carbonaramara

La Pausa tabehoudai dinner

2012-01-30T14:43:00.002+08:00

All-you-can-eat dinner at La Pausa, one of the Italian restaurant chains here (like Saizeriya). ¥1,480/pax for 90 minutes.

foreground: Caesar's salad and french fries (starters)
background: pepperoni pizza

pasta with fish eggs (L) and red sauce pasta (R)

pasta with pork, olive oil, and some greens

smoked salmon pizza

Pizza Margherita

pasta with eggplants

chicken teriyaki pizza
(I think I liked this one the most)

pasta with clams, scallops, and nori

Busog! Nasulit naman ang ¥1,480. :)

McDonald's for lunch on a lazy day

2012-01-30T14:03:00.002+08:00

One fine day we both woke up late, hungry, and there wasn't enough time to cook... Ronjie & I headed over to the McDonald's nearby for some fast food lunch. :D

He had their Salt & Lemon Chicken Burger (which I remember trying on my first day in Japan, in May last year). I tried the Grand Canyon Burger (one of McDonald's limited-time 'Big America' burgers). And we ordered fries and Coke.

My Grand Canyon Burger. It has a burger patty, cheese, egg, onions, steak sauce, and an extra piece of bread. Finished the whole burger; it wasn't big anyway.

Blueberry cream cheese pie for dessert. :)

Hello, Snow!

2012-01-27T16:57:00.000+08:00

It snowed here a few days ago.

Hello from snowy Atsugi! :)

striking a pose right after taking out the trash :D

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2012-01-27T16:51:00.000+08:00

Mr. Owl is still alive! We went to say hi to him after mass last Sunday.

And, look! He has a friend who stays just a few meters away--Miss Duck. :)

I wonder how they're finding winter.

back in Atsugi

2012-01-17T23:31:00.000+08:00

I'm back in Japan! Got back last week and I'm still trying to get used to the much colder weather over here.

I took the Cathay Pacific flight from Manila to Haneda (layover in Hong Kong for an hour or two). Was lucky enough to get upgraded to business class for the MNL-HKG leg. (Thank you, Cathay Pacific!) Whee! I've always flown economy class; this was my first time to fly business class. Loved the service and extra legroom! :)

CX900 - MNL-HKG

Ronjie and I walked around downtown last weekend. Brrrr! It's really cold here! Single digit temperature most days; I usually wear 4 layers of clothes. (Missing Manila already!) The weather is good for sleeping in and staying at home. Not many people on the streets these days.

This is the now-leafless batibot tree in Cheerful Park. Looks kinda gloomy without any green.

Sidewalk flowers! These look like cabbages. (I wonder that they are.) I'm also starting to see pansies all over the place again. :) Photos of those in upcoming blog posts.

Woke up late last Saturday (plus, I forgot to set the alarm) so I missed Nihongo class. :D I'm blaming the weather. Sarap matulog! At nakakatamad lumabas ng bahay. This Saturday, papasok na talaga ako. And I'll tell you about it. :) Hope I didn't miss much.

A few more weeks of winter to go! Already looking forward to spring!

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Hermanos Taco Shop, Take 2

2012-01-17T20:58:00.000+08:00

Last November, I tried this new taqueria but the photos I took were orange and had weird lines on them so I promised to blog about the place again when I ate in it, again. Last month when my husband got to Manila for the Christmas holidays, I invited him to try Hermanos Taco Shop for dinner one evening. :)

This time, I tried their rolled tacos, in chicken and in beef. (Beef tasted better.)

Ronjie got a burrito. I forget what they call this; it has french fries in it.

The rolled tacos and the burrito were both yummy and filling. Good food! :9 The price, however, just seemed a bit expensive. And we just found it strange that they didn't have complimentary drinking water.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-09T11:13:00.001+08:00

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Tita M got this weird pineapple on a trip to Tagaytay last December. This served as the buffet table centerpiece during New Year's Eve. Pampasuwerte daw. I wonder how the inside looks like and if it's edible. My aunts are not planning to open up the pineapple until after Chinese New Year (January 23) so we'll have to wait until then.

I hope your Christmas and New Year holiday celebrations were joyful and heartwarming! (As mine was.) A peaceful and prosperous 2012 to us all! :)

Atsugi Catholic Church

2011-12-31T17:22:00.002+08:00

on a regular day

Christmas setting

Sunday English masses are every first and third Sundays of the month.
First Sunday: 3:00pm
Third Sunday: 2:00pm

On the second and fourth Sundays, we usually attend the 9:30am Japanese mass, which we participate in with the help of this:

Atsugi Catholic Church also has anticipated Sunday mass (in Japanese) every Saturday evening at 7:00.

holiday greetings

2011-12-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

(My husband made this.) Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Christmas is in the air!

2011-12-14T21:44:00.001+08:00

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Mela's mushrooms 111214

2011-12-14T21:25:00.003+08:00

These were Mela's oyster mushrooms earlier today.

Harvest time!

after harvest

Then we had Manang L add the mushrooms to the menudo she was cooking for dinner.

parang naging extender lang yung mushrooms, they didn't affect the taste of the menudo :)

talinum leaves

2011-12-10T15:18:00.001+08:00

Whenever I visit my mother-in-law, I always leave her place bringing a take-home package. Momma is into farming and she has a lot of farmer friends who grow all sorts of plants. The last time I dropped by Momma gave me a jar of wild honey and a bunch of talinum leaves which she bought from one of her organic farmer friends.

new taqueria in town

2011-12-10T14:49:00.001+08:00

(Apologies for the orange-y photos with with the annoying vertical and horizontal lines.)

Hermanos Taco Shop is located along Granada St. (Gilmore St.?) in Quezon City in the Petron compound right beside those famous stalls selling capiz shell parols. I tried this place last month when Tita O (an aunt based in New Jersey) was in town; it's just a few steps from the condominium building we were staying in.

carbonaramara.com

2011-12-10T00:15:00.001+08:00

My loving husband recently purchased carbonaramara.com for me ♥ and so this has been home (sort of) for the past few days already. I've started fixing the look of the site... Did you notice that my blog is not all gray anymore?... and have been playing around with layouts and templates and a bit of HTML coding.

