Harney & Sons Japanese Sencha Tea

I love tea. As in so much that my dentist has already seen tea stains on my teeth during my last dental visit! 

Harney and Sons tea is a new brand I've recently encountered. I haven't seen this in stores yet, and it's probably because I live in a rock. 

I love this flavor in particular because it's rare to see sencha in teabags this small! I mean I have had sencha, but usually they're in loose leaf, and they're really bulky when steeped in water. I was actually amused that this didn't blow up with expanding pieces of rice, but taste wise, you can taste more of the green tea rather than the roasted rice which is why the teabag can be that small and flat. 

Exploits in Photography (June 22, 2014)

I love the filters Canon 70D has. A lot of people tell me how lucky I am that technology has afforded me to not buy physical filters anymore as a lot of effects and filters are already built in the camera. 

For my beauty shots, I like the soft focus and the fish eye functions. I use the soft focus to blur out imperfections and all, and fish eye for lip swatches to magnify the lips for my readers. 

For nature and landscapes, though, I like to use the grainy black and white function. 

I also like to use the watercolor filter. 

My Not So Usual Breakfast (June 19, 2014)

Hooray for a Krispy Kreme-ey breakfast! 

This is Krispy Kreme's baked creations. 

And their salted caramel doughnut. 

Tampay sa Sinagtala, Orani, Bataan

To those who are looking for a bed and breakfast that gives free flowing Starbucks brewed coffee, this is it.

Well, the statement above is true, but at least I got your attention now. My godmother really does provide free flowing Starbucks brand brewed coffee to parties who'll book for 10 or more people in her bed and breakfast. 

Welcome to Tampay sa Sinagtala. This is one of the six bed and breakfast houses in Sinagtala resort in Orani, Bataan. This house in specific can accommodate up to thirty people, has cable TV, and has five bedrooms available for bookings. 

The name Tampay comes from the Tagalog word for serenity. And given how peaceful and quiet it is here, the name is a fitting name. 

Sinagtala, Orani, Bataan

Field trip time! Last Sunday I paid a visit to a really really really remote place in Bataan. It's a resort/retreat house/bed and breakfast complex called Sinagtala. It's so remote in the sense that from Bulacan it took us 1.5 hours to get here, and the signage you see below is a signage leading to a mountain, and on the end of the mountain is where the resort is. 

But I guess this is exactly why people come here. It's so remote that it's like you feel this sense of safety from the stress of city life. It really is a good place for a retreat because it's got a good view of the mountains, has a lot of mini-farms and plantations, and there's a chapel. And the trip getting there is already relaxing as it is because you'd be cruising along roads srewn in the middle of the mountains, the valleys, and the other gifts of nature. 

 This is one of those chapels where it doesn't feel hot despite having no air conditioning. The place is surrounded by so many trees that even in June's turbulent heat-rain weather, the weather here is cool and windy.

And they have a multi purpose hall so they can host weddings and all that. 

Pepper Lunch and Some Adventures (June 16, 2014)

I just love Pepper Lunch. I remember years back when we had this in Singapore. It was about 6 years ago that there still weren't any outlets here in the Philippines. We loved the concept so much that we were really pleased when we found out months later that they were already setting up shop here in the Philippines. 

Whatever I order from them, I always end up happy. 

Recent Choto Stop Haul

You may have seen my post about Choto Stop recently, so today I'm going to share our haul from the place.

Tim Ho Wan for Breakfast (June 17, 2014)

I was just so happy when my brother came home the other night with a Tim Ho Wan bag in tow. It's undeniably the 'it' restaurant right now and I was extremely curious to find out about how their food tasted like.  

He brought home what seems to be their take on asado buns. I was actually surprised because given the exterior of these buns I thought they were dessert. 

My Not So Usual Breakfast (June 15, 2014)

It's not unusual for me to have breakfast, but since this isn't oatmeal, it's considered as an unusual breakfast overall. 

Lotus Cookie Butter

I don't like eating bread, and I'll onlu eat bread when I'm super hungry or when it can be paired with something too good that I can't eat alone. One of those 'something too good' things is cookie butter. 

I remember when in the middle of last year a relative from the US gifted us with Cookie Butter that was Trader Joe brand. They even narrated to us that they made their family member go to the store everyday because there's a limit to the number of jars you can hoard, and probably if you look Pinoy they'd even have more stares targeted at you because I think Trader Joe's and the rest of the cookie butter manufacturers know how there is a demand for the stuff here. 

We have a friend who is based right now in the depths of Kalibo and she was hysterically laughing when she shared to us that there was only one kind of cheese there, no canned mushrooms, no fridge, and virtually no gourmet food, and yet you can find cookie butter everywhere in their area.

When I was reading the label of the Trader Joe's cookie butter we got, I was actually laughing because the description says something like 'all you need to do is to try it to find out how it tastes,' and honestly, it's true because I had a really hard time describing the taste to a saleslady at Puregold. 

