Fish Escabeche

 This dish is a favorite of the family except for son who is a carnivore.   So even if it’s not everybody’s favorite, I still cook it just the same coz we need to have a balanced diet. This recipe is the local version of Sweet and Sour Fish which we usually order from a Chinese restaurant whenever we dine out.  It’s  is very easy to prepare.  If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s how.

Ingredients:

·         I kilo lapu-lapu

·         2 pcs. green sweet pepper cut in julienne strips

·         1 pc carrot cut in julienne strips

·         1 2-inch ginger

·         2 cloves garlic

·         1 onion

·         vinegar

           fish sauce to taste

·          sugar

·         freshly ground black pepper

·         drops of catsup

·          flour

·         cornstarch diluted in water.

 Procedure:

 Clean lapu-lapu by removing the gills, intestines and scales. Sprinkle little salt then coat with flour. Fry till golden brown. Set aside.  Saute garlic, onion and ginger.  Drop the carrots and green sweet pepper.  Blend fish sauce. Dilute cornstarch in vinegar and water mixed with sugar, salt.and ground black pepper.   Blend some drops of catsup to give color to the sauce.  Serve while hot.

*Note:  There’s no actual measurements here. Do it according to your  taste.

The Beautiful Dream

I love to travel.   We try our best to go somewhere every summer even if that somewhere is just around the corner.  I don’t know why, but I go on natural high every time we’re out on a beach, or on any unfamiliar place with my love ones beside me.  We’ve been to quite a number of local and foreign places and the ones that left a mark on my memory are the family summer vacation we had in Cebu and Bohol in 2007 and the recent Bicol Expedition.  Of course, the beautiful places of Sydney, Canberra and Hongkong will never be forgotten.  Being on those well developed cities made me realized that our country really need some true good leaders to pull us up from the labyrinth of poverty.  Needless to say, I think it’s still a great deal of struggles for us to see our country transform into such prime developed tourist attraction that these foreign land had significantly achieved.

Anyway, so much for rants and gripes!    Do you know the one grand vacation I  fantasize?  It’s a holiday quite difficult to achieve for me but I’m not giving up.  I know, one day I’ll be in the Big Apple and see the grandeur of the city that never sleeps. I just can’t stop imagining the numerous Things to do in New York City. And it makes my mind wander. I’d be in a double-decker sightseeing bus on a night tour enjoying the amazing view of the beautifully lit Manhattan.  Ahhh, what a beautiful dream!

Busy Days Ahead

I am facing an inescapable busy days ahead. My angel (maid) will be on vacation leave starting next week. This early, I’m already anxious how I would manage to carry out all the household chores, attend to the needs of my visiting elderly Mother-in-law and at the same time handle my blogging thingy. Not to mention the out of the house errands and some social activities I have once in a while. The angel promised to come back on mid of May but I am quite skeptical with her promise coz she has scores of plans for her and her child and I hear no conclusive statement on those plans of her.

Nevertheless, I’m taking advantage of the remaining days she’s here. I am checking everything especially the clothes due for ironing. That’s the chore I hated most so I make sure nothing is left undone. Just thinking of all those impending backbreaking tasks makes me lose sleep again. Actually, I’m an insomniac, the opposite of Hubby who easily falls asleep the moment his back touches the bed. Oh yeah, even with lots of coffee intake. Which reminds me of` his request to have his own coffee maker for his office. He wants Keurig one cup coffee maker specifically because if fits well for his office and his need. It’s effortless to have one anyway. Ordering is easy online. In the meantime, I’ve got to face this impending difficulty with open arms. No way for me to get away from it for I’m a wife, a mother and a housemaid rolled into one.

Have you seen T2?

I promised to give you a movie review of the Movie T2. So here it is.

 The scene begun with a man finding his goat that went astray at dusk.  With an unnatural very low flying Boeing 747 over his head, the man seems to wonder. The story is about “enkantos” (supernatural entities) that transform as humans.  One of them is Carmen So who became the wife of John Lloyd Cruz, a human being(I forgot their names in the movie). She gave birth to Angelie (Mika dela Cruz) then returned to being an engkanto after her delivery to their child.  This child is being sought by the enkantos claiming she belongs to their world. This is also the reason for the scary scenarios in the movie.  The child being an orphan, is being assisted by Claire (Maricel Soriano), a volunteer in a Charity Organization for Orphans which eventually fought for the child against the enkantos.  Incidentally, Derek Ramsay’s role is Maricel’s husband who’d been wanting to have a child of their own but Maricel can’t give him one. Hence, his suggestion of a trial separation.  I won’t mention how the story ended. You may want to see the movie so at least there’s still a little surprise waiting for you.  Overall, the performances are all A-okay, especially Maricel.

This is one good movie, I can say.  Better than ”Feng Shui” and “Sukob”.  T2 is worth seeing.  It’s not corny.  For my rating, on a scale of 5 as the highest, I give it 4.5. I would like to make mention too, that my Mother-in-law is visibly satisfied with the movie. She’s very focused on the big screen even on the second round of watching.

Coffee please! . . .

That’s what I always hear from Hubby when he’s around the house.  Whatever he’s doing, whether washing the car, reading the morning newspaper or simply hooked on his laptop, a cup of coffee is always beside him.  And yes, even while driving, he’s got to have a cup of hot coffee on the car’s cup holder.  I was wondering what benefits he’s getting from drinking coffee so I did some online researching.  And here are some of what I found:

• Coffee is one among the healthiest beverage billions of people consume regularly.
• Caffeine makes our brains alert and more receptive to new information.
• Regular consumption of coffee decreases the risk of type II diabetes.
• Coffee with exercise increases energy while burning fat is greatly increased than without caffeine.

