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Ang arte ng lola 'nyo! :-)

Urashima Japanese Restaurant and Getting Pampered

Hubby’s back from HK. Yipee!

Our weekend was pretty busy. I for one spent the whole Saturday, cleaning, washing, ironing and preparing for hubby’s late night arrival from HK. I wanted him to go home to a nice clean house. Of course he messed it right up with all the pasalubongs scattered all over the place. :-)

For our Sunday lunch date, hubby took me to a nearby Japanese Resto called Urashima along President's Avenue in BF Homes. It’s just a few minutes’ drive from our place. They’re quite famous for their lunchtime bento menu.

Hubby ordered the Bento A. It’s a huge selection of mixed tempura (shrimp, assorted veggies, fish and parsley, yum!), miso soup, sushi, Japanese meatballs, Japanese-style potato salad, pickled cucumbers, hagadashi tofu. It’s a huge meal meant to be eaten when you’re very hungry :-) Can be shared too but hubby was very hungry and didn't want to share, he he he ;-)





The parsley tempura was very good. Very refreshing when you bite into it.

I got the Bento B. It’s pretty much the same as what hubby ordered but instead of the sushi, I had chicken teriyaki.





Both bento combinations were excellent and well worth your money. Hubby and I only spent P750 all in all, not bad eh?

If you’re in BF, I recommend that you visit this place during lunch time. Because that’s the only time they serve their super-sized bentos.

After such a filling lunch, we drove over my my brother’s place to give them hubby’s pasalubong and spend time playing with my nephew and niece. Cute kids! I love them to death.

Since it was still pretty early, hubby and I decided to pamper ourselves at the neighborhood salon by getting manicures and pedicures. Hubby bolted from the parlor as soon as he was finished and decided to have our car washed nearby. I on the other hand, stayed on to have my hair colored, get a hair spa, get a foot spa and paraffin and be totally pampered for the afternoon. I felt like a princess :-)

My neighborhood salon offers free paraffin wax if you avail of their foot spa package of P300 (includes manicure, pedicure, foot spa, foot massage and the free paraffin foot soak). The paraffin wax is so relaxing. I wanna sleep right after. They also offer free hair spa when you have your hair colored, comes free with a nice back massage too.

For appointments, you can drop by at Dunamis Salon and Spa (formerly Top to Toe Salon) along Cabarrus street, beside Resurrection Church, or you can call 994-33-80. Ask for Shirley, she gives great massages.

Cafe Bola With My Best Friend

Cafe Bola.... where not to eat in Greenbelt....

Spaghetti with kesong puti, no flavor except sour.



Penne with creamy tomato sauce and Italian Sausage, yuck! Tastes like regurgitated food. Eeeewwww.



Apple crumble, double eeewww, looks like s#!+!



Kesong Puti Cheesecake with guava jelly (on the side), pwedeng pamato!



'Nuff said.

Kanin Club

Kanin Club. Rice Club.

A carbohydrate addict's nirvana :-)

I had dinner with my brother and his wife last night at this popular restaurant located at West Gate, Alabang. I've heard such nice reviews about their food and they were even featured at a local TV show. Everytime we pass by there, the place is full. Fortunately, a table was available last night.

For starters, we had Green Mango Salad with Thai dressing. Strips of green mangoes dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, salt and pepper, it also has peanuts, onions and cilantro. I love this dish. Very refreshing. I vow to duplicate this dish at home (sans the onions) for hubby. I'm sure he'll love it. Hubby's currently in HK for a business trip :-(



For our main "courses", we ordered two kinds or rice (yeah, two kinds). The first one and the most popular is called The Fully Loaded, it has a lot of goodies mixed into it like sausages, eggs, green peas, shrimps etc.



We also ordered the Aligue Rice, rice with crab fat :-) I know, artery clogger. My official excuse is, my companios are five years younger than me, this order is for them...yeah, right!



Both were good but the fully loaded was extra special :-)

We also ordered Binagoongang Baboy (fried pork with shrimp paste), which is crispy outside and tender inside with the just the perfect "timpla" for it's sauce, not too sweet, not too salty. My little bro's favorite there, understandably. I will definitely order this again.



The Binukadkad na Tilapia is just fried tilapia, presented like a flower. Hence, the binukadkad name. How can you go wrong with fried fish, right?



Upon order, each table is given three kinds of dipping sauces. Vinegar with garlic, soy sauce with onions and garlic and chili oil. Typical dipping sauces here in the Philippines.



I recommend Kanin Club for all the gluttons out there. The price is reasonable, service is so so but the food is great.

Kanin na!

Subic!

