Inspiration/ideas for our Baby's Birthday

My dear baby  boy's first birthday is still 17 months away. But I think as a first time mom who has waited for 3 long years for this bundle of joy, I am allowed to fantasize about this upcoming event. I do not want to forget my ideas so i will write it down, sort of a wish list also.

1. It's going to be a simple celebration with a social/charity cause. We plan to have a tree-planting activity in La Mesa Eco Park with J's immediate family (and close friends depending on the budget) and a simple picnic or merienda cena afterwards. The food will consists of pica-picas like small sandwiches, chicken lollipops, bbq, spaghetti/pancit, lumpia. As gifts, we will request the family just to adopt a tree.

The one thing I will splurge on is the birthday cake. In line with the tree-planting theme, I want the cake to be a Dirt Cake on a Wheel Barrow complete with gummy worms and edible pebbles and cupcakes looking like flower pots with dirt.

click links for some dirt cake photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_thibodeaux/3516113250/

http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/coolest-dirt-cake-in-a-wheelbarrow-idea-10.html

flower pot dirt cupcakes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saucydragonfly/2709546220/

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1629979

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brittanyscupcakes/5694656474/

OR how about a snow-covered/topped cake and cupcakes in honor of his birth being on a winter.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/72621/

Oh dear, I have to learn how to bake now, make it delicious, and decorate cakes. Ah wait, we do not have an oven. hahaha.

If we have extra-budget, as a gift to J, myself and the baby, a themed photoshoot with The Stork Studio or any professional photographer. As for the theme, I'm leaning towards a colorful picnic or Filipiniana themed photoshoot.

hay, it's really fun to indulge in your fantasies. : )

Starry starry nights

Ayala Triangle Gardens = L.O.V.E.

At night, at this time of the year, it turns into a magical kaleidiscope of lights.

The lights are just stunning and amazing...

tantalizing...

and hypnotizing


















Thank you Ayala for giving us this Christmas treat.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Gulliver's

Whenever J craves for a steak dinner, he always insists that we have it at Gulliver's for its reasonable price and proximity to our home. But I always resist because i don't like the dark lighting of the restaurant, I don't like walking in that part of Makati Av. and I am not that loco with their steak. I only love their corn pudding.

But last week I finally said yes because I misunderstoond J's invitation when he said Great Eastern. My brain processed it as Hossein's. Oh well.

Gulliver's was as usual dark but the mood was livened up by the Christmas decors and the live piano playing. Everything was lovely that night.

We ordered the following:

Salmon

Steak


















Our orders came with corn pudding, vegetables and potatoes. This time I enyoyed the steak that we ordered. It was thick, juicy and delicious. As for the salmon, it was fresh and the sauce added to the overall delightfulness of the meal.

For this wonderful dinner, I am now willing to eat at Gulliver's anytime J wants a steak. 

Paris-Delice

A newly-opened French store that sells bread, salad, soups, patisserie and coffee. It is located along Makati Avenue corner Juno St.

Although this store in our neighborhood, our first taste of their bread was not in this store but at the food stall in the International Bazaar at the PICClast 21 November 2010. Their flier boasts of the breads being flown directly from Paris! J and I bought the pain au chocolat and the chocolate donut. It was love at first bite! The pain au chocolat is a croissant with drizzles of chocolate sauce. The croissant was perfect, it was fresh, delicate and delicious. It was delicate that the flakes keep on falling in our every bite. The donut, on the other hand, was chocolate heaven. The soft bread and chocolate that kept on oozing out blended so well. It balanced each other's goodness.

After our first taste of Paris-Delice's  "delights", J and I vowed to vist their store. Thus, after a few days, we went to Makati Av. for a late dinner. The store is relatively small without the stifling effect, spacious and well-lighted. At that tiem, it was full of French expats just hanging around, which made the whole french experience more authentic. We wanted something light, so we had the following:

Soup of the day with baguette

Sandwich

Pain au chocolat and chocolate donut (again!)  and capuccino

Everything was perfect. But this was a guilt-laden dinner because J and I do not eat carbohydrates for medical reasons (I have PCOS) during dinner. Every bite was filled with thoughts of our diet being broken. Thus, we made another vow, that is, to go back to Paris-Delice for breakfast.

Last Saturday, we went back for breakfast and ordered two breakfast sets, P130, which consists of one hot drink or juice, a choice of croissant, patisserie or half baguette with butter and jam.

Although a little bit pricey for our pockets, J and I are happy to have an authentic French cafe in our neighborhood. Welcome Paris-Delice to [this side of] Makati.

A year of musicals

This is a wonderful year for us in terms of watching of record number of Broadway musicals. You see, for budget considerations we try to limit watching a musicial to two in a year here in Manila. But so far this year, we have exceeded our quota thanks to our trips abroad. It would have been a shame not to watch any Broadway shows there.

The Lion King, Minskoff Theatre

Wicked, The Orpheum Theatre


 

Aladdin, Disneyland Anaheim

Cats, CCP

and Festival of the Lion King, HK Disneyland.

We love the theatre and hope to see more shows here and abroad.

Craving for empanada

I did not know that there are two kinds of Ilocos empanda: Vigan and Ilocos empanada found in Ilocos Norte. Anyways, eating empanda from Ilocos is a rare treat for us since the ones sold in Manila are poor copycats. Empanadas are made from rice flour wrapper, grated green papaya, longganisa and egg. I particularly like its crispy crust, the runny egg yolk inside and vinegar dip. The yum!

I tried to capture how it is made but I failed to take a photo when the egg is laid in the empanda.

A weekend in Ilocos

J and I brought my mom to Ilocos Sur and Norte two weekends ago. It was a whirlwind tour of the heritage sites. Short but sweet.  When I first went to Ilocos years ago, I was immediately enchanted and awed by its architecture, the old houses and churches, food and the old world ambiance, and I'm glad that I still had the same feeling when I went back.

Our travel time was approximately 9 hours from Makati to Ilocos Sur. Our itinerary:

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn, Vigan, 9am

2. Check in at Villa Angela, Vigan

3. Proceed to Juan Luna Shrine, Bagoc (almost an hour away from Vigan)

4. After Bagoc, we went to Paoay to visit Marcos Mausoleum, Photo Gallery, Paoay Church, ate pinakbet and dinuguan pizza at Herencia Cafe, Malacanan of the North

5. Back to Vigan by 7pm, ate Ilocos Empanada at the Plaza

The next day, we went around Vigan, shop at the public market for Abel Iloco, visited 3 museums: Crisologo, Syquia, Father Burgos, photo op at Calle Crisologo, and lunch at Cafe Leona. By 1pm, we were on the road to home, with a quick stop at Santa Maria Church, Ilocos Sur and Agoo Church in La Union.

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn. Their breakfast meal was pricey.Throughout our trip, we were amazed on how "red" the egg yolks were in Ilocos and finally we learned that the said color indicates that the eggs are fresh. Hmm, makes me cringe at the thought here in Manila, all the eggs that I ate have yellowish yolks.

Beef tapa

Dinuguan and Pinakbet Pizza, Herencia Cafe. Strangely delicious. It tastes like your average pizza with just a dinuguan and pinaket flavor.

Poqui-poqui, Herencia Cafe. Egg omelet with grilled eggplant. This dish was a bit salty for us.

Special Ilocos empanda. Sinfully delicious and filling.

Pinakbet, Cafe Leona, Vigan

Spicy Squid, Cafe Leona