And for the disadvantages:

• Coffee when excessively taken are addictive and mood charger.
• Again, when excessively taken can affect the blood sugar level negatively

Many of us already knew these facts and so does Hubby.  He said coffee brings him exceptional satisfaction that’s why there’s no way he would totally eliminate coffee from his system. He alleged he’ll just take it in moderation.  He really loves coffee that much which makes me think of ordering  K-cups for him online.  He can even choose his type of brand and brew it for a perfect single cup with no waste and no mess. In that case, this is good for me too, right? About you, care for a cup of coffee?

Warm Weather

 Summer is here and the very warm weather is sometimes unbearable.  Too bad, our air conditioner broke down and I have yet to look for a repair man.  Consequently, I’m planning to bring my Mother-in-law in a Mall to see a movie just to ease her freaky heat discomfort.  She mentioned she likes Maricel Soriano so maybe I’ll buy a movie ticket to T2,  Maricel’s latest movie which I hope is still showing by this time. I’m not so fond of Maricel Soriano but for M-i-l’s sake I’ll see the movie with her.  So, I will be out a little later and perhaps be back for a T2 movie review.  See you again, Buddies!!

Web Hosting

The living standard is getting tougher here in the Philippines.  Sometimes I do regret the fact that we passed off the opportunity of getting an immigrant visa to Australia.  That’s for Hubby as the Principal Candidate.  Almost everyone here had somehow felt the effect of the global financial crisis in one way or another.  Perhaps that’s what drove our couple friends to gather the whole family and migrate to Canada.  They have moved there almost a year ago now and I’m happy to hear from them that they are adjusting quite easily as contrary to what they expected.  The wife has found job in a Casino and the husband in a Car Dealer company.  The three kids are yet in school but all are doing good so far.  Despite the better financial condition they are enjoying now, the wife is planning to have an online business.  In that case, she needs to find a good web hosting provider for her own website.  This friend of ours is a true blooded businesswoman. She knows exactly what she wants and will not stop until she gets it.  I still recall how she courageously drove a unit of a taxi when its driver didn’t show up. She had a number of units that time and she just wouldn’t allow a day of income being wasted.  And in her situation now, I’m certain, that the online business she has in mind will prosper as long as the web hosting she’ll gonna get is one as good as the Canadian Web Hosting.

Hubby is Contented

Many years ago when Hubby was yet very much qualified to migrate to Australia, my sister-in-law invited us to join her and her family to the land down under.  However, Hubby is not that interested to leave his job and the simple life we are enjoying here.  He said he’s not sure what kind of life we’re gonna get there so he decided that we would stay here.  My sis-in-law and my mother-in-law wanted us to see their way of living, the many good opportunities Australia offers and most of all the peace and economic progress they have there so they sent us an all expense paid trip for the two of us. “See it for yourselves” they told us.  That was six years ago.

I only have all the good things to say for my in-laws who merely wanted us to have a much better life. They maybe right.  I have been extremely convinced then that Australia is the better place for us.  But not my hubby.  He’s very much contented with our simple and humble life here.  He only worries for their mother who’s in her senior years.  He witnessed how lonely she could get being alone in the house when everybody has left the house for work and school. But that’s no problem nowadays. Mother-in-law could always log in to Senior Chat City and her boredom would vanish. He has now loosened up and not worry for m-i-l.

Antipolo Church Visit

Last Sunday, Hubby asked Mamang where she wants to go that day.  She quickly replied she wants to attend Sunday Mass in Antipolo Church.  Without hesitation, he drove us to Antipolo and along the way passing by and fetching his sister then to an Aunt’s place in Pasig City.  The Aunt with daughter and granddaughter tagged along with us to have longer time with each other. After visiting the Church, (unfortunately, we didn’t catch up with the Mass.) we had lunch at a nearby restaurant.  It wasn’t a classy one, but we were too hungry to look for a better one. It served good food anyway. Then to Libingan ng mga Bayani to visit my Father-in-law’s burial place. Next we passed by their cousins’ place. Unluckily, those people were out of town. It was a hot sunny day but I guess Mamang enjoyed that short road trip.

Payday Loan

Are you one of those employed but still get short of cash before the payday comes?  It is not surprising that on this time of financial crisis, many working citizens are needing Payday Loan long before their payday comes.  For some that I know of, they usually run to their parents or to any member of their family to ask for financial help just to get through until the next payday. However, their needs are not always answered.  In such cases, there is always Pay Day Loans available online.  It is the most needed monetary assistance readily available to someone whose payday is quite remote for the immediate need.  You can always apply online and by meeting few easy requirements, your application can be approved in as fast as one hour or so. What are you waiting for?  Apply now and see how easy it is!

Mamang is Back Home

 Weeks before, we were informed of Mamang’s (my, mother-in-law) arrival to be at 6:00 am last Friday.  We left home at 5:00 am and as we reached NAIA Centennial Terminal, the flight from Sydney/Melbourne has already landed at 5:26.  Luckily, (for Hubby and me), their flight coincided with two other flights from America which left her getting out of the Arrival Area a little bit late. If not, she might have wondered where to look for us if she didn’t see us at the Welcoming Area.  Anyway, everything went fine and we were able to meet her just in time as she stepped out of the Arrival Area. She’ll be staying here for six months until she gets back to Sydney, Australia in October. I can foresee there’d be a lot of tour guiding jobs for hubby and me while m-i-l is around here. It will surely be  a lot of fun!