Singapore Adventure: Bye-Bye G.G.

I've finished it, Gilmore Girls, all 7 glorious seasons of it. How I hope it would never end. They've all grown up in the show, and I felt that I was totally involved in their story. Sigh. Oh well, time to move it.

It had a great ending, and for that it somehow quells my aching heart of not seeing the girls anymore. Sniff.

Okay... moving on... Any suggestions on the next TV series to fill our DVD rack?

Singapore Adventure: Playing Hosts

This is a long overdue entry. It's been quite hectic at work and there just is no time to put on my writer's cap on. But now I am back. Hopefully...

- o0o -

October 26 to 29, 2008. The Cookies played host to my cousin Rose and college batchmate Ritz who paid us a quick visit it being Semestral Break in the Philippines.

It was not even a weeks long! But we all had a blast. It was short and sweet indeed! ^_^

The usual tour itinerary for first timers in SG - Sentosa, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, Science Centre and Snow City. And since our guests are really keen into "crossing the border", we literally did! A half day tour of Johore Bahru, Malaysia to cap off this wonderful vacation.

- o0o -

Early start for the gang. We waited for the Tour Bus at the Marriot Hotel lobby. At 9:00 am, the group joined the other tourists in a bigger Tour Bus at the Singapore Flyer site. From there, we drove down to Johore Bahru.

At the Malaysian side of the border, our tour guide for the day, Asok, joined us. Then our first stop was at the Batik Craft Centre. Apart from the informative lecture on Batik making, the staff also rendered a musical performance playing Malaysian native musical instruments. The "angklung" is specifically interesting. According to my Cookie, it is now his favorite musical instrument! ^_^

As part of the tour, we drove down to other tourist stops in JB like the Mosque, the Cemetery, and a typical Malaysian household with a lush backyard garden where we were also entertained with some music and dancing.

It was only a quick half day tour, but truly informative! And below is a photo of the tourists with Asok the tour guide.

- o0o -

We enjoyed ourselves indeed, though we burnt holes into our pockets with plenty of "take homes" to remember this travel.

We got silk Batik scarves, a pewter cup set, t-shirts, and an angklung CD recording. Hehe...

Singapore Adventure: Maja Mais First Attempt

SUCCESS!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups coconut milk
1 370 ml. can Evaporated Milk
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups whole corn kernel


Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. stir until free of lumps.
3. Strain the mixture into a pan.
4. Cook stirring constantly over low heat until thick. This would take about 30 minutes.
5. Pour into molders. Cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

TIP:

Be sure you have greased your molders with vegetable oil before pouring in the thickened mixture so it doesn't stick to the container.

Singapore Adventure: Leche Flan First Attempt

Success!!! Heehee.. ^_^

The recipe.

3 whole eggs

6 egg yolks

1 can evaporated milk

1 can condensed milk

2 tsps vanilla

sugar

water

The procedure.

Mix the eggs, the milk and the vanilla in a bowl. Stir with a wire whisk, do it slowly to avoid bubbles from forming. Strain the mixture to rid of lumps. Double strain if necessary. Set this aside.

Caramelize 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of water in low heat. Let cool and pour into the llanera.

Pour in the egg-milk mixture into the llanera. Cover with foil. Steam for 30 minutes.

Poke with fork. If it comes out clean, it's ready to go. Otherwise, leave to cook for another 10 minutes.

Do not overcook as it will cause your leche flan to form bubbles.

Philippine Adventure: Last Hurrah!

The Cookies are down to the last few days of their 15-day home visit. And it will be a while again before they can come back home. It isn't very easy to get a long break from work, and once a chance comes by, it is an opportunity one should never pass on. Hehehe...

And so, it's the "last hurrah" for this wonderful Cookie Philippine Adventure.

Day 13 - 11 September, 2008 (Thursday)

Being home, it's nice that we were able to celebrate our 32nd monthsary the way we used to - a nice filling food trip, strolling the malls, raiding the video store, and a round of games at the Timezone.

We had lunch at Kamayan. Last pigging out on Pinoy dishes. We went in quite late and so some of the dishes were already out. But still we were able to sample some of the nice food stuff. The desserts were pleasing. And I still had my last chance to feast on green mangoes and bagoong. Hehehe...

At the arcades, we played the Silent Hill game. And after several swipes, we finished it. We actually made it on the top score board. Nice.

Day 14 - 12 September, 2008 (Friday)

No more outings for the Cookies. This is our final rest day. Time to start packing and get all our stuff together in preparation for the big trip back to Singapore.

But inspite of this, I called for an impromptu "Pamper Princess Cookie Day". I went for a relaxing footspa and a haircut.

My Shobe, Shoti and Mama also joined me. And so, after our salon escapade, we all went to dinner at the Orient Pearl Chinese Restaurant near our home. We had coldcuts platter for appetizers, fish lip soup, steamed lapu-lapu, yang chow fried rice, kangkong with chinese bagoong, and gallons of chinese tea. Haha..

I miss having dinners like this with my family. If there's one thing my family loves to do, it would be enjoying a sumptous meal. Too bad, no photos this time. Sniff. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't take photos of my family this time around. Hmmm... Curious.

Day 15 - 13 September, 2008 (Saturday)

It's THE day. But before heading to the airport, we just had to meet the newly-weds for lunch at the Outback Steakhouse in Glorietta. They just got back from their Hongkong-Macau honeymoon and they had tons of stories and photos to share with us. :)

Then we were off to the airport. For Cebu Pacific flights, it flies out from the shiny new Terminal 3. And honestly, the design is quite impressive. If not for the news that came out the day before of one section's ceiling crashing down, I would have to say after all the controversies surrounding the construction of this airport, the government finally did something commendable.

Oh, by the way, meet Jerome. He's joining us for a week on vacation in Singapore.

So, we'll see you back in Singapore.