For now, carbonaramara.com forwards to carbonaramara.blogspot.com and I still use the Blogger platform. :) We've encountered a few glitches since 'moving' (i.e. www.carbonaramara.com working but carbonaramara.com not); the site isn't really final yet, but it's getting there. :) Please let me know if you encounter any problems with carbonaramara.com. Thanks!

RSS feed subscribers, please continue following my blogspot as the RSS feed for carbonaramara.com still doesn't work. Will keep you updated on developments! :)

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plant update!

2011-12-05T20:59:00.001+08:00

Fern, 2 weeks ago:

(November 20)
with his friends Coke Zero bottle and small Coke bottle

(November 22)
after his first "haircut"

Pineapple!

11 May 2011
before I left for Japan

03 November 2011
My (former) officemates trimmed its leaves.
Pineapple also has a new potmate, a sili plant. :)

My sister is growing oyster mushrooms in our kitchen! These were taken 2 weeks ago (November 22); we have already harvested the mushrooms and are waiting for new ones to grow again. :D

fireworks set

2011-12-04T15:51:00.001+08:00

Fireworks to cap off the week-long school fair.

We were blessed with clear skies. The fireworks were lovely! And the best part was that I had Ronjie at snuggle distance that evening. :D

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school fair

2011-12-04T15:23:00.001+08:00

Some weeks ago, when I was still in Japan, I visited Ronjie's school which was having its annual week-long fair. There were booths with students selling various food and non-food products, programs and presentations of all sorts, and even a bingo game. And on the last day (the day I visited), fireworks capped the evening. :) Some photos:

takoyaki cooks

free candy which came with the takoyaki

soft taco

umbrella in a tree

Fireworks photos in the next entry. I took so many.

Only in the Philippines!

2011-12-03T16:15:00.001+08:00

Just because the Manila-based professional bloggers are all posting about the newly-reopened, expanded Louis Vuitton store in Greenbelt, where none other than Mr. Yves Carcelle, Chairman & CEO of Louis Vuitton, was present... I am also going to blog about my recent Louis Vuitton experience! :)

Along Aurora Boulevard, in a jeepney plying the Cubao-Stop&Shop route:

I got lucky that day! Tell me, who gets to ride a LV-monogrammed jeepney?
Definitely not everyone! :)

gotta love those big, loud jeepneys along Aurora Blvd.

Only in the Philippines! :D

It's that time of year...

2011-12-03T14:49:00.001+08:00

...when my husband's Nihongo sensei teaches his class how to make an origami Santa. :)

Here's origami Santa Claus again (with buttons on his coat at a ball on his hat this time).

And here's Santa Claus with Mrs. Claus! ♥

Ho ho ho!

(origami Santa and Mrs. Claus and photos, all by Ronjie)

P.S. Shake! :D

Saizeriya

2011-11-26T11:49:00.001+08:00

Late photos of dinner at Saizeriya last month. :D The branch we went to is located on the 2nd floor of a building right across the Hon-Atsugi bus terminal, very easy to find as the restaurant's sign is huge. :)

Japanese-style Italian food after the photo of the glass of water:

I forget what soup this is - maybe corn?

the Japanese like corn in their food

mushroom pizza

ham/bacon, cabbage and garlic pasta

spaghetti bolognese

Their servings are small, for individual orders only.

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2011-11-23T23:39:00.000+08:00

missing Atsugi

2011-11-20T00:37:00.001+08:00

I'm blogging from Manila now. These are some random photos taken in Atsugi which I wasn't able to post last month.

Dogs! ♥ Candid photos of dogs at Bousai no Oka Park :)

Hairy brown dachshund

Our visually-impaired neighbor with his seeing-eye labrador

There's a small park near the building where I attend Nihongo class every Saturday morning. This is the scene I usually pass on my way home.

Just before leaving Japan, I caught these bright buds (?) in the sidewalk planters in downtown Atsugi. Pretty! :) I wonder what the planters will have for me when I get back.

what do you call these?

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2011-11-17T13:17:00.001+08:00

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2011-11-05T22:59:00.000+08:00

namumutla siya :(
(maybe because he had too much sun?)

other October food (2 of 2)

2011-10-31T22:59:00.000+08:00

My husband's chicken adobo ♥ + shredded greens on the side

Chicken with beans and capers

Instant ramen

Kit Kat which tasted like mocha

Black cookies and white chocolate

Instant udon

Steak dinner at Kuya G & Ate R's home (with baked potatoes and mushrooms a la pobre) and brownies for dessert!

Korean beef stir-fry

ginataang bilo-bilo in Teacher P's home

Tomato and sausage soup (recipe from Good Housekeeping, October 2008)

Popcorn from Teacher P

Connie Veneracion's chicken, corn and macaroni soup

Pork adobo + boiled okra

Leftover pork adobo + salad from the konbini

breakfast at Narita airport

lunch on flight PR431

pancit salad, bread & butter, chocolate pound cake slice, a choice of chicken or beef with rice
(I got chicken, Ronjie got beef)

Back in Manila! Halloween dinner at Banapple with Tita O.

(clockwise from top-left: lasagna roll-ups, banoffee pie slice, strawberry cheesecake, apple pie)

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2011-10-26T22:59:00.000+08:00

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2011-10-21T22:59:00.000+08:00

other October food (1 of 2)

2011-10-15T22:59:00.000+08:00

Rice with bean sprouts and cucumbers, which we ate with leftover chicken adobo :)

Chicken tinola with zucchini and celery

Spaghetti with meatballs. My second attempt at spaghetti--better this time. Yay!

Ramen lunch at restaurant downtown

clockwise from top-left: my regular ramen, R's regular miso ramen,
O-san's spicy miso ramen, pork dumplings and fried rice

Shanghai-style pork and bean sprouts

Mayonnaise-marinated grilled chicken. This was yummy, soft, and not dry! :9

Ground pork menudo with hard-boiled eggs (I based it on this recipe)

Muesli and sugar-frosted cornflakes (and bananas!) for breakfast

Tenya tendon for Saturdate night earlier this evening ♥

Still date night-high... here's a Mutts comic strip to end this post. :) Have a good next half of October!

