Wordless Wednesday #10 | Chasing Butterflies.

Last Monday, the little man's Kindergarten class, together with the Nursery and Preparatory students of The Learners Academy, went on a day trip to Dioko Garden Resort and Butterfly Farm. The kids had a blast as they had a chance to see not just the butterflies, but also the animals at the mini zoo located within the resort grounds.

I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. :)

Sunday Shuttering | Guavas and Oranges.

I was supposed to be working on a review of Innisfree's Jeju Volcanic Pore Clay Mask, but my neurons don't seem to be working at the moment. You see, the little man and I have been under the weather lately - he's got cough and colds, while I'm down with the sniffles.

Right now, we're both under medication, drinking lots of water, and packing up on Vitamin C as much as we can.

Yue loves oranges - which is good, because he gets just the more than enough Vitamin C that his body needs. A medium-sized orange contains 70mg Vitamin C, while the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of Vitamin C for Yue's age is 25mg per day.

On the other hand, women my age are recommended to consume at least 75mg of Vitamin C daily.

Guavas are the richest source of Vitamin C, as it boasts of 188mg per half cup. That's more than twice of a thirty-year-old woman's RDA!

I'm munching on these guava slices as I write, and I do hope for my sniffles to go away real soon.
There's too much to do at home, and I really hate it when I'm down with the sickness like this.

Sunday Shuttering | Go Green!

My 'Sunday Shuttering' post from last week gained a lot of favorable responses (I even got featured on Lauren's blog!) that I might actually do this on a weekly basis. You know - flowers, a good perspective, a snapshot. Perhaps even a linky party in the near future.

In the meantime, here are some gorgeous greens.

I'm in a pretty good mood today because the Boston Celtics now advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.  And in case you're living under the rock all these time, we all know green is the Celtics' color. So yeah, even if I'm not a huge fan of green, that color becomes my favorite once the NBA Playoffs begin.

Let's go Boston! Beat the Heat! :)

Shared with Oh! Snap, Scenic Sunday, i Heart Macro, Green Monday.

Sunday Shuttering!

I haven't posted some scenic shots in awhile and thought you might be missing the flowers in our garden.

This pretty hibiscus says 'hi' to all of you.
Happy Sunday! :)

Photos were taken using a point-and-shot Fuji FinePix J150W. Shot in macro mode. 

Shared with Pink Saturday, i Heart Macro, Sunday Snapshot, Scenic Sunday, Oh! Snap and Simple as That.

Foodie Goodie | Cozy at Cafe Arabela.

Here in the South (or in the Philippines, for that matter) whenever we say 'tsinelas' (slippers), we think of Liliw. About 45 minutes away from the city where I live, Liliw is a small, highland town best known for its native delicacies and world-class shoe industry.

These days, whenever 'Liliw' is mentioned, 'Arabela' also comes to mind.

Photo credit: Chewy of EatPrayMakeLove

It's a cozy little corner cafe, with a menu that boasts of pizza, pasta, steaks, and the most sinful desserts ever.

Arabela gets a little too cozy at times (read: cramped) most of the time, because of the steady flow of diners. Patrons from all ages (kids, teens, adults, babies even!), and groups of all sorts (families, friends, officemates, lovebirds) all hie off to enjoy the great food that Arabela has to offer.

Little Miss Margaret at Arabela. :)

We went to Liliw last Saturday, and because it's the weekend, Arabela was at its busiest. It took about 10- minutes for us to be seated, and around 10 more minutes before our orders were served.

Fixated at this lamp while waiting for my pasta.

But when you're having food as great as theirs, it was worth the wait.

Pancetta Magretta, Php 220.

We had a hearty breakfast at the resort hotel earlier that day, so I opted for pasta this time. I had Pancetta Magretta - pasta with Italian bacon, lemon, and olive oil. For Php 220, you get a hefty serving that's good enough for sharing. (Or perhaps my tummy was still reeling from the breakfast that we had, lol.)

Chicken Roll, Php 190.

Yue wanted chicken so I got him this Chicken Roll. As described on the menu: Rolled chicken breast fillet with ham, carrots, and pickles served with mixed vegetables and rice.

In short, it's Chicken Cordon Bleu - one of my favorite dishes when I was still pregnant with the little man. Or in Tagalog, nung ako ay naglilihi. :)

No complaints about this dish. Everything was perfect from the chicken, to the dipping, even to how the rice was cooked. And the buttered vegetables were too tasty to be true! They must have been cooked in loads and loads of butter. And no, I'm not complaining.

T-bone Steak, Php 260.

The T-Bone Steak is the restaurant's best seller, which is what my siblings had. I wasn't able to taste it for myself, but my brother - who wolfed it down leisurely - vouches for the taste.

Dulce de Leche cheesecake, Php 85.

Desserts are a must-try at Arabela's. Never leave Liliw without having a bite of these sumptuous and sinful treats. This Dulce de Leche cheesecake was the first thing I noticed when we entered the restaurant, and from there, I was dead-set on ending my meal with this.

On the other side of the table, Maggie was frustrated because no one wanted to give her a sip of this ripe mango shake. LOL.

Ripe Mango Shake, Php 95.

