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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

chicken and fish fillet with coconut sauce and brown rice

Very easy dish to make..


Ingredients:

Sliced chicken fillet

Sliced fish fillet

Mixed vegetables

Brown rice

Del monte ginataang mix


Procedure:

Cook brown rice.

In a skillet, heat garlic in oil.

Toss in chicken and fish fillet marinated in pepper, salt and oyster sauce.

Once chicken and fish are nicely browned, toss in mixed vegetables.

Let it simmer for while.

Add in ginataang mix dissolved in water.

Let it simmer until cooked.


Dish is ready to be served.


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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Wicked @ MBS

every year i travel to SG for mandatory training. this time i found out as early as dec last year and immediately reserved a room at Marina Bay Sands. i also called up my friend L in SG to let her know i'm coming over for 1 night so we can meet up.

last january, i found out that Wicked is showing at MBS.. such luck! i've heard so many good reviews that i just had to watch the show. Good thing my friend, who is not a musical lover, agreed to go with me (she previously turned out her friends who also invited her but when i invited her, she got curious and decided to go with me).. and i'm so glad the show didn't disappoint.

first up, the price was quite expensive considering we got the 3rd least expensive seats (SGD148). good thing it was a matinee show so we were able to get good seats.
here's the tricky part. the show starts at 1:30 pm. i bought the plane that leaves at 8:10am and arrives in Sg around 11.45 am. i gave myself a buffer of 1 1/2 hours for delays / immigration/ baggage claim / travel time from airport to hotel so i estimated that i will be arriving just in time for the show... unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

boarding was on time.. by 8:10 am, everyone was seated on the plane.. by 8.30 am the plane was still not moving. the pilot mentioned that there was a missing passenger so crew will just unload his baggage from the plane. by 8.45 am, pilot again said that the crew still have not located the baggage (big WTH!! -- this is SQ we are talking about). we finally got the go signal to take off at 9.20 am! OMG!! all through out the plane ride i was so stressed!!! that means the earliest we will arrive in Sg is 12.30 pm.. which gives me very little time to get to the hotel. the only good thing about the ride was watching the Taiwanese movie "You are the Apple of My Eye" -- so cute!! inspired by the director's ex-girlfriend (ex-gf so you know how it would end.. but still it was still a nice movie). i was able to get a cab and leave the airport by 1pm.. by now i knew i wouldn't be able to make it on time. i called up my friend who was already in MBS to ask if we can move our ticket to the night show instead but the ticket booth said only my ticket can be moved since my friend is already on site. good thing they said that they can let me in after 30 mins (which is around 2pm). when i reached MBS (it was quite huge and took me a couple of minutes to orient myself) and it was already 1.30pm. rather than run to the theater, i just decided to check in. sure enough i was able to get in at 2pm.. by that i have missed about 3 songs but it was ok since i was still able to catch the entire show.. and wow!! it was a pretty good show!!! the actress playing elpheba was amazing!!! there were certain times where she just overpowered Glinda (who from a distance reminded me of Elizabeth Hasselbeck)...this is interesting coz i read somewhere that the original cast (Kristin C as Glinda overpowered Idina M as Elpheba). after the show, we went upstairs to the huge tarpaulin and asked a random guy to take our pic.

we had a late lunch, went to my room, took a pic of the view, unfortunately i only brought my android phone so i couldnt fix the night mode (let's just pretend my shadowy profile was on purpose - hehe!)
we finally went up to the 57th floor called skypark which is shaped like a boat with beautiful infinity pool. it was almost around 7pm and there were so many people!!!! we were able to take some pics before the sky turned dark. we also attempted to go down the pool but it was so freezing cold!!! we just hurriedly took pics near the edge and quickly got up.
later on, we went further to the observation deck and i tried to take some pics of Sg's skyline using my phone.
my sg trip was the weekend after my palawan trip and i felt like i was back on vacation for one day.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

sabang beach

the last time i was in puerto princesa in 2007, i went with my sgv officemates. we mostly stayed in the city with 1 day of honda bay island hopping and another day for the underground tour.

fast forward 2012 and my current officemate A invited me to go with her to puerto princesa because she wanted to see the underground river. this time, we stayed in sheridan beach resort in sabang beach which is the nearest resort (and nicest) to the underground river.
first impressions of the resort.. it reminded me so much of Conrad Bali - from the infinity-like pools to the way they designed the beach huts, pool area and villas. the main differences of course is that Conrad is bigger and Manila has wayyyy better sand.
On the first day we arrived in the afternoon, had late lunch, rested and waited for the sun to go down. we finally came out of our room around 5pm to take a swim at the huge pool. we stayed til the sun went down then we had dinner at the only restaurant in the resort.
the next day, we had a packed schedule. we took the mangrove paddle boat tour in the morning and the famous underground river in the afternoon. nothing much to see in the mangrove boat, but it was fun to take a boat ride and take in the beautiful scenery.
the underground river was quite crowded and we had to wait a bit for our turn. since it was my second time to go there, i became the designated person to hold the flashlight while the guide gave some funny comments and my fellow group tourmates took pics, videos and reveled at the sight of one of the wonders of the world.
the next day, we just had a late brunch. A swam again while i stayed indoors, engrossed with my vacation read. we left in the afternoon and was able to squeeze a few minutes to buy pasalubong back to our family.

