Migi in Kia Paparazzi Contest

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Migi's Jollibee Birthday Cake

Our son Migi really likes jollibee, his favorites includes spaghetti, palabok, and peach mango pie. As a two year old he would consumed one serving of jollibee spaghetti and would even raised his pointer finger to indicate that he wants more. He watches the Jollibee town show every Sunday. That's why for his 2nd birthday, we wanted to do something related to Jollibee. Due to time constraints in preparation and some budget considerations, we decided to just celebrate Migi's Second Birthday with family at my husband's parents house. We wanted to give him a Jollibee cake unfortunately Red ribbon bakeshop doesn't do Jollibee cake unless you acquired a Jollibee party package at a Jollibee store. After knowing that, I resigned to just ordering a regular birthday cake, but then I remember that a bakeshop wherein I had ordered Migi's First Birthday Cake do customized cakes. I contacted them and they happily agreed to do Migi's Jollibee Birthday cake.

Migi is real thrilled upon seeing Jollibee in his cake. Here's the picture of my son blowing the cake.

Extra Challenge: Baking my own birthday cake

I have turned xx years old today! (the age is a secret! haha). As an extra challenge for me I tried my hand in baking my very own birthday cake. Actually it is not a stroke of inspiration that I have decided to make a birthday cake, in reality my sister have some baking ingredients that are about to be expired next month. So in order to prevent wastage, I have decided to make use of them before it expires! 

I surfed the internet for a fool proof recipe and decided to make a chocolate chiffon cake.

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cup cake flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

7 egg separated at room temperature

3/4 cup cold water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Heat Oven to 350F

2. Combine 1-3/4 cup sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt in a large bowl

3. Add oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla then beat until smooth

4. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar gradually until stiff peak forms

5. Pour chocolate batter into the beaten egg white, by folding using a spatula.

6. Pour into a ungreased 10" tube pan.

7. Bake 1 hour or until cake springs back.

8. Invert pan on heat proof funnel until completely cool. Remove cake from pan. Decorate as necessary.

I didn't try to make any more frosting, it is just plain difficult. I have decided to just dust it with confectioner sugar. There are some more ingredients left so I also made some cupcakes.

After 4 hours of baking, here is my birthday cake!

It's Maki Day!

One of our favorite food is the California Maki, we would always buy in stores or restaurant just to satisfy our cravings. California Maki is basically an inside out sushi roll. It is made of rice mixed with rice vinegar, nori sheet, crab stick, avocado slices and cucumbers. The outer layer of the roll is sprinkled with tobiko (orange stuff fish roe). Last July 30, 2011, me and my sister worked around the kitchen and tried to made one...

How to make it.
1. Let the rice cool, put some rice vinegar.
2. Spread the cold cooked rice over a bamboo mat. The mat should be covered in cling wrap.
3. Lay nori sheet over the rice.  
4. Line it with crabstick, cucumber, mango.
5. Gently roll the nori sheet until it forms a log.
6. Sprinkle the log with tobiko.
7. Slice the california maki with a wet sharp knife, put some mayonaise on top.

Here is the finished product... Tada!

We also scorged the refrigerator and made some kani salad.

Off to school Migi goes

We started Migi's speech therapy session last July 2, 2011 since he is a little bit delayed in terms of speaking. Migi has this levator oris palsy, a weak muscle in the left corner of his mouth that also makes him drool a lot.

Here is a picture of my son and my husband taken after school.

Migi's school is Movement Matters Therapy Center.
Address: Unit 3C, Parc Plaza Bldg., E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave (C5-Libis) Quezon City Philippines (besides the old spaghetti house)
Contact Number:  489-7683/ 09175713606

End of a short chapter

Today marks an end of a chapter for me, though a short one, I learned quite a lesson. For one I will never go on night shift ever again.... haha. "Been there, Done That!"

Next week its a whole new world for me again in the world of the seas... Hope all goes well... :)

Bread, et cetera

It is a mysterious business, this making of bread, 

and once you are hooked by the miracle of yeast,

you'll be a breadmaker for life.

James Break, from Beard on Bread 1980

I always wondered how bread are made and is it the same as baking a cake or making desserts? Well last June 5, 2011, I got the chance to know. My sister and I attend a bread demo class at the castle of baking and confectionery arts. The fee is 1500 pesos but since there is a promo wherein you bring a friend, we got it at 50% discount. 

The demo includes the basics and steps of bread making. The recipes that was demonstrated were Pan de Sal, Spanish Bread, Cinnamon Bread, Ensaimada, Bread Pudding and Doughnut.

