Holiday On The Beach

Last Friday was declared a non-working holiday in Mindanao State University in observance of the first day of the Holy Month of our Muslim brothers. We have lots of holidays here in Mindanao apart from the regular National Holidays. So if you want to enjoy more long weekends, come and live in Mindanao or  better yet, work or study  in one of the schools of the MSU system. It's more fun in MSU! :) 

Of course it's not the only reason why it's more fun working in MSU. I can enumerate more but it's what we are always grateful for because we get the chance to squeeze short trips in between busy schedules. Where we headed? To the BEACH! Oh yeah! 

Beaches are just around the area. They're so usual a destination on this side of the world. The problem with them being so usual is that I sometimes forget about their existence. I couldn't even remember the last time I've been to one of the beach resorts here in Gensan. It's been so long! I only realized that when Laiza expressed a desire to go the beach.

Off we went to London Beach Resort with people in the office and their families. It was also a celebration of Ma'am Berl's pre-birthday!

Ma'am Berl with the carrot cake I made for her
And on this side of the world, that's how gorgeous bananas and mangoes are. 

Right photo (clockwise): Laiza, Rommel, Jypzie, Rendon

Ma'am Berl's family

Laiza and I

Laiza's confused moments. Haha! Is it Rendon or Jypzie?

While Laiza is like a mermaid, I'm not fond of swimming at the beach. I just love the feel of being at it. The sand. The waves. The sounds. The wind. The clouds. The skies. And the reflections that come along with witnessing the awesome beauty of God's creations. 

The whole gang and the partly cloudy sky. Nice weather!

Now here we go with the so old school jump shots. Maybe people already stopped jumping after planking and owling came into the picture. But not us! We can't still get over it!

It's still more fun jumping in the air than lying with your face down on a road or perching in strange places like a bird. Jumping can have crazy and funny movements while the other two are so stationary. And I love anything crazy. :)

The most perfect jump shot for this trip (that's for me).

The most perfect jump shot (for them) is my supposedly most perfect, too
if my head was not cut. Tsk!

Amazing Monday: Pretty Mailboxes

I love making letters for special people (especially years back) because I can express my emotions more in writing. But most especially I love receiving one. :) It's not necessarily a love letter. It can also be just the saying-hello and thank-you ones. 

I remember a very thoughtful girl friend way back in high school who has written me dozens of letters and I've written her back maybe fewer dozens. My girl friends and I were fond of exchanging letters. Those were the days when stationery was so in. How I miss those snail mail days. I've kept all my letters because they've become one of my treasures (but just in a box). I wish I had gotten myself one of these pretty mailboxes instead.

Somebody please send me a post mail!!! : ) ... So that I'll be inspired to get something like this. :)

Photos from picturetrail.

Yummy Gensan: Frappes at Kee's Cafe

Kee's Cafe is located at the ground floor of Road Haus Hotel of the famous Manny Pacquiao or the Hon. Congressman Manny Pacquiao. Sometimes I forget that he is a lawmaker of this land. I always have the great boxer image of him on my mind.

Anyway, the hotel became so famous after just few months of existence. Well, yes because it's owned by a famous man. Kee's Cafe is named after his also famous wife, Jinkee.  

Laiza suggested to have a little more chat after dinner and since we happened to be just near the hotel, we decided to see what the cafe could offer.

With Laiza (again!)

I had the classic Cookies 'n Cream frappe just because it's my favorite! When I have a favorite, it'll take long for me to try something new because I don't wanna let go of it. (C'mon Ems. Stop the drama. You're just talking about a frappe.) Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Haha! I just wanted to be consistent because we were talking about letting go's and moving on's :) We all have those moments, right? We sometimes reflect on these things because we have to deal with life! Oh, sentiments! :)

Ok! Now enough of life. This post is about frappes. :) Frappuccino's are everywhere. This one no different from the rest. This may not be the best I've ever tried but it'll do. I mean this blog is not really about food reviews because I'm no food critic. I'm just a passionate eater. :) And anything shared with good talks with friends can turn out to be the greatest! (Ooopss. There goes the sentiments again.)