The only way I could describe all cookie butters in general is that they taste like a warmer and spicier (as in more cinnamon feel) version of cookie batter, or for those who have eaten at Auntie Anne's pretzels, it's like the almond flavored pretzels turned into a crunchy spread. 

Mama's Munggo Stew and Beef Soup

Munggo stew is something that our family has loved for a very very long time, and very recently mama decided to give it a try. All these years we've been eating munggo stews from restaurants and turo-turo stores that it was about time we made it ourselves. 

So this is a hearty bowl of mama's stew, filled with munggo, okra, and love. 

And usually we're also very excited whenever we see this crock pot because it just means that mama is about to prepare her beloved beef soup. She gets a big bag of giniling and puts it into a crock pot with herbs and spices and leaves it to cook for like 6 hours. The end result is a really tasty broth and tender beef bits. 

My Beloved Choto Stop

Today we paid a visit to one of my most favorite places in the world-- Choto Stop. 

Honestly, had I not gone to Japanese language school I would've never known that such a place existed. I remember it vividly this one summer day five years ago when my foodie prof brought the whole class to a "field trip" as this was just about 6 minutes walking distance from our school. My teacher had been raving and raving about this place to the class as a wonderland with all sorts of fresh and dried/storage friendly Japanese foods at 80 per item that there just had to be a field trip. 

That time, it had been about two days since delivery date (they have deliveries monday, thursday and saturday, not sure now though) so the fresh items were already running low, and I feel guilty up to this day that I took my classmate's (the one who originally kept on bugging our prof to bring us there) Meiji original pudding that she had to settle for Meiji milk pudding. Thankfully, we became good friends after that, and as far as I know, I think (I think???) she took no offense about it hahaha. And I think she also realized that milk pudding tastes better than original custard pudding... 

Right now, there's no more stocks of Meiji pudding coming in, and there's Morinaga brand here. I miss Meiji because they had the largest tubs of pudding, as in you were paying the same price for a tub of pudding about 1.5 times larger than the others. But I do understand that nothing lasts forever and that the luxuries of five years ago cannot be enjoyed today due to inflation. If they brought in Meiji pudding now it'd probably cost Php100-120 and probably turn newbie customers off given that there are Topvalu brand and other budget food brands that sell 3 small tubs of pudding in a pack for Php80. 

Going back to my first field trip, I even remember that I had to borrow money from another classmate as I was soooo unprepared to spend money that day (I don't bring large amounts of money when I am just expecting to go to school then go home, and that I never knew back then that such a wonderland existed). With all of the store's contents, I just came back home with a tub of Meiji pudding and a pack of dango (it was mitarashi flavor). 

More photos after the jump!

Aquabest Bloggers' Night (+Review of Grills and Sizzles)

Hi everyone! It's event time! So these are some of the photos I took during Aquabest's bloggers night. Initially, I actually thought that this was super sketchy because I mean it's so unusual for a water company to host a blogger's event. It's normal for restos to do it, or for makeup brands and clothing brands, but not really for water not unless the company is making vitamin water or flavored water. 

It was even sketchier that they were teamed up with a skincare and spa. I was actually quite reluctant to go at first until I found out that it was going to be held at Grills and Sizzles. The place is so near where we live that I was thinking that should this be a sketchy event for real it'd be easy for me to call for help and get picked up. 

Thankfully, when I got here, it was a legit event hahaha. 

And aside from the event being legit, I was fed very well... 

My Beer Brined Baked Chicken (Photo Tutorial + Recipe)

I get lots of raves whenever I make my beer brined chicken, and a lot of people on social media are also curious as to how the chicken tastes. To be honest, it's not really easy to describe in my case because I don't drink beer. The chicken does have this exotic taste to it which is obviously from the beer, but I can't really liken it to anything. What I can rave about though is that the chicken is so soft and tender that when freshly eaten, the meat slides off the bone. 

I don't remember when or why I started making this, but in general I just had to tweak the stuff I saw on the internet because a lot of them were either too complicated or involved grilling. This version of the chicken is baked, and the steps are simple enough for most beginners to do. I actually do this on my lazy days. 

So for this episode, I'll basically be doing a walk through as to how I do it. I'll probably put in a summary recipe at the end of this post, but in general I make my beer brined chicken in a no-measurement and pure estimation manner because it's supposedly one of the best tasting dishes that require the least amount of effort.

Bulk of the tutorial after the jump!

Cupcakes by Sonja with my BFF

Hooray for cupcakes! I recall when I first tried a Sonja's cupcake. It was about 2007 or 2008 I think, and back then, the only branch was at the fancy Boni-high branch they had. I also remember that their simpler cupcakes were only Php40-50, the most expensive being Php80-90 I think, and at that time it was also already considered very posh and fancy. I remember how back then, it was unheard of to make people pay that much for a cupcake. Sonja was the one who pioneered selling gourmet cupcakes in the Philippines if I'm not mistaken. 

