Going To Singapore

I didn't realize that there are many things that make me happy.  It's funny when I think about it;  if you're on the look out, you will be surprised to find that really, there are lots of things, events and even people that can make you happy. This trip however is the prime reason I'm happy today. 

As our journey started, my husband chose to take a cab from a reliable cab service instead of getting our part-time driver to bring us to the airport.  As I approached the cab, I was surprised to see that the driver was not properly dressed; we use their services often and the drivers always looked very proper.  Though he was in uniform, his shirt was not buttoned; his collar askew; his sleeve crumpled; definitely not professional looking.  But when he greeted me "good morning" in his respectful and pleasant  voice, I forgot all about his looks and I readily answered back "good morning" as well.

While on the road, I noticed a very tiny plastic yellow duck with a red beak on the dash board;  it's about two inches; like those that babies play with in the bathtub. Because of my fondness for ducks, this brightened my morning immediately.  I asked whether it's his daughter's or son's but he said that the former cab driver found it in the cab and decided to glue it on the dashboard. Here, take a look. 

While waiting for our flight, I had a quiet time at a food booth at the airport reading magazines while I ate my smoked salmon-cream cheese panini with chips along with cafe latte for brunch. I regret not taking a picture; the panini was not only crunchy and the salmon delicious, it got some crunchy greens as well and it looked good. 

Whenever we go to Singapore, we always look forward with happy anticipation.  Singapore being the most metropolitan city in Asia; and the most expensive city in the world according to the latest survey; Tokyo is just no. 5;  is never boring.  As we go back twice a year, there are always new places to go to and new things to see.  Like Paris, London and New York, it is also the venue for fashion week in Asia. 

We've tried almost all the airlines going to Singapore because of our frequent trips, oftentimes even quarterly. If you have never experienced taking the budget airlines however;  you will find the price affordable, but of course, it should live up to its name, "budget". You only pay for the weight of your luggage, if you only bring your carry on with a maximum weight of seven kilos, then no extra payment required; if you want food, you buy, so there is no built-in charge. The conveniences of web check-in and printing your boarding pass a few hour before the flight is also a practice. 

People who are used to the high-end airlines may find it too hassled; just putting stuff in the over-head bin seemed like a race; if you are slow your things will have no place since some passengers bring a lot of stuff; making the bins bulging and almost bursting, figuratively speaking. There is a lot of chatting going on especially if you happen on a flight with a group who work abroad. They even share food across the isle and there is that never-ending exchange of experiences working abroad. 

 If you look at the brighter side of it though,  it could be fun as well. After food and drinks were sold, served and consumed; a crew member said that "the flight won't seem complete without the on-flight games" where the passengers participate. A crew member sung and the first one who guessed the title right  as in " name that tune" got the airline souvenir item.  Another game is "show me" or "bring me", as in kids' birthday parties, and again, the first who presented the requested item got another souvenir. 

I won this pouch when I was able to show my senior card that was requested in "show me".

Arriving in Singapore, I felt so much lighter, my surroundings definitely brighter, the air-conditioning a notch cooler and my breathing easier. One friend even said that their group were coughing  before they left their Asian country, but when they got to Singapore, their cough stopped. A miracle? I don't think so, the air they breathe here is definitely cleaner. 

While we lined up at immigration, I texted my son that we arrived and he texted back that he is already waiting near the conveyor. 

And the airport? If you take time to go around the huge, very modern Changi Airport, you can see miniature replicas of their tourists spots, like the "gardens by the bay".  There is a profusion of plants and flower arrangements all over the establishment, not to mention the convenient amenities to be enjoyed while waiting for a flight. 

But what is so special arriving here is the comforting presence of loving good company; and the absence of stress. 

My Regular Bread

“What must you break apart in order to bring a family close together? Bread, of course.” 

― Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller

Eversince I discovered French bread drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary leaves, I've been eating this often.  I don't know which is addictive, olive oil or rosemary or the combination of both.

Did you ever try it? 

Lately, I always crave for this snacks.  Though I favor the regular French bread, I choose to get wheat French bread. I know my health is my own doing, nobody to blame but me; so I choose to be responsible. 

I always divide the long bread into two, put back half in its plastic wrap to keep in the freezer so they stay fresh until I will toast them. 

I slice the half French bread myself, I don't trust the guys at the bakery to cut it into equal sizes the way I want them to be. Being uniform in size matter so they will toast evenly. 

