COME DINE WITH US!

We are staying indoors all summer!

Several reasons:

1. It's very, very hot outside. The scalding glare of the sun could dehydrate us and give us skin cancer.
2. Very few places are open out of everyone's respect for the Holy Month of Ramadan.
3. Thanks to Come Dine With Me, Jamie's Food Revolution and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, we have decided to go easy on the food delivery and up our game in the kitchen!

Every week we invite two guests and feed them.
We started last evening, and this was the menu: 

Caerphilly pasties
Toad in the Hole
Deep fried Mars bars

It was perfect. Savory, sinful, and satisfying!
The deep fried Mars bars were not photographed out of shame.
Also because we ate them straight from the fryer.

Our modest dining table

 

 The king of the kitch

 Caerphilly cheese with leeks and other things good for you

 Looking good! Parang empanada.

 We added this tiny detail that made all the difference, aesthetically.

The Union Jack!

 Served with spinach drizzled with olive oil and Worcester sauce.

Toad in the Hole. Sausages swimming in lard and cream until they rise and become one.

Savory food at its best.

JONALD AND TESS CELEBRATE THEIR 25TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Hey! I just met them, but this is crazy! 
Jonald and Tess, nag silver wedding?

Sorry about that.
But it's true.
I can't believe Jonald and Tess celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on July 25.
They look so young.
Move over, botox and laser.
True love is still the best way to stay young and happy!
I had the privilege to host the wedding reception, and Fifi was there to take pics!
Love you Layds!

 Cake cutting slash fencing! 

The understated, classy three-tier cake from Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

 The couple still looked fresh and relaxed after a whole day of preparations and celebrations.

 Denise and Denica Cabildo stole the show with their sweet rendition of Love Makes A Friend Be a Friend Like You. They can carry a tune, and harmonize too!

 The family that smiles together....

 The family with their wacky friends!

 A special song number by Gwen Goden, who performed TWICE at the event.

 Myself and Sheila, the banquet manager at Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and the person who made sure that the ballroom was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the whole event took place smoothly.

 When marimba rhythm starts to play...

The couple danced to one of their favorite songs, Sway.

I was very happy to have my picture taken with the couple on this stage. 

It wasn't so much a stage as it was a set of a talk show.

Ramadan Around The World - Indonesia | My Dubai My City

I had a lot of fun having iftar with Isti and friends.
I also learned that Indonesia and the Philippines have similar languages.
It was a surprise knowing that they also call their wraps lumpia.
High five on our caveman days!

Ramadan Around The World - Indonesia | My Dubai My City

KERALA PICTURES

Thought I'd post pictures form our Kerala trip. Really miss going on a holiday and thinking of absolutely nothing. I've been working like a dawg and the only thing that keeps me going is the promise of a much-needed getaway in less than two months! For the meantime, I am going to have to look at these and maybe pack my suitcase in advance.

MY FIRST IFTAR THIS YEAR

I'm so excited to attend an Indonesian iftar tonight! I am meeting Isti, a lovely Indonesian lady who has lived in Dubai for years.

She's serving up a feast at sunset, and it's going to fresh, tasty and accompanied by stories from her and her guests.

I like nasi goreng and Liam likes beef rendang. Let's see if those two dishes will be part of her spread this evening.

I'll keep you posted!

This Ramadan is definitely my busiest ever.

I love it.

Celeb Street Style Spotlight: Maxi Skirts Celeb Street Style Spotlight: Maxi Skirts – The Frisky

Celeb Street Style Spotlight: Maxi Skirts Celeb Street Style Spotlight: Maxi Skirts – The Frisky

We love maxi skirts!

I managed to have a great weekend, even though technically, I do not have weekends. I am required to work on Friday and Saturday, and have been doing this for over a month.

Fortunately, Liam and Fifi are the best. Liam and I had dinner on Thursday evening at Hoi An, a French-Vietnamese restaurant at the Shangrila Hotel in Dubai. French grape and Vietnamese cuisine mix very well, and it was worth getting out of the house at the end of a hot and tiring week.

We also managed to go to Ikea and Hyperpanda before the work week. Ikea has always been a happy place for me. I bought a bunch of little things for my house in Cubao last year at the Dubai Festival City branch, and it's nice that Mama, Zoe and Ate Joan are using them.

Fifi visited me on Saturday afternoon and we had a short coffee date at Costa downstairs. We listed down 18 things she should be doing when she turns 30. It was a fun activity and I can't wait to do my own list! We also hear mass in the evening and had Taza for dinner. Taza like KFC, only it's an Arabic brand, and it's supposedly healthier than the Coronel's chicken.

I ended my Saturday by watching a documentary about Gypsy fighting in the UK. It was a chilling account of how travelers settles scores by using their fists, and how they expect their sons to continue this barbaric tradition.

Well, that's my weekend non-weekend. Or my non-weekend weekend.

I dreamed last night that my whole family was running away from our grandfather, who happened to be Muammar Ghadafi. Grandpa Ghadafi was chasing us in the woods. Luckily, we managed to find a nice bungalow house where we locked ourselves in and kept safe until he broke the door and slipped his hand inside! Oh no.

And then I woke up. He was still dead, I was still in bed, and it was another day at work.

Whew.

I should have known by now that when I reach my lowest point, that's exactly where my climb to a better place begins. I have had that experience many many times and I've always panicked, sunk into depression, or thought negatively. Things have always ended up better than ever. And now, no matter how much I worry or think about the worst thing that could happen to me, the reality is, things are getting better for me, and if I don't appreciate that, I would be the biggest ingrate in the world.

Forward, always forward.

