Weekend crafting: Choo choo train

We've been saving our tissue paper rolls recently as I discovered that there was so much that you can do with them (thank you, Pinterest). I like that we are able to re-use these items and help save the environment too :)

This week, we made a choo choo train. I basically followed this blog to make this train. Theirs is so much prettier than what the boy and I made. We did not have a lot of mineral water bottle caps so I just cut off paper circles from another tissue paper roll to serve as wheels. Other blogs I saw used buttons instead of the caps.

Here are the materials we used:

7 tissue paper rolls
glue
super glue (I'd use glue gun if I had one)
scissors
yarn
water color
puncher

How to make the train:

1. Paint the tissue paper rolls.

2. Cut the edges of three paper rolls to a semi-circle. These make the top of the engine.

3. Cut one roll so that you can straighten it out to cut out the wheels. I used a five peso coin as guide. I made a total of 12 wheels and put 4 on each cable. The boy helped me paint everything.

4. Punch holes on each cable, two on each edge.

5. String the cables together using yard.

6. Glue the wheels and the engine tops. I made a mistake of using regular glue which turned out to be a real mess. It took too long for it to dry and the kid kept removing them. Use a glue gun if you have one. I remembered we had super glue at home so I used that on the engine tops.

I don't know how long this toy will "live". The caterpillar we made a few weeks back only lasted a few days. It was fun to make and I love how my boy's face lights up once we finish an activity.

Weekend Crafting: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Summer classes ended a few weeks back. Since then, the boy and I have been trying to work on his fine motor skills by doing worksheets I would get online. To change his routine, I decided to do some crafts. We started to save the paper rolls and made this caterpillar.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Everything we needed, I bought at the nearby bookstore. I cut the tissue paper roll in to 3 rolls using a cutter. You can make a shorter caterpillar using just 2 rolls (6 segments).

toilet rolls, googley eyes, yarn and glue

The boy and I took about an hour to finish painting all the rolls. I did most of the painting. He asked me to paint over some of the rolls he did. It was a fun activity for the both of us.

Painting time

I used gel glue to stick the googley eyes and the mouth (yarn). I would have preferred using glue gun, which would have been less messy but mine is missing. Note to self, try looking for it. Who am I kidding? I'll probably buy a new one soon.

Caterpillar's head

Once the paint was dry, I went ahead and attached the rolls one by one. You can use glue but I went with staple wires. It was easier and less messy for me. For the antennae, I used those twisty wires. I punched two small holes on top of the would be head and inserted those orange wires and voila! It turned out pretty cute if I may say so myself :)

In action

The boy enjoying his new toy

The boy seemed to enjoy his new toy. 

Dungis Mr. Caterpillar

The glue I used for the eyes and mouth made a mess, I think I put too much. 

To make the experience complete, I thought of telling him  Eric Carle's story about the very hungry caterpillar and I found this video.

I did not stop there, I had the brilliant idea of printing out the whole story to make it more interactive for the boy. He enjoyed it so much that we read it 10x in one sitting. Who thinks it's a good idea now? Lol. Really, I am happy that he appreciates it so much. I just hope telling the story 3x would be enough for a day.

I got my free downloadable printouts from here. I hung it to the wall using yard. The kid had fun putting the caterpillar through each food. This one got him busy for a few hours.

How about you, any crafting activities you enjoyed doing with your kid?

The Polka Dot Bakeshop

The Polka dot bakeshop is a small kiosk beside Abe at the 3/F SM Megamall Fashion Food hall. They have a variety of mini cakes that do not break the bank. Prices range from Php 150 to Php 165. The junior sized cakes are at Php 350 to Php 475. 

These are perfect for small groups or even for your baby's monthsary celebrations before they turn one year old. Saves the wallet and your waistline too!

Belonging to the LJC Group that Abe is also a part of, if you dine Abe Megamall, you can have the cake served at your table as a nice ending to a great meal.

