and Ariane.

The ceremony was held at the Baliuag church (where Corkey’s dad is a lay minister) and it was a bit hot but we patiently waited… finally after the priests sermon and reminders to the kids undergoing confirmation, the actual ceremony started. The hubby was the one who took the pics…he was able to take a pic of me while I stood as godmother to one of his pamangkins…but when his son’s turn came, he pushed the shutter a bit too late (hehehe). After the ceremony, there was a little salo-salo at Lon’s and a few more hours later we went back home to our own place in Bulacan, thankful that my son is now a confirmed Catholic…I just hope he truly understands what it entails.


(here's a pic of him and his cousins while awaiting confirmation...)

PHONE AND IPOD FOR SALE

I guess I have to do the inevitable…after two years, I am being forced to sell my well-loved Nokia 6288 cellphone. Actually, I have two reasons – the first is financial. Well, this is understandable after going to Palawan twice this year (first in Puerto Princesa with my kids and then to Coron with the hubby’s office outing) I guess I’m gonna have to make some sacrifices just to make ends meet again. And with enrolment just around the corner, I know I need to make some difficult adjustments just to ensure I would have some money to pay their tuition and provide for their other schooling needs. Selling my phone is the first option since I could very well live naman with just one phone. I can make do with my Nokia 3100 (even if it’s GSM!). The second reason, is that I needed to let go of the phone even if I had it for just two years because the battery life is getting a bit short and I find myself charging it more often…so rather than spending money (which I do not have!) for a new battery, I’d just sell it na lang.

I decided to post an ad for the Nokia 6288 in Sulit and soon enough I received some texts since I priced it so low at only PhP3,500.00, so that it would sell quickly. I finally settled on one buyer who agreed to meet up with me at Chowking near LTO. Reluctantly, I gave him (or maybe it was her because the buyer seemed like an old gay benefactor to me and he brought along with him a young papa!) the phone with its box and all its accessories. Afterwards, I took down the Phone for Sale ad and posted another ad in Sulit – this time for an ipod shuffle (that the hubby received as a gift). We already have an Ipod Nano (from Papa’s gift/pa-raffle last Christmas) and two Creative music players so we don’t really need it na…and so I decided to sell it for just PhP1,500.00. After a few days, a male student texted asking for a meet-up and since he didn’t know the Chowking at LTO and would be coming from Makati area pa, I agreed to meet-up at CHowking near Kamias naman. So, now I have 5K from the sale of my phone and Ipod shuffle…it would be a great help for my expenses this coming school year…thank you Sulit!

FAS OUTING @ CORON, PALAWAN

…whew! It has just been three days since our vacation / team-building at Coron, Palawan and I still can’t get over the breathtaking beauty of the place…I know, I know I have said it already when we last went for a vacation in Puerto Princesa, Palawan but boy…oh boy…the beauty of Coron is far, far different! I could not actually start to compare both places because they both have an innate beauty that is uniquely their own. The office started entertaining plans when the summer season of March came in …and since the unit FAS had already used up all the nearby places to visit – from Batangas, Tagaytay, Quezon, Pangasinan, Bicol, Ilocos Norte (Pagudpud) and many others – they decided to cross the vast oceans this time and travel someplace which has not yet been travelled by any other unit before – the paradise of Coron, Palawan.

Our only problem was that we would not be able anymore to avail of any promo by Cebu pac since we have about a month or two more to go before summer ends and at this late date, we can’t anymore get a discount like the ones we got when we went to Puerto Princesa last February…oh well, so I guess I’m the only one who can join the FAS outing this time since we just recently had a family trip to Palawan (that severely depleted our expenses). We just promised the kids that we’d bring them to Coron some other time… when budget and time constraints allow. So on March 11, 2 days after they made the booking for their own personnel, I got a booking for myself which cost me about PhP2500.00…a bit steep than our usual plane fare rates, but oh so very well worth it…

The group excitedly left early on the 22nd of April for our 9:30 am flight… the flight left as scheduled and no one was late! Our problem was that our destination was rainy and a bit cloudy so our small plane could not see the landing site…oh dear, and so the pilot made about five or more circles around Palawan just to while away some time and hopefully to allow the sun some time to peek through the dark clouds…in fact, we were a bit fearful since the cabin crew said we only had enough gas to return to Manila and in a few more minutes if the plane still can’t land, we’d be forced to turn back to Manila. Oh no… but thankfully I guess God heard all our prayers and so we finally made a touchdown at Busuanga airport.











