baby rambutan

i have been drifting far far away from this blog, i just can’t pin me down long enough to sit down and write a proper post…
but it’s time to reflect on the staycation vacation week that was. we took another closer look at the city we take for granted–though what we really wanted was a log-cabin-cozy-fireplace kind of a getaway, or a Jollibee-pilgrimage type of visit to the Big Apple–we had to stay close to home for many reasons.

they had sleepovers and playdates and school projects, so off we went on several day trips, mini-field trips.
Nokia 6085
he requested a bowling expedition. calculated shots vs. Dad’s forceful ones? he easily won over Daddy!


Boston Public Garden, Nokia 6085
we visited Mama Duck and her babies, especially since the second to the last one, was recovered from a trash heap after going missing for a few days.

we drove around Boston and when we saw a coveted free parking spot on the North End’s Hanover Street, famous for Italian restaurants and bakeshops, we just had to scramble out of the car and be tourists…for 15 minutes!



there was also the requisite malling day for the teenager girliegirl, on one of the several rainy days…in Providence, Rhode Island. (where there’s a Popeye’s.) here they are, while waiting in line, arguing negotiating over what milkshake flavor to pick till mama stepped in and said, “i’ll pay, and it’s strawberry cheesecake flavor.” done.
we capped off the week with our first cookout and bonfire on our fireplace pit and made s’mores. i think i might have had more fun than the three kids…

daughter at the moment before smooshing together the toasted graham crackers and the melted marshmallows and Scharffen Berger 70% cacao melting squares….do you know how to make s’mores???

pictures above taken from my Nokia 6085 and daughter’s Canon powershot SD800 IS…my Konica point and shoot battery died, and it’s too expensive to replace, and am mulling over what camera to get next…it better be a keeper!
should i get another point and shoot with more “bells and whistles”, or a beginner DSLR??? any suggestions, recommendations greatly appreciated. but i think i already know the answer, *sigh*….

this week’s theme for the premiere Pinoy photoblogging meme, LP#55, is bridge.

i picked this bridge from a hiking trip we took to the New Hampshire mountains a couple of years ago, with husband’s clan.
i think that bridges made of wood or stone are just fascinating, especially those that defy physics and the ravages of nature, or those that require a bit of balancing for lack of a rail.
my friends and i used to cross a mini-bridge over a narrow stream to go to a friend’s tree house parties on a fragile little plank.
we used to crawl back to our vehicle, after a few San Miguel’s, late at night, and just marveled at how we never fell into the water.
but this particular bridge, though well maintained by the National Parks, brought some peril to my day: my husband decided he’d go over the railing and check out the waterfall.
i almost fainted from alarm, thinking our #2son might follow suit.
luckily he saw me taking a picture and i didn’t have to make a shrill little scene in front of his nieces and nephews–i used sign language and my most piercing death-ray vision to get him back into the bridge: “don’t even think about it!”….
ang paksa sa linggong ito ay tulay.
bagaman itong larawang ito ay kinunan dalawang taon nang nakalipas, pinili ko dahil ito ang paboritong klaseng tulay na pagmasdan o tawirin. gusto ko yung mga tulay na gawa ng kahoy, bato, kahit may konting peligro…yung makitid o walang hawakang pang-alalay, o yung gawa sa lubid.

pero ang tulay na ito ay nagdulot ng konting drama sa saglit na ito: dahil ang aking asawa ay naisipang gumapang sa bandang “hinulugang taktak” at ako’y nangamba na baka sumunod ang aming bunso.
buti na lang hindi ko kinailangang tumili at mag iskandalo dahil nakita niya akong kumukuha ng larawan at kahit sa kalayuan ay nakitang nanlilisik nang mga mata ko at sumesenyas nang “huwag mo man lamang isipin!” at siya at umatras pabalik sa tulay….
what lies beneath
sa ilalim ng tulay

i thought long and hard about what photo of a building to post on this week’s Litratong Pinoy Event, with “building” as its theme.
should i go for the height and splendor, or the architectural significance, or the location, or the view?
nah. i decided to go for the glitz.
this building, which we chanced upon while we were in the car on a night drive around Manhattan, December 2008, took my breath away. i know, it is blurry, but it captures the moment of dumbfounded awe i felt–despite the boldness and the crassness and the gaudy fiesta effects, i decided it was quite a sight.

nahirapan akong mamili ng larawan para sa linggong ito kaya kulelat na naman ako.
piliin ko kaya yung palasyong puno ng maartistang palamuti, o yung gusaling may mahalagang papel sa istorya ng sibilisasyon, o yung nagpapaganda ng paligid?
pinili ko na lang kung ano yung nagpatame-me sa aking kadaldalan, yung kung saan ako ay natigilan sa pagkamangha.
nagulat ako talaga dahil hindi ko alam na may ganitong gusali na pala sa NYC, na may ganong lantad na lantad at tumitili sa paghanga ng salapi, status, at kamunduhan. at pagkatapos ng lahat, ito’y ibinalot ng giftwrap.

under the guise of food scientist i made these not-quite-but-somewhat-instant pancakes and brought out the mainstays of my refrigerator: Europeans jams and preserves and maple syrup.
the mix is Carbon’s golden malted pancake and waffle flour (just add buttermilk, eggs, and butter).
it must be prolaimed that i bought all of these at grocery salvage outlet stores.

verdict: i prefer raspberry by Hero, and Bonne Maman strawberry. i will get some Favorit cherry when the Hero runs out.

i cooked them in my double griddle pan and had some trouble adjusting the heat, hence the two toned pancake effects.
this is not an experiment that will be replicated for result verification too often–i ended up eating too many pancakes for my daily ration of carb allowance. bleh.

but no matter, today is a warm spring day, finally!!! and thus begins our April/spring vacation week.