The verdict.. I now know that making bread takes a lot of patience because of the waiting time for the fermentation (waiting for the dough to rise), the resting of the dough (continuation of the rise of dough) and the muscle it requires to knead the dough (if you don't have the machine). J

Migi's First Words

When will your baby coo's turn into words? When will he/she be able to say "Mama"?
Well our baby Migi is a little bit delayed. At 20 months old, his vocabulary is limited to "Daddy" and "Kongkong" (Shortcut of Grandfather in Chinese). My wait is finally over, today June 4, 2011 he finally called me...."Mama".

Our Story

I found this while doing some files cleaning in my laptop. I already posted this in our wedsite way back in year 2008. I am just re-posting it. This was written by my boyfriend, and now my husband....

-----

We met in a very common setting. Like other couples who co-worked in an office, we too met each other in our office.  What is uncommon is how we got to know each other and fell in love.

Have you ever felt that no matter what you do, it seems that there is a greater being, guiding you through your life?

We were batch mates in our office. Our company hires new employees once a year in bulk and we were hired at same time in a group of 25 last Oct. 2001.

Though we were conducting training in the same room for 3 months, we had different sets of close friends in the batch.  My group was the outgoing ones, while hers was were the weird ones!! Heheheh J

I could not remember if we ever talked to each to other in those 3 months except for training activities.  Weird, coz now we are getting married!! 

How did we become close? By a twist of fate I guess!! J Our batch was schedule to go to Japan for training, about 15 of us.  We applied for VISA in Japan embassy, and by an unexplainable reason, my passport and her passport had a problem and we were both denied to get a VISA.  I could not comprehend how in the world did 2 passports had a problem when all the rest were fine.

Though the situation was disappointing, we had to go on and re-apply for passports again.  Melissa and I agreed that we will go early to DFA(around 5am) to make sure that we could apply for passport on that day. The service of DFA was really bad and we already anticipated that re-applying for passport will be that hard.  But another situation came up.  There was a shortage of material in making passports in DFA.  The line for was twice of what had expected.  We were hoping that we could finish by 12 noon, but instead we finished at 5p.m.  It was 12 long hours of falling in line under the sun, but it was also 12 great hours given to us to get to know each other!! J We started talking about anything under the sun, literally!!  Family, friends, heart matters, dreams, you name it and we talked about it.  After that day, we instantly became close friends!! We started talking to each other whenever we can.  Or at least in my part, I started on looking for her. I suddenly found myself at ease with a person and wanting to be with.

After the passport incident, we were sent to Japan for training.  The opportunity gave me the chance to get to know her much better.  Each day of spending with her, no matter what I do, made me happy. We officially became a couple in Japan on June 15, 2002.  We were lucky enough to have business trips together, 3 more times in Japan, that made us spend more time with each other and make our relationship stronger.

We finally decided to get married January of this year.  

What is supposed to be a bad luck turned out to be a blessing in disguised. Some said that our story was guided by destiny, that we would not be together if not for the series of events that happened in our lives.  And I agree with them but it was not destiny. It was already planned right from the start by God. J

To Ark Avilon Zoo we go

Me, my husband, my sister and Migi went to Ark Avilon Zoo last May 14, 2011. It is located in Frontera Verde near Tiendesitas. It is an interactive indoor zoo, resembling the biblical Noah’s Ark which houses wildlife like white tigers, jaguars, eagles, tortoises and many others. Entrance fee to the zoo is P300 for adults and P200 for the Kids.

Kids and adults can get up close and personal with the different animals here.

Here is Migi and my husband with Jenny the Bornean Orangutan.

You could also interact with birds (with the assistance of the caretakers.. Of course!)

Here is Migi, communicating with the giant tortoise.

 You could also feed the farm animals like rabbits, guinea pigs and sheeps in the farmland feeding section.  A small piece of carrot costs 20 pesos.

Aside from the wildlife and farm animals, there are also Koi fishes there. Kids can feed them. One of the highlights for me is their fish foot spa. You can soak your feet in the pool of water and these fish will eat the dead skin on your feet. It is kind of ticklish at first but you will get used to it.

Overall, the zoo size is just right for a toddler like Migi. You could go through the place in 30 minutes to 1 hour. There is a souvenir shop outside as well as pet shop that sells guinea pigs etc. Since it is an interactive zoo, exercise some caution whenever handling the animals with your kids.