Jypzie and Laiza

The place is perfect for hang-outs especially after school or work. It offers good vibes!



Location:  Block Zero, Aparente St., Barangay City Heights

Yummy Gensan: Steaks at Roland's

I've already mentioned in a previous post how I love steaks. I found a new place with equally yummy steaks! Read this - Roland's Steak House and Burger Station. Actually, it's not really new because the place has been existing in Gensan  for about 15 years already but it's just now that I've tasted how good their steaks are! Where have I been all those years? It's definitely in my list of new favorites!

Well done tenderloin. Yum!

The sauce. The plating. The tenderness. The taste. Everything was just so perfect for a meal! It was an excellent reward for a day of hardwork!

Another delicious meal. Chicken something :)

The place was small. There were only 8 tables (if I remember that right). Yes, I counted them. :) It seemed so homey. The walls (and the aircon) depicted old age which gave me two impressions, both negative and positive. The negative is the maintenance of the interior. They needed renovations. :) But it wasn't really that bad. I didn't want to talk about anything negative on this blog but I had to state that to give emphasis on my positive impression.

As I was observing people as they come, I was seeing happy faces. Mostly, they come in families. Father, mother and the hungry children. :) And I assumed they were regular customers because they were so familiar with the place and the people who served them (the first-name basis thing). :) I felt family connections between the people running the restaurant and the customers. 

Fifteen years of serving people with good food and good service must be applauded. The old interior is the evidence of those long years of giving people quality products and excellent service which kept them coming back. 

And I'm surely coming back! :)

Location: Along Jose Catolico Ave., Corner Capareda St. Lagao, General Santos City

Yummy Gensan: Rice Meals at Giacomino's

I'm a very typical Filipino in the sense that I can't live a day without rice. I even can't stand a single meal without it. I eat three full rice meals in a day and even have suman for a snack sometimes. I know that's a super carbo-loading. But I care not. :)

I tried taking just bread or pancake or oatmeal for breakfast but I ended up feeling dizzy after an hour. Haha! The rice person that I am! It's one of my comfort foods. Ice cream. Spaghetti. Chocolates. Rice. Heehee...

One super rainy evening, the girls decided to eat something heavy because it was cold! You know how our stomachs demand when it's cold. Have you noticed that? Or maybe it's not the stomach. It just feels good to eat on cold days. :)

With Laiza and Ate Doli in Giaco Robinsons

Giacomino's Pizza is a home for....Uhmmm...PIZZA! (Redundancy. Haha!) And it's also a home for a lot more delicious goodies just like the rice meals we had. Dishes in chicken, pork, beef (and maybe even fish) they have all those. I've tasted their burgers and tuna pizza before and they all taste good! 

The service crew were really nice. We even asked the store manager to take pictures of us plus we asked the volume of the tv to be adjusted. And I remember them giving me control of the remote once upon a time in their other branch. That's a good service for me :)

I'm actually a regular customer of the restaurant especially when I need a quiet moment. The place is not chaotic which I love in a place. It's a place of good food and good ambiance.

Location: East Asia Royale Hotel and Robinson's Place Gensan

Crazy Over Pretty Dresses

Gosh! I'm inlove with these pretty dresses by Dorothy Perkins! I'm currently a fan of plains! Love these!!!

        

        

        

Amazing Monday: Little Darlings

I was scanning my files and I found these photos of my cousins and niece. I can't help myself from sharing this with you. :)

Heart, Revson, and my niece, Caela (I've mentioned her a lot already in my previous posts) are my favorite little creatures in the world.  :)

These smart goody kiddos are joys of the our family. You know how children can light up the whole world. They blow you away with their smiles, their funny almost silly moves, their innocent ways. 


When I look at them, I'm reminded to stay young at heart... to not worry so much about the future and let tomorrow worry about itself... to have fun in anyway i can... to play around... to be a joy to others... to be happy with what I have... to be contented with life! : )

It's amazing how children can remind us of so many things even without them knowing it!