My favorite Toffee Sans Rival

The Polka Dot Bakeshop
Third Floor, Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
Phone numbers: 02 5229163; 02 6314719

Masil Korean Charcoal Grill Restaurant

We spotted this Korean barbeque restaurant when it was new in Oranbo Drive, Pasig. There were always a lot of cars parked out so we thought of trying it out and the rest, as they say, is history. This is our go to place whenever we crave Korean food. We haven't been to the restaurant in while so we decided to visit for dinner. It was a nice surprise that their menu expanded and had a lot of new things like bibimbap and ramyeun dishes which they didn't have before but was a staple at other Korean restaurants. 

Since we haven't been there in a while, we decided to stick with what we knew :)

Stone plates and cup

13 side dishes, 15 if you include the soup and fluffed egg in stone pot

As with most Korean barbeque grill restaurants, side dishes come aplenty and you can order as much as you want. There are so many things that we like here. My favorite is kimchi, sweet anchovies and tofu with sweet onions. 

I'll try to name as much as the side dishes as I can. There's the baby potatoes and peanuts cooked with sugar. There's spinach and sauteed sayote (in one saucer). They also have a salad with banana something dressing that I don't like. The pancake seems like egg with something. It's good. There's those leaves with brown sauce. I can't understand the taste and it was not good. There's also some greens and garlic for you to wrap your grilled meat. There's that green algae-like dish. I kind of like the texture sort of makunat but I can only eat one. Then the one with the carrots one top of the picture seems like fish cake. It was also good, actually.

Then there's the hot soup with tofu, cucumber, onions and some other stuff I cannot identify. This one is hot and spicy. It will make your nose runny. I think the base soup has crab and shellfish taste to it.

I am not sure how you call this other dish below. I call it fluffed egg. It is really good. Yes, that is a whole lot of food. And yes, you can order more than one serving if you want.

All these free side dishes come with 2 orders of meat. We just ordered two. One pork and one beef. I wasn't able to get a picture of the cooked grilled pork. It was tender and was delicious.

Dwaeji Galbi (Php 400)

Masil Bulgogi (Php 490)

We also ordered Japchae (Php 330) for the kid. He loves anything pansit-like. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture.  It was alright. It has a good amount of vegetables and not all noodles as some of restaurants have it.

Haemul Pajeon (350)

The pajeon is a Korean pancake with vegetables and seafood. This is the husband's favorite dish in the menu. The sauce is sweet-sour. It gives balance to the whole dish.

Before I forget to mention, the water they provide to drink (at least the first round) has a sweet pandan taste. It is a very pleasant surprise especially on your first visit :)

There were 3 adults at our table. We had to take home some of the pajeon and japchae. We were so very bundat but could not resist to get melona ice drops for dessert...such gluttons!

In case you are not yet convinced by the photos, let me tell you that this restaurant is owned by Koreans and every time we are there (which is a lot of times in the last couple of years-we just love it) there are always other Korean diners at the resto.

Masil Korean Charcoal Grill Restaurant

100 Oranbo Drive, Oranbo, Pasig City

Hours: 11 AM to 11 PM

Summer Cooler: Mio gelati

It's the end of summer but it still gets hot outside and ice cream/gelato never really gets old. At the SM Light Mall, there is a weekend gourmet corner where Mio Gelati shares a spot with other vendors like Custaroonery.

I tried their Avocado ice cream one afternoon. I think I paid Php 89 for one scoop. The avocado ice cream was good, creamy with bits of Avocado. You can really taste the Avocado in there. Yes, it is a little bit expensive for a small cup if you ask me, especially since the stall is beside the grocery where you can get cheaper tubs of ice cream. If you are in to gelato or artisan ice cream, you can go for Mio Gelati.

They have a lot of other different flavors to choose from. 

Adobo, ang pambansang ulam. Bow!

I'd say Adobo is one of the first dishes I learned to cook. It's a pretty easy recipe to follow and each household would have a different version of it. My mom's is pretty straightforward and on the sweet side. My mother-in-law boils her meat is the sauces, fries them then adds the sauce again. A little bit time consuming but really tasty.

