My Christmas Prayer

When it rains, it pours. And with my favorite season being here, I would like to post a short prayer in recognition of all the blessings that have come my way. Merry Christmas everyone!

Dear Jesus,

As we again celebrate your birth, I offer to you my praise and heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for all the blessings that have come my way - health, strength, talents and of course, my family who continue to be my inspiration to lead and serve.

Thank you for graciously showering us with your love and continuous support. Your wisdom has guided me in the decisions I have made, both at home and work, and I hope that I have made you proud, as I feel I have. More importantly, I hope that the decisions I have made have given greater glory to your name.

While I bask in all your goodness and gifts, I pray for those who do not have enough, those who are in much need of your love, guidance and support; those who are facing challenges in their relationships, those who are in pain, those who are broken. I pray that despite all these, they will continue to trust, love and turn to you, because in my heart, I truly believe that anything is possible with you.

As we end this year, I offer the year ahead. Only you know what will happen. My only request is, that you give us the courage and strength to face what lies ahead. Amidst all the busyness of our lives, help us to be faithful, kind and merciful - for this is the true meaning of being with you, of being a Christian, of being your servant.

Happy Birthday Jesus! I love you.

Indulge in Singapore

Singapore food is not for the faint hearted.
Its cuisine is diverse, flavorful, a myriad of treasures... a foodie's paradise.

Covering all dayparts, here's sharing with you findings from my recent culinary journey.

ION Orchard: Waffle Sandwich
Other than it's pretty merchandising and unique fillings, this is essentially your typical breakfast waffle made into a sandwich. What's interesting is that this one uses fillings such as blueberry mascarpone, banana hazelnut creme, etc which is similar to flavors found in creperies.

Food Republic: Toastbox
Your visit to Singapore will not be complete without the Kaya toast and Kopi (Coffee). This time however, I opted for Peanut butter Kaya toast to satisfy my sugar rush. Complement this perfectly with condensed milk-laced Kopi.

Little India: Banana Leaf Appolo Restaurant

Prawn crackers

This place being a tourist destination, you would be suddenly led to a table and offered a variety of pungent specialties which are also displayed in their cafeteria-like setting. Upon ordering, this basketful of prawn crackers will find its way on your table.

Rice and Vegetables

Rice is unlimited. It is served with some sauteed cabbage and curried vegetables on a banana leaf. The locals are using their bare hands while eating. Automatically, the tourists are given spoons and forks.

Fish Head Curry

The red snapper head was served with a generous amount of hot and spicy red curry sauce. Prepare yourself to sweat as you partake of this.

Maxwell Hawker Center: Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken
Thanks to a friend, the trip to Maxwell Hawker center was worth it. You will notice Tian Tian's long queu of fans as soon as you get there.

Chicken Rice and Vegetables

There is nothing like having the thigh part of Hainanese Chicken. You get the juicy, tender and flavorful meat without too much bones. This one's fragrant and almost instantly melts in your mouth. The skin is tender as well and beautifully lemon colored. The rice is perfectly cooked, its grains long and tender.

Botanical Garden: Au Jardin Le Amis
Set within the Singapore botanical garden, this place is the perfect date place for those who want privacy and who want to make a really good impression for a first date.

Caviar and Tapioca

This one's entertaining. The caviar pops into your mouth and its flavors complement the delicate nature of the tapioca.

Chorizo and Mushroom Salad

This one's a warm salad: Sauteed fresh mushrooms with some dried spanish chorizo and topped with crisp slices of potato chips.

Roast Suckling Pig

I couldn't resist the skin on this one...it's as if eating peking duck - thin wafer-like skin and truly soft meat served with au jus.

Dessert Sampler (Madeleine, Napoli and Chocolate Lollipops)

This pretty trio was sadly wasted, except for a piece of the chocolate lollipops which I loved.


Wisma Atria: Crystal Jade
I haven't tried the Manila branch, but this one in Singapore delivered!