really really nice vacation. i should go out of the city once in a while to relax and unwind more often!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Jan 2012 Booklist

starting the year right by reading a couple of books!
1 abbi glines the vincent boys
Being the good girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ashton Gray has grown weary of playing the part to please her parents, and to be worthy of the town’s prince charming, Sawyer Vincent. Maybe That’s why she’s found herself spending time with Sawyer’s cousin, Beau, while he’s away for the summer camping with his family. Beau is nothing like her perfect boyfriend. He’s the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, dangerous in ways she’s only day dreamed about, and the one guy she should stay away from. 
Beau never envied Sawyer his loving parents, his big nice home, or his position as quarterback. He loves him like a brother. Which is why he's tried everything in his power to keep his distance from Sawyer’s girlfriend. Even if he has loved her since the age of five, Ashton is Sawyer’s girl, so therefore she’s off limits. But when Sawyer leaves for the summer, Ashton, the one girl Beau would move Heaven and Earth for, decides she wants to get into trouble. Stabbing the one person who’s always accepted him and stood by him in the back, is the cost of finally holding Ashton Gray in his arms. Is she worth losing his cousin over?.... Hell Yeah.
4 stars - liked how the author was able to tackle the story with all characters being hurt but not bitter and learning to forgive and move on. I guess that shows true friendship and love.

2 until there was you kristan higgins 
Posey Osterhagen can't complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she's surrounded by her lovable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something's missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking…something like Liam Murphy.
When Posey was sixteen, the bad boy of Bellsford, New Hampshire, broke her heart. But now he's back, sending Posey's traitorous schoolgirl heart into overdrive once again. She should be giving him a wide berth, but it seems fate has other ideas….

4 stars - I love all of her books and first time the book showed both characters pov. At first i couldnt understand why posey liked liam so much. Liam basically ignored her. But i liked how he came back they met again and this time liam was able to see her as a woman. I think posey was cute with her huge crush and im glad she became mature abt it and it turned to real love. I didnt like though that posey was a bit of a doormat. And i hate gretchen. I love nicole. Liams overprotectiveness was a lil bit off but at least he learned to mellow down in the end.

3 days of gold jude deveraux
Angus McTern is respected by the men of his clan and adored by the women. He takes his duties as laird seriously and has everything he wants in life—until Edilean Talbot shows up. Breathtakingly beautiful and born of privilege, Edilean needs Angus’s help to reclaim the gold she inherited from her father. The treasure is bound for America, but when Angus tries to seize it, he’s accused of kidnapping and theft and has to escape with Edilean to the new country. There they discover almost insurmountable obstacles, and a love as wild and free as the land itself.
3.5 stars - it has been a long time since ive last read a historical romance or something from jude deveraux. I like setting, from scotland traveling to america. I like angus but i dont like the girl that much. For the most part of the story she was just what angus said, she is useless.. she is not smart, she doesnt have any talent. All she has is incredible beauty and lots of gold. The story dwelled on their time spent in the ship together which was fine because we get to see their feelings develop but i didnt like her pettiness. When they landed in america the story dwelled on her with harriet and tabitha.. dont know where the story was leading and it dragged a bit. I fast forwarded my reading until she finally realized what she wanted to do --which is to start a business employing women. I admire her for doing this esp when at the start she didnt like these women. However pages later we find out that the farm manager was tabitha and harriet managed the finances.. so what exactly does she do? And after years of living in america she still doesnt seem to have any purpose or direction in life. Moving on to angus story --i dont know why he suddenly joined the army (until it was explained in one sentence later that he needed to get land). But i feel like it was there so that he can meet up with his clanmates again. The ending tied everything up nicely with james finally dying and everyone is coupled up.

4 education of hailey kendrick by eileen cook
Hailey Kendrick has always done exactly what's expected of her. She has the right friends, dates the right boy, gets good grades, and follows the rules. But one night, Hailey risks everything by breaking a very big rule in a very public way...and with a very unexpected partner in crime. Hailey gets caught, but her accomplice does not, and Hailey takes the fall for both of them. In the process, she loses everything--her best friend, her boyfriend, her popularity, her reputation. But some secrets are worth keeping, no matter the cost...or are they?
4.5 stars - i love books that show the coming of age of a person, because the person gets to discover one's self and thus becoming mature. At first i thought this was going to be a typical falling for your boyfriend's best friend story so i was glad that it wasnt. It's not just hailey who grew up, but also tristan, joel n kelsie. you can really prove that your friendship is true when even after fighting and problems you still stand by each other. While i like drew i thought their relationship was too rushed. He started out as an older more worldly guy then when he kissed her she slapped him. but then when the climax came she finally realized she liked him too. All through out the story hailey didnt seem to think of drew that way except for very few instances when she thought of him as hot. I also like how they tackled the issue between hailey and her dad though i wish that the dad apologized to her instead of resolving it quickly.