Of course, I've tried both recipes time and again. I thought of adding another version under my arsenal and it is a hit. My version of adobo sa gata. I remember having tried this dish back in college at an Adobo Republic branch along Katips. My version has a little bit more sauce because my family loves sauce so I adjust to make them happy. Cooking, after all is another way to say how much I love them.

Here's my recipe.

1 kg of pork belly (about two inch slices)

1 kg chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks)

1 niyog

1 cup red cane vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 pieces siling haba

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 potatoes

1 kamote (optional)

6 cloves garlic

I used that kamote because it has been in the fridge for weeks. I didn't want it to go to waste. It was my first time to put kamote in adobo and it turned out ok. I put in the pork at the bottom of my pot, then the chicken, garlic, potatoes and kamote. Then I put in the seasonings, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, sugar, oyster sauce then let simmer. I held the salt towards the end to make sure I only put enough since I already have soy and oyster sauce in the mix. After about 20 minutes of simmering, I then put the milk from one mature coconut (niyog) and let the sauce reduce, which would take another 10-15 minutes on high. I throw in the siling haba in there too.

My version of adobo sa gata

The picture does not look as appetizing but my family likes this recipe. I also normally remove the chicken skin to reduce the fat in the dish. This is as easy as your normal adobo. The only "hard part" for me is squeezing the milk out of the shredded coconut meat. If you buy your niyog in the wet market, some could sell you the coconut milk with extra (minimal) cost for the labor. I prefer doing it myself though. You can also buy in the canned coconut milk/cream in the grocery store. But I tell you, it's different if you use the canned lot. Fresh is better.

So what do we do with 2 kgs. worth of ulam? We keep some in the freezer. Ang adobo, habang tumatagal, lalong sumasarap ;) We just pop it in the microwave on days when I don't feel like cooking.

Here you go. Another fast and easy twist to your usual go to dishes. Enjoy!

NAV Modern Thai Cuisine turns 5!

Our favorite Thai restaurant just turned five and is celebrating the week (June 6-12) with huge discounts and freebies. 

Here are some of our favorites.

Fresh spring rolls (Php 195)

You can add chicken and shrimps to the spring rolls and price bumps to Php 250 for 8 pieces. There are two dipping sauces. The brown one is a peanut sauce while the greenish one is a sweet-sour sauce. They are both good. You might want to combine sauces for a different taste.

Crab fat fried rice (Php 250)

The crab fat fried rice is new and is not yet on the menu. The recipes are rotated in the Kapitolyo branch and is written on the chalk board near the stairs. This is good for about 2 persons. You can really taste the crab fat here, so sinful yet so delish!

Penang curry (Php 380)

The Penang curry is NAV's version of beef curry. The meat was tender. It's like kare-kare with a curry twist, really delicious but a little bit salty.

Morning glory (Php 250)

Morning glory is kangkong with tofu and bean sauce. This is hubby's favorite. I tried copying this at home but I used hoisin sauce instead. Nav's version is better than mine, sad to say. Haha! I'll probably try again with bean sauce.

Nav's chicken curry (Php 295)

Fried chicken in house curry. This is the best chicken curry ever! Crunchy and saucy at the same time. By the way, it is great that none of the curry dishes are spicy so that we can share with the boy. If you do like it spicy (like me), there is a bottle of chili flakes provided in each table. Win-win for everybody :)

Pad Thai (Php 295)

And of course, there's the Pad Thai. I say this is one of the best Pad Thai's in Manila. Until recently, it was number 1 but my fans (hubby and ate) say my Pad Thai recipe is better. Haha!

Thai Laksa (Php 350)

The Thai Laksa is my other favorite. It has beef, rice noodles, crispy egg and curry broth. This warms your heart and soul very good for a rainy day.

If you are in Megamall, you can also visit them at the 5th floor SM Mega Food Hall.