Seafood Noodle Soup


Steam-Fried Pork Buns

Crisp bottomed, bite into this and be surprised with broth and meat inside.

Sia Long Bao

The famed soup dumpling was rich with soup and pork filling and was quite a challenge to eat.

Cripy Eel

Deep fried, boneless and laced with Wu Xi sauce, this one is perfect with Singapore's Tiger beer.

VivoCity:Marche
This European deli and cafe serves in an interactive way. Cooking stations such as paella, grill, salad and crepe are available, depending on one's craving.

Marina Bay Sands (Tower 3): Ku De Tah
The 57th floor where this restaurant is located provides a breathtaking view to its diners. Portions are for sharing.

Foie Gras & Salmon

What else can I say? Anything foie gras is good.

Fish Tartare

Small bits of jackfish was blended with roasted fresh pineapple and served in these mini ramekins.

So, are you planning your trip anytime soon?

Dimsum, Fish and Noodles

For a while I thought I would leave Hongkong without my dimsum fix. But with a little effort and loads of guts, a couple of lady friends and I found ourselves amidst Hongkong locals in a local Tsing Yi restaurant.

Never has a meal been this amusing.

Though this restaurant was set in a mall, the servers barely speak English which was quite an experience for us. Waiting for our number to be called, I was personally amazed at how this resto was kept full and the turnover was just amazing. It would be a chef's dream business!

It was a late lunch for us three ladies and starving that we were, we were ready for anything, especially dimsum.

This is not your typical Chinese restaurant. When we were called, we found ourselves sharing a 10 seater table with two couples - an elderly couple and the other, two ladies. We were handed 3 leaflets which we assumed was our menu, all in Chinese characters and luckily, one of these had photos. Mind you, there was no English translation at all.


After a few minutes of deliberating what to order, a server brings around 3 tea pots. We assumed it was tea, but no, we found it was just hot water. We stopped ourselves, waited and watched what our seatmates will do with it - they used this to rinse their chopsticks, rice bowls and tea cups. We followed suit.

A second batch of tea pots arrived. This time, it was jasmine tea. Sipping our tea helped ease our fears, I knew then that the meal was going to be fine.

Another server came by to check on what we wanted - all these in a myriad of hand gestures, sign language and a lot of nodding heads just to make a point. We focused our attention on the single flyer with the fotos and started making our choices - all which looked familiar we marked, those that looked peculiar we ignored.

Our server managed to offer and convince us of their special for the day - "fish and noodles" she said. We all nodded in agreement, but had to order one more item since our meal would not be complete without rice. So we mentioned "Yang Chow" and somehow, our wonderful server managed to link it to "Chao Fan". Happily hungry, we waited.

Oh, and have I mentioned how much we wanted to order bottled water? We ended up with Coke instead - it is after all, a universal beverage and the only one they could easily fathom.

So here's what we got:


Our Chao Fan was perfect. This plateful of goodness had a lot of crunchy shrimps, was deliciously fragrant and had a light smokey aroma coming from the infusion of some sesame oil and shallots. Their pork siomai was a biteful of goodness characterized by its perfect texture and flavor that you don't need any more seasonings for it. We were also able to order siao long bao, steamed mini parcels stuffed with pork broth and ground pork mixture.



Remember the "Fish and Noodle" special of the day - well, here's it is, in fried format. We were laughing when we saw this because we were expecting to have a sort of steamed grouper with leeks and soy sauce type of preparation (kind of like Steamed Lapu-Lapu) and instead got this humble fried "galunggong" version. Oh and the noodles did not come out as Pancit or "fried noodles". What we had was "noodle soup", quite similar to chicken noodle soup (see photo above).



For me, nothing beats hongkong style siopao. I absolutely love these sticky sweet and savory steamed buns. What we got were stuffed with chicken and chives.



Imagine molo balls served with light soy sauce and chilies. These pebbles were stuffed with ground pork and some shrimps.


