kind of like a funnel cake

Since I saw that corn dog from robinson's galleria last week I have been craving for funnel cakes. I woke up this morning still thinking about it until I found myself looking for recipes online. I know that my kitchen is not fully equipped to be able to come up with a funnel cake, but I was desperate. I looked for a funnel cake recipe that is very basic and would not require any baking powder/soda, because I didn't have any of those in my kitchen. (Here's what I found. http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Funnel-Cake-Food-Network).

I am not a kitchen person. I am not good in cooking or baking. But again, I was desperate :)

The recipe required to, "With mixer at lowest speed, add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. "  I do not have any mixer. I had to use a whisk! Boy, I didn't know the dough would be very hard to deal with. I almost broke the whisk and my hands. Anyway, here's the batter.

So after the batter, I was so excited to fry it because that means I'm almost done. I was too excited that I forgot I do not have a piping bag either! I used a 'plastik ng yelo' instead. Its the closest thing to a piping bag I can think of.

Finally, it is now ready to be deep fried!

add some nutella, strawberry jam, whipped cream, choco syrup, et voila!
and yes I didn't have any powdered sugar too! haha

My craving was satisfied! It may not be the best funnel cake (in fact, it's the worst I've ever tasted), at least it tasted like one. :)

I can feel it!

I can really feel it coming. I am very excited! I haven't spent Christmas here in the Philippines for the past 3 years. This year is even more exciting. I get to spend it with my family from Tarlac together with Garry and Keahi. I love Christmas, it's my favorite time of the year.

sta. lucia mall

roof of SM Marikina

Shrek to greet us Merry Christmas! :)

My favorite Christmas food!

ali mall

SM Marikina

robinson's galleria

so most of those places are malls. here's how we handle Keahi during mall hoppings.

he leads the way, not even looking back at us, and walks past crowds of people just like that.

he pretty much knows where to go to play already.

specially during Christmas season where all the malls are decorated somehow.

he knows where to find the Christmas lights and trees.

Ride on

Garry and Keahi are doing pretty good in getting used to the Filipino way of living (I think haha). That includes getting used to public transportation. Since we do not have a car, we really use the public transpo a lot. They have already tried most of it such as taxi, LRT, MRT, mini and big buses, FX, tricycles, padyak, and most specially jeepneys. Garry was amazed on how many different kinds of land public transportation we have here in the Philippines, because in Tahiti there's only buses and in Hawaii there's only buses and cabs. He was also amazed by the number of each of them. According to him, "The number of public transpo here is twice as much as Tahiti's population." haha. Anyway, I have noted a lot of their fun and unforgettable experiences in riding public transpo (jeepney specially) here in PH.

***When Keahi first rode the jeepney, he was so excited as he approached the window, but he got scared after a strong wind blew on his face. He smiled a lot afterwards.

***Garry learned the basic terms in riding the jeepney. I told him that in order to pay, you kind of pass along your payment to the row of passengers seating beside you until it gets to the driver and you say, "Bayad po". Same as when people hand you their payments to be passed on to the driver. One time, the driver passed along a change to be given back to a passenger, and Garry handed it over nicely to the passenger next to him and said, "Bayad po." haha. I cracked up, and said  sorry that I forgot to mention about, "Sukli po."

***I also taught him how to say, "Para po" (to stop the jeepney before alighting). Well, the poor guy got confused with all the terms, and one time when he passed his payment along he said, "Para po." Then the jeepney suddenly stopped. He didn't care for a second until everybody stared at him, waiting for him to leave the jeepney as he is supposed to. Then he said sorry, "Bayad po".

***Just today I picked him up from work, and he was so proud to tell me he found an easier way to get home than waiting for 30 minutes for the jeepney going to Anonas. We crossed commonwealth and entered UP by the front, and he said we would need to ride a jeepney to get to the back of UP so we can catch another jeepney to Katipunan.. He passed me our payment and for a second I held on to it because I don't know what am I supposed to tell the driver with regards to where we are going. The jeepney is UP-SM North, and it's lame for me to say we are going down at UP when we are already by the entrance of UP. He gave me a smirk and told me, "Say, dalawang campus po." I was impressed. I don't know where he learned that from, but it made me smile.