Friday, February 10, 2012

movies jan 2012

Movies i watched in 2012 but not necessarily released this year.
1 drive - heard good reviews abt this film so i watched it without knowing the story. Wow quite speechless. On one hand i love it bcoz it was gritty and brutal with great acting esp from ryan gosling. On the other hand it was a bit slow bcoz it felt artsy and mood was a bit dark. (Or maybe i just finished exercising and i was feeling sleepy?). My bro didnt like it (but then he liked trespass over attack the block so i would say we just have some difference in tastes).

2 sorceror and white snake
I love wu xia films and anything jet li. Im not familiar with the legend though i think thr movie is not accurate. The film is okay. Lots of effects though sometimes i feel the effects are cheesy on some parts. Love jet lis fight scenes. Not sure who is the heroine or villain in this movie I dont really like white snake, shes stubborn but i can feel her pain. And for me i think thats the main idea of the movie. There are more than 2 sides to evry story n each one has impact on the others decisions. I like the sideplot on nengren.
3 mission impossible 4: ghost protocol
I dont remember the first 3 films but i love tom cruise so i watched this and was not disappointed. Heart stopping action and the stunts n missions are really impossible! I love simon pegg as a sidekick n jeremy renner as the newbie on the team. Hopefully they push thru with mi5!

4 alvin and the chipmunks 3: chipwrecked
Surprisingly there were very few song numbers in this movie and most are slow numbers from the chipettes. As usual alvin was annoying but glad he became good halfway thru the story. I think the story centered on simon, his cheesy and greasy lines to janette were funny and its nice for him to let loose
5 sherlock holmes 2: game of shadows
I dont particular like robert downey but i think he plays a good sherlock holmes. The sequel is different from the first in that the first focused on a case but we didnt know what sherlock was thinking until the end when there where flashbacks of all things he saw. The sequel focused on his rivalry with moriarty and the eventual faceoff where they fell off the falls. This time the movie highlights the clues for the audience and even the this is what ill do fight scenes which reminds me of kato's fight sequence in the green hornet movie. The movie itself wasnt that great as there was too much action and running and lots of dragging parts but good enough to hope for a third movie.

6 underworld awakening
I remember being in awe of the first movie but i dont remember watching the second film. The third one was as action packed as the previous movie but i thought thr plot was a bit thin though considering the movie was less than 1.5 hrs thats fine. Love kate beckinsale as selene, she is so kickass! Eve was kinda scary she looked more like the exorcist kid than a hybrid. The 3d didnt really feel 3d as the objects werent popping out as much as normal 3d action flicks.. i think it was more looking like a video game or a hologram. But still fun adrenaline movie to watch!

7 my cactus heart
not really a fan of maja and matteo.. i was just curious since they hyped the movie a lot.. the first few minutes of the movie looks promising.. they tried to do some edgy, indie-ish type of scenes like the video recording to introduce the family.. but when i saw that it's going to be a "let me tell you what happened before that made me what i am today", i was a bit disappointed. the story is very simple, it just shows you how a hopeless romantic nice guy makes a commitment phobe girl fall in love with him. the scenes were a bit pa-cute in some areas and while i was expecting xian lim to be an active love triange for the two, it wasn't so as it was so obvious that maja didn't like him at all. the story is more on should i love him or will he just break my heart? the ending went back to the usual star cinema-esque finales with the running after the guy to stop him from leaving and the grand declaration. still not a bad movie, but it's not something you will want to rewatch. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Banana flakes breakfast smoothie

Tired of eating boring corn flakes with milk everyday for breakfast so i thought of a fun and healthy drink this morning.

Ingredients:
Bananas
Low fat milk
Quakers oat flakes
Sugar
Instant coffee

I didnt put any measurements since it depends on which ingredients you want more or less of.

Cut bananas into small pieces and place in a blender. Add desired quantity of milk, sugar, oat flakes and coffee. Blend for a few minutes until everything is liquified esp banana and oat flakes. Chill before serving.

This is very healthy except for the sugar so you can change it to splenda or brown sugar or skip it all together. For those who dont like milk, you can change to yogurt or soy milk. Oat flakes can be changed to any grain of your choice. You can also add ice to make it a shake! Enjoy!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Fish fillet with italian dressing

Im hungry but lazy to cook since it is already 8 pm so i opened the ref and cabinets and thought of whipping up a quick but yummy dinner based on whatever remaining ingredients i have.

Ingredients:
1 fish fillet ( i used dory)
Leftover mixed veggies ( i found white radish and eggplant)
Italian dressing
Japanese bread crumbs ( normally for tempura)
Salt and pepper to taste
Del monte ginataang mix
Some water
Ground pork

1. Put salt and pepper on the fish. Marinate with italian dressing and put bread crumbs. Leave for about 30 mins.
2. Do the same with the veggies.
3. Steam the fish and veggies.
4. While waiting, mix del monte ginataang mix with water. Heat in a skillet with garlic, onions and some ground pork.
5. Once the fish and veggies are cooked, mix together with the ginataang mix until done.

Food is ready to be served :)