We also got a few sweet items from the menu, particularly this mochi stuffed with sweet red bean paste. They also offer an empanada format with fried flaky dough similar to our "kaliskis" empanadas which is stuffed with the same filling.




So you think we finished it all?

Unforgettable

I dare say this has been one of the best meals I have had in my lifetime.
Such strong words, I know, but, it is true.
Funny, but this one meal was totally unplanned.


Thanks to a very good friend, a visit to the famed Aubergine Restaurant and Patisserie at the Global City, Fort Bonifacio finally pushed through.
The menu, specially created for Robinsons Land was enough to make me a true fan.



First off, our palates were set with an Amouse Bouche of Salmon Roulade stuffed with Mascarpone cheese and trickles of capers. This tiny bit of an item set the tone for what the night had for us - simple, flavorful but definitely wonderful.



Our first course came loaded with several items. To be honest, looking at the Truffle flavored Carpaccio of Australian beef tenderloin served with brie cheese mousse, did not make me too excited. I am not much of a raw meat fan. What I am though, is an explorer, and so I dig into these very thin coins of fillet and smear it with the rosettes of brie. Now a convert, I am happy I tried. The tender beef meat is coupled with a burst of pungent aroma and the salty, even nutty character of the cheese - definitely the right way to go to disturb the beef's calmness.
The flavor of the sea is also found in the same plate, as the carpaccio comes with a mini cake of a crabmeat-basil salad in Cognac cream accompanied by a tower of mesclun greens in passion fruit dressing.


Taking a sensory break from the glorious first course, I scan the area and was truly impressed with Aubergine's huge open kitchen. Imressively clean, it is armed with quite a number of student and professional chefs. Watching the kitchen brigade was like watching a choreographed performance, but this time, the result was still to be further savored through the night.



The second course was soup - a Tarragon infused chicken essence with pesto royal and parmesan stick. This pretty plate kept me entertained as tiny balls of zuchinni and carrots floated around the clear broth and nuggets of pesto pudding called for attention.


What can I say - the third course was pan-seared duck Foie Gras on Madeira glazed artichoke salad and carrot-leek straw. With its melt in your mouth goodness, I really did not care much about what it is served with. The thick dark glaze worked well with this piece of meat - confirming that this course is a meal for the high heavens.


The peach-guava sherbet came next, served in little tea pots. The teapots stuffed with dry ice provided a smokey effect which I have seen at Lolo Dad's restaurant in Malate. This trick though, never fails to keep me tickled. The duet of peach and guava provided a sweet and refreshing readiness to our palates for the main agenda.


That night, the main course was a choice between seafood or lamb. Carnivore that I am, I chose the lamb. This lamb duo of Grilled Australian lamb chop and Pommery mustard crusted lamb loin was served with walnut gnocchi, sauteed haricot verts and blue cheese sauce. Perfectly cooked and beautifully arranged, we were all glad with our choice heaving sighs of relief and contentment.



Not quite ready to end the meal yet, our dessert came with a duo of shiny-shimmery Valrhona Manjari chocolate with a generous amount of Champagne sabayon and garnished with fragrant pink pepper tuille and marinated strawberry segments. With our freshly brewed coffee, us ladies all agreed that this meal is really one we will lways remember.

Arya Sure!

Arya Persian Restaurant located at the Podium Mall was where I found myself after a strong craving for Biryani rice and curries.

As always, I felt like a queen when there. Their service is impeccable and the food is consistent. I do not however, recommend going to this place alone - portions are good to share and for you to enjoy a variety, be sure to bring the entire family or barkada.

Here's sharing with you some of my favorite items at Arya;


The red meat kebab platter includes grilled beef and lamb items and a choice of roti or rice to go with it. If however, you want a leaner choice, there is the seafood kebab platter as well.


This roti served with tomato curry is a nice starter to the meal. Cut into quarters, dip each piece into the curry sauce for a nice tangy-chili burst of flavor.