I lay each piece on a tray to dub with olive oil flavored with rosemary, 

then sprinkle rosemary leaves on each slice. 

now they are ready to pop in the oven.

It takes about 3 minutes to have a soft but crunchy bread; toasted on the outside but soft in the inside. It will take longer if you want it crunchier.  I'm not timing the oven, my cue is when that incredibly pleasant smell hits me that I know they are done. 

I spread salsa on them but pate or jam will be okay. My husband prefer to dip it in a meat dish with a thick sauce, like callos or beef stew or gambas. Sometimes I would eat them as is, with no spread whatsoever. 

"Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter."

James A. Garfield

Sunday Is My Market Day

This Little Piggy

   By mother goose

"This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,

This little piggy had roast beef,

This little piggy had none.

This little piggy went ...

Wee, wee, wee,

all the way home!"

Source: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and Other Action Rhymes (2002)

Sunday is my market day.  When I was employed, I market on a Saturday but there were so many people at the wet market near our place; it was hard to get what you want and there's a long queue at the fish and meat vendors, and  if I don't go early enough, they run out on the choice cuts of meat and the fish that I like. 

So, I changed my schedule and today, Sunday, I woke up early hoping to get a good parking slot, true enough, I was able to park right in front of my fruit vendor. 

My first stop was at the seafood vendor and I was able to get the seafoods I need: squid, shrimps, asojos, lapulapu (grouper),  oysters and scollops (both removed from their shells).

I will cook sinigang, (fish soup) with tomatoes, tamarind bouillon to give it a slightly sour taste; native leafy veggies will go in as well.

I cut the squid into rings, marinated with kalamansi juice, salt, pepper and wine; for my granddaughter's calamari this week; she is expecting this every week when she visits.   "That's your specialty, Nana", she says. 

I opened up and de-boned the asojos and marinated them will wine, salt and pepper, they are good for my husband's  breakfast any day.

 I steamed the shrimps for my husband's breakfast.  (he will eat it with fresh tomatoes and shrimp paste).

 I will reserve the scallops to stir fry tomorrow with some veggies as well; 

And the oysters?  They will swim in vinegar, chopped onions, ginger, and ground pepper; that is our appetizer for lunch today. 

I boiled the chunks of pork belly with spices for lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly);  while the pork belly slices will be marinated with some spices, wine and vinegar, this will keep in the refrigerator for 10 days, longer at the freezer.  It will be convenient to grill a few pieces when we feel like. 

  

The pork tenderloin, I cut into medallions and mixed into the Filipino barbecue marinade I made. Sometime this week I will grill them. This will go well with another veggie dish. 

, I divided the beef (that's almost two kilos) ; two-thirds will be for beef stew and one-third for beef steak with a lot of onion rings on the side. 

I only got these fruits, I prefer to get the others from the supermarket where there is a good variety to choose from.

For every meal, there is always a veggie dish, maybe what I got is enough, if not, there's always that vendor at the corner who has them fresh daily. 

That's it!  Guess I have enough to last me until next weekend.  I'm thinking that my husband often like to eat out at the spur of the moment anyway, so I may even have extras this week. 

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

tags: food, love 1208 likes like

I Love Ducks

Here I go again, saying that my collection started as a gift. But it's true.  It was my office assistant who gave me a wooden duck for my birthday.  We were just talking about fixtures to decorate the house and I happened to mention that I like ducks, truly, I do.  

Then one day, she presented this duck to me, my first ever!  

"My husband bought this during his business trip, it's from both of us, happy birthday!":  she told me,  and I was so thrilled to have it. 

I can't explain my fondness for ducks, 

Maybe because I love country stlye in decorating the house, and ducks are often included.

Or because one of the bedtime stories I remember as a child is "The Ugly Duckling" , oh, I was sad about the duckling then, but when my mama came to the part where he blossomed into a beautiful swan, I always felt good and had a good night's sleep.

The ugly duckling

And ducks seem so gentle and tame, at least that's what I thought, not until I saw a movie where a duck defended his master along with his friend, a dog. So ducks are loyal too!

So I'm sure you would understand why I love this movie: 

My collection increased when I started buying wooden ducks one after another; I got a pair from a Christmas bazaar, another pair in an open market.  I remember I got some from my friends at the office, and the rest, I must have bought them as well. 