***Our most common form of transpo is the cab, for Keahi's safety. The first ride went like this:
Garry: So how much is this cab ride for?
Me: Depends on the distance. There (pointing at the front). It will be according to that meter.
Garry: What?!? (his Chinese eyes miraculously grew big). We just barely sat our butts in here, and the meter says I already have to pay 40 pesos??? No way! Does it hit the meter every centimeter???
Me: (laughing out loud)

***This one's according to Keahi's Nanny. Her and Garry had to ride the LRT once. She said that while they were waiting for the train, Garry spit on the tracks (gross! but since we got here he'd seen so much of it that I can't really complain about it anymore). She freaked out because the security guard was just behind them, and a sign right in front of them says, "Bawal dumura dito." I guess if he got caught, he could also get away with it, because he didn't understand the sign anyway. Haha.

***First FX experience.
Garry: Whooow! (fixin the AC) It's good in here, there's AC. Not too hot like the jeepneys. More comfortable too.
Me: Hmm yeah I guess.
---few minutes later---
Garry: You've gotta be kidding me! They fit 4 people in this seat??? Only 2 pieces of Garry is supposed to fit in here.
Me: Hmm yeah I guess. haha

***Garry's first word after riding the MRT-3, "Wow! (wiping his sweat and blank staring at hundreds of people alighting and riding the train). That train is making a lot of money."

***Padyak experience at Intramuros.
Garry: Either most Filipinos are malnourished, or I am just so used to seeing Polynesians. How much are we paying for this ride?
Me: 50 pesos.
Garry: Cool! But I feel terrible. His bike with attachment, 3 wheel car, or however you call it, is going to break and give up from my weight. Either that or all his bones would fall apart after he'd taken us to our destination.

***Bus experience from Tarlac to Manila
Garry: Wow! wifi zone bus, cool!
Me: I know right.
Garry: The seats are comfortable too. Strong AC, spacious and adjustable seat, TV. Kind of like an airplane almost. C'est jolie huh.
Me: Yup.
---then we got to Dau stopover, vendors entered the bus---
Garry: Whooow! (trying to move left and right to catch a good view of the TV in the midst of 10 vendors trying to fit all at once in the bus hallway) What happened? I thought I was in a bus, not a market.
Garry: They sell everything, everywhere. This is crazy. Ah mani mani mani jajo ja! (trying to copy the peanut vendor's noise of marketing his product)

Well, it's fun seeing them adapt to the country. It is almost cute to know that Garry goes to work alone riding the jeepney, as well as going home from work. Keahi too gets really comfortable riding the jeepney now. Whenever their loud music is on (which extremely irritates Garry and I by the way), Keahi would dance in the jeepney. He is also happy as a bird whenever he sees the train. Garry loves the fact that cab is so convenient, but hates the fact that they always pretend that they don't have any change for a bigger bill. And for myself, I am still dying to learn how to drive! Haha. It's more fun in the Philippines.

his first doughnut experience

I have been very strict with sweets and sugary stuff for Keahi, but every once in a while it won't hurt to loosen some belt, so I decided to have him try a doughnut. Garry will be against me on this because he totally hates doughnuts. When I opened the box, Keahi pointed on the cookies and cream so that is what I gave him.

I am so ready for this! :)

pose for some pictures first. say cheese!

small bite of the topping, yum yum

. . .1 minute later. . .

ok! lets get to the real business.

ready, set, ajah!

wait mom. enough pictures please

. . .inspecting the doughnut. . .

nom nom nom

beurk! too sweet! eeeee!

And there's his first doughnut experience. Just one bite and he was done. Keahi obviously is not a fan of doughnut just like his dad. Oh well, these boys are missing out a lot of good things. The doughnuts are all mine :)

around and around we go

Last week, my mom, Abegail, and tito Allan visited us from Tarlac. Mom suggested we go to 'wildlife' so the kids could have fun in the park and see some animals in the zoo. None of us have ever been to wildlife but mom. She told me it was right across the QC Memorial Circle. I told her that I do not know much about QC, and I don't think I've heard of that 'wildlife' or seen that place around the QC Memorial Circle before. She insisted she was sure, and that she'd been there 10,000 years ago! (very unreliable). So we gave it a shot. We decided we'll head to the 'circle' and just look for the 'wildlife' over there. We got to the circle, and mom said there should be some sort of a sign that says 'wildlife' by the gate. We were all focused on the road looking for 'wildlife' and there isn't any. "Ok, lets just keep going. This is a circle anyway right? So if we keep going we shouldn't get lost, and we will just go around and around the memorial circle", I said. 2 rounds and no signs of wildlife. We finally saw a man by the road that we can ask, so we did. He gave us a weird smile.  "Uh, well, it's right there. Just right there.", pointing across the road and probably checking if all of us in the car are blind or just stupid. Anyway, we found it! Yay!