Filipinos among world's heaviest smokers

Filipinos among world's heaviest smokers

This news is no surprise at all. Cigarettes are available everywhere.
They're cheap, they're marketed as a must-have cool accessory when going out, and tobacco companies have become innovative.
Marlboros now come in all colors and lengths and thickness, depending on people's mood and ages and what they want the world to see them as.
A stick of Philip Morris is the only thing you can buy with two pesos, and it lasts a while, giving the tired jeepney driver a much needed mini-break.

I'm a quitter. I've been one for a year now, and it feels good!
I no longer need a fag fix every three hours.
I don't include them in my daily budget anymore.
My gums look healthier and my face brighter.
My skin just looks so much better, and I smell fresher!

Many say it's so easy to get back into the habit, but I promise never to do it again.
It's the worst thing I can do to myself, especially now that I am no longer 23 years old.
And every time I experience the little wonders of being a non-smoker, I let out a long, big sigh of relief.
I'm able to, thanks to my clean lungs!

You're simply perfect.

We can't really have everything.
Otherwise we would be perfect and have achieved every objective we and the universe have set for us in life, and then it's time for us to die.
So it's all right to have challenges.
In fact, it's necessary.
Difficult, hair-pulling, make-or-break ones that will really push us to think what's important in our lives.
Money? Career? Love? Family? Religion? Fashion? Reputation?
And the list goes on.
And one of the things that determine that is a heart-attack moment.

I have had so many heart-attack moments.
Moments that compelled me to make the most difficult and life-changing decisions in my life.
And they were the moments that dramatically altered my life in ways deeper than any Chilean miner can dig.
And right now I am very close to making one.
It's eating up my brain, making my heart beat faster, firing up my ambition and reviving my passion for something I have always always loved doing.

But like any big event in one's life, I am faced with a big hurdle.
And I am aiming to get over it before the end of the day.
Literally, before sunset.
There is absolutely nothing I can do to slow down my heart beat or tell my thoughts to stand still.
This challenge is taking over me and giving me a kind of rush that I have not had in more than two years.
And you know what? That's a good sign.
So let me say a little prayer and get on with it.
Here goes....

CocoRosie - By your side

I made apple crumble in maple syrup the other day, and I had to use butter and serve it with vanilla ice cream. That was one of the rarest times since February that I allowed myself to have dairy. No biggie, I thought.
But within hours, my digestive system was disrupted, making me realize for the Nth time that dairy products were not for me.

My dairy-free vow that started on the first day of Lent has brought me nothing but joy and health. My skin is clear and glowing, my body has shrunk by at least three kilos, and my overall physical appearance has improved. I even have more energy. I don't pant anymore. I feel lighter. And there is less mucus in my body.

If this all sounds gross to you, I'm sorry. But going dairy-free is probably one of the best health decisions I have ever made in my life. Sure, I can break my own rule once in a while, but I suffer from the consequences, and that's even more reason to quit it altogether.

Go dairy-free. No skinny lattes. No frozen yogurt. No parmesan shavings on your salad. Just quit it and live happily ever after, smiling in a bikini and looking ten years younger.

Yup, I came up with the quote. Also made the poster without using Photoshop or Paint. And yes, the whole point of this is to inspire you and keep you going. You're welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISAPPOINTED

Yup. I guess that's the word to describe how I am feeling right this moment.
How would you feel if your sister got kicked out of college?
I have funded her education since her high school years.
I attended her high school graduation ceremony last year with my head held high, proud to be the big sister of a bright and outgoing young woman who knew what she wanted in life and had ways to get it.
So finding out that she had been dismissed by her college after completing her first year and a summer course broke my heart into a million little pieces.
My sister isn't stupid. I know that. She outsmarts me and my mother all the time.
She is lazy. She doesn't give a hoot about getting an education and she certainly doesn't think about all the other young girls in the world who could only pray to have enough money to attend a decent school.
Why do we all go to school, and strive to finish university?
We all want a better future. We all want to have careers.
We want to make empowered professional choices, so that we don't beg employers to hire us, or be forced to wait tables or clean toilets, or marry a rich but evil man.
And yet my sister is oblivious to all this, despite the fact that it's all I ever talk to her about.
So now she wants to go to fashion school.
Now she wants to start anew, and has promised me that once she is enrolled again, she will never ever ever take her studies for granted.
I appreciate she has to study something she loves so her attention won't stray.
But I really hope that my sister as staying power to last four years to be able to say she has obtained a degree.
A four-year course is a four-year course, whether one is learning about numbers, plants or fabrics.
I know that I have doubts about my sister's sincerity about wanting to study so badly.
But here I am, giving her another chance, as awesome big sisters do.
It's hard, sooo hard to think that everything is going to be okay.
That my sister will shape up and learn her lesson and tread the path to a successful career eventually.
It's even harder to think that she believes or listens to me.
I just hope that the way I expressed my disappointment - all those words I carelessly hurled at her and the disgusted look on my face as a reaction to her indolence - will not taint her appetite to try again.
I am very hard on her not because I want to feel powerful, but because I want her to look up to me.
I desperately want her to find out how I experienced university life and how I managed to build a career.
But for now, I hope she freaking finds a school.

I am hosting a wedding in July! It's the 25th wedding anniversary of two wonderful Pinoys living and working here in Dubai. It is truly a rare occasion. Not many couples last that long nowadays, and it is an honor for me to be part of such a romantic and fabulous celebration!

They are even making a dress for me! We went to the tailors yesterday to give them my measurements. I was not happy about my waistline, which is why I'm going swimming with the girls tonight. It is going to be a great day! My dress will look something like this, but it will be fuchsia and silver, to conform to the theme color.

And I am back on Blogger! It's been almost eight months since my last post. I thought I would completely abandon this blog to start a new one, but I was obviously not strong enough to leave a colorful online past. So let's get started again, shall we?