If you're going to Liliw make sure to stop by at this cozy little cafe. It's a dining experience you surely wouldn't want to miss.

Cafe Arabela is located at 503 Rizal Street, Liliw, Laguna. 
Contact number: +63(917) 2041447


Sharing with Food Friday, Food Trip Friday, Yummy Sunday, i Heart Macro, Oh Snap!, Sunday Snapshot.

Foodie Goodie | Pork Binagoongan.

After a week of eating nothing but fish, it's a relief to have pork on the menu again! Today, my kitchen brings you Pork Binagoongan (aka Pork with Shrimp Paste).

If you've noticed, I don't use siling labuyo (bird's eye pepper) because the little man might find it too spicy for his taste. 

And I don't cook mine with coconut cream. That would be Bicol Express to me.

Here's how I made my Pork Binagoongan.

Ingredients:

300g pork cutlets; cut in serving pieces

1/4 cup shrimp bagoong 

4 cloves garlic; minced

1 small onion; chopped

1 medium tomato; sliced 

3 tablespoon vinegar 

1/2 tablespoon sugar 

1 eggplant; cut in slices

Procedure:

1. Boil pork until tender. Set aside.

2. Sauté garlic, onion, and tomatoes. 

3. Add pork and shrimp bagoong. 

4. Stir fry for few minutes until pork begins to release fat, and edges turn to brown. 

5. Add vinegar, simmer for 5 minutes. 

6. Add the eggplant and sugar. Season to your liking.

7. Continue cooking in low fire until the eggplant is done. 

Sharing with Food Friday, Food Trip Friday, and Yummy Sunday.

Beauty Speaks for Itself.

As usual, these pretty little things were found in our garden.

Photos were captured using Finn, my Fuji FinePix J150 W. Tweaked with Picnik, using the Gritty tool.


Sharing with i Heart Macro, Weekend Flowers, This or That Thursday, Scenic Sunday, Sunday Snapshot and Wordless Wednesdays all over the blogosphere! :)

A Fun-filled, Photo-laden Easter Sunday!

I promised the little man that we're going egg hunting come Easter Sunday. And so we did.

Easter pink!

We were at the mall by 10am - the earliest we have ever been inside SM City San Pablo.

The Easter stage.

The entrance to the activity area.

All we had in mind was the egg hunt, but the event host kept on convincing me to sign Yue up in the costume contest as well. (Same story last Halloween. All I wanted was for Yue to take part in the Trick or Treat event, but they kept on asking me to enter the costume contest, too. They said Yue's dinosaur costume was so cute, that it deserves to win the contest. We ended up bagging second prize, heh.)

Find the eggs!

Upon their suggestion, a pair of bunny ears would be fine for a costume. He was reluctant at first, but when he saw some of the boys wearing them (some even bigger than him), he gave in as well.

Bunny baby!!!

The Hop, Hop, and Away Easter Celebration kicked off with arts and crafts activities for the kids. Yue painted an egg,

Alms, alms, spare me a piece of egg!

The finished product!

tinkered with colored sand,

Creative hands at work.

Busy bunny!

some colored pens,

Oh, there you are, Perry!

Love this photo so much!

and some clay!

Stamper + clay = amazed toddler.

When the kids were done with their art projects, the hunt began. There were kids who took some of the eggs scattered all over the activity area before the program even started. (I blame their parents for not listening to instructions and not having the initiative to return the eggs back.) So there were very few eggs left in the activity area.

SM eggs!

Yue and I were clever enough to hop from one merchant store to another to look for more eggs. We struck a goldmine at Mc D's and Octagon. Hah! In your face, overly eager mommies!

He looks like his Dad more and more each day!

After a quick lunch, we scurried over to the makeup section of the department store. I asked the ladies if I could use some of their makeup for Yue's bunny face. Since I'm a regular costumer (haha!), they were more than happy to help me out.

It sure pays to be a makeup junkie! Haha!

Ta-daaa! Makeshift bunny costume!

The afternoon activities began with the kids' parade around the mall.

All that quirkiness!

And all those bunny ears!

Smile, baby bunny!

We were surprised to see Ceana, My Charmed Mom's lovely daughter (and my goddaughter) in the running for Cutest Easter Costume as well! Icar and I didn't make arrangements prior to this, so it was great bumping into each other with the kids in tow.

Fairy Ceana!

Pixie baby and bunny boy. :)

Having fun kids?

The costume contest began as soon as the kids got back inside the activity center. The participants were asked to go up the stage by groups of 5. Here's Yue with some of the contenders for the Cutest Costume category.

Wow, costumes! Hahaha!

Look at how big the competition is. Heh. :)

Absolutely no stage fright.

Happy bunny!

I wasn't expecting to win this contest.
Really now. With Yue's 'costume'? Haha. But the little man had a great time, and that was the most important.

Magic show!

Oooh, the infamous hanky trick.

Amazed Ceana. :)

And he got to bring home lots of goodies from the Easter celebration.

Bring home the eggs!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday, too!

Sharing the happiness with i Heart Macro, Shadow Shot Sunday, Mom and Me Monday, Blue Monday, Green Monday, MYM, Memory Lane Monday, Orange Tuesday, Wednesday Whites, Rednesday, Mommy Moments, and Color Connection.