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Bousai no Oka Park

2011-10-11T16:26:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, we biked to nearby (30 minutes) Bousai no Oka Park for 11:00am mass with other church community members from our neighboring Kanagawa parishes. The mass was concelebrated by 6 priests (or 8?) from the Atsugi, Yamato, etc. churches.

homemade Korean pancakes, take 2

2011-10-07T22:59:00.000+08:00

After a sort-of failed attempt at Korean pancakes last month, I tried again today. Used a different recipe this time, one I got from Dinner: A Love Story. It came out better. It doesn't look appealing in the photo though because I "broke" it while flipping. (Gotta practice flipping.) This recipe used more eggs than the previous one, which probably made it form better and cook faster.

Ate the pancakes with fried chicken with garlic-mayo dip. :)

Today is my other brother's birthday!
Happy birthday, Rocky! :)

#ThankYouSteve

2011-10-06T20:48:00.000+08:00

My initial reaction when I learned of Steve Jobs' passing was of shock then sadness. Yes, we were all expecting it to be coming (after the news of his cancer, liver transplant, deteriorating health, and recent resignation as CEO of Apple a little over a month ago) but it was still surprising to find out that he was gone already. I first got the news from my Twitter timeline this morning, just right after my husband left for class. It's hard not to be affected by Steve's death and you can't not blog about it. Steve was a crazy guy, crazy enough to think he could change the world--and he did.

It was only recently that I started to get to know Steve Jobs more. Ronjie's a big Apple fan and the I-love-Apple vibes have been rubbing off on me. It's because of Ronjie that I can now blog about Steve Jobs (and Apple). Remembering Steve, here's my list of 5:

1. Thank you, Steve, for giving us the personal computer.

2. Apple products! Since May, I have been blogging from my husband's year-old MacBook Pro. I'm not a techie so I wouldn't really know the advantages of one computer over another, but I love the Mac because I don't have to worry about computer viruses! Ronjie's old original iMac (in bondi blue!) is in my parents' home in Manila and still works after all these years. The last time I used it was over a year ago and it was still fine, just really slow. Ronjie made me bring and use his iPhone 4 for a day when I had to go to Asaka alone (the place is 70 kilometers from Hon-Atsugi and wasn't as urbanized as Tokyo, i.e. not many English speakers I could ask help from in case I got lost). It's cool that the phone has amazing apps and that my husband could track me with it via GPS. The MacBook Air Ronjie brings with him is very sleek and super light! Our siblings in Manila have iPad 2s. It's so portable and I love that we can easily videochat using FaceTime. I've never used an iPod but how the iPod and iTunes have revolutionized the music industry is amazing.

3. Pixar! "Up" is my favorite movie! (I especially love this clip.) Thank you, Steve Jobs, for Pixar. :)

4. I like Steve Jobs' house. Check it out. Yup, I'll remember Steve Jobs for his cool house.

http://allaboutstevejobs.com/pics/places/paloalto/paloalto.html

5. We'll all remember Steve Jobs because he was a visionary. He really was a crazy one. And he inspired people--us--to pursue their--our--dreams. From his Stanford speech:

You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart... Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Sharing a video tribute by Ken Segall which used Apple's "Think Different" campaign.

The guy is an inspiration. Steve really LIVED his life. Even during the "low" points of his career and in the past few years as he dealt with his sickness, he still kept on going, not letting anything stop him, doing what he believed is great work, and loving what he did.

Here's echoing Steve Jobs' message and wish for everyone as he ended his 2005 speech in Stanford, in a Post-it note from the thingsweforget blog:

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Chinese tabehodai

2011-10-06T18:14:00.000+08:00

Dinner at Hot Pepper with friends, 2 hours of all-you-can-eat Chinese food for ¥1,480! I was really full by the end of the evening. I don't remember how many dishes we had in all, but these are a few of them. (Wasn't able to take photos of all, sorry.)

jellyfish

chicken

pork dumplings

tofu in spicy sauce

edamame

sweet and sour pork

chicken with bell peppers and onions in some salty-spicy sauce

October 1

2011-10-01T22:59:00.000+08:00

Mama Mary left our apartment today. October is the month of the rosary; we'll definitely be continuing our daily rosary habit. It was a blessing to have hosted the Block Rosary for the past 2 weeks.

Today is my brother's birthday! Happy birthday, Enzo! ♥

other September food (21 photos)

2011-09-30T22:59:00.000+08:00

*This is an edited post: formerly 18 photos, now 21. :)

Chicken Milanese

September instant noodles

2011-09-30T22:58:00.000+08:00

When I'm too lazy to cook, I just have instant ramen for lunch. There are so many types and flavors of instant noodles in the supermarket here!

the brown thing was a thin slice of processed pork

the Japanese love corn in their food

this tasted really garlicky

this is instant udon

pancakes & snacks

2011-09-30T22:57:00.000+08:00

Korean pancakes

Still wasn't over the yummy savory pancakes we had at a Korean restaurant last month so I googled a recipe so I could make them at home. I picked one from allrecipes.com, but wasn't exactly happy with the results. Found the batter too watery which made the pancakes take too long to cook. :( Taste-wise, the pancakes were fine. The batter was too much though--we ended up making 4 or 5 pancakes--nakakasawa na yung lasa after a while. Some photos:

first pancake was thick
I don't remember how long it took to finish cooking this.