Baking Expert Wanna Be

Yeah! That's me! :) I'm a baking expert wanna be! I thought of something to do for the summer (the last summer). So I enrolled myself in a 10-day baking course. The school would not give classes to less than 10 students so they told me to wait for more enrollees. Summer enrollees were very few then but I still waited. I was always hoping that when an SMS arrived, it's a signal that classes would start but naaahhh. My supposedly summer thing actually started 2 months after summer. 

My excitement level turned down to 4.5 (with 10 as the highest). Nevertheless, I was eager to learn something new. I love learning and discovering new things, enrolling in classes where I know my passion  lies. Ooppss.. Did I just say baking is one of my passions? 

Guess what? I think it really is!!! I love everything that tastes good! This blog has turned into some kinda food blog for the past weeks but it's not. Food is just my current obsession. :) More than trying out new restaurants and tasting new flavors, it's in cooking that I find more joy. It's my way of making other people happy!

I actually have enrolled in cooking classes 4 years ago. The time when I thought I had to prepare myself for marriage and cooking was an essential skill to be a good wife. :) Haha!  And the good wife becomes better if she knows how to cook. And the better wife becomes the super best when she serves great-tasting meals.   (Those silly thoughts.) Four years after, I'm not yet married. And I'm not cooking very often anymore. I've become a seasonal cook. Heehee...

I didn't know what came into me that I decided to enroll again but this time, I'm attempting to bake. :) I've never baked my whole life so everything was like learning the alphabet to me. It's like learning calculus for the first time. You feel like floating on air because the terms sound so alien and you're so eager to learn already so you can cope up with others. This is how a student feels. I'm feeling it all over again and I'm loving it. :)

Here are some of what we have done!

Looking so delicious! These all taste good, too! These are all products of group effort so don't be impressed with me just yet. :)

Watch out for my baking attempts in upcoming posts. :) I'm so excited! 

Yummy Gensan: Chicken Siomai at Mandarin Tea Garden

I'm known as Ems by friends and acquaintances but my nickname is really Mai-mai (known only to my family and very close friends). 

I've intentionally hidden my real nickname so I won't be teased as Mai-mai Siomai! Mai-mai Siomai! You know how it is for bully kids to make fun of your names, associating it with something funny-sounding and when they see you, they'll tease you all over again. You just wish to disappear like a bubble.

But hey! You know what? I care no more! Because deep in my heart, I'm really a siomai girl. C'mon! Tease me now. Mai-mai Siomai! Mai-mai Siomai! And I'll be very proud. :) I'm a siomai girl! Yes I am!

So where do I find the most delicious siomai? Where else but at Mandarin Tea Garden! :) Siomai's are everywhere but  I'm not a fan of pork and beef siomai, even the shrimp. It's only Mandarin that serves chicken siomai (as what I know). So when Mai-mai craves for siomai, she hops to Mandarin. 

With Laiza

My another favorite is their sweet and sour fish fillet. Chicken siomai plus fish fillet. Yum! These are what I order everytime. I still look at the menu hoping to like something new but nope. I don't understand! I always end up still picking my favorites. :)

With me is Laiza. While I'm a siomai lover, she's a siomai master. (Not the master siomai because that's another thing.) She really is a siomai master who can consume 12 siomai in one sitting! And maybe more! Not impressed enough? Well, I am. I can't take in that much siomai though I'm Mai-mai siomai. And sheh loves siopao, too. So maybe I'll just be Mai-mai siomai and she's Laiza siopao. Heehee.. 

Location: KCC Mall of Gensan

Beautiful Cakes

I wanted to give the cake for my niece's first birthday. I was in the middle of searching the web for ideas when I stumbled upon the FB account of a highschool friend, Jennie Mae. Her creations were so beautiful and I knew right there and then that I had to get her to make Caela's cake.

My sister and I decided to have a garden theme so I'd like the cake to have beautiful flowers and butterflies in bright pink and sunny yellow. 

