My cooking experiment

Oh I miss blogging, I was busy this past days, finally, got time to blog a little.

Since I submitted my preliminary works to our client yesterday, I was able to come home early. I said to myself, I'll cook something for Dj since the past 2 days, we had corned beef and fried bangus for dinner (Monday & Tuesday). Though I'm a bit tired, I manage to visit and do some buying at Shopwise Cubao. I was thinking of cooking stir fry vegetable in oyster sauce and Ma Po Tofu (good thing there's a Lee Kum Kee mix for this recipe) but I decided to cook something that I really work hard for, cook something without the help of mixes. So I get a grocery basket off to the meat area I go, I bought A kilo of Beef, some celery, half a kilo of ground pork (for the carbonara I'll cook on Saturday), french bread, mc cormick thyme leaves and oregano(for Toni's recipe). I get to see my favorite purple yam hopia, but I decided not to buy because I still have mongo hopia in out fridge which I bought at SM Manila last Saturday (Im crazy about hopia). Oh anyway, at 7:30pm, I was then finish with buying so I hailed an fx and went home. Luckily there's no traffic. I was home at 8:15pm. I then borrowed mom's pressure cooker so I can make the beef tender in a few minutes time. I really don't know what to cook. I just trust my sense of taste. So when the meat was tender, I saute the garlic, onions, celery then I add the beef (which I cut in strips). After a while, I add some oyster sauce. At first, a find the taste good but Im not yet satisfied so a put a dash of oregano and some chili powder....The verdict, it was yummy. I let it simmer for a minute and wooohooo, I cook a tasty dish .

Dj arrived home just in time for dinner. When he tasted the beef dish, he said that it taste good and ask what's the name of the dish, I just smiled and told him na its my labor of love dish. He was a little bit confused with my answer but he didn't mind, he was busy eating :D

A wedding and a reunion

Yesterday we (my mom, my father, auntie M, auntie O, Uncle L, grandma,2 cousins and my favorite nice Katkat) went to a wedding, the wedding of Jerame & Joy, Joy is my 2nd cousin whom I met for the first time just yesterday. I'm not really close to her. Its my parents and her parents who are close and were childhood playmates during their younger years. Actually, its more of a family reunion to me. I meet cousins and aunties and tito's whom I've never seen in my entire life.

The wedding mass was held at Immaculate Concepcion Parish at Pasig City. When the mass was over, they started to chat and mingle with one another. My uncle L keep on introducing me and my cousins to our other relatives. There was a scene that my father (Lets call him Daddy J), and one of his cousin whom last seen each other during gradeschool days pa, meet at that occasion after 5 decades. His cousin, start shedding tears, those were tears of joy as she explained.

There's also this incident that my Uncle L was talking to one cousin . . , so she asked where his wife(Aunt M) was, This cousin don't actually know who Aunt M is. So Uncle L, pointed to the lady (Aunt M) with a minty green blouse who is behind me. So his cousin approached me and asked in a confused voice:
C: ikaw ba asawa ni Leo?
(are you Leo's wife).
Jen: Ah nde po...mashado ko bata sa kanya. Uncle ko po sya.
(Ah no Im not, Im too young for him, he's my uncle)
Im his daughter (pointing to my father)
C ah ganun ba.(Oh I see)
Then I smiled and hold her right hand and make mano to her.

At the reception, the chatting and mingling didn't stop. Everyone was so happy and glad to see us. Then one aunt commented that I look like Aiko Melendez (mataba kc ako eh, he he he). Then one aunt keep on hugging and kissing me, then one uncle asked for my cell no. I was like star.

In all the wedding celebration I attended, this wedding is what I call intimate. All close family, relatives and some friends are invited. I really had a great time. I didn't regret in skipping my work yesterday. I had a chance to meet my other families. Gee Daddy J's clan is so big huh.

Oh by the way, I also enjoyed the food. It what terrific.

Have a nice weekend to all!

Sound the Alarm...

5:50am....what!!!! OMG its 5:50am! DJ is late for his shuttle service for work. He is very late. To those who didn't know, Dj is working at Cavite while we stayed in our little home at Q.C. He manage to go to his work through a shuttle service (a bus) from his office.

Our usual routine during workdays, is to wake up early, I wake up at around 3:45am to prepare Dj's very early breakfast , He wake up at 4:00am to get his self ready. He then leave the house at around 4:30am to meet the service at the pick up area somewhere at Cubao by 4:50am.

So for today,we didn't heard the two alarms that we set. Yup we set two alarms from two cellphones just incase we don't hear the first one.