I also think that it's because of her which is why it's become more 'acceptable' for people to pay Php100 for a single cupcake, with Php50 cupcakes encountered in less swanky shops or in school bake sales. 

As for the BFF part of the title, it's because my BFF Denivee and I had a date here just yesterday at their TriNoma branch. She had just come from a movie date with other friends, and I figured that she must have been full from lunch and possibly the popcorn and movie snacks that i thought that this would be a nice place where we could have a snack and have quality time (aka chika-chismis-lerler time). 

Random Ramyun Discovery

I'm generally into spicy food, and generally into Korean food, but I don't really know much about the instant ramyun brands out there. I mean like the only brand I thought that existed in the Philippines was the Nongshim brand of noodles. 

The other day while I was at Puregold, I was browsing through the noodles section. There was a 5-pack ramyun bag from Nongshim, but the expiry was in less than a month that I personally felt that it might not be worth it to buy something that'll expire soon nor is it worth it to keep on eating something just for the sake of consuming everything. 

Out of curiousity, I gave this Paldo brand ramyun a try. 

My Not so Usual Breakfast (June 9, 2014)

My usual breakfast consists of oatmeal and a beverage, either milk or milk tea, so whenever I don't have that combo, I call it an unusual breakfast. This meal is one of those. 

It's my second time to try Lucky Me's Lomi. The first time I tried it, I felt that it was okay. I mean it could be a little bit more shrimp tasting, but overall if you're really craving for lomi, this will already be a good substitute. 

Happy Cream Puff (happy) experience

My mom is now over her Dulcinea cream puff addiction because there's a better cream puff brand in town. 

I've heard of Happy Cream Puff since way back in 2009 as during that time I was studying in a Japanese language school in Makati and after class I'd often hang out at Little Tokyo. I remember that there was this newsletter/magazine given out for free, and inside it were ads, articles, and tips for Japanese expatriates in the Philippines. Almost every issue of that magazine had ads for Happy Cream Puff. 

We never really made it because we'd often be so enamored in what Choto Stop and Little Tokyo had to offer that we barely had the time to go to Happy Cream Puff. When my classes ended in mid 2009, it was also quite impractical for folks based in the heart of QC (near TriNoma, SM North, Walter Mart, Centris, S&R and whatnot) to make a trip to the depths of Makati just for one establishment.

This is why I was so happy that during our visit to Shang plaza a few weeks ago, I saw a banner that there was already an outlet of Happy Cream Puff open and I just had to convince everyone to go there and try it. Mama was reluctant as she claims that I'm already too fat hahaha, but I convinced her to go for it because I knew that deep inside her heart was a desire for cream puffs, one of her favorite foods.

Last time we went there, we got a box of 14 with mixed puffs in it, but the caramel puffs proved to be more popular which is why we ended up getting a whole box of caramel mini puffs this time.

Lazy Man's Mussel Chowder Recipe

This is the kind of mussel chowder for the lazy person. I was so lazy doing this that I didn't take a photo of the chowder. Anyway, here's the recipe: 

Lazy Man's Mussel Chowder:

Cook Time: About 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Serves about 5

10 blast frozen-blast cooked mussels (or whatever number you have) 

1 can Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup

Enough milk to fit Campbell's Soup Can

1 250-mL tetra pak of all purpose cream

1 can mushrooms, sliced 

1L water 

Leftover cheese

Dried Basil leaves (to taste) 

Directions: 

1.) Empty the condensed soup onto a pot and dilute it with a can-ful of milk. Stir well. 

2.) Add the water in. 

3.) Turn on the stove, keep it on low to medium heat. Add in cream and mushrooms.

4.) Once the stew is boiling, add the mussels

5.) Add in leftover cheese to taste.

6.) Add dried basil leaves, to taste, too.

7.) Boil for a few more minutes then serve while hot. 

Perfect for a rainy day when everybody's lazy... 

Baked Mussels with Cheese, Garlic and Butter (Trial and Recipe)

I may not have muscle, but at least I have mussel!

It's that time of the year. Any Pinoy in the Philippines will need to eat baked tahong, or mussel, at least at one point of the year. Since the cravings were already too strong, I decided to do something about the boxed mussels I recently got from S&R Membership. These KONO mussels are really good, they're really fat, and the aroma is well kept even if it's a frozen set of mussels. I put the box of mussles in our freezer and came back to a fragrant, mussel-smelling freezer. A mussel-smelling freezer is sooo much better than a meat blood-smelling freezer. So yeah, I'm about to share some of the photos. 

It's 350 pesos per Kg, but I think that the deal's already good enough as the mussels are New Zealand mussels and they're already in the half shell, barnacle and sand free.