September: 4th weekend - photo-op with PNoy

2011-09-30T00:19:00.001+08:00

Ronjie & I were fortunate to be invited to the Filipino Community gathering with President Noynoy in Tokyo last Sunday. PNoy arrived in Japan that day for a 4-day official working visit and his first stop was meeting with the Filipino community here. We were instructed to arrive early for the event--registration was at noon--and to come in business attire (coat & tie for the men). Seats were limited, tickets were allotted 2 weeks in advance, and security was strict.

another yakiniku place

2011-09-29T12:04:00.002+08:00

This is the second yakiniku place I've been to here. And like the first one, this is also just a few minutes walk from the apartment. :)

I think the place's name is NAOMI

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2011-09-29T07:39:00.004+08:00

can't tell if he's grown

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2011-09-29T07:37:00.001+08:00

Sweets Paradise

2011-09-19T22:41:00.002+08:00

Tabehodai dinner one Saturday. The place has pasta, a salad bar, some soup and rice, but its main attraction is their dessert buffet. I love their cakes! :9

Sweets Paradise is located at the 7th Floor of the Mylord mall right outside the Hon-Atsugi train station.

September: 3rd weekend

2011-09-18T22:59:00.000+08:00

September 17: The Atsugi Block Rosary comes to our home and Mother Mary stays with us for 2 weeks. What a blessing!

September 18: Atsugi Church hosts a healing mass celebrated by a Capuchin priest. The mass was also in time for the September 23 Feast of Padre Pio, a saint and a priest of the Capuchin order--so far the only priest to have received the stigmata.

Ramen Museum

2011-09-14T21:53:00.002+08:00

My cousin K arrived in Japan last month for work; he's with a company which develops games for mobiles. On his first week here, we invited him for lunch at the Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama.

September: 2nd weekend - Tokyo Sunday

2011-09-11T22:59:00.000+08:00

Shibuya station

Naiintriga ako dito. There was a long queue when we passed it.
*Note to self: Try this the next time I'm in Shibuya.

Ronjie & I went to mass at the Piarist Chapel. My first time there! It's a small and cozy place, which seats around 50.

The chapel is just a 5-10-minute walk from the Komabatodaimae Station.

September: 2nd weekend - Friendship Day at NAF Atsugi

2011-09-10T22:59:00.000+08:00

General MacArthur

Pinoy barbecue! YUM! :9

check out the line for the barbecue

cooling off

we took home some pizza :D

grilled goodness for lunch today

2011-09-01T06:59:00.000+08:00

Grilled chicken and veggies (asparagus and red & green bell peppers -- '-ber' na! lapit na ang Christmas!) using a recipe from Dinner: A Love Story. Yum. Never thought yogurt could be used as a marinade.

In other news, this is my first-grade cousin's activity sheet. My view is that his answer is correct and should have been accepted by his teacher. What do you think?

And here's a link to cool chlorophyll prints by a cool guy named Binh Danh.

Lastly, a couple of Garfield strips to end this post. Love them; these remind me so much of my husband. :D

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Happy September!

Happy Birthday, Lola Cecile! :)
Happy Birthday, Steph! :)

other August food

2011-08-31T22:59:00.000+08:00

This is a photo-heavy post.

Onigiri from the supermarket. Didn't know what the filling was when we bought it. I picked this over the others just because orange appealed to me that time.

The filling was tuna. Next time I'll try a different one.

Beef picadillo (my mother-in-law's yummy recipe), 2 ways:

as a soup

mixed with rice

Chicken, bean sprouts, carrots, cabbage and enoki stir-fry (this is similar to the pork stir-fry I made last month except that now I used chicken)

Italian chicken adobo (chicken adobo with tomatoes)

Quick lunch: pasta, canned tuna, carrots, mushrooms and parmesan

HLC sandwich (ham, lettuce and cheese)

Banana pancakes for breakfast. Just popped in some banana bits while the pancakes were cooking on the first side.

Instant ramen

McDonald's Shaka Shaka Chicken

Blanched broccoli

IKEA hotdogs with fried egg

top is mine (I don't like my yolk runny); bottom is Ronjie's

Homemade garlic bread with sausages

Fried chicken with Japanese mayo and blanched carrots & asparagus

Ampalaya with egg (based on this recipe from homecookingrocks.com, now casaveneracion.com, except I used ground pork instead of dried shrimps)

Mustard-tandoori chicken nuggets (recipe here - site is in French; use Google Translate)

They were good! We used mayonnaise as a dipping sauce.

Chinese dumplings and noodle soup. Bought some pork & cabbage dumplings from the Chinese grocery downtown. Boiled them then added them to a soup I made by with some garlic, onions and chicken chunks. Added some noodles which I had leftover from when I cooked almondigas.

package of dumplings and the noodles I used (misua sana kaso wala akong mahanap dito)

Taco salad made with beef (with powdered taco mix) lettuce, tomatoes, cheese cubes (we don't have a good grater) and Doritos

IKEA meatballs with fritessaus (which Ronjie brought home from McDonald's Amsterdam)

Stir-fried bean sprouts, spinach and enoki mushrooms

Chicken breast adobo with broccoli

Chicken, spring garlic and eryngii mushrooms stir-fry (recipe here, but I substituted gochujang for hot chili soy paste)

Ending this with some Garfield :D

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cooking with instant spice mixes

2011-08-31T22:58:00.000+08:00

They make cooking so much easier! And now I can cook semi-"exotic" dishes. :)

(Mom, don't worry, we use them only once in a while. I cook fresh and from scratch most of the time.)

Ronjie came home from the supermarket with these packets of instant spices, ¥98 each!

This is our herb-grilled salmon which I paired with ginger-marinated cucumbers:

Then we made paella in our rice cooker! How wonderful is that?! It's just rice, chicken which I boiled then fried a bit, some small chorizo-like wieners and red & green bell peppers. The paella was good. Not restaurant-grade, but good enough for us to want to make it again. Will try other "fillings" next time... maybe seafood?

And tandoori chicken! Which I burnt. :D I used this same tandoori powder for the mustard-tandoori chicken nuggets which I made for lunch on another day. (Will share photos & the recipe in the next blog post.)

(Served the tandoori chicken with cream cheese, by the way. Masarap naman.)