NAV Modern Thai Cuisine

Address: 16-C United St, Pasig, 

Metro Manila, Philippines

Phone:+63 2 655 8395

Hours: 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM

https://www.facebook.com/NavModernThai/

Homecooked: Pasta con Sarde and turmeric chicken

Every now and then, I would be inspired to whip up some new recipe in the kitchen. This is mostly inspired by something that is expiring in the pantry that I need to cook creatively. Hahaha! I had some parmesan cheese and linguine that has been in the cabinet and fridge for the longest time. I checked, they weren't expired yet but I do need to use them soon to avoid wastage.

I bought some cherry tomatoes and fresh basil at the Sunday market, then cooked this simple pasta with sardines dish.

Here are  the ingredients.

about 400 g of linguine cooked according to package instructions

butter

olive oil

6-8 cloves of garlic (more if you like), chopped

bottle of Spanish style sardines

about a cup of fresh basil leaves

8-10 cherry tomatoes cut in two

So I asked my husband to buy the sardines at the nearby grocery. He asked me what kind, in oil or the Spanish style. I got a little bit confused since I cooked a similar dish in the past (minus the vegetables) so I thought he should know. I said Spanish style, in the bottle. 

He said he didn't hear me say the last part (bottle) because he brought home 555 Spanish-style sardines. He says he didn't see the bottled kind. Sure...mostly likely, he didn't really look since he didn't hear me say bottled, right? I would have gone myself but I was already starting with the noodles and preparing the other ingredients since it was almost lunch time. Anyway, he did offer to go back and look for the ones I requested originally. I said I will just work with what we have since it's already there. In fairness, it turned out ok. I feel though that the bottled sardines are more tasty and packed compared to the canned type though of course it is more expensive. I still prefer the bottled kind for this recipe.

Here's how I made do with the sardines I had. I sauteed the garlic in butter and olive oil. I probably used 1/4 cup of the butter and oil (combined). You can add some more olive oil later if you feel the pasta is too dry. I then added the cherry tomatoes and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Next, I added the pasta. Make sure to mix everything well. Then add the basil leaves.

Pasta con sarde

Pasta con sarde with a side of turmeric chicken

I thought of cooking something on the side to pair with the pasta. I didn't really have too much time to think about it so I thought turmeric chicken would be fine. I just fried chicken thigh fillet that I rubbed with salt, pepper, turmeric and garlic powder.

Simple and fast recipe that can be enjoyed by the young and old :)

Bun Appetit and La Cuisine Francaise at Salcedo Weekend Market

From time to time, we'd visit the Salcedo Weekend Market (Saturdays) to buy my son's favorite garlic sticks. We also buy fresh produce we don't normally get in the grocery stores like kale and herbs. Then, we check out new stalls if any. We've been going to the market since 2004 and have watched it grow to what it is now.

Anyway, so we saw this new stall called Bun Appetit.  They sell 3 types of sandwiches, lobster, crab and shrimp roll. They have a pretty simple menu with these 3 as the stars. They also have crab cocktail claws, grilled corn and garlic noodles.

Bun Appetit Stall

Crab roll (Php 395)

The rolls are pretty expensive for a sandwich if you think about it. But once you get a bite, ohhh...it was heaven and so worth it. I got a crab roll. They definitely did not scrimp on the ingredients. That's probably more than a cup of crab meat on one sandwich. The buttered roll was really good too. I will buy just that bread if they sold it. Needless to say, it was a filling meal that can last you until lunch.

Grilled corn (Php 120)

I also tried the grilled corn. It looks good but it lacked the umami taste of the grilled corn you can buy at Bad Bird or No Reservations. It had lime, cayenne pepper and some cheese. It was a bit of a let down as I was expecting it would be the same level of delicious-ness as the sandwich.

The Tiramisu is not from Bun Apetit but from the La Cuisine Francaise stall. They sell (yes, you guessed right!) French food. This tiramisu slice is about Php 250 a piece. It was a big slice. It would probably be equivalent to 2-3 servings at most restaurants. What I used to like about this tiramisu was that it was indulgent and had a good amount of mascarpone and cream on it. I say "used to" since the cake I bought that Saturday was not the same as I've had in the past. Also, the lady fingers seemed like it was overly-soaked in coffee since the bottom part of the container would be drowned in liquid after a few minutes. Putting the dessert inside the fridge didn't improve the state. 