The Crying Coin Bearer

Migi was invited to be part of the wedding entourage to the Lloyd Chua and Marissa Tan Nuptials as a Coin Bearer which was held last May 1, 2011 at the Glass Garden in Pasig City. At first we are apprehensive and not too sure because Migi is only 1.5 years old. We are not to sure if he will walk in the aisle and I don't even think he will remember this experience when he grows up. But nevertheless we accepted since we wanted to be part of the wedding of Lloyd and Marissa, by the way Lloyd is my husband high school classmate.

We practiced at the house 2 months before the wedding. We will hummed the wedding march and Migi will held his palm out and started to marched.

We arrived at the event 1 hour before the start, we gave Migi the pillow containing the coins and start to hummed the wedding march, he marched to the delight of the guests already in the venue. Okay so far so good.

When the processional started, Migi became agitated, that's when he started crying. Maybe because there were lots of people and he got scared. Nevertheless, my husband ended up carrying him while he is crying. Hahaha, so much for all the practiced we have done.

Chocolate Molding Anyone?

I have attended a class about Chocolate Molding in the Castle of Baking and Confectionery Arts last February 13, 2011. This is located in P.Tuazon Cubao Quezon City. For those of you familiar with the area, it is in the structure or building shaped like a chocolate castle. I planned to have chocolate molding for now as a hobby then eventually it might be a source of additional income for us.

The demonstration involves making a simple chocolate lollipop to the more complex 3D structures. Costing and packaging were also explained.  Here are the photos that I have taken during the class.

Here is their website. They have regular posting of classes in case your interested.
http://www.cbcaclasses.com

Now, if only I have the materials... haven't bought them yet.... hahaha

Save the Date: Run United1 2011 (March 6, 2011)

In relation to my new years resolution which is to join at least 3 run for cause event this year, I would like to invite everyone to join this event. This is part of the Runrio Trilogy event held yearly. I already participated in the Condura Skyway Marathon (Run for the Dolphins) which was also held in Bonifacio Global City last February 6, 2011. The Run United1 2011 will be my next goal.

Visit their website to learn more about the Run (http://www.unilabactivehealth.com/rununited2011/about)

LTO Text Service (Hot car?)

I just found out the Land Transportation Office has an SMS messaging service to help check the registration details of a vehicle. I found this thru the LTO website (http://www.lto.gov.ph/) because we are considering buying a second hand car.
Back then, you need to go to an LTO office and fill-out some documents to get some information about  a vehicle but now it is just one text away.

Text the following information to "2600"
LTO<space>Vehicle<space>Plate#
ex: LTO Vehicle ABC123

The response will be:
Plate Number: ABC123
Make: <maker/brand>
Model: <model of the vehicle>
Year: <year of the vehicle>
Color: <color of the vehicle>
Registered Last: <date when the vehicle was last registered>
Has no LTO apprehension  <if it has no violation>
Has no LTO alarm <if it is not a hot car>

It is 2.50 pesos per text message.

I already tried this service and it actually works!

Other services includes
To get requirements for new Non-Professional Driver's License
LTO New NonPro

To get requirements for renewal of Non-Professional Driver's License
LTO Renew NonPro

To get requirements for new student permit
LTO New Student

To get procedures on new registration of Private Vehicles
LTO New Reg Private

To get procedures on renewal of registration of Private Vehicles
LTO Renew Reg Private

Complaints regarding Public Utility Vehicles
LTO Complaint PUV <Plate #> <Complaint>

Sakura Wall Stickers

I recently ordered some peel and stick wall decals to decorate our masters bedroom.
What are decals? they are vinyl sticker with adhesive backing, that can be transferred by peeling off its base.  It is decorating made easy. Because all you need is a clean and flat surface to stick the designs on.
I choose a sakura design to give some zest and asian feel to our room.
Below is the finished product.

I found two multiply sellers of these stickers. You might also want to decorate your rooms.
(especially to those expectant moms for their nursery room)
http://sugarnspicennice.multiply.com
http://nudekor.multiply.com/

Welcome Year 2011

2010 is almost a memory. You can't help but reflect on the year that was. So many amazing things happened. As for me and my family some changes is about to take place and I am hopeful that 2011 will be even better.
Do you have any New years resolution? I may have one or two.
Yesterday, my sister baked these cupcakes to welcome the new year. Nothing beats home made chocolate cupcakes. I even help made the boiled icing. They are festive little parcels that carry bright, cheerful notes of a fresh start.

For inquiries & orders, please contact Marge:
sweetheartgoodies@gmail.com