Aling Foping's Halo Halo - MTS

 Whenever I google for best halo-halo in Davao, Aling Foping's name would always pop out..So I've been curious ever since.. Finally, finally, I was able to try it two Sundays ago after dinner at Izubo ( Tucked somewhere in Matina. As in tucked. )

The regular was PHP85, I think. The special (with ice cream) was PHP105 or PHP115, I think.

What got me excited was the selection list. Hoooray! I can choose what goes into my halo halo! Beans be gone!

I wasn't too happy though after eating it because the pinipig tasted stale, the gulaman and sago just tasted like starch - no flavor, no sweetness. Love the concept, but angered disappointed by the execution

PopCorners : Cheesy Jalapeno

My brother's girlfriend gave me a big bag of Chef Tony's PopCorners. Normally I don't eat corn chips (not my thing), and I stay away from pop corn (I love popcorn but according to the blood type diet, corn makes me fat)..Buuuut I got totally hooked to popcorners. It was crunchy-crispy (nacho chip texture) and fluffy-crunchy (popcorn texture), and it was cheesy and spicy and yummy!

So my body naturally gravitated towards it  at the Healthy Options store in Abreeza Mall. I originally wanted to buy the small pack (PHP 45), but then later on decided to buy the big bag (PHP145).

They're both called POPCORNERS, but one is from Chef Tony's and the other one is from..er.. I forgot the brand.. Anyway, they're both made in the USA.. so maybe they have the same supplier? 

I just noticed the following difference:
The one from Healthy Options is a notch crunchier and two notches spicier.
It's also PHP40 more expensive..

But then, not all Chef Tony outlets and kiosks sell these popcorners (just 4 outlets in Manila, I think).. and since I'm in Davao, the easiest way for me is to just buy it from Healthy Options.. Otherwise, I'd have to ask my brother from Manila to ship a bunch of deflated bags to me.. I actually requested already, but changed my mind eventually because I'm trying to stay on my diet. Planning to lose 5 more pounds within this month.

Carmen's Best Ice Cream

 I was going to Manila for the weekend (of July 11) so I asked my brother to buy me some ice cream from Carmen's.
Actually, I told him ' can you surprise me with Carmen's ice cream'?
So when I got to Manila, I was surprised to find out that there's no ice cream waiting for me in the freezer.
But then, because I'm spoiled (In a cute way. Definitely not the annoying kind) and he can't say no to me, he went out (to Moriones) in search of the ice cream. And so when I got back from my friend's wedding dinner reception, my brother said some things that lead me to the freezer , and that's when I really got surprised. There's 2 tubs of ice cream!

I've heard so many good reviews and raves about their salted caramel flavor. Because of that, my expectations sky rocketed so much so that I really got disappointed when I took my first spoon. I was expecting to taste something extraordinary, yet the deep caramel flavor just wasn't there, and so the saltiness did nothing. It didn't elevate any flavor.

I mean maybe I'm just too full when I tried it OR maybe it's just that particular tub. From what I've read, all the ice cream are homemade, and I do know that with homemade stuff using fresh ingredients, there may be some slight differences per end result.

To be honest, it became tastier the second day I tried it, but still the satisfaction wasn't there..

The cheese ice cream though, is a different story. It had all those cheese chunks and it just tasted cheesy all throughout. You can tell that they didn't scrimp on cheese. Yum!

A Day in the Life of This Blogger

I'm now working in my husband's family business.
I used to think that working in your own company is easy peasy, but actually it's quite hard too.

You see that pile, well it's my daily task since I'm in charge of checking payments, and doing accounts receivables and reconciliation and issuance of check and subsequent checking of accounting entries for those payments.

Then there's the emotional stress too - when there's expenses, losses and etc, I feel the pain.

But then there are perks too. Like:
1. Going to work later than the rest (erm, around 9:45ish)
2. Going for 2 hr lunch breaks (but that's usually just once a week, the rest of the days I just order in or bring my own food)
3. Going home earlier (5pm, or 4:30pm. But I still feel guilty if I leave at 4:30pm)
4. Watching catch-up tv during lunch break and whenever I feel like it
5. Checking my FB while lazily tilting the backrest of my office 'big boss chair'
6. Blogging during office hours

But the most important 'perks' are the absence of these two life-shortening things: Stress and Fear.

I can breathe easy now. No more Monday blues. Well sometimes I still complain that it's Monday... but that's just because I love to complain.

My Birthday 2014

 

July 12,2014 - The day of my flight back to to Davao. I flew to Manila on July 11 to attend my friend's wedding on July 12.

My mom made advance birthday misua for me.

 

July 24- My birthday misua

That evening, the whole family went to Claude's for dinner. (It's a French restaurant here in Davao)
These were the garnishing for Mr. Baked Potato, side dish to Monsieur Steak - Bacon bits, butter, home made sour cream and chives(?)

I (actually most of us) had the tenderloin steak - 330grams.
Gak! I'm a big eater, yet I almost couldn't finish this one. It's huge!

Afterwards, the French owner together with his staff turned off the lights in the private room and sang 'Happy Birthday' while walking in. Ofcourse the whole family chimed in.

I'm really quite lucky, none of those 'problem-with-the-in-laws' thing.

I then blew out the candle on my ube cake from Red Ribbon. Made 2 wishes too.

How I've missed Red Ribbon's cake so I specifically requested for it. I was disappointed though, the cake was dry, the whipped cream has developed a different taste, and the ube topping (which was basically just ube cake crumbs) was uber dry. Ugh! My 5 year old nephew took a bite and then just played with his food. When he was told to finish it, he said he doesn't like the taste.

Sigh, why do things change? I mean people change, but must the taste of 'foodsssss' also change?

Fyi, I hate the word 'foods'.

Peach Ballerina Flats

My first peach colored ballerina cut-out flats.
They're so cute, and pretty, and comfy, and cheap!

It's on sale on Zalora! Gak, I got pretty addicted to online shopping last July and am currently (Aug) on shopping rehab. I checked my online shopping account and discovered that I spent PHP8K in a month (about SGD230). Well, it's not a huge huge amount per se, but a significant amount still for online shopping.

Anyway, I'm steering away from my topic.

I'm 33 years old, and just started seeing the beauty of feminine flats.  Oh gosh, it's going to be a tough month, being restricted from shopping. *sad face*

Shinkansen (Tokyo to Kyoto)

Quite an effort to take a clear photo of the approaching train, especially since I'm just using a camera phone.
This shot is not bad at all!

 The train is such a cutie! Just look at the shape of its 'face'

 Inside the bullet train: It wouldn't be me if I didn't bring snacks for the ride from Tokyo to Kyoto. We ate Tokyo Banana, Calbee chips and Jagabee.

 Then the snack lady came along...

 So we ordered our bento boxes.
I knew it! We should've bought the bento boxes that were being sold outside the station. Theirs looked fresh and yummy.

 The one I ate wasn't so nice.. the tempura was quite dry and tough.
It just looked pretty.

I took a bite of this thing and took the whole thing out of my mouth because I didn't know what I was eating.
Then I saw the bite mark and thought it was so cute so I took a photo.
I'm pretty sure I was able to decipher then what the food was, but now I couldn't remember. Must have tasted plain that's why I've forgotten about it. 

It's quite expensive to take the shinkansen, but since it takes you to your destination at such a fast speed, I think it's well worth it.

The ride took about 2hrs ( a little over it).