Look at this! Just the way I wanted it and even more! :)

Cupcakes and a fondant cake. This was the star of the event (like a cake should be).

So if you're looking for a maker of beautiful cakes in Gensan, click here.

Playing Around and Eating Around

The young ones of Math/IT department got so bored one idle afternoon and here's what we did.

Photos courtesy of Laiza

We played around making faces on the camera. Other photos were still not posted for our protection. We might get caught doing unnecessary things during our consultation hours. Haha! 

Later that day, we headed to a newly renovated Jollibee branch because we felt we deserve a treat for working so hard! Yes! Of course! We really had a loaded day. Contrary to the playing-around pic above, we still did our job wholeheartedly :) 

I was super craving for a champ and Laiza got one, too.

                       

I'm looking and feeling demure with my champ while Laiza looks so hungry she can't wait to grab a bite. But mind you I finished the champ first! Haha! I just pretended to look reserved but I was really so hungry I did not stop until my last bite! I won! I won!

It was my first champ ever! I was surprised with how I could ignore all the super fatty patty just to satisfy my cravings. Haha! The hungry me. Laiza even has not finished hers. Sumakit ulo niya sa sobrang beefy and fatty ng patty. (Lots of rhymes. Hehe.)

Yummy Gensan: Sandwiches at Little Kitchen

Little Kitchen is in my list of to-go restaurants for so long. Finally I found time to see what it has to offer.

Describing the place as little was at first so odd to me that I became so curious. What's little in it? Is it the plate, the spoon, the glass, the waiters, the tables or the food? I hope it's not the food because I'm a big eater.

The place from outside is so welcoming. Their signboard is perfectly done for personalities like mine. At first glance, it's so homey (which is what I really look for in a place) plus the vintage look. Love it!

When I entered, I was relieved to see that the tables and chairs were not little and so with the waitresses. And definitely not the food!

I had a chicken cordon sandwich that's so gigantic! I had to upgrade my eating skills. :) It's not anymore normal for a sandwich. Hee hee. And I like it as it is. Love the shake, too! Plus the fries and the prawn crackers. Did I just order for a sandwich? The plate was so full!

The other sandwich you see on the photo is a tuna sandwich.

Now why is it called Little Kitchen again? Because the place is not so wide but it's not also so tiny. You can still move around. Whoever wishes to go tumbling and jogging can still do. Maybe one tumbling and few jogs. :)

The place fits a small intimate gathering of family or friends. Definitely recommended for a quiet moment of solitude.

Location: Quirino St.

Yummy Gensan: Steaks at Bigben

I'm a meat lover but not so much of a meat eater. How's that even possible? Well I don't know, too. It's just that my eyes get so wide upon seeing lots of fat juicy meat dishes but I allow myself to have only a serving or two. I can't live without eating meat especially chicken in a week! But I won't also die if I can't have a taste  of pork chop or chorizo. I don't even find the famous well-loved lechon mouth-watering. Yah! I guess I'm not a Filipino :)

After our SarBay Fest trip days ago where we only had pizza for lunch, we screamed for a revenge and decided to have a hefty dinner. We went to Bigben and ordered for ourselves their famous steaks and meat platter!

When I saw the super juicy steak, my gosh! I felt my cells jumping and rumbling! And when I finally tasted it, another my gosh! Oh my gosh! Steak! Steak! I think I transformed into a hungry tiger and growled until my last bite! Haha!

I will be back Bigben! :)

Location: Robinson's Place Gensan

Sarangani Bay Festival 2012

I've been hearing about Sarangani Bay Festival for the past few years and get really excited to go everytime but it was only this year that I got the chance to. It is dubbed as the Biggest Beach Festival in Mindanao and who am I to miss it!

The venue, Gumasa Beach in Glan Sarangani, is just about an hour away from General Santos City. Off to the lovely white sand beaches of Gumasa (The Little Boracay of Mindanao)!

People. Clouds. Ocean. Watermelon. Colors. And the happy me.