August snacks & desserts

2011-08-31T22:57:00.000+08:00

Nestle Nuts which Ronjie brought home from Amsterdam - tasted like Snickers

Reese's ♥

Doritos with cream cheese and salsa :D

some type of sesame cracker, which I had with cream cheese

soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone at IKEA

IKEA hotdog sandwich (looking at the pickle relish is making my mouth water all over again)

coconut jelly with nata de coco, orange wedges and peach bits

fresh fruit cup
(pomelo, kiwi, grapes and pineapple)

fruitcake baked by H-san

avocado and watermelon
(I used the avocado when we grilled some burgers for lunch :D)

dot dot dot

2011-08-30T22:57:00.001+08:00

The past week was filled with news, especially in the United States.

- First there was that strong earthquake in the East Coast, which caused a 4-inch crack near the pyramid tip of the Washington Monument.
- Then Steve Jobs announces his resignation as CEO of Apple.
- Then Hurricane Irene. (Did you know? Hurricanes and typhoons are both tropical cyclones. Difference is if it's located in the Atlantic, it's called a hurricane; if the cyclone is located in the Pacific, it's a typhoon.) Hurricane Irene was eventually downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm.
- Then Beyonce announces she's pregnant.

Over here in Japan, there's a new Prime Minister.

Anyway, can't think of any connecting theme for the recent news which I can use to write a paragraph or two on, so this ends here. Leaving you with a link to tips on how to disinfect and deodorize kitchen sponges and cutting boards (click here) and Steve Jobs' famous Stanford speech. I liked what he said about connecting dots: "...you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever..." And just like that, it seems I have my theme: trusting that the dots will somehow connect in the future. :D (Pero biglang tinatamad na ako magsulat.)

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Good night :)

Mr. Owl (August)

2011-08-29T17:44:00.001+08:00

August 7

August 14

August 21

August 28

udon dinner

2011-08-29T16:12:00.002+08:00

After an afternoon of biking and a trip to Yamada Denki (the tech store here), we had dinner in an udon place recommended by O-san (who joined us too). It's a self-serve restaurant; I took these photos while we were in line (the place was almost full) for our turn at the counter.

I love open kitchens!

Ronjie's tray
(that deep-fried clump of vegetables was really good)

my tray
(I think this was the first time I had ebi tempura since I got here last May.)

meet Fern

2011-08-29T16:00:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Ronjie came home from the 100-yen store bringing this. We decided to name him Fern. (I decided he's male.) Our job now is not let him die. :D Fern bunks in our toiletries shelf, along with some nail cutters and a bottle of hand sanitizing gel. Every morning though I bring him to the window to get some sun. Haven't noticed any growth yet. He's (still) around half a foot tall. No idea what kind of plant he is. If you do, let me know! :)

Until the next update on Fern. :) Stay tuned! :)

food stalls galore

2011-08-23T23:38:00.002+08:00

This is a photo-heavy post.

August is festival season in Japan! There was a street parade and a lot of food stalls in downtown Atsugi a couple of weeks ago. Ronjie and I just got surprised one day when we saw all these stalls everywhere. I don't really know what was being celebrated or what the occasion was but I enjoyed observing all the mass food production going on. :D

This is an okonomiyaki stall. Snapped the most photos here but didn't buy from them. Ehehe. Can be shameless sometimes. :D

Takoyaki up next! Was tempted to buy but didn't.

Shawarma! Eto, bumili na talaga kami. We asked the guy if he had a place (restaurant or something) in Atsugi. He didn't daw; he just comes over when he's invited for events like this. Check out his cool wheels. It's a real vehicle!

chicken shawarma (naubusan kami ng beef)

It wasn't just all food stalls, there were some game & prize stalls too. Like this turtle one. Not exactly sure what you have to do here though.

That's it. :)

pineapple update!

2011-08-23T22:44:00.000+08:00

Pineapple still lives! :) It has a pot-mate now and it looks like they're both healthy. Thanks to Phoebe for the photo and to Ms. Linda for styling pineapple. :D

photo taken last July 8

Friends are one of the best 'things' in life.
*Hi to my former officemates! Miss ko na kayo! See you in a couple of months!*

twf 742

BigWood food

2011-08-23T22:32:00.001+08:00

Dinner with Ronjie's classmates/colleagues before their 1-week summer break. Western food was the choice so we went to BigWood for their tabehodai (all-you-can-eat) pizza, pasta, seafood, steak, rice AND DESSERT! I especially loved their cheesecake. :9

pizza with salad

breaded shrimps

chicken

kani croquettes

steak

steak with rice

I'm not sure if this is the deep-dish pasta

pumpkin gratin?

more pizza

tiramisu

cheesecake

August 20

2011-08-23T19:40:00.000+08:00

After the Bon Odori Festival 3 weekends ago, last Saturday we headed to NAF Atsugi for their American Festival and Bon Odori. The Idols of America (American Idol finalists?) were performing and there were food booths as well. We didn't stay long (no fireworks this time). For dinner we tried an off-base Mexican place, Mike's. :) Some photos:

the torii by the entrance of the base

oops the photo is misleading

billboard on the left is of the Friendship Day which will take place next month;

right side billboard is the lineup of events for the American Festival :D

I grabbed the chance to take closer photos of the military planes

and helicopters

Oh! I learned something new last Saturday. I now know what 'F' and 'A' in the aircraft names mean: fighter and attack. Before, military planes were either F or A. Newer planes are now F/As.

there even was an inflatable playplace for the kids

the Bon Odori stage

Nathan's!

we got pizza though, not hotdogs :D

Mike's photos up next. I was still full from the pizza so I just had a quesadilla for dinner.

here comes the sun!

sombrero!

clockwise from top-left: chips with salsa, my beef quesadilla with guacamole on the side, W-san's beef burrito and soft (chicken) taco, Ronjie's (beans) burrito and beef taco

Mexico is in my bucket list

next time I'll try a margarita

Busog na naman. And it was a good night filled with wonderful kwentuhan. :)

Bon Odori Festival at Camp Zama

2011-08-22T22:50:00.001+08:00

Three Saturdays ago (yikes! major blog backlog!) Ronjie and I trooped to Camp Zama to experience their 52nd Annual Bon Odori Festival and to see some fireworks. :D The base was a 10 minute walk from the Sobudaimae train station. Initially, we had fears of getting lost since it was our first time in the area + we didn't really have any directions on how to get to the base from the train station. We got out of the station along with a huge crowd of people... apparently everyone else was headed to the base too. So we just walked and followed the crowd. :D

we'll be back to try Uncle Sum

Camp Zama was open base that day for the festival. There were a lot of food booths! There were also some exhibitions and cultural performances in the afternoon and a series of Bon dances (Bon Odori) in the evening. And of course fireworks to cap off the whole thing.