Except these flying ducks on the wall.  There used to be four but after I retired, I brought them home and my husband hung then on the wall outside our bedroom where we can see them often.  Here's  how I got them: 

As I entered my office on one birthday morning, I saw four flying wooden ducks hanging on the four walls with a note from each giver; the names of my staff:  Virgie, Joanne, Millet and Helen were on each of them.  Oh, what a pleasant surprise that was!  What touched me was their trouble getting them for me, their thoughtfulness was what mattered most. I can't thank them enough for the joy  getting this gift.

Today, I'm just sorry that I lost one, (due to old age, hahaha!). They weathered the sun and rain. I want to replace it so I'm always on the look out for something similar during bazaars but until now, I could not find any. 

My collection are just around the house. 

I placed the duck set for nuts and chips receptacles (given by my daughter-in-law one Christmas when she asked my son what I'm fond of and he said, "ducks") on one coffee table and joined by a celadon duck placed atop a book of Bill Clinton.

Some I placed on this dividing shelf and the ladder:

And on a wall perpendicular to the shelf as well as on the other end of this wall.

I want to put this collection together but until now I haven't figured out how to do it.  I once tried to line them up on a ledge and my husband joked that "they are like soldiers there", so until then, I guess I'll just move them around as I please. I really don't mind anyway, they're my " toys".

My Version of "Caldereta": Beef Stew With Pineapple

Today, my older daughter has no work, so she came for lunch.  I thought I would whip up something that she would like.  I decided to cook "caldereta"  (beef stew with pineapple).

First I fried the potatoes and set them aside.

Then I browned the Pamplona chorizo in a few drops of canola oil, and  sautéed the  garlic and onions.

The pineapple juice ( together with the pine tidbits)-marinated beef with soy, lemon juice, pepper and some herbs and spices were mixed in next.

After about 2 hours, and the beef was tender, I added the olives, frozen green peas and tomato paste. I made sure the beef was fully coated with tomato paste.

carrots, bell pepper and potatoes were added last. 

I like the sauce a little bit thick, so I dissolved a tablespoon of corn starch in half a cup of water. 

When it boiled, it was time to taste 

 I found I needed more pepper, fish sauce and a dash of salt.

And the dish was done!

But oops!  We need more veggies, so I sautéed garlic, onions, shrimps and pork bouillon in another pan.

Followed by the cut beans left over from my spring roll yesterday. 

Some pepper, then I tasted and it turned out the way I like it. 

Just as my maid was setting the table, I heard the gate open and my daughter came in. 

We had a good lunch!

Home Cooking

Home cooking is becoming very popular nowadays, what with so many cooking programs going on tv all day and all night? And not only that, isn't it handy that there is always google to consult? Besides, we are becoming more and more health conscious that we make sure the food we eat is healthy, devoid of so many calories. 

Even on special events we often choose to stay home and cook instead of eating out. Some dates are taking place in someone else's home instead of at a bar or a restaurant where dating partners prepare the food themselves, thus making it an activity in itself. Even buying the fresh ingredients from a local mom and pop is something to do together, like playing house. 

To those who are reluctant to cook or afraid that the food won't turn out great, I suggest they heed the following advice of a famous American chef who introduced French cuisine to the American public:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” 

― Julia Child

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France

I would say that it is best to start early. When my granddaughter was a little over three years old,  I made sure that we had an activity whenever she spent the day with us. She would cut veggie trimmings with a plastic knife; we would bake cookies or make cup cakes. She would break the eggs, cut the butter and measure the dry ingredients. 

Oh, she loves our chocolate cup cake recipe so much, she would lick not only what was left on the spatula but scoops some of the mixture to eat. She always say: "my Nana's cup cake is the best ever!", believe me, for her, there is no match to it, even at  parties, "the cup cakes are not as yummy as my Nana makes them".

Now that she is 8 years old, she loves to cook. On the way home from the grocery with her mom one afternoon, she wanted to make banana loaf so she googled a recipe: "this one must be good, mama, it earned 5 stars", she said. 

Here she is making her banana loaf

Just last week, she borrowed a cookbook from her school library and wanted to prepare a soup for next day's lunch.  She went to the grocery with her mom so she could get the ingredients herself. Look at her soup. 

Upper photo is her finished product, lower one is the cookbook page.