And then we headed to SM North for dinner and felt some Christmas spirit. It's coming soon! :)

every time he rides the escalator he would sit down and stand up before he arrives at the other end.

So next time you travel. Here are some tips learned from this trip.
1. Google Maps. It won't hurt to locate your target area before jumping to the car.
2. Whenever you decide to ask a stranger by the road, ask smart.
3. Do not always trust your mom. :) haha

Time to Unwind

After a series of stressful hospitalizations, our little family needed some time to relax and unwind. We decided to spend the weekend in tarlac so we can be with my family for the general conference as well as to breathe some fresh air. It was a relief to see a totally different place (one that's less busy), and talk to people who really cares. Keahi had fun with all the farm animals around, Garry spent the time taking all stresses off and relaxing his mind, and I enjoyed the time chit chatting with my mom. Mom took me to the market to take advantage of more fresh meat, veggies and fruits so we can do a good grocery for us when we get home to manila. I enjoyed it! This week our menu would always include fresh fruits and green salad, exciting! Stuff are not only more fresh in the province but are also cheaper.

We headed back to manila Sunday night, and we decided we'd spend FHE at MOA since Garry is off due to a holiday in Canada. It was a very refreshing weekend, and a great head-start for this another busy week.

bothering mommy during the conference :)

the train is his classic favorite ride in MOA

John Grisham Books

His book was first introduced to me by Aki. She was then reading 'The Street Lawyer', and the first few pages already attracted me. So I decided to borrow the book since I just finished reading 'Steve Jobs' and was still hunting for the next book to read. Luckily Aki just got 'Game of Thrones' too as a birthday present so it was easy for her to let go of the book even though she already started reading it. I fell in love with Grisham's book, and upon finishing 'The Street Lawyer', I decided to look for his other books. No luck in any bookstores near our area. I also tried searching online and boy, how I wish I was still in the US at least to receive the book and not be choked up with shipping fee. Electronic copies never worked for me! I gave up. I badly wanted the rest of his books, but I gave up. So I returned the book to Aki, and found out that she just also borrowed it from MC. I was glad I returned the book to MC myself because I found out that she got all of Grisham's book! She shared some thoughts and feedback about the books too and told me how she will never stop buying more books that Grisham will write. MC was suddenly an angel sent for me! She lent me 'The Client', and now I am halfway through the book. I am just so excited to finish it. If only I don't have a life, I would read all of his books straight! one after the other, no more going to work, no more dating with Garry, no more playing with Keahi, just some eating and sleeping! (that was a little too much lol).

After reading the books, I surely would love to watch the ones that were already turned into films ( I think there's about 9 of them).

"I was rapidly learning that one of the challenges of being a street lawyer was to be able to listen. Many of my clients just wanted to talk to someone."  - Michael Brock

 

The Hospital

It really saddens me that in just 5 months of stay here in the Philippines, Keahi was already admitted to the hospital twice. First was due to dehydration after a 3 day fever and the second was pneumonia. It was a bit tough because there are lots of vaccines that are required here in the Philippines that Keahi didn't get because they were not administered/needed in Hawaii. Keahi's pedia here in PI had been trying to catch up on the vaccines but of course she cannot give them all at once. We were advised that Keahi is going to be prone to sicknesses and illnesses because of that very reason. Extra care with our little boy for short. I always pray for good health for both my husband and my son. Specially because they are both not accustomed to some situations here in the Philippines, but they are adapting little by little.

Going back to the hospital. It was very surprising. We had an appointment set up for Keahi to discuss his x-ray results which was conducted because of his 2 day cough. I was not expecting for him to be confined at the hospital at all. It seemed like just a normal cough. The x-ray results showed pneumonia, and we had to monitor his breathing to make sure it will not be worse and end up being asthma. So we got admitted, for the second time around, at the same hospital.

Here's Keahi the night before he was admitted.

now at the hospital with mommy

got some kisses for daddy

it was kind of heart breaking seeing him trying hard to play with just one hand because he's got IV on the other hand, but he managed to enjoy himself despite the 4 day hospitalization.

daddy assisting Keahi on his nebulization. they both did a good job with it :)

and. . . finally when we got home! felt so much better to be in our own bedroom than in the hospital room.