Though not as good as it was before, I'd say that this tiramisu is still one of the better tasting versions I've tried.

Tiramisu

Side view of the Tiramisu :)

Salcedo Saturday Market
Jaime C. Velasquez Park, Salcedo Village,
Makati, Metro Manila
Saturday 6AM–2:30PM

Kapitolyo Eats: Ninak

I recently went crazy buying restaurant vouchers on group buying sites (so you'll see related posts in the next few weeks). I thought it would be great to try out these restaurants we've never tried before at a discount. You never know if you'd like the food even with good reviews so at least get at a cheaper price. If it is good, then win-win with the discount :) 

One of the restaurants we tried is Ninak in Kapitolyo, Pasig. I bought a Php 1000 value voucher at Php 600. I think I got this deal at DealGrocer.

Ninak offers Asian fusion cuisine and was one of the restaurants featured a few years ago in KrisTV at a Kapitolyo food crawl. They got good comments. I also checked some reviews and they seemed ok.

Here's what we ate.

Spring rolls

I liked the fried spring rolls but it was a little oily and salty. We originally thought we ordered fresh spring rolls but got this instead. We can't remember if the menu said it was fried.

Pad Thai (Php 320)

I've had better Pad thai before. If I'm in the area anyway, I would still  go for Nav's Pad thai noodles any day.

Red Pork Curry (Php 255)

We tried the red pork curry for a change. It was ok. Again, a little salty for my taste and spicy for the kid. It went well with the rice.

Ninak Rice (Php 150)

This is fried rice with fried shallots. It was ok, nothing fancy. Serves 2-3 persons. 

I prefer food at Nav and since they are very near each other, I'd always choose it over Ninak.

Ninak

Address: Unit 101 Seven East Capitol Building, 

E Capitol Dr, Pasig, Metro Manila, 

Phone:+63 2 655 6902

Out of town: Mangrove Resort Hotel in Subic

We haven't been to a beach (overnight) in a long time. The last time was in Nasugbu and my son had just turned 1. He's turning 4 soon. Yes, it has been years. Now the kid loves the water. We'd bring him to the pool every now and then so he still gets his water fix minus the sand.

Most of the time, we'd look to Batangas for a beach getaway. Seems like everybody else are looking in the same direction. Most resorts are either booked or too expensive for us so I thought of maybe looking the opposite direction - North. Not too far north though, so we settled with Subic, Zambales.

Driving through SCTEX now gets us to Subic in 2 hours. In Subic, you have a lot of choices of resorts, from lower to higher end. We are on a budget and selected a mid-range priced hotel along Baloy beach, Mangrove Resort Hotel.

Aside from the price, we chose Mangrove hotel due to the size of the room, the pictures and most reviews were pretty positive. We are relatively easy to please so I would say the only negative part about this was that very short shoreline. It wasn't the prettiest beach but it was clean enough. We just felt that had we gone on a more busy day, it would have been extremely crowded.

We left the house at around 7 AM on a Sunday. We had a late breakfast stop near Harbor Point Mall inside Subic Freeport at around 9 so we got to the beach past 10 AM. Check in was at 2 PM but we were already allowed to use the facilities and leave our bags in the office beside the reception.

It was a busy weekend so we were not able to check in early. Cleaning of our designated room was prioritized and we were able to settle in at about 1 PM.

Pool deck at the 3rd floor

Left side of the beach towards the freeport

Right side towards the other hotels along Baloy beach

Boats for island hopping

Catching the morning sun

Kiddie pool and adult pool

I like that they have a separate kiddie pool to accommodate the younger kids, though small. It can be too tight with the parents in there as well. The adult pool is about 4 ft deep and was level so that's as deep as in goes which was just right for wading. There were rooms surrounding the pool side. If you are concerned about the noise level, the pool closes at around 6 or 8 PM. If you prefer resting at noon, not too sure if the noise gets to an uncomfortable level. We were on the next floor and we didn't really hear the noise at the pool.