Bon Odori stage and dance grounds

See the people on the stage and around it doing some choreographed actions?

ribs and nachos for dinner

I loved seeing Western people in their kimonos and yukatas

the crowd after the Bon Odori - waiting for the fireworks

VIP seats

some food stalls were still open even after the fireworks show

Here's a partial video of the fireworks. Spot the hearts and smileys! :)

Ronjie's porksteak

2011-08-11T21:22:00.004+08:00

♥

good morning pancakes

2011-08-08T11:28:00.000+08:00

This was breakfast yesterday morning. We had berry juice with the pancakes. :) Today we had cereal and stroopwafels. Good morning! :)

Ronjie's pile of pancakes

Nasunog ko yung una. Ooops. :D

berry juice, taste of which was guava-dominated

Korean food photos from last week

2011-08-03T19:37:00.000+08:00

So much blog backlog! I'll be antedating some so check my posts dated last week. :D (I'm hoping to finish by tomorrow at the latest.)

Dinner with Ronjie's colleagues. This time at a Korean restaurant downtown. Good food. :9 I particularly enjoyed the chapchae (no photo, sorry), bulgogi (6th photo) and this vegetable pie/omelet(omelette?)-like dish (4th photo). Was just wondering the whole time why there were clothes hangers all around the restaurant.

other July food

2011-07-31T22:59:00.003+08:00

Breakfast cereal, something familiar. Clover Chips (from Ajian Bussan). Yakisoba with Japanese mayo (a first for me). Philippine mangoes on sale at ¥105/piece! Cakes from the konbini - regular sponge cake and green tea sponge cake. Some powdered snack drink/meal from A-san, pasalubong from his trip to China. Nata de coco jelly snack. Strawberry milk cookie. Pearl milk tea from the Chinese grocery downtown. Tea from the cupboard. Custard jelly/pudding (I was looking for leche flan). Lucky Me instant pancit canton (from Ajian Bussan). Yakult from the vending machine. Stroopwafels which Ronjie brought home from his Amsterdam trip a couple of weeks ago. Another grain snack thing from Amsterdam. Canned peaches. Instant noodle soup. Pancit and kare-kare from Kuya G and Ate R. Hazelnut paste from Amsterdam. Strawberry & Hazelnut KitKat. Cookies & Cream KitKat. Ronjie's order of breaded chicken (or pork?) curry. My birthday (cold) ramen.

Busog July. Thank you, Lord, for the good food. :)

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twf 735

July kitchen creations

2011-07-31T22:58:00.049+08:00

chicken tocino, using my mother-in-law's recipe

pork, carrots and bean sprouts stir-fry

blanched cauliflower with Japanese mayo

fried fish fillet which fell apart :D

sinigang na baboy (we're experimenting with different cuts of meat)

vanilla ice cream with bananas and peanut butter

fried chicken, using a recipe from homecookingrocks.com

with pineapple coleslaw (recipe from homecookingrocks.com again)

and Mang Tomas! :)

lunch for one: ham, cheese and coleslaw sandwich

sausages with scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes

ham, cheese and potato chip sandwich

pork adobo (with onions)

almondigas (Momma's recipe)

(medyo natuyuan na 'to :D)

sinigang na fish fillet sa bayabas

(no photo of the dish, sorry)

beef bulgogi, using a Mark Bittman recipe sent by Momma

fried fish fillet

sausages, sinangag and scrambled eggs

birthday noodles!

beef caldereta (using Mama Sita's caldereta mix)

nilagang manok (based on a homecookingrocks.com recipe)

burgers at home - Ronjie ate his with rice

I had mine with white bread

fried chicken fillets

fried Panko-coated eggplants

(this was a failure - I made too much it became tiring to eat)

And... here's some Garfield! This is yesterday's strip:

Mr. Owl this July

2011-07-31T22:57:00.000+08:00

July 2

July 10

July 24

July 27

July 31

Happy Birthday to me! :)

2011-07-31T22:56:00.000+08:00

I turned another year wiser a few days ago. :D Celebrated the day with Ronjie, mostly just at home. I cooked pancit/pansit (for long life!) and he baked me a chocolate cake! ♥ For dinner we went to a ramen place nearby (more noodles again, for long life!), just a 1-minute walk from the apartment. It was a nice, cozy birthday celebration, different from the previous years where my day would be filled with people. Different, but I was happy nonetheless. :)

I love receiving packages! - birthday presents from Ronjie :)

we're just starting to build up our book collection here

chocolate cake baked by my husband :9

using Betty Crocker microwave cake mix :D

And this was the Garfield strip during my birthday. :D Perfect!

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Summer's here!

2011-07-28T21:11:00.003+08:00

Some volunteers busy planting new flowers on the sidewalks downtown:

Sunflowers in bloom in Ronjie's school!

Farming season again! This is just around the neighborhood. Snapped these while I was taking a walk one day. The people in the area have farms in their backyards! Nainggit nga ako eh.

One of our neighbors grows tomatoes. Nakakainggit. I want my own tomatoes too!

a closer view

This is another variety; they're rounder.

Bombay Indian Restaurant

2011-07-28T18:17:00.003+08:00

Tabehodai dinner at an Indian restaurant with some of Ronjie's friends: ¥2,000. Food was yummy. I liked their chicken tikka, mutton curry and this cucumber-and-other-assorted-raw-veggies dish which was served as appetizer.

Y-san showing us how to eat "Indian style"

Wasn't able to take photos of the food, sorry. :D

burgers tonight

2011-07-25T22:59:00.041+08:00

Early dinner at Kuya G & Ate R's home in NAF Atsugi before we went off to watch Transformers 3 which was screening in the base's cinema tonight. Kuya G prepared hamburgers; his burger mix included egg, oatmeal, mojito & lime salad dressing powder and some other spices. Yummy! :9 Our wonderful hosts served us strawberry yogurt milkshakes with the burgers, and apple pie for dessert. Burp!