Speaking of home cooking, I couldn't be more proud of my two married daughters who are very enthusiastic cooks even with their demanding careers. Do you know that they cook everything from scratch, no mixes or pre-made sauces for them, no sir!  Not even salad dressings; making Caesar salad dressing is something they learned early on from their summer cooking class.  I guess they too, were very observant as teens, I know they often watch me cook, but they seldom did it themselves. Oh, they would whip up a pastry whenever they felt like eating or made cookies, but that was all. They never attempted to cook a meat or fish dish. 

When we had guests, their role was preparing the china, the silver, the napkins and the bowls for nuts or chips. They saw that the ice bucket is always filled and glasses and drinks are within the reach of everyone. Oh, sometimes, they cut veggies but no serious cooking for them. 

Nowadays, the three of us, including my sister in the US, share recipes of new dishes we prepare. I am often amazed how they make traditional recipes their own, they are so imaginative and creative.  They are also sticklers for healthy food, they often bake or grill using only a few drops of EVOO, (as Rachel Ray refers to extra virgin olive oil), to avoid too much cholesterol. When it is necessary to fry, they use canola oil. They find baking the dish more practical though, just pop the dish in the oven and wait for the timer to ring. Besides, there are less dishes to wash, they say. 

I'm sure that their husbands are happy that they can always look forward to a healthy and delicious home-cooked meal at the end of a stressful day at work. Isn't it true that:

 "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? 

Well, Stephen Colbert had something to add to this famous quote: .

."... Just make sure you thrust upward through his ribcage.”

Haha! Isn't that bringing it too far?

Color Palette

Do you know your color palette?  I didn't realize that I have one, and all of us for that matter until I read about it.  

Our color palette is manifested by our choice of personal things, our clothes, shoes and bags and all other accessories, even things around the house, so if only you will look closely, you will discover that there is a color or two that stand out, and most often, that's your favorite color. 

In painting our walls, don't we refer to a color chart or the color wheel as our guide?  It's true that many  of us are quite reluctant to choose, afraid that our choice combinations won't work, so we often rely on the interior decorator to do this task. 

I like one celebrity decorator who always ask his clients for an object that they like so much to ensure that they will like what he will do. He refers to that object to develop the color palette in decorating their room/home.  I watched one of his shows where the client gave him a printed dress and the color-coordination done was amazing, to the great satisfaction of the client. 

As early as grade school, we were often asked what our favorite color is. Don't you recall the slum books as well where that is one of the standard questions?  

“My teacher asked my favorite color. ... I said ‘Rainbow’.... and I was punished to stand out of my class.” ----Saket Assertive

"The vibrant colors of this rainbow set against lush surroundings, photographed near San Quirico d'Orcia, Tuscany, make it seem like an almost magical phenomenon. However, the science behind a rainbow is relatively simple as it's just a matter of refraction, or the bending of light." © iStockphoto.com/jbarkway )

When we mature however, our taste become more sophisticated and we either go for more subdued hues or get bold and choose brighter colors. 

I for one always liked yellow, like the sun, I feel it is a lucky color, giving a lot of light and life. Nowadays however, I favor very much the warm and vibrant colors of autumn; the greens, yellows, golds, oranges and the browns put together is something I'd like to see around the house.  

So I chose a slightly burnt orange as an accent wall for our bedroom and lighter tones for the other walls.  I only buy linens in shades of beige, yellow, gold, orange and brown so everything is coordinated, they will compliment and match and be interchangeable. For instance pillow cases in yellow will easily blend or contrast with a brown or an orange duvet and it's matching pillow cases.

Experts say that when in doubt, look at nature and see which colors work. In fact, most artists get their inspiration from nature.  I myself is often amazed at the birds' feathers, sometimes the combinations are bold but they look great, like those below:

These two pictures above and below are both from the gallery of Dan Nihiser.

The ocean taken together with the sky provides a great palette as well, it is a combination of relaxing hues of blue, aqua, gray and white, sometimes stones and sand turn yellowish with the glare of the sun.

This picture is so peaceful and serene, I have to give credit to my younger daughter who took it and shared it with the family during her honeymoon at Shangrila, Maldives late last year. 

Many people stay on the safe side and only use safe colors, like the neutrals: white, beige, gray; others though are very bold combining very strong colors together, but hey, does it really matter?  As long as they are happy living with it, then all is well.