Pasta Overload

Often times my daughter ask for a delivery during their supposed break time, break time from playing. Last week she asked for a chicken joy and some ice cream since her friend was in the house. I called up Jollibee, surprisingly, they got my order quite fast this time. Anyway, I need to complete the required P165 (around 4USD) so I thought of adding macaroni salad. Look here, too much green. I still prefer Wendy's but there's no Wendy's near our house.


A few minutes before Jollibee delivery arrived, my husband got back with pansit Malabon in tow. She came from my sis-in-law's place and thought of buying a plateful good for five. This is a lot better than the macaroni salad. Had I known he'd buy this I wouldn't have a delivery.


Normally I try to prepare something during weekends - pasta or a new dish I read in Yummy magazine. So the following day we thought of trying out the sundried pesto we bought and prepared some pasta. How was it? Let me just say now I know the sundried tomato from Santi's is a lot tastier than those prepared in bottles.





Curious what weekend snapshots the others posted? Take a peek here. :)

Overlooking

These pictures were taken at Mines View Park, Baguio City on a Saturday more than a month ago. I took fancy capturing the view of the mountains with the young couple having some sweet moments together.




This was also the day where I did some panic buying of vegetables since they are cheaper and fresher in Baguio. There were some excess broccoli and cauli flowers but they were put into good use before getting stale. I shared about it in a post on Pancit Bato.

You may visit other Weekend Snapshots participants here.

Flexible

I was thinking of what to share for this week's Photo Hunt. It has to be flexible. I thought of rubber bands, my daughter's ballet shoes...I thought of posting spaghetti noodles. My husband recommended his map light in his car, it has a flexible body. Hmm, it doesn't sound interesting to me, haha.

I settled to our hot air balloon pictures no matter how much my hubby talked me out of it. He said these balloons expand but they are not flexible. :D It used to be that it's only me and my daughter decide what pictures to share. Now it has become a family affair. :D





These pictures were taken at the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta early this year, held at Clark, Pampanga. Suddenly a song enters my mind as I post about this..."up, up and away, in my beautiful, beautiful balloon...". Was this from the Bridgette Jones's Diary soundtrack? Anyway, there's another balloon song when I was in college, 99 Luftballoons by Nena. I love this song back then.

One has to get out of his comfort zone and be flexible and try more adventurous undertakings like riding a hot air balloon. Now that strengthens these hot air balloons' connection with Flexible. :)

Check out other Photo Hunt Flexible participants here. I'll be going around PH participants later, Mommy duties beckon at this time. :)

The Brat Pack

This is all about movies. We had lunch today at Bubba Gump, the restaurant Forrest Gump inspired. As expected, the movie Forrest Gump is being played on a loop. Hubby was telling the gist of the story to my daughter. I said it's a long movie, about 3 hours. I don't watch a movie for the second time unless I like the actors and the story. Those are my criteria.

Segue to what is my most watched movie. It's one from the 80s. And then my mind started reminiscing the movies which made it big during the 80s and the 90s.


<


Pretty in Pink. This is my most watched movie from the 80s. I love the soundtrack - OMD, Howard Jones, Suzanne Vega, Psychedellic Furs, INXS, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths. I have memorized them all.

I love the story. I was in my teens then, can't help but fall for rich-boy-poor-girl-with-a-weird-bestfriend kind of movie. Andi, Duckie and Blaine. Only Duckie (Jon Cryer) is visible nowadays. He has a sitcom with Charlie Sheen called Two and A Half Men.

The Karate Kid. Who didn't fall for the lanky Danile Larusso played by Ralph Macchio and the lovable Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). What kid in the 80s does not know "wax on, wax off". But whatever happened to Ralph Macchio?

Sixteen Candles. Another John Hughes and Molly Ringwald movie. I am not a fan of Molly but it happened that her movies were the movies of my generation. Sixteen Candles tells of what preoccupies a typical teenager, at least back in the 80s - unrequited crush and her 16th birthday which her family almost forgot. Great plot, huh.

St. Elmos' Fire. I am wondering now why I liked the theme song. If you don't know the theme song, better that way. :) Coming of age movie, a welcome-to-the-real-world-after-college-graduation kind of movie. Think F.R.I.E.N.D.S., only this batch take themselves so seriously.