Upon arrival, I immediately called up the contact person for our van transfer and we travelled over mostly rough roads (I think for about an hour) before reaching our rented cottages for the night at Coron Village Lodge. It was around lunchtime already when we arrived and so we headed out after checking in to our respective rooms and took trikes to the town proper…we chose a relatively large carinderia and had lunch there. Then, while waiting the others went off na to the market to buy some food stuffs for our dinner tonight. We returned to the resort and got busy preparing the food for our dinner while the others just rested in their respective rooms.














We ate an early dinner and off we went to Matictic Hot Springs to dip our tired and weary bodies in their steaming hot pools…and indeed it was sizzling! At first, we had a difficult time lowering ourselves in the water and so we started out with just dipping our feet first. Then, slowly, as we got accustomed to the heat, we waded in to our waist and finally until our chests were in the water. It feels good but we can only stand to stay in the water for a short time because it was just too hot! The boys literally felt that their balls were being hard-boiled already! hehehe












It was already dark when we left…all wet and we boarded the jeeps that we rented for the trip. We returned to Coron Village Lodge, showered and dressed…but the others felt hungry again and so they had round 2 of dinner before calling it in for the night. The others drank a few beers just to tide them over in sleep. But many of us rested early because we have an early call time tomorrow for the highlight of our trip – the island hopping tour.

The next day, we were all up and ready early to go to the pier. We proceeded to the Discovery Divers office and after ensuring that our boats were ready (we rented two)…off we went for island hopping! Our first stop – Siete Pecados – a marine sanctuary where some scenes of Dyesebel were shot, or so our ‘bankero’ said.












After a short swim with the fishes at Siete Pecados, too bad we didn’t meet up with Dyesebel eh? …off we went to be awed by the breathtaking beauty of Kayangan Lake… but before we got there we passed by pretty limestone formations and very calm waters along the way.








Kayangan Lake is the most photographed area of Coron and it is usually this place that is taken to represent Coron in may travel magazines and blogs. But to get there we had to climb up some steep flight of stairs (actually just steps carved out of the mountains where flat stones are placed with wooden railings) and then down again to reach the lake. It was tiring but the view from atop is just worth it…I guess I wouldn’t have the experience any other way…it was just so apt to see a perfect view of calm and clear waters after such a long and arduous climb. We were excited to immediately jump into the water the moment we reached the bottom of the mountain…but we had to catch our breath first and just take in the beauty of the place before truly diving in.
















The water of the lake was so clear that we could easily see some small fishes swimming underneath the surface. We brought with us the life jackets from the boat and so we were able to venture out to the center of the lake and find out what’s underneath …and we saw nothing but sand. We thought the bottom was just near so some of the boys tried to dive to touch it, but the bottom looked truly deceiving because it was much much deeper than we thought. We enjoyed ourselves immensely just floating on our life vests while the others used the bamboo poles just floating near the side of the lake. We would’ve wanted to stay a bit longer but our stomachs were clamoring for food so we had to leave since the place didn’t provide any place to eat or stay long. Maybe this was deliberate to ensure that no trash would be left behind. Reluctantly we left Kayangan Lake thru the way we came in and this time, however, we opted to pass by Kayangan Cave and have our pictures taken with Kayangan Lake in the background… just to prove THAT WE WERE HERE…








Our next stop was Smate Point beach…a cove in one of the islands of Coron. I guess it was another privately owned isle since it had an entrance fee of Php 100 per person. We spent the rest of the morning there, preparing our lunch – a la Survivor since there were no basic amenities – we had to make do with just firewood and setting up some stones to create a makeshift stove. The place was inhabited by an old guy – complete with graying beard and straw hat (like an ermitanyo) and he left us mostly in peace living in his small hut (that looks more like a bird’s nest really) and we just gave him some lunch (that seemed forever to cook…well, with the makeshift amenities, what would we expect?!?) But we had fun eating SRO nga lang because there was only one cottage and so the others ate on the sand or standing up…but still it was so much fun eating all together like that!













