The One That Was the Weekend

How was your long weekend, lovelies?  Ours was very laidback but eventful just the same.  On one of those days, Hon-some wanted to avoid going to the malls and suggested we go to this secondhand goods store (ukay-ukay) nearby.  He and I have been wanting to go there for the longest time especially every time we pass by the store and all of the parking slots are filled up no matter what time of day it is.  Well, we found our chance (and a good parking slot) last weekend and all I could think of was, "Why did we wait this long before going here?"

You see, the place isn't your typical ukay-ukay.  Sure, it has clothes, shoes, and bags but it has also got cool toys and boardgames, Little Tikes play equipment, fishing rods, dinnerware, kitchen appliances, home decors -- all sourced from the USA.  You will unearth some good finds, believe me.  Take a look...

 

 

 

I was browsing through their book collection without really meaning to buy anything.  You see, I'm on a book-buying ban.  I've been buying books left and right for some time now and my "To Read" list is really piling up.  But when I saw this book, I just couldn't resist.  For starters, I don't come across a lot of really good teacher resource books on mathematics plus...

 

 

 

 

...when I saw these at the back of the book, I knew I had to get it.  And at PhP80 (about $1.80), I just couldn't let it go.

 

 

I also found this Picture Lotto game for the same price.  The store had this entire wall of board games.

When I opened the box, I noticed there were only three lotto cards but all six double-sided boards were complete.  I figured I'd just scan the boards, cut the pictures up, use Mod Podge to stick them onto tagboards and then I've got lotto cards!

But these...these are the best finds I got....

 

 

 

SEWING PATTERNS!!!!!

 

 

 

I just couldn't believe my luck!  I've been lusting over these for years now because they aren't available where I live and I just found a box full of these patterns at only PhP50 ($1.16) each!  I got patterns for baby clothes.

Women's clothes patterns

I don't really make plush toys but these are just too cute to pass up!

Up to this day, I still look at my sewing patterns lovingly.  Hahaha!  Anyway, Hon-some and I knew that for most people, long weekends are equal to out-of-town escapades.  But we're trendy (haha!) so we do staycations.  Still feeling thrift-store high, we went to Binondo (Chinatown) that night for dinner.  Travel and parking were heavensent!!!  We ate at this place we have been missing for so long...

Looks familiar, TLC peeps?

Unbelievably tasty porkchops (and noodles) at Tasty Dumplings!!!  Hon-some and I couldn't stop saying "Na-miss ko 'to" as we wolfed down our meal.  The porkchops still does cartwheels in our dreams. :)

It's my mom's birthday today so, as an early birthday gift, I treated her and the rest of my family to dinner at Pino along Maginhawa Street in UP Village.  We ordered the pica-pica platter which had wasabi onion rings, tofu balls with cream cheese filling, lemongrass skewers, fries, calamari, and longganiza-topped nachos.  We also ordered this tasty green salad (I forget the name), Kare-Kareng Bagnet (whose bagoong just melted beautifully into the peanut sauce) and Red Wine Adobong Tadyang.  Everything tasted great...so great that I forgot to take pictures!  Hahaha!

Anyhoo, to end this post, my long weekend ended with my brother giving me my holiday gift early...

 

 

 

Here's to an even longer reading list!!!

Enjoy the rest of the week, lovelies!

The One About the Halloween Broomsticks Loot

You cannot imagine how long I have waited to post "got crafty" on my Facebook wall on which this post is linked from!  As I have mentioned several blog posts ago, life got in the way of crafting.  Right now I'm tickled pink that I'm starting to find my crafty groove back!

My craft comeback post begins with the Halloween Trick-Or-Treat that took place just last Saturday in our village.  Children from the village dressed up in their Halloween garb and went trick-or-treating from one house to another.  Here are Hon-some's niece and nephews:

  

Off they go!

 

Trick-or-treaters come by...

Meanwhile, I got busy making loot bags for Hon-some's niece and nephews.  Got the idea from Mareng Martha.  I made broomsticks loot bags!

 

I placed candies and treats in a plastic bag and put the whole thing in a paper bag.

Then I got another paper bag and cut all four sides into strips.  I left the base intact and placed the candy-filled paper bag on it.

 

Another angle

 

I placed a branch inside the paper bag then gathered up all the strips.  I tied all the strips together using a black ribbon.

Then I cut out pumpkin-shaped tags from orange tagboard.

Not bad, huh?  It was Hon-some's first time to actually see me crafting (he just used to see all the finished crafts) and he was wowed!  Hahaha!  Happy halloween!!!

The One Who's Big on Buffets

I remember going to Yakimix with my family some months ago.  We were invited by my Tita Edna and we were really a large group...of eaters!  Anyway, the following photos are what I devoured.  I guess by now you know how I can really rock buffets. :)

  

 Hot and sour soup

Fruits

Japanese sushi and sashimi

Got these from the grill selections...

...and grilled away!

Hot selections

Got these from the dessert selections.  Not really a big fan of sweets but I know bad dessert when I taste one.  Blech!

Tuesday is moving too slow, if I may say so myself.  Still, I hope yours is going remarkably well, lovelies.