Dj: Labs, its 5:50am.(with a shocking voice)
Jen: Hugh...ie, your late na! Will you still go to work.
Dj: Dunno. Matraffic. But I have to. Too many work less time
Jen: Bring the car with you.
Dj: I'll see. Mag shower muna ko.
Jen: K.
(Then I prepare a tuna sandwich for him)

So that was it, after making ourselves ready, we hit the traffic road of Q.C. It was 6:45 in the morning and I'm too early. I usually go to work at 7:15am.

(It was the first time after 9 months that the he drove me to work. I kinda miss it.)

I was at work at 7:20am , I was the first one to be here. Then one of my officemate came and he said "your too early ah." One by one my officemates arrived, and all of them were a bit astonish to see me this early.The usual time I get here is 8:30-8:45am (he he he).

Anyway, at 10:25am Dj texted me to inform me that he is at work already. Cheez, he was driving for almost 3 an a half hours. Wawa naman beybi ko. I'll give him a massage tonight.

Oh by the way, I found out from my mom that it rain this early morning, maybe that's the reason why we didn't heard the alarm or maybe its the rain that makes us sleep soundly. Oh well, the reason behind it is a secret that only time knows.

By the way, It's boss E's birthday. We had a yummy lunch courtesy of him. Thanks for the lunch boss and Happy birthday.

Let's exchange recipes...

I've posted another variation of Kaldereta recipe at one question check it out, you might want to try it or if you want to share a recipe that your friends and family loved you can post it here.

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Its Friday once again, hope everyone will have a relaxing weekend. Make the most out of it, and don't forget to go to church on Sunday guys.

that's if for now and happy weekend to all!

September....September....

Whoa, time flies so fast. The "ber month is starting and Christmas is just a few months away. While Im writhing this, my officemate next to me is playing a chipmunks Christmas carol in his PC. This guy must be that excited for Christmas which remind me to start my early Christmas shopping for my dozen and a half inaanak. Anyways its too early yet, Im planning to do it by the end of the month to avoid rush and ofcourse due to financial constrain I better do my shopping every payday .

Speaking of September, The Gateway mall at Araneta will open this month. Cant wait to visit that mall. The five level Shopping Center will run from the LRT 2 Araneta Center Station at Aurora Boulevard and connect to the northern gate of Araneta Coliseum. The Mall is also link to the MRT-3 station at EDSA, so shoppers will have an easy access to it. My shapaholic trait is reserved for the opening of that mall, I really cant wait.

Hmmm...What else, this month my mom will celebrate her 59th birthday. Mom's age is getting older but her looks nah, she looks younger, I've asked her secret yesterday. She joke, "it's in the blood." No wonder I look a bit younger than my age (yabang ko noh!!!).

Ah I almost forget, this month too, I and Dj will be celebrating our 2nd year of being together as couple. It was September the 22nd when I accepted him as my bf and after 8 months we got married. Too fast isn't it, Cupid really hit us, so why the wait. After all, we been friends since 1997 and just found out that were in love with each other after 5 years. That's what i called in HIS perfect time. :D

Hmmm...time really flies so fast, today Im writhing about September events, in a couple of days, It's October that Im thinking of.

Have a happy month of September everyone!!!

A birthday to remember...

Yesterday was the birthday of Dj'd father...

While we were on our way to his parent house, Dj was telling lots of stuff about his father. That he is a strict father, a hard working tatay and a very loving one. He taugh his kids the value of money, respect to oneself and respect to others. He taugh all his kids the value of life and how to survive during hard times.

During their childhood days, their parents lose their jobs and cant find any at all, so what his father did, he tried selling balut. The balut selling was a big hit. His dad earn enough money to send them to good schools till college. So in return, Dj and his two sisters studied very hard. They graduated with flying colors. Now, they have good jobs and their life is much comfier than before.

Anyway, when we arrived at their house, everyone in his family was so excited. His mom prepared some food so we can go eat it in the park,a picnic celebration as what J, my sister-in-law described it and told her kids to greet their grandpa a happy bday later on.

At about 4:30 in the afternoon we were at the park. We lay our handy banig (native mat) on the grass and prepare everything, a few inch away from our area was a stone, a stone where a person's alpha and omega is written, a stone where his dad's name was written. Its been three years now since his dad passed away. I and Dj were married for a year and a half and known each other for two years. Too bad, I wasn't able to meet and thank the guy behind the wonderful husband that I have. It's not that I want to meet him now, I might faint if that happen.

Oh well, I know wherever his dad is right now, he is very happy with his kids for they grew up as responsible adults.

A New Template

I woke up late so I decided to skipped work today (sarap matulog maulan). Since I got nothing to do, I tried changing my template. I'm still doing some changes here, maybe later I'll do it. Hmmm...this is all for now. :D

Dj's funny ways...

