Printed Pictures

I can't remember the last time I went to a photo developing shop to have my pictures printed. I'm guessing it was way back when I was still using a film camera? And now I have a digital camera, I never thought of having the pictures printed on a paper. I was happy and contented by just uploading them on my photobucket account and posts some of them on my blog. It was Tapioca who suggested to print those pretty pictures we got from our cruise in Manila Bay.



And man oh man, was I amazed when I touched those pictures in my hands. It felt so surreal, something strange and different than just seeing them on your computer monitor.


Now it made me think if I should start a scrapbook.

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Dampa sa Farmers

The MTICS pre-Christmas gathering last year was suppose to be held at Buzz Point but due to miscommunication (entirely my fault) we had to change venue. A week before the scheduled gathering we tried our very best to find a suitable place for the party. It was tough luck finding a place at the last minute. We chanced upon the only room available at Dampa Farmers.


Dampa Farmers is the usual paluto place where you buy fresh produce and seafood in the market and have it cook from one of the tenants. Dampa Farmers has approximately 6 to 10 tenants to choose from. This was the same place where Anthony Bourdain had lunch during his visit here in Manila.



After having our room reserved for the gathering, Tapioca and I decided to try out one of the cooking places in Dampa. We chose Sis Seafood Paluto for their relatively cheap prices. For half a kilo of shrimps they charge Php120 and Php100 for half a kilo of chicken. Not bad, eh? For this dinner we’ll be having shrimp tempura and sinampalukang manok to go.



The shrimp tempura was packed nicely with the sign “Sis” on top to let the air seep out so the tempura will remain crisp.

. . . Ebi Tempura aplenty

Nine huge pieces of shrimp tempura. For only Php370! (Php250 / half kilo + P120 for the paluto charge) Super worth it. I don’t think you’ll get this deal at any Japanese restos.

a pot of chicken sinampalukan . . .

Big serving for only Php190 (Php90 / half kilo of chicken + Php100 for the paluto charge). I think this is good for 3 to 4 persons but we’re big eaters so we finished them all hehehe. Our only concern though was that they put too much MSG on the soup.


Anthony Bourdain enjoyed his Pinoy meals here. The MTICS people loved this place for it’s affordable and great food. I'm sure you will love this place, too.

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Post Valentine Post

Tapioca's birthday was sort of a double Celebration for us. A birthday and heart's day. Anyway, both of us are working on the VDay so we just celebrated it on his birthday. Saves us time, money and also we're able to avoid the crowd. But still I wanted a separate valentines post for this blog.


On valentines day, I received this cutie-pie cupcake shaped chocolates from a good friend.

Thanks, Che for the yummy and cute chocolates!

Happy Hearts Day!

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Manila Bay Dinner Cruise For Tapioca's Big Day

It's Tapioca's birthday and I devised a little surprise. A dinner cruise at Manila Bay. It's not really as fancy as I would wanted it to be like cruising on a private yatch or even way way extravagant like going to a Caribbean cruise! But anyway this is going to be something memorable for us cos we have never been in a cruise before. And it's just amazing that there is something like this in Manila considering how bad the reputation of the water in Manila Bay.


The ferry docks right beside the now defunct Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant. I still remember how pretty that restaurant was at night time. It was a tourist attraction. How sad it's closed now.


We took the 2nd trip for the afternoon cruise. It says that the cruise starts at 5:45pm but truth is they allow to board passengers at 5:45pm and sails starts at 6:15pm. The cruise will last for an hour and fifteen minutes.


They said that the after sunset is one of the glorious hours for photography and I can understand why. You don't have to be a pro to capture amazing pictures.









I got to try taking bird pictures, too. I'd say it was so freaking hard yet exciting. It took a lot of patience, proper timing and luck to get these photos.

...the love birds, hehehehe!

The cruise started at exactly 6:15pm. Dinner was served immediately. We had mini beef tacos and pumpkin soup for appetizer. Tapioca enjoyed the tacos while I enjoyed the soup.

mini beef tacos . . .

. . . pumpkin soup

breaded fish fillet, buttered veggies for main course and a blueberry cheese cake for dessert . . .

Tapioca enjoying his meal and the nice view . . .

After the cruise we went to Megamall to watch a movie but we didn't like the movies currently playing and it was getting late already so we just decided to go home. Tapioca got bitin from our dinner so he ordered this sub sandwich from Almon Marina . . .



I forgot the exact name of the sandwich. It was 17-inch sub packed with meat slices, cheese and veggies. He was able to finished the entire thing by himself so it must be really good.