The movie after was good, too. I could tell my husband enjoyed it (he likes Transformers). I found it fine and I liked the special effects. Galing! Didn't like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley or her character though. :D

Thankful for today, wonderful friends, good food and US$3 movies. Good night :)

Peanuts 110721

Tanabata

2011-07-20T21:48:00.005+08:00

Ronjie's Nihongo sensei gave out boxed goodies in class one day, to celebrate Tanabata. Looks like black bean jelly, which is symbolic for good health.

it tasted like black bean jelly so I guess that's what it is

Tanabata (also known as the "star festival") is the "Japanese-Chinese Valentine's Day" and is celebrated on July 7 (or August 7 in some places, based on the traditional Japanese lunisolar calendar). According to a legend, this is the only day when lovers Vega (Orihime) and Altair (Hikoboshi) are allowed to meet. The lovers' story, lifted from Wikipedia:

Orihime (織姫 Weaving Princess), daughter of the Tentei (天帝 Sky King, or the universe itself), wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa (天の川 Milky Way, lit. "heavenly river"). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, Orihime was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone. Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi (彦星 Cow Herder Star) (also referred to as Kengyuu (牽牛)) who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and married shortly thereafter. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if she worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.

One of the customs is to write your wishes on a small piece of paper and then hang it on a bamboo tree, along with other decorations. The Tanabata festival is particularly famous in Sendai, where it is celebrated in August. Recently though, Japan has been cutting down its festivals--to conserve energy and probably also so resources can be redirected to the rehabilitation of those affected by the recent tsunami--so I wonder if the Tanabata festival will be celebrated in Sendai this year, and if so, in what scale. In any case, I hope it isn't rainy on the day.

For more fun facts about Japan's Valentine's day, click here.

TWF Post-it reminder for today:

#728

July 20

2011-07-20T18:24:00.004+08:00

Rainy today in Atsugi. The past couple of days too. And I saw a salagubang (beetle?) on the window this morning!

I hate creepy crawlies. Tapped hard on the window screen and thankfully the salagubang flew away. I'll be telling the story of our ipis experience in another blog post.

In the meantime, check out Grace, And Dragging Her Wings, an album by Don't Forget Clementine, one of my brother's bands:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dontforgetclementine.bandcamp.com/album/grace-and-dragging-her-wings"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Grace, And Dragging Her Wings by Don't Forget, Clementine&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
Some Garfield and Peanuts to end the day:

Garfield 110709

rainy days are great for munching cookies

Peanuts 110720

*Hi, mommy! =)*

Who are the people in your neighborhood? postscript

2011-07-18T17:50:00.003+08:00

Postscript to this post a few days ago.

These are the Tuesday and Friday garbage collectors:

And these are the Monday collectors (paper and plastic):

To end, here's a Peanuts strip from a couple of weeks ago. My birthday is next week! In preparation for my turning another year wiser, I'm will start counting my blessings! :)

Peanuts 110701

And before I forget:

thingsweforget #726

(for more Post-it reminders, click here for the TWF blog)

Calvin and Hobbes 110716

2011-07-17T23:58:00.000+08:00

quoting

2011-07-14T22:59:00.000+08:00

from Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart:

"Falling in love is always a pretty crazy thing. It might appear out of the blue and just grab you. Who knows--maybe even tomorrow."

quoting

2011-07-12T08:32:00.001+08:00

from Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart:

"Don't pointless things have a place, too, in this far-from-perfect world?"

Peanuts 110708

2011-07-08T22:16:00.000+08:00

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

2011-07-07T16:46:00.010+08:00

Let me introduce you to 3 (4?) in our current one.

the vending machine refill-er

Vending machines on every other street corner are a very common sight in Japan.

I actually don't know who this is. The neighborhood spray-er, perhaps?

Caught this guy walking around the apartment compound one afternoon, spraying some stuff on the ground using his backpack sprayer contraption thing. Maybe pest control?

friendly neighborhood garbage collectors

These guys are our Thursday garbage collectors. (Took these photos of them just earlier today!) We segregate our garbage here and each type of trash has a designated day of disposal. Today, Thursday, it's cans, PET containers, glass and metals. The collecting truck is different each day, depending on what kind of garbage is for collection, though I don't think the guys are the same ones who come to get the garbage every day.

Here's an illustration of the garbage segregation scheme here, from the pamphlet guide for Filipinos Ronjie got when he first arrived in Atsugi:

notice the text in Filipino (Tagalog) :D

By the way, I'm continuing with FreeCell again and just finished game 779 this afternoon. My current goal is to finish game 1,000 by yearend. :) Looks very possible! :)

Here's some stuff to occupy yourself with:

Watch this video by Giniling Festival. Official music video of 'Hipon'. My brother is in it! :D

Check out Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) for L'Oreal for Men in this online video-

New marine species have been found in the Philippines! Read more about it here. Cool photos!

A chocolate printer now exists!

News on lower priced IKEA items!

Happy Thursday! :)

July 3 comic strips

2011-07-03T22:55:00.001+08:00

Garfield

Mutts

Peanuts

annoying

2011-07-01T16:02:00.004+08:00

I have super glue on 5 fingertips - both thumbs, both forefingers and on my left middle finger. My fault, I'm messy. Still. Grrr! What a way to start the month. How to remove?

other June food (3/3)

2011-06-30T22:59:00.004+08:00

bacon!

smoked brats

vanilla ice cream with mangoes and bananas

beef sinigang

lemon chicken using Connie Veneracion's recipe
(click the photo)

nasunog na pancake :(

Gusto night again with the boys
top: Ronjie's roasted chicken
bottom: my order, parang mushroom-flavored arroz caldo

pork tinola

I used a recipe from homecookingrocks.com. This tinola has white cucumber again, pechay instead of sili leaves, and potatoes (even if the recipe didn't call for any).

pork okonomiyaki

canned coconut juice from Thailand

during dinner at Kuya G & Ate R's home

green tea pastries from George

it's good!

