Saturday, June 28, 2008

Singapore Adventure: My Little Garden



My Cookie just never cease to surprise me and he does it with such ease. ;)
I wasn't expecting anything at all. There isn't even something in the date that gives a hint. And then, there it was. A pretty basket of blooms. Aww... :">
Thank you very much, my Cookie. Whatever you put there in the card, I totally feel the same way.
I love you. ^_^

Friday, June 27, 2008

Singapore Adventure: Mama's Birthday Dinner


A common tradition among Tsinoy families in the Philippines is celebrating birthdays with a special serving of pansit.
This is the second year that I am away from home on my Mama's birthday. The only way I can live with the guilt is to give her a call and promise to make it up to her when I get home.
But being far away from home doesn't mean I cannot be part of the celebration. And so for dinner, I also prepared in celebration of my Mama's birthday a special Pancit Bihon ala Princess Cookie. ^_^
What's in my special recipe? Well, the usual, chicken for the meat, the veggies - carrot strips, shredded cabbage, some snowpeas, and for the first time, mushrooms! Yummy!
It turned out tasty, almost close enough to my Mama's cooking. I am quite happy with how it turned out. And the best part of it is having my Cookie to share it with. ;)




Monday, June 23, 2008

Singapore Adventure: Nihon Mura @ The Cathay

I took my dinner to a lunch date last Saturday. It's sort of a "peace offering" for robbing us of our usual weekend routine since I had to come to the office for work.

I finished at the office around 4pm already, and so it can be consider as a very late lunch or a very early dinner. :D

We went to a Japanese Restaurant at The Cathay. I got acquainted to the place just a day before when our new Development Manager brought us there for lunch on our office's Colleague Appreciation Day. :)

The food place is at the lower ground floor of The Cathay and it is called Nihon Mura, and the restaurant's concept is a breath of fresh air. :)

The self-service concept of Nihon Mura is quite unique and interesting. No menu cards, no queues at the ordering station, and no waiting around waving for a staff to take your order. This is how the ordering process goes. Each table gets two cups with the table number on it. Then the guests with the cup proceeds to the different food sections - the drinks, ice cream, sushi on the conveyor belt, the grill, and the seafood section. At each station, there's a photo of the food and a popsicle stick with the name of the food. The price is also already posted with the photo. Take the popsicle stick with your order and place in your cup. When you have finished picking your order, deposit your cup at the order counter. Then wait for your order to be served.

The sushi on the conveyor belt is self-service of course, and each set charges only 99 cents. :) We finished 9 plates of California Maki and Tamago Maki while waiting for our order to arrive. The California Maki we had to ask from the chef manning the station. Only the Tamago Maki is on the conveyor belt. There's a lot of other stuff that we're really not familiar with. As for me, my only acquaintance with Japanese food is Teriyaki Chicken, California Maki, and Ebi Tempura, oh and Miso Soup. This should explain my ignorance in the field of sushi. :P And so this should give you a hint on what we ordered for. :D

Teriyaki Chicken, Ebi Fry, and some Grilled Shitake. I have always been a fan of mushrooms growing up in a Chinese food loving family. And Nihon Mura's Grilled Shitake revived my strong feelings for mushroom after hibernating for a while. :)

This is how our table looked like after that fantastic and wonderful meal. =P~ And this is a picture of one happy Cookie. Isn't he the cutest? ^_^
We are surely coming back for another round of pigging out at Nihon Mura. There must be some other branches around Singapore, it is probably more convenient if we can find a branch closer to our place so we can help ourselves when crave pangs attack. ^_^

More photos of the place on another blog I was able to Google up. :)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Singapore Adventure: June Movie Adventures

Since I have arrived in Singapore, I seldom go to the movies anymore. I've been here for a year, but I think I've only been to the theaters not more than 5 times.


But this month of June, the Cookies have gone movie crazy. Hehe.. We've seen several movies this month - 4 already - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Kung Fu Panda, The Happening and, just yesterday, Get Smart.


Kung Fu Panda. It's definitely one of the movies that will get you out of your house to see in the theaters. The trailer they ran here in SG really did the trick for me and my Cookie. The storyline is engaging. The animation is flawless. You'll really feel for Po Panda and his personal challenges. The other animal characters also had a hand in building up the interest in the story. Funny. Touching. And action-packed. Hehehe... Will definitely get it when it comes out on video. :)

Get Smart. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway didn't really click as a "love team", but their comic timing may save the movie from crashing to the ground. It is hilarious and doesn't require much brain power to watch. And so, it is a good topping to a stressful and long work week. Dwayne Johnson has surely transitioned to be typecasted as "the good guy turned bad guy". Hiro Nakamura a.k.a. Masi Oka of the Heroes TV Series debuts in this film, as far as the Cookies know. Hehe... The action in this movie is engaging, the humor and casting is reminiscent of Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English. Not one of my personal favorites but it would always be a nice laugh to watch again.


Saturday, June 14, 2008

Singapore Adventure: My LSS for the Week




Mediacorp 5 is running an ad for their new series and offerings for this month of June. They used Sara Bareilles Love Song for accompaniment. Now, I can't shake it off my head. Find myself humming to its tune every now and then. I gave in and purchased Sara Bareilles Little Voice album. Not disappointed. ^_^



Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Singapore Adventure: Hostaged

My Cookie has my laptop hostaged, and so I am broadcasting from his laptop. Hehehe....
It's been a long three days. I have been working for more than 8 hours for the past three days. It's toxic at work and nobody is allowed to drop dead. Hehehe...
It's only two days to go until the weekend and I just couldn't wait. I really need some time for unwinding, because I am not totally twisted. >:)

Monday, June 2, 2008

Singapore Adventure: Bump

It is normal for me to get out of bed in the middle of the night for a quick trip to the toilet. But last Sunday, I had a little mishap.
Just as I stepped into the toilet, I had a fit of wooziness. I fell and hit my head on the towel bar. Big ouch. :'( Fortunately, there was not blood, but in the place where I hit my head was a big bump. I want my Mama... Sniff.
Good thing, my Cookie is here to take care of me and my achy bump.
I really have to get this checked by the doctor. But in the meantime, need to sleep right. It has been a very tiring few weeks. Shorthanded and really slumped at work. Sigh.
Can't wait for September when my long vacation is taking place.