Since I did the cleaning last Thursday, I and Dj just have a very relaxing week. With no household chores to do so we watched some DVD's, while eating popcorn. When we got tired of watching, he turned on the vcd player and listen to his mp3 collections. Then suddenly, Dj started dancing. He was so funny. He's like a strip tease dancer. Oh men, then I told him, take it off, take it off. He took his shirt off and continued dancing with his cute belly, I find him sexy. When he was about to take his pants off, he said in a minimal voice "Labs, Im hungry". Ha ha ha. He went hungry with his dancing. Enough of his strip tease gig. So I prepared an upside down cake for him.

While baking, I decide to check on my emails and I found out that our PC have some problem, so Dj reformatted our PC. I think we have to buy a new video card and sound card for our PC for its not that efficient anymore.

Well, after reformatting the PC, Dj asked if I wanted to go somewhere else. I told him "nah, I enjoy just being here and there's no place like home"

He then again played his mp3 and start dancing again. This time the music was a love song, he then took my and hands and we dance as if we were in a ball. Ha ha ha. I find it corny but its sweet. :D

A Cat and An Ogre on a Holiday

It's Quezon City day, as expected it's a special non working holiday and since Dj works at Cavite, it's only me here at home.

I had a chance to do some cleaning here. Did some sweeping and some dusting, wash the dishes, and laundry some clothes. It's a bit tiring but I enjoy every single moment of it. Anyway, after cleaning the house, I asked my niece to accompany me here to watch two DVD's

Garfield the Movie

It's a funny movie. Garfield(voice of Bill Murray), everyone's favorite feline. A self confessed lasagna lover, who parked hiself on his favorite comforter in front of the television. When Jon(Breckin Meyer), takes Garfield to visit veterinarian Liz Wilson(Jennifer Love Hewitt), she gaved Jon a tag-wagging, panting creatures named Odie, A lovable, witty dog that Garfield become jealous of.

This movie really is cute. It makes me laugh when Garfield does his funny dancing with Odie and when Garfield was ask by Jon to eat the mouse but he refuse to. Can you imagine, a cat who hates eating mouse and even hates cat food. Oh well, since Garfield is my favorite since high school, this movie is a must see for me.

Shrek 2

If Part 1 of the movie was about dragons and fighting the evil lord Farquaad , This time, Shrek faces his greatest challenge, the in-laws.

Shrek and Princess Fiona return from their honeymoon to an invitation to visit the princess' parents. So the newly weds set off to Far Far Away Kingdom.

All the villagers of the Kingdom greet their returning Princess, and her parents joyfully anticipate the homecoming of their daughter and her new prince but no one could have prepared them for the sight of their new son-in-law, not to mention how much their little girl had well changed.

This movie is a heart warming love story. I love it when, Shrek become a good looking guy when he drank the potion, the potion also changes Princess Fiona into her real self. The potion's effect will only remain forever if Shrek will kiss his true love. At the end of the story, the princess chose the Ogre, the old Shrek he loves and not the good looking Shrek. Hmmm.. the last part of the movie made me cry. Promise, it really made me cry.

And so, I and my niece enjoy watching the two movies. I think, I'll watch it again on Saturday with Dj. I know Dj will also enjoy the movie since he has a kid like attitude like me :D

My Saturday was Fun

Last Saturday, Hubby and I went at the World Trade Center for the Manila International Book Fair which celebrated its 25th Anniversary

I really had fun that day. Seeing those wide choices of books. I really wanted to buy all the books I found but some are not on sale and expensive. So I decided to buy 2 Sophie Kinsella books which are "Confession of a Shapaholic" and "Shapaholic Takes Manhattan". I got them with a 10% discount. That's a big thing. I started reading the first Shapaholic book and it's really hilarious. Cant wait to finish it and start reading the second book.

There were lots of booth there such as ABS-CBN booth which sell kiddy vhs, Readers's Digest, Powerbooks, Fullybook(where I bought the Kinsella book), Aviba, Summmit Publication and many more. National Bookstore has a booth also, a big one, as Jennie had mentioned in her previous post, it's more of a branch than a booth. Too bad she went on a Friday. I wasn't able too see her personally.

The fair has a P5.00 entrance fee, but some guy gave us a leaflet which allows us to enter the fair for free. So we had a P10.00 saving. Yup we got a discount on the books and on the entrance fee but the prices of softdrink are a bit higher that the original price. A can of Pepsi cost P35.00. Dj joke a bit, he said " mura nga mga books dito pero ang pagkain hindi". I told him nevermind the food, we can eat outside, the books are much important here :)

We left the place at around 4:00pm. I was wearing a huge smile that time. I was very hapy with the two books that I bought at the fair. By the way, I kept the name tags given to us at the entrance. I will put it in the scrapbook I'll soon start. It will serve as a souvenir :D