I was with the Three Musketeers. Or the Three Blind Mice . Or Alvin and the Chipmunks and I'm Brittany (the lady Chipmunk).. Tsk! So hard to think of an alternative name because we're really seven in the group and we call ourselves The Pugad Baboy Family! Nice one huh! :) Couldn't really remember how the young high school minds came up with such a smart name considering that everyone was as thin as a toothpick except for one or two. Oopss... Whoever they are I won't mention already (..for friendship's sake). But it turned out that after long years (by long I mean more than a decade. Omg! Has it been that long?), the rest lived up to our name. Everyone seemed to look babolicious already except me. :) 

We were there not to really party. Big events happen during the night. We just wanted to have a glimpse of the festivities. And the main goal was to have a BIG talk over a BIG lunch. But we ended up having only pizza and chocolate shakes. And the "melting" ice cream.

We had the BIG talk though. A lot to catch up! Guimo and Kuya Edgar even "cried" upon the realization of not having seen each other after their college graduation (That's a little more than 6 years already).

I always love going out with these crazy and hilarious people. The geeky high school boys turned into successful and more geeky men. Haha! I should have just written successful and responsible but my gosh! Most of the time they talked about energy - from generation, transmission, distribution. The status of frequent brown outs in Mindanao and how it was supposed to or will be addressed. The longest and widest rivers in the world. Machines. Chemicals. And all! Whew! And I was like "Really? Amazing!" With not-so-obvious attempts of diverting the topic to American Idol and Avengers so I could somehow relate. : ) They would respond a little then would go back to energy again! Tsk! Engineers! Chemist!

Crazy people become crazier! And happier!

The Never-Perfect Jump shots.

Pugad Forever : )

We miss having you here Harvey, Borj, and Luvvy. See you in Singapore. Haha!

I also had my moments : ) 

* Thanks for some of the photos guys.

Pretty Blog

I'm currently obsessed at adding cutie little thingy on my blog. And I got everything from Shabbyblogs. Their designs don't seem shabby to me. They're all pretty! I like everything they have!

Amazing Monday: Buttons Up

What's up for buttons? Here are amazingly lovely pieces I found from craftstylish. Aren't they so pretty? I'm not so crafty enough to do something like this so I just look at them and be mesmerized. : ) Simply  amazing! :)

                                        

Iloilo Delicacies

Capiz feels like my second home though I've only visited few times my lifetime. It's as if half of who I am is defined by what is there. It's always a joy to see my aunts, cousins, niece and my grandma. Discovering my mother's roots is discovering mine, too. My fondest childhood memories are those which were spent there.

Part of our family visited my mother's homeland Capiz weeks ago. By part I mean just my father, my mother and my youngest brother. I didn't go because I had work. It's been three years since the family's visit. The last time it was me and my other brother who went with the parents. 

When they arrived I knew what to expect. Food! My favorites! Pinasugbo. Barquillos. Biscocho. Bukayo. Otap. Piaya. ... and more! (All from Iloilo - a neighboring province of Capiz.)

Thank you so much Aunts for still spoiling us just like when we were kids!

See you in October Lola and Chin-chin and cousins! : )

P.S. My lola's house is 3 hours away from Iloilo. It is the easiest access point from Gensan to Capiz.

If I Ain't Got You

I heard my brother singing this again and again the whole week. I got curious why he was so into it and watched the video with him.

This is from The Voice's episode. I'm not really very familiar about the show but this man here (the slimmer one) really got the voice! He has a very good version of Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You.

                                             

Yummy Gensan: Burgers at Aunt Ludi's

Aunt Ludi is a bakeshop first of all. I first saw it in Koronadal City a month ago where I bought my first of its cinnamon bread that I brought home. As I was paying, I saw the big posters of their mouth-watering burgers and promised to taste those sometime in the future because I was already in a hurry to catch up with a bus. And the sales people there had a pretty good convincing power. So I really swore to be back! 

(By the way, the cinnamon bread was a star in my family's breakfast the next day.)

