Super Late Lunch at Cyma

Ok, I've been out of the hospital for almost two weeks now. Yet, I still find myself being poked, prodded and examined by doctors. I have one more test to go and one more ultrasound and then hopefully, it will put an answer to whatever ails me. Fortunately, looks like nothing serious.

Anyway, after being put on impromptu fasting for six hours to get a blood test, I was extremely irritable and hungry come 3:00 p.m. I was desperately craving for some good food. Cyma is my fuel of choice. I ordered the Mozzarella - Saganaki (flaming cheese) since I just loveeeeet to bits. Some salad, and my favorite Cyma dish, the Swordfish Souvlaki. Halfway through the Saganaki, I was already full but still greedy from being deprived of food for six hours. Ha ha ha.







Cyma, the absolute sosyal comfort food. Go ahead, indulge, I know you want to :-)

Lunch with High School Buddies

This year will mark the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation. My batchmates have been meeting monthly to discuss our upcoming grand reunion. I've been unable to attend the meetings due to some previous engagements. I invited some of my friends over for lunch through the social network, Facebook. I haven't seen almost all of them for two decades!

I prepared simple dishes since I'm still recuperating from my hospital stay and would have to take it easy for a while.

I served vegetable salad with sour cream and cilantro dressing.

Nilagang Baka.



Grilled Liempo.



Baked Chicken.



Sweet and Sour Fish.




Fruit Salad (not in photo)

For merienda, I made some baked macaroni with garlic bread.



It's nice catching up. So much fun.

Lookie lookie

Look at our newly hatched birdies hiding in the bushes!

We found the mama bird and the papa bird building a nest in our verandah a few weeks ago and now the eggs have hatched. The mama bird was out looking for food and I was able to take a quick snapshot of the chicks.



I don't know what kind they are, they're not brown sparrows (brown maya) but longer and grayish in color. We always find the mama bird and the papa bird bathing in our small fountain in the garden.




Check out the nest, it's so perfectly round.

Back Home

I'm back home after spending four days in Asian Hospital. Glad to be home. Thank you for the calls and well wishes from family and friends :-)

I'm doing fine now. A bit weak, and would be resting for a few days to regain my strength.

I've had quite a few tests during my stay at the hospital. The doctors mainly agree that the cause of my weakness is Anemia. The culprit probably is blood loss overtime during my periods. My ultarsound also suspects polyps and myoma. We will get more definitive results once I get another ultrasound when the uterine lining has shed off during my period (it's tough being a girl!).

Anyway, my cardiologist also put me in a Holter monitor, to see which activities trigger the skipped beats. I would like to think that my heart just compensates for lack of blood. I won't know the results 'till Saturday. He would also like to put me on a Treadmill Test, when I am strong enough. I'm nervous about that since I'm a bit of a couch potato and the last time I ran was when I played patintero during my childhood years. Ha ha ha :-)

I've also had an immunologist check my blood for auto immune disease. That would probably be negative since I've been relatively healthy. My cholesterol is normal, my LDL is just a wee bit high, my weight is within the normal range, my heart ventricles are normal.

I'm thinking positive that all these hoolabaloo is just caused by Anemia which can be cured by transfusing blood (thank you for the selfless donors from Red Cross, I have two units running through my veins), eating green leafy vegetables and an iron supplement which my docs have put me on, twide daily.

I'll have rosy cheeks in no time! :-)

Back in Asian Hospital

Here I am, connected to an oxygen tank, dextrose and bored in my hospital room in Asian Hospital.

I complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing last night. Hubby went home immediately and took me to the emergency room. Good thing that he did, too. My hemoglobin was dangerous low. If I wasn't taken last night, I would have collapsed somewhere!

I'll have more tests tomorrow so that my doctors can figure out what's wrong with me. I am hoping that there is no need for a blood transfusion. I'm currently on oxygen since my heart is not beating properly. Thank goodness, my tests came out negative for a heart attack. It's very uncomfortable moving around connected to a "leash".

I feel fine, except for some weakness and boredom.

Summery Trifle

Hubby and I felt a bit lonely last weekend because the house feels empty without children's laughter. We invited my family for an impromptu potluck lunch. We scrounged up some pretty decent food despite the very short notice.

My mom, who's hypertensive, brought the most sinful food of them all, liempo, which the housekeepers fried up. My mom, a condo dweller also misses fried fish and had asked the housekeepers fry up some, too!



I had some chicken thighs in the freezer and baked them. My rosemary herb is also doing well in my garden and I added some fresh sprigs for an interesting taste.



My sister-in-law brought some grilled pork barbecue and grilled squid, which is one of my nephew's favorite food.





For dessert, I had some cream and graham cracker crumbs in my pantry and made a simple Summery Trifle using mangoes and strawberries which are in season now. Here's the recipe:

Summery Trifle



1 pack Graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all purpose cream, chilled
1 can condensed milk, chilled
Strawberries, hulled and sliced
Fresh mango, cubed or balled with a melon baller

1. Mix together graham cracker crumbs and sugar, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, preferably cold, whip together the cream and the condensed milk. Set aside.
3. To assemble: layer graham cracker crumb mixture, cream and then fruits. Repeat ending with cream
4. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

The Graham cracker crumbs can be replaced with broas, taisan or sponge cake, butter cake, sliced chocolate cake, brownies and whatever cake you may have. Just omit the sugar. I only had the graham cracker crumbs on hand so I used that, turned out great, despite being a bit messy when scooped up.

Summer is Here

The scorching heat outside is a surefire sign that summer has finally arrived. Summertime has always been associated with beaches, swimming, succulent fruits, ice cream and cool beverages.

When I was doing some marketing at the BF Palengke, my shrimp suki, offered me some live shrimps. I bought some and fried them immediately and had them for lunch with hubby. I paired them with some yellow watermelons and freshly squeezed dalandan juice (local oranges) with mint leaves from my herb garden. I have two kinds growing in my garden so I used both.



Here's the recipe for the Dalandan Juice

1/2 kilo freshly hand-squeezed dalandan (do not use a juicer, the pith is very bitter)
Simple syrup, powdered sugar or honey (to taste)
Cold Water
Ice Cubes
Mint Leaves

Just mix together.