The fatoush salad is actually tossed green salad complete with olives and vinaigrette and instead of the usual bread croutons, roti pieces were toasted to give it a distinct crunch.




My favorite - chicken biriani. Cooked in a variety of spices - cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, ginger, garlic, onions - it is absolutely delicious. It is simmered slowly thus giving it a melt in your mouth texture, with its meat literally falling off the bone. Perfect with rice!

Reasons to Make Your Kids Join Kids Kitchen Camp

Part of my daily morning ritual is to listen RX 93.1's Top Ten Segment with Chico and Delamar. They keep me company while I'm driving myself to work. Inspired by their wacky and sometimes utterly true entries, I made my own top ten in relation to San Miguel Pure Foods' Kids Kitchen Camp. Here's something to consider for yourself and your kids in order to keep them busy and learn a new skill this summer.

The Top 10 Crazy but True Reasons to Make Your Kids join San Miguel Pure Foods' Kids Kitchen Camp Workshop:

1) Your kids are feeling bored and they have absolutely nothing to do.

2) Your kids are just too alert and highly energized that they just need to be busy.

3) Your kid want to be the next Mario Batali or the next Nigella Lawson.

4) You just want to get them out of your hair and an afternoon (better yet, 3 afternoons?!!!) of their absence is enough to make you keep your sanity.

5) You are living in the areas mentioned in the line-up (mind you, the workshop's going nationwide for the first time) and will not forgive yourself if you let this chance pass.

6) You serve your family's meals day in, day out and you just need to train those in the next generation.

7) Your kids have gone through acting, dancing, swimming, taekwondo, aikido, basketball, kumon and singing lessons, that there is absolutely nothing else they haven't taken except cooking camp.

8) You want to get a copy of their cookbook, it's sooo cool!

9) You kid joined last year and would love to join again, meet new and old friends and see the new TJ mascot!

And the top reason to make your kids enroll in San Miguel Pure Foods' Kids Kitchen Camp is...

10) Your kids just wanna learn how to cook because they are really interested, period.

Have a beautiful summer!

Thai Heaven

It was the proverbial dinner date place for hubby and I whenever we would be in Glorietta, Makati. Obviously, It wasn't about the ambiance - with its small, cramped, brown interior- no, no, no - it was everything about the food.

Thai food junkies that we are, Dusit Thani, I assume is popular. It is forever packed. I have never gone there without ever hoping that the couple by the corner would just finally sip their Tom Yum quick, so we could have their post and soon enough, enjoy our favorite soup.

A recent visit at Dusit Thani brought me back to heaven. We ordered my ultimate favorite, Paad Thai, the Thai's version of sweet and sour flat rice noodles. When here, you have a choice of topping it with chicken or prawns. We asked for the former. The noodles were perfectly seasoned and you are given a set of other toppings from chilis to ground peanuts to further enhance the product. And no, there is no food styling involved here. Expect your food to come in the simplest way - as if the chef just poured it straight from the wok and that's it. No garnishes whatsoever.

I almost always assume that if a Thai place is really good with the way they make their curries, then all the rest follows. Given that you can never scrimp on ingredients when you make curry - (I swear, you will really know, and taste!), I decided to give their Seafood Green Curry a try. Chunks and strips of squid, shrimps and squid balls with bits and pieces of Thai basil and chilis swim in a pool of curry sauce. The sauce, though runny by my standards, is actually flavorful. More rice please.

Fishcakes were also part of the menu and this one tops the list. It is our first time to try this and were not disappointed. Four patties arrived and were served with a sweet, spicy tomato-garlic sauce with chopped cilantro. The patties had the texture similar to squid balls. The patties had the flavor of fish, wansoy and leeks combined and it absolutely worked.

Our meal ended with a nice, creamy glass of my favorite drink, rich and fragrant Thai Iced tea. No need for dessert after this one.