“hardin” ang pinag uusapan ngayong linggo sa Litratong Pinoy. pero bago ang lahat,

nagdaos ng kaarawan ang aking panganay na anak. siya’y dalawangpung taong gulang na. talaga!

“garden” is the theme for this week’s LP photoblog. but before all that
my big bundle of boy is 20 now! as of yesterday… WOW!

siya’y humiling ng kanyang mga paboritong putahe, ang aking beef Wellington, at tiramisu birthday cake na galing sa aming paboritong bake shop. pag-uwi namin galing don, nakita agad ng nakababatang kapatid ang bisita na namamasyal at tutuka tuka sa likuran.

wala pang mga halaman sa aming hardin…para kasing hindi na iinit ang panahon, walang mga umuusbong na dahon masyado. kaya wala akong maisip na isali sa ngayong linggo na bagong usbong.
tapos naalala ko ang nakita namin kahapon.
sana nga suwerte ang may pabo sa hardin… ang unang larawan ay kuha lang sa aking camera phone…

he requested his favorite dishes, my beef Wellington and i ordered a tiramisu cake from the fancy cake shop. on the day of his birthday after picking up his cake and driving into the back yard, we saw a special visitor in the garden.
now,in the Philippines, there are a lot of beliefs regarding good luck and bad luck omens. one of them that i’m fond of storytelling for the kids is the mariposa, which is the largest known moth–at least 10 inches wingspan–it’s supposed to bring good things if you find it resting in your garden. in Kalayaan Avenue it used to rest on top of our talisay(tropical almond) tree.

now i declare that it can only be good luck if you find a wild turkey in your driveway.
it is the second time we’ve seen him –i think it is an immature male because of the way its feathers are so shiny and glimmery in the sunshine, and there was the beginning of a characteristic “beard” on his chest. “he” could also be just a drab female. yes, i was that close to it, but i only had my cameraphone on hand. he flew up to the roof of our big garage and then hopped on over to the neighbors’ just pecking at everything in sight.

click the image for a better view of the big bird
(photo by daughter)
here he is, “neighboring” (nangangapitbahay)
…that’s not “his” egg.
p.s. i wanted to name him George, but #2son calls him “Thanksgiving Dinner.”

is a cheat’s recipe. sorry.

i think Mama Sita’s barbecue marinade is a great base for chicken wing barbecue marinade. i always have some on hand, and with my ever growing impatience for spring to really arrive, i mean REALLY, not just keep teasing us with warm weather one day, and then five days of bone chilling cold and rainy-day-gray weather, and then another warm day…you get the picture?
we threw away our cheap little grill after last summer, and are now anticipating the imminent purchase of our new name-brand (albeit still cheap) charcoal grill. until then i got the itch to grill something in my oven.
Mama Sita plus, husband calls it:
barbecue marinade, plus crushed garlic, a splash of pineapple juice, lashings of freshly ground black pepper and a shake of sea salt.
marinate the chicken wings for at least an hour, and then bake on high heat (450F) tightly covered with foil for 30 minutes, occasionally basting with the marinade. then uncover and broil, vigilantly watching over them like a hawk, until well browned.
finger bowls optional.

my #2son listens in on my TV news viewing and he has proclaimed to me, in so many words, economy-schmenomeny, i’m so tired of hearing about the economy!
but he has nonetheless learned, sort of, about how wall street worked and how people lost their fortunes.
so to him, and to everyone now,we hope, it makes a lot of sense to shop around, and scrimp and save.
it’s just smart to shop around before buying anything, to get the best bargain for the best value.
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and bury my face in this:

i am craving me some chocolate whipped cream. me bad. very bad. there’s no more of course. but tomorrow is my #1son’s 20th birthday. TWENTY! can i believe it? some cake will be devoured, i promise myself!

when we were expecting our third child i was approached by several cord blood banks to store his cord blood at birth. it was a very exciting time for us, and i was quite tempted but when i looked into the costs i remember they were quite prohibitive. i regretted not doing it–who wouldn’t want to be on the cutting edge of scientific research, when enormous strides could be made in the development of treatments for cancer and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other catastrophic illnesses?
tough times like today may make it even more difficult to make this decision but Cryo-cell offers reasonable pricing. if you’re expecting a baby why not look into their limited time offer? if you enroll now it’s like buying an insurance policy for a future that can possibly yield a rosy future for your family’s health.

file this under libations that make me wax lyrical…
i discovered tetrapacks of these in our favorite Japanese grocery; i didn’t know if they were good, i just had a hunch, and i bought as much as i could carry in my arms (the grocery is very cramped and shopping carts can get unwieldy there).
and since then we’ve been hooked.

whenever supplies run out, i make some at home with a jug of unflavored soy milk and matcha (green tea) powder shaken and stirred in–doable, but a bit of work; the matcha gets lumpy.
i’m not here to argue for the pros of drinking soy milk, it is quite easy to search for all the journals and studies of its health benefits (cholesterol-lowering, avoiding breast/prostate cancer, easing symptoms of menopause, and on and on). a few years ago there were also terrifying emails circulated about its downside, too scary to even mention.
but this green tea soy milk is just so delicious and when served ice cold, so refreshing–i feel so smugly and self-righteously healthy after drinking it, that i recommend everyone try it. NOW!