Milano biscuits from George, too

instant noodles (it tasted like it was hoisin sauce-based)

easy lunch for 1

clockwise from top-right: cherry tomatoes, instant miso soup (just add hot water), rice, lettuce slaw (using lettuce left over from the tacos we had), cookie cutter origami--pang-design lang 'to! hindi nakakain! (based on a Jo Nakashima tutorial), drinking water, microwaved canned tuna

Cheerful Park

2011-06-29T17:59:00.012+08:00

I just realized that I hadn't blogged about this yet. Anyway, I discovered Cheerful Park while I was going around downtown Atsugi one sunny afternoon. It's a pocket park in Hon-Astugi, almost the same size as our apartment's floor area. It was nice to come across it after some minutes of walking, just when my feet and legs were starting to tire. I rested for a few minutes and people-watched a bit.
Read more »

tourist for a day

2011-06-28T22:59:00.005+08:00

A good friend from high school was visiting Japan this week and happened to be staying with some relatives who lived in Kanagawa too! So, of course we met up! Ronjie & I took the train to Ebina today to have lunch with George, a high school classmate whom I had not seen for 10 years! (Thank goodness for Facebook which keeps us all connected despite the physical distance!)

We picked an okonomiyaki place because George had not tried Osaka-style okonomiyaki yet. (She's tried the Hiroshima-style.) The restaurant was similar to another restaurant Ronjie and I ate at just a couple of weeks back, where you cook your food. For today's lunch, we ordered okonomiyaki, yakisoba and monjayaki. (Monjayaki is like okonomiyaki but more liquid-y.)

June 26

2011-06-26T22:59:00.001+08:00

Ronjie and I spent Sunday at home. :) Well, we went out in the morning for mass and our weekly grocery date, then spent lunch and the rest of the day in the apartment.

didn't forget to say hi to Mr. Owl after mass
(the flowers are starting to crowd him)

passed by some pansies on the way to the supermarket

Ronjie cooked lunch! ♥
I call this 'Ronjie's mix-mix' - shrimps, mushrooms and assorted veggies, boiled together with some spices.

then for dinner we had homemade tacos :D

yum!
(notice the tiny cheese cubes; no grater so I made do by cutting it up)

I hate that I eat tacos so messily. Neat taco-eating is a skill to be mastered.
(we use junk mail as placemats)

dessert: vanilla ice cream with chocolate cubes + milk cookies crumbles

(6/30/11) P.S. For the beef, I combined the recipe at the back of the taco spice mix pack with this recipe from tacorecipes.net.

Glee and more

2011-06-24T15:34:00.006+08:00

Prior to coming to Japan, I had not seen a single episode of 'Glee' (except for a few minutes of Season 2's 1st episode, where Charice debuted, just because a clip of it was shown the the local evening news). Now I'm hooked! Season 3 starts in a couple of months. Looking forward to that! :)

Since coming here, watching videos has been one of my pastimes (along with reading the newspaper, online window-shopping, and origami, among others). Our next order from Amazon will include books (I miss old-fashioned reading) as the bookstores here (the ones I've been to) don't carry English ones.

Leaving you with the other day's Calvin and Hobbes strip:

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Have a good Friday!

P.S. I hear there's a typhoon in Metro Manila now. Praying that the rains stop already and that the situation doesn't reach Ondoy level. I hope everyone's dry and safe there.

origami

2011-06-24T15:07:00.002+08:00

I'm cooking lemon chicken for dinner tonight! :) Photos and details of the cooking experience will be in another blog post. In the meantime, I'm going to show off my recent origami masterpieces. Been busy with origami the past week. :D

These flowers (I blogged about them before) were made with the help of my friend Ria who gave me a link to instructions on how to make them. Then with 12 flowers, I was able to make a flower ball (which now hangs in the middle of our spare/leisure/office room in the apartment). :)

I made this magic rose cube for Ronjie for his birthday.

I also gave Ronjie a terrier similar to this one, but in gray and better made. Of all the dog breeds, his favorite is the Scottish terrier--mine is the dachschund--because one of the markers in Monopoly is a Scottie. Cute!

Will be making more in the coming days. I'm getting addicted to Jo Nakashima's origami tutorials.

my thoughts exactly

2011-06-21T23:13:00.000+08:00

Mutts 110621

*swat!*

other June food (2/3)

2011-06-20T22:59:00.004+08:00

zunda mochi Kit Kat

ready-to-eat lunch from the supermarket: salad, chicken katsu & roasted chicken

salmon, mushrooms and potatoes in garlic-lemon sauce
(click the photo for the recipe--from homecookingrocks.com!)

pork sinigang using Knorr Sinigang na may Gabi mix
(used really thin slices of pork for this one, they ended up breaking apart :-/ lesson learned)

french toast, take 2!
(used a different homecookingrocks.com recipe for this, click the photo)

_____ fish fillet and asparagus with spicy Japanese mayo
top to bottom: Ronjie's plate, my plate, Ronjie's 2nd serving
(dunno what fish I used, this is based on another homecookingrocks.com recipe, click the photo)

chicken cordon bleu
Nainggit kami sa kinain nila Joanne, Arn & Wenna, so we decided to have chicken cordon bleu too.
(for this I used a recipe from French Cooking for Dummies, click the photo to link to it)

peaches and cream (with a bit of condensed milk)
I ♥ dairy

We had dinner at Gusto with the boys again last weekend.
This is Ronjie's salad and my fried chicken plate.

cookie monster-ing!
I ♥ cookies

Ronjie's birthday adobo
(click the photo to link to the recipe -- instead of mushrooms, I put in peanuts :D)

served with tomatoes on the side

Happy Birthday, Ronjie! ♥

2011-06-20T22:58:00.002+08:00

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthdaay, happy biirthdaaay,
haappy biiirthdaaaay tooo yoouuu!

you can have your cake and eat it too

Calvin and Hobbes 110620

Garfield 110620

Happy birthday, love! :-*