This stars the 80s Brat Pack - Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Alley
Sheedy, Rob Lowe, the pretty face Andrew McCarthy. Demi Moore seems to be the last woman standing in this pack.

The Breakfast Club. Another brat pack movie and the story happened in one day in a detention center.

The Outsiders. The movie which started it all - the young guns of the 80s - Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez. And yes, someone from the 70s, Leif Garrett. The Outsiders is reminescent of West Side Story, a gang war from different socio-economic class.

Risky Business. This is the first movie of Tom Cruise which I have watched. I liked him instantly. Major reason for watching this I guess was Tom Cruise singing in his underwear. Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger? That's what I remember.

That particular scene was spoofed several times, even ALF (remember the Alien Life Form sitcom?) spoofed him.

Top Gun. What can I say? This movie catapulted Tom Cruise's career to superstardom. Killer grin, that's the main reason.

Singles. Early 90s, just when grunge is starting. I love the soundtrack too - Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. One of my favorite books, The Fountainhead, was part of the movie's poster. Stars Matt Dillon, Kyra Sedgwick and Eric Stoltz.

Reality Bites. Best movie about Generation X I have ever watched. A Ben Stiller movie which stars Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo. From the plot summary of IMDB, this best summarizes the movie, "materialism or philosophical musings"? Gen X angst, you know.

I love the soundtrack of this movie - Stay by Lisa Loeb, U2's All I want is You, School's Out by Alice Cooper, a few songs from Crowded House, Salt-N-Peppa. My Sharona by The Knack was used in this movie.

There are a lot of movies then and now that I love. These ten are not the best and they aren't exactly my favorites. But they were top of mind when I was thinking of retro movies. They were some of the movies which dominated the era, some will just make you cringe. :)

Plated

There are two picture memes today. One's for Weekend Snapshots and one's for the monthly Pinoy Moms Network sharing of family pictures based on a theme. I wouldn't pass up any of these two so here goes.

See the picture below? Can you tell what it is? It's one of the street foods famous in the Philippines. Street foods are those peddled by ambulant vendors or from an improvised stall along the street but of course. The reputation is not so good in terms of cleanliness in preparation and merchandising but there are some who just cannot resist having a bite. Better to prepare it on your own.



This is "tukneneng" (hard boiled egg with orange batter coating). The coating includes flour and chicken cubes. I didn't know chicken cubes are also used for this tukneneng food. According to the neighbor at least that's what she does to make it more palatable.

Over the weekend, my husband ordered this from a neighbor who distributes different kinds of "street foods" to different office canteens in different business districts. Definitely the preparation and handling are HACCAP (Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points) compliant. :)

**********
What's plated in the house? Lots. But this one's from a lunch-out with hubby and daughter at Teriyaki Boy a few weeks ago. Teriyaki Boy is one of the fast-casual restaurants that offer really good service and good food.

My favorite dish here is Gyu-Saikoro steak (diced-cut beef in teriyaki sauce and bean sprouts). Now you see it....


Now you don't...


Here are the mommies with their Plated entries:
Pinayhekmi: Scrambled eggs
Ruth: Filipino breakfast
Lynn: Tukneneng
Mommy Chi: Fried rice and beef stew
Ajay: Because pancit is my favorite dish
Julie: PinoyMomsNetwork Fam Pics 3: Plated (On a Plate)
Connie: Chopsticks on a plate
Cookie: PMN Fampics Series 3 : Plated
KK: Eclectic taste
Feng: Plated on a operating table
Raqgold: Schlachtplatte
Vicky: What's for tea?-Lean Pork N Cabbage on Stripey Plate
Rach: My plated collage

Classic

I'm sharing a classic Filipino decoration. Even in another country, it has been said that you will know Filipinos are living in the house if you can see giant wooden spoon and fork somewhere in the kitchen or dining area. This shows the Filipinos' strong food culture. In some homes where residents are Catholics, it is normally side by side with a picture of The Last Supper.



Interior decoration has evolved now, especially condo living is very popular among young couples, hence lesser space and more modern decorations donning the place. I don't see much of these wooden spoons and forks anymore.



A tourist destination in the Philippines is Honda Bay. Northeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan is one the favorite vacation spots here, Dos Palmas Island Resort and Spa. The picture above shows a classic sunset view from the bay cottages of the resort. A magnificent view.

**********
Mood: Calm.
Music: Umbrella, Rihanna

Links

All my links are already in my Bloglines. :)