It is customary here in the Philippines that companies, provide a summer getaway for its employees. (i think, it may be mandated by law even). For hubby's annual "summer fun vacation", his company prepared a fun-filled weekend under the sun at White Rock Resort in Subic.

Here's the view from our hotel room..... we were caught right in the middle of a typhoon. We couldn't use umbrellas for fear of being swept away by the wind. I know because I tried my very best to hang on to the thing amidst the delubyo that assailed Subic and most of Northern Luzon that day.



We had the best real estate in terms of beach accessibility. See, the jet skis are just in front of our porch.



Despite the rains, I had so much fun. Hubby's peers and bosses were very nice, funny and down to earth.

The most fun was cuddling up to hubby :-)

Sunday was more promising. It was mostly overcast but that's the way I like it. It wasn't too hot. Hubby and I went jet skiing and it was so much fun! Hubby and I are thinking of coming back with my niece and my nephew so that they can try it too.

The food at White Rock is mighty awful. Well, bland, blah and absolutely tasteless. If you're staying here, try to smuggle in some food.

The beach is not white sand, so don't expect picture perfect photographs :-)

After checking out at White Rock, we had lunch at the Boardawalk Inn within the Freeport Zone, the food was ok but the service was very slow. It's the good thing that we had pleasant company.

Since our companions had their kids with them, we decided to take a quick trip to Zoobic, a tiger safari. They have ten attractions there. My favorite of course is the Tiger Safari and the Tiger close encounter. I love tigers! Too bad we couldn't have a picture with them because it was already late when we arrived. Picture taking with the tigers is from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Don't miss it!

(Tiger image from mysubic.blogspot.com)

For a detailed description of their attractions, visit www.zoobic.com.ph

Here are some pics of our Zoobic Adventure:










Kudos to the staff of Zoobic, from an initial 10 tigers in 2004, the 50 plus hectare Zoobic facility now has 36 of them. I hope that breeding facilities like it will help the tigers get off the endangered species list soon.

There are more attractions to see in Subic and we hope to come back soon with my brother's family for a weekend of jet skiing, Ocean Adventure, Zoobic (again), Go Carting and Duty Free Shopping.

In the words of The Terminator, "I'll be back!"

A Belated Mother's Day Post

Swimming all day...............







Angus steaks, pasta and chicken at swanky Myron's all night...........













What could be better?



To all the mothers out there, we salute you!

Mango Tart to the Max

I love this Mango Tart, somebody brought a box to the office. The chewy meringue base is just right, not too sweet, not too soft. The cream base is also good, just sweet enough and the profusion of super sweet mango balls on top is just divine.



The mango tart must be pre-ordered at least a day ahead. A Small round tart costs P760.00, a big round one (like what we had) costs P900.00 per order.

To place your orders, you may contact:
Paz Reyes-Cuerva Bakeshop
Petron Service Complex, EDSA cor. Arnaiz St., Makati
Tel Nos. 844-0966/ 844-8278/ 817-0200

Good eats!

Gumbo Restaurant, Mall of Asia

We chanced upon this restaurant one weekend. The creole cuisine caught our fancy and since it’s not the usual fare for us, we decided to give it a go.

The interior was made look like the French Quarter (because it said so on this sign, he he he). I wouldn’t know first hand since I haven’t been to New Orleans yet :-)





The food was good. Hubby and I ordered just simple fare of house salad and seafood gumbo. French bread is refillable and the dipping sauce had roasted garlic cloves in it.





If you happen to be in the area around sunset, they have the perfect vantage point at the al fresco area overlooking Manila Bay. Very romantic.

Sunday Lunch and Baking Oooey Gooeey Nutty Choco Brownies with the Kiddies

The family gathered again at LP last Sunday for some simple lunch of squid adobo, pork chops and misua. They don't look much but they were lovingly prepared by my mom. Yum!





After gorging ourselves with lunch, I’ve asked the kids to help me bake brownies, from scratch. No commercial mixes here. I already pre-measured the dry ingredients the night before so that the kids and I can immediately proceed with the baking.

The kids were very excited with the baking process and very eager to help and took turns with the mixer.



The kids were more excited with the finished product. Here they are eagerly awaiting the brownies to finish baking. The 45 minute wait seemed like days :-)



Matagal pa ba?



It was a huge hit with the kids and adults alike.



I used Dutch process cocoa and lots of walnuts, cashews and almonds to make the brownie richer and nuttier.



Some said the brownies tasted like…. chocolate ice cream. I guess that’s a good thing, right?

The kids were very proud of their very first brownie and bragged to everyone about it.

Success!

Here are some pictures from our fun Sunday at LP.........