The bar at the second floor

There are rooms at the "beach front" which is really the second level because you had to go down one more flight of stairs to actually get to the beach. There's a restaurant/bar next to the rooms. I am not sure what time it closes and if the noise can be heard from the rooms in the same floor. 

Beach-front rooms at the second level

De luxe room with King-sized bed

This was our room at the fourth level. It was nice and comfortable. The king size bed was just enough for the 3 of us. They provided robes, your usual bath towels and separate beach towels. I like that the beach towels are inside the bayong (you can see a peek in the picture). It makes it easy to lug around the towels (and snacks) up and down the beach, pool and our room. We were on the fourth floor and there is no elevator nor ramps. Needless to say, this isn't a PWD friendly hotel.

I didn't take a picture of the bathroom but it was nice and clean. They also provided usual toiletries except shampoo and conditioner. They also did not provide bedroom slippers. You might want to bring extra because you do not want to get sand all over the bedroom floor.

I had booked through Expedia mobile app. Published rate is Php 4350 net but we got a 10% discount from a BDO promo if you use a BDO debit/credit card. We booked in the middle of summer and this was the cheapest room still available. You can get their budget rooms as low as Php 1942. They also have bigger rooms for bigger families that can fit up to 2 king sized beds. You can check their rates here.

The downside of this rate is that no meals were included. Looking at their website, it does not seem that the packages include meals at all. We decided to eat at the resort's restaurant for dinner and breakfast so that we can maximize our swim time and the kid hardly wants to get out of the water. 

Resort food is a bit expensive but taste was alright. Nothing to jump up and down about but at least it was not bad. If you want to save up, there is a 711 about 5 minutes walk from the resort. If you are feeling lazy, you can wait for a tricycle to drive you there. There are also a few restaurants and carinderia along the main road if you want to dine out of the resort. Harbor Point Mall inside the Subic Freeport is about 15-20 minutes drive.

We had room service for both meals. What's great about it is that there is no room service charge. Especially if you are staying in the upper floors, do not forget to tip the server. The kitchen is on the second floor and is a long way up (and down for that matter) if you are carrying all that food :) If it were just us, I'd rather eat outside looking at the nice view. We didn't want the trouble of a kid crying about swimming again so we just settled for room service.

Here's what we ate for dinner.

Pansit canton Php 275

The pansit canton was good. A little on the salty side but you can just add some calamansi to balance it out. It was also a huge serving that could be enough for 2-3 persons.

Club house sandwich Php 275

 The club house sandwich was also a pretty hefty meal. Nothing special.

Hungarian sausage Php 295

The side salad was a nice combo with the sausage. Also a filling meal for one. It was sausage, salad and rice. Again, nothing special.

Mango shake Php 150

It's almost a sin not to have mango shake when at the beach. It was delicious with a good amount of milk. It can be a bit expensive but shakes in Manila are priced about the same.

We had tapsilog, which is rather expensive at Php 305 for breakfast. Hubby says the tapa was on the sweet side and not to his liking. Unlike our order from the night before, this was the only meal we had that seemed pricey for the amount of serving. 

We also tried pasit bihon mixed (with canton). It was bland this time. I prefer the canton from dinner.

Menu

Menu

Drink menu

Resto bar at the second level beside reception

Beach view from our room balcony

I think overall, it was a great trip without breaking the bank. We had fun. We were comfortable. Most especially, the kid had so much fun. We allowed him to swim and wade in the beach and pool for hours and hours. This will definitely be a memorable trip for all of us.

Mangrove Subic Resort Hotel

Baloy Long Beach Road Olongapo City, Zambales, Philippines

Reception: (047) 222 2724 or (047) 222 2733

Manila: (02) 404.4784

SUN Mobile: +63.922.858.5858

GLOBE Mobile: +63.917.832.8050

SMART Mobile: +63.939.908.0373

Hours: 7am - 11pm Every day*

*except Christmas Day and New Years Day