Click here to view more pics from our Manila Bay Dinner Cruise.

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Distressed

Today I'm off to another assignment for mystery shopping. I've been on the lookout for this particular store to do my mystery shopping with so when I got the job I was really happy. But am I really happy? I should be but the scheduled date unfortunately fall on our monthsary and tomorrow is his birthday. I had all the plans worked out but doing mystery shopping today is gonna eat up a lot of my time. But I did it, anyway.


I went to the store happily. I told myself when I'm done with it, I will cook dinner tonight to surprise him. I was sorta glad to find products that will help me cut the preparation time but when I was done shopping my tummy got upset and hurriedly went home. Then I felt so tired and decided to take a nap before I start doing the report for the mystery shopping which I have to finish in the next 24 hrs. But I couldn't sleep. I kept on tossing in my bed but nothing. Before I knew it, it was 5pm. I still haven't finish my report and I also need to prepare dinner.


I started doing my report but its damn too freaking long. I don't think I will be able to finish it before 10am the next day. Then there's dinner. If there's one thing I was thankful of, that was buying instant stuffs. That will make dinner easy. My only wish it would taste good as it looked.

...penne pasta and tomato and basil instant pasta sauce

And I forgot to mention, I bought a cake. A pretty little cake from Bizu and an herbed focacia bread to go with the pasta dish. When he got home I still haven't finished my report not even a quarter. To hell with that. I took out the mini cake from the box, put on the party candles and sang the happy birthday song.

tiramisu from Bizu . . . see those tiny holes, that's where I've put the party candles . . .

For dinner, I cooked the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Topped it with the instant sauce which I just heated up in the pan then sprinkled some parmesan cheese and voilà . . .

. . . focacia bread to go with the pasta

The pasta was okay. The sauce was so so. I do not suggest nor recommend anything like this unless you're in a hurry and don't have enough time just like me.


Lesson learned: Do not bite off more than you can chew.

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Mushroom International ala Tapioca

He promised he will whipped up something for me. Something special. One of Tapioca's pride, ladies and gentlemen...

...Mushroom International

3 different types of mushrooms sauteed in different cooking oils, with tomato sauce and ground pork topped with silken tofu. Pair it with rice or pasta or eat it on its own. Verdict? We loved it! It's a whole new kind of experience happening in your mouth because of all flavors and textures.


Tapioca was generous enough to share the recipe.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo ground pork


• 3 types of mushroom (shitake, button mushroom, black fungus, etc)


• 1 yellow onion


• 4 pcs of garlic


• 1 whole block of tofu


• olive oil


• sesame oil


• oyster sauce


• Tabasco pepper sauce


• 500grams of Italian tomato sauce


• salt


• white and black pepper

Procedure:

1. Dice the onions and garlic into tiny bits. Set aside.


2. Depending on what mushrooms you choose, slice them into strips. Length should be no bigger than an inch. But if you use champignons mushrooms (button mushrooms) just lay them on there back and slice them thinly.


3. Now gently take your tofu. You may use the whole contents of the container or half slice the tofu into small cubes no bigger then a 10 centavos coin. After slicing set aside.


4. You will need 2 pans. 1 small pan and a larger pan. Use the smaller pan to cook the ground pork until brown. Remove any excess oil after cooking. Set aside.


5. Heat up your larger pan that would make it hot enough to bring a droplet of water to evaporate. Now add sesame oil to the pan and wait a second or two before adding the mushrooms. Add salt and white pepper for taste. Toss the mushrooms every so often so they don't burn. Continue sauteing them till most of the moisture is gone. Set aside.


6. Now use the same pan and some virgin olive oil. Add your diced garlic and onions. Cook until you see some of the garlic pieces turning brown. Add the pork and mix together. Saute for 5 minutes then add some oyster sauce for taste. Stir until all pork is coated by the oyster sauce. Add a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Add salt and black pepper for taste.


7. Add cooked mushrooms into the pan with pork. Continue sauteing for a couple minutes while tossing. When you see that all ingredients have been mixed together, add the 500 grams of tomato sauce. Continue to stir the tomato sauce until everything is coated. Don't stop stirring because the sauce will stick and burn. Stop after 3 minutes.


8. Place on a platter and add the tofu cubes on top. Enjoy!

Note: Try to buy a tofu that is smooth and silky to the tongue. I used Chinese tofu made by White Swan.


You may eat this with pasta or rice. If you decide to use pasta, try using penne rigate and add 250mgs to 500mgs more tomato sauce with a lot less oil or with a fare amount of tomato paste so you get an added zing.


Next time I will ask him to demonstrate how to cook this.

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