After eating, we rested awhile and posed for photos before leaving once again for CYC beach. We stayed there for only a short while though because there were too many spiked sea urchins so though the water was clear we only swam at a point where we could not reach the sand. Next stop was the Twin Lakes and it was just apt that we made it our last stop for the day because it provided a truly eerie ending to our island hopping adventure. The initial write-ups I read on the Twin Lakes never really prepared me for the real thing… When we approached the place, the towering cliffs protecting it seemed dark and foreboding. And I guess it was truly an unwelcoming place but we refused to heed the signs and plodded on to reach our destination. There were only a few who went down to savor the cold waters of the first lake… there was some sort of rock coral that one could stand on and explore but when you venture a bit farther from there…there was nothing but darkness and it would be like a huge drop into a vast unknown.












But we did not stop there… we ventured further on to the second lake which was only passable during low tides thru a small opening/hole in the rock mountain. Only a few of us dared to enter and once inside we were welcomed by cool and black waters… one of the swimmers who ventured to the middle of the lake said he felt a cramp and went outside immediately. We, meanwhile, opted to just swim near the mouth of the cave …too cowardly to venture any further inside. We left na din soon after wards and it was only then that we learned that the first one who went out did not really feel a cramp but rather a tightening in his chest and a feeling of being closed in so he went out na…the other officemate who dared to dive under to take a look at what’s underneath the black waters claimed he saw a huge school of barracudas beneath us…but it was several feet below…and he could not even fathom the bottom of the lake. Good thing nothing untoward happened to us in that lake but it was truly an eerie experience being there as if something was with us…some ancient creature waiting for us to make one wrong move…whew!...quite a close call!

When we finished our island hopping…or maybe it would be more apt to call it lake-hopping don’t you think? …we headed off to Discovery Divers resort to have dinner. They prepared a huge feast for us which took a bit long to prepare so we were quite ravenous by the time the food arrived…in fact, I could not even recall if the food tasted good or not?!? After eating, we hopped back to our boats and travelled back to Coron Village Lodge where we took our bath and settled in for the night.







The next day was our last day at Coron and some of us got up early to go up to Mt. Tapyas and witness the breathtaking view of Coron from atop a mountain. It was good exercise going up the many steps (too many to count e!) and the view from above was just worth it! When we went down, we visited some souvenir shops muna for pasalubong shopping before returning to Coron Village Lodge. We then packed our things, boarded the vans that would take us to the airport and bid goodbye to one of the most beautiful places in the country. Truly one we wouldn’t get tired of returning to once again especially with our kids in tow…so it isn’t really Goodbye Coron…but till we meet again!

SWIMMING AT MATICTIC


Last April 18, we went with Ate Ne and her family to discover another cheap thrill for the summer, what’s good about it is that it’s just close enough to our place in the boondocks so we could visit every so often when the constant summer heat gets to us…or if we just want a quick dip in fresh (not chlorinated!) although a bit dirty water…well, beggars can’t be choosers so we might as well take advantage of whatever freebies are out there! Well, not exactly free but we had to pay a minimal rental for the hut and the salbabidas that the kids used.

We just brought over our food/baon and barbecued some meat that Ate Ne marinated overnight…yummy lunch! There were many people who frequent the place; I guess it’s quite popular among locals there. In fact, after lunch the place was teeming with so much kids they’re like ducks in a pond hehehe. At least, the water is a bit higher than the previous one we went to in Pugpog…they needed to use salbabida pa nga to keep afloat e. The kids had fun playing with the big salbabida which they use as some kind of raft. The week after (on the 26th), we took the family and some neighbors with us and we all had fun…really a great yet cheap way to beat the summer’s sweltering heat!