And the future is now! (Actually, the future that I mentioned above has become the past already as I am typing this post. Hehe..) Anyways, I happened to pass by a commercial building in Purok Malakas and was delighted when I saw Aunt Ludi's Bakeshoppe! And I was really craving for a burger that time! Really! I call it destiny! :)

Yes! Burgers finally!

One is the two-faced burger. So called because half of the bun has mustard sauce and the other half has the chicken bbq sauce. How clever the name huh?! The next one is the messy burger. So called because.... Can you guess why? Yes! It's messy! How smart of you to have guessed that! : ) It's their version of the Sloppy Joe thingy. Instead of the usual round patty, it has the chili con carne. Plus the potato chips on the side! Love!

What more do I love? The ambiance is so homey. It's pleasant. It's comfortable. It's cozy. A really nice place to hang out.
                                                           
Location:  Robinsons Place GenSan and J&G Propriedad Bldg, Nunez Street, Purok Malakas

Say Cheese!

We take so many photos of my niece Caela. We want to capture her every first, every inch of her growth, her every exciting achievement. We just can't have enough of  her cuteness. Oh babies! They're just adorable! And to add more to our obsession, I pushed my sister to take Caela to the studio and have her first official photo shoot. : )

Days before, we'd have a little practice. "Ready. One. Two. Three." Then she'd show her two lower front teeth and raise her tiny hands towards the ceiling. "Eyes eyes eyes to read a book by....Nose nose nose... Mouth mouth mouth..." Then she'd point to her eyes and nose and mouth. And she'd happily play around. Then we'd show Picachu and Pia (her toys) and she'd play around some more. Smart little baby! Ok. So we guessed she's ready for a picture picture. :)

Now, on her supposedly shining moment, she got sleepy. Then cried. Not the loud and screaming ones but those her trying-to-cry cries. So we still pursued the shoot. We opted to show her toys and sing her songs and she smiled for seconds then returned to trying to cry again. And these went again and again until the photographer said, "Ok. It's done." Good that she was so quick in taking pictures that we actually got few not-crying photos! Yey!

"C'mon now baby. Sorry for letting you do something we really wanted you to do even if it's against your sleeping will." So I hugged her and caressed her and she was alive and smiling and head-banging again! Oh no! This 10 month old little creature has tricked us! Maybe she wasn't really sleepy. Maybe she was just not comfortable with the lights and the flashes and all. 

But anyways, here's the cutest little creature on the planet! (I'm being a little biased here.)

Thanks to:

Click here to see more of them on facebook.

Atom on Cosmo :)

I placed three exclamation points after the post title but I deleted those in exchange of a smiley so it won't be very obvious that I'm soooo glad to see him featured in a magazine!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) Now I can't help it!

  

We all have people that we admire - our role models. I have so many women that I adore! Some of them I follow. But Atom is the only Filipino male celebrity that I look up to. Well, to me he's a celebrity. Not just the ordinary newsman that people don't sometimes notice on tv because they're more up to the news. But I don't blame them. He delivers news incredibly well, indeed.

You see. I've been a fan since his 5 and Up days (so long before) then his Breakfast, Y Speak days. And still following him until he got into news.

When I read his tweet that he's featured in Cosmo, I immediately searched Cosmo's website and looked for an article written about him. And I found this behind the scene thingy like a teaser to the article in Cosmo's April issue. I also found this pop quiz box which he answered in his own handwriting. 

             

I'm glad to know some of the other little things about him (like a normal fan is). Here's a trivia (which I'm sure my batchmates know). Alfonso Tomas Araullo graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics form the University of the Philippines Diliman. Isn't he smart? From Physics to Journalism. How can these fields be even related? Well, however! But you're doing a great job atom! Continue to be a model to the youth. (Giving him a message like he can read this. Hehe.)

P.S. I am a teacher. I have to be composed. :) So I tried to hide all the thrill in my sentences except in the first paragraph. Excuse me for that. I somehow had to express. :)