My First Soju at Koreana Restaurant

I hate to admit it but I'm having mad obsession with Korean and Taiwanese movies and romantic comedy novelas. There were times when I would stay awake for sixteen hours and finish the whole series in one go. I'm impatient that way, he he he. I would do the same for US shows too, in case you're judging me while reading this. Ha ha ha!

I was so obsessed in fact that I whined and begged Hubby to go to Korea to see the Cherry Blossom Festival. My whines and pleading did not go anywhere. Sigh. I should perhaps employ another tactic of coercion and persuasion.

In the meantime, we just have to make do with eating at a Korean restaurant for my Korean "obsession". There's a huge Korean restaurant in Westgate, Alabang. It seems like it's been there for ages, but we haven't tried it yet. The restaurant's name is very inventive...Koreana Restaurant. He he he.





Typically in Korean Restaurants (or Korean homes for that matter), there are a lot of side dishes served with your meals. The side dishes are bottomless at Koreana Restaurant for as long as they have it on stock in the kitchen (duh), usually they don't run out according to our waitress. I liked the pork meatballs and the Kimchi.



Hubby and I ordered the Bibimbap and the Bulgogi (can't remember exactly since I lost the itemized receipt). Now, I have no point of comparison since I haven't been to Korea (no thanks to Hubby...hmph!) Hubby on the other hand, had a grand culinary experience while he was in Korea, years ago, for a business trip.



Despite me not having the culinary experience (no thanks to Hubby again. Hmph!), I felt that the Bibimbap that I ordered was not up to par. It was quite dry and not what I expected. I expected more taste, perhaps? :-)



Hubby's order was good though. That sneaky devil knew exactly what to order. Hmph!



Hubby and I also tried Soju, a Korean alcoholic beverage (like gin or something). That green bottle was always so prominently present in all the movies that I watched. We were given two shot glasses and an ice-cold Soju. Soju is usually taken as "shots", like a tequila.



Bottoms up!

Or not.

The Soju packs a punch, my gulay!

John Bamboo at Nuvali with Hubby

Finally had a chance to go on a real date with my Hubby last March 27 (this is a super delayed re-edited post). Lots of things usually crop up on weekends and we are unable to get-away. When we have time though, we do what most married couples do on weekends... sleep!

Hubby and I chose to have dinner at Nuvali, just to have some change of scenery and for us to feel that we actually took some effort to "go out". We also wanted to try a new restaurant. There were a couple of restaurants in Nuvali that we haven't tried yet. One of them is John Bamboo, an Indonesian restaurant which recently opened. Hubby and I have both been to Jakarta years ago. The food in Jakarta didn't impress us much but we wanted to give John Bamboo Restaurant a go anyway.





John Bamboo gives a free appetizer of Spicy Anchovies, which was really nice, a bit spicy but a bit sweet too with a nice sprinkling of peanuts.



We ordered the Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin. Nasi Goreng is an Indonesian-style fried rice with mung sprouts, some vegetables and smoked fish. When we were in Jakarta, I practically had Nasi Goreng everyday, since it was the only thing that wasn't very spicy. John Bamboo's version is lighter than what I had in Jakarta.



Hubby ordered Tumis Kangkong with Tempe. Tempe, is fermented soybeans, shaped into little squares. The kangkong leaves (swamp cabbages) were sauteed in sweet soy sauce and topped with the fried tempe. The tempe was surprisingly tasteless. I'm not sure if it was supposed to taste like that though since I don't remember eating any in Jakarta.



Hubby and I also shared a Seafood Sate Sampler. The sate had grilled shrimps, squid and fish. It was presented in a clay grill with charcoal, which was a unique way of presenting the dish. The Seafood Sate was one of the most expensive things on the menu. We were pumped up that we would be getting something really good, such a disappointment. The serving was miniscule, the shrimps weren't fresh because the shells were so hard to peel off. They could have at least chosen a few pieces of bigger tiger prawns or something. The sate sauce was good though, it was the dish's only saving grace. Overall, totally not worth the money.



The drinks were much more inventive though. I had the Soda Gembira. It's 7Up with condensed milk. I liked it, since I typically like anything with condensed milk.



Hubby had the Soup Buah (pictured on top, right side), a fruity conconction. He didn't like that very much because it was bit sour and there were kiwis there. Hubby doesn't like kiwi.

The highlight of the evening was a hand-in-hand walk around the lake with Hubby. I love walking with Hubby :-)

Cheese Pie

Have you ever had Cheese Pie? It’s not actually a pie but a thin layer of milky cake generously sprinkled with cheese and then baked.

Cheese Pie is one of those old fashioned desserts that somehow got forgotten. Like an old newspaper, lost its circulation to the general public. I’ve searched the internet for a recipe one time but I couldn’t find any that resembled the ones that I had growing up.

On one of my excursions to a bakery supplier in BF, I found a stack of Cheese Pie in the counter. I almost squealed with excitement! I can’t believe someone actually still bakes it. I was getting restless in the car and wanted to open the package and eat it immediately.



When we got home, Hubby and I both bit into a slice of the creamy, milky goodness of the Cheese Pie. I was transported back to my childhood, I remember I was maybe ten or eleven years old, sitting in my dad’s car, we were parked in front of the drugstore, my mom, gets out of the car and buys a Cheese Pie in the old building in Phase One. The old building used to have a drugstore there and they would sell the Cheese Pie in a makeshift table.

I’ve been searching a long time for a Cheese Pie, and finally I found one!



In case you’re interested, the Cheese Pie is available every weekend at the Pack-away Multi Sales store, beside Dough-it-all bakery supply near the Palengke in Phase 1.

Straight from the mouth of babe ;-)

My nephew JJ, just turned 8 this month. My mom, who was reminiscing about JJ's babyhood said:

My mom: ""JJ, you're eight already! Ang bilis ng panahon (how time flies)"

My mom: " How old will you be next year?"

JJ: " I'll be nine" ("like, duh?!", he probably thought)

Me: "I remember you when you were just a baby coming from the hospital."

Me: "You know what, you're no longer a baby. Next year, you'll be a young man!"

My mom: "Yeah JJ, you'll be a young man."

My nephew, with all his wisdom, said:

JJ: "Do I have to put white hair now?"

Ha ha ha.

More reasons why I think I need a life

There's nothing on my inbox except junk mail.

I would have posted a screenshot but you might get depressed too.

The highlight of my day is watching comedy skits on YouTube.

Lame.

These Four Walls

I love this short film made by Wong Fu Productions. I can't believe they shot this using just a Canon DLSR and the special effects were done manually with just a piece of string and a lot of ingenuity.



The cinematography's excellent.

My Second Teen-agerhood (?!)

I think I may be seriously regressing back to my teen-age years. Lately, I've been hooked on watching funny YouTube videos uploaded by some young comics. My favorites are Happy Slip, KevJumba and Nigahiga. I'm seriously crushing on KevJumba, he's so adorable and cute! Ha ha ha. His dad really cracks me up.



Seriously, I should get a life.

Weekends without wires

I miss the days when weekends used to be real weekends and vacations used to be real vacations.

Darn Blackberry.

Scuba Dooba Doo er... Meow

Wow! Too cute!