The One About Food and More Food

I'm still alive!  It's been almost a month since my last post.  I was preparing for my final thesis defense in my MA program and had to eliminate as much other activities as I could.  Sadly, that included blogging and crafting (but not Facebook-ing!!!  Hahaha!). Now that it's all over (I passed!) - well, not entirely as I still have revisions to worry about - life seems to be settling into the same old tune it used to sing.  Yes, I'm about to start crafting again.  I've been hoarding craft stuff all this time, counting the days when I can finally get my hands dirty, burnt, and scathed once again.

Until I finish my craft projects, I shall be bombarding this blog with several overdue food posts.  I may not have had as much time for crafts but when nourishment (and an overload of it) comes a-calling, I'm so there.

Some months ago, Hon-some and I and my in-laws went to Chelsea Market at Serendra.  The food was hefty, great-tasting, and just superb.  Some morsels of the pasta have settled into my waistline -- even to this day.

Complimentary foccacia with Italian bread dip

I forget the name of the dish.  It's tempura-ish.  There's asparagus, capers, and lemon slices.

That was one mean meatball on top of that mound of pasta!

Burger with blue cheese and bacon with a side of potato wedges. (Don't worry, Burger Project, you're still my favorite!)

Again, I forget the name of the dish but this tasted like chicken.  (Hehehe...)

It feels great to be blogging again!  Till next time! :)

The One About Jazzy and TLC

About nine years ago when I decided to enter the job force in ballet flats, toilet-train tots instead of training corporate urbanites, build a playlist of nursery rhymes, and think of 101 ways to teach the letter "S," I found myself ringing the doorbell of a newly-built preschool, calming my nerves for my first-ever teaching demo.


I had prepared a lesson on "Circles" as was discussed previously with the school program coordinators.  I had never taught preschool and was still a bit shaky when I introduced myself to a bunch of three-year-olds.  Their animated responses put my nervous soul into a relaxed state, only to be revived again when I saw the program coordinator grinning at the back of the class and saying, "Oops, the theme is about 'Circus,' not 'Circles!'"  Hahaha!  I didn't even realize it even as the teacher was reading a story on clowns.  I remember thinking, "Well, clowns have circles on them so my lesson is still on the mark!"  Thankfully, I got accepted in spite of that booboo and that anecdote remains to be one of my favorites to tell after all these years.


That began my four-year love affair with The Learning Connection (TLC) Preschool.  As much as I had learned so many things from the other schools I taught in after leaving TLC, I always say I had the most fun there.  The school espouses the progressive approach to teaching so the students there are generally engaged, active, and happy.  One of whom is Jazzy...

 

TLC has just begun to celebrate their graduates.  Click on Jazzy to see how much she has grown and how TLC has been of great help in her development.  Every tab of her profile shows just how much TLC has helped her grow in an environment where "learning and fun become one!"

The Learning Connection Preschool is located at 182 Pilar Street, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines.  You can reach them at 7252300 or 7252400.  I'm linking their sites here and here.

Picture-Perfect Thursday: Quotes that Get You Going

As the week winds down to a close, here are some inspirational nuggets to keep our spirits going...

 

(Oooohhh, I want this for a nursery!)

Have a good one, lovelies. :)

All images from Pinterest

The One About the Chicken in Pandan Leaves

When life blasts its dynamism on you, it feels humbling when things begin to normalize and life operates on a smooth pace.  I am sometimes known to take on extreme challenges - taking nine units of summer classes then thinking "Where did my summer go?", starting a relationship a month before leaving for Cebu (but look!  I married the guy!), writing my thesis drafts with such discipline every weekend in those two years when I was in Cebu - and had always thought that good fortune is with me and that the pressure of it all is simply good.  The most recent "extreme challenge" I took on was getting married AND THEN taking on a new job two weeks later.  I love being married but I sometimes wish I hadn't taken on an entirely new job just yet.  The two just don't mesh well and the new job just took away my "honeymoon aura" to be replaced by corporate stress.

Thankfully, things at work are beginning to normalize.  It feels great to be blogging again although I realize I haven't been doing much crafting lately.  And that sucks.  Big time.

I still have a long list of craft projects that I want to pursue but I just can't yet because my thesis defense is coming up in a month and I'll be needing the entire month to prepare for it and to calm my nerves before I face my panel (shudder!).  Until then, for those who are beginning to wonder where the crafts are, soon they will take place.

Cooking has been thankfully very fun for me.  My co-workers are all like, "How can you still cook given the time you get home?" or "Isn't it expensive to cook for just two?"  My answer to the first is that I look forward to cooking for a hungry husband every evening and cooking just takes all the stress from work away.  My answer to the second is no, no way is it expensive especially if you know HOW to cook.

This brings to the recent dish I cooked.  I just bought the chicken and pandan leaves.  Everything else was in the pantry and the entire dish didn't even ring up to P130.

I made chicken in pandan leaves.

I got the recipe from Yummy magazine.  It's super simple to prepare:

For the marinade:

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

For the sesame sauce:

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup tamarind paste (I used a tamarind cube which worked out just fine)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients for the marinade.  Add chicken cubes and marinate for at least 20 minutes or overnight.

2.  Wrap the marinated chicken in pandan leaves.  Deep-fry in medium hot oil until golden brown.

3.  To make sesame sauce:  Pour warm water over tamarind paste and let it sit.  After 5 minutes, strain the juice and place in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve with chicken.